I was moving along well with the liquid diet. I was comfortable with it, and my body has gotten used to it. Then I decided that this intermittent craze that was going around sounded good and I was going to try it in addition to what I was already doing. All to lose more weight, rapidly yet, safely.

I did my research about intermittent fasting. This fasting meant avoiding solid food for at least 16-18 hours, within a 24hour period. It also did not allow any high calory liquids. Therefore, no juice or tea/coffee with sugar etc. In my case, that would mean that I had to have my last meal by 7 pm and would not be able to eat again until midday the next day. My eating window would be 12noon to 7 pm each day. 

Within this fast, I was still able to drink water, with lemon, coffee with no sugar or milk unless low-fat milk. I did drink coffee with whole milk. However, since I am not a fan of milk, it was very little and probably made very little difference. 

I was already on all fluids, though my fluids did contain calories. All in all, I was ingesting approximately 700 calories a day. To do the intermittent fast, I tweaked my diet by moving my smoothie intake to midday. I would then have my soup about 4 hours later. If still hungry I would have another bowl of soup before 7 pm. 

Again my existing diet made adding intermittent fasting easier. I would ordinarily have my evening soup between 6 and 7 pm so not much of a change. And because the smoothie was quite heavy, I discovered that I could not have that and two sets of soups each day. 

With the new diet, I would begin the day with a glass of fresh ginger and lemon tea. Later, I would have a cup of coffee with milk, no sugar. I could afford it in my diet because with the fasting I reduced my eating twice a day. I also drank water with a slice of lemon (for taste). At noon I would have my smoothie. In the early evening, before 7 pm I would have my soup. 

The liquid diet allowed me to transition into the intermittent diet quite easily. My stomach had already shrunk decreasing the difficulty of adding the intermittent fasting to my weight loss program. A year later, I am still doing intermittent fasting. I begin my food day at 12noon. Before that, I drink water with lemon, or ginger tea, if inclined. 

I have been doing it for so long that I find it hard to ingest solid food before midday now. I still eat dinner at 6 pm and stop eating at 7 pm every night. 

My initial weight loss goal was to approach my target weight (determined by your height and other parameters- if you go to a website like Calculator.net, you can find that and other metrics). Or at the very least, drop down to a US size 12and I was determined. Starting from a size 16/18 this was no easy feat for me, particularly considering how many times I had tried and failed before. 

I have to admit the biggest fear in my mind about my diet was to stop the liquid diet and gain all the weight back. I had seen many people go through this. Begin a diet, begin to show positive signs of weight loss. Persevere through all the hardships of dieting, only to gain all the weight back once the diet stopped. 

Due to this fear, I stuck long to the liquid diet than I was supposed to. I also spent a lot of time reading, learning and understanding my body vis a vis food. Understanding my food habits, the prevailing food cultures. What was trending and why in terms of weight loss. Success and failure of weight loss. I also spent a lot of time researching different dieting options. Looking for alternative diets, better diets I could tack onto mine to make for increased weight loss. I was obsessed.

The first month ended with me still on a liquid diet and now on intermittent fasting. I made my diet, a mishmash of all I was learning. This meant that I could easily change, amend or even overhaul it month to month. I began planning my diet for the next month. Wanting to continue the same yet change it a bit so my weight loss did not plateau as my body adjusted to my new “normal”. 

I spent a lot of time looking up different soup recipes to ensure that had a variety of yummy soups to choose from. Changing up my smoothie recipe, whilst still maintaining the core ingredients in each smoothie. I shared some of these recipes in https://lifestyle.i-solf.com/thandis-smoothie-recipes/. Every day I journaled from the first day of my diet. I wrote down what I ate each day, how I felt, what I struggled with. It is from these notes in my journal that I can do this blog. 

At the end of my first month, as I reviewed each day what ate, some of the challenges I faced and how I overcame them. I realised something interesting, though not done deliberately, I realised that I had not any pure start single starch in a month. Though I had successfully managed not to eat any pure starch for a whole month, I still had a lot of energy. Albeit I could not have had the energy to run a marathon, but I functioned well each day of my new diet. 

So to recap, I began the weight loss journey, starting with a liquid-only diet. I started the intermittent fasting, intermingled with the liquid-only diet. I read a lot about intermittent fasting and watched as friends of mine tried it and failed.  Primarily I believe they failed because they saw the eating window as permission to eat whatever they wanted, and in whatever quantities. Often the wrong food and wrong quantities for dieting. 

Many of my friends were eating more, within the short eating window, with intermittent fasting than when they maintained their regular eating habits. I saw this a great addition to my diet and successfully added it to my diet. intermittent fasting so much that I still practice it now, a year later. 

This whole weight loss process has taught me a great deal. Following my diet with discipline has helped me lose weight. Subsequently, all the knowledge has helped me change my attitude and relationship with food.

With the new knowledge, I understood a lot more about what my body needed. I got over the cravings, which were a result of my mind trying to reset back to known habitual behaviour. Listening to my body each time I ate and following the cues. I knew when I was hungry and when full. I was able to understand the importance of self-discipline in a world where we are all too indulgent.

In my diet journey, I have discovered a tremendous amount. In my journey, I have enjoyed researching about food. My research was focused on learning about what is healthy for me to eat, and what is not. When to eat, and what to eat for better health and wellbeing. In my journey, I have been able to delve into my relationship with food and eating. In this process, I was able to analyze my past relationship with food. Once analyzed, I could adjust it with my newfound knowledge, for a healthier lifestyle going forward. 

The process has been good and bad, and everything in between. The biggest challenge being the process of objectively accessing my past relationship with food. In my determination to change, I found myself devouring any information I could about diet and weight loss. Watched videos, read magazines and books. Any information medium I could get my hands on, giving me more information about healthy and unhealthy eating. 

In my initial research, I focused on particular foods. I was curious about plant-based foods, especially the starchy ones. My initial diet did not lend to a diet that included starchy food. Regardless, I knew it would. As I moved to my new diet maintenance and lifestyle plan, I would want to re-introduce starches back. To reintroduce starches healthily into my new lifestyle, I needed more information about them. Allowing me to make an informed decision whether include them or remove them entirely. 

My research on these items included understanding their pros and cons in the human body. For example, in the case of Sweet Potato, which I initially discarded in my diet as it is a starch. I like sweet potatoes and was hoping to be able to include them in my future lifestyle diet. However, I needed to know more about sweet potatoes and weigh them amongst other starches. The plan was that once I had the information about them, I could easily decide how to eat them. Introducem them back as a regular food item if they qualified. Alternatively based on information gathered, I could opt to eat them occasionally if they did not qualify. Finally, If I found the information adverse, I could opt to remove them from my diet entirely.

The result of that mini-research was that could keep them in my diet (to be introduced later). My research included reviewing sweet potatoes vis a vis its total starch and sugar content, in comparison to other starches. I also reviewed any additional health benefits to the body. 

The final result on Sweet potatoes? They had no place in my diet during the actual dieting period (no pure starch). Happily, I looked forward to when I could reintroduce them back my lifestyle plan in limited amounts. Its redeeming qualities included: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/sweet-potato-benefits

It is important to note that a lot of the food that I eliminated from my initial diet, was not necessarily bad.  This includes plant-based foods like potatoes, cassava, sweet potatoes even arrowroot. There was just no room for them in my no pure starch diet. I intended to re-introduce them into the maintenance of my new lifestyle diet gradually.

I must admit that am not typically a big “starch” person, craving potatoes or pasta or bread. Therefore, choosing to remove pure starch from my diet, was not a big loss for me. For someone else, who loves starch, this may prove difficult. How badly do you want the weight loss?

Keep in mind the diet is not forever , it is for a duration. Eventually you will be able to re-introduce the starch back in controlled amounts, once you accomplish your goals. Make your decision in a way that is in line with your weight loss and/or weight management goals.

I have discovered that a lot of what people consider “I must eat this or die, or I can’t live without this” is not true. This is typically habit generated in our upbringing. The body does not discern the individual food, just the nutrients it receives. The brain, however, keeps a food memory. It knows what nutrients can be derived easily from what foods. When my body requires iron, the brain will remember that it can be found in Chocolate. Hence the craving for chocolate, every time the body has an iron deficit. 

To circumvent this and stay true to my diet, I know that iron is found in healthier food such as Spinach and other green vegetables. During my diet when the cravings hit, I would choose to eat Spinach instead of chocolate. Consumption with the spinach would dispel the cravings in a healthier way.

The challenge is to convince the mind, and quell the desire to eat chocolate. Granted that spinach can never take the place of chocolate in terms of taste. I mean come on, dark chocolate 70% with nuts or dried fruit infused? Never! However Spinach is a healthier alternative, and it fit in well with my overall fitness plan. Therefore, sadly, chocolate out and Spinach in!

Currently, my determination to reduce weight supersedes my need for the taste of chocolate. Bearing in mind that I need the iron in my body, but not the fats and sugar in chocolate. Spinach has so many other beneficial nutrients and roughage besides iron. I say no to chocolate and eat the spinach for iron and stay true to my diet 

Understanding food and the nutrients you get from the items in your diet gives you power. Power to manage these cravings without deviating from my weight loss goals. There will be a time in the future, to indulge my love for chocolate, and other such food vices. albeit in more controlled amounts.

Our bodies communicate needs all the time. What we consider baseless cravings, is a message. Our body is telling us that we are deficient of certain nutrients and need to replenish. The craving for “not so good for us food” is a result of the information the brain has stored of the nutrients that food item can give us. We can control how we satisfy those cravings. Give the body what it needs and not compromise our weight loss goals.

My weight loss journey this past year has made me review my relationship with food. The new knowledge has allowed me to take better control of my food choices. This is all part of my continuous self-development. Owning my diet is one of the ways I am learning about me. Developing myself, my body, my mind and how and why I relate in particular ways to the external world. More importantly with that understanding, how I can be in control of it. In this case the world of food and eating and weight loss /weight management.

My weight loss journey continued, and with it, questions and challenges arose that I needed to address, and “tips and cheats” that I developed to help me traverse my diet journey. One such question was about weigh-in. In the past, I avoided the scale and hence did not weigh myself. Except during doctor’s visits where it is mandatory. I did not know whether or not I was losing weight and to what extent.  As a solution, I decided to do a weigh-in once a month with the nutritionist alongside checking my other metrics.

I will admit that I because I became very anal about food during my diet, subsequently, I only ate what was on my list. To reduce temptations during the early days of my diet, I did not socialize hardly at all. My fear of not having developed enough will power to stick to my diet, kept me home. The success of my diet depended on ensuring I stuck to the prescribed foods, eating only when was hungry, and ensuring that the correct type of food for my diet was readily available. 

I was initially on smoothies and soups. I would prepare the smoothies daily and drink them the same day, actually within a few hours of preparation. Smoothies because of the fruits in them, tend to ferment/spoil quickly so should be consumed as quickly as possible after preparation. 

Soup, I prepared in bulk. Different types of soups to vary my diet and stimulate my taste buds. I would make a full pot of each type of soup. Once prepared, I would portion them into individual meal sizes and freeze them. Each morning before leaving to work, I would remove two soups from the freezer. One soup I would take with me to work for lunch.   The other I would place in the fridge to slowly defrost. By the end of the day, I would warm that soup for dinner.

During my diet journey, I needed to eat my food at the same time each day. If I delayed eating, I would get an immediate headache. I now understand that this is due to the drop in blood sugar in my system. In retrospect, I see how easy it is to steer away from our diets. We get hungry and reach to eat the quickest most convenient food available. Most convenience foods, however, are the bane of any diet. Many are made with refined flours and sugars and hence not very good for someone trying to lose weight. 

Another diet “cheat” was given to me by my nutritionist at the start of my diet. It was a shake, one she called a meal replacement shake(I will share the details of this later). I carried this shake in my bag at all times. If by chance I was unable to get to my soups on time. I would mix this shake with a glass of water. It would give me the sustenance I needed and pure calories, until my next proper meal. However because this shake is a meal replacement, if I drank it, I would then reduce my food portion by 1 for the day. It was very effective and kept me on my diet straight and narrow.

The key to the success of diet was to reduce my caloric intake into my body. According to my nutritionist, during that first month, I was probably on between 700 to 800 calories per day. Needless to say, I did not exercise at all. I probably would not have had the energy for it, had I tried. I believe that is why I lost so much weight so quickly. This type of diet is not sustainable long term, because the body needs more than 700 calories a day. It served the purpose for that couple of months and then as time went by I increased the calories and introduced exercise. The weight loss continues at a slower yet consistent pace.

At some point in my diet, I began intermittent fasting, another tip. I heard about it from a friend who was doing it. According to her, it was so effective that she was using it as her only weight loss plan. In my zeal to reduce the weight, I did some research on it and decided to modify my existing diet and add intermittent fasting. I add it to my existing. So now based on the plan, I would begin my food day at midday and continue until 7 pm for my last meal, until midday the next day. 

By the time I began the intermittent fasting,  my food intake had reduced significantly and my body was now accustomed to my new food “normal”.   Switching to midday for a first meal not difficult.   I have to confess it became such a habit, that even now I begin my food day at 12 midday. When I began the intermittent fasting, I did not initially tell my nutritionist because I was sure she would try to stop me. I followed the “two” diets and weighed in religiously each month. I also did my regular blood tests monthly to ensure all was okay. 

The biggest takeaway from all this? Planning. Determine your food for the day in advance. Even now as the day begins, I make decisions on what I will eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner that day. That way I do not make food mistakes by not being prepared enough. Ensure that there is always healthy food available in the form of fruits, vegetables, soups etc… that you can grab and eat when hungry. I also do not keep convenience foods in my house, and I go out only on very rare occasions, choosing instead to eat wholesome home-cooked meals daily.

Remember the sceptical doctor and his misgivings about my diet choices? Well, because of him, I find myself doing monthly blood work, as I promised. My experience with the very first of those tests made me think about what I was doing. Following is an account of that time and the decision I made about the blood tests.

I will start off by saying that it is a good thing my medical is covered by my work insurance. It could get very expensive otherwise. I finally succumbed to getting the tests done at the end of May and agreed to repeat it monthly.

I did not take the comment on malnutrition as a joke. Coming from Africa, I know what malnutrition looks like first hand. Luckily I have not had the misfortune of suffering from malnutrition. However, I am familiar with diseases related to malnutrition, such as Kwashiorkor. According to medicalnewstoday.com, Kwashiorkor is caused by severe malnutrition, particularly a lack of protein and other essential nutrients. The human body needs sufficient nutrients including protein, to maintain fluid balance in the body. 

A sidebar; When my Angel was growing up, I would always threaten her with Kwashiorkor and Marasmus. This is when she was reluctant to finish her meal. When I told the diseases my Angel would get for not finishing her food, she would quickly eat her food. She was afraid of these diseases with big names. Marasmus is another disease due to malnutrition. In this case, the body wastes away from the lack of nutrients, proteins and energy. Resulting in minimal subcutaneous fat and severe muscle wasting.

This scare tactic worked well for my daughter until the beginning of high school. This is when they began studying tropical disease in her Biology class. With the new knowledge of tropical diseases, she was able to argue. Showing me that she was not now and had never been at risk for either diseases. This she argued was because she always ate balanced meals of adequate quantity. Well, it worked for many years and got her to eat her food so there!

Malnutrition is very real in developing countries. Countries where people do not have enough to eat and do not always eat a balanced diet. Malnutrition targets the more vulnerable of our society, children. If the disease is not treated in time, reversed by introducing more calories and proteins, to the sick child’s diet, can lead to death. 

Though Kwashiorkor is more prevalent in children. I believe the doctor’s concern was that, in dieting and depending on how desperate a person is to lose weight; They can reduce their caloric intake so significantly causing more harm than good. Even in adults, malnutrition and can become life-threatening, if taken to extremes. 

Cases occur of people starving themselves to lose weight. Desperate people do very drastic things to lose weight and end up hurting themselves, even to the point of death. Anorexia is one of the main culprits of this. Additionally, people harm their bodies with behaviours’ such as those found in bulimics. These things happen every day when the desperation of weight loss outweighs one’s sense of self-preservation.

I was clear from the beginning, that I did not want to do any harm to my body, in this weight loss process. Hence my willingness to do the blood tests, to ensure that I was not losing important nutrients during my weight loss journey.

To fulfil my promise to the doctor, I found myself early one morning, at the doctor’s office to give blood for the first test. This is after fasting from before midnight (not ingesting anything including water). I was somewhat nervous, not from a fear of needles, more about the results of this blood test. Being so sure I was eating healthily and on a roll with my new diet. My results showing that the diet was on was working, I did not want to stop. 

The fear of reverting to my old food habits made me not want to stop my diet. It would mean that the progress I had made the last two months would have been a complete waste. Worse, stopping would mean that what all the naysayers had said would be right. I could not hack it. 

Not being a fan of supplements, I would not have liked have to take any vitamin supplements to my daily regime, as a result of depleted nutrients. I am a big advocate on all things natural. My diet thus far had been all-natural and I was thriving in my chosen path.

With these misgivings, I gave the blood and left, hoping for the best. I spent the day apprehensive about what the results would say. So many people had been so negative about my ability to see it through successfully. The last thing I needed was to find out that my efforts were so extreme, that I was now suffering some type of vitamin deficiency and/or malnutrition. 

Eventually, the doctor called and all was well, in fact in some areas like cholesterol and blood sugar, had improved, and all the other markers were within the normal range. Thank God. A vindication for me to continue my diet. I was ecstatic! 

I quickly forwarded the results to the doctor and was able to continue on my diet without any misgivings. When I look back, I know the doctor meant well. He was concerned about my health and general well being. Or at least that is how I prefer to rationalize it.

Unfortunately, I also realize that there were those people I encountered in my journey who were very negative about my process. I have learned that times when people are negative about efforts you are making in your personal development, they are usually mirroring their inadequacies on to you. They may not understand nor do they need to. It is not their journey. I call this group of people the “peanut gallery”. They have an opinion about things that don’t concern them.

As long as you have chosen your path and taken pains to ensure you are doing it in a healthy sustainable way; You should not waiver from that path. Put your will power to the test and use your determination to forge your way forward on your journey to weight loss and personal development!

You can do this! Good Luck!

The process of this diet did come with a few unexpected challenges and to ease your diet path and make it easier for you to navigate the diet process. Since I have taken the journey with success, I feel that it would be helpful for me to share some of the challenges I faced. I have chosen to tell you about some of the challenges I faced (you may face different ones), more importantly how I tackled them without compromising the diet requirements. I am sharing this information with the hope that it is useful and makes this arduous process a little easier for you.

As my diet progressed even self-control with the diet go easier. However, as with every process, there were challenges that I had to overcome. The first challenge I faced very early on (within the first week). Namely, I found it difficult to have a regular bowel movement (sorry a bit disgusting, yet necessary to discuss). I consulted a doctor about it, and he explained that my diet being only liquids, would make it challenging for my intestines to push liquid through. Thus enabling me to have a bowel movement. Now I understand the role that roughage (non-soluble fibre) plays in our diet, helping to keep us “regular”.

Liquid diet equals liquid waste. To resolve this issue I did some research and in the process discovered Linseed (flaxseed). Linseed is an effective binding agent. Due to its binding properties, Linseed is used in recipes, it as an egg substitute. Linseed will take whatever liquids surround it and bond them into a solid mass. A solid mass in the intestines equals a bowel movement. Problem solved. Chia seeds are a good substitute for Linseeds, for the same purpose and other nutritional benefits. Chia can, therefore, can be used interchangeably this diet for the same purpose. 

I went out and bought the Linseed with the intent to include it to my diet hoping that it would help me with being more “regular”. As a result of my new-found information, I began adding Linseed into my smoothies before blending (3tsp) and cooked soups before serving (2tsp). It did the trick, regular bowel movements after each meal, metabolism back and things flowing as they should. 

The next challenge I faced with my diet came in the form of queries and concerns by a particular doctor. His concern included my choice to remaining on liquids beyond the nutritionists prescribed 2 weeks. In his opinion, my diet was too restrictive, unrealistic and not sustainable. Subsequently, he discouraged me from the diet, from the very beginning. According to him, I ran the risk of becoming Bulimic. This came after I shared my formula for dealing with cravings. He did not believe I would have the resolve not to swallow the food

Additionally, the doctor had concerns that my not eating solids for a long time, might result in my intestines atrophy from lack of use. I am not sure how true this is. He further suggested that continuing with this liquid diet for an extended amount of time would invariably put me at risk of malnutrition. In this case, Malnutrition caused by an essential mineral and vitamin deficit. I believe, he thought I had lost my mind to take on such an impossible task. Suggesting that I see a therapist to deal with my supposed mental issues surrounding weight loss. 

The doctor’s comments and he was not alone, made me realize a few things; People can only advice you from their point of view. The questions and doubts bandied my way, had little to do with professional knowledge, more to do with their self-doubt. Consequently, their comments were them projecting their fears and insecurities on me.

In retrospect, the doctor was projecting his lack of discipline and his insecurities about weight loss. Further, he completely underestimated my resolve, will power, discipline and determination. However, as I felt that he meant me no harm to appease him, I agreed to undergo monthly blood tests. I further agreed that if the blood tests confirmed his concerns, indicating deficiencies, then I would agree to take supplements. These supplements would replace any depleted vitamins and minerals.

He could determine what he wanted to check. Hence the checks he decided on would indicate if my new diet was depleting necessary nutrients from my body. The blood tests were to check specific things, as listed:

1. Fasting Cholesterol
2. Fasting sugar
3.  HBA1c
4. Magnesium
5. Folic
6. Vitamin B12

The blood tests began after the 1st month and continued monthly for 6 months. The subsequent results of the blood tests each month were that the diet did not have adverse effects on my body. On the contrary, the results of the blood tests showed that my body was receiving the full complement of nutrients and minerals necessary. Additionally, Cholesterol and blood sugar levels improved as well. Vindication. 

The results of the blood tests showed that not only was the diet not depleting anything necessary from my body, but it was good for me.   My chosen diet gave me sustenance, energy and all the minerals and vitamins necessary. Hence, I did not have to take any supplements and it helped convince the doctor that his concerns were needless.

It is important to keep in mind when you decide to follow such a diet, those around you can try and discourage you, try to get you to change your decision. Don’t expect them to understand. As in many decisions in your life, you must be resolute. However, even in your determination, do not take unnecessary chances with your health. Seek professional help before beginning your diet from a nutritionist and/ or a doctor (particularly if there or any underlying medical conditions). Ensure that in following your diet, you are not doing more harm than good. 

To be successful you must be disciplined. To this end, you must be able to resist temptations and remarks of discouragement from those around you. Sadly, even the ones who love you and supposedly want what is best for you. People can inadvertently or purposely project their fears on you, whilst others envy your level of discipline and resolve to change to improve. Maybe they don’t have “it” in them. Remember, “Misery loves company”. 

In summary, no one else can walk your path. Ask yourself how badly do you want this? This is your choice, be resolved to see it through to the end. Do not be discouraged do not give in or give up. Listen to your inner voice, own your diet, own your path, and your journey towards living your best life!

20 does not seem like a lot of days, but the type of diet I was on, it felt like a lifetime. I had successfully managed to stay true to the liquid diet. After 20 days the doubt and subsequent questions began in my head.

1. After all the sacrifice dieting, if the results showed no weight loss, then have I been depriving myself for nothing? 

2. And the 14-day diet originally prescribed by the nutritionist, extended to 20 days, could be doing me more harm than good?

3. Will I ever be able to eat regular food again? without regaining the weight?

These were some of the main questions in my mind at the time. Questions that were very real and kept me up at night trying to answer. Additionally, I had other challenges.

I found myself craving the individual tastes of particular foods. To resolve this, I would eat my smoothie or bowl of soup. What I ate resulted in giving me one prevailing taste, and due to habit, my body was craving more varied and distinct tastes.

These cravings had nothing to do with hunger more about learned behaviour. Further, ingested food ends up in the stomach. Since the stomach has no brain, it does not distinguish between foods, in terms of tastes and texture sensations. The different food sensation of tastes and textures occurs in the mouth and the mind. I craved different tastes and textures.

What I know of cravings is they happen in the mind. When our bodies are missing something certain nutrients or from habit. Instead of ignoring the cravings, I instead chose to indulge my mind. I decided to eat exactly what my body was craving. (warning, not for the squeamish) 

To deal with the cravings, yet maintain my diet, I came up with a plan. To eat my one bowl of soup, as usual for dinner. Once full, yet still craving, I would take the vegetables or meat, chew and spit them out. 

As I did not need the additional food in my stomach, I would not swallow it. I know this sounds disgusting. Please note that I did not ever swallow the meats or vegetables, regret my decision to do so, and purposely throw it back up. 

I know this sounds crazy, but I was determined to stick to my diet. Retelling this particular diet experience is met with mixed reactions… Some say that those are the first signs of Bulimia. Others find it wasteful, and some find it funny. Everyone agreed it is disgusting. 

It did require a lot of discipline to chew food and not to swallow it. I discovered in this process that, I have a lot of discipline. Satisfy my cravings without compromising my diet. As I was in the privacy of my home and alone, no one had to witness this little “trick”. Although this was not an ideal situation, it was a means to an end.

I emphasize that I did not swallow the food then subsequently, make myself throw it back up. This behaviour, which is practised by some to diet, can be very dangerous. The process of throwing up food by force can result in dehydration and other very serious side effects.

I conclude this by saying that in the process of this diet, I learned little tricks (I will continue to share them with you), which helped me manage my old food habits, hence, modifying my overall relationship with food. This relationship had to change for my diet to be successful, and end up my ultimately as my new lifestyle.