Follow the Yellow Brick Road 2023

savingholmes

I wish I could avoid over-thinking. 

Sounds like things are headed in the right direction for you. Congrats on maintaining and continuing your weight loss and getting fitter and healthier along the way.

Idreamofplants

Congrats on maintaining the healthy eating - sounds like it is working well for you.  I'm also keeping an eye on the interest rates as our fixed rate is up in Nov and already there are a couple of better deals than what we have.  Our rate more than doubled in 2023 which was a shocker at the time but now anything even slightly less I can get excited about. Chronic over thinker here too!

SandyShores

Thanks @savingholmes.  I really recommend anyone to listen to Dr William Li speaking on the Mel Robbins podcast.  Although I know that things speak to different people at different times.  

@Idreamofplants I think I'm just in the right space for healthy eating, its taken me a little trial and error but now I'm not sure why I haven't done it before.  I think I've managed to find the right things that fit in with my usual diet.  Dr Li talks about adding good stuff rather than taking things away.  Of course adding the good stuff means I've had to make some decisions about the bad stuff, but I don't feel deprived in any way.

I've also been listening to Mel Robbins podcast with Dr Rangan Chatterjee.  More great advice and I really chimed with his 5 minutes exercise in the morning and it setting the healthy tone for the day.  Its made me more determined to do my exercising every morning as it certainly does make me want to keep up 'healthy' for the rest of the day.

debtfreeoneday

Well done on the weight loss. It isn’t easy but the long game will always win. 

sunshineli

I’ve been reading about your healthy living goals and it’s really inspiring. I like the approach you take focussing on adding the good stuff. I’m also trying to prioritise my health at the moment and although I’m not trying to lose weight, I’m aiming to add the good stuff for my mental and physical health. For me this is more fruit and veg, yoga stretching, self care and hobbies.

I’ve listened to some Mel robbins podcasts. She’s brilliant. Do you have any episode recommendations?

SandyShores

Thanks @debtfreeoneday.  You're so right it is the long game. I am building some really great habits and can definitely feel myself becoming more 'together'. 

@sunshineli, glad its been helpful.  I use nutracheck to track my eating which shows the split of nutrients on a daily or weekly chart.  For example, I can see that on Tuesday my salt was high and was able to track it back to soy sauce.  I don't use lots of it, but I'll get some more of the low salt version I bought previously.  All the Mel episodes are great but I would highly recommend two - one with Dr William Li and another with Dr Rangan Chatterjee.  The Let Them theory ones are great too.

This is a reminder to myself of my goals and that I'm exchanging fat for muscle so the scales can't be my prime motivator.  So, my initial focus is for 28 March and aiming to lose another 2lbs by:

• Exercising for a calorie deficit - yes, calorie goal is my BMR calories, so exercise = weight loss
• Using the calorie counting app every day - yes, starting to form good habits with nutrient levels
• Eating only between 8 and 8 - with some flexibility for regular meals (but not for snacking!)
• Drinking a glass of cold water first thing before morning coffee - yes and aiming for more through the day
• Breakfasting on porridge made with water, fruit and yoghurt - this is a really good habit now
• Including beans/pulses or tuna/cottage cheese and tomatoes etc in lunch - yes
• Planning apples and/or kiwi fruit & dark choc in my day to avoid unhealthy snacks - yes
• Getting more veg in - always exceeding my 5 a day
• Following an exercise plan - going strong and more to do
• Looking after my wellbeing - listening to podcasts, relaxing, yoga, meditating - yes
• Continuing use of Slendertone belt - aiming for 5 times a week

I'm trying to limit weigh day to Fridays (trying but its a hard habit to break). My scales are a bit flakey - if you stand on one leg they show slightly different measurements!  I've lost around 4.5lbs in 6 weeks, but its less important, as my measure of success is eating well and whether my clothes fit better - and they do!!  

SandyShores

Forgot to update that payday has arrived and the moneyshuffle has been done.  £500 OP made

Signature updated

debtfreeoneday

Have a lovely weekend SS 

SandyShores

Thanks debtfreeoneday, you too

Oh my goodness, I weighed myself this morning and the scales showed an extra 1lb lost.  Friday just isn't a good day for weighing for a few reasons, the time I get up being one of them.  So I'm changing weigh days to Saturday mornings.  Will update my signature too.

Just a few pounds more and I'll have yo-yo'd myself back down to the lowest I've been since the menopause blew me up like a balloon.  Its about ten years ago since I meno-ballooned - that feels like a really a long time - but I've lost 2 stone of that weight (and a lot has happened).  I don't remember what my weight was when I was a size 12, but I remember being about a stone lighter than I am now at some point and that was post-children so I'll have a good go at that.  I've kept my favourite size 12 jeans and jacket from my slim days just in case, so if they fit again I'll keep them, but I'll be content to just to have all my size 14's fit me really comfortably.  I'm on way way to that  and maybe then my size 12's can be popped onto V1nted - imagine only having clothes in my wardrobe that fit me

SandyShores

I may have popped to the garden centre today (well it was sort of on the way home from the recycling centre) and spent £56 on three plants and some landscaping bark.  I was looking for some of the large alliums in pots (bit late for bulbs I believe), an oxeye daisy, agapanthus and some dianthus - but think I must be a bit early in the year.  So I ended up with some ornamental grass, daffodils and a peony.  

I've just been trawling back through my thread as I'm sure kajikita and savingholmes gave me some plant suggestions once upon a time but can I find those threads, no.  Anyways, plants are planted and bark is laid.  All looking very good.  And it was so sunny, hopefully spring is springing.