Still plodding away and learning all the time

So I seem to have lost my mojo. Last couple of weeks I have been on and off plan. Think it will be useful for me to list things I have learnt/reaffirmed:

~ Fail to plan, plan to fail. I must plan meals and ensure I have the ingredients needed. I must also plan easy quick meals for after work as I am so hungry at 4.30pm.

~ To buy more time, have some healthy snacks for 4.30pm to avoid raiding the fridge like a crazy woman. I'm thinking no sugar jelly, banana, any suggestions would be handy as I tend to reach for crackers with cheese! Savoury snacks are my preference.

~ Count calories in drinks. Recognise that one often leads to 2 and these are empty calories.

~ Exercise - something is better than nothing.

~ Perfection - it is ok not to be 100% perfect. Accept an odd blip and get back on track.

~ Have fun. It's ok to go out, and have fun. It is not the end of the world if you have a dessert, and glass wine, just get back on healthy plan straight away and stop negative thinking.

~ Negative thinking is really not helpful and the Positive challenge I am participating in is helpful with this. I need to keep my thoughts in check and challenge some of these thoughts to avoid a downward spiral. "It's too hard" "you are never going to lose weight because you keep going off plan" "might as well give up coz you have blown it again" "it's not worth it just enjoy yourself" unfortunately I could go on!

Sorry to bore you with my ramblings. I think it is helping me to get off my mind and see the error of my ways, especially negative thoughts that keep repeating themselves. When you write these down they seem very silly.

Have a good day everyone 😊

[Hidden]

Hidden sums up how I'm feeling again and no I'm not following you

You know I'm doing the challenge too with HealthyTanja but some mornings you do feel negativity we are all human.

I as you know have been away this weekend, its been great but as you may have also read its tinged with a bit of sadness but life goes on and I don't want it to rule how I post on this forum with my personal grief from now on.

I'm here to share possitivity about the future ! To help others as we've all been doing on the challenge.

After the last few weeks losing I'd put on a couple of pounds this week but then like a lot of you others I'm a emotional aswel as a social eater. This was my Christmas weekend !

So today its back to grapefruit and cereals and getting back to normal housework grocery shopping etc and look forward to finding possitivity and happiness.

We can all carry on with these blips

I will not get Christmas blues 😀

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I am pleased you enjoyed your weekend with family. I understand that this would have been emotional, but how lovely that you have the memory of getting together in your family home. The loss of loved ones is harder at this time of year isn't it. I try to remember lovely memories and talk about my dad with my mum as this helps her cope with her grief as although he is gone he is not forgotten.

I am back on track too, but annoyed that a little off track sees me gaining 2lbs whereas loosing 2lbs seems to take much more effort.

Please take care of yourself, and hopefully we can loose those lbs as fast as they arrived!

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Such a lovely and supportive reply

Thank you x

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Hidden]

Yeah, I'm the same! I only have to look at fresh bread to gain pounds then weeks of slogging to lose it! Grrr 😡

[Ottomummy Healthy BMI]

I suppose you also have to ask yourself "how much do I really want to lose weight?" This is me and my personal thought, the thing that keeps just me going: I look at the whole weight loss idea like I would if it were any other struggle - learning to drive a car, learning a foreign language, learning to play the piano (that was a disaster) and weight loss is a learning curve too, but you don't have to spend the money on the lessons. I've had to learn that the smaller portion I put on my plate IS going to fill me up and also that if I drink alcohol mid week, then that's a calorie and I'm not going to lose weight. If I eat that yummy Dr Karg Seeded Cracker, then that's 116 kcals I'm going to have to lose (bummer). It might be cold outside, but if I want to shift the pounds, I'm going to have to drag my lazy arse outside for a good stiff walk!

I wonder, if I were paying for weight loss as I had to pay for driving lessons, would I be as slack? I know when I wanted to drive, I practised in between paying for lessons and I worked hard to pass my test - It's kind of the same thing, for me. It's something I really, really want. I want to be healthy as I hit my late 50's/60's, I'm doing this as an insurance for old age.

(The piano I failed at because I also failed to practise!)

[Hidden in reply to Ottomummy]

Thank you for taking time to reply to me.

You are right about the practising and focussing the mind on the task in hand. Loosing weight is important to me as I am approaching 50 and would like to be as fit as possible. I can find many excuses not to exercise now that it is dark when I get home, however I will try to at least get something done. Social events also see me go off track, the trick is to get right back on track as 1/2 day off plan is better than a whole week off plan!!

Recording my calories etc is also not yet a firm habit. I keep changing between my fitness pal (good but fiddly), completing the nhs food chart (A4 folder not easy to carry around), and a notebook. Do you keep a daily tracker?

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Hidden]

I find MFP fiddly too 😕I write in small A5 notebook. Writing down everything I eat, being totally honest, really helps psychologically 😊

[Hidden in reply to IndigoBlue61]

Do you plan your meals for week ahead in this book? I'm thinking a small notebook is the way to go.

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Hidden]

Certainly a few days ahead 😊 I've been going so long I have recipes in my head!! Lol 😊 I love cooking so enjoy this side of it

[Ottomummy Healthy BMI in reply to IndigoBlue61]

Me too, I find MFP a pain! (except for recording weight loss, then I love the graph). I have a notebook, where I plan a weekly menu, shop once a week and record starting week's weight. And notes such as "don't bother cooking that it takes WAYYYYY too long!". I am using Dr Michael Mosely's 8 week Blood Sugar Diet menu at the moment, and I have to say, they are lovely low cal meals and a whole 8 weeks of menu planned. It just saves me the bother of finding calorie counted meals. Simples.

[Hidden]

Hidden I get a bit peckish around 5pm - (we eat dinner at around 7pm) so I have a 150ml glass of vegetable juice with ground pepper and tabasco. It's only 35 cals but feels like more plus it's another veggie. That normally does the trick but if not I eat an apple using a paring knife which means I'm eating thin slivers very slowly.

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Hidden]

Good tip 😊