Friday, 22 May 2009

She fooled me!

Some lovely birdys from my feeders in the sunshine yesterday. A humble sparrow but still very beautiful and sleek, love the colour scheme.
A handsome jackdaw. The way the sun catches the sheen on his feathers is perfect; took my breath away.
A glossy starling, yet another ordinary but extraordinary bird.

And finally the mysterious nuthatch. I love his tree-creeping ways and his bandit's eye mask!

My chimp that is. I've been happly thinking that I was doing okay and that Ireland had only set me back a week etc etc when the Psych bloke came round for an in-depth chat on Wednesday day evening. He showed me (very nicely and non-judgmentally) that that was a load of bull. I was the same weight on Monday as I was on 3 May! In the interim period I had lost 3lbs but then re-gained it so I had effectively wasted over 2 weeks. And I hadn't noticed.


He explained that my chimp is a sneaky bitch and does all sorts of things to feel safe and secure and one of those is fooling me into thinking that I'm on track even when I've relaxed the regime which means she gets more food.


Cow!


I was a bit blindsided by this but he said, don't fall into anger and frustration; choose a different response which will serve you better. So I have - determination.


So, over the last couple of days I've been much more focussed and have used some of the techniques he's given me to good effect.


What are these, you might be saying?


Well, one I found useful is asking myself whether I would still eat the item or not do the exercise if someone was giving me £1million for losing weight at the end of the competition. The answer is invariably "no" which helps you decide whether you really need the food or rest or whether it's just your chimp whinging because she's afraid she can't do it.



Another, which is more about procrastination than not eating, is the phrase "if you've got to eat a frog, don't look at it first". That has really helped me get stuck into to work projects that I might otherwise avoid or put off. And, as we all know, once you're in control of work/life stuff, it's a lot easier to control food and exrecise.


Another is to talk aloud to my chimp, laugh at her. So, instead of getting upset about temptation, I crack a smile and say (often out loud) "oh, give over you greedy cow, we don't need it, you're just pushing your luck" or something similar. I acknowledge that she's not in control of me and poke fun at her for wanting to stuff her face. She tends to subside then!


Another one is to embarass her; make it clear to someone else that you're not going to eat and she will be too proud to give in. So, say at a party or work buffet, say to the boss "I'm not eating because I'm not hungry and I'm going out tonight" or something similar. Then she will help you not eat rather than lose face.


Anyway, that's enough for now as have to dash off to work and eat some more frogs!!

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