Details man...

A walk from a few weeks ago with D round Peter's Dale near Litton.

"What are we looking at ma??"

I like this one of Shelagh - she looks really smiley.

I don't know why D didn't buy her a drink...meanie...

And finally, the Daddy's girl!

The short answer to the question is: no, they haven't given us a diet. The nutritionist was on holiday so we will meet with him on Tuesday. The Psych is very keen that we cut our foods right down to 10 basic items (I don't think he's counting condiments or dressings etc - low fat of course). The idea being that it is a strict rule (much like LL or CD) and rules are easy for our chimps to follow. They like them.

It is very difficult to decide what 10 foods will work best so I'm keeping a food diary and refining my list while keeping to 1500-1800 calories a day (plus loads of exercise). Hopefully all will be revealed next week on the food front.

He is keen though, that we take responsibility for coming down hard on our chimps. He says we will know when we're eating something wrong so basically any indulgence at all is "giving in"to her. It all sounds very harsh (and it was a bit intimidating last night) but I think the idea is that we really get in control of our chimps now so that later, when we've attained our goals and are fit, slim athletes, we can relax on "our" terms not engaging in a constant battle with our chimps. Not dissimilar to the LL route to management really but with added ape....

Not having a plan does have the advantage that we are very much having to be responsible for ourselves rather than just blindly following the programme. It certainly makes you think. But having strict rules and the need to be the best dieter ever (an elite one no less) means you don't do the internal bargaining about what you can and can't get away with. If it at all iffy, you don;t have it. I'm the best after all!!! Tee hee

About the elite thing. He had a whole spiel about how British Cycling only takes on people who are among the top 5 or 6 in their particular discipline "in the world"! So, as we are now part of British Cycling (albeit temporarily) we must strive to be in the top 5 or 6 TV dieters in the world. Not too difficult at the moment but the next season of the Biggest Loser is starting soon and those kids can shrink! The competition is toughing up.

I must admit that it is apealing to my competitive, sporty nature. Not sure how some of the other women are taking to it. The rugby player seems to like it.

What else? Oh yes, apparently, not only do we have chimps knocking around in our brains, we also have gremlins. These are 5 or 6 (typically) untrue and unfounded beliefs about ourselves which we believe and which are the foundation of our lives. Apparently my nightly emails to him (which are quite chatty and written in a similar vein to this blog) have revealed a couple already. Apparently they leapt off the page. He didn't tell me what they were though, no doubt saving that for a session with the cameras when I'm one to one and more likely to cry....sigh....

He did give us one example though: he had asked us to identify non-food rewards for ourselves, both short term and long term. No probelm for me - a massage or other treatment and ultimately my dream safari holiday.

The rugby player though really struggled to find something as a short term reward for herself. She lives with her husband and brother (yes I know!?) and her chosen reward (after some thought) was the right to choose what they all watch on the telly without complaints for 30 minutes each night!!! "30 minutes!!" I squawked indignantly at which point the Psych leapt in. He said, why was it that I saw how meagre that reward was and she did not. Apparently she has a common gremlin (mercifully and definitely absent in me) that she believes that she not worth as much as other people so her opinions and choices are less valid and she shouldn't impose them on other people. I clearly do not believe this (I don't think I'm better than others BTW), hence I have no trouble speaking out (and I get to watch my fair share of choices on the telly too!!).

God knows what he's going to find in my brain...

Anyway, more later. I've done 20 minutes on the exercise bike at a good pace (not the best but I was finding my feet and getting everything set up properly - tomorrow will be better) as well as training this morning. A good day. BTW Peridot - I have definitely now located my "sitting bone"!! I don't think there's going to be much left of it by the end of July!! Ow...