Week 8

So I apologise yet again for the slight delay in getting the weekly blog to you. I fear though my chicka dees that it may be landing more frequently on the Wednesday  morning as I write my blog ‘off the hoof’ when I return from weigh in and If anything time consuming lands in the way it gets delayed.  So, if it works for you, let’s aim for the Wednesday and anything earlier is a bonus.  xx

Anyway, I have a great excuse this week; I went out for a rather lovely Italian Christmas Dinner with the girlies last night.  It was such a nice evening and quite a revelation as out of a potential 14 Secret Santa Pressies, only one set of Candy Nipple Tassles and one box of Chocolate Willies emerged from Santa’s bag.  Unbelievable.  Luckily neither of them were for me so I didn’t have to have any kind of conversation with my girls when I got home or melt the chocolate down quickly to make Rice Krispie cakes without them seeing.

So, 1lb off this week.  To be honest, (and here we go again) I really did think it was going to be more.  I am not disheartened though, crikey just to be able to LOSE weight this time of year is a bonus.  Going out to dinner after a weigh in and slightly disappointed could have led to hair down and gay abandon as my crooked mind set used to say ‘you have a week to lose it’ but I didn’t binge at all.  In fact, I only had maybe two and a half small glasses of wine max, wise choices on the set menu and no pudding.  So, the lack of Ann Summers gifts and minimum alcohol consumption, (sigh) maybe I am growing up after all....but I am still NOT prepared to give up the helium.

How do I feel in myself?  Overall, I really do feel lighter and I am sure my tummy is shrinking.  I had a squidgey feel of it while I was in the pool, during a breather, watching the aqua aerobics ladies do their thing, (which is really quite humorous from an underwater perspective).  I am not sure but I think I may have felt a little muscle under the fat layers.  Also, my swimming costume is definitely baggier and not attractive, not that it was ever attractive I hasten to add but it now has a newly formed baggy bum which doesn’t help.

In general my clothes are also definitely looser.  Those naughty leggings are in the bin as they wouldn’t even make it out of the bedroom before rolling down.  The M & S ones are still going strong which surprises me slightly.  How could they still fit me 17and a half pounds ago and still fit me now?  Maybe they are magic, you know like the tights they used to sell in Debenham’s ‘one size fits all’.  I can tell you now that they were part of a very clever marketing campaign.  For heavens sake, one size may fit all but in what way?  If my sister and I bought the same pair of tights and put them on, hers would be under her armpits with gusset climbing her belly button and mine would be hipsters with the crotch between my knees.  Oh lord, we are back to that again.

Now, as I feel I know you so well, I want to have a little chat.  If you, like me, have been on the dieting roller coaster for a long time and always end up back at the same place or even heavier, then something about your approach and the way you engage your attitude to your weight loss has to change. I know. For years I was chasing ‘the diet solution’ by joining every club, reading up on all the new wonder diets and periodically embarking on stringent exercise regimes which clearly could not be sustained.  I was the typical overweight woman funding the £1billion diet industry.  As much as control and discipline are great qualities to have and are fundamental to achievement, I think it important not to put the bar too high.  This is crucially where my attitude to dieting and exercise has changed (that and reducing my alcohol consumption).  I used to be such a control freak.  I would stick to a regimented diet for so long but the moment I ate or drank something above the allocated allowance my whole mind set spiralled into guilt mode and made me feel that I had failed.  Once that had happened, it was sabotage city. I would wake up the next day even more determined to stick to the diet, slip and around I would go again which was just exhausting.  This, clearly, is why I ended up so overweight.  The same approach goes for me exercising.  Sometimes, now, I only swim for 20 minutes and sometimes I just swim and float around a bit.  There was a time when I was so controlled and focused on what I should be doing that if I didn’t have time to swim 50 lengths (for example) or complete a 5 mile walk (for example) then in my mind, the sense of achievement was compromised so I would give up or not go at all.  Now I realise that any extra walking or exercise is helping me move in the right direction and after years of failure due to an obsessive mind I am finally relaxing, following a simple eating plan and being comfortable in my journey.  I have to be, for goodness sake, I have a very long way to go. 

So moving on and pep talk over, here is another quick look at my bucket list which I am adapting and changing all the time to suit how I feel and I cannot believe there is one big tick in that first box already.

14lbs   Treatment at Old Thorns     Booked Girlie Spa Night away  in January	21lbs   Walk from Hayling Island to Emsworth (without oxygen)	25lbs   Reflexology	28lbs   TBA	31lbs   Synchronised Swimming with Sister.	34lbs   Western Horse riding in the new forest.	38lbs   London and the Theatre	42lbs   25 mile LIDBA Bike Ride (June 2013) raising money for www.harrisonsfund.com
50lbs   Afternoon Tea at Claridges..with the girlies (This seed was sown last night and all are cordially invited)	52lbs   Drop down the highest red slide at play zone Portsmouth (Note to self...new bra will be required)	54lbs   TBA	57lbs   TBA	60lbs   Flight on Warbird at Goodwood (Have wanted to do this forever!)	62lbs   TBA	65lbs     TBA	66lbs   TBA                 70lbs The Holiday

 

Just a quickie note...I popped down to see my lovely cousin recently and we got onto the subject of the diet and after discussing the ins and outs, it transpires that it almost mirrors the diet that she was recommended before she had her gall bladder out.  A low fat healthy eating plan as recommended by the medical profession.  As I said before, I used to believe after years of self programming, that carbs were the enemy.  I took a massive leap of faith really with Slimming world in accepting that a mixed low fat carb and protein diet is the way forward.  Oh don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy the creamy texture in food, particularly with curries or pasta dishes but I now use low fat quark instead of cream.  A low fat life saver.  You can normally find it hidden on the shelf next to the full fat cream cheese and it is pronounced like the noise of a posh duck.  Quark, quark.

No mad antics in our household this week from my girls mainly because they have had the most awful throat infections and have been barking like seal pups.  I have overlooked their untidiness for once and have even forgiven them for putting things back in the fridge in such an ad hoc manner which means that every time I open the fridge door, I am engaged in an involuntary game of Ker- Plunk. 

On a really positive note, and to end this rather long blog my chicka dees, I am so glad that I started this diet a few weeks ago and have a weight loss under my belt.  At this time of year I used to push the idea of dieting to the New Year and enjoy myself far too much over the festive season.  This invariably ended up with me being at least a half a stone heavier by the time I joined yet another club in January.  This year, as a first, I am aiming to be another 4lbs lighter at my first weigh-in of 2013. 

Thank you all for your wonderful comments and support. Please keep them coming. As much fun as I am having with sharing my life with you in blog world, every comment is propelling me forward and keeping me on track.  I know that I couldn’t do this journey without you.

Here we go then, buckle up...seventeen and one half a pound gone and fifty two and one half a pound and counting. Sx