This week has been a tough one and I’m not really sure why. It started off great – my friend Amy coming to visit (she’s dieting too) – and we all ate well the whole weekend, despite the birthday party we were celebrating. But by Monday and Tuesday I was beginning to feel in a bit of a rut and while I didn’t particularly eat badly, I did sit around doing pretty much nothing. By about Thursday I think I’d shaken myself out of it, but unfortunately that was most of the week gone. This week I’ve fancied chocolate, I’ve fancied takeaway and most of all I’ve just wanted to lounge around. I’ve lacked motivation – not just in dieting and keeping fit, but really in the whole of my life. I’d like to say that today is the start of a whole new week and woohoo!!! But perhaps I’ll wait and see about that one!
Like I said, I’ve been eating pretty well this week. In the middle of last week I decided I would make more of an effort to eat fresh and healthy, not just healthy. I switched from the M&S ready meals I was living on before (and letting Chris fend for himself) to cooking some Rosemary Conley low G.I. recipes that have been my go-to for the last 2-3 times I’ve dieted. What I didn’t end up sharing with you last week, is that my partner Chris is also now on a health kick. If he ever reads this, I hope he won’t be offended by me saying he’s a big guy. When I met him he was this way though, so that has no effect on how I feel about him. I fell in love with him the size he is (just like he did with me) and I continue to look at him in exactly the same way. However for part of last year he started dieting with me, realising he was over-weight and wanted to do something about it. I believe he started at around 19 stone 6lb, but I can’t quite remember what he got down to – I think he said 17 something. Over Christmas he just gave up however and honestly, I sort of let him. It’s really hard to keep someone else motivated without making them feel bad about themselves, so while I give a gentle nudge here and there, I did tend to just leave him to it.
Anyway a couple of weeks ago I persuaded Chris to get back on the scales and keep trying again. He was pretty disappointed with the results but they actually weren’t as bad as I’d feared. I was pretty sure he’d be right back where he started and while I think it felt like he was, from Chris’ point of view, when he told me he was 18 something, I was grateful he hadn’t slipped back into the 19s. It was the kick he needed though and ever since then we’ve been tackling eating better together. Instead of taking 2 bags of crisps to work now, he just takes one – instead of taking 2 chocolate bars, he just takes one cereal bar. I’m honestly very proud of him and its paid off as this week he told me this morning that he’s lost 4lbs.
So basically instead of just calorie counting for myself, I’ve been cooking fresh for the both of us, using these low G.I. recipes. We’ve had all sorts from Stuffed Chicken with Mozzarella, wrapped in Parma Ham (with homemade chips), to Boozy Beef with mushrooms and rice, to Shepherd’s Pie and sweetcorn. Majority of the recipes are meant to serve 4 so I either make half quantities, or I made the full thing and freeze half. Chris’ daily allowance of calories is 2000 where mine is 1200, so I do have to be more careful than he does. Anyway, its been going well and its nice to know I’m helping him and not just me.
However, whatever rut or funk I’ve been in this week, has definitely not helped me to exercise. I’ve done nothing for the majority of the week and despite telling myself I would go swimming, go for another run, or exercise on the Wii/Xbox, it just hasn’t happened. On Wednesday night I tested out a couple of games on the Kinect and it was a lot of fun, motivating me to try a few more. Yesterday I actually turned on the Xbox and played a couple of things, though nothing we had really motivated me to keep going. Perhaps the key is to finding something I’ll like, or perhaps its really just to giving myself a kick and just trying harder. As always, when you start to lose weight the first few pounds come off easier and as the weight goes, it becomes harder to shift those lesser pounds. With 20lbs still to go I know I’m going to have to up my game, but do I really really (deep down) have the motivation for it? I hope so.
Start weight: 13st 3lb
Last weigh in: 11st 6lb
Current weight: 11st 6lb
Change: 0lb
Total Loss: 25lb (1 stone 11lb)
Disappointing results but I can’t really say I’m surprised either. I’ve definitely hit that slump in reality where although I’ve lost some weight, I’m still not as “thin” as I thought. I’ve tried on a couple of dresses this week that didn’t look great and a pair of jeans that didn’t fit. I can’t even hand on heart say I’m a 14 yet, despite several size 14 items of clothing fitting and many of my 16s being far too big. Hopefully this is the reality check I need because I really need to try harder. Please bring on the slightly warmer weather so I just don’t sit snuggled up on the sofa.