Use it or Lose it

I think it’s safe to say that events over the last few weeks have proved disastrous for my weight loss endeavours! 

The upheaval of starting a new job – albeit a contract position – and moving house within such a short space of time has meant that I’ve been struggling to make the healthy food choices I know I should. Instead, I’ve been grabbing food on the go with little or no regard for what it will do to my waistline. 

Breakfast has just been a snack bar grabbed from the kitchen cupboard on my way out in the mornings and eaten at my desk some time between 9am and 12pm. Lunch has varied from soup and a roll to fish and chips, depending on how weak-willed I’ve been when going to the café.  

Dinner has been another disaster. Still being a little disorganised from the move, I’ve been grabbing stuff from the supermarket on the way home from work while tired and hungry – the worst combination for food shopping. Eating out and takeaways have also figured highly over the past week.  

The move also means I’ve been getting less exercise. I don’t have as far to walk for the bus in the mornings and evenings, so that’s cut at least 20 minutes exercise out of my day. Even though there’s a gym in the building, I haven’t ventured in there yet.  

Obviously, this is all leaving me feeling rather lethargic and generally unhealthy and unattractive. This morning I managed to get myself out of bed that little bit earlier and give myself the time to sit and eat breakfast before leaving the house. I’ve brought a low-fat chicken salad sandwich for lunch and have a healthy dinner planned out for this evening.  

The only problem with having breakfast before leaving for work is that while it may well kick start my metabolism, it also kick starts my appetite! By 9:30am, I was hungry again and by 10:30 I’d given in and had to chomp on a bag of (reduced fat) potato chips.  

I know having breakfast is a great way to help with weight loss, but right now it just seems like I’m going to end up eating even more.

Ouch!

I had no idea that losing weight in winter would be this hard.

When I was safely tucked up at home with the heating on, only venturing out when absolutely necessary, it wasn’t so bad. Plus, it really wasn’t all that cold.

Now, having gone back to work I have to go out EVERY morning and evening, whether I like it or not. The recent cold snap we’ve been experiencing really haven’t done much to cheer me up.

Consequently, I’ve been consuming so many hot drinks it’s unreal. Of course, it’s all 40 calorie hot chocolates and skimmed milk in coffee, but it’s certainly not just a glass of water. A mid-afternoon cup of coffee then has to be accompanied by something sweet, just to get me through the rest of the day.

I’m trying hard. I had soup for lunch today, but caved and had a buttered roll to dunk in it. Granted, it wasn’t real butter, it was low fat spread, but still not part of the plan!

I know now why I did it in the late spring/early summer last time. It’s so much easier when you need a refreshing cold glass of water and are craving tasty fresh salads in the heat.

Must. Try. Harder.

How’s everyone progressing with their four resolutions for February? 

I have to admit, mine haven’t exactly gone swimmingly! 

There couldn’t have been a worse time to pick to attempt to swap all drinks for water. Starting a new job at just about the coldest time of the year, I really need all the warm drinks I can get to chase off the chills from the commute each morning and evening. While green tea and fruit teas are a great way of increasing the amount of water I drink, they aren’t quite as comforting as a nice cup of milky coffee or a hot chocolate. I am trying damage limitation, though – the milk is always skimmed and the hot chocolate is from the Options range so is very low in calories and fat, but still, the whole “water-only” thing isn’t going well. 

I haven’t turned off the TV completely – I do still like to have it on for background noise in the evenings, and there are some re-runs of old TV shows that my boyfriend and I like to catch a couple of nights a week. I have, however, already finished one book, Glitz by Louise Bagshawe – which is more than I’ve managed in a couple of months – and am starting on the second for this month today! The daily commute is giving me enough time to catch up with the news courtesy of the free Metro newspaper in the mornings, and to get stuck into a good book on the way home. This week, I’ll be devouring Hurricane: The Life of Rubin Carter, Fighter, the story of a boxer wrongfully imprisoned for murder. 

Obviously, I’ve been getting more exercise than I had been, having to walk to and from the bus stop in the mornings and evenings and hauling myself up and down the stairs at work, so I’d say I can get a great big tick for that one! 

Finally, getting my eight hours sleep each night has been a bit hit and miss. I do tend to struggle to get to sleep and wake throughout the night quite often, but I do also try to get to bed at a reasonable hour to get plenty of rest. I’d say I’m almost there in terms of this resolution, so I’ll give myself the benefit of the doubt. 

As you can see, I’ve made some changes, but not quite all. What successes and struggles have you had so far this month?

Following on with the theme of weight-loss at work (can you tell what’s on my mind this week?), I thought I’d talk about exercising while working today.

Having started a new job this week, after not having worked for a couple of months, I’m feeling exhausted! With all the new information to take in, getting used to the earlier starts and the daily commute, I’m just a little too tired to exercise in the evenings.

While i’m obviously dismayed that my gym membership is going to waste,I’m not beating myself up about the fact that I’m not dragging myself down there each night.

The reason for this is that I’m still actually getting some exercise. In fact, I’m probably getting more exercise at the moment than I have been recently!

I have a 15 minute walk to the bus-stop in the morning and then back home again in the evening. While the bus drops me immediately outside my workplace, I do have to climb several flights of stairs several times a day, as well as fetching and carrying various items from the stores for people fairly frequently.

I’d been wondering why the muscles in my legs, bottom and arms had been aching this week. It only occurred to me today as I could feel the muscles working while I climbing the stairs and carrying boxes that this was the reason for the aches! I’d been using muscles that had been neglected a little recently.

That, really, is the key to maintaining, or even starting, an exercise “regime” while working. Office jobs can be incredibly sedentary. By making them as active as possible - walking to someone’s office to speak to them, rather than emailing or calling them, taking the stairs instead of the lift, and so on - you can begin to increase the number of calories you’re burning with relatively little effort!

Tomorrow, why not try climbing one extra flight of stairs during the day? Maintain that and gradually increase the number of stairs you take on a regular basis.

A new month and another new start - a chance to put any failures in January behind us all, to wipe the slate clean and to revisit all those goals set last month.

My goals for January were to lose 5-7lbs, to go to the gym at least three times per week and to do some exercise every day. I was also going to eat five portions of fruit and veg every day and make healthy food choices. Continue Reading »