Diet Trials : Paul McKenna

Well…. it’s been a while since I have posted anything on my blog… mainly due to the fact that I haven’t been up to much on the diet front really.

But in the last few weeks I have been making an effort to eat more healthily, and having the hot weather helps as I am never very hungry when it’s sunny. I am trying to have a fruit salad for lunch at least three times a week and on an evening I am having just meat and salad. I am feeling much better for it too, and have much more energy.

Today I have started as well going to the gym. Hopefully this will be a regular 2 or 3 times a week thing for me and for motivation I am going to the gym with my local pub landlord who also wants to shed a few excess pounds. No doubt tomorrow after my work out in the gym today I will be suffering! The one thing that I have always had a problem with when I have dieted before is the exercise part of it, and I have been saying for years that I need to get myself to a gym regularly. It is definately much easier to say it than actually do it. I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.

I started the diet again on Monday… still bearing the Paul McKenna diet in mind but using the Atkins again to lose some weight fast. I know it’s not the best way to go to keep the weight off long term but it makes me happier when I can see the weight coming off quickly.

On Monday I was 17 stone 8 pounds, and this morning I am 17 stone 2 pounds. So not bad to lose 6 pounds in 3 days. This is all down to just eating scrambled egg for breakfast, a salad for lunch and a low carb meal in the evening. I haven’t found either that I am hungry between meals which is good as that always gets me. I plan to stick to this for a few weeks now.

The lowest I have been this year is 17 stone 1 pound which was a few weeks ago. I was so close to getting below the 17 stone mark and being 16 stone something. My target weight is still 15 stone, and I started the year at being 18 stone. We are nearly 4 months into the year and I am happy with my achievements. I am not too happy about the yo-yo dieting that I have been doing but I am having to fit the dieting in with work, travelling around the world, socialising and family life.

Now I’ve never noticed this before but you know the piece of paper that they put on your tray when they serve your Mcdonalds… well on Saturday when I was waiting for the kids to finish off their “happy” meal I started to look at the tray cover. Low and behold on the back of it was the nutritional breakdown for all the food that they serve. It was quite an interesting read.

Based on a quick bit of research on the web I have worked out that on a normal healthy diet I should be consuming between 2000 – 2500 calories a day, a maximum fat intake of 65 grams, max carbohydrate of 300 grams (this seems a lot when you have previously been on the Atkins diet and stuck to 5 grams of carbs each day to start with), Max salt 2.4 grams, and a recommended fibre intake of 65 grams.

So how does my Mcdonalds lunch fair against these recommendations? ….

I would normally have at Mcdonalds a quarter pounder with cheese, large fries, and a large chocolate milkshake.

So my Quarter pounder with cheese has 516 calories, 26.7 grams of fat, 37.5 grams of carbohydrate, 2.75 grams of salt, and 3.7 grams of fibre.

My large fries has 450 calories, 22.5 grams of fat, 56.7 grams of carbohydrate, 0.93 grams of salt (hmmm doubt that, the amount of extra salt they throw on the fries), and 6.3 grams of fibre.

Then to finish off the chocolate milkshake has 516 calories, 13.1 grams of fat, a whopping 85.3 grams of carbohydrate, no salt, and no fibre.

So my lunch consisted of 1482 calories, 62.3 grams of fat, 179.5 grams of carbohydrate, 3.68 grams of salt, and 6.3 grams of fibre. This meal would not really satisfy my hunger and fill me up but it certainly has taken a large portion of the recommended daily intake figures. Now that I have worked this out I feel a lot stronger about staying away from the Mcdonalds in the future.

You may well be aware…. maybe not… that in the UK Mcdonalds are running a promotion using Monopoly. I am not usually taken in by these sort of games as I am sensible enough to realise that you can’t win. The aim of the game is to collect the set of streets as you would do on the normal board game.

Now I better explain that in the last month or so I have fallen off the diet wagon as it were. It probably started to go a bit wonky once I had been to New York on business and since then I haven’t really got back into the Paul McKenna diet. I did for a couple of weeks combine the Atkins with the Paul McKenna diet which worked well taking me down to 17 stone 1 pound. I was so determined to get below 17 stone but couldn’t quite make it. Anyway I am now at 17 stone 5 pounds and have been like this for a few weeks now.

Anyway, back to the dreaded Mcdonalds…. which to be quite honest I never really enjoy, but there is just something about them. So the Monopoly game… the guys who work for me started going to get Mcdonalds for lunch to collect the stickers to try to have a big win… £100,000, a car, a plasma tv, an iPod etc. One day I didn’t have time to go and get any lunch myself so ended up getting one of the lads to get me a Mcdonalds. So I now have my Mcdonalds and some of my own Monopoly stickers… so I have to try to win myself don’t I??

In the last 2 weeks I have probably had about 4 Mcdonalds… one time it was at a weekend with the kids so does that count? Hmmmm!! Anyway needless to say I haven’t won anything, none of us have. We all have nearly full boards… just missing one for each block such as Old Kent Road, Northumberland Avenue. Strand, Bond Street and of course Mayfair… just like everyone else who has bought into the scam! So Mcdonalds have a lot to answer for sucking me in to the whole big win scheme that tempts you to buy more Mcdonalds.

I had a good steady week last week focusing on the Atkins diet, eating lots of meat, cheese, salad and brocolli. I stuck to it really well and have been pleased so far with my progress. Once you get over the first few days on the Atkins diet where you feel a bit sick with hunger as your body gets into ketosis, which is basically when your body starts to burn your fat reserves, then it’s fairly easy. It’s just a matter of getting your fridge stocked with food that has no carbs in it and get rid of all the tempting carb foods that may be lying around. Because I have 2 young kids we seem to always have a stash of crisps and biscuits in the cupboards, so it’s just a matter of avoiding them.

On Saturday I did have a blow out though when the company went on a night out to a local village. They were holding a horse racing night in support of the local cricket club. It was the sort of fun night where lots of beer is drunk and you bet on wooden horses who move across a board on the turn of a card. A bit difficult to explain but I did well out of the evening backing 6 winners out of the eight races and when the company bought a racehorse in the last race it romped home in first. The downside of the evening was that the Atkins diet was blown out of the window, with lots of beer drunk, crisps and the traditional pie and pea supper. (for those not familiar its a pork pie with mushy peas – delicious!)

So since I had slightly fallen off the wagon on Saturday and on Sunday I felt a little worse for wear, as the evening carried on into the early hours with an Xbox contest with the guys from work at my house, I decided to have a day off the Atkins diet. The highlights of the day were bread, mashed potato and chocolate pudding and custard…yum! Yesterday (Monday) was a day more in control of my food…normal breakfast, sensible lunch and no evening meal as I was doing my radio show and didn’t feel particularly hungry. I think because I have done the Paul McKenna diet for a while now, and I am used to the Atkins diet I am now sort of combining the two, which seems to be working, as when I got on the scales this morning I was down to 17 stone 1 pound. That last one pound is all important as I haven’t been below 17 stone for over a year now I think. I certainly haven’t been this weight for a long time and my favourite jeans that have been comfortable on me for ages and now starting to slip off me.

So it’s Tuesday and I have been on the Atkins diet this time for 3 full days now, today is my fourth day. I have been struggling with my scales at home for a few weeks now as the batteries have been running low for a while. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t which is really annoying. Yesterday I tried to find replacement coin type batteries for them, but couldn’t find any, so in the end went for a new set of electronic scales.

When I got back from New York I had only put on a pound from my previous loss so was back up to 17 stone 7 pounds. But I am guessing that last week I had put on a bit more, especially due to the amount of Hershey chocolates I was eating. I just felt really bloated again. So the good news is though that this morning I stepped onto my new scales and I am down to 17 stone 3 pounds. (and yes I did check my weight on both sets of scales so I that knew that it wasn’t just faulty new ones!)

This is so good…talk about motivating! In 3 days I have lost at least 4 pounds. I know that quite a lot of this initial fast weight loss tends to be fluid, but still I am heading to that 17 stone mark. Once I get below that there will be nothing stopping me reaching 16 stone and so on.

I am very pleased really with my overall progress since the start of the Paul McKenna experience back on the 9th January and so far have lost 11 pounds. I also know that if I really push hard at the diet I will be able to lose more over time. I think for me this boost on the Atkins diet is what I needed to get me going again…and who can say no to bacon and egg for breakfast each morning!

I decided on Saturday morning that I needed a boost to the diet. I am happy that I have lost a few pounds using the Paul McKenna diet and totally agree to the Golden Rules etc, but you know how it is when you decide to go on a diet you want to see results.

I have decided to go back on the Atkins diet for a few weeks to shed a stone or so, to give myself a head start. I know from previous experience that the Atkins diet is fairly easy to stick to and that it does help weight come off. The weekend on the Atkins diet was fine as you are in a sort of controlled environment. I ate lots of protein and good vegetables such as brocolli. This morning when I woke up to have my scrambled eggs I felt really good and full of energy. Since I have been on the Atkins diet a few times I have managed to build up a good selection of tasty meals that use the key ingredients to maintain the low carb diet…so we shall see. The hard part is being at work when you are tempted by doughnuts and cakes that are doing the rounds. So far I have resisted though.
I have a meeting planned in Europe mid week so that will no doubt put a spanner in the works, but I will try to stick to the Atkins diet where ever possible. As long as I keep my carb input down to a minimum I should be able to get back into the swing of things fairly easily. I then plan to revert back to the Paul McKenna diet/lifestyle change when I have got rid of the excess weight that I just want gone.

Well after an exhausting week in New York I have spent the last week doing the normal catching up with all things work related in the past week.

New York was excellent. I have been there twice now and it is an amazing city and one thing the Americans do really well is food…unfortunately. Needless to say I completely slipped off the Paul McKenna diet and into my bad ways again. I also stopped off at the Herchey store in Time Square where I ended up coming out of the store laden down with delicious chocolate. I did though only put on a pound while I was away…amazing!

So what next for my diet? I need to lose some weight and to actually see it coming off. I find this more motivating. So I have decided to kick start myself into my new lifestyle.

So I am currently in New York at a Search Engine conference and trying to keep to the rules of the Paul McKenna diet which isn’t too easy.

I got to New York on Saturday evening UK time, but it was lunch time in NYC. Now that doesn’t help does it as you end up fitting another meal time in during the day! Whenever I go away and I am staying in hotels it is always harder for me, as breakfasts are all laid on and in the states the breakfasts, like everything is huge. The portion sizes are at least double what we would normally get in a restaurant, so I am trying to watch what I eat. I always tend to go out on the evening for a meal with a group of the guys so the conferences not only involve work, but many meetings revolve around beer or a meal.

The good thing is that I have had a few people who I haven’t seen for a while comment on my weight loss. Even though I have only lost about half a stone it is noticeable on my stomach. I don’t look as bloated as I used to do which is a good thing.

I forgot to write about my success on Friday in the office when it came to breakfast time. Every so often I will treat the guys in the office to a bacon sandwich or fish and chips, and this will normally be on a Friday as a reward for a hard weeks work.

There is a fish and chip shop in town that has started to do breakfasts and will deliver your order when you like. The menu is pretty standard with sandwiches with various fillings choosing from bacon, egg, sausage etc, then they do a standard breakfast and a “belly buster” breakfast. The belly buster breakfast comprises of 2 sausages, 2 eggs, 3 rashers of bacon, beans, mushrooms, tomato, hash browns and black pudding, followed with toast and tea/coffee….all for about £3.50. Normally I would have gone for one of these especially since a couple of the lads were proving their manhood by having one.

I ordered a bacon and egg sandwich, which arrived and I really enjoyed. Then one of my friends who works on the same business park came over beaming as he had ordered me a belly buster breakfast (not knowing that we had already ordered and eaten). I was really pleased with myself as I turned the free breakfast down even though I got the usual “Go on, go on!”.

Before I started thinking about what I eat with the Paul McKenna diet, I would have had no hesitation at all to eat the belly buster even though I had just had a sandwich. It just goes to show that the Paul Mckenna diet theory is working on me. Afterwards I didn’t feel any desire to have the extra breakfast as I knew that I wasn’t hungry and didn’t need to eat it.