Still losing and loving my housework.

74.1 kg Tuesday 14th Dec 2010

I have been stuck around 74.7 for several weeks now. I had the munchies and ate more than I planned but it is usually under 6000kJ a day. One thing that is different is all the exercise I am getting from doing my housework. I never did much housework before but now I have a jobs list for the month planned out on a calendar page (that I download for free from wincalendar) and I try to get things done in two hours in the morning. Afternoon chores are one hour and not as grueling as vacuuming.
My goal for Christmas was 72.2kg but there is no way I will get there. I don.t care though. My last plateau was at 76.4. My latest plateau was 74.7. Looks like I am being successful no matter how slow it comes off.

Success again

74.8kJ 25th November 2010
yesterday 74.9kJ

My weight has dropped nicely since I started the 12 14 12 12 plan. I was desperate to get my intake down from about 5700 to 5000kJ. I decided that four decent meals with 3 1/2 hours between them was a reasonable goal. 4 hours is too long and I feel miserable so I settled on 3 1/2. This timing also fitted in with when Neville wanted his lunch. I don't eat anything other than at those times and I try to get to the full kJ amount for each meal.
Today:
Rice cereal and milk - 1073 (7:30)
Steak(100g), beans, carrot, gravy - 1195 (11:00)
Mango, 1/2 large banana and large coffee - 1200 (14:30)
1 sausage, beans, carrot, sweet and sour sauce - 985 (18:00)

I found that the sausage dinner was plenty last night. I ate half a banana to get up the kJ count but felt over full.
I will see how I feel at lunch. Yesterday I had a small coffee and a 90kJ chocolate stick after the same steak lunch.
I have found that the cereal alone is enough for breakfast. I vary the menu with orange juice, 1 egg on toast and small cereal, two eggs on 1 slice of toast, pikelets with banana and jam and coffee. They all fit into 1200kJ.

Need a new habit

75.8kg Sunday 21st Nov
Monday I am back to 75.3. I have been getting out of the habit of being careful and justifying snacks for any reason.
I have found that my jobs schedule has been working really well and I have been getting a lot done that I used to think of and say I would do later. Breaking the housework and one off jobs down into set time slots seems to make doing them a lot easier.
Why not try the same system for meals? So now my plan is to have four meals a day at set times. I may look at the clock and wish it was time for afternoon snack but at least I am not in the kitchen looking in the fridge and pantry til I find something.
7:25 breakfast - 1200kJ
11:00 lunch - 1400kJ
2:30 afternoon tea - 1200kJ
6:00 dinner - 1200kJ

I find that I can swap lunch and afternoon tea to be morning tea then lunch if I want to go out for morning tea. I have only tried it for three days but it seems pretty easy to go 3 1/2 hours between meals and the 1200kJ is like a real meal or a hearty cake. I have my meat at lunch time and just veges and desert at dinner.
By the way the jobs schedule is:
7:30 - 9:30 (for summer)
3:00 - 4:00
I have a downloaded editable calendar month that I type in all the things I want to do into the time slots.

Continued weight loss

75.3 12th Nov

I have bounced around 75.5 - 75.8 for a few days. Today I am the lowest I have been for more than 12 months. I got to 72.5 in June last year. I feel a bit thinner. At 80kg I felt fat and uncomfortable.
I have been finding it difficult to get my kJ count down to 5000. I generally eat about 6000kJ a day. I still feel as though chocolate calls me when I don't really need it but as long as I still lose weight I'm not going to beat myself up about it.
My husband and I both keep track of what we eat and try to decide between treats rather than have them all. This way we don't feel deprived and still keep the kJ under control. Comparing this photo to my last photo ( Oct - Plateau) I think my thighs look a bit thinner.