Vanessa Pringle: Flu throws plan out of kilter

You would not believe my week. It has consisted of blowing my nose, coughing, horrendous body aches and temperatures.
You have got to love the flu - it was my first one for the winter and hopefully my last.
Being sick has totally thrown all my exercise and eating out the window but hey, cest la vie, this is life and another reality of trying to lose weight.
I missed six days of exercise at the gym, lost my appetite to eat and generally felt miserable.
I decided to try to cheer myself up by being really naughty and going to one of my favourite cafes, Le Chat Noir, and ordering a large trim latte.
Now I know you may be gushing at this right now, but my reasoning was valid or so I thought. I needed to stay awake as I was so tired, but not having caffeine for six weeks and then devouring a double shot sent me into chipmunk mode.
I was talking fast, feeling awake and then bang, about one hour later I was feeling dizzy and out of sorts. So I got Jo to take my blood pressure and it had dropped.
I have learned that coffee is not really that great for me, especially when I am sick, but man did it taste sensational.
I told Brett about my misdemeanour and he told me to not do that again, rest up and drink lots of H2O. I proceeded to drink so much water that I am sure the Tauranga City Council's water tanks are dry.
The outcome of all of this has been interesting, to the point where I feel like I am an experiment. I have learned on clinical placement that doing shift work wreaks havoc with not only your social life but also your timing on when to eat. It is also a mission to juggle gym time, let alone everything else that has to be done in a day.
From being sick I have put centimetres and millimetres back on to my torso area for the first time since I began this programme, even though I was still eating healthy.
I am so gutted but Brett reassured me that this is okay and to give myself a break as it's to be expected when I've had an illness.
I have, however, met one inspirational lady who keeps me going; her name is Dianne and she has lost 60kg in 18 months and looks amazing.
So even though this column finishes in a few weeks, I am still going to keep going like Dianne and keep creating new challenges for myself.
I have had so many people ask me how I am eating so here is my meal plan in full:
7.30am, Breakfast:

Rolled oats, low-fat unsweetened yoghurt and one scoop of Myo-fusion vanilla powder.
10am, Morning Tea:

1 scoop of chocolate Myo-fusion powder, four cubes of ice and water mixed in blender and eight natural raw almonds.
12pm, Lunch:
OPTION 1
Handful of baby spinach, lite cottage cheese, salmon tail baked in tinfoil with lemon and/or chicken baked in tinfoil with herbs such as Moroccan or rosemary. Adding boiled yams is nice.
OPTION 2
Omelette consisting of chopped spinach, chicken, tomato, red onion, green capsicum mixed with one egg and three egg whites.
Afternoon Tea
Three to four turkey balls and/or two corn thins mixed with lite cottage cheese and tuna.
Dinner

Refer to lunch menu.
The exercise is the same, going to two circuit classes a week, one full-on training session with Brett for an hour and three cardio/weight days at the gym on my own. My avid readers from Maketu, Jim and his wife, suggested that I show a column with my weight loss from starting way back in June.