I lost a lot of weight many many years ago, using my Filofax and have never had a problem again – not for decades! Until the end of last year when happiness combined with lots of socialising caused me to slowly creep up in weight. Because I am fairly tall (1.7m/5ft 7) and usually very slim (probably a little underweight), I didn’t bother about it until my clothes stopped fitting and I was starting to feel uncomfortable. I guess I put on about 7kg/15lb.
When I had gone from my usual 54kg/118lb to over 60kg/132lb I decided to do something about it. It was starting to bother me. Mainly because my clothes didn’t fit but also I didn’t like how I was starting to look and feel.
I decided last month to use a TN to record my weight loss. I am not on any type of eating or exercise plan. I am just doing what I did before – eating a little less and walking a little more. I eat whatever I want but in moderation. Because I don’t have so much to lose it is motivating seeing it in graph format. Even if you go up and down from day to day, the downward trend is positive and motivating when you can see it like this. Naturally it is not for everyone, particularly if you keep gaining and you find it stressful to see the upward trend. I don’t have a target weight or a time limit but I would like to get to about 56kg/123lbs. Or at least until my favourite clothes are comfortable again. It can take as long as it takes.
I am doing it in my 12-notebook TN personal-sized cover from Strawberry Notebook on Etsy, using neon inserts from YellowPaperHouse, also on Etsy. I started the day I got them, 17 November.
I use one tiny grid notebook to chart the loss in 2H 2mm pencil (easy to edit mistakes). Each square is 100g. At the bottom I just record the date, my weight and my total loss. I am weighing every day as it suits me best. Other people prefer once a week.
I have a lined notebook for goals and milestones and a blank one for motivational quotes. If you so wished you could have one booklet for meal plans, one for exercise, one for compliments you receive as you lose, one for non-food treats. You could customise it with charms, bookmarks, pretty pictures stuck into notebooks etc and make it your own.
In addition to the notebooks, I have kraft folders which hold Hobonichi stencils and plastic sleeves to hold spare elastic.
In the new year I am going to use another grid notebook to create good habits like taking my vitamins every day – I will just colour in one square for every day I take them.
The nice thing about this one is that it is portable, flexible and customisable. It fits in my bag when I travel. And you can start over anytime you want.
What a wonderful idea! I commented to my husband last night that I had started to feel uncomfortable around my waist, a little poofier over the low rise jeans and that I needed to get onto reversing it immediately. You’re doing exactly what health care professionals recommend, which is to eat normal food in smaller portions and move more, but you’ve added a really great visual, which for many of us is the kind of thing that helps keep us on track. I’m going to use this starting today. Recently a personal trainer/certified nutritionist friend said that a couple of the biggest problems she runs into with her clients is impatience and wrong motivation/mindset. They wait until a few weeks before an important event and want to starve themselves down to an unreasonable size before the wedding/reunion/graduation, etc., then go right back to bad habits after it’s over. Much better for us to make up our minds that it’s the way we need to live and figure out a way to do it for the long haul. Thank you for a great tip. Btw, whatever you’ve been doing since I’ve known you obviously works. You always look fantastic.
Thanks Lore! From previous experience, I know diets don’t work. Well they don’t work for me anyway. As soon as I can’t have something, I want it desperately! This way I don’t deprive myself, the weight goes off slowly and stays off. I need the visual for motivation so hope you find it helps you too.