First goal- smashed

Smashed into iddy biddy little pieces! My first weight-loss goal was to get under 100kg. And today at weigh in number 4, I did that with an overall total loss of 8.4kg. My BMI has gone from 42.2 to 38.9, so far.

I have planned and tracked and tracked and planned and haven't cheated once in these last 4 weeks. I have avoided all sorts of goodies at work, alcohol (not usually very difficult for me), chocolate, biscuits, cake and sweets.

It would be wrong to say you can't eat these things on WW, but I'm learning about me (after nearly 48 years of me, it was about time) and I can't stop at one with the sweet stuff. Yes, I could have one cupcake, but it would be a shedload of points that I couldn't use for something else and it's not worth it. Yes, I could have a biscuit. But I cannot stop at one biscuit, particularly if they come in a packet of substantially more than 1! I could have one mini heroes or Cadbury's Rose or Quality Street at work. But I definitely wouldn't be able to resist 'just one more' and then maybe another...and another...and another. I know my triggers.

I'm also drinking loads of water - which strangely, I find easier to do at work and just seem to forget at home! But I suppose I drink more other stuff at home, so I'm still getting pretty much the same amount of fluid intake.

The food I do eat has to be interesting and tasty and I absolutely refuse to eat 'diet' food or low fat unless I actually prefer it anyway. I'm trying to vary my meals and not always have the same breakfast or lunch. It helps that OH is also doing WW (although he has considerable more daily points than I do!) We're tending to have different breakfast and lunches and then coming together to share the same evening meal.

Today I have had 0% Greek Yoghurt (which I liked and ate anyway) with a bit of granola as a topping rather than as 'the main event' and some berries. OH isn't keen on the yoghurt, so he has cereal and milk. For lunch I had a bagel and some feta with a bag of chickpea crisps. I was going to have avocado but it's solid and not ready to eat yet. This leaves me loads of points for my dinner and we're planning a grilled chicken salad, which is pretty low in points. I might have some bread too. Fruit is zero points so I am eating loads - berries, apples, bananas and we've had some lovely watermelon and fresh pineapple. There's some ice cream left in the freezer that i might have to dip in to...

some info I have just confirmed

According to the British Nutritional Foundation

https://www.nutrition.org.uk/healthyliving/healthissues/healthy-weight-loss.html?limit=1&start=1

"Guidelines recommend that you should try to lose weight gradually, about 1-2 lbs (approximately 0.5-1.0 kg) a week. This way, the weight is more likely to stay off. This rate of weight loss is based on using up 600 kcal per day more than you take in. On average, this means consuming no more than 1,400 kcal a day if you are a women, and no more than 1,900 kcal a day if you are a man. The amount of weight you lose will depend on how much weight you need to lose and how active you are."

This is quite interesting as I have never seen this amount defined before. That also means that 1400kcal a day is what i should be aiming for...maybe. I am considerably overweight. I have just worked out my BMI and it is 39.6. A calorie intake that low...I'm not sure that is suitable for me to jump into straight away.

Weightwatchers (which I have done successfully several times, and then put most back on over time) advocates a larger calorie intake and gradually reducing it as you lose weight. I think this is so you've got somewhere to go with your weight loss. If I reduce my input to 1400 tomorrow, I would probably lose weight very quickly. But could I sustain it?

I think I'm going to find out some stuff which I really don't like the idea of during the course of my investigations. It will be up to me whether I chose to implement the suggested changes or adapt them to make them more palatable (literally). I guess to use 600 more than I eat, I have to do more, use up more energy to eat more in the first place. It is clear that I have to know numbers, calorific content and how much I am using up on a daily basis.

Better charge up the fitbit...

So I have looked at the NHS site and it recommends a daily intake for me of 1692 - 2175 kcal