Weigh in – 13st 11lbs – Gain

For an intelligent woman it’s amazing how stupid I can sometimes be:

1. I stopped tracking last Tuesday.
2. I filled my stomach with Diet Coke half an hour before tonight’s weigh in.
3. Despite #1 and #2 above, I still expected to maintain last week’s weight.
4. Despite having to be out of the house at 8am tomorrow, I’m continuing to drink Diet Coke and am now feeling decidedly bouncy.  So much for having an early night.

I know why I’ve gained 4lbs – two nights out, failure to track and a very full tummy – but the question is:  What am I going to do about it?  Giving up is not an option.  I found out tonight that I mind this gain a whole lot more than I thought I would.  So in the week ahead I will:

1. Email my Consultant and commit to doing a food diary for which she will ask next Monday.  I’m telling myself it doesn’t matter if I go over my Syns so long as I track what I’ve had.  The plan can’t possibly work if I don’t use the tools but it’s baby steps.  Sometimes last week I didn’t even know which option I was following.
2. The Diet Coke (and Pepsi Max) have to go again.  I love my bubbles but the caffeine doesn’t agree with me and, worse, once I start drinking it I can’t control my consumption.  My doctor says I have an addictive personality and he’s right.  So it’s water or diet lemonade from now on.  This means I’ll sleep better, have more energy and save money.
3. Walk instead of driving wherever possible.  I would have done this last week if I hadn’t had bad cramps and did walk down to the shops earlier on today.  Tomorrow I will take the car up to M&D’s house and leave it there until I need it.

To motivate myself to make these changes I’m going to use a  star-chart.  I wrote a new daily routine/schedule at the weekend which awards a nice big tick for each item I do with the prospects of rewardage if I score enough (haven’t quite worked that out yet but I’m thinking an 80/20 achievement level is reasonable) so I’m going to add my three action points to that and see how I get on.

Going Green

The SlimmingWorld diet has three eating plans:

• Original (Red)
• Green
• Extra Easy

When I first started going – three or four years ago – I always did Red which is a lower-carb, high-protein option.  It worked really well for me but is expensive.  Then I flirted with vegetarianism (I do this from time to time) and went Green.  Extra Easy was introduced a couple of years ago and I loved it food-wise but not milk-wise.  I drink a lot of coffee and missed the extra milk allowance one gets on the first two plans.

This time around I’ve been doing Extra Easy and, as you know, maintaining.  Because my Consultant and I have taken the pressure off with regards to ‘got to lose 3st’ and she’s happy for me to maintain if I’m happy to do so, it’s given me a good chance to think about where I want to go and how I’m going to get there.  And I’ve realised that most of what I eat is Free Food on the Green plan.  If I’m hungry in the middle of the afternoon, I reach for pasta rather than steak.  So I’ve decided to go back to the Green plan.  This means I’ve extra milk for my coffee and am therefore a much happier dieter.  And I can still have two portions of meat/fish a day if that’s how I choose to use my ‘Healthy Extra’s.  I’m feeling relaxed and content about this choice.

Diet-wise, the week is going fine.  I thoroughly enjoyed a pizza night with a friend on Tuesday and am going to my Aunt’s for dinner tonight so I’m not expecting a loss come Monday but that’s OK.  I still have the car here and am using it because I’m in some pain still but it will be living elsewhere from next Tuesday after I’ve done the grocery shop.

Weigh In – 13st 7lbs – Maintain

This is ‘star’ week (the ladies will know what I mean) so I’m relieved to have a maintain rather than a fluid-retention gain.  I also know that I’ve gained and lost 2lbs over the course of the week following an incident with a loaf of bread and a pack of butter.  There was sugar involved too …  Anyway.  The number on my Consultant’s scale is the only one that counts and I have maintained.  Which is fine because I know why.

I had a chat with the Consultant (E) tonight as I was a little early for the meeting.  As I’ve some difficult personal issues bubbling away just now she’s suggesting that I focus on losing 7lbs and then, if things are still difficult, just set that weight as my PAT so I can go to group free until I’m ready to start losing again.  I’m very tempted and certainly think it’s easier to think about losing 7lbs than 3st which is what I need to achieve a healthy BMI.  But my goal is really to be a size 14 and I’m not sure what weight that would make me.  I liked being a 14.  Not too fat and not too thin.  I like having curves.  I think a compromise might be lot lose 10% of my current weight and then decide what I’d like to do.

My goal for the week ahead isn’t a weight-loss target.  I’ll be happy with a loss or a maintain.  I’ll be a lot less happy with a gain though!  My goal for the week is to follow the plan with no Syn-laden binges.  No binges at all would be good but is unlikely to happen so I want to make sure there’s always plenty of Free food in the house so I can tuck into that to my heart’s content.  I’ve written a menu plan which has me going slightly over my Syn allowance one day (I have a pie in the freezer which needs to be eaten) but below all the other days so it balances out.  The shopping list is printed and ready for me to take to the supermarket tomorrow while my flat’s being cleaned.

As it’s star week I’m refusing to exercise until my body’s done what it needs to do – I get really bad cramps which are not alleviated by the gentle exercise my PE teachers always insisted would help so I’m moving about as little as possible.  This will not last forever and, when it’s done, I’m going to start moving more.  I really want to stop taking the car on journeys I could reasonably make on foot.  I’m going to leave my car at my parents’ house (they live about 10 minutes’ walk away).  I can go and use it any time I like but I’ll have to walk (up two hills!) in order to do so.  This is a trick that’s served me well in the past.  And it saves petrol.  Which saves money.  Which is always good because I have more money for books!  Which I love 🙂

I have two social events this week.  I’m in control of the food for one and will have to eat what’s placed in front of me for the other but that’s real life, chick-a-dee.  I won’t be refusing dessert but I will be counting the Syns as well as I can.  And I won’t be drinking.

This is a strange place to be.  In some ways, I’m all fired up, motivated and raring to go.  In others, I’m feeling very laid back about the whole business.  Maybe between the two attitudes lie balance and health?