Day 36

Had a beautiful day today working on board Blue Dolphin :) lovely whales lazily cruising around the boat and coming right up close - I love being able to go down the back steps to be as close as I can. The freshwater pump died about 30 mins into the day which meant we had no running water in the kitchen or bathroom during the whole trip! But rather than being a drama it really just meant I couldn't do any washing up until we got back to shore, so I got to spend more time up on deck which was great! Literally sat around sunbaking and chatting with passengers - sometimes can't quite believe I get paid to do this :) I always have at least one person a day telling me how lucky I am to have landed such a dream job, and on days like today I really feel the win. Knackered but it's so worth it. 

Food-wise I had oats for brekky, bean salad and a bread roll :( for lunch, fruit and nuts for snacking and the below for dins. And cornflake cakes for pudding, obvs. 

Quinoa 'burger' with rice and steamed veggies

I've actually gone and bought kale for a new recipe and am quite keen to see what all the fuss is about, so might make a curried kale and chickpea dish tomorrow if I can be bothered after work. Also need to squeeze in the gym... Can't wait to go out on Saturday - we're going for dinner (it'll be the third time I've been out for food since the end of June) and then out drinking! Can't waaaait. 

Day 35: a summary so far

Day 35 of being vegan. No meat, eggs or dairy for 35 days.

Day 17 of no sugary teas - I'm not actually missing them all that much to be honest. Can't believe it's been two and a half weeks since ditching this element of my diet...shows how fast the time is passing. I'll be home 11 weeks today! Can tell it's going to go by in a flash :( 

And...day 5 of no bread. You gotta start somewhere.

I'm actually really proud of how healthy my diet is compared to before. I've had barely any processed food (no ready meals), 1 pizza since arriving and have cut right down on sugar, alcohol and unhealthy fats. I've replaced pizza, wine and cheesy pasta with all this lot:

Complex carbs: oats, brown rice, wholegrain wraps, quinoa & starchy vegetables such as sweet potatoes, and when I was eating bread before it was generally wholegrain (rye in the last week). I've only had 3 bowls of pasta since arriving which is good going!

Veggies: heaps, with dinner or in salads. Loving spinach and zucchini right now, they're so versatile and spinach is great for iron. I also buy broccolini, beans, frozen veg, tinned sweetcorn, leeks, pumpkin and whatever else I need for dinner recipes.

Fruit: blueberries and strawberries mainly, and a banana if I'm working. Sometimes mandarins, the occasional slice of occasional watermelon at work and mango in either salad or as dessert (it's quite sugary though so I'm eating in moderation). The one fruit I know is quite fatty BUT super healthy is avocado, and I adamantly refuse to give them up.

Legumes: black beans, lentils, kidney beans, chickpeas, peas...the beans come canned and ready to use after a quick rinse which is so convenient! Plus they're low fat and high protein - win.

Fats: olive oil, avocado and nuts (a few too many nuts probably!).

Drinks: mostly water, peppermint tea and unsweetened black tea. And soy milk on my oats/cereal. I've had 1 diet coke since I arrived - trying to avoid sodas, diet or not. And I've only been out boozing once! Hopefully that will be twice once this weekend swings around :)

Junk: cornflakes? Not too sure about this one. They're not awful for you; they have a low fat content and 8g of sugar per 100g so it could be a lot worse. Anyway, they're one of the things I'm not willing to give up right now! I'm also snacking mostly on plain chips (crisps) and dark chocolate after dinner - I've learnt I can't live without tasty snacks! The dark chocolate is naturally sweetened so has a low sugar content but is still fairly high in fat, and obviously the chips aren't great but you can't deprive yourself of everything...I'd go crazy. 

Love how the junk paragraph is the longest!

Today is also day 28 of gym membership, which I've been taking full advantage of. So, even though I'm not losing as much weight as I'd like, I know I'm being healthy, getting fitter and taking much better care of my body. Speaking of which:

Brekky - cornflakes

Lunch - leftovers. Half a small bowl of bean salad, half a small bowl of quinoa salad 

Snacks - a few gingernut biscuits, cashews and a baby cornflake cake (seriously like 2 bites)

Dinner - leftovers. The last of the quinoa salad, a few strawberries, some cashews and a baby cornflake cake! Got in too late from the gym to cook and make a racket when people were in bed

Activity - leg raises, leg presses, some arm machine (not quite sure what the exercise is called but it works your triceps) and then a shitty sesh on the treadmill - got a stitch so had to stop running and do some uphill walking/zero gradient power walking instead. Boooo. 

Day 34: salads and body fat percentages

Did quite well today; had salad for lunch and dinner and barely snacked at all over my afternoon shift. I hit the gym in the morning to get my body fat percentage tested which I was really nervous about - but it actually went incredibly well. Here are the results:

Body fat percentage: 20.6%. I can't get over this - apparently female athletes have a body fat % of 14-20%, then anything between 21-24% is fit, between 25-30 is acceptable and 31+ is obese. Find it hard to believe I'm 0.6% off being considered an athlete to be honest, seems a little unrealistic...

Visceral fat: 1.0 lvl. Visceral fat is abdominal fat surrounding the vital organs in this area, and anything between 1-12 is considered healthy. 

Lean muscle mass: 41.9kg, or 75% of my total body mass

Metabolic age: 12! Get in! As I explained at the gym this is excellent news because I sat in bed eating biscuits the night before. Gives me an excuse to do that more often :D

BMR: 1338 calories - the amount I would burn each day if I just sat in bed doing nothing

Water: 58.6%. The range for a healthy female is 45-60%

So all in all, things are looking pretty good in terms of health and body fat - although my weight has actually gone UP which is annoying. Having said that, muscle weighs more than fat and I've been gymming it for a month now...so could be that? Otherwise this diet is just doing nothing in terms of weight. At least I can take comfort in the fact that it's undoubtedly making me healthier...still though, would be nice if the scales took that into account!

I'm getting a program drawn up this Friday to include strength training: apparently the most effective tool when it comes to body sculpting and ultimate fat loss. I had a bit of an explore over on the other side of the gym; the 'dark side' where a) I've never set foot in before and b) everything looks like an implement of torture. I tried giving one a go but just ended up sitting on it for 5 minutes while I tried to make sense of the instructions - eventually had to get someone from reception to give me a quick tutorial! I then had to resort to sneaking looks at an old lady on the machines to figure out how to use them...highly embarrassing and just one of the reasons why I'm a bit suspicious about my 'athletic' body fat status! Not only that but I had to lower the shoulder press weights from 4kg to 3, to 2 and finally to 1 to get like three minutes out of it - I have NO arm strength at all! I did already know that though; my arms feel like they're about to fall off after cleaning approximately two windows on the boat.

Anyway! Once I've got the program drawn up I'll have just over a month to go hard before the holiday season kicks in and I head off to Cairns/Port Douglas and Bali :D

The cherry on top was a nice new dinner recipe:

Quinoa salad w/creamy avocado dressing

-Cook quinoa either in a rice cooker or on the stove, roughly 1 cup quinoa to 2 cups water, although I generally find I need 3-4 to get just the right consistency of fluff.

-In a large bowl, combine black beans, halved small tomatoes, diced capsicum (pepper), half a diced avocado, diced cucumber, a tin of sweetcorn, half a diced red onion, some fresh coriander, a few squeezes of lime juice & salt and pepper. Stir in the quinoa when it's cooked.

-While the quinoa is cooking, make the dressing. In a food processor, combine the other half of the avocado, silken tofu (the recipe says 1/4 cup but I improvised), a garlic clove/powder, chopped fresh coriander, a small amount of chopped green onion (not too much otherwise it overpowers the dressing), 1 tbsp lime juice, 3-4 tbsp water, a small amount of cumin (recipe suggests 1/4 teaspoon) and salt & pepper to taste. Blend until smooth, then pour onto the salad and give it a good stir.

-Ta da! It's really tasty and super healthy!

Activity - cycle to gym and back, 6km on treadmill, 20 min leg presses and raises

Day 33

New dinner recipe! Pea & zucchini fritters with a tomato-based sauce to serve:

These are insanely easy to make. In a large ish bowl, mix together 1 cup plain flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, some salt, mixed herbs, peas (defrosted) and grated zucchini (raw). Add 100ml water and stir to make a paste. Scoop heaped tablespoons of the mixture into a hot frying pan and flatten to speed up the cooking process. Flip as they cook until golden brown. Serve with a tomato based sauce - you can make your own but I cheated and opened a jar of pasta sauce I had lying around in the cupboard.

I only managed 2 because I'd been grazing all day...was absolutely ravenous for some reason, do not know what's wrong with me. Cracked the biscuits out to satisfy a hunger that just wouldn't go away no matter how much healthy food I stuffed myself with. I'm getting my body fat % tested at the gym tomorrow, maybe that will give me the kick up the arse that I clearly need! On the plus side I saw my first humpback calf today, it was so new and diddy, maybe not even a month old :) 

Day 32

Day 2 of no bread. Success!

Brekky - mango & blueberry salad, small bowl of cornflakes

Lunch - bean salad and a cornflake cake :)

Chickpeas, lentils, kidney beans, tomatoes and sweetcorn. Really delicious!

Cornflake crunchy cakes! Mix some margarine and a few tablespoons of golden syrup into melted dark chocolate then add the cornflakes. Scoop into little muffin cases and refrigerate until solidified. EAT!

Dinner - wholegrain veggie wraps and a cornflake cake for pudding

Roasted pumpkin, sweet potato, tomato and zucchini with some steamed green beans. Served with avocado and bbq sauce

Activity - cycle to gym and back, yoga sesh and 5km PB at 26:31 woohoo!

Day 31: a meatless, muffinless milestone

I worked an 11 hour day today so am totally knackered! Had really good whales though, one spy hopped all around the boat for ages and came so close! It's the closest I've ever been to a whale, I was right on the back step of the boat and must have been about 2 metres away!! So cool! Didn't take any pics; I wanted to enjoy the moment and lap up every second. 

On another bright note, I avoided bread all day! Oats for brekky; bean salad, fruits, some crackers and a cereal bar during the day and a chickpea burger with sweet potato 'fries' and fried onion, mushrooms & tomatoes for dinner. I did crack the nut ban though (no pun intended) and help myself to some roasted cashews after dinner...seems I can't give something up without falling back into past bad habits. Ah well. 

I'm going to Bali either in September or October so once I've booked flights that will be my motivation to really go for it - cutting all the crap out and ramping up my efforts at the gym, maybe introduce some proper strength training as yoga probably isn't enough on its own. I've learnt in the past couple of weeks that vegan definitely doesn't equal healthy! Not by a long shot. You can still eat bread, pasta, plain crisps, pretzels, some biscuits, dark chocolate, golden & maple syrup, nuts, BBQ sauce, ketchup...etc. 

Bali in a couple of months! I'm also planning on going to Noosa at the beginning of October and hopefully Byron Bay or Port Douglas just before I fly home :) better start saving...

Day 30

Brekky - small bowls of oats & blueberries, a banana

Pre-work - bread roll and 3 mini cookies

Work snacks - an orange, a few tomatoes & strawberries

Dinner - gluten free pasta & steamed greens (spinach, leek, snow peas, beans, sweetcorn). Handful of crisps for afters! And a few squares of dark chocolate - science says it's good for you! 

Easy yet nutritious 

Activity - cycle to gym and back, 6km run, cycle to work and back. So it turns out the magical magpie deterrent doesn't deter magpies...I got chased by THREE during the 10 min cycle to the gym this morning! I did feel more comfortable knowing they wouldn't swoop down as close to my face though :) so that's something...

My appetite is ridiculous at the moment, I'm always ravenous and just want to eat everything! Wondering whether it's all the running or I'm just having a hungry week. My next challenge is cutting out bread as that's definitely my biggest dietary downfall. It's going to be so hard, worse than no sugary teas :( especially because it'll require advance prep when it comes to work lunches, something I'm quite frankly too lazy for! Then it's crisps and dark chocolate but I don't know whether I can bear to wave those goodbye too - I've already given up everything I love :( just going to focus on bread for now. It's gotta go!

Day 29: the day I discovered vegan cookies

And thus the end of my weight loss plan. 

Well, hopefully not but today's not been brilliant either. I'm feeling so flat at the moment, it's my fourth day off in 5 days and I'm bored and so unmotivated! Don't even have the energy to go to the gym today, just can't be bothered. Got out of my PJs at midday, went to the shops and then got back into bed to watch some more Peep Show! Hugely unproductive day, but the boat is now back up and running so hopefully I'll have more work from tomorrow...anyway, to more important things. Vegan cookies!

Dairy, egg & gluten free chocolate cookies with melted dark chocolate...mmm

We also gave my bike helmet a bit of an upgrade today to ward off swooping magpies, the buggers. Apparently it makes me look like an alien but I'd rather look like a bit of a spaz than have a magpie chase me for half a mile! It's so scary, especially when you can hear the whoosh of their wings right by your ear. So here it is, the magical magpie deterrent: 

Thank jeebus for cable ties. The swooping season is from July all the way through to November! And apparently it's not just magpies but plovers as well...and they're even more aggressive!!

Day 28: meh

Ate absolutely heaps. As in I'd eaten my sandwich that I'd packed for lunch by 8.30am. In my defence I'd been awake for 4 hours so it felt like nearly lunchtime...but anyway, all downhill from there. New dinner recipe though which I really, really liked :)

Creamy avocado potato salad

Drizzle diced sweet potato with olive oil, sprinkle with salt & pepper and roast in the oven. Meanwhile, steam asparagus and any other veg you fancy - I added broccolini and zucchini. Make the dressing: in a food processor combine avocado flesh, fresh dill, a few teaspoons of lemon juice, green/spring onion, salt & pepper and 1/4 cup of water and process until smooth. Mix the dressing with the potatoes, veggies and a sprinkling of spring onions in a bowl. Serve and enjoy!

Activity - cycle to work and back, cycle to gym and back for rubbish 20 min treadmill sesh and a yoga class. They've changed the routine and it's not as good :( 

Day 27

ANOTHER day off today...don't know what to do with myself!

Went to Woolies to have a look at healthier bread options and decided to start with rye bread...will report back later today probably! Then ended up going to the beach for the afternoon which was so nice. Felt like I was on holiday :) so relaxing.

And I've finally got a shift tomorrow after 3 days of not working - with Blue Dolphin though, not Whalesong. Whales! Money! I'm now trying to save up to go to Lady Elliot Island (on the Great Barrier Reef) at some point soon, Bali in October and potentially somewhere else in September...hmm! Don't think I'll be coming home with too many dollars. BUT travelling. So worth it.  

Brekky - big bowl of cornflakes and an orange

Lunch - quinoa and steamed veggies on the beach

Snacks - cherry tomatoes

Dinner - chana masala. New recipe! I know it looks the same as a lot of the other stuff I eat on this diet (blame chopped tomatoes and using the same vegetables) but the fusion of spices gave it a tasty Asian flare.

Post-dinner snacks - a few squares of dark chocolate

Sauté onion, garlic and ginger in a saucepan. Add cumin seeds, coriander, garam masala and salt. Add chopped tomatoes, chickpeas and anything else you fancy - I threw in spinach for the extra iron and sweetcorn because I had it handy in the fridge. Serve on a bed of brown rice. Ta-da! Too easy

Activity - cycle to beach and back (30 mins in total), cycle to gym for 5km run and 3km uphill walk on treadmill. Only got swooped once! 

Weight and health: a postcode lottery?

I'm starting to wonder whether where you live has an impact on your overall health.

I've never been able to stick to a diet & exercise regime for more than 6 weeks back at home, yet here I'm finding that my willpower is holding out without too much of a struggle. Sure, I'll get my nose down into the pan if there are meatballs or bacon fritters bubbling away on the stove, and I feel a small twinge of jealousy if someone's eating cheese while I'm stuck with fruit or plain crisps - but then I remember why I'm doing this and it passes.

So, after 50+ days of being vegetarian, 4 straight weeks of being vegan (6 weeks in total - I had that terrible 10 day cheat period after the first 2 weeks), 6 weeks of constant cycling and 3 weeks of gym membership, why am I finding everything much easier than usual?

1) I'm not just doing it to lose weight. That's definitely a part of it, but the reason I even thought about going vegan in the first place was down to the unethical practices involved in factory farming. It's far easier to throw in the towel if you're on a diet purely for weight loss i.e. personal reasons, but I'm also doing this for the animals which is making me much more determined to stick it out

2) I live really close to some gorgeous beaches and a beautiful esplanade. Why wouldn't I want to be outside as much as possible cycling, walking or even just soaking up my daily dose of Vitamin D? The weather is generally always beautiful, whereas back home I would use the rain or cold as an excuse to stay in and watch TV

3) The gym is just a 10 minute cycle away. Sure, I get swooped up to 4 times on the way there (bloody magpies) but it's a small price to pay for having the gym within an easy cycling distance. If it was much further away I'm not sure I would go as much as I do. I also really love the yoga classes so am keen to get to those as often as possible

4) I haven't got a car; the only way of getting places is to walk or cycle. Or get the bus, but that hasn't really crossed my mind until now. I'm actually enjoying cycling places for the first time in my life. Will be really sad to give my bike back at the end of my time here!

5) The closest McDonald's/KFC is a half an hour cycle away. I'm not surrounded by easy junk food options like I was in Melbourne and there's not a Domino's down the road like at home; the only temptation is a bakery a few minutes down the road, but I haven't even thought about a spinach and feta pastry in weeks!

6) After months of travelling and mostly eating meals out (often cheap crappy junk food), it's nice to actually have a kitchen and be able to spend time preparing my own meals. Plus there are only 3 of us living here compared to being one of 7 people sharing a kitchen in Melbourne, which makes cooking and mealtimes much easier. I'm enjoying learning new recipes and branching out in terms of what I eat :)

7) I'm seeing a difference. It's taking time, and like everyone on a fairly new diet & exercise regime I wish the changes would happen faster, but they are definitely happening. The scales have spoken (quietly), plus my stomach is noticeably flatter than before. I'm also fitter than when I started; I can cycle faster, run 10k in under 55 minutes and am even finding the balance & flexibility aspects of yoga much easier after just 3 weeks

8) I live with a health-conscious family. Okay, not so much in terms of smoking, drinking and exercising, but definitely when it comes to food! The mum always cooks things from scratch and serves up healthy meals (I've stolen a couple of recipes) and so it's become natural for me to do the same. I'd feel guilty/ashamed scoffing a pizza or a ready meal in front of them, partially because they'd point out how unhealthy it is but also because it's just not how things are done in this house - which is a good thing! The girls on the boat bring super healthy food and snacks to work and I've made a new friend (yay) who works at the gym (ex PT and army) so is also into health and fitness. Being surrounded by people who make health a priority is definitely helping me to do the same

9) I'm happy. I enjoy my job, have lots of time off and am enjoying a very relaxed way of life. This is how life SHOULD be; stress-free and just easy. Sometimes after a long or tough day at work I'll crave junk or a sugary tea, but most of the time everything's pretty much perfect...so no need to eat my feelings or zap a ready meal for dinner because there isn't time to cook.

Having said that, there are a LOT of very overweight people living in Hervey Bay! Just like the UK, Australia is going through an obesity crisis so it seems even beautiful weather and beaches aren't enough to get people outside and active. Maybe because the sun, sea and sand lifestyle is totally new for me I'm making the most of it, but I guess you can get used to anything...

Day 26

Brekky - small bowl of oats with blueberries, a banana, some strawberries and half a bread roll. Was super hungry!

Snacks - other half of that bread roll & some low fat, low sugar potato chips (crisps, but known as chips over here. Sorry England)

Lunch - zucchini boats

Activity - 50 mins on treadmill & a yoga class 

Dinner - chickpea burger in a wholemeal bun with tomato and avocado, served with a side salad (spinach, sweetcorn, tomato, capsicum and cucumber)

Snacks - stayed up late so scarfed down some more potato chips and some strawberries

Next stage in the plan

I'm on day 8 of no sugary teas and day 5 of no nuts and so far, so good. 

So onto the next stages - which, while I won't be implementing for a little while as I've just done a big grocery shop, is definitely worth having in my head so I'm mentally prepared for the upcoming changes. In order of importance:

1) STOP buying bbq sauce and baked beans - they are loaded with sugar! :( 

2) Buy Weet Bix instead of cornflakes. Cornflakes aren't actually too bad but might as well go healthier where I can re: sugar content 

3) Take it easy on avocados, mangoes and bananas. I'm not going too badly with these but need to keep tabs on sugary/high cal fruit intake

4) Buy sourdough or rye bread (lower sugar and seed oil content than wholemeal bread). Not sure what these are going to be like but I'm okay giving it a go...if they're yuck it might even help me cut down on bread which would be a definite bonus! 

5) Swap the brand of wraps I buy (Mission) for something lower in sugar - again, the content isn't too bad but if the price isn't wildly high I might as well make the switch

6) Also those healthy cereal bars I buy are low in cals but contain 13g of sugar per 100g, and according to this new book I'm reading you should avoid anything over 3g per 100g...it's the dried fruit but surely they're alright to keep eating? By the author's logic, potato chips are actually healthier as a snack than a concoction of seeds, nuts and dried fruit? This is the thing, you can make a shopping list based on one author's dietary recommendations but another nutritionist might take a look at it and completely rework it.

Day 25: quarter of the way! And 10k PB!

Woooohoo! Pretty proud of myself :)

Brekky - small bowl of cornflakes and an orange 

Activity - cycle to gym for 10k run (which I did in 54:35!! PB) and a yoga class which was lovely as always. Cycle to beach and back to hang with my girls for tan time & sunset (30 mins both ways)

My girls! Roni from California on the left and Henny from Germany on the right

Post workout / lunch - bread roll, strawberries and leftover rice from my takeaway

Beach snacks - crisps and wine :)

Dinner - chickpea burger with avocado and tomato, plus some spring rolls as my 'vegetables' ;) need to jump back on the healthy train from tomorrow. Snacks and bread are bringing me down big time!

Looks like we might all be taking another day off tomorrow...the boat still isn't fixed! My boss is so rude. I text him at 4.30pm asking for an update and if/when I was working tomorrow. I finally got a text back at 8.15pm (and that's only because a couple of the others text him too, bearing in mind we go to bed at 8/9pm if we're on in the morning) saying: 'Still working on gearbox Kiana and Ben on in morning if we can fix please leave us to get on with it'. What a nob. It really sucks that both my bosses in Australia have been total dicks!

Day 24: wine and takeaway night :)

I worked a 12.5 hour shift today and ate SO much! Urgh

Brekky - small bowl of oats

Morning snacks - orange, fruit & cereal snack pot, picked at a Subway (what we serve on the boat as a light brekky/lunch for the guests)

Lunch - quinoa and steamed veggie box

Quinoa with black beans, broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, sweetcorn and mushrooms

Afternoon snacks - cereal bar, picked at another Sub, pretzels 

Dinner - Indian takeaway & 2 glasses of wine :) it's a Saturday night after all!

Another drama on the boat today - the engines started overheating like crazy making the whole boat stink of fumes and smoke, it was quite scary! We had to stick with just the starboard engine for the rest of the afternoon so it took forever to get anywhere. That's the fourth time we've had issues with the port side engine room, it's flooded a few times in the past couple of weeks too...not good! Got in late totally knackered so kicked back with one of my girls (who also works on the boat) and ordered in :) it was tough not going for my usual chicken korma but the rice and mixed vegetables was nice, and we got samosas and garlic naan too so it was still a treat. $55 for the food & delivery though, ouch... 

Day 23

I've decided to get the rice cooker out of the cupboard and learn how to cook quinoa perfectly - I had it in South America and it was fluffy & delicious, but when I tried at home it was a complete disaster. Might as well make use of the rice cooker in the house and then I can use quinoa as a base for some healthy lunches/dinners - might help me cut down on bread a little bit (my next area of focus once I've broken the nut & sugary tea habit).

Brekky - small bowl of plain oats. Jazzed them up with cinnamon and blueberries 

Lunch - big bowl of cornflakes with soy milk and a bread roll. I was going to have quinoa and green veg but my boss text at 11am asking me to be on standby for the 12.30pm cruise...so after a quick gym sesh I raced home, showered and scarfed down something quick and easy. Only for him to not even have the decency to text me letting me know that actually, he didn't need me. I was sitting in my uniform for an hour waiting to hear, and wasting my day. Prick

Snacks - cherry tomatoes 

Dinner - half an enchilada left over from last night & a bread roll (I steamed veggies but didn't quite make enough for two quinoa boat lunches and tonight). Could have had salad but what the hell. Sometimes you've just gotta live a little. Plus I ran loads today so I feel like I can justify it

Treats - a glass of wine (!) and a few squares of dark chocolate

So yeh clearly bread needs to be tackled at some point. I shouldn't buy it in the first place, but it's nice to have it in the cupboard for easy boat lunches/last minute meals if needs be. Anyway will get to that in a week or two, slow and steady...

Activity - cycle to gym and back twice, overall 15k on the treadmill. Managed a 10k in 1hr2mins. Not too shabby although could probably pull that in a bit next time :)

Day 22: I've got a neat new weight loss trick

Eat more. 

Really.

I gorged myself on bread, nuts, fruit and crisps over these past 2 days and I've LOST weight.

1.6kg to be precise!

Ok, well. I hopped on the scales before brekky whereas the past two times I've weighed myself in the evenings after brekky, lunch & snacks. But still...it makes me feel heaps better.

Before, I weighed in at 55.2kg (54.8kg with shoes off). Now, I'm 53.2kg with shoes off. I have a sneaky suspicion I was around 56kg in Melbourne from what I remember, so this is really quite good going!

If I keep this up, give up the nuts (on day 1 of the ban) and stay away from sugary teas (on day 4 of the ban), hopefully I'll see more results over the next couple of weeks.

Brekky - post workout cereal bar 

Lunch - mango, avocado, spinach and blueberry salad, and a wholegrain bread roll

Arvo snacks - few spoonfuls of rice, tomato/blueberry/cornflake snack pot

Dinner - vegan enchiladas! New recipe and a roaring success, they were so delicious! Check out the how-to below 

Recipe: Steam sweet potato, onion, red pepper, garlic, sweetcorn and spinach while the black beans cook in another pot. Mix everything together and throw in some lime juice, a generous sprinkling of cumin and a small amount of the enchilada sauce. Spread a thin layer of the enchilada sauce on the bottom of a baking dish and make the wraps using the sweet potato et al filling. Place them seam side down in the baking dish, cover with enchilada sauce and any leftover filling, then bake for around 15-20 minutes. 

Pre-oven and pre-enchilada sauce. Packed full of good stuff

Activity - cycle to gym, 8km on treadmill (could have gone for longer but needed to get to a leg waxing appointment...yeuch), cycle to work.

So tired! Really grateful I've got another day off tomorrow. I'm getting burnt out so quickly! Really craving a sugary tea right now and had to fight against cashew cravings before dinner. Had an orange to stave off sweet cravings after dinner but it's not really helped :( might just go to sleep!

Day 21: I don't wanna talk about it

Seriously.

Like I'm too embarrassed to actually do a food diary for today cuz I just ate and ate and ate. Bread, fruit, nuts, cereal...I might call myself a herbivore but today I am, as my brother would say, an omnomnomnivore. 

AND I actually read the nutrition details for cashews today and 2 servings (which isn't very much) is 20% of your daily calorie intake...WTF! So today is the day that cashews are officially banned from my diet; I just bought a massive bag of roasted ones yesterday but they'll keep. Holy jesus, I knew they're high in fat (good fat!) like avocados but didn't realise quite how calorie dense they are. And I eat heaps! No wonder I'm not losing any blood weight. 

This is also day 3 of no sugary teas - really should break that habit and stick to peppermint. Can't say I've had no sugar though...I bought a bar of Lindt dark chocolate as a treat yesterday (and to see whether I liked it) and I've gone through half a bar in less than 24 hours! Whoops. But that's the first and last time I do that.

The only other thing that needs assessing in my diet at the moment is bread, but I think I'll focus on cutting out nuts and sugar first, then work on the bread in a couple of weeks. Need to find some healthy snacks stat, I'm getting sick of oranges and bananas!

Activity - 1 hour cycle ride, 1 hour long stroll along the beach, 1 hour on the treadmill and a yoga sesh :)

I'm really hoping that once I say bubye to nuts and added sugar (won't be avoiding it completely, I can't not eat fruit, and also it's just in everything...6 teaspoons in 1 can of baked beans!) I'll see results. Everything else is ok; my diet is varied and healthy, I'm exercising heaps, I'm on my feet all day most days of the week...something's gotta give! Just annoyed I've been eating nuts from day 1 under the impression they're healthy! 

Here are some photos of what I do for a living

All pictures were taken by my boss/Whalesong skipper Jason Brigden

Day 20: binge fest

Brekky (at 5.30am) - bowl of cornflakes

Snacks (up until 1.45pm) - cereal bar, pack of crisps, snack pot

Lunch (at 2.30pm) - binge no1. Half a sweet potato with half a can of baked beans, a bread roll with vegan butter and some cashews

Dinner (at 8.30pm) - binge!! I've been feeling ill the past couple of days and I know 100% that it's down to my diet, so I decided to see whether reintroducing junky foods for one meal might help...ate LOADS. Spring rolls, bread and butter, strawberries, tomatoes, more cashews...yummm. I went grocery shopping earlier so now have everything I need to try out 4 new dishes from tomorrow, starting with vegan enchiladas! Although thinking about it, Mexican food is probably only going to exacerbate the problem...

Activity - cycle to work and back, cycle to gym for 1 hour sesh on the treadmill

I found out today that while whale season finishes at the end of October, the work will start tailing off after the school holidays, so mid-October. I'm thinking I might leave my job then to indulge in a bit of travelling! I haven't got round to seeing Bali yet, or Fiji, and I figure I really should while I'm on this side of the world. Gonna start looking into it next month :) 

Day 19: feeling deflated and demotivated

1) Because someone I met on the boat today told me they gained 10 kilos after switching to a vegan diet

2) Because I weigh in at exactly the same as before...why am I not seeing ANY difference? Bearing in mind that while this is day 19 of an unbroken streak, I stuck to a vegan diet for the first 2 weeks in the Bay (so 5 weeks in total since arriving on 29 June), I've been avoiding junk, processed food & takeaways and I've only had one boozy evening. Added to the fact I've been on my feet all day every day either at work or exercising since the beginning of July, this really isn't making any sense...

3) Because people were being shitty with me all arv, I'm so over it! Within 5 minutes of walking onto the boat for the PM cruise, one of the crew - not even my very difficult boss (that's phrasing it incredibly nicely) - got snappy about something and really got everything off on the wrong foot. Cue a bit of a crap rest of the day, plus we got in an hour late so I didn't get nearly enough time at the gym which I totally could have done with today to blow off some steam.

Grrrr!

Brekky - big bowl of cornflakes. At 10am! Treated myself to a really long lie-in, which I reckon I needed although maybe too much sleep is behind my bad mood...have just felt really lethargic all day

Lunch - veggie wrap (steamed broccoli, cauliflower, leek and onion) with bbq sauce to serve

Snacks - snack pot (blueberries, tomatoes, almonds and roasted cashews) & seed bar

Dinner - falafel wrap with tomato and spinach. Had to root through the freezer and settle for boxed processed stuff; my quinoa burger had started growing mould :( 

Activity - cycle to work and back, 30 mins on the treadmill

Hoping to wake up feeling more positive tomorrow.

Day 18

Brekky - small bowl of oats

Morning snacks - banana, small bag of crisps, snack pot

Lunch - hummus, cucumber & tomato sandwich on a wholegrain roll with bbq sauce

Afternoon snacks -  picked at the bread & salad on a leftover Subway from the boat. Then cashews...and more cashews  

Dinner - gluten free pasta with veggies (leek, onion, tomato, spinach, broccolini, cauliflower) with vegan butter stirred through to taste 

Activity - none! Couldn't be arsed cycling to work in the freezing cold at 5.45am so hitched a ride, and my 12 hour shift didn't leave time for exercise today

Day 17

Brekky - small bowl of oats

Morning snacks - banana, half a snack pot

Lunch - half a sweet potato with baked beans and spinach

Afternoon snacks - cashews. Have started eating them straight out of the bag like crisps...

Dinner - veggie wraps! Roasted sweet potato, cauliflower and tomato with bbq sauce. Yum!

Activity - cycle to work and back, plus a 26km cycle in the afternoon to the end of the esplanade :) was going to do the steps but my legs and knees were protesting by the end of the cycle

The view at the other end of the Bay. It's so peaceful, and scenic too :) and a nice easy ride, fairly flat most of the way. A good way to unwind after a tough shift at work - dealing with a shithouse boss, cleaning up old peoples' poop and looking after serial vomiters! Still a dream job, you might ask? We had 3 whales all lined up along the port side today just staring straight at us for ages :) they were so curious and mugged the boat for quite some time. Add beautiful, calm turquoise waters and that's one pretty decent day!

Day 16

Brekky - big bowl of oats (have written plain oats rather than sugar & cinnamon ones onto my grocery list...won't be anywhere near as palatable but I can definitely start there re: cutting down on sugar)

Lunch - hummus & cucumber wholegrain roll, handful of cashews, handful of crisps

Afternoon snacks - a banana and an orange. Felt bad about the bread and crisps at lunch!

Dinner - roasted sweet potato circles with heaps of veggies. Salt and vegan butter to add flavour 

Activity - no gym today but went for a cycle up the esplanade for 1.5 hours and did the steps, which I actually remembered to take a photo of this time. There are 37 steps which I ran up and down 30 times - which is equivalent to running up 555 steps and then down again! 

My nemesis! Na, I don't mind them to be honest :) getting easier every week too!

Friday night foods! Pretty and delicious, double whammy

It was so good! I got the recipe from one of my new books although made a few tweaks - it wanted me to add lemon juice and make a vinaigrette from scratch which I completely ignored, and serve with green beans and shallots as opposed to onion, mushies, green beans, snow peas, asparagus and sweetcorn 

The whales weren't brilliant today - there were so many boats out so we didn't get any muggings :( BUT a pair did breach just metres from the starboard side (luckily just outside the galley window so the crew saw everything) and made the most enormous splash. It was awesome!!

Day 15

Brekky - small bowl of oats

Morning snacks - banana, nut & fruit snack pot

Lunch - zucchini 'boats'

Roasted zucchini with onion, garlic, mixed herbs, mushrooms, sweetcorn and chopped tomatoes

Arvo snacks - cereal bar, handful of cashews

Dinner - got back waaaay later than expected from the gym (made friends with another Pommy and got chatting for ages!) so ended up doing a quick quinoa burger on wholegrain bread. And crisps for pudding! Whoops!

Activity - cycle to work and back, cycle to gym, yoga sesh (can really feel the workout in my abs and inner thighs, feels like it's actually doing something!), 1 hour on treadmill 

The whales were good today too! Lots of peduncle throws really close to the boat :)