My Diet Diary

The first two columns were written in july 1998, during the first week of my diet. I have decided to add a few comments now, one year later.
Things that work for me (july 1998) Things that don't work for me (july 1998) What really worked, now that I have lost weight (july 1999)

A huge glass of water three times a day, add a twist a lemon, a dash of Rose's Lime, or the best: two teaspoons of Apple Cider Vinegar. A beer, a glass of wine... It might chase the hunger away for a while, relax the nerves... whatever, but it completely ruins the diet and I could just as well stuff myself with chocolates. Maybe one of the reasons teenagers lose weight easier? Duh.... This might sound all wrong, but beer and wine worked great. Strange huh? Once I was a couple of weeks into my diet, I acutally felt a nice glass of red was a lovely way to relax, but I tried to always drink two glasses of water with each glass of wine.

Keeping myself busy, working, writing, reading, playing computer games, making web-pages, chatting on IRC. Anything that keeps the mind off food. A video or a movie. Unless I watch it in bed I always get peckish after about 35,5 minutes. It's so damn easy to use commercial breaks for a kitchen raid... And somehow it's mandatory with a bowl of popcorn with the video... Yes. True. I can also add "sex" to that list of things I found great while dieting. It didn't take long before I started to feel a lot more sexy and self confident. Making love with lights on again for the first time in years... wow... Do I need to mention my husband also found my diet great! ;-)

A hot bath. Better to soak for an hour in a scented bath with a good spicy book instead of spending an hour in the kitchen. Pamper myself. Wax legs, dye hair, paint toenails. Being social. Damn it... I hate to admit it but right now I just can't have or attend to a party. I am much to fond of snacks, food and sweets and can't stay away from the seconds at the buffet. And I never find a dress to wear anyway... I'm happy to say the social bit went better when I was on my way.. say 15 pounds or so. I immediately felt better as soon as I could find clothes fitting again and I was glowing when people told me it showed I had lost weight. The eating was no problem once I was into the diet since I found my own way of rewarding myself for being a good girl. I allowed myself anything I fancied in the weekends and it made it a lot easier to stay on a very strict diet during the weekdays.

Swimming. I wish I could do it more. I feel refreshened and relaxed. It's great exercise and I never get tempted to award myself an icecream or a snack afterwords. Jogging. I hate it. Even with a sports bra it makes my tits jump in a painful way, my face turn red, my knees hurt and the sweat... Eeeeewww... I hate the sweat! Soggy shoes and wet clothes. I always end up walking back home after a couple of minutes, and sometimes I stop for a snack... Yess! you all will love this... Exercise is not the most important thing when dieting! I have been exercising some in the beginning, but it was NOT essential in order to lose weight! Now that I have lost 50 pounds I will exercise more to firm up, but don't feel you have to torture yourself with treadmills, when the diet is hard enough to handle.

Preparing a huge salad from all available garden greens before I start cooking anything for the family. Only then can I enjoy dinner with them without stealing all the yummy stuff the kids don't eat. Best is to let my husband clear the table and throw away all leftovers. Cooking for the family. Especially if I am in a hurry and have to fix something quickly. I tell myself I'm only having a tiny bite. Then I go for seconds. Finally I gobble up all the leftovers... And remember... Fast food=Fat food. Yes, and I still have frozen microwave ready Weight Watcher or Lean Cuisine meals in the freezer for those occasions when the family has fatty food. It's not a problem anymore, but I used to have to leave when the family was eating, the first week or so since I was so afraid I was going to fall for the temptation.

Working. I diet the best when I work full time. At work there are no temptations in the fridge or dull moments calling for a snack. Maternaty leaves and holidays are always full of "kitchen time", Icecreams, snacks, cooking... It's fatal. Nah... Free time now is MY time. I go shopping, play with the kids, take care of myself and my body. Leaving the house started to feel great when I had lost a couple of pounds.

Preparing tasty low calorie drinks. Mix skimmed milk with a couple of strawberries and lots of icecubes... Or fill tall glasses with diet soda, lemon slices and icecubes... Or tomatojuice and lots of lemon, maybe a nice vegetable juice... JUST NOT TOO MUCH FRUIT JUICE. Always fill half the glass with icecubes first. Sip slowly. Chew on the icecubes. Enjoy. "Low calorie sweets", "low fat"-stuff... "Diet products" (apart from soda) It's a trick. I'm sure. It only makes me more hungry. I eat more and I still don't feel content. Low calorie stuff is quite ok, actually. But there is one thing I have learned to HATE, and that is the "miracle" stuff... You know, all the expensive Herbal scams, the protein shakes, pills and strange things they try to sell you when you are over weight. They don't work! Don't believe them! Just try to remember how those pounds went on your butt...Ok? ... Now how do you think you will get them off?

Picknicks. Fill a basket with freshly made sandwiches, special ones for me, with cottage cheese, cucumber, tomatoes, pepper, dark rye bread... Bring lots to drink, fresh vegetables, fruits, healthy stuff. No temptations. Dining out on a restaurant. IF they have a salad on the menu, and IF I decide to order it, it's always stuffed with cheese, ham, creamy dressing, fried breadcrumbs and other incredibly tasty stuff, I end up licking the bowl... Only way to dine out is french restaurants where they serve a thin slice of liver provençale draped over two crossed asparaguses and charge enough to keep you from order a main course. (Drink lots of ice water, chew on bread sticks) I started to find places with healthy menus. Meaning Green, veggie places etc. When we went to a restaurant with a menu I didn't find anything on, I sometimes lied and told the waiter I was a vegetarian or had diabetes, they immediately fixed lovely green things. For instance, this burger place made me a vegetarian kebab once, only the pocket bread, the tzatziki and the green stuff. Loads of lettuce, onion, tomatoes, cucumber etc.

The first two columns were written in july 1998, during the first week of my diet. I have decided to add a few comments now, one year later.
Things that work for me (july 1998)	Things that don't work for me (july 1998)	What really worked, now that I have lost weight (july 1999)
A huge glass of water three times a day, add a twist a lemon, a dash of Rose's Lime, or the best: two teaspoons of Apple Cider Vinegar.	A beer, a glass of wine... It might chase the hunger away for a while, relax the nerves... whatever, but it completely ruins the diet and I could just as well stuff myself with chocolates. Maybe one of the reasons teenagers lose weight easier?	Duh.... This might sound all wrong, but beer and wine worked great. Strange huh? Once I was a couple of weeks into my diet, I acutally felt a nice glass of red was a lovely way to relax, but I tried to always drink two glasses of water with each glass of wine.
Keeping myself busy, working, writing, reading, playing computer games, making web-pages, chatting on IRC. Anything that keeps the mind off food.	A video or a movie. Unless I watch it in bed I always get peckish after about 35,5 minutes. It's so damn easy to use commercial breaks for a kitchen raid... And somehow it's mandatory with a bowl of popcorn with the video...	Yes. True. I can also add "sex" to that list of things I found great while dieting. It didn't take long before I started to feel a lot more sexy and self confident. Making love with lights on again for the first time in years... wow... Do I need to mention my husband also found my diet great! ;-)
A hot bath. Better to soak for an hour in a scented bath with a good spicy book instead of spending an hour in the kitchen. Pamper myself. Wax legs, dye hair, paint toenails.	Being social. Damn it... I hate to admit it but right now I just can't have or attend to a party. I am much to fond of snacks, food and sweets and can't stay away from the seconds at the buffet. And I never find a dress to wear anyway...	I'm happy to say the social bit went better when I was on my way.. say 15 pounds or so. I immediately felt better as soon as I could find clothes fitting again and I was glowing when people told me it showed I had lost weight. The eating was no problem once I was into the diet since I found my own way of rewarding myself for being a good girl. I allowed myself anything I fancied in the weekends and it made it a lot easier to stay on a very strict diet during the weekdays.
Swimming. I wish I could do it more. I feel refreshened and relaxed. It's great exercise and I never get tempted to award myself an icecream or a snack afterwords.	Jogging. I hate it. Even with a sports bra it makes my tits jump in a painful way, my face turn red, my knees hurt and the sweat... Eeeeewww... I hate the sweat! Soggy shoes and wet clothes. I always end up walking back home after a couple of minutes, and sometimes I stop for a snack...	Yess! you all will love this... Exercise is not the most important thing when dieting! I have been exercising some in the beginning, but it was NOT essential in order to lose weight! Now that I have lost 50 pounds I will exercise more to firm up, but don't feel you have to torture yourself with treadmills, when the diet is hard enough to handle.
Preparing a huge salad from all available garden greens before I start cooking anything for the family. Only then can I enjoy dinner with them without stealing all the yummy stuff the kids don't eat. Best is to let my husband clear the table and throw away all leftovers.	Cooking for the family. Especially if I am in a hurry and have to fix something quickly. I tell myself I'm only having a tiny bite. Then I go for seconds. Finally I gobble up all the leftovers... And remember... Fast food=Fat food.	Yes, and I still have frozen microwave ready Weight Watcher or Lean Cuisine meals in the freezer for those occasions when the family has fatty food. It's not a problem anymore, but I used to have to leave when the family was eating, the first week or so since I was so afraid I was going to fall for the temptation.
Working. I diet the best when I work full time. At work there are no temptations in the fridge or dull moments calling for a snack.	Maternaty leaves and holidays are always full of "kitchen time", Icecreams, snacks, cooking... It's fatal.	Nah... Free time now is MY time. I go shopping, play with the kids, take care of myself and my body. Leaving the house started to feel great when I had lost a couple of pounds.
Preparing tasty low calorie drinks. Mix skimmed milk with a couple of strawberries and lots of icecubes... Or fill tall glasses with diet soda, lemon slices and icecubes... Or tomatojuice and lots of lemon, maybe a nice vegetable juice... JUST NOT TOO MUCH FRUIT JUICE. Always fill half the glass with icecubes first. Sip slowly. Chew on the icecubes. Enjoy.	"Low calorie sweets", "low fat"-stuff... "Diet products" (apart from soda) It's a trick. I'm sure. It only makes me more hungry. I eat more and I still don't feel content.	Low calorie stuff is quite ok, actually. But there is one thing I have learned to HATE, and that is the "miracle" stuff... You know, all the expensive Herbal scams, the protein shakes, pills and strange things they try to sell you when you are over weight. They don't work! Don't believe them! Just try to remember how those pounds went on your butt...Ok? ... Now how do you think you will get them off?
Picknicks. Fill a basket with freshly made sandwiches, special ones for me, with cottage cheese, cucumber, tomatoes, pepper, dark rye bread... Bring lots to drink, fresh vegetables, fruits, healthy stuff. No temptations.	Dining out on a restaurant. IF they have a salad on the menu, and IF I decide to order it, it's always stuffed with cheese, ham, creamy dressing, fried breadcrumbs and other incredibly tasty stuff, I end up licking the bowl... Only way to dine out is french restaurants where they serve a thin slice of liver provençale draped over two crossed asparaguses and charge enough to keep you from order a main course. (Drink lots of ice water, chew on bread sticks)	I started to find places with healthy menus. Meaning Green, veggie places etc. When we went to a restaurant with a menu I didn't find anything on, I sometimes lied and told the waiter I was a vegetarian or had diabetes, they immediately fixed lovely green things. For instance, this burger place made me a vegetarian kebab once, only the pocket bread, the tzatziki and the green stuff. Loads of lettuce, onion, tomatoes, cucumber etc.

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