Sarah's Management Thread (August 12th - November 5th 2007)
- Thread starter Cerulean
- Start date
Cerulean
Silver Member
Day 10
Shrimp and Sardine Remoulade with cucumber shavings
Well - I think - for the first time since I started Management I have two textbook days in a row under my belt. And I haven't felt hungry once. (???!) I wish I knew what the precise difference was between today, yesterday and the 3000+ calorie binge days...all I can think is that I may have been trying to run before I could walk last week, and this week the amount of choice and actual crunch of the raw salad veg has been 'satisfying' and I have felt sated rather than 'teased'.
I also can't believe that I never knew about low sugar jelly! It's a revelation! Hardly a gourmet experience, but it does the job as a 10 calorie pudding!
I ran a kilometer uninterrupted today (as well as other slightly shorter but almost as long bursts)! This is a HUGE achievement for me.
Getting my second gold star in a row (yes - I am that sad! - in a week or so I'll take a picture of my 'Do not let me eat cake' star chart that I keep at my desk at work so you can see!) tomorrow morning will be today's other great achievement - I also did some hard work at work today...
Oh - and my other great achievement today was leaving some of my snack veg when I felt full! I even forgot to take it home with me.
And - blimey - they are mounting up here! I started picking leaves at the fridge whilst contemplating dinner when I got home and I made the conscious decision to stop, prepare a small bowl with a tiny dressing ramekin with a couple of ounces of small leaves and celery and cucumber and take it upstairs and eat it away from the fridge. It was great! I felt quite spoilt.
I hate to say it, but dinner was splendid - I ate it really slowly because it was such a pleasure. I even managed to delay having my jelly by about 2 hours because I wasn't hungry after I finished my salad!
However, it is Wednesday tomorrow - and I don't want to make Wednesday a self-fulfilling prophecy so I will be doing everything I can to avoid the snack machine - I may take extra over limit veg and a pot of cottage cheese with me just so I have on plan food available.....juuuuust in case crazy cake queen sneaks up on me.
I have lost a few pounds of the glycogen load already so even 48 hours of solid bingeing is fixable - it's not easy, but it is possible to remedy as long as you get back into it.
Shrimp and Sardine Remoulade with cucumber shavings
Well - I think - for the first time since I started Management I have two textbook days in a row under my belt. And I haven't felt hungry once. (???!) I wish I knew what the precise difference was between today, yesterday and the 3000+ calorie binge days...all I can think is that I may have been trying to run before I could walk last week, and this week the amount of choice and actual crunch of the raw salad veg has been 'satisfying' and I have felt sated rather than 'teased'.
I also can't believe that I never knew about low sugar jelly! It's a revelation! Hardly a gourmet experience, but it does the job as a 10 calorie pudding!
I ran a kilometer uninterrupted today (as well as other slightly shorter but almost as long bursts)! This is a HUGE achievement for me.
Getting my second gold star in a row (yes - I am that sad! - in a week or so I'll take a picture of my 'Do not let me eat cake' star chart that I keep at my desk at work so you can see!) tomorrow morning will be today's other great achievement - I also did some hard work at work today...
Oh - and my other great achievement today was leaving some of my snack veg when I felt full! I even forgot to take it home with me.
And - blimey - they are mounting up here! I started picking leaves at the fridge whilst contemplating dinner when I got home and I made the conscious decision to stop, prepare a small bowl with a tiny dressing ramekin with a couple of ounces of small leaves and celery and cucumber and take it upstairs and eat it away from the fridge. It was great! I felt quite spoilt.
I hate to say it, but dinner was splendid - I ate it really slowly because it was such a pleasure. I even managed to delay having my jelly by about 2 hours because I wasn't hungry after I finished my salad!
However, it is Wednesday tomorrow - and I don't want to make Wednesday a self-fulfilling prophecy so I will be doing everything I can to avoid the snack machine - I may take extra over limit veg and a pot of cottage cheese with me just so I have on plan food available.....juuuuust in case crazy cake queen sneaks up on me.
I have lost a few pounds of the glycogen load already so even 48 hours of solid bingeing is fixable - it's not easy, but it is possible to remedy as long as you get back into it.
Cerulean
Silver Member
Day 11 - how to make a grey day a tiny bit brighter
When it looks like this outside...
Then I suggest doing this...
Breakfast in bed there, marvellous.
Incidentally - I am confused - the recipe booklet states low fat yog and vanilla as a Week 3 recipe, but vanilla is a week 1 ingredient (which I find odd when there's nothing to go with it short of cottage cheese!) and low fat yog is a week 2 ingredient - anyway - as I don't eat much dip dring the day, I used about 75g of yog with a tiny splash of vanilla to replace my breakfast chocolate pack (it's Wednesday so I am saving the chocolate for the night time!) Anyway - I'm off to make my snacky veg for the day. Wish me luck and hopefully today will be my third gold star day in a row
. I should defrost some chicken thighs for tonight I think and maybe stuff them with garlic cottage cheese!
Oh - and glycogen update!
I'm weighing in at just over 10 st - that's er - 10lbs in 4 days. I'm not saying you can develop a pattern of eating as much crap as you like for 48 hours and then rein yourself in for 3.5 days and always live to tell the tale, but quick correction is definitely possible and a beacon of hope to those of us that have fallen by the wayside. Getting back on the wagon as quickly and enthusiastically as possible is important. My concave tummy is back after all the wheat, yeast and sugar bloating...
When it looks like this outside...
Then I suggest doing this...
Breakfast in bed there, marvellous.
Incidentally - I am confused - the recipe booklet states low fat yog and vanilla as a Week 3 recipe, but vanilla is a week 1 ingredient (which I find odd when there's nothing to go with it short of cottage cheese!) and low fat yog is a week 2 ingredient - anyway - as I don't eat much dip dring the day, I used about 75g of yog with a tiny splash of vanilla to replace my breakfast chocolate pack (it's Wednesday so I am saving the chocolate for the night time!) Anyway - I'm off to make my snacky veg for the day. Wish me luck and hopefully today will be my third gold star day in a row
. I should defrost some chicken thighs for tonight I think and maybe stuff them with garlic cottage cheese!Oh - and glycogen update!
I'm weighing in at just over 10 st - that's er - 10lbs in 4 days. I'm not saying you can develop a pattern of eating as much crap as you like for 48 hours and then rein yourself in for 3.5 days and always live to tell the tale, but quick correction is definitely possible and a beacon of hope to those of us that have fallen by the wayside. Getting back on the wagon as quickly and enthusiastically as possible is important. My concave tummy is back after all the wheat, yeast and sugar bloating...
Sez
has started again!!
So glad its back in check, Sarah! Your meals (photos & descriptions) have me salivating, which is not a pretty sight!! I am trying to cope by drinking some lovely freshly made coffee, interspersed with water. The pangs are huge with me today......
Keep it up and looking forward to seeing whats for tonights dinner!!
Keep it up and looking forward to seeing whats for tonights dinner!!
Hope Sarah won't mind me including the link about how not to do Route to Management and, of course, I send everyone over here!
This thread has helped me alot - not least to show me what food CAN be like!
Anyway, if you are struggling, take a peek here:
http://www.minimins.com/lighter-lif...-lighterlife-route-management.html#post342990
Go, Sarah!!!
This thread has helped me alot - not least to show me what food CAN be like!
Anyway, if you are struggling, take a peek here:
http://www.minimins.com/lighter-lif...-lighterlife-route-management.html#post342990
Go, Sarah!!!
Tiger Girl
Full Member
Hey Sarah
Wednesday is almost over! How did it go? Are we to start polishing the gold star?
Your food pics look glorious
Wednesday is almost over! How did it go? Are we to start polishing the gold star?
Your food pics look glorious
Cerulean
Silver Member
Those Rules (and those rules)
YouTube - The Schema, "Those Rules" (Dir: Alex de Campi)
I appear at around about second 4 at the beginning and for about 30 seconds at 3 mins 20 seconds (I'm in the middle in the white skirt.)
I hung in there by the barest thread today - I can be such an idiot sometimes!
YouTube - The Schema, "Those Rules" (Dir: Alex de Campi)
I appear at around about second 4 at the beginning and for about 30 seconds at 3 mins 20 seconds (I'm in the middle in the white skirt.)
I hung in there by the barest thread today - I can be such an idiot sometimes!
Cerulean
Silver Member
Day 11 continued...
My lunch with better coffee this time!
The usual sort of salad with chicken thighs done in the George Foreman covered in a paste made out of 0% yogurt and Ras El Hanout spice mix. The chicken stayed juicy and moist with a tasty crispy skin...
I've just found out that Ras El Hanout is supposed to be an aphrodisiac - er - chance'd be a fine thing...for those of you who have not been following closely - I now have official amenorrhea having hit the 3rd month without my period - and also having entirely misplaced my libido (I may have been practically single for my entire life, but I was always a red-blooded woman - and now I appear to be frigid, a prude and so disinterested in men the last time I remember being this down on boys was 1984 - when I was 10!)
I will do recipes shortly but I appear to have forgotten to mail mine home today...
My lunch with better coffee this time!
The usual sort of salad with chicken thighs done in the George Foreman covered in a paste made out of 0% yogurt and Ras El Hanout spice mix. The chicken stayed juicy and moist with a tasty crispy skin...
I've just found out that Ras El Hanout is supposed to be an aphrodisiac - er - chance'd be a fine thing...for those of you who have not been following closely - I now have official amenorrhea having hit the 3rd month without my period - and also having entirely misplaced my libido (I may have been practically single for my entire life, but I was always a red-blooded woman - and now I appear to be frigid, a prude and so disinterested in men the last time I remember being this down on boys was 1984 - when I was 10!)
I will do recipes shortly but I appear to have forgotten to mail mine home today...
Cerulean
Silver Member
Ow - lime whine. Over zealous zesting!
Well - it's all very well making slivers of this and wafers of that and poncing about with spices but if you are trying to garnish a Mock Margarita with lime zest, try not to zest your little finger nail bed in the process. OWWWWWWWW.
Well - it's all very well making slivers of this and wafers of that and poncing about with spices but if you are trying to garnish a Mock Margarita with lime zest, try not to zest your little finger nail bed in the process. OWWWWWWWW.
Sez
has started again!!
Ouch, thats sounds sore!!
The chicken looks gorgeous, and that spice sounds interesting. I have no libido at all, and having a fully husband, this situation can (& does) create new problems of its own!! I wish I could try the spices now...LOL!!
Better race to the finish line and get me some of that......!!!!!!
The chicken looks gorgeous, and that spice sounds interesting. I have no libido at all, and having a fully husband, this situation can (& does) create new problems of its own!! I wish I could try the spices now...LOL!!
Better race to the finish line and get me some of that......!!!!!!
Cerulean
Silver Member
Week 2 Recipe - 'Sort of cajuny shrimp remoulade'
Sarah’s totally unorthodox southern USA remoulade (loosely based on a shrimp remoulade)
It’s kind of a dip usually served with big juicy prawns – but I’ve been on a budget this week so I made the dip base and shoved some tinned sardine fillets in brine into it instead of anchovies (so it’s not up to full strength flavourwise) and used it as a simple protein based snack dip – but I have also served it as part of a salad with Cajun cooked prawns on top…
4oz Total 0%
Tbsp wholegrain mustard
½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
Splash Tabasco
1oz spring onions
1oz finely diced celery
1 clove minced garlic
1 tsp finely chopped parsley
Spritz of lemon juice
salt and cracked black pepper to taste
small tin of sardine fillets in brine
Chop everything up and shove it together – I found that the flavour improved after about 12 hours or so.
Cajun prawns from Day 10
Splash red wine vinegar in a saucepan (I suppose I should have used cider vinegar but I wanted the prawns to be red) – reduce like mad and throw in black pepper and a handful of frozen prawns (80g should do it) couple of pinches Cajun spices (I like the Bart ones in a silver tin) I wanted a spicy kick last night so I went for a few pinches of paprika and Tabasco as well.
Throw the prawns over the top of two dessert spoons of remoulade which have, in turn been casually slumped on top of a bed of leaves of your choice – I used a potato peeler to shave a few ribbons of cucumber over the salad leaves to cool down the spiciness of the prawns…and as I am all about my new ‘treat yourself well, avoid merry hell’ maxim at the moment, I took two spring onions with the green bits sliced through from the white bit upwards and plunged them in iced water to make them curl up. It’s all a bit twee, but I’m finding the more visually impressive I make my less than 250 calorie meals, the better!
Sarah’s totally unorthodox southern USA remoulade (loosely based on a shrimp remoulade)
It’s kind of a dip usually served with big juicy prawns – but I’ve been on a budget this week so I made the dip base and shoved some tinned sardine fillets in brine into it instead of anchovies (so it’s not up to full strength flavourwise) and used it as a simple protein based snack dip – but I have also served it as part of a salad with Cajun cooked prawns on top…
4oz Total 0%
Tbsp wholegrain mustard
½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
Splash Tabasco
1oz spring onions
1oz finely diced celery
1 clove minced garlic
1 tsp finely chopped parsley
Spritz of lemon juice
salt and cracked black pepper to taste
small tin of sardine fillets in brine
Chop everything up and shove it together – I found that the flavour improved after about 12 hours or so.
Cajun prawns from Day 10
Splash red wine vinegar in a saucepan (I suppose I should have used cider vinegar but I wanted the prawns to be red) – reduce like mad and throw in black pepper and a handful of frozen prawns (80g should do it) couple of pinches Cajun spices (I like the Bart ones in a silver tin) I wanted a spicy kick last night so I went for a few pinches of paprika and Tabasco as well.
Throw the prawns over the top of two dessert spoons of remoulade which have, in turn been casually slumped on top of a bed of leaves of your choice – I used a potato peeler to shave a few ribbons of cucumber over the salad leaves to cool down the spiciness of the prawns…and as I am all about my new ‘treat yourself well, avoid merry hell’ maxim at the moment, I took two spring onions with the green bits sliced through from the white bit upwards and plunged them in iced water to make them curl up. It’s all a bit twee, but I’m finding the more visually impressive I make my less than 250 calorie meals, the better!
Cerulean
Silver Member
Mock Margarita - Week 2 Cocktail Hour - or Pudding Hour really
If it's late at night and you feel like going on a binge rampage, why not distract yourself by making up a pack of Hartley's Lemon and Lime sugar free Jelly (about 200 ml boiling water and then another 350ml cold water) drop a lime in a cocktail glass, zest a bit of a lime into it if you feel so inclined - trying hard to avoid zesting your little finger.
Leave overnight and then giggle at yourself in the morning when you go to make your breakfast.
Dress with mint leaves. Either take to a party and pretend to sip it so you don't feel left out or eat with spoon.
If it's late at night and you feel like going on a binge rampage, why not distract yourself by making up a pack of Hartley's Lemon and Lime sugar free Jelly (about 200 ml boiling water and then another 350ml cold water) drop a lime in a cocktail glass, zest a bit of a lime into it if you feel so inclined - trying hard to avoid zesting your little finger.
Leave overnight and then giggle at yourself in the morning when you go to make your breakfast.
Dress with mint leaves. Either take to a party and pretend to sip it so you don't feel left out or eat with spoon.
Cerulean
Silver Member
Week 2 recipe - Sunny Squid salad with 'whoops where's the soy?' Japanesey side salad
Sunny Squid Salad
Some squid (cleaned)
Tiny bit of chilli
Small clove minced garlic
Squeeze lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
Few tiny drops Thai fish sauce (optional)
Shove in bowl and mix well - George Foreman these right before you are due to eat.
Prepare base salad with leaves of choice, make a sun shape around the edge of the plate out of yellow and orange pepper strips. Questioning your sanity at this stage might be an idea.
Japanese salad
1 Spring onion
1 clove garlic
bit more red chilli
one mushroom sliced thinly
block of cucumber shaved with potato peeler into ribbons
80ml ish brown rice vinegar
Whoops - no soy sauce!
Steep for a while...
Eat entire feast with chopsticks
Taste sensation!
Including jelly, total calorie count probably a shade over 300. I was STUFFED!
Sunny Squid Salad
Some squid (cleaned)
Tiny bit of chilli
Small clove minced garlic
Squeeze lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
Few tiny drops Thai fish sauce (optional)
Shove in bowl and mix well - George Foreman these right before you are due to eat.
Prepare base salad with leaves of choice, make a sun shape around the edge of the plate out of yellow and orange pepper strips. Questioning your sanity at this stage might be an idea.
Japanese salad
1 Spring onion
1 clove garlic
bit more red chilli
one mushroom sliced thinly
block of cucumber shaved with potato peeler into ribbons
80ml ish brown rice vinegar
Whoops - no soy sauce!
Steep for a while...
Eat entire feast with chopsticks
Taste sensation!
Including jelly, total calorie count probably a shade over 300. I was STUFFED!
Cerulean
Silver Member
Day 12 - goal! GOAL! Always believe in your soul
Calorie coincidence - how to diet without really trying...
I note with intense interest after adding up all of the calories this week (I don’t want to become a calorie counter, but it is fascinating relearning what my body is okay with!)
I realise that without consciously restricting myself or doing anything other than staying within 50g or so of the recommended portion sizes in the book and even allowing for my little nibbles, since I’ve been back on the wagon, I am happily having between 850 and 900 calories a day.
The other interesting thing is my daily weight losses since the Chocopalypse (I can joke about it now and get on the scales without crying – which is a good sign) so for those of you who want to know about glycogen damage control…(this is not an excuse to fall off a wagon, rather to show what can be achieved by getting back on it with gusto)
So - on Sunday I started again after a 3000 calorie binge and goodness knows how many calories on Friday and Saturday – probably 3000 on Friday and 5000 on Saturday?
Sunday 3pm 10st 12.5
Monday morning 10st 9.5 (-3lbs)
Tuesday morning 10st 6.5 (-3.5lbs)
Wednesday morning 10st 2.5 (-4lbs)
Thursday morning Under 10st (-3lbs)
Interestingly this is not with being on pure foodpacks – this is being on 850-900 cals a day with 250-500 cals of moderate CV activity (which is actually what LL recommend even on FPs anyway).
Hmmm...I have to stick to the plan to complete my non-scientific research!
How to get to where you want to go when you've never been there before and where to go once you've got there
Now – there was an interesting thought on the way to the gym – Warning, having reviewed this paragraph, it meanders more than a Ronnie Corbett monologue.
I don’t know what the weather is like down your way, but you may have noticed that there is an enormous cloud over the South East and some glimmers of other weather (remember when it was sunny and hot this time of year? Why was the hottest day this year the day I was lying in bed drugged out of my face?) everywhere else – anyway – this is the girl who would use any excuse not to go to the gym 5 stone ago…well today I noticed a change! – On Tuesday so determined was I to get rid of the sugar load that I even went to the gym despite forgetting my iPod (I hate doing CV work without the distraction of my own music) that never would have happened before, even when I was super fit. So...today – I walked there despite the pouring rain and the fact that I had no coat or umbrella. I didn’t turn back when I saw the puddles and clouds. And that’s a big difference between then and now. It really is the first time that I have felt committed to the gym since 2002 – the last time I had any sort of control over my fitness levels and diet before LL.
So why am I doing so well in Week 2?
Okay – so this is what I thought about the differences between my bizarre Week 1 and my enormously successful Week 2. (Last week I earned 3 shiny stars, but none consecutively, this week 3 consecutive shiny stars and 3 days left to go to get more!) – During my running sessions I have run over a k without stopping now for the first time since school – I have gone from doing a couple of 2 - 5 min runs with rests to 7 minutes to just over 8 minutes and I can run at a 10k an hour pace which I think is pretty good (please bear in mind that I have not ever, even as a small child ever enjoyed running, ever – got that? Good!) and you know what? I love it! I can’t wait to slowly creep up to my mile over the next week or so and look forward to hitting my 2 k after that and so on!
So where was I? – oh yeah – I realised that, just like my running, when I start, I have to trick myself into it, first of all it’s ‘two minutes’ then it’s ‘this song’ then it’s ‘1k’ then it’s ‘7.5 mins’ and so on…and that was how I got through every single step of LL. I would aim for a point in the very close distance, get to it, pick another point close to that goal and head for that – once I got confident of hitting the days, I would let myself look up and aim for the middle distance say – the end of the week. As I run, I have a big goal that would be ridiculous to expect to achieve until I know more about how to get there – I have a rough idea that it will take about 12 weeks to build up to running 3-4 miles so I set my initial big goal at being able to jog to Berkeley and back from my parents’ house on Christmas day morning. (It’s not just dry numbers, it’s an event I can feel and see happening so even if the goal is a bit vague until I know more about my path and capabilities – I have made it specific by attaching it to real life!) There is some motivation behind this in that – well – I’m not scared of Christmas but I want to enjoy the day as much as I possibly can and if I can kick it off by a bloomin’ good cross-country run, then that’s my indulgences covered! I also realise that a lot of my depressions are triggered by not getting outdoors enough and as I live a mile or so away from Hampstead heath, if I can get myself up to speed, in the darkest months I’ll be able to blow out the cobwebs at the weekends.
Big picture, little steps
Or - don't look at how far you've got to go until you've built up your strength.
So I have my big picture in mind (so that when the going gets tough I am strongly attached to ‘why?’), lots of mini goals (so I don’t turn the ‘why?’ to ‘why bother?’ too soon), these in turn get bigger as I hit my stride and start to move from conscious incompetence (I know what I don’t know) to conscious competence and then once I’m moving from conscious to unconscious competence I can start to look right to the end goal and head there as fast as I am able!
The LL goals
Of course, all the time I was doing LighterLife I had the two big goals of ‘4.5 stone in 100 days of perfect abstinence’ and ‘10st by August 12th’ I achieved both to the letter! If only I’d been more clear about the perfect abstinence for the second one, eh?
Anyway...LL was kind of this year’s project so I don’t want the end of the year to just sort of peter out! So....
I’ve talked before about how important it is to think about what happily ever after means to you. If you fail to keep setting goals beyond your happy ending goal, you may do a u-turn and start running back the other way. We enjoyed our happy ending (becoming slim) so much that some of us may attach too much affection to that happy weight and feeling and become serial dieters, ever trying to get the buzz of getting back there!
So you have to keep looking to the future, to new goals and dreams so that you keep working on the behaviour that meant that you put the weight on in the first place, but that it stops being what you’re about. Like your LLC will tell you at many stages in your journey, you are meeting people now who will never know what you were like unless you tell them. They will only ever know the slim you. You can rewrite your life!
I want to be specific about where I want to be at the end of RtM and when I want to review my weight and how I feel – weirdly I have gone back to feeling too skinny and fragile again. So I think I may have a thing about being under 10 stone. The other thing I remembered was that when I was 10 stone I was actually 5ft 3-4 as I hadn’t finished growing – so although this is my goal weight as a teenager – it’s actually a lower BMI by 1.5 points!
Calorie coincidence - how to diet without really trying...
I note with intense interest after adding up all of the calories this week (I don’t want to become a calorie counter, but it is fascinating relearning what my body is okay with!)
I realise that without consciously restricting myself or doing anything other than staying within 50g or so of the recommended portion sizes in the book and even allowing for my little nibbles, since I’ve been back on the wagon, I am happily having between 850 and 900 calories a day.
The other interesting thing is my daily weight losses since the Chocopalypse (I can joke about it now and get on the scales without crying – which is a good sign) so for those of you who want to know about glycogen damage control…(this is not an excuse to fall off a wagon, rather to show what can be achieved by getting back on it with gusto)
So - on Sunday I started again after a 3000 calorie binge and goodness knows how many calories on Friday and Saturday – probably 3000 on Friday and 5000 on Saturday?
Sunday 3pm 10st 12.5
Monday morning 10st 9.5 (-3lbs)
Tuesday morning 10st 6.5 (-3.5lbs)
Wednesday morning 10st 2.5 (-4lbs)
Thursday morning Under 10st (-3lbs)
Interestingly this is not with being on pure foodpacks – this is being on 850-900 cals a day with 250-500 cals of moderate CV activity (which is actually what LL recommend even on FPs anyway).
Hmmm...I have to stick to the plan to complete my non-scientific research!
How to get to where you want to go when you've never been there before and where to go once you've got there
Now – there was an interesting thought on the way to the gym – Warning, having reviewed this paragraph, it meanders more than a Ronnie Corbett monologue.
I don’t know what the weather is like down your way, but you may have noticed that there is an enormous cloud over the South East and some glimmers of other weather (remember when it was sunny and hot this time of year? Why was the hottest day this year the day I was lying in bed drugged out of my face?) everywhere else – anyway – this is the girl who would use any excuse not to go to the gym 5 stone ago…well today I noticed a change! – On Tuesday so determined was I to get rid of the sugar load that I even went to the gym despite forgetting my iPod (I hate doing CV work without the distraction of my own music) that never would have happened before, even when I was super fit. So...today – I walked there despite the pouring rain and the fact that I had no coat or umbrella. I didn’t turn back when I saw the puddles and clouds. And that’s a big difference between then and now. It really is the first time that I have felt committed to the gym since 2002 – the last time I had any sort of control over my fitness levels and diet before LL.
So why am I doing so well in Week 2?
Okay – so this is what I thought about the differences between my bizarre Week 1 and my enormously successful Week 2. (Last week I earned 3 shiny stars, but none consecutively, this week 3 consecutive shiny stars and 3 days left to go to get more!) – During my running sessions I have run over a k without stopping now for the first time since school – I have gone from doing a couple of 2 - 5 min runs with rests to 7 minutes to just over 8 minutes and I can run at a 10k an hour pace which I think is pretty good (please bear in mind that I have not ever, even as a small child ever enjoyed running, ever – got that? Good!) and you know what? I love it! I can’t wait to slowly creep up to my mile over the next week or so and look forward to hitting my 2 k after that and so on!
So where was I? – oh yeah – I realised that, just like my running, when I start, I have to trick myself into it, first of all it’s ‘two minutes’ then it’s ‘this song’ then it’s ‘1k’ then it’s ‘7.5 mins’ and so on…and that was how I got through every single step of LL. I would aim for a point in the very close distance, get to it, pick another point close to that goal and head for that – once I got confident of hitting the days, I would let myself look up and aim for the middle distance say – the end of the week. As I run, I have a big goal that would be ridiculous to expect to achieve until I know more about how to get there – I have a rough idea that it will take about 12 weeks to build up to running 3-4 miles so I set my initial big goal at being able to jog to Berkeley and back from my parents’ house on Christmas day morning. (It’s not just dry numbers, it’s an event I can feel and see happening so even if the goal is a bit vague until I know more about my path and capabilities – I have made it specific by attaching it to real life!) There is some motivation behind this in that – well – I’m not scared of Christmas but I want to enjoy the day as much as I possibly can and if I can kick it off by a bloomin’ good cross-country run, then that’s my indulgences covered! I also realise that a lot of my depressions are triggered by not getting outdoors enough and as I live a mile or so away from Hampstead heath, if I can get myself up to speed, in the darkest months I’ll be able to blow out the cobwebs at the weekends.
Big picture, little steps
Or - don't look at how far you've got to go until you've built up your strength.
So I have my big picture in mind (so that when the going gets tough I am strongly attached to ‘why?’), lots of mini goals (so I don’t turn the ‘why?’ to ‘why bother?’ too soon), these in turn get bigger as I hit my stride and start to move from conscious incompetence (I know what I don’t know) to conscious competence and then once I’m moving from conscious to unconscious competence I can start to look right to the end goal and head there as fast as I am able!
The LL goals
Of course, all the time I was doing LighterLife I had the two big goals of ‘4.5 stone in 100 days of perfect abstinence’ and ‘10st by August 12th’ I achieved both to the letter! If only I’d been more clear about the perfect abstinence for the second one, eh?
Anyway...LL was kind of this year’s project so I don’t want the end of the year to just sort of peter out! So....
I’ve talked before about how important it is to think about what happily ever after means to you. If you fail to keep setting goals beyond your happy ending goal, you may do a u-turn and start running back the other way. We enjoyed our happy ending (becoming slim) so much that some of us may attach too much affection to that happy weight and feeling and become serial dieters, ever trying to get the buzz of getting back there!
So you have to keep looking to the future, to new goals and dreams so that you keep working on the behaviour that meant that you put the weight on in the first place, but that it stops being what you’re about. Like your LLC will tell you at many stages in your journey, you are meeting people now who will never know what you were like unless you tell them. They will only ever know the slim you. You can rewrite your life!
I want to be specific about where I want to be at the end of RtM and when I want to review my weight and how I feel – weirdly I have gone back to feeling too skinny and fragile again. So I think I may have a thing about being under 10 stone. The other thing I remembered was that when I was 10 stone I was actually 5ft 3-4 as I hadn’t finished growing – so although this is my goal weight as a teenager – it’s actually a lower BMI by 1.5 points!
Cerulean
Silver Member
Beginning of Day 13 FOUR GOLD STARS!
Just to let you know that if - no - WHEN - I make it through today I will have achieved my first 5 day run since the wisdom teeth operation.
We've talked about perfection a lot around these parts recently, and the difference this week has been that although I am sticking to what the book says, I am not beating myself up if I colour slightly over the edges - ie - a few ounces of veg over here, a 10 cal jelly before I have my dinner there (yes I do see what's going on but I seem to have substituted 200 cals a slice (and 4 slices) cake cravings for small bowl of 10 cal jelly cravings!) I have 10 weeks to learn to control my fridge picking - and well - in the old days it was pasta salad and sandwiches and cheese and party food and several hundred calories before dinner was made - and now it's 4 oz of low GI veg, some vinegar and a lurid coloured jelly. That's a huge huge change for me - you would no sooner catch me low fat snacking than you would find me buying sweeteners or reduced fat products. So I'm prepared to make a small trade-off in the rules until I've calmed down...also - I seem to have a 325 calorie meal size buffer - as long as I don't eat trigger foods, once I hit 325, I am full whether I know the meal was 325 cals or not until afterwards! Clever little tummy!
You all know that Wednesdays have been a huge problem for me - and in dealing with Wednesday, some of the cravings transferred to Thursday, so they were abated with a couple of no fat v low sugar yoghurts - no fat yog is on the plan - the tiny bit of fruit in one of them is off limits for another 48 hours. RtM is about being disciplined and learning to prepare to take care for yourself, but it's also about not sweating the small stuff!
I have also noticed that my palate has definitely changed - I am not less discerning - it's just that because everything 'tastes' now, even if I'm not fond of the taste, seem to be thinking and considering it a lot more and being satisfied by things even if they are not my old hi-cal favourites. I had a strawberry yoghurt yesterday (I have never finished a strawberry yoghurt IN MY LIFE) that was delicious - I said to my work colleague 'Do people know about these?' and she laughed.
Just to let you know that if - no - WHEN - I make it through today I will have achieved my first 5 day run since the wisdom teeth operation.
We've talked about perfection a lot around these parts recently, and the difference this week has been that although I am sticking to what the book says, I am not beating myself up if I colour slightly over the edges - ie - a few ounces of veg over here, a 10 cal jelly before I have my dinner there (yes I do see what's going on but I seem to have substituted 200 cals a slice (and 4 slices) cake cravings for small bowl of 10 cal jelly cravings!) I have 10 weeks to learn to control my fridge picking - and well - in the old days it was pasta salad and sandwiches and cheese and party food and several hundred calories before dinner was made - and now it's 4 oz of low GI veg, some vinegar and a lurid coloured jelly. That's a huge huge change for me - you would no sooner catch me low fat snacking than you would find me buying sweeteners or reduced fat products. So I'm prepared to make a small trade-off in the rules until I've calmed down...also - I seem to have a 325 calorie meal size buffer - as long as I don't eat trigger foods, once I hit 325, I am full whether I know the meal was 325 cals or not until afterwards! Clever little tummy!
You all know that Wednesdays have been a huge problem for me - and in dealing with Wednesday, some of the cravings transferred to Thursday, so they were abated with a couple of no fat v low sugar yoghurts - no fat yog is on the plan - the tiny bit of fruit in one of them is off limits for another 48 hours. RtM is about being disciplined and learning to prepare to take care for yourself, but it's also about not sweating the small stuff!
I have also noticed that my palate has definitely changed - I am not less discerning - it's just that because everything 'tastes' now, even if I'm not fond of the taste, seem to be thinking and considering it a lot more and being satisfied by things even if they are not my old hi-cal favourites. I had a strawberry yoghurt yesterday (I have never finished a strawberry yoghurt IN MY LIFE) that was delicious - I said to my work colleague 'Do people know about these?' and she laughed.
Sez
has started again!!
So you have to keep looking to the future, to new goals and dreams so that you keep working on the behaviour that meant that you put the weight on in the first place, but that it stops being what you’re about.
Just a simple "thank you" for this quote in particular. It speaks volumes to me.
This thread is so inspirational, in its entirety. One question though, when I do start on food, how will I get my incredibly picky 8 yr old to try crispy squid???? (I love it BTW........)
LOL!!
Just a simple "thank you" for this quote in particular. It speaks volumes to me.
This thread is so inspirational, in its entirety. One question though, when I do start on food, how will I get my incredibly picky 8 yr old to try crispy squid???? (I love it BTW........)
LOL!!
