Happy New Year!
I started this new year full of vigour and renewed motivation for my cause but the last months of 2013 were some of the hardest I've ever experienced weight loss and motivation-wise. I got into an absolutely disastrous head space and was certain that the return of the dreaded plateau was upon me. I thought it was like last time, that's it-it's not working anymore, it's only a matter of time until I give up again.
In order for me to be really accurate, this is the last 12 week's weight loss:
23/10/13 19 stone 12.5
31/10/13 19 stone 12.5
07/11/13 19 stone 13
14/11/13 19 stone 9
21/11/13 19 stone 9
27/11/13 19 stone 12
05/12/13 19 stone 13.5
12/12/13 19 stone 9
18/12/13 19 stone 11.5
26/12/13 19 stone 9 <---day after Christmas...
02/01/14 19 stone 11 <---Christmas caught up with me
08/01/14 19 stone 8
Are you exhausted yet? I was. Since the end of October I have gained and lost and gained and lost and stayed the same and lost and gained and repeat ad nauseam. Had I been doing all the right things in those weeks I would have been so frustrated but I can honestly say I wasn't. I wasn't tracking as reliably and I found myself snacking on more and more of the unhealthy stuff, though to be fair that's kind of par for the course for the festive period. What's worst is that my activity was practically non existent. When I did exercise the old pain was back that put me off doing it again.
And so, perhaps unsurprisingly, people have asked about my new years resolutions. And in all honesty, I didn't make any. I don't see new years, as an arbitrary date, as the beginning of a new chapter in my life. That chapter was already being written. I did however find this Google trends map of weight loss searches very entertaining: Bikini season and New year. Every. Single. Year.
But I digress. There was no exciting 'new year, new me' facebook status. When I think about it practically, about a stone every two months, 2014 will NOT be the last year that I am within the overweight category so thinking about weight loss as something that starts on January first, and usually ends by Valentine's day, is not going to be all that helpful for me. I started myself back on the wagon before new year, just the delayed reaction after Christmas meant that I still went up despite logging hours in the gym and tracking religiously. (Frustration level, out of this world) I signed up for the Great North Run in September and beginning training for that has reminded me that I'm not just doing this for the weight loss I see in the next weeks or months. I'm doing this for the body I want in my 30s, 40s, 50s. I want it to be strong and healthy and I am investing in that now, just sometimes you need shorter term goals to keep the motivation at a high level. I can't say that this is the last time I forget the real reason I'm doing this, it's not just about being able to fit into regular sizes, it's about building habits and a lifestyle that will sustain me well into the future.
What I have found is that with the start of the new year I found turning down my temptations easier than I had in months. When I went to the first weight watchers meeting of the year on the 8th and had finally come to my lowest weight ever on this particular program I felt that I had finally, well and truly, beaten that cycle. I was out and I'm sure as hell going to stay out. I don't know whether the new year gave me some of the buzz you have in the first few weeks back or if I really did just need last year to end but I feel confident that the current vigour will last long enough to get me well and truly back into the swing of things, including the writing of this blog. Sorry it's so late Piers...I will try to get it out more regularly from now on.
