Well, hardly any drop on the scales this morning, but that's OK. I know I have to take it slowly. In any case, I've lost over a kilo in the week I've been doing this (about 2.3 lbs) so I really can't moan - especially as I haven't made any huge sacrifices... yet!

Couldn't really walk very much today: just 20 minutes. I have an incredibly busy schedule at the moment, and it's likely to stay that way for about another 6 months or so.

In fact, this wasn't really the right time to start a diet, especially with Christmas coming up. But it was either that, or take the risk of actually putting on weight in the next few months. I reckoned it was better to try and cut down, even if it was only a bit, and to exercise, even if it was only a few minutes a day, than to stay wallowing in my excessive eating and lazy inactivity.

17 December: today's eating and exercising:
WEIGHT: 82.3 (-0.1)
Breakfast: Slimfast drink
Lunch: different veggies, lentils, rice
Dinner: mixed salad, pizza (yeah, yeah, not great, but only veggies on top so not soooo bad)
Snacks: protein bar
Drinks: 4 glasses of water, a couple of cups of tea, 1 glass of wine
Exercise: only 20 minutes with the dog
CONCLUSION: Same conclusion as always: must cut out that little bit of wine, but I don't think it'll be easy to do until after the New Year. The family are such big drinkers!!! (PS I'm not, of course, talking about the kids!!!)

Hi Auburn!
I love the fact that you live in France. I have already told Margaret on several occasions how I think I should be a traveling girl cuz' all these places sound so beautiful.
France would be awesome to visit! Maybe on that mythical trip that I take to England to visit Margaret I'll swing by France and visit you! LOL
There never is a good time persay to start a diet but always a good time to start a lifestyle change.
Being more aware of what you eat, how often and why will do you loads of good.
Just keep up on those 3 things and you will see the weight coming off.
I didn't exercise for nearly 3 months and lost almost 30 pounds. Of course now I need to exercise or else starve to see results. And lets face it if the starving thing was really an option I wouldn't be in this present condition. LOL
Good Luck with your journey~

Hi Auburn

Well done with the healthy choices at the cinema. Congratulations re the weight. I certainly dont get a reduction every day. In fact my weight wiggles about with a general downward trend - but I often go up after a new low. I post a couple of weeks on the weigh every day club. If you weigh every day (a lot of people think that you shouldnt but I do) try posting there.

You are so right when you speak of it being a busy time of year. I am trying to do a million things at once - so no wonder you are busy with the kids and everything.

I see that you sometimes have fried food. Are you able to get fry light? If not it may be worth you getting some when next over in the UK. You spray a little in the frying pan and it is about 1 calorie a spray. So about 6 cal of oil does a stir fry.

If you can increase your exercise it would be to your benefit. It makes a massive difference to me.

Try increasing your water intake. They reckon that 2 litres a day of cold water is best. It makes you go to the loo - but it does help your weight loss.

You are right. I think that Evans is missing my custom already. They keep sending me little catalogues and emails.

Take care
Love
Margaret

Bellaryna: yeah, come and visit, but be prepared to put on tons of weight - the food and wine here are almost irresistable!

So you lost 30lbs in 3 months? That's fantastic! You must be so proud of yourself. I agree that it's important to bear in mind why we eat, not just what and how often. Before joining this forum, I hadn't really analysed my habits - but I'm starting to now. Do you keep a diary? (I'll have a look around to see if I can find you). I find it incredibly helpful as it's like being accountable to somebody all the time. Nobody here seems to really judge you, but at the same time it's so motivating to know that other people are watching your progress and wishing you well.

Margaret: I'd spotted the weigh-yourself-every-day club and yes, it's a good idea to join it. How often do you post in that topic - every day, or do you group the days together and post, for example, every week?

The fat spray thingy is something I bought about 12 months ago, used for all of 2 days, and then forgot about. I guess I'll have to dig it out! I do try to avoid fried foods, but it's so quick and easy for the other members of the family. In fact, my kids are very healthy eaters - much more so than I was at their age - and virtually all our meals include several different vegetables in salad form, steamed, or sometimes baked. They'll eat almost anything. But I often do something like fried potatoes, or omelette, or battered fish to go with the meal. The kids are highly active (you have probably gathered that I've done my best to bring them up to avoid the bad habits that I've developped) so they need the calories. Anyway, to get back to the spray, yes, I think it'd be a good idea.

The exercise is definitely something I intend to increase, but it might not happen just yet... let's get through this (awful!) festive season! However, I can work on the water - 2 litres - yuk! - but I'll give it a go!!!



See ya around

Hi Auburn

For the weigh every day club I post every day (just about). I always post about 12 to 14 days worth (so I add a date on the bottom and delete a date from the top of a list). That way you can see the trend. If you look on the last page or two you will see a couple of my entries and see what I mean.

The 2 litres of water takes a bit of doing.

It is worth using the fry light. We use it whenever we fry anything.

Exercise is going to be difficult for everyone (everything is going to be difficult for everyone actually) during this festive period. I will do less exercise than at home but will try to do what I can as I know how beneficial it has been for me.

Take care
Love
Margaret

Ah, tu habites dans la France! Je crois que tu as de la chance. J'ai beaucoup d'envie de toi!!

How long have you lived there? I take it your husband's job is what brings you there? Is he French?

It's funny that you say it's hard to lose weight there because of all the yummy food and wine, but the portions are so much smaller that I'd think it would make up for the richness of the food. The French are always saying that's why they're so much less obese than Americans. Plus they tend to walk a lot more than we do.

Of course, when I was a student in Brussels, I was too poor to eat out much. I pretty much subsisted on fried egg, gouda and tomato sandwiches along with granola cereal and milk--not at the same time, though. And I walked quite a bit everyday, so that also helps.

Welcome to the forum!

Ooooo I am sooo jealous. Not only can you speak French you have also been across the big pond. *stamping foot!* I want to go too darn it!!!
Maybe someday.

Bellaryna: Hey, a trip to Europe would make a wonderful I've-reached-my-goal present to yourself, don't you think?! Now there's a worthwhile objective!

bikinibound: Merci pour tes gentils mots !
In fact, hubby is French and, although he's not the reason I came to France, he's the reason I stayed! It's true what they say about French eating habits: they do tend to be good and well-balanced, but when you're greedy like me, it's easy to fall into excess.

Talking of how the French eat, a little anecdote. I worked for a short while in a French company which had it's own self-service canteen/restaurant. I remember feeling so surprised at what everyone would eat. All levels in the company, from the factory floor up to the management, ate together and all these guys (90% of the workforce were men) followed the same pattern:
- a couple of starters (grated carrots, cucumbers, beetroot... basically raw salad vegetables)
- a main course with a vegetable
- a cheese course
- a dessert or a piece of fruit
In the time I was there, I never saw anyone just take burger and fries, or pizza, or any of the crap we're used to gobbling up. I'm not even sure that burgers would have been on the menu.

Now, don't get me wrong, I've seen plenty of overweight Frenchmen and women, but it's definitely a very small proportion of the population. In general, they eat a bit of everything, but in moderation - a bit like we should do!

Anyway, thanks for visiting my diary. It really does help to see that people are interested and supportive.


So here I am, editing my earlier post to add in my food journal, but feeling pretty miserable with myself.
The day started fine, but for one reason or another, I ended up with the kids in a fast-food place this evening. Yeah, I could have chosen salad and water, but I didn't. Not going to even bother trying to remember what I stuffed my fat face with.

18 December: today's eating and exercising:
WEIGHT: 82.4 (+0.1)
Breakfast: Slimfast drink
Lunch: leftovers of yesterday's pizza
Dinner: too ashamed to talk about it...
Snacks: protein bar
Drinks: 5 glasses of water, a couple of cups of tea, 2 glass of wine
Exercise: only 20 minutes with the dog
CONCLUSION: arrrrgh!

Bella--French was one of my majors in college, so it should be a lot better than it is atm. But it's rusty from lack of use.

Auburn--How long have you been in France then? And how did you end up there in the first place?

Don't worry about your eating yesterday. We all have our slip ups. I was really good until late last night when I got a huge case of the munchies around midnight. It went downhill fast from there.

The main thing is to get back on track right away and not let it become a habit.

Thanks for your kind message, BB. I'm feeling like I've let myself down, especially as I'm going out with hubby tomorrow night and it was that meal that was meant to be the big test, not fastfood this evening. I feel a bit stupid.

I know the two weeks coming up are going to be very tough. Christmas and New Year's are huge celebrations with us, plus we have a couple of family birthdays including my mum's 70th on the 5th of January. In fact, my mum lives in Spain, and we're all going down to stay with her for a week at the beginning of January so that's going to be a really difficult moment. The Spanish are not known for their calorie-controlled cooking: their meals are rich, heavy, and just sooooo yummy! Plus all that Rjoha...

Anyway, you're right. I've just got to get right back there in the saddle, and not let one mistake ruin everything.

BTW, you asked about my life here in France. I've been here about 11 years. Followed my ex-husband over (well, he wasn't ex at the time!) but stayed on after the split and then met 'mon amour'. Been together about 10 years or so. My kids are all bilinguals which is great for them - no accent, nothing! in either language! Needless to say, I've never quite got rid of my accent but, apparently, it's considered very sexy!!! (worth cultivating, wouldn't you say?!)

Anyway, thanks for your support, and see you soon

Hi Auburn

We all have times when we eat something so out of place in our new rules we think - how could I have done that. And we feel silly. I had that stollen last week. Not a sensible way to end an exercise class!!!!!

The key thing is to get back on track. It is amazing how little impact a small slip-up like that has.

Take care
Love
Margaret

Well, like so many of you, I am an old hand at diets, especially those that start well for a couple of days, then there's a slip-up, and I abandon everything and go back to gorging myself.

This time it won't happen! OK, I did something silly last night, but it's not the end of the world. I'm back on track this morning. (Thank you Margaret and Bikinibound for being there)

Here's the start of today's diary:
19 December: today's eating and exercising:
WEIGHT: 82.4 (no change - a miracle!)
Breakfast: bread, spread, lowfat yoghurt
Lunch: mixed salad: various veggies plus a bit of feta cheese and a boiled potato; fromage blanc
Dinner: Christmas meal so rich, fattening, etc. etc. but resisted the cheese and the dessert, so fairly pleased with myself
Snacks: protein bar
Drinks: 5 glasses of water, a couple of cups of tea, 1 glass of champagne, half a glass of wine
Exercise: none
CONCLUSION: shame about the exercise, and the evening meal was a challenge, but I resisted the worst

Sometimes you can convince yourself that the weight will have gone up - and it hasnt at all.

Well done for getting straight back on track.

Good Morning Auburn!
Sounds to me as if you and I were eating on the same schedule the other night! LOL
With trying to get everything done before we leave for NYC and trying to complete my Secret Sis's Christmas present I just haven't had time to cook anything.
So we ordered pizza in on Monday.
So after bustin' my butt for 1 hour doing my PowerCore Class I came home and had 3 *YIKES*, yes I did say 3, slices of cheese and ham pizza. Bad, Bad, Bad.
But I made up for it the next day by eaten well with-in my calorie range, drinking lots of water, and going back to class to get my butt handed to me once again! LOL
Still busy but making better choices.
I know how hard it can be to go to the fast food place and grab something cuz' it's there. But after you go without for like a month when you do try a bite of those fries or burger or whatever you choose, they just don't taste as good as you thought they would.
I've had that happen to me with McD's Fries. Use to love 'em and now I loathe 'em. They just don't taste good anymore.
Don't beat yourself up 'cuz we all falter. The key to success is having the attitude that you are already displaying. Remember that tomorrow is a new day.
Chow!

Hey, congrats on getting back on track! One little slip up doesn't ruin anything as long as you pick yourself right up!