A girl's weight loss journey #3 - When you're not satisfied with yourself, go and change something

Hello there!

I hope you're all fine!

F If you want to know, how I did this week, just scroll down and skip my text! You'll find all the stats and key facts for this week at the bottom of this post

I had a lovely, funny and informative meeting the last Wednesday and I cannot say how much I enjoy these get togethers.

I like to walk to these meetings. And yes, this week, it just happen to start to rain on Wednesday. We had great springish weather the days before, but since Wednesday it really got wet again. Well, my point is, that I walk in every weather condition (rain, sunshine or ice). It takes me about 20 minutes to get to the hotel, where the meetings take place from around 9:15am until 10:15. (Well, the next class starts at 10:30 and usually our leader talks just till this time) First you have your “weigh-in”. So you got weighed, you can see all your progress on the laptop, how much you lost this particular week, how much in total, how many points you are allowed to spend per day, what your final goal weight is and how many stones and pounds you have to go to that weight. It's always a great feeling when the scales show a minus and the exact number of pounds you lost. It's just the leader and you, no worries about other members. This takes about half an hour and then the leader talks about a special topic, it is a different one every week and I find it really informative. I really see myself in a lot of these positions and it is good to hear the support and tips of successful members, like swapping different foods or acting in different situations.

So, today, well I was working on it the week at night, when I couldn't sleep, I'll have my third blog-post about my weight loss journey (find the others HERE) online, thinking about small changes you could make – in general, if you are not satisfied with you and your life (or a special part of it), and not everything I was thinking about is food and diet wise. It's about making you feel better (things that make me feel better and behaviours and habits I have changed or learned since I started to do the Weight Watchers programme – I will talk about habits, good and bad ones, in one of my next blog posts of my “Weight-loss-journal”) and that is not always food related. At the end of the day, you have ask yourself: What are the things, that make me happy? What gives me a good feeling? What makes me comfortable? What encourages me and what demotivates me? How could I change something with little steps? What could I do in a different way?

And let me say, thanks to you all for the support, it means a lot to me and is always much appreciated.

When you're not satisfied, go and change something OR for every piece I like of my body, there are two I hate

I've always kind of hated (Wait is hate maybe a too negative, strong, harsh and destructive language? Should it rather be dislike? Hate would implicit a deep antipathy or aversion against something or somebody, if that matters, and I am not sure if you could soften that expression or that relationship between you and something/somebody you hate, so maybe I should have said, that I don't like some parts of my body in my current situation) most of the parts of my body and I couldn't see parts that might be really nice. So I kept asking, I am big, why should I have parts that are likeable?

For example, I hate my belly, my arms, my butt and my thighs. And apparently, these are the most and obvious parts of a body.

Actually, my waist is high, just under my bust, and it looks kind of defined, since I started to lose weight. Funny that, I lost most of the weight on my upper body, but if you are losing weight, it will be just a matter of time, that you lose it everywhere. (Well, hopefully soon on my belly)

However, in the last time I came to the reason, that there are parts of my body, that I quite like, just like my waist, breast or fingers, that changed during the weight loss or the things, that stayed the same and won't change, like my hair. Well it's neither straight, nor curly, but I like it and it's colour, a darker blonde with highlights in it (it's my natural colour that I am wearing for a couple of years now. As a teenager and in my early twenties – tough to say that as a twenty-five year old woman – I used to change my hair colour a lot, I had a brownish phase and a red one)

I also like the colour of my eyes, a blueish grey and I like the form of my lips. (I'd love to put on darker vampy shades of lipstick, but you know, you don't clean the house with that kind of lipstick on your lips. Well, I don't, do you? - And for the matter of fact, I like to use make-up, when I'm out and going to town or even to my Weight Watchers meetings)

So when you are looking in the mirror and you are happy with what you are seeing, you mightn't change a thing, but if you are dissatisfied, will you stay this way or is it time for a change, then?

-First thing, you always have to want it yourself, and you have to do something. You can't keep your fingers crossed and saying, it will be okay or waiting for a fairy or someone else, to put you out of your current situation.

-Small steps sometimes make huge changes! Wear the colours and clothes you like. Wear accessories, like earrings, necklaces, scarves. Wear make-up or paint your finger nails.

-Do something for you and your body. Remember, you just have one and one live and you should treat it like that. There is no point in dying with 40 years because of a heart attack, caused by to much fat and sugar. Go for a walk, a swim or cycle as often as you have time. It's fun, it'll get your head free and it'll make you happy, and that is just not a cliché.

-Relax in your own bathroom. So go and get yourself a new shower gel, body lotion or bathing foam.

-Read the new book you bought in the bookshop or listen to your favourite CD.

-Make small changes in your daily food routine: Swap full fat milk for half fat or skimmed milk. Use sweetener or honey instead of sugar in your coffee or tea. Use wholegrain rice, bread or pasta. Try healthy and filling oats/porridge for breakfast instead of sugary cereals. Swap sugary fizzy drinks for their diet version or water and fruit/herbal teas.

Eat at least five pieces of fruit and vegetables a day! Snack on them, instead of biscuits and cakes.

Enjoy a self made dinner with chicken, turkey or fish with vegetables or salad and potatoes, pasta, rice or couscous for dinner, instead of a highly processed and salty shop bought food like Pizzas, burgers or a Chinese takeaway. Not only it's healthier it is also a lot of fun to cook and create new dishes instead of putting some chips or Pizza just in the oven. (And yes, of course I love to have fish and chips every now and then, but I will have a big portion of mixed salad – lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, pepper, onions, carrots, beetroot- a stir fried vegetables or a ratatouille with it and a smaller portion of chips and size of the fish)

-Allow yourself treats. One or two days a week should do the trick, but NOT everyday, so a treat would still be a special occasion.

-Stay positive! Don't let a bad day ruin your new way. There are always bad days, bear that in mind. You shouldn't give up to early, give yourself a change don't put all of your plans away, to early.

I will leave you with a beautiful phrase by Audrey Hepburn:

“I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.”
 

Statistics and key information:

Number of weeks: 6

Weight loss this week: -2lbs, ~ 0.9kg

Weight loss in total: -1^st 4 ½lbs, ~8.4kg

Feeling: Well, of course, I am happy, that I lost 2lbs. I was eating a lot of rubbish this week, although, I wanted to avoid to do it like that. I eat loads of biscuits and cake (although I always stayed in my daily points allowance without using any of my weekly allowances). But I don't know, how I felt this week. I felt pretty good on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but then, on the other days, I felt really exhausted and tired. I didn't sleep well the last nights and this kind of made my days. I did not feel motivated, to do some exercise like walking or even go to the pool (so, yes, I skipped that). But in the end, there is a reason to celebrate: I reached my 5% goal (meaning I lost 5% of my original weight) and this keeps me motivated for the next weeks!

Favourite food: Roast chicken with potatoes and vegetables, pasta-vegetable-stir-fry, beef curry & rice

Favourite treats: Buns from Orlagh's Mum, Fish&Chips with Onionrings, Scone & strawberry jam

Goals & plans for the next week: This week, I went for a walk on 5 days but did not increase the time I exercised and as I said earlier I neither went to the pool nor did I eat less rubbish. So I am not really happy with all of this. So it'll be the same for the next weeks I guess. More and different exercise and less rubbish-like food.

And of course I want to lose that 2 ½lbs for my next “silver seven” (marking another half stone gone)

Tips and thoughts: -Think twice before you eat that other chocolate bar (or whatsoever). Do I really need and want it (most of the time you want it but don't need it), usually, it's just a craving. I get myself something else to do, like putting the plates in the dishwasher or cleaning the kitchen. It takes 20 minutes, till your brain realizes satisfaction or that you have eaten enough. Usually, you won't need anything after that, but if you still want something, got for a piece of fruit, fat-free yoghurt or sugar-free jelly.

- Eating too much is as worse as eating too less. Your body needs some “fuel” to work, if there is no fuel, your body will not lose any weight or fat in particular. Get the right things: double protein at lunchtime. It will keep you full for a longer time. I aim for cooked chicken breast, fat reduced cheese, quark cheese or eggs with salad and wholegrain bread.