This past week has been an absolute write-off, diet wise!  Having a nasty cold, a couple of days off work last week, & generally just feeling blah...

Ah well, onwards and up (down) wards!  Hopefully I'll be back to feeling 100% (well, 90% even would be good), & will get back into things...though I may have to readjust the daily calories a little higher.

Birfdee & Anniversary :)

So, I rather doubt I will have lost much this week, due to having birthday & anniversary yumminess :)
Was all lovely though, and back on the straight & narrow this week.  I intend to be fairly strict the rest of the month, and probably have one takeaway just after payday.  I still have the aim of getting to 60kgs - we will see how I go!  This weekend, I'm thinking I might do pulled pork in the slow cooker & have it in rolls with BBQ sauce (maybe some stuffing?)  Not sure about other meal yet, possibly stir fry of some description.   Bowling tonight, it's good to be getting back into it :)

cold!!!!

In more ways than one - have a slight cold, and I am cold!  In good spirits though :)  Been eating sensibly (well, being very strict, but it'll pay off!).  Going to have tacos/burritos this weekend, and also greek lamb burgers.  Next Tuesday is my 35th birthday (gulp!...na, not really fussed :)  so we'll have Heston's scrummy lasagne he does for Waitrose with some salad and garlic bread for James (& some Aussie sparkling wine...& a cake I'm going to bake!).   Am trying to meal plan for October; unfortunately the yummy spatchcock chicken we got from Tesco was a summer thing only, so I might try the one that Waitrose has.  I can make our own minty lamb steaks, that won't be difficult...though maybe I should just roast a stuffed lamb leg....yummy!

I'm still not weighing myself, don't see the point just yet; I will when my clothes are markedly looser :)  The weekend after next we'll have a little home celebration for my birthday & our 3rd anniversary, so I will be drinking!  Then back to it for October.  Had phone consult with CBT lady yesterday; I will be doing 6 sessions and see where I'm at after that....my skeptical brain is very skeptical...I hope my mindset can change! :)

Autumn is here...

Well, only just!  But this morning it's quite chilly, I feel rather miffed, I'm not quite ready for this weather yet!  <pouts> <stamps feet>

So anyway, the week was a success - I seem to be fitting back into strict eating fairly well.  Though the few tiny snacks I had (little bit of low fat feta and pinched a couple of sweet potato chips from the girls on Friday) have strengthened my resolve to stay super strict during the week.  I'm not planning on weighing myself until my clothes are way, way looser as it would be too disheartening (for the time being anyway).

I adapted a recipe for stuffed peppers I found online - I used extra lean beef, onions, quinoa and seasoning (also a dash of BBQ sauce), and layered that in the pepper with feta cheese - turned out quite delicious.  I served that with brocollini and sweet potato chips (Waitrose has finally brought some out in their Love Life range, and they are scrummy!)  Last night (sunday) we had tacos, and I am very much enjoying the added sweetcorn.

I will try to write up a list/add things to my recipe folder when they work out well.  Until I reach a decent size/weight, I will steer clear of things like pasta bakes, takeaway etc.  Then, as stated in earlier posts, I'll be very strict during the week and eat what I like of a weekend!

The girls are learning words very quickly now; we sat down with them with their words book last night, and tried out words they know, and some new ones.  Lizzy has developed a habit of saying, 'ugger!'.....I'm really hoping it's now what I think it is! hehe...  James did a huge big cycle ride on Saturday, so the girls and I watched 'Spirited Away' - they seemed to really enjoy it, though of course they're a bit young yet to get it.

 

zzzzzz......

Ok so today is day 1 of getting back on track.  Am so sleepy without my trusty caffeine crutch!  I guess I need to have sort of little mini goals, seeing as I'm going it alone this time (though may still resort to Cambridge diet stuff/support at some point...)  I didn't drink any wine over the weekend either, so that's a start.

So - goal 1:  just stick to it until my birthday (24th), then assess where I am then :)

In other news, looks like I'll be bowling again, by goodness I'm going to be rusty, but it'll be good to get back into it.  The girls are saying new words every day it seems, they both say 'cheese', 'bath', etc.  and Lizzy has for some reason gotten into the habit of saying 'oh no!'  :P

Been a while!

It's been a while since I last wrote here...  too much to recap really!  It's been a lovely hot summer, Alex visited in June/July, our beautiful girls are now 2 (where did that time go?!)  So, I guess I might write some goals/wishes/dreams down!

Firstly, no more namby-pambying about!  I have put on a bit of weight, tis crunch time now - goal 1 is 65kgs, goal 2 is 60.  Secondly, sort my silly head out - hopefully CBT will help me 'retrain' my brain and make life better for myself and those I love :)  There's so much I would like to achieve work-wise and life in general-wise, I need to learn how to get past the 'blocks' in my mind to make them happen :)

There are a number of little projects I'm thinking of trying, the main 2 at the moment will be long-running ones I think:

1. Research and write down as much as I can about my Great Uncle Geoff; for my own benefit and the family in general - and especially for the girls, when they're older to know about him.  Hopefully when Dad visits next, we can sort out a trip to Etten/Gendringen and meet up with people there, and visit Uncle Geoff & his crew's graves.

2. I would really like to learn how to decorate cakes; 3D fondant ones in particular (though the equipment won't be cheap....not least of all a KitchenAid mixer!)  I would love to make a Totoro cake for the girls, and a cat one!  There are some awesome ideas on the Wilton website (though it's US-based and doesn't ship to the UK (boo!) :(  ...But if nothing else, I can already make a decent cake, so that's maybe 40% of it achieved already :P

3.  Stop reading crap on t'internet, start learning more!  (Ok, cat/history/sciencey stuff excluded :P )

4. Try to update this blog at least every 2 weeks :)

Back on track!

It's been a while, after a lovely holiday in Oz (still homesick!), and much overindulgence, I've got back on the diet bandwagon...well, not so much diet as trying to set up a way to eat for life.  As mentioned in previous posts, I think the way it'll work best for me is to be fairly strict through the week, freeing up weekends for scrummy food and wine :)

I'll start posting my weight again after I get back below 67 kgs (not that I'm so very far from that anyway...but I digress!)  Anyway, having started on the 2nd, I've lost 5 1/2lbs (2.5kgs) as of last night, which I'm very happy with, and certainly don't expect it to continue at that rate!  We've got a few things coming up in the next couple of months:  James' school reunion, 4 day Malta trip, and then Alex is coming to visit at the end of June!  I'm hoping to get some nice clothes in the summer sales, also :)

Aside from that, been focussed on work pretty much!  (Ok, property porn too! :P )

And a little more for good measure...

On my final weigh-in before Oz trip, I'm 68.4kgs (& that's with my glycogen topped up too).  It's been years since I was this weight, and though I do now need to tone up, I'm extremely pleased to have made it this far, only 0.5kgs off losing 20kgs in total since the end of October! :D  I've revised my final goal down to 60kgs, or a size 10 - I would't want to get any smaller than this anyway (& I'm enjoying actually having at least some semblance of a bust - which I can only guess is thanks to having the girls!)  Also - I know that once I start to build muscle, the scales will be deceiving...  I've started to use myfitnesspal to keep a track of things while I'm away.  I've given myself an upper limit of 2000 calories, which is roughly what a woman needs to be eating a day to maintain.  I don't yet know what my maintenance calories will be, but it's a good thing to aim for.  Some days I will eat more, some days less, just as long as it balances out - I'm not going to be too strict, as I'm on holiday!  Thankfully my family eats pretty healthily anyway, certainly none of them are fat :)  

Michelle said that I'd still be a healthy weight even if I did put on half a stone, but I'm not intending for that to happen....but it won't be the end of the world if I put a little bit on (though of course I'm hoping I won't!)  Anyway - to finish up - I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd manage to lose this much before the trip.  When I started in October, I had the vague notion that's I'd try to get below 75kgs, and anything else would be a a bonus :D

Finally!

So I am finally under 70kgs!  (ok, 69.9, but I'm there :)  I haven't been this weight for years, and while I know I have exercise to now incorporate into my routine, I'm very pleased with myself.  Hopefully at my last weigh-in before going to Oz, the scales will read under 11 stone, as at the moment they are bang-on 11  (& I'd love to have a '10' in front!)  I have revised my goal with Michelle again, and it's now 10 stone (which is 63.5kg), however I'm not fussed at how long that takes - I'm just going to start running and keep being strict during the working week, and see how I go.  I tried on all of my size 12 clothes on Saturday, with the view to taking some to Oz with me.  Well - everything fit, actually not only fit but fit better than when I bought them!  It's like I've been shopping without having to spend any money :P  I had sausages and lentils Saturday night, and last night did thai cod (with yummy coconut milk - which will always be a weekend-only thing!) last night.  Next weekend I'll do smoked salmon and scrambled eggs for Sunday brekky I think, and might try out a lamb tagine in the slow cooker.

I'm hoping increased activity in Oz won't lead to much, if any gain.  I intend to swim, run, hike, and of course run around after the girls, so hopefully I should be ok with eating bit more than I've been used to.  I'll buy myself a set of scales I think next weekend (for our luggage as much as for me!) - probably just get the same weight watcher's ones my consultant uses, but I will be wary of weighing myself more than twice a week.

Post Xmas break!

I was sure this post would be a contrite one, telling how much I had put on over the Christmas break....however, I was absolutely astounded to find out on Saturday that I've lost another 1.2kgs.  Given that I hadn't watched what I was eating at all (wine, puddings, cheese etc.), I'm both amazed and extremely pleased!  (evidently carbs/salt etc. must not affect me as much as they do some people)  Michelle has now set a firm goal of 11 stone (just under 70kgs) before going to Oz, but I'm a little dubious about reaching it...we'll see! I've been thinking more and more about a plan of action once we're back from Oz.  I am thinking of being pretty strict during the week, and a bit less so on weekends, though I am really considering dropping back down to Step 2 of the program until I reach my goal of 65kgs....but eating carbs (so stepping up to 3 or 4, or even 5) on the weekends in order to exercise.  I've been looking at Waitroses' Love Life range - there are some really tasty looking things there, and focussing more on healthy eating rather than focussing on low fat etc.  The soups look particularly yummy, and unlike most supermarket soups, are low in salt.  http://www.waitrose.com/content/waitrose/en/home/inspiration/waitrose_lovelife.html

I'm thinking this weekend or the next I'll get my smaller clothes out of storage, and see what fits that I can take with me to Oz!