I thought you were on a diet?

25th September 2016

When a flower doesn't bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.

"I thought you were on a diet?"

That has to be one of the most unwelcomed question someone can ask you!  Or is that just be who doesn't need to hear it as I'm finishing off the last slice of pizza after being out the house for 10 hours working!   And for those who are interested it was a thin crust 14in vegetable pizza from Sainsbury's that I picked up on my way home, I'd fancied pizza since last Saturday when we were going to order a takeout but once I'd seen the prices at Domino's I changed my mind.  This one only cost £4.50 and Sainsbury's cook it for you for that!   I can't find the nutritional information for that exact on but the 10" one is 28, so I reckon 40 Smart Points would more than cover it and you know what, it was worth every damn point.  I had thought mom would partake in a few slices but she didn't so everybody know how that story ends....

Luckily I hadn't had much to eat yesterday, slice of toast for breakfast, slice of bread with a some Waldorf salad for lunch and a WW Chocolate brownie bar (mmm I rarely eat chocolate bars but that one was good) and a banana and 2 satsumas (yes check me out - fruit) at the area meeting.   That's what I call opportunity eating, I wouldn't have considered eating at the meeting had it not been put in front of me, it's only a few hours, no one's going to starve.  Thankfully there was fruit, something I wouldn't normally bother with and now I might go buy some satsumas! Result.

I finished my day with an early night, 8pm and I was dropping off in my chair so XFactor got ditched and I went and enjoyed my sleep instead.  Thankfully I got a good few hours before the rain woke me up, the second time about 4am I had to go and check the alley to see if any of the water was pouring down it and getting my stock wet!  It wasn't - phew.  Of course though, now I'm awake and despite lying in bed for another hour, I didn't go back to sleep, however it doesn't matter because today I shall mostly be resting, reading and chilling with mom, maybe watch a movie or catch up with the rubbish that is XFactor.

Treated myself to steak for my dinner, although I have that leftover slow cooker mince, might force a bowl of that on mom :) she needs one decent meal a day!  I could have the same and enjoy the steak tomorrow.  We shall see, it's all good, I'm still full from pizza to be honest, so I doubt I'll bother with breakfast, maybe brunch then dinner will do me today.

Since the last area meeting which was 3 months ago, I'd gained 4lb, I'm okay with that because I know most of that went on this week after my day off with Lynne last Saturday which always turns into a week.  It shows I've got maintenance sussed, just at the wrong weight, but with Christmas round the corner, yeah it really is, 90 days away, I need to lose a few pounds in case I gain a few pounds!

Focusing on No Count foods today, the slow cooker dish in the fridge is completely No Count so that's a bonus, I might make actifry chips to go with it to tempt mom, she's a sucker for a few chips.  Yeah I can do a few No Count days I'm sure, that'll help balance out my appetite, get my blood sugars on a level.  I've been reading a very good book about The Willpower Instinct, Kelly McGonigal, I'm listening to it on audio actually and as soon as I've listened through once, I plan to go back to the beginning and listen again because there's so much to take in.   It really helps to see why it's so difficult to keep your willpower going to succeed at things, one chapter was talking about Dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter that helps control the brain's reward and pleasure centres, it also helps regulate movement and emotional responses, and it enables us not only to see rewards, but to take action to move toward them.  This is why I need to go back and listen again because I know what she's said but putting it across myself to others without hearing it again is difficult.  I remember one thing she said was about how marketers play on it by changing packaging and giving us the things we enjoy in a slightly different way because we get used to certain products so our willpower gets better and we're more able to resist once the novelty has worn off, so they change it slightly to get us back again.  Why do you think McDonalds do the limited edition specials?  And how many different ways can you really wrap up chocolate, its chocolate!  So start to become aware of this and don't let them con you and take you away from your goals.  Anyway I need to listen to the book again first because I'm not really making that much sense, especially at 6am on a Sunday morning!

I'm off to get me another cuppa tea, if I do No Count, I can drink tea all day as I use skimmed milk, I like that idea.

Enjoy your day BeYOUtiful, I plan to...

Oh and just going back to the "I thought you were on a diet?" I'm not, I haven't been for a very long time, I'm on a "Eating healthy, focusing on the happy and taking care of me so I can help my best life possible plan", what I weigh is just a number, how I feel both physically and emotionally, well that's all I truly care about!  And yesterday Pizza made me feel both physically and emotionally fulfilled!