Finally finding my way...

I'm only stopping in briefly this morning to list my goals of the day, more later

Tues 8th July
Goals:
10000 steps
20 mins Kettlebell workout (subbed)
Eat clean (no sugar, no grain)

Tues 8 July

B - chicken leg, coffee with cream
L - large chicken salad with pinenuts, homemade french dressing, small portion almonds
S - soya latte, cucumber & pepper slices
T - poached salmon, broccoli, 1/4 can refried beans, small glass of red wine

Ex: ripped in 30 dvd, workout 1
Steps: not sure as fitbit went doolally but over 10000.

A good start

Wed 9th July

B - smoothie made with spinach, Greek yoghurt, blueberries, raspberries, hazelnuts
L - slow cooked beef stew with tomatoes, black beans, red peppers & spinach
T - carrot & cucumber sticks with hummus; salmon fillet, refried beans, broccoli; glass of red wine

Ex: 4 mile cross country run (v slow - partly coz I'm unfit, partly because it's baking out and partly because i ache from yesterday's DVD)

12000 steps excluding run - seems high
...

Another good day but I really struggled with sweet cravings after lunch, to the point where I actually went to the canteen to get a chocolate bar but turned away at the counter...phew - a v close call.

Got on the scales....

Start weight on tues was 13.0
Didn't measure body fat

2 days later I've dropped some water weight, down to 12.10 which is good, but body fat 41.5!!!! I'm shocked by that. Got to get that down.

Thurs 10th July

B - 1/2 avocado, soya latte
L - chicken & avocado salad, handful almonds, carrot sticks & hummus
S - a few strawberries
t - steak, roasted veg, Greek yoghurt, raspberries, flaked almonds

Ex: Kettleworx abs (10 mins) and cardio (10 mins)

So I haven't disappeared

Fri

I knew I was going to cheat Fri....isn't that awful? Fri night is my night off - from cooking, from the kids etc and I always have a treat (or binge) on Fridays. As this is now a life plan, I need to modify it to something I can live with.

So I kept to no sugar no grains for brekkie and skipped lunch (that was an accident, I brought salad to work but didn't have time to eat it), then went to costa for coffee & a muffin at 4pm. Then it spiralled a but out of control with crisps, dip, a large gin & tonic, chocolate, homemade chicken pie & veg, and 2 puddings (meringue, cream and strawberries then a couple of hours later choc fudge cake & cream). I felt quite sick.
My next goal needs to be to have an indulgent meal in Fri nights but not go crazy.

Sat

I weighed in 1 lb up on sat (was expecting more tbh!) And felt too blurrgghh to exercise. Instead I decided to fast.

I went into town to do preps for my holiday, which was bitter sweet. I'm a dress size up on last year and desperately needed new summer clothes. I found loads of great stuff which makes me feel better about myself but I wish I was buying a size or two lower. Still, no regrets. It is what it is.

I also had my hair done which didn't go as expected but more about that later.

So food wise I fasted until 5pm then had an iced latte - not strictly on plan but much needed!

T - small steak (trimmed), roasted veg and spinach & bean curry
Greek yoghurt, peach & berries

Plan for today (sun)
Foodwise: no sugar, no grain

Lots of jobs:
Mow front lawn
Mow back lawn
Find sun glasses (!)
Washing
Clean out guinea pigs
Sort retirement pressie for al
Change sheets & clean bedroom
Exercise dvd
Shopping for week
New Tax disc
Tax credits form

Sure there's more....

Forgot my whole reason for updating! I'm listening to an audio book at the moment called diet cults. It's basically about how all weight loss plans are like cults we follow but as we're omnivores we can do well on any of them ad don't need to be brainwashed into thinking any are best.

Anyway, at the point I'm at he's talking about the national weight loss register (lots of people who lost weight and kept it off share their daily habits). Apparently they all had different diets but 3 common traits:

1. They weighed regularly
2. They ate the same or similar meals over and over (and didn't go of rails at weekends - unsurprisingly most weight is gained at weekends and holidays)
3. They exercised - burning an average of 2621 cals a week with dedicated exercise (if you account for one day off a week that's 450 cals of exercise a day on the others, it's quite a lot - equivalent to a 4 mile run)

Sun

B - left over spinach curry, 2 boiled eggs with hummus
L - roast pork, crackling & gravy, carrots, broccoli, peas, beans. I skipped the roast potatoes but couldn't resist a scone with jam & clotted cream...Yum! And a skinny cappucino.
T - one celery stick & hummus. (Still stuffed!)

Ex. - 90 mins lawn mowing, JM ripped in 30 dvd, level 1. Felt slightly easier this time.

So according to this book im reading, to succeed we need to:
1. Find the right motivation and keep it in mind
2. Exercise for 40-60 mins 6 days a week to burn av 450 cals a session
3. Have a list of 3-4 go to meals for br, lunch & tea and only deviate on special occasions
4. Weigh in daily & record.

I'm going to give those rules a go. I'm going to stick with limiting grains and sugar (cut out during the week and cut down at weekends), fast when I feel like it, not according to a schedule (see below) and exercise for 40-60 mins a day, six days a week. And see what happens.
And my views on fasting:
I really like fasting, it really helps me get in touch with true feelings of satiety / hunger, which I can struggle with; and it really stops a binge extending into a week or more, but I don't buy into the whole 5:2 thing. I'm more eat - stop - eat. As in eat as normal, stop for a while, eat as normal again. No need to stick to 500 cals etc, or eat junk as a reward! Today would have turned into a major binge if i hadn't fasted yesterday. It gives me control. Not sure how, but it does.

So the good news:

Week 0: 13.0 / BF 41.5
Week 1: 12.10 / BF 40.8 / -4 lbs

Going in the right direction.

Now for the bad news. On sat I had my hair chemically relaxed. But she didn't tell me not to wash my hair before and left it in too long. It frazzled my hair and burned my scalp. I look a frigging mess. I'm not supposed to was my hair yet but I'm not sure how I can go into work like this.

Mon 14 July

B - boiled egg, 1/2 grapefruit, skinny latte
L - salad with lettuce, 1/2 avocado, pine nuts, can of tuna, olive oil & balsamic vinegar
S - almonds & nectarine
T - spinach & chickpea curry with new potatoes; Greek yoghurt, raspberries & flaked almonds

Ex:

Food tally
Veg - 6
Fruit - 3
Nuts, Seeds & (healthy) Oils - 3
High quality Meat & Fish - 1
Wholegrains -
Dairy - 3
Refined grains -
Other -
Poor quality meat & fish -
Sweets -
Fried foods -

So here are the ten categories of food listed in his book. Nothing is banned but you should eat hierarchically from the list (ie more veg than anything else) and find a pattern of eating that suits you. I'm going to keep a tally but I'm not sure how long I'll tally it up for as it may get complicated.

Notes: 1 alcohol per day doesn't count, rest goes under other. Avocados and pulses count as veg,; stir fries, sautéed and pan fried does not count as fried (that's things like chips & doughnuts)

Veg -
Fruit -
Nuts, Seeds & (healthy) Oils -
High quality Meat & Fush -
Wholegrains -
Dairy -
Refined grains -
Other -
Poor quality meat & fish -
Sweets -
Fried foods -

Tues 15th July

B - 1/2 grapefruit, soya latte
L - 3 sticks celery, 2/3 pack aubergine dip
S - banana, 1/2 corn on the cob
T - big salad with lettuce, red pepper, carrot, cucumber, 2 boiled eggs, can of mackerel, boiled new potatoes & vinegrette, flax seed 9 bar.

Didn't take lunch to work...oops! But made it though and resisted chocolate cake at the 4pm meeting. Haven't worked out either which I do need to do but feeling v tired and run down since my hair debacle. Eating much better though.

Veg - 4
Fruit - 2
Nuts, Seeds & (healthy) Oils - 2
High quality Meat & Fish - 3
Wholegrains -
Dairy -
Refined grains -
Other - 1
Poor quality meat & fish -
Sweets - 1
Fried foods -