In the past I have been one of these people that wanted the results straightaway and to be honest 2lbs just didn’t cut it. But now I look at the scales saying 22.10 instead of 22.13 it actually has a lot more meaning to it then it did 10years ago.

I know they say losing weight gets tougher as you get older, I certainly have some friends who have always been able to drop the extra pounds easily when needed too.but now they struggle and have to put a lot of effort in. I think it has finally made them realised what it is like to have to diet for more than a few days.

I on the other hand find this easier than anything I have ever done. Not only is there just no thinking or planning about it. In fact the only thing I have to think about is what we want! Ok sometimes that comes with its own issues, when you fancy one thing and everyone else has other ideas.

The thing is though I don’t have to think argh I’ve got nothing in the cupboard that will is say slimming world or weight watcher friendly. As long as I can make up a reasonable size meal that includes some kind of protein,carbs and veggies I’m happy.

We did try the diet plate principles and it just didn’t work, despite eating a plateful of steak and kidney pie with veggies and no Potts. Within the hour I was starving, I think I need to accept my body is use to the staples I have always given it.

Sure I could try and break that habit. But then I don’t want to, I can’t think of anything worse than being out and ordering a dish and then asking for them to hold the fries etc. I’m just not willing to give up my eating experience’s

Food is to be enjoyed not endured.

Which brings me to today the weekend is now upon us and as think about it what I did in the week isn’t going to work today. So rather than try to bend my day to fit the food plan. Which nearly always ends in disaster, so I’m going to bend the food plan to fit my day!

We are off out soon and usually we head out on empty stomachs, get desperate and eat without thinking. So today I’m doing brunch before we go of boiled egg and soldiers. Then while out (which happens to be a food fair) if the opportunity arises I will have cake or goodies mid afternoon.

If I do that then it will replace having anything later on this evening in front of the tv. We then have dinner booked for on the way home. I’m hoping that by taking the time out to think about it, I will have a more successful day than I have in the past.

Eventually the plan will be that at weekends we will be out doing some kind of exercise which will combat the little extras I might have at the weekend. We’re not quite there yet, but soon maybe next weekend.

I got a lot more done this week than I thought and if I can get the dogs clipped off then we will be heading to the beach with them.

Which is exactly what I have been trying to do with my 2meals plan, I’ve been so busy tweaking it to try and fit in with my new lifestyle/schedule. That I literally haven’t seen the bigger picture. No I’m not a failure for not being able to stick to it and no the diet doesn’t work. We know it’s works otherwise I wouldn’t be sitting here at 23stone.

It is a case of wrong diet wrong time, like I said I have had time to think since the boy has gone back to school and after another failed day yesterday -actually it was after the fourth snickers- I actually went into a bit of a mope for the afternoon which let my brain chill down and think. So this morning I have come out the other side of my self imposed misery, With a new plan of attack.

Bare with me on this hopefully i will be able to describe it without confusing you all.

one of my dilemmas has always been I like to get the horses done early, but then equally I want to get them out as soon as possible. This would often lead to me just turfing them out so I can get mucked out and back into have my lunch, because despite not being hungry first thing you can bet your life I would be thinking about food constantly from about 11am

Even yesterday when I was getting the stables ready and clearing up the Hay barn, I was clock watching so much I know it only took me four mins to sweep the yard. Where as before on the old routine I would only have Nas to do, and he was on shavings so it really was very little work compared to know where they are on straw and I have a whole yard to maintain.

It was also made easier knowing that there was a good chance me and Steve would go out for lunch, which would involve a substantial lunch. Now I am trying to get through the day on a homemade sarnie, which doesn’t quite have the same appeal as say BBQ on ciabatta. This is where I have been trying to tweak but then it just goes to pot.

So the other big change is the boy now goes to school rather than nursery and whereas before he wasn’t home until near tea time, he is now home just after three. This we all know is my struggle time of the day so it doesn’t help when he comes home and starts munching. I find it really hard to go from lunch at 12 until dinner which is now at 8pm the earliest because Steve is at work until them.

The bizarre thing is we use to eat out a lot and dinner was often booked for 8pm. So I definitely have a mental block on this at the mo which I need to get back in control off. Mainly because I am always nagging at Steve that it’s his fault why we have to have dinner so late. That is something I need to work on as. Separate issue I think. But it won’t affect my new Plan of attack – even if the thought is slowly creeping into my head-.

So yeah there you have it life is a lot different now than it was when I started this blog, and it’s time I accepted that (being a typical Taurean I don’t accept change very well). Ok I hear you, you want to know what I am trying as from today. So here it is my new routine which I think definitely has potential for less tweaking.

6am: Take Steve to work
8am: get the boy ready for school
9am: feed the horses,tidy house,write post.
9:30am: have brunch cereal or toast
10am: work horses, turn out,muck out
3pm : pick up the boy
4pm : have snack cake/biscuits
6pm : get horses in
7pm : pick up Steve
8pm : dinner

So there you have it that is my new routine!

I gotta go I’m late for brunch and yes I do feel hungry.

I shall give you an update tomorrow.

I then walked the dogs before lunch, we did 1.5miles in 42mins. I’m kind of pleased with that seeing as I was trying to keep the dogs under control while sussing out a new area. the path is tough going in places and there is one hairey scarey place as you have to walk down the main road without a path. Luckily a kind farmer has left a track along his field and you can hop behind the hedge.

Again I am a stress head and worry a farmer will catch me and shout at me – Can you tell i come from an era where you respected/feared 3 types of people  your yard owner, local farmers and policemen – if the worse happens then i wont be able to do that walk, but for now I will keep trying to do it on a daily basis.

Diet wise, has been good I had brunch at midday scrambled eggs on muffins. Then about three ish we had tea and cake. I’m just about to cook dinner, it was going to be pork in white wine and sage sauce. but then i just noticed the fajita packet and some coleslaws in the fridge. oh the choices lol.

I should of just had my soup earlier, but I do like to wait until Horatio is in bed, which is usually about 7pm. I can’t wait until he starts school and we can start having dinner every night as a family. So to make the breakfast/cereal thing work for now, I’ve decided to start leaving it until a little later around 10/11 ish in the morning.

This way I get the morning rush done, muck NAS out and then i have couple of hours free until I have to bring Nas back in. My plan is to then walk the dogs while NAS has his lunch and then when I get back I can go straight out and do some work with him. Which will keep me active until I pick Horatio up from nursery. I’ve got to start adding in some extra kind of exercise, decided the sports active isnt for me too much setting up. I have seen that ps3 has some other exercise themed games out there that might be better so i’m going to give them ago. i need to get some strength into my legs (going to do some squats) i need to think about the muscles i will be using for trot work.

I just want to clear up I,m not going to be having cereal everyday, it’s just easier on the days that I am home alone to have a quick bowl of something, at the weekends our breakfast can be anything from pancakes to eggs benedict. It definitely tends to be more brunch, we all sit up the table and make a meal of it. Depending on what we have in the morning, dinner can be anything from soup to a full blown roast.

I,m also going to keep up with the fruit, I know some people say you can eat as much fruit as you like, it’s fat free… Well it might be fat free but not calorie free, a large banana can have close to 200 calories. I dunno about you but I can think of better things to spend those calories on. I do believe though that the health benefits of eating fresh fruit regularly can be of benefit. I won’t however beat myself up if I do eat cake instead of the fruit on occasion. I,m still trying to find the right balance.

At end of the day i am trying to get less calories in than I put out… I just want to make the most of both. I want to enjoy my food and exercise and not think of eating less doing more as a chore. Just your average person living their life to the full.

Well it would be if I didn’t weight 23stone and had the fitness level of a gold fish. I,ve managed in the last two days to put 4lbs back on. I know how i,ve done it and I,m not happy wih myself. Because right now I don’t even feel like I,ve enjoyed myself ok it’s all very nice as it goes in. But after that what are you left with… F’all, it’s also a double edge sword for me at the moment, seeing as we are trying to save and I,ve wasted money on food that will just make me fat… Hmm no hang on that’s not right, it’s not the food that makes me fat it’s the quantity. ok I had a xl bacon double cheeseburger, its the xl part that makes me fat, I should just of ordered an a standard one…

It’s those times when I really let myself down, I just don’t seem to be able to let myself go without having a full blowout. Hubby got me some kinder bueno eggs, my favourite. Again I had one bag with a cup of tea, and the other after dinner. If there had of been a third bag I would of quite happily of had that as well. As it happened I ended up eating one of those chocolate rice krispie things.

I think I need to change my plan of attack, I had been fore going breakfast in favour of having lunch. But the problem I find with that is it’s usually a high carb lunch… Sandwich, baguette. About midday. This not only seems to cut my day a bit short because i find it hard to get moving afterwards. It also messes up dinner if I,ve had bread at lunchtime I don’t like to have it again for dinner, so when we would have soup or beans on toast, I tend to think hmmm can’t really and ironically end up choosing something that I,m sure would
be more calories.

Also on the days when I don’t do NAS and have Horatio home I find it hard to hold out until lunchtime… I find myself sitting around a lot just waiting until it’s acceptable to have lunch. Which usually ends up more like brunch. This then means we don’t get much done where as If I start having breakfast earlier, then we could get out and about for the day.

Today is going to be the first day I,m trying this. I,m going to have a bowl of cereal in a minute and then. See if I can go most of the day until dinner tonight. I will have fruit if I get really bad. And something small around 4ish. This would be the kind of daily routine i was expecting to have once Horatio starts school.

Think I will go back to day dreaming about that hack now… Had breakfast, Horatio at school and I,m free to wander the countryside on my trusty stead….

Jordans strawberry country crisp hmmm