First encounters

So the 9th of Feb 2009 was the day! Well maybe not! I walked into a WeighLess group meeting on Saturday the 7th and paid the joining fee.There after the group leader explained how the program works and then proceeded to recording my weight as well as giving me my "file".
However, I could not immediately start eating correctly for the simple reason that my friends from Johannesburg were visiting(I live in Cape Town) and I knew there would plenty of eating out to done :) . Anyway, I took the rest of the weekend as a "farewell to bad food" kind of experience.Ok, let me decipher what that expression means :).I went to a lot of take-away places , the last being a KFC where I decimated a fried chicken and chips meal, an ice cream and a milkshake(for completeness).Yes, that's what I did.I mean, I knew I was gonna be off this kind of food for a very long time(at least not eat as much of it as I was doing). What would you have done?You could think of it along the lines of breakup sex...

Coming to the 9th as the day when it happened...well that's when I really started eating the WeighLess way.I must say I was pretty amazed with the amount of food I could eat in a day...and there was nothing out of the normal food people eat that one can't eat.Normal here means normal :).Potatoes are normal , so is skinless chicken , fish,etc...in that fashion.The thing I noticed immediately was the reduction in my fat intake.I'm still pretty amazed at how much fat I was consuming before "seeing the light".Being so used to to cooking with a lot of oil,I was really afraid of how I would be able to make the food without frying it! A lot of people out there can relate to that fear.Hey, go and invest in decent non-stick frying pan.
Anyway , the first 2 days were the hardest .I was used to binge eating late at night...you know that midnight ham and cheese sandwich or steak pie that enhances the pleasure of watching a late night movie on satellite :)! And there are plenty of those movies...In fact , for me , I used food for many other things...ranging from getting a high when work is not going so well to inducing sleep.I knew I was tumbling down a very slippery and non ending slope.Call it "eating oneself to death".You know , being fat is just not a nice thing.Trying clothes at the shops is a nightmare...you know those "extremely hot" fitting rooms.Well you're the only one asking whether or not the air conditioner is on!Let's not even try to use the "I love you the way you're" or "I don't really care much about your looks, as long as you love me" lines.Please don't get me wrong.Love does indeed transcends all these things , but a person who loves you should tell you that "honey, I love you , but I want you to be in good health so that we can grow old together".It's self defeating to lie about this stuff.I mean , how does one feel when your partner drops dead because of a clogged artery...when you could have saved them by being honest.It's better to try...it's not a sin :).
Having to stop eating at night was just the hardest.The first night I tried to "trick" my mind by drinking lots of water...which made me do the up and down trips to the toilet.So even if I wanted to try and "forget" about the food by falling asleep , nature would call and then bring me back to reality.Food was on my mind!It's hard when you're blessed with a relentless mind that holds on to a thought until you do something about it.My mind just doesn't give up.I just don't give up.That first night was the toughest.It was a real showdown with hunger.I questioned the logic of subjecting myself to this in the first place.I mean, there had to be a better way or the other way..whatever you want to call it.Waking up the next day , and realizing I had "won" , was just awesome.I had beat myself!In a strange and twisted way the positive spin off to that was a new resolve to just get on with the weight loss.I've heard that the last meal for the day in South African and Zimbabwean prisons is at 2 or 3 pm.Can you even begin to imagine what it's like to have your supper at 2 in the afternoon and only get your next meal the next morning at 7? What a mind workout!

Otherwise , it's been great and not as hard as it was back in 2003 when I lost 8 kilos.Last night's supper alone included chicken,veggies(cooked and raw) and 200g of baby potatoes( which is 2 carbohydrates in Weigh-Less speak) .200g of baby potatoes is a lot!Initially I thought I had read the one page guide incorrectly...and the joy of realizing that it was correct...priceless.I'll admit it...I now appreciate every gram of food I eat.Maybe that's what the world needs to get us out of the food crisis.Hey, the next time you order that "quad patty " double cheese burger from McDs , please think of me :)!

Almost every meal I eat now has lots of greens.I'm finding this easier to do than I initially thought it would be...and lo and behold! the after dinner cravings have completely vanished.I repeat , the after dinner cravings have completely vanished.I haven't eaten anything after dinner since I started on the 9th.

I went for my second weigh-in on Saturday the 21st of Feb (2009) and my weight had already dropped by 4kgs in just 2 weeks.I lost the first 2kg in the first week(weighed in on 14 Feb).This is big for me because for the first time in a long while, I don't weigh over 100 kg anymore.My starting weight was 102.4 kg!That's a lot of weight for someone standing at a mere 1.7m.
So that's been the experience so far in the first 2 weeks.I'm in my third week and I'm now more determined than ever!I will be posting my starting pictures and the ones I'll be taking every week or perhaps every 2 weeks.So, until next time....you shall hear from less of me!