I wouldn't say that I have a sweet tooth, but I do take cravings every now and again. I don't particularly like chocolate, but I love chocolate flavoured things: ice cream, muffins, desserts etc.
Today is one of those days. I have successfully fought off the urge to get something sweet - thankfully I was feeling lazy today and the weather is awful, so I'll admit it wasn't only willpower that got me through.
I'm regretting it now though.
I tried on my suit today for the first time since around this time last year and it wasn't a pretty sight. I had to go and buy a new one and ended up buying two sizes bigger than my last suit.
That's not good. I know I've put on weight, but actually how much I'd not really considered. A lot of my clothes still fit me, if a little tight around the stomach, but this was something else.
And it was fucking depressing. But I have done little to no exercise this year and my eating habits have been awful. I've been staving off boredom and stress with food. And I've been awfully bored and stressed this year.
CC sent a message.
"Dinner?"
"Yup"
And off we went. Now I'm full of sushi and hot and sour soup. Yum. And while dinner is itself not a reason to post, it was more that CC was surprisingly good company. Ordinarily, I would get angry as she would go into lecture mode, but not today. And she was all the more pleasant for it.
Right, so I am back on a fitness and weight loss journey. We'll start by calorie counting my food intake and monitor my hydration, then we'll move onto other things like increasing the exercise levels and actively watching my weight.
I've said before that I don't like calorie counting, but that's not strictly true. As long as the information is there and easily available, then I can log it. It becomes an issue when I am cooking. Then the figures tend to become more of an approximation as I eyeball some measurements and make adjustments to recipes on the fly.
But let's not get bogged down in this. I have enough ready meals in the fridge to cover lunch and dinner for a week, and an 1800 calorie goal should see some weight loss. I do need to get into this habit though.
Januarys are usually shit. Performance management, a downer after Xmas and New Year (usually) and a long time since the last pay day.
I've started portion management again... or working on it at least.
But I've also had massive cravings for something sweet the past week or so, and I'm not a sweet tooth person.
So in my last online Tesco order contained a treat - some small tubs of Haagen Dasz. This stuff, in fact:
And it's yummy. I've eaten all four tubs, 24 hours after taking delivery of them. Comfort eating. January continues to be shit. Roll on February.
As you may have guessed from the lack of update over the past few weeks, I've stopped doing weekly weigh-ins. There didn't seem to be any point when I was doing on exercise and not really managing my diet that effectively. Plus, you know, it's the holiday season and it's time to drink alcohol and snack.
I'll get back on it when 2021 rolls around and this god forsaken year fucks the fuck off.
I fancied a bit of a sweet treat, but I had nothing specific in the house - chocolate, biscuits or suchlike. I did remember seeing a recipe for a quick microwave mug brownie. That would hit the spot, even without some ice cream or whipped cream for it.
So, off I popped to the kitchen at Chez Ruuude. Five minutes later and I was tentatively lifting a hot mug of chocolatey brownies goodness out of the microwave.
Except it was horrid.
I had my suspicions - it did look a bit dry when I'd finished mixing the ingredients. And I did use almond milk (it didn't call out specifically dairy milk, but it's all I had).
Now I'm treat-less and sad. I could try and tweak the recipe to add a little bit more moisture, but I've lost the urge. I had really hoped it would be delicious straightaway.
Have a go yourself and let me know how you get on:
Another quick update: same weight as last week. A bit of portion control was the extent of my dietary management for last week, but I did hit the booze pretty hard at the weekend.
Oh. 232.1 lbs if you want the actual number.
Quick update: 232.1 lbs which I think is pretty much the same as last week.
On the diet front, I have made inroads into introducing a more protein-focussed diet, but that's gonna need tweaking as time goes on.
I did some baking this weekend. Or not baking, maybe? I didn't actually put anything in the oven so it wasn't baked per se, but it was my favourite dessert: cheesecake. I make a cheesecake once or twice a year, mainly because I end up eating it on my own and get sick of it. I don't even have a real favourite, but what I've made recently: plain/vanilla, strawberry, orange and chocolate, ginger and lime and a few others.
Want to come round and help me eat it before I ruin tomorrow's weigh-in?
