Oh bother.
Friday night was talking about weighty issues with my friend, and how an acquaintance who is quite pretty and a little bit heavy, weighs 100kg - which shocked me (and gave me an internal happy, yes horrible I know.)
*aside* This weekend has comprised entirely of cheese, biscuits, sweeties and alcohol - v.bad.
Of course I would be lying like a rug if part of my motivation wasn't to shed kilos but I have also become annoyingly aware of how unfit I have become *GR*
In attempt to reverse this, I have identified my main problems areas:
LACK OF MOTIVATION, not wanting to be unfit should be motivation itself.
LACK OF WILL POWER, delicious things are so irresistible - but it only takes 2 weeks to break yourself of a habit (apparently) and I have taken a healthy lunch to work despite the plethora of yummy food surrounding.
I don't want to count calories, I personally don't think it is a healthy outlook to have as this can lead to obsession. As such I have ruled out, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers because its all quite points/units obsessive.
I know what is healthy and what is not, I know when I am eating something bad for me and am not blinded by '99% fat free' promises and misleading advertising to convince people something is good when it isn't.
I've considered the notion of a morning only Tony Ferguson plan, because I am a bit crap at having a good breakfast and can manage a decent lunch and dinner.
MY HEALTH PLAN (don't use the D word, because diets do not work, one needs to change whole outlook)
SO STARTING IMMEDIATELY; I AM DOING THE FOLLOWING -
Cutting out processed foods
No white bread
Limit chocolate intake
No fast food *potentially unrealistic
Minimising coffee/tea to ONE cup with only TWO sugars
Drink 2lts water
And the ever dreaded GYM route must be explored I suppose. I hate gyms, I think they are boring and I start to feel like a hamster running on an exercises wheel.
But there are two on my way home from work (a must becuase I won't go if I have to inconvenience myself) Curves and Fernwood. All depends on cost I suppose.
OH GOODNESS! HELPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!! thoughts?
3 memos sent:
Ooh thoughts. Where to start.
Firstly-well done. And yes, it does have to be a lifestyle change, not a "diet". (I had a epiphanistic moment on the weekend regarding this)
{yep, totally made up a word}
Ok, lack of willpower also something I struggle with. If it helps, the beginning is always the worst, once you've kicked yourself in the pants a few times, it will get easier as you feel proud to have not succumbed more.
I personally, while not counting every single calorie I eat, I find it helps to know how much things are in relation to others.
Eg (not neccessarily accurate re: calculations, just roughly)
I like to know that if I CHOOSE to eat that Chicken burger and chips, I'm actually eating 3/4 (or more) of my entire daily calorie intake in one meal. So then I have to make an informed choice NOT to have creamy pasta for dinner. Or not to have the chips, because I'm only eating them because they're there.
Sometimes though, I just get the taste for something and HAVE to have it, but you can't view those times as failures, simply get back into your regular habits.
I found it remarkably easier to reject fast food (particularly) if I ate it less regularly just because it was convenient.
If you say no more often, saying no gets easier in general.
Focus on vegtable based meals.
Chocolate = bad if too much yes. Thankfully this is not something I struggle with overly. I prefer baked goods.
Water =good! Easier to eat less if you drink more also as you feel fuller.
And yes, you need to increase your activity output so that it outweighs your energy intake. This is the other reason sometimes just knowing the calorie count of things can help. I only burn about 350-450 calories with each gym session, so if I eat 3000 calories in a single day, going to the gym isn't going to burn off dinner last night + lunch + afternoon snack, it will only burn off breakfast + morning snack.
I find that perspective helps me personally.
xx
Good luck, happy to chat anytime.
Good for you. I knwo how hard it is.
Not that I'm pushing it, but WW have a new alternative system that you can do instead of the points system. It might be worth looking into? I've had quite good success with WW in the past.
Hey,
(Btw - after three months of being flat out in my new job, suddenly - not much work. WTF? *shrug* Anyway, I finally have time to comment on your blog now. Yay.)
One of my work colleagues is trying to lose weight, and since she has starting seeing a nutritionist she has lost about 6 kg. I think it works in two ways - the most obvious being that they give you practical advice about planning your meals, and secondly that it keeps you on track.
Things that work for me personally are routine (putting my lunch in a gay lunch sack the night before), not being too hard on myself (i.e. not seeing food in terms of 'failure' - which means I can eat a piece of cake without then eating the whole thing - and in fact incorporating small amounts of the things I love into my regular diet) and accepting the fact that exercise does not automatically equal weight loss. I excercise because it makes me feel good, not because I think it will make me lose weight. This attitude to exercise has made it feel like far less of a chore.
-lou
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