I haven’t posted here for some days. I’ve had a lot on my mind and I’ve also taken an opportunity to focus on trying to lose some weight. I say opportunity because when I’m not at my happiest my appetite isn’t the best and it’s easier to manage smaller portion sizes.

I started using MyFitnessPal a couple of months ago although I wasn’t serious about it and lapsed after a few weeks. I have been more conscious of my weight though. When I arrived in Canberra I was around 75 kg and even then felt uncomfortable. I feel most comfortable at 73 kg. Anyway, since moving to Canberra I’ve ballooned out to 80 kg and have had to step up my wardrobe to match. I’ve even thrown out most of my ‘best weight’ clothes.

This last week I’ve been taking a stronger antihistamine to manage my allergic rhinitis (hay fever) early every night. I’ve found that to be a better way to cope with the grogginess in the mornings so I can get out of bed at 0500 AEDT and walk for around 35 minutes. A brisk 35 minute walk should burn close to 200 calories. I’ve also reduced my carbohydrate intake significantly (although I had a blow out last night). For breakfast I’ve either poached or lightly fried a couple of eggs and had an instant coffee. The protein load keeps me sated until lunch when I can have some Don Strasburg and Coon Tasty cheese. In the evenings I’ve focused on skinless chicken thigh meat, a small amount of pumpkin and sweet potato plus a good serving of boiled cabbage.

At the end of 2002 I was 100 kg. I visited my family in Brisbane and my younger brothers teased me at the beach by making whale song noises. I determined then that I would do something about my weight. I did a lot of reading around weight loss and decided quick results would allow me to get to a comfortable weight to start exercising. I chose the Atkins way of life. I did the induction phase and promptly had my first episode of gout. It was just as I had learnt in medical school. I started drinking more water and taking allopurinal. After the induction phase I was rapidly losing weight and after three months was down to 80 kg at which point I started walking twice a day for 30 minutes. I did have one more episode of gout, but since then I’ve been gout free. Later in 2003 I got down to 71 kg but that felt too light. I started eating some carbohydrates then and learned to titrate my intake to keep me at roughly 73kg. During that time I found cabbage to be a terrific way to feel sated and yet carbohydrate and calorie poor. Likewise sweet potato and pumpkin despite being quite sweet have a low GI Index.

I’ve recorded the walking activity on RunKeeper because I find tweeting after a walk a little more motivation. I know it’s a two edged sword. It’s showing off that I’ve done something. It also demonstrates I don’t do much and I could do more.

Lake Ginninderra

Water flowing at John Knight Memorial Park

So this week, I’ve found myself more comfortable in my skin. My clothes feel better and I feel less bloated being on the protein rich diet. In fact physically I feel much better. It’s helped that it’s getting warmer and we’ve had a bit of rain which meant it was more humid when I was walking. Despite being quite melancholy I found it helped me concentrate on eating less and exercising more.

So below is a selection of meals I’ve enjoyed this week.

Atlantic salmon, pumpkin and sweet potato mash with cabbage

Salmon and avocado lunch

Bacon, eggs, spinach and Chinese gooseberry breakfast

Bacon and cheese omelette

Chicken, bacon and cabbage

Rack of lamb and cabbage

Chicken, bacon and avocado

And so that has been my week in food.

An update

I got a pingback from http://thinkaboutdis.wordpress.com/2011/10/30/10-things-to-do-to-lose-weight/ and Shilpi mentions the benefits of spices. I like using a good amount of pepper and chilli flakes because they make relatively bland food more interesting. Rather than eating a lot, a smaller amount of spiced food feels enough.