How I added more proteins to my diet

Maybe you are wondering what can one eat during such a weight management programme. As I told you, by reading the programme manual, I realised I didn't eat a lot of proteins, and so I had to change this for the programme to be successful.
There are many ways for a vegetarian to get proteins, and here are the solution I chose:
For the breakfast, I like eating seasonal fruits (strawberries for example) and I mix them with low fat yoghurt. This is absolutely delicious!
Another snack I eat usually in the afternoon is a handful of almonds, or salted peanuts or any other sort of nuts.
Another good way to get proteins is by eating beans... and since I was given a real recipe to make hummus, this is a great way to have the whole family eating chick peas. (I'll give you the recipe in another post if you want to know it!)
To make sure my growing son has enough protein, I regularly propose meat free sausages or hamburgers or mince meat (mycoproteins). And what the family loves is when I prepare lasagne using meat free mince (another recipe I can share if you ask!).
Another great way to eat proteins (especially for a Frog) is with cheese. This has the advantage of providing calcium at the same time. I have added some goat cheese, as it is a little bit less fat, and I must admit that goat cheese on a fresh loaf od grain bread is delicious....
I make sure I have a few portions of proteins every day, and if I feel I didn't get enough, I add a meal replacement bar which contains very high quality proteins.


And of course, alongside the proteins make sure you add fresh fruits and vegetables, try to avoid refined sugar and white bread.


I am sure there are tonnes of other way to add proteins to a diet, and I am of course looking forward to your suggestions!

5 weeks

Already 5  weeks into the program, and one full week with the exercising part! (better late than never!!!).
How do I feel? Great!
Yes, absolutely great! This programme of eating a bit less and differently (more proteins for me) has become something natural. It doesn't need any effort, and no need to really think about it at all.
For a full week I have now done exercising. I didn't go to classes as much as I wanted, because I had too many meetings which clashed with the classes timetable, but I managed to go to one class and I took the children playing badminton 4 times!
I can hear what you think... badminton.... Actually there is a lot of starting and stopping and I find this sport quite violent in a way, and I can tell you that I feel my buttocks a lot!!! (ouch!).
The result are still coming.... I don't weigh myself too often, but I can feel my old trousers becoming looser and looser... which feels absolutely fantastic!
No craving, no hunger, feeling energetic and so excited about the result! This is how I can summarize these 5 weeks. There are another 7 weeks to go, and I feel almost sad there are no more than that! Anyway... let's roll on the 6th week!

One month now fully gone...

I have now finished my first month with this weight management programme, and I can say I feel absolutely great! I don't even think about what I need to eat and what I should avoid, it just comes. I can't feel hunger, or craving, and I never feel tired at all!
The result are about 3kg less and my clothes feel much looser... (and that feels really good!)
The only part of the programme I have been failing so far is the more exercise part. As you can imagine I have found myself all sorts of excuses, no time too busy etc....
But I have decided it would really be a loss not to take advantage of the programme fully and skip the exercise bit... So I went to enrol in my local gym yesterday and I took the children to play badminton this afternoon! This was the perfect introduction to exercising again! We had fun and it is (as for me) a very effective way to move a little!
As a consequence I feel incredibly alive this evening! And I regret I didn't make the effort a little earlier...
Anyway, now I have the list of classes and have already registered to some and booked time in my diary! No more excuses! And I'll go playing badminton again with my children!
Let's roll on month two with the exercising part!

Almost 4 weeks done!

I can't believe I started almost 4 weeks ago this weight management programme. Well it'll be 4 weeks exactly tomorrow evening.
What can I say? These four weeks have been completely painless. I don't feel at all that I am trying to go back into shape and lose some fat! I feel great, full of energy, and I can feel my trousers loosing up nicely!
I haven't been good at exercising at all, I have to admit. Apart from the walks, I have done almost nothing. But this is going to change as I got myself a new sport outfit, and as my children are officially in Summer break, I have decided to replace the school run by proper exercise!
I think the going back to proper exercise is the most difficult part of the programme for me. Since I have had my health issue, I couldn't exercise at all, and then couldn't exercise much.... So I feel I am completely out of shape and badly need to do something about it. And I know it is going to be painful.... But I am decided, and when I have decided to do something there is nothing to stop me!
I'll let you know about my progress very soon!
What is exciting about this exercising part, is that even if I haven't exercise much I can already feel the benefit of the weight management programme a lot, so it is really exciting to know that these effects are going to be even bigger shortly!

This is my lunch for today (too busy to stop working!)

You may wonder what do the replacement meal bar look like. And what do they taste like. And will they provide enough food for a whole lunch?

Here is how I eat the bars, for example, today I am very busy and don't really have time to stop working for lunch, so I cut a bar (this is lemon crisp) into small pieces, I add a nice cup of herbal tea, and this will keep me going for hours!
I will only have a tiny snack at around 4 pm, with a handful of nuts such as peanuts (I love the salty nuts), which are full of proteins and will keep me going until dinner time. I will also have another cup of herbal tea in order to stay hydrated.
The bars are quite tasty, even a tiny bit too sweet to my taste. They do a quick lunch or snack and contain all you need plus extra good quality proteins.
Bon appetit!

Tired? Certainly not!

As I started the programme I was concerned it may be tiring, as weight management programme can be.
I normally take the full dosage of the R2, which is an incredible food supplement that boost your energy targeting directly the mitochondria, but since I have started the programme, I was able to reduce the R2 dosage by 2!
The reason I take the R2, is because on the top of being over 40, and extremely busy, some health issues I have bring intense fatigues.... and the R2 has been a saviour. It has brought back my normal level of energy, and I am so grateful for that!
So I was a little worried that the weight management programme would make me feel tired. But, not at all! On the contrary, it feels me up with energy, which has allowed me to reduce my R2 intake!


I had to share this as I really find this amazing!

3 weeks!

My third week into the programme is reaching to an end today!
I can now appreciate the big push the JS gave me to start this programme. I have just realised that I have never really followed a weight management programme. I have tried in the past to get rid of a few kg, and stopped as soon as I reached 2-3 kg. Generally speaking I am careful about what I eat and tend to regulate myself fine, but since I have past 40, I can see that the self regulation has lost in efficiency.
So I have realised today that I have been in the programme for three full weeks and that I have another 9 weeks to go, and the best thing is that it is not scary at all! On the contrary it is quite an exciting experience, already seeing myself going back to a normal silhouette.
The reason I never kept a restrictive diet for more than 2 weeks before is, because of the feeling you have of being deprived of your favourite food, and since I have started, I never have had this feeling. So, it feels easy and so exciting!
The first two days after I stopped the JS I was a bit worried as I could feel the absence of its positive effect on the mind. But, this was quickly regulated, thanks to a fantastic head start given by the JS!
I shall check on paper how I am doing after three weeks.... keeping in mind I haven't been very good with the exercise part of the programme. But this is now changing! I am moving more and doing more specific exercises as proposed in the  programme guide.

The bars (meal replacement)

With the programme come some bars, rich in proteins that can be used as a meal replacement for breakfast, lunch or dinner. You don't have to include them in your daily eating plan, but they are practical when you are on the go, and don't want to stop for lunch (and have junk food).
What makes them important is the fact that they contain high quality proteins that complement the programme to perfection, and help the protection of the muscles.


So far I have used the bars from time to time either for breakfast, when I was in a hurry with nothing adequate to eat in the house, of for lunch.
There are two flavours, one is chocolate and the other one is crispy lemon.
When I am not on the go, I usually cut the bar in small pieces and eat them sitting with a big glass of water. The fact that they are cut into smaller pieces, makes them look bigger like finger food. I eat them less fast and chew them better.
After I ate the bar and drank enough fluid, I don't feel hungry anymore and I am ready to carry on whatever it is I was doing.


I find them quite tasty, maybe a little bit too sweet to my taste, easy to ingest.
I don't eat them every day, and when I don't I make sure I have a good portion of proteins instead.