Have you made a New Years Resulution? Well, mine this year is not to LOSE WEIGHT (as many of you have put it) but I call it CHANGING MY LIFE.
Im going through a stage where I am really positive about my new years resulution. And this is really really really helping me. I began yesterday and I will keep you posted on how much weight I lose.

I have printed out quite a few sheets of paper (were looking at about 25 sheets) and stuck them on my fridge, cupboard of me when I was 'Slimmer' and that reminds me of how much I wish to lose.
I have also written out lots of sheets with the following paragraphs on;

I've written out my basic :)Food Diary:)

Listing what I would love to have for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, not forgetting snacks and drinks.
Main stresses if you wish to snack, cut up some raw vegetables (eg. carrots, cucumber etc..)
And drink as much water as you feel your body can hold. It is soooooo important.

At the End I have written:

What I failed to complete during today:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________ (and left room for me to write)

When did I feel hungry:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________(and left room for me to write, improving my plan for tommorow.

Are you happy or proud with your day:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________(and left me room for me to write)

Any comments about what you found hard, or targets you failed to acheive during the day:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________(You guesssed it; left me room to write)

Did you feel cravings:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________(You should know it off by heart now ;))

How did you feel when you resisted temptation:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________(.........again.....)

How did you feel when you gave in to eating chocolate or any other high fat / high sugar item:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________(and left me room to write how I felt)

---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---

I am trying to do this and shall carry on for ... well i dont know how long....
but If i notice changes I shall keep you posted.

What are your best bits of advice for losing weight?
I will be over the moon with replies helping me.

Thanks,
Claire xx :D

For me at the moment I'm afraid it's going to have to be drastic - only leave out enough tea/coffee for the working day plus something for lunchtime then padlock ALL the cupboards, fridge, freezer, dog food cupboard (it looks really tempting right now ) and give the keys to the kids when I take them to school so that I can't eat anything more than I should :)

Nearly easter though - and as long as I have lost my extra stone by then I'm going to treat myself to the biggest, fattest, most calorific chocolate egg in thorntons, plus the biggest one in Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrisons, little shop down the road........ :D

Seriously, I think the diary could work - good idea Claire :)

edited to add that I think I'd have to leave out the bit : "How did you feel when you gave in to eating chocolate or any other high fat / high sugar item"  - my answer would be seriously x-rated :D

Hi Claire excellent i think i'll be printing that out  Stay focused if you have a relapse and tuck into snacks enjoy them then get straight back to eating healthy dont feel guilty.  It's the amount of food you eat over a week that matters.  Paul Mckenna is on the telly, Monday the 9th of January, how to change your negative thinking towards food, it's worth giving a watch.

warm regards Susan

The best thing I've found for losing weight is to keep things interesting - I *know* that if I leave out pasta, bread, potatoes and the like I *will* lose weight; but plates of fish fillets, carrots and sweetcorn are, oddly enough, boring after a few meals!

So, I've gone online and searched out interesting recipes that don't involve those ingredients (there's actually a website devoted to recipes with only foods that are edible raw - taters, bread and so on) and that have things in I like (fussy eater!), I've gone shopping, and I've written out a week's worth of meal plans so that I know what I'm going to need to prepare and when, I don't get caught out by having nothing prepared when I need it (say, at work), and it's varied and tasty enough to keep me on track.

One thing to remember is that chances are, there will be instances when you can't be as good as you want - for example, yesterday my stupid boss left me stranded at the kennels for 11 1/2 hours, so I had to go to the local shop and buy bad food (they have nothing else!!) - but as long as you get good again as soon as you can, you'll be fine.  The odd cheat doesn't hurt in the long run, just don't overdo it!!

I'm also exercising more - but, not too much straight away.  I'm notoriously lazy, the only real exercise I get is walking my dogs, so I'm not going to shoot myself in the foot by going for broke immediately - I'm starting with a few toning exercises each day (using my trusty gym ball!!), and building it up slowly so I don't overdo it and put myself off; it also gives me time to get into the swing of things, and at the same time I don't put too much stress on my back (just got over a joint problem) and set myself back by weeks.

Like you, I'm really positive at the moment - 2006 is the year it all changes as far as I'm concerned - new house (hopefully...), new car (again, hopefully...), new figure,  new me, and all that cliched stuff!!  Good luck!

edit to add: boxer mum, I'm also marking easter on the calendar for a rediculously big chocolate fest :D

Hi Nikita
What was the website you mentioned that was all about raw food - sounds interesting.
I love pasta, bread and potatoes, so I dont know how I would get on!

Rachel

http://paleofood.com/

Nothing exciting, just a list of recipes.  I came across it a few years back when I was looking into what my wonderful family called a "caveman" diet - basically only eating edible-raw foods, just like humans would've done before cooking and agriculture and the like.  It makes you wonderfully healthy - unfortunately I have a severe aversion to salad so I can't do it :D

I dont know much about weight loss , but i do know i have a really high metabolism which keeps me slim. I've heard eating several little meals a day boosts your metabolism but i really have no frickin idea what a 'high metabolism' really is besides that i burn calories quick. Good luck with the weight loss!