Weekly Weigh In & Movement
Goal Weight: 115 112 (Revised slightly downward)
July 10 Weigh In: 117.6
Weight Lost Last Two Weeks: 1.4 pounds
Weight Left To Lose: 2.6 5.6 pounds
Weekly Mileage/Movement
- Fri- 3 mile walk
- Sat- None
- Sun- 5 mile walk
- Mon - 5 mile walk
- Tue- None
- Wed- 4.5 mile walk
- Thur - 6.5 mile walk
- TOTAL FOR WEEK: 24 miles
- TOTAL FOR JULY: 26 miles
No Sugar and Less Food Efforts
I'm pretty much humming along at this point, with regard to my No Sugar effort. Saying 'No' to myself, whenever sugar crosses my path, is really no longer an issue for me after four months, which does feel like a miracle, given my sugar-heavy past.
So my latest effort has been to see if I could silence the post-dinner Food Noise that would sometimes cause me to look for something to crunch, even though I wasn't really hungry. And, I hope it is helpful that I can share that similar to having to get through those first few nights of saying 'No' to sugar, I'm having similar results with regard to Food Noise. After working hard to ignore the brain messaging for a couple of nights, the noise is fading. And doing so much faster than my sugar addiction did.
Meaning that after just about a week, I no longer feel compulsions to find something to nibble in the evenings, which was way faster than I'd expected.
I found the following article really helpful in researching what I was experiencing, and how to stop it-
About my weight loss efforts in general - my current rate of progress has occurred by working diligently to get myself into a new mindset. A mindset where I'm deliberate and aware of what I'm eating, and one where I'm trying as hard as I can to avoid what I experience as mindless eating.
I'm also working hard to shift my focus away from food being viewed as a reward. Instead, I'm working to focus on how much enjoyment I'm getting from picking out my clothes, and how much happier I am about the way they look on me, with some 12 pounds shed. Iced black coffee is my pick-me-up treat, which I genuinely enjoy. And I'm having some fun trying out new coffee spots as I'm out and about.
Food just cannot be the/my focus going forward, if I want the weight to remain off. I have had to come to peace about this, which I think I have. I am increasingly comfortable having just one full meal on days we have social events that include food, and then doing a semi-fast for one or two days afterward, until any weight gained from food-heavy events has been reversed. This approach allows me to enjoy eating out, while still managing my weight and/or weight loss.
Weight loss might come easy for some, but it most definitely does/has not for me. The mental work I've had to exert to accomplish even a fairly modest 12 & 1/2 pound weight loss has somewhat shocked me. I'm doing it, and I'm very happy with the results, but it has been hard.
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If you are likewise on a quest to improve some aspect of your dietary or fitness life, please feel free to share here. The more we can work to support and encourage each other the better!
Would you share your thinking on the weight goal? Is it the weight you were in the past and that you feel healthiest at? My target puts me in a BMI range of healthy "normal" but on the higher end, which I know then gives no wiggle room for the high food events for maintenance. I'm trying to be realistic, though I know 8-12 pounds lower than that would be optimal.
ReplyDeleteSam, I am sincerely appreciative of your question, because I do not want to inadvertently give the impression that the BMI lower end is somehow better than the higher end of 'Healthy.'
DeleteI am striving for the lower end due, primarily, to vanity. Not health. I'm healthy now. But, even at 62 years, I like knowing that I'm still attractive. The little compliments I begin receiving as soon as I weigh less than 120 lift my mood, and give me the little incentives I need to keep going on choosing less food.
So my number of 112 is a direct result of still being vain. 😐
I've gotten shockingly used to not eating for large segments of the day, which has NEVER been the case for me, and for the first time in my life see the number of 112 as being achievable. (I did weigh that in my teens, but never felt attractive given that my peers were more along the lines of 100-105 pounds). I live in an area where most women take pride in their appearance, and dress to reflect their fitness (in age appropriate ways), and I'm looking forward to joining in with them.
So again, vanity solely, not health.
Sam, I did just have a little 'aha' on the 112 number - years ago I was at a talk given by Dr. Laura Schlessinger. She and I are the same height, and she looked extremely petite on stage, and at some point asked people to guess her weight. The audience returned with figures ranging from 100 to 105 pounds. She announced that, no, actually she weighed a strong and healthy 112. So, I guess that became my weight goal without my realizing it.
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