Well I only have a week and a bit left of work and to my surprise I really am over this place. I was really looking forward to my last month and getting a lot done but I thinkeveryone else’s attituudes and ‘you shouldn’t care now anyway’ has taken it’s toll. I’m just truly not fussed about it all. I would much rather either be having a break between jobs or already be at my new one! Feeling like this just makes me feel crap overall though so I thought if I came in and wrote about it I might be able to snap out of it and find some cheeriness!
My food intake has been ok. I’m trying not to stress too much about it and just doing my best to give my body the right fuel it needs. I guess I have been following basic cohen’s principals during the week but I haven’t been doing it strictly. On the weekend I made up enough Cohen’s style food for 2 weeks of lunches and dinner and froze it all just to help me out time wise. I didn’t weigh and measure everything but just wanted to get back to some basic nutritional food as I am still struggling with fatigue and motivation to get my butt out of bed. I guess I’m following more of the refeed guidelines also as I am having a small portion of carbs each day. I’m trying not to think of it as I am following a program or diet again – I’m just trying to focus on being good to myself and fueling my body with healthy and nutritional food. It’s been TTOM this week which has made it slightly difficult as I’ve been going to the vending machine a bit usually around 4pm. I’m fine all morning and all day and then as soon as I’m halfway between lunch and dinner the cravings start!
Because of taking on this pub job now too on top of both of our full time work time is short and the frozen meals have helped to curb the impulse of just settling on take away or food up at the football club like sausage and steak sandwiches, pies and chips etc. It has really made a difference during this last week compared to what we ate the week before and I have noticed the difference in me mentally and physically. I think when I start my new job in two weeks I might look at us trying out lite and easy for a couple of weeks and see if that’s even better again for us. Even my time preparing and cooking the food to then portion up and freeze was tight and I’m sure the lite and easy will taste much better and be better nutritionally. We have spoken about just getting the lunches and dinners for 5 days to take us from Wednesday to Sunday and then Monday and Tuesday we can have nice and proper cooked meals together. Over this last weekend I had my meals that I prepared and LB just had Lean Cuisine type meals but it’s not just dinner we need because we are getting home so late or a so tired we found our lunches were lapsing too. So we’ll give it a trial of a few weeks and if it turns out to be the best one for us we will do it for the footy season while we’re running the pub on top of our jobs and then look forward to getting back to normal in October. At least they have more variety than what you can get in the supermarket frozen food section!
Last week was such a full on week with the first week of footy season with sign ups and carnavales etc and we ended up working 39.5 hours at the pub alone (Thursday to Sunday) on top of our normal full time jobs where we both average around 45 hours per week as it is. I’m still shattered but in saying that I really enjoyed the work at the pub because it is so different to my normal work where I get mentally drained but sit on my but all day compared to constantly moving and being on my feet and not having to think too much. I really enjoyed the work and the time there and as much as Saturday especially was really long (14 hours) I felt somewhat revitalised and energetic. I’m struggling with having to take breaks and would rather just keep going to have a snack and drink standing up. It was like with the hike if I actually stopped and sat down I found it harder to get back going whereas if I just kept the momentum up then I didn’t have a problem in the world. LB was very proud of me and the work I did and was quite surprised with how I picked everything up and how it ended up was more that I ran the service side and he did all the restocking etc. We had a new glycol (spelling???) system put in last night which will now mean we have 6 beers on tap instead of 1 which I’m really looking forward to if for nothing else than saving my poor little soft hands from opening all those twist top bottles! Even with using a town your hand gets so tender.
I am really really looking forward to starting my new job and especially starting my swimming again. Between that and the pub work I think it will be enough exercise for the time being but with my termination pay I am also going to treat myself to some winter jogging gear because I want to take advantage of the fact that the footy club is 5.1km away from home which is a great run and what I have built up to do quite comfortably so I figure for Saturday and Sunday’s at least I can also run up to the club and LB can bring up my jeans and club top to change into. As much as it’s going to be tiring I’m also looking forward to being more active as part of a job and it all just fits in so well together!
OMG… My day has just been made by my 1 nightmare WC claimant who is really a big reason why I started looking for another job. His just handed me a clearance certificate from his doctor and has made my day. That’s one more big tick for me on my things to get sorted before I leave here!!!!!!!!!! YIPPEE… You have no idea of the relief and joy that has just brought me!
I came in here yesterday and had a bit of a poke around some diaries but couldn’t find the motivation to write as I wrote above I’ve been struggling to find any motivation while here at work so what I decided to do last night when I got home was create a list of all positive things about Cohen’s that have changed even the smallest part of my life. This list isn’t just about the weight loss, it’s about what I do now automatically or by choice as part of the results I have achieved. I don’t want to focus on the parts of life I still struggle with i.e. yesterday having 2 chocolate bars but want to focus on the changes I have made and continue to make that are positive like I no longer have a can of coke for breakfast followed by 5 others throughout the day. I only have soft drink on occasion now and I always choose diet and it doesn’t bother me. And even when making a poor choice in food I now stop when I feel full rather than clean off the whole plate just because it is there or I have paid good money for it or still using sweetner for my 1 coffee a day instead of going back to sugar, etc. Instead of beating myself up about the slip ups or things I choose not to change at the moment for one reason or another I am going to focus of the lifestyle changes I have made that are preventing me from having put on 20 ot 30 kg as opposed to the 8kg I have. Or that as much as I am now a size 10 -12 as opposed to already being back into a 14 or 16. All these little things do count and do make a difference and I think we should all try to find these things to focus on as they do help in making other changes for the better easier.
There’s a new quit smoking add which says there is no such thing as a ‘failed’ quit attempt, each time you quit, you learn more about yourself and what quitting is like for you. You can use this experience and put it to good use the next time you try. Most people have several quit attempts before they are eventually successful and become long-term non-smokers. I think we can say the exact same thing when it comes to weight loss. Many of us had tried everything under the sun in the past and Cohen’s really work for us, well me – I’m only speaking for myself per say, but I know for a fact that having never been this successful and being the size I was / am I have never experience that before and it is going to take me a few attempts to become successful at staying at the weight I want to. I have never followed a program through to the end to get to this point. I am managing to maintain my weight at the 8kg so what I will aim for next is getting to the 5kg and maintaining it there for a few months etc etc. I have decided enough is enough with going back and forth on programs and off programs and doing this to my body and mind. It’s all about the health and balance and I just don’t want to going through what I have to to lose 8kg and then no doubt straight back up to that plus more. 2-3 kilos at a time with maintenance in between and a huge focus and pat on my back about the lifestyle changes I have made instead of the one’s I haven’t managed to have stick at this attempt. At the end of the day all the success stories talk about the long time life style changes and the best way to do that is gradually. I’m here within reach because of the dedication I made to Cohen’s weight loss program. Now to maintain I have to manage my lifestyle and treat it like the work I do which is all about continuous improvement. I’m not unhappy with my body or where I am right now, I just know I can be happier with it.
Anyway, there’s my all over the place spill on what’s going on in my head right now… I hope all is well with everyone and you’re weight loss is going great guns.
I’m going to have a snoop in a couple of diaries now… promise!
Lauren
. I have written in my diary that i will not be doing Cohens to lose the weight but another plan. I will record my loses and day to day activities but not the plan....I don't want to distract the Newbies from Cohens, it is a wonderful plan as you, I, Cate and Kannadew are all testimont to and would love the newbies to experience what we have.