

I found the first week very hard, although you pick your Fast days, it’s still hard to take yourself out of social food situations – I had no idea how much time I spent around food! One of the hardest moments was sitting down with my children to eat dinner, watching them eat while I had a shake or a tiny bowl of LighterLife Fast Spaghetti Bolognese to compare.
However, after the first week I learned a lot of skills to make Fast days easier. For one, I am very aware that it’s three days a week – the other four days I get to eat normally but healthily. I now plan my meals on my Fast days in advance, particularly when I’m travelling, which I do a lot for work. This means I know what to expect and I can mentally prepare for it. On some days I even look forward to them!I know find fast days pretty easy. I tend to plan my fast days during the week – typically Monday, Tuesday and Thursday to keep the weekend free. I do find clearing up after meals in the evening on a fast day difficult, but I know that picking at leftovers won’t do me any good ultimately. I sometimes “fall off the wagon”, I feel like I’m human and we all do, but I now know to have a few little high protein, low carb snacks on hand, such as beef jerky, which help with cravings.
Another tip for those following the plan, is that I’ve also stopped drinking milky coffee’s. Cappuccino and lattes used to be my weakness, so to continue getting my caffeine fix (we can’t give up everything ha!) I now drink my coffee black. It saves me a fortune at Starbuck and Costa! I also carry (sugar-free) chewing gum which helps if I get really hungry.To date, I’ve lost just over a stone and I’m now at 16st 6lbs. One and a half stone to go over the next 4 months. Not as easy as it sounds, but I’m excited for the challenge..As I said, I find “Fast” days fairly easy. My challenge is the “smart days”. My “smart days” are a work in progress and I’ll tell you about them next week…