So I'm four days into my nutritionist prescribed eating plan. I have to do this until I see her again in November. I won't list everything I've got to cut or minimise from my diet, needless to say it includes sugar, alcohol and fried food. Considering I can't do wheat or dairy it quite neatly cuts out any of the remaining treats I allowed my self.
When I saw the program she'd devised after the first consultation I nearly cried thinking I'd have to go six weeks without chocolate, a glass of wine or pop corn at the cinema, my triumvirate of treats.
An email was hastily dispatched to clarify the term 'exclude' and to my complete relief I discovered that as long as I follow the program 65%-75% of the time I should still feel the benefits. The rules are that I choose my 'treats' wisely, savour them and most importantly don't feel guilty about eating them.
My nutritionist believes that it is not only what we eat but our state of mind when we eat which affects our digestion and body function. I know that stress certainly screws up my stomach so I'm with her on that.
The cost of all this and the vast array of tablets (9) I have to take with each meal, is coming out of my own pocket so I'm determined to take it seriously and follow the program as much as my sanity and practicality will allow. My treats* are now rationed to two a week so I have to decide which one to ditch.
Friday is chocolate day and wouldn't be the same without it so I already have my good quality bar of dark chocolate in my bag so that means either the wine or pop corn is jettisoned. It's a tough one because the week I'm having is making a nice glass of wine really appealing but then I plan to go to the cinema at the weekend (Brideshead at last, yippee) and the thought of sitting through a film without even a small popcorn to slowly munch through just doesn't compute.
(The Renoir at the Brunswick Centre is one of the snooty cinema's that doesn't sell popcorn and the shock of discovering this when I'd already bought my ticket will stay with me for a long time)
So I don't know what to do. I don't have to choose but I want to otherwise I'll never get my rubbish guts sorted.
* A potential new treat is steak, as she says red meat is fine as long as it is good quality and lean. Mosh and I are planning to put the money we would have spent on our Friday night takeaways into a pot and then go to one of the restaurants at Smithfield meat market for a really good steak.