Week 6

This week I wanted to make up for the small gain last week and also get a little ahead so that the end of this week at Scrapcamp hopefully wont have such a huge impact on my overall loss or target of 15kgs by Christmas.  So, I really went back to basics and managed a loss of 2.1kgs.  Total now 9.2kgs.

Changes this week:

• Distraction - the first thing I do when I start to feel a little hungry in between meals is have a glass of water and find a distraction - might be hanging out a load of washing or checking my emails, or something else that will distract me for a few minutes.  Most of the time, I have found that by doing this, the hunger spell passes and before I know it, another hour or two have has passed and it's then time for my next meal anyway.  This has hugely reduced snacking in between meals.
• Compensation - I've talked previously about the fact that if you eat more calories than your body can use in a day you gain weight, so put simply, if you use more than you eat, you've got to lose weight (not always completely true every week, but that's the general idea).  So, when I have felt like a small square of chocolate or a small serving of ice-cream, I've had it and then compensated with a short walk, or an additional work out.  Just 10 minutes can burn enough to have a scoop of low fat ice-cream.
• Not beating myself up - Weight fluctuates for many reasons during the month, including the little slip ups, which sometime don't show till the following week, so I have decided no more beating myself up.  My weight loss will be what it will be.  good some weeks, slow others and probably quite a few small gains along the way and that is all fine.  You've still got to live and you can't let it rule your life, so I'm learning to relax about it.  Having said that, I'll need to be super relaxed about next weeks weigh in right after ScrapCamp, with bacon, eggs and hash-browns for breakfast!  But hey, it's only every 12 weeks I get to do that, so I'll take the little side road, enjoy it, then get back on the main road and continue on my journey.

Dad's heart

Following his recent heart attack, Dad finally got an angiogram and had a stent inserted into one of his arteries.  Tests that followed showed another blockage and so he was due to have another stent inserted today, but it has now been put off until tomorrow.  Hopefully, once that has been done, he will be home in a few days and can start the recovery process.  I'm so grateful he didn't end up needing bypass surgery, as that is so invasive and has such a long recovery period.

Dad said one of the things that surprised him is that he didn't actually have any pain, just a tightness of the chest and so when you see these people on TV clutching at their chest - it doesn't always happen like that.  In fact the other 3 men in his hospital room also had no real pain.

Makes me kind of glad I have started to lost this weight and reduce my cholesterol  now.  I had previously done a heart health age test on line and found that mine was 10 years older than I actually was, which was kind of scary.  With the weight I have lost and the reduction in my cholesterol, I am happy to say, it is now 3 years younger than I am.  I plan to keep it that way.

Week 5

A little glitch in the weight loss.  Gained 300gms.  The week (Mon-Fri) went ok (I think) and I was pretty good, even when we went down to Pirongia markets on the Saturday.  When I got home Saturday night Mike broke the news that Dad had suffered a heart attack and was in hospital.  I was leaving for kids camp the next day.  I started to choose my meal options a little poorly.  We headed off to camp the next day and I felt it was just much easier to eat what the kids were eating, than try to plan different meals for myself.  Nothing too bad mind you, but certainly not what I had been doing up till that point.  Now, I normally weigh on a Monday, but as I was at kids camp, it had to wait till I got home, at which point, I weighed 300gms more than the previous weigh in the Monday prior.  Ok, so it's not a biggie and I am now back on track and expect a better result this Monday.  The following Monday however might be a different story again, as I head off to Scrapbook Retreat next week, with bacon, eggs and hash-browns for breakfast!!!  I'm being realistic though and allowing myself to just live a little and eat the same as others when away, maybe just smaller portions and healthy snacks in between.  It's all about balance right?

As for dad, we are still playing the waiting game.  He needs an angiogram to see how bad the damage is and assess whether he will need to have a stent or two inserted, or require bypass surgery. The angio has been postponed several times already.  So, we wait!

Week 4

This week was a bit of a struggle at the start.  Fro whatever reason, I had a very 'hungry' week and ate more carbs than I had eaten the past 3 weeks.  So it wasn't really surprising when I decided to check 1/2 way through the week that I had actually put on weight.  I was disappointed that decided I needed to be super good and on track for the balance of the week.  So, Thurs, Fri, Sat & Sun were all back on track and then I was pleasantly surprised this morning to weigh in another 1.2kgs lighter.  So the weekly amount is slowly coming down each week, but that's OK.  I have reached my first goal of 7kgs (actually lost 7.4 so far) by Scrapbook Retreat (which isn't for another 17 days yet) and will now be working on my next goal, which was to try and reach 15kgs lost before Christmas.

Changes this week - I have to admit to none.  I had a hard week, but hopefully back on track now and so will try and introduce a couple more changes this week.