I put 1/2 a stone on around Christmas time and haven’t been able to shift it since. I know that it’s not a devastating amount, but it’s at the top end of my ‘wiggle room’ and some of my clothes are feeling tight, and my body’s that bit heavier than normal.
Maybe that’s part of the reason why I can’t seem to lose it…because it isn’t a huge amount…just a few pounds and I’ll be back to comfortable. It just occurred to me yesterday that telling myself a story that goes like this- “It’s not all that bad Bridge, it’s only half a stone so I don’t know what you’re worrying about!”. It just doesn’t feel urgent, so I’m not doing much about it. If I’ve made any attempt at all it’s a half hearted one. A few days of small restrictions, followed by a few days of returning back to the top-end weight. Another part of the story I’m telling myself is “It’s just the top of my normal weight, and my body obviously wants to stay here”. Although my body feels a bit sluggish at the moment, and does a lot better when she feels that little bit healthier.
Whatever is going on for me, I know that I’m self sabotaging, ever so slightly and not delivering on my promises to myself. I know that all it takes a bit of a commitment to go out my way just a little for My Own Sweet Self. Along with a strategy that I can comfortably stick to that will consist of small, consistent changes in my eating over the next couple of weeks.
It also takes something else- to stop weighing myself Every Single Day! How did I get into that bad habit?? It’s so easily done and steals your joy for a a lot of different reasons; I’m a big loud advocate for throwing the scales out the window, but it just shows that no one is immune from their addictive little pull once you start “I wonder-ing” first thing every morning. It can really sabotage weight loss, which is why it has to stop! So, the scales have gone in the cupboard, because right now, they’re too tempting to be left out on the bathroom floor. I’m using a pair of trousers that are a bit too tight for me instead. I took a photo of myself in them this morning. I also measured my waist and hips. I’ll re-visit those trousers and measurements in 2 weeks.
The eating strategy is easy and looks like this: a little less than I normally eat- literally. So if you’re already one those people who is eating a lower carb/ higher fat diet, then all you need to do is take about 1/5 off your meals and have 2 skinny, very LC days a week. (I’ll be writing more about Skinny Days next time). 2 weeks of eating like this will be enough to re-set your metabolism and your appetite too, making it a lot easier to maintain the weight once you’ve lost it, or get back confidently on-track if you’re intending to carry on with weight loss. It really doesn’t have to be hard work, and in fact, it mustn’t be! I know myself well enough to admit that I wouldn’t keep it up…my little Rebel Rita is too strong to feel restricted or bullied into losing weight! I might even need my tapping as cravings could be an issue. (If you don’t know about the tapping by the way, then here’s a video that will help). Either way it’s going to be an interesting journey in the next couple of weeks.
The thing that I’ve actually had to change is my story…those thoughts and sticky beliefs have held me in a slight place of resistance for half a year! Now that I’ve manged to see them for what they are, I’ve been able to move on from them and change my narrative to one that feels not only more positive, but actually true. “I know it’s only half a stone, but it feels a bit heavy and uncomfortable for me“. “So my body definitely doesn’t want to be here…she likes feeling lighter!”. At the heart of this story is what’s really stopping me…and that’s a sense of entitlement to feel as healthy as I can. It happens when I compare myself to others and it really can steal my joy if I let it. What stories do you think you might be telling yourself, and when you stop to think about them, what’s really behind that old narrative of yours?
Let’s see how it goes in 2 weeks from now, I think it’s going to be an interesting couple of weeks, and I’ll keep you posted on how I’m doing. If you’d like to join me, just comment under this post and I’ll let you have a more detailed account of the strategy, although it’s really not anything complicated, if you know me at all, you’ll know I’m not a great believer in that at all!
Love,
