Learning respect, back to basics

WARNING: Boring weight loss blog post ahead...turn around now if it doesn't interest you!

So, I blogged earlier about using a slimpod from Thinking Slimmer and how I wasn't really seeing any huge change on the weight front. This puzzled me somewhat and I re-read my blog post a number of times, looking at my list of changes I'd noticed and wondering why they weren't translating into weight loss. For a couple of days I made excuses. It's because I'm breastfeeding. It's because I have some weird metabolic condition that has yet to be discovered. It's hormonal.

Then I thought, hang on a minute. If I'm not losing weight I'm OBVIOUSLY eating too many calories. Well duh! It's not rocket science is it? Yes, losing weight can be hard work. But I really felt my slimpods had sorted out my cravings and emotional eating. So if I still wasn't losing weight it had to be down to calories.

So I decided to go back to basics and count calories. Now, I've never actually counted calories before. I've done weight watchers, juice diets, exercising my butt off and various permutations of low carb. But I've never actually counted calories.

But I decided I needing something I couldn't 'cheat' at. I wanted something with nowhere to hide and I knew I needed to learn the true value of food. I didn't want to calorie count so I could eat lots of so-called diet foods. I just wanted to re-educate myself of the true calorific value of foods. I hate diet foods, I really do. But if I want to eat cake, I want to know if that cake is the equivalent (calorie wise) to a healthy chicken salad or a big plate of lasagne. I've spent too long cheating/lying to myself about food. Now it's time to face facts.

I'm relieved to say that I didn't need too much of an education. The only real shocks I got were around frappuccinos and lattes. But I have regained my respect for food. If I want a biscuit/cake/pastry, I'll eat it. But I have to enter it into my food diary and note the calories (using an app on my iphone - it's fab). If I'm heading towards going over my daily calorie target or I want more cake, then it's a great incentive to go for a run or do a fitness dvd.

But respect is definitely the key here. I have a greater respect for calories and I have a greater respect for my body. I want to nourish my body first, then if I have calories left over, then we can go to town on the pastries.

And the bonus is, the weight is starting to fall off! Hurrah!