Life Challenge Week 4: Louisa Wilkins

Day 26: Exercise-free week 
 
Today passed in a flurry of work and activity that I didn’t get time to eat properly… everything was on the go. Tuna sandwich and a soya cappuccino from Starbucks, both consumed in the car; salad from the canteen eaten at my desk; leftover chicken curry straight from the fridge when I got home, and then nibbles out at Belgian Beer Café in the evening with friends. Nibbles makes it sound like a few crisps – it was actually my body weight in Bitterballen and other choice bits. The only other bit of news is that I have now officially done a whole (working) week without exercising once – and I can’t see an opportunity for at least a few days. Eeek.

Day 25: Diwali sugar high

Despite being a self-confessed slave to the sweet-tooth, abstaining from cakes, biscuits and chocolate because of their gluten and lactose content hasn’t been that difficult. It’s been rather easy in fact.

Until yesterday, when Charlene sent me a photo of her bag of pic’n’mix sweeties – at which point something clicked inside my head, and I decided that I deserved something nice for all my hard work. As luck would have it, the office Diwali celebrations had resulted in tables laden with oily samosas and syrupy Indian sweets. Within minutes I had inhaled a samosa and five gulab jamuns. Five. Interestingly I didn’t feel guilty. I’m not sure if this is because now, thanks to Sarah Queen, I know that I am eating so healthily the rest of the time that a little bit of sugar won’t do any harm, or because Shana Kad’s life coaching has deleted guilt from my mind so well that I am now immune to it. But I really didn’t feel bad at all.

What I noticed, however, was how much other people can pile the guilt on… After three weeks of dedication to the new lifestyle, without so much as a Rich Tea biscuit, people were ready to dig the guilt knife in as soon as I approached the gulab jamun table. “So, giving up on the diet already then are we?” And, “So, are Indian sweets allowed on the new regime then?” I thought, “Actually, no. I am not giving up on the diet, because I am not on a diet. I am choosing to eat healthier food on a daily basis because I want to feel good and stay healthy. And, yes Indian sweets are allowed because it is my regime. Nobody is forcing me to do it. I won’t get a smacked bottom if I eat a gulab jamun. It is simply a matter of choice – weighing up how much I want it and whether I will enjoy it enough to make the calories and the sugar and the lactose content worthwhile. And, in this instance, I have decided that yes it is worthwhile.” But I didn’t say it. Nor did I try to defend my honour with excuses or confessions of weakness. I just smiled sweetly, took another gulab jamun, and walked back to my desk to enjoy the sugary, lactosey, gulab jamuny moment in peace.

Day 24: Chill pill in effect

I haven’t done any exercise for two days and have a hectic week coming up with kids, friends, birthdays and whatnot, so can’t see me fitting any sort of real movement in until Wednesday. Before the Life Challenge I would have self-flagellated with whips of guilt. Now I just think, ‘Oh well, more time for Downton Abbey.”

Day 23: A little help from my friends

The pay-off for the great, relaxing weekend is that I have started the week completely unprepared. No rice milk at home for a breakfast smoothie, no salad to take for lunch, no soy milk at the office for coffee, and only a bag of roasted pumpkin seeds to last me through the day. Luckily for me, Charlene was on the ball and, with the foresight of a good friend, knew that I wouldn’t be. She picked me up from home, handed me a scrummy breakfast to eat in the car, stopped at Starbucks so we could get soy cappuccinos and had brought gluten-free, lactose-free lunch for both of us. What a legend.

For dinner I had bolognaise with wild rice pasta, which was utterly delicious – way nicer than starchy, white, flavour-less pasta and more like a good-quality wholewheat variety. Not only was it quick to make, and tasty, but it didn’t leave me feeling like I’d ingested a hot water bottle, which is how I normally feel after a spag bol supper.

Day 22: A Shana-shaped hole

Celebrated yesterday’s fitness efforts with sushi and Thai food at Toshi, Grand Millenium Hotel Al Barsha, followed by a good knees-up at Step On indie night at Catwalk in the Golden Tulip, also in Al Barsha. 

I think I miss Shana… It’s not that I feel like I need to see her today, it’s just that I’ve become accustomed to our weekly meet-ups and now that they’ve finished, it feels like there is a gaping hole in the week ahead. I am plotting ways of tricking her into coming round for a cup of tea and a chat… I should have hidden her laptop charger when she came round last time. Missed opportunity. I still haven’t divulged the contents of my final session with Shana – it’s all still processing and filtering through my brain. When it finally all makes sense to me in a way that I can communicate, I’ll spill the beans.

Click here to read how Louisa got on during Week 3 of the Challenge