FOOD FOR THOUGHT...

We can't always be positive in life and it is at times of negativity we can ruin what we have achieved. It becomes so easy to give up, to think we can't do it, whatever it is.

Sometimes it is the smallest of things, that at that one moment can seem so big. It's these moments we need to recognise and learn how to cope with. That is not always as easy as it sounds.

This week was my twelfth and last week of my Change For Life classes. I call them classes because in these twelve weeks you are given all the information that you need to eat a healthy diet, to see where you may be going wrong with the foods you eat, and to live a lot more active lifestyle.

I only lost half a pound this week and I really would have liked to have lost more. I really wanted to have lost 2 1/2 stone over these twelve weeks. That's 35 lbs and I have only lost 33! Now, I know there will be some of you out there reading this (especially my family, who are as ever such a great support) shouting out "You have lost 33 lbs!". "Losing 1/2 a pound is better than nothing!". "At least you didn't put weight on!". And you know, of course, they are right!

I think the point I am making is that it is so easy to see what we haven't done as opposed to what we HAVE done. We sometimes set ourselves goals and if we do not achieve them straightaway we feel we have failed, but really we should see we haven't. A great part of any change is in the mind. Learn how to deal with that and you can be more positive in whatever you wish to achieve. In these twelve weeks I have learnt a lot, and I now need to try and be a little more positive towards my weight loss. If I don't lose one week, or even put some on, it doesn't matter as long as I can recognise the triggers of negativity that could send my weight spiraling up again. 

I can still go back every week for support sessions to get weighed which is good, but nobody knows me better than me and I know that if I am going to keep the weight going down and staying off, it's going to be a very steep learning curve.

At the first session I went to after Christmas, I was very positive as many of us are in the New Year, and to make me feel even better I had lost 2 1/2 lbs. In fact, if I am being honest, I have lost weight every week, so really I haven't done that bad, but try telling me that! :)

The first class was about secret eating, which is something we all know about whether it's that little piece of cheese left on the worktop after making sandwiches, that bar of chocolate that doesn't matter because we ate it at midnight or the burger we had in the car, because what we eat in the car doesn't count. Car, bathroom, in the garden, or walking round the car park. You know what I mean.

Most of us have done it at some time and it can send our calorie intake up without us even realising it.

There are 100 calories in half a doughnut, half a small sausage roll, one small packet of crisps, a half pint of beer or lager. The list goes on, and if we eat or drink these on top of our normal daily food, then slowly and surely we will put on weight and wonder how it happened.

That doesn't mean to say that if we want to we can't eat or drink the things we love. We just have to be aware of what we are doing.

If the calories we take in when we eat and drink are greater than the calories we burn in just staying alive and exercising we will put on weight.

So if you want to have your 'treats' you need to be more active, but you need to be aware of those 'treats' you don't realise, for whatever reason, that you are having.

I was one of the worst for licking my fingers if I had butter on them when making sandwiches, licking the bowl when baking, tasting, tasting and tasting food when I was cooking... the list goes on. Hopefully now I am becoming more aware and trying not to do this, by squirting washing-up liquid onto bowls and hands very quickly before temptation strikes. The battle continues... :)

So this week's blog concludes and I hope that sharing this with you has helped me be a little more positive and helped some of you reading this realise you are not alone, and we can all have our moments of weakness.

There is a saying that "Strength doesn't come from what you can do, it comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn't". So here we go. Another week of trying...

 

TIME FOR A CHANGE

Since writing the first instalment of this blog, I have been thinking about what to say next. It's not that I don't have anything to say, it's knowing how to say it, and in what order.

Anyone who knows me well will know that I have no problem in talking... and talking... and talking.

Seriously though, to think about something and write it down in a coherent fashion is an all new ball game for me.

It seems sensible for me to start at the beginning and stay on a straight line, which is something I never seem able to do.

I have had a weight problem it seems since birth. A big baby, a big child and an even bigger adult. I am 56 years old this year and out of those years I have been overweight to some degree for 40 of them. My dress size has ranged from a size 26 at worst to as low as a 12. As an adult my heaviest weight has been 22 stone, and my lowest 10 1/2 stone.

Over the years I have tried almost every diet going, been to every slimming club and tried many fad eating plans, but nothing has worked for me long term.

At one time I was even prescribed medication (now no longer available) to help me lose weight and I did actually lose 10 stone, but it soon came back on again when I went back to my old habits.

That's one of my problems really. When I am told I can't have something to eat that I want, I want it even more and it always seemed like someone else was controlling what you were allowed to eat. The good things and the so-called bad things.

About 2004 I just seemed to give up. No more control and over the next nine years my weight again just went up and up. My health suffered, but I was in denial. I didn't want to be controlled. I think this was partly due to being controlled by my first husband for so many years. Now I have a wonderful second marriage and a supportive husband. I could not go back to being controlled.

I did try a slimming club a couple of years ago because my doctor was so concerned about my health, but it didn't last. For a number of reasons, it wasn't for me. My health got worse and worse and by the end of last year I was so tired and sometimes in so much pain I just wanted to give up.

Our beautiful grandson was born last year and I really want to be there to see him grow up, but to be honest the way I felt I couldn't see that happening.

Then, just before Christmas, I saw an article in a local free magazine about 'Change For Life', a service run by the N.H.S. to help you make lifestyles changes that can last.

I gave them a call, seeing it as the last chance to try and do something that could possibly help.

They were very nice and asked me to attend an introductory session a week before Christmas. I went, but only those close to me knew I was going. I remember walking into the village hall and hoping no-one would see me. It was just me and two ladies who were very understanding. They explained to me what it was all about, that everyone in the group was in the same boat, and that weight losses or gains were not read out and were confidential. 

To be honest, apart from being weighed, I don't remember much about what was said at this first meeting as my mind couldn't take it all in, but I knew I was going to give it a go.

I do remember being given a bright yellow folder with all the information in it. Coming home on the bus, I kept hoping no-one could see what it was. It was like something in a cartoon, all I could see was this great big, bright, shiny, yellow folder that I just didn't want anyone to see.

But I HAD done it. I had been, and now all I had to do was go back again after Christmas.

A new year - a new me?

Welcome!

Hello,
Welcome to my blog.
It's really been set up for my benefit, but anybody who cares to read it will be more than welcome.
You may be wondering why I chose this name for my blog. At the end of last year (2013), for various reasons which I may go into at a later date, I decided that I needed to lose some weight. I wasn't really sure at the time that I could do this and felt a bit like a horse in a race that's a 100 to one outsider. A few weeks down the line I am now starting to think that I can do it, having lost thirty pounds in just under three months. I would like to now go on to turn that thirty pounds into one hundred pounds, hence the title. One hundred pounds from one person - me.
As many of you may know, when trying to lose weight there are many thoughts that go through your head, eg. food, food, food and possibly more food! 
Seriously though, I am hoping that this blog will help me clear my head and share my thoughts with you. Sometimes they may be positive thoughts but sometimes maybe not.  Sometimes I may just feel like a rant to make me feel better, other times I might be feeling really positive and want to share it with you.
I must point out at this juncture, they are purely my thoughts and my opinions and I would not want to contradict anyone else's personal beliefs.
I've never done a blog before, and it's a bit of trial and error as to if I get it right, but I'm willing to give it a go.
It would be nice if you could join me on my journey. Any comments would be read with interest. Please be kind :)
Well then, here we go...