I am a bit puzzled by this Slimming World diet.
I really liked the Rosemary Conley diet class because the teacher was the first person I'd heard state the obvious: if you eat more calories than you use you will gain weight. Also the class stressed the importance of and incorporated an hour of exercise, but, as I said, there aren't any classes in this area any more.
From what I've seen so far of the Slimming World diet you can eat limitless quantities of some things, which while they may not be high in fat or sugar, have calories - so you can end up eating lots of calories.
And they make no mention I can see of exercising or at least moving. So it's learning a whole new way of thinking.
But several people have told me of their great success with it so perhaps they do know what they're doing - they call it food optimisation. However I mustn't fall into the trap of eating grapes by the bunch again. Last time I did this sort of diet I stuffed myself on grapes in spite of Husband telling me they're full of sugar and you shouldn't do that. I did lose weight though ...
Not quite a virgin as I did the SW diet many years ago, back when we had green days and red days.
But I got there! In spite of the rain and the disinclination I went and signed on for 12 weeks of Slimming World. That will take me up to Christmas just about. And in theory I should be able to lose the stone I want to lose by then. If I follow the diet properly. It all sounds quite complicated ...
The teacher began the welcome-to-newbies class by showing us a page in the recipe book. 'This is the most important page,' she said. 'Here it tells you how to make chips.' Sounds like my sort of teacher.
Apparently you have to eat a lot of some things, and I mean you can eat a lot. I'm going to have to study the book as she ran through it quite quickly.
During the group session I had to chuckle to myself when she kept asking people if they were getting enough speed. (Speed foods - mostly fruit and veg I think - as opposed to the drug that I'm more familiar with.) (No, I'll rephrase that. I don't mean I'm familiar with the drug itself but rather the discussion of it in Zac's.)
Came home to Husband's sausage curry and the remains of the rhubarb crumble and ice cream. Diet starts tomorrow.
Okay, that's 100 skips done.
And it's nearly finished me. I can barely type for panting. And I only managed to do about 7 at a time before I'd either trip over the rope or have to rest. Dear me, I need to get back into exercise.
Speaking of which I have ordered a new fitbit - or rather a vivofit, an old model of a different make that is less than half the price of a fitbit. It turns out that the manufacturers of Fitbit don't offer repairs. The best they do is give you 20 or 25% off your next purchase.
My heart is still thumping.
And I am investigating Slimming World classes. I really liked the Rosemary Conley class because it was followed by exercise but there don't seem to be any in my region.
There is a local SW class on Wednesday at 5.00 pm.
Watch this space.
65.6 kg.
That's the biggest I've been since I can remember. So big I'm not even going to convert it to stones and pounds.
I wonder if you can reach a maximum weight, after which you don't put on anything. I suppose if you continue to consume more calories than you use then no. In which case one day I'll wake up and find I have become one of those exceedingly obese people, the sort I see on the street sometimes and wonder, 'how did they get so big without noticing?'
I've been working on the principle that I'm poorly - I've had shingles - and so deserve to eat as I feel like it. And Husband has been poorly so I've been walking George every day - so that will use up all the extra calories. But apparently not.
Hey ho. Tomorrow is another day, as Scarlett was wont to say. In fact today is another day and one that is just starting so let's aim for a loss of the kg I put on last week.
If ever I needed encouragement to diet this photo of me and the Clyne Ness Monster would surely do it.
I met up with a new potential instructor for the Zac's women's fitness class last week and she was great. I was about to say, 'I should exercise more' when I stopped and said, 'No, I hate the word should.' Hannah, for that is her name, said, 'In the philosophy book I'm reading it suggests changing should for a more positive phrase so you could say, more exercise would do me good.'
She also mentioned that skipping is the best form of aerobic exercise. 'Start small in anything,' Hannah suggested. 'Set yourself a low target and as that becomes easy increase it.'
So I have got out my skipping rope and in so doing have reached my first target. Maybe tomorrow I'll use it.
Of course the skipping Hannah was talking about is the sort you see boxers doing: two feet jumping up at the same time. My skipping is more infant playground based.
But I'm sure that will be almost as good.
