Dieting

Who Am I?

I am everything you need to keep you smiling, but I am also the nightmare that stops you in your track. I make you feel so good about yourself, but I can also make you feel so bad about yourself you just want the ground to swallow you whole.

On you’re good days I am willing you along. I sometimes make you feel invincible like you can conquer anything. Going out with friends? Not a problem when I have you in good spirits. Do you think you’re doing it alone? No, you’re not, when we’re on a good day I am right there by your side.

I can make you feel energised and make you want to take on a marathon. I can help you move around more and more and get you more involved in physical activities.

I can make you feel good and strong mentally. It’s almost like I’ve given you a new lease of life. Have a target in mind? With me, you will get there.

But on the other hand, I can make you miserable. I can make you feel anxious or even depressed. I can even make loneliness creep in and seclude you from what you love.

When I’m at my worst, you will start to make excuses for not going out with friends, make excuses for why you’re eating that awful takeaway. You may even end up in such a rut you feel you can’t get out of it.

Time will go on and things won’t improve, not unless you can mentally beat me. Beat me so hard that you are on top again. Only when you are on top can we work together and get you what you want. Only then can you start to enjoy life again, start to enjoy days/evening out and enjoy the company of friends and/or family.

If you can beat me at my lowest, you can keep me at my best.

Who am I?

I am Weight Loss.

I am not easy to get along with, especially if you’ve been trying for so long. But believe me, you can get to where you want if you are mentally tough enough.

That Time Of Year

Happy, merry, holly, jolly season’s greetings here

I love Olaf’s little song about That Time of Year.  Having a 4-year-old daughter means this film is often on in our household right now.  I don’t mind, the snowman is hilarious – more so than my daughter realizes.

The above image sums up this time of year perfectly in my eyes, sweets everywhere!  Treat tables where ever we go and sweets at work, there is just no break from it.  The power of will for someone who is trying to lose weight has to be strong right now, otherwise work that has already achieved something can easily be undone again.

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Missed A Group And Paid The Price

It’s not easy trying to change something about yourself.  Especially when you’re trying to change years of bad habits and bad food.  It’s even harder if you put in place a support network of people and you miss a week at group.  This is what I did last week.  I wasn’t feeling up to going so I didn’t, the result was two bad weeks instead of one.

Food addiction is an actual thing and I suffer from it – big time.  I can go a few weeks being on plan with Slimming World and get some cracking losses each week, but then the cravings start.  This is the food addiction kicking in.  This started kicking in again last week.  What did I do about it? Nothing, abso-freaking-lutely nothing.

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Putting It Behind Me

If I cast myself to this time last week I was buzzing.  I had lost weight for 3 weeks running and was starting to make a nice little run of decent weight losses.  I’d lost 11 lbs in 3 weeks and was feeling good about myself.  Not only had I had a good run of results, but I was 2 lbs off that next award, 2 stones.

This week went to pot from the start though.  As I posted yesterday Halloween was not good for me.  Yes, I’ve literally taken sweets from my daughter and you can judge all you want.  But the fact is I am as big as I am because of bad habits with food that I have allowed to run me for years.  Now bad habits don’t just stop overnight.  I’ve tried and failed multiple times to lose weight, but in reality, the habits keep winning.  I’m not the only person who feels like this, there are lots of overweight people in the world likely feeling exactly as I do (yes, that is an assumption).

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It’s The Little Wins That Matter

Anyone who is on some sort of diet to loose weight will know that it is the little things that can really let you down.  A little bite of a cake you’ve the kids here, a little nibble of the biscuit the kids left.  It all adds up and before you know it you’ve ruined your week, potentially without consciously knowing it.

I’ve been quiet on my blog this last weekend as it’s been a busy weekend for me.  Not only has it been a busy week on call with work, but I’ve had a 50th Birthday Lunch to attend and a family BBQ yesterday (yes it was cold, but most of us sat inside while those cooking were outside).  There was temptation everywhere over the weekend and I’d like to think I came out on top with my will power this time.

Saturday we went to a nice pub/restaurant that has always served nice food.  Their pies and burgers are immense, but I stayed away from them.  Usually looking at a menu the first thing I look at is the burgers, especially when I know they’re nice.  I love a good burger and when I get a chance I usually go for one without even thinking about it.  This weekend though I didn’t even check them out on the menu.  I knew I had to stay on plan and stay on plan is exactly what I did.

I checked up and down the menu and went for the Gammon Steak.  It come with Chips etc, but I asked the nice lady who took our order if I could swap them for New Potatoes and Veg.  This way I’d only need to allow a few Slimming World Syns for the oil the Gammon was cooked in – which isn’t a great deal to be honest.  The Veg and Potatoes had no oil or butter anywhere near them so I was completely safe with them.  After ordering I was proud of myself, I was able to deny my stomach wanting something off plan – mind over matter they say.  The meal came a little later and it was beautiful.  The nicest New Potatoes I’ve had on a meal out before and the Gammon was spot on, only a tiny bit of fat around the outside which I removed (I don’t do fat on meat, even when not on plan).

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Sunday I knew would be danger for me at the BBQ.  I’m a sucker for burgers as we know, but there is always little nibbly things like crisps and nuts at these occasions and I always take a few here and there without even noticing it – it’s just something that I’ve always done.  But this time I was determined to be prepared.  If you read one of my previous posts Fail To Prepare, Prepare To Fail you will know I had a couple of Slimming World frozen meals left over that were meant to be used the previous weekend.  Well they came in handy this time.  I took them with me this time and remembered them.  Plan was I would have one and wifey have the other.

By the time we got to the BBQ, I got called to log on for work again (perks of working in IT means I can log on anywhere as long as there is WiFi).  This was a blessing in disguise as it kept me away from any food that was out.  While I was working, wifey sorted my Slimming World meal, Vegetable Biryani.  Eating this and not the BBQ food kept me on plan.  We shortly left after I finished working, so there was no time to be tempted by the BBQ food at all.  This meant I was able to stay on plan all weekend.

Now the next few days will be challenging until weigh night on Wednesday.  My 9 month old has chicken pox so I’m working from home, with the big fridge and cupboard of temptation.  To be honest, we don’t have that much stuff that is off plan, it’s mainly the kids stuff – but it’s there and easily accessible.  I’m just going to have to play it bit by bit and just make sure each little decision is a win.  After all, it’s the little wins that make that matter.