Translation: You are what you eat, dummy. Watch the calories. And stop stuffing your face with cake and chocolate and icecreams and easy meals like meat pies!

Call me crazy, but I really, really thought I could get away with losing a few kilos without depriving myself of my comfort food IF I did a lot of exercise.

Well, duh, woman. That's not how it works. Not for most of us "blessed" with a certain metabolism anyway.

Having just watched The Biggest Loser (Aust) where they lose all that weight by training nearly full time, and totally changing their diet - it should be obvious, even if I didn't know it all already - that you actually have to watch what you put in your mouth as well! You know, both those girls in the final now weigh less than me! - though I must confess that I now think that at the finale, sweet mum of three, Alison (at 10 yrs younger than me), now looks gaunt in the face, and older than me! (She looked better about 10 kilos ago IMHO!! Plus! Size 10 dress?! I hate you!!)

My husband couldn't believe I'd "stooped" to watching a reality show, but despite the stupid parts about it, with the eliminations, and stupid competitions and all that crap, I couldn't help watching because I am inspired by the changes people can make to their lives. Given I have a lot of the stuff they do covered - oh how I would have loved to do that Hawaii challenge! - how easy should it be for me to lose just a few kgs over a longer time frame?... Seriously?!

Well, I must be some kind of stupid to think that I could lose weight without making some changes on the energy intake. Even if I only want to lose 5-10 kilos, as opposed to 50!

Meanwhile, though, the husband has been just casually ditching the kilos. (And looking trimmer, tauter and more terrific I might add.) Not fair! I cried as he hopped off the scales last night. (If this trend keeps going he will be down to my weight!)

"Well, I have changed my diet a bit." he said. "I haven't been ordering chips with lunch at work anymore"

"A bit?!! Well, I've cut right down on the beers and wine!" (I have a quite few nights a week now without any, yet he'll still have a couple every night..)

"But you and chocolate? And cake?..." he reminded me.

Grrrr. Just because he doesn't NEED comfort food. Does he ever feel down and reach for chocolate? No!! Sweet tooth? He hasn't got one. (And is he at home all day staring at the cake one of the kids made?! - Who said Temptation in TBL is unrealistic?! only in the real world, the "prize" is getting through the next hour. )

But, oh wait.. he's stopped drinking full strength beer now too! Well, I stopped drinking full strength beer ages ago, and it didn't make a single bit of difference to anything but my head.

To be fair, yes, he's been doing more exercise too (he's got up the last few Wednesdays, gone into town and ridden 50 odd kms in a road training cycling group.) But a 'few less' beers and chippies, and the kilos just evaporate from him. (Osmosis - they are probably transferring over to me!) I've also been doing more exercise than ever before, and I cut down big time on the alcohol, and... no change. If anything I've gone up a bit.


This has been my last few days:

Wednesday- a 50 minute walk.

Thursday - 54 km bike ride - on my own bike - probably 25km of it riding at a pretty steady pace by myself, the rest admittedly a more social ride)

Friday - 1 hour swim squad. (Maybe 2km of swimming, and some sprints in which I got heart rate up to 180...)

Saturday morning - 67km bike ride - on the tandem - average speed 31kph!



Saturday afternoon - (after racing out with kids to netball) - 3.7km paddle in kayak race, not slacking. (33 minutes).

(Plus last weekend a 20km bike ride one day and a 75km one the other!!)

Reasonably impressive exercise diary, no?

Do I want to detail a food diary here though? No.
Should I? Maybe.
But do I want to confess what I shovel into my mouth after intense bouts of exercise where my body is screaming - "Energy! Sugar! Carbs! NOW!" ? Never mind the snacks the other times.

NO.

Perhaps I should. It might make me more accountable.

Labels: losing weight