This weeks it's all about the balancing act....

So, here I am two weeks in, and I am over the moon to report that I have lost ten pounds.  This is largely due to the fact that I have almost stopped snacking completely because when I feel a tummy rumble coming on between meals, I have a glass of water, simple but very effective.  Like I said last week, I want to continue with it for as long as it takes for this to become habitual behaviour and I think it's starting to work :)

In addition to the extra fluids, I also said that I wouldn't deny myself anything that I fancied, but would make an extra big effort to eat something healthy before indulging.  That's exactly what I did last week and the biggest benefit I found was that it made me really super conscious of what I was eating. I've always been what I would call an "unconscious grazer".  I can think of tens of occasions where I've eaten something without thinking (because I fancy it not because I am hungry) and as soon as I've swallowed it I've thought "Bugger, I'm meant to be on a diet" and it's been a slippery slope that's hard to get off of.  In eating something healthy first I've found the either of the following usually happens:

• I eat the healthy thing and no longer want the item I originally craved in the first place
• I eat the healthy thing and then what I originally wanted but I don't feel guilty about it because I've also eaten a healthy thing too which is good for my body and that sort of redresses the balance.  Now before you all think I'm a total fruit loop I know that eating an apple before a Mars Bar really doesn't cancel out the Mars Bar, but by enforcing that little rule I've eaten an extra piece of fruit, where in the past I would probably have had two Mars Bars instead :) (incidentally I still have the three Snickers bars in my handbag that were there when I started this little project and chocolate has never ever had that long a life span in my posession before!).

I know that none of the above is an exact science and all I'm actually doing is forcing myself to be a lot more self aware and responsible than I was before.  It's working...

So, new for this week is another change that I want to make.  To put it simply, I want to move around more.  I do like to exercise however two small children, a full time job and a husband that works a varied shift pattern makes regular exercise difficult.  At least, that's the excuse I've been telling myself for some time now.  So I'm going to stop trying to justify my laziness to myself and make time to be more active.  I'm lucky enough to live near some fantastic parks and open spaces so I am going to make the effort to go out and do more with the kids.  We had a fantastic stomp around the local country park tonight at a time when we would usually be vegging out in front of the tellybox.  Also, is it really sad to be excited about your workplace getting "pool" bikes that can be hired out for a lunchtime bike ride?  Well, we have some on order, baggsy first go!  I'm planning on getting out at least twice a week at lunchtime when the weather is good, that fits in perfectly with the rest of my routine and is not affected by the kids/hubby/work issue. If I carry on with my first two changes and can enforce this third one I reckon I'm on for a stone in total off by the end of the next fortnight....

If you've made any commitment to changing your habits in order to achieve a health goal leave me a comment, tell me all about it at the bottom of the page, thanks for reading xx