Reset phase part 7 day 2

I have learned three main things this week: routine, good fats, and exercise.

So, the first thing - I am SO HUNGRY!

I have worked out that I must be getting most of my fat from dairy, because having cut it out, I am eating the same things just with no dairy in, and when I am done, I am still hungry. It's simple changes, like coconut cream for milk in my breakfast, or leaving the cheese out of my lunchtime salad, but boy, I am noticing the difference! 

As a consequence I am wanting to snack a lot more, and it is only the fact that there is nothing in the house to snack on that is stopping me. I have been hitting the nuts pretty hard...

But the bit I am not sure about is whether this is a good or bad thing. I feel that I will need to put that dairy back in after I finish the reset, because that is what is making me feel satisfied after a meal. And I haven't felt any other effects of taking it out, good or bad. But maybe there is something else I could/should be doing? I'm not sure. Anyway, I like dairy, and I love cheese, so giving it up isn't really a viable option anyway.

I think the whole thing about good fats though is important. Having those in my diet means that overall, I eat less, because I am able to get to the end of a smaller meal but feel that I have had enough to keep me going. This is my most valuable learning out of this part of the reset, I think.

Secondly, after the storm and power cut, the house move, the school holidays, conference, and a family holiday, I am back into my everyday routine. That might sound boring, but in fact it is great! It is so much easier to do what you should when it is part of a routine; when you don't have to stop all the time and ask how you are going to make something work around the other circumstances but can just relax and go with what is normal.

It is hard to make changes amongst other changes.

So this week I might have been rushing around like a maniac trying to get a million things done, but they were all normal things and I didn't have to think about my eating or attitude as a consequence of those things. This is the way ahead.

My third piece of learning is that regular exercise is the key, for me at least, to weight loss. When I am eating well and healthily, it seems I maintain whatever weight I am at. When I exercise, I lose weight. It's as simple as that. It doesn't matter what the exercise is, just as long as I do it.

It's a good thing then that I have found a bigger goal to motivate me. I need these bigger goals, because I need a challenge. My next challenges are that I have entered the Tauranga Half in September, and a friend wants me to ride The Timber Trail with her. And then in December I am planning to knock that annoying four minutes off my time in the West Coaster half to get under the four hour mark. 

Now that I have these events set out as a program, it will be much easier for me to keep the exercise regular.

So, lots of learning for me this week.

O yes, and one more thing: get up early and eat breakfast before exercise, so that it can at least start digesting before I get out there. No breakfast is bad.