Day 1: the best protein shakes and my first low-carb meal

Day: 1 of 42
First recorded weight:78.4kg
How I'm feeling today: unhealthy, overweight, unattractive. I'm excited to get started and feeling a little trepidation in case I can't go the full 6 weeks... did I tell you my role model is Kate Moss?

The Shakes

I'd half seen the protein shake mixers in the aisle at the supermarket, but never been interested to try. They seemed one of those things that body builders took, and I'm always suspicious of any kind of overly manufactured "food".

My choice was restricted to shakes with at least 15g of protein per serve, and no more than 2-3g carbohydrate. Aspartame is to be avoided at all costs (as your body cannot tell it from sugar, so you still get the insulin spike) and the best protein to go for is Whey protein.

It's surprisingly hard to find low carbohydrate shake mixes. The slimming shakes in particular seem to have particularly high levels. So after a while hunting, with my shopping partner becoming increasingly impatient, I choose three different brands.

You make up the shakes with water, ice, (weirdly) two tablespoons of full cream and - if you primarily eat white meat and fish - a raw egg. For variation you can also add berries and diet syrups (if you can get your hands on them). Here's how they measured up:

Twinlab 100% Whey - Chocolate

Protein per serve: 25g

Carbohydrate per serve: 5g - too much but I decided to use it anyway now I've bought it, just in the mornings

Sodium: 60mg - as insulin falls, your kidneys release additional sodium and potassium

Potassium: 310mg

Leucine: 2650mg - an amino acid that's "the primary driving force" behind weight loss on these kinds of diets. Hard to get as a supplement, so a bonus if you can find it in a shake mix

$39.99 ($3.60 per serve)

Taste: rather good! I would be hard pressed to tell this from a run-of-the-mill standard chocolate milkshake. Pity the level of carbohydrate means I won't get it again, and also the most expensive of the three.

Sculpt "Shaping Protein for Women" - Cafe Latte (a "women's" flavour)

Protein per serve: 18.6g

Carbohydrate per serve: 2.1g

Sodium: 146mg

Potassium: 185mg

Leucine none

$33.83 ($1.69 per serve)

Taste: absolutely gaggingly foul. How can someone make a shake that tastes so bad? You feel like you're gulping down a cup of chemicals. I'm not sure what their other flavours are like, but the blatant "chick-shake" label, lack of Leucine and terrible taste of the so-called "Cafe Latte" flavour means I'll be steering well clear of this one in future.

Aussie Bodies 100% Whey - Vanilla
Protein per serve: 23.2g
Carbohydrate per serve: 2.2g
Sodium 41mg
Potassium 221mg
Leucine 2600mg

$33 ($2.75 per serve)
Taste: vanilla's not really my thing. I only got this one because there was no strawberry for my berry shakes. That said, it's a nice texture, and ticks all the other boxes. So this would be my top protein powder.

You're supposed to have three shakes a day (and one solid meal) but today I only manage two. They're really filling! I made both my shakes today using a stick blender. It worked okay but I just don't like the potential for a really messy accident with a stick, so tomorrow I'm going to switch to the blender attachment of my food processor.

The Meal: Chicken Caesar wrap + 75g grapes (22 small grapes)

The menu I choose today is Caesar salad, with home made Caesar mayonnaise, free range chicken and eggs, wrapped in a large lettuce leaf, followed by a good serving of grapes. Delicious!

Normally I'd have a glass of wine with dinner, but tonight I'm having a good brand of chilled sparkling mineral water. A good trick that works for me is to have the mineral water in a wine glass. Somehow this makes it feel more "special" than if I served it in a standard glass. To my surprise I didn't miss my glass of wine one bit.