End of June

I felt very nervous stepping on the scales this morning

Despite having an interview at lunch time today, I actually slept OK, only waking at 4:50am, so had managed to get about 6 hours of sleep - Not amazing, but certainly better than the last time I had an interview. I had been quite sensible last night and got my outfit ready for today - a combination of smart black jeans and a shirt. Normally I'd wear a suit to an interview, but as I'm working today, I need to be clever as we operate a casual dress code and if I came to work in a suit, everyone would notice something was happening straight away.

OK... Here we go:

Wow and wow. I stepped onto the scales 3 times as I wasn't sure they were accurate (I really think they're a rough guide as they seem to change a lot) but the same number was staring back at me each time. This brings my weight loss to exactly 7Kg, or 1 stone, 1.5 lbs in 2 months. Am I happy with this? Absolutely. I'm really happy as the number is going in the right direction, e.g. down! 

I'm now in the London office and it's really quiet. I'm hoping it stays like this and I can get my head down and do some work before heading out at lunch time. Despite it professing to be 'The hottest day of the year' I seem to be doing OK at the moment and am neither too sweaty, nor too hot. I''m hoping this can continue so that I look acceptable at lunch time :-)

So how has June been for me? Pretty good in regards to my healthy eating and weight loss, I think. In June, I:

1. Went on holiday and ate out 3 days in a row, one day included eating out a lunch time as well.

2. Ate macaroons and other things at the BBC Good Food Show

3. Ate crisps and potato wedges at my friends house for dinner

4. Only managed to go to the gym once in the last month which is pretty crap for me and I want to try and do better

So, despite doing the things above, I have managed to lose more than half a stone - I think it's important for me to continue to get it into my head that eating badly or not as healthy as I could for one day, won't make a massive difference, it really is the long term goal and as long as I'm eating well and making the right healthy choices most of the time, there shouldn't be an issue. I mean, I even managed to lose weight when I was on holiday because I was making the right choices when in restaurants and I think that's the thing I'm most proud of this month.

I'm also proud of the fact I really have made a massive effort to eat less processed food and this goal has certainly been achieved. My staple lunch of 'Pitta bread, houmous, tomatoes and raw pepper' has worked out pretty well for me and I'm also making dishes I've never made before, like broad bean houmous or healthy moussaka involving the Devils food of aubergines. 

Despite all the crap with my work, I've not turned to food as a comfort and this is honestly the first time in my life I've been able to cope without my BBQ Rack of ribs, bottle of wine and massive chocolate bars each night. Want to know something even more weird? Most of the time, I don't miss that food at all! I've been trying to eat 3 meals a day and not snack between meals unless I feel genuinely hungry. 

My goals for July are:

1. Do more exercise. I'd like to try and exercise at least once a week, just to keep my general fitness levels up.

2. Continue to eat less processed food as much as possible and cook more.

3. Drink more water - Most of the fluid I take into my body is tea, diet coke or Cherry Pepsi Max. Now I KNOW I won't be giving up Cherry Pepsi Max as I love it and don't care if it's unhealthy (I'm human, we all have our addictions) but drinking more water and cutting back on tea and diet coke can hardly be a bad thing.

4. Focusing on portion size - I DEFINITELY give myself huge portions and if I listen to my body properly, I throw a lot of my food away as I'm already full. 

I don't want to add any more goals as I need the head space to deal with work stuff and I want to make small changes each month so they feel achievable. I'm looking forward to what July has to offer and am still really motivated to continue my healthy eating journey and stop using food as an emotional crutch :-)