Acre Fat Club is where we’re tracking the steps, counting the calories and questioning some of the decisions that got us here in the first place. A monthly dose of food, fitness, fat loss and a healthy serving of self-deprecation. Let’s see how we went…
Not many people restart their weightloss journey on the last week of October and I totally get that, especially now I am one week in, the summer social calendar is starting to quickly tick up and my food noise is going crazy about the Anzac Chocolate Chip and Cranberry bikkies I made for my kids lunchboxes this week.
But, last week was as good as any to start shedding fat again and so we push on while the motivation is still running red hot!
I’ve managed to add an extra five kilos over the Winter months, and I think a big part of that has come down to a combination of portion sizes, mindless snacking and generally being a little too comfortable with eating whenever food is available.
I eat mostly wholefoods and cook plenty of meals from scratch, so it’s not necessarily what I’m eating that’s the problem… It’s how much of it I’m putting on my plate. Apparently I have been confusing my appetite with my husband’s, and that is a problem when he’s a grown man who eats like a grown man.
So, rather than making a million dramatic changes overnight, I’m starting with a couple of simple goals for November.
Okay, enough yappin’, here’s a look at this month’s Acre Fat Club!
My November goals
1. 8,500 steps minimum every day
My daily step goal for November is 8,500 steps minimum. Not 8,500 steps on the days I feel like it, or 8,500 steps when the weather is nice. I will be locking in to hit 8.5k every single day!!!
If that means I’m marching around the kitchen while the spuds are boiling, then so be it. If you see me doing laps around the lounge while the kids are watching television, mind your business.
2. Get my portion sizes under control
As I mentioned, I actually eat pretty well ~~~***most***~~~ of the time. We cook at home, eat plenty of wholefoods and have a reasonably varied diet.
The issue is that my portion sizes are the same as a teenage hippo.
Sooo… I’m going to start being more mindful of how much I’m serving myself, paying attention to hunger and fullness cues and making sure I’m not automatically going back for seconds just because there’s more food in the pot.
I’m also going to get comfortable with feeling a little hungry before my next meal. I have genuinely got into the habit of never allowing myself to feel hungry, whether that’s grabbing a biscuit, picking at the kids’ leftovers or finding something in the pantry.
A bit of hunger between meals isn’t an emergency, and I don’t need to answer every little craving with a snack.
3. Keep tracking
I’m bringing the Lose It! app back into the picture.
I want to be more aware of what I’m actually eating rather than relying on my very questionable ability to estimate portions and calories in my head.
The fat things I did
Well, technically we’re only at the start of this weight-loss journey so I have been pretty strict on myself and it has been working… But I did have ReBurger for family dinner one night (we live on a lifestyle property so rarely mish to town for takeaways) and if it was delicious it would have been worth it… But the chicken was dry, the bread was stale and it was such a waste of a calorie budget 🥲 And what’s worse, instead of acknowledging that I wasn’t enjoying it and putting it down/throwing it out/putting it in the pig scrap bucket… I KEPT EATING UNTIL I WAS SO FULL I FELT SICK.
Ughhhhh.
Other fat things I did:
☆ Didn’t really use my food scale even though I use it with my sourdough everyday so it is right there on the bench next to where I prepare my food.
☆ Embarrassingly, I ate what came home in my daughters lunchbox after preschool 🙃 Not the half eaten yoghurt pouch at least I guess… So I did manage some restraint.
The skinny things I did
- Officially restarted my weight-loss journey.
- Set a realistic daily step target and stuck to it!!!
- Started logging my food again.
- Made a plan rather than waiting for the mythical perfect Monday.
- Caught up on the Faith Fit Family podcast by Carlyn (I recommend for SAHM motivation!!!!)
- Stuck to my earlier rise time!
Small beginnings, but you’ve got to start somewhere!
And that’s a wrap on the first week of The Acre Fat Club!
I’m heading into the next seven days with my 8,500 steps firmly in my sights, a slightly better understanding of portion sizes and hopefully a little less enthusiasm for eating the kids’ leftover snacks.
If you’re also on a weight-loss journey, getting back into healthier habits or just trying to feel a bit better in yourself, I’d love to hear how you’re getting on.
Leave me a comment below! Tell me your wins, your struggles, your favourite meals or even the questionable decisions you’ve made this week. We’re all human, after all.
Until next week, fellow fatties. Stay skinny-ish. 😂
