Saturday 23 February 2013

Day 48 - Bloating

Dukan Day: 48
Weight Lost: 5.5kg
Weight To Go: 3.3kg

This morning I woke up feeling quite bloated. It is the time of the month, but I hadn't noticed any water retention in the earlier days of my period and my weight has stayed the same. I don't know if that means I'm due for a loss and I'm retaining water, or if the water my body naturally has has shifted to my belly. Either way, nothing I can do about it. Just got to wait it out and continue the diet!

Today is PV... I cooked up some Amberjack with soy sauce and served it with some raw cabbage. Cooked cabbage tastes like it was sent from hell but raw cabbage is sooo yummy. It's great to nibble on when you want something quick to eat, too.







Thursday 21 February 2013

Day 46 - Constipation?

Dukan Day: 46
Weight Lost: 5.5kg
Weight To Go: 3.3kg

You knew there was going to be this entry at some point!

I'm shitting you! This isn't about poop! I just don't have time to write a longer blog today. 
My attempt at humour... I'm not a comic (and judging from this I don't have a career in comedy awaiting me...)

But, FYI, I'm not constipated. I won't upload a picture for this entry! :)

Wednesday 20 February 2013

Day 45 - うまい

Dukan Day: 45
Weight Lost: 5.5kg
Weight To Go: 3.3kg

I've seen a steady progression in weight-loss since I've been back on 1-1 ratio PP-PV plan. I'm now back to my pre-off-plan weekend (and pre-water retention) weight!


I could view this as two weeks lost due to 3 days of weakness... but I choose to look at it as a lesson: don't go off-plan!

Today I took chicken for lunch. I was eating with my students and they said my chicken looked good. Being in a good mood and with some students I'd known for a while I offered 3 of the boys some. They all said it was "うまい (umai)" (which is a really good word for expressing something is delicious) and they weren't faking (unless they were very good actors)! They then had a short discussion on it, including the flavours they could taste (which was soy sauce and parsley) and my ability to cook. 

I was really surprised that people found something I cooked delicious... I really can't cook all that well, but to hear someone say that something I cooked was good, I felt really proud! 
My tastes usually tend to be different to other people's because I can't smell, so what is good to me might not be to someone else (especially if I've cooked it to how I want).  

Maybe I can cook well after all? 

Today was return of the flounder!! I mentioned before how soft it was... it fell to pieces as I lifted it onto the plate :)


This time cooked in soy sauce (yes, I love soy sauce - its quick, its easy, its yummy - and you only need to use a small amount and still get a lot of flavour from it!). Flounder is faaarrr better in soy sauce than lemon juice.

Tuesday 19 February 2013

Day 44 - 4.30am

Dukan Day: 44
Weight Lost: 5kg
Weight To Go: 3.8kg

This morning I woke up at about 4.30am... an hour later and it was clear that sleep wasn't going to happen.

Living in an apartment sometimes sucks, it would of been perfect to fit in some trampoline time but I didn't want to wake the lady who lives below. (Naturally in Japan, I have a Japanese style apartment... which means the living room also doubles as the bedroom... my trampoline happens to be in my living room/bedroom... which means it is directly over the living room/bedroom below...). I did however do a little bit of weight and abs work.

When the weather gets better... and by better I mean not 2°C rain... I can start running again. Last summer I did a 5km route - but that route takes me down a street that had a robbery at knife-point a few months ago... so I think I will go the other way...

I wonder sometimes if I am doing enough intensity on my trampoline. I tend to put on a DVD while I bounce so I tend to bounce at the same pace as the DVD... action = faster... conversation = slower. I recently bought some new DVDs... mostly sci-fi action... so when they arrive I hope I can step up the intensity a little. I've tried music but I really need something for my eyes to focus on.

Today is a PV day... broccoli with chicken. I wanted to play with the flavour of broccoli a little without using salt so I added a sprinkle of mixed herbs, some pepper and a little bit of lemon juice. Not bad!


Monday 18 February 2013

Day 43 - Goal Dates

Dukan Day: 43
Weight Lost: 4.5kg
Weight To Go: 4.3kg

Remaining Days: Sayonara!!
Clearly I will not reach the goal date set out for me on the Dukan website... but I'm sticking with the diet! I was on target until my weekend of off-plan food... but I've been set back because of it.


My advice to anyone contemplating off-plan foods: don't do it!!! It messed up my body for a week in terms of loss and I'm still 1.5kg above what I was before and I know I didn't eat that many calories for that type of gain (plus anything I would of lost on-plan the following week).

I can't go back and undo that weekend, nor would I, so I just have to keep battling on. I haven't posted over the last few days... I was on-plan but too busy to sit and write an entry. 

I mentioned Amberjack in a previous entry. Last time I tried it with lemon juice and I finally got around to using soy sauce. Amberjack in soy sauce is delicious! I really enjoyed this meal! 


Thursday 14 February 2013

Day 39 - Valentine's Day

Dukan Day: 39
Remaining Days: 25 (113 until consolidation)
Weight Lost: 3kg
Weight To Go: 5.8kg

Happy Valentine's Day! I got some chocolate from a teacher but I won't eat it yet...

I'm rather annoyed my weight went up by 2kgs because of 3 days of bad choices and hasn't come down at all (not even a little) after 3 days of good choices... my body is CRAZY!

I'm feeling rather unmotivated by this whole diet thing now. I'm going to stick with it until I decide what I'm going to do about it... lol

Wednesday 13 February 2013

Day 38 - Staffroom Snacks!

Dukan Day: 38
Remaining Days: 26 (114 until consolidation)
Weight Lost: 3kg
Weight To Go: 5.8kg

I'm back on the Dukan Wagon... but no one else is! I'm finding it hard to keep on the wagon and not offend people. The people I work with at my schools are sooo sweet and are always giving me snacks and sweets... In Japan it seems as if you don't want something and try rejecting it that they assume you hate it... I don't hate it, I just don't want it right at this exact moment in time. (If I try explaining that I'm on a diet they just reply 「ダイエットしなくてもいいですよ」 - "you don't have to diet!")

The people in my office are nice, so I'm nice back and take the food - I don't want to cause drama or offend them. Sometimes I try and put the food back when no one is looking. Someone else can enjoy it that way. But sometimes it's unavoidable to eat the food in front of people at that exact moment.
 

Today's offender was Onigiri Sembei... Sembei are rice cracker thingies. When I first came to Japan I absolutely hated the taste of sembei but they grew on me over time and I quite like them now. Of course they are carb central... >_<

Tuesday 12 February 2013

Day 37 - Well off the Wagon!

Dukan Day: 37
Remaining Days: 27 (115 until consolidation)
Weight Lost: 3kg
Weight To Go: 5.8kg

In my last entry I said something about blips and new day... well.... I failed! It was a 3-day weekend here in Japan and I did eat whatever I wanted... including carbs and chocolate. It has resulted in an unpleasant number on the scale... so I'm going PP for 3 days to clear my system then I'm going to do the 1-1 ratio religiously.

I saw this article today. So I'm pretty much exactly on point at the five week mark. Chocolate is the diet killer! But I'm going back on the wagon and I will do this!!

Today was a success! I ate all Dukan friendly foods! This week I have also increased my time on the trampoline to 40 minutes! 




Saturday 9 February 2013

Day 34 - Biryani

Dukan Day: 34
Remaining Days: 30 (118 until consolidation)
Weight Lost: 5kg
Weight To Go: 3.8kg

I stopped marking water weight in red... a) it was getting too confusing and b) water makes up 60%ish of the body so technically my water weight is around 40kgs. 

The diet was well and truly blown today!! Carbs and chocolate galore!!
I met up with a friend who was in town that I hadn't seen for about 2 years. We had lunch at an Indian restaurant - I had a vegetable biryani. Rice is a big big no no on Dukan!!
But... I'm trying to lose weight to improve my life - not stop myself from having a life.

The diet damage didn't stop there...

During the week I had my birthday! (Happy Birthday Me). I kept to my diet on that day but I did receive some chocolately presents... I ate some today!

I'm guessing I ate around 3000 calories today... but I still managed to get 60 minutes of walking and 30 minutes on the trampoline in so not a total loss.

Today is a blip. Tomorrow is a brand new day. Cheating will cause a slight gain, but I'll get back on Dukan tomorrow and lose it. It'll take longer, but I'll get there!

Friday 8 February 2013

Day 33 - Up, Down, Up, Down, Throw Up

Dukan Day: 33
Remaining Days: 31 (119 until consolidation)
Weight Lost: 5.75kg - 0.75
Weight To Go: 3.05kg + 0.75

I am now over half way through my Dukan Diet weight loss stage.

My weight has been going up and down like crazy the last few days. Last night I woke up at about 2am feeling a little sick and my throat felt really strange. My saliva was really sticky and thick. I'm not sure if it was something I ate... but either way I think I may not be getting enough water.

I still felt a little sick this morning - this was not helped with my bus ride to school either. I felt quite ready to throw up by the time I got out of the bus. A bit of 2°C air later and I was feeling much better. I battled through the day but now, at 6pm, I'm feeling normal again.

Today I was really forcing liquid down my throat... I taught 4 classes back-to-back so I had to use the 10 minutes between class to down water. Hopefully today I can really flush out my system and whatever it was that was making me feel ill.

I received a nice little package in the mail today... 2400 Sweetex tablets from England!!
2400 tablets = 800 cups of tea! I think I can manage that before I leave Japan...


I hope I never have to resort to Japanese sweetener again! I can really taste the difference - Sweetex is far nicer!