Rebecca's diary

R

rshaw82.rs

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I am a mum of a 7 year old girl and a 3 year old boy. I have been overweight since getting pregnant with my first child. I was always a little chubby before that anyway. I have struggled with undiagnosed postnatal depression with both children especially the second. Now I'm ready to look after my health, both mentally and physically. I weigh 185lbs right now and I would like to weigh 156lbs. I want this weight loss to fit in with my busy life and be sustainable.

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Hi Rebecca, how are you?
I have just had my little girl 6wks ago and struggling to eat well and be healthy. I'm not really sure how I'm gonna do this as I'm sure u know with a baby ur routine/day is dictated by them. Do u have any idea how ur gonna do this? Do u have a plan to follow?

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I've decided to just make slow and steady changes. I've been working on it since May and have lost just 5lbs. It's very slow weightloss but I want to do it by changing my habits for good. Some of what I've incorporated so far is: no more caffeine. Drinking sugar free squash instead of hot drinks. I do have the occasional hot chocolate, or decaffeinated mocha.
I drink squash first if I'm hungry. I don't really eat sandwiches any more. I put what I would have had in a sandwich on a plate/bowl/tupperware and add more veg etc to it. I'll add more things I do to this diary when I remember them!

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I've also realised that exercise is not a big weightloss provider. It is healthy but I have to change my diet as a priority. To incorporate exercise in my life I have started doing very simple changes: running up the stairs in my house instead of walking. When my children want to play I use it as a strength building exercise and lift them high in the air or chase them up and down the corridor for a tiny bit of cardio. Something is better than nothing right? :)

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Due to it being the summer holidays my routine has to slightly shift. I found it tricky at the start but I'm getting more used to it. So usually the mornings are filled with getting kids ready for school with no time to tidy. Whereas now I do a routine of tidying before 9 so that I can focus on the kids for the rest of the day. This creation of routines has really helped me. Its made me quite boring! But at least I have my mental health back. So I have just squash while I clean tidy and make the kids breakfast. Then I can have breakfast in a clean environment and without the kids pestering me because they have already been fed. If we have it at the same time they just want to eat mine! So although this is not ideal in terms of all eating together family meal time etc. It is better because everybody's happy and I get to make more conscious choices. I'm not rushed and I don't feel like I have to eat my breakfast before somebody else takes an interest in it!

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Hey there! Slow weight loss is better than no weight loss, and building those better habits is key. I recently read somewhere that you can't out-train a bad diet, so I think your approach us a good one. Can't wait to hear more updates from you!
 
Yeah that's what I read too. About not being able to out train a bad diet. That made me feel a bit better not wanting to over exhaust myself with loads of cardio! ;) so I thought that, yes, the best thing I can do for myself is get my food intake nice and nourishing.

The summer holidays have been tricky to find a steady routine in terms of food. So I decided to just have a goal of maintaining my weight until the kids go back to school. I am currently 183.2 lbs so I.d like to be that weight or under by 5th September.

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Hey Rebecca!
Good luck on your journey and well done for starting this change! No matter what form of progress you make, progress is progress! I always go by the rule that the smaller the losses, the more likely they are to stay off!
I wish you all the best on your journey. ?? If you need any advice or support just ask! ??
 
Hi Rebecca, It's very hard with small children to concentrate on giving yourself a little bit of love. It's the time when you need it most. Not snacking was my hardest thing- eating the things that they refused to, rather than waste them. Small changes add up & losing slowly is healthy. I love my coffee, but I drink it black. It's a good way to start my day & has no calories. When you say you drink squash, is that soft drink/soda? If you don't already I would start drinking at least 2 litres of water every day. Starting off your day with a big glass of water is a good idea. Do you like yoghurt? I just ate a bowl of yoghurt with some fruit & a little almond meal, for extra protein, for my breakfast. It's quick & easy & filling & should sustain me until lunch-time.
Well done on making positive changes for your health. Cheers, Cate.
 
Thanks everyone for your weight loss advice and support. That side of things is what's missing in my life at the moment so I really really appreciate it!
I drink sugar free squash. The sweetener in it is sucralose I think. When I drink it, I drink a pint and so I'm figuring that if I drink 4 pints a day that's about 2 litres. Half a litre being about a pint. I was drinking more but then I read that you can drink too much water and that it can be harmful so I thought I'd better be a bit careful.

I definitely eat the kids leftovers! What I do now is firstly make sure the food we are eating is healthy food (which is good all round anyway for my kids:)) but I also make sure i make myself a smaller portion in the first place so that if I do snack on leftovers it won't push my calories up too much. This is also good because it gives my body the opportunity to feel what it's like to have less food in front of me so I can make a new habit of having smaller portions in general.

Thanks again everyone for the support and advice. :)


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Yoghurt also is a great idea. I've not had yoghurt for a meal/snack for a very long time. Ever since doing slimming world before my daughter was born. And she's nearly 8! I think I just ate it too much then and put myself off. I will definitely give it another go. :)

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I've been working on my emotional eating and this afternoon has been a great example of triggers of emotional eating! I meant to get back home by 12. But after having to do some unexpected errands I got home at 3. The kids were a little crabby and I was out of my routine. So I felt like my time had been taken away from me. I was also a bit tired and so didn't have as much energy as I needed to do the things I had planned to do with the kids. They were also tired so they didn't want to do the activities. I was then bored. So I ate out of boredom. I drank plenty of sugar free squash as well so I limited the effects reasonably well. But still it's a habit that I'd like to break.

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Emotional eating is one of the most common problems just about anyone I know in here has. "If hunger is not the problem, then eating is not the solution." It's true. I do it too & overcoming it is a huge step. Have a container with fresh fruit that you can snack on when you get that feeling. Being a Mum is exhausting & you need to look after yourself as best you can xo Cate
 
Thanks for that Cate. I've been trying to do knitting or something instead of eat in those circumstances, but I feel worried that I'll be interrupted by a request for juice/food/to breakup fight etc. And I'll have to leave the knitting mid row and all the stitches might fall off. And then I'd be annoyed as well as bored! Anybody suggestions of intersting activities that can be left at a moment's notice. And often quicker than that!

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I recently got myself a rubiks cube to have something to do with my hands instead of eat and I can put it down immediately when I need to. Also my partner helped me make it easier to play my guitar and made a stand more available so I can do that as an option too. All this won't be too much of a problem in two weeks as we'll all be back to school/work etc. And my old routine will be in place and I was losing weight successfully then. So theoretically I will carry on losing weight again. I'm really looking forward to it! Even the getting up early bits and being really busy bits!

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Glad you're working out some strategies Rebecca. You play guitar? I sooo wish I was musical!
 
I like the rubiks cube idea! I have a word search book somewhere that serves the same purpose (in theory, anyway, if I don't know where it is I guess it's not serving any purpose).
 
I am trying to learn guitar, so I wouldn't say I'm musical yet!;) but I did learn eleanor rigby by the beatles the other day and that made me very happy. The rubiks cube has been very good. I've been using it in conjunction with other strategies and it's certainly helped with boredom. It's good as well because I can fit it in the cupboard above my sink so my 3 year old doesn't get it and accidentally break it! And my 7year old has been having a go with it and been finding it really fun so it's also something we can talk about/do together. Win win.

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I'm glad the strategies are helping relieve the boredom. Anything you find that you can do that you enjoy & your children enjoy has to be a win win situation!
 
Thanks cate! I do find it easier if i have a strategy in place. I used to do puzzle book like oaks but if my children get hold of them they either pull the pages out or scribble on them! Very frustrating :(

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