Slimming - getting serious again

This time last year - it was actually on 10th August 2017 - I had the surprise of my life when the local Slimming World group voted me Woman of the Year 2017. A proud moment indeed.

I had begun with SW on 3rd November 2016 with an opening weight of 94.3kg (14 stones 12 pounds), and on that day of triumph on 10th August 2017 had got down to 81.4kg (12 stones 11.5 pounds). My best was reached on 12th October 2017, when my weight had sunk to 78.2kg (12 stones 4.5 pounds).

After that, I couldn't make any further headway. It seemed that I'd got as far as I could without some fundamental food or drink sacrifice. Nor was I prepared to compromise my social life to the extent needed. So I hovered where I was. On my last visit to the SW group on 8th March 2018 I had drifted away from my best weight, and now tipped the scales at 79.8kg (12 stone 8 pounds). I decided to stop the show right there. There was no point paying £5 odd each week to SW just to hover at the same weight indefinitely. And I wanted to use my Thursday evenings for other things in the year ahead.

Detached from SW, I wasn't going to throw away what I had achieved. At home, I kept to every SW principle, although I did experiment a bit with things like cheese. Away from home, in pubs and restaurants and friends' homes, I adopted a more relaxed (but still sensible) attitude to what I ate and drank. I still felt in charge of my personal food regime, even if I'd stopped keeping detailed records of what I was consuming.

But inevitably, I put on weight again. Last Monday (my regular weighing-day at home) I weighed 84.5kg (13 stones 4 pounds) and I had noticeably less of a waist than I did last spring. It was time to admit that it's terribly difficult to control one's weight without proper monitoring of what one eats and drinks, and a fair bit of forward planning. I also felt that I wasn't living up to that cherished Slimming World Woman of the Year certificate, so prominently displayed in my hall, one of the first things a visitor will notice.

Time to get myself in hand!

So I've gone back to those spreadsheets. I will use them (as I used to) to plan my meals and record what I actually eat and drink. Initially, I just want to stabilise and not get heavier and chubbier. Then I will very gradually shave weight off, to get down to 80kg (12 stones 8 pounds), which is the sort of weight I can easily maintain, if I'm diligent. I intend to be very diligent indeed.

But I'm not rejoining SW. I am very good at self-motivation, if I really want a certain outcome. I'm not one to depend on group therapy. I'll get sufficient support from my electronic records. I know what I can achieve. I can do it again.

It's the same spreadsheet I so successfully used to lose (at my best) 16kg (35.5 pounds). I've developed the colour-coding for any day's synning to encompass three outcomes: 'good' (green), 'not quite so good' (orange) and 'bad' (red), and I will now work out the overall position at the end of each month. But otherwise it's just as before, because it was - despite all the detail - very easy to maintain and very informative. If I wasn't losing weight, the spreadsheet made it was obvious what the reason was, and that was why I found it valuable.

So this was how it looked for today, at 8.30pm in the evening, when I hadn't yet cooked my evening meal. Earlier, I'd enjoyed an après-pilates Italian lunch with Jo and Valerie. (Click on the picture, to see it more clearly)

The colour-coding is red - because not a 'good' day! But tomorrow (Saturday) will be a little better, despite escaping to Chichester for a veggie lunch and a mooch around the shops. The colour-coding will be orange instead:

You'll notice that I am experimenting with a ration of wholemeal bread and spread as part of my afternoon snack. This adds 7.5 to the syn total, but if I'm not eating out on the day, I should still end up with only 14.5 syns - safely within the 15 allowed. 

Sunday will also be 'better' than today - although another orange day, because I will pour gravy and mint sauce onto my lamb chops, taking my syn total from 14.5 to 16.5, and into 'not so good' territory. 

The point about bread is that it's filling. And the Lurpak Spreadable butter has a great favour, even if only thinly spread. What I will do is fold the slice of bread, to make a small sandwich. It'll be more satisfying as a mouthful. And, of course, I can pop something sensible into this sandwich, not just the butter. Watercress comes to mind. 

Monday will be a 'good' day - a green-coded day. I am going to use 'green days' as a visual reward. I like the colour green, and I want to see as many green days as possible. I respond well to psychological nudges like this.

Here's the colour scheme explained:

And this is the ultimate aim of the spreadsheet, to record weight figures that say to me 'you are making progress, and staying healthy'. I will weigh myself first thing on Monday. I've put in what I would like my weight to be. I hope my prediction is spot-on.

  

I have planned out only the next three days. Monday will go 'orange' if Jo and Clive invite me round for cards in the evening - Clive makes a wicked gin and tonic, and I won't refuse!

I think you can see that - for me - maintaining these food and drink spreadsheets adds interest to the serious business of maximising my personal health. I could say 'maximising my personal health and beauty', but that's taking things rather too far, don't you agree?

Whoops...

I made a mistake with the syn value of the bread and spread I was going to try as an afternoon snack. It's actually 10 syns, not 7.5, and if I made the proposed ration a daily event I would always be over 15 syns, and never have a 'green' day. So this bright idea will have to be junked immediately! I'll just have an extra banana instead.