Weigh in update

I have started back on my weight loss journey, again! I have gained back 1 1/2 stone which means my loss from January 2011 is back to 3 1/2 stone. I have been back on plan for a week and lost 2lbs, so officially 3 stone 9lbs down.

I was hoping it was going to be more and I'm not sure why it wasn't more than that. I ate really well all week, snacks were kept to a minimum and I had one cheat meal of Fish and Chips at the seaside, this in itself is not much to do any damage, just like one good meal a week would not see me lose any weight.

If you are a long time reader of my blog you will know that I do night shifts which can sometimes impact on my eating and weigh in results. Before having Charlotte I would turn my days upside down so breakfast was around 8pm, dinner time at 2am-3am and tea time was at 8am, however, I am unable to do this now. I have to be up a lot earlier in the day to look after Charlotte when Jonathan is in work, therefore, being up many more hours than I would be normally. I am currently on night 2 of 7 of trying to work out a new routine, I'm not completely sure of what I am going to do yet. However, on my desk a bag of fruit and a tub of salad are waiting to be eaten.

Pork with jacket potato, philidelphia and roasted cherry tomatoes

Wanted to share one of my favourite meals to have, this is a really filling evening meal and you get plenty of your veggies included.

For the jacket potato I place in microwave for 5 minutes before transferring to the oven to finish cooking. I topped this with Sweet Chilli Philedelphia

I fried some pork steaks with mushrooms in some frylight.

Boiled some mixed veg.

Roasted some cherry tomatoes in the oven.

Delicious!

Weigh in 26/01/2012

I maintained this week which was really unexpected as I had been good with food and upped my water intake (1.5 litres a day) I had also done plenty of walking (at least 21 miles) so I am not sure what has gone wrong.

So the plan for this week is to continue with the good food intake and also continue to drink plenty of water and to continue with my walking. From Thursday I have nine days off work and I plan to get on my bike unless we have ice or snow, if the bike is not possible then the Just Dance workouts will resume.

I had been toying with the idea of joining a gym but it seems a lot of money to spend when I have a bike, my legs and the outdoors.

I am also going to give this local initiative a call to see if they can help me with the exercise part of losing weight. I do struggle with motivation for this as I really hate doing it and am also concerned of people pointing and laughing, which I know shouldn't bother me because really most of the time this is an insecurity in my own mind and no one else even notices me, I ain't that special!!! I did sign up to the initiative before but what they offered me a lot of psychological work which I felt didn't benefit me so hopefully this time I will be able to get something more suited to me, plus I am more motivated to reach my goals this time. Does you locla area have any initiatives? If so have you tried them? What did you think?

Weigh in 19/01/2012

Today's weigh in was good one I lost 2lbs :-) Which takes my total to 67lbs (4 stone 11lbs) which means I am 3lbs away from 5 stone (70lbs) loss, which I think is the first time the stones and lbs reach a milestone together.

This week has definitely been easier with tracking even if it was a little boring having to write everything down I also had moments of panic where I remembered I hadn't written down what I'd just had and made a mad dash for my little skanky playboy notepad!

I am now on my nights until next Wednesday morning at 7 am, i am currently just about to finish my 2nd night so five more to go :-( I usually have a good loss when I do nights as I struggle on my days off. I would really love 3lbs off but would be happy with 2lbs. My plan for the week is lots of walking around the sites that I look after and I am also going to make the Speed soup with some variation, it will probably end up with leek, carrot, onion, spring onion, baked beans, green lentils, tomatoes and mixed beans. This should keep me going until the end of my nights and means that I don't have to faff around before going to work making my breakfast and dinner at the same time.

Hope you are all doing well, as always anything you would like to see or suggest please leave me a comment :-)

My goals 2012

I know I have already mentioned a few of my New Year's resolutions in my Happy New Year post but last night when I couldn't sleep (thanks Miss Monthly!) I started to think of making goals which in part was inspired by my friend Bert who blogged about his 2012 goals. It got me thinking of the SMART objectives which I'm sure most people have done on some training course, if not it stands for Specific, Measureable, Achieveable, Realistic and Time so with this in mind I wrote down my goals which I will share with you.

1. To lose at least another 4 stone
2. Ride my bike regularly - I am aiming for twice a week
3. Get down to a size 16-18
4. Try new recipes and food

I feel that all these goals fit in with the SMART objective as I can measure each one, they are achieveable, realistic and have the time scale of 2012. The only one I am worried about is the size 16-18 as I am not sure how far away in weight I am from that size as I found that my dress size dropped quickly in the first couple of stones but in the last 2 1/2 it has hardly changed particularly on my bottom half where I carry most of my weight.

For my goals to work I really need to look at where I have been going right and where I have been going wrong. For a start I know my food is good I more often than not stick to plan and always have a range of healthy and filling foods in my kitchen cupboard. I have been going very wrong on the exercise front I took part in the Lifestyle Change Challenge last summer/autumn which is when most of my weight came off and actually I have lost much since I stopped regular exercise.

I think key to making goals work is not making them too unrealistic, I did this often in 2011 which left me not achieving many of the goals that I set myself which in turn leaves me feeling like I haven't achieved anything, which of course isn't true! So what are your goals? How do you plan on achieving them?

Weigh in 30/11/11

Weigh in was yesterday and I lost 1lb! I am fine with this as I have not been on plan fully. I am struggling to stay focussed at the moment, for those of you that follow me on Youtube will have already heard what I am about to write!

I think my illness the other week has really taken it out of me and I haven't really had time to really take time out to just chill out and relax, looking ahead it's going to be Christmas Day before I have chance to relax (thanks Mum!)

I am getting fed up with the whole weight loss thing I am not a person that usually sticks with things as I get bored easily so spending a year losing weight is a massive achievement for me, in fact doing anything for any length of time is a good thing for me. I think some of my fedupness (yes it is a word!) has come from the fact I have lost a lot of weight and I am still FAT! This then leads me to get annoyed with myself for putting on such a huge amount of weight in the first place and then I begin to pick the year apart and get annoyed with not being further along in my journey. The rational, sane me knows that this wasn't ever going to be an easy and quick thing but the person inside me who is impatient and prone to tantrums is definitely fed up!

Anyways, enough of the depressive stuff I am off to Lincoln Christmas Market tomorrow which I am very excited about as it will definitely start off the Christmas season with a bang. Is anyone else off to any Christmas Markets?

Weigh in 24/11/2011

I weighed in after skipping last weeks through illness and I lost a lb to be honest I was a bit disappointed I have been really sick and not eaten that much although what I have eaten hasn't been Slimming World friendly due to my appetite not being too great I just ate what I fancied and usually only eating two meals a day. I  have now lost 4 1/2 stone (63lbs) and I am more than annoyed with myself for it not being a lot more! We are edging closer to Christmas and I am probably not going to get to my Christmas target which was 5 stone 5lbs (75lbs) by Christmas which would leave me 12lbs to lose in 4 weeks.

I am going away for the weekend with my Mum to Lincoln for the Food and Drink festival, we go every year and I am so excited I love spending time with my Mum, being in Lincoln and spending my day watching cookery demonstrations. We are also staying and eating in a posh hotel so that will be fun. I am not setting any targets for next week I am just hoping that my appetite returns to normal so I can get on and lose the rest of my blubber!

Weigh in update 03/11/11

I stayed the same this week so it's still a total of 4 stone 5lbs (61lbs) loss. I am OK with this as I have struggled this week with cravings and have only done minimal exercise. Thinking about what I have done in the last couple of weeks, a big gain then a big loss a maintain is probably a good thing to give my body a bit of a rest.

It was Jonathan's birthday yesterday so we went out for a meal, I think I chose wisely I had lamb rump, roasted sweet potatoes, vegetables and mint gravy. Tonight I am out for a fireworks display and a curry for one of my best friends birthday. After this I am on an eating out ban until the end of the month!

I still haven't been out on my bike, I am going to see if I can get in my car otherwise I am going to need a thingymebob for my car!

I have also looked into my numbers for October and here they are:

Lbs lost: 2
Inches lost: 3

It's pretty pathetic but roll on this month when it will be more awesome. Below are my total inch loss so far this year in the areas I measure.

Hips: 12
Waist: 7.5
2nd Belly (area between boobs and belly!): 7
Under bust: 6.5
Bust: 8
Neck: 1.5

I am happy overall but wish that I had got more off my waist and a bit more of my hips as this is where I carry most of my weight.

Christmas Planning

Following on from my previous post it got me thinking about how to plan around Christmas, usually I know I am going to eat a lot a Christmas but doesn't bother me but after my huge gain after my holidays I realised I need to be serious about this weightloss and not let things get in my way.

People say it's only one day, technically it is but if you think about what happens near Christmas and you have yourself a lot of days to get lost in food in and drink.

For me it starts in the last weekend of November when I go to Lincoln Food and Drink Festival with my Mum, we stay in Lincoln for the weekend and spend the Saturday at the festival watching cooking demonstrations,purchasing and sampling lovely food we are also staying in a nice hotel with a fancy restaurant this year so we are having a meal there too.

The there's the chocolate advent calender.

Next up in the Christmas Markets, this year I will be going to the one in Lincoln (yes that will be two trips to Lincoln in two weeks ) with Jonathan, his Mum and Uncle again there are plenty of food stalls, the sell Ostrich burgers which are to die for and I love the gluhwine and hot chocolate with baileys.

Most people go to a work Christmas do which again would involve food and copious amounts of alcohol. I won't be going to mine but my brother to be awkward decided to be born exactly a week before Christmas which will be a trip to the Manchester Christmas market and a meal.

We are now a week from Christmas and I haven't even started on the the shopping where the temptation to grab a quick bite to eat on the run, pre Christmas drinks or the day itself.

It's quite overwhelming having to think about all of this when I am torn between wanting to stay as much on plan as possible to thinking 'sod it I love Christmas I am going to eat, drink and be merry'. The problem is after it all the merry will be much more of a depression of weight gain and self pity of why do I do this to myself?

Earlier in the year when I was trying to think of where I would like to be in terms of weightloss I had decided on being at 6 1/2 stone loss so that I could have a cushion of 1/2 a stone to put on over Christmas, at the time Jonathan said that it was ridiculous, I sulked at him but actually he is right why would anyone who was overweight ever think 'oh I'll just put on 7lbs!'

So this year I am taking control, the first thing I will be doing is getting a an advent candle like the one below which are available in Aldi from this Sunday on their special offer deals.

Next I am going to enjoy the weekend away with my Mum and get back on track on the Monday, after all it's only a couple of days. The Christmas Market will be fine I will be driving so the gluhwein and baileys will be out the window and Ostrich burgers are extremely low in fat. My brother's birthday will be easy too as I will choose to drive, therefore saving me syns on alcohol.

Shopping just needs to be organised and prepared for I will take some Slimming World friendly treats in my bag.

Then Christmas begins with a night out on Christmas Eve, I am going to enjoy this night drink sensibly and try and get to a dancefloor to work it off. Christmas Day will start with a good breakfast to see me through to to best meal of the year, with plenty of veggies of course. Boxing day is buffet time so plenty of lean meats and salad to be had. So in a nutshell my plan is to enjoy myself, cut down where I can, fill up on veggies and have a right good time!! How about everyone else?

Christmas Target

I have been thinking about my Christmas target, originally I wanted to be at 6 stone (84lbs) loss for the year which would leave me to lose 23lbs in a little over 8 weeks.This is achievable but I put a lot of pressure on myself at the beginning of my journey to lose weight, if I remember correctly I wanted to have lost 8 stone by the end of this year which I am nowhere near, so taking this into consideration I am aiming to lose another stone before Christmas which would take my total loss to 5 stone 5lbs (75lbs).

I haven't got an elaborate plan to achieve this next target as it should be easily done, I am just going to continue to make good, home cooked and healthy food. I am however going to start exercising more as I need to start to tone up as I am losing because I have started to notice the lose skin which I know will happen but I want to try and make it not as bad as it would be without exercise. I hope that last bit made sense!


So what are everyone's Christmas targets? Anyone planning on doing anything extra to get to their targets?

Weigh in update: 2nd June 2011

Today was weigh-in and I maintained. I expected it to be honest but was hoping my good days would have produced a 1lb loss.

May in numbers

Weight lost in the Month of May: 7lbs
Inches lost in May: 3.5

I was pretty impressed with this considering I had a 2lb gain at the beginning of the month.


This weeks plan

For the next week my goal is 3-5lb loss as I would love to get a big loss before two very busy weekends. 5lbs would take me to 2 1/2 stone loss (35lbs) but 3lb is a good weekly loss. So how am I going to achieve this? Well I'm going to drink more water as I feel this was a downfall this week and eat more fruit and vegetables, again not enough of these entered my gob this week.

I'm also not going to get on the scales till next weigh in. I think it is affect the way I eat and is causing damage. For example, this week I stepped on the scales and had gained quite a few pounds and because there was no reason for it I had a bit of a binge and went off plan. However, the rational, sane me knows that I do go up after weigh-in and then the weight comes off towards the end of the week. So if I hadn't have ahd the mini binge I possibly would have lost. 

Weigh in 26/05/2011

This week's weigh in was really good  I lost 4lbs and I reached two milestones. The first one being that I have finally lost 2stones and the second was that I have reached 30lb loss. S

I think this week's success was down to the amount of water I have drank and possible my speed soup. I also think that by planning my meal out with the girls helped a lot. I did go over my syns but didn't have as much as I would have usually and  I still had a good loss.

This week is my week off and I always struggle with my healthy eating when I don't have the structure of work, so far I've had one day off Slimming World on Saturday as I went to my parents to watch the Champions League Final and I had 2 bottles of cider, mousaka, greek salad, houmous and jam roly poly and custard.

So, as you can see I had a bit of a feast. I've been right back on it today with a 'fry-up' consisting of tomatoes, bacon, scrambled egg and Joe's garlic and herb sausages.

I'm hoping to have more blog posts up this week including some recipes that I am trying out.

Hope all of you are OK and the healthy living plan is going well.

January photos Vs. March photos

Front view taken January

Front view taken March

Side view taken January

Side View taken March

Back View taken January

Back View Taken March

                
I can see some difference particularly the back view. To be honest I'm a little disappointed in the side view as well as there not being much of a difference I stood facing the wrong way!!

    

Sorry for neglecting the blog

As the title says sorry for neglecting the blog, I have been extremely busy with work, however from tomorrow I have a week off to expect more posts and reviews. I have also been working on an article piece for the blog so that should be finished in the next few days. 

On the diet front things are still going well I have tried to vary my diet a bit and eat more vegetables. I did my first ever cooking video Chicken stuffed with cheese wrapped in bacon served on a bed of rice and green beans, you can see it here, any criticism is gratefully received. I do realise I need a better tripod I currently have a mini one which is fine for videos but not so great for cooking videos any recommendations? The meal itself was absolutely gorgeous just what I needed after a long shift at work. The plate is very full of food, I am following Slimming World which allows you to have unlimited 'free food' which the whole plate was plus a healthy extra for the cheese. Allowing myself a generous serving means I don't have the urge to snack on unhealthy foods. I will do a blog post with the recipe soon and also add some of the pictures I took. 

It's my weigh-in tomorrow and I'm hopeful that I have lost again; actually I'm looking forward to stepping on them scales. I am still a little too embarrassed of my weight to share what I weigh but in a few months I hope to start sharing then pictures of weigh-in, although the weight will still be embarrassing I know that I will be losing it. 

Anyways, happy slimming and keep up the good work.