Weight loss again

[Alecto_on_LCD]

Just wanted to say you're going fantastically!! what a rollercoaster journey this dieting thing is - that's mentally, never mind the scales! It's all-consuming really. Great you're feeling positive at the mo. Hope it starts to get easier as you settle in to the routine.
Your story really shows that the calories is one thing but the mental side is really the key, and that's what makes the difference. As you say it doesn't matter really if you go slightly faster or slightly slower, as long is your brain is with the program. I'm surprised this isn't focused on a lot more with diets in general really. I read the Beck Diet Solution when I was starting out. It's not a diet, it's tips for helping with the psychology side, and a lot of it fits with what you're thinking already really, hence what made me remember it. I picked and choosed (new word) from it (actually to be honest I didn't need it in the end, but glad I read it and had the psychological tools ready for if I was going off the rails a bit) - there's a lot of stuff in there about recognising your own triggers and some practical things you can do to recognise what's happening and how to keep on the right mindset, or rescue yourself from a drop off - might be extra ammunition for the arsenal
Good going. Keep it up!

Thank you Ange. Ive been watching your maintenance journey with great interest! It is a journey in itself isnt it. When i get to goal ill join you on there
Didnt know that Aaron Beck's daughter went on her daddy's foot steps. I like me some cognitive behavioural input in there, bet it was a good read! Which reminds me actually (thank you!) - you will have Situations in life that will trigger the behaviour of Eating as comfort automatically (we've learned it in years and years of practice). It's whats going on in between with our thoughts about the situation that make the difference in this situation. Aka - Food will not save you!
Funny thing - above I was saying that I might 'pretend' im getting food at the next social event and then give it to my partner to avoid social reaction to the diet. First, my partner asked whether Im not overreacting and putting thoughts in people's heads/jumpimg to the conclusion that everyone will be nasty about it, just as I did with my anxiety-provoking thoughts re his grandma's birthday. Which i totally am. Great insight from a smart man. Im seeing the pattern.
Second, even if they react negatively - whats the worst that could happen? Me eating, starting to cry or something. Unlikely. I believe people will be more understanding than i give them credit if i just say "im fat and worried for my health and want to change because i want to live longer than some of my family members whose diets contributed to their ill health". Im quite sure no one can object to that.
(sorry for long post again. I am a bit of a blah...and this process truly fascinates me)

 

[Alecto_on_LCD]

Thanks @Alecto_on_LCD ... I’m fired up and ready to face Day3 - Onwards ! Have a great day yourself eh?

How are you doing, May?

 

[ange82much]

well, i'm embarrassed now, I didn't realise you were in a related profession or something?!? Ha. I'll shut up then
Would love you to quote just what you said there at your next social event. Funny. Would definitely stop any speculation! On the other hand I really don't think people notice what others are eating much, generally. Personally I was happy to tell everyone I was on a diet and i'd eaten before I got there,, or I was cutting down, whatever. Also kept me more accountable.

 

[Alecto_on_LCD]

well, i'm embarrassed now, I didn't realise you were in a related profession or something?!? Ha. I'll shut up then
Would love you to quote just what you said there at your next social event. Funny. Would definitely stop any speculation! On the other hand I really don't think people notice what others are eating much, generally. Personally I was happy to tell everyone I was on a diet and i'd eaten before I got there,, or I was cutting down, whatever. Also kept me more accountable.

Oh no no. Just keen interest. Haha. No reason to feel embarassed. Not whatsoever! I'm really sorry - i was still kinda sleepy when i wrote that and did a whole stream of consciousness thing. Do not shut up <cling> I like that you mentioned that because i think im gonna get that book as i didnt know about it!
Yeah i think your approach will be a lot more sensitive to people's feelings! I might take that than cause awkwardness lol

 

[Alecto_on_LCD]

Another day ending. Had 2 new meals today as my new order arrived. The egg bfast snd the shepherds pie. Of the 2 the latter was least offensive. But both weird. Still felt full as a pig so they did their jobs. I no longer care it seems.
I keep day dreaming (and dreaming) about early childhood food and my mum's cooking. Not take aways and silly foods but home grown and made things from 20 years ago. Strange.
Paracetamols kept me afloat well. Some work, house stuff, 3l water and just 3.5k steps. I repotted many plants this afternoon which was very satisfying. By the time i finsih this i may be able to enjoy some of my home grown tomatoes and parsley. That'd be nice!
Sweet dreams y'all

 

[Alecto_on_LCD]

Day 20. 72kg
Wow. How did i get to here? I am amazed with myself.
Monday food week should begin. After a lot of pondering i decided not to do it and postpone it to the second week of august when ive got my partner's birthday. Ive only just reached a balance with keto and having a good mindset and not finding it difficult to carry on and i want to be stable in this and enjoy it before i make other changes. Ive had some blips in the first 2 weeks that put me over the calories and ive only just recovered from last Sunday's meal. Seems any food kicks me back to feeling dizzy/out of keto so id rather do it that week when i know ill be eating anyway and then get back on the horse straight after the party.
Been enjoying the graph below. Or...how little losses amount to a lot in time.
--------------
End of day: 12k.8 steps, 4l water, exantes, dr pepper zero and tonnes of gardening. Been to the lovely local festival and didnt give in. Strange thought of "when im done, im gonna eat all these things at once" was caught in the making and noted.
Sleepy time

 

[ange82much]

flippin' ek. who gets on a scale or plots a graph when they're gaining?! kudos! Won't ask why the gain, but that's a pretty impressive graph to turn it all around. 72kg. Happy dance! Great plan re carrying on with whatever those shakes/bars/things are this exante diet appears to be, lol, sounds a good plan for next week, whilst you're in the mood. Onwards and downwards. Yep, time passes so quickly when you look back, so you might as well progress in the right direction whilst it does

 

[Alecto_on_LCD]

flippin' ek. who gets on a scale or plots a graph when they're gaining?! kudos! Won't ask why the gain, but that's a pretty impressive graph to turn it all around. 72kg. Happy dance! Great plan re carrying on with whatever those shakes/bars/things are this exante diet appears to be, lol, sounds a good plan for next week, whilst you're in the mood. Onwards and downwards. Yep, time passes so quickly when you look back, so you might as well progress in the right direction whilst it does

Lol. I've never thought about it that way - who monitors their weight gain indeed haha
Tbh its there due to my constant failed attempts to get back on the horse for the past 2 years or so only with exercise and healthy eating. Theres more of that data somewhere in MyFitness pal and another app i used in the day called Calorie Count. I really liked the latter. Id keep to it for a while, get back to the gym for 2-3weeks (which sent me into eating more coz i thought - oh, ive done so well today-) and every time getting a cold which pulled me out of going to the gym and back to eating like a piglet. The furthest i got was to week 6 of couch to 5k on the treadmill before i got a bad cold again.
All these on-offs got me really exasperated with myself and while i wanted to change the route my weight was taking i was no longer confident I could do it. This weird exante thing felt like the best solution when i saw it on TV, to get my confidence back that I can indeed control what I eat - a stepping stone and 'turn time around' strategy to stop the on-off healthy eating/exercise cycle i had gotten blocked into.

 

[Alecto_on_LCD]

Day 21. 71.9kg
-------------
Quite sneezy today. Did about 5hrs of work then more garden sorting and now, within 2 days, all my plants are happy and clean.
Had a thought of: want to reward myself with food and a drink (didn't help that neighbours on both sides seem to be having take aways in the garden. I seem to be able to smell foods miles away nowadays lol). Instead got myself some nice cold Dr Pepper before ending the day with trying out the Indian style curry sachet. It'll all be worth it in the end.
6k steps and 3l of water.
Onwards and downwards!

 

[Darcy15]

Well done

 

[Alecto_on_LCD]

Well done

Thank you Darcy. You're doing great also. And busy as ever. Hope your house is a bit clearer now

 

[Alecto_on_LCD]

Week 4 (made it this long. Hurray!).
Day 22. 71.6kg(11.27st or 157.8lb) (same as I was first week of Jan 2018). Turning time around.
Overall stats: 6 kg lost overall (13lb) and 1kg (2lb) since last week. Could be disappointed but i am not by any means! Any loss is a loss hopefully forever. And I'm 1 pound away from the first stone which I'm sure ill get to this week.
I don't like this cold. On the bright side - my taste buds are a bit gone which makes it easier to eat the exantes i don't quite fancy. Haha. Also it's the "easiest" cold I've had in ages - must be the no alcohol thing (Day 12 starting with the re-count from that vodka afternoon).
Another realisation during the local festival at the weekend - i was dreading going there and not getting some boose. Actually we had more time to enjoy everything else due to no queing at the bar or loo all the time, had more energy and awareness to enjoy everything, AND I can have fun without alcohol. Yay! Forgot that about myself.
Good week everyone!

 

[RareKiwi27]

You doing amazingly! Keep going

 

[Lozzal]

Alecto you are doing amazing and I'm sure you will have that stone very soon. So true what you say about being able to enjoy events without the alcohol. Sometimes I think the thought of going without (either food or having a drink) is worse than the actual not having it. Loz x

 

[Alecto_on_LCD]

Thank you all for your lovely encouragement!

 

[Alecto_on_LCD]

End of day 22.
10k steps almost 5l water 3 exantes and did 45mins of aqua aerobics.
Although i decided to not do food week (and I wont do it fully) I did decide to have a healthy meal tonight to up my calories a bit. I feel like if I've forgone and will forego pretty much everything else I may at least allow myself a low cal healthy but nice meal.
Apart from that reason...despite being in full keto I have been literally day dreaming about food all day. I lost concentration at work. That is in no way healthy! On my way home i almost wanted to get off the bus and go to thw chippy. I didnt, surely! But i couldnt stop thinking about all the healthy and mostly unhealthy favourites. Then i thought: im controlling this so i could at least have a drink. Then i thought - no, ive done so well and feeling so good, really dont want to do that.
I had 1 exante before the aerobics, did that and drove to Morrisons(had to get stuff anyway). I wanted potatoes and chicken. Again a think thats been on my mind all day. Instead i went and got some normal chicken and a salad and im going to have that tonight.
I know its not going to mess up my loss but at least i controlled the bad craving and im having a measured amount of good stuff that have been on my craving list for 3 weeks now. Balance and moderation I guess. And then tomorrow is normal 3 exantes again and carrying on.
Hope this plan will work for me this way to help me retrain my urges in addition to a faster weight loss.

 

[#GymBunny]

Well done for taming the mental beast today. It had numerous attempts at you and you thwarted them all! Not that you need reminding but do you remember how **** you felt the day after you had a few vodkas - look at what you’ve saved yourself going through tomorrow morning!

You’ve done awesomely

 

[RareKiwi27]

Well done, chicken salad was a really positive choice. You’ve got this

 

[a_kelpie]

It is going to be the salad of dreams.....and you’re doing an amazing job! Well done for slaying the idea of a drink.

 

[Alecto_on_LCD]

Thank you Bunny, Kiwi, and Kelpie. You are all absolutely right. I feel right proud of myself today. All that physical activity and i stirred away from all the stuff I really dont want to have. Nor did I binge or was compelled to. The salad though...salad of dreams? I ate it so sloooooow as I wanted it to last and the main thing I was interested in was the leaves. Leaves are good!!! It all barely came to 250cals but I felt well stuffed and cravings wise - all gone away! Another good lesson. If I am ok in terms of calorie deficit and my mind does indeed go mad...the healthy option does suffice. Slow and mindful eating will prevent the binge. Thanks so much girls! ❤