There have been nights out in Italian restaurants eating pasta with creamy sauces and lots of cheese, and the worst profiteroles I’ve ever had the misfortune to see, let alone put in my mouth. I had a day off, went to the cinema and had a treat of posh popcorn, followed up during the rest of the day with usually forbidden food, including potatoes (which I don’t normally eat anyway) with lots of cream. I’ve had brief moments of cravings and bought chocolate alongside my mountain of vegetables. The result of all this, despite being very good in between, is that in the last two weeks I’ve only lost 1.4lbs.
But… add that to the other 7.6, and the total for my first month is 9lbs, which even with my bad days is a respectable loss. I only feel a little disheartened because I couldn’t resist the scales during the month. If I’d stepped on them this morning for the first time in four weeks I’d have been ecstatic!
Even with these unhealthy meals, and days, I can recognise that treats are essential. I discovered three years ago that to eat healthily 100% of the time is exhausting, boring and unrealistic. I always had a selection of my favourite chocolate in the house, but I hid it away. It was put in a tin in the dining room. This meant that to have one or two squares I needed to do the walk of shame past my dad, and I made sure beforehand that he knew the tin would be there and what was in it. Now I don’t have the luxury of someone else’s eyes boring a hole into my head as I walk past with chocolate in my hand, and for a long time that made it rather difficult to stick to eating healthily. But that switch flicked over inside my head and it was suddenly a lot easier, days off notwithstanding!
I don’t believe anyone should deny themselves the food that they really love. If I have a strong craving for fatty or sugary foods, I usually accept it and satisfy the craving. I don’t “give in” to my cravings, because that suggests weakness. It’s not weakness. It’s just acknowledging that my body needs something specific and feeding it with what it asks for, but that doesn’t mean I go crazy and bury my face in a huge cake. I know that satisfying a craving can be achieved with just a few bites (or one bite if you have a huge gob!).
So I’m going to bake again. I haven’t baked in the last month because I was avoiding being sucked back into the constant taste testing. But now that I’m pretty much on track I know I can bake for myself and not binge on the resulting treats. My tried and tested plan is to freeze small portions of fruit loaves, cakes and scones. Small individual treat-sized portions can then be taken out of the freezer in the morning before I go to work, and I know I have something lovely to look forward to after my tasty, healthy evening meal. I was only reminded of this when a colleague was talking about her Christmas cake. She resolved to eat it all quickly before she makes a big effort to lose weight. She’d never even considered freezing Christmas cake. She knows as well as I do that it keeps incredibly well, but a big slab of her favourite cake sitting in a tin in her kitchen is too much of a temptation. I fully expect her to eat it in the next couple of weeks. I don’t think she could ever bring herself to freeze Christmas cake!
The truth of it all is that every one of us who vows to shed weight knows what we need to do. It’s not rocket science. If we eat healthily, keeping the calories and fat down, and move more (for some of us a lot more (me included)!), then we’ll get rid of that weight. Yes, it becomes more difficult the older we get but it’s not impossible, we each just need to find the tools that work for us and embed them into our daily lives so they become habit. No, not habit. Our way of life.
I already feel significantly better after only one month and 9lbs gone. I’m looking forward to feeling so much better soon that I have the confidence again to do the one thing that gives me absolute and unashamedly unadulterated pleasure. It’s easily the most fun I can have on my own…
