It’s a new month, what better time to start a new healthy diet and exercise plan?

Since I left Weightwatchers at the start of the summer I’ve gained almost half a stone. Not ideal. That said I’m not completely gutted about it, I had a fabulous summer and food featured highly. It’s not like I’m sitting here scratching my head wondering how on earth it happened

I want the weight off now though, summer is officially over. So how am I going to do it? Well…. I’m re-joining Weighwatchers on Wednesday morning, it works well for me, and I like the support of other dieters.

I’ve also joined a group on Twitter that are aiming to lose a stone (14lbs) in the month of September. We’ll be posting our progress under the hashtag #Septemberstone . Join us!!

Finally and most exciting of all for me…. I’ve taken up running. I am a complete novice and had literally never ever ever ran for exercise until Sunday night past. I’m using an application on my iPhone called Get Running. I can’t recommend it highly enough. It’s a nine week fitness plan based on Josh Clark’s famous couch to 5K plan. A professionally recorded voice prompts you at regular intervals, letting you know when to start running and when to walk (it’s a mixture of both to start with), all the while allowing you to listen to the bangin’ tunes on your iPod!

The first leg of training is eight 1 minute runs broken up with eight 1.5 minute walks. Sound easy? Think again. I boked after the third minute. Classy…..

The last two 1 minute runs were more like crawls but I didn’t stop and the feeling of achievement once I heard the voice in my ear saying “Congratulations you just completed your first run” was absolutely amazing! I can’t wait to get back out tonight!

One thing I will say is to make sure you’re well equipped trainer and bra wise if you’re of the female sex. I was totally unaware that every time you pound the pavement 3 times your body weight it absorbed through your feet. Yesterday I had a noticeably sore spine, and my jugs felt like they’d had weights hanging off them (and I’m not a big busted gal). So it’s Sports bra and proper running shoes from here on in.

Current Weight: 11 Stone 11lbs

Dress Size: UK 14

Height: 5ft 6″

Wish me luck   xox

Shoot me now

I have been really good this week, eating within my points, plenty of exercise and figure wise its paid off. My jeans are looser and my husband can see it off me.

Why on earth did Weightwatchers just tell me that I gained 1lb then?????!!!!!

I feel completely deflated and demotivated. I wanted to grab the WW scales and hurl them across the room. No…. but really… I did… I kinda wanted to drop kick the leader too…

I felt good this morning, liked the shape I saw in the mirror, but according to WW I’m still 11lbs overweight and now I feel like a fat cow.

Gutted

You may have noticed that I didn’t go to Weightwatchers last week….. well to be completely honest I was very fed up with the whole thing. I guess I was on a bit of a weight loss downer.

I spoke to my WW buddy Kelly and basically explained how I was feeling (I’d have been lost without you this week bird)…. very much like I was on a diet & deprived.

This wasn’t WW fault, it was purely mine. I wasn’t following the programme properly, I was being lax about it. So I’ve had a week off, wallowed a bit, felt sorry for my fat ass and I’m over it now.

I took myself to todays meeting with the attitude of, I can fix this and pull it back…

No need. I lost 1lb

Now you could literally have knocked me down with a feather, I was utterly convinced (partly because I’d weighed myself in the house this morning) I had gained at least 1.5- 2lbs.

Uh-uh.

I’ve learnt 2 major things from this episode.

• The scales in the house aren’t accurate and they need to be binned if I’m to stop torturing myself and dreading weigh ins.

• My weight problem is 60% in my mind, 40% in my body. I have a bad body image and I need to work on that. I’m going to start by booking myself into the college beauty salon for some pampering treatments

I also purchased a Pedometer today to try and up my exercise again. Pretty nifty little device that bascially calculates your steps and tells you what wine activity points you earn, if any.

It can seem a bit arduous clocking up activity points as before you earn any you need to reach do what is classed as a “normal” amount of healthy exercise, namely 10,000 steps per day. Thats the hard point, once you break that barrier though, the points clock up quite quickly! Already today just walking a short distance from WW and collecting youngest from nursery I’ve done over 3,000 steps.

Hope everyone else has done ok this week too, special mention to the gorgeous @lizzclare who lost 5.75lbs this week. Her secret? No meals after 5pm!! Well done Elizabeth xxxx

If you follow me on Twitter you’ve probably already heard the unexciting news that I stayed the bloody same again this week!! Ugh! Frustrating!!

3 weeks = no loss, no gain either which I know I should be pleased about, and I am, but at the same time this plateau is annoying/ boring the life out of me!

A few people have recommended that I perhaps need to vary my meals more, to kick start weight loss again and so I’m definitely going to do that. I’m also going to remove alcohol out of the equation COMPLETELY this week, as I’ve noticed with this stunning weather, my beer in take has increased again, and lets face it, beer is NOT waist line friendly!

How is everyone else getting on? Is the good weather having any positive/ negative effects on your weight loss?

xox

Stayed the same!

Nothing on, nothing off!!

I’m happy enough with that, as I enjoyed my time in London, eating pretty much what I liked

I think I haven’t gained because although I didn’t eat particularly well in my own eyes last week, I was still eating MUCH BETTER than I used to!

Proves that sometimes you can have your cake and eat it too, everything in moderation really is key

How did everyone else get on??

xox

I’ve said this before, but I’m going to say it again because I truly believe its helpful.

If you’re about to embark, or are already on a weightloss journey you should remember to document it in photos. I realise that initially that might feel like the last thing you want to do, but please trust me when I say its the most invaluable thing I have done.

Without photographic proof I’d still be arguing with myself that theres not really a noticeable difference in my shape etc. The brain is a powerful thing and let me tell you, on “fat days” I feel I’ve made no progress at all, even though my clothes say I have. So I get the photos out and thats when rationale wins. I can see the difference, there is no disputing it.

I’d recommend taking pictures every 6-8 weeks.

The picture below is me almost 5 months ago at Christmas Time. Just look at my thighs! Yikes! I’m a UK Size 16 here.

*Click on pictures to enlarge (at your peril )

This is me last week. 16 weeks after joining Weightwatchers. I’ve dropped 2 dress sizes and I’m a UK Size 12!!!! Weirdly my feet are also smaller by half a size!

I hope I don’t sound like I’m blowing my own trumpet too much, but I guess thats what I am doing to a certain extent. With purpose though, I think its important to take time to stand back, look, and appreciate how far you’ve come. There are times when I’ve just wanted to give up and revert back to my diet of junk food, but when I see the picture above I’m so glad I haven’t. I still realistically have around a stone left to lose, but I’m getting there

Not only do I think I look better, I feel better inside. I’ve always been a smiley happy go lucky person but my weight gain did leave me feeling very insecure and unattractive.With each pound off those insecurities have faded away.

If you’re on a weight loss journey I’d love to hear from you, have you taken progress pics along the way? Do you think its helped?

xoxox

Get In!!!!!!!!!! 2lbs off!!!!!

Total Loss so far = 17.5lbs

This is just the boost I needed. I’ve been yo-yoing the past few weeks and it was frankly doing my head in. So back to basics I went this week, cooking from scratch, smaller portions, dinner before 7pm, and lots more activity.

I have power hosed, gardened, walked the dog etc….. and none of it has been a chore. Exercise really does make you feel good, and it proves you don’t need to be sweating it out at a gym. Gyms aren’t for everyone, and they certainly aren’t for me.

Plans for this week are more of the same coupled with a little bit of power walking. I’ve always wanted to try this but didn’t want to look like a knob on my own. Thankfully my chum at Weightwatchers has agreed to join me in being pointed at & laughed at 2 nights a week. I’ll let you know how it goes

How is everyone else doing? xox

I nearly didn’t go today……

I missed the 9am meeting and had no intention of going to the 10.30am one either….. I’ve had a bad week food wise. I’ve totally lost control of the snacking and I didn’t want to see my leaders face when she told me I’d gained.

You’d be forgiven for thinking Easter has been and gone.

Not in my house. While my husband was out late last night I “found” a forgotten Creme Egg Easter Egg belonging to one of the kids. I ate it in front of Eastenders, every last morsel. I think it took me about 5 mins tops. I’ve been a nightmare this week with chocolate.

I think we all have our bad food whether it be cheese, chinese etc, mine is and always has been the chocolate. I can’t just have a little, and so I have none (other than WW substitutes), but last week I bought a Curly Wurly, and I kidded myself it was a one off. I then had one four days in a row, topped off with the creme egg. Ugh. Devil chocolate.

So after dropping the kids to school I settled down to watch Claire Richards “My Big Fat Wedding” on iPlayer.

After that, I practically ran to the later meeting to get weighed. If you haven’t had the chance to watch it you really should. From a weight loss perspective it is truly inspirational.

Anyway, in summary, I gained 1lb. It could have been much much worse. So I’m really glad I went to the meeting, without the pep talks from my WW friends, I think a bad week would have turned into a bad fortnight or perhaps even a complete wagon dismount. I was feeling that bad. Don’t underestimate the value of your Weightwatchers meetings!!

I came home renewed, did 10 mins on the trampette, then cleared the house of a few other eggs that were hanging about in cupboards. The kids don’t want them, and I don’t need them.

I went out to Tesco and did a shop for some ingredients, I’m going to get back into cooking from the WW Recipe books, they really are fab. It’s just so easy to get out of the habit, so I’m taking control back.

I got the “Weekdays” one today. £7.99 at meetings.

It has 60 recipes but the beauty being that none of them take longer than 30 mins to prepare and cook. Its a good design too, the book sits up and the pages are laminated so it can be wiped down, great for a messy cook like me

Hope everyone else had a better week than me weight wise

xoxox

Last night I went to the Girls Aloud gig with my brother’s girlfriend and it was a brilliant night.

We went to a bar first and I was very naughty and had a few pints of Tennents and some red wine. So I was very pleased today at Weightwatchers when I lost another pound! Happy days

I wore my new Max C dress and my all time favourite Rudey 3-strap heels which were a much loved present from my husband. I felt very glam, girlie & suprisingly svelte once I was ready.

*Pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them

Makeup was pretty lazy tbh, a staple go to for me. Basically MAC Woodwinked, Mulch, Lovestone and a smidgen of Urban Decay Oil Slick for added depth. I was also sporting my “Nicola” from Girls Aloud Eylure Falsies. Lips are MAC Angel topped with Soft & Slow.

While I like the shape of the lashes, I’m not overly impressed with the actual band on the eyelid. It is very spacey and required quite a layer of gel liner to conceal it. On a plus though they peeled away easily after wear and I will be able to re-use them at least one more time. I didn’t use the glue they came with, I prefer Duo Adhesive, it works best for me.

All in all the concert itself was fab. They all looked a little stiff and nervous for the first two songs but after that they were in full swing and rocked the place. Nadine’s legs are like tooth picks in reality and Sarah Hardings body is amazing (even if she was sporting very dodgy hair extensions), and Nicola is even paler than I could ever have imagined but still my favourite!

Below are a few snaps taken with my piss poor camera. Sorry for the quality but you get the idea

If you’re lucky enough to catch the girls on their tour, enjoy xoxox

Ugh. Hating myself. I gained a half pound.
I realise it could have been worse, but I still feel like an elephant

I don’t want to go backwards, I want to go forwards!!!! I’ve had a look over my tracker for the week and I honestly was very good. The only thing different was later breakfasts due to the kids being off school and no major morning rushing (love that), and also later dinners, between about 7-8pm, rather than my normal 5-6pm. I’m thinking in there somewhere lies the problem.

So I’m thankful for a change that the school routine returns this week. I seem to need the routine to keep me on the straight and narrow. This means a return to earlier breakfast and I’m going to make sure I eat with the kids at around 5pm each evening and see how I get on.
Fingers Crossed!

Special thanks to my friend Kelly this week, she helps me to keep it all in perspective!!

How’s everyone else doing?!

xoxox

Unlucky for some…..

Not for me it seems, as I lost 0.5lbs today. Weight Loss so far 16lbs.
Not a huge amount I realise but pretty damn impressive considering the absolute diet hell that was the Easter Holidays.

It was a living chocolatey nightmare, yummy eggs everywhere, and I’m not sure whether my paranoia just reached new heady heights, or if its simply a coincidence that all the eggs the children received were my favourites. Mini Eggs, Creme Eggs, Maltesers, Buttons *drool*.

Then there was the ice-cream, copious amounts of the stuff, daily. I didn’t want to be a spoilsport, so of course to make others feel better I forced several 99′s down my neck……. (thats my excuse and I’m sticking to it).
My eldest also couldn’t finish half his Candy Floss and there wasn’t a bin in sight. So with litter dropping carrying a hefty penalty and Candy Floss not being something you can fold into your pocket for later it was down to me to dispose of it……. nom

The weight loss disaster hit a peak at my mother’s house, and the feast that was Easter Sunday Dinner. At some point (many years ago) it appears my mother must have taken a blow to the head, its the only logical reason I can think to explain why she cooks army sized portions for a family of 4.
Out the plate came, if it was patterned it was impossible to tell, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, veg, chicken simply covered every available mm.

Totally impossible to actually point a meal like that, but you can guess it ain’t pretty. It’s quite laughable then that for afters she had bought in specially a little Weightwatchers dessert for me. Bless her. She didn’t realise that the dinner had completely negated the need for a “diet” dessert, as I had already consumed my daily quota of points for the entire week in the previous 20 minutes. Sigh.

At this point I was feeling more than a little ill, and wanted to slope off to the privacy of my home where I could down half a bottle of Gaviscon or all else failing stick a pin in myself, but no, the tea came out, and in Northern Ireland tea is never served alone. Its tea and a “wee” bun, or tea and a “wee biscuit”. Nightmare.

So here I am 3 days later, still feeling full and never wanting to see a potato again, ever. I also have a raft of spots thanks to the small amount of chocolate I did comsume.
Thank god, literally, that Easter only comes once a year. Don’t get me wrong, the time with family and the break from routine is brilliant but the sheer over-indulgence and general pigging out I can happily forgo!
Today is a fresh start!

How’s everyone else getting on?

xoxox

Back on track

This week I have 1lb off, taking my weight to 11 stone 6.5lbs & a total weight loss so far of 15.5lbs

I’m really pleased, the kids are off on their school holidays and I normally find that plays havoc with meal planning etc, but its been pretty ok, the larder is well stocked and I’m avoiding temptation.

The talk this week at Weightwatchers revolved arounding the impending diet doom day(s) that is Easter. She very helpfuly brought in a number of eggs and pointed them for us. Did you know that a small Nestle Kit Kat one contains 32 points?? lol me neither!

I’ll be sticking to a Cabdury’s Creme Egg and making do, at 3.5 points thats pretty much guilt free!

How’s everyone else doing this week?

xoxox

As I said earlier in the week I am now starting to incorporate “light” exercise into my daily life in an effort to tone as I continue to shed the pounds.

I’m not a gym person in the slightest, I had a years membership a few years back and it was pretty much the biggest waste of money. The odd times I did grace LA Fitness with the presence of my fat ass I tended to favour the arm cycle & the exercise bike.

Ideally I wanted an exercise bike for the house, somewhere I’m a lot more comfortable sweating, panting and generally looking crap. However space is an issue for us, our house is compact, bijou and an exercise bike taking up yet more room we don’t have would frankly be mad.

However as with most things I want, I generally find a way to make it happen.

Delight then when I saw a foldable bike in Argos yesterday. Tbh I always thought these would be a bit feeble and light, however the reviews were some of the most positive out of all the exercise bikes on sale there. So I took the plunge and bought it.

Now it does say on the catalogue listing that “A different brand named item may be received of similar specification, but cosmetically different.” and thats exactly what happened. My bike is branded as a “Roger Black” rather than a Pro-fitness but I’m not complaining as this one is all black and looks a bit better sitting out.

Now when they say foldable, it doesn’t fold flat, but it folds enough to make a huge difference in the actual floorspace it eats up. I have it sitting neatly at the end of one of our sofas and its great.

I’ve been using it on tensions 4/5 (it goes up to eight) until I build myself up a bit and the resistance is fine for someone of my fitness. Put it this way, I’m sweating like a pig within 10 mins, attractive…

It is very steady, and most importantly for me, its incredibly quiet when in use. You can literally (i know because I did) watch GMTV without having to increase the telly volume in any way. Seat height is adjustable just like the gym style bikes, however word of warning, I am almost 5’7 and I can only comfortably use it at its lowest setting, so for anyone 5″5 or under I’d give it a miss, you’ll only end up over-stretching.

So if you’ve been hankering after an exercise bike but worried about the size or paying through the nose this just might be what you’re after

Link to the Argos listing here

xoxox

I’ve got my first STONE off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was achieved by losing another 2lbs this week taking me to a weight of 11 Stone 7.5lbs
Which is actually half a pound happily under my Stone threshold (Sorry prepare for lots of smilies & exclamation marks in this post!!)

Its taken me 10 weeks to get there but I’m confident that because I’ve lost it at a sensible rate I’ll find it easier to keep it off

Apart form the biggest grin and the best feeling in the world I also got a little symbolic stone from my leader Jackie awwwwww

I’ve still got a long way to go to reach goal weight but I’m setting myself little achievable milestones instead of getting too hung up on the bigger picture and that seems to be working. To date I’ve just been relying on healthy food and smaller portions to provide the weight loss, this week I’ll be introducing some light exercise. It would be fair to say you will never find me running in the gym, it just bores me rigid. However I have a trampette, a dog to walk and children to collect from school

I took pictures in my underwear at the beginning of my weight loss journey and at regular intervals, I highly recommend doing this. I cannot believe the difference in my Week 0 pictures and my Week 9. Without the photographic evidence I think I’d still be in denial that my shape is changing at all. But it is!! And I’m loving it!

I took front, back and side views and I’ll continue to do this. I don’t feel its appropriate to post the actual pics (thats a view for my hubby only, although I may re-consider if I hit goal) but the difference losing this stone has had on my whole well being both physically and mentally has been incredible. I want everyone to feel like this xoxox

Below is a candid picture taken at Christmas by my hubby, I am a size 16, I am in denial, and yes thats wine in the box
This was the picture that made me realise I had to get a grip on my weight, for my health and my own self esteem. (Although it has to be noted throughout all this time my husband has never once commented on my weight and was forever telling me how beautiful I was, I <3 you baby)

This is me today, sorry for the poor lighting, but I’m on my todd and self timing on a camera is just too much like hard work with me!

I am beginning to see definition at my waist, 10 weeks ago I was much more “barrel” shaped!
I’m feeling sexier, more confident and more interested in my whole body, not just from the neck up!
I find myself buying lots of body lotions & moisturisers with hints of tan. I’ve also been buying clothing which I had lost all interest in!!!
In the pic above I am actually wearing a size 12 top and size 14 leggings!!

What a difference a stone makes!

xoxoxox

I wasn’t for going to Weightwatchers this week, and due to feeling slightly under the weather this morning (self-inflicted) I really couldn’t get dressed never mind in a car to the 9.15 meeting.
Few hours later and feeling more chipper I thought I’d catch the later meet and get weighed. I couldn’t stay for the meeting as my eldest is off school sick today, and I’m not sure about everyone elses WW leaders, but mine isn’t child friendly at all. She tuts at babies gurgling ffs.

So I weighed in at……. 11 Stone 9.5 llbs!!!!!!!!! Another 2.5lbs off!!!
I’m grinning from ear to ear, I didn’t make my stone off this week but its well within reach now with only 1.5lbs to go

My whole shape is visibly changing, its just fab. I had to buy a belt for jeans that I couldn’t even manage to button at Christmas. I also bought my first Size 12 dress in two years a few days ago. I did as I normally do, took the Size 14 into the changing room and it was noticeably too big, the 12 is perfect!
Normally I tell them to ditch the hanger as I like all my clothes on matching hangers but I kept this one, purely because it says Size 12!!! on it, and everytime I look at it it makes me

How is everyone else doing??
xoxox

Skipping to week 8 as last week I took a holiday from Weightwatchers due to my birthday excesses.

Amazingly I have only gained 1lb, I am delighted, I’m sitting at 11 stone 12lb to date, still an overall loss of 10lbs. I really haven’t been tracking my points at all the past fortnight, but I think its testament to the fact that I’m getting to know what I can and can’t eat, I also think my metabolism is recovering the more weight I lose, so although I wasn’t terribly good a few days last week, when I exercise its actually getting burnt off. Hooray!!

Back to being good this week and aiming to hit that stone off mark next Wednesday. Can I do it?

xoxox

We are back on track, I lost 2lbs this week, taking my overall weightloss to 11lbs and I now weigh 11 stone 11lbs

I actually wasn’t for going this week, I’ve “felt” fat this week and was was convinced I had put on and just couldn’t face it. Luckily an AIM conversation with my good friend Kelly gave me a bit of perspective and I re-thought the whole skipping a week thing.
I think that really highlights how important it is to have support on your weight loss journey, without it I’m 100% positive I wouldn’t have weighed in this week. It also proves that in the weight loss battle the mind is either your best pal or your worst enemy.

Psychologically it was a bad week, stress clouded my judgement and tricked me into thinking I was going to disappoint. An in actual fact I’d been very good and there was no real solid reason for me to think I should have gained, but I “felt” big and therefore…

So happily I am 2lbs lighter and sticking 2 fingers up to the little devil on my shoulder.

What about everyone else? How did you get on?

xox

Nothing strange or startling this week, I put on 1lb but tbh I’m happy enough with that, I hadn’t been counting my points over the weekend and I also had numerous “wee buns” due to half term. So 1lb isn’t too depressing

Back on track this week though, I’m actually going to be all nerdy and create a set meal plan for the week and see how we all get on with that. I have a big pot of Zero points veggie soup cooking away on the stove as we speak.
It’ll have a few points in it later by the time I add the tatties (veggie soup is just WRONG for me minus potatoes) but it’ll still be a tasty low point snack.

How is everyone else getting on? Anyone starting into an exercise plan yet? My mind is starting to wander that direction but as yet I remain unconvinced. I’m such a lazy mare xox

It’s half term in Northern Ireland, hence the lack of posting on here.

My eight yr old and four yr old are demanding my attention and I have very important jobs to keep me busy, such as RE-building Tidmouth sheds which was demolished in some kind of train disaster and change Wii batteries every 3 minutes (this gets expensive).

I also sell AVON part time and it was delivered yesterday, takes a bit of organisation sorting all the customers orders, and the hair serum that exploded in transit covering a complete order was just a joy to discover……..

Today I’ve been out and about delivering and now I’m just about to sit down to a well deserved cuppa

Lunch is also in the oven, baked potato with cream cheese and chives, side of coleslaw goes without saying! I am starting to notice a real difference in my clothes, especially my every day coat which is less like a straight-jacket. It’s really spurring me on. I have a mountain of size 12 jeans in the loft that I am determined to get into with the next month. I keep setting myself little achievable goals like that as I reach each stage. It seems to be working

I’m having a bit of a skin issue at the moment in regards to foundation but I’ll get a post up on that at some stage over the next few days.

Whatever you’re doing this weekend I hope you all have a great time, @cimota and I will be sitting in and avoiding the over-priced restaurants this year. The local chinese takeaway seems like a more recession friendly alternative… I know, I know, I’m such a romantic

Have fun & Happy Valentines Day

xox

Have a smile as big as Zippy’s, slightly concerned if it gets any wider my head will split in two (ok maybe not, but I’m very very happy!)

I lost 5lbs this week

Which means I have lost a total of 10lbs so far, passed the half stone mark and obtained my silver 7 sticker (manically exciting if your a fat fighter like me!). I had to literally stop myself from sticking it on my forehead, apparently thats a little too in your face….

w00t!

I’m even more delighted because of my disappointing zilch loss last week. I’ve put that down to the devil Domino’s pizza and water retention at the tail end of my time of the month.

Would love to hear how you’re all getting on!!

xox