I’m talking here about doing Slimming World. It is fairly simple to understand but it is not as easy to do for a number of reasons.
Reason Number One - It Seems To Stop Working After A While
Nearly everyone has a racing start with their weight loss in their first few weeks, perhaps with the exception of Naomi who didn’t manage to do this. But after the honeymoon period the losses start reducing and you learn the unwanted concepts of ‘maintains’ and ‘gains’.
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Slimming World is Simple But Not Easy
When I experienced this, it did start to mess with my head and I stop believing in the plan. Then I came to my senses and read through the Food Optimising book yet again, understood more about how to follow the plan and realised that in truth, Slimming World is my only hope. I must stick with it through thick and thin. I’m speaking as someone who has been on every diet imaginable.
The List Of Diets That I Have Tried – (It’s a bit long, sorry)
Fibre Diet
Cambridge Diet
Lighter Life
Rosemary Conley
Juicing Diet
Harcombe Diet
5 And 2 Diet
3 And 4 Diet
The Atkins Diet
Slimfast
The Dukan Diet
The Mediterranean Diet
Exante
Lemon Juice Diet
Fasting Diet
The Cabbage Soup Diet
Plus many more I can’t recall…
By the way, I’m not saying these are necessarily bad diets – but they didn’t work for me in terms of changing my lifestyle.
Reason Number Two - I Cheat
If you are regular reader of my blog then you will know that I cheat on my diet. I do it knowingly and foolishly. For some reason, there are days when I can’t control myself. And I’m a reasonably bright guy possessing a modicum of intelligence and yet I still cheat. There has however been a development in this facet of my character…
I now coolly decide if a cheat is worth it or not. This comes from many months of participating in a cheat only to be disappointed after the event. There is that whole feeling of ‘Well that wasn’t worth the cheat’ after the event. I try to calculate the parameters of my planned cheat to see if it gives me true value. Unfortunately for me this folly is exacerbated by strong inner desires to eat food that is usually denied to me. Sometimes I cheat knowing that it is not worth it. I am utterly stupid in this. As I have said before in other blog posts, I am my own worst enemy.
Reason Number Three – A Lifetime Of Excess
Following the Slimming World plan demands that you change your lifestyle… forever. Well this is all well and good, but I have been indulgent for over sixty years which in terms of my expected lifespan is forever. I know deep inside that I am being good now in my new way of living and eating. But the demons of indulgence are still in my head. Time with Slimming World has rid me of many of them but some still lurk in the deep recesses of my mind. They will need deep therapy to remove completely.
How do we overcome these demons? Well for me it is year by year, no! month by month, no! week by week, no! day by day, no! hour by hour. In truth, it is moment by moment. Making the choice to follow Slimming World is the simple start but staying with it is not easy. It is a constant and continuous decision.
In Other News…
Holly said something brilliant today in group. “What do you want the most? For me it is to lose weight, so that is what I choose.” That might not be exactly right, Holly will correct me I am sure, but it captures the essence of what she was saying. Holly achieved her seven-stone award today. She has also moved her target down by two stones. She is a complete inspiration.
Naomi and I have joined the social team in our new group. I was put on welcoming duties but because no one knew about this they all thought I was waiting in the queue to pay. I spent most of the half hour explaining that I was there to welcome them. They will get used to it, hopefully. Naomi was put on raffle ticket selling. A job I’m sure she loathes, but she did it with gusto and great success. Far too many tickets were sold which meant that I didn’t win this week. The odds were too long.
Cheese Salad at The Rake and Riddle
Following a three pounds loss for me this week we went out for dinner and I ordered cheese salad. I deserve some sort of medal for being so disciplined. I saved my healthy extra A for the cheese and half my healthy extra B for the bread in anticipation. It probably didn’t quite add up but I could have ordered burger and chips and I didn’t. I also saved my syns for a ‘Lighthouse’ beer. (Brewed two miles from our home in Gower)