On the topic of Weight.....

It's been so long since I've regularly updated my Blog, and I've had friends email and message me about updates that they are after. One of them was my quest to lose a little weight - "The Last 5 kgs".

Well the good news is that I did do it, and I did it slowly and meaningfully and have had no trouble keeping it off.  It was pretty easy actually, and I now have a firm belief that if you take your weight loss journey slowly and don't expect to lose weight like a contestant on "The Biggest Loser", you too will find it easy.

First, you have to be honest with yourself about where your downfalls are. Are there any unnecessary inclusions like tobacco or alcohol? Do you exercise? Realistically, do you eat too much or the wrong foods?

Honestly, I don't smoke or drink (1 glass of wine a week - if I'm lucky - is about what it averages out to be), but I wasn't exercising, I drank FAR too much coffee and not enough water, I enjoyed low GI, high carb snacks, and I ate crap (chips, chocolate, etc) late at night, and my sleep patterns sucked.

So, I started moving, cut down the coffee and increased the water intake, ate a LOT more fresh fruit and vegetables, I still eat carbs but I try to make them low GI and keep them to a minimum, and cut out eating after dinner. That was my biggest problem, the late night snacking. As soon as I cut that out the weight started coming off straight away. I still don't sleep, and I don't think I will ever change that one. :)

I joined Weight Watchers too. That just helped me work out what was going in and when. They have an iPhone App that you can just punch in what you have consumed, and it works the points out for you. Send you alerts and congratulates you when you lose weight. It's really good, I highly recommend it. I don't use it any more, but the idea of  'how many points have I eaten' is always with me.

In late August 2011 (ish) I weighed around 74.5kg. In late October, when I started blogging about this I weighed 70.5kg, trying to lose "the last 5kg". I was eating right and exercising, and the weight was coming off. In late January, after having a smart, but still indulgent Christmas and New Year, and not exercising since the start of December, I weighed in at 64.8kg. I now hover around 64.5kg. But here's the thing.....

I don't exercise. The last time I went to the gym was in late January sometime, just before school went back. Since then I have run around an oval on one occasion, and took the opportunity to stop when my girlfriend called. BUT, I still don't eat after dinner, I don't drink as much coffee, and I drink WATER. Lots of water. I eat carbs, but I'm still smart about it, and I have renewed my relationship with fresh fruit as a snack. The best part is that when I do indulge, I just get back into the healthy stuff the next day.

I don't starve myself, I'm just smarter about what I put into me. I have created new habits that ensure that my weight doesn't go up again. So because I'm not losing weight right now, and happy to keep it steady, now I can indulge in a drink every now and again, and maybe have a chocolate without feeling guilty.

If I do put on, I know how to get it off by cutting out those little extras. If I want to lose more (there's another Blog post in that one) I know how to do it.

But what I want to convey to you is that ANYONE CAN DO IT. It's not about "I have a slow metabolism", or "It's in my genes, I come from a big family", it's about being realistic with yourself. If you WANT to lose weight, YOU CAN DO IT. But you have to be honest with yourself and do the work. And that work can be HARD.

If you're not willing to do the work, don't whinge about your weight. Accept it, and move on.

Just before I go, I need to tell you......my husband sits and shovels many many snacks into his mouth. After dinner, before dinner, always. He also loves a drink or two (or three or five). So many empty calories enter his body. These are bad habits he has had for a long time, and I don't think he will ever break them. BUT, he exercises HUGE amounts every week. He lives on input/output. You can put it in, but you have to be willing to burn it off too. A couple of years ago he weighed 118kg, ate and drank like a machine, sat on the couch a lot and wore a 40" pant. He now weighs under 90kgs, runs triathlons, trains like a machine, and the only reason he doesn't wear a 34" pant off the rack is that he is also 6'5" and he has to dress for length. He knows he will put on weight if he doesn't exercise or watch what he consumes, so he keeps the balance.

You too can keep the balance. If you want to do it, start now.

It's not that hard. Really.

But you have to WANT to.

Good luck.

K x