Thursday evening, 10-10-24 and tip 3: recognise the need for change and be willing to change.

Good evening, everyone!  

I used up the last of a jar of beetroot this evening and was just about to chuck the vinegar away when I thought - would this make a nice salad dressing?
It would certainly make a very pink salad dressing but I haven't chucked the pickling vinegar as I usually so and I'm going to try making a small amount with evoo in the usual way and see.

Do you think that will work?

What I ate today:

Breakfast ended up as an apple, a pear and an easy peeler, eated on the run between coffee at a friends and going into town.  No photo, no syns!

The last of the quiche from last week,  I must make this again; feta is lovely in a quiche.

An easy peeler for dessert.

Half a healthy extra A

How I made this was . . .

I made a simple salad with leaves, tomato and yellow pepper with some of my salad dressing.
I roasted a small sweet potato in the air fryer, adding some shallot wedges half way through.

I had thawed a pot of mixed quinoa and puy lentils so I heated that up with some beetroot, added the roasted veg when it was done, mixed it all and tipped it onto the salad.  Finally, I added some bits of soft goat's cheese which went lovely and melty in the heat.

And that was that.  It was so good.

Afters was an apple.

Four syns for evoo in the dressing, two syns for evoo for roasting and one and a half healthy extra As (although, strictly speaking, soft goat's cheese is not an A, only hard goat's cheese)

Summary:

two healthy extra As

no healthy extra Bs

six syns

My meal plans for tomorrow:  It is Eat-Your-Syns- Friday but I think maybe I had that on Wednesday.  At the moment, I feel inclined to stick to plan so I'll see how I feel when the time comes.

B:  it's a taster at group so no idea.  I am taking pancake pennies with yogurt and strawberries to have on top.

L:  apple and parsnip soup, bread for dunking; fruit

D:  Not sure - perhaps steak, salad and chips.  I really fancy a steak.  Then either fruit or Fro Yo

Exercise:   personal training

The Extra Bit

Tip 3.  Be prepared FOR change and be willing TO change:

Someone once said something like:

If you always do what you've always done

You'll always get what you've always got.

I Googled it but it's not sure where it came from - the link to Henry Ford doesn't bear scrutiny, it seems, so who knows?

Anyway, whoever first said it in that way, isn't it just so very true?

Sometimes it seems to me that a considerable amount of weight loss success relies on our willingness to accept that change is necessary and that relies on us being honest with ourselves and reflective about who we are and what is holding us back and could be changed.

Assuming that we really want to - which takes us back to my previous tip regarding motivation.

It's also a journey in itself.  A decade or so ago, when change was ongoing in education, I was sent on a course entitled 'managing change'.  I can't remember many specifics now but I think I applied principles from it when I started me weight loss adventure.

First, analyse.  What is it that needs changing and why?  What is the problem/issue.  Be very specific, not general.  
Then select, prioritise.  What is most important right now.  You can't do it all at once (usually).

Thirdly, where do you want to get to - what do you want to achieve?  Identify your goal.

And then, the biggie - how?  Consider a strategy.  It might involve a bit of research - how did we manage before Google?

After a while, review.  Is it matching your lifestyle and environment?  Is it getting you where you want to be on your weight loss journey?  Is it working for you or are you working for it?   Are you satisfied?

Here's a personal example . . .

A while ago, I identified evening nibbling as a big issue that was damaging my weight loss.  

It wasn't that I was hungry exactly, it was an 'emotional habit'.  I 'needed' something sweet or savoury, high calorie and low nutrition each evening because that was what I was used to and I really wanted to break this habit more than any other eating behaviours that were bothering me

Coincidentally, I watched a podcast about Intermittent Fasting and was able to put the two together, realising that if it did the one, the other would stop.  I researched a bit more and was convinced that this was a healthy and helpful way for me to go.

So I started the 16-8 - that's sixteen hours of fasting and eight hours of eating window.  Because it was new, because I was convinced about it, the other stopped.  I started breakfast around eleven and finished my dinner by seven and that was that.  Something about the act of 'closing the window' satisfied me, finished my day and that broke the evening nibbling habit.
I still do it now, whenever it fits in with what I'm doing (which is almost always).  I'm happy with where it has taken me.

Anyway, the bottom line is that it really helps to firstly recognise and accept that some things need to change and secondly that change is down to you, it's your responsibility.
And mine . . . because . . .

If I always do what I've always done

I'll always get what I've always got.