So. It’s about time I wrote about what happened.

I spent 4 weeks semi-religiously following The Rules, writing down what I ate and waiting for the magic moment when I felt full of energy and free from problems. I also spent an inordinate amount of time upsetting people with my presence. I’m not sure what part of me not eating bread or cheese or sugar was most upsetting, I just remember permanently trying to ward off the comments (and occasionally the commenters). (You can’t just eat apples, grapes and bananas for lunch, look, I’ll make you a sandwich, you’re wasting away, didn’t you bring any real food? Do you want to share mine?, please eat more, here – have some bread with that, DB, don’t you think she should stop being so awkward and just eat everything again?).

The next 3-4 weeks consisted of trying things out, and trying to notice the difference.

Most notably: nothing.

The bloating was stiĺl there, albeit certainly reduced. The stomach cramps were less intensive and occasionally nonexistent. I mostly had more energy, but still not so much that it overflowed. I got cold a lot more quickly than usual, occasionally so much that I wrapped myself up in blankets while the rest sat in T-shirts.

Overall I suppose I felt better at the end of the trial weeks than at the beginning, but I was looking for symptoms and still finding them.

***

I ate a lot of good lamb steaks, and bucket loads of rice and veggies. I doubt I ate as many bananas in the previous year as I did in those 2months. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t detrimental, although I suspect I could’ve made it more exciting.

***

Over the 2 months I lost 6 or 7kg.

The pile waiting for the clothes bank grew, while I shrank.

I didn’t go clothes shopping, because I hate that, and besides, new clothes every couple of weeks is a game I didn’t want to play. Instead, I dug old favourites out of the cupboards and wore them a week or 10 days before they were baggy. Another few days and I needed a belt. Then I’d retrieve the next old favourite.

The post that floated round my head most, without making its way to screen-paper, would’ve been called “shrinking out of my clothes”…

***

Then barbecue season began properly. We’d barbecued by ourselves until then, but being the one people have to cater for specially doesn’t appeal unless it’s really really necessary, so I stopped eliminating and began including. I figured I’d be better off not stressing about food, which meant I ate everything I wanted to eat and didn’t bother about writing it down (who takes notes at a party?!!) or watching for symptoms.

I gained 3 1/2 Kilos in the following month.

That was the first time I’d ever subjected my body to the yoyo effect.

***

I am slowly working towards getting rid of them again. Besides being fatter, I’m also unfitter. The changes are so incremental that I can’t say what triggers them, I just know that I am back to feeling tired all the time and my stomach’s back to cramps and queasiness. I’m coughing more often and apparently my breath smells bad in the morning (thanks DB).

I am contemplating going back and doing it again, maybe for longer before adding foods back this time round. The barbecue season is pretty much over, and the Christmas partys still belong a good way off in the future. On the other hand, next week is a big meet-up of most of DB’s friends at our house, and a wedding at the weekend, the week after that, my brother is here. Then I’m in England, followed by a glassblowing meeting, which brings us to the second week of October already….

Maybe I’ll try the better-than-nothing approach and stick to it when nothing else is going on… 🙂 I probably won’t leave out as many foods this time round either, maybe just sugar, bread and milk products.

DB suggested he eliminates with me, so we don’t have to cook twice, but secretly because he thinks he needs to lose a kilo or three…