Week 2 – Self Control and Weight Loss

If I wanted to give the past week a theme I would have to say self control and weight loss.  I would of thought that by reducing my calorie intake and maintaining my exercise I would have been hungrier.  You can see from the picture above the key nutrients MyFitnessPal is tracking. I above the recommendation in my sugar intake which might look bad.  But as you can see from my food diary my sugar intake is predominantly coming from natural source.  The only exception is my can of coke after my cycle on Sunday.

I now have to start applying the lessons I learned last week.  By doing this I will create new habits which should make it easy to keep the weight off after the 4 weeks.  What lessons am I applying?

Controlling Hunger

We as humans are quiet bad at regulating our thirst.  Many of the times when we are hungry we are actually thirsty!  I was one that whenever I have felt hungry in the past I have grabbed something to eat.  Using the excuse of “I exercise a lot so I can snack on whatever I like”.   I have told people in the past was to drink water when they are thirsty citing the above reason.  The last week I have been making the point of drinking at least 250ml of water whenever I am feeling hungry between meals.  By doing this I am finding the feeling of hunger subsides.  As a side benefit I have reduced the amount of calories I am consuming as water has 0 calories.

Mini Chocolate Muffins

You are probably wondering what’s become of the mini chocolate muffins?  As you may have learned last week if they are in the house I am going to eat them rather than throw them away.  I also have a soft spot for lamingtons, hot chips, potato chips and corn chips too!  I have in the past been known to eat a whole large bag or potato or corn chips while watching a movie.  Just in case you are wondering a 200g bag of Samboy BBQ Chips is 1064 calories, 67.2g of fat of which 30.4g are saturated fats and 2000mg of sodium!  Remember my goal daily intake is only 1640 calories!   As of last week I have removed all of the above from my diet.  How have I done that?  When I went shopping this week I didn’t even go down those isles.  I figured if they are not here then I will not eat them.

Overeating

Before starting this I know I have thought many times during the week ‘I have eaten too much’.  Usually this occurred after my meal at night.  Again I used my exercise as an excuse even though I did feel a slight amount of discomfort.  I did not give much thought as to the abundance of calories I’ve just ingested despite going to bed in a few hours time.  This week I set a mini goal of not experiencing that over eating stuffed feeling.  In order to do this I have changed a couple of things.  I have consciously reduced the size of my evening meal.  I have slowed down how fast I am eating.  Did you know it can take up to 20 minutes after you start eating to feel full?  Lastly, I have delayed my desert by waiting 15-20 minutes after I have finished my meal.

How have I been feeling?

Being a very active person I was worried that my exercise may suffer from reducing my calorie intake.  I have been maintaining my normal amount of exercise during the last 2 weeks.  I have been pleasantly surprised because I have been feeling great.  My energy levels during the day have been normal.  There has been no decrease in my performance with my cycling.  If anything I am feeling my cycling performance has improved.  But it is something that I will keep an eye on over the next weeks.

There you have it, my insights for the last week.  You can click on my Nutrition Report Week 2 for a full breakdown.  Feel free to ask me any questions you may have.  Week 3 here I come!