Putting what you have learnt into practice!

Well what a week! The first week in 15 that I can actually eat conventional food! How excited and and terrified I was all at the same time. Suddenly I realised I had to cook again, go food shopping and most importantly plan my week. Abstinence was definitely easier!

So I had my first mouthful of roast chicken (without the skin or gravy) and it tasted just like I remembered it would. A little dry so I had some plain cottage cheese (I really like it now) with loads of black pepper. It was lovely! I really tried to eat slowly and concentrate on the taste and savour the moment. I have to say that it wasn't as exciting as I thought it might be but when you are just eating chicken and nothing else, what was I expecting?? The rest of the week went well, had some salmon, prawns, Quorn (when marinated it is delicious) and some more chicken. On day 3 we were allowed to add lettuce leaves and cabbage and as many spices and herbs as we liked. Really great to discover new methods of cooking (without oil) and so many new flavours. It is like eating for the first time! Had my first BBQ and really managed it well. Drank copious amounts of sparkling water, had chicken and salad and then some coffee. Had a great time without feeling full, eating any chips and dip and no hangover! Fantastic!

My biggest challenge was how much to eat, stop when I am full and how to then cope with the "emotional hunger" that follows. I have a few tips which I believe have really helped me cope this week with re-introducing food and not going "off the rails" which I believe will benefit all:

1 Drink a glass of water before you eat.
2 Put your knife and fork down between each mouthful.
3 Chew as long as possible.
4 Concentrate on what you are doing so do not read, watch TV or be distracted from your meal.
5 When the food does not taste as good as the first mouthful - stop eating!
6 You need far less than your eyes think you do so stop when you are full and if you don't "feel" full use point 5 as your guideline.
7 Remember that you still have 3 food packs that you need to eat so don't think this is your only meal!
8 Portion control!!!!!! Palm size of protein - not hand size (including fingers) just a palm size!
9 Use a small plate to start with and even though you can eat as much lettuce as you like - remember control and portion size even though it is very healthy - it will help you to set up good habits.
10 Do the same process every day for 30 days and it will become a habit!

It's all about putting into practice what we have been taught in theory over the past 3 months. I think we all realised that the old habits are still there but we now have the tools to change them. This week we get to add certain vegetables, yogurt and diet drinks to our shopping list but still just one conventional meal a day. We are reducing our water intake this week to just 3 litres as the more "real" food we add the less water we will need (loads in the food).

I have shed another 1.8 pounds on my first foodie week, so happy with that. I would still like to continue reducing my weight but it will now be very slow - maybe half a pound a week? There will be weeks were I am probably going to put on a pound of 3, as long as overall I am maintaining my current weight or reducing it I will be happy. I am now just 1 pound off 5 stone!