Fighting back

Day 9  

Then: 220 pounds (15 stone 10 pounds) 
Now: 213 pounds (15 stone 1 pound) 
Lost: 7 pounds 

The last few days have confirmed the "theory" behind our diet, which works on the basis of killing off appetite and eating well. 

For 5 days I had been following it rigorously, and had not felt a pang of hunger beyond day 2. That was down to the careful balance of good carbs and lots of protein, with virtually no fat. Then I had two illegal meals, the dinner party on Saturday night and the business lunch on Monday, and, despite the increased calorific intake, I've been starving ever since. And I put on two pounds.

The sugars, fats and fruits in the meals woke up my body to the cravings that kept me fat. I now have to kill the cravings again. 

This is the most difficult phase of the diet. Today I've been rigorous: I had to, with the photograph only three weeks away. 

So I had just a vanilla fruyo yoghurt for breakfast (a miracle cure, by the way - it staves off hunger for 3 hours), then a smoked salmon and watercress salad for lunch.  For supper, Jo made Piri Piri Steak: 

The steak is sirloin, cooked medium rare on the bone. 

Jo's piri-piri sauce was made by gently cooking red onions and red peppers with a little oil and lots of ginger together on the hob. Then she added sliced button mushrooms and a glug of piri-piri sauce. 

It was served with a simple green salad with white balsamic dressing:

I made this with one finely sliced shallot, combined with one tablespoon of the vinegar and two of olive oil, with salt and pepper. 

We had baked kale on the side: 

This is thinly sliced kale (make sure it's dry) sprinkled with coarse sea salt and olive oil, placed in the convection oven on a very slow heat (about 120 degrees) for an hour till it crisps up under the hot air - a bit like the "seaweed" you get in chinese restaurants, which is usually made with cabbage. Ever so slightly bitter, but a very nice contrast to the mushroom sauce.