Category Archives: Diet update

Doing It The Skinny Girl Way

Diet update, In the here & now, , ,

Smallest-Canepe-ASDA

Well, that’s December’s cherry well and truly popped…I had my first Christmas dinner of the season last night, and very nice it was too. It was a work function, an afternoon working session rounded off by a chance to kick back and relax with some colleagues over food and a few drinks. I vaguely remember I had to get my menu choices in a couple of weeks ago, and for the life of me I couldn’t remember what I’d ordered, but as it turns out that didn’t matter – someone had helpfully written everyone’s menu choice on their place cards.

That’s a great system, although I suspect the old me would have been a bit less impressed. I mean, hands up who hasn’t pretended they’d ordered what looks like the tastiest option when the plates start coming out…? This is mine..? No, there’s been a mistake, I ordered one of those ones…and if, you know that involved pointing to the plate with the most generous helping of whatever, well, that was purely a happy accident.

Anyway, no room for mistakes last night. With my halo in place and shining brightly I’d ordered melon for my starter…not a dinner option made by anyone, ever, unless they are watching their waistline. I mean don’t get me wrong, I LOVE melon…I’ve eaten two of them this week. But when I eat melon, I cut off the skin, chop it into big wedges and get stuck in.

Last night, it was beautifully arranged in the middle of the plate, fanned out with an artistic pea-sized smear of something sweet and red. I’m not kidding though, when I tell you that a good 90% of the plate was lacking the presence of melon. It’s like they were overwhelmed by demand and had to cut 100 portions from one melon. I looked around the table with envious eyes at the people who were tucking into filo goats cheese parcels with cranberry coulis, and pate with french toast.

I did feel better when my eyes landed on a bona fide skinny string bean colleague, who was the only other person on my table who’d chosen melon. Like me! I couldn’t help feeling elated because I was doing it the skinny girl way. Except I wasn’t, not really.

Every time I looked across the table she was either delicately cutting a piece off, or chewing, or dipping a bit of melon in the red pea sized smear…she made it last for like 15 minutes. Me? Two bites and the melon was history. 100% of my plate was a melon-free zone before she’d even decided which centimetre of melon to go in for first.

For my main course I’d ordered turkey with all the trimmings, and it was yummy. It’s always good to be reminded what normal portions look like – small, is what they look like to me if I’m being honest. But having said that, I didn’t over-indulge…chance would have been a fine thing, but it was nice not to be tested. Had there been any kind of test, I would have passed – by default – with flying colours, because I’m here to tell you if there was more than 400 calories on that plate I’ll bare my arse to the world.

I’d ordered the cheese board to finish with, for a number of reasons…firstly it came with grapes, and that’s healthy, right? Secondly there was only two cheeses mentioned, one of which was brie which I don’t like, so compared to the other options of Christmas pudding, chocolate tart or eton mess it seemed like the safest one. And it was. Two crackers and a matchbox sized serving of really tasty cheese with the six grapes on offer was just about perfect. Small, but perfect.

Incidentally, the bloke sat beside me – who had a very well cultivated mid-section – said the Christmas pudding wasn’t the best he’d eaten. He still almost took the pattern off the plate in his eagerness to finish it all though. It’s a good job I wasn’t drinking…a couple of glasses of fizz inside me and I might have invited him to join the posse.

So, I drove home feeling very smug. To be fair, there was very limited opportunity for the asshole in my mind to talk me into anything. My sensible choices were made way ahead of time, but I still I resisted the coffee and mince pies afterwards…get me, a regular little goody two shoes. Mind you, tonight might be a bit different…tonight’s invitation involves a different set of work friends, beer and something described by the host as dirty pizza. Much harder to resist. But you know I’m on it 🙂

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I Spy, With My Little Eye…

Diet update, In the here & now, , ,

green shoot

I sort of got distracted and a bit giddy at the weekend by the fact that we had a blog anniversary, so as I sat down to do my customary reflections on the week and non-diety diet update I talked more about the blog than about me. I ran out of space before I’d gotten to talking about me…I’m kind of ok with that but you know what, this past week for the first time it’s occurred to me that I’m starting to see some really subtle changes in my physical self. And I should tell you!

When I say subtle, I really mean subtle…I haven’t leaped out of bed on any given day feeling different, but you know that way where you’ve had toothache or a sore muscle for a while and it’s become the kind of dull ache you get used to? It’s not until you suddenly notice that it’s not aching quite as much as it did that you stop short and think when did that happen..? Well, my stop short moment happened on Friday evening last week when I was out with some friends for dinner.

We ate in a lovely restaurant that we’ve been to before but I’ve got to be honest and say that the chairs aren’t the most comfortable chairs I’ve ever sat on…the round wooden seats are not built for bums of substance. Last time we were there I remember being so uncomfortable, to the point where it was distracting. I felt shuffly all night, you know? Now don’t get me wrong, I could still have easily pulled two together and claimed one for each cheek, however I left the restaurant this time without feeling that I’d been balanced on a button all night. Subtle, but different.

And yesterday, when I was out walking with Charlie…we got to the point in the walk where we can turn right to complete a circuit back home, or carry on up the hill to do a much bigger circuit. He kind of throws me that resigned look when we get to the crossroads, having long ago realised that nine times out of ten we’re going right. As we got there yesterday, the red hot poker in my knee wasn’t trying to take my breath away with every step, so much to his delight we carried on. Again, don’t get me wrong, the long route still only takes us a mile or so but the difference yesterday was it only hurt a little bit. Subtle, but different.

Getting in and out of the car feels a little bit easier, because I’m just that little bit less restricted by all the padding around my middle. I’m two dress sizes smaller than when I started this journey back in August. Again, the difference between a 28 and a 24 is not as noticeable as the difference between a 16 and a 12…so it’s subtle, but it’s there. And I feel it.

So I spy, with my little eye…green shoots are starting to poke their inquisitive little tips out of this fat suit. My friend commented last week that she saw my thin face, just for a second before it disappeared back into it’s cradle of double chin, but it popped out for a quick look around none the less…I’m here to tell you it’s been a while since that saw the light of day.

Someone once said to me just because you don’t see results after a day, or a week, don’t give up…you may not see changes, but every good choice you make is affecting you in ways you cannot imagine.

Ain’t that the truth!

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The Lurgy Diet

Diet update, In the here & now

sick-in-bedAnother week down…so that makes me one week closer to where I’m headed, right? It’s been a rough one to be honest, I’ve spent most of it buried somewhere underneath the poorly blanket in my beloved armchair, my plans for the weekend in tatters following the onset of some rotten lurgy that snuck up and pinched my voice on Tuesday when I wasn’t looking and hasn’t quite handed it back yet.

I’m so glad that I had a really quiet one last weekend…despite all my frustrations with the wonky subscription feed, having to liaise with tekkies across two time zones meant I was working in the blog most of the weekend, so in between this test run and that, I managed to pretty much draft all of this week’s posts, otherwise there may have been a distinct wobble in your reading material this week!  As it is, beyond the odd feeble tweak and edit here and there in between coughing fits they were good to go, hopefully none of you were any the wiser. I still sound a bit like Minnie Mouse but I’m no longer begging for someone to put me out of my misery.

So, from a diet perspective it’s been a good week…I’d love to claim the credit but actually my throat was too sore to swallow. Not that that would have stopped me in past times…you would have laughed, I’m so in the zone I even caught myself looking on the back of bottles of cough medicine for nutritional values mid-week. Having said that, every cloud has a silver lining – I feel distinctly skinnier! Not too long ago, I would have been quietly furious that I’d finished the dieting week with unused points, and you might well have found me cramming as many naughties into my face as possible to make sure I used up every last one.  Curiosity pushed me into an encounter with the bitch in the bathroom this morning, and I’m happy to report a 2lb loss this week…I’ll take that 🙂

I’m going to try and get some fresh air tomorrow, I haven’t left the house in 4 days and I am climbing the walls with cabin fever! The same Christmas fair we missed this weekend does move around, and my friend and I might follow it next weekend depending on what she’s up to, so hopefully we haven’t missed out altogether. It will mean her coming to stay with me rather than the other way around since it will be nearer here than there, but that might work out ok – we have a hot tub in the garden and it’s that time of year now where there’s enough of a snap in the air to make it an awesome place to relax and catch up so providing I’ve managed to kick the lurgy into the long grass by then it will be lovely.

I’m glad to say all the issues with the subscription feed seem to have been resolved, and our subscriber list continues to grow – I value each and every one of you. Every comment, email and new subscriber request reminds me how lucky I am to have all of you along on this journey with me – you’re making a world of difference. I promised honesty, and the thought of ‘fessing up any wobbles pretty much keeps me hitting it straight!

Have a great week everyone, and thanks for your continued support x

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Moving The Goalposts

Biggest struggles, Diet update, Freeform thoughts, ,

goalSo back on the 17th of August, which was a Monday, (obviously, because Asshole logic dictates that diets can only start on a Monday, it’s practically the law) my dieting goal was to shed a couple of dress sizes before the trip I’ve just been on. I started my blog the following weekend and I can honestly say that since then I’ve not stepped out of the sweet spot…not even once. I did back the wrong horse I think, by starting on a carb-free regime at first but it’d worked for me before, and fairly quickly. Not this time.

I don’t have a scooby doo what I weighed when I started, which in hindsight probably wasn’t my smartest move. If you’ve been reading along since the early days, you’ll remember that a few weeks in I got weighed for the first time, only to discover that I weighed more than I’d imagined I had at the start. That made me swear, a lot. But once I was over being a diva, I took it on the chin, cracked on with the regime and didn’t let it throw me off course.

I checked in with the bitch in the bathroom again about 3 weeks ago to find that although my lard is on the move, the pounds have been slow to shift with only another 5 gone. So I switched out to the Weight Watchers’ food plan instead, dropped a couple more pounds and although I haven’t been on the scales yet since I got home, I’m not expecting to have gained anything on holiday. I’ve found my groove with the points malarkey, and I’m still in the game.

But I need a new focus. Visualising that helicopter trip has kept me 100% on the right path but you know what, getting skinny is just not happening quickly enough. And yes, I know I have my wrist bitch to bully me now (trust me, even the asshole’s running scared) but I need a new focus too.

And that is..? I’m going to be in a size 22 by the first of the year, and I’m going to get there by meeting or exceeding my activity goal every day – as well as the food plan of course. That’s my new short term goal. I was a size 28 when I started and I’m a good size 24/26 now, kind of on the cusp you know? 22 is where I’m headed and I’ve got nine weeks and two days to get there.

Now I have to ‘fess up and say I feel a bit of a fraud with that bold statement, given that today I’ve missed my activity target and I’ve welched on the deal to walk Charlie for half an hour every day after work. Great start, really, way to go Dee you’ve reached new heights of wimpdom. But guys I’m soooo tired – jet lag has kicked in big time, and despite staying up all day yesterday and not feeling too bad, when I went to bed last night at around 10.30pm, ping…wide awake! I saw 3.30am come and go before I could find an ounce of sleep in me. And my alarm goes off at 5.30am….a 50 miles each way commute and 10 straight hours in the office on less than two hours’ sleep is a stretch too far…my tank is running a little low.

I have the opportunity to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat…after all it ain’t over ’till the fat lady sings….oh wait a minute, listen…do you hear that? Right then…I’ll walk twice as far tomorrow. Promise.

Doh Ray Me Far So Laa Tee Doh…  notes

Me: 0 – Asshole: 1.  Sorry posse…I feel like I’ve fallen at the first fence  🙁

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Milestone Moments & Memories

Biggest Triumphs, Diet update, In the here & now, ,

IMG_3697

Hey posse…home at last, to a rock star welcome from my four-legged fur baby and an enthusiastic welcome from my boy, who’d managed to empty the fridge whilst I was gone…quelle surprise! 🙂 It’s been a memorable trip, and now it’s lovely to be home. Thanks for all your input, comments and emails re yesterday’s post – I love that whilst I was away I sense-checked my decisions and choices every time against the question ‘what would the posse do…?‘ and I love even more that I pretty much hit it straight for that very reason. And I’m here to tell you, you are ALL getting on the asshole’s last good nerve!

In response to both dilemmas, I took a mouthful, made all the right noises about how amazing it tasted and how much I appreciated the gesture, then handed the baton – along with cake and spoon – to the girls who executed a pretty perfect mexican wave of appreciation. They know I’m dieting, and even when the kind of cocktails that would happily take the enamel off your teeth were in play they had my back. Teamwork at it’s finest.

And I needn’t have been terrified about being frog-marched out of the sweet spot for my lack of willpower, never to return…no lack of willpower, and no asshole victories, just some creative accounting within a framework of accountability which means I’ve had treats, but they’ve been totted up instead of written off. I pared back on some of the drinking because eating the food I wanted was more important to me…I had as much fun as everyone else and what’s more I even remember it all, which is an added bonus! Did I wish I could throw caution to the wind and have everything I wanted..? Yes, of course I did, but the realisation that I can’t has wormed its way into my psyche, and even on holiday, I’m all over it.

For those of you who remember the heifer in the helicopter post, and were wondering how it went…yes I had to pay a $100 heavy levy, kind of an arse tax if you will, but it was a little discrete tile on the floor where I had to weigh in, just like everyone else and no alarms sounded, no SWAT team arrived to take out the fat girl and we had the most amazing time, flying over the Grand Canyon and eating a picnic lunch with champagne next to the Colorado river. I’ve even attached a picture by way of evidence, instead of my usual clip-art! For those of you who like or follow the Break Out The Skinny Girl Facebook page you’ll find a couple more pictures on there too.

So, enough…I’ll quit banging on about my trip now, and let’s pick up where I left off with the usual motley assortment of head spam shall we?  I have to ask myself the question what now?  This has generally been the danger zone for me…I’ve got form, in terms of dieting hard for a special event and then leaping off the dieting bandwagon with indecent haste as soon as the milestone moment has passed.  I half expected to be locked horns with the asshole at the first post-flight meal but I think he was too busy working on his exercise avoidance strategy to pay much attention to my food choices so I’ve just quietly carried on making good choices. But I need a new goal, another milestone moment to work towards…I’ll share it with you of course once I’ve figured it out:)

To coin my friend’s phrase, I’m thinking Kylie by Christmas?

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