It might possibly have a smidgeon to do with the fact that I realised yesterday that I now weigh about 25 kgs (55 lbs) more than I did when I first met my husband just under twelve years ago (he, of course, has remained exactly the same weight which, let me tell you, is kind of demoralising, LOL) I’ve basically gained 2 kgs (4 ½ lbs-ish) every year since we first clamped eyes on each other. Most of it was due to giving birth to HIS children mind you. You know how as the Mum you almost always serve the other family members first? I think repeating this over and over during the years has triggered some sort of deep-rooted molecular process whereby my body is convinced I’m going to miss out on food so therefore urges me to eat as much as possible when food is actually put in front of me.
Did that fly? Not even a little? Yeah, didn’t fool me either.
I’m fat (eek! I used the F-word!) because I eat too much and don’t exercise enough. Why do weight loss programs and systems even need to get beyond this basic principle is beyond me, but they do, and I get sucked in with the best of them. Economics has always saved me from throwing my cash away on expensive gym memberships or most recognised diet programs but every now and then the evils of the weight loss section of the local bookstore overcome me. To my credit, I think I pick some of the ‘better’ books on the shelves. I’m kind of anti-any-recognised-weight-loss-plan so that pretty much eliminates 98% of what’s up there. The whole notion of Atkins makes me grumpy. Probably due to lack of carbs, but whatever. Weight Watchers, though they’ve helped countless folks around the world, bothers me because of the cost involved. In my area you might occasionally get a ‘free signup, save $33′ kind of deal but then you’re still lumped with $18 or more per weekly meeting (on top of your usual groceries plus their cookbooks and products if you fall further into the vortex) and I don’t know about you, but I could sure use that $18 elsewhere. That would pay for a super-dooper deluxe gym membership if I was so inclined (and I’m not!) Don’t even get me started on the ‘pay us money and we’ll send you miniscule portions of foods so you don’t ever have to learn the hard stuff like healthy menu planning and smart food shopping ever again!’ plans. Never tried those, but I still reserve the right to be extremely annoyed at them.
But yes, I’m a sucker for books. I bought one yesterday - The Click Diet. At first I thought it was going to be something a bit dodgy - but it turned out to be quite sensible and in line with thinking I already had which was basically, you need to withdraw more than you deposit when it comes to calories. They do the usual stuff like include meal and exercise plans which was a good read but hardly anything I didn’t already know. Why do I keep buying stuff like this? No idea. But at least the info was sound.
Twenty five kilograms is a LOT of weight. Perhaps not to someone with fifty kilos to lose but hey, it’s all relative. The mindset is exactly the same. To get back to my ‘fell in love with Hubs’ weight (and back into the healthy BMI range) I’ll need to lose close to a quarter of my body weight. That’s The Biggest Loser level folks. Eeek.
Habits I want to establish in order to achieve this monumental task:
- Walking every day, or at least as often as humanly possible. This includes eradicating excuses, including pansy-butted ones like ‘Oh, but it’s a torrential downpour outside!’. Suck it up Princess Lizzie. That’s what raincoats are for.
- Stop eating junk. None of this ‘just a small piece’ nonsense. It never works for me. One Ferrero Rocher? Are you kidding me?
- Healthy menu planning, even if it kills me. I’m guessing it probably won’t.
- Stop eating ‘bad’ takeaway lunches while out for the day. Believe it or not, this is a big habit of mine. I’ll go out on a quest for, say, twelve pairs of white socks and come home with a belly full of McDonald’s (and probably six pairs of blue socks, a mop and a jar of pickles - the carbs people. They render my brain cells sleepy and useless). Amazingly, there are healthier options which still fit within my ‘lunch calorie budget’. Which leads me to…
- Create and keep a ‘cheat sheet’ of my most commonly used food items and their calorie level. Saves time wading through ‘braised artichoke hearts’ to get to the ‘wholemeal roll’ (much more my style) in the little calorie counter book. Duplicating this list also gives me a chance to throw one in my purse for shopping trips. Oh, and part of the list includes a section for takeaway foods. Did you know you can get a McD’s Lean Beef Burger, a Garden Salad, Ranch Dressing and a Diet Coke all for 326 calories? A Quarter Pounder and a 3pk of nuggets is TWICE this amount.
I’m a little over 28 ½. We have a family history of heart disease (both my parents have had heart attacks in their early to mid fifties, my mother’s being fatal), obesity, pre-type II diabetes and to put the cherry on top of all that, at my age my mother was battling cervical cancer. I have this crazy notion in my head that I will be at my goal weight by my 30th birthday in Oct ‘09. I mean, I’d love to actually GET there sooner, but I’m hoping to be still there when the big three-oh rolls around.
For more Live Well Wednesday folk, pop in here. I’m off for a walk.
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