Week 1 lessons: I call it invisible-eating - Importance of a food diary

Hi All,

Well this week I decided to weigh myself for analysis purposes and it did not go well results wise although it did tell me a lot about myself in terms of eating and behaviour. Hence I am happy to have weighted myself everyday. Well I present to you the results below:

Date  Wgt     G/L  %      BF       M

5/05  113.2   0.8   0.7   46.2     57.8     20k bikeride, 3 litres water - a good day

6/05  113.7   1.3   1.1   44.9     59.5     rained, 15 min walk, 3 litres water

7/05  112.7   .30   .30   50.9     52.6     timtams, 30 min walk, no 3 litres

8/05  112.7   .30   .30   50.9     52.6     remaining timtams, 6 cupcakes, did not weigh

9/05  114.1   1.7   1.5   51.6     52.5     yum cha, 2 desserts at tend of meal, 2 glasses of wine, serve of chocolate ice-cream

D   =  Date

G/L= Gain/Loss

%   = Gain/Loss Percentage

BF =  Body Fat

M  =  Muscle

I should not really be surprised as i used to be in the past. One of the things that I have now OFFICIALLY learned about my eating patterns is that I tend to eat without feeling hungry and even realising a lot of the time that I am eating crap. I am so manic in the consumption of these 'empty' foods that it is only post the feeding frenzy when I analyse my behaviour I acknowledge that the food did not nourish me in anyway and apart from the first 1 second when I derive the pleasure of the river of chocolate course down my gullet!!

In terms of the water challenge, I sort of dropped the ball this week by not meeting it 2 days in a row. I have no excuses bar that we had guests over this weekend and so it is hard to continue the commitment to drink up whilst playing ho0st and running to the loos everywhere we visit. But all in all this is still not a good excuse and I know it. So the challenge must carry on although the results are that I lost this one. In this whole journey the one thing that keeps bringing it home to me is the importance of keeping a food diary. Although this approach does not suit everyone, I do know that this does work for me. When ever I have tried it it has worked for me and my successes have happened however big or small.

Anyhoo, this will carry me into week 2 and maybe writing a food diary can be my challenge for week 2. That way I will have to carry this challenge for the remaining 11 weeks of the challenge. After all the purpose of the 12 week challenge is to get into good habits and make little challenges count. Calorieking has a lovely site that is free, I am familiar with it and it works for me. So yes, I will make this my challenge. Keeping mind of course that in week 2 I don't just have to write the food diary but also keep to the 3 litres of water. So it is barely week 2 but is already getting difficult.

This challenge business is getting me all excited and enthused. So I have decided to throw some more things in here just so I can refer to it later. My aims for the end of the 12 weeks are:

• Losing 7 kilos
• Meeting 80 percent of my challenges at the minimum
• Being more active

I have been wondering what the reward should be for a while now and I think I know. I have seen these bedside tables in ISHKA and I know I can get them cheaper in India but who is going to carry them for me from INDIA??? They cost $265 each and would work perfectly in the guest bedroom. If they are sold out by the end of the challenge, I guess the reward must be anything that appeals to me at the value of $500. I think that is fair. Of course it cannot be related to food in any shape or form. 

For me the goal is also related to kilos and at the end of the 12 weeks I would like to see my weight down by 7 kilos. Considering the starting weight was 113.20, the goal weight is 106.20. Seeing I am now 114.10, I have quite clearly made things more difficult for myself as i now need to lose 7.9 kilos. Again a situation I am responsible for putting myself into. However, all is not lost yet as there are 11 weeks to go and I know I can do it. Until next time.....

Week 1 lessons: I call it invisible-eating - Importance of a food diary

Hi All,

Well this week I decided to weigh myself everyday for analysis purposes. It did not go to well results wise although I am happy to have weighed myself everyday. The results below:

Date                    Kilos         Gain/Lost       % Gain/loss      Body Fat            Muscle

So I guess the above tells the story of the results I have this week. One of the things I did end up doing whilst writing this blog was to go and reach for the chocolate ice-cream in the freezer. I guess this is my 'dummy' and I did put a spoon in my mouth and then emptied my bowl of ice-cream back into the container and said to myself ' this will not change anything. I will continue to weigh what I do as I will end up keeping on making the same mistakes again and again. So lets stop now. With that I grabbed an apple instead. 

In terms of the water challenge, I sort of dropped the ball this week by not meeting it for 2 days. I have no excuses bar that we had guests over this weekend and it is so hard to continue to commitment to drink up whilst in the middle of playing host etc. However this is a pissweak excuse and so I must simply do better next week. So the challenge must carry on although the results are that I lost this one. The one thing that keeps coming back to me is the importance of writing a food diary. I know this approach does not suit everyone but I do know that in the past when I have written a food diary I have succeeded in writing a food diary.

Anyhoo, this will carry me into week 2 when I get to choose another challenge. Perhaps this should be my challenge for week 2.That way I can be certain that I will write it for the remaining 11 weeks of the challenge. After all the purpose of my challenge is to get into the good habits. All simple things but important things, little things but all together can pack quite a punch. So yes I will actually make this the challenge for week 2. Each weekly challenge is to be measured in terms of for 6 of 7 days I should get it right and I have quite obviously not. I could earn points back to pass this challenge down the line but I have still to think of how I would go about this. Ideas are welcome.

This challenge business is getting me all excited and so I have decided on throwing some more things in there. Well the few goals I would like to see myself in by the end of this challenge are:

-         loss of 7 kilos

-         meeting 80% of my challenges

-         being fitter

The reward is something I have been thinking of for a while now and I think it could even be these sets of bedside tables I saw at this place called ISHKA. I know they are made in India and all and I would get them cheaper and all of that but the point is who is going to cart them here for me??? And if end up getting sold out then I will simply have to think of something else. Who knows $500 equivalent of something or other that is not food related. I guess I will simply have to take photos of something and put those up next? For me the goal at this stage is really to get the weight down. Of course I will count the weight from the starting weight which was 113.20 making the goal 106.20 and the fact that I am now 114.10 means I have only made my life more difficult needing me to now lose close to 8 kilos. However, I still believe that this is not an impossible goal given the 11 weeks I still have at hand if I use the time smartly. So hey Goal for week 2- 3 litres of water a day and

Writing food diary

05/05/2010 113.20 0.80 0.7% 46.2% 57.8% 06/05/2010 113.70 1.30 1.1% 44.9% 59.5% 07/05/2010 112.70 0.30 0.3% 50.9% 52.6% 08/05/2010 112.70 0.30 0.3% 50.9% 52.6% 09/05/2010 114.50 2.10 1.9% 49.1% 56.9% 10/05/2010 114.10 1.70 1.5% 51.6% 52.5%

12 week Plan and a week theme

From tomorrow - I start my 12 week plan to health. and no I am not planning on being miss perfect or anything. I am just using the next 12 weeks to be a better me healthwise and no achievement is too small. Each week I plan on having a theme. So next weeks is More water. The plan is to ensure that I drink at least 3 litres. For my weight I need to drink something in the vicinity of 4.2 odd litres or something similar. Well to make it achievable and yet challenging I have set the theme to be 3 litres which in the approaching winter is no mean feat (for those of us in Australia). Measurements will follow tomorrow as also weight but I plan not to pay any attention to it.

I find that over the years and after having tried virtually everything - we have made fitness overly complicated and with a lot of fads. The bottom line really is 'Eat less move more'. I am going to try very hard to remember this as my mantra. So let the drums roll and the party begin!!