Emotional Eating

A page I follow on Facebook (the page of a local gym I have yet to join, in fact) posted an interesting article on emotional eating today. For quite a while I'd assumed I was an emotional eater, and I sometimes can be, but I have realised that am more of a boredom eater. And an I-really-like-crisps-and-choklit-and-sweets-and-biscuits eater.

The aforementioned article says all the usual things about emotional/comfort eating, such as observing how you are feeling when you have unhealthy snacks. Through observations like that, I've realised why I sometimes binge, but that hasn't yet solved the problem. I used to be so in control of it, so I know I can control myself. Is control the issue though? Shouldn't I be dealing with the root of why I want these things, rather than just stopping myself from having them?



What really struck a chord with me is something the article also mentions about setting yourself a routine, including a little bit of everything - exercise, work, fun and socializing - in that routine. I think that's what I lack; a bit of variety and fun.

The work part of that equation is at least taken care of. Regular readers (if I have any) may have noticed that I haven't posted for a while. Well, after over 3 years (ack!) of unemployment, I have a job, which I started in June. Having a job is great, but it means less free time to blog (and play Cityville, not that that's relevant)! Working selling nuts, dried fruit and sweets is not terribly diet-friendly. Also, my WW vouchers ran out, and I hadn't lost enough weight to get any more, so I haven't been to meetings for a few weeks. There's also the issue of having gotten rather bored of weight watching, and therefore falling backing into old bad habits. All in all, there's not been any weight loss to blog about.

I've started to miss losing weight though, and I'm pretty sick of being a size 16. I need to get back on it! I'm not entirely sure how to proceed though - it looks like I'm not getting any more vouchers, and monthly pass looks prohibitively expensive (nearly £240 a year!). Hopefully I can go it alone ...

Another half pound off

Right. I've had 10 of my weekly points already, and weigh-in was only 12 hours ago. Think I should stop now :) Need to save some for tomorrow's Chinese takeaway, nom nom nom.

Another half pound off this week:



It's a little frustrating to only lose half a pound, but I have to remember that every loss is good! 3.5lbs to go til I get to 10st 7, and get my next silver 7. Hopefully I'll finally manage to get there by the end of this month.

Hopefully 10st 7 will mean size 14 like I've been saying for months now. I have in fact started wearing a couple of size 14s lately, though to be honest they are still a little bit small! Lose another inch though, and they'll be fine.

Ups and downs

I lost half a pound this week, which is nice.



With all the healthy eating, I'd expected to lose more, but every loss is a good loss!



Slightly depressingly though, I only weigh a pound less than I did on the 7th of October. I've been up and down since then.



It's down over all though, so that's something positive. Did I mention that I've lost 5 inches from my hips since I started (last February)? :)

Weight loss for geeks

Ever since I saw the Adipose episode of Doctor Who, I've wanted Adipose to be real. You take a pill, and get to lose weight and gain adorable little friends both at once.



If only there was such a thing as a quick fix that worked, ha :)



Talking of Doctor Who, I now have one of the stars of The Curse of the Black Spot on my fridge.



She's there because of a thread on Minimins, a weight loss forum I joined a few weeks ago. The first post of the thread mentioned having a 'vision board' of pictures and general motivational stuff. I thought the fridge was as a good a place as any, so there she is among the magnets, with "Put less food in your bowl, get to look like Ms Cole".

* * * * * * *

I had a bit of an unhealthy one last weekend, so I didn't lose anything at yesterday's weigh-in. From Monday onwards though, I'd been really good, so at least I didn't gain anything.



Lately (for the past week, anyway!), my head's been in quite a good place with regards to weight loss. Fridays and Saturdays are usually my unhealthy days, and it's very easy to overdo it. Last night though, I was good. Allowed myself a few treats, but included fruit in the snacking so that I only used half the weekly ProPoints that I did on the previous Friday. So now I have plenty left for tonight's post-Who pizza, and a few spare for the week if I need them. :)

Control Yourself!

I succeeded at controlling myself last week, and lost 2lbs on Friday. Hurrah! Just need to keep it up and I'll see some more losses. And remember that, in the long run, losing weight is much more fun than pigging out!

However, while I know this, I still succumb to the urge to pig out. Weekends seem to be the worst for it. While it's ok to have some treats, I have a tendency to really overdo it. I went way over my weekly points at the weekend.



I'm back on track now though - only had 25 PPs yesterday, and I'll carry on controlling myself through the week. Hopefully I'll manage to have a loss, but I'll know why if I don't!

Getting back on track. Again.

I failed miserably at the challenge I set myself in the previous post. I thought it was unlikely that I would lose anything that week, but I've gone way too far in the other direction and put on three pounds in the past three weeks.



I haven't been very good at controlling myself over the Easter and birthday period. Sweet things always turn me into this person



and I end up binging.

I've been having big thinks about my relationship with food and such, but getting back on track, for now at least, probably isn't that complicated. I just need to control myself. In the long term though, I do need to rethink my attitude to food. Even after a year and three months of Weight Watchers, I still can't shake the idea that over-eating is fun. Which it is at the time, but I end up angry with myself on weigh-in day. I know that it's so not worth it, but I do it all the same.

I know I had the self-control at one point though. In this post from July, I was all about the self control. Now though, having one treat triggers the craving for more, and I end up letting myself binge. I've become lazy with my weight-watching.

I WILL have a loss this week though! Self-control and vegetables, here I come. I'll let you know how I do after next Friday's weigh-in :)

Friday, Friday
Gotta lose weight for Friday
Everybody's looking forward to a weight loss

(If you don't know what that last bit refers to, you're lucky. Or out of touch with memes. Both of which are healthy.)

A Challenge

Put on half a pound this week, oops. Not as bad as I thought it would be though, considering I've eaten a ridiculous amount. Having nice things like choc ices, biscuits, KitKats and cheese in is not a good idea for me! I still don't have as much self-control as I'd like. Got lots of fruit in instead now though, so that should help me.



It will be a challenge this week though to lose anything at all! Saturday tomorrow, which is takeaway night (pizza this week), then it's Easter (noms aplenty), and on Wednesday we're going out for a curry for my birthday. What I need to do is to not waste my weekly points, and save them for those days. I can haz willpower?

Somehow I don't think I'm going to be a size 14 for the 29th! I'm not that far off though - 4lbs to go til I'm 10st7 which, if every stone lost equals a dress size, will take me down to a 14.

Progress

Okay, so I'm wearing layers in the first one, and the sun is doing a pretty good job of hiding my double chin in the second, but you can tell I've lost weight :)



Especially since the jeans I'm wearing were a size too small for me when I started at 12st7, and are now getting too big for me. ^_^

Yayness

I seem to only want to post the positive on this blog. That's not what it's about though - it's supposed to be about everything weight loss related, good and bad. I've avoided posting here over the past couple of weeks, because two weeks ago, I didn't go to my meeting, and I'd put on 3lbs at my next weigh-in. Negatives are fine if they can be balanced out with positives though. My positive this week is that I have lost 4lbs! Yayness. 4lbs is in fact the most I've lost in a week.



4 more lbs to go til I'm 10st7 and halfway there! Hopefully that'll take me down to a size 14 too ^_^

Take off your skinny jeans ...

Tried on one of my pairs of size 14 jeans just now. I think of them as my skinny jeans, although technically they're straight legs. Anyway, they do up (just)! I've had to lie down to do them up before, but I can do them up standing up now. That's an achievement to me anyway :P

I'm slowly but surely losing inches:



Just another inch or two (5lbs?) til I can actually wear my size 14s! I won't get there by the end of this month like I'd hoped, but I will get there for my birthday. Which, incidentally, is the same day as the Royal Wedding. I may even have lost 29lbs, for my 29th birthday on the 29th of April! XD

10% again

In my previous post, I mentioned getting back down to my 10% goal of 11st 3lbs. Well now I'm 11st 2lbs, woo! Lost three pounds this week :) So now I know what's in the Totally 10% booklet:



It's full of motivational stuff, like the health benefits of weight loss, and how to get into good habits.





Losing 3lbs this week has got me thinking. If I lose 3lbs a week, I'll be a size 14 by Mid March. Or if I lose 2lbs a week, I'll be size 14 by late March.

I'm aiming for a size 12 eventually, though my goal weight might make me slimmer than that. I worked out in this post from last year that, because I was a size 18 when I started, at 12st 7lbs, and I got down to a size 16 when I was about 11st 7lbs, that losing a stone also equals dropping a dress size. If I'm right about that, I'll go like this:

Size 18 = 12st 7lbs (My starting size/weight)
Size 16 = 11st 7lbs (I'm currently 11st 2lbs)
Size 14 = 10st 7lbs (9lbs to go)
Size 12 = 9st 7lbs
Size 10 = 8st 7lbs

If I do end up a size 10 though, I'll be able to shop in teen ranges (both size 10 and age 14-15 have a 27.5" waist, according to the New Look website), which should save me a bit of money. And if I get down to a size 8(!) I'll be able to wear the right (kids) size for my height. Do I want to be that thin though?

I'm kind of bad at this

2lbs to lose til I reach my 10% goal. Again. I originally reached my 10% goal of 11st 4lbs on the 22nd of July last year, then got under 11st at the end of September. Now though, I'm back up to 11st 5lbs. On the new plan, my 10% goal appears to be 11st 3lbs. Not sure why it's different, but hey. Hopefully in a couple of weeks I'll get to see what's in the 'Totally 10%' booklet.

Though I doubt very much that I'll get a second one of these :)



My 10% keyring

I wanted to be a size 14 by Halloween. That didn't happen. Then I said Christmas. That didn't happen either. Now I'm thinking late March.

On the bright side though, I do seem to have had a bit of inch-loss, which is something. An inch from my upper arm, and half an inch from my hips in the past four weeks. Though I might just be holding the tape measure in a different place!