Apologies

Oh goodness it's been a long time since I last posted. It's not for lack of something to report, life just got so busy last year. Young kids, work, home business, family life... it's such a busy time and I haven't had time to read any blogs let alone write one, but here I am again... trying to find time :-)

I've been dukaning on and off all last year. Sadly on every 'off' I gained back some weight. I've got to the stage where my body is holding onto the weight and I'm finding it really hard to lose. I'm not actually overweight but I'm not where I want to be.

I heard of the 'fast' diet late last year and thought it meant 'speedy' diet and for those of you who have dieted you'll know there is no way to lose weight fast and keep it off long term. I got the book out of the library just for interest sake (I was skeptical) and I actually liked most of what I read. Really liked it. It's not 'fast' but about 'fasting'. Anyway after a lot of thinking I've decided to add 'fasting' into my life.

So two days a week I'm going to fast and eat only 500 calories but five days a week I eat normal. But by normal I'm still trying to follow a dukan/low carb type way of eating. I'm hoping this will help kick start my weight loss again and I'll finally be able to find a way to not gain all the weight back.

Today was my first 'fast' day and it wasn't as hard as I'd imagined and tomorrow I don't have to count calories or worry about watching what I eat. I'm hoping this helps me find a way to eat a normal healthy diet where occasionally I can have something I'm really craving. That's the hope :-)

How are you all going?

If you're interesting in watching the documentary on fasting, check this out: http://vimeo.com/54089463

Is exercise essential for weight loss?

One week with no cheating - YAY. Lost one kilogram (approx 2 pounds) which is just okay. I would have liked more, but I'm sure my body is fighting me because it's so tired of my yo-yoing... I only have myself to blame.

The key to sticking to my diet this week was preparation. Having lots of protein in the fridge, cooked and ready to grab at a moments notice, and some atkins bars for the times I was in a fix.

My hubby was beating me on weight loss all week but at the weekly weigh-in (this morning) I beat him by .1 of a percent. Go me!!!!

My thoughts on exercising to lose weight: 
I've been thinking a lot about exercise and how much is it really needed for weight loss. Now don't get me wrong, I think it's vital for a healthy body but this is what I've found when using it with weight loss:

1. I got within one kilogram of my true weight with NO exercise (doctors orders after an operation) so therefore it is not essential for weight loss.

2. Exercise makes me hungrier, which means I'm eating the extra calories (plus some) I've lost by exercising.

3. If I don't do a planned exercise session, I get guilty and often eat something bad to make myself feel better.

So I've concluded that for me exercising on a regular basis for weight loss, is a no go. It works against me and my diet. Therefore I will reach my goal weight THEN add exercise back into my life for fun and health rather than weight loss. So Zealous Girl is not running right now. ALTHOUGH I do exercise on a non-planned basis (hike with family, bike ride for fun) but it's not for weight loss.

What are your thoughts on exercise and weight loss? 

Holidays are great but hard

Thanks for everyone's comment on my last post :-) Some really helpful ideas there!

I've just been away with my family for a few days. I brought all my food along, had it all planned but somehow I still cheated a little. I seem to get SO hungry when I'm away from home. I wish I'd read 'ANGELS' comment before I went about telling off my weak self. That might have worked. But for some reason a packet of potato chips and teeny tiny biscuits and chocolate seemed more yummy than a tin of tuna... :-( So disappointing.

Plan for tomorrow:
1. Buy/make myself a bracelet that reminds me of my goals and what I'm trying to achieve
2. Find my inner dominant voice and practice telling off the cheating me
3. Don't allow self to get so hungry that cheating becomes too easy

Sometimes I dream about hiring a cook that is only allowed to make me food from the 'allowed' list... then I wouldn't have to prepare meals all the time and come up with new ideas... dreams are free :-)

ZG ;-)

When I'm good, I'm very very good

When I'm bad I'm wicked!

Today was a good day. I went to my nephew's 1st birthday. Surrounded by cakes and biscuits and lollies etc... what did I eat? carrot sticks and sausages. I'm so proud of myself.

On a sad note, I tried on my skinny jeans and they are a bit tight right now... how could I let myself put so much weight on again? Why why why? Someone please tell me the answer, I seriously need to send my brain in for reprogramming. I don't want to backslide again. I really really really want to reach my goal then be able to maintain it.

Sadly when I'm having a bad day/week/month, my brain just doesn't care.
I put crappy food in my mouth and don't care.
I remind myself I won't fit my skinny jeans and I don't care...
Wish I knew what to do about that. Wish I could kick that 'me' in the butt and tell her to stop being so stupid! When I find the answer to all these problems I'll write a book :-)

Hope any of my readers that are left are doing well. Write to me. I love to hear from you!
ZG

The scale

I have a love hate relationship with my scales.
They seriously jump up and down every day.

I hate the way they effect my mood, especially if I've been really good with food. I don't understand them at all. I know I have a choice and I could NOT stand on them, but if I don't, I tend to cheat with food. Standing on the scales keeps me accountable even if I hate the number sometimes!

This week my hubby has been really unwell and the Dr's don't really have an answer for us, which is a little stressful. Despite that, I've been doing really well and not cheating too badly (my only cheat has been a few raisins).

I'm meant to be running in the morning, if the rain stops...
Must go running.
Must go running.
MUST GO RUNNING!
zg

Don't ya hate it...

Don't ya hate it when Dukan dieters drop off the blogger-universe ;-)
Sorry I haven't been around much lately. I've been so busy and stressed that not only have I stopped blogging but haven't done so well on my diet either. I was 1kg away from my true weight and had plateaued for months. It got too hard. I let non-dukan food slip in... 4kg later, I'm now 5kg from my true weight again - grrrrrrrrr

I'm back on Dukan again, newly motivated and wanting to fit my new clothes again.
I've started back on my running.
I'll make a real effort to blog again, perhaps not every day, but at least a few times a week.

Hope everyone is doing okay.
Til next time
ZG

Golly gosh

I can't believe another month has passed without a blog post from me. You can tell I'm busy when I don't get to my blog very often. I'm just trying to fit too much into my life...

I'm trying to get back into running. It's 1 step forward, 2 steps back right now, but the weather is slowly warming up (today not included) and that helps for getting out of bed before the sparrows fart.

Food is only okay. I made a lemon cake thing with coconut flour yesterday. TOTALLY different texture to a normal cake but still very very yummy. And very very lemony. Yum!

As a family we enjoy a sport called geo-caching. This is last weekend, deep in the New Zealand bush, after we found the 'treasure spot'. (By the way if you have any young adults in your life, I co-wrote a novel about geo-caching - also includes romance and adventure - that is on amazon and called Forbidden Territory .)

Have a great weekend, friends.
ZG

Dukan madness

For some reason I keep coming across websites bashing 'Dukan' and saying how it's a high protein diet and you'll ruin your kidney's etc... It makes me MAD. Obviously they haven't read the book or they'd see how much veges we eat.

Why don't they verbally bash companies that create carbs and sugars... they are the real killers. If only people knew! Word is slowly getting out there but it will take a good decade I reckon until things start changing. I'm making sure my kids are brought up knowing the truth.

Anyway I had a bad few months and gained back 3kg. I hopped back on Dukan two days ago and have already dropped one of those pesky KGs. I so wish I wasn't one of those all or nothing type gals...  but you can't always change who you are. But for now I'm 'all' Dukan again.

How are you all going? Will go check out your blogs now.
ZG

Still here..

I'm still here. Just trying to organise everything in my life right now.
Hope to be back soon
ZG

Water Challenge

Anyone feel like joining me in a water challenge? I haven't been drinking enough (I just forget) so I thought this week I'm going to drink loads of water, sort of as an experiment to see if it really does make a difference to weight loss.

I think I'll set an alarm on my laptop or phone to remind me to drink a large glass every hour or something. Of course I'll need to be close to the bathroom all day (heh heh).

As predicted my weight has bounced up and down a bit in the past few days. Tomorrow I'm setting the alarm for 6am so I can get up and pound the pavement. Only walking at this stage til I feel healed enough from my op to start my 'couch to 5k' again.

Then as soon as the Doc gives me the okay I also want to add in some weight lifting. I just read the New Rules of Weight Lifting for Woman and I'm keen to give it a go. I've always loved weight lifting in the past but probably didn't use my whole body enough. I've got all winter to get into it so I look fit and strong for summer!

For those of you struggling with Dukan at the moment. Be encouraged. It does work. It hasn't been a straight or easy path for me. I've definitely fallen off, twice where I gained back quite a bit of weight. But I've clambered back up and started again, each time more and more determined and now I'm nearly at the end I'm even more motivated than when I started.

Have a great week everyone and drink lots of water!
ZG