Wanted to read through everyone's diaries tonight but just won't get finished - how can so much happen in 2 days?!? Will carry on tomorrow now I know where I can find wifi here.
Thanks for all your send offs and cheese joke challenges! I am working on emmental but it's hard not to be too obvious. Give me another day...
So here's my diary which I wrote up but wasn't able to post. So pleased to get back on here - felt a bit lost without you all!!
15[SUP]th[/SUP] July
Found a tape measure while clearing out a cupboard so took my measurements. Wish I’d done it at the very start and not sure if I’ll lose any more with 5lbs to go but still:
Chest: 33”
Waist: 29”
Hips: 37½ ”
Thigh: 21½ ”
Upper arm: 10¾ ”
Belly (not a usual measurement I know, but my tum is still so huge that I want to see if anything I do can reduce it): 37” Blimey.
16[SUP]th[/SUP] July
Day 34 cruise, PV
Well, today was pretty much as tough as I thought it was going to be.
Met a colleague at the airport and she gets access to s****y BA lounge and could take me in too. Man, talk about how the other half live! There was a full breakfast spread including fry up type fare, dinky little pastries, fruit salad, every cereal you can imagine, fresh bread, fresh fruit, dried fruit, juices, biscuits etc etc. Then there’s a full wine rack with half a dozen reds and whites to choose from and a whole bar of spirits and mixers that you can just help yourself to, along with crisps and snacks. Now, it was super early and I woke up feeling pretty crappy with a sore throat and incoming cold, so booze obviously didn’t remotely appeal, but it somehow felt harder to resist all the goodies knowing that they were completely free!
So as all around me were tucking in to this feast, I got out my little tupperware pot with total 0% yoghurt and sweetener and lemon flavouring and oat bran and my little plastic spoon....people really did think I was mad, not least my colleague. She’d better get used to it....
Stocked up on throat stuff and cold remedies and grabbed a few zzzs on the plane. As I feared though, Geneva is just not a good place for Dukan. Stopped for a coffee but they only had full fat milk. Went to get lunch at the UN cafeteria but it was nearing the end of lunch service and the fish was finished while the veggie option was a cheese pastry or sandwiches. Salvaged a meal out of some really random stuff but it’s was far from tasty. They did have some low fat fruit yoghurts which aren’t perfect but the best of a bad bunch. I have a feeling this is what it’s going to be like all week.....
Crazy thing is I’ve got all my stock of carefully prepared Dukan fare but just feel too daft to bring it out and eat it while the others have their meals. Ended up sitting in my room this evening filling up on asparagus, bean curd chunks and tomatoes before dinner. In the end though we went for sushi so I could have some sashimi which was perfect.
Blinking hotel room doesn’t have a fridge (or a kettle, grumble), so not sure things I’ve brought will keep that well either and was also planning to use it to keep some yoghurts which they must sell in the supermarkets. I know it’s not the end of the world but feels tough to be so motivated to keep going with Dukan but without having the control of food – I feel I really need to be in control while I’m in cruise. Shall try to see it as good practice for conso I guess.
B: 100g total 0% yoghurt, 2 ginger spice muffins
S: Cappuccino (full fat milk)
L: aubergine stew (pretty yuk but didn’t taste oily), 2 tbsp grated carrot, 2 tbsp full fat cottage cheese, mixed fruit yoghurt (containing fruit bits – first fruit I’ve eaten in over 5 weeks – never thought I could get so excited about a single, over processed blackcurrant!)
S: sugar free Ricola sweets (well, they are made here, thought I’d see what all the fuss is about...)
D: asparagus, 150g bean curd chunks, tomatoes, 2 scallops as sashimi, 20g Japanese pickles, wasabi & soya sauce, 20g Japanese omelette triangles
Also had a few throat sweets (the ones with anaesthetic and antibiotics) and forgot, until I felt the sugar coursing through my veins, that of course they are sweet as well. Grrr.
Exercise: none
WW pro points: 26
Oh, and I forgot to say that I weighed in at 8st 10lbs which is 1lb down from last week. Don’t quite see how I can get to TW within the 44 days stipulated by the Dear Doctor unless a miracle occurs, especially as most of this week is going to have to be PV. Annoying as I’m sure otherwise I’d be quite pleased with a pound off.
Am going to see if I can get an ethernet cable for my laptop as I need to check in with my minimins buddies - missing all the Monday chat of who’s lost what and need that Dukan support in my life right now!
Day 35 Cruise PV Day
Tricky day again. Still not feeling great and throat's sore and raw but doesn’t seem worse than yesterday. Huge breakfast offering at the hotel, but the only thing Dukan friendly was boiled eggs. Had one of them (snap Stig!) then snuck off for a yogurt and ginger spice muffin. My colleagues are definitely getting suspicious that I’m anorexic or something! One of them made me make up a sandwich from the breakfast buffet to put in my bag for later. I duly did so, but feel baaad about wasting food. Not bad enough to actually eat it though!
So ruddy difficult getting Dukan friendly food in this country. Lunch at the UN canteen again and I was so excited to see skewers of grilled prawns - absolutely perfect. Stopped the server from giving me the rice so just took the prawns and some artichoke stew. Then he goes and pours this oily looking sauce over the prawns without even asking if I wanted it. You should have seen my face, I was gutted! Tried wiping the sauce off (more 'is she anorexic?' looks from colleagues), but essentially they were no longer Dukan (the prawns, not the colleagues, I was never going to eat my colleagues, they're all fab and also I don't eat meat), plus, I dipped my finger in the sauce and it was disgusting. V glad I brought stuff from home now, even though it's getting a bit dodgy having not been in the fridge for 2 days...
It's so hot here it's great - really can't remember the last time I felt lovely and warm outside - feel like it's just been a battle with wind and rain for the entire summer. Shame we're working such long days mind, as we're only getting out for occasional breaks. Better than nowt though! Nearly killed me on the way back to the hotel this evening as everyone I passed seemed to be eating icecream. Mmmm, icecream.
B: 1 egg, 1 muffin, 120g vanilla yoghurt
L: 2 prawns, artichoke stew, cucumber, courgette and fromage frais dip, 1 1/2 oopsies, 120g strawberry yoghurt
S: 1 muffin, 3/4 pack sugar free Ricola
D: 30g bean curd, 150g Thai tofu salad, steamed asparagus, 4 cherry toms, 1/4 fromage frais gateau
And man, definitely overdid the sugar free Ricolas! They were soothing my throat and tasted good, before I knew it I'd got through 3/4 of a pack. Was just thinking 'don't know what the problem is with these sugar free sweets, I must have a cast iron stomach' when the gurgling started. That is definitely not normal and I am staying well away in future! Trinnimaria, you are a braver lady than I!!!
Am finding it very hard not being able to weigh myself daily. Just feel like I've lost a tool that helps keep me in check. It's probably good for me to get away from them but I feel like I've had my arm bands taken off before I know how to swim properly. Am properly dreading my first weigh in when I'm back on Saturday.
In other news.... How do you approach an angry Welsh cheese?
Caerphilly.
Ceri, if you're Welsh, that one's for you! (Have a friend called Ceri who is Welsh, sorry if that's a random comment and you're not!!)
Looking forward to catching up on more diaries tomorrow, thanks for the entertainment!
J (Also known as Joodle, Joodlebob and Bob, take your pick) x