Short diet is over - what have I gained?

An interesting experiment - never have I given up bread, potatoes, rice or pasta before. It is difficult sticking to a fish, fruit, veg (including pulses) and nut diet - no meat nor dairy products - but I did, for two weeks and two days. No alcohol either. The main purpose was to purify my body after 12 days in the UK, where the temptation offered by a galactic variety of salt snacks was too much to resist.

In terms of weight, I've shed less than a kilo (two pounds), surprisingly little given that I ate no bulking carbohydrates other than those found in chickpeas, kidney beans and lentils. And surprising because for much of the past two weeks and two days, I felt hunger gnawing away inside of me. Today's lunch, for example, a salad consisting of raw spinach leaves, tomatoes, chickpeas and grilled courgettes did not fill a hungry man, four hours after breakfast consisting of smoked wild Pacific salmon and kidney beans. Supper was a tuna and sweetcorn salad. Plus plenty of fruit throughout the day. And snacking on nothing more than surimi ('crab sticks' - the piscine equivalent of MRM bound with egg white) and walnuts.

Do I feel healthier, more alert, livelier? Not really.

The good news is that I have no dairy or gluten allergy that was hiding in the background; staying off these products has not had any noticeable effect. I do notice that quitting the sodium diacetate present in salt snack flavourings has had a beneficial psychological effect.

All in all my background health level, outside of any dietary regime, is good.

So tomorrow it's back to a usual Polish diet - quality foods, no salt snacks, no sugar (other than in fruit), no added salt, moderate alcohol intake (averaging around the 21 units a week as per NHS recommendation) and one cup of espresso coffee first thing in the morning.

Walking - I've noticed paradoxically that in summer I've been walking slightly less than in winter and spring - around 8,500 paces a day on average as opposed to 10,000 a day in the first half of the year.

And sit-ups - I overdid it on Day One and Day Two of the diet, straining my stomach muscles painfully, so I quit. FAIL. I should try to get back into it...

That's it then until Lent 2015, which starts at midnight on Wednesday, 18 February.

This time last year:
More photos from Radom Air Show

This time two years ago:
Twilight on ul. Karczunkowska

This time five years ago:
First hints of autumn in the air

This time six years ago:
Slovakia - we were not impressed

This time six years ago:
Jeziorki - late August cultivation