Hello Everyone,
So January is almost over, today is the 26th- the 26th of January, today I actually can not believe it!! It seems like only yesterday was New Years Day..
Some of ye may be aware that I re-joined my class on Wednesday the 7th of January and I am so happy that after two weeks I have lost 7 pounds!!
I feel really determined right now however so many times I have achieved the half a stone award and then all of a sudden the self-sabotage button in my brain goes off and I'm back to square one again!!
So this time I need to stay focused and so I have decided that I am going to aim to lose 10% of my weight now I know that when I first heard 10% I said to myself "well 10% isn't an awful lot I won't need to lose that much weight to get 10 %" but then I sat down and did the maths and well I was shocked by just how much weight I needed to lose to get to that 10%. Some of you may be asking "why just pick 10%", the reason is very simple- it is proven by doctors that if a person loses 10% of their weight it reduces all our health risks by 50%!!! That's cutting our health risks in half, when the doctor told me I have to be honest I sat there in a state of shock, I think it took a few minutes for it to sink in what they were saying, but when I did actually realize what they were saying I was determined to get the that 10% mark and cut all those risks in half!!!
I had an appointment at a dietician a while back and she gave me a handout regarding self-control techniques for people with eating problems. I'm going to just go through what it said and maybe add in a bit of how I deal with certain scenarios! As you read them yourself just think about what it's saying and see can you make any changes to your lifestyle, you never know it might help you lose a few extra pounds!!!
1. Limit the amount of bingeable food in the house- Always put the food in the press and keep it out of sight!
If your anything like me I think its important to keep all the yummy treats just out of the way or don't buy them at all!, as the saying goes "out of sight, out of mind".
We're human, we're not made of steel so if we see something nice on the table or right in front of us when we open the press we're going to want to eat it and if you don't well you should write a book or make a potion with all your secrets you'd make millions!
So make wise choices, it will be of benefit to the whole house and the feeling of control when you make that choice will give you a boost in terms of motivation and dedication you'll feel on top of the world and feeling like you can win the battle with the bulge (and you can, I believe in you and so many around you do too, now it's up to you to jump on the bandwagon)
2. Use Foods that require preparation time prior to eating rather than food that can be eaten immediately
Convenience foods are not good for us- they are usually full of sugar, salt, additives and other things that do not sit well with our bodies, they are handy and I'm not saying never buy convenience foods ever again because sometimes life can be so busy and we do anything to just keep up with the hustle and bustle but maybe try to start introducing more home made meals from scratch. I know one of my new years aims was to cook more, I have started, I'm not going to lie and make myself out to be a Nigella Lawson because I'm far from it, in fact sometimes I get so disheartened with myself because it takes so long to make a dinner but I persisted and I think it has paid off because I am getting quicker at chopping vegetables! Plus I think that when I prepare my food I enjoy it much more.
3. Write a shopping list and stick to it!
This one speaks for itself really. Its so easy to go into the supermarket with the list memorized in our mind and then see the special offers and bam the shopping list is thrown to the side and the trolley is full of special offers, and sometimes these special offers are not the best choices for us if our goal is to lose weight! So write a list on a piece of paper and stick to it. I have started doing this and I find it really helps to tick off the stuff as I go along but I have to admit its very hard to pass by the chocolate on offer but I'm doing well so far!!
4. Avoid Shopping on an empty stomach
Too many times I was caught with this one, I'd go shopping starving, get stuff I didn't want, stuff I certainly didn't need usually it would be chocolate or the cookies from lidl or Tesco (God they were like little drops of heaven!!), they wouldn't even make it to the house because I would eat the lot on the way home! (I'm not proud of it but I can't change it now) whereas now I make sure I eat before going and if I feel like I want something I get grapes or something that I can have to keep me going!
5. Do not engage in any other activity while eating such as watching TV or reading.
Once again I am guilty of both of these!! I always have the television one when eating, it's very rare that I wouldn't so my goal for February is to turn off the tv when eating and focus entirely on the food in front of me
6. Confine eating to a specified place in the house
Everyone will have a different place, it doesn't matter where it is just make sure that you choose one place and try to eat there all the time.
7. Practice leaving a small amount of food on your plate
I find this very hard I have to say, I grew up in an environment where I was always told to eat everything on my plate and when I didn't it was nearly a sin so now I have to reverse that mentality and realise that it's ok to leave something on my plate- I am trying to do it and it's something I aim to work on!
8. Eat slowly, put your knife and fork down between mouthfuls.
This, like leaving something on the plate is something I struggle with, I do not eat slow, if there was a gold medal for eating fast I think I would win, but since going back to class and getting back on track I have tried eating slower- to be fully hones its not going spectacularly well, I'm fine the first few mouthfuls and then I forget myself, I look down at the empty plate and think "s**t I forgot to put down the knife and fork" but it's too late at that stage so I just try again at my next meal, often resulting in the same scenario happening ha ha!
9.Prepare a list of alternative activities incompatible with eating for times when you know that you are going to be at greatest risk.
I have done this, there is one part of the evening when my appetite increases so much it's usually around the 7.30 pm mark so now I read a book, I find reading a great distraction and now anytime I feel the munchies ready to attack I get my book and focus on that and soon my cravings are gone, reading isn't for everyone so maybe think of something else it could be painting, phoning a friend, going for a walk, taking a bath, knitting, meditating (something I want to start) whatever it may be just have it on hand for when the cravings kick in!!
10. Remind yourself of what can happen if you eat too much. Think of the long-term effects rather than the short-term pleasures.
This is so easy to do in theory but when tempted with nice foods it's hard to think beyond the food in front of you, I have started just thinking of the green dress I got on New Years Eve (I talk about it in the previous blog) and it seems to work I'm very surprised because I know for a fact a few months ago that would not of sopped me from eating the sweets so I do actually believe my mindset has changed!
Now I'm not saying you should try to do all of the above at once, we have to remember we are only human, we cannot do everything together but I hope that at least one of the points on the list strike a cord with you and I hope you can incorporate it into your weight loss journey. I know when I got the list it took me a while to get my head around it all, I've heard it so many times but still to see it all written down something clicked with me and I knew that if I wanted to make a change in my life I'd have to change my lifestyle and the above points are helping me so far anyway!
I hope ye found this helpful and I just want ye to know that if at anytime ye feel ye're motivation dipping or just want to rant about a bad week or ask anything I'm here, now I might not be any good but I will honestly try my very best, we are all on the same journey, our paths might take us on different routes but we're ultimately all aiming for the one destination so never feel you are on your own.
(e-mail: littlemisssunshineisshrinking@gmail.com)
I hope ye are all getting on well in ye're weight loss journey.
A thought for the day: "Believe in yourself and you will be unstoppable"
Stay Strong,
Take it one step at a time,
Little Miss Sunshine
xxxx
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