another attempt to gain control over the lbs and £'s

jpscloud

ali-t wrote: »

just a final thought on thinking - do any of you have any views on whether trying to trace back and work out the root cause of overeating and overspending is useful in tacling the issue. Is it just naval gazing or does it have the ootential to unlock the solution.

I think my overeating is caused by a complex mix of psychology and physiology - hormones definitely play a part and affect my ability to control overeating too.


I've just accepted that overeating is my demon, whatever the cause, and am trying to manage it as best I can now that I have moved out of the land of denial - it's amazing how long I lived with the idea that one day I would simply start losing weight naturally and not have to "do" anything.


Edited to add... I was worried about the summer holidays, as I work in education and had only really conquered losing weight with the structure of work. I gained every holiday we had, so I thought summer would be a really big problem. The fear of losing control has apparently pushed me in the other direction and I'm (so far anyway) really on top of it and losing good amounts each week.


Exercise has been a big help, although I too really am a natural couch potato and revert to that at every opportunity! I used to do a lot of hill walking and decided that no matter how uncomfortable it was, I was going to get back to doing that. It has been bloody uncomfortable, I totally took being pain-free for granted before my 50s!


Now I have a dodgy back but it's not stopping me, and I'm actually enjoying the exertion. I reckon exercise is a matter of finding something that isn't horrible to do for you as an individual... I love watching birds, butterflies, dragonflies etc. (yes, I'm that sad!!) so the exercise is an acceptable by-product of getting out there to see what's about.

Sharon87

I will join you on here too! I have no self control when it comes to eating and spending!

I do work out, so I'm in an exercise regime, it's just making sure I go at least 3 times a week or more. Now it's just trying to sort my diet out, I'm a short person so don't need as many calories as taller people which makes it even tougher! According to a few calculators I only need 1800 calories to maintain my current overweight self before exercise, so to maintain a healthy weight will mean even less calories and exercise!

My current diet involves a lot of fish/chicken and spinach for dinner, weetabix or eggs for breakfast, salad or sandwiches for lunch. My downfall is chocolate, crisps, cheese and crackers and takeaways as well as booze! There are a lot of calories in alcohol! The last month my biggest downfall is sugar, so I need to try and cut back on this.

My plan for cutting back on chocolate is eating really dark chocolate as I don't need much of it to satisfy me. So this is the only chocolate I ever keep in the house. If I really want chocolate I have to walk to Tesco to get it, so I have to burn a few calories to get it - not as much as I'd consume but still better than just the walk to the cupboard!

I'm craving rubbish food right now, so may try the 85% cocoa chocolate I bought today - I usually buy the 70%, but thought I would try the 85% as it has about 13% sugar in and that's it.

AliBee16

I will be following your thread ali-t as I would also like to lose 3 stone by next summer so I look okay in my graduation pictures, when I finish my degree.
I really struggle with control around food, eat mindlessly, reward and console myself with food (cake is my enemy) so would like to get control of this. I'm also finding doing anything is getting more difficult and as I have a fairly active job, my knees and feet are constantly killing me.
I think I will get all my w/w magazines out and cut out a few recipes, and start doing 'my fitness planner' again, which is basically calorie counting.
Regarding the pysychological side, one thing which did work for me for a while was Tapping. It sounds a bit weird, but it involves saying out loud your issue (craving, self-esteem, etc) while tapping on various pressure points on your face/body. It really worked for me untill I had a holiday and celebrated a bit too hard :rotfl:
Good luck to you

ali-t

Welcome aboard everyone. lots of good ideas coming through that I can borrow to help me on my way. I start a new job tomorrow and going to use that as a way to trial the 'new me' who doesn't live on chocolate and crisps for lunch and spends her lunchbreak online shopping and having a nosy on MSE. I will take healthy lunches and will take a pair of trainers so I can go for a walk when possible. Someone earlier mentioned keeping a spending diary and one of the leaving gifts I received from my old work was an academic diary. I am going to use this to chart my eating and spending patterns in the run up to next summer.


Alibee, the tapping you mention - is that thought field therapy or EFT? I was trained in thought field therapy many years ago and found it great for working with phobias and addictions but have never used it on myself for food cravings -that is definitely worth a revisit. Thanks for that. I have done very little today as yesterday - a whole 9 hours of it - was spent shovelling grit as myself and my neighbours attempted to fix the road we live on. I am aching from head to toe but must have burned a lot of calories doing that. Standing on the scales this morning showed me to be at the same weight as I was at the beginning of the week but I am a few pounds richer so one out of 2 aint bad.


tomorrow is the testing day for me with a new job and a determination not to fall off the fizzy juice or sweets from the vending machine wagon. The secret is probably going to be to leave my purse in the car or maybe even the house! Good luck to everyone this week - should we be having a lbs down and £'s up weigh in every week? Very motivating when we are all winning but very depressing if we are not. hmmm...

jpscloud

I've done loads of walking this week, and had three very good days (below 1550 calories) but had a couple of more scoffy days as well... so far I don't think I'm going to see a loss at weigh in tomorrow, and a small gain is possible. I'm not too good on the financial thing yet either, but plan to start that properly when we go back to school.

AliBee16

The book I bought about tapping is The Weight Solution by Jessica Ortner, it is the eft technique. It is slightly American and new-agey but seems to cover all the excuses I give myself, and deals with low self-esteem which is my main problem. You can youtube the technique and use it for cravings, then the cause of the cravings, etc.

I have dragged my book out and done a tap for removing self-limiting beliefs this morning, and will try to do it every day. I went to a NHS funded 'healthy eating' programme earlier this year, but they all just seem to address the 'what shall I eat' problem which anyone with half a brain cell can work out for themselves, but not the psychological side. It's like saying to an alcoholic 'try drinking more water', which doesnt work in my case.

Good luck with your new job

[Deleted User]

Buy less food. Both problems solved!

lessonlearned

Deleted_User wrote: »

Buy less food. Both problems solved!

Nice one.

Well if my bathroom scales are to be believed I have lost 6lbs in 5 days. They have to be wrong.......

Anyway I'm doing my best, eating well, and actually sticking to it this time. For once in my life ive stayed on track and haven't succumbed to " oh a little treat won't hurt".

I don't know how long This new found discipline will last.

Spending - I have to buy some new saucepans, the Teflon is starting to come off so probably not very healthy. I will buy stainless steel this time so off to Ikea tomorrow.

It's quite a schlepp so we normally have something to eat whilst we are out, usually Nandos. Shouldn't be too bad, extra salad and no chips.......and definitely no pudding so hopefully shouldnt do too much damage.

ali-t

well done lessonlearned, excellent progress. My scales told me this morning that I weigh 3lbs more than I did on Friday which can't be true. I stuck to my healthy eating today and went for a walk with my new colleagues at lunchtime which was good and left me feeling very virtuous - I am craving chocolate hugely just now so need to go and find something to do to distract me. I also had a no spend day today until I got home tonight and ordered a half price amazing pair of ankle boots that will see me through the winter - oxblood brogue Chelsea boots that are fab!


Keep up the good work everyone.

lessonlearned

Like the sound of the boots....

How did the first day of the new job go. Do you think you'll like it. Anyway well done on the healthy eating....

I was only thinking I need to start doing something in the evenings. Maybe something arty/crafty. I like sewing, making jewellery etc and I fancy having a go at calligraphy. Might treat myself to a beginners kit.

If I'm busing using my hands then I can't be lifting food to my mouth....:rotfl: