talkhealth Blog

David and Goliath…you’ve probably heard the story of the little dude winning the battle over the big dude.

I was reminded of it recently – one, because I picked up a new book by Malcolm Gladwell (which I am yet to start reading) about the underdog winning and the weak outwitting the strong – and two, because I sometimes feel as if I am battling something so much bigger than I am!

Chatting to a chap at uni today made me smile. He was talking with me about his weight, and wanting to shift a bit but not too much. He then talked about how hard it must be when you have to eat food – it’s not something we can survive without after all, despite what the shake-based ‘specialists’ might tell you! He then mentioned the likes of McDonalds and other fast food outlets and how the marketeers are clever people.

Indeed, they are.

Then I began to think about how tough it actually is. Yes, you have the marketing guys throwing out temptation…it’s hard. Ten minutes after I was thinking about this, the coffee break trolley arrived and the uni had provided a large tray of biscuits, chocolate bars and drinks…no water or fruit in sight of course. So this kind of temptation is hard too.

I left uni and walked past the cafe there…to smells of cooking – something akin to the smell of the mini sausage rolls in that dream the other night! I then arrived home and opened the fridge to begin preparing dinner, and my other half’s pizza was sat looking at me.

So there is all of the food temptation to deal with.

Then of course you add in emotions and physical states…I am shattered today after a night spent discussing (that means arguing about) finances, and probably got three hours sleep last night, if that. I am shattered after a day of pure concentration and coaching at uni. I am fed up after being filmed today and having to watch that back…not flattering and not at all in line with the Kylie character I have in my mind!

When I get tired I crave food – quick fix, high calorie shite generally.

But this is stuff that I can control. I can plan, I can carry snacks with me, I can just bloody well make a choice…do I want that chocolate in that moment to get a couple of minutes of satisfaction, or do I want to crack on and not give in and go to bed at night all smug and pleased about my choices? Do I want to kick temptations ass, or do I want to let it whip mine? Do I want to let old behaviours and habits creep back in, or do I want to keep working on creating new healthy habits?

You have a choice.

David and Goliath…I was Goliath I guess…and the little David in my mind was fighting to get out and it’s a battle that will continue being fought for a long, long while yet!

Anyway – enough about giants…I already have a ‘big’ complex!

When I got home from uni I went on Twitter and saw yet another ‘diet’ war being started. I adore Slimming World, but it has its flaws just as every eating plan does. For me though, the plan that some of the more hardcore on Twitter advocate has bigger flaws. Nutritionally it is sound advice…very sound advice that will get you to your goal. I myself have adopted elements of this approach within my Slimming World journey. However, what Slimming World do well is focus on the emotions and psychology of weight loss…you might not think so, but they do!

They understand that weight loss is about the food you eat and the movement you do…but they also ‘get’ the concept of losers guilt. They build this into their plan in the form of syns. It might not be the quickest route to reaching your weight goals, but over 17.5st off for me since joining is pretty bloody good and I will take it. As will the thousands of other people helped by Slimming World…they will take it, as their experience has been life changing and life enhancing.

Had I started yet another regimented, no-nonsense, no room for error plan with lots of forbidden items, I doubt that I would have been writing this as I would either be dead or recovering from weight loss fecking surgery!

So for me, the thought for the mind has to be first and foremost. If you can adopt a way of eating that allows flexibility for those days when the going gets too tough, then this for me means success is on the horizon. Of course, if you can cut out all of the crap from day one and reach your target without deviating, then go for this option. I know which option works for most though…and I am actually in conversations with people who have tried the hardcore stuff and found it lacking the flexibility that life in general needs.

So who is right? Slimming World with some of their flaws, yet who support thousands of people each year to reach their target – or the guys who eat so fantastically well that they look amazing and have achieved great results? Both are! Both methods get people to same goal…one does it quicker, one does it with more flexibility.

For me, as long as your eating plan is healthy, contains real food with a decent amount of calories, is sustainable, and not based on meal replacements or anything likely to damage your health, then keep doing it. If you feel like you are making progress then who is to say that you are wrong?

Whilst I understand that there are purists out there who have great success, the focus on the food and exercise is wasted if the mind is not on board and ready to go. Once I found my mind getting there, my eating habits changed naturally…less sweet food, less processed food, not so many cravings…who would have thought that the girl who ate six sausage rolls, two scotch eggs, six packet of McCoys, a family bag of peanut M&Ms, a takeaway with side dishes and either a packet of biscuits or a tub of ice cream (sometimes both!) of an evening, every evening, would be loving her plain organic rice cakes?! This for me is the biggest ‘ra-ra’ cheerleader moment when it comes to the mind work that I have done. This element has helped me make changes that I battled with for many many years. I have done this with the support of Slimming World…so it’s worked for me…but it might be the preferred choice of all out there.

Anyway – I am going to quieten down now…this tiredness is getting to me and I can feel myself rambling!

A night of no sleep was followed by a very early start and a full day at uni where I spent the morning being recorded doing ‘live’ coaching sessions and discussing cognitive behavioural coaching and ethics…yes, it felt like an intense day. My drive home was okay and I arrived to find the Christmas decorations up, which was lovely. A night of ‘Lie to Me’ is on the cards I think…and sleep…I need sleep!

Breakfast: Egg rolls and snacks for uni in the picture too…banana, fruit and Nakd bar (7.5 syns).

Lunch: Smoked salmon and veggie rice salad.

Dinner: Baked sweet potato with cheese, tikka chicken and Asian coleslaw (2.5 syns).

Snacks: Rice cakes (4.5 syns).

An okay food day – my first back on the Extra Easy plan, with the addition of an extra HEB option. So I made egg rolls for brekkie and took some snacks with me to uni. Lunch was some raw veggies – red onion, cherry tomatoes, yellow pepper, green beans and spinach, stirred in with some rice and a packet of smoked salmon trimmings…it was lush! Dinner was a baked sweet potato with cheese, chicken tikka and homemade coleslaw which I added garlic, mint and madras powder too…less madras powder needed next time as it had a right kick to it. And finally, three rice cakes for my evening snack. Let’s hope that Extra Easy shakes things up a little for me.

Exercise: Not much exercised other than my mind, although there were quite a few stairs climbed today!

Thank you for reading,

Weight Loss Bitch xxx

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WeightLossBitch

On a health and fitness driven journey to lose over 32st / 448lbs / 203kgs – yes, it is a considerable amount – I am committed to losing my excess weight without the aid of weight loss surgery, diet pills, or quick fixes…as there aren’t any! Changing my eating habits and building up my fitness levels, along with addressing the ‘head issues’ will be crucial in order for me to achieve my goal. Living in England as a 31 year old super morbidly obese woman can be challenging to say the least. I have been shouted at in the street and verbally abused far too many times to mention; hence the name ‘Weight Loss Bitch’…the day I am just called a ‘bitch’ instead of a ‘fat bitch’ will be the day that I know I have cracked my weight loss! With many reasons to lose this weight I am documenting my journey for a number of reasons. Firstly, I would like to keep a record of the ups and downs, the highs and lows, and the challenges I face with such an enormous task to tackle. Secondly, I would also like to inspire and encourage other people who are in a similar situation and to show them that significant amounts of weight can be lost naturally…with a bit of motivation, hard work, dedication and will power. Thirdly, all of the blogging, Facebook-ing, Tweet-ing, Pinterest-ing and YouTube-ing keeps me occupied and keeps my fingers out of the fridge!