V Diet 2- Final Thoughts and Summary

Final Thoughts and Summary

As I mentioned before I didn't weigh myself every day during the 2 week transition period so I can't produce the pretty graphs like I did in my earlier post. Instead, this post will focus on my thoughts about doing the velocity diet a second time. 

First the summary...

Over the transition period I gained about 2-3 lbs. I lost about 9lbs in the six weeks of the diet. However, I did gain another 2 lbs after the transition period. That was disappointing. Fortunately I've gone back to losing those couple of pounds. I'm hopeful that more weight will come off with a good healthy diet and training. 

Ok here are some thoughts...

1. Don't search for "healthy" products but look for specific things. 

What is a healthy diet is very difficult to define and this really depends on what you mean by healthy. If you focus on fat loss then carbs and calories are important. If you care about healthy skin, healthy hair etc then other things like vitamins are important. Some people care more about cancer and think organic food will help against cancer. That may be true but organic sugar will still get you fat! A lot of it will also depend on your metablism. If you are happy and have a healthy body and can eat a loaf of bread every day then do you really need to do the v-diet?

2.Get some friends.

Team mates make a huge difference! Having people who encourage you and think this is normal and see it as a positive thing helps a lot. Doing it by yourself is much harder, especially when you have to explain to someone new.

3. Expect a decrease in the gym but keep trying hard.

According to one of the authors, just because you have less energy in the gym doesn't mean that you are losing muscle. I don't understand how it works but I noticed that my bench press didn't increase at all and then went back to increasing after I finished the diet. 

4. Is a 2nd time really necessary?

Part of me can't help but think, if I were a little more patient I probably would have lost those 9lbs with enough time and effort just by doing excercise and a low carb diet. The most important lesson from the first time is that you start to crave healthy food. That doesn't really work the second time. In fact I craved unhealthy food even more. However, it did help me tweak things so I've completely given up things like tomato ketchup, which are full of sugar and doing it a second time does help me get to my goals. 

5. Use a diet log after the v-diet. 

After the v-diet I just wanted to eat everything and a lot of it. I found this website a great way to keep track of the carbs and calories I was eating.

6. Don't drink alcohol- not even a glass of wine...

I justified drinking one evening during the transition week and I hugely regret it. If you have one drink then it is too easy to have another and everything goes wrong after that. It really isn't worth it.

7. HSM Recipe Websites- naughty but useful

The t-nation website has many healthy solid meal recipes. Warning- looking at this website feels a bit like food porn during the diet. There are other good websites too though. One of my favourites is called Your Lighter Side. Generally, searching for paleo diet recipes is helpful but they may contain things like honey which must be avoided.  Personally, I preferred eating simple healthy meals during the diet. Things like meat with some vegetables with just salt and pepper other spices is amazingly delicious whilst on the diet. 

8. Stay busy at lunchtime

Sitting by yourself at lunchtime whilst your friends go out for lunch can be boring and dull. I liked doing my NEPA and having a coffee at that time. I then had my lunch shake later on, which helped a lot.

9. V-burn challenge

Try to do the v-burn challenge at the same time about the same day during the week. I noticed that if I did when I first woke up I was slower than when I did it in the evenings. Ideally you want to compare your times when you have the same energy.

10. Write a blog/diary.

Writing this blog has helped me concentrate my thoughts. I've enjoyed it too and I hope you have too. 

V Diet 2: Days 41-42

Day 41

These are the last two days of the diet and this was my last day in London. I had my normal big breakfast- sorry I forgot to take pictures this time. 

I really wanted to see some friends. We used to get a lot of take away meals when we were younger but chinese and pizza are big no-nos on the v-diet so I had to arrange something else. I enjoyed the Greek Cypriot food I was having at home and wanted to continue it. I spoke to my friend who suggested a good restaurant near his house, where we could order. I ordered souvlakia (skewered pork), sheftalia (sausage) and pastourma (spicy sausage). I obviously didn't eat the pitta bread.  

Souvlaki and Sheftalia in Pitta, Pastourma portion above

That evening we played poker at his brothers house. Not drinking was very hard and I felt a bit awkward asking for diet coke when everyone else was drinking regular coke or beers but the host was very welcoming. I did take a sip out of my friends liquor as he really wanted me to try it and a sip wasn't going to make any difference. It was a nice drink but I wasn't tempted to buy a bottle.

Day 42

Last day on the diet and I left London. I had a good breakfast and I had planned a bbq with my housemates so I knew that was going to be high in protein. I was quite surprised that when I got home my housemates had baked sh*t loads of cake! Isn't a bbq a great excuse for lots of meat? I'm a bit confused about the sheer amount of cake. It felt more like a tea and cake party rather than a bbq. I went straight to the shops and bought lots of meat for that evening (and the rest of the week). 

Some BBQ- Ignore the corn for the veggies...

The barbecue was really good fun and I wasn't tempted by the cake. I did have a lot of chicken and sausages. We did have a lot of meat leftover. People seem happy to bring food and not eat it. I really don't understand that but I'm not complaining. Its not like too much meat is ever a problem for me.

I'll write up my final summary next in my last post next time...

Vdiet 2: Days 38-40

Day 38

We had tickets for another event at the Olympic games today. Another early morning start, which kinda sucked but it wasn't as bad as last time. We got to the entrance and everything was going smoothly. As I walked through security I remembered that my protein shake was in my brothers bag. I then heard him call me over... The security guard was holding the bag of protein and apparently the fact that my brother said it wasn't his didn't help....I explained to the security man that it was "vanilla protein with some other shit like amino acids..." and took a taste to show it was safe. He asked me what made me think to bring protein to the games. I decided not to tell him that I was on a crazy diet and I just said that it helps me so I'm not hungry and it was going to be a long day. Fortunately he let me through based on that. In all honesty, I'm not sure I would've let me through if I were in his position and saw some white powder in a bag even if it was in a protein shaker. 

Lunch: Bacon, sausages eggs, mushrooms

Dinner Pheasant

I got home and had my favourite lunch- breakfast- see picture above. Dinner was pretty amazing too. Someone gave my mum some pheasants so she cooked them for us. I think she roasted them with some wine, celery and bacon. The bacon was particularly tasty!

Day 39

Leftover pheasant with salad

Pheasant is really tasty! I had it again on this day. I don't have much else to add. It was quite a busy day. I had another meal too but I forgot to photograph it. Sorry. 

Day 40

I spent the day out in London with my dad and my brother. It was quite difficult to find somewhere that would satisfy my requirements but also satisfy my dad's need for a sandwich. Finally, we went to Pret-a-manger. I think as far as places go, Pret isn't too bad. They always have salads and the dressing comes in a tub which means you can chose not to eat it all. The website gives the carb count of the salad I had as 2.3g and an additional 2.3g for the dressing. Obviously if you wanted to be very strict you wouldn't have any dressing but I think a little bit is ok and tastes really good. 

Salad from Pret

Meat balls with salad

After the long day I came home and mum decided to cook meatballs. She normally does them with grated potato and bread so they stick together better. I had told her that I don't want to eat potato or bread so I'd rather just have mince meat. She said that was fine. Whilst eating I commented on how they were very impressive given they had no bread in them. She replied "Oh they have some toast crumbs". This sparked off a huge argument. I couldn't understand how she thought bread was bad but toast was fine and she couldn't understand how I thought bread was bad but oil is ok. It turns out in the end she only used a pinch of toasted breadcrumbs (less than 5g) so it probably won't make a difference. I was just a bit annoyed about the whole thing. I guess this is just another difficulty of being at home that comes with the perks of eating pheasant and the such like. 

V Diet 2: Days 36-37

Day 36

I had booked this week off to go to London for the olympic games, where I would stay with my parents. It was going to be my summer holiday and it was unfortunate that I couldn't start the velocity diet earlier. I had decided that I wasn't going to do any weight training but I would still do NEPA and the v-burn challenge. 

We had to wake up very early - (before 6am!)  to get to central London. I took a protein with me and expected security to take it off me. Fortunately I got through ok and wasn't asked any questions. 

It was very difficult to plan the timing of when to take the shake. I had one when I woke up and then around 11am. This is much earlier than my normal time for shake 2 but 5 hours is a long time without any food!

Bacon, grilled peppers, sausages, halloumi cheese, egg and olives

I got home that afternoon and was soo tired, I ended up falling asleep. It meant my meal was delayed. On the plus side I ended up eating breakfast which was great. 

For dinner, I went to a friends house and had steak with mushrooms and some onions. I love steak. 

Day 37

Mum was annoyed that she had cooked fish and black-eyed bens yesterday whilst I had plans to go out. I knew this would be a difficult a week and she didn't make it easier. I ate yesterdays dinner for lunch. It tasted amazing but I'm not sure how healthy black eyed beans are. I guessed that they were probably fine. 

Lady's fingers with meat

Lunch: Fish with beans and vegetables

For dinner, I had lady's fingers that she had cooked in a tomato sauce with some meat. It was very tasty and another dish that I would never cook myself but very happy when mum cooks it. 

V Diet 2: Days 33-35

Days 33-35

Day 33: Evening Dinner

The small posh dinner, mentioned in the last post, warrants its own section as it was my biggest failure.

The guidelines of the velocity diet say that the healthy solid meal should consist of a source of protein, veggies/salad, starch (small amount) and some fruit for dessert. Alcohol is not allowed but in one post Shugart does say that a glass of wine with a HSM at a restaurant (or appropriate setting) is fine. However, it is is not encouraged as he says it can easily slip into a drinking night out with the lads.

The group dinner was planned before I started the diet and I knew that with a set menu it would be difficult to stick to the guidelines. However, I couldn't start the diet earlier for other reasons so would have to try the best I could.  Alcohol wise, the plan was to have 1 or 2 glasses of wine and a glass of the post dinner drink. I knew this was more than the 1 glass of wine at a restaurant rule but this certainly isn't going to turn into a drunken night out with the lads and I was very keen to enjoy the wine. 

Starters: Figs with goats cheese

This was deliciously sweet. Figs are quite sweet but I wouldn't be surprised if they had added sugar. However, as the options go it was the one with the lowest carbs.

Main: Roast beef with mushrooms and potatoes

The meat literally melted in my mouth. I drool thinking about it. The mushrooms were good and I could ignore the potatoes so that went well.

Dessert: Crème Brule

Ok this clearly had a lot more sugar than a portion of fruit. However, I could crack the top, eat the spoonful of the cream at the bottom and mush it around pretending that I've eaten it. I did eat some of the biscotti. That was bad but oh sooo good. 

Alcohol: How many glasses did I have?

Honestly, I'm not sure. The problem with posh dinners, as opposed to cheap restaurants or at home, is that the waiters just keep pouring you wine until you run out. They don't wait till the glass is empty but pour whilst you aren't looking. If I didn't know better I'd thought the waiter was trying to get me drunk....I could guestimate (from the bill) that I had 2 glasses of wine and 2 (maybe 3) glasses of sherry but it felt more than that.

What happened after?

I started walking home with my supervisor. I was having a very good conversation regarding my career when I passed some friends who were in a bar. I decided to stay and have a chat with them. I remember being a little bit tipsy but I didn't feel drunk. My friends were drinking some white port, which I love, and offered me some. I had a couple (2- I think) glasses, thinking it isn't a lot, especially on top of what I've already had and then stopped and turned to soft drinks. Randomly, I found myself in a club, surrounded by d*cks. I then decided to get a taxi home.

What was the failure?

When I got home I rushed to the toilet and was violently sick. I was vomiting most of the night and the next morning. Clearly, I drank too much alcohol. I then missed the shake that evening. This is certainly cheating, no excuses.

Am I an alcoholic?

A few years ago I would've easily drank double the wine and more afterwards, in a shorter period of time and wouldn't have been so bad. The difference now is that I only had 1 solid meal that day and hardly any of that absorbs alcohol as well as the carbs that I used to eat. A lot of drinking experience has taught me that when I drink alcohol, bread is very good at sobering me up. However, this doesn't mean I plan to eat bread in future, I just need to be careful with the amount I drink and adjust my limits. In summary, I don't think I'm an alcoholic, after all I did stop when I thought was sensible, it is just a shame that my judgement was a bit blurred and didn't come earlier.

Day 34

I woke up after a very rough night, had a quick shower and went off for a breakfast with coach who was saddly leaving us. We often went for a full English Breakfast and I thought it would help me recover. It didn't. Even whilst eating I had to go and vomit. Nothing I ate would stay down. I ended up going home and going to sleep.

I missed a shake as a I was asleep. I woke up and was quite hungry but I really wanted/felt I needed a solid meal. I figured a low carb meal of eggs and bacon would be fine as I'm allowed one meal a day and the breakfast wouldn't count as I didn't absorb any of it. I went to the first little 'cafe' (greasy spoon) I could find. I ordered eggs and sausages (no bacon) and was asked “Would you like chips with that?”. “No thanks, was my reply”. I wanted to reply, “No, stop trying to make me fat, you b*****ds”. I ended up with chips on my plate. I tried 1 or 2. They were pretty disgusting.

Day 35

I finally recovered from Friday night (day 34). I had a wedding this day. I had no idea (and no choice) what the menu was so I was a bit worried. I brought a shake with me so I wouldn't miss one out. I had no intention to drink alcohol this time.

This was quite a long day. After the ceremony we were offered alcohol and cake. I rejected both. Shake 3 helped a lot but getting water for it was surprisingly difficult. The original choice I was offered was alcohol and sugar (Pimms and lemonade) or just sugary water (elderflower water). The waitress finally agreed to give me a glass of normal tap water after I explained I needed it for 'medical reasons'. I managed to hide away and have my shake.

The wedding cake I never ate

Starters: Melon with strawberry soup

A very sweet starters. Too sweet for my taste buds but tasty and given it is only fruit it is probably healthy. Normally I would have this for dessert though. 

Main: Guinea Fowl in bacon and cheese

Guinea Fowl is nicer than chicken, bacon was good and cheese was good. All of this was healthy too. I was very happy. I had a small potato with it and that was it.

Dessert: Hot Chocolate Cake with ice cream

Clearly unhealthy. I mushed it around. Took a tiny taste, mushed it around more and left it. It smelt amazing but wasn't that tempting.

I was quite hungry after this. I had to leave anyway and was very lucky that I found some cheese too. I helped myself to some as I think this is a good protein rich dessert.  

I then left the wedding and took the train to London where I was going to spend week 6. 

V diet 2: Days 26-33

Days 26-33

I've had a lot of food this week. This post will just be about that, with lots of pictures. 

For my fourth HSM, I decided to invite my friends from the gym and have one of our famous burger nights. We make our own burgers using just mince meat, salt, pepper and cheese. They are amazing. The bread and tomato ketchup are unhealthy though so I made with healthy alternatives. For bread I made "oopsie rolls". I took the recipe from here. I added ground flax seed and ground nuts so they were more bread like. I didn't have a muffin tin so I used a pizza tray and cut them up after. They were actually quite good. They could hold about 2 burgers. We were all quite surprised. For ketchup I used tomato paste, vinegar and sugar free bbq spices.That also turned out surprisingly good. 

One Big Oopsie Roll

A double burger- I had a couple of these. AMAZING!

During the weekend I was quite busy moving house so actually not having to cook worked out really well. I wasn't that hungry until about Sunday evening and then I went to sleep knowing I would eat Monday. 

So far I've lost 9 lbs. That doesn't sound a lot to lose in 4 weeks but I only lost 12 lbs the first time and you do lose less the second time. Physically I can see the difference and rather annoyingly my trousers keep falling down. I recorded my weight every day, always before going to the gym but after going for a wee and of course always naked. 

Weight Chart

It is recommended that you don't weigh yourself everyday as the fluctuations can drive you crazy but as I had done the diet once before I decided to go for it and thought it might be interesting. 

The fluctuations and the weight loss slow down in weeks 5 and 6 when you start eating. Unfortunately, due to some practical implications I can't keep this going in weeks 5 and 6. I will keep an eye on the weight though.

For day 29 I had another burger with the left over meat from before and then days 30 and 31 I had a Prawn & Salmon Avocado salad. It was very filling and satisfying. 

Salmon, Prawn and Avocado Salad with Paprika

Day 32: We went to the pub. I was quite worried about this. I especially hate asking the waitress to change a set menu, i.e ask for Salad instead of chips but I thought I might as well go for it. It turned out really well and I got ham, eggs and salad with a green salad. 

Ham, eggs and Salad with wholegrain mustard

I'm assuming there isn't any sugar in the mustard, or at least not much. 

Day 33: I'm going out for a small posh work dinner tonight. The set menu we are all getting is:

Starters: Fig and Goat Cheese Salad

Main: Roast Beef with Mushrooms and Potatoes

Dessert: Creme Brulee

Drinks: Red Wine

I'm going to have to be careful with the Potatoes and Creme Brulee. I'm going to drink my 3rd shake only an hour before the dinner so hopefully I won't be too hungry. 

V diet 2: Days 18-25

Days 18-25

Wow I haven't written in a while. That is probably because nothing interesting has happened, plus I've been doing some work.

I had my 3rd solid meal on day 21 and I'll have my next tomorrow (day 26). I can't wait. It means that I only go for 5 days straight without a solid meal and psychologically it makes a big difference. 

My third meal was baked turkey covered in egg & anari (cypriot whey) cheese and some almond flour. The idea was to get a breaded like taste. It did work. However, I realised breaded meat is actually quite crap without the sauce. It is quite dry. The pizza was still amazing. The green stuff you see in the picture below is kale. Kale is amazing! It is super good for you and tastes great after baking with a little bit of olive oil and salt. 

I've noticed that I'm craving more sugary unhealthy stuff than ever before. I especially want to attempt to bake healthy versions of unhealthy snacks e.g. protein cookies and crepes. I'm not sure why I'm getting that craving now more so than before. 

I miss wine too but thats not news. I always miss wine, even when I'm not giving it up. 

Wee wise- I'm drinking a lot more water and it is good but I end up having to go quite a lot and it is really annoying! 

I can't wait till this week is over, but with less than 3 days left I can see the end is near.