Of course the reason why there was so much activity was due to the great response I got. As well as genuine encouragement there was no shortage of advice and folk sharing their own experiences. I think some of the different advice on approach may be incompatible with each other, so I quickly have to decide what's the most appropriate way forward for me.
The reason I called today Day Zero was because I always expected this to be a day of positioning and dipping my toes in the water of healthy eating before getting stuck in completely from Day 1. So, here is a (short) list of today's achievements!
- Joined a gym just around the corner from my Copenhagen hotel (but no gym activity today I must confess)
- Had hotel a breakfast that did not involve bread, but did involve muesli ! Also had two boiled eggs.
- At work I lunched on turkey (yes, I know), salad peas, tomatoes and pate. (What's the general view on pate as an acceptable food in this venture?)
- Went to the supermarket and bought eggs, ham, tomatoes, carrots, grapes,celery,water,mixed nuts and paprika rice cakes (which are delicious, so i'm having one right now).
- Rustled up some scrambled egg with tomato and ham and had my first rice cake.
- No alcohol !
Advice Received
Thanks to everyone for their advice on how to approach this. Received various recommendations via various channels. Here are some of the highlights.
- Use a pedometer to measure how much walking you're doing each day (Susan and Pam separately) - this one looks pretty good http://www.argos.co.uk/ProductDisplayTRK019?partNumber=9279430
- Choose hills and stairs when walking if they're an option (Ture)
- Regularly do 10 minutes of press ups/sit ups in the hotel room. Use apps such as iPushUps and iSitUps to support this. (Darren)
- Stay focussed but do things in moderation (Janice)
- Get to sleep early! (Ross) - this is difficult for me
- Cut way down on the carbs but don't go mad or you'll just end up having a blow out! (Neill and Erle) - I completely eliminated carbs once and ended up devouring an entire tub of Haagen-Dazs in a frenzy
- And a pile of advice from (Eugene) , including; Routine, routine and routine. 3km brisk walk every day. Breakfast without any Wheat, Bread, Butter. Soup for lunch. Dinner without any pasta, rice, potatoes. 2 litres of water. No wine, beer but white spirits ok with diet tonic. (also Jack and ice would be ok).
Tomorrow is Day 1 for real, and I'll be heading to the gym. Should be fun :P
Enjoyed your first post Frank. Positive attitude and good luck!
ReplyDeletedownload a pedometer app for your iPhone/Android. Careful when you're typing the search criteria ...
ReplyDeleteThanks, Janice. Appreciate it!
ReplyDeleteGood luck Frank.
ReplyDelete@expat. Will check that out (with careful spelling!)
ReplyDelete@BRQuanutm. Thanks for the good wishes!
ReplyDeleteHi Frank, Enjoying the blog!
ReplyDeleteI think you'll have to check the pate, possibly high in saturated fat. Nuts are good but in moderation as they are high in (good) fats. I'm not a fan of cutting out something entirely (like carbs) but like lots of your other followers, I've cut down on rice / pasta / bread and when I do eat them, I try to eat wholemeal versions. I've also been told that your biggest meal, to fuel your day, should be breakfast, then slightly less for lunch and less again for dinner. Also, try and eat some type of protein at each meal, it keeps you feeling fuller for longer. Look forward to hearing how you go at the gym, the trainers there should be a good source of guidance too.
Thanks, Susan. You'll see from the next post (Day 1) that the pate appeared again today but in a smaller portion! I didn't quite follow the portions advice(!) but I have heard of this approach before. Not long back from the gym. Knacked. will have a session with a trainer next week. God help me.
ReplyDelete