CHOCOLATE!!! My favourite diet-friendly options

As well as being sick this last week I've also had my period. While I love getting it every month because I get to celebrate not being pregnant, I also hate it.

My feelings of extreme dislike are brought about by two factors. Firstly, on the first day I feel really awful (this is a get out of exercising, no questions asked, type awful that leaves me in bed for most of the day). And Two: I crave CHOCOLATE and salt and vinegar flavoured potato chips.

I have to admit it wasn't unusual for me to send my husband out to buy 1. 2 x 250g blocks of Cadbury's chocolate- 1 x peppermint and 1 x Turkish delight). 2. A 200g bag of chips. 3. Naprogesic.

These two foods seems to make me feel better. I don't know if there is some chemical reason I crave these, or if I'm just eating to try and distract myself from how gross I'm feeling. It's also likely that I use my period and feeling crappy as a way of justifying eating very poorly and eating junk food and not feeling guilty.

It goes something like this: "Don't you understand?! I have my period - I'm allowed to eat whatever I want. My body is an amazing, fertile organism and it wants chocolate and crisps. Who am I to argue?"

Now I know what you're thinking. The above is bullshit, it's a complete cop-out. I agree.

Now that I'm getting serious about losing weight I've had to change how much chocolate and what type I eat.

I want to share with you my favourite diet-friendly chocolate options.

1. Vitarium's sugar free Drinking Chocolate. 

This is delicious. It makes a great hot chocolate, but because it is so sweet I only use 2 teaspoons instead of the recommended 4. Each serving is only 9 calories and has only 1.1g carbs. (Of course when you make it you have to then factor in the extra carbs from the milk). I love it! it is so nice to have something warm, and sweet. Especially now that I've given up sugar entirely. Also this product doesn't have any bitter artificial sweetener after taste.

I have to admit that I have at some point during most days.

Finally I discovered that Vitarium also makes a kid's chocolate drink (found near the milo). It's EXACTLY THE SAME! The ingredients are the same and in the same percentages, the calories are equal, the taste is the same, but the kid's version is $2 cheaper! 

2. ... well, naturally's Sugar Free Dark Chocolate in Mint Crisp. 

Why do I love it?

First, it's 70% cocoa, so you get all the antioxidants and health benefits that come with eating dark chocolate.

Second, you can buy a small size packet at 45g. There is a Law of Chocolate recently discovered by economists and physicists, and it reads: the amount of chocolate consumed is equal to the amount of chocolate that person buys. If I buy a 200g block of chocolate I will eat all of it. BUT because this is only 45g, it means I can only eat 45g. I NEVER buy more than one. Once I finish if I want another one I will have to go to the shops and buy it  and I'm really, just too lazy.

Third, it's only 2.1g of carbs. It is practically sin free! I could eat 3 a day and not worry about it effecting my weight. I'm not going to, but this is because I'm working on not comfort eating.

Feel free to leave your favourite diet-friendly indulgences in the comments!

Gym Routine

I finally sat down and organised my gym routine. Up until now I had been playing it a little fast and loose, changing things up, and choosing which class to do on a day-to-day basis. This was not the best approach, it lead to me skipping classes and most of the time choosing easier options. It also gave me too many choices: did I want to finish early, so I could do an easier class and ignore the mounting pile of reading I had? Or did I want to study longer and then do a harder class?

 Being presented with too many choices makes me anxious, not being organised also makes me anxious. I can be a highly anxious person! Especially when confronted with inconsequential choices. In general I think that the consequences of each choice are far more significant then they really are. I over analyse things, and doing this about which classes to go to both fills me with anxiety, and wastes my time. 

To stop this I have locked in a trial gym timetable. (Of course it's just a TRIAL timetable, because I will have to analyse how it affected my study patterns, sleep patterns, socialising time, relaxation time, and how it fitted in with my husband's schedule. All these factors will be re-evaluated after the trial period. See! You're starting to believe me that I over  think things). 

My Gym Timetable 

(I also have a complimentary study/research/reading timetable, but I won't bore you to tears by sharing that).

Monday

6:15pm CX-Workx
6:45-7:30 Body Combat
Total time: 1:15hrs

Tuesday

5:15pm CX-Workx
5:45-6:30pm Body Balance
Total time: 1:15hrs

Wednesday

REST DAY

Thursday

6:15pm CX-Workx
6:45-7:30 Body Combat
Total time: 1:15hrs

Friday

4:30pm Body Attack
5:15-5:45pm CX-Workx
Total time: 1:15hrs

Saturday

8-9am Circuit training
Total time: 1hr

Sunday

4:30-5:30 Body Balance
Total time: 1hr

Weekly total time exercising = 7hrs/week

Sometimes The Gym, Just Ain't My Thing

Urgh. My last week has definitely not been my best. In fact it hasn't even been mediocre. It's just been crappy, I have been crappy, everything has been kind of shit. I've spent the last week in bed sick and I've comforted myself with comfort foods. I haven't been able to exercise (and you know I actually missed it) and I didn't get the stress relief that it provides. This has been INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATING! But as I've started to feel better, I've been more positive and I'm not going to stress-out about it, or let it make me upset. Getting sick is part of life, and it is EXACTLY THIS TYPE OF THING, that I was allowing for when I made my monthly weight loss goals. At the end of the day, even though I haven't exercised, even if I did over eat, I am still on track to meet my end of August goal! I'm going to be fit and fantastic, and getting sick is not going to stop me (bitches!). 

However, last Friday (17/8) was a different matter ... 

I was feeling a bit rundown and tired. My throat was a little sore and I just wasn't feeling very energetic. I figured that on Wednesday and Thursday I had pushed myself too far at the gym (because I had fucking rocked my workouts!). Friday's symptoms I explained away, and I even found some discussion threads that linked a sore throat to working out too hard. 

So I compromised, I would study at home, mostly in bed, and then  go to the gym Friday night to do a core strength class and then a Kettle Bell routine. This was a mistake. 

Before I continue I want to clear a few things up. More often than not, I usually feel highly ambivalent about the gym. My feelings are in conflict. I "know" that I need to go to the gym to reach my fitness and weight loss targets. I know that after (if not during) I will feel better. I know that by that 10 minute marker I will enjoy being there, and wonder why I was trying to talk myself out of it all afternoon. I also know that it's completely up to me just how hard I want to work out. Despite knowing all these things, despite planning my day around it, and already packing my gym bag the night before, I will usually try to talk myself out of going. I remember the pain in my thighs after a workout, or when it hurts to laugh after doing a core-strength class. Mostly, I come up with false excuses, and for some reason (that I'd probably have to spend thousands of dollars trying to figure out) I can be quite self-defeating about the gym. 

After three months of gym going (at least twice a week!) I now go 99% of the time, but there is a small part of me that doesn't like it. Until last Friday (17/8) this disliking part would vanish when I walked into class. I would start moving, pumping, squatting, lunging etc. and I would start to feel better. This feeling good would keep increasing as my workout progressed. I love the gym because it's my opportunity to zone-the-fuck-out. It's the one place where I can stop thinking. I'm a very driven person and not understanding something drives me crazy! It's one of the reasons I do well at philosophy, I will keep thinking about a problem or question until I solve it. I will think about it in the shower, driving to uni, before I go to sleep, while watching a movie; in fact it's not uncommon for me to dream about it. I can be an obsessive over thinker. The gym however is one place where problems get driven from my mind. As I said I get into the zone, and after 5 minutes at the gym - I love it! 

But this did not happen on Friday. I just did not feel good. I just wasn't feeling "it". I wasn't being positive. I couldn't stop comparing myself to the other women there, and even though I was able to do a couple of moves that I couldn't do the week before, I was depressed. All I could see were my faults. So the class ended and I decided I would still do my Kettle Bell workout. I only got halfway though. Suddenly, (and hopefully inconspicuously) I burst into tears, right in the middle of the gym. All I could think was that I was never going to reach my goal weight and size, that I was kidding myself with this gym thing, and that I was too unfit, and too fat, to ever be any different. 

It was only after I had calmed down, and was in the shower, that I realised I was getting sick. Not only did I still have a sore throat, I now also recognised I had a headache, a temperature and was feeling nauseous and did not feel like eating (which is VERY RARE for me). Once I figured out I was sick it was much easier to be nice about myself again. It was ok that I was feeling this way, and I was only being so negative about myself because I was  feeling like complete crap. I forgave myself. 

I ended up being spending the next week in bed, taking it easy. I learnt that pushing myself if I wasn't feeling up to it, was going to end in disaster. Now that I am finally feeling better I'm getting back into my gym routine, but in the future I will listen to my body!

Flying at the Sun with Wax Wings

 We all know the cautionary tale of Icarus who is given wings made of wax and feathers by his father Daedalus. Icarus is warned not to fly too close to the sun, but he gets caught up in the moment. In his joy and love for flying, he loses sight of common sense. He becomes ambitious and overconfident as he flies higher and higher, getting closer and closer to the sun, until his wings melt, and he falls to his death. 

I, like Icarus, continually fly too close to the sun. I am notorious at setting myself unrealistic goals to achieve in a ridiculously short amount of time. I get caught up in the instantaneous joy of "making a life changing decision", "finally doing something", or "unleashing my full potential". Basically I get motivated to diet, and each time I choose the quick fix, knowing all the dangers, but assuring myself that "this time will be different". 

In reality I become over ambitious, and stop thinking rationally about the consequences. I get caught up in emotion, that rush of desire to be amazing. I then measure my awesomeness based on two numbers: either my weight or my clothing size. More often then not I use both. This rush towards finally taking "positive action"/ "doing something with my life" leads to fad dieting, unhappiness and the motivation disappears as fast as it originally came. I crash and burn. 

Some fantastic examples of past completely unachievable goals I've set myself have been: 

•   lose 10kg (22lbs!) in a month

•   do 2 hours of exercise EVERY day, no matter what. 

•   cycle up Mount Wellington (which cycling fans will know is a HC rated climb. HC is the HARDEST rating a climb can have. Enough to make Lance Armstrong's face a canvas of pain!)

•   cycling from Perth to Melbourne, with no prior training (that's only 3,600km/2,237miles)

•   Eat 400 calories a day, until I'm an Australian size 8 (US size 4)

ok, so by now you probably get the picture. You probably also noted that none of the above goals are shining examples of a healthy attitude to weight loss. OF COURSE I failed. Anyone with these goals would fail. 

... and let me tell you failing SUCKS! I would get in this cycle of setting unrealistic goals, taking extreme measures to achieve them, only lasting 3-16 days and feeling miserable because I was depriving myself, then I would succumb and have a breakout. One breakout, would become two, and before you know it I was eating the ENTIRE block of chocolate. This would lead to feeling like I was incapable of doing anything, a loser who was doomed to be fat forever, and I would beat myself up about being weak, lazy, stupid and obviously not wanting 'it' enough. 

Instead of realising that what I was trying to do was unhealthy and impossible, I would blame myself and see only inadequacy. Further as I slowly spiralled into being more depressed about it, I would comfort myself with - you guessed it - chocolate! At my lowest point I could eat FOUR blocks (that's 1kg or 2.2lbs) a week. This was on top of the sugary hot chocolates, the crunchy crisps and the bread and honey I would also regularly eat. As I said, my actions meant I was doomed to fail! 

So this time is different. I'm setting myself reasonable goals and following a diet that is sustainable. 

My weight goal is to weigh 64kg (142lbs). 

I'm currently 85kg (187lbs) and my heaviest weight this January was 93.5kg (206lbs).

That means that in total I would like to lose 29.5kg (64lbs)

My clothing size goal is to fit into an Australian size 10 (US size 6). 

I'm currently a size 14 (US size 10) and my biggest was a size 16 (US size 12).

So I would like to lose 3 dress sizes in total. 

Time-wise,  I am going to try to do it slowly and realistically. 

To allow for life (stress, setbacks, breakouts, holidays, parties, family gatherings etc) I'm going to try and lose 1.5kg (3.3lbs) a month. 

My weight at the beginning of August was 87kg (192lbs). Here is a complete list of my weight loss goals per month. 

2012

End of August = 85.5kg (189 lbs.)

End of September  = 84kg (185 lbs)

End of October = 82.5kg (182lbs)

End of November = 81kg (178lbs)

End of December = 79.5kg(175lbs) 

2013

End of January = 78kg (172lbs)

End of February = 76.5kg (169lbs)

End of March = 75kg (165lbs)

End of April = 73.5kg (162lbs)

End of May = 72kg (159lbs)

End of June = 70.5kg (156lbs)

End of July = 69kg (152lbs)

End of August = 67.5kg (149lbs)

End of September  = 66kg (146lbs)

End of October = 64.5 kg (142lbs)

End of November = 64 kg (141lbs)

So in 16 months I plan on losing 23kg (51lbs)! 

By doing it this gradually I'm hoping to keep my lovely wax wings intact. 

Before Pictures (aka SMUT)

Ok, so yesterday I talked about losing my virginity and today I'm posting half naked pictures of myself. In just TWO days my blog has degenerated into a world of smut. *sigh*


The naked pictures are my before pictures, and they were taken when I weighed 88kg (194lbs). 

My heaviest weight was 93.5kg (206lbs) but there was no way I was taking pictures of myself naked! In fact at that weight I'm pretty sure I avoided all mirrors, and only had sex with the lights dimmed and under the covers. I even blindfolded my husband once! However that was largely unrelated to my body issues 


... moving on, these are my before pictures, and I'm publishing them now as extra motivation to keep working towards the after pictures.

So there you are. There are now embarrassing smutty pictures of me half naked on the internet. When I reach my next weight loss goal (80kg/176lbs) I will add more, but for now these will have to do. 

Finally, while I'm hoping these become great before pictures when contrasted against the slimmer, fitter, healthier and sexier me in the after pictures, I'm also glad that none of my ex-boyfriends or university professors know about this blog!

Losing My Virginity

So here it goes, I'm losing my blogging virginity and just like the real thing it's probably going to be a bit awkward and clumsy. Also like the real thing I'm a bit confused as just how to get it started. Is there foreplay or do I just dive right in?

 I'm also a bit nervous, and have been thinking about doing this with a mix of excitement and terror for the last couple of weeks. Hopefully though, after a little while, I'll get used to it and come to enjoy it as part of my weekly routine. 

So I'm the shrinking philosopher and this blog is about my attempts to become skinnier as I also try to become a philosopher. I'm currently completing my PhD, and in between studying I'm trying to lose weight. 

Why? because I have been the size I am now, plus/minus 5 kilos for the last 7 years of my life. I'm unfit, overweight and while it's not making me unhappy, I think being skinnier and fitter would make me more happy.

As a teenager I had always been fairly active, I played basketball, netball, took part in competition ballroom dancing, swam and won several prizes at school because I was just so sporty. Then at 14 I tore my ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) on my left knee and didn't have surgery to fix it until I was   16. In those two years, the mild depression I had at 13 became stronger; I stopped playing sports, stopped enjoying exercise and stopped dancing.

Fast forward 7 years (aka now) and I'm 23. The odd thing is that I retained the image of myself as someone who was strong, fit and completely capable of doing anything, whether that be going for day long hikes, cycling up mount wellington, being stronger than my friends, having endurance, easily being able to play a game of netball or anything else - I was completely fit and fantastic! … But in reality I wasn't.

I had this mental image of myself and my fitness from when I was 14, and it hadn't changed even though I am now 23, married and really unfit. I was in denial.

The shock of just how unfit and overweight I was hit me when I recently saw pictures of myself at a Christmas in July party on Facebook. I was horrified. Surely that couldn't be me? Perhaps it was just taken at a really unflattering angle? But as I kept looking at the pictures and slowly worked my way through a list of excuses, I had to face the truth. 

I was fat, and I looked really unhealthy. 

I realised I had to do something about it, and I had to do it now! I'm 23, my twenties are supposed to be the prime of my life, the years when I'm bursting with energy and trying a bunch of new things. If I don't do it now what will I be like when I'm 30? 40? or 50?. 

This cannot wait and I have to give it priority. This is my journey to being skinnier, healthier and fitter!