MiddleAgeShed

10 Motivation Reminders

Heather's post yesterday struck a chord with all of us who are trying to lose weight, it struck a chord because we all find it hard to stay on that healthy eating path, to stay focused about our goals. It prompted me today to think about what is my motivation, here is a list that I have written and put next to my PC to act as inspiration for the days ahead

1. I enjoy going into a clothes shop and being able to buy clothes that don't hide my fat but celebrate my shape.
2. I enjoy feeling good about myself and not being ashamed of the way I look.
3. I enjoy people congratulating me on my weight loss.
4. I enjoy eating and not feeling "stuffed"
5. I enjoy going to the gym and feeling full of energy after completing my workout.
6. I enjoy not hurrying home to undo the button at the top of my trousers!
7. I enjoy not being spotty from eating the totally wrong things!
8. I enjoy getting in a bath and my stomach being on view above the water line!
9. I enjoy not feeling exhausted from carrying the extra weight when walking round the shops.
10. I enjoy dieting with Heather and having fun whilst we are losing those extra pounds.

Now I know that some sound trivial, but in reality they are not trivial. I used to be ashamed in changing rooms, at the checkout when I was buying "big" clothes. So I have hit a plateau, I have hit some hard times in keeping that motivation going...but I know one thing....looking in that mirror was a much worse feeling than getting back on track now.

Middle Age Shedders.......if dieting was easy, we would all be slim.....but the fact it needs commitment just makes the losing of those pounds even more special.

If you are struggling just stop and think about what it feels like to be carrying those extra pounds and then think how it feels to look in the mirror and see the body that you want....

Here endeth the lesson!

Losing a large amount of Weight - 5 Tips

Yesterday I told you about Lindsy who has a large amount of weight to lose. I thought I might share 5 tips that helped me to lose over 60lbs.

1. Key for me was seeing myself as slim. Previously, I had seen myself as fat and acted (and ate) like a large person. See in your mind as a slim person, keep reinforcing the image.
2. Break down the weight loss into small goals. As I am in the UK we use stones (1 stone is 14lbs). I started at 15st 11lbs and therefore aimed for 15.5 stones...then 15st 3lbs which was my first half stone loss, then 14 st 14lbs to get under the 15 stone barrier...then 14st 10lbs to achieve my first stone weight loss...etc..e.tc I never thought of having to lose 4 stone or 56lbs, that felt too big...I always focused on the next mini goal.
3. Each day I imagined the feeling of fitting into a pair of trousers that I had kept at the back of the wardrobe. Every now and then I would try them on, I aimed for being able to wear them again.
4. If I was tempted...I asked myself "Do you want that treat more than you want to be slim?" The answer was always no...therefore I refused the treat.
5. Blogging was a huge motivation as I made myself write each day, it keeps the focus there, it keeps the accountability there. If you don't blog then write a journal or diary.

Hope these 5 tips help Lindsy and anyone else who has a large amount of weight to lose. Always remember anything worth having is hard work, but the feeling you get is well worth it.

Heather do you have anything to add? Or indeed Anne, Karen or FoxyDot?

You can now Google your weight!

If you are the kind of dieter that has good weeks and bad weeks I have just found a new Google tool for tracking your weight.

"The Google 15 encourages you to get on the scale every day by calculating a moving average from your daily weight. We then plot this average alongside your daily scale weight and a goal weight that you set--this gives you a better idea of your weight trend by masking most of the day to day noise that variances that water weight introduce."

I like the idea of a moving average - too often we can concentrate on our absolute weight rather than how far we have come on our diet.

How I am going to resist rebelling (against myself)

Having given this some considerable thought over the past 24 hours I think the answer is all about planning. In my case I tend to be very focussed earlier in the day and after say 6pm things get altogether more risky.

Therefore from now on I will try taking Anna's advice and before breakfast look ahead through the day to calculate approximate calorie intake and adapt accordingly.

3 Things that I have learned about myself

The diet has been a journey for me, a personal journey of discovery and also learning about myself. Here are some learnings

• I work better with others. I am not saying that I am relying on Heather (for Barbara!) however dieting with someone has improved my focus and my determination. I don't like to feel alone and through MAS I feel connected to others.
• I am lazy when it comes to food! I put weight on because I couldn't be bothered to think about food. Through Heather's advice, I have now learned that eating healthily is not necessarily more work. I now love fresh sweetcorn, asparagus, natural yoghurt, fruit...none of which take any time to taste beautiful.
• I need to work to small goals. When I set out I was depressed at the thought of having to lose 56lbs. It seemed huge. Once I gave myself little targets and celebrated achieving them the target did not worry me. Success breeds success.

15 Diet Tips

Just came across this post - it lists there best 15 diet tips. One statement that really stood out for me was

""Your stomach is only the size of your fist, so it takes just a handful of food to fill it comfortably,"

This fits in with the plate size that we often discuss but I don't think I had ever thought of the size of my actual stomach rather than the expansive waistline that I have had....

Calculate your MBR

Here is a website that gives you your base metabolic rate - it tells me that if I stayed in bed all day I would use 1,565 calories....

Diversions

There was a great post from The Fit Shack in Anna's carnival.

JoLynn says;  "We know though, that if we eat when we aren’t even hungry, or eat non-nutritious foods rather that going for the healthy choice, that we will be sabotaging our own best interests." and later she continues: "...if we could eat in moderation, then we likely would not be working to lose weight."
On this weeks show Anna and I both try and get behind why we overeat. I've thought about this a lot, because if I am miserable I will eat, but on the other hand if I am celebrating and happy - I will eat.

I genuinely dont think there's any deep underlying cause to explain why I overeat.

I think its quite simple and indeed quite justified:

I love food.

Full Stop.

So just like when a child really enjoys doing something, and wants to repeat it over and over again (remember the Postman Pat ride at the seaside anyone?) the best way to stop the repetition is to put in place a diversion, or indeed a set of diversions.

I'll give these some thought. Some are obvious like going for a walk, or a bath etc. But I find I am most likely to stray really spontaneously - within a couple of seconds - without a thought almost.

For example I will just pop into the larder and before I've considered it - eat a biscuit. Or in the office someone will offer me cake or chocolate and really quickly I've eaten the darned thing! Yes, yes I know these moments are not even as enjoyable as eating slowly!

I'm working on it, and this mornings diversion from the larder is...

this blog post!

(and its worked)

Christmas Present for Heather

Don't tell Heather but I have found the perfect gift for Farmer Phil to give his beloved wife this Christmas - ooh ah not that! - but  a chocolate vault that delivers an electric shock to those chocoholics!

Think I need to put one on order for him sooner rather than later.....

Avoid Chocolates...

If you know someone is trying to lose weight - just please, please, - dont buy them chocolates!
Its really hard keeping to a plan at the best of times - in fact to lose just one pound of weight we now know - thanks to Barbara that we need to cut out 500 calories each day - so that would usually mean eating between 25%-30% less calories than you normally would each and every day. I certainly haven't given up chocolate but if I received them as a gift I would no doubt eat more than I should - temptation would be greater than eating a small piece as "part of my calorie controlled diet!"
Anyway, here's my extremely unsubtle plug...
If you do want to buy a woman on a diet a pressy, flowers are just about guaranteed to have the Wow factor - especially if they dont cost the Earth! As one of our corking customers said yesterday Wiggly Bouquets are
Beautiful, Bountiful, and British! So my diet tip for today maybe completely biased, but nevertheless true:
Flowers will not make you Fat!