Downwards and Downwards

Well, half a pound off this week.  I certainly didn't deserve that, especially after the enormous lunch I ate at friend Linda's on Sunday and then a weigh-in on Monday morning.  It must have been all that rushing around at work last week.

A workshop I attended recently inspired me to engage with my Thoth cards again, so here is today's message using a randomly drawn Thoth card.

6 of Wands - Victory, and it certainly was.  Half a pound off this week and I didn't try at all.  However, the warning of this card, my fellow dieters, can be about pride coming before a fall - and I should not fool myself that if I continue not trying then I'm going to keep losing little bits of weight.  I need to get a grip, I've had two careless days already this week - and get back on track.  Imagine if I'd tried - I would have done even better.

So let's draw another card to try and inspire me to do better the rest of the week.  My eyes were drawn to my Tarot of the New Vision deck which I haven't used yet at all.  Giving them a good shuffle and three cards fell out - so these are my message for today.

10 of Cups, happy families and emotional fulfilment.  Indeed - and so why worry about dieting?  That's part of my problem, although one I'm very fortunate to have.  I'm generally contented and happy.

Well - happy as I am - my clothes just don't fit and my arms are fat, and that's why I need to get down to some serious dieting, especially with Christmas approaching.  I don't want to be a Pudding this Christmas!

The Ace of Coins - new beginnings in a money and material sense.  Hmmm....would be nice if that meant new (smaller) clothes although if I carry on as I am being such a careless dieter, then it'll be new but bigger ones.  This is perhaps a little warning to me from the cards.

But I like the last card - the Wheel - a change of fortune;  being in the right place, the right time.  Looking towards a change for the better - the message couldn't be louder - I need to go forwards in a different way.  I hope The Wheel offers some good luck to help me to stay on track.  Left to my willpower alone, I will struggle.

Ok, one small step at a time though.  My resolution for today is to make a low-point pasta salad or similar to take to work tomorrow for lunch so that I'm not tempted by all the food outlets around me in the centre of town.

May be the picture of the Wheel of Fortune actually represents my plate - and a warning about all the temptations surrounding it!  That feels more apt!  Ok, message received - home-made lunch for work tomorrow it is!

Defeated

This was actually yesterday's card, the 5 of Swords from the Modern Medieval tarot deck.  Traditionally this is the card of 'Defeat'.  And even before I pulled it I knew yesterday was not going to be a good diet day.  I went out with my best friends for drinks and a Thai meal.  And I had no intention whatsoever of even trying to be 'good' diet-wise.

So fellow dieters - what did I have?  Well, my friend G and I started off at my house with a whole sharing-size pack of vegetable chips between us and a couple of glasses of wine.  That wasn't our fault though - the cab was late and we were hungry and just killing time (and diets!).

We got to the pub and met up with J and had more wine and a good old girlie natter before going to the Thai restaurant.  Thai is probably one of the least diet-friendly meals out you can have - coconut milk / cream, peanut sauce etc.  But - fellow dieters - I do feel that if you are going to blow the diet, then at least do it in style.  Let's not be half-hearted about busting the calories bank.

So some fish cakes, spring rolls, a green curry and more wine later later we're on our way to the cab rank to get home.  And that reminds me to look again at the card I drew.  Look at the characters in the picture, they don't exactly look like victorious warriors do they?  To me - they actually look a bit uncomfortable.  And that reminds of another meaning of the 5 of Swords - pyrrhic victory.

So yes - I did bust the diet completely and had a great time.  I knew I was going to.  And I don't regret it.  But I haven't actually beaten the diet at all.  In the end the diet will win, because I've probably now done some damage weight-wise that I'm going to have to undo.

I can't face pulling today's card yet - that's for later.  Still, at least the major arcana doesn't have a card that says 'Fat'!

Climbing Back On

It's a miracle! Although I didn't really get back on form after my party weekend I still somehow managed to lose 2lb this week.  That certainly inspires me to get back onto that wagon and follow the plan properly.  So far today so good today.  So what advice does the tarot have for the dieters today?

Today's deck is the 1972 Sheridan-Douglas tarot which has very simple, primary coloured 70s-style images.

The King Of Batons (also often known as Wands, Rods, Staves).  This card is about being in charge and at the height of success. He who must be obeyed!  The message I take from this card is discipline and, in my case, self-discipline.  Obey the plan and stay on track.

This card can stand for visionary leadership, success from hard work and also tyranny.  As dieters we need all of these characteristics:

Visionary - imagine how we'll look when thinner
Hard work - staying on track, resisting The Devil car (temptation)
Tyranny - being very disciplined with ourselves, and yes to the point of being tyrannical if that's what's needed to achieve the other two.

So today is all about being resolved to succeed, believe in ourselves and be disciplined. And good luck with that everyone!

What You Gonna Call - Diet-Busters!

Almost the end of Day 4 and still on target. 

But I will be falling off the wagon and bouncing down the bumpy road to fatness Friday (tomorrow) evening and Saturday as it's my party weekend.  But hopefully back on track on Sunday, plus my efforts so far this week will limit the damage and I'm hoping for at least a small weight loss on Monday to start my diet ball rolling.

Today's tarot dieting tip comes courtesy of The Modern-Medieval tarot deck. I used this deck for a reading for the first time yesterday and the cards spoke to me very well, so I thought I'd use them on here today.

Today's random card is the 7 of Staves:

In this card the seven maces are battering a shield knocking the holder backwards.  This is a less common depiction for this card, where usually the person is atop a hill and in control, fighting off the advancing staves (sometimes calls rods,wands or batons).  In our picture here the person is being knocked over by them.

The interpretation for our card shown here is one of opposition, obstruction, others getting in the way or failing to help. 

This brings to mind those diet-busters who say "You don't need to lose any more weight...." even though you'd be happier a stone lighter. They mean well, but it's not very encouraging, is it?

Even worse are the diet-busters who buy you cakes or chocolate even when they know you're counting points.

I had lunch with a friend today - well, it was a lunchtime drink really.  The pub menu was my potential diet-buster.  I was a bit hungry and it looked really yummy but there was nothing diet-friendly so I had a glass of wine (ok - it was a glass and a half actually) and decided to wait until later to eat something.  My friend was hungry so we bought a large packet of crisps.  Usually we would open it out on the table to share. But when I told him I was dieting he kindly opened the top and just ate them to himself.  I asked for a couple - which I had and enjoyed - because everyone knows the odd crisp or two out of someone else's packet doesn't have any calories, right?  Wrong - but as long as you can stop at one or two (literally) then turn a blind eye and enjoy the treat!  We're only human.

So I resisted a diet-busting moment today and when I got home mid-afternoon I ate a low calorie soup (very large bowl of) and a piece of toast. Perfect!  I've now got enough points left for a yummy dinner tonight - I'm going to make a low-cal Thai prawn green curry with rice and I'll still have some points left over to compensate for my fat party weekend.

Lead Us Not Into Temptation

Well it's day 2 and half now and still so far so good.  Although still early days, I think the sticking to the diet is paying off.  I feel better in myself and the 'fat trousers' seems to be easing a bit.  Of course - they might have just stretched!

Today's tarot diet inspiration comes courtesy of the delightful 'Vanessa' tarot deck.  When I picked the deck up the first card I saw was The Devil.

The Devil of course represents temptation, over-indulgence and excesses.  And in this card we see a seductress and a naked man chained to a bed.  Not the type of temptation us dieters often get to worry about - and we'd call it exercise and more fun than the gym!

However, life's not like that for us dieters, is it?  Temptation tends to come our way much more often in the form of chocloate, wine, cake, crisps, bisbuits and various other calorie-laden goodies.  This card is a warning against such temptations (and not men chained to beds!).  I wish I'd done this post before lunch because I was tempted to have a small glass of wine with lunch and I gave in.  But then the great tarot goddess of dieters stepped in and, after I had drunk a few sips, caused a fly to dive into the glass and drown in it - an omen not to drink it.

Having had the Devil card leap out at me, I then shuffled the cards and drew a random card for today's dieting tip.  And lo and behold - it's the 5 of Swords.

This card represents Defeat and compliments The diet Devil perfectly.  If you give in to temptation, it will lead to your downfall.

And we've all been there haven't we?  Once we over-indulge we then tell ourselves "I've blown it now anyway so I might just as well carry on indulging."  And that's what we do - right? And then it's very hard to draw a line and get back on the wagon.

But as we can see in the illustration on the card, the 'winner' only has three of the five swords.  So the 'loser' can still pick up the remaining two swords and carry on battling.  They might feel at a disadvantage, but all is not lost.

So, fellow dieting friends. even if you do give in to temptation and excess today, just pick up those two remaining swords and get straight back into that Battle of the Bulge.  Have a happy day everyone!

The Reckoning

Ok so yesterday did it.  I knew I was getting tubbier and tubbier and was failing at counting points, calories and the glasses of wine and everything else passing through my lips.  Even my 'fat trousers' were tight.

So I got on the scales and finally saw the damage - 10st 13lbs...I haven't been that weight since pregnancy.  If I don't do something NOW it's going to get even worse.  So from yesterday, it's back counting points but....should I join a slimming club meeting or an on-line club?  If I go for a meeting - shall I do an evening one near home or one lunchtime near work?  Decisions, decisions....still not sure yet.  In the meanwhile I've made a start.

First Milestone Achieved.
Actually managed to stay within points limit yesterday.  **Pats on the back**.  Recovering fatties like me are like recovering alcoholics.....one day at a time.

I'm going to use Tarot to inspire, guide and help me starting with my Oracle cards (which aren't Tarot cards at all).

My Starting Point
These cards represent how I feel about my current fattie status.

To explain what they mean:

The Inquirer card (the green card, broadly central to the spread) represents me.  To my left in the 'past' position is The Liar which represents how I've been kidding myself about my growing size - literally lying to myself that it wasn't getting any worse.

The cards below are where I am now, The Body is a Beast. And below The Body I've added The Cave, which represents how I feel about The Beastly Body.  I want it all hidden.  Hide it away.

My future lies above the Inquirer card and I know what I've got to do.  The first card is The Scales - I can't ignore them.  No matter how bad food-wise I've been I will have to step onto those judgemental bar stewards every week and view my progress (or not).  otherwise I'm back at The Liar point again.

The Scales are the path towards Beauty (slimmer figure) and Sun (feeling happy about The Body again).

Don't get me wrong - I am a very happy person in my life, but not about my figure.  That needs some serious work.

So this is where I am starting from - can I do it?

Today
Ok so far.  Had bircher muesli for breakfast and vegetable soup followed by roast vegetable salad for lunch.  This saves some points for wine.  If I can't indulge in a few pleasures, I will fail miserably - so the trick is to just plan it in.

My Tarot card today:


Death. This is a good card for the start of a diet because it doesn't mean I'm going to snuff it - it means transformation and making major changes.  Out with the old and in with the new. Re-birth. Chucking out old habits and developing new ones.

Today's habit change:
Not pouring out a mega 250ml glass of wine.  Instead:  Put loads of ice in 250ml glass, measure out 100ml of wine and pour over ice.  It looks as big as the 250ml one, lasts as long and tastes ok.  I can have 2 and a half of these for the same points price as 1 pure wine 250ml glass.  And it feels like I'm having several few drinks.

Cheers everybody!