Throughout this blog's lifetime I've tried several different diets with a mission to excavate through my belly flab and unearth a long-hidden abdominal muscle or two. Why???? Because I'm vulnerable to the images of beauty that bombard women. As free-thinking, open-minded and decently-read as I like to think I am, I tapped into those insideous…
Continue reading ➞ How I’m learning to accept my body, flabby bits and all
Lent is a test of willpower. Every year, like many people around the world, I renounce things I like for 6 weeks - not because I'm a Catholic (although this is what the official papers say I am) but because I feel like if I don't follow Lent, something bad will happen. In other words,…
Continue reading ➞ I’m trying Michael Mosley’s fast 800 diet for Lent
I'm taking a quick break from novel writing (it's going terribly, by the way) to update you on this year's sugar-free Lent challenge. I'm 1.5 weeks in and I've hit a plateau. This week was my 'time of month' (I don't know why we call it this. It sounds like it should be the highlight of the…
I've made it a week without any sugar! I literally had children waving bananas and fistfuls of Jelly Babies in my face on Sunday during the Eastbourne Half Marathon and still I remained true to my promise to shun all sugar for Lent. In all honesty I probably should have just had a Jelly Baby…
Day one of my ban on sugar is over. So far, I'm absolutely fine. I'm still alive, still sort of plump. I haven't descended into a shaking, sweating, angry mess yet. After reading extensively about the effects of giving up sugar I was actually expecting something a bit more interesting than this. People report headaches,…
It's day 5 of my 21 day meal replacement challenge and I've lost 3.1kgs (6.8 lbs) in total so far - not bloody bad! Here's what that looks like in chart form: I've gone from 76kg to 72.9kg in less than 5 days. I haven't been this light since before University. The good thing is…
Continue reading ➞ A Visual Update on My Fat Loss Challenge (Day 5 of 21)
When you're on a fat loss regime, it's hard not to be a massive buzzkill I wrote a post on my old blog called 'People on Diets Piss Other People Off', which is kind of true - it's hard not to be a buzzkill when you're feeling miserable because you're hungry and you can't join…
Continue reading ➞ Herbalife Challenge Day Four: I’m Such a Bore
As I settled down to sleep after my first day of the 21 day Herbalife shake challenge, I drifted off and dreamed I was at a hotel breakfast buffet. It was so vivid. I was wondering around this huge hall full of food stations piled high with things like chicken wrapped in crispy bacon, deep fried…
Continue reading ➞ Food dreams on day two of the Herbalife challenge
I'm thirteen hours into my 21 day Herbalife shake challenge and my mind seems to have become a Delia Smith recipe book, presenting me with an imaginary slide-show of delicious-looking dishes bathed in golden light rotating slowly to unnervingly sensual M&S advert music I'm trying not to think about the really cheesy pasta bake I had for my 'last…
It's pretty controversial, giving up food for 21 days. While the below post documents my experience with the 21 Day Herbalife Challenge, and shows you how to do it, I'll start off by urging you to rethink this idea. What is much healthier, more sustainable and more tolerable, is a short juice cleanse like the…
