Diets diets and more diets

Getting your mind in a state that it would accept that you are about to go on a very strict diet is quite an achievement.

Strategic planning was all that I could think about this last week and after talking to a friend of mine at the office, I was convinced that I knew which diet to go for. Firstly: I don't have a lot of time. I have about 4 months to either succeed or to fail and have the get super-fit the same time. I have been to WW in the past but the choice of food is too overwhelming. I think that I will do better on a diet which tells me exactly what I need to eat and as my days are so unpredictable (being all over the country most weekdays), I need something which doesn't involve a lot of cooking so shakes and bars should do the trick. Yes, I can hear you all saying that soups, bars and shakes doesn't work. But I have a trick up my sleeve and that is all this exercise that I will do with this including the upcoming big bike ride!!

My friend is on LL (sorry I have to use all these abbreviations...) and absolutely swears by it. He has lost an enormous about (4 stone I think in total!) and if he can do it, I can do it. So I've been preparing myself mentally for this new challenge that starts tomorrow. I contacted the Councillor of the LL dept here locally and arranged an info session.

What a disappointment! Firstly. I can't just 'sign-up'. I have to have a medical. OK! Cool. I can live with that. But then came the sticker. I must join a group and the only group where there are spaces are on Wednesdays. Bugger. They can put me onto a waiting list for Saturday...great hah. Do they want customers or what?

I got slightly annoyed with the lady that did the briefing session as she sort of insinuated that I'm not prepared to make a commitment. (When I said I can't do Wednesdays). There was another lady with me at the info session and she said she has no problem with signing up on Wednesday. Well, that's fine for her but I can't tell my boss that I need to be back home for a diet class when I'm halfway across England, now can I??

Anyway. It seems that I will have to do this all by myself. I must admit I that I will save shed loads of money as the LL diet is £66 per week!

I went to Tesco and bought Slimfast which also caters for shakes, bars and soups. I got some instant drinks which I can take on my travels and also got powder which I can use at home.

Tomorrow will start with a bang as my team is meeting and we all go for a meal during the meeting. Well I will either fake not being hungry (and try to stop my tummy rumbling) or I will have to take out my Slimfast shake and enjoy that whilst everyone else is having a lovely light lunch.

So rules for this week:

1. No alcohol
2. No tea/fizzy drinks
3. at least 4 litres of water per day
4. Shakes for breakfast and lunch and a very small cooked meal (chicken breast plus salad) for dinner
5. Exercise at least 3 times a week

I also have had some thoughts about enrolling with a personal trainer at my gym. Maybe the shed loads of money that I will save because I'm not on LL could be usefully spend there.

MMmm, I can hear you ask, how much has she to lose? Well. I would like to lose 2 st and 7 lbs. In metric that is nearly 16kgs. Ouch...

Will keep you posted!