Yoga Fit

I have really noticed a difference in my strength and fitness, doing yoga 5 times a week for the past 3 weeks.  It hasn't translated to a significant weight loss as yet, but I'm pleased with my progress and my drive to keep up my early morning starts.

I'm hoping to start some afternoon walking sessions after work next week.   Some cardio will help burn some extra calories and further improve my fitness.  My goal is to get to a couple of hours of exercise each day.

The Scales Shift at Last

As of this morning, the scales shifted 300 grams to 86.0 kgs.  I'm 1 kg off my first goal of 85kgs.
It's a small loss, but I'm over the moon that the I've started losing weight.  It's been a long, hard week, but it is starting to make a difference.

One of my key weightloss strategies is finding a way to make the time pass without eating.
There are plenty of reasons why we over-eat.  For me it's sometimes out of habit, boredom or needing comfort.  I don't over-eat because I'm hungry, that's for certain.

My best technique for getting to the next meal without snacking is re-directing myself to something else to do.  There's always housework, but if that feels like too much of a punishment, I might try a beauty treatment, like a face mask or painting my nails.  Light exercise is also a good option, it has to be something that engages the brain - TV doesn't seem to switch off the urge to snack for me.

I'm not a 'small snacks and often' kind of girl.  When I eat something, I like to feel like I've had a filling meal that will sustain me until my next meal.  Snacks present me with the option of eating more than I should.  If I have a biscuit, will I then decide that one is not enough and go for two or three.  Before I know it, I've given myself permission to have a large snack and 300 extra calories I wouldn't have bothered with, if I had just set myself a no snacking regime.

Damage Report

My weight is 86.3kgs.  The good news is that it's stayed steady for the past 5 days.  The more obvious bad news is that my weight has stayed the same for the past 5 days!

While I have tried to improve my diet, I've largely been focused on reducing my portions.  I've also been waking early and doing morning yoga sessions.  Last week I did five 20 minute sessions, this week I'm pushing up to 40 minute sessions.  It means a 5:15 start to the day, but it is worthwhile to feel the benefits the yoga provides.

I don't seem to be any less tired during the day, but I tend to crash hard at 10pm.  At least that makes getting to sleep easy.

At this point, I looking forward to making some progress towards my 85kg target.  It will feel so sweet to get the ball rolling and working my way slowly back to the 70's.

So What Now?

God - I didn't realise it has been more than just a few months since my last post - it has in fact been 8 months since I last posted, and in that time I have gained an average of about 1 kg per month!

To be fair it's not a surprise.  That Christmas / holiday season was the biggest contributing factor.  I struggled to control my urge to indulge and I just completely let loose - and boy do I mean let loose. I'm talking large portions, carb rich snacks, sweet treats and all those Christmas calorie-dense goodies.

I spent a bit of time going over and reading some of my old posts this morning.  I was in such a great head-space about a year ago, but then, what happened?  Well things just slowly started falling away... I stopped getting out the nutri-ninja, my batteries gave up in my bathroom scales, my fit-bit stopped charging properly, my blogger account kept throwing me out... it all seemed too hard to fix, to hard to even try.  So what'd I do, I just gave up and thought - I will just wait until I'm in the right head-space to deal with it all.

Frankly, I'm surprised the damage was not worse, but I'm still bitterly disappointed that I find myself back in this place - back where I didn't want to be - confronting myself about my eating habits and the resulting weight gain.  I'm glad I'm doing this now and not in another 20 kg's time - but I'm certainly not proud of myself for what has happened.

So here I am 8 months later and wondering why - why and how did I let it happen?   The more important question though is:  What am I going to do about it now?

The Unknown

I don't know what I weigh, but I know that I am considerably heavier than my last post a few months back.

I am stretching the limits of my size 14 clothing and I'm feeling weighed down by my guilt about over eating.

I have gotten off track and I am trying to get back on it. Right now I'm too scared to even get close to the scales. I know I have to, but the unknown is easier right now.