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. 

V Diet 2: Day 11-17

Days 14-17

Ok I'm a bit bored. I'm pretty much used to the shakes. I don't hate them and I don't love them. I decided this would be a good time to add spices (cinnamon/nutmeg) to shake 4 and it is much much better now! They take away the disgusting after taste from the superfood. It is quite scary how normal I find it now. I overheard someone say that they were in a rush to cook dinner and I remember thinking ha I don't have that problem...as if I'm the lucky who has shakes instead. Don't get me wrong, my next meal is going to be amazing! 

Day 14

I've just finished my second hsm and I don't feel like I'm going to explode this time. Don't get me wrong, this has nothing to do with self control or learning lessons from last week. I was simply in a rush to catch the train and didn't have enough time to scoff food down me. I am however quite full so it is probably for the best. 

The food was amazing, as expected. I cooked pork chops slowly at a low heat with white wine and bay leafs.

Day 13

I met up with some friends that I haven't seen in a while. I had to have a shake with them and it is always odd explaining to someone what you are doing. It gets weirder when you pull out a bag of protein and make the shake. I looked like a druggie getting a kick, except I don't enjoy it. 

My lil legs still hurt. I hope they are recovered for training on Monday. 

Day 12

I'm pretty sure I offended people today and I didn't even talk about my poo. I had to reject some home made alcoholic beverage. It sucks, I would've loved to have tried it too but I was a bit fed up of explaining the diet to more people. 

Day 11

I had interval training this morning. That sucked. Not sure why I'm doing it as it isn't in the diet plan but it does get me out of doing NEPA. 

V diet 2: Day 8-10

Day 10

My wrist f****ing hurts. Today's gym session was a bit shit for me. I failed (EPICALLY!) during the last exercise. I was doing the barbell complex and I dropped the bar when it was on my chest. I was tempted to carry on but coach stopped me. Probably for the best.

I feel a lot better than before. I think exercise and an additional shake help a lot.

Day 9

I've pretty much spent the whole day feeling like crap. I was hungry and tired. Really hungry! I was tempted to go for a nap. I spent the afternoon looking at pictures of HSMs (see here for vocab) on the t-nation forum. That didn't help me stop being hungry. I went home and rested for an hour and then did the v-burn challege. Surprisingly I felt great after that. I had loads of energy and didn't really want to go to sleep. I went to the bar and that was ok, it didn't feel too weird that I wasn't drinking.

Day 8

I still feel full from yesterdays meal.I'm sure my poo will be epic. I'm going to go swing dancing tonight. Hopefully that won't kill me.

V diet 2: Day 6-7

Day 7

No training today and I get eat. This should've been the best day ever! Unfortunately it didn't quite work like that...

Oh my god I'm so stuffed. I've eaten soooo much. I never want to eat again.

For my first HSM I made a mexican pizza with a salad. I used about a cup of flaxseed, half a cup of peanut flour and another half cup of almond flour. I probably used a bit too much flaxseed as you could smell it. I then mashed avocado to make guacamole and added garlic powder. It turns out I'm not so keen on garlic powder, fresh is much nicer. I then added tomatoes (which were amazing!), green peppers, turkey breast, olives, jalapeños and reduced fat cheese.

The pizza was sooo good and the salad was really amazing. At about 1/4 way in I started to feel full then 1/2 way I thought I should stop. By 3/4 of the way through I thought I was going to explode and I was actually in pain. I stopped there.

Meal before I started eating

What I couldn't finish

I really didn't want the last shake a couple of hours later but I forced myself to have it, after some encouragement from friends. 

Day 6

We did interval training today. It was awful. I was drenched in sweat by the end of it and it sucked not being able to go for lunch after. However, it was quite a busy day, which was good. Recovering from the intervals was surprisingly fast

I had a couple of celebrations that evening but being sober sucked. Damn I want to drink. Alcohol is definitely one of the hardest things to give up on this diet.