Dummy spit

Whilst it may be true that Jesus said it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles (according to Matt 15:11, in the prologue to this week's Gospel reading), but what goes into the mouth certainly does have an impact on one's weight.

A month or two ago, after struggling with painful knees and other side-effects of the fact that I was then heavier than I have ever been, I had a dummy spit about my weight. Those of you who have known me for a long time will realise that this is a good thing, because no matter how much people (eg mother, doctors etc) nag me about my weight, or patiently cajole or explain why it's not good to be carrying so much excess baggage, it is not until I have my own personal dummy spit that I will actually take serious action to do anything about it.

So, the dummy spit happened, and I decided that I needed to take things in hand and actually lose weight. I had joined the local gym a year ago, but due to problems with my knees, busy-ness, and various other excuses (some valid, and some a tad thin) it's been a while since I last went to the gym. So, I decided I need to do something about my diet.

I had been eyeing off the Tony Ferguson program for some time (as it's advertised to death on TV), and after checking out the details of the science of what this involves, I took the plunge and ordered the meal replacement shakes, vitamin supplements and other things required to start on the program, with the intention of starting on it when I returned home from my sojourn in WA.

So, a fortnight ago, I started, and said goodbye to my erstwhile staples of caffeine, pasta, rice, caffeine, potatoes, noodles and caffeine. I have been drinking lots of water (which made me realise how little water I had been in the habit of drinking in the past), herbal teas, and the occasional decaf coffee (although I did get a response of, "why bother?" from a waitress the first time I ordered a 'decaf latte with skinny milk')

However, after a fortnight, the news is good. The caffeine withdrawals were mercifully (and surprisingly) brief and mild, I have not been at all hungry on the program, and as of today, I have lost a total of 4.2kg, which is pretty good for my first two weeks.

I have also developed quite a taste for kangaroo meat, after trying some after chancing upon it in the 'gourmet' meat section of the supermarket a few weeks ago. It is quite tasty (almost sweet) and very tender and lean, which is good for the diet.

So, with such an auspicious start, I am hoping to lose around 25-30kg by the end of the year, and will undoubtedly make various references to my progress in this esteemed blog (although I don't really want to turn the blog into a "diet diary", so will spare you most of the gory details).