Day 001

Don't dig your grave with your own knife and fork - English Proverb

Although Day 1 was a Monday, I wasn't at work because I had expected to have to take charge of the childcare while my wife and her mother went off and took a balloon trip. In the event, it had been cancelled the night before as the predicted weather was inclement, and since I was off anyway, we had decided we would take the kids to the zoo the next day.

Having got the kids up and dressed, I took them downstairs and prepared breakfast for them while my wife showered. I made up my banana shake and poured it into a pint glass, and then got on with sorting out the kids. I was in the process of buttering the toast when I realised I'd dabbed my finger into a blob of butter that had fallen off the knife onto the plate and stuck it into my mouth.

I felt really naughty for doing this. I know that such a tiny blob at the very start of the process is not enough to derail the diet, but it was the realisation of how often I probably do this kind of thing and am totally unconscious of putting food in my mouth. That evening, when we returned, I did it again, with a blob of tomato ketchup my daughter managed to get onto her table mat and was in danger of spreading everywhere. I'm going to need to be so much more vigilant!

The day itself went fine. I was less hungry than I thought I might be, though there was definitely a couple of moment mid-afternoon where I thought a tiger was roaring nearby only to discover the source of the loud noise was rather closer to home...

I think it was really good not to have started my diet with a standard work day. I eat at my desk, so there's an association with 'eat' and 'stuff your face'. I have to break that, but it made it easier that we were out somewhere new and and exciting and that I had the kids to attract my attention away from whether my stomach was nagging me.

I had taken just one meal with me, a vegetable soup, which was surprisingly tasty and not too obviously good for you. In retrospect, I probably should have taken two, as when we were driving home, I was conscious that I felt a bit tired. I wasn't dangerous, but I could definitely feel it starting to come on. When we got home, I actually took a kip for three quarters of an hour.

My wife remembered that she'd promised to attend some event with her sister, and ended up leaving me to put the kids to bed alone. Our youngest was out like a light, but our two and a half-year old took a little more convincing. She wasn't naughty, but she just wouldn't settle, so in the end, it was nine at night before I actually got to eat my Thai chili. It wasn't unpleasant, but it wasn't exactly what I'd call a Thai chili either. It smelled right, it just didn't have any punch to it. I might try something else next week, or I might try red Tobasco, which is apparently ok to add.

So, day 1 over, and actually I feel pretty good. Tomorrow, I'm back to work and the challenges that entails, but for now, I'm quite happy.