Another year begins

I rarely write here, I'm afraid because, when I do say anything about weight loss, what I eat and so on, it tends to go on my other blog.  I didn't want that to turn into any sort of themed blog, but it felt quite all right as part of general writing about my life.

However, new year and all that, it's time for an update here.  Which is that I've succeeded in losing the two stone I set out to lose, all of five years ago, though I've fluctuated a bit on the way.  A stone and a half went in a year and the rest went very slowly.  I lost and gained a few pounds, but overall I kept inching down.  Actually, this time last year I bought a size 12 skirt again - it was a straight, fitting style and it went against the grain to go back up a size, but I liked it and it was in the sale ... anyway, it wasn't too good a buy because it's now too big.

And how much too big can be demonstrated by this photo, of the skirt I'm wearing today.

As you see, a size 10 is roomy.  In fact, when buying this, I rejected a couple of others because they were too large.  Of course, makes vary and so do styles, but I can't be less than satisfied with progress.

On the other hand, I still weigh a good half stone more than the weight I used to be comfortable at: 8 stone 4 pounds.  I ate a lot over Christmas and haven't gained anything, but I need to cut down now or I soon will.  I don't think my previous weight is necessarily anything to aim at now - what was good 20 years ago might not give me the resilience to illness I have now - I seem to have a pretty good immune system.  Also, losing weight makes wrinkles show more.  Also, I dread osteoporosis and want to make sure I have a good diet with plenty of calcium, and that means cheese.  I don't take milk in drinks, though I use it in cooking, and I love cheese.  Life isn't worth living without it, frankly.

I will write another post or two here because I do seem to be finding a lifestyle that suits me, that I can maintain (with some care) a healthy weight and still eat what I want, pretty well.  Though it'll take a few years before I know if it's sustainable.  However, that I've managed to do what I set out to and have done it steadily, that I've lost the last few pounds that stuck there stubbornly for so long and that I've lost those that I put on in the interim has to be counted a success.  Not quite xylophone ribs, but at least they are visible.

My crazy plan worked...

...well, mostly.

My plan was always to exercise more and manage my diet. I've always found that with IBS, or IBS-alike, I couldn't eat the healthy foods I have always enjoyed. For example, I haven't eaten spinach in almost seven years; I adore the stuff, can't touch it any more. I just don't digest it any my body works very hard to get rid of it as fast as possible... Yeah, you get the idea with that.

So anyway, I'm still injury free. And on average, over the last two years, I have lost over a pound a month, which is ideal, especially considering the currency's relatively strong presence on international markets. Converted to, say, rupees or the US dollar, I'm actually quite slim.

In real money, I'm still around 220lbs, but so much more of it is muscle and I'm in arguably the best shape of my life. Most of my clothing no longer features an 'X' in its sizing, for example. T-shirts are a 'large'; undercrackers are generally between the two, but they have to accommodate my thighs, so I don't mind and XL in them.

So, it's mostly worked. I feel great and look much better, without really altering my diet, though I am currently experimenting with probiotic supplements to see if they'll help. I've actually eaten my first iron-rich greens in years recently (samphire - I'm assuming it's iron-rich because of its sexy, sexy colour) with no ill effects.

I've also been coaching other people, which is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. My charges recently completed their first organised race, the Ludlow 12k, which left me filled to burst with pride.

Good times.

If the skirt fits....

It was about twenty years ago, when my mother and I were staying with Wink.  I used to drive her down in her car, then come home by train and my sister would drive her back up and go back by train in her turn.  She didn't like to make the journey alone - alone apart from her dog, that is.

Sometimes I'd stay for a few days, and on this occasion we went shopping.  I saw a skirt I rather liked, longish, silky, black with cream and golden brownish (I'm rubbish with colours) flowers, a size 10 and quite unforgiving, being straight and sleek.  But my mother saw it too and pounced first (she had no idea I was interested myself).  She bought it, which was fine ... but she never wore it.  When she died, ten years later, it still had its label on.  I have no idea why she didn't wear it, or give it to me or Wink instead, but maybe she thought it was a bit young for her? - I don't know.  Anyway, within a few years I'd expanded, so wouldn't have been able to wear it.

We used to exchange clothes sometimes - that is, I don't suppose I passed anything much on to her, but she did to me, she bought rather a lot of clothes.  So Wink and I didn't have any scruples when she died about keeping any of her clothes that we liked, before passing the rest on to the charity shop.  One coat, she's only bought three months earlier for £250, which was a sort of bravado to prove she wasn't really ill and would live long enough to get full wear out of it.  It's lovely, I still wear it and get lots of compliments.

But this skirt has hung in the wardrobe.  And when I lost weight and could wear a size 10 again, it was still too small.  Then, I could do it up but it looked too tight.

Last Thursday, I was going out to dinner.  And I tried on the skirt.  Darlings, it went on easily, did up, I wore a close-fitting top and it looked fine.

Still half a stone to go, though.  But that was pretty damn satisfying.  Makes me feel I'm on the right track.

Following doctor's orders

I'm just about hovering on the 9 stone mark, as long as I weigh myself first thing in the morning, naked and breakfastless.  But I've got to go under that, so I still haven't got down to where the doctor advised, nearly 4 years ago (3 years and nearly 10 months).  But, since I was perilously close to 11 stone then, I've done reasonably well, because I lost weight, gained a bit, lost it again and kept on losing.

I can't help having goals, one seems to need something to aim at.  And I'd like to have reached the weight I want to be by my birthday next year.  I'm not quite sure what that is, truth to tell, but I'm guessing about 8 1/2.  It is the maintenance that's the difficulty of course, over a period of time.  I'm having to eat less and less to lose anything at all and the temptation to relax is ever-present.

Today - one of those small yoghurt drinks for breakfast.  I bought a pack of them for Zerlina as the antibiotics she's on wipe out the 'good bacteria' as well as the nasty ones.  Then, after she'd had the first, I forgot to take them back to her house.  75 calories

For lunch, a rollmop herring, 92 calories and some cherries, about 15.  Don't know how many calories are in a cherry.

An hour ago, a slice of bread from a small loaf, lightly buttered.  Happy to say I don't know how many calories in that either.

Now, a small piece of cheese and a glass of white wine.

Later, a small piece of plaice, some potato and runner beans, tomatoes and carrots.  I do not rule out ice cream, or possibly a couple of squares of chocolate.  There will certainly be another glass of wine.

Oh, and I've remembered the diet breaker.  I bought some fresh Kent cobnuts today.  I can't resist them.  The question will be, in eating the cobs, can I not eat chocolate or ice cream?

Can I, punk?  Do I feel lucky?

I feel a bit hungry, actually.

Breakfast

They say a good breakfast sets you up for the day.  Well, I find that a good breakfast sets me up for lunch.  I don't eat any less for the rest of the day if I've had a good breakfast.  If I'm on a serious kick-start to some weight loss, then skipping breakfast altogether is the quickest way.  I'm not saying that this is a good thing, just that it works.  It isn't something I normally do, though sometimes I do wait an hour or two before having breakfast and then have a very modest lunch as it's not long since I've eaten.

The thing about cereals, and muesli in particular, is that it's easy to eat more than you realise.  Read the side of the muesli packet and it says how many calories are in a helping, but it's only if you weigh it out that you discover what a small helping that is.  And then there are the surprising number of calories in fruit juice, especially if you pour out a full glass.  If you squeeze your own orange you find out what a small amount of juice it actually gives.

At the moment, I'm plugging on with my small amount of plain yoghurt and some fruit.  If I want more, I have an egg instead, poached, on half a slice of toast.  

Z weighs in

To my relief, I've lost two pounds.  I say relief because I've been so very careful, eating so little that if I'd not lost anything at all in the past month I'd have been quite despairing.  All the same, two pounds.  Jesus.  It isn't much, not for all the abstinence.

Today, I ate a small amount of yoghurt for breakfast, a couple of peaches later, some leftover kedgeree for lunch (a small helping) and during the afternoon a slice of bread and Marmite (no butter) and a small square of cheese.  1 cm, perhaps.  Oh, and a couple of glasses of wine; that is, I'm on the second glass.  Tonight, we're having steak and the Sage is cooking.  This won't be a weight loss day.  Oh, I had a couple of cherry tomatoes, do they count?  I might have had some orange juice for breakfast too.

Anyway, size 10 jeans are roomy.  Appreciably roomier than when I bought them a couple of months ago.

It's hard, you know.  I don't want to eat much at a time, my appetite has diminished a lot.  But I seem to be denying myself several times a day.  Still, getting there.  I could be trying this much and not losing anything at all.

Bum.

Eating little, losing nothing

It does take a long time of not eating much for me to lose weight.  Today for example, I had two tablespoons, probably less than 100g (or possibly millilitres) of plain yoghurt plus a peach and a small glass of orange juice for breakfast.  A crab salad, not a whole crabsworth, for lunch and a glass of wine.  For dinner, a small helping of salmon, a spoonful of pasta and some french beans, followed by a couple of greengages.  Oh, and a couple more glasses of wine.  I really don't think that's much, and it's fairly typical of the quantities and types of food I've been eating recently.  Yesterday, for example, we went out for lunch and I had a BLT baguette.  The Sage had a steak and offered me his mushroom, a nice open one.  Once I'd accepted it, he said hopefully that he'd swap it for some bacon.  Since he had an 8 oz steak already, I was surprised that he wanted any more - still, I gave him half my bacon, 1 1/2 rasher's worth.  I ate the salad, the slice and a half of bacon, the mushroom (which was grilled, not fried) and drank a half pint of cider and left all the bread.  I hadn't had anything at all for breakfast.  For dinner, I had most of a fillet of fish, grilled, some baked potato and some sautéed courgettes and tomatoes.  Then I had some ice cream, a small helping.

Really, I'm not eating much.  I'm not losing an ounce though.  Unless I'm saving it all up and will suddenly drop half a stone.  But how is it that some people lose several pounds per week?  I really can't eat less, it wouldn't be healthy.