This week has been a bit of a disaster. I have not gained weight, but I have not lost weight either. The simple reason is that my routine was shattered by two events.
The first event was Easter Sunday last weekend (and the family feast), and the second is that I have been helping my mum for most of the week (she is not well), which meant long car journeys (eating on the road) and while I was with her, a lack of control of what was available to eat, bumping me out of my routine.
What I have learned is that I need to plan my meals better. It’s really that simple.
I have also learned that when I fall off the wagon, I need to get right back on, which I have done so. The temptation to just say ‘oh screw it… I will start again tonight… tomorrow… the weekend… the end of the month…’ is HUGE. Those old habits are pulling REALLY hard at that point.
Gladly, once I was able to regain control of my diet I got right back on said wagon.
I need to remember that right now I am still replacing my old habit of eating as much as I like, and whatever I fancy, with the new habit of eating less and better quality food.
And while I can feel a huge change already, I was surprised at how easily I slipped into that old habit early last week.
Having said that, it did give a chance to observe my old routine. And I was a little shocked at how sweet (added sugar) the food could be, and how easily I would reach for a second, third, fourth… hell pass the packet!
I was also surprised at how much pressure (from inside my own head I might add, not from others) there was to eat cakes, biscuits and other foods that are high on sweet taste and calories, but woefully low on nutrition. The pressure could come from it just being in the fridge (and I see it), or from it being in those shiny glass cabinets at Costa when I stopped for coffee on the road.
Like friends, if I hang around with losers, I will become a loser. If I hang out around bad food, I will eat bad food.
So now, nothing goes in my fridge that is not amazingly high quality and nutrition high / calorie low. And when I am out and about, I try and steer myself to healthier places to eat (which is not always that easy as choices can be limited). I have readopted my zero tolerance stance which for me is the easiest way to say no.
The lesson: There is never a time when I am on ‘the diet’. Right now I am just eating less food and better food, than I ate earlier last week. And when I eat better food and less food, I feel better and loose weight. I will be eating food for the rest of my life so if I choose to eat less and better food, I will drop weight and feel better. And when I do eat more and poorer food, I will feel worse and gain weight. It’s that simple. Screw the word ‘diet’, I will just eat less and better quality food. There is no destination, I will be on this journey till the day I die.