Oh, For Shame!

Self Portrait!

To Whom It May Concern,

Dear Jen Jen,
Thank you so much for signing in, you're a star!

Just a reminder to all new followers, I'm a chatty little bitch, so if you leave me a comment, I'll leave you a reply beneath it!

So, how are we all today, hmm? I., R. A BIG, FAT DOOFUS!!! "Why?", I hear you ask, well, it's because I've let things get entirely out of hand. My weight has skyrocketed to an astronomical 57.5kg (127lbs)! DISGUSTING!!! My stress levels and my utter lack of will power have caused me to gain and this is unacceptable! SO STUPID!! I'm not giving up though, I'm super pumped to put my new plan into action. I saw positive results during the few weeks in which I conducted my experiment and I'm thoroughly inspired to keep going with it!

I needed to find a way to keep my metabolism going and keep myself from binging and I've devised a way to do both. I also learned a some very import things along the way. Constancy is the name of the game, people! If any diet is to work, it must be one that you can stick with and if it's too hard, you only set yourself up for failure. We always expect a diet to work instantly and the truth is, it's not very likely, is it?. The body needs time to adjust to the new pattern and to assimilate it. At first it will try to reject it, as it is the nature of the human body for it hates change. We must stick to our plans long enough to move past this tricky period and acclimatise (get acclimated) to (with) the change. It takes 21 days to start a new habit and only 3 days to break it. Keeping with the theme of constancy, I learned that in order for me to avoid binging, I had to: a) eat a little something every 2-3 hours, b) eat something no bigger than a handful and c) make sure the portions are all the same size. How did I do this? What magic tool did I use? This...

Ta da!

Yup, a 7 1/2 cm (3in) ramekin! I like this size, because it allows me to restrict, but not feel ravenously hungry. I find it's just enough to curb the hunger pangs, but not enough to make me feel full. I still feel slightly empty, but never deprived, so I'm not tempted to binge. I find eating out of this takes the guess work out of the whole process and I like how controlled it all is. Once I've finished, that's it, I stop. No second helpings, no feeling sorry for myself because it's all gone and I want more. It's the perfect guideline. I found that before, when I was eating small handfuls, I was guess-stimating my portions and ended up eating bigger and bigger handfuls. Not clever! The beauty of this technique is that you can fill it with anything you like. High protein, unprocessed  foods (my choice), vegetarian food, vegan food, it's really up to you! The only rules are that you eat a portion every 2-3 hours and you don't exceed the size of the ramekin. I normally eat 5 portions a day, like so...

06:30am 1 Scrambled with a half a tsp of tomato sauce (ketchup).

09:30am Mixed berries, yoghurt and cinnamon.

12:30pm Cherry tomatoes, cucumber and mozzarella cheese.

15:30pm Cashews and macadamias.

18:30pm Half a tin of tuna with half a tsp of mayo and a squeeze of lemon.

All photos courtesy of grantthegeek

If I'm still hungry after that, I have another ramekin of yoghurt and berries, as this also satifies my sweet tooth. My calories rarely exceed 500 per day. Along with this I drink 2 litres of water and exercise for 30-40 minutes each day.

Apart from regulating my eating, this plan made my stomach super FLAT! I could not believe it! For someone with the kind of colon problems that I have, a flat stomach is just not on the cards, so this was a big change. I realised that I'm one of those people who experiences kwashiorkor-like symptoms, which is a swollen belly from not eating enough protein and not eating often enough. Eating this way made a huge improvement to the overall tone of my tumkin and that is all the more reason to continue with it! I want to make a conscious effort to stick to it and not let my stress get the better of me. I refuse to feel sorry for myself an allow a few moments of gratification stand in the way of my goals!

So, there you have it! As promised, my new plan. I hope this week has started off well for all of you and that it continues to only get better. Much love to you all, my friends. Be splendid!

Sincerely
Cinnamon Brown.