I fell off the wagon. Give me a kick up my huge backside! Please!

Hi Folks,

Today's post is a lot more personal than my usual ones. 

You may have read some of my earlier posts regarding The Harcombe Diet. If not, and you are interested, you can read a bit about the diet here and read about my weight loss here. I was doing so well with this way of eating and had never felt better so what went wrong?

Well, I shall be totally honest here, I suffer from depression. On a day to day basis I think I manage it pretty well but every now again the big, dark cloud descends. This happened to me about 5 weeks ago. The problem is, when this dark cloud engulfs me, I hit my self destruct button. 
It started with 1 bar of chocolate... 
The demon in my head thinks "what's the point in trying to lose weight? You'll still be the same useless you, just a slimmer version, so you may as well give up." 
So give up I did - for 5 weeks. 

Please don't misunderstand me, I haven't been in that dark place continually for the last 5 weeks but I have been falling in and climbing out of it. I tried each day to get back on the diet but each day the pull of chocolate, bread, crisps, etc seemed to overtake me.

I had awakened the sugar monster and it needed feeding! And feed it I did! Mainly chocolate or biscuits but also crisps and bread. I had missed bread and pasta lots but the odd thing was, when I ate them again I was really disappointed. They seemed to lack flavour, same for potatoes. Perhaps my palette had changed after all. Sadly I still love and enjoy chocolate so it hasn't changed completely. 

Anyway, I haven't dared weigh myself for weeks but this morning I woke up and thought "enough is enough" I need to get back on the wagon. I gingerly stepped on the scales and my "blip" has resulted in me gaining 4.2lbs. To be honest, I think I got off lightly considering my terrible diet recently. 4.2lbs in 5 weeks (which encompassed Mother's Day, my birthday and Easter) isn't THAT bad is it? 

However, the weight gain isn't the only thing that has changed.

All my pre-diet problems are back:

Headaches

Spots

Bloating

Scalp Psoriasis

Lethargy

Wind (sorry!)

Just generally feeling "bleugh".

I cannot believe it has taken me 5 weeks to wake up. But I am there now and, although that dark cloud is still hovering, today I am getting back on plan.

The reason for this self indulgent post (apologies) is because I want to hold myself accountable. If I put it "out there" on the internet then hopefully it will help me stay on track.

I am sick and tired of feeling sick and tired!

Today I am writing this whilst sipping my cup of decaffeinated green tea and soon I shall be having bacon and tomato for breakfast. I know the first 5 days are the toughest so wish me luck.

I plan to report back regularly, again holding myself accountable.

If you managed to read this far, well done and thank you. I CAN do this, I WILL do this, I NEED to do this!
Again apologies for this self-indulgent post, it is my way of giving myself a huge kick up the backside, feel free to give me a gentle kick too!

Have a good day and I hope I do too.

Take care,

CJ xx

Hula Hooping!

If you've read any of my previous blog posts, you will be aware that I am currently embarking on a weight loss plan and have lost 23 lbs this year. So far, this weight loss is through dieting alone, The Harcombe Diet, and I have done no exercise. I have never really been into exercise and sport. I was always chosen last for the team in PE at school, so cruel, please tell me they don't still do that?!  About ten years ago I did sign up to the local gym and I was so dedicated to becoming fit that I went 3 or 4 times a week, doing both cardio and weights. It wasn't something I enjoyed but I endured it because I wanted results. However, after a year, I gave up because my body did not change at all and I became disillusioned. Since then, exercise has been sporadic - walking mainly, Wii Fit and I tried the 30 Day Shred (although it was a 3 day shred before I gave up on that!!). As you can see, I'm never going to be a gym bunny.

Now I am losing weight, I do need and want to tone up. I decided to give hula hooping a try. I have very fond memories as a little girl playing with my little hula hoop. Anyway, these days it's not a green plastic hoop but a big weighted hoop. I purchased the Pro Fitness Hula Hoop from Argos for £14.99.

It comes in a small box, unassembled. It is very easy to put together, slotting each piece into each other. Once assembled I was surprised how large it was and it was heavier than I expected. It weighs 1.36kg. One disadvantage is that, once assembled, it appears it will be quite a hassle to take to pieces again for storage so you will need somewhere to store it complete.

Well I am way out of practice and on my first attempt I managed 5 hoops before it fell to the ground. I think it will take me quite a while to manage any more in one go! At the moment I am doing 50 hoops which doesn't take too long, but still in sets of 5 hoops before it drops.  I am hoping I can build it up to more and whittle down my waist. Although the hoop is covered in a foam type covering I do still have quite a few bruises, mainly on my hip bone but I am hoping it will get easier. 

When I was in my late teens, early twenties, pre children, my waist measured 22.5 - 23 inches. It is currently 28.5 inches. I know I will never get it back to my pre children size, but if I can whittle off a couple more inches then I shall be happy. Watch this space...

Have you ever tried hula hooping with a weighted hoop? How did you get on? Did you bruise too?

Thanks for reading.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care,
CJ xx