So apart from this exercise thing I'm also using two other tools, being aware that exercise alone might not do the trick.
WeightWatchers
- I started Weightwatchers 2 months ago and I lost about 5 kgs - that was before xmas tho...meaning that after a holiday of eating lush Italian food and glugging prosecco I've put some weight back on, so my total weight loss since starting WW is 3.9 kgs. I know that Weightwatchers works, altho I don't 100% buy the fat-phobia that these types of weightloss programs preach. I'm sure there is some sense in higher protein/higher fat diets, and therefore I'm trying to cut some carbs instead of protein and fat to see if that makes a difference. Being a vegetarian this can sometimes be tricky, since finding daily lean animal protein (fish, chicken, game etc) is easier than veg options - thank goodness for Quorn! Otherwise it would be cheese, eggs and beans on repeat...This works when I cook for myself but if I'm going out to eat I'm pretty much guaranteed I'll end up with cheese (don't get me wrong - I love cheese, all kinds, but it's a lot of fat for the protein it contains). I try not to use light products as a life of light is no life at all, in my opinion. While I KNOW WW works if the program is followed, it is a constant struggle for me. I dont feel full, I don't feel happy and I feel like I'm denying myself food all the time. That's fine for a while to see some results, but certainly not in the long run. What I'd really like to achieve is a relaxed relationship with food, and learn to eat just to satisfy hunger, and nothing else. Leading me to my other, perhaps less conventional tool:
NLP - Hypnosis
- I'm a big sceptic to anything where you have to squint to see the evidence. Normally this is not something I would ever consider - and I would probably scoff at you if you told me you tried it. But I was offered to try some new weightloss-NLP CDs that are to be released soon - and to get paid for the trouble! So I figured - what have I to lose, apart from possibly a few kgs? NLP stands for Neuro Linguistic Programming, and I'm not sure exactly what the difference is between this and hypnosis. The CDs contain a series of guided "meditations" for lack of a better word, which all try to "re-programme" my mind in to thinking like a slim person. This includes feeling full as soon as I start eating, leaving food on the plate, focusing on the textures and flavours of the food and eating slowly, and boosting my body confidence. I've only just started this, so I'm not sure I can say if it works or not yet. I'm supposed to keep it up for a few weeks. I'm supposed to give the guy feedback on the CDs and my progress - and before even starting I had a some feedback just on how the thing was presented:
- the CD cover looked like some Las Vegas 80's magician had made it
- the booklet was full of spelling mistakes
- the booklet contradicted itself (in one place saying "I wont give you nutrition advice as I'm not a dietician" but a few pages on giving a full food program (a fairly hard core high protein one, but with no reference to the literature it was taken from, so why should I trust it?))
The above almost put me off even listening to the thing once, but luckily the content is not as cringeworthy as the packaging. I feel quite relaxed listening to it, but so far I cant really say if I've got any results. Altho, I've spent 2 days at home, alone, and not done my usual thing of buying a loaf of bread and just eating the whole thing with cheese, out of sheer boredom. Actually I've only eaten really healthy food...and not wanted anything else really. Hm. So maybe it's working? I'll keep you posted.
