The day of rest

The day after the night before is something we all know about. The hangover from excessive revelry hurts the head, makes us sensitive to anything more than darkness and reduces our Sunday to nothing more than a day of rest, praying for it to end. I'm sure this is not what God had in mind when he wanted people to rest on the seventh day and praise him.

The hangover from cheat day is not entirely different. I ended up with a headache for most of the day, a stomach whose acidity was off the scale and intestines that felt like they'd eaten several hot curries. I wasn't quite praying for it to be over, but I knew what I needed to do.

After training my client in the morning I managed a breakfast of sausage and egg. I have to admit I finished off the last of the fresh bread and I had a cup of tea! This isn't as bad as having a chocolate bar, but it wasn't quite the 4HB.

Through the day I ate a lot less than normal. My stomach was protesting some what and so I gave it a small chance to recover before a minor slip of two lattes and a pint of Guinness. I can't remember when I last had a Guinness, but it tasted good!

So when I returned home we got to sorting ourselves out and cooked up a delicious meal of stir fried beef, peppers, courgette and leek with lentils and cauliflower. I rounded this off with a few teaspoons of ground peanut butter (just ground nuts no added salt or sugar) to tie me up for the night.

After a day of feeling below par I was actually looking forward to Monday! Everything in moderation, even cheat day!

T :-)




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The marvellous cheat day

The time has arrived, the moment is now, yes my friends it is cheat day!

Today has been built up in my mind all week. It has felt like the longing for a weekend break or the excitement the night before going on holiday. Now it is here and I can eat what I like!

I started the day early as England played Romania in the Rugby World Cup. It was a 7am kick off, so I got up at 630 to get the grill on and get cooking! Breakfast of a sausage and egg sandwich was washed down with a steaming cup of tea whilst watching England take apart the Romanians. Fantastic! The bread was fresh from our bakery and a great way to start cheat day.

Today was a day of chores and relaxing. The two don't usually go together, but when you have OCD getting the chores done helps you relax. Catherine and I had a small road trip in our Streetcar to drop my brother's HUGE television back to his flat in south London. To accompany us on this journey Catherine bought three almond croissants from the bakery, a chai latte for her and a latte for me. Now I have managed a week without my lovely lattes and pastries and it hasn't bothered me. I've always felt content with my meals and not needing to snack. However when that pastry and almond filling hit my taste buds it was like a firework had been lit in my mouth. Adding to that the "petrol" that is a latte and I felt on top of the world. Needless to say that the confined space of a car is not the place to suddenly have an energy boost.

Chores were rounded off with a trip to Morrisons to purchase the week's food supply. If you had seen the amount of food we bought, you'd mistakenly think we were feeding a family. However most of it was vegetables, fish and beans to restock the supplies. Sunday was to be cook off time when we prepared for the week's meals.

On returning home we had made plans to eat cakes from the bakery, drink coffees and eat ice cream. Instead we sat down to relax and ended up staying in for the rest of the day. Tea was drunk by the bucket load and biscuits were eaten like grapes. Everything from Jammie Dodgers to Snickers ice creams was present for our feast. If it contained sugar then I ate it. In fact we ate so much rubbish (I feel slightly sick from it) that come dinner time we didn't feel like eating anything, but we did! It was cheat day after all, we had to make the most of being able to eat whatever we liked. So pizza and garlic bread was delivered and we sat down to eat a HUGE pizza with additional garlic, tomato pizza. All washed down with a healthy supply of gin and tonic!

To sum up cheat day I can honestly say that it made me a little sick. Not only physically from the amount of rubbish we ate, but also from the gluttony and greediness that I displayed. It was a idiotic mindset of "it's cheat day, so I must eat rubbish as I won't be able to eat it all week". However on a positive note it has made me want to get back to the 4HB straight away and look forward to having veggies and no rubbish tomorrow. I think next week I will be a little more reserved and thoughtful on cheat day. Much like how I have acted in the week really. It's an important but sickening lesson to learn.

Roll on next week!

T :-)

That Friday Feeling

Today is Friday (thank goodness) and I have that Friday feeling because tomorrow is a special day. A day when all my week's dreams can come true and I am a free man, free to roam the land. Yes that's right, tomorrow is "Cheat Day". Tomorrow I will be able to eat all the cakes I can stuff into my Sloth face. I'll be able to drink Lattes like my life depended on it. I shall swim in a sea of dairy, whilst experiencing a sugar high of epic proportions. But that's tomorrow. Today is NOT cheat day.

Today kicked off with an early start at 445am. I had a client to cycle to for 530am, so I hit the chocolate protein shake to start the day off.

After my first client of the day I headed to Sheila's in Lancaster Gate, a great taxi driver's cafe. There I had two fried eggs with bacon and two coffees. Yes it isn't cheat day, but fat is good!

A little more cycling and one client later I had finished for the day (part timer!) I arrived back at home to shower and pack a lunch for meetings in canary wharf. Lunch was thai red cod with lentils and vegetables. Simple yet effective.

I was lazy again today and didn't cook a dinner. But I keep finding I'm not hungry at the end of the day, so my motivation to eat is reduced. This is probably why I am suffering sometimes on the energy front. Despite not having dinner I managed some hummus and carrots instead, with a little Natural peanut butter (just ground peanuts). I have to admit that Catherine and I celebrated the end of our week with a gin and tonic. Otherwise this week went without hitch.

I am looking forward to tomorrow and the chance to indulge, but I have the feeling that it won't be as amazing as I think. I've got used to the diet and not having any white carbs, dairy or fruit. Let's see what happens....

T :-)





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Tom's cake of the week

As part of the Four Hour Body experiment on myself I have been looking forward to the finer things in life. "Cheat Day" is the one day a week when I can eat as many "white carbs" as possible. However I don't want to have any old rubbish! I've been thinking of cakes and pastries of the most spectacular taste and texture, worthy of Royalty.

Sorry I got lost there for a moment. So as part of the weekly ritual of "Cheat Day" I shall be posting "Tom's cake of the week" every Friday. When I say cake I mean it in a loose sense, so that it may include pastries, pancakes, bread items and generally anything sweet that has been made to the highest specification.

So in future I welcome your suggestions, but please be upstanding for Tom's cake of the week...

Mrs. Clafoutis

An oven baked pancake, which is soft and topped with fruit. This photo doesn't do it justice, so feel free to check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clafoutis and Google away.

My personal recommendation is to have it with a cup of English Breakfast Tea, perhaps Twinings Everyday...

Thursday Smursday

Righty right!

Feeling good today, despite not sleeping that well last night. I am getting up a lot for the bathroom in the middle of the night. However I am going to try out the sleep chapter from the Four Hour Body book. That will require a little nap and then hopefully a steady routine of 6-6.5 hours sleep. Job done.

I started at 6am with a protein shake before cycling off to Arsenal stadium to lead a client through her intervals around the stadium. After a good little session I zipped back home to a nice plate of scrambled eggs and smoked hoki (fish) to set me up for the day.

I hit the office (read bakery) to work on my latest project and resumed my daily routine of a large black coffee. Despite hating coffee a few years ago I now love it. Normally I'm a latte man, but that's out because of the milk. So it's black coffee all the way. It take a little getting used to, but certainly clears the head and gets the metabolism going...

So off back home I returned to get some lunch together as the coffee had made me hungry. I threw together some smoked haddock (that I had cooked this morning), red lentils and stir fried veg and stuck it into a box to take to Canary Wharf.

One coffee later I was heading home after a meeting to get my second lunch. A lovely piece of salmon, red lentils and veg was the treat that I made for myself. Oh not to forget the two fried eggs I dropped in there for additional protein and fat!

Well filled I headed off to client training along the Thames.

For a later snack/dinner I got some smoked mackerel on my way home and some baby spinach leaves. An easy way of getting some food without having to cook it! Off I went to bed for a 430am start on Friday...

T :-)

4HB Day 3

Today was a continuation of feeling good and having plenty of energy to train clients.

I started the day with a protein shake. As much as I enjoy eggs and leftovers I am trying to keep breakfast varied so I don't go mad! On the days that I have time to sit down I eat eggs with fish and beans or have dinner leftovers from the fridge.

For lunch I had coley (a meaty white fish) with stir fried veg and beans. Keeping to the four hour schedule is sometimes difficult. If I know I can't do it I'll eat at 2/3 hours after a meal to keep the energy on board.

I had a second lunch today of 2 salmon fillets with stir fried veg and lentils. Despite it being a full plate I felt nicely filled afterwards, no bloating here!

After training clients I was out for dinner for a friends birthday. They had chosen Italian, which I thought would be troublesome. However there was a wide selection of salads to choose from, so I had tuna nicoise and felt nicely filled after.

Overall today I am realising how my perception of food is changing. I am using it to fuel myself, but finding a contentment and satisfaction from my food that I didn't experience before. By not having any white carbs I am tasting and savouring foods more and of course looking forward to cheat day on Saturday!

T :-)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Belsize Park, London

Diet or Eating Lifestyle

If you are looking after your health or trying to lose weight then you are probably searching for a diet. The trouble with searching for a “diet” is what we read (even this) may not be suitable for us as individuals.

Do you ever see a new diet and ask “why was that created?” If you do then I commend you. But if you are like most people then you will read about the latest diet craze and start to believe that it is perfect for you. If the media (bless ‘em) have done their job properly, then you will hear about this new diet on radio, tv and in a numerous selection of magazines and newspaper pullouts. Suddenly your own opinion (you wish) of this diet is reinforced, it must work! In all honesty it will work, for a week or two. You’ll lose weight and think “this is great!” Then the honeymoon period will wear off and some event will knock you off the tracks. You’ll start to think that now that you’ve lost the weight you can go back to what you used to do and it’ll stay off, it’ll be fine. But it doesn’t and it isn’t fine, as you put on the weight you lost, plus a few pounds for good measure. Psychologically you’ve gone through the mill and your body has too. You are now heavier than when you started and demoralised by your diet experience. You’ll be put off diets and possibly fitness too.

Now what could you have done differently?

Well my starting point would be “why has this diet been created?” “Who created it and what is their motivation for doing so?” Finally I would ask myself “will I be able to make this diet a permanent part of my life or will it only last a couple of months?”

There are numerous other questions you could ask yourself. If you do then that is great! Do not just accept what is printed in front of you, question, question and question some more! By “interrogating” the article/diet you will be able to work out whether the diet was created for financial gain (likely) or for health improvement. You’ll see whether it was created by a reputable coach, scientist, nutritionist or a celebrity backed by a multinational. Finally you’ll discover if you have any doubts as to its success over the long term. If you have doubts about it then you won’t succeed, move onto something else.

So what diet should I choose?

I don’t believe there is one diet for everyone, it is a matter of searching and self experimentation to find what works in the long run, not as a short term fix for your weight issues.

Don’t worry though I am not about to sell you the next big thing. Rather I want to give you a chance to view eating in a different, unconventional light. Maybe, just maybe you will be ready to give your all to one of these approaches to eating and sustain it for the long run. If you are not prepared to give it your all, don’t bother trying these diets. You have to be certain of what you want and how much you are prepared to sacrifice to get the body you desire. When you are at that point you’ll be ready for one of these:

1.  The Four Hour Body

This is the diet, or as I prefer to call it “eating lifestyle” that I am currently self experimenting. It requires a certain amount of organisation, but proffers results within the first couple of weeks. It is not for those who are dipping their toes into a diet. This is unconventional and will provide results if you stick to the diet. It’s as difficult as you make it, so be organised and buy in the food and think about what you eat, you won’t regret it.

2.  The Warrior Diet

A personal favourite that I tried a couple of years ago. It helped me to get off bread for awhile and as a result I now rarely eat pasta, have reduced my bread intake and think about the amount of wheat and processed products I consume. If you don’t like fruit or vegetables it can be tricky, but it depends how badly you want to achieve your goals...

3.  The Oz Diet

I haven’t tried the Oz Diet, but in a way it is what I would do if I wasn’t self experimenting. It’s a balanced approach to a diet, gets you to cut down or remove processed foods and for me is a common sense diet. It’s a healthy eating lifestyle, which could help you to lose weight and reduce your chances of coronary hear disease.

4.  The Metabolic Typing Diet

Again another favourite diet of mine. I first read the book 7 years ago, but it wasn’t until I tried it again this year that I realised how ideal this way of eating is. Firstly you answer over 60 questions on the way you eat, how food affects your mood and sleep and many other unusual areas. From these questions the book will highlight what metabolic type you lean towards. You could be a “fast oxidiser”, “mixed type” or “slow oxidiser”. How the questionnaire defines you will affect what foods you should eat for improved health, energy and weight control. It’s been used with thousands of the author’s patients, which is why I like it. It has been used to improve health firstly and aided in weight control as a result. Check it out.

I’ve tried most of the above diets and recommend you do the same to see what works. As a word of advice make sure you do exactly what it says in the book and stick to it for at least two weeks, ideally four. Take a notebook with you everywhere and note down any reactions; headaches, increased thirst, increased use of the toilet, bloating, gas. These are all indicators of what your body is doing. Don’t be surprised if you do get headaches and some gut issues as your body adjusts to a new way of eating.

Keep an eye on the blog this week as I keep up my experimentation with the Four Hour Body.

Happy eating!

Tom J