Covenants & Caveats

In my attempt to get this weight loss program working again, I decided to go back to first principles. What I was doing right back at the start was working really quite well, but then I started playing with the system, and things were never quite as successful, or sat as easily with me, as they did back then.

As such, I have gone back to my old ways. I weigh every day now, and have brought back my old spreadsheet (which is the eighth wonder of the world as far as I'm concerned - I really do have a man-crush on the thing). This helps me keep track of everything, by telling me my daily and weekly losses, the rates I'm losing at, how close to all my mini-targets I am, estimated completion dates at this rate of loss etc etc. I don't really know why I ever stopped using it, but its back in a big way!

The diet has gone back to the old system too. This means, basically, no carbs until my evening meal. I have an omelette for breakfast, and then chicken or something for lunch, to try and stick with protein for most of the day. This kept me fairly satisfied in the past, but I added some carbs in the evening to try and avoid going full-Atkins (which I'm still rather wary of). It worked before, so I'm hoping it will help me kick the carb-addiction that I've been giving in to far too often this year.

Those are some general rules, but I also have a few set promises to myself. Some of them might seem impossible, and as such, it might not seem very wise to try and make them a 'rule' per se. But when I started my weight-loss way back when, the weekly target I set myself was, also, far too high. I didn't reach it every week - but rather than deflate me, it was by striving to get as close to that target as I could that actually drove a lot of my old success. So, I'm not too concerned about setting targets that are too hard - they force me to work harder than easy targets ever have!

The following are the new rules. However, each one has an addendum, to give me at least SOME breathing space.

1) I will exercise every day  -  but it doesn't have to be running.

On the days I don't run, I want to start actually doing something else, rather than just writing off exercise altogether. I will do push-ups, sit-ups etc on the days I don't run, and might even throw the weights back into the mix, to try and get some variety.

2) I will weigh-in TWICE a week - but only the Monday one is official

This is to try and combat the pattern of dieting hard over the weekend to score a loss on Monday, and then relaxing and gaining at the start of the week, before repeating the cycle and striving to score a loss again by Monday. Instead, I will report my current weight on Wednesday or Thursday, just to try and encourage me to keep the losses consistent, rather than constantly up and down.

3) I will blog at least 3 times a week - even if just to say hi.

This one is more about making sure I am reading all your blogs too. Since I now keep track of the blogs I follow on my own homepage, I need to make sure I am visiting my own blog regularly, so that I can also keep track of who has updated! It might mean I have more short, pointless posts, but I'd rather be regular like that than forever be making these huge, unwieldy update posts.

4) I will lose weight every week - even if its only 0.1 lbs

This is the questionable one, as I have myself said that, some weeks, there's nothing you can do to avoid a gain. The thing is, I say that, but every gain I've had is because of something I've done wrong, or something I haven't done right. I've been making SO MANY excuses so far this year, and then brushing them off by saying 'at least' this or 'one off' that. I used to be much stricter with myself than this, so this rule is the one I'm most determined to keep. Of course, its also the one I'm most likely to fail in, but at least by aiming for it, I can limit any potential gains to a minimum.

So there, that's a taster of what I've got planned. I also mentioned before that I might have to change what I blog about, in order to blog more often...but in keeping with that spirit, I don't think I'll explain any further until tomorrow!