Back from skiing, back to 'diet'....

Hi blog-readers. I'm back, and eager to catch up with news of recent exploits and experiences. I hope all is well with you, wherever you are and whatever you weigh!

We got back from our skiing holiday yesterday. We had a great time under the circumstances...... the weather was pretty awful (although the snow was fantastic), but worse than that, my darling husband has had shingles all week and has been quite poorly! Despite that, we still managed to ski, putting in at least five solid hours of skiing each day. This meant lots of calorie burning which was good news for my body (though hard work!).

The first bit of good news was that after many years of sitting in my wardrobe waiting for a new slimmer me, my salopettes finally saw the light of day! They felt a little tight when I first put them on, but I managed to get the press-studs and zip done up, so that was that. I expected them to make bending etc quite hard work, but actually they were really comfortable. If my weight loss goes as I hope it to, I am wondering whether they will still fit me next year.... in many ways I hope not!

We stayed in a small hotel on a half board arrangement. Breakfast was a cold-buffet style, with bread, jams, thinly sliced cheese, yoghurt and cereals on offer. Most days I ate one or one-and-a-half small bread rolls with butter (no margarine available) and cheese or marmalade. I also tried to eat a yoghurt most days because it was my only real source of calcium (I only drink soya milk and drink black tea and coffee). I estimate that a typical breakfast was about 500 calories (including drinks). The only notable thing to say about my breakfasts is that after consuming a relatively small amount of food (compared to what my 'old' self would have eaten) I felt really full. On the other hand, I was managing a full bowl of pasta most lunchtimes and a three-course meal in the evening....?! It took me several days to realise what was happening here. I have read about many bandits (the majority, I think) who say that their band is notably tighter in the morning – and I am now sure that's what was happening to me. This proves that even though I have relatively little restriction after just one fill, there is at least some.

We ate our lunches in mountain restaurants and bars, and most days had a bowl of pasta with some sort of sauce on. It is difficult to determine the calorie content of these lunches since some of the sauces were laden with oil, while others were just thin tomato-based sauces. However, I reckon that somewhere between 450 and 700 is about right. I make no bones about the fact that I was eating significantly more than before our ski holiday, but I was burning so many calories skiing that I felt that it was necessary.

In the evenings I ate a three course meal each night. In Italy, 'meals' are somewhat different, conceptually, than those in the UK. In Britain, a typical main course will have elements of carbohydrate (eg potato, pasta, rice etc), vegetables, and protein (eg meat, fish) on the same plate. In Italy, these appear as different courses! The first course is usually a thick soup, pasta or risotto (the carbohydrate part). The main course is mainly protein with some token vegetables (eg a few lettuce leaves or some carrots). The dessert is usually quite small – a piece of cake, some ice cream and fruit, a crème caramel. So, what I am getting at, is that the food contained in a three-course Italian meal would probably constitute just two courses of a typical British meal (perhaps that's why obesity is a growing problem in the UK!). This was making me quite full such that I wouldn't have been able to eat any more if it had been offered – I left a little food on my plate on several occasions which is a new experience for me. Again it's difficult to get an accurate calorie count for my evening meal but I reckon it was about 800-1200 per day.

Thus, my total daily calorie intake was about 2,000-2,500 per day. This is the calorie intake I need at my present weight to maintain that weight, given a moderately sedentary lifestyle. Given the amount of calories I have burned in the last week, I should have lost a little weight. In practice, I haven't – I weigh the same now as I did before I went! However, now I am back on my 1000 calories a day diet, I hope to recover some ground quite soon.

So, overall, we had a good time. I enjoyed eating normal-ish food again and learned some new things about my band: (a) there is some restriction, though clearly not enough to stop me eating small three-course meals; (b) it is tighter in the morning; (c) I probably wouldn't have known I had any restriction if I had not tried to eat larger meals than I was!

I found myself unexpectedly in tears last night because I was fearful of going back to 1000 calories a day. I've had my eating under such tight control since 9th November and it felt strangely frightening to be 'let loose' on proper food again. I'm only two-thirds of the way through today and have done quite well so far (c.250 calories each for breakfast and lunch) – fingers crossed I will be back on course now and back to losing weight.......