NHS Livewell | Week 1 | Getting Started

So a couple posts ago I was talking about starting a new program, the Losing Weight 12 week plan from the NHS Livewell website. I'm looking forward to starting something new and having something to look forward to.

Starting yesterday, Mary-Jane and I will meet each Thursday to talk about the upcoming week of the plan then we implement it on the Monday. We won't be meeting until after dinner on a Thursday so I'm going to write up a post on the Friday after to let you all know what will be happening in the program.

So I'm not going to just tell you everything that's in the program each week as it's easily available here and I don't think it would be too fair on the people that spent time writing it all out for me to just copy it all so I will tell you about bits of it just not every single thing.

So we met yesterday and the plan starts this Monday. I'll have my scales and measuring tape ready for my first action of the week. They aren't my best friends, well they haven't been for a while but I'll learn to love them. Action 2 I will be doing but I'll be sticking it next to my mirror that's on the wall as soon as you walk into my livingroom. My fridge is quite small and I know if I stuck it on the fridge it would just be forgotten about. On the wall however I'll see it every day.

I've already tried to start planning out my meals. It's definitely a learning process as right now I'm shite at it! I've got a rough draft of what I have and what I can make with it. It's a start so it's better than nothing.  The meal mixer looks like a really good tool so I've downloaded the Change4Life healthier recipes app. It has lots of useful features including the meal mixer so I'm hoping to put it to good use over the next 12 weeks, and longer!

I'm already well versed in the ways of calorie counting thanks to Myfitnesspal but I will try to stick to the calorie guide within this. It breaks down like this Women - 1400 calories a day. Breakfast 280. Lunch and dinner 420. Snacks and drinks 280. Men - 1900 calories a day. Breakfast 380. Lunch and dinner 570. Snacks and drinks 380. I should point out that the meal calories include drinks and desserts. According to myfitnesspal I am allowed 1660 so if I do go over the plan's calories limit I won't be too hard on myself.

I haven't actually looked at the forum yet, I might but I do already have myfitnesspal so it's not an urgent to-do.

The two main focuses in this first week are getting enough fibre and portion distortion. When I think of fibre I immediately think of bran flakes and other cereals so I was quite surprised to find that it can also be found in certain fruits and vegetables, potatoes and pastas. So I've been eating more fibre than I thought!

Portion distortion is definitely something I need to work on. To start that I'm going to be using smaller plates until my mind has properly understood that I don't need to fill the whole plate till it's falling off. Even if it's with veggies! I end up not eating them all and then they have gone to waste!

This is the chart I was talking about earlier that I'm putting up next to my mirror. Well this is a sample sheet, thought it would be easier to show you this than just a blank sheet. It's pretty self explanatory, you enter in how many calories you've eaten each day, any extra calories you've had, how much exercise you've done, any strength exercises and then the weekly summary of how much exercise you've done over the week. You also put in your weight and waist size each week so by the end of the 12 week plan, you'll be able to see how well you've done!

I did say that I was changing weigh in day to a Wednesday and it will stay a Wednesday that I put the post up on but I'll be weighing in on the Monday to go along with the chart. Hope you don't mind!

Anyone thinking of joining in the program with Muj and I? Remember you can view it here. Let me know if you are joining in!