Phase 1 - The Harcombe Diet

Tomorrow will be my last day of Phase 1 on The Harcombe Diet.  Whilst it's restrictive, thankfully it only last for 5 days and I've found it much easier than I thought I would.  My sugar cravings were particularly intense yesterday and all I could think about were giant slices of cake, but I soldiered on and drank plenty of water and woke up this morning feeling much better.

Phase 1 cuts out all sugars, even the natural sugars found in fruits and processed carbs.  The list of foods you are allowed may be varied but for someone like me, who isn't exactly a whiz in the kitchen I found this quite difficult.  Vegetables are unlimited (except for mushrooms, you can't eat these), salad vegetables are again unlimited and you can eat as much meat and eggs as you like.  You are advised to stick to 3 meals a day however, with a snack in between if you genuinely feel peckish. 

Condiments are out, so no salad dressings as mostly these will contain sugar, even mayonnaise is out despite the fact this diet doesn't limit fats, for Phase 1 you are limited to Natural Yogurt (the full fat type, not the fat free).  I've lived on chicken salads with a yogurt dressing and mostly eaten bacon and eggs or omelettes for my dinners.

I'll be weighing myself on Saturday to mark the end of Phase 1 and as I enter Phase 2 a whole world of foods will open up including fruit, cheese, cream, brown rice and pasta, potatoes, the odd bit of 85% chocolate and best of all red wine (I'm a red wine junkie) although in moderation of course.  I'm going to struggle with that bit!