Day 014

Here's my homework for this week - updating the river metaphor from the week before. The idea is that we give more detail and more specifics to tailor it to our specific circumstances rather than being rather general, particularly with regard to the What's Stopping Me Getting To The Other Side section.

So, with that in mind, here goes:

Where I Am:

• Nearly twenty stone
• Fearful of dying early, susceptible to diabetes, heart disease and other health-related complaints
• Bad habits around eating too much and not eating things that are good for me
• Too sedentary

What's Stopping Me From Getting To The Other Side:

• Lack of knowledge about food; I'm not completely ignorant, but I'm sure knowing more about what I eat could help me make better decisions. To get over this issue, I need to speak to my wife, because she's got more cooking books than Gordon Ramsay. She'll certainly have resources I can use.
• Willpower - need I say more? Viewing things as choices I make rather than restrictions that are put upon me has been helpful.
• Overcoming a lifetime's dislike of sport, engendered because I'm useless at it! I have actually signed up for a programme at work that might help.
  
• A need to take responsibility for where I am. J suggested that my eating might co-inside with times of stress at work, but over time had become habituated to just eating the same way all the time. I certainly think that my eating habits - particularly at work - have become habitualised (even ritualised), and I certainly use food to comfort myself, but whether this is related to work stress, I'm not sure. Unfortunately, because I'm not eating as I would have done because I'm on the diet, there's no way of checking whether this is the case, but I will certainly look to see whether this is the case in future.
  

Where I Want To Be:

• 13 Stone
• More Active
• Able to make informed choices about my food and lifestyle that will ensure I stay healthy. Knowing that I have a choice to
  
• I want to be able to go and have a nice meal, or go for a drink from time to time without letting it overrule my desire to be healthy.