RED INSTEAD diet blog

It’s been a long time between posts.  Sorry about that!  Here is an update: 

Up until now I have been keeping my track of my measurements (bust, waist and tummy) on a scrappy bit of paper - today I decided to go high tech and put them into Excel. Then I went a little crazy and turned it into a GRAPH. I know, a bit dorky but hey, whatever works right? Here are some stats to impress you:

High Bust (blue) now 9cm or 3 1/2″ smaller (this is a measurement taken under the armpits, above the girls)

Full Bust (pink) now 11cm or 4 1/2″ smaller (I’m sure you know what this one is)

Waist (orange) now 7cm or 2 3/4″ smaller (this is the natural waist)

High Hip (green) now 6cm or 2 1/2″ smaller (a charming name for the full tummy)

It is amazing how much of a difference 5 kgs (10 pounds) can make! I am loving the smaller bust size - DD to D. Off-the-rack clothes fit so much better now, and most of the tops I sewed a few months ago already look too big on me. A good problem to have though and an excuse for more sewing! Going to the gym has been great and I walk Elsie (my puppy) for 20 mins almost every evening too. There’s still lots more room to improve - for my BMI to get into the healthy range I still need to lose another 15 or so kgs (35 pounds). Slowly but steadily, I’ll get there.

Well, it has been a whole week now on this diet and I have lost a kilo!  Yay me!

I’m off to visit family and friends for a week and I know it is going to be a challenge to stick to “the rules” but I am going to do my best - balancing social eating and fun with what I know I ought to be doing.  A bit of both and no guilt!  See you back here in a week!

OUCH!  Falling off the wagon hurts!

Well, I have been doing this diet thing for a week now - I didn’t realise it at first but up until today I wasn’t exposed to any “social eating” situations.  Today I went to a BBQ with other family members at my parents’ house and of course, I was no longer in control of what food was on offer.  It is much easier to resist overeating or eating the wrong things if they are simply not available or in view.

Luckily, my family eats pretty well anyhow so the worst thing on offer were chips (crisps) but it was very hard to ignore them when my two kids would come and sit on my knee with their bowl of chips.  I could smell the salt and the flavour.  I did really well for ages and then when my husband left the room (he was encouraging me to resist) I grabbed a handful bowlful and enjoyed a few chips before they were wrestled from me.  Crap! 

The other thing I enjoyed were a few too many biscuits (healthy rice crackers luckily) and dips (one was hoummus and one was sun dried tomato) but I did make sure I ate much less of them that I would have previously and I used carrot sticks as dippers a lot.  I have to admit though they were so good and I love dips and crackers.  There was so much fresh bakery bread with that fresh bread smell and bread rolls too.  Bread is out right now. 

This denying-yourself thing is annoying!  Okay, eye on the prize:

I am on a “meal replacement” diet (Betty Baxter) where you have a shake for breakfast, then a mid-morning snack, then a shake and salad/vegies for lunch, a mid-afternoon snack, and then dinner is a small amount of meat (or other protein) with salad or vegies again.  The BBQ was at lunch time (Grand Final Day) and so I decided to swap things around and have my main meal for lunch and then a shake for dinner.  Unfortunately, after resisting so many things all afternoon, I was feeling deprived and so when my husband got together some pasta and creamy sauce for himself and the kids I chose to have some of that instead of my shake. 

I only had a small amount but it was so so good (this diet is low carb as well as low calorie) and I do love creamy sauces, so then I got another (small) helping before trying to tuck into my daughter’s leftovers as well.  This was when my husband stepped in to ask me what I was doing and if I really wanted to eat all that pasta.  Of course, he got snipped at by me but I knew he was right. 

By the way, just to clarify - my husband is supporting me in this and is only harassing me to keep on the straight and narrow because I have asked him to look out for me when I am finding it hard to stick to my plan. 

The worst part is that I weighed myself on the bathroom scales a couple of hours ago and it looks like I may have undone all this week’s good work.  How unfair is that?  I really didn’t think that the saying “a minute on the lips, a lifetime on the hips” could be so literal.  The enjoyment of the food is a lot less significant that it’s lasting effect on your body may be. 

I am struggling a bit because I have never actually been on a diet before so the “rules” and this discipline is all new to me.  I guess if today gives me a strong connection to what happens when I eat more than I should (and then seeing the results BAM! on the scales right away) maybe it will help to keep me going next time.  I’m going to do an “official” weigh in tomorrow at the chemist with their good scales and we will see the results.  I hope my scales were just tricking me, just trying to make a point. 

Continuing the journey, and ‘fessing up to keep myself honest…

Have you been to www.mvm.com and created your own weight loss motivational images? You should get over there - it’s free and it really gives you an idea of what different weight amounts correspond to on an actual body. No that’s not me there in the red swimsuit, but it does give you a good visual.

Here are the “before” shots that show what an 86kg (189 pound) body looks like.

This is the shape I hope to look more like by next April:

My “healthy” weight range is calculated at 57 - 63 kilos which is why I chose the goal weight of 60 kgs, but I would be very happy at 65 I think.

Wow! This is my first post here! What an exciting occasion! yada yada.

Who am I? I’m Jen Leheny and I’m a crafty wahm from Canberra in Australia. I already have a crafty blog at www.jenleheny.com but I wanted this one to record my journey to a healthier and slimmer me.

The photo above is from about a year ago (the long hair is short now) and you can see why I want to lose some weight. I have the classic mummy tummy (or jelly belly) and I want to be a yummy mummy, dammit!

I am currently 86 kg (189 pounds) and I want to get down to around 60 kg (132 pounds) by my birthday in April next year. I am hoping to lose 10-15 kilos by Christmas, and then keep going to my goal weight three months later.

Up until a week ago, I would routinely skip breakfast, lunch and snacks during the day, then eat a pretty healthy dinner. The killer was that every night I would pig out while watching TV on the couch. Bad habits! It’s time to change!

Join me on my journey!