My 5 F's

I feel I have written this before and I am afraid I will write it again. I must stop trying new things every time I get bored with the journey I am on. 

I can not compare myself to others. I am Shelley-Amber Peers and I am unlike no other.

Every time a friend has success on a program or lifestyle plan I think I must try it. If they are getting results so will I. Wrong, Wrong and wrong. 

I have IBS, I work 4 days a week, study and run a household of 6, which makes my life different to other peoples lives. We all have certain things in our lives that we need to work through or learnt to live with to attain balance. Injury, illness, family circumstances all play a part on where you are in your journey and the limitations that you must work through.

Today I am constructing the 5 F's of my life. 

F1 - Family. They mean the world to me and I will start spending quality time with them
F2 - Food. I will follow the FODMAP guide to ensure my tummy behaves itself
F3 - Fibre. I will include a fibre supplement at each meal
F4 - Fluid. I will make sure I am drinking plenty of water and continue to be caffeine free
F5 - Friends. I will make time to nurture my soul by catching up with my dearest friends.

Doesn't sound so hard does it. These journey's we are all on are individual but they have some common factors. We are all trying to fulfil our dreams of a better life. A healthier life with rich relationships of mutual love and respect.

The human spirit is amazing and is strengthened by stories of endurance and success. I am enjoy sharing this journey with you and I hope you enjoy being along for the ride.

Week 2 - The simple life

This week has continued along much the same as last week. Same food and exercise regime and I stayed the same weight as well. But I am not worried about the number on the scale as much as I am delighted with the way I feel. Week 2 with no coffee is doing me proud. I have to remember to drink more water though.

We have also started a budget at home to manage our little family and discovered that with creche and gym fees, I am forking out $43 a week. That is not good. For this money I am getting the use their equipment and that is about it. Scheduling workouts in between pickups and extra curricular activities is a nightmare. I have not been able to join in any of the group fitness classes and that was my main enticement to go to the gym.

It's time to simplify this journey and get back to basics. Walking, running, squats, pushups, easy and basic. Limits the stress on budget and the stress on time. Time being something I never seem to have enough of. So week three will see me walking a lot more and I may even get the energy to clean out the garage and make some room for home gym. All I will need is mats for the floor and a medicine ball as I already have everything I will need.

Did someone say 15 weeks until Christmas, LET'S MOVE IT!!

Week 1 Results - The Gym is my Friend

Results are in...... 700gm loss.

The only real difference that I made this week was not drinking. Oh to think that a refreshing afternoon cider could be responsible for my gradual weight increase. 

I also made other changes which now I've come to think of it may also have an impact. This is the reason we should take baby steps and only change one variable at a time.

Okay so the other changes I made were to cut out all dairy and grains completely. I also haven't baked my 'amazing' Sweet Potato Brownies this week. I was having a couple of squares each afternoon and then again with a cup of tea at night. Oh, the secrets are being revealed. I also haven't been sharing a piece of dark chocolate with my buddy at lunch time either.

Crazy to think that all these little things can add up. I think this was a big realisation for me this week. I have been eating protein and vegies for lunch and dinner everyday for months and my weight was slowly creeping on. It's that "but I had a good lunch so I can have a little treat" mentality that is seeing my good results slowly unravelling.

What a weight off my shoulders to admit to that! Good luck this week ladies.

Reprogramming

When I set out on this journey to health I gave myself 5 years to get from 110kg to 80kg. May sound like a lot of time allocated to 30kgs, but there is a lot of work to be done. 

The biggest part of my weight loss is not the scales but the psychological patterns I have with my diet. 3 years in and 25kgs have been lost (5kg regained recently) but I am still fighting bad cycles of thought.

I am writing this blog as I have been thinking these unhealthy thoughts lately and it needs to stop. First one was a couple of weeks ago when I bought a new dress for an upcoming wedding. The dress fits well but I decided it would look better if I wasn't so soft around the edges. Day one came of this new routine and I binged and caved in again. That thrown out the door I have now decided I need to lose 10kgs before going home for Christmas. WHY??

Baby steps is what has gotten me this far so why start with this do or die nonsense now? Do you set yourself up for failure too? The buck stops here, no more yo yo diet thinking allowed.

With this said, do you think we put too much pressure on ourselves to be 'perfect'? Do we spend to much time comparing ourselves to others? I have to answer yes and yes. This  is another thing that has to stop.

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