Complacency, Ennui and Hull

I wonder how many posts I have titled "Complacency" over the nearly 6 years I have been writing this blog? It is certainly a recurring theme. I can feel myself teetering on the edge of complacency now, hence the post. But, crucially, I don't think I have actually succumbed to it.

I'm spending a fair bit of time planning what I'm going to be fitting into and weighing at various times in the future "when I have dropped X lbs" etc etc. This is all very well and can even be useful to motivate and help you visualise success (I seem to remember Paul McKenna going on about it). However, you have to ensure that you are actually DOING something to further your aims. I have to walk the walk and deliver a drop THIS WEEK to make sure that I'm still on track.

What worries me is that my manipulative chimp has a history of fooling me into thinking that we're dieting but then gradually retreating from the diet while still "pretending" to do it. Even with daily weighing I have been fooled. Back in 2009, it was only when Steve Peters (the psychiatrist working with us on the TV cycling show) confronted me with the incontrovertible fact that I weighed the same that day as I had 4 weeks earlier, that I actually realised what my chimp had been up to.

So now I can see the parallels to that time. Looking back through my blog, I can see that I weigh a solitary lb less than I did 5 weeks ago on 3 December. So, no major progress there. Now, I'm not beating myself up about this. I realise that keeping Christmas and New year gains down to a single lb and then starting back promptly is A. Good. Thing. What would be fooling myself would be if I don't drop anything next week yet keep on blithely saying that I've got this diet and exercise business cracked. This is what I need to guard against - the dreaded complacency.

But hey - that's good news too! I'm writing a post about complacency to AVOID becoming complacent, rather than once I have already fallen into that trap.

To this end, I'm trying to make sure that my weekday routine is pretty tight. Mid-morning breakfast of cold meat. No snacking. Soup or salad for lunch and a normal healthy meal for supper. In general, I'm cutting back on the booze and doing more exercise. 

 

 

Despite this, I'm am experiencing some ennui and some deviations from the plan.  This evening, for example, there has been a fair bit of snacking instead of a meal.  I worked from the office today and then went home, packed and picked up the dogs and then drove over to Mum and Dad's.  I snacked (on healthy stuff) before I left and then decided to finish off the wretched Crunchy Nut Cornflakes so that I wouldn't have supper at my parents'.  The drive then took longer than it should due to an accident near Newark .  I had a coffee then and a couple of Pepperami too.  I did resist Dad's home cooked fish and chips (although I had to watch my niece tuck in!) but succumbed to a small slice of apple pie.   No booze though.  I don't feel  as though I've been too bad just think I'm going through a TOTM dip in form.  I'll be back!

 

 

Looking for some positives, I really enjoyed my run at lunchtime.  2.5 locks of the canal in Rotherham.  I'm definitely running faster and smoother now and it was a beautiful sunny day.  I'm working from my parents' tomorrow so will fit in another run then too.  Lucky dogs eh?

 

 

And I had a nice fillip from Rich this evening as well.  We were hugging goodbye before I left for Lincolnshire and he put his hands on either side of my waist and said "I can really feel that you've lost weight." It doesn't sound much but he isn't the most demonstrative of men, prefers actions to words, so noticing that my waist feel slimmer and is more toned is really nice to hear.   I, of course, have noticed that his arms reach further round me for a while but it's nice that he has caught up!! 

So, in other news, we have a weekend excursion to plan for though. Richard and I are going for a "romantic" weekend to the Venice of the North - Hull!! I'm joking. We ARE going to Hull but it's not intended to be a romantic weekend and I'm under no illusions about Hull's cultural status (although I hear there ARE nice bits). Sheffield Wednesday is playing Hull FC and neither of us have been to the KC Stadium so we fancied a trip out. This was planned when Wednesday were experiencing a brief patch of decent results around Christmas but that enthusiasm has since evaporated along with the wins and now we're stuck going to Hull for the weekend!! He he he.

Not only that, but it's an evening game and televised so the crowd won't be great and we could have stayed at home and still watched it - Doh!

That said, we've booked a hotel for the night and we will get to have a look around Hull which is not somewhere I've ever been to. We were given some restaurant vouchers for Christmas so we'll use these and make a weekend of it. It's always good to have SOMETHING different to look forward to in the middle of the grey and gloomy month of January even if it is only a weekend in Hull and a free meal out.

So, diet wise, I'm going to be good. A run in the morning, sensible lunch, not too much to drink before the game and wise choices in the restaurant. Sunday shouldn't be a problem either as we will only be driving back in time to take the dogs out. I'm going to drive to the quiz in the evening despite having a lift so that I CAN'T drink 3 glasses of red wine and then be carried away on the sandwiches and chips as a result!!

 So, all in all, with a fair wind, this week is looking good for food and exercise. If I can keep the diet under control I should be okay for a drop, whatever happens in Hull (ooooh, get me tempting fate....!).