Plan of Attack

Although I've made a decent if not spectacular start to my latest campaign, I haven't really made a plan for HOW I'm going to reach my goals. Or even set any goals now that I come to think of it. As a result I'm feeling a little at sea, a little too "hanging on by the skin of my teeth" for comfort.

So, first things first, what are my goals?

Well, I'm currently just over 15 (yes, 15!) stone at my SW weigh-in. (I weigh less on my home scales first thing in the morning but I may as well go by SW for now). I want to drop 2 cursed stones of blubber to get to just over 13 stone by the end of the summer and then keep that off by the end of this year. This is not an overly ambitious target and I should be able to achieve it PROVIDED that I stick at it.

Why that weight? I was just over 13 stone when I finished the original TV show, the TV update show and when I left Diarmuid in the summer of 2010. At the time, I thought I needed to drop another 21 lbs and get right back down to the 11 stone range. Maybe I do and maybe, when I get to 13 stone, I will want to continue. But, for now, I know that I look good, feel fit and strong and can fit into a nice range of clothes (mostly 14's and a few slim 16's) at that weight and would be happy to stay there for a while.

The key thing you will have picked up from my yo-yoing over the last few months is the "sticking to it" element. I have been better since I started SW in that I have, at least, managed to keep going to class almost without a break since last August. This is progress. Okay the effort of sticking to the regime wavered but lip-service is better than nothing. That phrase "You cannot fail until you give up" has been my mantra and I do not feel as though I have given up. But how can I improve the stickability? 

Well, one way is to keep blogging and to be a bit more open about my weight and losses/gains. I have got into the habit of being reticent about it for one reason or another. I can't even remember why. I think it was a way of taking the pressure off me but now it doesn't seem to make sense. Now I think my chimp needs the public accountability of "fessing up" to you lot to keep her nose to the grindstone.

Another way is to involve Richard. This is a potentially tricky thing for me to do but I think that, if I can get over my hang-ups, it would be helpful. Steve Peters made it clear that one method of harnessing your chimp's strength was to use her fear of losing face in public to your advantage. He said you should tell everyone that you're not going to partake or that you're dieting so that your chimp will not want to be seen to fail. Telling Richard and involving him in the various choices I have to make (not slavishly, that would be boring, but from time to time) will accomplish this.

My hang-ups are all from my past. I got in the habit of not telling D about my dieting because I couldn't face my honesty being used against me. The "you've failed again; look at you stuffing your face" accusations which came back at me even if I was eating a modest, allowed-for snack (not always but not infrequently). One tends to remember that sort of thing so I have become quite sensitive about weight, food and Richard. Unnecessarily so to be honest. He might tease me (very gently) from time to time but he is just as likely to support me and to understand. He will always offer me a biscuit when he goes to get one and seems just as happy if I take it or not. So involving him makes sense as he can be a second line of defence.

 I will try again on the daily weighing and writing down chart. It worked before and, if I actually do it, might work again. (And would assist with maximising my exercise as well.)

And rewards. To be honest, I've never really held with the idea of rewarding oneself for success. It seemed somewhat artificial. However, recently it has popped into my mind that setting out a nice event or thing which will come my way, but only once I've lost a specified amount of weight WOULD help me. (Maybe now I have less money and fewer treats, I'm more motivated by them??!) I'm going to set my first treat target relatively low, especially given the slow pace of loss. But also make the actual treat quite small too.

When I have dropped 7 lbs (I've already dropped 2.5 towards this target), Rich and I will go out for dinner together to a new (well, new-ish now) Italian restaurant in Castleton. It's smart and relatively expensive so will be more than the usual run-of-the-mill evening meal out we occasionally enjoy but the difference between that and a takeaway or "normal" meal out is not that great so the treat element is still modest. (I know it might seem counter-productive to reward a drop in weight with a meal but we have to eat....)

There, that's settled then. And now I have something to look forward to and to work towards.