6 weeks until 🎄 Christmas 🎄 2022

Well 🎄 Christmas🎄 is nearly upon us AGAIN and maybe you're thinking about your waistline - I know I am! 

I've been away, this past week, celebrating my 30th Wedding Anniversary and I don't think I've eaten so much junk in ages! Lots of GF biscuits and some yummy wedding anniversary cake! 

This coming Saturday (12th Nov 22) it's 6 weeks until Christmas Eve so it's time to get moving and losing. I was hoping, last time I lost 4 stone, I'd keep it off and maintain, but that wasn't to be - I've gained 1 stone and a bit (14lb+). 

The weeks we have left (after this week):

November:

12th - this Saturday

19th

26th 

December

3rd
10th
17th
24th

Let's try and be serious about losing weight for our health. After eating so much rubbish I feel like rubbish so the whole cliché "You are what you eat" is true!

Take care reader - until next time

xxxx

Activity and Accountability

On the online slimming club I belong to, one of the members was talking about "activity and accountability" and I thought it was a great idea, so I haven't long finished a 30 minute aerobic video by Rosemary Conley.

I would like to be 9 stone 3lb for my 30th Wedding Anniversary at the beginning of November, but I haven't been eating properly (that's code for I've been eating junk like crisps (potato chips etc).

If only I could get down to that weight and keep it off - that would be amazing! 

OK onward and downward!

Hope whoever is reading this is having a great week so far

xxxx

Off the starting blocks

Do you have blocks preventing you from losing weight? I have quite a few.

1. Apathy - I don't sleep well so I find it very easy to be apathetic. This really requires a lot of effort for me to get off this starting block! I need a massive push of willpower. 🏁

2. Procrastination - well if there was a degree in this I'd be a professor but probably not until tomorrow 😉. I have said for years, "never say you're going to start tomorrow because tomorrow never comes. Always give the day you're going to start." Well that's good, but in my 💓 I procrastinate. I definitely need a 🚀 to get me off this starting block! 🏁

3. Fear (the "what if?" Syndrome - oh yes, this biggy)! What if I fail? What if... What if... What if... If I don't get off this block then I've failed already! 🏁

To win a race we have to get off the starting blocks. 🏃 Can you imagine if a sprinter was on the blocks then said "you know what I can't be bothered!" Or "it's ok I'll do it tomorrow!" Or "what if I don't win?" 

I really really do need to get off the starting blocks and get motivated to do something about my weight gain! 

Reader if you're struggling to get off the starting blocks, take heart you're not alone, but we won't win this race if we stay on the blocks, we need to get off them, get rid of the excuses and...On your marks get 

GO!! 🏁🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏽‍♀️🏃🏽🏃🏿

Anniversary challenge

Last week I started a challenge to lose 23lb before the beginning of November (for my 30th wedding anniversary) this week I lost 3lb

14th August 2022 - 10st 9.0lb

21st August 2022 - 10st 6.0lb

28th August 2022- 10st 7.0lb (1lb GAIN!!)

4th September 2022 - 10st 7.4lb (another gain)! 

Hoarders and Dieting

I wrote this on the GetSlim site:

 I've just spent an hour or so, throwing out 7 lever arch files of recipes from the Rosemary Conley magazines, dating between 1996 and 2013! 

They had been sitting in a shelf not being looked at for years! 
I was talking about losing weight, the other day and it being 90% psyche and 10% food, well I think hoarding and clinging onto stuff is a psychological thing! 
Food is comfort and so is stuff (I think).
I have quite a few books, not read most of them, I just love seeing them sitting on bookshelves. I have the intention of reading them, but never do, so I think my next job is decluttering books! That brings me onto our minds (or my mind) are they cluttered with rubbish from the past? Past emotions, past memories. Do they need decluttering? Mine does, for sure!
It's difficult to let go at times! Letting go of those hurtful words, the hurtful deeds people have done to us, the loss of a loved one! All of the past bullying, the past hurts etc have built up so much they cloud our judgement!
I was bullied in school, not just by my peers but in a way, by my teachers. My dad and I never got on (we do now). 
I have been thinking that sometimes we are broken (I'm talking about myself tbh) and we (I) need healing. Food is comfort and junk is comfort BUT if we could find healing, and we wouldn't need comfort!
Life is really difficult, but maybe if you're struggling (as I struggle so much), maybe take stock of why you need to be comforted - were you bullied, abused, made to feel inadequate (a form of bullying), lost someone very close to you etc? Perhaps write down those things which have affected you (you don't have to show them to anyone) because getting those out of your mind may be one step towards healing! 
As I watched the American programme "Hoarders" on YouTube, I saw a pattern developing - the majority of those people started hoarding after a traumatic event in their lives! One poor woman's husband was shot dead in their house, another had lost her son, another was gay but was scared his family would reject him and there were others too. I began to think about the 90% psyche...
I hope this post isn't too personal, but I hope it helps!
Sending you all a massive hug

Foods which are good for your liver

 Vegetables:

• Artichoke
• Beetroot
• Beetroot Juice
• Broccoli
• Brussels Sprouts 
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Collards
• Garlic
• Kale
• Leafy Greens
• Mustard Greens
• Onions
• Peas
• Radish
• Sauerkraut
• Spinach

Fruit:

• Apples
• Avocado
• Bananas
• Blueberries
• Cherries
• Cranberries
• Figs
• Grapefruit
• Grapes 
• Lemons
• Limes
• Oranges
• Papaya
• Plums
• Prickly Pear
• Raspberries
• Watermelon

Grains, Rice etc:

• Almonds
• Barley
• Beans (Legumes)
• Brazil Nuts
• Brown Rice
• Buckwheat
• Bulgur
• Chickpeas
• Corn
• Flaxseeds
• Lentil
• Millet
• Oatmeal/Whole Oats
• Pecan
• Quinoa
• Rye
• Soybeans
• Sunflower Seeds
• Walnuts
• Wholegrains
• Wild Rice

Fish:

• Herring
• Salmon
• Sardines

Other:

• Cinnamon
• Coffee
• Cumin
• Curry Powder
• Green Tea
• Milk Thistle
• Olive Oil
• Oregano
• Rosemary
• Sage
• Tamarind
• Tapioca
• Tea
• Turmeric
• Water

Things which MUST change

I wrote this on the Community Chat board of the GetSlim.co.uk site:

FOOD RELATED:

1. Drink more water/herbal tea (can't drink tea or coffee) ☕

2. Cut down on fatty/sugary foods ❌

3. Eat more foods high in vitamins and minerals 🍉🍓🥦🥕

4. Avoid crisps in work (even if they are supposedly low fat/calorie) ❌

5. Plan for times when I know I might eat more or eat something I shouldn't, so that I can get back on track instead of wallowing in self-pity. 🙈

6. Fill in my food diary so I can keep track of what I'm eating and drinking - even if it's bad!! 📝

 

EXERCISE RELATED:

7. Exercise daily:

Aerobic 🤸

Toning. 🏋️

Try Pilates? 🧘

Walk to work, even in the rain ☔

8. Log exercise in my diary on here too 📝

 

MENTAL HEALTH:

9. Only have a short amount of computer/phone/Switch time and STICK TO IT! 💻📱🎮

10. Don't try and conquer this in one day - these things take time and energy! 🧗

11. Don't use negative words, like "I've failed", "I'm hopeless" instead think "I'm human and I will have times when things might go to pot because I'm not perfect" but don't use this excuse to deliberately lose the plot! 👩

12. Be disciplined to have a set bedtime (even when working, occasionally at 6am - plan for those times!) 🛌

13. Wintertime is bad for depression, realise that and plan accordingly!! 🌑☔⛈️

14. The key word is PLAN!

"Plan your work, then work your plan"

Successful people didn't get where they are by sitting on their bums all day, dreaming up plans and never doing them! 📝📑📈📉