The importance of keeping a food diary while on a weight loss journey

Date: Saturday 11 November 2017
Current weight: Today I put on weight going back up to 177 lbs (I have to admit that my records are slightly awry as I have been relying on Rachel’s records so I will confirm this later on)

I now have my consultations with Rachel of https://www.rachelrickettsweightloss.co.uk/aboutrachelricketts on Saturday mornings.  I was always worried about the timing of consultations at work during the working day so having them on Saturday has been a huge relief.  I never like to have to wake up before 12 noon on weekends but as I am aiming to have my hardest workouts over the weekend, I tend to be up during the Saturday consultations.

It is fair to say that I felt overwhelmed once I started the programme with shopping for the right food and making sure that I was on the right track.  The start of the programme coincided with a very busy time at work which in one aspect was unfortunate.  I would have liked more time to absorb all the information and do all the reading.  However, on the upside, busy periods at work have always coincided times of less disciplined eating meaning that my chances of putting on weight go up.  In other words, I am pleased that I have managed to get through a very busy period without putting on any weight and I have in fact lost weight.  (Hip! hip! hooray!)

Rachel has pointed out to me that I have been losing weight steadily (I think at about a rate of 1 – 2 lbs per week) since I began completing my daily food diaries.  Many years ago while on another weight loss journey I kept a hand written food diary with success as I lost a lot of weight.  This time the weight loss diary has to be typed up so I can send it to Rachel by email.  I have to keep a note pad in the kitchen so that I can do my calculations when weighing up food portions but also to write down what I am eating to by typed up neatly ready to cut and paste from a word document into an email to send off to Rachel.  Basically, keeping a food diary is a lot of bother.  However I have decided to stick to it as it is doing the trick.  Sometimes the thought of having to write one more thing in my diary is serving to deter me from late evening eating – and that has to be a good thing!

I try very hard not to jump up on the scales too many times each week but I have noticed that my weight can fluctuate quite a bit.  I had hoped to post a weight loss today of 1 or 2 lbs but instead I had not notify Rachel that my weight had gone up.  I suffered a stomach upset after eating Brussel sprouts.  Lot’s of people have mixed feelings about sprouts, but not me.  I always thought that provided I used a good recipe I could get them tasting delicious.  This time the meal was so-so and the after effects included really painful stomach cramps.  I hate to throw out good food but it was goodbye to the said sprouts.

There are lot of moving parts as far as my weight loss journey is concerned at the moment.  I am trying to get in as many miles as possible and get as close to achieving 1,000 miles in 2017 but I know that my body is immune to cardio and hangs on to the fat no matter how I pile on the mileage.  I also have to be careful not to get injured but still try to improve my running speed by undertaking “speed” work.  Yes, speed is relative and I am not remotely related to Usain Bolt in this department!  Then there is strength training to add to the mix.  This is important because I feel that it will be the key to long term success.  Then there is the programme to consider alongside keeping this blog.  There are times in the past when it has felt like writing this blog was taking up all my time.  At the moment it feels as though trying to maintain healthy and steady weight loss is taking up my time along with work and life in general and then – this blog.  It is not the best balance as the mere mere existence of this blog is a huge factor in keeping me going.  It is not perfect. It is what it is.

Until next time it’s
#nototheyoyo!
#yestostableweight!