Avoiding the pizza

Day 4  

Then: 220 pounds (15 stone 10 pounds) 
Now: 214 pounds (15 stone 3 pounds) 
Lost: 6 pounds 

6 pounds in 3 days. That's quite a spectacular result. And for some reason I don't appear to have withdrawal symptoms yet: just a much reduced appetite. 

Breakfast this morning was just a yoghurt with coffee.  At lunchtime Jo put together these delicious tuna lettuce cups: 

To tuna in water (not oil), she added one teaspoon of Dijon mustard, one (just one!) teaspoon of mayonnaise, some chopped capers and a little finely chopped fennel. She put this in baby gem cups with baby tomatoes on the top and avocado on the side, all liberally sprinkled with black pepper. A delicious light lunch. 

In the evening Jo and Izzy went off to watch Cinderella on Ice, while I had a meeting on the other side of the county. 

Jo said she successfully resisted the lure of Pizza Express: she didn't touch a piece of Izzy's pizza. Coincidentally, at my meeting the clients produced boxes of pizza too. Of course I declined, explaining I was on diet, and had just three weeks to lose some weight. 

One of my female clients, without really thinking, looked at me and exclaimed "Only 3 weeks!!?" The room fell about laughing and the lady was consumed with apologies. My goal is to reach a situation where, when I tell people about my diet, they look shocked not because they don't believe I'm on one, but because they don't think I need to be.

So I eschewed the pizza, and my clients chewed the lot. The room smelled of American Hot and Four Seasons all night. 

Afterwards, I returned home and Newcastle were playing Benfica in the Europa Cup. At half time I decided to make a very quick supper (I gave myself 20 minutes, so I wouldn't miss any of the game). I threw two shallots in a pan with a small amount of olive oil, then after a few minutes 3 chopped garlic cloves, some chili flakes and finely sliced celery. Once they'd settled in I added a pound of very lean ground beef of very good quality.   Once the meat had browned I then put in a glug of our new secret ingredient: 

Lingham's Ginger Garlic Chilli Sauce, which has a nice mild piquancy. I added some chinese rice wine and a tablespoon or so of Tamari soy sauce. This reduced to a delicious sweet and spicy dish, which I piled onto big romaine leaves. I took Jo at her word: she said you can eat as much as you want. So I ate three quarters of it, largely to cheer myself up, because Newcastle lost the match. Hopefully the loss will extend to my weight by tomorrow morning.