My Friends Amazing Weight Loss Story Part 2

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Back on the 5th April I posted a story titled, My Friends Great Weight Loss Story Part 1. Its the beginning of a new journey in the life of Toni Robbins, the wife of a former Police colleague. This is Part 2:

Easter, 21sts, Work stress, Weddings and Holidays

I’m sure that the above title would make most people think that the following story is going to be a bit of a train wreck, but that’s not completely the case. It’s been nearly 3 weeks since I wrote my first story and I’ve had enough challenges since then for most to give up on their weight loss.

Easter. For a chocoholic, Easter is a dream, but I’m very proud of myself. I did not touch one hot cross bun and had a total of 2 mini eggs and 3 chocolate macadamias (not all at once!) Unfortunately I didn’t exercise half as much as I had hoped because of my second challenge…

My daughters’ 21^st. This was held on Easter Sunday, and with the shops closed that day I had to do all the shopping on Saturday. Topped with cleaning (and decorating) the house and cleaning up the aftermath on Easter Monday, the weekend was very stressful and busy, and it was back to work before I knew it. No relaxing weekend here! On the food front I stuck as close to my eating plan as I could and didn’t even have a piece of cake because I just couldn’t face it. I had a larger glass of red wine but it was the only one I had all week, so I refuse to feel guilty about that.

Work. I really enjoy my job working in home loans, but when the boss goes away for the week and leaves me with work that has to be done urgently, things can get a bit stressful. I stuck to my eating plan to the letter this particular week but I worked extra hours and went home exhausted, so my exercise plan suffered. The end of daylight saving has meant that it gets dark not long after I get home, so it’s not as easy to go for a walk.

Weddings and Holidays. I’ve put these together because they happened together. And this was the toughest challenge. On Friday morning we flew from Auckland to Sydney for a friends’ wedding. I couldn’t keep to my exact meal plan but I ate foods and amounts that I thought were similar. On Saturday I gave myself a day off my eating plan. The food was amazing…prawns, scallops, kangaroo, king fish, lamb chops. I didn’t eat too much, though I did have a piece of wedding cake, and I felt that I did quite well.

I’ve found that I can’t tolerate sweet things anymore as they seem too sickly sweet now. I’m taking that to mean that I have conquered my sugar addiction!

The great news is that with all of the challenges that I have had over the past 3 weeks I haven’t put any weight on. I’m still at 72kg and I’m very proud of myself. I have lost 6cms from my waist and you can see the difference in my face, and even in my knees! The photo on this page is from the wedding on Saturday.

These 3 weeks have taught me quite a few lessons though.

Lesson one – Exercise. This isn’t rocket science I know, but it has become more obvious that weight loss doesn’t come just from eating well. I need to exercise at least 4 or 5 times a week. We must have walked for miles around Sydney for the whole 3 days we were there, but none of it was cardio, so I wasn’t burning enough calories. While I was busy I just didn’t make the time for exercise. Eating well meant that my weight stayed stable, but to lose it I’m going to have to work harder for it.

Lesson two – Stress. Unfortunately when I get stressed I hang onto weight. My body thinks I’m going into crisis and prepares to defend itself. If I want to lose more weight I need to relax more, in the form of yoga or meditation, or even leaving work at lunchtime to go for a walk.

Lesson three – Sugar. I have become more convinced that cutting out all forms of sugar is a vital key to my weight loss, and this includes sugar in the form of fruit. Fruit is a great source of food when maintaining a healthy weight, but it does contain natural sugars and to lose weight I have to restrict the quantity I eat. Even though I ate well over the past 3 weeks I did eat more fruit. It seemed a healthier choice for dessert than the sweet, sugary pavlovas, cheesecakes and trifles, but it didn’t help me.

Lesson four – Water. On busy days I forget to drink water. I know that sounds ridiculous but I can be rushing around and suddenly realize that it is lunchtime and I haven’t had any water. I need to put more effort into drinking water constantly during the day, as water is another vital key to losing my weight.

Lesson five – Regularity. When my schedule is thrown out of kilter my body feels out of kilter. I need to sleep, eat and exercise at regular times because this also makes my body feel relaxed, reducing stress.

What does all this mean? Weight loss is hard! It takes determination and discipline every single day but I have learned that it is not possible at all unless every single one of the above 5 lessons is followed. Time to pick things up again…..

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