The losing weight part – I’m not on a diet, I’m getting fit

I’ve mentioned a couple of times that one of the main reasons why I’m doing this is because I want and need to lose weight. However, so far I haven’t really written anything about that at all. Today seems like a good day to tell you a bit more about that part of this whole project. Why? Well, as of this morning I’m unhealthily overweight which is a good thing because until last week I was extremely unhealthily overweight - I guess you have to judge success based on your starting point ;-) So let me tell you how I’m losing weight and why I haven’t really written much about it (and probably won’t in the future).

See, the problem is that I have lost weight before; I’ve just never managed to keep it off. I simply don’t believe in diets anymore and even less in my ability to do one successfully in the long term. That is why weight loss cannot be my goal this time. I’m simply not motivated to lose weight because I don’t believe anymore that it could actually solve the problem for good. Therefore, I’ve decided that I’m not on a diet. What I’m doing is getting fit! There are so many things I always wanted to do but never could because of my lack of fitness. Like doing some of those beautiful, but tough, walks here in NZ, or simply being able to walk up a hill without getting out of breath. The fact that I’m losing weight while getting fit is sort of like a VERY welcomed side effect.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like losing weight is not important to me. It absolutely is! It’s just that I’m trying to take my mind of that part of this journey as much as possible. By thinking of it as getting fit I can actually believe again that I can lose the weight AND keep it off. I’m sort of tricking myself here a little ;-)

I am very much watching what I’m eating. I’m sort of doing Weight Watchers. Why ‘sort of’? Well, because I’m going to the meeting and I do listen and take their advice (which is really great by the way) but I’m not always counting my points exactly. I usually have a general idea of how much points I’m eating but I’m not taking it too serious and I’m not keeping a food journal or something similar where I’m writing down everything I eat and the exact points value. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, as mentioned before, I have lost weight in the past and I know how much and what I should be eating. The main reason why I’m overweight is not that I don’t know what is healthy food and what isn’t, it’s more that I didn’t care in the past. I’ve always been eating relatively healthy meals, it’s the snacks and food I used to eat in addition (mainly chocolate). Therefore, I feel like I’m able to eat healthy without keeping track of every single point I’m eating. The second reason is that counting points would make this a diet. I’m 26 years old, I don’t want to count points for the rest of my life, I want to get to the point a healthy and balanced diet just feels normal. So if I were counting points right now than I would want to stop at some point, which would make this a temporary diet.

The one thing I am absolutely certain about when it comes to diets is that there is no ONE perfect diet for everyone. I think everyone’s individual perfect diet depends on their personality and habits. I strongly believe that one of the keys to successful weight loss is to know yourself and design a diet for you! It’s one of the reasons why I like weight watchers. They give you tools and advice but what you do with it in the end it up to you. I know that I’m busy and I hate annoying little details. So sitting down every day and thinking what exactly I’ve been eating, how many grams salad sauce I put on my sandwich this morning and who many ml of milk I had in my coffee – that is just not gonna work for me!

I guess you can argue about whether this is the right way to do it or not. Fact is, it’s working right now and if I get to the point where it’s not working anymore I can always count my points for a while to make sure I’m eating the right stuff and the right amount.
I’m generally easting very healthy these days, with lots of veggies and protein and less carbs and I’m drinking a lot of water which I think helps as well. Also, I’m hardly drinking any alcohol at the moment (I do make exceptions every now and then but very rarely). This is simply because not drinking is quite easy for me and thus it feels logical to safe those calories and rather have a little bit of chocolate ;-)

What I really do love about weight watchers are the meetings though. It’s always very interesting and fun and I like being accountable to someone once a week. It’s also great to be part of a group and see that others are struggling with the same problems.

So that was my entry about dieting and weight loss. Not sure if there will be many more of this kind but I will keep you in the loop and let you know if my way of doing this works out for me.