October update

It's the tenth month of my 2017 journey and I think I've experienced every emotion, fallen off the wagon and gotten back on, lost weight and gained weight, exercised and not exercised. But I'm so proud of myself that I haven't given up. I'm still here and I'm still fighting for what I want.

1. I'm 872km into my 1000km challenge with 2.5 months to go - whoooohooo. That's totally worked as motivation to get me out of the house exercising.

2. I've been using a trainer at the gym and have a gym buddy which is helping me increase my strength and enjoy working out more. I feel so much stronger and I am starting to see little muscles under my skin (and body fat) now.

3. I discovered an app called Lose Weight which is a hypnosis app that I listen to every night before bed. I'm positive it's helping me have a better self image and stay on track better :-)

4. I've gotten much better with food. For me I've struggled big time with deprivation. So my new plan is 90% nutritious food, 10% fun food. Every thing I put in my mouth I ask 'is this nutritious' (is this taking me towards my goals or away), apart from 10% of fun foods which is usually when I'm out at a function or party and I let myself have something small of a food I really like (it's got to be a food I really like or it's not worth it). The rest of the time I eat nutritious food I actually like, not force myself to eat things I don't enjoy.

5. I have a new motto - "I'm stronger than my excuses". I wear this on a chain around my neck so I can remind myself daily that I can do this, that I am doing this and my goals are important to me.

How are you doing? What has helped you?
I have about 3-4kg to lose to get to my next goal then I'll be reassessing from there.

Catch ya next time
Zealous Girl :-)

To weigh or not to weigh

How often do you stand on the scales and wish you hadn't seen THAT number. The number that doesn't show how hard you worked last week or the pies and lollies that you didn't eat. 

Although I've tried really hard not to let the scales rule my life, when I see a low number, I'm happy and when I see a high number I'm down. Even though I know that the scales don't tell the whole story, it's the only measuring tool I've got to go on. 

So this month I'm attempting to NOT weigh myself. Let's see how long I last before I give in to temptation and step on the scales. 

What methods do you use to check your progress?

Zealous Girl 

I'm on a new journey and it isn't easy BUT it is worth it

At the start of 2017 I made a commitment to get heathy and fit again. I made a vision board, I printed out lots and lots of memes to help my journey and I created rewards for weight loss and milestones. I read lots and lots of books and blogs and websites. I was set. I had all the knowledge, this would be easy.

This has been hard.
Harder than hard.
So hard I've had to restart numerous times.

But restart I have done and will continue to do until I reach my goals and maintain them.

I'm blogging again because it has helped in the past and I hope it helps again, and perhaps encourages others.

I have realised that while I feed my children healthy food and limit their unhealthy food, I did not do the same for myself. I let myself eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I wasn't making good choices.

In January I started small with changing only a few things. Eating less gluten and less sugar. That lasted until my family went camping. I got hungry and ate everything in sight. Restart number 1.

During February I decided to record all my calories using 'myfitnesspal' - great free app/webpage by the way. That helped hugely. The weight very slowly came down. I don't lose weight as fast in my 40s as I did in my 20s and 30s.

In March I joined the gym and kept at my eating, although a few cheat foods started creeping in more and more.

April in the school holidays I struggled again. Easter came with too much chocolate and I ate too too much.

May, I struggled again. I felt deprived from some foods and snuck them into my mouth. Yes I have a unhealthy relationship with food, and I know this well, but am still hunting for the answer. Hunting for the solution for me and how I can eat well without binging. How I can include my favourite foods in moderation.

It's June now and I'm back on track. I lost some of the gains I had made. I am cross about that but I must look forward now and not give up.

What doesn't kill me is making me stronger. I can do this. I am doing this!
Til next time

Zealous Girl 

Lifestyle Change

I think my head has finally gotten with the programme and realised that eating no wheat/sugar is permanent, not just 'to lose weight' like I've done before.

I'm not a zealot. I still occasionally have wheat and sugar but they are not part of my daily life.

Nigel Latta (for you New Zealand readers) did a documentary on sugar the other day and it confirmed everything I've been preaching and thinking about for years. I'm so happy the world is finally starting to realise the dangers and evils of this processed giant. Sugar is added to EVERYTHING. If fat has been removed you can be sure that sugar has been added in spadefuls.

I'm still losing weight very slowly, but I'm okay with that. My goal is still a couple of KG away and that's fine. I'm upping my exercise and toning exercises a bit at the moment, not to help with weight loss but for health and to keep my body moving. And for once I'm loving it as it's not an obligation or a chore.

Til next time
Zealous Girl

My sticking point

I always reach this part of my weight loss when my weight sticks and doesn't move for a month or so. It's always really hard and sometimes I give up here.

I hate it that I diet and then gain, diet then gain it back. I hate that. How do I make sure this time is different?

I figure I could give up now, eat the way I always have and just keep gaining a few kg every year until I'm fat, unhealthy and middle aged.
or
I could keep pushing through, change my diet permanently and strive for health. So what if I'm not losing weight for a month or so, at least I'm not gaining. I also need to remind myself that the scales only show one part of the picture. The fact that my pants are feeling quite loose is also a good sign.

Right off to nibble on some almonds. What are your 'go to' snack foods?

Overeating

I've just finished reading 'The end of overeating' by David A Kessler.
WOW, it was like he had read my mind and put in on paper. Most of the book is about the food industry and what they do to food to make us want to eat eat eat it. I completely related and when he talked about how you can eat and eat without being hungry and have a battle in your head all at the same time... he was talking about me. Me when I'm eating sugary wheaty foods.

BUT right now I'm not eating sugar (apart from fruit, fresh and dried) and wheat. And I'm feeling so good for it.

The last quarter of the book talks about methods to use to stop 'overeating'. I've written heaps of notes and am going to make myself flash cards that will come with me until I know them off by heart. When I reach maintenance (with my weight) I will need them as that's when things get hard.

I'm excited to get to maintenance now.

My fat jeans are finally too big, my medium jeans are fitting and my skinny jeans await.

How are you going? What do you do to help with maintaining weight when you reach your goal?
ZG

Second 'fast' day

I'm half way through my second fasting day and feeling good. This way of eating is working well. I ate basically as much as I wanted on my non-fast days, which wasn't over the top, but it made me feel like I didn't have to restrict, which always messes with my mind.

Next week I need to add some exercise back into my life. I need tone, I need muscles and I need endorphins :-)

How are you all doing?
ZG :-)

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

Mobility Scooter to walk the dog

Yesterday I was walking along the beach where I live and I noticed a dog trotting along. Then I saw it's owner on a mobility scooter and it gave me a reality check.

• One day I'm going to be old. 
• One day my body won't move very well and I may have to use a scooter. 
• One day I'm going to look back at this time of my life and regret not using my body to the best of its ability. 

Only I can control what goes into my mouth. Only I can move my body and look after it. Only I can reshape it to the best that it can be. It's my responsibility. I can't blame Mcdonalds, I can't blame someone else. I'm in charge. The buck stops with me.

Therefore I propose that we all stop making excuses and take responsibility. When we pick up food we know we shouldn't eat... it's our choice. It doesn't matter than someone else may have brought tempting food to our house or convinced us to eat it. We decide what goes into our mouth.

So let's make the choice to be happy with our bodies or make the right choices for us, until we have the body we are happy with. I'm beginning to think that 'diet' is a very dangerous word. I've dieted for years, got to a good weight then gone back to eating normal and gained weight again. I have to find a eating lifestyle that allows me to stay at my acceptable weight. Something that isn't too hard that I can't keep it up. I also have to find a fitness routine I can keep up long term.

So far the way of eating that has worked best for me is a form of Dukan/Atkins/Low carb. I find avoiding wheat and sugar in 90% of my diet does the trick. This way I can occasionally have something wheaty or sugary which solves my craving problems and I don't tend to fall off the wagon and binge so much.

My weight has stalled this month. I can't seem to get any lower. I'm not far from my goal so I'm not too stressed. This month I'm going to concentrate on building up a bit of muscle as I notice I'm still quite flabby (skinny fat) and I'd like to be more toned.

Who do you blame for your weight gains? 

Five

My son turned five in the weekend and yes I did eat some cake :-) it was good! Although I must say I really notice how food with flour and sugar doesn't sit very well in my stomach anymore. Back to bacon and eggs the next day and it feels much better :-)

Speaking of eggs. We are baby sitting four chickens. FRESH EGGS. They are quite needy little madams and eat soooo much, but it's fantastic having the eggs. As you can imagine, egg is a major part of my diet.

The photo above is the sunrise last week from our deck.
Daylight savings has ended so it gets dark early in the evening again and the mornings are semi light again. So I'm back to hitting the pavement in the mornings, although I am incredibly unfit so it's slow going.

My weight is still plateauing although I feel like my clothes are a little looser. I'm not giving up this time. This time I'm in this for life. If I have a few days of slipping up, I just pick myself up and get on with it again. So far it's working for me :-)

Let me know how you guys are going!!

No April Fools here

It's April. Where oh where has the year gone?
I've been up and down a bit since my last post, but still working hard towards my goal. My clothes feel looser even if the scales aren't always my friend. 3kg left to go.... well, I HAD 3kg left to go before easter.... enter a few sneaky easter eggs.... oops. Eggs are protein aren't they ;-)

On a side note, I'm baby sitting some chickens for my inlaw's for two weeks. Hopefully it will be fresh eggs on the menu daily :-)

Exercise = zilch, but I'd like to change that once day-light savings ends and the mornings are semi light again.

Have a great week
ZG

Photo is my baby boy, turning 5 in five days....

S-L-O-W

Ahhhhhh weight loss has been VERY slow this week. I'm probably eating too much cheese. BUT at least the number are going down, even if it's slower than I'd like. I've been looking up homemade protein bars again as I consider them my treat of the day. If I can't have cakes and lollies and carbs, then I need something to look forward to.

Do you have any good recipes?

Losing weight - muscle or fat

After my 'you don't have to exercise to lose weight' post I did some more thinking. While I still agree with the post, there is an important fact you need to consider. When you lose weight, you not only lose fat, but also muscle and because I am not doing ANYTHING to keep my muscles (unless you call lifting my toddler exercise) that means the weight I'm dropping is also precious muscle.

Muscle is so important, even though it weights more than fat, the more muscle you have the more energy you burn, which is from the food you eat. Therefore, I think I need to add in a little muscle burning to my week. I plan to do this through a bit of weight training. Now anyone who hasn't done any weight training before may think I'll turn into a incredible hulk, but that couldn't be further from the truth. In fact women have a particularly hard time putting on solid muscle and have to work really hard to do it. I've weight trained before, really seriously weight trained and while my muscles got tighter, they didn't grow very much.

The fact it, you need to feed your muscles good protein on top of what you need daily for energy and I'm just not prepared to do that right now. I just don't have the time to think about anything else, so I just want to add a bit of muscle maintaining workouts into my day. A few squats/lunges here and there and a few press ups and maybe something for my shoulders and back. If you concentrate on the big muscles, the little ones will come along for the ride :-)

I lost another kg (2 pounds) this week which is pleasing. I expect the losing will slow down now my body is onto what I'm up to ;-) but I'm still feeling really determined.

So my goals for March are:
1. Drink more water
2. Add a few muscle maintaining routines into my day

What are your goals for March?
ZG

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?