Last week was a bit of a disaster, exercise and diet-wise.

Let’s break it down, shall we?

Monday – Still on track.

Exercise: Swimming.

Tuesday – I hosted a raw food lunch and ended up partaking. That’s okay. I still consider it IF if I have my first meal after 12 noon.

Raw lasagna I served at lunch. (Photo c/o Abe Tolentino.)

Exercise: Swimming.

Wednesday – My period arrived on schedule, which I took as a good sign that IF hadn’t messed up my system. Yet.

I ended up having lunch again, albeit another raw one, during a boat trip to Caub.

Lunch, top to bottom: ceviche c/o Susan Brandstetter, raw adobong kangkong (water spinach) c/o Abe Tolentino and Mika Santos, raw broccoli c/o me.

Sin of the day: Two cones of “dirty” ice cream at the Dapa market on the way home.

Exercise: None.

Thursday – Cheat Day.

Second day of my period and I felt like shit. But I’m not sure if that was because of the period, or the dirty ice cream the day before, or because I sat out in the sun too long and was dehydrated… All of the above? I lay in bed, not wanting to do anything.

But it was my Cheat Day and I figured I ought to eat something. I wracked my brain (of which there is not much to wrack) for something that I might want to eat. Nothing appealed to me. Except for… peanut butter sandwiches! 30 minutes later, the habal-habal driver was knocking at my door with a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter. I consumed half the loaf and half the jar.

A little past 4 PM, the habal-habal driver knocked yet again on my door, this time, with chocolate chip cookies Susan baked especially for me. I counted 11 pieces. And then there were seven.

With my head swimming in sugar, I canceled dinner out and had bacon and eggs at home instead. Not raw but very Paleo-compliant. But it was my Cheat Day and, later on that evening, I had beer after shot after beer after shot at a friend’s birthday party at Drop Inn.

Susan, trying unsuccessfuly to hide the beer in my hand. At Drop Inn, Siargao. (Photo c/o Mika Santos.)

I got home after 3 AM and found the rest of the cookies. And then there were none.

Exercise: None.

Friday – Having eaten so much during the week, I found myself getting hungrier and hungrier earlier in the day. Or was that because of my period too?

On Friday, I held off till about 2 PM, after which, I asked the girls to fry up some lechon I had stashed in the freezer, and to scramble some eggs. Nicolas, who had just arrived from Cebu, eyed my steaming plate of lechon warily. “I thought you were eating one meal a day.” I assured him I was still fasting. I don’t think he believed me.

Exercise: Swimming.

Saturday – I had to go to Surigao to take care of some business. I was accompanied by an assistant. On the boat ride over, I offered her something to eat. She asked for potato chips. While I was buying her chips from the boat’s “canteen”, I checked out all the other junk food for sale. I buckled. I started off with a pack of “eggnog” then ended up with Chiz Curls. I was milking my period for everything it was worth.

The sins of the day, let me count the ways:

– Lunch (3 PM): three deep-fried, breaded chicken legs (- I normally only ever eat thighs but the only cuts available, at that time, were legs and breasts), with rice (– eek!), and soft-serve ice cream with chocolate.

– Dinner (8 PM): more deep-fried, breaded chicken with mozzarella and more rice. And a scoop of gelato at Little Italy.

– After dinner: Too many drinks at J-Spot.

– Much, much later: The Roma pizza from Calda Pizza.

Exercise: Mad, frenzied dancing/bouncing around. And marathon drunk texting. Does that count?

I think we were drinking… rum? Or was it brandy? I’m not even sure.

Sunday – Breakfast: Yes, I had breakfast. Well, the breakfast buffet came with the hotel room so I forced myself to eat. I sat there for the longest time with just fruit. Then I finally had some fish and scrambled eggs. With fried battered bananas, rolled in powder sugar. Dang! I almost had it.

Lunch: Pako (fern) salad, crab. And two squares of dark chocolate. Not so bad.

Snack: Four brownies, and one scoop of gelato at Little Italy. Not so good.

Dinner: Grilled pork chop, grilled chicken, and a cup of rice. Gaah!

I’m heading back to Siargao tomorrow morning. My period is over so I can no longer use that as an excuse. Will definitely resume my IF schedule and, hopefully, will not succumb to the breakfast buffet tomorrow.

(Must remember to grow a spine.)