Week eight...of the rest of my life.

Hi Folks,
Well its a different kind of blog this week because I haven't weighed in. I saw my dietician for the first time this week and she suggested that I only weigh in every two weeks instead of weekly, so this blog comes to you today without a weigh in. Sorry!
My week has been pretty good except I am struggling at times. It is hard not to eat to control stress, but it is something I am really working on. It hasn't been a perfect week, but I am soldiering on.
Some good things this week were seeing my dietician and then also (a friend) who is a personal trainer offered to train me. We had a session on Sunday morning and it was so great! I really felt like I was on the biggest loser, except the only difference was that I didn't throw up! I had so much fun, we did some boxing and I loved it! We are going to have a session every two weeks.
I am so sore! (But in a good way). Love Annie. xxx

Week seven...of the rest of my life.

It's Monday and I'm here again.
This week was not so good. I weighed in again and am now 98.3kg which is a GAIN of 1.4kg.
Hmmmm.
Where did I go wrong?
Well, several ways;

1. I started weighing more often than weekly and that seems to mess with my head a bit as weight does fluctuate daily.
2. Then I find myself putting more pressure on myself and then try and cut down on my points which inevitably leads to disaster.
3. I seem to have forgotten that I am supposed to be vegan and that leads to all sorts of temptation. This brings me to point number 4...
4. I had a seminar on Wednesday and the lunch was catered. There were a lot of pastries which are a weakness for me and I ate them even though I could have easily left them as I was not that tempted. I think that I felt entitled to have them as I have not eaten that kind of cafe food for a long time.
5. I ate a bit  too much at the church lunch and even went there with the unrealistic hope of just eating salad.
6. I seem also to have forgotten to have a cooked meal for breakfast and instead I have been eating toast which is not as filling.
7. Instead of leaving my mistakes behind and just moving on, I have been over thinking them and then trying to compensate. Never works.
8. I didn't pray with my friend this week, as I was working.

I have not been completely off track, but enough to mess things up (temporarily).
Some good things I have done this week:

1. I have walked Max the Dog several times.
2. I phoned my friend on Saturday and we prayed on Sunday.
3. On Sunday I ate really well, despite going to a Tupperware party.
4. Today, Monday, I became really stressed as it rained again and some of the streets were flooded again. Most of the day I felt stressed and depressed and I really (and I cannot stress this enough) had the urge to medicate it with food. You will be glad to know that I did not do this.

So, that's it. This week I am really determined to work hard and have a good eating week.
All prayer is gratefully accepted.
Love Annie xxx

Week six of the rest of my life.

Here I am again: I weighed in again and today I am 96.9kg, so that's a loss of 0.6kg which I am happy with. I ate well but did not move much for two days as I was sick at home.
Everything is still going well. I have been tempted much more this week with unhealthy (and unhelpful) foods but have not given in to it.
 More disturbingly,  I have been tempted just in the past 24 to 48 hours to eat and not count it  as part of my points allocation. I realise that this is part of a pattern with me; that I go well for two or three weeks and then for no reason I seem to get the idea in my head that I need to have some sort of blow out or failure. I really haven't had any insight into this behaviour before, but I think God is blessing me with the insight now and also with the realisation that I don't need to do this. So, (Praise God), I haven't done this and so far all is going well still. I am starting to see patterns in my old eating patterns and it seem to me that God is making these patterns very clear to me and reassuring me that I can avoid them.
So that is very good.
I have a big week coming up with dinner out tonight, Wed night bible study (and dinner) and Sabbath lunch at church. I am really going to try and count all my points for all these meals and just not leave it to chance.
I have walked Max the dog twice this week and did a lovely walk along the river today by myself which I loved. Thanks for reading this. It really helps me stay accountable and on track. Love Annie, (perfectly imperfect). xxx

Week five...of the rest of my life.

Hi there!
Well, another week, another weigh in. I am now 97.5kg. That means I lost 1.3kg last week and 4.5kg in total so far. I am now able to wear my old size 16 jeans, (that's a relief, because the only pair I have been able to wear now have a hole in the left knee!).
The amazing thing about this is that it has been effortless! I think the difference is God.
I have a lovely friend who offered to come over and pray with me once a week about this and it has made all the difference. I am also trying to remember to pray about this daily by myself. God is good. He cares about us and our health and as my other lovely friend said last week, "He will not leave you alone in this". This is true.
I have no cravings, am not any hungrier than I usually am,  and am very happy eating this way. I don't feel stressed by this way of eating and am also not needing to constantly think about it or what I am going to eat.
All I am doing is having my main meal for breakfast and then another reasonably large meal at lunch and then a very small meal at night.
So, a typical day would look like this:
Breakfast: eaten later than I used to eat it,  at about 7am; a full meal of whatever I would normally have eaten at night...pasta/vegetarian schnitzel/vege pizza/curry or whatever, all with salad and/or vegetables. I am also counting weight watchers points so I make my breakfast about 10 points, which is a lot. (I can have 25 points in total per day). If I don't have a meal made up ahead of time for breakfast (I'm only human!) I may have cereal AND toast or toast and baked beans and/or fruit. I also start the day with 2 glasses of warm water and then later juice, (just because I like it and it feels like a treat).
Lunch: is lots of salad vegetables and protein like tofu or equivalent. I might have a huge salad or a salad and tofu wrap with a dip spread on it. Then some fruit. Lunch is about 8 points. I could probably have some soup with that also. I plan to make a nice lentil soup tomorrow. Water melon is very good after lunch as is soya yogurt. I try and eat lunch at about 2pm. Because I have had such a large breakfast I am not hungry until then and by having a late lunch then I am not hungry at 3 or 4 pm (when everyone else is at the office). This system of eating really keeps my on the straight and narrow because I don't feel the need to snack. I try and eat enough at meal times so I don't need to snack.
Dinner: is easy, fruit first (about 6pm) and then later on, porridge. YUM.
I could have up to 7 points for dinner but I find that I don't need that many. So that's it. Easy so far.
Praise God.
I have had a few indiscretions: I had a yummy milkshake midweek (not vegan!) and yesterday I ate too much for one meal. I made myself a great vegetarian burger and then decided it was so yummy that I would have another one. Not a good decision. I was so full. (My stomach was round like a beach ball.)
I probably wont do that again in a hurry. I have really noticed that my appetite is much less now which is a relief, because I hate struggling with that. I am learning that if I eat poorly, then i will just pretend it didn't happen and just keep eating well. Unorthodox approach, but those of us who struggle with weight, tend to just lose it if we even go slightly off centre. So, I am trying to just be normal, (a stretch, I know), and just not overthink the bad stuff and just keep going with the good stuff.
I have also only walked Max the Dog once this week. Not from laziness, just busy.
Thanks for reading this. Hope you are still awake. Thanks for your support, Love Annie. xxx