Thank you for being a reader here at What Did She Say? I am so pleased to have you here! If you enjoy this post, please share it. And if you would like to be a free or paid subscriber I would love that. Your support means I can spend more time writing here.
Today marks week four of MJ. (If you want to read about week 1 and my weigh in then you can do so here, week 2 here and week 3 here).
There’s just not that much to report this week. Nothing eventful. I ate out for breakfast one day with my son. There was very little to chose from, I mean, it was a pancake café, so I was THAT woman who asked for something off menu (yoghurt with fruit and granola, syrup on the side) and nobody cared. It was delicious.
Sadly the pancakes did not meet my son’s expectations. All fur coat and no knickers. My words, not his. (Also, please note the Fortnite hoodie is not indicative of him playing the game. I think he’s tried it twice and decided it made him too angry. Good choice).
We also had two takeaways - TWO. In my defence one was Japanese, so ramen and satay chicken. Not exactly takeaway in the true meaning of deep fried fodder. Another was from Africana, which Scott and I adore. We usually order a whole chicken with mango salsa, macaroni cheese, rice and peas, chips maybe (always). This time I just had half the chicken with my own pot of mango salsa. It was delicious. Importantly I didn’t feel sad about Scott’s side dishes.
I feel like I’ve eaten quite a lot this week. All nutritious stuff, but I’ve not been hungry that’s for sure. Loads of raspberries and apples, yoghurt too. Oh and some perfect-for-this-rare-heatwave salads; roast chicken, green lentils, lettuce, peppers, kimchi, cucumber and lemon juice. I’ve also upped the electrolyte spiked water as I’ve had a few moments of feeling a bit dizzy when standing up. Possible dehydration. It’s 24 degrees by breakfast in my kitchen.
I have decided I need to wean myself off protein bars. I’m worried I’m developing a displacement habit, using them as a treat. I don’t want to be forever wedded to staying near shops that sell protein rich bro-style chocolate bars. They’re delicious, but they’re too delicious. Oh and another thing I want to do is up my water intake. I have a strong feeling that more water will equate to a faster shift on the scales.
Other people’s responses have been interesting. Mainly their point of view gathered from the Daily Mail online. I don’t blame them. I read the sidebar of shame too. The main things people (including myself before I joined the gang), say when you confess to taking MJ are ‘isn’t that really dangerous'?’ and ‘but you’ll put it all back on when you stop won’t you?’ And of course there’s a possibility of that.
Here’s what I think; regular diets have something bonkers like a 3% success rate of not regaining weight. GLP-1 adaptor weight loss diets have around a 19% chance of not putting weight back on (these stats could well be utter nonsense… I got them from Reddit where someone cited a research paper, so you know… scientific). Anyway, if these stats are even half way true then I’m already onto a better chance of stopping this lifelong yo-yo nonsense.
Secondly, weight loss on MJ is very, very slow, albeit it’s not hard (no feelings of deprivation, cravings gone etc) so there’s time to retrain my tastebuds and body. Looking at my progress so far, it could take a total of 6 months to get to a healthy weight. I’m looking at it like this - do anything for 6 months daily and it becomes a habit, a new norm. Take yoga. Back in August I joined a yoga studio and started going to one class a day. At first it was hard and sometimes I wasn’t sure if I fancied it, but the 3 hour cancellation policy scuppered my plans to weasel out of classes. Now I can’t imagine not going daily. Sometimes I have nightmares that the studio closes or prices hike out of my range. So, in short, eating a high protein, whole foods diet should become so standard to me I won’t want to go back to my old ways. That’s the theory.
I’ve also decided to commit to trying on a pair of jeans weekly once I’m in a healthy range. As soon as they become too tight I’ll know to sort myself out. I don’t want to be obese in my middle years, or in my old age. For so many reasons. The socially acceptable ones like reducing joint pain and cholesterol, maintaining mobility. And also the less socially acceptable ones like being able to try on clothes in a shop and not cry, also feeling attractive when I take my clothes off, you know the kind of thing. Oh and shopping my own wardrobe. I reckon I have maybe 50 dresses in my wardrobe (yes, yes I know…) that do not fit. Some unworn, without tags. I can’t wait to wear them. And I will.
Non-scale victories (NSV’s) this week include another bra becoming wearable. A real boulder holder Madonna style Triumph job in burgandy. The kind that gives you a whole new shape and sorts your posture out into the bargain. Loving it. Another NSV was trying on a dress that used to be very tight in the hip area and finding it loose and floaty. I bought that dress in Lanzarote about 2 years ago. Hurrah!
So the weigh in for week three? Are you ready?
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to What Did She Say? to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.