Food photos

I finally figured out how to add photos to this thing. What a brave new world of amateurish, poorly lit food photography this opens to me.

Fast day meals:

Smoked salmon with shaved onion, dill, Greek yogurt, capers, sesame seeds, lemon, smoked salt.

Vegetables cooked with gochujang, boiled eggs with rice seasoning and sesame seeds:

New leaf

Yesterday didn't go as well as I'd hoped, unfortunately. I made some low fat banana bread to use up some bananas and buttermilk, then are rather too many serves. I was just over maintenance level calories which is not at all what I was aiming for. But I'm still thinking baby steps here, so I'm trying to tell myself to count it as a win because I didn't completely throw in the towel and I still tracked everything.

I'm a little apprehensive about my second fast day today. Once I get into the swing of it  I hope I'll find it a bit easier to get through but it does feel awfully hard to get through the day on so little food.

Plan for the day is coffee with a dash of cream this morning, then smoked salmon for lunch, and a vegetable and cannellini bean stew for dinner. Clocks in around 600 so a bit over, but - again - baby steps. I also want to get back into spreading my meals out more - ideally on a fast day you're to have one or two meals only - but I think at the moment I just have to do whatever I can manage.

We're moving apartments this weekend so I'm a little worried about how that's going to translate, food-wise. I guess I'll just have to play it by ear and do the best I can.  Really I should be more preoccupied with how little prepared we are, since the flat is full of crap and we've not sorted or packed anything.

I'm very excited about our new place actually, it's much bigger, it's quieter, and it even had a little outdoor terrace! The only thing I'm disappointed about is the tiny kitchen. Actually the kitchen itself is a reasonable size but the sink is bizarrely tiny and the stove top also rather wee. One of those stoves where you think "ooh! Four burners!" (A luxury in tiny sized HK apartments) then realise that those four burners are squished together so you could only have 4 pots on at a time if they were rather little. Anyway, we shall see how it goes, I'm sure I'll make do.

I'm quite liking the idea of moving house and starting a new diet also. Psychologically it just feels like it will be a nice fresh start.

Keeping on

Well, I managed it! Not a triumph by any means, but I stumbled though the day to grand total of 800 calories - a little more than I'd wished, but it's silly and counterproductive to beat myself up for eating 800 calories when if left to my own devices it probably would have been closer 8000.

This morning I didn't measure out my breakfast carefully enough (bread, goats cheese, coffee with a splash of cream) but I did tally up what I think is a fair estimate on myfitnesspal. As Lesley said, writing everything down is crucial so I'm going to try to be strict with that. Promisingly, I'm feeling reasonably optimistic, and still fairly motivated, so wish me luck.

I'm not sure what my lunch will be, but it will be something vegetable heavy, then tonight pasta with roasted cherry tomatoes and crab.

Wednesday will be my next fast day - it was going to be Thursday but now I've agreed to go to drinks that evening. Fast day plan TBD, watch this space.

New year musings

Well hello there.

Radio silence has, indeed, meant a complete and spectacular tumble off the wagon. I've put all the weight on and possibly more (too scared to get on the scales this morning although I intended to). I'm absolutely miserable but have still found no willpower to dig myself out of the hole.

I'm hoping today will be a fresh start for real, this time. I'm trying a somewhat modified fast day - aiming for roughly 600 calories, not going to be bothered if it ends up around 700. I'm also planning to go back to calorie counting (to 1500-1600) tomorrow, for my non-fasting days. And a proper fast day on Thursday, which I'm actually going to plan ahead for this time.

Breakfast today was coffee with milk, lunch was 2 boiled eggs with some vegetables stir fried in gochujang, all topped with a bit of Japanese furikake rice seasoning and some black sesame seeds. I've taken to following on Instagram the owner of a cafe in Bristol who posts some impressive and inspiring fast day ideas, so hopefully that will also prod me a little.

I've now to see the dentist this afternoon, which I'm dreading. I haven't been in literally years. My teeth desperately need a cleaning and I'd love to get them whitened too. I've been meaning to do something about them for years but I find when I'm overweight I'm so less likely to bother with anything else related to taking care of my appearance, which probably just makes things worse.

Anyway, here's hoping today is a success, and I can finally start plodding my weigh (oops - rather apposite typo there) back to the straight and narrow (narrow also being the operative word...)