Lesson Learned & 5 Things

What did having a few days off from calorie counting and logging teach me?

It taught me that my one free day off a week is fine - it's too short to make me fall off the wagon and I slide back into calorie counting quite easily. However, a few days is way too long. I can break a habit (the calorie counting/logging) in a few days, whereas in one day, the habit is still there.

I try to view situations, events and occurences in life as happening for a reason; whether that be to enlighten you or help you move forward etc. In this case, while I struggled with the situation of going back to calorie counting and logging and feeling somewhat out of control, I do see that I have learned a lesson. I have learnt that at this point in time, I cannot take more than one, or at a push two, days off. So until I have reached my goal, I plan on not doing that again - it wasn't really my choice to do it in the first place, but if it happens again, I am going to have to figure out a better way to be accountable.

I have also learnt that I need to constantly think of ways to motivate myself...

So, I did 5 things I have learnt about myself since starting this 'diet and exercise change'. Now I must do the 5 things I have learned about myself and my relationship with food (much harder!!) -

1. TTOTM = crazy cravings for sugar. I give in to PMS cravings. I have mentioned this before, but I really need to figure out a way to address this.
2. I am starting to be really hungry for breakfast. I enjoy breakfast now.
3. I can eat less than I think I need and still feel satisfied. My stomach is shrinking. My eyes are bigger than my stomach!
4. I sometimes eat to make other people happy. E.g. eating a slice of cake or an extra 'thing' because someone else thinks I should, when actually I don't want it and/or am not hungry. Or even eating a course at a restaurant so the person does not feel left out!
5. I can still enjoy eating even when I have to stick to a certain amount of calories. This is something I struggle to realise... even now. I need to remind myself of this. Eating 1,200 or 1,400 calories doesn't mean you can't don't enjoy the food you eat. It just means that you have to make better choices about what you eat so that the food is really satisfying and nutritious.

This week I had the challenges as usual:


1. Only 1 weigh-in - CHECK
2. 90 minutes of cardio or walking - NOPE... managed to do 55 cardio, 40 Yoga
3. 2 sessions of weights or strength training exercises of your choice - NOPE... none!
4. 3 blog entries - CHECK
5. List 5 or 10 things you have learnt about yourself and your relationship with food since you started your recent weight loss journey (this can be 1 blog entry) - CHECK

I am getting tired of challenges. Though, to be honest, they do actually work to some extent. If I hadn't had the challenge at the back of my mind, I wouldn't have done the yoga!