I’m making a few notes to help Project 60 along the way.

 Little steps make up the whole journey.

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I used to look at my ideal weight and plan out how long it would take to get there, by losing so much per week. Guess what! I haven’t made it yet! So now I feel much more relaxed about the whole thing, and I’m looking to the next week and the next month. What happens beyond that I’ll decide closer to the time.

A poor choice can be followed by a good choice.

Just because I had an emotional meltdown and ate a load of crap, or my best friend invited us to tea and gave us cauliflower cheese, followed by chocolate mousse, doesn’t mean I have to carry on eating like that. After all if I stub my toe I don’t repeatedly whack my foot against the table leg. Stop a moment, feel the pain, and carry on more carefully.

Step trackers make it fun to move more

I keep mine on my phone and love to see how many steps I’ve clocked up. It motivates my husband too (men love a gadget), and we’ll often take the dog around the block last thing to hit that 10,000 step target.

Rewards little and often help keep me motivated. 

I broke my weight loss into half stones (to be more accurate into 4% chunks as that fits with the DietBet  goals, but it’s more or less the same); and spent some time thinking about things I’d really like to reward myself with. They don’t have to cost money, but some do. The first one is a pair of floral Converses:

When I do get to goal I’m planning to reward myself with a couture sewing class.

I like healthy food

I actually do prefer healthy food to sugary, fatty food. I’m not saying I never eat cakes, sweets, or creamy puddings, but I do love a bit of fresh fish and salad, berries, purple sprouting broccoli, tomatoes, olive oil, puy lentils, broad beans and so on….

It just needs a little more planning ahead and prep than shovelling in another slice of buttery toast and jam. Which leads on to…..

Planning is my friend

Life’s so much easier when I make the time to plan the week’s meals, make a shopping list and set aside time to prep some lunches. It’s a win-win.

Sewing is a great motivator: no self-delusion is possible when you’re letting out a seam!

I’ve always made my own clothes, from the very first skirt I made aged 8, on my mother’s Singer. Being tall and large chested means ready made just doesn’t fit, and the quality is often iffy in any case. So as I’m investing money and time in a made to measure wardrobe I might as well invest a bit of the same in the body I’m sewing for. And to be frank I’d rather make up a size 14 than a 22. Seeing the tape measuring a little shorter every week is a fantastic boost!

Have a fall-back plan

This really involves changing the way you look at those poor choices I talked about. Have a plan ready for those times when it all goes out the window, whether its because I blew it myself, or because events threw me off course. And it’s not failure, it’s regrouping. As Stevo says in the link, it doesn’t matter what you do to get back on track, just do something.

Enjoy yourself!

Whatever happens over the next few months or so, I’m going to enjoy it. I’m going to try new exercise, new food, and really enjoy my rewards. Even the unexpected detours will be enjoyable, precisely because they will be unexpected. And even if something awful sidetracks me, I’m going to enjoy the challenge of finding a way around.

Thanks for reading. Comments are welcome!