Day Twenty Four, Twenty Five and Twenty Six: Back on the chain gang

Dear David,

Chips and Jaffa Cakes (turned in 7) are a distant memory and have got back on track. It's been hard though - I did beat myself up a lot about the cheat, felt really disappointed with myself. I would say it was not worth it but it was great. Admittedly, it did not taste as good as I thought it would but it was still pretty epic.

What I was reading the next day was that if you have low blood pressure (mine is on the floor) then you should not have a low sodium diet. I think the craving for chips might have been a salt craving. I have been nearly drinking sachets of it over the last few days so am going to the doctor to get some salt tablets. The jaffa cakes was flagelation, the 'well, I have fecked it up now so I might as well do it with style'. As I said before, I don't even like them.......craziness.

Whilst out on a Google walk, I also found a great site, FitDay, that allows you to keep an online daily journal of your diet and exercise. It's free and it's exceptional. It allows you to search for foods and add them to your daily list of foods consumed. It has all the nutritional information stored and you can adjust quantities and portions. It also allows you to edit the nutritional information of the foods that you find. For example, I searched for 'protein shake' and the nutritional information was different from that of the DK Protein Shake so I edited the information accordingly and stored it to my profile to reuse it.

When you have finished entering your foods for the day, you can view a pie chart report that shows a breakdown of what you have had in fat, protein, carbohydrates and alcohol. It also shows what vitamins and minerals you have consumed and what you are missing or what your diet for that day has lacked. You can also see this over a user-defined period; allowing you to see if, for example, you are consistently eating foods that are not giving you enough Vitamin B.

You can record your training schedule, exercise and mood. You can set your diet goals and track your progress. It really is a fantastic service and did I mention? It's FREE!

It's really helpful to visualise weight loss and to keep focused on your goals (says Jaffa Cake lady). I have found it particulary great for visualising how many nutrients and vitamins I am getting into my system and it was good for seeing how much damage I did with the chips/jaffa cake day.

Went out last night to a ceilidh evening that was raising money for HCPT. It's a charity which organises Pilgrimage holidays to Lourdes in France for people of all ages and abilities. CPT - The Pilgrimage Trust was formed in 1956 after a young doctor, Michael Strode, first took four children with disabilities on a Pilgrimage holiday to Lourdes and at the same time revolutionised the way children with disabilities could experience a trip to this famous international shrine in the foothills of the French Pyrenees.  
 
Not content with letting the children stay in the usual hospitals and hospices, Dr. Michael wanted them to stay in hotels as honoured guests and to get as much out of their holiday as other children. HCPT now takes to Lourdes almost 2000 children from the UK, Ireland and increasingly from other countries. The children have a wide range of physical and mental disabilities, or are physically and emotionally deprived or neglected.  
 
Cared for by voluntary helpers, including doctors, nurses and chaplains, most of whom pay for themselves, the total size of the Easter Pilgrimage is now about 5000; the largest pilgrimage from the UK and Ireland and probably the largest children's pilgrimage from any country.

A fantastic night - no need for alcohol and had a great time. Company was super, danced my legs off and raised money for a great cause. An excellent evening! 

Kikicee

Thursday

Food: protein shake (Mocha), wee can of tuna mid morning, chicken with spinach, wee can of tuna for late-afternoon snack, protein shake (Mocha) for dinner
Supplements: Thermobubbles, Vitamin Superjuice (Lemon), Flush and Cleanse, Hoodia

Exercise: 45 minutes on Mabel the cross trainer

Friday

Food: protein shake (Mocha), almonds mid morning, egg white omelette and salad, egg white salad for late-afternoon snack, protein shake (Mocha) for dinner

Supplements: Thermobubbles, Vitamin Superjuice (Lemon), Flush and Cleanse, Hoodia

Exercise: 45 minutes on Mabel the cross trainer + lots of ceilidh dancing!

Saturday

Food: protein shake (Mocha), almonds mid morning, egg white omelette with spinach, almonds for late-afternoon snack, protein shake (Vanilla) for dinner

Supplements: Thermobubbles, Vitamin Superjuice (Lemon), Flush and Cleanse, Hoodia

Exercise: None