Virtuously hungry

I'm starring in my very own, home-made version of The Biggest Loser at the moment. We're just reaching the end of the first week. Unlike the TV version there have been no tears, no fights with other contestants and nobody has screamed at me while making me do ridiculous physical challenges. It's all a lot more sedate than that. It started last Saturday night when the parents and I snap-decided to go to Tasmania in May. After booking the flights we all looked at each and realised we were terrifically unfit, and let's face it, if we're being honest, fatter than we should be. If we were going to trek about on a proper holiday we had to increase our general fitness. We have 11 weeks. I knew weight had crept on over the past two years. Since August 2010 when I had surgery I hadn't got back into any kind of exercise routine. Work involves lots of sitting down and long days meant I wasn't making time for physical activity. So, I took a deep breath and weighed myself for the first time in years. EEEEK. It was worse than I had imagined. I am the heaviest I have ever been in my whole life. This called for action. Within half an hour I joined Weight Watchers Online and started making a plan. The first step was to throw out all the unhealthy food in the house because if it's there I'll probably eat it. When I say unhealthy food I'm not talking soft drink, chips, lollies, cake, buns, pies or junk food. I don't buy those things and really don't eat them very often. There was a packet of bought biscuits that went in the bin. Then I made a big list of good food and hit the grocery shop on Sunday morning. Recipes in hand I spent the day cutting up fruit, celery and carrot for snacks, and cooking meals for the freezer in acceptable portions. I made some raspberry and banana muffins from the WW site and froze them in ones. I also made lite jelly and started planning my menu for the next day. So after a week of following the WW points plan I have been virtuously hungry some of the time. I have exercised every day - either walking or cycling for between 20 and 30 minutes - I'm starting slowly. I have realised that it wasn't that I was eating bad food, I was just eating too much of it at certain key meals. Breakfast has changed the most. I'm eating about a third of the cereal/muesli I was having but I'm eating way more fruit. The other thing to go is the daily takeaway coffee as even though it was skim milk, one coffee a day was blowing my dairy intake over the top. And bread has become a sometimes food instead of an every day food. This is sad because I love bread. I'm allowed a treat once a week which I had this morning in a large chai latte and delicious BLT. Any results? Well I decided I would measure my waist and weigh myself once a week. I measured my waist today and have lost 2cm. I haven't weighed myself yet today, but I cheated and snuck in a "weigh in" on Thursday. I had lost 1.7 kilos. Hurrah.