Weight Loss - What to Eat? .....by Heather

I have lost about 3lbs.
My weight loss to date has been less than half a pound a week.

From a standard weight loss regime perspective, this represents small and slow loss - however, it is a loss overall and I have not actually been dieting per se,what I have done is simply cut out the added sugar.

I have faltered too - often unknowingly, I think something is ok to eat, only to find it isn't. But I learn every day.

Also, I won't lie. Reducing sugar like I have leaves me with a hollow sensation, even when I haven't really made very much effort to reduce my meals in many other respects and technically I know I'm really not hungry. I also know that in days gone by, following this sugar restricted diet would have seem me dropping off the lbs much more readily - a few weeks would have seen a much more obvious loss.

When I talked about moving on to part 2 of my plan - I talked about reducing my reliance on carbs - and I have spent some time looking at my regular menus and family favourite meals - and what I realise is  we have a very heavy reliance on carbohydrates for practically every meal. This actually shocked me a bit.

Generally my overall goal is to lose some weight now, especially that dangerous middle weight that in my age bracket signals some serious crap around the internal organs - 2 stone would satisfy cosmetically and would probably do the biz with regard to my hip/waist ratio; but that's not really such a small thing to accomplish.

So whilst I aim to work toward an overall healthier diet that will be a blue print to work to for the rest of my life, in order to really move this 'overweight' I am carrying, I have to make some sacrifice now to start to actually shift weight more consistently, and more in line with what the standard diet suggestions of 1-2lb per week.

It's been quite interesting this week - looking at new foods, things I wouldn't normally eat or tweaking old favourites. Traditionally when I start looking at trying to lose some weight,  I always fall back on apples, bananas, raisins, diet yogurts (full of sugar of course!) to fill the void. This time, even though fruit doesn't fall in to my 'added sugar' ban, they are particularly sugary in terms of the biochemistry of the things once they have been swallowed.

I want to try and break some of my old habits, because clearly, now, I have to shake things up a wee bit - or else my actual weight loss will be negligible.

Time is a constricting factor for me during the week - kids and office hours, mean I am stripped of time for leisurely breakfasts; I'm sorry to say I eat my breakfast on my feet - it's gluten free porridge with linseeds in mug, I make it sloppy so I can drink it as I herd the kids from bed, to breakfast to bathroom and make packed lunch.

I do intend however to be more considered about my weekend breakfast - I like porridge and don't really want to forsake something I really have always liked and is very convenient during the week - but weekends will see me shake it up a bit and go for more protein based meal options - like hey ho, Bacon & Eggs say.

Lunchtime will see the drastic change - instead of opting for the lazy cheese sandwich, I will be thinking more leafy and more protein based.

Instead of snacking on apples, bananas, and raisins - instead I am thinking of Greek yogurt, nuts and even some Almond Milk or some nut butters - organic unsweetened peanut butter or almond butter - not entirely sure what to do with them other than spoon them in my mouth - but this gives me something else to investigate over the weeks to come.

Our main meals are a challenge simply because I don't want to be massively out of step with the rest of the family, I don't want to be cooking two meals at a time - for both time and money considerations. We have started migrating from white flours to whole grain - but for the sake of our home economics, I have stuff still in the kitchen cupboards that need eating before the change occurs wholesale. I will over the weeks to come introduce recipes as I find them to hopefully balance the plate for the entire family and reduce our preponderance of carbs in our dinner.

Alls good really, it will be interesting these next few weeks to see how it develops.