Week 076 - 76.6 kilos (169 lbs) lighter over 76 weeks! - How I got back on track - Plus my strategies for surviving Christmas parties.

I'm back on track after my mental slip up Melbourne Cup day, so keep reading to find how I got back on track and my strategies for the upcoming Christmas challenges.

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So, three weeks ago I had a huge mental relapse. I reverted back to some old habits and ate in secret, ashamed at the time, of what I was eating.
It was not a good day, and you can read about it in my previous blog post - Link

But I realised that this is life, and I still have a food addiction and I need to put strategies in place deal with those challenges, especially with Christmas coming up fast.

I think the following image sums it up perfectly.

It is absolutely critical to my success that I accept that this is normal.
I will regain weight that I've lost sometimes.
I will miss my regular walk or resistance band workouts sometimes.

And I will go off track.

I have, and it was a real shock to the system.

But like the image says, how I REACT to that will determine my long term success.

And that is the true key.

I say this constantly, but CONSISTENCY is critical to success.

In fact, I wrote a whole blog post on it a few weeks ago.
It is the number 1 key to my Weight loss success.

If you missed it, or need a refresher, you can see it here - Link

This next image also sums up perfectly how I moved on after my temporary slip-up.

Previously, when I have had bad times, I simply gave up.
Or I felt guilty, and then punished myself by starving myself, and then felt like shit for 'failing', and then gave up.

But over my journey, I have learned the following.

• It is entirely normal to go off track
• I am human, and I will fail (sometimes).
• How I react to that failure is what will determine my ultimate success.
• Motivation will wane, but habits will get me through
• My meal prep is absolutely critical for me to lose weight
• I need to simply 'Get back on track'
• I need to weigh and measure EVERYTHING I consume.
• I need to track EVERYTHING in the food tracker

If I am consistent with everything above in the vast majority of the time, success will come.

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So what exactly did I do to get from the dark space I was in a few weeks ago to actually being ahead on Christmas goal of losing 80 kilos in 80 weeks.

Well of course I used the strategies above.

Specifically, I tweaked by diet ever so slightly, but just enough to nudge me back on course.

I tweaked the following

• Reduced my indulgences from 1.7 daily indulgence down to around 1.0 daily indulgence.
• I reduced my two salmon meals in quantity (salmon is high in fat, but it is a good fat)
• I previously had a salmon portion that was around 230 grams
• I reduced these portions down to around 150 grams each

These tiny changes were enough for me to boost my weight loss, and most importantly, allow me to gain control back of my food intake and weight loss. This supercharged my mental state as well.

Previously, in my many failed attempts at weight loss before joining the CSIRO TWD program, I would have simply got depressed due to my self-perceived 'failure' and then given up.

Now I have learned to accept that I am human, accept that this is simply a setback and is entirely normal (not a failure). 

Now I have strategies in place which I can use for life.

And they will get used as I have Christmas parties, and of course our family get-togethers for Christmas and Boxing Day.

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And exactly how did I go numbers wise with these strategies?

Well, I certainly got my reward on the scales.

As you can see on the image below, my I had some weight gains at the start, even though I eat and exercise the same each week.

I know that weight loss is not 'linear' and that it changes constantly, but I also need to tweak my diet often as I lose a kilo a week constantly and I still have about 10 to 20 kilos to lose.

As you can see, I started tweaking my indulgences on Friday 22nd and it was enough to really boost my weight loss.

I know from experience that I usually have some big losses and then followed by gains as my body adjusts to the big losses and resets itself. Over the course of the week (Friday to Friday), it averages itself out to around a kilo a week. Pennie my dietitian doesn't like me weighing myself daily due to the huge variations I have, but I do it as it keeps me focused.

And going my official weigh in day, I lost an astounding 2.1 kg from the Friday to Friday.

I am not too worried about losing too much as I knew that Saturday (yesterday now), would be a challenge at the street Christmas party.

Did I overeat? - Yes
Did I overeat indulgences? - Yes
Did I enjoy myself? - Yes

Am I worried that I will gain weight due to me overeating? - Sure, but I accept that
Did I go back on track on the Sunday? - Absolutely - I went for my one hour walk and I am about to eat my salmon (the smaller portion) for my Sunday lunch.

So what are you strategies for surviving the upcoming holiday challenges.

Share them in the Facebook groups so we can all learn from each other.

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Join us in the Facebook Groups to share your journey.

So come on and join my private Facebook Group (only members can see what you post). 

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Join us in the Facebook Groups to share your journey.

So come on and join my private Facebook Group (only members can see what you post). 

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I'd love to hear about your health journey, so come on and join my private Facebook Group (only members can see what you post). 

There are now over 1,700 members in this group and we would love to hear from you!

So c'mon and join me on my journey, I look forward to connecting with you via -

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Sunrise appearance video - Link
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Success Story - Link 

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