Week 4, days 2 and 3

Not sure what happened to me all of a sudden but last couple of days I just haven't been into my slow carbing. I mean I have been following the plan but it has been in a very very lazy, approximate, half-@ssed sort of way.

I have had very little appetite these last couple of days and been sort of force feeding myself to get to around 1500 calories.

Don't know why my head just hasn't been "right"

Week 4, day 1

Cheat day of course!!

I completely forgot to take any sort of supplementation which was a bit reckless of me but I think it made sense as I was allegedly supposed to be taking a break one day a week anyway and hadn't done that yet.

So how did cheat day go?

Breakfast:
- 3 egg whites and 1 whole egg cooked in a bit of ghee
- Rocket salad
- Can of hot & spicy beans

Bootcamp session

Breakfast 2:
- 80g porridge, 200ml semi skimmed milk, 2 scoops of whey protein powder
- 95g bag of chocolate covered

Week 3 review

3 weeks down.

In 2 weeks I had lost 6 pounds and around 7 inches although I thought I had done pretty badly last week - I felt a bit bloated. I don't feel bloated this week but I for some reason feel a bit sceptical about a loss in pounds or in inches. Can't explain why, call it instinct.

I have now finished the peanut butter so that won't be able to haunt me, but

17 and 18

I dont know how or why I forgot to post an update yesterday. But in fairness there wasn't really a huge amount to say.

The main thing really is that since I started taking PAGG, food has been going through me more quickly. In a good way I mean. So I actually kind of feel like my insides are regularly getting cleaned out. This has kind of taken away the main downside I suffered during the first couple of weeks - bloating, feeling congested, etc.

I have seen huge benefits in cooking in bulk on Sundays - knowing that I always have something in the fridge which I can go to and eat guilt free really does help me keep on track.

Still tracking calories - had about 2100 yesterday and 2000 today so I am staying in the same sort of range. I am getting in about 180g of protein a day which is a bit more than what I need or am aiming for - which is 1g per lb of body weight - but I don't see a problem in this as I am getting in enough water and good fats to help me digest it comfortably. I need the protein anyway to start getting myself ripped....

Only thing is probably a bit too much whey and not enough real food sources of protein.

What will be different in week 3

I wanted to get these thoughts down as I was thinking fresh about them. I am writing this before I get my week 2 results sorted (although posting after), so it isn't dependant on what I did in the last 7 days, but just what I think could be changed up to help me on my way.

1. Cooking in bulk
I have realised (finally!) how much easier it is to make a huge batch of things and keep them in the fridge. It would help my discipline on this plan infinitely, as I have found over the couple of days. Definitely needs to be done I think. My Sunday morning at least is going to be spent cooking.

2. Stopping the peanut butter!

Week 2 results are in...

...and 3 more lb off. Really don't know how that happened because I was really "feeling heavy" all week.
But I am so pleased.

That is 6lb off since 1st Jan 2011. Woohoo.

Another 3 inches off as well, bring my total inch loss to 7 inches. Wicked!!

The two big shifters this week were an inch around my belly button and half an inch from the hips. The other 1.5 inches were pretty spread out. Only downside is my biceps seem to have shrunk slightly, but that could just be a bit of fat getting shifted - I don't really know.

Anyway 2 weeks in I think it is all going well. I am mid way through supplementation and cheat day, kicking off week 3. Head is spinning from a sugar rush, and I already feel pretty full but I am determined to make myself sick - last week by Tuesday I was getting cravings again which I want to avoid. Lets do this!

Day 14

I think I have really got the hang of things a lot more now.

Breakfast today was some left over pork roast (yeah I don't know how I could stomach it first thing in the morning either) and my broccoli, cauliflower and kidney bean concoction. Using ghee adds such a nice flavour, it is definitely going to be a regular in all my meals. In fact today it was.

Had another bootcamp session and my goodness I was aching afterwards. If you have a fitness boot camp near you, go try it! If its even half decent you won't regret it.

Lunch I had out at Nando's so really easy to slow carb it. Half a chicken, removed skin, plus a side of ratatouille and used my diet coke quota for the day as well.

Snack was some grilled prawns with

Results day tomorrow

Got my week 2 weigh-in and measurements tomorrow morning. To be honest I really don't think I had much progress this week - call it gut instinct. Pretty sure I haven't lost much if any weight. Clothes don't feel any tighter, nor any looser to be fair.

Time will tell. I'll find out when I get up tomorrow morning I guess. Stay tuned!

BUT it is also CHEAT DAY tomorrow :D I got 2 pizzas and a load of cookies lined up and waiting - I hope my morning measurements don't put me off them...

Day 13 Part 2

I did manage to up my calories a bit.

My 2nd lunch was an echo of my first lunch - I have realised the advantage now of making things in HUGE batches. It is just so much easier and more convenient.

I did an intense bootcamp session again. Absolutely loved it. Was burned out and aching. Woohoo!

Dinner was same veg from lunch and lunch 2, with a whey shake. I have just had 30g of peanut butter pre-bed. I got to about 2050 calories today and this was probably the first day where I really enjoyed 3 out of the 4 meals - still need to work on sorting something out for breakfast regularly.

Day 13 part 1

Breakfast today was a whey shake immediately on waking, followed by a cup of left over lentils. Breakfast some days really does feel like a burden without my oatmeal! How I miss having it every day!

Lunch was a bit different. I downed about 100g of cottage cheese with a bit of salt and cumin powder. I think cumin powder was the missing link between cottage cheese and tasting good. Really savoured it. I am going to get some cottage cheese with chives though next week to mix it up. I followed that up with a kidney bean, broccoli and cauliflower curry - recipe being posted on Friday - and a few almonds. Ten almonds to be exact, like Tim recommends.

And I felt stuffed.

Its weird, this

Day 12

Really didnt feel hungry today. I felt really full after breakfast, so ended up with a late lunch and a late dinner. I just can't seem to get my hunger levels up any more.

Day 11

I swear Im still not getting enough calories in on this plan based on my physical activity and fitness level. I know we're not meant to be counting calories on this plan, but surely you need a certain minimum to put on muscle (following conventional science) which I don't really think I'm doing

Breakfast: 250g Quark cheese and 100g of lentils - for some reason can't stomach most vegetables at breakfast. 237 calories

Had a circuit workout, moderate intensity.

Day 10 - 2nd lunch and dinner

Got into a sticky situation with peanut butter. My 2nd lunch - more like a snack, was some lentils, and a protein shake. And I was feeling a bit hungry, so allowed myself 2 tsp of peanut butter.

Got to dinner time, had my stir fried veg, lentils and cottage cheese and felt pretty full. A bit later though I felt a tiny grumble in my stomach, forgot about my earlier indulgence and proceeded to have 2 more tsp of the gooey delicious stuff.

Complete withdrawal is the only way forward I think. D'oh!

Day 10 - Breakfast and lunch

Still feeling a bit achey from my self-thrashing last night. Haven't worked that hard in a while. Workout to be posted later.

Had 2 scoops of whey upon waking up. I know some have advised against taking whey, but it is a quickly absorbed, easy way for me to keep my protein up, it is a lean protein, and I have seen some pretty good results from adding it into my eating habits. So it stays.

Day 9

I for no apparent reason decided to try tracking calories today, just to see how many I was getting in to my system out of my own curiousity. Before I started slow carbing, I was probably having 25-2600 calories a day MINIMUM, often still feeling hungry, with the intention of trying to put on some muscle. More on my findings shortly.

Mistakes made in Week 1

First part of my week 1 review was an update on my results - things looking good on that front so far. But I do also want to set myself up for a win and eliminate the mistakes I had been making during this last week, which I think are as follows. Just remember these are my own interpretation:

1. Day 1 was a cheat day
Tim obviously talked about a one day binge, a calorific spike to boost your fat loss results.

Week 1 in review

The results are in! At the end of one week of slow carbing, here are my measurements:

Results as at 8 Jan 2011:

Weight: 166lb (was 169lb)

Right bicep: 12.5in (was 11.9in)

Days 6 & 7

I somehow completely forgot to update yesterday!! Whoops. Must give myself a slap on the wrist for this sort of slip or it will keep happening.

I think day 6 yesterday was ok, stuck to the plan as I was meant to and felt fine. I think I am still going a bit OTT with the whey protein, although I think it is important for keeping up protein intake. Also peanut butter - I keep craving it. I know it is meant to be ok in tiny quantities, but NOT 3 fairly generous teaspoons and certainly NOT everyday.

Day 3 in review

Had a pretty good day I think.

Breakfast at 7. Some refried beans (having WAY too much of the stuff at the minute, and I do plan on changing it up soon -its just too quick and easy to turn down until my next food shop), cottage cheese and some vegetables, but I can't for the life of me remember what they were - they were definitely 4HB compatible though.

Then I had a brutal personal training session 8-9, mixing up cable work, rowing and cycling with some boxercise. Arms were burning at the end! Followed it up immediately with a protein shake. I am holding off on having carbs post-workout until I really get stuck into some heavy strength and weights work.

Lunch was some pinto beans I had made last week with some cottage cheese and a green salad and lunch 2 was Indian style okra with refried beans and cottage cheese. Had a teaspoon of peanut butter (4HB compatible) some time after to sort of round off the meal.

In the afternoon I did trial a slow carb brownie recipe - leaving it in the fridge for now to cool and become fudge-y before giving it a try. I'll post up the recipe when I've tried it. Doesn't look quite as appetising as I had hoped though.

Dinner was a light meal of lentils, cauliflower and a small protein shake. Really didnt have much of an appetite though, so sort of forced it down.

Observations so far

• I think I do still feel a bit bloated from my binge on Saturday
• I don't know my results so far because I haven't checked but I think the bloated-ness from Saturday makes me feel like I haven't made any progress yet. I am only going to weight and measure myself once a week on Saturdays or I will let it make me paranoid
• Pardon this one but I haven't really been "regular" digestively, even though I think with the beans and veg my fibre increase has shot up. 

WAY too early to make any sort of judgement on this plan and its effectiveness for me, especially seeing as it has only been too proper days on it. Stay tuned to see how the rest of the week goes!

Review of days 1 and 2

Day 1 - 1 Jan 2011


I for some reason unknown, decided to kick off my body transformation with a disgusting, uncontrolled, no holds-barred binge day.

I got up and had a slow carb meal of turkey bacon rashers, pinto beans and salad and didn't really indulge until 11-11.30 when I went in for a huge bowl of porridge oats made up with milk and a load of no cal sweetener. Savoured every spoonful.

What followed was a bit of blur,