The Idiot-Proof Diet - Neris and India

I have just stumbled across this book and bought it. I have been reading it for a bit, I actually kind of like it. Its very though-love though. I'm going to give it a change in the new year and follow the plan for a bit. However I am not too keen on the start of the diet which is very heavily based on the Atkins diet and other similar diets.
Ill read more on the book and see how it goes, I may try it as they say the tough start only last two weeks before adding other foods back into the diet so we'll see...

Update on weight.

So here it is! My start weight is 136.5. :(

That is awful!

I am heavier than the last diet I went on! I cannot ever ever ever be this weight again. I plan to lost this and keep it off, first goal is to reach the 120's. So I have to lost at least 7 lbs. Id like to be at that weight by mid January but I'm not going to push my luck, I'm going to take my time and do this slowly. I'm going to give it as long as it needs.

My weigh-in's will be Tuesdays as Mondays are a little ridiculous in terms of stress. I am hoping to still be 136.5 by then as I will be going to Amsterdam for the weekend with all the girls and even though I will try and be as sensible as possible I am not sure if this will be possible. I don't know how much exercise Ill get and I don't know how many uber healthy options will be available.

I was going to try starting the 'Food Doctor Ultimate Diet' but it requires a strict liquid based diet for one week which I am unable to commit to this close to Christmas. I intend to start this as a new years resolution on the first of January, starting the year on a good footing. In the meantime I am controlling calories and exercising.

So bring on Week 1 weigh in on Tuesday!

It Starts NOW!

It begins to day... Strike that. It starts right now, as I already screwed up the morning with a pain au chocolat and a crossaint. But from NOW. RIGHT NOW I will never ever be heavier than I am right now.

That! Feels! Awesome!

From right now its a slow gradual descent to 100lbs I plan to take 6 months to lost the weight in a consistent way. I plan to use the FItBit, the BodPods results and my Food Doctor Ultimate Diet and my tools and get to my results watch me shrink peoples :)

I have to say it again...

I will never, EVER, be heavier than I am now! :D

The Food Doctor Ultimate Diet- Ian Marber

The Food Doctor Ultimate Diet- Ian Marber

I. Love. This. Book.

I have read loads of diet books, I have a whole shelf dedicated to diet books, but I bought this book a few days ago and I'm loving it. The reason I stands out from all the other diet books I have read is because it is honest and simple.

The book doesn't give lots of testimonials, is not bossy, judgemental or tell you what to do or not to do. The book tells you how weight loss works and how the body reacts to different foods you eat and when you eat them, the same goes for exercise. I love the books because if simple and easy to understand and even though the author. Ian Marber goes into some quite technical and sciencey areas he still manages to explain everything in a way that it easy to understand.

To be honest I am still at the very beginning of the book, but as of now I would highly recommend it to anyone before they start a diet. Just to educate yourself on how the body reacts to food and exercise. Knowlege is a very powerful tool when fighting the fat.

I GOT MY FIT BIT :)

I first hear about the FitBit on Jo's website, a wonderfull blogger whom I have been following for over a year now. She is great and I discovered the item on her site, however since I live in Ireland it was a little tricky getting my hands on the item. FitBit as of yet does not ship to Europe so I had a friend in the States order the item for me and bring it back to me when coming on a holiday to Ireland, so I finally have it how. I would like to mention now that I am in no way sponsired by FitBit and anything in this post if entirely my own optinion, but I just had to write about it since Im in love with it. 

The FitBit is a great little gadget which is basically like a really good pedometer. Not only that but it also tells you the distance you have travelled in the day, estimated calorie burn, flights of staris climbed and your activity levels. Aparently for women it gives most accurete results when worn on a bra, so I use the belt clip and attach it to my bra everyday, it is very comfortable, I dont even feel it. It also at sometime gives you little messages like 'You Rock', 'Let's Go' or 'Hug Me'. Ontop of all of this the item also tracks your sleep. When you get the fit bit you also get a wristband in which the FitBit fits, so at night you attach it to your non dominant wrist (which in my case is the right) and turn on the sleep mode. The item will then track the kind of sleep you get, how long it takes you to get to sleep, how frequently you wake up and from that you can work out the REM. All this combined and it will tell you the quality of your sleep, mine seems to average 96%.

Im am over the moon, I actually got it about a week ago and I have used it everyday. I seem to do 10,000 to 15,000 a day without any additional exercise. Id like to do 20,000 most days without an addtional workout and then add steps for additional workouts.

But that is onlyone half of the FitBit...

Not only does it give you and all this data but it wirelessly transmits it to the FitBit website. As long as your computer is on, is connected to the internet and the docking station is attached it will automatically transmit all the current information to your FitBit account. On this website you can review all the data in one place, you can set goals, view timelines and see your data in charts. Setting goals here can help keep you motivated.

Here you also have a chance to track your food intake by chosing from their online database of foods or creating your own foods. The online system will compare your food intake to your energy ependiture on graphs and charts giving you an accurate view of your day to day relationship with food andexercise, giving you an opertunity to see issues and make changes where possible.

You can also join groups, and if you are lucky you can find one in your city orcountry. You can also make friends with other people with a FitBit account and compete and encourage eachother, this is helpfull as the system will automatically compare your daily steps. There are forums for further help and encouragement and technical advice if required.

You have the option of getting premium membership with the FitBit site for a subscription fee. This will allow you to get more detailed information from your FitBit and further advise on how to proceed further. For now I have devided not to avail of this.

So, so far I am very happy with my new gadget. Its give accurate information and thus provides encouragement. I would recommend it to anyone as the item only costs $99 and the website account is completely free, which I dont think it is for some of the FibBits competitiors. However I could be wrong, I have not tested any of the other similar products and can only speak from my own research and use of the FitBit. I would again like to mention that I am in no way being sponsored by FitBit or anyhing like that.

BodPod

I first heard of the BodPod on some TV documentary I watched in regards to weight loss and metabolism. Apparently it is some machine you sit into and it is about to measure your RMR and body fat as well as lean mass. I googled BodPod in Ireland and found that a University in Dublin has one. Yay, that's in Dublin so not too far away. I had to take the morning off work and went to UCD.

So first the Doctor, if that is what you call him, took some of my details, such as weight, height, age and fitness level. Then I got changed into loose clothing, shorts and a tshirt, and also I put on what looks like a shower cap. Apparently hair can interfere with the test so you have to make sure its fully covered. Once this is done he takes your weight again and measures it against the contraption you will be sitting inside and completes some other tests on the machine for calibration.

Once he has completed this I sat in the Egg like machine, I was asked to breathe normally, remain completely still and focus on one point in front of me. This only lasted for a minute or so and was completed twice to make sure the test was accurate. Here are the results:

Weight: 60kg

Height: 150cm

RMR: 1070

Est Calorie Expenditure (Sedentary): 1327

Est Calorie Expenditure (Low Active): 1626

Est Calorie Expenditure (Active): 1862

Est Calorie Expenditure (Very Active): 2215

Fat %: 36.7%

Fat Free Mass %: 63.3%

Fat Mass: 22 kg

Fat Free Mass: 38kg

So my fat percentage is about 37% which puts me into the excess fat category and 40% is the risky category. My ultimate goal is to get to the lower end of 22-30% fat which means that I will be in the moderately lean category.

So I think this information is invaluable as the information gained from websites and calculators was so inaccurate and confusing it was nice to be tested in an individual way that is unique to me. I think that this information cost me €65.

Day 4- Build your Confidence-

To be honest the title shocked me, how am I going to do that in one day? But I'm hoping that this book can give me motivation and confident in myself that I can do this, because honestly I don't think i can right now.

Judith says that you need confidence in your self to lose weight, which I agree with 100%. Knowing you can do it is a huge confidence boost along the way. She tries to instill confidence by giving yourself credit for what your doing. Looking at it at the moment it seems a little silly and not only that it could have the effect of making me complacent.

So here goes:

She wants you to give yourself credit the same way you would a friend. Which is actually a great idea, I don't think I would ever praise myself the way I do other people. It just not my way... especially for little things.

She also says to put on a little bracelet or rubber band and give yourself credit every time you see it.

Everything you do something positive, or don't do something negative, give yourself credit.

Answer back to sabotaging thoughts!

So here it goes:

Well done for not over eating today. Good Job, Anaelle. :)

Ha ha... it still seems a little silly.. but kind of nice too.

I figured something out...

I have just discovered my main problem. I do really well all day and as soon as I get home from work I falter. Every time, without fail. I sometimes go to the gym before work, then I have a healthy breakfast, then I have healthy snacks and a healthy lunch during the day and as soon as I get home I binge and get really lazy. I don't go to the gym, I eat crap, and I sit any watch TV. I was good for a while but have fallen back into the trap.

I know to anyone reading this it must be really obvious I dont know how I havent seen this before. I guess im doing well all day that when eveing time comes it almost seems like it doesnt count. But it does! I have noticed this pattern for a while now and posting it up is part of me finally addressing it.

I don't know why I do that. Even if I ate crap, why am I not going to the gym. I sit there and watch mind numbing TV, not that theres anything interesting on. I have to get this part of the day under control because if I do, then this whole diet weight loss journey, lifestyle change thinggy would be much easier.
Must work on this!

Day 3 – Sit Down to Eat

So this is the goal of day 3 'Sit Down to Eat' this is going to be a problem. I usually don't sit to eat, its just more convenient not too. Life is so busy. Judith ask you to examine why you don't sit down to eat...

- Life is too busy

- Its convenient

- I have to take the food before I serve it

- Its just a little thing and doesn't count as a meal

These are my excuses, so she then makes the point that we need to MAKE time to sit down. It is not only just to sit down and eat, but sitting down to eat makes you more conscious of the amount of times you eat a day. It makes you realize all the times you eat things as a 'Snack' that you never realised before. I noticed that it makes me question if I even want the snack and sit down or if I'm not hungry and just doing it out of habit.

At first I thought is was a silly unnecessary task but now its helping me cut out some unnecessary snacking and making me conscious of when I am eating. She asks that you continue this along with reading your motivation list everyday until the end of the 6 week plan. I will try my best to stick to it.
If I don't have time to sit and eat I must make time or eat later. This is not on optional task, it is mandatory.

The Rules!

Here are the rules I will follow by for this Journey and my life:

- Believe I can do it

- Never Cheat

- Track Everything

- Blog lots

- Don't Give Up/Make it a habit

- Don't just do it for myself

My Thoughts

Believe I cam do it!!! (I'm still working on this one. I think my lack of consistency and regaining has made me lose my motivation, which is terrible. I cannot do this without motivation. I have just ordered a FitBit so this is getting me a little excited and motivated. I think that once I see a loss it will motivate me and keep me going.)

Never Cheat! (If I deviate from the plan I am not allowed to throw in the towel, I am to drop to the back up plan, take it easy and get motivated again to continue on the plan, perhaps it will be time to modify the plan at this stage)

Track everything (Track every calorie that goes in and every calorie that goes out. By this I mean take note of call the calories I eat in a food diary and also keep a note of my calorie expenditure in my exercise diary. I will do this using MyFitnessPall (online calorie/exercise diary) and ALSO using the FitBit and my RMR. Also I will regularly track my weight and measurements on this blog, probably once a week)

Blog Lots (To get motivation, to hold myself accountable. I don't think anyone readers this, which is ok, just the fact that its out there and people can read it make me accountable to all my potential readers. In my dreams I would like to be able to inspire people and myself, that they, and I, can do this. I awe at people who have achieved weight loss goals. But lots of people have loads of weight to lose, I only have 30lbs and am struggling. I need to be able to do this)

Don't Give Up (I have noted, on my journey that one thing I am very good at is giving up. However I am persistent but this time it has to be about consistency. I can say oh this chocolate bar doesn't count . OF COURSE T DOES!! everything counts!! I have to be realistic and consistent these are my friends on this new journey. I have to make it a habit, make exercise and a healthy lifestyle a habit, once it is it'll be easy as pie)

Don't just do it for myself (I have noticed that if I tell myself that I am doing this for someone else I am more likely to not over eat or go to the gym. If I do it for me I can make all sorts of excuses, but if I do it for someone else I cannot make excuses for them. I have asked by BF and my friend if it is ok to make them in charge (a little) of my exercise and food. So every time I don't want to go to the gym or want to over eat
I have to call them and give them my excuses they are then to decide if it is ok for me to do either. I have done this for a while, and maybe its a bad thing but it works for me. And I have noticed slowly that I call them less and less and am able to make the decisions on my own. I'm learning)

My BodPod Experience

So yesterday, I went to UCD- Belfield in Dublin to have a go at the BodPod. This is a machine that you sit into and somehow it measures your body fat percentage and your RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate) along with some other measureemnts.

I still had to work yesterday, which usually statrs at 9am, so I had to get up really early to go see the BodPod, my appointemnet was at 8. So even at that, with all the rush hour traffic I was still an hour late for work.

When I get there the gentleman asks me to change into shorts and a loose tshirt, he takes my hight and weight and then asks me to put on a swimming cap and sit in the BodPod (there is a picutre of a BodPod below) and then we do the test twice to make sure ots right. The test costs about €65 which is quite steep, but I think it was worth it.

I found out that my body fat percentage is 37%. 30%-40% an excess of fat and over 40% things begin to look grim. Goal one is to drop into the 22%-30% mark which is considered generally healthy.

My estiamted RMR was 1070 calories, so this is what I burn for one day if I do nothing but sit and breath. This leaves my usually daily life, without extercise, at 1327 calories and around 1626 calories. I think the plan is from here to eat 1200 cals a day.
 

Day 2 - Commit to a Diet Plan

So this is the fun part where we get to think about in what way we would like to lose weight. Firstly a primary diet is chosen, this is the main diet you will stick to and then a back up diet is chosen in case you falter on the first one and don't go on a binge. This is in case you slip-up on the first one you will not fall off the wagon and binge but instead continue with a different modified diet plan. Its so that if the first plan just isn't working for you can fall back on the backup plan.


Judith (the author) ask you to chose your two diets (I prefer the word 'Plans' more) carefully, so as not to set yourself up for failure before you have even started. She says to plan modifications into the 'Plan' so that when an on the spot decision comes along you do not deviate from the plan.

So here are my choices:

- Calorie counting and Gym

- Weight Watchers and Gym

I chose calorie counting and exercise as my main diet- this is the most merited and advised way to control wight loss and maintain the lost weight. There is a lot of research and information including studies and online tools that can help you to lose weight. There are also lots of books and such that can educate on this subject and one cam make it strict or easy as they like.

Also I will try and investigate this as much as possible to keep my motivation up. I am getting my fitbit soon and have taken a trip to the local bodpod :) I will use regular weigh ins and measurements as motivation also.

I think that weight watchers is a great plan to fall back on as its a little simpler than calories counting and its a good place to fall back on as it can be a bit more easy going. Sometimes the calorie counting gets heavy and meticulous.

Day 1- Review the Advantages of Dieting

So I'm on day one and today's take is to ponder the advantages of dieting and write out a list of advantages. The are to get you motivated and get you thinking about the benefits of following through with the 'Diet' (i still don't like that word, but for now it will do). Soooo here's my list:

- I'll be more confident
- I'll be more attractive and look better
- I won't feel so self-conscious
- I'll feel better physically
- I'll be healthier
- I'll like myself better
- I will have accomplished something important
- I'll feel in control

So that's my list of motivations :) Now the book asks that you review this as many times a day as you can at least twice a day. They ask you to write it out and have a copy in your bag, your wallet, on your bathroom mirror anywhere that you might look. I have decided to have a copy in my hand bag and the other on this blog as I do spend some time here.

The book urges that you read through the list especially when you are having a tough time with diet or exercise and to continue reading the list until the 6 week plan is over .

Also I just was looking around online and I stumbled across this scary image. There's motivation to lose some weight and get fit. It is an X-ray of an obese person compared to a normal weight person (I think) and i never look at weight loss on the inside. Its important that our internal organs are healthy and not smothered by fat.

As a side note I am honestly not motivated at all, I know I should be but I just cant get into the swing of things. I have tried this so many times before and failed and its not the diet that has failed me it is me that has failed the diet. I just need some will power, eat less and move more. So simple but so difficult also, trying to break life long habits.

Diet Drinks

I am totally addicted to diet coke. Its rediculous, I have several cans a day. This is a habbit I am going to have to get under controll, going to try some teas :) I found a very educational video that explain how diet soda can cause weight gain...

I am doing the Beck Diet Solution

So the Beck Diet Solution is a book which uses Cognitive Therapy to teach you to 'think like a thin person'. I have seen it recommended on many forums and boards and seems to get results. I like their approach of setting you one task everyday to complete for 6 weeks to teach you all the skills that you need to 'think like a thin person'.

I have actually started this book a few days ago so I will catch up on these days via this blog and then should post more or less everyday after that to keep me sticking to the plan. So from what I can see the first week doesn't start you on a diet straight away, it looks like it just creates a basic platform and teach you tools for tackling a healthier lifestyle and difficult situations. So I need to get my motivation up!

Wish me luck xx

Again Start!!

Believe that I can do it.

Never cheat, ever.

Track everything (even gum).

Don't talk about change, do it!

Don't loose weight for the numbers on the scale but do it for how you feel about yourself.

Dont give up.

Sleep enough.

Focus on one thing and try to create a good habbit.

Have a goal and change goals as time goes on.

Dont just do it for yourself.

Dont eat three hours before sleep.

20 minute wait time. Wait 20 mins after eating sensible portion, if still hungry have more.

Monday Night Weigh In...

TA DA..... 126LB on the dot.

Im pretty happy with that considering that for the last few weeks I havent really been too good. I think Im just happy tosee that Im not back to where I started or worse... which was a genuine fear I had before standing back on the scale.

So my new plan is in full swing.Eating my balanced meals everyday and going out for an hours brisk walk/jog inthe mornings. I can finally go outside now that the rain seems to have been banished and the sun is out :) Im hoping for a fabulous 124 lb next week.... bring it on

Sorry ...

Sorry to all the people who said they would follow my progress and I haven’t posted at all :(

Just after my last post my computer died a sudden death. I believe the disease is called blue screen of death. Where the screen goes blue and then the computer turns itself off and will not turn itself on again. It’s very sad as I have A LOT of info on that computer that I would have liked to save. Ah well, lesson learned, always back up your computer. It is now away with the insurance company to be repaired, but I’m not sure what they'll be able to do to fix it. The past month has been stressful trying to organise a computer, working a lot and trying to lose weight.

Anyway, enough excuses. I have been given a computer, barely working, but working none the less, that I can use for the time being. On to my journey and goal, I kind of stopped tracking my progress and loss, one week I was on a diet and the next I wasn’t... but I quickly picked myself up, dusted myself down and got to business again.

In the last month I have lost some weight and am happy to say that my current weight is ...... 126 lb :) I am very happy with this, it means that I haven’t gone up, I’veeven lost a little. Every little helps right?

AND.... I have found out, over the last month, of roughly following my plan outlined in a previous post, that I always fall down every time once I get home from work. I always do well at breakfast and lunch but once I get home from work I just eat whatever I feel like with no regard of if it’s good for me or not. And the reason? No Plan. I have planned out to precision what I have for breakfast and lunch, but dinner? There is no plan. So I made one :) I spent all weekend cooking, I have cooked two giant meals. Diced beef in black bean sauce with whole grain rice and lots of veggies and Cajun chicken with pasta and lots of veggies. Then I split the meals into 8 portions of 300 calories each and put them into individual freezer bags. Now all I have to do when I get home is to grab one of the bags from a freezer and microwave it and done!

With all my meals now planned I can’t lose :) ... let’s see...

3 week stall

So I was pretty down this week due to my fluctuating weight and lack of exercise. This had a very negative impact on my eating pattern. I think I ate quite healthy, however there was a lot of grazing and some over eating. So I decided to hit up Google and get some research done. Trying to find an active solution to my problem always get me motivated.

I have also been looking into various other blogs, which are an amazing source of motivation and inspiration. There is something about reading other similar experiences to your own that gets me all fired up. I think its the idea that we're all human, we're not perfect. We'll get there if we keep moving. It doesn't matter how long it takes.

So I have found amongst my research that there is such a thing as the three week stall. It's probably not a 'thing' but its happening to me and its nice to see that im not the only person that this is happening to. Usually I would get disheartened and give up, but reading about others with a similar situation makes me want to try harder.I found this blog that peaked my interest, where people are having similar issues.

I lost quite a large amount of weight at the beginning of this diet and it just seems to have halted at this point. I put it down to my body realizing that its not going to get the usual amount of calories and slowly adjusting to my new lifestyle. I'm pretty sure my first weight loss was just water anyways. Apparently weight loss grinding to a halt and people even gaining weight at this point is quite normal.

Things I can do to bring back the weight loss-

-Do the same I have been doing and wait for my body to adjust

-More intense exercise

-More frequent exercise

-Exercise longer

-Check that I am eating enough calories and that my body isn't in starvation

-Change my diet to increase my metabolism

-Change the type of exercise im doing to build more muscle and increaser metabolism.

- Eat less and more often

- Keep a closer eye on the calories i am consuming

-Drink more water

- Eat less salt

-Eat less carbs

-Weigh self less and at the same time every week

With all the above in mind I will try and just be aware a lot more about what food I put into my body. One of the steps Im going to take is to set up some mini goals for myself, break down the chunk I want to achieve, such as weekly and monthly goals and of course an end goal.

So keep in mind for next week, exercise more, track food intake religiously and plan my goals.

Im feeling much more positive already. :)

GOALS

I want to lose 25lb by June, that is 14 weeks from now, 3 and a half months. So my goal is 1.7 lb per week. So every month I would like to lost 7.8 lb.... :) By:

March 1^st I weigh 125 lb

April 1^st I will weigh 117 lb

May 1^st I will weigh 109 lb

June 1^st I will weigh 101 lb

I will try and lose 2lb every week, but I will be happy with any kind of a loss :)

Ouch

I am soooooo sore! I decided to try out Clare Nasirs boot camp video on Sunday!!!! And I'm still sore today! Its Wednesday now :o. My legs are killing me. And because of this I haven't done any more exercise this week, its just too sore and I don't want to do any damage to myself.



I just wanted to kick this week off really well, being good and doing exercise. But no luck, I cant exercise and my food intake at the moment is not being tracked as I eat the same thing every day. :( Just generally sick of eating the same food all the time and sick of not exercising, and sick of going between 126.4 and 124.8 all the time :(

I just hope that I can figure out a new meal plan soon and that I wont be as sore and get my exercising into gear.

I did some more research... and got confused

I just did some research to see how many calories I should be consuming daily to lose weight and the results were very confusing. For my maintenance I got recommendations from 2420 calories to 1419 calories and to lose weight I got from 985 calories to 1920 calories. That's a thousand calorie difference! I am a 4' 11", Female, 23 years old, weigh 125lb and have a sedentary lifestyle (little to no exercise). Below are the results I got.

Maintenance 1475, 1816, 1775, 1814, 1625, 1684, 1642, 2420, 1633, 1544, 1686, 1751, 1419, 1871, 1683, 1475, 1633.

Weight Loss 1180, 1313, 1250, 1708, 1200, 1920, 1133, 1044, 1000, 985, 1314.

So what I decided to do was to add up the number and divide them to get the average. This has left we with a maintenance level of 1703 calories and a weight loss level of 1277 calories. I think this is where I should aim for now. Any comments welcome...

Monday Weigh in on Tuesday

I know I should have posted this yesterday, but I was a bit miffed at my weight and I didn't want to post it at all :(. But I have to take the good with the bad. I was looking back and seen that i had already lost 9 lb, a little loss was to be expected. I think because I was doing exercise I was expecting more. Here it goes, this weeks weight is....

124.8lb

That's it, about 1lb for a hard weeks work. But its still 1lb less than before so I cant complain. Still looking for support if any one reads this.

Its a new day!

Today has been a lot better. I ate a good breakfast, lunch and snacks. Now I can tell you that it could have been more structured, but definitely not bad. And......... I also went into town and bought a work out video! Two actually.  I got Clare Nasir's-Boot Camp and Nadia Sawalha's-Fat to Fab.

I decided to take things easy, so for this week I will focus on Clare Nasirs video. It was tough! really touch, I'm sore all over and I'm sure its gonna be worse tomorrow :/ So first there is a cardio work out and then 4 different workouts (each 20 mins long) they focus on toning, resistance, cardio and abdominal. I did all of them. But towards the end I was getting exhausted so I didn't fully finish each section. I felt amazing and I hope it shows. I'm still trying to figure out exactly how often i should do this work out and when to do it. Any comments on this are welcome.

I really hope my hard work shows tomorrow in the weight in and I hope its not as sore as I am expecting it to be.

Bit of a set back... or is it?

Hi all, so I've been on this ... 'journey' for about 2-3 weeks now and Ive had my first slip up. It's not too bad, but it was avoidable. I just wasn't prepared enough. I was invited to a party on Friday, so I went and bought three drinks, not even thinking about their calorific content. Well I'm sure it was high as they were very sweet. And then there was a lot of party food there. Things like, mini pizzas, sandwiches, chicken nuggets, popcorn and mini sausages. It was OK I didn't go mad :) I also only has 2 and a half of my drinks.

The next day I decided to go to the zoo, that was great. Did about 4 hours of walking. Solid. But i did have a hot dog. So from now on back on track! no more messing up. I have learned by lesson, its my birthday in 2 weeks and I cant mess up then I just need to be more prepared.

Also tomorrows is the day when I'm starting to exercise officially :) So I'm gonna head into town to see what exercise videos are around. I think ill need something like that to motivate me. Ive looked at some online, Ill post them below, if you have tried them please let me know what you think.

Nadia Sawalhas: Fat To Fab Workout

Clare Nasir Fitness

Jillian Michaels: 6 Week Six Pack

30 Day Shred

Carmen electera strip aerobics

Davina: Body Buff: Bonus Digital Copy

Davina Mccall: Super Body Workout 

Any comments are welcome as always :) I need as much support as possible, especially when I slip up.  

Excel :)

So I have made some meal plans :) yay. Its quite repetitive but for now that is what I need.

Breakfast (195 Calories)
Poached Egg
Real Butter (only a scrape)
Whole grain Toast

Lunch (267 Calories)
Salad (tomato, lettuce, carrot, peppers, low cal dressing)
Wrap (lettuce, low mayo, grilled chicken or quorn, tomato)

Snacks (332 Calories)
Kiwi
Pear
Tangerine
Yogurt
Low Cal chocolate

Dinner (340 Calories)
Brown rice
Broccoli
Grilled Salmon
Korma Sauce

Drinks (15 Calories)
Dilute Juice

So altogether this meal plan usually comes in at around 1100 calories which still allows me to add some extras here and there if I'm still feeling hungry. I like this plan, its a nice framework. I even made an excel spreadsheet in which I can tell it the maximum calories I can consume daily and then i add the foods and calories I have eaten in a day and it will keep track of everything for me and tell me how many calories i have left.

I am always really hyper organised and this is perfect. Its fast and easy and takes out the thinking for me.

Tools and such, the grity work

So armed with my research I went to tackle the issue step by step. Starting with the beginning. My plan is to go from 134lb to 100lb. This means losing 34lb in a healthy and sustainable way. So taking a leaf from Debra Moorheads book I decided to go and check how many calories I would require to maintain my goal weight and to just eat that many every day. This would already train me into eating the way I should continue to eat for the future, greatly reducing the risks of gaining back the weight one I go 'off' the diet.

The fist thing was check my BMI, I wanted to know where I stood and what weight I should plan to be at. So I went to lowfatdietplan and looked up the chart. Its easy to read where you are and where you need to be to be in the healthy category.Currently my BMI is around 27 and I need to weight in the neighbourhood of 100lb-125lb to fall into the healthy category.

So I checked what my daily calorific needs were for my target weight of 100lb with two websites, shapefit gave me a recommendation of 1511 calories per day and freedieting gave me a daily amount of 1338 calories. So for the sake of restriction I am going according to what the freedieting website has calculated. It easy, just put in your gender, height, age, weight and activity level.

For activity level I put 'deskjob' because that's why I do, and I do no exercise around that. I think that because I do not want to fail at this I want to succeed I don't want to overload myself with too much too soon. So for now I will tackle food until I am confident I can take on exercise. I am taking baby steps towards a new lifestyle.

Armed with this new information I decided that from now, until I lose all the weight I will write down EVERYTHING. I need to keep track of every biscuit I eat, every drink I take. And I made the decision that I could not cheat until the diet is over. When I cheat I usually relapse into my old habits.Writing everything down will teach me exactly what to eat and what not, what foods I can afford to have more of and where I need to be careful. Also using calories will allow me to eat whatever I want, but if it is a high calorie meal I will go hungry for the rest of the day. In the case that I do slip up and over eat I am not allowed to give up, I must get straight back onto the horse and forget that it happened.

For now, the first few weeks this is the plan, try to get used to the calories, see what works, make meal plans see what doesn't work and tweak it. Eventually I will add in such things as better foods and exercise. This will evolve and come with more research and time. For now I have a big task ahead of me, wish me luck.

Reasons Reasons

Wow! Time really flies :o its Thursday already!

The last time I posted was Monday, and I don't think other than work I have accomplished much at all. I get so tired after work I just wanna sit down, have dinner and watch TV.

But any who here I am ready to tell you how I am getting on. Well I shall start at the very beginning on how I got this little project on its feet. First I scoured the Internet for information (a solid two or so weeks of research). I considered how I was going to tackle this weight loss thing in a way that this time I would not fail. I read about diet pills, researched fasting, Weight Watchers, LipoTrim, gym's, eating disorders, calorie counting, Atkins, the cabbage soup diet, the 'beyone' diet. I looked up EVERYTHING!

Guess what I found out?

None of it matters. None. Not even a little. Sure all the above are helpful tools for weight loss. But the thing I found was that if you are not in the right frame of mind, or are doing it for the wrong reasons all of the before mentioned diets and weigh loss methods mean nothing. Sure you can lose weight, but you will gain it back. So first thing is first. Why am I trying to lose weight?

Well I have been average weight (within my BMI) all my life, until I went to college, in 2006. Over the next four years of college I gained weight, not a huge amount, but enough to bring my BMI to 27 (over weight). To be honest I don't think my weight is an issue at this point (from a physical health point). I am merely just overweight. But emotionally it is effecting me a lot, my self confidence is shattered. I feel that I have no will power, and I feel ugly. Since I am only 4ft 11" tall, those extra pounds really make a difference.

I want to lose weight to get back my confidence, to feel sexy and healthy!

I want to lose weight as it has gone up at a slow but constant pace for the last four and a half years. If I don't do this now. I never will.

I did this very thorough research in a bid to not allow my self to fail again, I have tried many of the above diets and failed everytime. You wanna know why? Because of my mind set, I would say things like 'Sure I'll eat like 500 cals a day until I lose the weight and then Ill go back to normal'. This does not work, first of all, I never got that far to lose all the weight I wanted to, but also I never really wanted to diet. I just wanted to go straight back to fries, pizzas and soda.

This time my research has let me a different direction, I am going to have to make changes that are permanent, that I can sustain. There can be no such thing as 'I'll go back to normal' this 'diet' (for lack of a better word) is the normal! That is why I have made my journey so public. I cant do this alone, I don't want to. I want to have people follow my progress, to encourage me but also to let me know when I'm not doing enough. I need support, encouragement and tough love! So I urge you all who read this, to comment and tell me to do this and to see it through.

Monday!

Ok so here it is, bearing all, the initial number. I have to make this public and have to get support, put some pressure on myself so that I continue losing weight. Im going to weigh in every Monday evening before dinner and post it online. I REALLY hope the number drops! Here it goes...

Well thats it, its out there now! 125.6 lb people. Considering my start weight was 134lb about a week and a half ago its great to know ive lost about 8lb. :)

That number has got to move down to 100lb by the summer though! It has to! Now I know I’m not morbidly obese, Im actually just border line over weight, but I want to nip this upward spiral in the bud before it becomes a realy issue. I want to make a life style change and get my self confidence back. I need to, I hate looking at myself at the moment. So please if your out there reading about this, please comment, please show your support and help me reach my goal.

I’m going to follow Eat.Live.Be a project that exists in facebook. This is a group of bloggers who all participate in a healthy living initiative. Each Monday they blog about how they have reached and maintain their golas and also comment on other topics. I will hopefully be participating in this inittie also. Every Monday I will weigh in and share how I have achived my goals or how I found the last week difficult. (I’ll include pics and measurements and such)

My Goals-The Plan

So my Goal is to lose 34lb, bringing me to 100lb, which is near the bottom end on my BMI.

Goal Weight 100 LB 45.3 7.1 Stone

BMI 20.2

Calorie intake from now on will be between 1000-1200. And my plan is to have the majority of the weight of ASAP, but by June, thats in 4 months :/. But my final final goal is September as Ill be going on holidays and I will have to look fabin a bikini.

So I checked my calorific need for my target weight will be 1500lb, so I decided to go just a little below that to get the calories that I will be eating for my diet. I have already made up a meal plan which will fill me up everyday.

I plan to post freaquently and weigh in once a week.

Wish me luck guys!

My Body My Stats

Below are all my measurement including my weight as of last week, Im a little behind on posting :(. As you can see I am now over weight acording to my BMI. In the next post ill explain my goals but for now this is where the situation is at the moment.

Neck 32cm 12.5 inches

Shoulder 14cm 41 inches

Bicep 31.5 cm 12 inches

Chest 99cm 38.5 inches

Waist 81cm 32 inches

Hips 103cm 40.5 inches

Thigh 59.5 cm 23 inches

Calf 33 cm 13 inches

Belly 90.5 cm 35.5 inches

Hight 150 4’11”

Start weight 134LB 60.7 KG 9.6 Stone

BMI 27.1

And here are some photos of my body at the moment! Be warned its not pretty.

Some Rules

Here are some of the rules I will follow, (some made up and some from the internet):

• Believe that I can do it.
• Never cheat, ever.
• Track everything (even gum).
  
• Don't talk about change, do it!
• Don't loose weight for the numbers on the scale but do it for how you feel about yourself.
• Dont give up.
  
• Sleep enough.
• Focus on one thing and try to create a good habbit.
• Have a goal and change goals as time goes on.
  
• Dont just do it for yourself.
• Dont eat three hours before sleep.
• 20 minute wait time. Wait 20 mins after eating sensible portion, if still hungry have more.

New Plan !

So Ive been thinking, why am I trying to lose weight? And it has been becomeing alot more aparent recently, I feel the weight, I can feel rolls of fat starting to develop, I feel heavier. I need to get this sorted before it becomes a real issue. Not only that but I have zero self-love right now, I dont feel pretty, or sexy at all, and to me thats important. I want to feel great in my skin.

I think the reason the last diets havent worked are a) becasue there was no structure and b) becase they were unrealistic. With the Weight Watchers plan I has 29 poits plus about 5 extra point per day, that was too much give and not enough controll and the Lipotrim was only 400 cals a day! There is no way that is a realistic way for me to lose weight and keep it off.

I was reading about this lady, Debra Moorhead, and found that the way she lost weight was realistic, down to earth and do able. She lost weight by going online and finding out what her calorific intake should be for her target weight and that would be her daily allowance. I think this is a very reasonalbe way to aproach the subject, as I would be eating the food that I should continue to eat even after the diet has finished. So there is no suddent change as there usually is when you finish a diet. This is why it is not a diet, but a lifestyle.

Also she sais that she has not added any extra exercise that she woulndt ususally do, I think ill do the same for now. Idont wanna over complicate things, I want to do this right this time and I want to take it slowly. I can always add exercise later.

So, I'll keep you posted on my nextsteps. Wish me luck.

Im back, my recent ventures failed.

Ok so Lipotrim really did not work for me, it made me very depresses and sick. So I stopped the program and gained some extra weight back...


So what was my next paln? Weight Watchers. This was great, I really liked it the point were great and I didnt mind the plan at all. But I soon found that I was loosing 0 weight. I think its because Im only 4'11" and my calorific intake should be less than they recomend. And also the food they recomend I eat were having the opposite effect. So that went into the bin too.

My weight rose to 134lb to be exact. Right now, as of today I am 127 lb. And I have a new paln of attack. Which I shall inform you on later. :)