Day one
Flat out with work, I'm resentful of every hour - every minute - spent planning, preparing and eating minging meals. I was tired, stressed out and not well, then I got period pains. I wanted comfort food, not cottage cheese. I'm not surprised I gave in to the urge to devour a huge bag of crisps, only that I didn't follow it up with a chocolate chaser.
Day two
Grilled chicken, steamed chicken, who cares what chicken and more cottage sodding cheese. Torn between fantasies of meeting the inventor of the Zone in a dark alleyway and diving into steaming great bowls of pasta. The chocolate cravings reached screaming pitch.
Day three
There's only so long a girl can do without chocolate. It was heavenly. I made a vague stab at getting back into the Zone for supper with a veggie stir-fry and sweet-and-sour fish, but couldn't be bothered to calculate how many blocks tomato purée or honey represented or where the glasses of wine fitted in.
Day four
No time for breakfast and the healthy snacks provided at the conference I attended were nowhere near the Zone, but lunch was. However, by the time I got home, the desire for a big, fat tuna and cheese melt overcame me. I chided myself about staying in hell - sorry, the Zone - to no avail. The pasta fantasies became almost pornographic in detail.
Day five
The idea of Zone food was so off-putting that I didn't eat anything until 5pm. Anyway, that meant I had two meals' worth of blocks to spend, so I could eat what I liked at dinner with friends. (Okay, I know it doesn't really work that way, but what the hell.) Dinner was Zone-friendly and I'm so brainwashed I only had two spoons of rice, but I more than made up for that in wine consumption.
Day six
The inevitable hangover necessitated the predictable cure: a full English. It worked out to be two protein blocks and two-and-a-quarter carb blocks over the top, but I was way past caring. And for lunch I had a gratifyingly large and indulgent you-can-stick-the-Zone-where-the-sun-doesn't-shine chicken and proper cheese melt.
Day seven
I've been counting down the hours all week. The end is in sight. I have promised myself I will never eat low-fat cardboard Cheddar or turkey slices again. I had one last lunch of cottage and fruit, which I used to like and now loathe, and a Zone-friendly fish and salad supper. I have lost just under 8lbs in four weeks and all of it has been uphill.
Ruth's final thoughts
My abdominal muscles have reappeared as the layer of fat covering them shrunk, which pleases me immensely, and my lower reaches are definitely a bit smaller. The weight loss is spot on, as the body can only burn 2lbs of excess fat a week, so I should've lost fat rather than water or muscle tissue, and the fact that my boobs have only shrunk a little shows that it has come off the right places. But it has been really hard work. It is expensive in terms of time and money and it has robbed me of all enjoyment in food. I love cooking - I develop recipes as a hobby - and I love food, so perhaps I'd struggle with any diet, but I was surprised by how much of a chore I found it. I am convinced that combining my usual carbohydrate-rich diet with working out at the gym would've yielded the same weight loss and I would've felt 10 times better. I'm definitely not staying in the Zone - I don't even want to visit it in future. If anything, it has strengthened my resolve to eat the same and exercise more.
