Day 26: Easter.. Evil?

Current Weight: ??

Unfortunately when I went to buy myself a new set of scales, they were sold out, but apparently I'll be able to get the ones I wanted next week, hope so! But then, I've found not knowing my weight quite motivating, and in the future might start weighing myself only once a week.

I've stuck to my diet pretty well this past week, having the odd bad snacks here and there, but nothing too disastrous. However I don't feel like I've lost very much weight, I just don't feel different, so I think I'm going to have to step up my exercise program a bit, just to give everything a boost! I already do 1-1.5 hours per day of Cardio and Jazz style muscle work, alternating that with yoga and pilates. So the only thing I can think of doing is an extra half hour on the cross trainer atleast 4-5 times per week. I'll see if this helps!

Easter, easter, easter..

There are thousands of healthy recipes online that look like they'd be worth a try and are diet-safe aswell! So I'll certainly be adding them into my easter meal plans, as I've said before, I love to cook, and preparing some new (and healthy) easter themed dishes will be the perfect thing to stop that "Depriving yourself during holidays" hellish feeling. Plus I made a wonderful discovery, sugar-free chocolate is edible! I'd never tried this before thinking it would taste horrible, but honestly, when you can't eat normal chocolate (like say, when you're dieting), this is the most satisfying substitution, mainly because it tastes so much like the real thing! Sugar-free chocolate can be found in most health food stores or the health foods section of your local grocery store, but there are many brands so test them out, and find the one you like best! They are definitely worth a try!

If you are determined not to go off track this season, what better time to set yourself up a challenge? For starters, no chocolate. Simple, direct, and could be the secret to getting you through without any slip ups! Maybe add in some extra exercise while your at it. Let these next two weeks end in some success!

With everyone around you enjoying easter, if you do happen to have a nibble at those easter goodies, don't go crazy, eat a little bit of what you want, slowly, savour it, enjoy it. Rather than treating this as a massive failure, appreciate it, and its back to dieting by dinnertime!

Book suggestion: French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano + The French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook.

Have you ever noticed how the typical french women is slender and petite, they seem to just naturally maintain those perfect figures? and yet they're culture is drenched in pastries and pasta, chocolate and three course meals..
Although these aren't necessarily diet books, they provide a wonderful perspective on health and food. Emphasizing good food and portion control, that when you eat the delicious foods you are craving, slowly, enjoying every moment, you will have far better control over your overall diet, no deprivation required! 'Tis the French way.. 

Day 22: Cursed? Technologically, yes!

Current weight: Well isn't that the million dollar question!

I haven't blogged about my progress in 10 days because of issues with my internet. I also don't know how much I weigh because my scales broke a few days ago and I won't be able to replace them for a few more days! To make matters worse I also haven't had time to go grocery shopping and am starting to run extremely low on healthy options.. *Sigh* Obstacle after obstacle but I refuse to let this slow me down!.. well not too much anyway.

The last time I checked I was 68.3 kgs, which is definitely progress! However with my less intense diet I'm not expecting massive losses by my next weigh-in. It's funny the pressure you feel though, wondering what those scales will say when the wait is prolonged like this. Will I have lost some magnificant amount by the time I manage to replace my scales? or will it be the same.. I would prefer not to angst over this however, and will just continue working at it, trying to stick to my diet and keeping up with my workouts, which shouldn't be too hard since I am planning to hit the gym for a nice workout tomorrow and then have Jazz and Tap classes again the next night (Pretty excited about that last one!).

I get the feeling Easter is going to be the bane of my dieting, that usually wonderous holiday will be rolling around in a week or two and will be bringing an endless supply of chocolate with it! but over the course of this week I'm planning to seek out some diet-safe alternatives to get through the season with minimal damage so stay tuned because I plan to find a miracle!


Tips From Today

* Don't panic over every little obstacle, just keep doing whatever you can to keep the good results coming! There's no reason to stop. 


* Keep those eyes on the prize! With work, family, responsibilities, we forget about ourselves and the things that are important to us personally. To help keep that determination in the back of your mind at all times try a few of these motivational tips! 

• Write about your goals in a journal or diary when you get the chance, mention what you are hoping to achieve and what this would mean to you. Don't forget to write in small booster memos! eg. I am beautiful, I am strong, I have potential and I deserve to be the best I can be!- Read this back to yourself once or twice a day. It takes five minutes and makes an amazing difference to your resolve. When we feel strong and beautiful, we behave accordingly, and strong and beautiful people tend to stick to their diets! Human nature is an interesting thing. 

• Choose a healthy person to model your actions from, maybe you know someone who seems to have everything sorted? Maybe you have seen a celebrity even, who makes you feel like you want more for yourself aswell? A quote, a song, anything! Find what inspires you, print these out and stick them to a mirror, collage on a piece of paper, whatever you like and use this to draw a bit of inspiration from. 

• Breath! With all of these inspiring momento's floating around, make sure you take full advantage and try to take a moment each day, just to sit, breath and go through everything in your head- What you have done today, what you plan to do, go through your motivational items, read through your goals, rewrite them if necessary. What you want is important, you are important. 

* If you know something is coming which could cause some difficulty eg. Easter. Start planning your way around it now!

Day 12: There is such a thing as over doing it

Current Weight: 69.5 kgs

Weightloss is a journey, we go off track, learn things we never knew about ourselves, and about food!

I've referred to myself as a binge eater before, but its not until now that I truly understand what that means, and can distinguish between "binge- eating" and "binge eating disorder", but a little back story here might help...

By Day 10, I was 68.1 kgs, very exciting, but oddly enough I actually felt sick and weak, like I had lost weight too fast, but 2 kgs isn't actually all that much weight. I was sticking to my low-carb diet well, and exercising for an hour or two everyday as always, so naturally getting some results should be good, but I soon discovered that there is such a thing as too low-carb, especially when you workout the way I do. By Day 11 I couldn't stop myself from eating normal food, I just felt unhealthy, not malnourished as in low in vitamins and minerals, but just very low in sugars and fat. I tried not to overeat, but in the end, causing an energy deficit like that forces our bodies to act out in a survival related panic. The damage wasn't too severe, but from this I can easily see how "binge eating disorder" occurs, sufferers diet hard for as long as they can, then binge like crazy because they have over deprived themselves, then diet hard to compensate, leading to yet another binge, and this continues in a constant loop which takes over their lives.

I only got a taste of this, but that was enough for me! I've always encourage determination, thats what it takes to achieve something like this, but not if it causes unhealthy behavior which inevitably destroys any progress. For a diet to work long term, meaning not just a small loss here and there, but to lose a significant amount of weight and keep it off, it must be sustainable.

I am still determined to lose weight, but for my health's sake, I'll have to change my diet plan slightly.

For those first few days, I lost weight rather quickly, however I only made my "balanced meal" dinner once, and chose to have breakfast most days instead. In my new plan I will have a balanced dinner every 3rd day. I am also bringing my breakfast cereal back instead of the low-carb cereal and yoghurt. I will still have low-carb snacks, however I am going to change over to having one traditional and one low-carb shake/bar per day, instead of all low-carb. I'm hoping that this in conjunction with exercise will still lead to weight loss, it will just take longer since obviously the weight will come off at a more steady rate. I am thinking further down the track though, I don't just want to lose small amounts fast, I want to lose a larger amount that I will then be able to keep off, and essentially starving my body of the energy it requires will do nothing but cause my weight to bounce back and forth through weightloss purgatory.

Tips from today


* Listen to your body: starvation, deprivation, dieting too hard, these things will not help with weight loss in the long run because honestly, you'll just end up eating copious amounts of food in a few days to compensate- Survival instincts will always win, don't make your body feel endangered.  


* Experimenting with exercise versus diet plans is imperative to finding a healthy balance.


* Don't be afraid to allow your diet to take longer, Slow and Steady. 

Day 8- Just say no!

Current Weight: 69.1 kgs.. Thats right! Giving up achieves absolutely nothing... now, persevering on the other hand..


My weight being back into the 60's has put me in a chipper mood all day, but this is where sticking to my diet and exercise regime becomes critical. Whenever I have these small victories, something goes wrong and regardless of higher reasoning, I let myself backslide. Some say this is because we are afraid of truly changing. If you've been overweight for a big proportion of your life, whether you like it or not, this becomes your comfort zone and so on a subconscious level, losing that familiarity can be quite scary. But I think you know as well as I do, we all need to break out of our comfort zones once in a while!

Today I got a bit snack-y since I was taking care of my nephew, and of-course there is no reason to deny him the little treats he loves, but you'll be happy to know that I put it all on a plate for him and then dragged myself away as quick as I could (lol, the battle is usually more mental than physical). I felt like having a shake for breakfast today, and switched my main meal to lunchtime, which was two "cornthin's" with extra light philadelphia cream cheese and some tomato and spinach on top (so yummy!). By mid-afternoon I was beginning to walk up to the fridge and then have to remind myself I'd just had lunch, this is a habit often developed by those who spend far too much time at home with their fridge.. it is also a sign you need something to keep you busy (this ended up being cleaning for me).

By 2:00pm I'd made that back and forth trip about 5 times and realized I sincerely needed something else to distract myself, so I made a cup of Green Tea which allowed me to sit and calm down for a few minutes. I'm hoping that eventually I'll be able to convince my body that it is highly unlikely to starve to death when it isn't even hungry. I chewed a piece of sugar-free gum then just to give my jaw something to do, which really helped!

I had a bowl of sliced cucumber for my mid-afternoon snack and will be having a shake for dinner before I workout. (one-hour of zumba plus a 50-minute yoga dvd).


Tips from today


* When the going gets tough, the tough keep going! Don't over think it, just keep doing whatever you have been doing.

* Don't allow eating and opening the fridge to become like your hobbie, find constructive things to do with your time when you are at home and the fridge is so accessible.

* Sugar free gum is a great alternative to ravenous snacking.

* Just keep moving, dance around the house, run on the spot, skip on the way to the washing line, can you do star jumps continuously for 1 minute? try it! Do whatever you can think of whenever you think of it. Every little bit helps!

Day 6 of my challenge

Current Weight: 70.1 kgs (getting back on track!)

The focus of today for me was "What has being overweight stolen from me?". When I was young I did Jazz, Tap and Ballet classes with my sisters, I quit 3 years before either of them but not because I didn't like it, truth be told I loved dancing.. I quit because I was embarrassed about the way I looked in comparison to the other girls, I felt like I stood out for all the wrong reasons.

 Its strange the way people behave toward the overweight, like we're less likely to be talented, as if intelligence is our only option because we couldn't possibly be capable of more. In my opinion, that bias is ridiculous! But it can't be the reason we improve ourselves, I personally am doing this for myself, not to impress anyone, and not to achieve anything other than opening myself up to opportunities I won't have if I remain overweight, I feel like all this time I have cheated myself out of so much, but not anymore!

So today I decided to exercise a bit of my bravery and I went to a Tap and Jazz class. Although intimidating and ofcourse its been years! I still walked in and did my best to follow along. Now I know I enjoyed these classes when I was young but wow, It was so much fun! Hard, and excellent exercise, but the challenge of it all really helped me get into it, I'll certainly be going back!

I did pretty well today diet wise as well.

Breakfast: Yoghurt and muesli
Lunch: Low-carb Shake
Snack: a few slices of ham and a piece of cheese (and a bit of extra yoghurt before I went to the classes, nervousness gets me everytime!)
Dinner: Low-carb shake
+ a few cashews

I didn't necessarily overeat today, but when I booked in for the classes I got a bit nervous and nibbling was hard to control.

Tips from today

* Thinking about what your bad habits have cost you over the years is a great motivator.

* Be brave! Try something you never would have dreamed of doing.. you can't say that you like or dislike things until you have tried them all!

Day 5 Back to the Start

Current Weight: 71.2 kg

Over the past four days I lost 1.4 kg's, and then in one day filled with bad decisions, I gained 1.9 kg's, rather than viewing this as a nice reason not to bother anymore, however tempting, I'll keep on trying. At the very least over the last few days I proved that I can do it, and if I did it once, I can do it again! and again and again, basically I'll keep pushing everyday until I get there. Also I know how pointless giving up is, it achieves nothing. 

So, new day!

I'm basically back to the start, the cravings are back because I ate so freely yesterday, I also got distracted and didn't end up getting to bed last night until around 2am, meaning I spent the day tired- Fatigue happens to be one of the worst things for dieters, it takes sincere concentration to stop yourself from laying into every sugary item you can get your hands on, just for that bit of energy, but I'm very proud of the fact that although difficult, I worked around it and didn't touch a scrap of leftovers from yesterday- The majority ended up hidden behind the milk and bread so I wouldn't have to look at it, it seems a bit silly but the very act of removing temptation makes you feel more in control.

For breakfast, rather than my usual cereal, which is unfortunately not suitable with my current diet as it is very high in carbohydrates, around 28g per serve, I had 100g of Soleii yoghurt with 2/3 cup of muesli sprinkled over the top instead. This was surprisingly filling and yummy, but only about 17g of carbohydrates! and even though flavoured, the Soleii yoghurt is non fat and low in sugar, making it ideal for breakfast or even lunch.

The tiredness began setting in around midday, my first shake for the day certainly helped to wake me up, after a few hours I was starting to get a bit jittery for sugar again but I managed to make it until my mid-afternoon snack, which was a few slices of shaved ham. By this time I was at breaking point, the lack of sleep coupled with a carb-restricting diet meant I could barely think straight. So instead of making this another one of those wasted days, I had a quick half hour nap! Unusual for me but it fixed the problem. I then had a cup of Green tea when I woke up, which was kind of a double whammy for my diet! It is proven that Green tea not only increases the metabolism and helps burn fat, but the caffeine will also work as an appetite suppressant and keep you awake.

I just had my Celebrity Slim Bar for dinner, and although I am still feeling the sugar urges left over from yesterday, I am yet to cheat! I also have every confidence that I can recover my diet perfectly, it will just take a few days of pushing and fighting.


Tips from Today


* Falling off the wagon for one day, one week, a year, regardless of how bad the damage is, is still no reason to stop! If anything, the feeling we get when we have failed just shows how badly we really want to succeed.


* Sleep has profound effects on our appetite and the ability to control ourselves. If you have under slept, be prepared for an onslaught of sugar cravings and try to plan ahead. Take that nap if you need it. 


* Plan ahead: don't have the foods you should not be eating at hand. Put them at the back of the fridge or cupboard, behind large objects if possible- Out of sight, out of mind.


* Green tea is an excellent appetite suppressant, according to studies it can also assist in the process of weight loss. A perfect alternative to that coffee with milk! It is also available in varying flavours including peppermint, lemon or honey, if, like me, you don't particularly like the taste of it on its own.

Day 4.. Relatives and other devils

Current Weight: 69.3 kgs

It is always when we're excelling that the universe decides this is an excellent opportunity to test you, and family get togethers would have to be the absolute worst for that. Everything you have been telling yourself not to eat is set out all over your kitchen table and if you don't eat, it could seem rude, so what's a girl (or boy) to do? Short of insuring your seat is by the fruit/veggie platter there really isn't a lot you can do. So my suggestion from what happened to me today, 1. go in with a game plan and 2. forgive yourself when it all goes wrong. 

I wasn't aware I was expecting company so I had my little (and sadly last, see previous posts) bowl of cereal, and then had every intention of spacing out my snacks and meal replacement shakes nicely over the day, then working out this evening. But it was not meant to be because before I knew it, I was chopping up Cebana, various cheeses, and setting out the chips and dip for all of my visitors! I thought to myself at first, "okay, this could be a good thing, a distraction! I'll be so busy talking and organising I won't cheat on my diet at all!" but then the reality of my diet hit me.. rather hard.. I eat meal replacement shakes or bars, that is all I would be eating because I had had my balanced meal already.. I would have to explain that to my guests and then endure the endless questions or just plain staring. 

So I decided, after carefully reading the nutritional information on the back of every item being served I would obviously have to eat normally today, sensibly, but atleast another main meal, my diet could be recovered tomorrow, hopefully!

 Unfortunately, I hadn't anticipated the effect this sudden freedom was going to have on my appetite, when you're controlling your eating, there will always be times when you are hungry, but you get through it, you wait those extra few minutes and make a sensible choice.. and when you finish dieting, you bring yourself back into eating a sustainable amount of food, but this part is done slowly allowing you to maintain that level of control you gained while dieting. 

Long story short, I actually did spend most of my time stalking the veggies, and while staring intently at the bowl of chips and biscuits I nibbled away at an excessive amount of chopped carrot and fruits, I wasn't even aware I was doing this half of the time, it was probably the best example of unconscious eating I've ever shown. Since I had missed my CS meal, even after eating the equivalent of a horses diet in grapes, I really needed something more solid, and ended up nibbling away at the cheese platter as well. I was hoping that that would be the end of it, but the surprises just kept on coming! and I also found myself eating a burger, and a bit of cake and icecream- I hadn't known they were on the menu. By dinner time I was full and actually feeling very sick, I hadn't had such large amounts of food in atleast a week, it wasn't necessarily the types of food, so much as the shear size of the portions.

"The only people who never make mistakes, are those who never try anything. Own it, forgive yourself, move on."

When my workout finally came, I was tempted to just leave it for the night, I was tired and bloated and just wanted to sit and dwell on what the scales were going to say tomorrow, but then I got up, put in a dvd and although clumsily, managed to get to the end of it. Tomorrow I'll stand there, be annoyed that my progress has been set back, but dwelling on it won't fix it, all we can do is keep moving forward! 

and so, to finish in the words of Scarlet, "Afterall, tomorrow is another day!".. and I plan to use it wisely :)

Tips from today:

* To help with the over full, sick feeling, I drank a glass of water with  2-3 tablespoons of lemon juice, this is extremely helpful with digestion on any day, not just when you've overindulged, and doesn't taste too bad either. (If you truly hate lemon, add more water to further dilute it)

* Plan and distract yourself at family gatherings, try to be aware of yourself at all times,  entertaining; it personally puts me on edge and makes me nervous (for no particular reason), which leads to that unconscious eating I spoke about, so try to focus on what you are doing at all times, but be reasonable about your options, some people won't take "no, I'm not hungry" or "no." as an answer without a serious explanation accompanied by flowchart, it can also seem rude not to eat what you are serving people. 

* No matter how many times you stop for a break, if you keep walking you will eventually get where you're going. 

Day 3: cookies and cross trainers

Note to readers: Important points are highlighted just for you :)


Day 3


Todays Weight: 69.9 kgs (Digital scales are worth every cent)


Although my workouts at home are always pretty good, it doesn't hurt to change it up every now and then and today thats just what I did, with everything!

My weight has been scrimping off a few 100g's at a time, even though I have mostly stuck to the diet and exercise my butt off every night!.. When this happens, doubt always begins to set in, have you ever found yourself saying, "I've done enough, I'm pretty close so I'm going to stop now" or "wow I just don't feel like doing this anymore!" and then you've rationalised and excused and eventually given up all together! I have. I do this on a regular basis, the point I'm trying to make is that I always go back to dieting, I never really lose my goal, I just take breaks from it. Pointless breaks using time that could have been spent better.. say, achieving something?

Writing on here about this really helps with not giving up, and I would suggest blogging to any dieter who struggles mentally with keeping on track.

Anywhoo, so this morning I had my usual breakfast (always my favourite part of the day) soon I will have to abandon my favourite cereal though, just for a few weeks, it just happens to be a bit too high in carbohydrates (about 28g per serve to be exact), which isn't really bad, but I have decided to switch to the low-carb shakes and it seems silly to then have a high-carb breakfast.

Today I felt like going to the gym instead of working out in my lounge room. Unfortunately none of my usual classes was on (Body Combat, Cycling, Sh'bam, etc.). So instead I cross-trained (also known as the elliptical) for 40-minutes, then did an extra 5-minutes on the stairs machine, literally worked my butt off! later I was feeling a little uneven so when I got home after stretching I did some Jazz style abdominal work (twisting crunches for example) plus holding my arms out and rotating them 30 or so times just to tone while keeping the muscles long. If your interested in this kind of exercise, Google! (Possible searches: Ballet exercises, Jazz exercises, floor workouts).

I had a minor indiscretion while waiting to go to the gym and had a white-choc macadamia cookie (I know! but I promise it wasn't my idea to buy them), but other than that I did quite well with my snacking today. I had a bowl of thinly sliced cucumber, I also tried green tea which really helped getting me to dinner time which was a low-carb meal bar. I tried to drink extra water today which really helped as well.


So, at the end of the day, all I really have to tell you is don't give up, in the long-run you'll wish you'd stuck at it, and I for one want to get to the finish line! 

Day 2 of my challenge.. cucumber, pretend chocolate and tea!

Note to Readers: Important points are highlighted, if you get over reading somewhere in there. 


Day 2


Todays Weight: 70.3 kg's (not a huge difference, but being so close to a healthy weight for my height, I'm not expecting massive losses at a time.. also, after all that ham last night, a 400g loss is better than I was expecting)

So, New day. New chances!

I was in such a hurry this morning that having a shake for breakfast was the perfect choice, they're filling but they don't take long to drink. I didn't get to have my morning snack as I was out and didn't get home until lunch time, and by then I was dying for food! but then I remembered, Hey I haven't had a nice dinner in a while, so I moved my balanced meal to dinner time (Another wonderful part of Celebrity Slim, the schedule is so flexible!), but I was still hungry right then and there, and for something solid too so I had one of the low-carb meal bars. Now, they don't exactly taste like chocolate, but they're not bad and thankfully worked like a charm on the hunger too.

I was in one of those "trying new things" moods today so I had one of the CS snack bars for my mid-afternoon snack, and wow! now why can't these be the meals?! I had a choc-nut snack bar and good lord did it taste like a Snickers bar! The inevitable chocolate cravings haven't set in just yet since this is only the second day, but I will definitely be getting more of these for when they do!

Now, if you've read a bit of my profile, you may have noticed I enjoy cooking.. In reality, I love cooking! I especially love cooking for other people, making hearty feasts and sweet treats is all I do for christmas and birthdays and I revel in every minute of it. Unfortunately that joy is a bit contradictory to my current goal, but of-course when I've reached my goal weight I won't have to worry as much since maintenance includes a treat here and there. This is one of my motivations, since dieting on and off forever would mean never truly being able to enjoy what I love!

So my tip for other dieters today, ask yourself honestly: What are you missing out on when you give up  half way through or simply choose not to start?

By about 5:30pm I was starting to get a bit antsy for dinner time to come already! and then I had an excellent idea. I usually wouldn't drink tea or coffee, I have never enjoyed the taste of either, but then I remembered something my sister had told me, "I love coffee! It peps me up and it fully helps with my eating! Seriously, I think it's the caffeine, I'm just not hungry". Interesting... So with a quick google search I discovered there is actually a bit of evidence to support this "caffeine- the appetite suppressant" theory. Coffee, I cannot stomach, the only way I can is by adding more milk than would agree with my diet, but tea.. well I'd never tried it, so thats what I did, just a cup of tea with a 1/4 cup of skim milk and 1/2 a teaspoon of honey (about 60 calories). The hunger didn't come back until around 6:30pm, but by then it was dinner time!

Dinner: One light crumbed fish fillet with a side of boiled and sliced Broccoli and carrot.

I'm so awake! I think it was the veggies and the tea, so there will be no going lazy on my workouts tonight!


Tips from todays events:

• Space out your meals and always try and make yourself wait that extra 15 minutes before you snack, to build up a tolerance to waiting. 
• Figure out your personal reasons for losing weight and focus on that! eg. What will you continue to miss out on if you give up? 
• Caffeinated drinks are an excellent appetite suppressant (and can easily be enjoyed with a bit of skim milk, but not too much!). The caffeine will also increase your metabolism! In my research I also discovered that Green Tea can actually assist in the process of weight loss itself so I might try that one tomorrow! (plus, it doesn't require milk)
• My balanced dinner looks boring as is but just to spice it up a little, I sprinkled paprika, lemon pepper, garlic and rosemary over the fish. I also added a few thin slices of cucumber to the veggies for a little twist (and it was delicious!).

Day 1 of dieting again starts now!

Note to readers: My posts can be a tad long, just because I like to include every detail that could be considered useful, but I highlight the important points just for you. 

Right so, I'm back on the diet I was on a few weeks ago, Celebrity Slim. I was a little skittish at first since the last time I did this, I lost 8 kgs, however I can remember many long nights of sitting there, fantasizing about my next allowable snack or meal, which wasn't going to be until the next day! But as they say, fortune favours the brave and I only have 10 kgs to go so I think it would be worth another shot.

Day 1


Current weight: 70.7 kgs (digital scales are mercilessly accurate, but they can also be great, for instance- it might be hard to see that you've lost 500g on a normal set of scales... every little bit counts!)
Goal weight: 60 kgs

Lucky for me I'd done this particular program before so I knew which products I needed and which ones I didn't. I ran down (well, drove... I'm not that good!) to my local Priceline Pharmacy and bought a 7-day Box of Shakes (the one with the mix of flavours, its much easier to stick to when you're also getting to taste a new flavour each meal), the shaker for the shakes, and 4 of the low-carb bars just for a bit of variety. I chose the low-carb bars as a matter of taste since I didn't particularly like the traditional ones.

On my way out I was starting to think about snacks, they can be a bit tricky if you don't always feel like an apple or pear, also just the idea that I had to choose what I was eating all the time (impulsive eater, remember) seemed like I was just asking for trouble, so I quickly ran back in and bought a few of the celebrity slim snack bars too, I'd never tried them anyway so why not.

One other good thing I can say about Celebrity Slim is that at least the products taste good, I've tried others that vaguely resembled a mouthful of chalk so replacing 2 out of three meals a day with something tolerable is certainly a plus!

I chose breakfast as my balanced meal for this first day, since I still had a box of cereal and some skim milk in the kitchen and, well, I was worried I would be hungry all day if I didn't at least start the morning with something solid.

Spacing your meals out a bit strategically really seems to be the trick here, I had breakfast at 8:00am, and was having my first shake at midday, but I still had to fit 1 of the days 2-3 allowable snacks in there. Its so hard to choose what that snack will be though when you only have one and you know it won't be until mid-afternoon that you can have another one, I went with a small slice of Light and Tasty Coon Cheese.
 Its funny the things you forget, like that although the little descriptive diagram on the shake box basically says your snacks can be an apple, pear or CS Snack Bar, the small book inside the box has a much broader list of snack foods, 30g of cheese included! Even nuts, 1-2 slices of ham, tea and coffee and other fruits (I was starting to fear for my blueberry addiction but they're allowed too!).


12:00 came around and I was starting to get jittery. I repeated, "Its just half an hour, just half an hour!" to myself about 3000 times until it finally hit 12:30 and I could have my first shake. I wasn't necessarily hungry, but I'm not yet used to going long periods of time without atleast nibbling away at something.

My next snack wasn't until 3:00pm (a small handful of peanuts), but with a bit of distraction I managed to get there without a fuss, the shakes being high in fibre and protein certainly helps with the cravings. I got to dinner and had my second shake around 6:00pm.

When I workout at home, I don't usually get to do this until around 9:30pm, when the T.V is free and everyone has mostly gone to bed for the night. Around 9, I cracked a little and had about 4 pieces of shaved ham, which for the first day isn't too bad! I then did one of my one-hour Zumba Exhilarate dvd's, plus about 20 minutes of one of the original Zumba dvd's.

Showered, cocoa buttered (the savour of weight loss induced loose skin), and got to bed around 11:00pm.

Day 1 gone, and not too badly if I do say so myself :)

Taking my own advice!

If you've read any of my previous posts you'll know that when it comes to weight loss, the exercise side of things is where I excel while dieting I don't just fall off of the wagon.. I fly off, roll down a hill and land in a volcano.. But as I always say, there is hope! I've decided rather than moaning about how I can never diet for more than a few weeks, I'll persevere and do it anyway.. you never know!

But where does an uncontrollable eater start? In the past my diets, although successful were short lived, they were incredibly hard and truth be told I was constantly hungry, but what is hunger exactly? Our body telling us eat now or you'll die before you make it to the fridge? or is it just our bodies response to running on its own fuel? Regardless, health is my main focus, we know what kinds of foods we need and how much is too much, when it comes to dieting I am all about balance, not starvation.

Funny Story.. Alright so not "haha" funny, but I find it a little interesting. So for about 6 months last year I hovered on 80 kgs, I was working out as always, and had even cut my calories down further (to around 800 per day, very hard!), but there was no weight loss, not even a gram, this led to me giving up and over eating again because it seemed like there was no point, but then I decided no, I'd already lost 20 kgs, I could do that again, I just had to do something different, completely different. From my bouts of lone dieting I had a reasonable understanding of portion sizes for snacks, which ones were filling, which ones were light, etc. Remember: Trial and Error, we're all unique and what works for me might not work for you, so we all have to do our own experiments.

Celebrity Slim was the answer for me. This is a meal replacement Program whereby you replace two meals per day with a Shake, Soup or Bar from the Celebrity Slim product range, then eat 2-3 allowable snacks per day and one balanced meal. The product range is very extensive as well, there are lot of convenient pre-packaged snacks you can purchase as well as other little things to help you along the way.

I did this for around 2 months and lost about 8 kgs, but as I said before, I was hungry, incredibly hungry, and not cheating was insanely difficult as well, but what diet isn't? By the time I'd gotten down to 72 kgs I started thinking, wow this is hard, and I'm pretty close so maybe I can go it alone now...

Well that was 3 months ago, and I only just lost those last 2 kgs, so clearly going it alone doesn't work out so well, especially for me, in my brain this always ends up meaning your technically free to eat anything.. a la the cookie disaster (see previous posts). Reward systems work for some people, the idea is that you diet exceptionally well all week then reward yourself with a treat, but that can't be the answer for everyone, especially not impulsive eaters like me who once they have the treat, they can't stop, for me it has to be all or nothing!

Celebrity Slim has served me well in the past, and I believe it will again. I know I'm capable of maintaining my weight, I've been doing it for weeks! So I just need a little help losing it.

According to The Maltz Principal, it takes 21 days to make a certain behavior a habit. This could be applied to making regular trips to the gym, remembering to take medications, and even dieting! The idea is that basically by Day 21, only eating what is allowed on the program will become a natural fallback rather than something that must be consciously enforced.  So this is what I will do, afterall dreaming and hoping is only a small part of the journey, planning and taking action makes up the rest! 
And Day 1, starts today! I'll tell all about it tomorrow so don't forget to tune in!! 

Those tips and tricks..

So far I've written about everything leading up to this point and what I'm doing myself in my efforts to lose weight- but I'm up to that second stage where I've relapsed for the 100th and last time. I know others are still at that first step though, or are maybe even further say.. a quarter of the way to their goal..closer? Well, my goal was to lose 40 kgs, I've lost 30, so I suppose I'm in a position to give a little advice, at least how to get everything started.

First things first, what are your strengths? Have you dieted with small successes before but exercise is  where you falter? or maybe you already exercise and its diet that is the problem? Whichever it is for you, pick your strength and focus on that and then Research! What kind of diet would best suit your lifestyle? what kind of body are you hoping to gain? These are all things that need to be considered.

Exercise: There are so many different forms of exercise, they vary in intensity, results and time, and what suits one person might not suit you which is exactly why you should try them all! or at least as many as you can until you figure out, hey I really like the challenge that running/walking provides or wow I feel so much more now that I swim!

 Good first timer exercises:

Maybe you don't feel comfortable going to a gym?
These can be done at home or around your local area

• Walking/ Running 
• Swimming 
• Workout dvd's (like gym classes in your living room! These can also be done at anytime, any day, for as long as you feel comfortable- you can make it harder as your fitness increases, its completely in your control) 
• Skipping
• Self directed floor exercises (These could be a mixture of sit ups, push ups, lunges, squats, tricep dips, leg lifts, there are thousands of exercises like these for toning specific areas of the body and they are literally all over the internet- a youtube search can provide visual examples if needed)

My top five workout dvd's, tried and tested by yours truly. 

1. Zumba (The original set is best for beginners, Zumba Exhilarate is great when your fitness has increased and you want a harder workout).. I personally attribute most of my weight loss to these dvd's. 
2. Yoga and Pilates for beginners (these can be found in many stores such as Target and Kmart, even your local grocery store!)
3. Kettlenetics (These are a cross between a strength and cardio workout, very good all rounder.)
4. Cardio Ballroom with Julianne hough (A slightly more advanced dance based workout, but definitely effective once you have repeated it a few times and can get into the rhythm).
5. Jane Fonda- Abs, Buns and Thighs (Excellent toning exercises with a touch of cardio). 

If you are not averse to gym's or group training, these can be equally if not more effective. Many gym's offer a variety of classes (cycling, boxing, Body Jam, Body Pump and other les mills programs) which are excellent for those of us who find it hard to self motivate. 

Diet, Now I can't offer an incredible amount on this, however I have found calorie counting very useful in the past. The amount of calories we each need per day varies depending on how active we are, our weight and our metabolism (How fast we digest food and convert it to energy). The recommended daily caloric intake is 2000 per day, but this is only a guide, you may need more, or like me, considerably less than this.  To find out how many calories should be your limit for the day, right out a hypothetical healthy meal plan for 1 day, then research the calories in each food you have included (google is a gift from the diet gods) and dont forget to take into account portion sizes! Say this comes to 1200 calories, and on an average day perhaps you eat approximately 1800, adhering to this new limit will give you a caloric deficit where you could potentially lose weight. Diet, like exercise is about trial and error, research, try new things and workout what works best for you. 

* To calculate the calories in food from the nutritional information on the back of a box divide the Energy (kj) by 4.2. For example, a 250ml glass of milk could contain 900 kj according to the label, 900/4.2 = 214.3 calories per glass. 

FIND WHAT WORKS FOR YOU AND KEEP DOING THAT! 

The most useful article for dieting I think I have ever read: http://www.bodytrans.com/newsletters/bodytrans_newsletter_09-2003.htm <--- Cope and Paste If You Like Actually Achieving Your Goals. 

* Tired? Ask your pharmacist about multivitamins, they sincerely help you feel at your best even when you are not. Malnourishment can make you overeat other food (generally junk food) to compensate. 

* Worried about having loose skin? I use Palmers Cocoa Butter to tone my skin (in particular- my arms), regularly moisturising your whole body (once a day, easiest done at night before bed) can significantly help with circulation, relieving that loose puffiness we all get on our under arms, torso and thighs.


One last thing, work times, school, responsibilities, these are all things you need to manage and work around, but if you want to be healthier, look better, whatever it is for you, you have to find the time. I personally despise working out in the morning, and will only do that if I'm am going to a specific gym class, but more often than not I work out at home, at night for around 1- 1 and a 1/2 hours before bed. This works for me, as it is the only time the T.V is really free so I can just pop in a dvd or whatever I want. The point is- find your time. 

Defining Moments

We all have them, they're those odds times in our lives we say we're going to do something, make a change and then we actually follow through and make it happen.. and then BAM this sets our lives on a completely different path. If I'd never had one of these moments, I would still be 100 kgs or more, I probably wouldnt be finishing school, but then this raises the question.. what else aren't I doing? What else are we denying ourselves simply because we haven't thought of it as an option before, or because we are too scared of failure to try...

I'm hoping blogging will be my next defining moment, even if noone actually reads or follows them, the idea alone that someone could read these and take to heart whats said here, that someone could be considering weightloss and looking for inspiration or ideas, gives me the incentive to finally finish what I started and lose the last 10 kgs I need too.

The Woes Of Binge Eating

Up until now I had my weightloss plan down to a pretty simple routine, workout hard, try to eat less, if I ate a hell of a lot more, workout more, but unfortunately the closer you are to your goal weight, the harder it is to actually lose any, I think this is because my goal weight is on the lower end of the healthy weight range for my height (5'' 6' or 168cm). Technically I am within a healthy weight range at 70 kgs, but health wasnt the only reason for my vendetta against my own bad habits, vanity makes up about 90% of it and 60 kgs is where I would like to be. My old routine isn't really working anymore, it's maintaining my weight but that isn't exactly my goal yet so! what to do next?

I lost 30 kgs when I had my defining moment with exercise which has become this constant in my life, and really the only thing keeping the weight off, but eventually it was going to get to the point where I had to change my diet as well, and in a permanent way that doesn't just get forgotten the second I reach my goal.

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What has prompted so bold an act as to actually overhaul my diet and in a manner whereby I am not going to cheat, and in the event that I do I won't just excuse it as always, I'll write about it, I'll make it a concious event I have to admit too and seriously contemplate.

The Cookie Disaster: This was the moment I realized I needed to change something more, maybe you've had one of these moments too? Exercise I have down pat, but diet? Well I've said it before and I'll say it again, I am a binge eater. I eat when I am not hungry, when I am bored or tired, stressed and even when I am sick. I always approach my diet with the best intentions, but by mid-afternoon this usually blows up in my face.. but last night this verged on the utterly ridiculous, I had already had dinner, and had done reasonably well on my diet during the day, a good thing no? Then I made a mistake, one cookie, that was all it was meant to be, it ended up being 6, I felt physically ill because I wasnt even hungry and I hadnt eaten that much junk food in a few weeks. I barely managed to workout for more than 40 minutes. Eating to the point that you make yourself sick? For lack of better wording.. What the hell is my problem.

But if I've learnt anything from my ventures into weight loss its that we have the potential to change, all the time, in any way, the second we decide too, you just have to take that first step. I also know that the only way to lose weight is to persevere, if you want it- do it, and do it for yourself.

I'm going off of the theory that when you fall off the horse, eventually you'll get better at holding on.

Saying goodbye to 30 kgs

In the last post I wrote, I basically summarized how I motivated myself into deciding to lose weight.
It was january 2011 when things really started picking up, 5 kgs was a great start, and I was feeling good too, like I had achieved something fitness wise- I was finally capable of taking my exercising further. 3 months prior to this my mother had bought me a set of Zumba dvd's as a gift after she saw how determined I had become about exercising, yoga-ing every night religiously as I was. I had tried one dvd, barely kept up with it and felt very much like a certain floppy sack of bricks (see last post). But I was different now, I was fitter, not marathon fit mind you but at a point where I was ready to step it up a notch or 5. I started with my one dvd, much like my yoga routine, one on-hour dvd everyday, I gave myself a time limit this time too, I wanted results within two months and boy did I get them! Again, my diet wasn't given much thought, baby steps is my approach, exercise first- diet later.

It was hard, sweaty work, and I know dance-based workouts aren't everyones cup of tea but these suited me just fine, once I'd done the same dvd a few times I started to remember which move would come next, I developed favourites and looked forward to them while dreading those extra hard songs.
 They say its best to workout bright and early in the morning, I'm sure that works great for those select few who wake with a sparkle in their eye then spring out of bed like an over-zealous daisy ready to take on the day, but for everyone else, myself included, finding the motivation to work out in the morning was an impossibility, so I workout at night. I live in a house with 3 other adults (parents and eldest sister) who don't necessarily have it in them to be supportive or encouraging, and I wasn't working out so I could be ridiculed (even if they wouldn't have done that, those closest to you sadly can be the most discouraging when it comes to self-improvement), I also didn't feel the need to draw attention to myself.

Making weight loss a private matter, something you do for yourself that requires no justification on your part is extremely important, if every time you pick up a salad someone pointedly eats a cookie in front of you, you aren't going to hold out very long now are you?

Anyway back to exercise: By the end of february I had lost 12 kgs, again not an incredible amount but its the difference between 95 kgs and 80 kgs, which as anyone in this weight range knows is a big difference. For the year that followed I continued working out, I even added a few extra dvd's into the mix just for variety. Cardio Ballroom with Julianne Hough, Kettlenetics, Pilates, just to name a few.


It is now March 2012, I am 70 kgs and trying my hardest to get to 60 <---- This is my ultimate goal.. where diet, exercise, and the previously mentioned cookie disaster which has prompted my blogging all come into it.

First post!

I never considered blogging about this in the past, however considering todays cookie disaster, it seems imperative I do something to sincerely monitor my diet. I overeat, like most people researching and reading diet blogs, this habit has caused me to be over-weight for most of my life, actually, minor understatement there- I binge eat, I know the amounts are ridiculous, I know I'm not even hungry, and I also know how I'll chastise myself about it later and yet there I am doing it, again and again, but more on that later.

A little back story here might help my readers understand or maybe even relate to my situation.

I have been over-weight for as long as I can remember, when I was 10 years old I stood on my grandma's scales (while noone was around ofcourse!) and made the discovery that I was 50 kgs, which for a child seemed incredibly over-weight to me, I have two older sisters, 4 and 8 years older than myself, also significantly taller, and I was heavier than both of them. Horrified, I worked out that entire day and swore I would lose weight. Anywhoo, long story short it didn't work out that way as  by the time I was 12 I was well and truly 80 kgs. This was when I tried my first ever legitimate diet plan- Celebrity Slim, A shake plan where the participant replaces two meals per day with a shake, bar or soup from the celebrity slim product range. I spent all my pennies on this for around 6 months, I did the diet properly for one week in those 6 months and lost around 5 kgs.

3 years later, I hadn't owned scales in a long time, seemed rather pointless by this point. I tried to at least maintain my weight rather than keep going up, and accept that this was just the way I was meant to look and feel. However, contrary to our wishes, clothing sizes don't lie, and mine were ever changing, continually increasing really. In june of 2010 I discovered I was 100 kgs *BIG MOMENT*.. (pun intended). This was the day I basically went insane at myself and realized accepting myself as over weight was all well and good, right up until I get heart disease, diabetes, can't walk, can't wear clothing that doesn't resemble a curtain, I mean honestly- where was the line between being confident and being submissive going to be!

Anyway, so I would not accept my fate as it were (HERES THE BIG MOMENT, THE LIFE CHANGING ONE). Food seemed like a lost cause, I could control it reasonably, saying no to a bag of chips here, a piece of cake there, but then the next day, or even an hour later, I would be back to eating badly with a vengeance. EXERCISE ON THE OTHER HAND, now, I'm not going to tell you "oh its only hard the first few times" or that "you just have to make it fun"... it is never fun, it never will truly be fun, not until you've lost a bit of weight anyway, but until that happens exercise is going to and will continue to make you feel like an exhausted bag of bricks trying its darnedest to bounce around. So, exercise seemed like my most viable option, my never actually attempting truly vigorous exercise may have helped there, but where does one start with exercise? Last time I had checked I couldn't run ten metres without being completely out of breath so what exactly were my options? And this was the day I discovered yoga, the first and probably most important step in my weight loss to date, I wasn't fit enough to perform aerobics, but yoga seemed to involve more strength and flexibility- a good first step. Regardless of boredom, I got down on the floor every day for an hour of the same yoga dvd for about 6 months, no change to my eating habits, just exercise. I lost 5 kgs in those 6 months, not a huge change, I know, but the point is I was then fit enough to get into some good cardio workouts!

I know this post is long and arduous, but theres more to this story I promise (it involves losing 30 kgs to date), and in the next post I write I'll say exactly how.