On bananas and crisps

Banana crisps? not quite what I have in mind...

I met up with E yesterday, and showed him my food diary for the last three days. I think doing a food diary is so important… and it also was really useful to have someone else look at it. What jumped out at us was the volume of crisps I’d eaten in three days. I’m almost ashamed to admit to it… 11 packets! I was shocked. We decided that this was my most pressing issue, so E has set me the goal of only one pack a day. He (rightly, he is very wise!) felt that it was better to reduce rather than cut them out because I need to learn to be in control of eating crisps. If I cut them out, there would come a point where I couldnt hold out any longer and I’d just go on a crisp binge and be back to square one.

He’s right. All these experts who are against dieting say that dieting fails because we feel deprived. Going cold turkey is going to make me feel deprived, then if I break the cold turkey, classic dieter behaviour is to then go ‘oh well, I’ve broken the diet, I’ll just have some more and re-start the diet tomorrow. Then follows a huge crisp binge because tomorrow I won’t be able to have them anymore, ‘ever’, and so I must eat as many as possible NOW. Which is unhealthy behaviour and isn’s helpful in any way.

Soooo… reduction in volume is the key. I was actually talking to a friend with ME about bingeing on crisps and chocolate the other day. I was surprised that I came up with so many ideas to reduce the crisp habit. I’ll put what I wrote below because the time has come to practice what I preach!

plan a snack for certain times. If you know you have one planned, you are less likely to go down the ‘unplanned eating’ route. If you have the munchies before snack time, you can tell yourself ‘aha, i have a snack at # O’clock, thats only an hour away’, then you can look forward to and visualise that snack and once you have eaten it, you will consciously know that you’ve had it.

I tend to find that unplanned eating keeps on going because I didnt start out with a plan to eat it, so it kindof becomes ‘off the record’ eating and for some reason its then soooo much easier to munch mindlessly through piles of food.

Another thing to do is to put your planned snack on a plate… that way you have predetermined how much you will eat and your brain will eke that snack out for longer. Im not sure about you, but when I binge, I tend to just be putting stuff in my mouth that I hardly even want anymore but theres this compulsion to carry on because its there beside me and it isnt finished yet. By putting it on a plate, and keeping anything else firmly in a cupboard, you then behave as though it is a mini-meal. and finish the plate instead of the multipack… *ahem… yes thats what i did last night!!!* 

I find that with crisps and chocolate, it only takes one bite and I want to finish off all the junk food in the house. A good plan to overcome this if you still want to eat them, is to, again, have a predetermined amount, but then have something filling afterwards, like porridge, or a banana… to fill you up and kind of break that sudden urge to eat until you are full… coz crisps and chocolate take a VERY long time to fill you up… *hence the multipack incident * so your planned snack would be a controlled amount of the foods you usually turn to, followed quickly by a predetermined filler to get you to the full point BEFORE you’ve finished off a whole day’s worth of calories without feeling satisfied.

Alternatively, if having the filler after the 1st portion of junk food doesnt work, then it would appear that the planned snack will have to be something satisfying and healthy(ish) so that you dont get the initial trigger to eat the junk food. I’m thinking a banana, oatcake with peanut butter on, small bowl of porridge, slice of toast and choc spread, a hot choc drink… something small thats interesting enough for you to look forward to, that youcan prepare, put on a plate, and treat like the mini meal to avoid the junk raid afterwards.

So… in order to be sucessful in my plan to stick to one pack of crisps a day, it looks like I will have to have something else after the crisps to signal that I am full. I’m thinking a banana… 

Not bad!!

13st6
2lb gained over 2 weeks
1st1lbs lost
3st6lbs to go

I was expecting to have gained a lot this week. I went to my weightwatcher’s meeting for the first time in over a month, and only gained 1lb over that time.

I’m rather impressed! I have rewarded myself with a rather lovely bracelett that has been sitting in my reward box since I bought it at the Vitality show in March. Well-earned I reckon!!

So, now I’m well enough to go back to WW, I think it’s time to set myself a goal* for the coming week. I think it would be achievable and sensible to aim for a 1.5lb loss. 13st4lbs is my goal.

Go girl, Go!!!

 

*I set my weekly goals using my Weekly Review and Planner sheet.

Bustin outta my clothes!!!

Oh dear!!! Does someone have a wonder-pill that could give me my motivation, drive and energy back? Answers on a postcard please!

I’ve not dared to step on the scales for a week or so- but if the fit of my clothes are anything to go buy, I should be getting seriously worried by now. If it were not for the fact that it’s impossible, I would seriously be questioning whether I really AM pregnant! No, really. My belly is expanding to ginormous proportions.

I really, really, have tried everything to get my motivation back. I’m forever dreaming up some new tactic, some new tool, some new plan, to lose this weight, but for some reason I have no focus. I have no drive, where I once had complete and utter drive and determination and focus to do this.

Oh, I have my plans alright. I have the timeframe I set myself to be at my goal, I have the visualisation of how I will look and feel when I get there down to a T. But I just.aint.getting.there. At all.

I know exactly what I need to do to get to my goal. I have all the tools and instructions and support I could ever ask for, and what’s more, I know it works. But one thing is missing, and that’s the most important thing. Somewhere between my ears, it just aint happening.

There’s never been a more determined person than I am. Determined to do this, I mean. So what needs to happen? I know what I’d like to do. I’d like to hit the gym day after day, and eat half of what I’m eating right now. But I can’t. If I don’t eat enough I get hypoglycaema, and if I exercise I quickly become bedbound.

But am I making excuses? I CAN lose weight, in SPITE of my difficulties. I know it can be done because I lost over 2 stone a year or so ago. I just need to buckle down and DO IT.

JUST DO IT!!!

 

 

Setting goals and rewarding yourself

I think it is very, very important to reward myself at every step of my weight-loss journey. This is especially important when my weight-loss is going slowly and when I am losing motivation to continue.

I reward myself for two things. Firstly for reaching my weekly goal, and secondly for reaching every quarter-stone mark.

My weekly goal

Each week, I fill out a ‘weekly review’ sheet that I devised for myself. I review the week just gone, and plan the following week’s targets and goals. I also record how much weight I have lost in total and add a pound coin to my money box for every lb I lose.

I set a goal for the following week. This may be to track my food intake, or to use one of the tools mentioned here. And I also choose a small reward from my box of treasures. I am a crafter, so my reward is usually a pack of ribbons or small embellishments worth a pound or two, but nice enough for me to want!

My chosen reward then sits in a prominent place all week, reminding me of my goal and spurring me on to succeed.

My weight goals

I use larger rewards for my quarter-stone targets. They might cost anything up to ten pounds, which may sound a lot. That’s fourty pounds spent on myself for each stone I lose. But when you realise that I might only lose a stone in three months (due to my health), these rewards become quite important to keep me going.

I then have even bigger rewards for each stone I reach, and for losing 10%, 20% and 30% of my body weight.

And one day I will be giving myself the greatest reward of all- when I reach my goal weight!!!

Here goes

13st5
Stayed the same this week
1st2lbs lost
3st5lbs to go

I am really pleased- after two weeks of totally rubbish health and not even tracking my food intake, I’ve managed to maintain my weight.

I’m still feeling quite low so my priority right now is my health and wellbeing. I’ve come up with the following action plan:

 

Being good to yourself

It’s time to move away from ‘dieting’ and move towards being better to yourself. Its time to nurture your body and mind in a supportive and gentle way.

You will be happier, healthier, and more energised if you focus on supporting your health, rather than depriving yourself by being on a ‘diet’.

Your priorities are:

To fuel your body with health-affirming, energising and anti-illness foods.

• To hydrate your body with cool, pure water.

• To cleanse your body from toxins and energy-drainers.

• To increase the amount of oxygen reaching every cell in your body, by deep breathing and getting outside regularly.

• To nurture your mind and emotions with herbs and essential oils.

• To take regular relaxation breaks.

Your tools are:

Looking after your mind

• Listening to the relaxation and transformation mp3 track*.

• Using essential oils

• Drinking herb teas (chamomile and peppermint)

• Shutting up the duck*

• Turning the PC off at 6.30pm

• Positive thinking and being kind to self

Eating and drinking

• Eating your meals and snacks slowly.

• Eating when you’re hungry.

• Cutting out sugar and stimulants.

• Cutting out junk food

• Cutting out artificial additives

• Eating natural foods.

• Drinking up to 2 litres of water a day.

• 7 fruit+ veg/day

• No eating in bed

• 1 portion of nuts or seeds each day

• grains and beans every day

Exercise and activity

• Being as active as you possibly can

• Going to the park

• Stretching

Looking after your body

• Having a rest each afternoon

• Going to bed on time

• Deep breathing in bed

• Clean teeth at night

• Dry skin brushing

 Of which,

• no junk food
• eat 7 portions of fruit and veg a day
• turn PC off at 6.30pm
• eat only when hungry
• eat natural

are my 5 gentle starting points.

Here goes!

*I am following Pete Cohen’s excellent online weight loss programme; those of you familiar with him will recognise the ‘duck‘ and the idea of using ‘tools’ to aid weight loss. More on Pete in future posts.

 

Goals

It can be hard to imagine how you can lose 1,2,5, or even 10 stone. Often people are put off before they even start because the task seems to big, too unattainable.

I’ve found that it is far better to break your goal down into small manageable steps. Many people break their weight loss down into half stones- always focusing only on the next half a stone. Its kinda like eating the elephant. You can look at an elephant and think you’d never be able to eat that… but if you eat a small amount a day, you will find that it is achievable.

My weight loss is very slow- partly because of my poor mobility- so I break down my goals into 1/4 stones. It might take me a month or so to reach my next 1/4 stone, but they soon add up. Its not a race (though I have to keep reminding myself of that!). Its simply a journey to a new you. Your journey will be unique. Focus on what YOU can achieve for YOU, who cares how long it takes, if you get there in the end.

 You can do it! Decide on your next mini-goal today.