Dealing With Diet Failure
Weigh Day #32
Dealing with diet failure is a complimentary part of the weight loss package because nobody who is overweight can stick with their plan week in and week out. And don’t kid yourself you can. So, what’s important is muddling through any sticky patch without too much damage and programming yourself to start again. Each small journey can take a heck of a lot out of you. Most importantly, remind yourself to KEEP GOING!!!!
Weight – 118.8 Kilos, 18.70 Stone
Weekly Weight Gain – 0.1 kilos, 0.22 pounds
Total Weight Loss – 19 kilos, 2.99 stone
BMI – 41 (Obese), Total BMI Loss – 5.9
BMI Target – 25
Song Of The Week
I purchased tickets to a Radio 2 All-Day festival in Preston (the Sunday with the mighty Pet Shop Boys headlining), A Smiths Tribute Band The Smyths and Snow Patrol this week. I’ve been silently weeping to ‘Run’ most of the second half of the week!!! And don’t even mention the dodgy cover by Leona Lewis. On researching I see there are other dodgy covers on the market. Best stick with the original!
Dealing With Diet Failure
Weigh Day #32 Summary
It’s not a disastrous but an unwanted record nonetheless. Never have I gained weight two weeks on the bounce. Not all doom and gloom though as I’ve only gained 300 grams in two weeks. Unlike the 3.35 kilos, I piled on just after Christmas! I’ve analysed and pinpointed where things went wonky.
So, apart from a disastrous pizza Saturday, calories were mostly good and around 2500 a day. What exactly caused the diet malfunction?
From Calories To Carbs…
The My Net Diary App has been switched back to carbs! Going down the calorie counting and increased carb route has not been working. What’s hit me is how bad I’ve been feeling since eating bread again. It is, after all, an ultra-processed food and I see why!
On Weigh Day #31, I reported a slight diet change to increase fibre intake which turned into a slight obsession. I bought ‘healthy’ (and expensive!) bread and high fibre.
At £1-65 a pack, this bread was just not worth it!
I’d never heard of protein bread so dived in. Merely a slightly more expensive version of rye bread, I couldn’t taste any difference at all. Had some with peanut butter and took to work. All five for £1-65 slices demolished in an afternoon! Didn’t serve any purpose concerning satisfying or halting food cravings. One to avoid for me. Another overpriced and over-processed product designed to con us out of our hard-earned cash.
Nice but nutitionally not for me.
Don’t Panic #2!
This is becoming a new motto as I wrote the same thing last week. Once you start panicking, that could spell the beginning of the end. If you start thinking of giving up ideas in your head then that’s big trouble. You must stay on top at all times. You will have bad days, you will have bad weeks and you most certainly will not always lose weight! That’s just a fact of dieting. What you do need to do is stay calm in times of crisis.
Dealing With Diet Failure
Another Stupid Saturday!
Poor Bowie is missing the family dreadfully
Me and Bowie have been home alone all week whilst the girls have a good old jolly in Spain. Upheaval and change of routine are never great for dogs or humans! I purchased a lot of Slimming World ready meals as our Muscle Food meat has run out. I’ve only eaten two so far, as ready meals go they’re not bad but I wish I’d bought some fresh food and cooked.
The day started well with a back-on-track breakfast!
Yesterday was lost in a haven of cheese, mayonnaise and sourdough bread sandwiches followed by two pizzas, garlic bread, onion rings, chips and full-sugar Coco Cola despite a healthy back-on-track breakfast! Why do we do this to ourselves, I often ask myself? Because we are human and sometimes when things get in your head, that’s where they stay. I didn’t bother counting. Typical, eating too much and throwing up. I’m better than this, hiding behind the usual poor excuses of lethargy, being home alone and bad week at work etc. The usuals that we always say to ourselves! There’s nothing wrong with that but they hamper progression!
That was only the first plate!
Sometimes you have to give in. It’d been a crap week, the added carbs seemed to drag me down and yesterday I found myself wanting to do nothing else but slump in front of the television or take a nap. Days like this are OK, they honestly are!
Positives
If you look deep enough, there are always positives. Last year in a similar scenario, I slumped myself in front of the telly watching Glastonbury, slowly sipping liquor the whole day! I’m now three months without. This is when I usually crack. The exact situation where I used to have a session. Once more the need or desire to consume has completely vanished. There is Guinness and Jack Daniels in the house. I wasn’t even tempted. Going down that road would be something I’d seriously regret.
I’ve gained a paltry and almost insignificant 300 grams (0.66 pounds) over the past two weeks. As I always stress, this is ongoing. You try things that work, you try other things that don’t work. No big deal. You get on with the job. You find something else to avoid.
A Failed Diet Experiment
Eating The Wrong Food
The week wasn’t that bad but my quest to consume more fibre and protein has been a failure. Bread and cereal are heavily processed foods and have an effect on me. Feeling run down, lethargic, and frumpy. This is the worst sense a fat person can have…. pure unadulterated fatness. Despite the weight loss and all the good work, that’s how I’ve felt all weekend. Laying the blame on bread and cereal. Nothing personal, I’m sure they’ll understand!!!!
Two weeks ago, I was high on life! Two weeks later, not so. My ‘happy pills’ keep me in check as well as working through the problems and finding solutions. There are plenty of high-fibre, lower-carb foodstuffs out there to mix in with yoghurt. I shall be incorporating these into my diet this coming week.
A Sunday Experiment
Fine Wheat Bran vs High Fibre Bran Cereal
So what can give you fibre instead of processed cereal? The research found a recommendation for wheat bran to sprinkle into Greek yoghurt. Never one to turn down an opportunity for food experimentation, I was intrigued and promptly went onto Amazon and purchased, as the big supermarkets don’t sell online. Or Tesco and Asda don’t!
Let Battle Commence!
Ingredients
Wheat Bran
That’s pretty impressive, nothing but fine wheat bran. My kind of product! You can’t argue with that!
High Fibre Bran Cereal
97% isn’t bad but and it’s a big but, you get wheat bran flour not just wheat bran and they don’t tell you how much of each either. I couldn’t find too much about wheat bran flour but flour is generally not a great product. Then you have a few added nasties, not many granted but they still put sugar and salt in the product.
An absolute no-brainer that fine wheat bran comes out on top. And you can see the problem with a lot of supposedly healthier foods, those extra nasties. Even when there are not too many, they all add up.
Nutrition
Let’s look at the important nutritional figures. Firstly, fine wheat bran has approximately half the calories. Secondly, fine wheat bran has 17 g of carbs, a third of the cereal! Thirdly, there is no salt in fine wheat bran and fourthly, fine wheat bran has double the amount of fibre! The cereal slightly wins on having less fat content but not by much!
What’s Fine Wheat Bran Like?
So, mixed in with Greek yoghurt and some of my other usuals (flaxseeds, cacao, truvia and almonds), tasted bloody marvellous. No different from putting the cereal in. My discovery is another game-changer. And we here at Change Your Way, love discovering new game-changers. Highly recommended.
Less than 500 calories but packed with health goodness!
Fine wheat bran is a clear winner in this battle. A knockout in the second round.
Dealing With Diet Failure
Coping With Mindset
One of the many things taught on the More Life course is keep experimenting and trying new things. Because you have to understand, not everything works! There are ways and means of balancing your diet. I started going down the processed food road again. Look at the results! Feeling dreadful. My body simply isn’t used to such foodstuff these days! Which is a positive in itself!
The best way to cope with a negative mindset is to focus on moving forward because dwelling on bad days or incidents is not good for your mental health. Our own worst enemy is ourselves. Be annoyed by all means but don’t let setbacks destroy momentum. It’s a long way to the finish line for most of us and a marathon, not a sprint! The more it happens, the more you find dealing with diet failure is not too bad at all.
A Slight Reminder
I didn’t venture too far from HQ with my furry friend today. It’s unusually cold for the time of year, which for once made me glad. Why? Because I put my winter coat and it felt loose and comfortable. A reminder of where I’ve journeyed so far. Funny how the little things go a long way. That such a small but significant thing can propel spirits immediately.
After a tricky week, who’d have thought this fella would make me feel better?
Apart from polishing off the last three slices of pizza for lunch, the day has been good. Everything counted and a new focus taking over. I’ve been rewinding the clock two weeks and thinking about how great I felt when keeping my carb limit to under 150 grams a day.
The Weigh-In
Felt Nervous Again!
Yep, certainly more de ja vous because I’d not felt great all week. That’s awful when you feel all your hard work has gone to pot. I felt like I was gaining weight but in reality, I wasn’t. So, more tricks your mind plays with you! I’m thankful to exit this episode of my weight loss journey a little bruised but unscathed.
After a relaxing weekend, I feel reinvigorated and ready to go once more!
The Week Ahead
Delt With Diet Failure!
That’s a nice way to end the weekend. A fresh mind. Pondering on mistakes. Admitting to yourself how you feel as for every good moment there is bad. You have to cope and deal with them in any way you can.
Plan Of Action
To get back on track….
- No more bread of any variety.
- Stay strong and focused.
- Count carbs so calories are not quite as important. 150 grams a day max.
- Believe there can be weight loss this week.
See you weigh day #33!
