Manda's First Post

I'll start off by saying that I've done this before... kind of.

In my last year at school and first years at uni, I had this nasty habit of eating chocolate bars for dinner. When I was encouraged to start Weight Watchers by a friend of mine (let's call her "Dietta" as she is likely to pop up in my tale from time to time) in 2005, I weighed in at 93.4 kilos.

That number was enough to spur me on for the good part of a year, and I lost 17 kilos by eating well and excercising (down to 76, the top of my healthy weight range). After I could no longer make the meeting I attended, I tried to join other meetings, but without the accountability of a friend, I didn't last, and I decided to keep trying on my own.

The bad news is:
I didn't quite keep to the points guidelines, and I exercised less. I stopped losing weight.
The great news is:
While I failed to lose weight, I didn't eat enough to gain any. I currently weigh 76 kilos. (Hooray!)

But I had never properly finished, and the nagging "almost there" remained on my mental cassette loop. So now, with accountability (in the form of this blog) in tow, I have decided to do it properly again.

My big goal: Lose 6 kilos (to 70) and fit into a size 10-12 (without sucking tummy in).
Currently: 175 cm, 76 kilos, and a size 14. And I have a big tummy!

How I'm doing it:
1) NOvember. In order to combat the YEStober I just had, I'm going to say no to the food people offer me, unless I am positive I can have only one and it won't be going over the points. These people include church and small group members (see femina's recent post) and my boyfriend. (I'll review this in ?cember).

2) Paying attention to my (Weight Watchers) Points Count and refusing to graze mindlessly.

3) Excercising. As people motivate me, I've joined a weekly basketball team. The excercise is fun and I don't need to force myself to do it. I'm also going to build up to a fitness class or two.

4) Prayer! I need to keep in mind that there are many more important things in God's eyes than my weight, but also I need His help to avoid obsessing about food (either eating it or not eating it).

Things to watch out for:
The kitchen cupboard. As of last month, I am residing once again with my parents. There are 4 shelves in their clever cupboard design:
- foil, glap wrap, boxes and cough lollies at the top
- chocolate bars, biscuits, lollies, cookies, and sweets at eye-level (there are about 25 different kinds of sugary food represented here)
- cereal, bread and salted nuts
- soup, rice, noodles and things that have long since passed their used-by date
It's the second shelf that is the problem. I wonder if they'll let me tape a curtain over it?

Ok, I'll talk about rewards later. This post is definitely long enough.