16stone 8 pounds – a loss of 8 pounds. Not as good as it sounds but still a great achievement. I have not weighed in for 2 1/2 weeks as I was getting frustrated by my weight not changing and there was little to tell you. There are two things to report, firstly I worked out where I was going wrong. A gentle reminder from a gym instructor that I should drink lots of water if I wanted to lose weight was the most dramatic. Together with this I have acknowledged that the morning workouts were getting too easy so I have added 10 minutes on a hand bike. These two factors must have lead to my stagnation of weight loss and averaging 3 pounds a week is not bad.
The second fact to report relates directly to using worry beads. There is a tradition in my household that there is a tin called, “Dad’s Sweetie Tin” which is a pedal bin full of sweets. Both my sons do Scouts and Cubs and on the evenings each of them go the other gets “Special Time” with dad in which we watch a DVD and sample the Sweetie Tin. Last evening my wife suggested that it needed restocking as I have not looked in it myself since starting my diet. We were duly dispatched to make the relevant purchases. To my horror Tesco had introduced one of my favourite sweets from childhood, spearmint chews. I resisted the urge to buy any as I know I would have been tempted. With sweets purchased we headed home.
My oldest son went to scouts leaving my youngest and I to watch “Battleship”. My youngest finds it really funny that dad won’t eat sweets anymore and loves to taunt me. Ten minutes into the film and he unwraps another favourite of mine. I have been so good that I considered having just a few. There was a grave realisation that I knew that if I had one or two I would have many. I was almost certain that at that moment I had realised I have an addiction to sweets. I wrestled with this realisation and asked myself to be strong, but all of a sudden I realised I did not have my worry beads. I ran upstairs and returned with my protection. I had pictured myself taking my first sweet from the tin and enjoying its juiciness but now my hands were occupied. To take a sweet I had to put down the worry beads. This was a step too far, for some amazing reason they gave me strength to watch the film and enjoy using them.
Try this yourself if you are trying to give up a “naughty” food or drink, you never know it might work for you as well. So today’s report is one made with great joy, not only have I lost 8 pounds but if I had not stopped myself last evening I would have broken weeks of hard work abstaining from sweets. As I remain sweet free, for me, that gives me more of an incentive not to give in for the first time, if that makes sense?
Kevin
The English Worry Bead Co
www.englishworrybeads.uk