One New Year’s resolution the vast majority of us make in January is to lose weight. It’s also probably one of the easiest to break. If it’s not chocolates left over from Christmas, it’s a meal out with friends to beat the winter blues or even a few glasses of wine at home after a hard week’s work – all there to tempt you. After making and breaking the same resolution for 4 years now (and not moving more than 2lbs either way in 12 months!) I finally decided that this year would be different (ask me again in April!).
Although there are slimming clubs galore out there and a vast array of potions and tablets that propose to help you drop dress sizes I know deep down that old fashioned diet and exercise are the right way to go. My method decided, and chatting to similar like minded women at work one day we thought it might be a good idea to start a “fat club” of our own. Having picked a Friday to face the scales – knowing full well Mondays are never a good idea due to any weekend falls you might have had off the bandwagon – we set about measuring and weighing to gauge our starting figures and goals. The key here is to go for something manageable and realistic. Setting yourself an impossible task will only lead to disappointment later on. We put £1 a week into a kitty that will be used to treat ourselves every 2 months. Rather than being a meal out together, which is solely food focused, our first outing is to a comedy night. Yes, there is food and drink but it is also a good opportunity to get together and have a giggle.
Having the motivation of others around you spurring you on and doing well themselves encourages you to keep going and I’m amazed how well it works. When its somebody’s birthday in the office and we get the dreaded email letting us know there are cakes about, we all sit up now and give each other a reassuring glance to detract from the momentary thought we might have had about giving in. The results have been great too – between 6 of us we’ve lost nearly 2 ½ stone in 5 weeks!
For breakfast, I’m sticking to porridge as its low in fat and calories but fills you up until a mid morning snack or even lunch. I’m not a fan of tea or coffee so I have this with a cup of hot water and a slice of lemon, great for detoxing. I eat fruit or yoghurt for snacks about 11am and 4pm and always have nuts in my drawer for those extra hungry days. Soya nuts are an interesting and tasty alternative to the usual mixed nut selection and are great for lowering cholesterol too. For Lunch, its soup with a wholemeal pitta bread (less carbohydrates than a slice of bread) and then dinner can be anything from fish and roasted vegetables to Spaghetti Bolognese. I’m not saying the latter is a proven dieting dish but for me its all about portion control – the realisation that at 5 foot 3 inches I should not be eating the same as my 6 foot 2 inch other half!. Its also about not having Parmesan cheese on top and garlic bread and white wine as accompaniments.
Exercise is key too – it really does make a difference and definitely boosts those “happy hormones”. I’m not too good at motivating myself to go to the gym or run around the block so I sought a local leisure centre with a work friend and started some aerobics classes. Not only are these good fun but the hour whizzes so quickly is always a surprise when we’re finished. These combined with some trusty exercise DVDs and I can pretty much alternate what I do for 3 nights a week.
So far so good….fingers crossed we all stick at it this year.
