Saturday 30th October

It's a food related post today, all to do with the healthy eating and weight loss  programme I've signed up for. It starts on Monday for 30 days and yesterday there was an introductory session to ensure that we were all singing from the same hymn sheet. I feel much more excited after learning so much at this session!

The lifestyle coach spoke first, explaining that in her Monday sessions we'd be focusing on mindfulness and mindful eating, as well as utilising NLP tools and techniques to set us up for long term success in changing our understanding of, and relationships to food, and forming the habits we will need to take this forward through life. We'll be setting goals each week but that's all I know at present.

The two personal trainers weren't part of this session but we were told that they will be running 2 x 30 minute workout classes. No other details were available but I'm happy with the shorter sessions as the exercise classes usually run for an hour each time. I'm assuming that they will deal with the recommendations for 150 minutes of physical activity every week, so am sure that we will be expected to fit that into our days. This will hopefully give me the push I need to sort out my attitude to regular exercise!

The majority of the session was taken by the nutritionist and she clarified exactly what is expected of us and why the programme is arranged as it is. She stressed that this is not about deprivation but about abundance. There is no calorie counting or restricted portion sizes but we're assured that if we follow the programme properly we will lose weight. The first part is about resetting taste buds by eliminating white potatoes, sugar, alcohol, caffeine, or wheat, which sounds like a lot but I gave up sugar about three years ago and am teetotal so I only need to deal with potatoes, caffeine and wheat. Sugar won't be reintroduced to the diet as the bottom line is that it just isn't any good nutritionally but all the others will if there is no indication of intolerance. Caffeine is on the list because of how it can impact on fluid retention. Wheat is excluded because it is one of the most common food allergies and alcohol and white potatoes because of how they can affect blood sugar balance. We've also been asked to refrain from eating red meat for now and stick to chicken or fish instead - I'm okay with this and it doesn't feel like a hardship.

We've been given some more resources - five recipe booklets to help with ideas for meals. There are some lovely recipes in them so from that point of view it will be fun to try some new-to-me meals. We don't have to use the booklets and the only thing we need to ensure is that we include protein every time we eat, even with snacks. A closed Facebook group has been created for us and the programme leaders will check every day to give advice and support. To get us started we've been asked to post a meal plan for the first three days so the nutritionist can check them and make sure we're all off to a good start.

I have enough in for Monday's meals. I've placed an order for a food delivery for late on Monday so will spend Tuesday and Wednesday sorting out the rest of my meal plan and cooking up some of the recipes to portion up for the freezer.