Thoughts

Still excited by my challenge completion and achievement, I thought it would be good for me to look back over the last 6 weeks and review the challenge and my thoughts around it.

So what was the intention and goal for the challenge? Essentially I wanted to get myself off the junk food, reign in or preferably stop the binge eating and lose some weight. Well, tick, tick and tick! It’s only a start, my habits have not been ‘fixed’ in a matter of 6 weeks however there is no denying that the challenge has succeeded on all those levels.

So what was good about the challenge?

• No bingeing
• No junk or processed food
• Finding that my appetite deceased over the course of the challenge
• Realising that I do not need food for comfort, I clearly do not need to turn to it
• That is was easier than I thought it would be!
• That for the majority of the time I did not feel deprived. This is very different to how I’ve felt when I have been on weight loss diets or attempts to stop the bingeing in the past
• I found real pleasure in eating foods that are traditionally classed as ‘bad’ foods like butter and have felt nourished and satisfied by them. They have helped me be less drawn to binges
• That I followed the challenge through to the end and that I really achieved something. This has given me a great sense of satisfaction

And what have been the challenges/things I have found difficult?

• Living through the tough moments when I really wanted to eat!
• Bread/sugar/junk food cravings, especially at the beginning
• Finding that I have found it tough to restrict certain foods – coffee, chocolate after dinner, a glass of wine. They have not been binges but they have been things I have ‘leaned’ on
• Eating out – I found it hard to be able to eat at just any old place as so few options followed the plan
• Continually having to be organised and plan ahead – it can be pretty time consuming! Being organised however definitely pays off

Given the success I’ve had with this challenge, I have decided to set myself a new one to help me further along this journey to better health. Details tomorrow!

So my eats for the day:

Brunch – Vegetable and haloumi omelette with a slice of buttered spelt sourdough toast

Snack – Smoothie made from banana, avocado, coconut oil, cacao powder, salt, stevia

Dinner – Beef burger patty and haloumi on the BBQ with a big salad

In the afternoon my man and I went for a long 3 hour walk up to the lake. It was hot and sweaty, but a good workout and pretty peaceful too walking through the forest! Lush.