Dull is Good

Nearly three weeks into the diet, and my self-restraint is just about holding firm. I've resisted the urge for chocolate, crisps, cake, chips, toast, ribs, burgers and steak. A week ago I'm not sure I could have written that without starting to dribble but the fact is that things are starting to become easier.

I've stuck to my regime of three meals a day and my body has adjusted to that. The initial hunger pains have either disappeared or I have simply become numb to them, and I'm now walking past Subway every working day without getting hung up on the smell escaping from their ovens. Progress has been made towards target weightloss in the first two weigh-ins and I'm optimistic of a positive reading this week too.

However, I'm not about to start slapping myself on the back. This is a long-term project and the key reason as I see it why I've done okay to date is my consistency. I know some people who think of good days and bad days when dieting. The good days are when they stick to their plan and they are used to justify a bad day when they allow themselves to be rewarded. I'm not a fan of this level of deviation because of the mixed signals it sends your body. Starving yourself for a couple of days to make up for a blow out isn't going to do you or your diet any good.

My approach could be considered boring. Three square meals, no booze, no snacks. It doesn't sound terribly inspiring does it? And you'd probably be correct if I was subjecting myself to plates of food that I didn't enjoy. If I was forcing down celery and lettuce as a meal, there would be no self-restraint, but in eating food that I genuinely like and in reigning in both portion size and extras, I'm able to enjoy the best of both worlds; food that I like whilst losing weight.

Consistency may be dull, but if it provides me with an effective formula, give me dull every day.