My European Weight Loss Diary: Week 1 - Real Girl Food Prep

When we buy the kale at the supermarket and choose the free range chicken over the regular chook (even though it's a hell of a lot more expensive), we have every intention of sticking to a healthy diet. 'This is the first day of the rest of my life' and 'today is the day I stop making excuses and just do it' are the spiels that swirl around in my head come Monday morning after a big weekend. Paleo is the only 'diet' I've ever been able to stick to from Monday right through to Sunday (considerably), probably because it doesn't rely purely on organic kale or budget busting ingredients. The thing about healthy eating is that it can be delicious, it can be satisfying but it isn't always accessible. Lets face it, we can’t all work opposite the Grounds of Alexandria. Although I work and live in the stylish Surry Hills, the cafes in proximity to my office are The Little Italian (hello carbs) Chur Burger (goodbye abs) and El Loco (let’s have a crazy booze infused party and forget the healthy eating regime).

I hate to say it but the key to successfully losing weight and shedding those Winter kgs is preparation.

Meal plans are a great start but they are no use to you if you can’t get what you want when you need it most!

I used to make the mistake of writing out my dream meal plan: Monday I’ll have grilled salmon for lunch one a bed of asparagus, Tuesday I’ll have a vegetable egg white omelette for breakfast with a side of free range bacon. Sure it looked pretty damn healthy/delicious on paper but come Monday when I realised I was not Kim Kardasian with two in house chefs there was no chance in hell I could fulfil it.

When you are creating a meal plan:

• Do it the Saturday before so you know exactly what you need to get when you go shopping on Sunday.

• Take into account your work schedule for the week. Some nights I will have functions or events and therefore won’t be able to make my lunch for the next day. 

• Be aware of what’s available around you. Whether you work in a office building or a shopping center, you need to familiarise yourself with the healthy options available in your proximity

• Rest days and cheat meals are necessary. Be realistic, if you are anything like me going from an extravagant diet then having poached chicken and lettuce every day is not a sustainable option. Also if you’ve got a full time job and a high workload exercising every day may not be possible, but the good thing is it isn’t necessary for weight loss. 

Here is my meal plan for the first week of my European diet.

It is loosely based on the Paleo diet, which helped me to lose 6 kg last year! Read more about Paleo Prestige here. 

Disclaimer: I know they say that you shouldn’t call something a diet, it’s a lifestyle. But as you can see there is no chicken salted chips here or chocolate mousse and so therefore it is, in fact a diet.

Predicted Meal Plan

Actual Meals

LW = Lemon water to kick start the metabolism
LB = Long black coffee
Coffee = Half water, half milk
W2W = Walk to work (20 minutes each way)

Side Note: The fish & Salad take away I got from a restaurant next to El Loco called Fish Place, it’s amazing Sydneysiders! Speaking of takeaway...

Don’t take away the take away.

You’ll notice that on Thursday & Friday I went on a little take away bender. The fast food industry has expanded beyond Thai and Italian, for the most part. Healthy places that deliver aren’t always easy to find but boy are they worth it.

Sydneysiders:
Real Food Connection is what I had on Thursday and Friday for lunch. There is a $50 minimum delivery but if you get someone else in your office to get on the bandwagon with you, you’re all set. The site provides you with a list of all the ingredients in every meal is paleo friendly and delivered straight to your door.

Menulog and takeaway websites: We all know them for all the wrong reasons, late night pizza sessions and deep fried chicken. Well there are actually a couple of paleo options for those nights when you just can’t be f*ed cooking.

For Surry Hills, Redfern, Waterloo & Zetland:

Angelino Pizzeria has MASSIVE salads, they’re huge and coming from me that says a lot. Grilled chicken or lamb are the best, you can get dressing on the side and you’re set. Oriental Healthy does healthy Thai with quinoa instead of rice.

However most Thai restaurants do meat & vegetable take away which is also perfectly paleo!

The verdict:

My first week wasn't all sweet potato and green beans. In fact it had it’s hiccups (I was hoping that you wouldn’t notice the bottle of wine, pizza and Maltesers) but another variable you need to take into consideration is that no matter how much you prepare, you can’t always predict what is going to happen in your life. 

Friday night I was unexpectedly called over to a girlfriends house. Breakups unfortunately can’t be solved with healthy stir fry. We drank wine and ordered pizza at 3 am. As you know it’s girl code.

The main thing is that I got up the next day and did that god damn Coggee to Bondi run!

So a quick recap: First week, first rule.

Preparation is the key to success and if you find yourself caught out with an empty fridge or simply don't have time to prep there are other options! #don'ttakeawaythetakeaway just make sure you opt for something healthy!

Now it's time for me to up the ante with my plan for week 2.

Only 25 days to go. 

Sexy European body come at me!