Magpies, mayhem and challenge number 7!

7th June 2016

You can do this - you just don't need to rush!

Well yesterday was almost a perfect day, the weather was glorious, mom and I went to the garden centre for plants and I watched her eat a lovely slice of lemon meringue.  Later we drove to Shugborough and had a walk and she had another slice of cake!  I had a cold plate, meat salad in other words, I'd ordered before I remembered meat free Monday, but there wasn't a lot on the menu that would've been low in Smart Points, eating out isn't the easiest thing for staying on track is it.  I stood in the queue watching others pick up cans of pop or juice, bags of crisps and sandwiches smothered in sauces and butter. I was going to wait till I got home until I saw the lady a few in front of me with her salad and it looked so good.

When we got home I had a couple of hours planting up my purchases and clearing out my containers, need a drive to the tip to get rid of old soil that's got what I think are a nasty grub we don't want in our garden! 

What made it slightly less than perfect?  Birds!  I love to watch birds sour in the sky, I can't be doing with them flying around my head indoors, and I had to see one in distress.  When we were at the garden centre, a pigeon had flown into the centre where the plants were and he kept trying to escape flying up and hitting the plastic roof, eventually he stopped and she reassured me, he'd find his way out of the big doors.  Makes me shudder!

Then on the night we suddenly heard a noise behind the fireplace, a bird had fell down our chimney, I went into complete panic, called my brother who thought it was funny and said he'd drive over.  Meanwhile, my brave mom pulled the fireplace out, I was outside by now with Alfie, I couldn't be in that room.  I could hear the bird squarking, and hitting the window trying to get out, mom didn't panic, she just said calm down, I'm trying to help you and she caught him, opened the window and let it go.  Awesome.

If I'd been in there both the bird and me would have been squarking, panicking and flapping about.  I don't know if you've ever seen a bird trapped in the house but it's not a pretty sight, they panic (understandably), they're confused, they can see the outdoors, the sky is right there, the other side of that glass window but they can't get to it because they keep hitting that big sheet of glass!  They're probably thinking, it's there, so if I just flying faster, I'll be able to make it, they just don't understand the obstacle in their way.

It reminds me of some of us and our weight loss efforts, we know what we want, we see it in our heads, then we keep trying to lose weight a way that's not going to work long term.  If we were to stop and calm down, breathe maybe we might notice there's a healthier way to do it, it might take longer but we'd get there.  I may have "only" lost 8lb in the last 24 weeks but you know what, I know people who lost a stone in a month and it's all gone back on now so I'll stick with my new slow and steady route. 

We all get lost in the stories in our heads about ourselves, 'I've no willpower', 'my life's too stressful', 'I don't have the money or the time', 'I'm not good enough', 'I'm disgusted with myself'.  None of these are useful when it comes to succeeding at anything, but if like the bird, you keep bashing your head up the window, you won't ever lose that weight because you're too busy giving yourself a hard time and trying to do what hasn't worked before.  Starve then binge!  Super strict then rebel! Cut everything out then gorge!  Ring a bell! 

You need to stop and think, what are you doing that works and what are you doing that doesn't!   Look at the situation differently, start to notice the things you're missing, we tend to miss the obvious sometimes and to notice it, we have to stop, breathe and become aware.  It's not always as simply as eating less and moving more!

Remember though, what you focus on becomes your reality, here's a quick exercise to point that out, have a quick look around the room you're in and count everything that's green.  How many was there?  No without looking around again tell me how many things were blue?  You don't know do you, because you were too busy looking for the green.  We only see what we're looking for!

Stop focusing on what isn't working for you, start to think about what has worked in the past, what can work in the future.  Stop trying to lose a stone in a day - when I started my journal yesterday, I wrote I'd like to lose 10lb in 10 weeks, if I lose 5lb in that time, I'll still be happy, I won't berate myself, be disappointed with myself or bang my head up a window trying to find the way out! 

As long as I'm not gaining, it's all good.  What about you BeYOUtiful, what's your plan?

Today's challenge is to include more No Count foods even if you're doing a Smart Point day, we all know these foods are good regardless of which plan you're following, Wholewheat pasta and rice, lean meat, fruit and veg the list is a good list of foods.

I finished and enjoyed completing my journal yesterday, writing down my 12,434 (1,000 of those I can thank the magpie for!), putting down how I felt and what had made me laugh, it was good to recap on the day.  Of course, not forgetting seeing that I'd finished my day on 32 Smart Points and had a wine free day.  Here's to day two, I can do this, tortoise that I have become :)

I've just got moms magpie experience a mention on Vanessa Feltz, Radio 2 show, how cool, I'll play it back to her later, it was about half five I think ;) YAY!