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London, United Kingdom
This is the journey of an average girl trying to lose weight and embarking on a new adventure. Everything you read and see posted from me is real. I wear my heart on my sleeve and make mistakes just like everyone! Everything on this page is just my opinion I do not claim to be an expert I am just giving my account of how I feel!

Wednesday 29 August 2012

Cambridge Diet Plan - whats it all about?

Shakes, Porridge & Soups

Ok so I have been useless recently when it comes to writing my blog. I have not written anything since June and for that I feel terrible but I have been really busy.

Weight wise not much of a difference – you would think after 2 months I would have dropped a couple of stone but no not with my metabolism!  My fitness has got a LOT better though and I even run now, not very far but it’s still classed as running. Still loving going to CrossFit and will continue to do so.

Although I have always been against short term diets I have decided that I need a boost, I need to see some pounds coming off the scales as I feel my effort levels are high but the results are low (from a weight perspective) so I am going to try the Cambridge Diet Plan and I will be blogging about it as of today. This diet will be a part of my life for a while until I am ready to go back to eating Paleo/healthy to maintain my weight. For the next two weeks I will also be limiting my exercise due to limitation of calorie intake. Let’s see how I get on!


Day 1 -Monday

After an hour consultation yesterday with my Cambridge Consultant Val I leave her house feeling a little anxious but also exited and motivated to start this plan. I just need a boost in weight loss, I really have been trying so hard to lose the pounds. My body shape has defiantly changed over the last couple of months so that in itself is a great achievement (pics to come later). Val decides to start me on Stage 2 of the plan which is 3 Cambridge Weight plan sachets consisting of either porridge, milkshake or soup and then a small protein portion with vegetables for dinner. I decided to go for porridge for breakfast, soup for lunch, a milkshake about 15.30 and dinner about 18.30. It’s funny how your mind tricks you into thinking you are hungry the second it knows you are reducing your food! I woke up hungry even though I was not!

I went for the Maple & Pecan porridge this morning which I found a little too sweet tasting but the consistency was good and I felt like I had eaten. Chicken & Mushroom soup for lunch which tasted like cup a soup – TO DO I definitely need one of the hand held whisk’s as I had to break down the lumps of powder. Hungary by 13.30 and looking forward to 3.30pm shake! The 3.30pm shake could have not come any quicker as I really struggled in the afternoon and by the time I got home I literally went straight to the fridge to start the “small” evening meal, I cooked 245g chicken with no skin and 80g of spinach together and mixed in some cayenne pepper and a tiny bit of spray lite. That feeling of hunger disappeared and stayed away for the rest of the evening. When I did feel a little peckish I made a herbal rooibos tea with some of my skimmed milk allowance. I drank 2.5 litres of water throughout the day and evening but I must say I could not wait to get into bed so I could stop thinking about poxy food! They say the first three days are the worst let’s hope that is true!  Hunger level out of 10 is 10!!

Day 2 - Tuesday

I expected to wake up hungry but I was surprised I did not. Breakfast was the original porridge, which was nice. I decided due to struggling so much in the afternoon yesterday that I would try having my main meal at lunchtime rather than the evening, for lunch I had two large boiler eggs and a salad made up of lettuce, cucumber and a couple of olives which I thought were ok but are not on the allowed list (oops). I waited till 4pm for my shake – chocolate & mint and then I had Oriental Chilli soup for dinner which was really tasty. In between I drank 2 litres of water but have 3 rooibos tea’s with my skimmed milk allowance. The feeling of hunger has subsided slightly and I do feel less puffy but I have stayed away from the scales as I would rather have a nice surprise on my weigh in next week. I did feel tired last night but that could also be down to the fact our son woke us up a few times during the night. Roll on day 3. Hunger level is 8

Day 3 - Wednesday

Woke up feeling slimmer but then who would not if you are only eating 810 calories a day. Put my black work trousers on and did they defiantly felt slightly looser. The first week of weight loss is going to be a lot of water so I am under no illusion its fat going just yet! Had Apple & Cinnamon porridge for breakfast (best one of the three porridge choices), then 1 egg, 150g of chicken and salad for lunch, Coconut shake about 4pm and then Oriental Chilli soup for dinner. Drank 2 litres of water plus a few herbal teas with my skimmed milk. Felt fine today although I can feel an underlying tiredness and I did go to bed at 9.45pm! Also asked if I was ok as I was super quiet at work, felt fine but it shows how food affects your energy levels dramatically! Hunger level is 7.

Day 4 - Thursday

Had to get up extra early today (06.30am) so did not get to eat breakfast till 9.30am and I could actually hear my belly rumbling. Breakfast was original porridge which I find quite thick so I add water after the microwave to make it more palatable. I had Leek and potato soup for lunch which I had to spend a little time on adjusting the thickness but it tasted ok. Butterscotch shake at 3pm which was ok but I prefer Strawberry. For dinner I followed one of the recipes in the stage 2 section of the Cambridge book which was Chinese style prawns, I substituted the prawns with chicken, this recipe allows you to have 30g of rice noodles in your portion – woo hoo something different! It tasted amazing and took about 1 minute to eat as the portion size was just enough to keep hunger at bay. About 8pm I felt hungry again so I boiled up my skimmed milk allowance and sprinkled some cinnamon and vanilla into it to make it taste a little sweeter.

Day 5 – Friday

I actually woke up today feeling a little bloated today (must have been the noodles), my partner Matt talked me into going on the scales just for a sanity check and I had gone down 5lbs! But I am not getting excited yet as the Val’s scales were a difference of 7lbs to mine! I just need to keep focused as you find your mind can wonder, I don’t think about giving in to a particular food I just think about how long I can keep this up as I would be looking to be on the plan for at least 6 weeks plus.

Day 6-7 Saturday & Sunday

These days I found the hardest as I was not keeping busy at work to keep my mind off food, I felt light headed if I got up suddenly but that did pass by Sunday. If I did get hungry I nibbled on some celery as suggested by my Cambridge Advisor Val.

Weigh-in day

I had to wait until Tuesday to weigh-in as it was a bank holiday Monday but to my delight I lost 6 pounds in my first week! This is good but I know any new plan you embark on always has a great first week weight loss. I am interested in the long term weight loss and maintenance, but at least it shows I am following it correctly. My biggest pleasure was actually putting on my navy work trousers and they are actually pretty loose! That is a combination of exercise leading up to this plan and this week’s weight loss.

From now on I am going to do a weekly update of following the plan as the days don’t seem to change much. I do feel much more alert now and I can feel my energy coming back so all good at the moment!!

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