Slow and steady (Day 2)

The day started pretty much the same as yesterday (Day 1). Got up early for a few quick rounds of brisk walk.

Daily summary
Breakfast – 2 x bacon and 1 x sausage (shared with Master Prince of course)
Lunch – Roast pork, see pix below. Absolutely adore the cruchy crackle skin.

Snack – Seaweed
Dinner – Grilled mackerel, refer to pix below
Exercise – Brisk walk
Other comments – I was a slightly heady in the afternoon, not sure why, so I had a lie down for a while before it cleared up plus stored up on plenty of water.

So why Atkins?
There are many programs out there – South Beach, Fat burner, Weightwatchers, etc.

Reason why I chose Atkins is that it works. Bonus point is that you can eat and still lose weight. As much as I’ve tried (believe me), I’m just not one of those that can starve. That is why I always assure my parents and DH, not to worry!

Sounds like a breeze doesn’t it? As you know, nothing in this world comes 'free' and without effort. As easy and simple as it sounds that you can eat all you want and still lose weight – it can still be difficult!!

Don’t believe me? Try it and tell me otherwise.

The main gripe for me is probably the curb in freedom to eat anything I like and want. Sure I like bacon and sausages but how much of these can you consume before you get tired of them. Even your most favourite protein food can be a turn off during this time. Hence its important to insist on variety to keep the whole program ‘fresh and interesting’. Boredom can be a catalyst to binges. Definitely something to avoid.

Dinner @ Hokano. I had previously blogged about this place and seem to be a frequent venue for me now, ha ha. The best asset and attraction about this place is that their food and prices are reasoanble. Plus parking is ample too!!

Appetisers - Endamame....Master Prince loves the novelty of it, especially the 'sugar'!!

Chawanmushi which came with the Unagi bento set. Another favourite of Master Prince.

Mum's main - sushi roll with salmon.

Soft-shell crab...DH's favourite but he was too full and only ate a few pieces. The green shoots tasted lovely though.

My main meal - grilled mackrel. Yummy to the last bite.

Tempura udon - DH and Master Prince shared this.

Dad's bento - Master Prince also shared Dad's miso soup, chawanmushi and unagi. Gee that boy can eat!!!

Getting back up (Day 1)

After my rather poor and embarrassing start yesterday, I decided to keep going with my enthusiasm and momentum.

Woke up earlier so that I could engage in some brisk walk the park behind my house. Even managed one round of fast jogging to keep the heart rate up a little. Puff…must say I am way out shape!! I’m sure I’ll get there with more practise and push.

Daily summary
Breakfast – Poached eggs and sausages x 1 each
Lunch – Bacon and eggs x 2 but MP scoffed half my bacon so I was left a little hungry :(
Snack – Low fat cheese slice x 2
Dinner – Lamb chops @ 6 to 10 Grill, no pix as I was starving by the time I had dinner as DH was back late.
Exercise – Brisk walk

About high-protein diet....
Before head diving into anything, best to do some research and decide whether it fits you. As for me, I got 3 Atkins book – all preaching to me the same thing, the only variation is that one comes with a recipe book and the other a calorie counter. Both of which are useful especially when you are wondering what to eat today or tonight. They are definitely a good source of ideas. However, living in an Asian country and being brought up with rice and noodles as staple, it can be difficult adopting in its entirety the recommended recipes from the Atkins book. Not only will the cost be pocket blowing but also sometimes they are not easily or locally available.

That is one of the biggest challenge following the Atkins diet – getting sufficient variety without blowing up the mortgage!!

There are 4 phases to the program but I will only talk about the first 14 days as that is my current goal. For the others, just do a google search over the internet and you’ll be armed with more information than you want!

The diet is based on the theory that overweight people eat too much carbs. Our body burn both fat and carbs for energy, but carbs are used first. By drastically reducing carbs, our bodies naturally lose weight by burning more efficiently your own stored body fat as the main energy source. The result is…..drum roll….weight loss.

Induction phase
This phase last for 14 days. Limit carbohydrate intake in the form of sugar, white flour and other starches to a maximum of 20 net grams per day. Protein food such as fish, meat, shellfish and fowl generally have little or zero carbs. So these are the food types to load on. With the targeted 20g of carbs a day, most of them will be utilised in the form of green vegetables such as broccoli, cucumber, celery and other dark leafy vegetables.

A daily multivitamin with minerals is also recommended during this stage.

Not to be a temptress but I had to bake a fruit cake as I had already macerated the fruits with Tia Maria over a week ago. Of course I could have kept the mixture in the fridge for later but being forgetful (and probably lazy) resulted in a whole tub of macerated fruits mixture being thrown out as they got mouldy!! Didn’t want to repeat my mistake twice. Anyway, this fruit cake is more of my parents favourite than mine. So resisting was not all that difficult.

Here's my parent's favourite fruit cake, more cake less fruit!

Could get dizzy just smelling it, if only I sink my teeth into it.