Exercise and food diary

[jenny81]

Hi all, totally new to this so forgive me if someone has asked the same question already, only getting used to the site

In slimming world a few weeks now and struggling with 2 things, writing a food diary and exercise.
Does anyone have any tips to getting into the habit of writing a food diary, i know it sounds so simple as just writing it down but it never seems to happen and also can anyone recommend a good workout dvd or something to get me into exercise.
Need to get my a** in gear, sick of going to the meetings and hearing everyones weight losses and their only there a few weeks and i can get past the 6pound mark, feeling sorry for myself after weigh in :wave_cry:

Thanks in advance

 

[Landlady21]

Hey! I've tried slimming world numerous times but have never kept a food diary until now! At the minute I am literally just filling in the food diaries from the pack however have notice that so many people have food diary threads on this forum! Do you access this via your mobile or a computer? If its your mobile you could update quickly and easily throughout the day? x

 

[jenny81]

Hey! I've tried slimming world numerous times but have never kept a food diary until now! At the minute I am literally just filling in the food diaries from the pack however have notice that so many people have food diary threads on this forum! Do you access this via your mobile or a computer? If its your mobile you could update quickly and easily throughout the day? x

Hey, i go on the site through my laptop, i was doing well when i started with the sheets you get in the starter pack but im just finding it hard for some reason, something so simple yet i cant seem to do it

 

[Landlady21]

Haha I was the same! If I'm busy during the day I'll try and fill it in when I finally get to sit down with a nice cup of tea .. That way it stops me from having biscuits etc and wasting my syns x

 

[jenny81]

i know what you mean, i think i need to do it as i go or ill just conveniently forget that i had a bar of chocolate lol

 

[Landlady21]

Yeah or a sneaky biscuit everytime we open the cupboard lol! This time round I've decided to total my syns weekly instead of daily which I find is working much better ... Before if i hadn't used them all one day I would have a chocolate bar just for the sake of it rather than actually really wanting one and enjoying it

 

[jenny81]

yeah i had seen some people doing that in their food diarys. Its so hard isnt it, all we have to do is eat the right food to lose weight. i think i need to cut down on my portion size aswell

 

[Landlady21]

I know and it seems such a fool proof diet! Argh!! Yeah portion size is everything ... I was eating far too much carbs so have tried to cut this right down and I am also serving my food on a smaller plate so the other half can now tell which ones his as before I was eating exactly the same as him which is shocking to say

 

[jenny81]

Tell me about it, i was doing the same thing, myself and the boyfriend would sit down to exactly the same dinner, have to keep reminding myself that im a woman and meant to have a small frame haha

 

[Happy Hippo]

Keeping the food diary is one of the best and most important things you can do as a SW newcomer. The mobile website is very good, as is the website when you register with the card. You can use it to write down your meals via the "journal", this is handy because if you had a great week you can look back on it and get ideas if things don't go so well in the future. It's a good habit to get into, maybe keep a bookmark to the website on your phone homepage to remind you?

Don't worry about portion size and carbs, they are habits from other diets that might be difficult to break out of. SW is a healthy eating plan rather than a diet and as long as you eat the right foods cooked the right way, you don't really have to give yourself small portions because there is very little fat in what you are eating. Don't feel guilty about syns, they're there to be enjoyed, even biccies

With exercise, SW call it Body Magic which is a great way to wipe the mental slate clean and forget you are actually... exercising! Just popping out for a walk to the shops every day is enough to begin with, or walking the dog, taking a stroll - even to the pub if you have spare syns left!

 

[gemma1985]

I always grab a handful of food diaries at class, I tend to keep my pack at work, so I just jot down what I'm eating in the food diary at the time and when I'm at home I just grab a bit of scrap paper and scribble down what I'm eating and fill my food diary in the next morning and then post it on my food diary on here, that system seems to work for me! I do agree with above post it really is essential as a newcomer to keep a track of everything, I've done SW for a long time now but my food diaries really keep me in check and it's good to look back at what you had on weeks when you have had a great loss, I don't find it a chore at all and it's really worth sticking at.

 

[jenny81]

Thanks for the advice guys.

Yeah i think its years of other weight management groups automatically has me thinking that i have to watch my portion size all the time.

Day 1 of writing everything down today, hoping it will make a difference for next weeks weigh in.

Also its coming up to that time of the month, is it normal for your weight to go up a pound or two around the time?

 

[Happy Hippo]

It can do yes, there are lots of reasons why you might weigh a bit more on the scales than you'd hoped, but if you've kept to plan it's probably weight rather than fat. Water retention, toilet trip timing, big meal before WI, illness, hormonal balance, bloatedness - it all makes a ±3lb difference. Our definition of "Maintaining" isn't quite the same as Mother Nature's definition! Don't worry about it too much - stick to the plan and relax and it'll show long-term, probably the following week if not this week.

As a very rough idea: to gain 1lb fat per week, you need to eat 500 calories (25 syns) MORE than your recommended daily calorie needs, which for you are probably in the region of 2000 calories per day. And that is each day every day. The SW plan will automatically keep you in the region of 1500 calories or less without you having to count a single calorie or watch your eating beyond what the book tells you. So as long as you haven't eaten a 3500 calorie cake this week, it's probably weight, not fat

Good luck!

 

[louise1982]

I don't write a food diary as such but I have a small notepad that I write down my healthy extras and syns as I go along. That way I'm keeping track of what I'm eating without worrying if I'm eating an extra healthy extra or going over my syns. It also makes me stop and think if i really want something or not. I have so many exercise DVDs but I get bored quickly. This time around i bought an air walker off eBay for £30 and use it most days.

 

[jenny81]

I don't write a food diary as such but I have a small notepad that I write down my healthy extras and syns as I go along. That way I'm keeping track of what I'm eating without worrying if I'm eating an extra healthy extra or going over my syns. It also makes me stop and think if i really want something or not. I have so many exercise DVDs but I get bored quickly. This time around i bought an air walker off eBay for £30 and use it most days.

I get bored with the dvds too, i have loads and its so hard to get yourself motivated to do them and so easy to have a cheeky sit down in the middle of them too :/

 

[Landlady21]

It can do yes, there are lots of reasons why you might weigh a bit more on the scales than you'd hoped, but if you've kept to plan it's probably weight rather than fat. Water retention, toilet trip timing, big meal before WI, illness, hormonal balance, bloatedness - it all makes a ±3lb difference. Our definition of "Maintaining" isn't quite the same as Mother Nature's definition! Don't worry about it too much - stick to the plan and relax and it'll show long-term, probably the following week if not this week.

As a very rough idea: to gain 1lb fat per week, you need to eat 500 calories (25 syns) MORE than your recommended daily calorie needs, which for you are probably in the region of 2000 calories per day. And that is each day every day. The SW plan will automatically keep you in the region of 1500 calories or less without you having to count a single calorie or watch your eating beyond what the book tells you. So as long as you haven't eaten a 3500 calorie cake this week, it's probably weight, not fat

Good luck!

Wow I've never really thought about how many calories are in a lb etc this has really opened my eyes to how much I was overrating in the past! :O