Today marks the end of the first week of my no rice, no soda diet. Woohoo! I survived! I honestly thought I wouldn’t.
As I previously blogged about here, I’ve never really gone on a diet before. The most I’ve done was give up on soda for a month and that was more than 10 years ago. While I had no doubts I can give up on soda again (for a month), I didn’t really think I could survive without rice. I tried doing it several months back but it only lasted two days. Haha! So, having lasted an entire week without a grain of rice touching my mouth is a real feat! What’s another three weeks, right?
The reason why I was so worried about not being able to survive the week was my fear of going hungry. In the past, there were times when I got so busy with work that I either forgot to eat or did not eat on time. There was even a time when I passed out. That was such a traumatic experience that I never want to go through again. So, I had to figure out how not to go hungry while on this diet.
Well, what I did this week during meals was just eat the viand and not the rice. I try not to eat double portions of the viand, only if there are vegetables. Instead of soda, I just drank water. The few times we had to eat out, I drank iced tea. However, sometimes eating just the viand wasn’t enough. So, I had to eat something else and here are what saved me.
We used to eat white bread a lot. Last week, we finally switched to a healthier alternative – sugar free wheat bread. The one I got was from Marby and it’s so great because it’s always Buy 1, Take 1. I eat this in place of rice whenever the viand isn’t enough to fill my tummy. I also discovered Sky Flakes Oat Fiber Crackers. I sometimes eat this during breakfast, but mostly as an afternoon or midnight snack. Sometimes, I eat it as is or if I want to give myself a treat, I put on a little Biscoff spread, which is so addicting, I must say.
At night, drinking hot tea a couple of hours before going to bed has been my ritual. It tames my tummy and warms my body. I used to buy the regular Lipton brand until last week when I discovered SureBuy Moringa Lemongrass Stevia. I immediately bought a pack because I know moringa and lemongrass have a lot of health benefits. Plus it has no sugar added. I expected it to taste bad but it actually didn’t. It’s actually a bit bland. So, if you want to sweeten it a bit you can add a little sugar or honey. Sometimes drinking this would be enough to satisfy my hunger pangs at night.
Aside from these three things, sometimes I also eat a banana whenever I feel hungry. It’s a healthier alternative to the sugary, high calorie snacks we sometimes have lying around the house. Gotta get rid of those. I’m on a quest to find more healthy but inexpensive food in the supermarket tomorrow.
Overall, I feel really good. I don’t know if I’ve actually lost weight already since I didn’t measure myself before I started the diet. However, my pants and shorts don’t feel as tight and I don’t have to give so much effort into buttoning them up anymore. Haha! I also feel lighter! So, I guess it must be working. Gosh, I hope so! I need to be beach-ready in a couple of months. Wish me luck!
