Mission to lose 5st (10/70 lbs and counting)

[zeke]

STS, as expected, this morning. Apart from anything I am averaging 1687 kcals this week (since Sat). Weekly WI day tomorrow - I am down 0.4 lbs so far. Happy though with high kcals and mid cycle lull. Off first thing in the morning (D of E). Starting Sunday I will try REALLY hard to come in below 1500 next week!

HAHA - got distracted then, having only eaten half my breakfast, and ended up brushing my teeth - just discovered the other half! Guess I wasn't that hungry.

 

[zeke]

I've decided not to bother counting calories tomorrow (but I will Sunday morning) - I know I'm having a curry that a colleague has made on Sat night and I will have no idea of the calories so...

I've packed my normal fodder - porridge/salad/fruit/yogurt/small treats/low cal packed sandwich etc and I will stick to normal patterns of eating so can't see it being an issue.

Back full force on Sunday!

I've averaged nearly 1700 kcals/day this week (last week was 1500 and the week before 1350) - I'm going to aim for a 1500 week next week. It will be interesting to see what tomorrow's official WI brings - so far down 0.4 lbs this week - could be wiped out in an instant of course!

 

[Bella-slimmer]

I've had a similar calorie intake this week too. I think it's more realistic and sustainable to vary calorie intake some days/weeks.

I hope you have a really good D of E trip and yummy curry tomorrow!

 

[zeke]

Thanks Bella

Had a last minute entry on the weight loss this week - I'm down 1.2 lbs this week

My hair is wet, I've still got packing to do and I'm supposed to be leaving in 20 mins so can't stay! See you Sunday!

 

[blubex]

Thanks Bella

Had a last minute entry on the weight loss this week - I'm down 1.2 lbs this week

My hair is wet, I've still got packing to do and I'm supposed to be leaving in 20 mins so can't stay! See you Sunday!

Well done on the loss zeke, enjoy your weekend x

 

[worldwidewren]

I like hairy bikers meals too

 

[zeke]

I didn't count yesterday, as planned. I definitely had more because of that though...actually I am quite tempted to try and work it out now...

Yep I done that. I think I was actually well over maintenance calories. I've overestimated, I think, with the stuff I don't know but the real issue is that I had a bit of a snack attack when I got back into my campervan at bedtime. WOW - I keep remembering more...no way would I have had all that if I was counting, no matter how inaccurately.

Lesson learnt - record even if there will be some elements of the day that cannot be counted accurately.

Anyway, moving on...

I'm quite tired now!

 

[zeke]

Meh - I'm just going to write this weekend off for losing weight.

I do want to lose weight this week though so in strong tomorrow

 

[zeke]

I went up a pound - hopefully mostly water weight!

It is my day off to day (get one once a fortnight) - I was planning to go into work though and get all caught up (which, really, would make me feel more relaxed in the long run than an actual day off). However, DS has declared himself ill - with much wailing and moaning. I suspect a weekend of junk food with daddy has taken its toll, and he is exaggerating...

Anyway, time to get back on track! I want to shift that pound very quickly and lose another one by Saturday, so that I can go below 14st this week.

I've got another D of E trip in under two weeks now - two nights this time. Think I will have to pack more carefully - if it isn't there I can't eat it! Then the weekend after that we are in the camper again as a family over Easter weekend, and really from then on the summer months will be littered with these trips so I have to learn how to manage them better.

I think I need to do something about the whole snack/evening treat thing. Having a succession of 'mini' things isn't really working.

 

[blubex]

I try to make my dinner the last thing I eat at night and to not Snack. ..... it doesn't always go to plan! I find that any snacks eaten after dinner are always the worst and never burnt off before bedtime!

 

[zeke]

I try to make my dinner the last thing I eat at night and to not Snack. ..... it doesn't always go to plan! I find that any snacks eaten after dinner are always the worst and never burnt off before bedtime!

That is a good plan - I will need to make my dinner more substantial to make that work though. I think this is one of the problems - I'm often not fully satisfied after dinner as I keep calories back for 'supper'.

Today hasn't done that well so far...I decided to have a very early lunch as I was hungry again already (well I was just copying what I am making DS for breakfast - waffles and eggs). Can I blame this on how cold it is? Probably not. Lack of routine and getting used to eating more I think!

I'm going to concentrate on going back to basics with my rules and cut myself some slack for fear of feeling like it is slipping away:

#1 Count and record everything
#2 Eat less than maintenance Calories (but more than 1200)
#3 Eat around 1500 Kcals or less (but more than 1200)

I am confident of #1 and #2 today. I'm not going to put myself under pressure to meet #3 - I think that will come naturally within a couple of days (hopefully today but the pressure, given the way I am feeling, will backfire!).

 

[Bella-slimmer]

Hi Zeke,

Well done for your loss the other day! I think the 1lb on will almost definitely just be fluid retention so don't worry too much

I hope you have a nice, relaxing day at home with your son (and the wailing stops!).

xx

 

[zeke]

Thanks Bella
I did go into work for an hour or so (DH has the day off too)...and managed to wind myself up/stress myself out so that wasn't a good move really. I think I've started to 'come down' from it now though... :sigh:

I think it is easy to blame work but really I am frustrated with myself! I keep up my old habits and therefore there is little room for the new ones!

This is very much 'same old' for me.

I'm going to work on few things before my official WI day on Saturday:

1. Eat my meals downstairs - at the breakfast bar or at the dining room table. At the moment I eat 95% of my meals at my desk (either at home or at work).
2. Don't post on MM again until Saturday and avoid all the other internet favourites. Try to use phone more to update MFP rather than desktop
3. Stop taking my ipad to bed. Read instead.

These are major habits of mine that I keep coming back to time and time again - I am going to find this pretty tough to start with! I am pretty sure that if these go I will suddenly find the time/motivation to do the other things I keep claiming to want to do!

Until Saturday! :wave_cry:

 

[Bella-slimmer]

Thanks Bella
I did go into work for an hour or so (DH has the day off too)...and managed to wind myself up/stress myself out so that wasn't a good move really. I think I've started to 'come down' from it now though... :sigh:

I think it is easy to blame work but really I am frustrated with myself! I keep up my old habits and therefore there is little room for the new ones!

This is very much 'same old' for me.

I'm going to work on few things before my official WI day on Saturday:

1. Eat my meals downstairs - at the breakfast bar or at the dining room table. At the moment I eat 95% of my meals at my desk (either at home or at work).
2. Don't post on MM again until Saturday and avoid all the other internet favourites. Try to use phone more to update MFP rather than desktop
3. Stop taking my ipad to bed. Read instead.

These are major habits of mine that I keep coming back to time and time again - I am going to find this pretty tough to start with! I am pretty sure that if these go I will suddenly find the time/motivation to do the other things I keep claiming to want to do!

Until Saturday! :wave_cry:

Great plan! Sorry to hear you felt more stressy for having gone into work, maybe do something relaxing now to feel better!

Remember not to beat yourself up though- you have been doing well and sometimes seeing a little bit of fluid retention weight on the scales can tip the balance in the wrong direction but really you'd have to take a diuretic, eat nothing for a few hours and then weigh yourself to determine your true weight, which might be up 3lbs lighter (i'm not advocating doing that but can't help hopping on the scales several times a day and can see 3-4lb fluctuations each day).

It sounds like you've got lots of nice trips lined up with DoE and campervan hols and you're right that too much time on the internet is definitely not helpful (I was thinking of having a 'computer fast' at some point!).

Hope you have a good week!!

 

[zeke]

Great plan! Sorry to hear you felt more stressy for having gone into work, maybe do something relaxing now to feel better!

Remember not to beat yourself up though- you have been doing well and sometimes seeing a little bit of fluid retention weight on the scales can tip the balance in the wrong direction but really you'd have to take a diuretic, eat nothing for a few hours and then weigh yourself to determine your true weight, which might be up 3lbs lighter (i'm not advocating doing that but can't help hopping on the scales several times a day and can see 3-4lb fluctuations each day).

It sounds like you've got lots of nice trips lined up with DoE and campervan hols and you're right that too much time on the internet is definitely not helpful (I was thinking of having a 'computer fast' at some point!).

Hope you have a good week!!

I know I said I wasn't going to post but...replying doesn't count, right?!

I've been daily weighing for years so I know the score with fluid retention - I was pleased it was only a pound tbh (and 0.8 lbs of that is off today), I really wasn't beating myself up about that. It was more about work and resentment about having to fulfil a management role this year, again, that I have up years ago to go part-time. It really does not work with part-time so I am wasting time/going it at times that I really shouldn't need to!

Yesterday I was frustrated that a senior manager had told us to do something in a certain way by TODAY that we all knew just wouldn't work a couple of weeks back. Guess what? We have all been busy re-doing it the way we would have all done it in the first place! Letting us just get on with it - 20 min job. Dictating something ridiculous and then everyone reverting to the way they would have done it anyway - about 5 hours! YAY! Talk about telling your granny how to suck eggs. It is stuff like this all the damn time. So annoying, especially when you don't get paid by the hour/are doing the job as a favour!

The good news is that I was so annoyed last night that I wasn't interested in snacking last night so came in just over 1500 kcals

1. Eat my meals downstairs - at the breakfast bar or at the dining room table. At the moment I eat 95% of my meals at my desk (either at home or at work). Not 100% yet but better
2. Don't post on MM again until Saturday and avoid all the other internet favourites. Try to use phone more to update MFP rather than desktop Well, obviously broke that one but I will continue to try
3. Stop taking my ipad to bed. Read instead.0/1 night so far

Thank you for your support Hope you have a good week too!

 

[zeke]

I've got to stop making these 'promises'. I'm just embarrassing myself now!

Good news is that I am now 0.4 lbs below my weight on Saturday, I haven't gone below 1500 kcals again but I'm losing weight - even if it is slowly! Today was less good that the previous two but hey ho - that's why CC is so the right plan for me!

Just had my last Pilates class until after Easter - next one is in 4 weeks! I'll have to make sure that I get into 'Pilates Anytime'.

I feel a LOT better about work now. Looking back it is hard to fathom why I was so annoyed. It isn't going to change it so I will have to work on embracing it - will save a lot of moaning time if nothing else.

So close to the Easter holidays now! That's probably the most sensible time to make a serious attempt at changing a few things

 

[systema]

I banned anything electrical from our bedroom a couple of years ago including a TV and try and stop using anything but my Kindle or TV a couple of hours before bedtime and it seems to have worked especially for OH who was/is a terrible sleeper.

Have you joined Pilates Anytime? Just had a look at it and wondered if it was worth joining.

 

[zeke]

Yes, I've joined. I wouldn't be able to give you a particularly balanced review at the moment, as I have only done one video!

I told my instructor I had joined last night and she thought it was more for instructors (she is a member) - I'm not convinced about that but I think it is wise for me to keep to the low level classes. I am in a beginners class at the moment and I'm definitely not ready to progress to intermediate. It is so easy to think you are doing an exercise properly but for that not to be the case at all - either making it much easier/ineffective or making yourself likely to get injured.

Have you done much Pilates Systema? If not then I would suggest a really good instructor first and a small class (max 12) - who would probably insist on a 1-2-1 lesson without first.

 

[systema]

I have been doing it for a long time on and off. When we are in Spain I do 2 classes each week and sometimes do a couple of DVD's I have. My class is only for 12 and it works fine. When we are in UK there are no classes I would attend - did go to one and found out she got her qualification on week-end courses and it showed, she gave no breathing instruction, her neck positions were all wrong, infact I gave up listening to her after a while.

 

[zeke]

I have been doing it for a long time on and off. When we are in Spain I do 2 classes each week and sometimes do a couple of DVD's I have. My class is only for 12 and it works fine. When we are in UK there are no classes I would attend - did go to one and found out she got her qualification on week-end courses and it showed, she gave no breathing instruction, her neck positions were all wrong, infact I gave up listening to her after a while.

Yeah, I know what you mean! I've got a friend who has done Pilates for about 2 years in a big class and had absolutely no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned 'Pilates breathing'!

My instructor is really good but we will almost certainly lose her within a couple of years (Army town and she is married to an solider). I think there are other good ones though - I think some of the physiotherapists round here run classes. The plan is to get really good at it before she leaves though (no plans yet but it is bound to happen, unless they decided to settle here but their children are at boarding school so maybe not) so I will be able to recognise a good instructor/not need one so much.

Anyway, back to work! Just nipped home because I didn't get chance to pack anything for lunch this morning so I still needed to make my packed lunch. Oh organisation! That's the problem with how I do part-time and how close I live to where I work - I can get away with stuff like this. So inefficient.