Three small steps that helped me lose weight despite going out a lot

Aka the power of planning and imperfect consistency

Kerstin Martin

May 22, 2022

Sunday Scales: -6.0 lbs | Total loss: 31.6 lbs

Whenever I commit to my program and actually do it, I am always amazed at how quickly my body responds, even at my advanced age. It’s like it really wants to release those pounds and get to its sweet spot, which I am guessing is about 70 lbs away from where I am now.

This last week we went out four times: two breakfasts and two dinners. I had omelettes, salad, fries, steak, cheese, mayonnaise, wine and veggies. To be honest, a part of me didn’t want to go out because this was my first week back on my program and I have less control over my calories outside my home. But then I realized that my true fear came from not trusting myself to not go into last-supper mode and overeat because, you know, going out is a special treat and an easy excuse to indulge.

Instead I decided to take a few small steps so that I could still go out and have a good time without going crazy with the food:

I planned ahead and stuck to it. Breakfast is easy as I usually have the same thing and for the dinners I looked up the menus online and chose what to have and that’s exactly what I ordered, nothing more, nothing less.

I ate more slowly and as a result I gave my stomach time to feel full before the meal was finished. At which point I stopped eating so I left some food on the plate. Now, I’ve been a fast volume eater for years and this is not an easy habit to change for me. But lately I’ve been telling myself that by eating more slowly I also get to enjoy it longer and that’s really helping.
I made small adaptations. At our favorite breakfast diner they serve a delicious 3-egg mushroom, cheese and spinach omelette and these days I ask for it to be only two eggs and with extra mushrooms (love ‘shrooms!) and half the cheese they normally use. A small change but I love the omelet this way and it saves a few calories.

As for tracking everything I gave it my best guess and moved on. I also stuck with not having any refined sugar, walked more and even got a big bicycle ride in yesterday because our weather is finally getting nicer!

Physically I am slowly feeling better. My joint and muscle issues have healed and my GP was happy with my blood pressure progress. He did want to increase one of my meds a bit more but agreed to wait six months and let me work on losing weight. I am very grateful that he supports my desire to find a more holistic path to health. I also figured out what was going on with the vertigo: my second blood pressure med is a diuretic and between that and me drinking more alcohol and not enough water I was dehydrated! My GP confirmed that this was the likely cause, especially as the vertigo went away after I considerably upped my water intake.

Emotionally I am still dealing with anxieties which is not that surprising as they are mostly aging and health related. Last week I had the first meeting with my new therapist and it went very well, much better than the previous therapist.

Professionally I made a few important decisions in my business and am starting to feel calmer, and excited about the direction I am taking it in.

“Do your thing,” he said. “OK!” Ha ha. It was nice though to see the sun :)

So overall I am feeling cautiously optimistic about the road ahead! Which is a bit of a relief to be honest as the last couple of months were a little tough on all fronts. Onwards and upwards :)

Have a lovely week!