Once thats happened you know there’s only good news to come. I have been on Lively for a week (5 days without weekends) and surprise to say I tried to follow the lively program even on the weekends; alright I’m lying.. I cheated on one day. Hey don’t judge me.. its my weekend and the whole idea is to take it easy.

Portion control: Lively has been working mainly on portion control; with a weeks worth of meals I can’t really judge quality but I will have a better opinion next week.

Brekkie: Things that I received for breakfast are the likes of a slice of brown toast with low fat chocolate spread; or once small slice of pancake with some peach jam; or honey oat bites or even a cheese sandwich for that matter… yup! you’re thinking dough, cheese and chocolate…. how is this a diet… it’s been good and I can’t complain; thankfully the idea of a good diet is to not deprive yourself of the finer things in life but to enjoy everything in limited quantities; come to think of it all of life functions that way.. drink but not too much, eat but not too much, work but not too much.. there are limits and boundaries for everything, even food. Your body is your shrine, how you treat it depends on what you put in it; respecting your body means eating healthy; everything is related and eventually comes down to saying a healthy body is a healthy mind.

Snacks: Snacks are an important part of your day, or so I learnt. Munching something every couple hours is now become routine for me unlike the times before when I never understood the concept of a snack; I always looked for the heaviest most unhealthiest thing to add on to a more heavy and unhealthy lunch (our cafeteria at work is the worst and I can’t seem to pack some lunch for me, hence cafeteria food its got to be )… its no wonder I was packing those pounds! The snacks are often healthy.. this is probably the only time I feel like I’m on a diet, they dish out snacks for the mid morning and mid evening, so there is quite a few fruits packed in along with either a yoghurt drink or a mini fruit yoghurt; easy and refreshing really.

Lunch: Well it excites me! Everyday when I get my box of yums delivered to my door, I unpack the whole bag to dig and find out what has been packed for lunch today. I get some real yummy yums! I have an appetizer and a desert (which needs to be had later on in the day as a Pm snack ideally). From the moment I stumble out of bed, I wait eagerly for my watch to read 12:30 and boy do I wait for 12:30! The appetizers are often some hummus or some salad or some baba ghannouj or even a soup for that matter. The hummus I find rather dry and the salads… bleh.. terrible… the salads are so unappetizing it makes you want to kill the diet instantly. Its just a pile of hopeless greens accompanied with one cherry tomato (unless other ingredients state on the menu) and your oh-so-boring lemon, olive oil and oregano dressing… seriously BORING ALERT! don’t opt for the salads. Considering the money we pop into their laps, I think they could make more of an effort to bring some life into that salad, its appears so dead that even the starving wouldn’t touch them, if anything my favorite is the baba Ghannouj! The mains are a delight (notice the smiley face…thats me smiling as I type) baked fish with an almond crust or a subway sandwich or chicken with either olives/potatoes/artichoke or beef stew with vegetables or a casserole or an olive and artichoke pasta… the list goes on and the stuff they have on the menu is one better than the other. Oh no I forgot deserts! I lied about the above statement, actually I wait all day for the clock to read 3:30pm! Oh boy 3:30 is absolute happiness in lively plastic containers. Ginger cakes, lazy cakes, eclairs, tiramisu, cheesecakes, stuffed dates or even a small bag of nuts.. these are the ultimate joys of life and guess what… you don’t have to go without seeing them. Again low fat and limited quantities is key. I normally get to pop in 3 delicious spoonfuls into my mouth to remind me how good life can be and you know what, 3 spoonfuls is all I need.

Dinner: Well dinner makes me sad sometimes.. not all the times. The portions are super light and rather small, delicious nonetheless! The thought of not having anything to eat after makes me sad. Its advised that you should not immediately pop yourself into bed after your dinner; at least a 2 hour gap is most apt and obviously more if possible. But to sit around in my house knowing that there is no more food left, knowing that the lively box is empty, that – is pain! There have been several times I would run into the kitchen, unzip my lively box and peer into its emptiness just to make sure I haven’t missed a little something somehow; but in vain its all gone! In need of a distraction I quickly resort to a couple episodes of Family guy and in about 2 and a half hours I am in bed dreaming of my lively box for the next day.

So the Result: Yup those jeans have gotten loose; enough for me to see it. I haven’t got on the scales yet (I don’t own one… I feel my obsession with it may possibly take over my life) but I reckon the needle is moving anti-clockwise.

And what’s the logic: I have been stuffing food down my gob every 2 hours, all portions are small, calculated, healthy and most importantly -TIMELY; I can tell… I feel better, healthier, fitter; this is what I am aiming for and I am receiving it; best of all positive results are already beginning to show. Snacking! and all that water I drink is key; I think if I was to take one example from this experience… it is more eating more at regular intervals but not stuffing yourself of course.

TIP: Excellent tip dished out by Lively; when you choose to eat out, before you even begin to eat you dish that you  ordered, send it away and get half of it packed the next day. Let’s face it.. the portions you get here in most restaurants are ridonkulous! So why force feed that belly of yours and pack in two meals or even feel guilty for wasting food… just pack it up; makes you feel better that you haven’t wasted anything or happier knowing you haven’t stuffed yourself so much that you haven’t left any breathing room.

More updates to Follow,

Eaternally Yours,

Drina C.