The job that I do means that I have the fortune to be entitled to 13 weeks holiday a year. My working hours changed in April 2015 so the reality of that is not actually true but during the school holidays when I work is very much up to me.
School was out for summer on Friday 17 July this year . . . oh yes! As anyone who works in a school will tell you the day that the academic year ends brings with it jubilation! Some members of staff go away straight away!
I didn't start my break on that day but knew that when I went in on the Monday and Tuesday of the following week that the pressure would be different and that I could work to my own timetable.
I afforded myself the rest of that week off and did a huge amount of walking; I managed to do over 40,000 steps in one day! I also didn't worry about what I was eating as I knew that just my walking would be sufficient. I walked a total of 118,117 steps or 51.34 miles that week! (My steps are recorded on a Fitbit One, which I love).
So that's week one of the summer holidays done!
Now week two was a bit different! I had my house to myself for 3 days; this is significant and I may blog about this in future.
Let me just say that in contrast I walked 27,168 steps or 11.76 miles . . . there were a couple of days when I didn't really move off the sofa, two days I didn't even put my Fitbit on, but I was on holiday and everybody's holiday is different!
I have told this story to a couple of work friends who 'high-fived' me. Probably the biggest issue that I have ever had in losing or even gaining weight is my love of bread, particularly fresh bread. I can't have it in my house and when I buy a sliced loaf it goes straight into the freezer. On my first sofa day I ended up having to got to the local Tesco's to buy an ink cartridge for my printer as my son and his girlfriend needed to print off their holiday tickets. Mistake one . . . I didn't JUST go and buy the cartridge; the fresh bread drew me to it and I ended up buying a fresh tiger loaf! I did manage to control myself and only bought the small one not the family size one! So . . . what goes well with fresh bread? Cheese of course. Can you imagine I spent the whole day getting up and down from the sofa to eat my way through the loaf of bread and cheese! (I did 1209 steps this day!) Having got the taste for this I repeated the trip to Tesco's two days later but without buying the ink cartridge! Another day on the sofa beckoned . . .
Week three I managed to take back some control and did some decorating but my eating was still not great. Week four looked promising as I had a First Aid refresher course to attend on the Monday and Tuesday; the rest of the week didn't go very well!
I stood on my scales on Saturday morning and I'd put on 6.5 lbs over the four weeks; not bad considering that I had a 'have what you really want' curry on Thursday night and had a sweetie binge on Friday night!
So here we are in week five! I know that I need structure and order and part of that for me is the routine of going to work . . . is that the same for you? I also know that for me that is about getting organized and planning. I have always been an advocate of planning and also tracking everything that you eat. Guess what I didn't do weeks one to four of the summer holidays?! I always plan my evening meals; it is something that I have done for so long I can't remember when I started but I did not track what I had eaten.
Week five is different in so many ways. I am in work every day this week and I am planning what I am eating the evening before. Since re-joining WeightWatchers in July 2011 I near enough know exactly what I am doing BUT I know that if I don't track then I get complacent or those 'naughty' things creep in . . . and if I don't take control then I would put weight back on . . . and very easily!
I spoke to someone on Saturday who has lost over 8 stone following the WeightWatchers plan, around five years ago, and they confirmed that they still track EVERY day. It's not hard but actually when you do it it becomes part of your routine . . . interestingly I have always been led to believe that for a habit to become a routine you should do it 21 times or for 21 days; the link takes you to a blog that suggests otherwise:
https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/hbrc/2012/06/29/busting-the-21-days-habit-formation-myth/
What I have always maintained is that when starting something you need to commit to it for six to eight weeks to know whether it is working or not; this blog seems to suggest that this is indeed true!
Although I have still got my WeightWatchers app and my journal, I have decided to give MyFitnessPal a test drive . . . I have increased my daily calories up and I'll let you know how it all goes . . .
It's good and such a relief to know I'm not the only one that battles fresh bread..... Have also eaten really badly since the end of term but mine is down to boredom not routine, missing the distractions that having people at work can bring x
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