and just like that, I'm Back!

I haven't had time to write in a few weeks! I was worried that if anyone had been reading my posts they might have taken that as a sign of my giving up, but rest assured I haven't lost sight of my plight.

The last time I posted, I was on Celebrity Slim and bouncing up and down between 68 and 71 kgs, if you're just tuning in Celebrity Slim is a meal replacement diet plan, and it worked quite well, but unfortunately whenever I got to the 68 kg mark I always lost it and would go back up. 

Since then I've given up on Celebrity Slim, it was great while it lasted, but it seems like I was spending a lot of money on something that I wasn't taking all the way. I've wondered why this is, I always feel a bit physically small when I go below 70, but isn't that the point? I think in my case CS made it too easy (Crazy? I know!), and therefore it was all too simple to say yeah, eat the cookie, you'll lose it again easy enough, but when you think about it, doing that means you never actually get anywhere, you just go up and down!

So what am I doing instead you ask?

Well, I know CS was effective so I'm taking some tips from there. 

Diversity, its tempting to say I'll just eat these 3 or 4 foods each day and thats it!.. You can't do it, I can't do it, you gained weight because you like food remember? One, eating the same thing day in, day out, is boring, and two you'll miss out on all those vitamins and minerals which actually help you feel like your not depriving yourself. Obviously I need to keep it reasonable with my grocery bill and everything, but a few options doesn't. and from this I've devised these basic guidelines.

Breakfast: I personally love breakfast and when you eat a substantial one, morning being the only time you really can with gaining weight, it helps you feel full for the rest of the day! My breakfast of choice is a nutty, seed and grain filled cereal, as I don't tend to get much of these healthy carbs from my other meals. When trying to come up with meals, think about what's healthy and missing. 

Lunch: I split lunch up into 2 meals, morning and afternoon tea, in between these I drink Green Tea to help control my appetite and keep me all energised and buzzing. If you've read any of my previous posts (which I would certainly advocate lol) you'd know I act like this stuff is a gift from god, but it does have its merits, its not too heavy on caffeine, just enough to help curb the cravings and keep you awake, but the flavonoids (only the ones found in green tea) assist with fat oxidation, basically controlling the amount of fat you can absorb. My morning and afternoon tea options are usually any of these: Low-fat low-sugar yoghurt (flavoured not natural, taste is a factor here lol), Low fat cottage cheese with 2-3 vita weats (seedy grainy wholemeal crackers), an apple, a banana, cornthins with peanut butter (if I'm seriously hungry). 

Dinner: Now this is the important one, I always go light on dinner, regardless of what you've eaten during the day, dinner is the meal that really determines how much you'll lose or maintain. My dinner options are: a low fat fish fillet with a side of brocolli, carrot, cucumber (or whatever you like so long as its of the veggie family), a ceaser salad (I'd never liked salad before but then I tried some of the ceaser dressing and fell in love, you can't hate it if you've never tried it), and ofcourse soup! Any soup, I prefer instant, so long as its below 100 calories, a few vita weats and a small can of flavoured tuna, and then thats it! I don't eat anything after dinner, which does take a few days to get used to, but once you have, you'll wonder why you weren't doing it before! 

Snacks: Noone's perfect, so if you get hungry: blueberries, strawberries, a few pieces of ham, a few slices of cheese. 

This is the diet thats been working for me for over 2 weeks now! and when I say working, I mean it took me down from 73 to 69 kg!

Exercise ofcourse is important, for me I find it more important than dieting, everyone is different. I've been experimenting with weight training lately since I had always avoided this due to a fear of bulking up. Along with my usual hour and a half of cardio (either Zumba, other dance workouts or elliptical), Ive been doing half an hour of deep stretching plus half an hour of Ab work, leg lifts in all directions and jazz style arm work, all against the resistance of my own body, no weights required, and the results really blew me away!  After a week I was noticeably more toned, everywhere! The internet is filled with example of these types of exercise so start searching, Diet.com has some really great video tutorials which I've become quite fond of. 

As always, moisturise your whole body, cocoa butter is my favourite, it really does make a difference, eat clean where you can and make exercise worthwhile, never put less than 100% into it! 

* Devise a diet that works for you. 

* Exercise the way you like, but always exercise. 

* Moisturise to help tone your skin. If your losing weight loose skin can become an issue, so moisturise!

* Research! look up new exercises, diets, recipes, mantras and tips. You never know what you'll find!

I wouldn't suggest it if I didn't know it worked!

Good Luck, 

Rosie.x

Day 42.. I don't care how long it takes!

Fear of failure, its often the excuse we all fall back on when we choose not to start something, not to try. In my experience, its a fear of success that truly stops us from achieving our dreams. No matter how many times we say "I want to be skinny",  "I want to be rich", "I want to be successful", all of these things also mean change, and its exactly that that we fear! I may say I don't want to be overweight, but I've never been thin.. what if I don't like it? All of these thoughts had been floating around my head over the holidays until I realized I was just being a coward, talking myself out of something that could truly be great! and if its not.. its also reversible (lol). So instead of giving into those insidious thoughts, I shall plunge ahead into the unknown!

Over the holidays I didn't diet hard, or really at all, there was just too much going on. Unfortunately, I didn't have as much time to work out either, so I did gain a bit of weight back. But! That's all over now, and its back to my normal routine. Honestly I'm actually excited to get back into my diet, I missed not having that bit of purpose.  

I started doing my traditional workouts again two days ago and I'm already seeing a real difference! It's never worthwhile giving up just because of 1 or 1000 bad days, its much easier to fix the damage than you think you just have to start. 

One thing I really noticed over easter was how much power we give food. We tell ourselves chocolate and pasta are so so incredible and we must deny ourselves that which we hopelessly love to look good! I am definitely guilty of this, but this mindset just makes dieting unnecessarily hard. Once I was allowing myself to eat these things again, no guilt, no fuss, I realized that they're.. well they're just food. For example, if we told ourselves that eating copious amounts of caviar will make us deliriously happy then said no caviar! We would drive ourselves crazy until we could get our hands on the black goo. All of this, only to discover.. yeah, its good but hmm.. maybe if I eat more it will fulfill the expectations I put on it. 

This applies to all junk food- We give these items too much power.

Obviously the girl in the picture is a little encouraging (or she makes you feel awful, whatever) but I really love the quote!

Tips from today

* Always get back on the horse! EVERY SINGLE TIME. DO NOT QUIT. 

* Before deciding to sit there and fantasize about all that your missing out on, because they're just so life changing, those foods, those miracles of sugar. Put it in perspective. The sooner you achieve your goal, the sooner you can incorporate reasonable amounts of junk back into your diet. Junk food will still exist in a few weeks. 

* Don't treat yourself like a rubbish bin. We've all done this, seen something unhealthy in the fridge and thought, "oh darn, this expires soon, I should probably just eat it". Why should you eat it? You could always inform someone else that it needs to be eaten, offer it to them, share it with them, or just chuck it. Its just food. 

* and last but not least, even if you're a little hungry or bored, fighting those old habits, be happy! You're doing something amazing!

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 :)