Week Four - Can we start again?

You know how you have those bad days? The ones where all of your good eating and exercising intentions go out the window, and you just wish that you could start again? Well, I just had one of those days… times 7… ok it was one of those weeks.

Yep, Week 4 was a bit of a blow out. Now I still avoided the sugar – no treats, no chocolate or cake, no fruit, no honey… I really am happy with that - one month down! But… everything else I ate was pretty much disastrous, and I didn’t fit in ANY exercise until yesterday. So apart from putting 2 of the 3 kilos I had lost back on (DAMMIT!) I felt bloated, full, fat and grumpy all week (all of which had been happily avoided during this detox).

The fact that it was the School Production week and I am one of the drama teachers definitely contributed to this tornado of fried food and white bread (yup – it was bad).

Problem Number One: I was at the theatre all day Saturday and Sunday of last week, so lost my usual food prep days.

Lesson Learned: To eat well I MUST BE PREPARED!!

Problem Number Two: I had to work from 8am-4pm and then head straight to the theatre from 4pm-11pm each night for the whole week. I was tired and stressed putting in these 15-hour days for 5 days.

Lesson Learned: My emotions are still controlling my eating habits; I need to get a good night’s rest to find the strength that is needed to stay on track. And this week was just stupidly ridiculous, and should never be repeated.  

Each night at the theatre I ate what the cast and crew ate: fish and chips, party pies and cheese and bacon rolls. (A favourite of ours was potato cakes with chicken salt). Brekkie was something I could pick up on the run to work, usually cheesymite scrolls from Bakers Delight and a super strong soy latte. And lunch, if I had time to eat, was something I could grab and stuff my face with from the school canteen; hot chips, wedges or maybe a greasy chicken roll. Not to mention the corn chips, salted peanuts and savoys I snacked on while the kids were on stage. YIKES! Even writing this all down has me shaking my head in astonishment. I knew it was bad, but I was so tired that I just didn't care.

It was funny, amongst all of this obsessive eating of crap, I still managed to keep myself away from refined sugar. I’d be halfway through a giant packed of Doritos (maybe three-quarters), but when offered some sweet chilli philly to go with it I found myself replying with, “oh no, I don’t do sugar anymore”. I’d be met with a strange look as I would shove my hand back into the packet and finish off another handful of those delicious salty devils. Hmmm ironic? The weird thing - I didn’t even crave sugar, it was salt. And carbs. And white bread. And all the stuff that makes me blow up and get podgy.

It had me getting worried: am I replacing my sugar habit with a junk food habit? I was eating these things that I knew I shouldn’t, sometimes obsessively, and at the same time couldn’t stop. It was very confronting to have these feelings rise up again, but probably something that was necessary. Even though an extreme circumstance, I’m certainly not out of the woods yet.

So, I want to reverse this week and pretend that it never happened. Get my old headspace back, get my flat(ter) stomach back, give back the 2 extra kilos that stuck straight back onto my belly. But… that can’t happen. So I’ve decided I’m going to re-do week 4 instead. I don’t like what I became this week, who I became, and I don’t like what I was putting into my body. So I figure, my 8-week detox will become a 9-week detox. This makes me feel much better, and like I can move on from this mountain of salty regret. 

Some things that I’ve done this weekend to help my new (and hopefully improved) repeat of week 4:     

- I booked in with a personal trainer at the gym.

He has a 6-week challenge going on, so I thought PERFECT!! I’m paid, signed up, measured and weighed-in, and ready to roll through the program. I found out that my metabolic age is 36 and I have 33% body fat. For a 28 year old who was at 20% not that long ago, this completely floored me. And motivated me. And angered me that I’d let it get this far. I want those figures to change so badly! I want those 8 years back! And with the support of my bad-ass ex-army trainer, I have a feeling I will be kept accountable. I'm pretty sure he modeled himself on "Commando" from The Biggest Loser and he scares the crap out of me - but it's probably just what I need.

- I have spent the weekend preparing meals and food for the week.

This really is the key to my successful eating. I’ve written out a food plan and cooked up meals and snacks that I can take to work. I’ve got tonnes of par-cooked and frozen veggies, egg and bacon muffins (Sarah Wilson’s recipe), chilli turkey mince, chicken, tofu and steak in the fridge, and I’m stocked up on green-smoothie ingredients (I really missed them last week!)

- I am going to be super conscious of getting a good sleep and watching my stress levels.

It was amazing to see how quickly I crumbled to the easy, unhealthy option when I was so exhausted. I know last week was extreme, but it was still a shock to see my will-power muscle wither away once more. Time to stay happy, energised and well rested (to the best of my ability when 25 Year 9 boys run rampant in the classroom).

So here we go… Week 4 take 2! One month without any sugar – complete!