Health and Fitness

Best intentions, but..diet fail..

I wrote about my plans to join slimming world, it was all so positive, I was going to do it, finally get back to making healthy eating choices again.. But then things happened, life got complicated, and getting to group just wasn’t going to happen. I was stressed, I ate biscuits, I didn’t watch the portions, I lost my way. My best intentions forgotten, my diet fail.. But, all wasn’t lost, I decided to start using My Fitness Pal again instead..

Last year I lost almost 2 stone using My Fitness Pal and sensible eating, so it can be done..I CAN do it! Ok, so I’ve regained 10 lbs of the 28 I lost, but that’s just a bump in the road. I think I’ve learnt from it, I now understand that it’s the little lifestyle changes which will make the difference long-term.

I have a huge problem with eating when I’m stressed..I need to reform, I know I do! The good thing about My Fitness Pal is I can see honestly where my extra calories are coming from..(damn you shortbread biscuits..). Someone said surely it’d be easy just to not record stuff on MFP, but…what would be the point in NOT recording it all? No one else can see what I’m recording in my diary (unless I want them to?) so recording everything is not a big deal..even though I do cringe when I realise that the slice of cake I snacked on was 350 calories..but that’s part of the learning process. I have noticed that I’m not quite so keen to make the same mistake again the following day, as 350 calories is quite a lot of food if you are eating the right food!

I think, I’ve started to accept that I need to quit chocolate and sweets, if I don’t have them at all, I can manage without them, but one always leads to another (and another..!). I don’t want to quit sugar (as in I still want to be able to have the odd slice of cake and biscuits, just not sweets or chocolate!), as I don’t think quitting anything entirely is a great idea..mostly as I don’t have the self-control to maintain it, but I do definitely need to reduce the amount of sugar I’m eating!

I have also seen a definite link to how much I exercise and what I want to eat, if I am exercising I don’t crave sweet snacks in the same way as on days when I’ve been..lazy? So, three times a week is all about exercising..it’s all low impact as I have a back problem which rules out running etc. I feel oddly refreshed by admitting I “failed”, and by planning out how I move forward. Baby steps, two steps forward, one step back, but always ending up ahead of where you were to begin.