As anyone who knows me or has seen my photo knows,  I carry a few extra lbs on my frame.  Or rather a lot.  Depending on which photo you have seen!  Currently however, my weight has rocketed and I don’t like it at all.  I am uncomfortable and unhappy and so I decided I needed to try something new.

The winner of my “what shall I do next” decisions was The GM Diet.

Legend has it that the bosses of General Motors were worried about the health of their staff as a number had some extra weight.  They got together with nutritionists and devised a plan to help kick start their weight loss journey.

I’m not going to set it all out here.  If you want to know about it, read the link above and have a bash if you want.  I thought however I would share the first few days thoughts with you.

DAY 1 – Fruit

Yep, fruit.  That’s it.  I went to Waitrose and bought a bunch and made a fruit salad.  In it went cantaloupe melon, honeydew melon, pineapple, kiwi, strawberries, blueberries and pomegranate seeds.

Breakfast : a bowl of the fruit with some grapes to make it more ‘exciting’.

It was hard going eating the whole bowl.  The kiwis got chucked as it turns out I don’t like them.  The rest was ok.  I just am not a huge fan of ‘sweet’ in the mornings.  I did however feel full but not bloated so that’s a win.

Lunch: a bowl of the fruit with additional plum and orange.

I couldn’t wait any more past 11.45.  I am hungry.  Very.  But equally I did wait a little longer than normal because fruit just doesn’t excite me.  I also am really very cold in the office today and having a cold lunch isn’t going to help me warm up either.  Boo.

I didn’t get to go to the gym as I got busy at work.  I also couldn’t face eating any more fruit straight away.  Instead, I had a pear at about 4pm which kept me going for a bit longer.

Dinner: More bloody fruit.

I had no hunger because I had no interest in what I was eating.  I picked at dinner but mostly left it alone.  It got me thinking though.  I mean, how often do I eat because it’s the right time, rather than because I am hungry?  Also, how often do I eat way more than I need because I like the taste?

I do know that I had a horrible sugary taste in my mouth all day, and that inside my tummy was cold.  It wasn’t pleasant.

One over riding thought of today was that I was cold – inside and out.  The temperature at work was low, and then when I got home, The Boy had just done a 5km walk so had the aircon raging.  By 9pm I opted to go to bed so I could be under my duvet and my blanket and warm up.  I don’t know how much of that was eating fruit all day and nothing warm, or how much is that I just had a chill that I couldn’t shake.

There was lots to think about, which is probably why I didn’t sleep well.  At all.

DAY 2: Vegetables.

After day 1, a day of veggies sounded like heaven.  I had stocked up on these at Waitrose for this, too.  The only restriction there is, is that you can’t have carrot, sweetcorn or peas.  Such a shame I can’t have peas… NOT.  I hate those things!

Breakfast: A baked potato with mushrooms, peppers and tomatoes to make it feel more breakfasty.

I love potatoes.  I really do.  It was still a very strange breakfast though.  I found a nice big Lebanese potato at Waitrose and it baked beautifully.  I must remember to get them again.  I added mushrooms and peppers, but not the onion I had planned because it was rotten on the inside.  Also, I used fresh cherry tomatoes which again wasn’t planned but actually worked out really well.

I had thought I would use tinned tomatoes so it would be a little more wet, but then a) the tin I had contained a bunch of sugar and b) I read the list and it said a small amount of butter could be used.  I suspect that actually the butter was my favourite bit!

I added some salt and some pepper.  Pepper for flavour but the salt because it is suggested that you do take a little more salt than normal.  I suspect it’s to help keep you hydrated – not that hydration is ever my issue really.  I just like the taste of water and drink a minimum 3ltrs a day.

Breakfast today left me feeling MUCH fuller.  (Is that sentence correct?!)  It also led me to agree with my hypothesis of yesterday that I eat more than I need to when I like the taste of something.  I could have stopped half way through and that would have been sufficient.  But no, piggie me kept going.  It’s something I am going to try and work on this week.

Lunch: Vegetables.

This didn’t go quite as planned.  I had some edamame to nibble on during the morning and then for lunch I was meant to have lettuce, broccoli, cucumber and celery.  Only the lettuce was revolting, I don’t like cold cooked broccoli and the cucumber tasted weird.  Thankfully I had the edamame which was enough mixed with the celery.

Dinner:  Veggies!

Now, I may have cheated on this more than I intended but it was worth it.  I can’t see anywhere telling me that garlic, ginger and chilli aren’t allowed and I figured since they were vegetables, it would be fine.  So I made an asian type vegetable stir fry because boiled veg just does nothing for me.

Then I totally cheated… I added about a tablespoon of soy sauce because it needed some balance.  Or something.  I just like soy sauce and it’s practically liquid salt, right?!  Whatevs.  It was delicious!

Overall, I much preferred veggie day to fruit day.  I wasn’t as cold and despite sleeping so badly, I wasn’t tired.  I also managed to stop eating when I felt full rather than just continue on.  I did finish my dinner a bit later though because I was hungry again.

The Boy had an absolutely horrific detox headache on day 2 and we ended up giving him fruit, chocolate and coffee in the evening to help it go as painkillers didn’t touch it.  I am thankful I haven’t had one yet.

DAY 3: Fruit and veggies

I had both fruit and veggies left over after the first two days, so no more shopping required.  The same restrictions apply – no banana, carrot, peas or corn.  Also, no potato today which makes me very sad.  I miss potatoes.  And meat.  Hugely

Breakfast: Fruit

The website suggests you have an apple but that didn’t sound much so I added some melon.  It says you can so it’s not a cheat.  But seriously, who only eats an apple for breakfast?  Anyway, I used a red and a pink one, and added watermelon and cantaloupe.  It was ok.  I didn’t finish it.  Mistly bored.

Then I got hungry again and had to suffer a bit longer before lunch.

Lunch: Veggies

After yesterday’s disaster I decided to not bother with the lettuce and cucumber, and just have the bits I liked.  The celery was very nice.  The edamame absolutely sucked though.  I had over salted it and where it had been left for 24hrs in the fridge, the salt had infused the actual beans.  Blugh.

Lunch 2: Fruit

I really tried to be ok on the little bit of veggies that I had, but I started to feel a bit off at 2.30ish and decided to venture into the convenience store in my building and get something else.  It was really sodding hard because I just want a toasted sandwich or a hot pastry already!  I did it though and felt both deprived and proud that I walked out just with melon and apple.

I may start to look like one of those two fairly shortly.

Dinner: Veggies

Oh what I would do for a lovely piece of fish to go with the veg.  Or beef.  Or chicken.  Or pork.  Basically, I miss meat!

I did the same as last night because it worked, but added onions and peppers.  It was really nice and something that I will absolutely make this for dinner when I am eating normally again.  The Boy feels it needs meat or rice, but I am actually quite happy without both.  A little more soy sauce and maybe some oyster sauce for a bit extra flavour.  Not essential though.

By the time I went to bed I had a pain in my stomach.  I don’t know if this was because of the detox side, because I had used too much garlic, or because I have a weird stomach anyway.  It didn’t make me ill and it didn’t stop me from sleeping, so not too bad.

DAY 4: Milk and Bananas.  AKA my version of hell.

I do not like milk, and I do not like bananas.  The only time I eat bananas voluntarily is after an anaphylactic reaction or when my stomach is really weak.  I don’t mentally think “oh yummy, a banana!” ever.  When I am ill something in my body tells me what to eat and it’s not horrendous.  The doctor orders me milk at a certain point of my recovery and I drink it because I am told to.  It never fails to make me shudder.  Revolting.

So today I had to eat 4 bananas and 4 glasses of milk.  That was breakfast and lunch. I couldn’t take any more.  Also, I actually wasn’t hungry.  I guess 2 out of 4 is a good result for me!

Dinner: Soup!

I know no one who knows me will believe this, but I actually enjoyed it!  Admittedly I didn’t make my own.  I bought a tin of Heinz Tomato Soup and watered it down as directed.  I didn’t have much but I did really enjoy it.  Next time I am having a grilled cheese to dunk in it though!!

Roll on day 5.  I am ready for ‘real’ food now.  Not that I am hungry.  I am just bored and need more variety.  Had I eaten soup for the first time since forever on a normal eating day, I’m not sure how much I would have liked it!!

DAY 5: Beef and tomatoes!

Hoorah screamed my primal carnivore instincts!  Beef!  I have never been vegetarian for more than one meal before.  4 days without meat or fish is unheard of!

Breakfast: Beef and tomatoes

Yeah, no.  Not good.

I bought some beef and slow cooked it over night with some cherry tomatoes.  Surprisingly the tomatoes were amazing.  They hadn’t popped so were borderline caramazlied on the inside.  Seriously amazing.  The beef was pants though.  Well, I thought so.  I have never liked slow cooked beef though so I am a little shocked this came as such a surprised to me.

The Boy had seconds so he obviously disagreed!

LUNCH: Beef

I forgot to take the photo until I had eaten most of it.  Oops!

I got up early this morning and cooked a rump steak on the griddle pan to bring with me.  It meant that I could leave it to cool and retain it’s moisture before cutting the fat off and then slicing it to put in the Tupperware.  It worked too.  It was delicious.  I did feel full before I finished eating but should have finished before.  I would have been full with half the amount but again, I’m learning.

Dinner: Beef and tomatoes, again!

Only this time I roasted a beautiful joint of tenderloin with some cherry tomatoes. They both went in the oven for an hour or so, and by the time they came out, they smelt divine and were cooked to perfection!!

This was my last day of the diet and I was surprised that I didn’t find it harder. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t easy but it wasn’t like I was climbing the walls. I wasn’t hungry. I didn’t crave the sugar. The only thing was potatoes. I love potatoes. I wish there had been more of those!!

Day 6: The results.

I don’t quite know how to say this….

13lbs. 

No, not a typo!

THIRTEEN POUNDS. 

Lost, in 5 days.

I am so doing this again!!!!!

I am rather cuffed with this result.  The Boy lost 10lbs which is brilliant considering he hadn’t been on a binge like me in the weeks running up to this!

The only downfall of this is that I went to brunch all excited to eat my face off and then couldn’t.  I didn’t fancy the beautiful roasted and cooked meats at the steak restaurant at all.  I didn’t manage to try half the things I wanted to.  Also, because of the lack of sugar in the days running up to it, the prosecco tasted like shit.  I switched to vodka and even that was just too much.

Oh well.  At least I didn’t put all those lovely lbs back on in one meal!!!