Thursday, July 26, 2007

Day 20: A look back at Freedom Day

Tuesday the 24th of July 2007 was Freedom Day...Pig Out Day...Pork Out Day...

It was the day when Carbs were finally allowed to be a part of my life again, albeit for all of 24 hours only.

I faithfully took photographs of all the items I ate up until lunchtime, where it then started to get boring (and to my horror, I actually stopped thinking about food). And the carbs obviously made me blank out because my photos, except for one, didn't get saved onto my phone!

The minute the clock hit 12.01 on Tuesday the 24th of July, I was ready to go crazy. Had a hard time sleeping because I was busy thinking about FOOD, FOOD, FOOD!

But in order to ensure that the measurements were not botched up, I had to not eat until I'd done all my stats. (dieting makes ya obsessive that way I think).

I did find a mood improvement - of course, I was never super cranky but people who worked with me would have found the fuse somewhat short although again, it's not possible to tell if this was just job stress or actual carb-deficiency syndrome working.

I was all ready to poo-poo a lot of Mr Kirsch's findings - that I would not be interested in the calorific, carb-laden, white-flour and sugar overload loves of my life, before I went on his plan. I was definitely ready to poo-poo any suggestion that I would not find coffee had the same effect on me. I mean come on - we're talking COFFEE!

Java, latte, mocha, americano...joe...no way hose...

So I was shocked to discover, that Green Tea had won. Coffee (which was the first thing I had on Freedom Day) did not come with the accompanyment of Hallelujah in the background, like some invisible Starbucks Siren Chorus. In fact, I felt nothing. Neither great deep pleasure at my first cup of coffee in 14 days, or that perk me up that I always felt coffee gave me.

So, could have been a lousy cup of coffee right?

Probably. Thank god I didn't feel the same way about the doughnut...or the 3/4 boiled eggs (YOLK!!!)...or the kaya on toast...or the strawberry doughnut from Starbucks...or the Chocochino doughnut from Big Apple (a surprising winner. But then again, I was a formerly condemned prisoner so...)

Friends were excited about what I had eaten for breakfast with everyone taking a guess at what was the First Freedom Meal (the strawberry snow doughnut and Americano at Starbucks!)

I was however in for more surprises.

Lunch was a fun affair but I was starting to feel this strange feeling that perhaps I only really needed to have ONE freedom meal...as in...I would have been quite happy to eat my diet food at lunch.

BANISH SUCH THOUGHTS. I reminded myself that I was going to go back on the diet again the next day (Maintainence I tell you - it's what REALLY KILLS YOU) and I should eat while I still could. I suppose a sort of 'make hay while the sun shines' sort of mentality.

So, La Manila's Char Kuay Teow and Curry Mee beckoned. I had a lunch buddy so that helped even things out. I even managed to avoid eating cake. Big achievement although perhaps rather self-serving since I knew the birthday dinner I would be attending the next night would feature cake.

Chased the Curry Mee with a latte at Dome. Again, Coffee Emptiness. I was beginning to be really worried. Had I been kidnapped by the Nazi Aliens of Health Food and replaced by some clone that even I did not recognise?

I ended my evening with junk-food extravaganza worthy of 14 days of no saturated fats, no carbs, no alchohol, no sugar...no chips, no corn and no batter...with a greasy meal at Chillis.

CHICKEN CRISPERS.

Sloshed down with a Presidante Margarita to toast my great achievement of 14 days on that insane diet with the crazy amount of exercise. I was almost sad to see the day end - I was too full to eat anything more but dreading the fact that I had promised myself I could get back into the saddle again and do Phase 1 again (without the crazy exercise) but declining all the A,B,C,D,E and F that Mr Kirsch has banned as EVIL.

This post is finally being finished, some 8 days after the fact - and I've finally gotten around to tallying up my calorie count from that faithful day.

Breakfast: 1/2 plate nasi lemak, 2 eggs with yolk, 2 slices of bread with kaya toast, 1/2 strawberry jam doughnut and 1/4 cup American
Estimated calories damage: 400 + 168 + 400 + 200 +10 = 1178 calories

Lunch: 1/2 bowl curry mee, 1/2 plate of Char Kuay Teow
Estimated calorie damage: 400 + 400 = 800 calories

Afternoon tea: Latte
Estimated Calorie Damage: 220 calories (yes, Lattes are that evil!)

Dinner: Chicken Crispers, with fries, and corn on the cob side, with honey mustard dressing, and Presidante Margarita
Precise Calorie Damage: (computed using Chilli's nutrition data) - 2780 calories

TOTAL DAMAGE for 1 Day: 4758 calories

Amount of Exercise required to get rid of all that...(yeah, I'm getting hard core with this guilt trip I can see)

BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) = approximately 1300 calories.
10 minutes on the Elliptical = 80 calories OR 8 calories per minute
To get rid of 3458 calories would require 7.2 hours of exercise at a heart rate of 140-150 beats per minute.

In short, a totally unwise idea to fall off the wagon this dramatically! As a result...this 24 hour eating spree led to a instant weight gain of 1.5 kgs! How, I have no idea. But getting rid of it took me another 6 days on the diet (without the strict exercise).

Moral of the Story: Celebrate with just ONE cheat meal.

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