New start!

Last week was a shocker, but I feel I gained a lot more understanding about myself and I hope I can improve my situation in the future.

This week, I'm excited!! Because, I've decided to travel back to my home Australia in just over 2 months time - yeah!! So, I'm motivated to reach my first goal (lose 5 kg) before travelling home to see my family. I looked at my timeframe and I think it's realistic. I've already achieved (1.5kg loss) so I only have another 3.5kg to go. My goal is to achieve 0.5kg loss each week and I've got a few weeks spare for those weeks where you don't seem to lose a thing. I've also allowed myself to just maintain my weight loss while in Australia so I can have fun eating some foods but in moderation. I'll also be keen to go back and do some dancing classes to keep up some level of exercise while I'm in Australia.

My reward will be: a mini shopping spree in Australia. I should be a size smaller so will be excited to be buying some nice clothes for winter (great boots and awesome colourful coat for starters, ha,ha).

So that being said, this week I've set a few goals:
* Lose 0.5 kg (68kg)
* Plan to do at least 30mins exercise 5 x this week.
* Plan some healthy meals for dinners
* Work on portion sizes and eating slower

Eating slower is really hard for me, but if I can try harder on this one, I think it will prevent me from over-eating and feeling more satisfied with my meal and not looking for so many snacks.
So I want to try the following things this week:
* Drink 1 glass of water before my meal (while preparing the meal)
* Look at my plate and think about and serve myself reasonable portions for the meal (remember I can eat more if I need to)
* Sit down somewhere quiet and peaceful.
* Remind myself of my goals and talk through the steps I will follow for eating this meal
* Look at my meal and decide where I will stop (1/2 way through the meal)
* Take smaller portions of the meal on my fork/spoon/chopstick and eat the food slowly (chew at least 10 times).
* Put the utensils down between eat mouthful.
* Try to engage some conversation with a friend/partner if sharing a meal
* 1/2 way through the meal, stop eating. Take a drink, go to the bathroom, make some conversation. Try to stop eating for around 5mins.
* After 5 mins, assess how hungry I am and decide how much more of the meal I think I want to eat.
* As I continue to eat, assess how satisfied I am feeling. Try to stop when I feel satisfied, realising that 5 mins later I will probably feel full.
* Drink some water to fill in any more gaps I may feel.
* As soon as I've decided to finish, put my meal away (to avoid picking at it) and engage in conversation if the other person is still eating (this shouldn't be the case as you'll likely be eating much slower than the other person and they'll be waiting for you).

** Finally think about the way you look when you eat your meal fast. Imagine a pig scoffing down food versus a petite princess, slowly and beautifully and politely eating a meal. Which one would you prefer to be, the pig scoffing down the food and making other people around you feel disgusted watching you scoff your food or the beautiful, graceful princess who takes her time and looks beautiful while eating her meal.

On a more positive note: it's always a compliment to the chef and just a good thing for yourself if you take the time to really taste, feel and smell the foods. Enjoy food, enjoy your meals and enjoy life!!

OK, it's a bit to remember, so I'll print it off and keep it in my dairy or even on my wall at home where I eat so I can remember the steps. I hope this one will become a habit.

Cheers
Kirsty