Chat/Diary -- 03 May 2013

Diary -- 03 May 2013

I was away from home last week, so haven't been cooking for a while, which is why there haven't been any new posts recently. The 5:2 diet regime as generally understood seems to be that you fast two days and can eat what you like the other five. I wasn't really happy with the thought of that – it seems to me that the benefits of an improved diet require an awareness of what you eat every day. From the outset, I decided to restrict calories on non-fast days to about 1800, which is enough to lose weight slowly and not undo the weight-loss benefits from fasting.

Weight-loss

About six weeks into the diet I've lost about a stone in weight, but it is now coming off much more slowly than it was at the beginning. I am aiming to lose another stone before switching to a weight maintenance diet.

More Pudding Recipes Coming Soon

I've been surprised that the most-viewed page so far is my low-cal chocolate pot, which has twice as many hits as the second most-viewed page, which is the rye crackers. I'm going to be thinking about more low calorie desserts because it's pretty clear that's what people like to read about.

Carbohydrates and Processed Food

One of the consequences of dieting is that I have become much more aware about what I eat – I am now especially careful with sugar, carbohydrates and saturated fats. I've re-read Dr John Briffa's book 'Escape Diet Trap', and he is convinced that over-consumption of sugar and processed carbohydrates is at the root of many diet associated illnesses, such as diabetes. His thesis in a nutshell is that we should eat foods that we have evolved to eat/digest; which in simple terms is a mixed diet composed of non-processed food, that avoid starchy carbohydrates and sugar. I don't agree with everything he says, but his approach seems to be heavily based on common sense – and that really appeals to me.