Last night my partner & I attended a skittles evening. Now I have been to one of these before, and usually it involves lots of drinking (or making merry as we all like to call it), and eating vast quantities from the buffet.
All in all I have had a successful week with regards to my diet, so the last thing I wanted was to throw a spanner in the works and indulge just for the sake of it.
Clever ploy No. 1 - I told my partner if he drove there, I would drive back, therefore he drinks and I don't! Ah but for me, abstaining from alcohol wasn't enough. If I drank soft drinks all night I'd still be drinking a heck of a lot of calories (which I didn't want to do), so all evening I happily stayed on the water.
Clever ploy No. 2 - The buffet actually looked quite 'healthy' for a change, there was lots of salad, baked potato, bread, coleslaw and 2 massive plates of chicken, which to be honest looked a bit greasy, so I told myself I was going vegetarian in the end (very unlike me, I lurrrrve my meat!!) and had a small salad with a slice of bread, which I ate slowly and more than filled me up anyway!
You may think salad and water would mean I didn't enjoy myself as much? Well, no actually, I laughed so much I was crying, I had the highest 'ladies' score of the evening and won a prize, and this morning I feel really fantastic! Not hung over, not bloated, and more importantly no regrets (you know the ones 'oh I shouldn't of had xyz last night).
I'm proud to say that I have faced my first 'night out diet challenge' and have come out the other side victorious!! Huzzah!
Showing posts with label calories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label calories. Show all posts
Sunday, 5 June 2011
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
Weight Loss Dairy - 8th Sept 2010
She shoots - she scores!! Yes ladies and gentlemen, yesterday we were right back on track (and felt all the happier for it). I am loving how easily I got over my little blip, and got straight back down to business again - you know, life really is so much easier (and more fun) when you don't give yourself a hard time about silly little things.
Yesterday, I received my first compliment regarding my weight, from my mother of all people! As far as I am aware, she doesn't know that I've sent every single 'diet' to Hades. In fact I am sure she thinks I am actually 'on one' (which I'm not, I really can't stress that enough).
But yesterday after our singing group was over and I was packing everything away, she turned around and said to me 'so how much weight have you lost then'. Ahhhh my ma, we do tend to spit things out in an unfortunate tone - that's where I get that habit from you know. I replied about half a stone (well it was the last time I checked), and what was the response? 'Is that all?' (said sort of in disgust) 'you look like you've lost lots more than that, well, keep it up'. Way to go with the positive reinforcement! words were there, tone certainly wasn't tee hee.
Well you could have knocked me down with a kipper skipper! It was nice to hear, no matter in what form it took, that what I have been doing is certainly noticeable - go me!!
But I wonder, is it physical weight loss she is seeing, or is it because I am much more happier in myself, and that is shining through to the world? Either way, it's just one more piece of evidence proving that what I am doing right now for myself, is right for me right now.
My other cause of celebration yesterday was that for dinner, I had my very last weight watchers microwave meal - hurrah! Now despite what Paul McKenna suggests in his I can make you thin programme, no I am not going to go to the fridge / freezer and throw out all those untasteful low calorie diet foods. I have spent good money on them, and as much as I'm starting not to mind wasting food at meal times, I can't bring myself to waste full meals before I've even eaten them!
Now, don't get me wrong, weight watcher meals are 'ok'. Actually some do taste quite nice, but I'd rather have the real thing - home made, fresh, and baked in the oven, not nuked in the microwave! I did enjoy eaten them at the time, but now even more, I am enjoying the thought of only having fresh home cooked meals that make my mouth water - real unadulterated food!
I still have three tubs of slimfast milk shake to use up, and a few boxes of slim fast meal bars and no, I refuse to throw these out either. I wont have these every day, but sometimes, believe it or not, I do really fancy having a slimfast shake or a meal bar for one of my meals. So when I fancy, they are in the cupboard waiting for me. That's not to say I wont really enjoy seeing the back of them when they are all used up - and no, frankly when they are used up they wont be replaced. I'm just saying that at the moment, I can fit them easily and happily into my diet - I've already wasted the money by buying the stuff, I can't waste that money further by not using it.
So today then - big challenge is ahead of me! Other half has a gig up in Manchester of all places! So will be on my own for about twelve hours today (boo hoo).
My challenge today is to not allow El Saboteur (that's my new name for that little inner voice) to rear its ugly head. Honestly, there are lots of things I could be doing today and tonight, so need to focus on being productive, and not dwelling on the sofa again simply because I am on my own.
I think I'll take a leaf out of other halfs book and draw up a 'to do list' to keep me focused throughout the day, as it would be really good to be able to come back tomorrow and say that today was a complete success start to finish! :)
Yesterday, I received my first compliment regarding my weight, from my mother of all people! As far as I am aware, she doesn't know that I've sent every single 'diet' to Hades. In fact I am sure she thinks I am actually 'on one' (which I'm not, I really can't stress that enough).
But yesterday after our singing group was over and I was packing everything away, she turned around and said to me 'so how much weight have you lost then'. Ahhhh my ma, we do tend to spit things out in an unfortunate tone - that's where I get that habit from you know. I replied about half a stone (well it was the last time I checked), and what was the response? 'Is that all?' (said sort of in disgust) 'you look like you've lost lots more than that, well, keep it up'. Way to go with the positive reinforcement! words were there, tone certainly wasn't tee hee.
Well you could have knocked me down with a kipper skipper! It was nice to hear, no matter in what form it took, that what I have been doing is certainly noticeable - go me!!
But I wonder, is it physical weight loss she is seeing, or is it because I am much more happier in myself, and that is shining through to the world? Either way, it's just one more piece of evidence proving that what I am doing right now for myself, is right for me right now.
My other cause of celebration yesterday was that for dinner, I had my very last weight watchers microwave meal - hurrah! Now despite what Paul McKenna suggests in his I can make you thin programme, no I am not going to go to the fridge / freezer and throw out all those untasteful low calorie diet foods. I have spent good money on them, and as much as I'm starting not to mind wasting food at meal times, I can't bring myself to waste full meals before I've even eaten them!
Now, don't get me wrong, weight watcher meals are 'ok'. Actually some do taste quite nice, but I'd rather have the real thing - home made, fresh, and baked in the oven, not nuked in the microwave! I did enjoy eaten them at the time, but now even more, I am enjoying the thought of only having fresh home cooked meals that make my mouth water - real unadulterated food!
I still have three tubs of slimfast milk shake to use up, and a few boxes of slim fast meal bars and no, I refuse to throw these out either. I wont have these every day, but sometimes, believe it or not, I do really fancy having a slimfast shake or a meal bar for one of my meals. So when I fancy, they are in the cupboard waiting for me. That's not to say I wont really enjoy seeing the back of them when they are all used up - and no, frankly when they are used up they wont be replaced. I'm just saying that at the moment, I can fit them easily and happily into my diet - I've already wasted the money by buying the stuff, I can't waste that money further by not using it.
So today then - big challenge is ahead of me! Other half has a gig up in Manchester of all places! So will be on my own for about twelve hours today (boo hoo).
My challenge today is to not allow El Saboteur (that's my new name for that little inner voice) to rear its ugly head. Honestly, there are lots of things I could be doing today and tonight, so need to focus on being productive, and not dwelling on the sofa again simply because I am on my own.
I think I'll take a leaf out of other halfs book and draw up a 'to do list' to keep me focused throughout the day, as it would be really good to be able to come back tomorrow and say that today was a complete success start to finish! :)
Friday, 3 September 2010
Weight Loss Challenge - Final Review
I will warn you up front this will be one of my longest blogs yet!
Almost 40 days ago now I began my weight loss journey. As far as weight loss is concerned, I've lost half a stone, and I can say hand on heart I look no different. To me half a stone is just a drop in the ocean. Yes it's a start, not a very good one, but a start none the less. In that time I would have liked to have at least doubled that figure, but I didn't, and despite this, the challenge did achieve a necessary change!
When looking back at myself at the beginning of the challenge, on a psychological level I am looking at a completely different person. I see a person with numerous emotional and psychological ties that each in turn took a chunk out of my own personal happiness and overall well being.
Where these ties came from, well some I have my suspicions, some I'm sure if I sat and dwelled long enough I'd discover a deep and meaningful under lying cause and some I'm sure have no base in reality what-so-ever. Who knows, but more importantly, who cares!
Beware the ties that bind - for these are the restrictions you place upon yourself. Hang on a mo, I'll fetch the scissors.
So there I was back then, hating myself, hating the scales, hating food, and generally dissatisfied with life. Now there's a pretty picture ain't it!
I knew, as I still know now, my desired end result, not just with weight loss, but in life, career, home etc. The problem is knowing the destination is simply not good enough, even thinking you know how you're going to achieve your goals isn't enough. If you don't release that which is really tieing you down, even though you may think you're moving in the right direction, you're not.
I thought I had the answer. I was going to lose 1 lb every day, reach my goal weight quickly and be happy ever after. I was going to achieve this by restricting my calorie intake and exercising like there was no tomorrow. Before you all start tutting or shouting at me, I want you to note the over use of 'past tense' in the paragraph.
Good in theory? well no, but I thought it was. So on day one, I stepped on the scales, 2lbs off - great! Day two, I stepped on the scales, 1 lb off - still great! Day three, I stepped on the scales, another 1 lb off - this is going so well. Day three - um, so hungry I end up eating that blasted horse, now hung up on the fact that I've just undone the past three days. Day four, I stepped on the scales - oh bugga, I have. Feel really depressed and like a complete failure. Vow to do another week of the above before I step back on the scales. And so we go on. This is literally the rut I had gotten myself in.
Weighing yourself every single day, no matter how you try and dress it up, is an unhealthy obsession. It's an addiction, pure and simple.
So when Paul McKenna suggests as part of his I can make you thin plan, that maybe you only weigh yourself once every two weeks, or even just once a month, well in theory I could see the logic. But getting off those scales were really hard!! I had a real battle with myself, and in the beginning I'd justify to myself that I was having 'just a quick check' on my weight loss progress. So what happens, when the scales didn't move, or it went up (because I wasn't actually following the plan and reverted back to old habits), I'd get disheartened, feel like a failure and vow to do better. Which let's be honest, I never did.
I took some much needed time out this morning to reflect on my life and I suppose if I had made any headway what-so-ever.
Actually, when looking at where I am as opposed to where I was:
- I'm more aware of the feeling of actual hunger, and can recognise when the hunger is physical or emotional.
- I'm learning to accept that actually, I'm not so bad after all
- I've banished the scales. I don't need them right now, and I have no desire to continue to be dictated to by the results they show.
- I'm learning more about the correct portion sizes for me, and accept that smaller portions are not only fine, but normal!
Frankly this list could go on for quite a bit! But the most important revelation of all is that I will NEVER touch another so called 'diet' ever again!
I'm listening very carefully to what my body needs, and what it doesn't need is another 'crash diet'. It doesn't need to be told that it can only have liquids, or a combination of liquids and so called 'meals'. It doesn't need to be told that it can only eat certain foods on certain days, or count calories or 'points' or fat content or weigh and measure every thing!
My father once said to me 'everything in moderation', and you know, I never really appreciated this little saying - until now.
Beware the ties that bind - my true ties were feeling as if I had to 'diet' and constantly weigh myself in order to gain acceptance in the world.
Well I will tell you right now - NOT ANY MORE!!! My body knows what it wants, and you know what, I'm jolly well going to work WITH it and give it exactly what it wants, instead of working against it and trying to starve or restrict the energy it needs to live.
Don't think for one minute I have completely potty and am on the road for gaining a million pounds in weight and become Britain's fattest female! Oh no, on the contrary, I have every intention of only eating when I'm hungry, stopping when I'm full even (gasp!) throwing away food I can't eat, or at least storing the left overs until such a time my body is physically hungry again.
My future is bright. My future is very shiny. My future involves reaching a healthy weight which is perfect for me. My future is freedom from those negative ties, freedom from diets, freedom from constantly weighing myself and obsessing that I 'Should' be this weight by this date.
I am putting my 'weight loss challenge' to bed now, once and for all. I'm not going to stop blogging by any stretch of the imagination, I enjoy it! so why stop!!?
And yes, I'll still report on my weight loss, and share, perhaps in more detail, all the things I'm learning and experiencing along the way.
Today I have realised that without all these binds, my future has suddenly become so squeezabley good! It's crazy but all this weight has been lifted completely from my shoulders!
I've got my zest for life back - and frankly I'm now just itching to go out and just live!
x-x-x
Almost 40 days ago now I began my weight loss journey. As far as weight loss is concerned, I've lost half a stone, and I can say hand on heart I look no different. To me half a stone is just a drop in the ocean. Yes it's a start, not a very good one, but a start none the less. In that time I would have liked to have at least doubled that figure, but I didn't, and despite this, the challenge did achieve a necessary change!
When looking back at myself at the beginning of the challenge, on a psychological level I am looking at a completely different person. I see a person with numerous emotional and psychological ties that each in turn took a chunk out of my own personal happiness and overall well being.
Where these ties came from, well some I have my suspicions, some I'm sure if I sat and dwelled long enough I'd discover a deep and meaningful under lying cause and some I'm sure have no base in reality what-so-ever. Who knows, but more importantly, who cares!
Beware the ties that bind - for these are the restrictions you place upon yourself. Hang on a mo, I'll fetch the scissors.
So there I was back then, hating myself, hating the scales, hating food, and generally dissatisfied with life. Now there's a pretty picture ain't it!
I knew, as I still know now, my desired end result, not just with weight loss, but in life, career, home etc. The problem is knowing the destination is simply not good enough, even thinking you know how you're going to achieve your goals isn't enough. If you don't release that which is really tieing you down, even though you may think you're moving in the right direction, you're not.
I thought I had the answer. I was going to lose 1 lb every day, reach my goal weight quickly and be happy ever after. I was going to achieve this by restricting my calorie intake and exercising like there was no tomorrow. Before you all start tutting or shouting at me, I want you to note the over use of 'past tense' in the paragraph.
Good in theory? well no, but I thought it was. So on day one, I stepped on the scales, 2lbs off - great! Day two, I stepped on the scales, 1 lb off - still great! Day three, I stepped on the scales, another 1 lb off - this is going so well. Day three - um, so hungry I end up eating that blasted horse, now hung up on the fact that I've just undone the past three days. Day four, I stepped on the scales - oh bugga, I have. Feel really depressed and like a complete failure. Vow to do another week of the above before I step back on the scales. And so we go on. This is literally the rut I had gotten myself in.
Weighing yourself every single day, no matter how you try and dress it up, is an unhealthy obsession. It's an addiction, pure and simple.
So when Paul McKenna suggests as part of his I can make you thin plan, that maybe you only weigh yourself once every two weeks, or even just once a month, well in theory I could see the logic. But getting off those scales were really hard!! I had a real battle with myself, and in the beginning I'd justify to myself that I was having 'just a quick check' on my weight loss progress. So what happens, when the scales didn't move, or it went up (because I wasn't actually following the plan and reverted back to old habits), I'd get disheartened, feel like a failure and vow to do better. Which let's be honest, I never did.
I took some much needed time out this morning to reflect on my life and I suppose if I had made any headway what-so-ever.
Actually, when looking at where I am as opposed to where I was:
- I'm more aware of the feeling of actual hunger, and can recognise when the hunger is physical or emotional.
- I'm learning to accept that actually, I'm not so bad after all
- I've banished the scales. I don't need them right now, and I have no desire to continue to be dictated to by the results they show.
- I'm learning more about the correct portion sizes for me, and accept that smaller portions are not only fine, but normal!
Frankly this list could go on for quite a bit! But the most important revelation of all is that I will NEVER touch another so called 'diet' ever again!
I'm listening very carefully to what my body needs, and what it doesn't need is another 'crash diet'. It doesn't need to be told that it can only have liquids, or a combination of liquids and so called 'meals'. It doesn't need to be told that it can only eat certain foods on certain days, or count calories or 'points' or fat content or weigh and measure every thing!
My father once said to me 'everything in moderation', and you know, I never really appreciated this little saying - until now.
Beware the ties that bind - my true ties were feeling as if I had to 'diet' and constantly weigh myself in order to gain acceptance in the world.
Well I will tell you right now - NOT ANY MORE!!! My body knows what it wants, and you know what, I'm jolly well going to work WITH it and give it exactly what it wants, instead of working against it and trying to starve or restrict the energy it needs to live.
Don't think for one minute I have completely potty and am on the road for gaining a million pounds in weight and become Britain's fattest female! Oh no, on the contrary, I have every intention of only eating when I'm hungry, stopping when I'm full even (gasp!) throwing away food I can't eat, or at least storing the left overs until such a time my body is physically hungry again.
My future is bright. My future is very shiny. My future involves reaching a healthy weight which is perfect for me. My future is freedom from those negative ties, freedom from diets, freedom from constantly weighing myself and obsessing that I 'Should' be this weight by this date.
I am putting my 'weight loss challenge' to bed now, once and for all. I'm not going to stop blogging by any stretch of the imagination, I enjoy it! so why stop!!?
And yes, I'll still report on my weight loss, and share, perhaps in more detail, all the things I'm learning and experiencing along the way.
Today I have realised that without all these binds, my future has suddenly become so squeezabley good! It's crazy but all this weight has been lifted completely from my shoulders!
I've got my zest for life back - and frankly I'm now just itching to go out and just live!
x-x-x
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Weight Loss Challenge - Day Twenty Nine
And when they were up they jolly well stayed up! Very pleased to report normal services have been resumed and focus is right back where it should be......um, that'll be me, bikini & holiday then!! (or at least a posh frock and feeling fabulous)
Yesterday, I drank plenty of water, didn't feel bloated after eating, and even managed to burn off some vital calories whilst spending 2 hours sorting out the front garden. Fresh air and exercise, there really isn't anything like it!
'Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people don't shoot their husbands.....they just don't' - Elle Woods, Legally Blond.
They also don't shout at their dogs when they decide to 'christen' freshly raked soil, their partners for not telling you they've already eaten, when you specifically told them that you would cook dinner ready for when they got home from work, or turn the air blue when there is a village power cut, causing your laptop to crash and undoing a lot of hard work and effort!
Exercise is a great stress reliever, and really does help you to overcome lifes minor (or major) irritations with poise and dignity!
This morning I spent another hour outside, but this time tidying a little of the back garden (I really do love in the week days off, they're so productive!!). My intention is to resume back garden activities when the rain has stopped - I've not got much more to do in the small corner I was tidying, so am keen to get back out there, get it finished, and be smug that it was a good job well done! Although admittedly the rain doesn't look like it's stopping any time soon - hey ho, that's British weather for you!
Yesterday, I drank plenty of water, didn't feel bloated after eating, and even managed to burn off some vital calories whilst spending 2 hours sorting out the front garden. Fresh air and exercise, there really isn't anything like it!
'Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people don't shoot their husbands.....they just don't' - Elle Woods, Legally Blond.
They also don't shout at their dogs when they decide to 'christen' freshly raked soil, their partners for not telling you they've already eaten, when you specifically told them that you would cook dinner ready for when they got home from work, or turn the air blue when there is a village power cut, causing your laptop to crash and undoing a lot of hard work and effort!
Exercise is a great stress reliever, and really does help you to overcome lifes minor (or major) irritations with poise and dignity!
This morning I spent another hour outside, but this time tidying a little of the back garden (I really do love in the week days off, they're so productive!!). My intention is to resume back garden activities when the rain has stopped - I've not got much more to do in the small corner I was tidying, so am keen to get back out there, get it finished, and be smug that it was a good job well done! Although admittedly the rain doesn't look like it's stopping any time soon - hey ho, that's British weather for you!
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
Always read the label!
So it's lunchtime, and I had the usual pondering of 'what shall I have for lunch'. In the cupboard I spied a can of soup - yes that will do! That should be healthy enough. I thought I was having tomato soup, but it turned out to be mulligatawny when I actually opened the can - my fault entirely, should have read the label first.
As I was washing the can out to put into recycling, I noticed on the front it said 'low fat 105 calories per serving'. Well that can't be bad can it! For a very slight moment I began to feel quite proud of my lunch time choice. But then again, we are of course assuming that one can = one serving. Knowing that we all can be easily fooled if we are not careful with these things, I looked at the nutritional information on the back.
As it turns out, a 400g can of soup is not classed as 'one serving', in fact in the small print, it stated 100g = 57 calories. That's 228 calories per can. Still, as lunch goes, 228 is not a bad number at all, you would get about that in a slim fast shake or bar. So really, despite my 'misjudgement' I think I got away with it - just.
But think about it. How many times have you just 'grabbed' something on the run. I did this exercise with my mother a few months ago. We were in Basingstoke in between jobs when both were hungry, and decided to grab something at the local garage.
Now, we are both aware that we both need to lose weight (I more than she it must be pointed out), so we both think we have a pretty good handle on what goes into our mouths. I can't remember now exactly what we had, but it went along the lines of pre packed sandwich, crisps and a drink each. I had water, mother had a banana milkshake.
We started talking about diets, and she couldn't understand why she wasn't losing weight. On her part she 'only had' xyz and from her talking, I couldn't understand either.
Getting down to the nitty gritty, I asked her to see how many calories were in her crisps. I then got her to do the same with her sandwich and then her milkshake. Upon adding it all together her total lunchtime calorie consumption came to over 900 calories (I think mine came to about 700). To say she was shocked was an understatement. I then suggested to she thought about what she had for breakfast, what snacks she had really had through out the day so far, and what she was planning on having for dinner, and it was very obvious that her overall calorie in take for that day would be more than the 'recommended'.
She was, and still is I am afraid in what I refer to as 'Calorie Denial'. Even today when we embarked upon the same conversation, she maintains she is 'doing her best', but admitted to buying a Marks & Spencers cheesecake, to which she had two slices. What wasn't said, and I got from my sister later was that this 'pudding' buying was a habit, not a one off occurrence, and she had been buying similar things over the past couple of weeks.
So if you are trying to lose weight yourself, I cannot stress enough how important it is to be so aware of what, and how much, is going into your mouth. There is a real need to be honest with yourself as it's always the 'little' things that you have forgotten you have eaten that will add up to one big fat you. Once you start reading labels, and actually appreciating how much fat / sugar etc you are putting into your body, I am willing to bet, if you are serious about losing weight, you will automatically start to change your eating habits for the better.
As I was washing the can out to put into recycling, I noticed on the front it said 'low fat 105 calories per serving'. Well that can't be bad can it! For a very slight moment I began to feel quite proud of my lunch time choice. But then again, we are of course assuming that one can = one serving. Knowing that we all can be easily fooled if we are not careful with these things, I looked at the nutritional information on the back.
As it turns out, a 400g can of soup is not classed as 'one serving', in fact in the small print, it stated 100g = 57 calories. That's 228 calories per can. Still, as lunch goes, 228 is not a bad number at all, you would get about that in a slim fast shake or bar. So really, despite my 'misjudgement' I think I got away with it - just.
But think about it. How many times have you just 'grabbed' something on the run. I did this exercise with my mother a few months ago. We were in Basingstoke in between jobs when both were hungry, and decided to grab something at the local garage.
Now, we are both aware that we both need to lose weight (I more than she it must be pointed out), so we both think we have a pretty good handle on what goes into our mouths. I can't remember now exactly what we had, but it went along the lines of pre packed sandwich, crisps and a drink each. I had water, mother had a banana milkshake.
We started talking about diets, and she couldn't understand why she wasn't losing weight. On her part she 'only had' xyz and from her talking, I couldn't understand either.
Getting down to the nitty gritty, I asked her to see how many calories were in her crisps. I then got her to do the same with her sandwich and then her milkshake. Upon adding it all together her total lunchtime calorie consumption came to over 900 calories (I think mine came to about 700). To say she was shocked was an understatement. I then suggested to she thought about what she had for breakfast, what snacks she had really had through out the day so far, and what she was planning on having for dinner, and it was very obvious that her overall calorie in take for that day would be more than the 'recommended'.
She was, and still is I am afraid in what I refer to as 'Calorie Denial'. Even today when we embarked upon the same conversation, she maintains she is 'doing her best', but admitted to buying a Marks & Spencers cheesecake, to which she had two slices. What wasn't said, and I got from my sister later was that this 'pudding' buying was a habit, not a one off occurrence, and she had been buying similar things over the past couple of weeks.
So if you are trying to lose weight yourself, I cannot stress enough how important it is to be so aware of what, and how much, is going into your mouth. There is a real need to be honest with yourself as it's always the 'little' things that you have forgotten you have eaten that will add up to one big fat you. Once you start reading labels, and actually appreciating how much fat / sugar etc you are putting into your body, I am willing to bet, if you are serious about losing weight, you will automatically start to change your eating habits for the better.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)