Hmmmmm. I am failing to get back on the wagon. I'm not really even trying. This week I have eaten a ton of fairy cakes and biscuits and chocolate and other junky stuff.
However. It has to end. And now I have good incentive.
It turns out the BAD SPENDING FAIRY was at our house for a large portion of December. So now we have no money. Amazingly we have managed to get through the whole of January without noticing this! I admit we are quite bad at budgeting. OH is self employed, so pay tends to be a bit sporadic, even when he is working all the time. Sometimes he si on a three week job and won't get paid until the end. So sometimes we just turn a blind eye to the over draught as we know it will go away come pay-day. We have been relying on this a bit too much, and have failed to keep a lid on the spending.
Now, we aren't in trouble in real terms. We have no actual debts as such. We don't use credit cards or store cards. But we have maxed-out our over-draught. So now we are going to the other extreme and are budgeting every single penny. We ahve decided to get out of the red once and for all. To this end, we are going to live as frugally as possible for a few months until the overdraught becomes a thing of the past.
So today I stood and planned this week's meals. I reckon I can probably get away with spending only £50 in the supermarket, compared to our usual £120. Of course, all of the planned meals are 'diet' meals. there are no cakes and sweets on the list, just good old fruit and veg and fresh meat.
This has to work in my favour, surely? The only treat-type stuff on my list is a box of eggs and some butter to do a bit of baking with the kids. As long as I input the recipe into my database, i can work out the calorie contents of these, so can still have a treat once in a while.
So, hopefully, the Bad Spending Fairy may have done me a favour. I will be on the "can't afford food" diet!
Apparently, in Britain, at least, the thirs week in January, around the 22nd, is the most depressing week of the year. It is the week with the highest number of suicide. I was feeling quite rubbish (not suicidal though!) and down. However, a good friend informs me that I was not alone, and that is the week most people struggle with.
We are now into February, and things do look better already. I ahve seen blossom appearing on the trees and have seen camelias and rhododendrons in full-bloom. There are snowdrops and crocuses everywhere and daffodils starting to open. So, although it is still winter, i feel like the end is in sight at last.
And to top it all, I have lost 2 lb. Only 3 lb of the Christmas weight left, and that feels quite achievable.
I went for a run with a friend last night, and although we did walk a fair bit as well, we did some fartleks at the end.
For anyone wondering what the heck I'm on about, fartleks is a running term for doing bursts of faster running for as long or short a time as you are comfortable with, then jogging to catch your breath back. Anyhow, fartleks are FUN!
Run like a mad thing! It's so exhilerating. The overall time for the run was quite slow, but as I said, there was quite a bit of walking. It was a lovely evening for running,a ll cold and crisp, but not icy. One of those nights where, once you have adjusted to the temperature, it is just great to be outside.
I have found I was quite stiff today. Although my body is used to running quite long distances, it obviously isn't used to running really fast at all. I really enjoyed it though and can't wait to do it again.
After my last entry in which I felt so lovely and slim, I spent the rest of the week feeling blobby. Why?! I also didn't really control my food at all. I maintained my weight, but I really would like to get back on the wagon. I blew it really badly today, almost as soon as I got up. I think partly it is that i have been on a diet for so long now that I occasionally just want to throw caution to the winds and eat chocolate for breakfast. It's not healthy, but that's how it is.
I don't think I'm going to make my January target of losing my Christmas weight though now. i am still at 10st 6lb, with only a week to go. So no prizes for me this month.
I have been reading a bit of the 'Dietgirl' blog, if any of you have ever heard of it. i really want to get the book, but will have to wait. I was then surprised to see that she uses the same website as me for her diet and maintenance. I was quite pleased as she has been very successful. I already knew I was int he right place to lose weight (I have lost most of mine already) but it is nice to see such a successful and sensible dieter advocating it as well.
So, do i have what it takes to get back on the wagon tomorrow? I have a kids' birthday party to go to and they are ususally quite hard as there is always cake and crisps. Eek. But today was sooooooooo bad that I really couldn't excuse myself again.
Isn't it funny how some days you feel nice and slim and other days you feel all fat and horrible. And there never seems to be any rhyme or reason to it. I lost 1 lb last week. So I am still 5lb up on my pre-Christmas weight. I have been feeling all porky-pig (silly as I know I am not even over-weight now). Then BAM! Yesterday I started feeling all slim again. I'm not complaining. It's nice to feel slim.
I managed to go running twice last week, which was great. I've been a bit of a lazy mare recently and have only been running on Sunday mornings. LAst week i got out on Tuesday night for three miles. Then 6 miles on Sunday morning. This week i would really like to do Thursday night as well, but we shall have to wait and see. I can't wait for the evenings to get a bit lighter so I can get out on my own once in a while.
Some of my running colleagues have been doing a mini-project called 30 minutes for 30 days. Basically, they are running 30 minutes a day for a month. The idea really appeals, but I know I would never manage it at this time of year. Maybe in the summer when I can run later in the evening. Something about the idea is really appealing though.
Maybe I could scale it down a bit and do just 5 times a week. My friend has committed to running the Cancer Research 10k again in October this year. I will run it too as I enjoy it, and we are trying to raise as much money for Cancer charities as we can this year. Any how, she has kind of committed to training to run it in under an hour. It's a HUGE leap for her as her current best is 1:27. I should love to manage a sub-60 10k, so I will be right there all the way.
So, any one out there with training tips, please let me know them!
My diet vanished again for a few days. Sprog 1 was poorly, as I mentioned. He was sick for 48 hours, then stopped being sick, but went really downhill. So I popped him up to my Doctor, who told me he was dehydrated and needed to go to hospital. Aaargh. So he and I spent the night in hospital. He was fine and not very poorly, but had to be on a drip to get the fluids in. All in all, it was pretty unpleasant. He just lay on the bed and slept on and off all afternoon. He was totally uncommunicative, which is quitet unlike him. And every time he woke up, he cried to go home. My poor boy.
After about 7hrs on the drip he sat up and announced he was hungry and thirsty. It was like the day had not really happened. He remembers very little of it, which is good. I feel like every detail is imprinted on my brain for ever!
So, in all of that, I lost control of my diet a bit. The hospital shop only really had sandwiches, crisps and sweets. I ate a bit, but it wasn't great. My husband brought me a microwave meal and a bag of oranges, so not ALL bad.
We came home the following lunchtime. It has taken me a few days to get back on track though. I didn't weigh on Friday, as I know I probably gained last week.
It's Tuesday now, and my third day of being on the wagon. Let's hope I make it to Friday.
Well I managed a second day in control of my food. And I went for quite a good walk. So a good day.
Hurrah!
I am a little over my target for the day, but I didn't log the walk, so I am sure I am within cals.
Tomorrow could be hard going though as Sprog 1 has been sick this evening and won't be going to school. So all three boys will be home, and I won't be able to go to playgroup. Argh.
Why can't I stay on the wagon for more than a couple of days at a time?
When I blogged on Friday mornign I was pretty much in the zone, but by mid-afternoon, resolve was slipping, and by evening I was finishing off the Christmas chocs.
Someone gave the boys a gingerbread train kit for Christmas. It has pre-baked gingerbread, all you have to do is stick it together and decorate. So after school on Friday i decided Sprog1 and I ought to give it a whirl. Big mistake. He just wanted to eat the icing and sweets. I ended up eating icing out of the tube. I was supposed to go for a run, but my running buddy rabg to say she didn't fancy it in the rain. So that was it. i just ate everything in sight instead.
So on Saturday I got up filled with new resolve which lasted until after lunch. Then a friend phoned to say did we fancy taking the kids to a party in the evening. So knowing I was likely to be eating party food later on, I just let go and ate two mince pies with brandy butter. About 500 cals. Oops.
Today i have been a star. I didn't have my extra bit of toast that I normally do on Sundays as I knew I didn't deserve it. And I met up with my other running buddy and ran-walked 6 miles. We did 1hr 20mins of running and walked about 20 minutes. Not fast, but considering the amount of time off we have had, we were chuffed to have run that much of it.
Next week we will do even better.
So, can I stay on the wagon for another day? We shall see.
I haven't blogged in a while, but I'm still dieting.
I have just checked and it is a year tomorrow since my first blog entry. In the time I have lost weight pretty consistently, and seen a 10 on the scale for the first time in years.
I have learned to run and completed two charity runs, including a 6 mile one. I now really enjoy exercise. Wow!
However, as usual I have let things go over the festive season and am now 10stone 7lb. 6lb up on mid-December. Prior to that I hadn't really been trying to lose for a while. So I have to get back on track properly.
My goal for January is going to be to lose my Christmas excess and get back to 10st 1lb.
My goal for February is to get BELOW 10stone. Woohoo!
I am going to achieve this by joining the 7 habits challenge on the website I use to diet (Weightlossresources.co.uk). My frst task is portion control. I have been on top of this for a couple of days now. Hurray. I'm on my way.
The other habits are exercise for 30 mins five days a week, food diary every day, 5 f v portions a day, love your body, 6 glasses of water a day, self-education and something else I can't remember. I have to start a new one each week and continue it throughout the challenge. I can do them in any order. So I am onto portion control. I am filling in my food diary as well, and I have to say that the 5 f v comes very easy to me.
So, I hope that by mid 2008 I will have made my final (for now) target of 9stone 7lb so that I can learn to maintain. I'm feeling all full of good intentions right now. How long can I last?
Well, I haven't blogged for ages. I've been feeling pretty good, and like my head has been on straight.
So what have I acheived this summer?
I ran the Race for Life in July and raised about £150.
I reached my initial goal of 147lb.
I ran the Cancer Research 10k (6.2 miles) on October 7th and raised £320.
I have continued to lose weight, and only have 8lb to go until my next goal of 9 stone 7lb.
I am happy with the way my weight loss is continuing. I'm going really slow and steady at the moment. I'm starting to feel confident that this might be something I can sustain long term!
