Healthy habits, healthy mind

[Nuffaluff]

I have wanted to lose a bit of weight for a while now and tone up, but I’ve been finding it very hard, so I’ve decided to try something new and wondered if anyone would like to join me.
It’s not a diet as such, because I want the focus to be more on being kind to myself and treating myself right.
Here’s my problem with diets: people lose weight and put it all back on when they go back to normal
They are relentless - they get boring, so you give up
It feels like you are punishing yourself
They get too competitive. People feel bad if they have more weight to lose than someone else, or they feel guilty if they slip up.
So, I’m going to try creating healthy habits for myself. I’m going to do a maximum of four new habits at a time to start with. When something truly becomes a habit, then that becomes something I ‘just do’. I will stick to each habit for a week, starting on Saturday (as weekends are hardest). Here are some examples of habits I have thought of:

• having one meal of carbs a day
• having three alcohol free days per week
• going for an early morning run or walk every day
• keeping a diary every day
• do something ‘self care’ every day, e.g. paint nails

I will do it for a week at first. I I like it/ think it’s easy enough, I’ll keep that habit and add a new one. Otherwise I’ll swap it out for another one. So, if one week I try fasting until lunch, then I get fed up with that, the next week I’ll try one snack a day only. As you can see, the emphasis is on health and happiness, rather than beating myself up. I’ll record it in bullet journal style.

These are my first habits for this week:

• walk 15 000 steps a day (fairly easy as I nearly do this anyway)
• stick to my fitness pal 1350 calories a day (very difficult for me - I will try not to eat back my exercise calories, but won’t worry if I’m hungry and I need to)
• do yoga every day, even just ten minutes (have made it easier by booking a few classes, so I have to go!)
• drink 8 glasses of water per day

I’ll let you know how I get on.

It goes without saying. Everyone is welcome, regardless of what your goals are. Regardless of how small you want your habits to be.
Let’s be kind to ourselves.

No one has replied. Oh well, I’ll talk to myself then😂.
This has been going very well for me so far. I’ve managed to stick to everything for three days and I’ve lost one whole pound!
I’m now 10 stone 8 lbs and I’m aiming for a round 10 stone for starters.
Here’s how I’m getting on with my targets:
Stick to calorie limit -have managed this, with 200-300 extra exercise calories spare. I’m really pleased with this, as I hate dieting. (Next week, I might try mindful eating instead, as my period is due and I always need a little extra, but don’t want to overeat like I normally do. So I’ll swap my target so I don’t fail and give up, which is what I normally do).
Yoga every day did Monday and Tuesday- will do it in a minute when I’ve finished typing this. I feel stretched in a good way.
Water drinking have done it every day - was easy and helped me with my healthy eating
15 000 steps - managed this too - hence all those extra exercise calories.

I'm with you Nuffaluff!

Yes, I think you’re absolutely right. Diets don't really work for me longer than 2 days because I get annoyed with the restrictions and so I have been looking at ways to live a healthy lifestyle rather than think of it as dieting and exercise.

I sat down and wrote a sheet thinking about how I wanted to live my life and instead of writing lose 3 stone, I wrote eat a mostly healthy diet. Instead of exercise daily I just want to spend more time in nature and be more environmentally aware. So I'm walking more to get places I have to go instead of using the car and I'm not worrying about counting calories just using my brain to decide if the way I'm eating is mostly healthy. It's working for me because it's adjusting the way I think about things.

I also added drink more cocktails to my list!

Yes @daisym00n, I’m hopeless with diets long term.
I like your ideas - spending time in nature is good for mental health as well as physical health isn’t it? I like going for walks in the woods. We’re lucky, because we have some local woodland nearby even though we’re in a surburban area.
Having more cocktails Is a fun one!
I hate dieting with a passion. The longest I think I’ve managed dieting was about two weeks. I lost weight but then had a day where I stuffed my face, then gave up. That’s the usual pattern for me.
So that’s why I’m trying something different.
I’m doing calorie counting this week, which is going okay. Next week I’ll be hormonal, which is always when diets go wrong for me, so I’ll do mindful eating instead.
I feel like this is a bit of an experiment for me. If it works for, say, a month, then it’s better than any diet I’ve ever tried.
Already I feel more positive about it, because I only have to do calorie counting until Friday.

This is my bullet journal recording.
I calculate that I had over by about 100 calories on my allowance yesterday, so didn’t colour it in. However, I was hungry when I went to bed and really hungry when I woke up, so I think I might have miscalculated.
Lost two 2 ounces this morning on the scales😂

Here are my healthy habit ideas I’m going to choose from.
I’ve got tough ones versus not so tough, e.g. no alcohol for the week vs. 3 alcohol free days.
Both would be good as I tend to have something every day. 😳

I think you are spot on with your thinking, there is no point going on a diet and if by a miracle we loose the weight, we then just put it back on by eating normally,

I personally think we have been conditioned to think of treats as part of a regular diet and meals out takeaways are even worse. It’s a marketing vicious cycle of eat fatty and or sugary treats followed by more money spent on weight loss products or dieting clubs. Then we keep everyone from Nestle and Cadbury’s to Slimming World and pharmaceutical companies and slimming tea companies richer and us trapped in a circle of self loathing.

I am trying very hard to get my weight down by I want to think of my maintenance phase as my new normal and starting healthy habits now helps loose the weight and make you feel better.

For me currently it’s
-15000 steps a day
-yoga a few times a week
-good sleep routine

• cutting down on my carbs and not living of bread, potato and pasta

-making more of an effort with my appearance, straightened my hair, not living in baggy hoodies, I feel better for swapping a hoodie for a more fitted jumper with a tight t shirt under it whilst I work from home.

Sounds like a good approach.
I’d like to go for the following habits
10 mins yoga daily
No eating between meals
Eat mostly veg with protein and small amount of carbs every meal
Daily walk
Drink water throughout the day
Go to bed by 11.30
Keep busy!

Yay @Dashel and @OuterSpaceGirl join us.
I feel like I’m trying to start a cult.
Some diets have things in common with cults don’t they?

Today and yesterday I’ve done well again. I’ve:

• stuck to my calorie limit. I have eaten back most of my exercise calories, but I have lost weight. 2lbs in five days now! I’ll know it’s definitely working when I lose three more lbs and get to 10 stone 4. Don’t think that will happen next week as it’s PMT/ period week. I’ll be happy to lose one lb by the end of my period, realistically, or just maintain at 10 stone 7lb.
• done yoga both days. Only 15 minutes each day, but already feeling stronger in my core
• drunk 8 glasses of water
• walked 15000 steps both days. With my plantar fasciitis, I’m very pleased with myself. (Podiatrist booked - I’m only 43 and walk like an old lady at the moment).

So, it’s going well.

I feel so positive about it too, not lol when I normally try dieting. I’ve only got one more day of calorie counting, then I’ll change my healthy eating target.

@Dashel I agree with you completely about diets and how they are a money making machine. They are designed to not work in the long term, so that dieters continue to spend their money.
With the exception of Michael Moseley. Perhaps.
I would also like to try low carbs one week, maybe just one meal with starchy carbs a day. I don’t think I could fit into any tight t shirts at the moment! I couldn’t fit into my usually loose fitting jeans yesterday!

This is a great attitude and approach. I genuinely honestly believe people are overweight because we're trapped in a cycle of self loathing, guilt, marketing and that classic trick of capitalism that creates a problem to sell solutions. I often despair of the really restrictive diets I see talked about on here, particularly things like meal replacement shakes. It's a hateful way to treat our bodies, and as soon as you go back to any semblance of normal eating of COURSE that weight will go back on, plus more because deprivation will for sure cause binge type behaviours.

I’m also going to work on my sleep next week. I only slept 6 and a half hours last night (Fitbit told me). I think it will involve no alcohol next week to help with that.
I see @OuterSpaceGirl you’re going to go to bed earlier. I’m thinking you are an owl like my DH, if your aim is 11.30? My aim would be ten as I’m always awake my 6.30 (I’m a lark).
Me and DH pass like ships in the night. Or more like ships that pass in the early afternoon.

Yes! @Galaxxy jooiiinnn meeeee (cult leader voice).

I changed my approach completely in June. I started 16:8, mostly because it gave me a structure in which to fit meals in during the day but helped me to draw a line and stop the evening/night time snacking which was my absolute downfall. Then within that eating window I mostly make healthy eating choices, as in, I consciously ask myself what would I like to eat? Am I craving anything? What could I do to feel satisfied but make it a healthier choice? So if I'm craving dominos, I might decide to buy a lighter base pizza, load it with extra veggies instead. Or if I want sweet stuff, I'll have a few chunks of dark choc. But I also feel no guilt now if I decide to have the occasional ice cream. If its within my eating window and Ive made other healthier choices through the day and previous days, I'll have it, and enjoy it! Before, I'd have the ice cream, feel terrible about it afterwards with guily and self loathing, then think fuckit and eat chocolate all eve. Ive literally lost a stone without feeling like I've made any effort!

After years of on/off dieting I've recently started something similar. I find i become a bit too obsessed when I am calorie counting but I've started to be more mindful of what i am eating. Having a healthy filling breakfast definitely sets me up for a more successful day! Eating until I am full rather than eating until i finish everything on the plate has really helped too, along with making an effort to keep my water intake up. I'm still having a bit of chocolate if I fancy it but just a few squares rather than a family bar!

I’m also trying the 16:8 and not drinking. I just loose all willpower after one drink, well I think to myself this is lush, let’s have another and another and then the munchies come out and one glass of wine leads to 800 call for the bottle, 400 cals in crisps then dinner and then my sweet tooth kicks in. Then I wake up feeling tired and hungry and struggle to find my motivation for the day.

I had really bad insomnia a few years ago and if anyone’s struggling to sleep I can give a few suggestions. But Yoga with Adriene does a few yoga for sleep videos and the 18 minute one is great. You need to do it a few times and now my body knows neck rolls means sleep.

I managed 18k steps today so very pleased with that. I posted on another thread that comparing calories burned on steps from a 3k day, 9k day and 14k and 20k day. I know it’s not 100% accurate but I can see why I struggle to loose weight or put it on easily when I’m hardly doing anything.

I love working from home, but it’s hard sometimes to force yourself to do steps when it’s raining all day or blowing a gale. I know that I need to keep these up and it’s going to be a really struggle in the dark cold winter when I don’t need to leave the house and 15k is a lot of steps to do marching on the spot.

Dashel Adrienne is great isn't she?! I've been doing various videos most mornings. She's just so...lovely!!! The yoga is like an act of self care. It motivates me in life to eat well too!

@Nuffaluff so glad you mentioned sleep as part of your healthy habits! Small things like putting blue lights away at least an hour before bed, keeping the bedroom for sleep and sex only, investing in a really lovely handcream as a nice smelling treat before sleep, putting a drop of lavender essential oil on the pillow, using lamp light rather than overhead 'big' light, de-cluttering the bedroom, reading a good book for half an hour before bed, keeping a notebook close by so any pesky intrusive thoughts can be written down and dealt with in the morning... I could go on!! Sleep is so important, it can aid weight loss and it has so many other health benefits 😴

@Nuffaluff I am an owl, yes. Although I do like to be up early too. If I go to bed by 11.30 then I can be up by 7 and not be tired.
If I am tired, I crave sugar all day.
It’s 11.26 and I’m still faffing around.

@Galaxxy lots of love in...... lots of love out. She keeps me sane and there are loads of free videos on YouTube so no subscriptions or memberships.

So today, I’m working from an office so I’m up early straightening my hair and I had my daily weigh in and I’m down to 11st 1.8 pounds which is great considering my initial post lockdown weight was 11st 5.7 pounds on the 9th of August.

I know I feel better if I make more of an effort with how I look so although it’s a jeans place I’m going to, I’m going to look as good as I can.

Have a great and positive and healthy day everyone

It’s target change day for me today, to keep it interesting.
I did well last week, but I don’t have extremely high hopes as I’m feeling very pre-menstrual today! My period is due in two days and I tend to overeat during this time due to lack of energy and over abundance of emotions!
So I have a plan. I’m looking to lose a slight bit of weight by the end of my period or just maintain.
I’m ditching calorie counting this week and doing mindful eating instead. So I’ll eat slowly, focussing on really enjoying my food and trying to eat things that make me feel good. When I’m full, I will stop eating and save the rest for lunch the next day. If I crave an unhealthy snack, I will have something, but it has to be good. So, not 6 Bourbon biscuits, but a slice of delicious cake from a cafe.
Sleep. I’m going to make sure I get 7-8 hours a night to help my energy levels. I’m going to try going to bed a little earlier 10pm and wear my Fitbit to monitor my sleep.
Alcohol. I’m going to go for four alcohol days this week. This will help with weight loss and sleep hopefully.
I’m going to do either yoga or dumbbells every day, minimum 10 minutes.
Drink water - I’m keeping that one.
Walk 15000 steps - keeping that one too.

Here’s how I did last week.
The squiggle in the last yoga slot is because I didn’t fancy yoga so I did dumbbells instead. It’s meant to be a little dumbbell.
Sorry for the bad photo. I’ve blocked off mine and DH’s names (I’ve persuaded him to do it too).