I spent Easter weekend replenishing my carb and alcohol stores. Today it’s time to start again. I have to be strict otherwise I will damage the progress I made in Lent. So here are the rules with a bit of explanation:

Caffeine

  • At most 3 mugs of coffee a day.
  • A mug of Earl Grey in the afternoon.

I’m drinking too much coffee. It’s affecting my sleep patterns. But I need coffee to get started in the morning, so it stays. I’ve given up caffeine before. It takes a week to get over it and it is beneficial. But one has to have some pleasures in life.

Earl Grey has bergamot in it. This reportedly helps with LDL cholesterol. Not that I have a cholesterol problem: I just need something other than coffee to take the edge off.

Diet

You can probably guess this section if you know me well enough. I’m going to adopt a mostly low-carb diet modified for training.

  • Two meals a day.
  • Low-carb meals, except on one of Saturday or Sunday.
  • Examples of breakfast/brunch include 4 eggs, avocado, spinach.
  • Pre-gym a bowl of porridge (about 50g) with a banana or apple, honey, etc to make the workout effective.
  • Examples of dinner include meat or fish with mainly green vegetables. Occasionally a piece of cheese for dessert.
  • No snacking.
  • Avoid all processed seed oils - cook in butter, olive oil or tallow.
  • Calories and macros will be measured.
  • At least 2 litres of water per day.

The cheat days must not be over the top. I must stick to two meals a day.

If I start to put weight on I will consider dropping the porridge, moving carb day to leg day or reduce a meal now and then.

Booze

In an ideal world I would give up booze. Yet having a glass of red wine feels part of me. So for the foreseeable future:

  • Max 250ml of red wine on Friday and Sunday.
  • A relaxed approach on cheat day (usually Saturday).
  • No booze on Mondays to Thursdays unless it is a special occasion.

Fitness

Gym sessions three times a week:

  • Legs (Tuesday)
  • Upper Body (Thursday)
  • Abs and Shoulders (Saturday)

Also some cardio and general fitness:

  • Exercise bike four times a week for 35 minutes
  • Daily dog walks