Setting my agenda

Greetings, friends! I’m in Barcelona this week, where hopefully the sun will be shining and the tapas will be tapas-ing. Can’t wait to share my adventures with you when I get back! But, in the meantime – last week it struck me. In (less than) six months time, it will be Christmas. Scary, no? So, at the 2014 halfway point, I’ve been putting some real thought in to what I can do to ensure that my weight loss continues apace in the latter end of the year. I would love to have hit the six stone mark by the end of December, which is about thirty pounds away. That is an imminently achievable target as long as I work through this current funk (and hopefully the holiday will give me the boost I need to regain focus on my return).


So, what has gone well this year?

 I’m very good at not giving myself credit for my own achievements. I’m a Yesbut. I’ve lost nearly four stone…yesbut it has really slowed down lately, yesbut there is still more to lose, yesbut I shouldn’t have gained it in the first place. Yawn. I’ve done well, I should be pleased. My weekly average, since starting this latest campaign last September, is 1.4lbs. OK, 2 or even 3 would be lovely, but 1.4 is still a respectable figure.

 We’re in a really good routine of planning and cooking evening meals. D has got involved which is great, we eat a good variety of foods, we cook from scratch most nights and seldom fall into the takeaway or “popping out” trap.

 I haven’t gone backwards. I really haven’t felt 100% these last couple of months which, in the past, I would have used as an excuse to self indulge, but I’ve put in enough good days to counteract the bad. I’ve got maintenance down to a fine art!

 Swimming! I’ve joined a gym and have managed to get myself to the pool at least a couple of times a week.

And what’s not gone so well?

 My enthusiasm has waned and, with its passing, the rate of weight loss has slowed to a crawl.

 I don’t plan my breakfasts and lunches with anywhere near the same care as my evening meals, with the result that I rely too heavily on shop bought, high point, expensive sandwiches and snacks and often find myself getting very hungry. Hunger leads to poor decisions.

 Weekend drinking has increased again – and the occurrences of midweek pick me ups as well. Alcohol is high in points which means I have to compensate by cutting back on the amount of weeklies available for extra food. This makes me hungry. Hunger leads to….(you know the drill).

So what can I do to address this?

 I’ve tried to avoid setting time based goals because not reaching them can lead to disappointment and disappointment can lead me to end up face down in a bowl of Doritos. But, as long as I realise that the sky won’t fall in if I don’t reach my entirely arbitrary goal, they can be helpful. I’m hereby aiming for the six stone mark by my last weigh in before Christmas which, as I write this, is 30 pounds away (although it might be slightly more after a week of tapas). I have 24 weigh ins to do it in, between the 11th July and the 19th December. BRING. IT. ON.

 I need to start being more organised about ALL my meals. Meal planning, henceforth, needs to include lunch planning as well.

 Alcohol is not my friend. Special occasions aside, I probably need to just avoid it altogether. Note to self: a Friday is not a special occasion.

 I need to up the exercise, which will give me an activity point safety net. My daily points allowance has gone down from 39 to 31 since I started, which is a big difference and could be one of the reasons why I am struggling. I’m enjoying the swimming, but I need to throw a bit of running in there as well – I want to be a runner. Runners are cool. Like bow ties.

Right – there we have it in black and white. The countdown to Christmas starts on the 11th July, my first post holiday weigh in. I know I can do this, I want to do it, I’m even (as I type) feeling a glimmering of enthusiasm. Hurrah! Onwards and downwards!