I wanted to be healthier, fitter, and look better, (or at least look as well as I could).  Turns out I developed a sustainable plan for eating, exercise, and good health.

It all started on June 9th, when I came to the conclusion that I really, really, needed to give up coffee for a month  Too much coffee was turning me into a mad dog.  I’ve only had coffee on 2 days since then, and for me, coffee is now a drink only for after a special meal, with a special friend.

As I felt much better not drinking coffee I also resolved to cut all the junk out of my diet.  This is easier said than done ~ most of the stuff we eat is full of salt, sugar, additives, colourings, and sundry crap.  After a while I decided that I just had to stop eating a lot of processed, packaged, pre-prepared food. For me, there is also the big issue of Abstinence versus Control.

Then I wanted a couple of other things; to get a decent sun tan, and get some exercise.  Ha!  I could do both by going for long walks on the beach, in the sunshine.

So, 6 weeks ago I came up with this plan.

1. Take a long walk every day it wasn’t raining.  Walking is good for you.  I bought a pedometer, and my long walk turned into 10 miles every day, which takes me about three-and-a-half hours.  I also found I could do some upper-body isometric exercise while I was walking in the sunshine.  Sun tan and exercise!
2. No alcohol whatsoever.  I am not supposed to drink anyway, and if you want to look as good as you can, then you need to give up booze, (and I mean completely), for 6 weeks.  In fact you should stop drinking beer for the rest of your life.
3. No wheat whatsoever.  This includes wheat products like bread, cakes, noodles, pasta, and beer…  Modern wheat is full of nasty stuff, piles on fat around your stomach, and will eventually harm your insides.  Everybody should probably stop eating wheat.
4. Take as little sugar as possible.  This means cutting out all those canned, packaged, processed foods.  Stop drinking soda completely.  Quitting coffee and switching to green tea helps too.  Not eating wheat products also cuts out a lot of sugar.  Too much refined sugar will kill you anyway.
5. Eat only healthy meals prepared at home.  Unless you’ve bought the produce and cooked / prepared the meal yourself, you have no idea what you are eating.  In any event, eating out is too likely to lead one down the road of overeating and booze. There are hundreds of quick and easy menus ~ hell just read my Food on Friday blog if you run out of ideas.
6. No snacks, no grazing, no eating between meals, over large meals, cookies with coffee…  And, do not have more than 3 meals in a day.  In fact, do no have more than a light breakfast, light lunch, and reasonable evening meal in each day.

This eating plan is going to be a big problem for some people, it certainly was for me.  I am one of those people who can give up stuff easily, but I can’t control how much stuff I want once I’ve started.  Like most of us, once I start eating I want to eat more.

My solution was daily intermittent fasting, eating only 1 meal a day, my evening meal.

You will be surprised to know that I found this programme very easy to follow.

And when I checked my wight yesterday I found I had hit my target of 150 pounds, which means I have shed 3 pounds of flab, every week for 6 weeks.  Add it up.

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jackcollier7@talktalk.net