In a new weekly feature, Her.ie newbie Liz is going to share her weight loss journey. She’ll be filling you in on fighting temptation, her willpower struggles with the cocktail menu and taking painfully slow steps towards regular exercise. All in the name of a dress. _____________________________________ Hanging on the wall at the end of my bed is the constant reminder I plan on shedding nearly two stone this year. I also plan on marking the trials and tribulations of ‘trying to be good’ – the favourite saying we all tout, and quickly replace when a cake is put in front of us. Week 59: A scales surprise It’d be easy to say I was loving life sans sugar, but it’s been feeling pretty flat. I thought I was doing great, I thought I had the cravings down, but I was wrong. I was horribly wrong, and wanting sugar and seriously considering that whole stealing candy from children motto. Hey, they said it was easy. The fact was I was starting to play the “what ifs” game. You know where you tell yourself “What if I just have a little bit of chocolate? Sure, I’m heading to the gym later…”, or “What if I eat one cheat meal? That’s not going to do any harm”. And granted, it wouldn’t. If I had one bite of chocolate, or one cheat meal it wouldn’t make a blind bit of difference. It was more the fact that I was playing this game on a daily basis that I was caught up in the willpower wheel. (Or lack thereof…) Feeling sorry for yourself is also the quickest way to break any hard work you had planned. It’s the little voice in your head telling you it’s ok to skip that spin class, because really, you’re feeling pretty exhausted. With that, and the start of my period (because, let’s be honest, it just means you’re about to eat your fridge out of house and home), I thought I was going to have a bad week. So I let myself have bread. I still didn’t break the chocolate though. Knowing how hard it is to quit it each time, I thought allowing the bread alternative was being kind enough to myself. Besides... The thing is, I need not have worried. Not really. For all my fears of pounds unknown, the truth was, I was eating pretty solid meals (bar the morning run for sausage rolls which has become as much a daily routine in the office as popping on the kettle). So when I pulled on my skinny jeans this week, I was surprised there was no struggle. No wiggling my calves into the legs, stretching the fabric at the back with my bum to make some room for some extra tum, and no bed-to-floor dance with the zipper. I’m not going to lie, it felt pretty amazing. So I decided for once I wasn’t going to pull out the weighing scales. Between period pounds, feeling bloated and knowing I didn’t want to see the real number, I pulled out the measuring tape instead. To find I had lost 3inches on my tummy, and 2 inches off each thigh. It might not sound like a lot, but for me, it was amazing. They say abs are made in the kitchen... Well I'm not sure there's going to be a six-pack any time soon, but it was definitely the push I needed to see this week to no that I'll be back to saying buh-bye to bread by Monday.