A Taste Of Honey

[Honey39]

Woo hoo! Lost 4 lbs yesterday, so that takes me back to 93 lbs lost in total (and I have my 6.5 stones award back). That was a huge relief.

I am focused on making very healthy choices this week, and celebrating one year at Slimming World all week. So today's pre-tracking food is:

Skimmed milk
HEX A
Coffees through the day
Free
Muller light yoghurt
Free
Bran flakes (handful)
HEX B
Frozen berries (handful)
Super free
Bananas x 2
Super free
Apple x 1
Super free
Salad: rocket / tomatoes / cucumber / mushrooms
Super free
Salad: chickpeas / tomatoes / feta cheese / olive oil
5 syns
Skinny cappuccino (Starbucks)
3 syns
Chicken chow mein
8 syns
Asparagus / mushrooms
Super free
Broccoli
Super free
Stir fry
Super free
Apple x 1
Super free

 

[Honey39]

Long term weight loss goals:

I just realised that I have never actually said what I want to achieve here. The end point is a bit vague to be honest.

Here goes:
- my long-term weight loss goal isn’t exactly a number. I have a ball park figure, but it’s incredibly flexible. I don’t know what ‘number’ I want to be, but I think it will be about 175 lbs
- I would like to get to a weight I am comfortable at, and then maintain.
- I would like to put all that I have learned into maintenance, which I think is a much harder goal/achievement, but oh so worthwhile
- I would like to find my ideal life long weight, and then stay within about five pounds of that weight for the rest of my life
- I would like to weigh in once a week, and adjust so that I stay at my goal weight
- I would like my focus to shift to exercise and toning once I have reached ‘goal’
- I would like to have a healthy relationship with food for the rest of my life
- I definitely do not intend to regain any weight that I have lost. Maybe I should put this first, this is my ultimate long-term weight loss goal
- I would like to pull together some help for other people on this journey once I have lost and maintained for a few years.

So there you go, that’s my long-term weight loss goal – to get to a weight at which I am comfortable and to maintain it for the rest of my life. I would like to get there by December 2012.

 

[gl12282]

Hi Honey,

Congrats on getting back on plan after your trip away. Not always as easy as it seems. And a massive amazing well done on holding it together after your break up. That is a fantastic achievement.

Wow 1 yr on. I'm so delighted for you.

Big hugs.

Gail x

Sent from my iPhone

 

[Honey39]

I thought I’d reflect on this a little this week, but haven’t done so far. But I’ve lost nearly 100 lbs in a year – it’ll be a year on Sunday since I started losing weight. So what’s actually changed?

Work
People treat me differently – but maybe that’s because I treat myself differently. I feel confident and capable, beautiful and upbeat. Work has been positive.

Family
I don’t really have any family apart from my mum, but she is absolutely delighted with my weight loss, I think that it’s the one thing that’s made her intensely happy. So that’s good.

Love
Still in this on/off again relationship with a prat, but…I feel different. Less desperate. And he’s changed towards me, more attentive, more loving, still a prat, still no future though. But again, I think it’s because I treat myself differently, rather than because he values my weight loss.

Home
My home is incredibly sorted and organised – I feel more capable, but also I am definitely more into my routines to stop me from bingeing.

Health
DEFINITELY a huge improvement here – I walk so much easier, I run, I feel fit and healthy, I can walk for hours, I feel terrific. My hip hurts a lot, but I think that’s okay.

I’ll carry on thinking about this tomorrow.

 

[Sarahelizabeth]

Morning! Just read your post and could really relate to it. People who say that weight loss hasn't changed their lives amaze me as it has made a huge difference to mine. I have only lost two and a half stone and have a few more pounds to lose but I feel and look like a different person and my confidence has shot through the roof. Of course some of the same issues and problems I had before are still there but I feel so much more positive about myself. You are really benefitting from the weight loss and all it enables you to do and the way it makes you feel about yourself. Great!x

 

[Honey39]

How to avoid bingeing in the future

This is quite a difficult one, because it’s lurking at various stages. One thing that really helped me last night was to read my entries here and on another site from the very beginning – kind of like a journal. Seeing my entries every Sunday when I first lost a pound, then 2, then 10 and so on, and the struggle I made and continue to make – it reminded me of how much I want this and how far I’ve come. That was a really powerful strategy.

Other ones are more prosaic:
- drinking water (often thirst is a trigger)
- planning activities: I equate holidays/weekends with relaxing, and equate that still with overeating
- being conscious
- forward planning and having food / choices around me
- never thinking this is easy, but over-planning

I read a great tip the other day, and it said that it’s important to remember that while the principle of weight loss is easy (eat less, move more), it’s actually hard work. I’ve always seen this as a major goal for me, something I need to work on and think about and keep at, because 98% of people on diets will fail, 98% of people who lose weight will regain it. I am going to beat those odds, but it is taking a lot of mental effort. And I am learning more and more about myself, some of it I have written about, some of it is just lurking/teasing the back of my mind. But each step takes me forward, each day I stick to my plans and make healthy choices makes it easier to keep doing this. I tackle my perfectionism and my all or nothing attitude, and I slowly but surely make lifelong changes.

So I don’t know, maybe it’s just the act of writing this and sticking at it that will ensure I carry on losing weight, carry on fighting my emotional dependence on food, and get to my goal. And what exactly is my goal? That’s interesting, I don’t think I’ve ever said exactly what it is, to myself or out loud. I mean in really specific terms, not just a general airy way. Will come back to this!!

 

[Honey39]

Morning! Just read your post and could really relate to it. People who say that weight loss hasn't changed their lives amaze me as it has made a huge difference to mine. I have only lost two and a half stone and have a few more pounds to lose but I feel and look like a different person and my confidence has shot through the roof. Of course some of the same issues and problems I had before are still there but I feel so much more positive about myself. You are really benefitting from the weight loss and all it enables you to do and the way it makes you feel about yourself. Great!x

Definitely - it's life changing in some ways, and of course not in others. I'm not a different person, but some things are just amazing. The boost to my confidence is incredible, and I have a lot more body confidence now.

You are very very supportive, and I really appreciate it!

 

[D'lashes]

hi, just been reading few posts back .. have you really lost 6.5 stones in 1 year?? i have around 5-6 stones to lose (3 of it post baby weight) but just feels so overwhelming .. back to work today bigger than when i left for maternity, plan to join sw next week .. but 6 stones is just SUCH a colosall amt of weight to lose, almost felt like giving up before i even started but reading that post has really encouraged me. i too am an emotional eater, plus i like my food. my baby is 1 next year, and its flown by .. would be a dream come true if could lose just have that amt in a year

 

[Honey39]

hi, just been reading few posts back .. have you really lost 6.5 stones in 1 year?? i have around 5-6 stones to lose (3 of it post baby weight) but just feels so overwhelming .. back to work today bigger than when i left for maternity, plan to join sw next week .. but 6 stones is just SUCH a colosall amt of weight to lose, almost felt like giving up before i even started but reading that post has really encouraged me. i too am an emotional eater, plus i like my food. my baby is 1 next year, and its flown by .. would be a dream come true if could lose just have that amt in a year

Yeah, I've lost 93 lbs so far - Sunday is my last weigh-in for the year! But honestly, I did NOT look at the big picture then or now. Just a quick look, and then focus on *small* goals. Like, 2 lbs this week, 6 lbs this month, that kind of thing. Otherwise it's just too overwhelming.

I've learned a lot this year, but have got an awful lot to learn - it's good to post here and be accountable.

I guess I would say:

- aim small: tiny little steps
- be accountable
- don't be a perfectionist

Good luck!!!!

 

[Honey39]

Well, guys, it's been a year here for me as well. And this week, I lost 3 lbs. Taking me to a total lost of 96 lbs in one year. Woo hoo!!!!!!!!

Am so pleased with this week's loss, and am really pleased to have got the anniversary out of the way. I kind of wish I had lost 100 lbs in a year, but actually - I think I self-sabotaged because it was all too significant. Now I'm back to focusing on SMALL goals each week, and just plodding forward, not looking at the big milestones.

Still, though, 96 lbs in a year. And I'm still here, still posting, still doing the same. I feel I might actually get there, you know!!!! Cautiously optimistic.

I cannot believe I've been doing this for a whole year. Wow. I feel a little bit shaky.

 

[ginlin]

Well done on such an amazing loss!
And for sticking to it for a year, and still wanting too!

 

[Sarahelizabeth]

That's a great achievement. Well done!x

 

[gl12282]

That is a spectacular achievement Honey. Absolutely incredible. No wonder you feel emotional - I know I will in 1/2 weeks when I hit my anniversary

Congratulations. And good luck for year 2

Gail x

Sent from my iPhone

 

[Honey39]

Well done on such an amazing loss!
And for sticking to it for a year, and still wanting too!

Thank you!!!! It's a great milestone, it feels terrific.

That's a great achievement. Well done!x

Thank you! Long way to go, but it's a great point to have reached

That is a spectacular achievement Honey. Absolutely incredible. No wonder you feel emotional - I know I will in 1/2 weeks when I hit my anniversary

Congratulations. And good luck for year 2

Gail x

Sent from my iPhone

Thanks Gail!! It's a great feeling - and I'm really proud of still being here a week later, and posting in my results every Sunday. That's what I think is the strongest thing of all, being accountable!

 

[Honey39]

I don’t know, I feel terrific today. Really positive and upbeat, and making healthy food choices. I’m tired from lack of sleep, but absolutely zero temptation today. I feel focused and ready to keep going on this journey.

I love the fact that I’ve been losing weight for a year. I love the fact that I wore a top today that clung and revealed my figure. I love the fact that it turns out I have a very hour glass figure – who knew my waist would be so small? I love lots of things. I love the fact that I am past a milestone, and I can’t wait to get past 100 lbs, just because it feels almost too significant. I deal better with the small steps, the baby moves towards the whole.

So today I am just focused on losing two pounds – just two tiny little pounds, and I know how to do it. Awesome!

 

[D'lashes]

brilliant .. really inspiring words for someone just starting their 6 stones weight loss journey

 

[Honey39]

Losing weight has removed a lot of my anxiety about events. I feel more casual about things, rather than worrying whether my weight will affect me negatively. It’s a fabulous reason why losing weight is so amazing, the lack of fretting about whether something will be difficult for me. I can look forward to a team building away-day without being scared that I will be humiliated. I mean, I might find things difficult, but I’ve made such changes to my life in the last year.

 

[Honey39]

This is (so far) a good week – good in that Im making healthy food choices and not struggling with temptation. It’s been nice, I’ve enjoyed it, and I need easy weeks to remind me that it’s like this more often than not.

Someone at work asked me how much weight I lost, and I told her. I feel shy now. 96 lbs sounds such a lot, I feel ashamed of having so much to lose still, and it makes me feel a bit odd. But on the other hand – I AM proud of my achievements. And sort of ‘hell with them’ if they judge me attitude.

I don’t know. It’s all kind of complicated. But a great week so far (although it’s only Tuesday)!

 

[Honey39]

In my weight loss, I thought yesterday about the importance of time in learning new habits and becoming confident, which was more important to me than actual numbers gone. So although I’ve lost a lot of weight, it’s more significant to me that I’ve been consistently losing weight for over a year now.

But then today I had another realisation about time: make preparations for the future, but I need to live in the moment. If I think ahead, if I think about being healthy at the weekend, I feel a pang of deprivation. But living right here, right now – at Thursday evening at 10 pm, I feel full. I feel satisfied. I don’t want anything to eat, I’m ready for bed. I have had a great day of healthy food choices – this is enough. I want to plan ahead so I have things here to eat (which I do), but I don’t want to think too far ahead either and mentally struggle against choices which aren’t even here yet.

So, tie up my donkey but live in the moment. It’s like one of those magic mirror things, getting the perspective right. I can do this!

 

[Honey39]

Good result this week. That’s seven stones gone, and I feel awed at my own progress, which is relatively slow I suppose, but it’s consistent. I think I took the lower weight for once, because I needed boost, but there we go.

I feel amazed, pleased, proud, happy and all that. I feel a bit unnerved by ongoing weight loss, but it’s a good feeling. I feel that I am going to get there, I am going to reach my goals. Which is an amazing feeling, but makes me feel a little bit nervous as well.

I want to have a great week this week, so will be doing a lot of writing through it. I want to focus on getting past the 100 lbslost, which is hanging over me in a not very inspirational way. I want my weight loss to be less significant, less momentous. I feel a little bit stuck at present, although I guess I’m not. Anyway, an awesome result for me!