Food, food, food

Food, food, food - that is all that I am thinking about at the moment and most "spare" moments are spent cooking. Which is not great for losing weight as I am a terrible taster and tester type of cook.

But the food isn't for me, it is for Miss One who has some food issues - we are in the process of working out what with exactly which has her on a strict elimination diet, low chemical, no additives or preservatives - basically everything is from scratch.

If you had asked me 6 months ago did I cook from scratch I would have said yes. But I didn't, not by a long shot, I bought stock, sauces, bread crumbs, pastry etc and then cooked from there. Now I am making everything, bar flour, pasta and bread. I don't have a food processor! All food is labelled with either a green sticker (ok for Miss One) all a red sticker (obvious).

The other part of the diet is that we then feed her copious quantities in foods rich in a particular chemical that might be causing her reactions, so there are now three types of foods - green, red and yellow (challenge only foods) - because DH struggles as all do with listening completely or picking up the information and assimilating it himself.

This week is chocolate, bananas, pork and tuna in copious quantities - so chocolate biscuits, choc-chip muffins, banana bread, pork mince meatballs and tuna mornay are on the menu... any of them diet friendly... NO!

I haven't lost weight for about a month - I have been away and busy but mostly I think I am over confident and not tracking what I eat. I am keeping a meticulous diary of every bite Miss One eats but not myself - I ate lunch at 4.30 the other day - I haven't done something that silly for a long time, I was busy, I had been flat out making stocks, sauces, meals x 3 (me, Miss One and DH and Miss Three) but broken my rule that eating was important and to take 15 minutes for a proper lunch to prevent the before dinner munchie madness.

I "think" I am doing ok with food but I suspect that if I was honest I am letting a bit creep back in. I seem to do this after getting past a milestone - tread water for a month or two, I'm not sure why, something to work through I guess but nothing leaping out right now, the self-discipline seems to wane until at some point I kick my butt back into gear.

Exercise wise I was so committed, even when I went away from work I went out in the freezing cold for a run, but then the conference got busy and I wasn't getting any sleep (I was trying!) so I let the last few days slip, then I had to get the house back on track after being away, do our tax, go away to Sydney - can you hear the excuses - I can't believe how quickly they can creep back in! Suddenly three weeks had gone by and I had exercised max three times/week compared with 6 the previous couple of months. Whilst that is probably ok, it is the fact that I made excuses for not going, whereas before I would not accept any excuses. So back to it this week, no excuses and I feel better for it.

I am so much stronger than when I started the 12WBT, I carried an eski full of meat with ease, I have little "guns" and my core is finally strengthening back up. I have noticed that I just tend to eat less of a meal, whereas I would have cleaned my plate before or gone back for seconds of something really yummy, but I am satisfied with a moderate amount now. The most important thing for me is to be organised and put preparing my food and eating it as a priority to prevent me getting ravenous and making poor choices because they are quicker and easier. I've signed up for the next round over Christmas, the journey is still a long way ahead but every step will get me closer.