500 Days of Slimmer

Tomorrow marks a 500 day streak of logging in on My Fitness Pal, I did actually start a month before that but took a small break from logging in whilst travelling, but who is counting?

So looking back over those days, what have I learnt? What, if anything, would I do differently?

Things I've learnt

• I don't need to eat my emotions, but it's ok if it happens once in a while.

• How weight loss really work (CI<CO).

• That it's totally normal for weight to fluctuate and it's nothing to freak out about.

• The different things that cause me to retain water.

• That I am a lot stronger and capable of a lot more than I thought I was.

• I enjoy jogging.

• I love rowing (traditional Irish currachs).

• That yoga is good for me but I don't really like doing it unless I have to.

• That I am not going to struggle with maintenance too much (I maintained through lax logging for about 3 months).

• That there is no room for negativity in my life.

• That my MFP Fit Fam are awesome.

• There is a lot of bullshit in the diet industry which is spread as fact.

• That being away from home doesn't have to equate to weight gain.

Things I would do differently

• I would have started weighing portions sooner rather than later.

• I would have started weighing daily sooner.

• I would have taken progress pictures from the start.

• I would have made more of an effort to have a proper diet break rather than just my travel dates so that I could get back into eating normally quicker, instead of remaining in "holiday mode".

• I would have stopped spending money on gym memberships a long time ago.

Despite gaining some weight back over the winter, my body composition has improved with the weight training, running and rowing I have been doing compared to when I was the same weight in October. The scale results are back on a downward trend now and I hope to hit my next mini-target of 215lbs in the next couple of weeks which will get me to over 40lbs loss before I take aim for one-derland.