Been very busy, but need to do a quick update. Saturday weigh in, right on 100kgs again. I wouldn't have been surprised either way, going up or down, so I guess my split thoughts got met with the expected result. My week had a little less eating while sick, and a few snacks, no excersize, so it was a tough call. I'm mostly happy with 100 kgs for that weigh in. Saturday was another mammoth eating day. It's amazing how much you can eat that day and not put on weight. I won't go into details, but it was a really fun packed day, and I ate a heap as usual. Sunday was a little less painful than usual. Usually there is a little "hangover" after eating and drinking so much, but not a real issue this time. Had a smooth day, no cheats, ending with drinks though at night.
So my drinking. I put last night into my final little binge of last weeks overall bad week, so want to go 2 nights completely dry, then no more than 2 drinks the following nights. This is not a big ask, but as mentioned a couple of times, having drinks with dinner kills me. Friday onwards, is another world. A friend is over from interstate, and I imagine plenty of drinking and bad eating over the following few days. It will almost certainly be a lot more than just a cheat day this week. I obviously don't expect this to work well, so I have to aim at harm minimisation, and repair work over the next few weeks. Given that it will be December later this week, I'll pretty much spend most of the rest of the time before Chrismtas in repair mode. January is also a tough month. Plenty of Christmas cheer still about, plenty of days off work, and I have 2 weeks off later that month. I anticipate a few more drinks and possibly food between Christmas and February, so I really want to end the last few weeks before Christmas with good solid drinking and eating habits, and not loose control too early. That's a pretty good short term goal.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Sick week
It's been a tough week in more ways than one. Things went very much down the gutter after my high peaks of cheat day morning. Sure I had a decent enough cheat day, but there was an overwhelming feeling that my eye wasn't right. To top that, my son seemed to be getting sick. Sunday morning proved no better with the eye, and I saw a doctor who put me on drops. My son also got sicker, so it was obvious we were both going to be off work and school for a day or two. I got worse again Tuesday, and my son was throwing up and not eating, so another visit to a different doctor changed my prescription, and put my son on drugs too. He has recovered pretty well, and will be at school today. I'm at work, but my eye is still blown up.
After all my blabbing off course, of how I have full control of my diet, there is only one thing possible. A bad diet week of course. There is one thing I hadn't counted for in my full control rant, and that is being sick. Being sick brings a whole new challenge to eating well. It's always the time where you add a couple of nice tasting foods in, just because you feel shitty in other ways. Despite that, I've been pretty damn good, but have cheated. I'll give a run down.
Sunday night, even though my eye was not great, I had a few drinks, 3 beers and 2 wines. I was cooking a BBQ, and figured if I felt well enough to do that, I'm probably OK to have a couple of Sunday beers, and did so. Had one more, then 2 wines. Wife had made my life near impossible buying chips, so I had a small handful of those, but then also had 4 crackers a little later. Kids were showing signs of not wanting sausages again, so I've use them every day this week for breakfasts. Not a massive cheat, but definitely fattier than the bacon I've been using. Two of the lunches I was good, since I was home, having veggies, beans and meat. The other lunch my wife got chicken and chips from the shop, so I had chicken, the cooked veggies and beans, but some hot chips too. I'll add I had cous cous, which is pretty much a no-no too, but only in small doses with plenty of meat and veggies with that meal. Finally, had 2 ice creams (great pick me up when feeling sick), and one lollie too. That's not 100% control, nor is it not having cravings, from what I can tell.
Finally, drinking. I felt 100% better last night, and had my first drink for the week. Too much, but it was a little stress relief, given I'd had a tough day of looking after myself, sick kid, other kid, meals, then my wife rang up to say she wouldn't be home until after their bed, so bath, bed time too was in order. I broke out a bottle of white, had 2 glasses with dinner, and the kids and I played a couple of games, so it helped me relax and we had fun. I hate fun ending, so had 2 reds and a bourbon too. I don't know how to label this, so probably won't bother.
I have to write this week off too, due to a lousy week so far, but still I wonder whether it's danger time for me. I've allowed a few bad foods to creep in here and there, and that could easily balloon if I don't watch out. Funnily enough, I'm still not worried about that. Drinking is a real concern though. The 2 of the 4 nights I did drink recently, I can't just leave it at 2 drinks ever, rather ending up at 5. Far from ideal.
Well, I'm still trying here at least, will push through to the weekend, trying to minimise harm before cheat day. As I said, it could have been a whole lot worse, the wife has been junking right out recently, and eats all sort of tempting food in front of me. I will recount on Saturday morning, but don't expect any drop in weight this week, even though I was sick.
After all my blabbing off course, of how I have full control of my diet, there is only one thing possible. A bad diet week of course. There is one thing I hadn't counted for in my full control rant, and that is being sick. Being sick brings a whole new challenge to eating well. It's always the time where you add a couple of nice tasting foods in, just because you feel shitty in other ways. Despite that, I've been pretty damn good, but have cheated. I'll give a run down.
Sunday night, even though my eye was not great, I had a few drinks, 3 beers and 2 wines. I was cooking a BBQ, and figured if I felt well enough to do that, I'm probably OK to have a couple of Sunday beers, and did so. Had one more, then 2 wines. Wife had made my life near impossible buying chips, so I had a small handful of those, but then also had 4 crackers a little later. Kids were showing signs of not wanting sausages again, so I've use them every day this week for breakfasts. Not a massive cheat, but definitely fattier than the bacon I've been using. Two of the lunches I was good, since I was home, having veggies, beans and meat. The other lunch my wife got chicken and chips from the shop, so I had chicken, the cooked veggies and beans, but some hot chips too. I'll add I had cous cous, which is pretty much a no-no too, but only in small doses with plenty of meat and veggies with that meal. Finally, had 2 ice creams (great pick me up when feeling sick), and one lollie too. That's not 100% control, nor is it not having cravings, from what I can tell.
Finally, drinking. I felt 100% better last night, and had my first drink for the week. Too much, but it was a little stress relief, given I'd had a tough day of looking after myself, sick kid, other kid, meals, then my wife rang up to say she wouldn't be home until after their bed, so bath, bed time too was in order. I broke out a bottle of white, had 2 glasses with dinner, and the kids and I played a couple of games, so it helped me relax and we had fun. I hate fun ending, so had 2 reds and a bourbon too. I don't know how to label this, so probably won't bother.
I have to write this week off too, due to a lousy week so far, but still I wonder whether it's danger time for me. I've allowed a few bad foods to creep in here and there, and that could easily balloon if I don't watch out. Funnily enough, I'm still not worried about that. Drinking is a real concern though. The 2 of the 4 nights I did drink recently, I can't just leave it at 2 drinks ever, rather ending up at 5. Far from ideal.
Well, I'm still trying here at least, will push through to the weekend, trying to minimise harm before cheat day. As I said, it could have been a whole lot worse, the wife has been junking right out recently, and eats all sort of tempting food in front of me. I will recount on Saturday morning, but don't expect any drop in weight this week, even though I was sick.
Friday, November 18, 2011
100 kgs!!!!
Well, that's one goal down. 100kgs! Feels great, looks great. By great I mean there is still a few kgs to lose if I want to see a 6 pack, but anything under 100kgs is a very healthy weight for me. I went out to play a little golf today, and I hit some amazing shots. I think I definitely benefited from having 10 kgs lost.
First, I'll wrap up my week, which saw an as promised 3 glasses of wine plus a bourbon Thursday, then 2 wines and 3 bourbons last night. Given the higher than expected drinking, I've burned through most of my bottle of bourbon, and thought that should last at least a month, but it's only been 20 days and will be gone by 22 days. Not good. Food wise, no snacking at all, so on target there.
Now for the overall milestone, 110 kgs to 100 kgs. I think this is the end of the 7th week, so that's 10 kgs in 7 weeks, or 22 pounds. My lightest adult weight is 92 kgs, and I looked like a stick figure at that point, so as you can imagine, I'm pretty close to where I want to be. I don't want to look like a stick, so really anything around 96-97 with a little more muscle than my 92 would be absolutely perfect. I still have a little more weight around my thighs and very bottom part of the stomach (hardest to lose), and could use more muscle, but in any case I'm in the ball park now. 7 weeks. Not really that hard, actually fun a lot of the time. I really like the ideas with this diet. Don't starve yourself, just cut out the sugary crap, and have anything you want on cheat diet. Easy. And as hard as it can be on a Sunday, or when you don't have a meal planned for a Monday or something, the cheat day really does brighten up the last couple of days of the week, as well as the fact your body is almost always at a new low weight by then.
My other goal i set was to get to Christmas, and that looks like a given now. Beyond that I don't even need to set goals, I think I've already made the changes I need to not look back at eating as poorly as I was before. My biggest challenge is alcohol, and after tomorrow, I want a super lean week with that, so that is definitely my number one challenge this next week. I take that challenge much more seriously now, as I feel well in control of food right now. Perhaps it will work well to be able to not worry as much about the food, and focus right in on alcohol. Again, I could go dry for a week, but my big challenge is good long term balance, so one week off, or even a month off doesn't really mean anything for 10 years from now.
Anyway, really pleased with everything right now. I hoped something good would happen from this diet, but actually seeing it happen, and seeing my habits get so much better is obviously something to be proud of.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Well, best laid plans...
This is a very split post. A weird diet week one would say. Winding back to last week, I said it was time to open up the diet a little. Have occasional work lunches, have the occasional thing not on the strict diet. In the end I had 2 lunches out, snacked on nuts quite a few times, and drank too much, and didn't feel happy with all of that. So this week was going to be one of getting back on track. So far it's split between my eating and drinking. On the food side I've done really well, with one handful of nuts (the last of them thankfully) through to Thursday, so that is shaping up very well. But, I've been drinking every night so far this week, so that's still going poorly.
I guess I have to recap. Monday I was too busy at work for my last green tea I usually have, and was starving by the time I got home. Once home, the immediate thought of what would make the hunger go away, was any of the multitude of snacks in our house. The kids said they wanted chocolates left over from the party, I got it for them, but decided against myself. I don't know why, but I love I could do this. I opted instead for a stick of carrot, and that actually worked great. But somewhere in my mind, I made a mental excuse for now being able to have a couple of drinks that night. I had 2 reds later on. Tuesday is a tough day. This last year, my wife works Monday and Wednesday, so Tuesday she's at home, and it often leads to wine with dinner. The problem is I keep drinking, and then don't want to go dry Wednesday. Basically, it makes my drinking week far worse. The last few weeks we've been a little better on Tuesdays, but I was armed with a YES for when my wife asked if we should have a wine with dinner. I ended up drinking on, but slowly. 1.5 glasses of white, 2 reds, 1 bourbon. Not chaos, but this is only Tuesday. Last night was a good guitar night, where I get out in the garage and play music, usually accompanied by drinks. This case it was 3 reds and a bourbon.
So, why? Why did I say cut down on drinks 3 days ago, and here I am blogging about too many drinks? How come I'd easily cut down on drinks a few weeks ago, but now everything has to end with a couple more or drinking nights I don't want to? I've been asking these questions the last couple of days, and my mind was been wandering around trying to understand. So far I'm thinking Oracle from Matrix movies, her sign over the door, Know Thyself. Insanely powerful words. The fact is, you can beat down cravings in the short term, mainly because it's almost like a game, a bit of fun. But once you've proven you can do something, the fun dwindles quickly, and you are left at your normal point. You are left with thyself. You can trick thyself for a little while, and maybe even lose the cravings, but you won't change who you are. You've already been dealt that hand. It's not a case of giving up on trying either. Life should be about constantly trying things. So what if sometimes you fail, it doesn't mean it wasn't worth trying. And really, REALLY, who is thyself? How can you really know that unless you try things. If you just keep doing the very basic things, and never try anything, how do you know your boundaries? How do you know who you really are? I honestly don't know who I am still at 36 years old. Am I a guy who has to drink way too much? I don't know. I've slowed right down, will that be temporary, or am I going to be full speed ahead by Christmas, Christmas 2012 or 2030? I honestly don't know, but I'm going to try to be good.
So since I've almost ruined this week already, and we have friends coming over Sunday, this week is officially a write off. I'm not going crazy the next couple of days, I'm just not going to try anything big tonight. I'm going to tell my wife on the weekend, I can't have wine with her during dinner, except Friday and Saturday nights. If I actually tell her, rather than just telling me, she'll help me do that, and that will almost certainly work. I really don't mind having 2 reds any night of the week, but if I start with dinner wine, I have to stop after dinner, which I'm struggling to do. Hopefully she'll also stop Tuesday and Thursday night drinks too then, but that's up to her. But in saying I don't mind having 2 reds any night, I still want to start a lot of my weeks with 0 alcohol the first two days of the week. It's not actually that hard for me, and it just starts my week off in the right direction. Closer to the weekend, I don't mind always having 2 glasses of red, but I still have to learn to control that, especially Thursday. Sunday will be the hardest though. I'm home, and love having a late afternoon beer. But one thing I know about thyself, is I don't like to stop after those beers. It goes against my very fabric to just stop at 2 friendly beers. I know this as much as I know anything in my life, and I honestly don't expect that to change as I get older. But in any case, next week, I just have to try to be better.
So, to end on some good news. I'm feeling good. Drinks aside, my body is looking very good and feeling great. I'm starting to really see a nice shape forming, and every week I see a little more definition. Food cravings are all but gone. On a normal day after work 2 months ago, I'd be buying a packet of chips for the trip home, having crackers and peanut butter when I get home, having a huge rice/pasta dinner, eating a biscuit or two, having some ice cream, then more crackers later on often. Granted stress was involved, but I really have stopped wanting most of those things. I couldn't care less about breads, pastas, rice. I still like crackers, but don't sit there thinking about them non-stop while at home, not in the slightest. I also love my chips, but I would buy them any opportunity I could before. Filling petrol, buying alcohol, buying groceries, I'd always sneak in a packet. I would even take a trip to the supermarket near work just to buy chips, and I'm talking a big bag at a time. I still love chips, but will walk out of work, out of petrol stations, out of supermarkets with no chips, and not even feel the urge. If anything, I just think about whether there is a special I can buy for upcoming cheat day, but haven't pre-bought cheat day foods yet either. Thyself, as I understand it so far, isn't really that junk food obsessed. This is obviously great news, and I will keeping trying to discover what my real food urges are in the long run, but so far they are minimal.
So this weekend. I'll probably have drinks tonight, yes I'm bad. I plan to have 1.5 whites with dinner, 2 reds after, and there will probably be a bourbon. Friday, pretty much the same. Food wise, it will be quiet until cheat day. I expect to weigh in at about 100 kgs on Saturday, although I thought that last week too and the scales went up if anything. I will have the kids to myself Saturday, so might take them out for a meal, yet to be determined, but we'll do something nice. Sunday people are coming over, so I'm planning a cheat meal on that day. Nothing too bad though, perhaps just a couple of beers and whatever desert is there that night. From there, it's a whole new week to work at.
I guess I have to recap. Monday I was too busy at work for my last green tea I usually have, and was starving by the time I got home. Once home, the immediate thought of what would make the hunger go away, was any of the multitude of snacks in our house. The kids said they wanted chocolates left over from the party, I got it for them, but decided against myself. I don't know why, but I love I could do this. I opted instead for a stick of carrot, and that actually worked great. But somewhere in my mind, I made a mental excuse for now being able to have a couple of drinks that night. I had 2 reds later on. Tuesday is a tough day. This last year, my wife works Monday and Wednesday, so Tuesday she's at home, and it often leads to wine with dinner. The problem is I keep drinking, and then don't want to go dry Wednesday. Basically, it makes my drinking week far worse. The last few weeks we've been a little better on Tuesdays, but I was armed with a YES for when my wife asked if we should have a wine with dinner. I ended up drinking on, but slowly. 1.5 glasses of white, 2 reds, 1 bourbon. Not chaos, but this is only Tuesday. Last night was a good guitar night, where I get out in the garage and play music, usually accompanied by drinks. This case it was 3 reds and a bourbon.
So, why? Why did I say cut down on drinks 3 days ago, and here I am blogging about too many drinks? How come I'd easily cut down on drinks a few weeks ago, but now everything has to end with a couple more or drinking nights I don't want to? I've been asking these questions the last couple of days, and my mind was been wandering around trying to understand. So far I'm thinking Oracle from Matrix movies, her sign over the door, Know Thyself. Insanely powerful words. The fact is, you can beat down cravings in the short term, mainly because it's almost like a game, a bit of fun. But once you've proven you can do something, the fun dwindles quickly, and you are left at your normal point. You are left with thyself. You can trick thyself for a little while, and maybe even lose the cravings, but you won't change who you are. You've already been dealt that hand. It's not a case of giving up on trying either. Life should be about constantly trying things. So what if sometimes you fail, it doesn't mean it wasn't worth trying. And really, REALLY, who is thyself? How can you really know that unless you try things. If you just keep doing the very basic things, and never try anything, how do you know your boundaries? How do you know who you really are? I honestly don't know who I am still at 36 years old. Am I a guy who has to drink way too much? I don't know. I've slowed right down, will that be temporary, or am I going to be full speed ahead by Christmas, Christmas 2012 or 2030? I honestly don't know, but I'm going to try to be good.
So since I've almost ruined this week already, and we have friends coming over Sunday, this week is officially a write off. I'm not going crazy the next couple of days, I'm just not going to try anything big tonight. I'm going to tell my wife on the weekend, I can't have wine with her during dinner, except Friday and Saturday nights. If I actually tell her, rather than just telling me, she'll help me do that, and that will almost certainly work. I really don't mind having 2 reds any night of the week, but if I start with dinner wine, I have to stop after dinner, which I'm struggling to do. Hopefully she'll also stop Tuesday and Thursday night drinks too then, but that's up to her. But in saying I don't mind having 2 reds any night, I still want to start a lot of my weeks with 0 alcohol the first two days of the week. It's not actually that hard for me, and it just starts my week off in the right direction. Closer to the weekend, I don't mind always having 2 glasses of red, but I still have to learn to control that, especially Thursday. Sunday will be the hardest though. I'm home, and love having a late afternoon beer. But one thing I know about thyself, is I don't like to stop after those beers. It goes against my very fabric to just stop at 2 friendly beers. I know this as much as I know anything in my life, and I honestly don't expect that to change as I get older. But in any case, next week, I just have to try to be better.
So, to end on some good news. I'm feeling good. Drinks aside, my body is looking very good and feeling great. I'm starting to really see a nice shape forming, and every week I see a little more definition. Food cravings are all but gone. On a normal day after work 2 months ago, I'd be buying a packet of chips for the trip home, having crackers and peanut butter when I get home, having a huge rice/pasta dinner, eating a biscuit or two, having some ice cream, then more crackers later on often. Granted stress was involved, but I really have stopped wanting most of those things. I couldn't care less about breads, pastas, rice. I still like crackers, but don't sit there thinking about them non-stop while at home, not in the slightest. I also love my chips, but I would buy them any opportunity I could before. Filling petrol, buying alcohol, buying groceries, I'd always sneak in a packet. I would even take a trip to the supermarket near work just to buy chips, and I'm talking a big bag at a time. I still love chips, but will walk out of work, out of petrol stations, out of supermarkets with no chips, and not even feel the urge. If anything, I just think about whether there is a special I can buy for upcoming cheat day, but haven't pre-bought cheat day foods yet either. Thyself, as I understand it so far, isn't really that junk food obsessed. This is obviously great news, and I will keeping trying to discover what my real food urges are in the long run, but so far they are minimal.
So this weekend. I'll probably have drinks tonight, yes I'm bad. I plan to have 1.5 whites with dinner, 2 reds after, and there will probably be a bourbon. Friday, pretty much the same. Food wise, it will be quiet until cheat day. I expect to weigh in at about 100 kgs on Saturday, although I thought that last week too and the scales went up if anything. I will have the kids to myself Saturday, so might take them out for a meal, yet to be determined, but we'll do something nice. Sunday people are coming over, so I'm planning a cheat meal on that day. Nothing too bad though, perhaps just a couple of beers and whatever desert is there that night. From there, it's a whole new week to work at.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Need some work
OK, feeling a little lack of control again now. The human condition is a weird one. A few weeks ago I was blogging how happy I was to have beaten off the things that made me guilty, and felt great about that. A couple of weeks ago, I feel like my occasional cheat didn't actually cause any guilt. It's like guilt gets forced to the background by other feelings, and here I am feeling guilty only when things spiral a bit. In my defence, I've still been very good overall, and avoiding a tonne of temptation, but there are gaping holes starting to show in this boat, and those holes need attention, or sinking is a possibility.
OK, to start with the facts. Had good food Friday, finished off with a couple of drinks. 3 white wines (wife wasn't drinking much), 2 bourbons that night, might have had a handful of nuts too (those things are killers). Nothing too bad there. Weigh in (after half a bad breakfast, but I doubt it makes a difference), still 101.5 kgs. Disappointed? Surprised to be honest. I may have eaten a little bad that week, but I felt thin on Friday, thought I'd dropped a little weight. I was a little guilty for eating the lunches and a couple of nut handfuls during the week. Saturday was typical cheat day. Breakfast was pancakes, lunch was ham, cheese and pineapple grill (and 2 beers), then had a party at night. Finished up probably having 6 more beers, and 2 bourbons. Food was chips, dip and crackers, steak, sausage, salad, desert and a couple of chocolates. Also had a packet of chips after everyone left, and signed off with a small ice cream before bed. Pretty huge cheat night. Sunday is possibly the hardest day of the week. Cravings don't easily go away, plus the rest of the family seems to still pig out on this day, so I have to watch as my wife has chocolates, chips, nuts, bad breakfast etc, etc, kids have lollies, biscuits, ice creams etc, etc. I did OK up until late afternoon. I planned my usual 2 beers, but also wanted some wine with dinner, but wife had leftover champagne for herself only. So had a 3rd beer, then wife accidentally opened a beer thinking it was a diet coke can. I ended up having 4 beers and 3 bourbons, which is way too much for a Sunday. On the eating side, I had a good sized dinner already of leftover steak and salad, but wife dished over a sausage, so I should be 100% full right? Still had 2 handful of nuts (told you, they are killing me), but given I had too many drinks, went back for a 3rd handful, then a very small chocolate.
Spelt out, this doesn't sound rediculously bad, it's just things are starting to come undone little by little, and I'm worried this is the first time in weeks I've had any guilt. I should have felt more guilty after the first extra beer, or the first handful of nuts. The nuts are really quite wrong, no need to be snacking while eating big meals like I tend to do. So they have to go. Work lunches are a difficult decision. I'd like to do it every 2 weeks I think, so really have to skip this week unless something out of the usual happens. Other snacks really have to wait until Saturday, but to be honest I've dealt with a lot of tempation in that area and have triumphed really. So alcohol is the last foe.
My alcohol week by day was nothing, nothing, 2 reds, 1.5 whites + 2 reds + 1 bourbon, 3 whites + 2 bourbons, 8 beers + 2 bourbons, 4 beers + 3 bourbons. Even though I consumed a heap on Saturday, Thursday and Sunday are the killers here. I really need to control these back to being purely wine nights, no beers or bourbons. The Sunday afternoon beer sounds good in theory, but if I have those early beers, I just want to drink until bed. Thursday is similar as I have wines with dinner and don't want to stop. The 2 reds nights work, because I do all my eating, excersize, chores, then sit down to 2 reds, and don't really have time to drink crazily, and feel more in control. So unfornately (as it's hard to top a late afternoon summer beer, or wine with dinner outside) I need to stop having afternoon/dinner drinks on non-weekend nights, or if I choose to do that sometimes, have to dry up afterwards, rather than continuing on. I have to be strict with that, it's just part of who/where I want to be.
So after saying last week I want to loosen up into a long term routine, this week is now looking super tight diet week again :) Perhaps this is just a case of trying tweaks here and there to find the perfect routine, but really it looks as though I want to keep it to tight diet, with the occasional extra cheat meal here or there. No snacks/extra drinks permitted, unless it's cheat day? Very healthy, not sure that's long term productive.
OK, to start with the facts. Had good food Friday, finished off with a couple of drinks. 3 white wines (wife wasn't drinking much), 2 bourbons that night, might have had a handful of nuts too (those things are killers). Nothing too bad there. Weigh in (after half a bad breakfast, but I doubt it makes a difference), still 101.5 kgs. Disappointed? Surprised to be honest. I may have eaten a little bad that week, but I felt thin on Friday, thought I'd dropped a little weight. I was a little guilty for eating the lunches and a couple of nut handfuls during the week. Saturday was typical cheat day. Breakfast was pancakes, lunch was ham, cheese and pineapple grill (and 2 beers), then had a party at night. Finished up probably having 6 more beers, and 2 bourbons. Food was chips, dip and crackers, steak, sausage, salad, desert and a couple of chocolates. Also had a packet of chips after everyone left, and signed off with a small ice cream before bed. Pretty huge cheat night. Sunday is possibly the hardest day of the week. Cravings don't easily go away, plus the rest of the family seems to still pig out on this day, so I have to watch as my wife has chocolates, chips, nuts, bad breakfast etc, etc, kids have lollies, biscuits, ice creams etc, etc. I did OK up until late afternoon. I planned my usual 2 beers, but also wanted some wine with dinner, but wife had leftover champagne for herself only. So had a 3rd beer, then wife accidentally opened a beer thinking it was a diet coke can. I ended up having 4 beers and 3 bourbons, which is way too much for a Sunday. On the eating side, I had a good sized dinner already of leftover steak and salad, but wife dished over a sausage, so I should be 100% full right? Still had 2 handful of nuts (told you, they are killing me), but given I had too many drinks, went back for a 3rd handful, then a very small chocolate.
Spelt out, this doesn't sound rediculously bad, it's just things are starting to come undone little by little, and I'm worried this is the first time in weeks I've had any guilt. I should have felt more guilty after the first extra beer, or the first handful of nuts. The nuts are really quite wrong, no need to be snacking while eating big meals like I tend to do. So they have to go. Work lunches are a difficult decision. I'd like to do it every 2 weeks I think, so really have to skip this week unless something out of the usual happens. Other snacks really have to wait until Saturday, but to be honest I've dealt with a lot of tempation in that area and have triumphed really. So alcohol is the last foe.
My alcohol week by day was nothing, nothing, 2 reds, 1.5 whites + 2 reds + 1 bourbon, 3 whites + 2 bourbons, 8 beers + 2 bourbons, 4 beers + 3 bourbons. Even though I consumed a heap on Saturday, Thursday and Sunday are the killers here. I really need to control these back to being purely wine nights, no beers or bourbons. The Sunday afternoon beer sounds good in theory, but if I have those early beers, I just want to drink until bed. Thursday is similar as I have wines with dinner and don't want to stop. The 2 reds nights work, because I do all my eating, excersize, chores, then sit down to 2 reds, and don't really have time to drink crazily, and feel more in control. So unfornately (as it's hard to top a late afternoon summer beer, or wine with dinner outside) I need to stop having afternoon/dinner drinks on non-weekend nights, or if I choose to do that sometimes, have to dry up afterwards, rather than continuing on. I have to be strict with that, it's just part of who/where I want to be.
So after saying last week I want to loosen up into a long term routine, this week is now looking super tight diet week again :) Perhaps this is just a case of trying tweaks here and there to find the perfect routine, but really it looks as though I want to keep it to tight diet, with the occasional extra cheat meal here or there. No snacks/extra drinks permitted, unless it's cheat day? Very healthy, not sure that's long term productive.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Another week finishes
It's Friday again, again feeling a little lighter, or if not lighter, good. Like I mentioned a couple of days ago, even as late as Thursday you still feel a little bigger, then Friday/Saturday mornings you feel like a lightweight. If you had a hot date, I'd definitely not plan it 1 or 2 days after a cheat day.
My week has been a little disappointing from a diet point of view, but if I still lose any weight this week, it'll probably get close to my normal diet attitude. What did I do wrong? What did I do right first. I didn't drink Monday or Tuesday, had 2 reds Wednesday, so that's all good. Thursday was 3.5 wines (had win with wife at dinner), and 1 bourbon. Not really bad, was happy to stop at 1 bourbon, as I was up another hour almost, and usually just keep going until I sleep. Overall, I'd give this week a pass so far for drinking, I'd be pretty happy for that to be a normal week.
Diet was thrown out a little by choosing takeout for lunch, then getting told the next day was to be a catchup with an old work mate at a pub lunch. Chinese takeout wasn't healthy, but I did ditch 2/3rds of the rice, as it is just useless filler compared with the meat and veggies. Sauce is obviously excessive, but overall the meal, when the rice was thrown out, is still not drastically bad. That night, I had crumbed chicken and otherwise good veggies. Not terrible, but crumbed food is off Ferriss's list. I also had a handful of nuts after dinner, mainly because they were there. Not the best day. The pub lunch was also crumbed chicken (excellent), with salad and chips and a beer. Chips were magnificent, but I aimed to only eat 1/3rd of them. Only after sitting there talking for an extra 30 minutes, I'd just occasionally grab another, until they were all gone. Woops. Still had all the salad, and plenty of chicken, no sauces, so could have been worse. Last night was a good meal, but had 2 handfuls of nuts for no good reason. Today will be quite solid diet from what I can tell, I will endevour to not eat bad, given I'm only one day from a cheat day.
As I said, I'm feeling great, and wouldn't be surprised to see another 0.5-1kg drop tomorrow, so this will be the new normal for me if that's the case. Not 100% diet, but just nothing excessive, like buying bags of chips on non-cheat day, or eating crackers/ice cream at home. The reduction of beer must also be helping. I'm also still doing everything else as per diet too, so I still expect to be able to lose weight some weeks when I have a couple of bad things during my diet week. The biggest problem I can see with blurring the line is the temptation factor. I want to try this new idea of diet until Christmas now, and still expect to be under 98-99 kgs by then if I don't stop doing it.
Cheat day this week will be hard working morning (mowing, cleaning house), then party tomorrow, with snacks, nice food, beers flowing. Looking forward to it of course. Hopefully the hangover isn't too bad.
My week has been a little disappointing from a diet point of view, but if I still lose any weight this week, it'll probably get close to my normal diet attitude. What did I do wrong? What did I do right first. I didn't drink Monday or Tuesday, had 2 reds Wednesday, so that's all good. Thursday was 3.5 wines (had win with wife at dinner), and 1 bourbon. Not really bad, was happy to stop at 1 bourbon, as I was up another hour almost, and usually just keep going until I sleep. Overall, I'd give this week a pass so far for drinking, I'd be pretty happy for that to be a normal week.
Diet was thrown out a little by choosing takeout for lunch, then getting told the next day was to be a catchup with an old work mate at a pub lunch. Chinese takeout wasn't healthy, but I did ditch 2/3rds of the rice, as it is just useless filler compared with the meat and veggies. Sauce is obviously excessive, but overall the meal, when the rice was thrown out, is still not drastically bad. That night, I had crumbed chicken and otherwise good veggies. Not terrible, but crumbed food is off Ferriss's list. I also had a handful of nuts after dinner, mainly because they were there. Not the best day. The pub lunch was also crumbed chicken (excellent), with salad and chips and a beer. Chips were magnificent, but I aimed to only eat 1/3rd of them. Only after sitting there talking for an extra 30 minutes, I'd just occasionally grab another, until they were all gone. Woops. Still had all the salad, and plenty of chicken, no sauces, so could have been worse. Last night was a good meal, but had 2 handfuls of nuts for no good reason. Today will be quite solid diet from what I can tell, I will endevour to not eat bad, given I'm only one day from a cheat day.
As I said, I'm feeling great, and wouldn't be surprised to see another 0.5-1kg drop tomorrow, so this will be the new normal for me if that's the case. Not 100% diet, but just nothing excessive, like buying bags of chips on non-cheat day, or eating crackers/ice cream at home. The reduction of beer must also be helping. I'm also still doing everything else as per diet too, so I still expect to be able to lose weight some weeks when I have a couple of bad things during my diet week. The biggest problem I can see with blurring the line is the temptation factor. I want to try this new idea of diet until Christmas now, and still expect to be under 98-99 kgs by then if I don't stop doing it.
Cheat day this week will be hard working morning (mowing, cleaning house), then party tomorrow, with snacks, nice food, beers flowing. Looking forward to it of course. Hopefully the hangover isn't too bad.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Another winner
No updates last few days, and not for negative reasons. Hit the scales another 2 kg lighter last week, 101 kgs now. This was another shock to me, after losing 2 kgs the week before, I honestly expected very little. But I'll admit by Thursday/Friday last week, I was definitely feeling the lost weight. Cheat day was normal bad stuff, good day overall. Went to 3 different venues for my bad food, and ate reasonably bad only. My only real regrets for that week was too much alcohol. This week has already been solid though with no drinks in the first two nights.
It's worth pointing out the standard diet week. After cheat day, you usually feel a bit average, body feels bigger again, cravings are around a little more. By about Tuesday, you start to wonder whether weight will come off this week at all, as the body feels the same as after cheat day. Then the last couple of days are weight freefall. You wake up feeling light and good. The cheat day is also looming now, as is the weekend, so your spirits are nice and high. Come Saturday morning, you weigh in lighter (hopefully), and have a full cheat day ahead, so that's about the peak feeling.
The diet is going very well, but I'm going to throw some curve balls in here. It's now time to adventure slightly outside the parameters. You see I want to keep doing this long term, but want something a little more realistic. I can't keep avoiding pastas, rice, sauces forever. But I also don't want to go back to bad food or snacking out all the time. I'm trying some things out, but it will be like this now. If any of the negative foods outweigh the positives, and are needed to fill up, I'm doing something wrong. A point would be a pasta dish or rice dish. If I need a huge serving of rice or pasta, I'm not getting enough good food. In fact I'll probably not have these meals much anyway, and rice may be subtituted fully for beans. The point is in the long term I want myself, and my family to move away from using rice/pasta/bread/cereals as fillers for meals. It means you aren't getting enough meat and vegetables if you need it. Slight addition for flavouring is fine. I don't expect this to stick for the kids 100%, but hopefully for myself and wife it should be a good combination.
For this week, I've been good so far, with exception of having sausage meat (little too fatty) and taco shells. Even then, had heaps of salad and vegetables, so these are acceptable meals to me. Next couple of days have cheat lunches at work, but nothing too bad. Rest of the diet week should be as normal by normal standards. Saturday is a party at our house, so perfect for a cheat day, Sunday is quiet at this point.
My new goal with life long diets in general is to stay below 100kgs in the future. I know I'm still 1-1.5 kgs off that now, which is good because it still gives me something to achieve. And even though I'm loosening the diet rules a little, I think some common sense will keep my weight below that point.
I will try this out anyway, and see how it goes.
It's worth pointing out the standard diet week. After cheat day, you usually feel a bit average, body feels bigger again, cravings are around a little more. By about Tuesday, you start to wonder whether weight will come off this week at all, as the body feels the same as after cheat day. Then the last couple of days are weight freefall. You wake up feeling light and good. The cheat day is also looming now, as is the weekend, so your spirits are nice and high. Come Saturday morning, you weigh in lighter (hopefully), and have a full cheat day ahead, so that's about the peak feeling.
The diet is going very well, but I'm going to throw some curve balls in here. It's now time to adventure slightly outside the parameters. You see I want to keep doing this long term, but want something a little more realistic. I can't keep avoiding pastas, rice, sauces forever. But I also don't want to go back to bad food or snacking out all the time. I'm trying some things out, but it will be like this now. If any of the negative foods outweigh the positives, and are needed to fill up, I'm doing something wrong. A point would be a pasta dish or rice dish. If I need a huge serving of rice or pasta, I'm not getting enough good food. In fact I'll probably not have these meals much anyway, and rice may be subtituted fully for beans. The point is in the long term I want myself, and my family to move away from using rice/pasta/bread/cereals as fillers for meals. It means you aren't getting enough meat and vegetables if you need it. Slight addition for flavouring is fine. I don't expect this to stick for the kids 100%, but hopefully for myself and wife it should be a good combination.
For this week, I've been good so far, with exception of having sausage meat (little too fatty) and taco shells. Even then, had heaps of salad and vegetables, so these are acceptable meals to me. Next couple of days have cheat lunches at work, but nothing too bad. Rest of the diet week should be as normal by normal standards. Saturday is a party at our house, so perfect for a cheat day, Sunday is quiet at this point.
My new goal with life long diets in general is to stay below 100kgs in the future. I know I'm still 1-1.5 kgs off that now, which is good because it still gives me something to achieve. And even though I'm loosening the diet rules a little, I think some common sense will keep my weight below that point.
I will try this out anyway, and see how it goes.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Drinky drinky
It's one day until cheat day, it's mostly been a good week, perhaps too many drinks, I'll explain.
Monday was a kind of hard day. Work and kids got me a bit wound up, so it didn't seem a big deal to start the week off with a couple of reds. I'll back this too. I don't mind if I drink 2x red wines every night, I don't think it hurts anything, and does give a nice feeling. But it was still a drinking start to the week. Tuesday, I had a day off to take my daughter to hospital. This hospital is a diet issue, because there is a lot of waiting, and plenty of cafe's and snack food around. I resisted (as did my wife), and even had a green tea out, for the first time ever (although they serve the cheap crap). But in the afternoon, it was just beautiful weather, we were making a nice roast dinner, I just cracked open the last 2 beers in the fridge, very nice. Had my 1.3 glasses of white wine with dinner, then 2 reds later on. Loved the setting, can't say I'm upset at all by this. Wednesday could have probably been a day off given Tuesday, but had the 2 reds. Thursday is probably where my guilt lies at. I was never going to take a break on Thursday, but had just the 2 reds by 9:30pm, and was feeling good. But the 2nd glass had gone down so easy, and I was having fun playing some PS3, I just went on to 4 glasses. I felt guilty, still feel guilty. I woke up a little hungover (my brain doesn't cope well with 4 reds), a reminder that this is not on. Where's that self control now?
I'm not going to beat myself up over this at all. All week I ate very well, no snacks, especially good given I had a few extra drinks during the week, and drinks can easily lead to a little cheating. I excersized a little most days, and my body is feeling great overall. Cravings have been up and down a bit all week, but I must say it usually leaves pretty quick. Like you'll crave something, then have a lingering feeling for 15 minutes or so about that craving, making you feel a little down, then it is rock solid gone, never to be thought about all night again. Drinks are the same. When you say no to a third, there is a 15 minute craving, then it's gone, all happy. I just didn't give myself a few minutes on the decision of the 3rd last night, and that cost me 2 more reds.
Tomorrows cheat day is looking like being a bit too rushed around for my liking, and it probably won't be as fun as I'd like for a cheat day. But I'll make the most of it, and make sure to snack out where I can.
Monday was a kind of hard day. Work and kids got me a bit wound up, so it didn't seem a big deal to start the week off with a couple of reds. I'll back this too. I don't mind if I drink 2x red wines every night, I don't think it hurts anything, and does give a nice feeling. But it was still a drinking start to the week. Tuesday, I had a day off to take my daughter to hospital. This hospital is a diet issue, because there is a lot of waiting, and plenty of cafe's and snack food around. I resisted (as did my wife), and even had a green tea out, for the first time ever (although they serve the cheap crap). But in the afternoon, it was just beautiful weather, we were making a nice roast dinner, I just cracked open the last 2 beers in the fridge, very nice. Had my 1.3 glasses of white wine with dinner, then 2 reds later on. Loved the setting, can't say I'm upset at all by this. Wednesday could have probably been a day off given Tuesday, but had the 2 reds. Thursday is probably where my guilt lies at. I was never going to take a break on Thursday, but had just the 2 reds by 9:30pm, and was feeling good. But the 2nd glass had gone down so easy, and I was having fun playing some PS3, I just went on to 4 glasses. I felt guilty, still feel guilty. I woke up a little hungover (my brain doesn't cope well with 4 reds), a reminder that this is not on. Where's that self control now?
I'm not going to beat myself up over this at all. All week I ate very well, no snacks, especially good given I had a few extra drinks during the week, and drinks can easily lead to a little cheating. I excersized a little most days, and my body is feeling great overall. Cravings have been up and down a bit all week, but I must say it usually leaves pretty quick. Like you'll crave something, then have a lingering feeling for 15 minutes or so about that craving, making you feel a little down, then it is rock solid gone, never to be thought about all night again. Drinks are the same. When you say no to a third, there is a 15 minute craving, then it's gone, all happy. I just didn't give myself a few minutes on the decision of the 3rd last night, and that cost me 2 more reds.
Tomorrows cheat day is looking like being a bit too rushed around for my liking, and it probably won't be as fun as I'd like for a cheat day. But I'll make the most of it, and make sure to snack out where I can.
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