Friday 11 May 2012

Weigh in, honesty and motivation!

I joined Slimming World around May of last year and managed to lose 21 lbs quite evenly (I lost every week even if it was just a small amount - I never gained) but as Christmas closed in I stopped going - I guess I didn't want the scales to stop me from me from eating exactly what I wanted over the xmas period!
By the time I went back this year I had gained 6 lbs and was pretty happy that that was all I'd gained. Then over the following weeks I dieted half heartedly, skipped a few weigh ins and by the time I decided to get my arse back into gear and take it seriously I had a total weight gain of 17 lbs - just about back to where I started!
The following week I gained another pound and was absolutely gutted. I had to be honest with myself and take a real look at how my weekly habits were affecting my weightloss.
I get weighed on a Thursday evening and this is how my week would pan out
Thursday - starve all day except for a cup of tea in the morning and water throughout the day (but even the water ceases by mid afternoon so I have a chance to pee it out). By the time I get to club I am starving and salivating at the smell of any type of food. Once I've been weighed I head to the shops for my "treat" which usually involves a massive bar of chocolate, 4 Pineapple cakes and cookies I can eat in the car on the way home. Tea on a Thursday is something naughty because I have all week (in theory) to get it off.
Friday - Have a Slimming World brekkie but have a huge portion of it (still have all week to lose it). Food throughout the day could be good, could be naughty. Still eating the "treats" I bought Thursday as there were too many for one day.
Saturday - More aware of what I eat but at this point I won't be able to refuse runny egg and chips should someone be cooking it! Still finishing off "treats".
Sunday - Aware I need to watch what I'm eating but the thought of not having a treat at night terrifies me.
Monday - panic sets in as I only 4 days to lose the weekend crap I've eaten.
Tuesday - Food takes up every waking thought in my head as I do my damndest to avoid chocolate.
Wednesday - S**T I get weighed tomorrow and I regret the entire weekends frivolity.
Thursday - Cup of tea and starve all day - cycle continues.

Not exactly a healthy attitude toward dieting is it!
And have you all noticed how those scales get to dictate how you feel about yourself? For instance, all day on weigh day I can feel unbloated and as though I've lost weight. I'm quite looking forward to seeing my weightloss on the scales and despite being starving I'm quite happy all day! Then you get on the scales and those scales tell you that you were fooling yourself and that you put weight ON, so not what you were expecting and with just a step on those scales you are in a foul mood.

Well in my bid to lose weight properly I am looking at all those bad habits and trying to be honest with myself so that I can break them.
This weeks weigh in and I lost 1.5 lbs!!! Gutted!!! I know it's better off than on but I've exercised most days this week and have been pretty good with my food so 1.5 lbs simply isn't enough!
However, during my sulk I took another long look at my weekly eating habit and if I'm honest although I had the sweets pretty much under control I did eat some crap during the weekend that I shouldn't have so I only have myself to blame.
I also decided to compare this weight loss with something that is visual as 1.5 lbs of fat just doesn't sound much.  A bag of sugar here in the UK weighs 1kg (2.2 lbs) so if you remove the excess and keep the 1.5 lbs you actually feel just how much that weightloss is - it's really quite motivating.
I have seen other visual motivation for recording your weightloss on the internet such as photographs taken at various stages (which I intend to do) but to notice a difference you need to have lost a good few pounds. Then there's graphs or charts but the idea I particularly love (and can't remember where I saw it) is to fill up a pretty jar with the equivalent amount of marbles to pounds you want to lose and then as each pound (or half pound if you do it that way) is lost you move a marble into another identical jar and you gradually watch the weightloss jar fill up - cool huh!

Any of this sound familiar or is it just me?

2 comments:

  1. Don't feel like you are the only one, because this is exactly how I am. :-)

    Great job with the loss this week!!! :-)

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  2. Kristina from chatting to thers at Slimming World, it would seem that there are many slimmers doing the exact same thing. lol. It surely can't be healthy!
    Still if the weight comes off!

    Take care
    Linda

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