Tick tock…………..

So back to the topic of time.
The more I think about it, the more complex I find the whole concept of time in relation to weight loss.

My last post revolved around how when I am busy and short on time, I feel out of control where food is concerned. And I know that when I have made time to plan ahead for the week and I spend time preparing food and I make sure I don’t miss meals, I generally have a ‘good week’ and a weight loss.

And BINGO!-there it is in print-‘when I have MADE the time’. When things are high on our list of priorities, when things are important to us -like picking the children up from school-(thanks Sue) like watching our favourite programme on TV, like meeting a good friend for a drink, like putting the bins out on the right day, we MAKE the time to do what we need to do. And you know what? Losing weight really IS important to me-in fact I spend a ridiculous amount of time thinking about how great it would be to lose 20 lbs. I spend a silly amount of time thinking about how unhappy I am with the size that I am-I won’t go into detail on this……..it’s too boring; yet endlessly , day after day the glum soundtrack of my dissatisfaction plays inside my head.

Here are some of the reasons losing weight is important to me. I want to feel better about myself. I want to feel more comfortable in my own skin, as well as in the latest New Look or M and S fashions. I want to preserve my health. I don’t want my ankle to ache when I have spent all day on my feet. I want to spring out of bed in the morning, and with a sense of freedom throw on a pair of jeans and feel great. I want to buy clothes because I like them and they suit my character-not because they cover up my dodgy bits. And this is difficult for me to share-but I will anyway- being at my happy weight would give me more credibility and more confidence in my job. So actually yes it’s very important to me to ‘just get on and do’ this weight loss thing. So where’s it going wrong?

It goes wrong at certain TIMES of the week, and at certain TIMES of the day (there goes that word again!): namely at weekends and in the evenings! So at the beginning of my weight loss week –which is the day that I weigh in- I am really clear in my own head about how important my weight loss is to me and I feel focussed. But by the time the weekend arrives that sense of importance has become a lot fuzzier. Similarly in the mornings when I have had the ritual daily discomfort of deciding what to wear (does my bum look big in this?, oh no look at those thighs! etc.) my motivation to have a ‘good’ day is high, because at that moment in time I want to delete those negative wardrobe feelings for ever . As the hours tick by during the course of the day and my wardrobe-trauma memories become more distant and I become more tired, again my weight loss desires become fuzzier. And those are the times that my resolve weakens and I ruin all the good work I have done during the day by mindlessly munching.

And another thing about time! It goes so fast doesn’t it? I have been replaying the above routines for 4 years now-WASTING time! So I am now CHOOSING to repeat this cycle no more-there will not be any more wasting of precious hours because what I am also wasting, is my precious life.

This week I tried a new technique to help my memory: I have set reminders on my phone to coincide with my ‘forgetful’ times- these reminders come with messages such as ‘Don’t ruin today’s hard work by chomping on junk’ and ‘Make sure you stay focussed over the weekend-you deserve to look after yourself!’. And do you know what?…….. so far it’s working! 