Letter to Myself

How weird! I logged onto my computer this morning and, as usual, a list of tasks, meetings and reminders popped up. But one of them jumped out at me. It was headed "Letter to Myself". I had totally forgotten about it. It was, to state the bleeding obvious, a letter I had written to myself a few weeks ago when I was in the first flush of dieting enthusiasm, under the influence of The Zeal! I had, cleverly, though I say so myself, timed it to arrive the morning before my holiday. Here it is:

"Hi Lesley

This is just a quick note before you go on holiday to say - remember that this diet is not the be all and end all but you do WANT to stick to it. Enjoy the week but don't let go. I'm hoping you've lost a few more lbs since I wrote this (5lbs in 2 weeks - 14 stone 11lbs on the scale this morning) but even if you have not, it's never too late to make another start.

I've just had a gorgeous salad for lunch - tortilla with hard boiled eggs and salad and a bit of mayo. It was lovely, filling and has done no damage on the scales. it would not be difficult to have a few of those while on holiday and limit the treats to things you will really appreciate.

And exercise. Hopefully there'll be lots of that and I'm looking forward to those lie-ins but golf, walking and maybe even take your trainers and do some running??

Got it??!

Lesley xx"

Short, sweet and very motivating as it happens. I'm so pleased that I still have The Zeal and had said pretty much all those things to myself on my drive into work anyway. But, if I HAD been wavering, I think this little reminder would have been a great help. Not only to kick me up the backside, but also to remind me how much I was ENJOYING the diet back then, to remind me of the The Zeal.

For your information, I've dropped at least another 6lbs according to the scales this morning, taking me to an overall 11/12lb loss (it's not an exact science due to different scales and weighing times).

I note that I've already put in another letter for October and, although I'm very tempted to see what I have to say to myself, I'm not going to peek. I'm definitely going to write one for November too - maybe a birthday message. The technology is there and I wold recommend it to anyone who suspects they may be faltering 'cos today's little surprise was helpful. (Of course, I don't know how I would have felt if I had just had a huge blowout or fallen spectacularly off the wagon.....I hope that it would have been helpful in re-positioning me. I hope I wouldn't dismiss my message as the deluded ravings of a Pollyanna or feel dispirited by the contrast between my lapse and my former enthusiasm.)

So - one day of work to go, then a load of packing and organising tonight while Rich is out at the S*x Pistols (what is he like?!) then we're off tomorrow for a whole week!! I'm so excited. I'm glad I got over my grim mood from yesterday. Rich was so sweet and loving last night. Even though we haven't had time to talk so he had no idea why, he knew I was upset and tired and I came back from french to find that the house had been hoovered, tidied, the kitchen cleaned, dishwasher emptied and re-loaded, table set, supper cooked, dogs walked and washing in the machine. Heaven.

He went out shortly afterwards and left me to a blissful evening of doing nothing in front of the telly. I had a retro extravaganza of 3 back-to-back episodes of The House of Elliot!! Do you remember that series from the early 1990's?? I loved it then (even went to see an exhibition of the gowns from the series in the Victoria and Albert Museum!) and am pleasantly surprised by how little dated it is on repeat. Also, how little I remember about the actual plot!! I must be a real goldfish brain - I didn't remember that I had written myself a letter only a few weeks ago and I have not the faintest idea what is going to happen on a show I'm sure I watched avidly!

Tonight will be a lot busier though - no lolling round on the sofa for me. Packing and organising and, if I have time, making some soup! Then a late night trip to Buxton to pick up a couple of over-excited overgrown teenagers from a punk gig....43 and 50 respectively and should know better!!


AS an update - I'm really pleased how I've kept to the straight and narrow today. The last day at work before a holiday is alwasy stressful for me but I've managed to make sure I went swimming, work hard and eat a sensible supper. After my food I was casting around for a snack - something biscuit-y. But didn't go made, just remembered that I had a Go-Ahead bar in my golf bag. Not bad at all and satisfied my craving for something sweet and comforting but not fruity. Much as I love it, sometimes fruit will just NOT DO!