Day Thirty Seven – Challenge #2

Breakfast – Coffee on the beach followed by a vegetable and haloumi frittata with a slice of buttered spelt sourdough toast

Snack – Spoonful of cream

Dinner – Beef and vegetable casserole with grated cheese and steamed cauliflower

Day Thirty Three – Challenge #2

What a glorious day in Sydney, it was a real shame to be shut in the office at work! Being Friday though and having a fairly relaxed job, I left work at 2pm and caught the ferry to Manly. I LOVE  this trip but rarely do it. I wish I’d had my camera on me but sometimes cameras can be distracting and I enjoyed just watching the glistening water, the sailing boats and the activity of the harbour.

Once home I headed down to the beach (with camera this time) and went for a lovely walk. The water was cold but I do love the sand between my toes. A few photos from my walk:

Food for the day:

Breakfast – Coffee, followed by smoothie with coconut cream, raw egg, strawberries, cacao powder, salt

Snack – Coffee

Lunch – Chicken salad with lemon juice dressing

Snack – Homemade raspberry muffin with cream

Dinner – Sausages with parsnip chips, onions sautéed in butter and steamed broccoli

Day Thirty Two – Challenge #2

Breakfast – Coffee, followed by a smoothie of avocado, banana, raw egg, cacao powder, salt

Snack – Coffee

Lunch – Salad of haloumi, roasted squash, cucumber and purple carrot

Snack – Homemade raspberry and coconut muffin

Dinner – 2 slices of buttered spelt sourdough toast (I was very late home and too hungry and unmotivated to cook)

Update

It’s been over a week since I last posted. I haven’t fallen off the wagon or gone back to binge eating but the illness I mentioned in my last post has taken its toll and I’ve been feeling very unmotivated to write.

I am pleased (and very surprised) that I did not fall back into old habits during this time, a time when I not only wanted comfort but I also felt too unwell to cook a lot of the time. By ‘old habits’ I mean binge eating and junk food frenzies.

I admit I may have had a fair bit of spelt sourdough toast and chocolate (!) but other than that, my food has remained similar to how it has been since I started my first challenge. I am curious at how I have managed this to be honest. Food still has such a pull that I have continued to be surprised at how well I am doing at steering clear of the processed stuff and the sugar and grains. If I could see an obvious alternative I have been ‘using’ or getting my comfort from then I could perhaps explain it, but so far it still seems more about determination and accountability than anything else. I am not sure where I have redirected the emotion that used to get comforted by food. Or perhaps the food thing had just become more of a habit rather than an emotional crux? I’m not sure what this means but regardless I am marvelling at it, staying mindful over it and actually quite enjoying watching it unfold.

I haven’t kept track on what I’ve been eating daily so I can’t update my food diary for the missing days but I plan to start again from now on.

Day Twenty Two

I’m not well. I prefer not to go to the doctors if I can help it but an issue that I’ve had for 2 weeks has not gone away so I finally decided to head to the docs after waking up feeling very under the weather. I’m not up to cooking or have little interest in food actually.

Breakfast – Coffee, followed by vegetable and haloumi omelette with a slice of buttered spelt sourdough toast

Snack – Coffee

Dinner – Chopped banana and blueberries with natural yogurt

Day Twenty One – Challenge #2

A beautiful day in Sydney and a lazy couple of hours on the beach seemed like the perfect way to relax!

Brunch – Vegetable and cheese omelette with sourdough toast, coffee

Snack – Coffee

Dinner – Slow roasted lamb with steamed cauliflower and broccoli and roast pumpkin, raw chocolate

Day Twenty – Challenge #2

It seems that my challenge, both eating habits and social anxiety, is about to get tested to the max. My man in heading off to Asia for 5 weeks. I was going to go join him for a week half way through but I’m thinking now that I won’t. This means 5 weeks of just me, being only accountable to me, having to cook just for me and having to get myself out there if I want some company. I hope to spend some time this week working out how I can support myself to stay on track and continue to be motivated at a time when my eating has potential to slip back to old habits.

Breakfast – Coffee followed by a smoothie of banana, coconut cream, coconut oil, raw egg, cacao powder, salt

Snack - Coffee

Lunch – Poached eggs on sourdough toast

Snack – Spoonful of cream

I didn’t have any dinner. I wasn’t hungry and had a very bloated belly. I just had a cup of tea and then a very relaxing Epsom salt bath before an early night.

Day Nineteen – Challenge #2

Breakfast – Coffee on the beach followed by a blueberry, coconut cream, egg and salt smoothie

Snack – Coffee

Lunch – Chicken and parmesan salad with lemon juice dressing

Snack – Homemade blueberry muffin with cream

Dinner – Sausages, roast parsnip and carrot with steamed broccoli and sautéed onions, raw chocolate

Day Eighteen – Challenge #2

I forgot to mention that last week I was down another 0.5kg, although I had actually gone up 0.1kg the week before which I put down to time of the month. This week I have lost another 0.6kg and my clothes are most definitely feeling looser.

Breakfast – Coffee followed by a smoothie made of banana, avocado, coconut oil, raw egg, cacao powder, salt

Snack - Coffee

Lunch – Leftover bolognese with a small amount of grated cheese

Snack – One of my grain free blueberry muffins

Dinner – Lamb burger with parsnip chips (my current obsession) and a big salad

Day Seventeen – Challenge #2

Breakfast – Sausages with 2 eggs fried in butter and sautéed mushrooms

Snack – Coffee, grain free blueberry muffin with cream

Dinner – Beef mince and vegetable bolognese with parsnip chips and steamed broccoli, raw chocolate

Day Sixteen – Challenge #2

Breakfast – Coffee, then smoothie made from banana, avocado, coconut oil, cacao powder, salt

Snack - Coffee

Lunch – Chicken and parmesan salad with lemon juice dressing, one of my blueberry muffins

Snack – A third coffee!!! No attempt at an excuse, just being honest!

Dinner – Cheese and mushroom omelette with a slice of buttered spelt toast, chunk of raw chocolate

Day Fifteen – Challenge #2

Oooh, I wanted to eat today! I had a very stressful day at work after a night of very little sleep and I just wanted to eat to comfort myself. Having turned to food for comfort for so many years, food remains my automatic go-to, even if only in thought these days. I am so used to eating as a form of comfort that it becomes a very hard thing to resist. What I found today was that I turned to wine instead! Hardly the ideal alternative but sitting out by the beach watching the waves in the sunshine whilst enjoying a couple of glasses of wine with my man is a far cry from secret supermarket shopping for large amounts of junk food to then eat in secret, never even noticing the taste of the food or enjoying the experience. I consider this progress.

Breakfast – Coffee, followed by a smoothie of banana, avocado, coconut oil, cacao powder, salt

Snack – Coffee

Lunch – My coconut-almond granola with full fat milk

Pre-dinner drinks – 2 glasses of red wine

Dinner – Homemade beef burger patty served with parsnip chips and steamed broccoli and snow peas, another glass of red wine, a couple of chunks of raw chocolate

Day Fourteen – Challenge #2

I started the day with a beautiful long walk along the beach with my man and our overnight guest, in the sunshine (at last (!), we have had SO much rain recently!). Afterwards we stopped for brunch at a local cafe and I ate slightly off plan!!! Eek! It was a minor deviation and I have no guilt but I will at least admit it!

Pre-walk – Coffee

Brunch – 3 eggs on sourdough toast with a hash brown, coffee

Dinner – Chicken and butternut squash curry served with roasted spiced cauliflower

Day Thirteen – Challenge #2

I’ve been having some problems sleeping recently for unknown reasons. It’s been very frustrating and yet the more frustrated I get, the harder I find it to sleep! Finally on Friday night I slept! Until 10.30am! I must have needed it but wow, such a relief.

I had a lovely Saturday and it was topped off my a friend of ours coming up to see us for dinner.

Brunch – Vegetable and cheese omelette

Snack – Coffee and half a homemade blueberry  muffin with a dollop of cream

Dinner – Prime rib eye steak with half a baked potato and a pear and walnut salad, 4 glasses of red wine, coffee

Day Twelve – Challenge #2

My man had a heavy picture frame fall on his head at a friends house on Wednesday. Two days later and he was still feeling dizzy and nauseous so we spent Friday night in hospital so that he could get some scans and check on everything. Nothing came up so it’s hopefully just some mild concussion. We were still at the hospital for over 4 hours and it was 10pm by the time we got home and making dinner was not on the cards for me! I made do with a snack before heading to bed.

Breakfast – Sweet omelette with banana, desiccated coconut and a dollop of cream

Lunch – Haloumi and walnut salad with coconut oil dressing and fermented vegetables

‘Dinner’ – 2 slices of buttered spelt sourdough toast, couple of chunks of raw chocolate

Day Eleven – Challenge #2

Breakfast – Smoothie of avocado, banana, raw egg, coconut oil, cacao powder, salt

Snack - Coffee

Lunch – Haloumi and roasted squash salad with avocado

Snack – Coffee, homemade blueberry muffin

Dinner – Sausage and vegetable frittata topped with grated cheese, a few chunks of raw chocolate

Day Ten – Challenge #2

Breakfast – Smoothie of avocado, banana, coconut oil, cacao powder, salt, stevia

Lunch – Vegetable and haloumi frittata with wholemeal sourdough toast, coffee

Snack – Coffee

Dinner – Sausages with parsnip ‘chips’ and sautéed onions and mushrooms, spoonful of cream