Year 2020. Covid-19 pandemic, swiftly (I mean slowly) followed by Lockdown! Never before experienced and a complete learning curve for us all, finding new ways to live, shop, work, exercise and socialise with family and friends, whilst being stuck at home and in comfortable distance of the kitchen!
But let me take you back breifly, and begin from the start of my journey......
As a teenager, I was slim, attractive, fit and enjoyed the gym, aerobics, cycling, swimming, netball, to name but a few and also took for granted the joys of youth and being able to consume copious calories in the form of crisps, chocolate, chips and other fried foods, and never put on a pound! This all changed when I had my first pregnancy and gave birth at age 22. During this 9 month gestation period, I managed to pile on an excessive 4 1/2 stone in weight, much to my dismay! I managed to shift it in a relatively short period of time, but over the next 10-12 years, I gradually gained weight, doing much less exercise, recovering from a failed relationship and struggling to work full time as a single parent. (Which would have been impossible with out the support of my amazing family and friends). At 35, I moved from a busy city to a much slower paced South Devon, where no-one knew what I used to look like when I was slim..........
Over the next decade I went back to university to retrain, got married had another baby and divorced, bought and lost a Bistro, trained to be a primary school teacher and finally landed the most wonderful year 1 position in a friendly and supportive local school. During this time, my weight rocketed, and in the 6 weeks that we have been in lockdown, I have somehow managed to add another stone to the total!??! I have found myself worrying about whether my shortness of breath, or inability to truly fill my lungs when taking a deep breath in, was a symptom of Covid-19 or fatness! Even out on short walks with my young daughter, I found my joints were painful and I was stiff after getting home and sitting down for 10 minutes!
This can't be how I'm going to live? I wanted to be fit enough to play with my little one, go cycling and walking, maybe even take up running with a close friend, who was looking fantastic after following couch to 5k, and was now running 10k regularly (and looking fabulous to boot!).
I started researching weight loss plans and having used Cambridge diet some years before, with great results, I chose a local consultant, with a great profile and sent my enquiry off. Was anyone able to take me on during lockdown? Well yes, she was. She was absolutely great, really knowledgeable and supportive. So, long story short, after the initial 'zoom' consultation, which lasted and hour, I chose to start the diet 2 days later, following 2 days working in school with the key-worker children.
Julie (my lovely consultant) delivered, (in a non contact delivery format), all my food packs and all the stuff I needed to get going for the next 7 days - all in one small box! I had experienced this plan before and was aware of just how little food there is, but I also know what I liked from the food packs on offer, and went for only them. Porridge, banana shake, strawberry shake and a peanut crunch bar (600 calories a day). That is to be my daily food for the next 2 weeks, when I will drop one of the shakes and only have 3 sachets a day (450 calories a day).
I know, I know, I can hear some of you saying, OMG! How are you supposed to live on 450-600 calories a day, and why not just eat a calorie controlled diet instead?
Well, I will answer both of these questions now. Firstly, my body currently has enough fat stored, to keep me well and truly alive for quite some time, and the idea is that I send my body into ketosis, whilst consuming, what can basically be described as fuel, containing my RDA (recommended daily amount) of vitamins and mineral etc. Once in ketosis, my body switches to using my fat stores for energy, thereby burning my fat and I lose weight fast. This is the initial step in the plan and the hardest, until you are in ketosis and no longer experience hunger and cravings. I will be allowed to eat proper food again, once I have learned to understand how much my body actually needs to sustain a healthy weight, (with the support of my consultant), and have offloaded my unhealthy habits and traditions around eating, during the process.
Secondly, If you tell me I can eat food and prepare it myself, then I will always overindulge. Anyone else out there suffer the same problem? With this plan, I don't even have to think about food or portion sizes, its all there in my pack. I rip it open, prepare it and eat it, job done. No other food. No measuring quantities. Nothing. Just my packs. Surely I can't get this wrong............
