CherryPie's Journal, 24 January 2016

Good steady loss. Well done. 

Thank you. Trouble is I'm losing the will to continue already. Life is not much fun without the treats!  

What you have to do is make the treats acceptable. Make the treats an extra piece of fruit, not a Mars Bar. And if you do take a treat, count it. It is once you stop counting calories that you stop caring. If you do lash out 230 calories on a Mars Bar, at least if you count it you are acknowledging it. 

With everyone having different "trigger" foods, I know this advice may not be helpful but for me, I don't deny myself things if I want them - but I always account for them, and I balance them. It's about having a routine and seeing your daily allowance as a sort of "bank account" - it's fun to spend a little bit on something for luxury, but we still have the bills to pay, and we mustn't forget those! Granted - for some, it is easier to just STOP a certain food entirely. And if you find that a particular food feels really addictive (pasta was that way for me, once upon a time), maybe it is good to stop completely for awhile and train yourself to new habits. However - losing weight with a mindset of "reward food" can set people up to fail, because then, by extension, the other food becomes "punishment" - and that's just not what food is, you know? It's about adopting good habits, yes, but not feeling like your entire life will never, ever again involve a crumpet, because honestly - that's not the way it has to be. :) 

Yes. I eat what I want, I just count it. You soon learn to make wise decisions. As RGG says, you have to treat it like a bank balance. 

That's a very sensible outlook. Diet & exercise are the key. 

Thanks all for your kind thoughts. My total lack of motivation is the problem. Fruit could not be a treat for me as I eat it every day. In fact I'm living proof you can eat properly and be overweight. I don't eat any fast food (only ever had McDonalds twice in life - thought it was disgusting!). However I lose weight very slowly and really need to get down to about 12500 calories a day to do so. Walk 5 miles a day, do yoga and swim but frankly would rather be 50 kg overweight than walk through the door of a gym or jog (life is really too short to do things you hate). I dislike the taste of anything with artificial sweetener in it so those yucky 'diet treats' are not. I can do the 3 proper meals a day but unless I cut out the fun stuff weight loss is doomed. And the other thing is I have a life and no way am I eating lettuce when the rest of the world is munching chips and beer. I am own worst enemy - unless you count my husband who is slim but complains like mad if we don't have home made cakes and biscuits. Pah - at least they make clothes in size 16!  

That should be 1200 - 1500 cals!