First Week Report

A week has passed since my 'revolutionary' decision to eat real food chicly, and not diet. I am very happy with the progress I have made so far. I have felt very calm and relaxed towards food and drink and made good decisions most of the time.

My weight has reduced by 500g (just over one pound) in this week, so I am very pleased to be slowly moving in the right direction while leading a 'normal' eating life.

I am not concerned with quick weight loss which is so addictive with WW. I could easily lose every two days what I took a week to lose this time. I have eaten some treat foods and also a small amount of faux food which I think is fine.

I am happy to be this weight and continue to eat well. It will balance up in its own time. Librans like myself are big on finding their balance - the scales is our symbol - tip too far one way or the other feels off balance and out of sorts. Our thing is all about finding our equilibrium. I really have felt more balanced this week than I have in a long time.

I was also out of town staying with my Mother for three days, and in that time ate out more than normal. Cafe lunches, coffee and cake, dinner etc. It was fabulous to feel guilt-free. If I was dieting, I would be worried that I wouldn't be able to stick to low-calorie food so just think 'blow it, I'll eat everything and start again next week'. I will think this no more.

Even when I slipped back into faux food habits a couple of times, those few slips did not mean descending into junk food hell, rather I just dipped into them and out again, back to normal, good food.

I felt great relief at not having to go back to points, and felt more relaxed and more stable in my eating habits. Less schizophrenic if you like (on points/super strict, off points/eat and drink all I can before I go back to 'jail').

I naturally chose low-calorie/high nutrition food for lunch a couple of times at work when I had nothing else organised. I could have had home-made pizza from the freezer, but instead I felt I needed something more nutritious and less 'cloggy' (I had a sinus headache for a couple of days and felt dreadful) and chose a small tin of flavoured tuna, rice cakes, raw celery and carrot diced, with an apple for after. This really is unheard of for me if not on WW points - to actually choose a meal like this.

A book I was reading at Mum's said of alcohol, even though it is extremely high in calories, the body cannot store them (that's why alcoholics are thin). It's the high-fat foods you snack on or the sugary fizzy mixers you use with alcohol which cause the weight gain, as these are stored straight away because your body is using the alcohol energy. And even worse, this fat is stored around the middle of your body. My worst spot.

So that really reinforced my decision to choose wine and low-fat or no snacks (of course no drink at all would be the best but I'm not a saint).

A newspaper article I read during the week said that eating lots of fruit and vegetables gives your skin a glowing, golden appearance after just 30 days. I'm all for that and have been adding more fruit and raw vegetables into my day. I already eat a good amount of cooked vegetables (steamed brocolli, cauliflower, beans etc with olive oil drizzled over, and a roast potato, sometimes pumpkin).

I had a gin and tonic and some potato chips at my Mum's, and actually didn't enjoy it that much. I would have been happier with a glass of wine and no snacks. Could it be that after all these years I am finding my natural appetite?

I know one week isn't long, and it's easy to be enthused at the start. It actually is my biggest fear that I go back to how I was. Slow and steady wins the race I think though.