As I told you last week (
here), despite being a serious sceptic to begin with, I've started listening to the weight loss hypnosis Slimpod. Just by listening to a ten-minute audio file once a day, the creators promise that you'll think yourself not only slimmer but happier as the Slimpod helps your subconscious mind make the right decisions on a day-to-day basis to find a healthier lifestyle.
Well, after just one week of listening to the Slimpod, I was amazed to see that I'd lost 1.8kg ! Totally unbelievable ! Sadly, this week the scales haven't budged by a single gram. But in some ways, that's a total victory because this week has been half term (for me as well as the kids) which means I'm at home, permanently in easy reach of the biscuit barrel and sweetie box, doing lots of baking with the girls and feeling duty-bound to eat all the breakfasts-in-bed (think biscuits, pain au chocolat and bread smothered in butter or jam or quite probably both !) that Sophie lovingly prepares. On top of that, yesterday was my birthday and I'd promised the girls that I'd take them to the eat-all-you-like buffet in the Chinese restaurant down the road. Taking all of that into account, I'd say a zero weightgain is a much better way of looking at it than a zero weightloss !
So what changes have I been noticing this week ?
1) I'm still guzzling loads of water. In the past, not only was I well aware that my liquid intake for the day was too low but when I reached for a drink, it was invariably diet coke, Sodastream or squash. Not any more - apart from a glass of orange juice in the morning, it's nearly all water !
2) I always used to finish my plateful of food, even if I wasn't hungry any more, subconsciously thinking it would be a waste to throw it in the bin. But my suconscious seems to have been retrained and I frequently stop when I no longer want to eat any more now. The only way I can explain it is that it's like, on a boozy night out, when you suddenly think "ooh I'm really feeling quite tipsy, I should probably stop drinking now". I now have a "you're actually quite full up now, you might as well stop eating" trip switch that I never used to have.
3) I'm not longer strangely drawn to the kids' sweetie bowl above the fridge or the biscuit stash in the cupboard whenever they're in view. And if I do feel like a chocolate or sweet, I just eat one and the cravings disappear. The "oh go on, just one more" mentality has totally evaporated.
4) I've switched over to salads at McDonalds and don't look longingly at everyone else eating burgers and chips, I'm happier eating salad and am convinced it tastes nicer. Seriously weird !
5) I was convinced the eat-all-you-like buffet would be a disaster and saw it as a serious test of the Slimpod's powers. Usually, it would be a plateful of starters, a main meal with a bit of everything on offer, a second helping of new dishes they've brought out since the first go, dessert involving a selection of mini scoops of ice cream from the self-service freezer. This time, without feeling as if I was depriving myself at all, I had a plateful of healthy salads as a starter, one plateful of main meal and, for dessert, despite going to the ice cream freezer for the kids, I opted for fresh melon, grapes and an apple fritter (that I ended up sharing with the kids). And I even walked out saying "wow, it feels so much nicer coming out feeling healthily full rather than overstuffed" !
6) I still haven't had the urge to go running or sign up to a gym but I am still playing energetic games with the kids at the park (football with Pierre mainly, this week !) and suggesting we go for a walk to a park further away than the one down the road or a long walk into town and back. We have also developed a new fun activity together - going off wandering down roads we've never taken before to see where they end up ! I'll need a new pair of trainers soon, at this rate !
7) One of the biggest changes though is that, instead of feeling disheartened about not losing weight this week and thinking "oh well, it's not working, I might as well have a slice of cake to console myself", I instead thought "that's still almost 1kg a week on average, it'll pick up again next week" !
Time will tell - see you in a week for the next instalment !
Other blogposts you may be interested in :
