It's really that easy

Its Monday again...of course. It usually follows the weekend. It's been a week since I got back from my honeymoon. Overall I've dropped 1.8Kg. Now, that of course might sound great to some people and horrendous to others.

If I was really big then naturally I'd be expecting to lose more. Coming back from holiday, this is water weight and not really fat, but its good to be getting back to my baseline and making some in roads towards my target weight.

It nearly got derailed though and things did get a little hairy over the weekend. The culprits: The mother-in-law and my own mum.

Well...they didn't actually do anything wrong and lets be perfectly honest here, it's not them, or anyone else for that matter that derails our progress. It's us. What we put in our mouth is our own responsibility and no one elses. Yes, other people don't make matters easier but by blaming them we're giving our power away. But I digress. Back to the topic at hand.

I went over to the mother-in law's place on Saturday and she'd cooked plenty of delicious Indian food as usual. Saying no really isn't an option, especially when she's vegetarian and she goes out of her way to cook some chicken for you! So there's only one option really...eat!! However, I managed my portions. I only had a little of each dish, I had three bhaturias (a sort of flatbread) and limited other snacks. Believe it was tough!

Then on to my mum's for dinner. Again...plenty of snacks available, great tasting Indian food as standard, and fruit crumble and ice cream for dessert. It was tricky to say the least, but again I portion controlled and din't stress about it. I was fully aware the scales would be up in the morning but I'm not willing to sacrifice everything for weight loss. If it takes longer then so be it.

Without doubt the scales had gone up the next morning. By 700gms. Was I disappointed? Yes. Did I feel like it wasn't fair? Yep. Like the punishment didn't fit the crime? Yep. Afterall, I had portion controlled. It's not as if I had stuffed myself. But then I remembered.

Don't focus on the weight.

The scales are always going to fluctuate. Focus on the habits instead and the weight will take care of itself. I had ate less then previously. I had done the best I could given the circumstances whilst still taking part.

I didn't need to stress about the scales. I knew the weight would probably come back down quite quickly. It was a sudden spike. And if it stayed on, I knew the plan of action... do what I was already doing:

Portion control!

I cut back a little on Sunday and I weighed in this morning, and my weight was down 1.2 Kg!

Now, it might go up tomorrow, who knows. I'll only find out tomorrow, but the important thing is not to worry and to focus on the habits instead not the weight.

Heading back from the gym today, it hit me. This weight loss thing is actually really simple.

Just eat within parameters. Set some parameters, whatever that may be, for example 1200-1400 calories a day, 1700-1900 a day and if you eat within that, you'll lose weight.

That really is the key to weight loss. If you can master the skill of eating within parameters, then its really simple. If you're on the heavier side and just starting out in your journey, you might be on higher calories such as 4000-5000 a day. Just stick to that. If you're on the lighter side, it might be 1500-1700 calories.

Then, reduce slightly. The changes don't have to be massive, just small, which will take you to lower calories. Set new parameters and stick to that.

The key to this game is so simple, but by no means easy. Sticking to eating within certain parameters will help you to lose the weight that you have always wanted to shed. Master that skill and you can get that dream body! It's the dimmer switch analogy which I've mentioned before. Turn it up when you need to e.g on holidays, or certain social events, and turn it down at other times.

But remember, its a skill. It takes practice. You develop it. You don't have to be draconian with it either. You do have to be somewhat consistent with it though. Adjust as you go along and you're done. As soon as you master eating within parameters, i.e regulating the dimmer switch, the sooner you can lose weight.