I only implemented this new strategy at the start of the month, but it's working better than the others I've tried so far this year.
My first attempt at weight loss this year was to give up everything unhealthy cold-turkey. I could last about 2 weeks or so, but ultimately I'd grant myself permission to have more and more unhealthy things until eventually I ended up back where I started.
My second attempt was to not eat or drink unhealthy on weekdays, but allow myself to have whatever I want on weekends. This too would work for a couple of weeks until I started treating myself on weekdays that were close to the weekends too and I again ended up back where I started.
Now I'm on my new approach, which has worked better and been easier than the others I've tried. I realise that ultimately what I'm battling is bad habits, and the best way I know to break bad habits is to distance yourself from the habit. That's what I tried to do on my first and second try, but it failed because I was trying to give too much up at once.
Now, I'm taking a more incremental approach. Since the start of this month, the only drink I've been having has been water (other than milk in my cereal). Prior to starting this, I'd be having iced coffee and soft drink (soda) daily. Some days I'd have milkshakes too. I've still been eating as I otherwise would, for now anyway, and I've found it to be surprisingly easy to give up the sugary drinks while not changing the rest of my diet (yet). Just by giving up the sugary drinks, I've lost 3-4kg in the last 25 days, which is pretty good progress considering I'm still eating the same junk I normally would.
The plan is to abstain for at least 3 months, and when I start having sugary drinks again, I'll only do so on special occasions. Next month, with the exception of having one of these food items on my birthday, I'll be giving up desserts (chocolate, ice-cream, cakes, cookies, etc), and the same principle will apply. I'll give these things up for at least 3 months, after which I'll only have them in moderate amounts on special occasions. I'll keep giving things up at the start of each month until i am no longer indulging in anything that is particularly unhealthy or fattening on a regular basis, and I'll only permit myself to indulge in these unhealthy things on special occasions.
If weight loss slows down after a while, or maybe regardless, I'll add an exercise routine into the mix. This weight will be coming off, but not too quickly. I want to come out of this with as little loose skin as possible, so losing weight at a measured pace is the best way to make that happen. If I can lose 1-2kg a week I'll be happy.
I'm currently 117kg, started at 121kg and my initial goal is to get to 70kg (though this may change depending on if I end up working on building muscle, or if I'm satisfied at 75).
25 Jul 2019, 6:23 am
