Bearable Lightness of Being

I decided not to mention it here when I first started (in case I ditched it as quick as I started!) but I've been dieting this week. Not excessively or weirdly. No "Isreali Army Diet" or Eat Only Bananas In The Morning type malarky, just covering the 5 food groups, eating smaller amounts, no takeaway, less fat, less sugar, less carbs in general (especially in the evening). Basically an informal version of the Weight Watchers I did some years back. I still have all the points guides and stuff, and kind of winged it.

Anyhoo, I eschewed the Company Sweetie Jar and kept to the path of righteousness even when Fat Food Friday rolled around at work. (This week was fish & chips, so I opted for grilled fish and a salad with balsamic dressing.) A normal day for me this week has been a poached egg and toasted English muffin for breakfast, a couple of plums and a small tub of no fat yoghurt as snacks during the day, a wholemeal sandwich (no butter) with some shaved ham, cucumber slices and tomato for lunch, and for dinner a small chicken breast or lean steak with vegetable and/or salad and 'lite' dressing. Maybe another piece of fruit or yoghurt in the evening. (And avoided watching anything food related on tv.)

Judging by my demi-accurate bathroom scales I've lost over 2 kilos this week. After the first week it should settle down to about a kilo a week. I don't have heaps to lose, about 7 or 8 kilos to get back to the goal weight I was a few years ago. I got a shock when I discovered my blood pressure had climbed even higher recently, so any weight loss should help that. If I can brave the heat that's forecast for this weekend, I might go and buy some more accurate digital scales.

So. I made an awesome veggie bake for dinner tonight! I coursely grated a large zucchini (courgette), salted it and put aside in a sieve to drain for a while. Then I coursely grated a carrot into a bowl, added half a finely chopped smallish onion, a chopped spring onion, some of my favourite All Purpose organic seasoning and some pitted and sliced black olives. Then I rinsed, drained and patted dry the zucchini and chucked that in with a couple of spoonfulls of low fat cottage cheese, and lastly 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites loosely beaten. All that went into a super cute 1 person casserole I bought at Target the other week, which I had sprayed lightly with olive oil spray, and baked in a moderate oven for about half an hour. Until everything was cooked through, the egg was set and the top was browned. It was great! Next time I might add some parsley, maybe some chilli... or capers...

I promise not to turn this into a Diet Blog, but I'm stoked that I lost some weight this week and thought I'd share. I feel like I've flipped the switch in my brain that goes from comfort/boredom eating to being more disciplined. Huzzah!