We're a week and a bit in and have pretty much got into the swing of things on the ELLE Beauty Desk. Yes there have been motivational incentives put in place to keep our spirits up (we've introduced Cheese Day Tuesday to our working week), but really, are all pleasantly surprised by how, well, pleasant it all is. Week one went something like this...
Monday Fast day 1: Conversation rarely strayed from the subject of food. Particularly unhealthy food, what we love, and the prospect of missing it. It was peppered every few hours by complaints varying around I'm so hungry/want that cupcake/having pizza withdrawals/can't keep this up all week', but we all four managed to get by without chocolate or cheese and noticed more frequent toilet trips necessitated by the excessive water intake (healthy bonus, first of many).
Tuesday Normal day: The joy of normal calorie intake has swelled our love of food all the more and yes, we can safely say that just one day of abstinence has made our enjoyment of breakfast at least double. Cheese day Tuesday Joy, joy , joy.
Wednesday Fast Day 2: We're a member down. Shannon our intern fell at the first Nando's hurdle, and reasoned that she exercises enough to be able to eat chicken and chips and not break the rules. Sadly Shannon, it doesn't work like that, but we're very proud you managed one day at least. Pfft.
Thursday, Friday, and the entire weekend of eating normally and we're in agreement that actually this anti-diet could be pretty easy, since the second day was already better than the first. And a full four days of 'normal' to 'excessive' means we were more than ready for Monday Fasting to roll around. Shannon excepted.
Fast Day Food Picks:
Eat Chicken Pho noodle Soup which made Beauty Director Sophie so full she wasn't bothered about a mint tea and some sesame seeds for dinner.
Senior Beauty Writer Amy is a stickler for her Cal counting, noting that a banana has 100 and she might bypass her vitamin C supplement to save extra 3 it might add on.
Beauty Assistant Joely finds that little and often works best so dont use your calories up too early on in the day. Boots do a great range of healthy snacks like Shapers Raspberry Jelly with only 26 cals!
What Amy learnt this week: Missing out on a Sunday lunch is a terrible idea. Stick to week days.
