20 weeks minus 20 pounds equals me in a bikini for

Ok so I think most people probably eat when they’re hungry right? Well the diet I’ve been on for the last 5 months had strict rules that meant I had to wait 5 hours after finishing one meal before I could eat my next one. So this meant that I ate after 5 hours every day because most of the time I was hungry and if I wasn’t hungry and waited much longer it meant that my next meal would be really late - dinner could be as late as 8 or 9 and I’m more of a dinner at 6-7 person.

So this has left me in a bit of a situation where I’ve forgotten that people usually eat when they’re hungry and now I have to learn to do that myself. I am a typical overeater, when I overeat it’s not the food itself that is providing me any pleasure it is purely the process of getting food, putting it in my mouth, chewing a couple of times, swallowing and then finding more food.

Today I found a blog by round and she went to visit “Dr Hope”. Well between Dr Hope and round’s posts on her sessions with her I have been enlightened to some blatantly obvious things that I can’t believe I never realised before. From what I understand they are similar to the concept behind why French women are skinny and below is my consolidated ideas.

Ok so here are the things that I am going to take into consideration when eating…

- Am I hungry? No, then don’t eat yet. Don’t have lunch at midday cos it’s midday have lunch at 1.15 because you’re hungry.
- Am I full? Yes, then leave the rest of the food on your plate. Or just serve yourself half of your lunch and leave the rest til later if you’re still hungry.
- What do I feel like eating? Feel like ‘x’ then eat it. No point forcing yourself to eat something you don’t want to eat when there are so many other healhty options just waiting to be devoured!
- Do you like what you’re eating? no? doesn’t taste as good as you thought it would? then put the fork down and step away from the “not-so-good-as-you-expected” food! Don’t eat what isn’t yum, enjoy everything you eat, and pay attention to what you’re eating!
- Take time to enjoy the food. Don’t eat on the run, always sit down with as little distraction as possible.
- If you’re going to “splash out” then make it worthwhile. So you want pizza for dinner? then make it or order good tasty pizza. Don’t eat bogus pizza when you could at least spend your bad choice on something that tastes good.

I’m sure that most people out there just eat (in a healthy normal way). And I wish I was like that. My mum, sisters, brother, father even the cat is normal! I’ll get there eventually, it’ll just take me a little more effort than others. Although I have to admit that I think I had a far more normal attitude to food before I started my diet at the beginning of the year. It has consumed my life a bit which makes me obsess and fuss more than I know I should but if I don’t fuss and plan then I feel like I won’t be sucessful.

I really like what I’ve read today though. It has reminded me that food is there for fuel (ie eat when your body tells you to) and also that it is to be enjoyed.

As I ate my toastie for lunch I was thinking about what it tasted like and it was really good with 2 places for improvement. #1 it would’ve tasted so much better on grainier bread (which I didn’t choose cos it has more calories even though it’s actually healthier than the fewer calorie one). And #2 I should have opted for normal tomato relish rather than the low calorie stuff with sweetners etc. When you’re only putting 1tsp of relish on something you may as well put some good stuff with probably 10-15 calories more. Eat for taste not for calorie intake but still within calorie allowance! That’s the plan stan. No more massive lunches with heaps of veges, I don’t need to eat that much and being overfull isn’t cool.

I need to go back to my food diary (that I usually write in the morning and then update as it with slight changes throughout the day) because I only ate half my lunch and half of my afternoon tea - why? Cos I wasn’t hungry! I know. It’s like I’ve just discovered the most amazing thing ever that everyone else seems to know already. Maybe I’m a slow learner?

So today, Day #6 has turned out to be better than I could ever imagine! I’m off home now to have yummy dinner and I might just have a small ice cream cone. I know to some this might not seem like a big thing but I haven’t had ice cream since February. And I happen to know that we have gingernut ice cream at home which is super yummy and very worthwile so I’m using the ol’ pizza rule mentioned above - when you’re going to have something bad make sure it’s good!

Hope everyone is OP and happy happy happy!

I know I start every post off with the same sentence but I just can’t help myself so I’m going to do it again today.. I can’t believe it’s day 6 already!! Yipee! I think it’s such a big deal since over the last month I must have started healthy eating over and over again, some of the times I would make it to day 2 or 3 but sometimes it’d be over by breakfast! So to be up to 6 days in a row sticking to plan and not struggling is actually quite a big thing

There is something that I haven’t mentioned yet that I fell that I should. I need a new cell phone, the one I have is known to freeze a lot due to the numbers of times I’ve dropped it on concrete (lots!). I was going to get one when I lost 10kgs (22lbs) but by the time I lost 10kgs I wasn’t so keen on the phones I had the option to buy so I just kept plodding along with my freezy one. But now there is a phone out there that I want! And I’m going to get it! Well not just yet cos it’s my reward for getting back to my lowest weight that I was at just 1 month ago but have since gone a bit AWOL. So when I get to 139.26 lbs I get to rush out and buy my new phone. Oh it’s going to be so super delicious! I’ve got my fingers crossed that I will have it in my hot little hand by the beginning of Spring - which for me is 1st September. But I’m not too worried about WHEN I get it so long as I get it! I feel so much better now I’ve told you guys about my phone treat cos whenever I reach for my phone I think 139.26 and you’re outta here Mr Sanyo! Not that I’m hating on Mr Sanyo he has been my faithful pal for over 3 years but he’s ready for retirement by the sea.

So this morning I weighed myself, yes I know it was just yesterday that I said that I wouldn’t hop on the scales for at least 3-4 days but I just couldn’t help myself! Today the scale hovered around 146.6 and then stuck with 147.2 which I am more than happy with Friday morning is my official weigh in for the week so I wonder what I can manage for then. Hopefully it won’t be one of those stupid flukey days when I suddenly weigh like 155 lbs! Man I talk a lot. I could have just written “this morning I weighed in at 147.2″ but instead I managed to get a rather lengthy and wordy paragraph about it… So I like to chat… it’s all good!

Breakfast: oats (140) peaches (30) yoghurt (50) = 220.

Lunch: toastie sandwich - bread (164) ham (20) cheese (45) tomato, onion, capsicum (15) = 244.

Afternoon Tea: nectarine=60.

Dinner: beef casserole (150) filo pastry (148) veges (100) = 398.

Dessert: ginger bread ice cream (100) ice cream cone (55) pineapple (15) = 170

Total = 1102.

Crazy I know but it seems people actually read what I write! Two people at least cos I’ve got two whole comments! Just want to say a big thanks for the comments and the very encouraging words. It’s nice to know someone is out there…

Yay day 5 already, soon it’ll be day 10 and then day 85… and hopefully by then I’ll weigh less!

So this morning I got up and weighed myself BIG MISTAKE!!! Apparently since yesterday morning I’ve gained 1.3lbs which is impossible unless I ate 10 big macs in my sleep! I’m not worried about it because I know I’ve been eating well so I just have to keep off the scales until at least Friday morning. That would be day 8 and surely by then I will be able to see a number lower than 147/148 which will be great.

I think I’ve been eating too much sugar and not enough protein. I’m certainly eating enough veges but I tend to skimp a little on the meaty part of my meal. As for sugar I may be eating too much fruit (too much fruit is that possible?! On a diet? yes!) and also too much fruit yoghurt. So I’m going to so some internet searching and find some good ideas on how to boost my protein intake and also see what others think is a good amount of fruit to be eating.

I’l be back…

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<>Ok I’m back after my searching on the internet and have decided that by changing my apple in the afternoon for some almonds then I can increase the amount of protein I eat and cut out a serving of fruit. So if I do that I will eat 2 serves of fruit each day (usually at breakfast and after dinner). Also I think I need to up the number of calories I eat at breakfast or lunch and maybe reduce dinner cals. And the other thing I need to do is fuss less over the visual size of a meal. For some reason if my plate isn’t full then I think I won’t be satisfied, sure I tend to just fill it up with veges (like 80% vege, 20% protein) but I need to get used to the idea of having slightly less to eat for lunch and dinner (do I need a side salad with my lunch? probably not!).

<>On a good note the breakfast that I ate at 9am this morning is doing its job fantastically well and I’m still nicely satisfied (it’s 12.20pm) so I’ll probably have lunch around 1 or 1.30. Listening to my body and eating when it’s hungry and not because it’s midday is a good thing I think. Just have to make sure I don’t wait to long and get super super hungry cos that can lead to the top of the slippery slope that is BINGING!! Ahhh no!

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<><>Ok I’m back again, for the third time today! Ok so I have come to the conclusion that (drumroll please!) I’m going to up my calories from a max of 1100 per day to 1200 just because the internet “professionals” keep telling me that anything under 1200cal is naughty. And in reality I could put that extra 100 calories each day to good use - I’m dreaming of toast with my soup for lunch or some avocado on my salad! So starting on Friday I am uppin my intake to max 1200. Surely I can’t do anything but lose weight eating that much right? RIGHT?!! According to the fabulous internet my body uses 1490cal for my organs to function and since I don’t just spend all day lying in bed I’m sure I’ll be able to get a 500 calorie defecit needed to lose a pound a week. Ok now I truely promise I won’t be back until tomorrow!

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Breakfast: Oats (140), peaches (30), yoghurt (35), milk for tea (15) = 220.

Lunch: homemade vege/minestrone soup (150), raw carrot (35), capsicum (15) handful of strawberries, melon and pineapple (50) = 250.

Afternoon tea: yoghurt (80) small apple (60) = 140.

Dinner: Lunch: veges (85), canned tomatoes (39) , ham (15), mountain bread (72), cheese (50) Coleslaw salad (80) = 341.

Dessert: milk chocolate sante bar =140.

“Just got home from work at 11.30pm after working since 9am snack”: bites of pineapple, piece of carrot and beef from the casserole, bit of ham =40.

Total= 1131. poos! Damn those 31cals! ah well.

Ok so last night was terrible. I couldn’t sleep and was consumed with thoughts about food which made me super hungry which added to my non-sleeping problems! I also had a killer headache. I wonder if it was a bit of a detox since before I started my counting calories 4 days ago I was stuffing myself with lots of simple carbs, cakes and sugar galore. I’m feeling all good this morning though so hopefully I’ll be able to get a good nights sleep tonight.

Last night I didn’t have a treat but I did bake some vege enchiladas and had a couple of picks at that (like 2 spoonfuls worth) which I suppose I should include but since I know I was still under 1100 calories I can’t be bothered going back and editing it… Today is a lovely day but by the time I finish work it will be dark and the sun will have gone down I’m still planning on going for a walk around the bays which will still be nice even without the sun so long as it’s nice and still. Wellington (the city I live in) is one of the windiest cities in the world and whenever we get a day without wind it is too special not to be treasured and appreciated! Even if it’s raining and cold but no wind it’s still thought of as a “good day”! haha.

Hmmm I’m hungry but I’m not sure if that’s cos my lunch tastes so delicious or because I’m actually hungry! I think I’m going to wait another hour or so until I eat though just cos I hate to eat my lunch too early (midday) and then have to wait hours and hours until I get my afternoon tea. At least going for my walk will take up time before dinner (as I hate the waiting to eat part of a diet).

I’m in a real cooking baking mood at the moment. Tonight I’m going to make some yummy vege soup, some sugar free pavlovas (similar to meringues but a kiwi/aussie traditional dessert) and some belguim biscuits for my nephew. I got some cookie cutters last week and there are so many funky shapes as well as numbers and letters. My nephew is nearly two and loves pink and sprinkles so I’m going to make him some cookies with letters, numbers and shapes, ice them with pink icing and sprinkles and he’ll be in educational cooking eating heaven! Surprisingly I can bake without eating it although I try my best to gift my goodies away to others so someone can really enjoy my creations!

So that’s my day and here’s my food… Oh and I must also up my water drinking. Aiming for 8 glasses today and so far I’ve managed about 1 and a cup of tea… I’ll get there!

Breakfast: toast (105), SF jam (5), marmite (5), mango (35), 1/2 banana (45), yoghurt (35) = 230.

Lunch: veges (85), canned tomatoes (39) , ham (15), mountain bread (72), cheese (50) = 261.

Afternoon tea: apple (60), yoghurt (80) = 140.

Dinner: ytbd but… beef (80), mashed potato and pumkin (85), stir-fry veges (80), coleslaw (30), yoghurt dressing (10), cucumber (10), = 295.

Treat: 1 small cookie with a smidgen of icing and I may have licked my fingers while I was icing the 70 cookies that I baked! I’m going to be very generous and say 120 cal, plus a couple of pieces of melon and strawberry (60) = 180.

Total = 1106. Bugger those 6 calories, quick I better do 100 star jumps Actually I need to do my arm weights exercises so that’ll get rid of those mean 6 calories! Haha. Yuss I win.

<>Oh and I forgot to mention the nightmare I had when I weighed myself and it said 91kg! (that’s 200 pounds!) so then this morning I had to weigh myself to see how I was doing and I’m down to 147.8 which is all good. I didn’t weigh myself 4 days ago when I started just cos I knew it would be bad and would put me in a bad mind-set. I must have been over 150lbs so 147.8 is much nicer. My ultimate goal is to get to 140lbs by the end of the month but that’s a lot of weight to lose in only 11 days. I think realistically I’ll be able to get down to 143 and I’ll be happy with that. In fact if I did get down to 143 that would mean I would only have 13 more pounds to lose in 18 weeks. Ka pai choice! Got to have realistic expectations I know. I just want so much to get back to 139.3lbs cos that’s where I was at before I went of my little binge-eating bender. Once I get back to my lowest then I’m more than happy to lose half a pound each week but I’m just so impatient to get back to my lowest weight! Ugh! I have a quote on my phone that says “if you do what you always did then you’ll get what you always got”. I like it cos it’s true. If I keep losing a bit of weight and then binging then I’ll just keep going up. So no more of that “I deserve to eat this massive block of chocolate cos I’ve been so good and no one can tell when I gain a couple of pounds anyway… and I’ll lose it next week by drinking those diet shakes…”.

<>Counting calories is my friend cos it puts me in complete control and also there’s no crazy rules like not being able to mix proteins together, or having to wait 5 hours between meals or not being able to have healthy foods like canned tomatoes or bananas (do you get the feeling that I’ve done my fair share of fad diets?).

Oh and the other choice thing I just discovered is that there are bagels for around 250cal. The only other bagels I was able to find were at best 360 more like 400+ calories. Yay!

Whoop whoop another great day and that makes three in a row. Very very pleased with progress so far I just hope the effort is actually making some changes on the scales though I guess I won’t know until the 1st of August for the big 1st weigh-in. That’s only 11 days away…

Breakfast: peaches (35), 1/2 banana (45), yoghurt (67), toast and jam (90) = 237.

Lunch: vege, bean and mince stir-fry (max 240), bite of a egg and ham toastie (40) = 280

Afternoon tea: none.

Dinner: Beef salad - grilled veges (75), coleslaw (50), yoghurt dressing (33), beef (120), avocado (40) = 318.

Dessert: mango (65), 1/2 banana (45), yoghurt (67) SF jelly (5)= 182.

Total = 1017.

1017 is probably a little low so I might treat myself to something sweet. I could have a mini packet of smarties or a SF lolly pop. Hmm I love getting to choose a treat and know that it’s ok to eat it. Tastes much better without a dollop of guilt don’t you think?

Yay day 2 is also a winner. Last night I was so hungry when I went to sleep, so hungry that I had lots of food dreams (mmm roasted baby carrots) and even a food nightmare (ah I accidentally ate a whole block of chocolate!). I got through it all ok and that makes me feel pretty gosh-darn-it good. Being good on a diet makes me feel great but being bad on a diet makes me feel so bad that I tend to keep breaking my diet which makes me feel even worse and eat even more… such a stupid cycle. But so far I’m 2 days into a new ‘feeling good’ cycle. I’ve just got to keep it up til the end of the month and then I’ll have my weigh in and the ‘results’ will make it seem even more worthwhile.

Breakfast: Rolled oats (140) canned peaches (30) 50mls skim milk (20) kiwifruit (45) =235.

Lunch: stirfry veges (120), bacon (10), chili sauce (15), rice (100), square of chocolate (55) = 300.

Afternoon tea: yoghurt (67), apple (60) = 127.

Dinner: chilli con carne (250), coleslaw (40), yoghurt (40), tomato (20) = 350.

Dessert: yoghurt = 67.

Total = 1079 cal.

Yay day 1 went super smoothyly (touch wood as it is only 4.52pm…) and I am very very happy with my new eating plan. It feels good to have some control back over what I am eating and being accoutable to the foods again. And I got up this morning and went for a lovely walk up some massive hills - certainly got the heat beating. With a weights workout to fit in tonight I will be all on plan both food-wise and exercise-wise.

Breakfast: weetbix x2 (105), 100mls skim milk (40), 1/2 banana (45), 1 slice of rock melon (30) = 220.

Lunch: tomato, capsicum, onion, celery and chilli sauce salsa (70), lettuce (5), sml potato (80), cottage cheese (50), 2 tsp yoghurt (10), mustard (10) chicken-bacon (20) = 245.

Afternoon tea: yoghurt (70) small apple (60) = 130.

Dinner: small piece of “rice, tuna, vege and egg slice” (max 250), broccoli (30), cauliflower (30), capsicum (20), tomato (20) = 350.

Dessert: chocolate milk ice pop (26) yoghurt (71) = 97.
Total: 1045
Exercise: 35min walk up to skyline track.

Well today wasn’t such a good day since I managed to come down with a stomach bug last night and just spent the day watching dvds in bed and eating plain food like boiled eggs, veges and a toastie sandwich. Also drank some milk that had gone sour - probably not so good for the ol’ tum tum. I’m feeling heaps better now though so I’m all ready for day 1 tomorrow.

I’ve know what I’m going to be eating and have my lunch all ready to go in the fridge. It’s a salad with tomato, capsicum, celery, red onion and a bit of sweet chilli sauce (made into a salsa) and then a yummy potato, cottage cheese, plain yoghurt, honey whole grain mustard, onion and chicken-bacon mixture to accompany the salsa and lettuce leaves. It looks so yum and I’m looking forward to eating it (which I think is very important to the success of a diet - no one is going to choose a taste-less salad when there is a cafe downstairs that sells the yummiest muffins, scones, pies etc etc…). I’ve even got my yoghurt and apple ready to go for afternoon tea. Oh and even dinner is ready to go. All I have left to do is decide what I want for breakfast and what I’m going to choose for my evening snack - the possibilities are endless! Well maybe not, I’ve only got 100 calories to ’spend’ but I’ll buy wisely.

I’ll be back tomorrow to write up my food diary. Here’s hoping day 1 goes smoothly.

Ok so here goes….

<>My name is Gemma, I’m 23 years old and live in New Zealand. I started losing weight at the beginning of this year and went from 77.9kgs (171.4) to 63.3kg (139.3). However I went away on holiday and jumped off the “wagon” and over the last month I’ve been wavering a bit with really good days followed by really really bad days. I originally gained a bit of weight but over the last couple of weeks I’ve been maintaining my weight with reasonable success (of course maintaining the extra pounds as well which isn’t so hot!). I’m probably running between 145 and 150 at the moment (it changes day to day at the moment since as I mentioned I have great days and then seriously tragic binge days). I have always been slightly chubby my whole life and at the moment I’m the same weight I was when I was about 14-15 which is very nice. I still want to get slimmer though, I have faith that my thighs aren’t actually meant to be as big as they are. There are skinny thighs hiding underneath the squish!

So now that I’ve lost weight with a lot of hard work and sacrifice I am entirely unwilling to stop now before I’ve reached my goal. Right now in New Zealand (NZ) it’s winter and I’ve got approx 20 weeks to lose 20 pounds which would leave me feeling pretty gosh-darn-it good for summer. Surely I can lose 1 pound a week right? Well I’m not too worried if I do or not I just want to feel more ‘trim’ than I do at the moment.

So what’s my action plan?

<>Well to lose the weight I did earlier this year I was on Sureslim (it’s just a healthy eating plan specifically crafted for me via blood tests with lean protein, veges, fruit, low GI carbs and dairy) the reason it worked was because each Saturday morning I went along for my weigh-in and the accountability kept me focused. Sadly a couple of weeks ago my clinic went bust and at the moment I’m waiting for a new one to open up (the whole no weighing in thing is the main reason why I’ve been binging on crap cos I can keep it a secret). So I actually know how to lose weight, I have the tools, now I just need to get my mind in the right place and I’ll be all set. I plan on eating a 1100cal/day diet filled with heaps of veges, fruit, protein, good fats, dairy and low GI carbs. Down here in NZ there isn’t a wide variety of “diet food”, we don’t have 100 calorie snack packs or things like that and at home we cook everything from scratch so I can assure you that my 1100cal diet is filled to the brim with nutrition. I am a vege lover! I decided to do a calorie counting type diet as it gives me the option to have a little treat if I so desire without breaking my diet (and we all know that once we “break a diet” we tend to pack it all in for the day and continue to eat cr*p). Am I allowed to say cr*p? Maybe not, hold up - I’ll just go add some *’s. Ok all done.

<>So food plan goes something like this…

<>Breakfast - 230cal.

<>Lunch - 280cal.

<>Snack - 140cal.

<>Dinner - 350cal.

<>Dessert - 100cal.

And exercise plan is something like this…

- Arm/abs weights (at home) Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

- 5 hours of (proper fast uphill) walking each week.

<>To elaborate on my food plan just a little… Breakfast I don’t usually eat until 9 or 10am but have lunch at 12.30/1pm so that is why I have no morning snack. My afternoon snack will ALWAYS be an apple and a yoghurt. When I give myself options for snacks I start to go a bit off plan so best way to avoid that is to make the plan simple. Dinner is 350cal and will be whatever my mum cooks for dinner but ‘made to suit’. My mum cooks super healthy foods but if something doesn’t necessarily fit in my calorie count then I’ll either have a small portion with a large salad or have one of my home-made frozen diet dinners from the freezer. Eating my mum’s dinners makes me obsess less about food cos some of the control is taken away from me (if I have all the control I restrict myself too much and then pig out later on). And dessert will be my treat for the day, it could be some yoghurt and fruit, or a small bar of chocolate or some frozen yoghurt etc. Something yum that makes me feel like I’m not on a diet!

And the exercise is very do-able. I love doing my arm/abs workouts at home, I do them after dinner while I’m watching tv and I love to see the muscles grow! Walking is my favourite type of exercise so by comitting myself to doing 5 hours a week rather than 1 hour a day it means that if it’s raining and windy outside and I don’t go for a walk it’s not a bad thing, I just have to make up for it later on in the week. I’ve also been doing some investigation into badminton court hire which should be fun and will add an extra hour of exercise each week.

I’ve also decided that weigh-in is going to be every Saturday morning with my mum. So my mum is my new consultant and she’ll know the truth about my weight - no way can I cheat and pretend to myself that I’m getting away with it! And I’ll be in here posting it so the millions of people who are reading this will of course be keeping me accountable as well

<>So all in all I’m feeling good. I love the way I look with the weight that I’ve lost but I know that I can do better and make myself “bikini ready” rather than “one piece and sarong cover-up” ready!!!

<><>20 weeks to lose 20 pounds.

<>Oh and two last things. I write a lot. I can’t help myself it just all spills out. And the other thing is that my blog title is supposed to read “20 weeks minus 20 pounds equals me in a bikini for summer” but apparently it was too long and the “summer” got left out. Ah well.

<>Oh and day 1 starts on Friday (just cos I’m on the 3 day diet at the moment to cut cravings and that finishes on Thursday night). 2 days til lift off!!!