Barb's slow but steady improvement diary!

[Dietriffic]

Hey Barb,

I think what you're doing is absolutely on the button! Fad diets don't work for any length of time, as you said in your opening post, focusing on how you feel is more important than how you look.

I hope you continue to lose weight, well done on losing those 3Ibs!!!

 

[abz]

hi barb. just thought i would pop in and find out how it was going?

abz xx

 

[Barb]

Well as you can see I have gained a lb this week. I don't know, I just seem to be all over the place. The birthday chocs/champagne have gone on forever (yum) and it is now just over a week till I go to New York, where I know I will be enjoying lots of yummy food/cocktails etc..
I seem very hungry at the moment too - wonder if it's the colder weather or something? Just feel nibbly all the time. I loev the idea of steadily losing weight in an 'unstructured' manner but seriously wonder if I can do it?
I find myself already thinking NY, then 3 weeks after we are back Christmas. Even for a 'non dieter' that sounds potentially disasterous. Don't know what to do - one day at a time of just doing my best for now I think.

 

[abz]

think healthy barb. just keep on thinking healthy. it works. you know it does. you've been doing it. you just need to keep up with the structure you've set yourself. everyone is allowed a break. but your break is over. it's time to get down to it for a week before your hols. don't just give up on a week because it's 'just a week'. there's a lot of damage can be done in a week. get to it, think health and satisfaction, maybe eat things like jacket potatoes and pasta to keep your munchies at bay. then enjoy your holidays and have a day or two off for christmas. it's a day. not a month something i really need to get to grips with myself this year...

abz xx

 

[Barb]

You are so right! I am looking for every excuse under the sun to slack! I am sitting here in trousers fit to burst and my mind is actually wandering, despite my discomfort, to a packet of jaffa cakes in the kitchen! Why???? I'm not hungry, I feel better when i eat healthy, I want to lose weight and I want to stop being cross with myself for being so silly. Grr, if I had the answer to this I coudl make a fortune!

I can do this, I want to do this, so why aren't i?

 

[abz]

you are. just avoid the jaffa cakes. if you want to eat and you are somewhere where food isn't, then don't move. if you are somewhere where bad food is, do move... that's the way i do it i tend to remain stationary for long periods of time, ha.

and didn't you start going for walks? why not take that up again? get you out of the house and away from the biscuits!!

abz xx

 

[Barb]

Still having a daily walk Abz, that is very important. Just think the birthday became a long excuse to be naughty. But you are right, birthday over, need to get back to the healthy stuff.

Have decided to start having an omlette for my lunch. Some warm, tasty protein that will keep me going and stop me thinking naughty food thoughts. So thats a new plan to get stuck into!

 

[abz]

excellent news barb. keep at the walking. sounds like you've got that down now

do you pamper yourself these days barb? do you have the odd bubble bath or ten minute read or are you still dashing around after everyone else?

abz xx

 

[Barb]

Hi Abz - still dashing around although yesterday i came to a grinding halt!

You know the great 'omlette plan' - well I made one yesterday lunchtime; spray oil, mushrooms and ham, one egg, all very healthy and tasty. Choked on the second bite and had a major asthma attack. Very, very scary. Couldn't catch my breath properly for several hours, couldn't speak (DH would say that was an advantage!), took lots of inhalers and eventually settled down. Still wheezy and tired this morning. There is a definate health risk to eating healthy and I know it! So the great omlette plan is now on the back burner so to speak! No walking for a day or two either as too short of breath.
Oh well, back to the drawing board!

 

[abz]

oh barb. surely eating healthily can't have sparked off an asthma attack!! healthy eating in general isn't dangerous. how about talking to your doc and getting them to recommend a healthy eating plan? maybe giving you an example menu or something? don't start eating crap again barb. that's more of a health risk than an omelette.

i really hope you start feeling better soon hon.

abz xx

 

[Barb]

No Abz, I know it wasn't the healthy eating thing really. I was just being a mischief! It just struck me as funny that on other non healthy days when i've eaten crisps or whatever I've not choked. Then I eat a nice healthy omlette and promptly choke, which is what caused the attack. I'lll be fine in a day or two and I am determined to keep the healthy eating going but now I'm thinking maybe a really good veggie soup would be a better idea?

 

[abz]

ooh, i love veggie soup. i love boiling up carrots and leeks and potatoes and some coriander etc and then wizzing them all together to make a lovely thick gloop mmmmmmm. great on cold days and REALLY fills me up. waaargh. i really want it now!! ha.

 

[Barb]

Monday morning dawns and STS is here! No surprise there! Am I downhearted? No, I have not had a restrained week so what do I expect? Exactly what I got!
Have had some yummy soup the last couple of days and plenty of fruit and veg so not all bad, but wine and biccies have crept in too and thats whats done the damage.

I will try and do better as I count down the last 6 days till the NY trip. I have to think where I go from here - am I going to keep up this 'plan' or do I need to sort out an organised route for 2009?

When i get back from NY there will be 3 weeks till Christmas - i will decide what to after that. If the healthy eating is going well and even small losses are happening then fine, if not, it's out with the old calorie bible i reckon!

 

[abz]

you are doing great barbs. a sts is good news. you haven't gained. keep it up hon

are you excited about your hols??

abz xx

 

[Barb]

I agree Abz - it could have been a lot worse than STS! Am I excited? Oh YES!!!!!
Just thinking it's time to get packed and a bit organized. It's going to be very chilly so I think I will pack lots of layers. Think I might need a new scarf too! Can't wait, just 3 more sleeps!

 

[abz]

the day after the day after tomorrow. no time at all

oh. and barbs. i read the paul mckenna i can make you thin book and thought of you. i think it would suit you. have you read it?

it's totally anti diet and just helps retrain your attitude towards how you eat and when you eat. i want to use it to lose the last of my weight slowly and to learn how to maintain.

abz xx

 

[Barb]

I have read it and it does make lots of sense. I know that my eating habits are often based on mood. If I am feeling 'up' I am much less likely to pick. If I am busy enough I don't think about food at all. I really want to address some of these issues as i am fed up with being so big! I think my head is moving into the right space, i am also very intrigued by the motivational cards that Silence uses - i think that could work for me. I also know that writing things down works for me. Previously when I lost 4 stone (2002) I did it all with a diary, no cal counting, no plan but healthy eating and writing down every morsel. I'd really like to do that again, it's just getting organised thats required.

I've two big hols in 2009 to look forward to, one in May and one in September, I would really like to have sorted myself out by then. I am not worried about being a size 10 - a size 16-18 would be fine and TBH 2.5 - 3 stone would do that. So it's not like I'm setting myself up a journey thats too difficult. Lots of people on here lose way more than that.
Thing is I don't want to start and then drift off because of Christmas or whatever, so I am thinking in terms of a definate start date of 5th January, but still healthy eating etc... from now till then. Sound like a plan?

 

[abz]

it does sound like a plan barb. if you keep up the healthy eating until then then it isn't the usual 'oh i'll sod it off until after christmas' because we've all done that and been a stone heavier when the time came.

i think it's a grand idea

abz xx

 

[Barb]

Thanks Abz, so do I. I think I have been building the whole 'diet& weight loss' thing into something scary. Like I have a HUGE amount to lose before I can even begin to accept myself. I think thats whats been stopping me. Then today, I thought hang on, when I dropped 4 stone and got to a size 16-18 I actually really liked myself. That is only 35lbs away, not zillions, just 35, that is do-able. I've let me head get stuck in the wrong place and been put off by the enormity of a task that isn't enormous. Silly Barb!
So, that is the plan, from now till Christmas healthy eating and more exercise. From Jan 5th out with the food diary and the positive planning! Hurrah, Barb has a plan!

 

[abz]

hurrah. barb has a GOOD plan

abz xx