Noblehead, I don't know how long you've been dieting - or even if you've ever had to! - but I've been dieting for about 50 years now and I do know my own reactions to dieting and weight loss very well.
For me, dieting is purely psychological. I use food for comfort and treats and to give myself a little bit of love. Sometimes the self-destruct mind-set is triggered and I will deliberately gorge myself on things I know I can't have - though that is very infrequent, it's much more likely to happen in January and February than at any other time of year.
If I don't do something to kick-start myself now. I shall put it off and put it off, following my normal low-carb lifestyle but adding in the odd bottle of wine, or maybe allowing myself a little treat, or having a bit of comfort food because the weather is miserable and I know it won't spike my BGs too much, and so on and so on - and by the time I get to the end of March I'll be lucky if I'm back to where I was before Christmas, let alone have lost any more. That 2lbs was part of the Christmas 8lbs, not a new loss, and if I'd been Atkins-ing properly I would have lost the lot by now.
I've lost 60lbs so far this time, and I've got at least another 70lbs to go. My metabolism is due to have a protest because I'm forcing it below its usual comfort zone as far as weight is concerned. I need to give it a shock.
So I'm setting myself a challenge by having a go at something that interests me. I want to see what happens on this diet to someone who is usually tightly controlled and at pre-diabetic if not non-diabetic BG levels most of the time. I won't know whether I've lost internal fat because there's no way I'll get the MRI scans to prove that, but if I can have a bit of quick weight loss, say 14lbs in 5 weeks, it will motivate me to go back to my beloved Atkins and be content to lose a pound or so a week for a while.
And when the weather's better I'll be doing a bit more exercise, even if it's only gardening.
Please don't take the next bit personally, Noblehead, because this is not aimed at you, it's a generalisation about the many people who have never had a weight problem, and who think all you have to do is eat less and exercise more and all your problems will be solved.
It is not that simple. It's much more complicated than that. In my case at least, it's a constant battle inside my own head, with my self-image, my self-esteem, and whether I prefer the gratification of seeing the scales go down to the gratification of eating something comforting. And that's not the half of it.
I have a goal ahead - getting my new waterproof to zip up before I go to Inverness in mid-April - and I'm pretty sure the restricted calorie diet for a few weeks will help me get there.
Whether it will still zip up after Inverness is another question entirely! :lol: :lol: :lol:
Sorry to be so serious and to rant - you touched a nerve there, I'm afraid. :wink:
Viv 8)
