So I’ve been away for a while..

I always seem to have bad timing when starting a blog. However the time I started this one couldn’t be helped as it was born from my experiences with starting the Exante diet. However, at the moment it has coincided with a lot of work and a lot of exhaustion!

I’m not going to sit and make excuses, I am simply going to pick up from where I left off and update you on what has been going on over the past couple of weeks I've been absent.

I think the most important thing to mention is that I am now nearing the end of week 6 on the Exante diet and so far I have lost a massive 18lbs! I'm definitely noticing a difference in my clothing, as well as receiving a couple of compliments which clearly means its working. I have stuck to the diet 98% (no not 100% but I will explain) and it's paid off. It is definitely easier as you get further through the diet because you just become used to this way of life I suppose, however of course I am looking forward to finishing.

So.. the little 2% cheat I had.. yeah, lets talk about that. Basically I went to see Michael McIntyre (AMAZING) at the O2 on Sunday 4th October with my sister. Myself and my sister are always at the O2 seeing bands, comedy acts and the like that it has become a tradition that we go quite early, have a meal and chill out then go to see the show. Honestly, I was feeling selfish and so pleased with reaching the 1 stone loss mark the week before, that I thought I would 'treat' myself. Now if you're imagining me sitting in TGI Fridays downing countless cocktails, potato skins, BBQ ribs, fries and ice cream sundaes then unfortunately you would be wrong. We went to Nandos and I had a very healthy 'food week' type meal of Avocado and Bean salad with Butterfly Chicken. No sauces, no carbs. Oh and I drank water. We even went to Starbucks (another tradition) and I had a Green Tea; managing to resist the absolutely amazing Pumpkin Spiced Latte!

I'd only had a milkshake during the day and decided to take a bar with me to have during the show if I got peckish, which I ended up eating at about 10pm! And do you know what? I didn't feel like I missed out. My meal at Nandos was delicious and MASSIVE - it took me ages to eat and filled me up for a good few hours. I saw a change in myself. Yes we are going out, and you could say it's a special occasion, but why does that mean that I need to eat a whole load of carbs and calorific food to enjoy myself? It doesn't! I think the Nandos salad and chicken will be a staple part of my social diet from now on - and if you haven't tried it, do it! 

Well that was last Sunday, and so far this week I have lost 2lbs so it can't have hurt my diet too much. This doesn't mean that every weekend I will now be going to Nandos just because I can, but that if there is a social occasion that I want to attend then I'm not going to deprive myself of that - I do have options. And after all, food week is only 9 days away which will satisfy my chicken salad cravings!

Mentioning food week, I realised that I didn't post about it whilst I was actually doing it. Let's just say it was beautiful. It was tough to be able to actually eat all three packs then a meal, but by the end of the week I was well into the swing of it and sad to say goodbye. I stuck to the meals that I had planned out consisting of either chicken breast or turkey steak with a side of an avocado and cucumber salad or a load of broccoli. It was delicious!

I haven't decided completely what my relationship with Exante holds for the future at the moment. My weight loss is slowing down (which is to be expected) and I feel like having two packs and a high protein low carb meal per day rather than three packs may give me a boost and help my digestion! I'm going to keep going 100% until the end of October, take a look at my losses and make a decision - and I promise I will keep you updated!

I hope you all have a lovely day, and a lovely weekend! I'll be back very soon!