I'm a few days late with this one.

Right ….. now where do we start?

Firstly there seems to be several kinds of dieters …for starters there is the ….'Lets get it off quick …at any cost …its swimsuit time.'

And the 'Lets be really organized and meticulous about everything eaten down to the last gram'

And then the popular 'Lets join a club …need the support … and love the company.'

Then the oh so common 'Need to loose weight but no-one is being told in case of failure.'

And I dare say you could add and add to the list....which are you ? ...I tend to be of the mind set of the second one.

Next there are the diets themselves … there are so many …and they go in and out of fashion too but here are a few you probably have tried …with success …or not.

Low fat

Hi Carbs

Low GI

Green days red days etc.

Calorie counting

Points counting

Eat healthy with portion control …

It’s a minefield and I have tried loads over the years. I find they never work so well second time round either …maybe it’s just me.

My biggest success ...well my only real one

The best for me was a very low fat diet when i was in my forties ...it took a year ...I lost three and a half stone ...dropped from a 20 to a 12ish ...and it took 2 years for it to start to creep back on as I was so brain trained into knowing the amount of fat in every morsel of food that was about to enter my mouth, I just could not eat them if they were high in fat ...except cheese which I love

Sounds great BUT I became addicted …I was found scraping grated cheese out of my mouth, after making the kids sandwiches, as I had absent mindedly picked up the remaining cheese bits from the board …scary eh. My late husband managed to get me to stop although I wailed loudly for several weeks that I still had a stone to loose….not sure where from, as my hips measured 35” and my waist 26”… with 36E boobs that were beginning to look like empty socks ….you measured every part of your body every week …it took ages …I think there were about 18 measurements.

I later read that there are side effects to such a low fat intake …one being the growing of gall stones due to the gall bladder sitting there inactive as there’s no fat to break down. I think that’s why I have a ‘silent’ gallstone which was discovered about 10 years ago.

Twenty odd years on and I have put on loads of weight….due to eating too much (I admit it here in black and white)…bereavement …giving up smoking ..and moving to somewhere that seems to have more bakers than anything else …and I have such a sweet tooth.

I am not at my heaviest at the moment …that was a year after giving up smoking but I am still nearly 3 stone heavier than when I started my low fat diet all those years ago …and about 7 stone more than the charts probably say I should be…. I would be happy with being 4 stone lighter …lets face it a stone would be fine for me really …but not the doctor, now that I am diabetic. Now where do we go from here????

Watch this space.

Take care xx

My Healthy Eating MUST Begin Soon.

So you want/need to loose weight and cant get your mind set right. …well that’s exactly where I am at the moment.

I find talking helps me focus but for those around me it makes them go cross-eyed and groan. I’m not very good at sticking to things …like dieting…I give up if I have no one to talk to about how I’m doing and feeling but I HATE the thought of a slimming club…and no-one can persuade me other wise. This is why I finally decided to do this blog …as a kind of sounding board …even if no one else reads it …and to let others, who may come across it, and who feel like this, know that they are not alone…. it can be a struggle for some…and for many, as hard as climbing a mountain when unfit … but being skinny is not the goal …being healthy is….and hopefully a few pounds lighter.

I have loads of recipe books and have bought some diet ones recently …but I am not inspired by what I found in my recent purchases. I think the answer is to see if one can make the recipes one loves into healthy ones …and if I like what I make I’ll record it on here. There will be no calorie counts or breakdowns of what they contain …and its up to you if you want to try them…. depending on the diet or healthy eating regime you follow.

I shall jot down useful tips as I come across them… you may already know them …but you might not ... they are really all memory jogs for me. The recipes are reminders of what’s nice to eat and not too fattening so that I can make them again.

I’m not going to weigh myself very often … maybe once a month or so…all I want is, to find that the pointer on the scale is going down ward … and for me to feel healthier. Hope a few will drop by as I focus my mind on the job in hand …and just say ‘Hi’ …it would be nice to know I wasn’t alone. …but not essential.

If anyone is reading this ….I will be back here tomorrow with more musings on dieting … in the hope that I shall become more focused on the job in hand.

Take Care xx