Day 16 (Tuesday)

I've had a few questions about what I eat and how I fit the plan into my day. Day 16 was a good day so I'll report on it in detail.

As you know it started well with a small drop on the scales, only 0.6lb but something so I feel as though I'm moving once more.

I had the longest and coldest shower I have yet managed. For a couple of minutes, it was so icy that my skin felt brittle and my breath was taken away. Sounds horrible I know but I kind of like it. There is a sense of satisfaction that you're doing something. And there's the feeling of healthiness and tingling freshness once you step out of the shower. I actually feel warmed up almost immediately, I presume because the air outside the shower is so much warmer than the water.

Then there's my morning POM. I take the dogs for a brisk 20 minutes up a hill to the top of the big field and round the block. It is stunning. At 7am, I seldom see anyone else apart from a few cows and the dogs love the freedom to run without worrying about other dogs. It is time to think and wake up properly, plan my day and address any nagging problems which may be preying on my mind.

I know you're meant to have your coffee before your POM but that doesn't work for me time-wise. I also know that you're meant to have a glass of cold water but I keep forgetting and can't be bothered to go downstairs, wake the dogs up and then back up to my cold shower. I prefer just to get straight on with the shower!

I bought a travel mug last week so I now feed the dogs and pack up my work stuff and lunch makings and leave with my morning coffee in the mug. This saves me a few minutes and I don't really mind drinking the coffee on the hoof as I don't really like it.

Working from the office is always relatively easy on the plan. I take the stairs every time now, even when I have my laptop and bags weighing me down. It's only 3 flights but I'm puffing when I get to the top! Today was harder than most as some nice person had brought a selection of shortbread biscuits and foreign cakey things which were festooning the shared table. It wasn't too bad, but as I became hungry late morning I did catch myself glancing over to the shortbread (I loooove it) more frequently!

I have a late mini-meal around 11am made up of a homemade blackberry and muesli crunch muffin (only cupcake size, not a giant one), an apple and a cup of tea with milk and sweetener.

Around lunchtime I walk around town and to Tesco and take the stairs back which counts as my second POM and then early afternoon I have my proper lunch of chicken salad with coleslaw. It looks and tastes delicious and gleans many compliments from colleagues along the lines of "that look nicer than a boring old sandwich". I had 2 shortbread biscuits with my lunch - slap wrist - and an orange and feel totally satisfied and pleased with what I have had.

In between meals I drink water or green tea. Thanks for the tip Peri - I love the Twinings Pineapple and Grapefruit green tea. It doesn't taste of much but smells lovely!

For my evening POM, I did sweet FA!  This is the weak spot in my days as I often miss POM 3 altogether but, if I manage it at all, it has only ever been a walk.  I really MUST try to get out and about in the evenings either for a run or Zumba!  I used to enjoy them.

For supper we had pork chops from our local farm shop (they are lush!) with a few new potatoes (I don't have as many as I used to) and lots of veggies. I let myself have one tea or coffee with milk and sweetener but the rest should be green. The plan frowns upon fruit in the evening but I do occasionally indulge.

And that's that.

What I like about the plan is the way you can tailor it to fit into YOUR life. It is not overly prescriptive and, if you can't manage something, just do what you can. His philosophy is that anything is better than nothing. It is also the sort of plan which I can see bedding into my future once I have eventually dropped the weight I want to drop. The early morning fat-burning tactics are something that you should be able to do nearly every day, even if you have food and drink-based plans later on so you can always do SOMETHING. That's the plan, anyway.....