Perspective

Okay, so I kinda got lost in the storm there for a while. Easter was the trigger and my own negligence was the ammo.

But you know what, this is a marathon, not a sprint. I'm good, I'm okay, I'm back in the sunshine again.

Things I learned this time:

1. Chocolate is not my friend.
2. Some part of me seems hell-bent on sabotaging my best efforts and I don't know why.
3. Making healthy choices is hard when you 'don't care'.

What's helping:

1. My three mantras: "it matters" and "if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got" (thanks Dr Phil) and "time passes regardless" (thank you Lucy).

2. Being mindful.

3. Remembering how far I've come but kind of ignoring it. Today is a new day and tomorrow will be the same if I don't make some changes today.

4. Focusing on what I CAN eat, rather than what I can't.

So, I'm getting there. It's been an excellent week. I'm almost 18 kilos down now and people are really starting to notice. Must remember that while I'm getting smaller my head mustn't get bigger!

Always a fan of Lucy...

[Image found here]

It is working

Could this be the key? I have nothing to say about my diet one way or the other EXCEPT

it is working.

I am paying no attention to it whatsoever. I am not obsessing. I am not even thinking.

it is working.

I'm not eating funny foods. I'm not craving anything. I'm not scared if I eat a morsel that's 'not on the plan'

it is working.

There is no hurry. No stress. No 'I should be' or 'I shouldn't be'. It just is what it is and

it is working.

I know this because even though I am not measuring myself or weighing myself, we are taking photos every Sunday evening in the same tight clothes and

it is working.

Three words that stand out for me this week:

1. Persistence
2. Consistence
3. Daily

I'm charmed, as ever, by Diminishing Lucy

[Image found at the Lucky Optimist, source unknown. Please contact me if this is your image!]

I've finally found my 'zone'!

I'm in the zone. That zone where you're just 'doing it' and not 'thinking about it'. Think driving your car... ever freak yourself out wondering 'how did I get five blocks away all of a sudden'? Yep, that's the zone.

Well, I've never been here for weight loss before. Never.

It's the good life here. Rather than boring myself senseless by filling my mind with a constant stream of what I'm eating, what I'm not eating, what I might be eating, what I miss eating... eating, eating, eating... I'm just doing it. In the past I've gotten so BORED with dieting that I immediately turn to food (because I'm a Boredom Eater, of course). Haven't done that this time, not even once.

There is a 'permanent' feeling to what I'm doing. I think I was just ready. I think my reasons are good. I think it's just my time.

SEVEN kilos down now. I'm doing it.

{Image via Style List}

Choices, choices, choices

I am trying very hard to focus on one food choice at a time. I stock my fridge with fruit and vegies and healthy choices and then I make sure I really focus on and make those choices. Every single time my tum says "I'm hungry", my head says "let's think this through and make the right choice". I'm reminding myself every time of my reasons for losing weight and the fact that I have to change in order to get there.

I have made a couple of poor choices in the past couple of days, but they were conscious poor choices and that alone is a breakthrough. I weighted up my options and decided that I would have the treat anyway. And it was exactly that: a treat.. Hallelujah!

[Image via weheartit. Source unknown.]

Writing my song...

I'm doing well. I haven't weighed myself (I don't think I will for a while, if that's okay) but I feel like I've stayed reasonably on the straight and narrow (narrow, geddit?). I've realised that my 'diet' is taking shape in the form of 'eat like a normal person eats'. So, aside from banning chocolate (unless it's in something that I bake myself) I'm really eating much as I usually do, just a bit less at mealtimes and a lot less at snacktimes. It's working really well.

It feels sustainable.

Which is the whole point, really.  Previous attempts have resulted in me scoffing chocolates by 4pm because I feel deprived and I feel like I'll never get a square meal again as long as I live. Not good.

It's nice to feel a bit more in control again. And it's nice to feel like I'm finally doing something again to move a little (little, geddit?) bit closer to looking like the 'me' that's in my heart.

No more skinny puns. Promise.

Phase 159 of the 20 year diet is... on!

So, I turned 39 on Friday . So Saturday marked the beginning of me packing my bags for the big move to Skinny Street. Feels oddly great, just as decluttering the unclutterable always feels great. You've just got to set the timer and start clearing out a single drawer.

And so we begin.

So, on Saturday I had Thai takeaway for dinner and ordered curry and noodles. That's not the way to move to Skinny Street, now is it? Next time it will be Chilli Chicken and I'll boil my own brown rice. See, I'm planning.

Then on Sunday I made Lemonade Scones for afternoon tea and ate five of them with butter and jam. Hmmmm, this drawer is very, very cluttered, isn't it? Next time I'll eat only two with jam only... and miss the butter with every bite. So maybe I will have one with butter and jam. Planning.

Fear not, this blog is not going to be a blow by blow of what I did and didn't eat each day. God help me, I would bore the pants off myself. But I wanted to give you the above rundown so you know exactly what we are dealing with.

Denial.

Denial.

Denial.

Ah well, at least we have set the timer...

[Image by Princess Elanalda]

Kid, you'll move mountains!

Congratulations!

Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!


You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!

You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.


Except when you don’t.

Because, sometimes, you won’t.

I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.

You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You’ll be left in a Lurch.
You’ll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a Slump.

And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked. A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win?

You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.


The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.


No! That’s not for you!

Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying. You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing. With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride high! Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!


Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all. Fame! You’ll be famous as famous can be, with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.


Except when they don’t. Because, sometimes, they won’t.

But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you will go though your enemies prowl. On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl. Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On and on you will hike. And I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.

And will you succeed?

Yes! You will, indeed!

(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)

Kid, you’ll move mountains!

So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Maxabella, you’re off to Great Places!

Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting.

So…get on your way!

That pesky inner voice

It occurred to me today that I am very, very good at ignoring my sensible inner voice. It's like my mind starts a sentence and then interrupts itself. I think it's partly due to my eternal optimism; I don't want to hear the negative. I think I ignore the voice because I don't like what it has to say.

It's costing me. How can I tune in and listen again?