Once a week I record my weight. For me, this is concrete evidence that I’m eating well and moving around enough to shift the weight I put on during pregnancy. Although dropping a dress size and feeling more confident are incredible weight loss success measures too, I do feel a little frustrated if the number on the scales doesn’t budge after a week’s worth of healthy eating and exercise.
A few weeks ago I realised I had stayed the same weight for 4 weeks in a row. “What a waste of time” I thought. In an attempt to start new and healthy habits, I refrained from self-wallowing in chocolate and decided to look at what I had been eating and how much exercise I had actually done. In hindsight, I had overindulged on chocolate and prosecco. Also, I hadn’t managed to think about my day or week ahead and plan what kind of foods I could eat and when. I’ve always found that having a loose plan of a menu for the day and making sure I’m surrounded by healthy foods always keeps me on track. From that exercise, here’s what I did and the good news is, after a week of following my refreshed approach to weight loss I shifted 4.5lbs – and that included several meals out too!
Tips to get your weight loss back on track:
1. Own up to facts
I had to really question how healthy I thought I had been over the last few weeks. Having looked at the foods I was eating, it was quite obvious that old habits had crept in and I was overindulging at every meal. I really do believe you can enjoy everything you like when wanting to lose weight, but large portion sizes, alcohol and sweet treats have always been my downfall and it’s something I need to keep an eye on. So, I faced the facts and stopped being in denial about how healthy I had convinced myself I had been.
2. Advanced tracking
So, I use the Weight Watchers app every single day. I record what I eat and when. Usually, I record it as I’m eating it or on a few occasions (and which I wouldn’t recommend) after I’ve finished! This has sometimes backfired as I thought foods were lower SmartPoints than they were! Having spoken to my leader about my weight staying the same, she suggested I track my foods in advance. This means adding everything you’re going to eat for the day or the next day in advance. It sounds simple but it’s made such a difference. I used to roughly guess how many SmartPoints I’d eat, but it was never as accurate as actually tracking the foods in advance. This way, I know for sure that I can stay within my allowance and – this may be a huge sign of still having a baby brain – I’ve actually forgotten on several occasions treats I’ve scheduled into my day. This is especially exciting at the end of the day when I thought I’ve been out of SmartPoints but I’ve already allocated a little Weight Watchers chocolate to enjoy! Yum! I should also add that I had soup whenever I felt that I needed more than just a piece of fruit or veg to keep hunger at bay. Check out my lazy veg soup recipe here.
3. Keep exercising
Exercise makes me feel tons better and I’m sure that if I hadn’t kept up my running, spinning, Joe Wicks videos and walking, I would have gained weight instead of staying the same. So, I vowed to myself to keep up the exercise and I booked in sessions in my diary so that I was more likely to stick to it.
I hope these tips can help anyone who has stumbled across this page. Leave any tips you have in the comments below!