I promised to keep you updated about what's happening with the new eating plan, so here goes.
Last Monday, I made a start cutting down on bread, potatoes, cereal and dairy. I phased a bit more out each day and gradually upped my intake of fruit and vegetables. I have the Paleo eating plan at the back of my mind all the time, but I'm not being too strict with myself just yet. I have stuff in my kitchen that will get wasted if I convert right now.
I don't THINK it's my imagination, but a few pounds seem to have gone already! However, My bathroom scales are rubbish and never give the same reading twice. (Note to self to invest in new scales). Anyway, here's an outline of what I did.
The Easy Ones
Some things were easy to substitute such as
cow's milk. It often made me feel a little nauseous in coffee later into the day so the switch to
Almond or Hazelnut milk was really easy.
Potatoes are easy for me to leave out. They are something I can take or leave, so in their place I'm using Sweet Potato to keep up the fibre intake. Sweet Potato is counted as one of the world's healthiest foods, packed with vitamins and other health boosting properties. Good for diabetics too. You can read about it
here. Oh, and they don't half make good chips (fries)!!
Normally I'm a person who likes to sweeten my
hot drinks, but I phased out sugar in my coffee a while ago. Again, something to link to the nausea. Tea is more of a problem, particularly the 'builder's bum' tea, like Tetley. If I have it at all now, I just dip a damp teaspoon into the sugar and pop it straight into the tea. A bit pointless you might think but it does actually take away the tannin taste. After all that, I can go for days without a cuppa so no great loss there. I've rather taken to Green Tea but I haven't QUITE acquired the unsweetened taste for it yet. So I invested in a jar of Manuka Active 10+ honey (£13.99 in Morrisons) and am using that now for my little sweetness fixes. I think any kind of honey will do but I have another use for the Manuka hence the investment. It works well on an itchy patch that I have on my arm. A little massage with the honey soothes it very quickly.
The Harder Ones
Dressings on salads wasn't quite so easy. I have a penchant for mayonnaise so giving that up had me scratching my head for a substitute. As I write, I still can't think of one so for the time being I'm putting extra tomatoes in my lunchbox together with the salad.
I haven't found a tolerable substitute for cheese either. Suggestions welcome on that one!
The most difficult of all was my breakfast. I'm a porridge lover, which naughtily I had every day, but with a different topping, such as raspberries or bananas. So the porridge has had to go for the time being. The fruit is staying though. I'm combining that in a fruit salad with a couple of strawberries, a little bit of mango, and blueberries. I drizzled a teaspoon of the Manuka over it, and added a tiny bit of cinnamon. I have to say, it was blooming lovely! My last note on the fruit only breakfast is that it cures constipation. My system has adjusted to it very quickly and I'm not making any mad dashes now!
So, folks, that's the effect it's having on me. Husband (Grumpy trousers) on the other hand, who annoyingly doesn't need to lose weight, is also adapting quite well to the regime. It's more a need for general health benefits for him. He's going his own way at breakfast, religiously having his two Weetabix absolutely covered in bloody sugar but I can't wean him off it so it's his choice. Before long, any change in MY eating regime which he tries out will see his 32" waist jeans dropping off his already slim hips and he'll be fetching his braces out to hold them up. Then he'll be on the scales every day smugly declaring he's below 11 stone.
Don't men get on your t*ts at times????
