We managed to escape the South after all on Tuesday and drove up to my parents around lunchtime. 4 hours to travel 300 miles as opposed to the 9 hours to travel 12 miles the day before. Slight improvement!
It's lovely to be home, but any thoughts of dieting have well and truly disappeared the last couple of days. There is so much food in this house, it's an absolute impossibility to avoid it all! I have decided that I will start tracking again on Sunday and just try and be a bit more sensible the next few days. Ho hum - wish me luck!
I've been spending a bit of time with my nieces which is lovely, that's keeping me on my toes a bit. Yesterday I was taught a dance routine to the Black Eyed Peas by a 5 year old. I was exhausted!
Met some friends last night for dinner and a fair few festive mulled wines. I couldn't eat everything on my plate which is definitely an improvement but I am suffering with a right dodgy tum from not being overly healthy. I am looking forward to getting back on track.
Sunday we have to leave here fairly early to drive back down to Gatwick as we are off to Tenerife for New Year. Matt's friend has a villa out there so 7 of us are flying out for just over a week of sunshine. Cannot wait, I am officially sick of snow now. Its been snowing again up here which will be lovely for tomorrow, but then it needs to disappear please.
I'm bound to be fairly quiet now while I'm away so have a fantastic Christmas and New Year everyone. Here's to healthy and slimmer 2010's.
xx
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Snowed in!
In Bracknell around 245pm yesterday the snow really started coming down so my boss told us to all get home before it got too bad. Too late. It was complete and utter chaos. Having left the office at 3pm, I proceeded to sit in traffic for over 9 hours?!! People were abandoning cars left right and centre. I needed the loo when I left the office but thought it would take me an hour at most to get home. BIG MISTAKE!!!! I spent about 3 hours trying to work out the logistics of weeing in a tupperware box (TMI?!). It was most definitely the journey from hell. I was starving, thirsty, dying for the loo and most definitely extremely grumpy.
I eventually got back to Caversham just before midnight and had to abandon my car at the bottom of the hill as there was just no chance of me getting anywhere near the flat. The roads have about 6 inches of snow and although it seems to have stopped around 2am this morning, its not melted at all.
How do we not cope in this country with a bit of snow??! This was my view on the dual carriageway - cars just at a total standstill.
Clearly there was no chance of us getting up North yesterday and it's looking increasingly unlikely we'll get out of Reading today. I am sooooo annoyed!! Think I had better pop down to Iceland and buy some emergency supplies!
I eventually got back to Caversham just before midnight and had to abandon my car at the bottom of the hill as there was just no chance of me getting anywhere near the flat. The roads have about 6 inches of snow and although it seems to have stopped around 2am this morning, its not melted at all.
How do we not cope in this country with a bit of snow??! This was my view on the dual carriageway - cars just at a total standstill.
Clearly there was no chance of us getting up North yesterday and it's looking increasingly unlikely we'll get out of Reading today. I am sooooo annoyed!! Think I had better pop down to Iceland and buy some emergency supplies!
Monday, 21 December 2009
Another weekend of excess
Spent the weekend in the Midlands to celebrate Christmas with Matt's family. We were deluged with snow on Friday down here so we left fairly early but once we got past Oxford, the snow was nowhere to be seen. I had a minor trauma in that we got stuck in traffic on the M6 and I was absolutely desperate for the loo. We were literally 10 minutes from our hotel, but got stuck for 45 minutes. Matt was trying to persuade me to go on the hard shoulder, erm yes rightio!! Anyway, we eventually managed to make an emergency stop at Burger King and I had to have myself a cheeseburger to ease the trauma. Pig.
Friday night involved a fair amount of alcohol with Matt's brother at our hotel. I stuck to Vodka and Soda however, but I did end up snaffling down some Chilli which I really didn't need. Pig again.
Saturday we had breakfast in the hotel which was a help yourself buffet styleee... My biggest nightmare. I made a conscious effort to stick to one trip and not to overload my plate - not overly easy to do when a) you're a pig b) you're slightly hungover and c) you love a good fry up. Could have been worse though, I managed to completely avoid the pastries (and also the fruit!) and I only had one of everything I fancied (apart from the mushrooms as that would have been a bit daft).
We spent the afternoon in Stafford with Matt showing me around some of his old haunts before heading back to his Mom's house for a cuppa and cake. She had about 10 different varities and took great offence when I only wanted one small slice of Christmas Cake. I had to take a Cherry Bakewell with me for later to keep her happy. Fortunately I am not overly keen so I managed to resist that.
Saturday night was our Xmas dinner at a pub near Matt's Mom's. 3 courses which we had pre ordered back in September. I am so over Turkey and Xmas Pudding already. I didn't finish everything which is progress, but I still ate way more than I needed or actually even wanted. I spent the evening being entertained by Matt's Mom and his brother with their various views of the world.
Yesterday was a bit better but only because we literally have no food whatsover in the flat other than a couple of tins of beans, low fat rice pudding and various herbs and spices. I can normally manage to rustle something up, but I admit to being defeated by that one.
Today I feel hungry - and I am sure its because the excesses over the past few weeks have stretched my stomach again. I am worried that I may lose my last little bit of self control this week. I must try harder. I seem to have developed a sod it attitude since I am not officially now weighing in until the 6th January. There are numerous cakes and sweets in the office which I have resisted so far but it gets harder every time I look at them.
We're driving up to my parents tonight around 9pm which should hopefully mean we miss all of the traffic. I am going to have a very light dinner and only take a couple of healthy snacks for the journey. Matt is unlikely to want to stop as its a 300 mile trip and he'll just want to get there. Really looking forward to spending a bit of time at home and having some time off work. Tomorrow is officially my last day of the year, but I will be working from my parents so I am not entirely sure how much actual work I will do... don't tell my boss.
Right then, I am off to torture myself with a wander past the mince pies again.
Friday night involved a fair amount of alcohol with Matt's brother at our hotel. I stuck to Vodka and Soda however, but I did end up snaffling down some Chilli which I really didn't need. Pig again.
Saturday we had breakfast in the hotel which was a help yourself buffet styleee... My biggest nightmare. I made a conscious effort to stick to one trip and not to overload my plate - not overly easy to do when a) you're a pig b) you're slightly hungover and c) you love a good fry up. Could have been worse though, I managed to completely avoid the pastries (and also the fruit!) and I only had one of everything I fancied (apart from the mushrooms as that would have been a bit daft).
We spent the afternoon in Stafford with Matt showing me around some of his old haunts before heading back to his Mom's house for a cuppa and cake. She had about 10 different varities and took great offence when I only wanted one small slice of Christmas Cake. I had to take a Cherry Bakewell with me for later to keep her happy. Fortunately I am not overly keen so I managed to resist that.
Saturday night was our Xmas dinner at a pub near Matt's Mom's. 3 courses which we had pre ordered back in September. I am so over Turkey and Xmas Pudding already. I didn't finish everything which is progress, but I still ate way more than I needed or actually even wanted. I spent the evening being entertained by Matt's Mom and his brother with their various views of the world.
Yesterday was a bit better but only because we literally have no food whatsover in the flat other than a couple of tins of beans, low fat rice pudding and various herbs and spices. I can normally manage to rustle something up, but I admit to being defeated by that one.
Today I feel hungry - and I am sure its because the excesses over the past few weeks have stretched my stomach again. I am worried that I may lose my last little bit of self control this week. I must try harder. I seem to have developed a sod it attitude since I am not officially now weighing in until the 6th January. There are numerous cakes and sweets in the office which I have resisted so far but it gets harder every time I look at them.
We're driving up to my parents tonight around 9pm which should hopefully mean we miss all of the traffic. I am going to have a very light dinner and only take a couple of healthy snacks for the journey. Matt is unlikely to want to stop as its a 300 mile trip and he'll just want to get there. Really looking forward to spending a bit of time at home and having some time off work. Tomorrow is officially my last day of the year, but I will be working from my parents so I am not entirely sure how much actual work I will do... don't tell my boss.
Right then, I am off to torture myself with a wander past the mince pies again.
Friday, 18 December 2009
Bad head
Oh dear. Well yesterday went well.... or perhaps not. It started off ok with Porridge for breakfast, but went downhill when someone opened the Celebrations at work. I only had 4... but that's 4 more than planned. I had left over bolognese for lunch and then snaffled half a doughnut - not quite the light day I'd planned in preparation for my girls night out in Richmond.
I had already decided to just enjoy myself and not worry overly about points, which I clearly stuck to! 3 Passion Fruit Martini's (each served with a shot of Champagne), copious glasses of wine, Goats Cheese with Puy Lentils, Rib Eye Steak with Hand Cut Chips and Bernaise Sauce and Sticky Toffee Pudding and Custard later, I skidded towards the train station to attempt to get home.... Had a fab night, although the restaurant had stuck us in the Conservatory, which has a tent for a roof... you can imagine it wasn't the warmest. We ended up getting our desserts free and a bottle of wine since we were literally frozen so that was an added bonus. I didn't eat all of my main or even half of my dessert, but I still had too much.
The snow was fairly heavy by the time I left Richmond. I fell asleep on the train and literally woke up as we pulled into Reading, then had to wait 20 minutes in a blizzard for a taxi. The taxi couldn't get up our hill and we skidded backwards a fair few times... cue me trying to scramble the rest of the way in not overly sensible footwear. I was soooooooooo cold when I got home, that I had to wear several layers in bed. I got to bed at 2am and was awake at 7am to start work.... although don't tell anyone but I've been working from bed all morning, I am just too cold to venture out! The garden looks pretty though....
Off to the Midlands tonight to visit Matt's family. I am going to try and be a bit more restrained than I was yesterday, I don't want to undo all of my hard work in one bloody week!
Have a good weekend everyone.
I had already decided to just enjoy myself and not worry overly about points, which I clearly stuck to! 3 Passion Fruit Martini's (each served with a shot of Champagne), copious glasses of wine, Goats Cheese with Puy Lentils, Rib Eye Steak with Hand Cut Chips and Bernaise Sauce and Sticky Toffee Pudding and Custard later, I skidded towards the train station to attempt to get home.... Had a fab night, although the restaurant had stuck us in the Conservatory, which has a tent for a roof... you can imagine it wasn't the warmest. We ended up getting our desserts free and a bottle of wine since we were literally frozen so that was an added bonus. I didn't eat all of my main or even half of my dessert, but I still had too much.
The snow was fairly heavy by the time I left Richmond. I fell asleep on the train and literally woke up as we pulled into Reading, then had to wait 20 minutes in a blizzard for a taxi. The taxi couldn't get up our hill and we skidded backwards a fair few times... cue me trying to scramble the rest of the way in not overly sensible footwear. I was soooooooooo cold when I got home, that I had to wear several layers in bed. I got to bed at 2am and was awake at 7am to start work.... although don't tell anyone but I've been working from bed all morning, I am just too cold to venture out! The garden looks pretty though....
Off to the Midlands tonight to visit Matt's family. I am going to try and be a bit more restrained than I was yesterday, I don't want to undo all of my hard work in one bloody week!
Have a good weekend everyone.
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
Miracle and a realisation....
Erm, by some complete and utter fluke, I managed to lose 1lb. I totally don't deserve a loss after the last few weeks I've had.
BUT perhaps I am just not as bad as I think I am. Perhaps, after months of religiously (and not so religiously) counting every point that passes my lips, I am maybe a bit over critical of myself when I am not so saintly.
I need to look at the facts and start realising that there are changes within me. I know I cannot eat as much as I used to, and I am much more aware of what I do eat. I even stop when I feel full and leave things that I don't like - something I used to massively struggle with. I'd eat the stuff I didn't really like first (some form of self torture maybe??) and save the best bit on the plate until last, but there would pretty much always be an empty plate. I find fatty foods taste, well, fatty to me. I don't enjoy them like I used to.
I make better choices with alcohol than I used to - once upon a time pints of cider and bottles of wine would be fairly easily polished off, these days it's vodka with soda water or the odd glass of wine or bubbly (ok, maybe more than the odd glass of late!). I exercise more and have now been a member of a gym for a year (normally I manage 3 months at most). I now think nothing of walking the 25 minutes to the train station - this time last year I'd have gotten the bus, or more likely a taxi. I actively try and go out for a walk at lunch time, instead of sitting at my desk browsing the web.
I am far from perfect and I still have a long way to go, but I've lost 48.5 pounds this year. That's an achievement. This is a life change, not a diet. There will be times, like Birthdays, Christmas and Holidays where I won't be as good as I could be. But that is normal, that is how thin people are.
Phew, I feel better for that!
So in other news.... I had my last physio session on my ankle last night. She said my balance has greatly improved, there is still some inflammation, but not much more she can do. I have exercises to perform to increase my strength and try to realign my knee (it's all out of kilter from the repeated ankle sprains). I just need to always wear an ankle support when I do any sort of activity. But I am good with that. Its still tender and a bit painful at times, but I will get there.
Tonight I need to write some Christmas cards and pack for the weekend in Birmingham. I'm going to do 30 minutes on the Wii Fit as well as a compromise for not going to the gym. Tomorrow I am meeting a load of girls I used to work with at DHL. We are off to a gorgeous place in Richmond for dinner and drinks. There will be 9 of us so it should be really good fun. My last train home is at 2354 so I have to make sure I don't miss that as Matt is away at his Christmas Do, there is no chance of him coming to rescue me (not that he ever would!). I fully intend to relax and enjoy myself, choose wisely and not over do it.
Friday we drive up to Birmingham for Christmas with Matt's family and then Monday I have another former DHL night out in London. I may have to forgo this one however as we drive to my parents on Tuesday and I need to pack for that and for our New Year holiday in Tenerife at some point. Too much to do and too little time!
So now I am off out for a stomp around in the snow. Have a good one everyone and lets all stop beating ourselves up about enjoying the festivities!
BUT perhaps I am just not as bad as I think I am. Perhaps, after months of religiously (and not so religiously) counting every point that passes my lips, I am maybe a bit over critical of myself when I am not so saintly.
I need to look at the facts and start realising that there are changes within me. I know I cannot eat as much as I used to, and I am much more aware of what I do eat. I even stop when I feel full and leave things that I don't like - something I used to massively struggle with. I'd eat the stuff I didn't really like first (some form of self torture maybe??) and save the best bit on the plate until last, but there would pretty much always be an empty plate. I find fatty foods taste, well, fatty to me. I don't enjoy them like I used to.
I make better choices with alcohol than I used to - once upon a time pints of cider and bottles of wine would be fairly easily polished off, these days it's vodka with soda water or the odd glass of wine or bubbly (ok, maybe more than the odd glass of late!). I exercise more and have now been a member of a gym for a year (normally I manage 3 months at most). I now think nothing of walking the 25 minutes to the train station - this time last year I'd have gotten the bus, or more likely a taxi. I actively try and go out for a walk at lunch time, instead of sitting at my desk browsing the web.
I am far from perfect and I still have a long way to go, but I've lost 48.5 pounds this year. That's an achievement. This is a life change, not a diet. There will be times, like Birthdays, Christmas and Holidays where I won't be as good as I could be. But that is normal, that is how thin people are.
Phew, I feel better for that!
So in other news.... I had my last physio session on my ankle last night. She said my balance has greatly improved, there is still some inflammation, but not much more she can do. I have exercises to perform to increase my strength and try to realign my knee (it's all out of kilter from the repeated ankle sprains). I just need to always wear an ankle support when I do any sort of activity. But I am good with that. Its still tender and a bit painful at times, but I will get there.
Tonight I need to write some Christmas cards and pack for the weekend in Birmingham. I'm going to do 30 minutes on the Wii Fit as well as a compromise for not going to the gym. Tomorrow I am meeting a load of girls I used to work with at DHL. We are off to a gorgeous place in Richmond for dinner and drinks. There will be 9 of us so it should be really good fun. My last train home is at 2354 so I have to make sure I don't miss that as Matt is away at his Christmas Do, there is no chance of him coming to rescue me (not that he ever would!). I fully intend to relax and enjoy myself, choose wisely and not over do it.
Friday we drive up to Birmingham for Christmas with Matt's family and then Monday I have another former DHL night out in London. I may have to forgo this one however as we drive to my parents on Tuesday and I need to pack for that and for our New Year holiday in Tenerife at some point. Too much to do and too little time!
So now I am off out for a stomp around in the snow. Have a good one everyone and lets all stop beating ourselves up about enjoying the festivities!
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Free car anyone??
I think my car is on a mission to severely upset me this week. After the mammoth amount of money I spent last week getting it through its MOT and the cracked windscreen on Saturday, it decided it wouldn't start last night when I was leaving work. Seriously car, what is wrong with you?? Thankfully Mr. AA man was fairly prompt in arriving, diagnosing the issue (corroded earth strap by all accounts) and getting me on my way. It did mean that I ended up stuck in traffic for ever and arrived late at the pub to meet my friend Laura, so we had a rather rushed dinner and I clearly didn't make the healthiest of choices. Tuna Fishcakes with chips... Ho Hum. Very tasty but I am sure way over the 12 points I had left. I then came home and had myself a bit of left over Xmas Pudding (we still have enough to feed 25 people I hasten to add) All in all, not the best of days.
Today hasn't really been much better. I've been working from home and we are very low on supplies given we are away for the weekend and then off for Xmas to my parents next Tuesday. Food so far today has been, 1 slice of toast with reduced fat peanut butter, 1 mince pie, 2 Birds eye potato waffles and 3 Aunt Bessies Yorkshire puddings with Bisto. Random?? I've spent the last 2 hours in Costa with some friends (working of course) and I managed to avoid all cakes and just stuck to a skinny latte, but its really not shaping up to be the best day ever.
I've stuck a healthy Bolognese in the slow cooker so I'll have that later. Tomorrow's WI is not something I am overly relishing. I anticipate a gain, but lets hope its minimal. Enough to give me a kick up the jacksy, but not enough to severely annoy me.
I do love this time of year, I can't wait to go home for Christmas and spend time with my family, but there is so much temptation around it's a minefield. I feel a lot better equipped to deal with it this year though as I really don't want to end up back where I started, I feel much better educated about food, portion sizes and healthier options and I know what I need to do to shift any weight I do manage to gain over the Festive period.
Today hasn't really been much better. I've been working from home and we are very low on supplies given we are away for the weekend and then off for Xmas to my parents next Tuesday. Food so far today has been, 1 slice of toast with reduced fat peanut butter, 1 mince pie, 2 Birds eye potato waffles and 3 Aunt Bessies Yorkshire puddings with Bisto. Random?? I've spent the last 2 hours in Costa with some friends (working of course) and I managed to avoid all cakes and just stuck to a skinny latte, but its really not shaping up to be the best day ever.
I've stuck a healthy Bolognese in the slow cooker so I'll have that later. Tomorrow's WI is not something I am overly relishing. I anticipate a gain, but lets hope its minimal. Enough to give me a kick up the jacksy, but not enough to severely annoy me.
I do love this time of year, I can't wait to go home for Christmas and spend time with my family, but there is so much temptation around it's a minefield. I feel a lot better equipped to deal with it this year though as I really don't want to end up back where I started, I feel much better educated about food, portion sizes and healthier options and I know what I need to do to shift any weight I do manage to gain over the Festive period.
Monday, 14 December 2009
Unmitigated disaster
Well I think that just about sums it up really. I don't seem to have stopped shovelling food and alcohol down my mouth since Friday evening.
Friday was meant to be a girls night out, but it became a girls night in after my car failed its MOT and cost me nearly £500 to get it through. I pleaded poverty and my lovely friends came to me instead. We indulged in Pizza, Champers and enough crisps to sink a ship. How very healthy.
Saturday wasn't much better, in fact it was probably much worse. My car windscreen decided to crack (do you get the feeling I should bin this bloody car??) so more blooming money. We then headed to Matt's friend Mark's to help prepare Xmas dinner for 9 people. Much food, wine, champers, port, amaretto and baileys later, we stumbled home feeling ever so slightly worse for wear.
Yesterday I had a token visit to the gym and managed 20 minutes on the Tread Climber and 10 minutes on the bike, before heading to the jacuzzi. We then ended up back at Mark's to help him finish off some leftovers - so Cheese board, Roast Potatoes and Xmas Pudding was lunch. My only saving grace yesterday was I was too full to eat dinner last night. Which also meant I spent the evening surgically attached to the sofa. Our bloody TV decided to shadow everything in green so we had to resort to bringing the little bedroom TV into the front room to watch the X Factor final. Well pleased that a fellow Geordie was victorious. Really hoping that the TV is not bust, I cannot afford any more expenditure this month!
So all in all, pretty disasterous on the diet front, but a fab weekend. Wednesday will be my last WI before Xmas and I am not anticipating good things at all. Another busy week ahead, pub dinner tonight, girls night out on Thursday and a weekend in Brum visiting Matt's family.
Oh heck.
Friday was meant to be a girls night out, but it became a girls night in after my car failed its MOT and cost me nearly £500 to get it through. I pleaded poverty and my lovely friends came to me instead. We indulged in Pizza, Champers and enough crisps to sink a ship. How very healthy.
Saturday wasn't much better, in fact it was probably much worse. My car windscreen decided to crack (do you get the feeling I should bin this bloody car??) so more blooming money. We then headed to Matt's friend Mark's to help prepare Xmas dinner for 9 people. Much food, wine, champers, port, amaretto and baileys later, we stumbled home feeling ever so slightly worse for wear.
Yesterday I had a token visit to the gym and managed 20 minutes on the Tread Climber and 10 minutes on the bike, before heading to the jacuzzi. We then ended up back at Mark's to help him finish off some leftovers - so Cheese board, Roast Potatoes and Xmas Pudding was lunch. My only saving grace yesterday was I was too full to eat dinner last night. Which also meant I spent the evening surgically attached to the sofa. Our bloody TV decided to shadow everything in green so we had to resort to bringing the little bedroom TV into the front room to watch the X Factor final. Well pleased that a fellow Geordie was victorious. Really hoping that the TV is not bust, I cannot afford any more expenditure this month!
So all in all, pretty disasterous on the diet front, but a fab weekend. Wednesday will be my last WI before Xmas and I am not anticipating good things at all. Another busy week ahead, pub dinner tonight, girls night out on Thursday and a weekend in Brum visiting Matt's family.
Oh heck.
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Food sabotage
The past 2 days have kind of gone 'ok'. I ended up eating out unexpectedly on both Tuesday and Wednesday nights, which threw a bit of a spanner in the works. Tuesday I opted for Steak at our local, said no thanks to the chips and asked for veg instead. Shame the Steak came with its own oil slick which actually made me feel pretty queasy. I mopped most of it off the plate with my napkin, but it still wasn't ideal.
Yesterday I had a 6am start for work which mean working from home - so no WI. I feel a little bit lost as I needed to know how much of an impact the weekend had on me. I could go to another class, but I am not overly sure how useful that would be as I get weighed in of a morning usually and all other local classes are night times. Ho Hum. I guess I will have to wait until next week to find out.
Last night I ended up in a different pub which was totally unplanned. I ordered Herbed Turkey escalope with New Potatoes, Broccoli and Cranberry Jam. Ok - make that Deep Fried Turkey escalope, Fried New Potatoes and butter drenched Broccoli and Cranberry Jam - oh and a side order of oil slick for good measure. I couldn't really eat most of it - I am finding of late that if I eat a lot of fat, I end up with fairly bad stomach cramps and a fairly sharpish trip to the loo is required (sorry TMI!). Not sure what that's all about, but it certainly puts me off eating too much fat.
Exercise has been practically zero. My car is in for its MOT today which means I can't get to the gym later unless I want to walk the 4 miles there (which I am not overly up for). I've been out for a wander at lunchtime and I walked to the station this morning at a fairly brisk pace, but its not really the same is it? Mind you, once upon a time I would have gotten the bus to the station, so it's progress of sorts. I've just been told I need to pay £368 to get said car through its MOT - I am inclined to walk to the station every day from now on. Gah!
The plan tonight is to cook a very low pointed dinner and do a bit of Wii Fit so at least I am moving. I'm out with the girls tomorrow night which again involves much alcohol and Saturday with have Christmas dinner with Matt's friends. I'm finding it practically impossible to stay within points at the moment!
Fingers crossed I can get through the next few weeks unscathed. I had hoped for another 2.5 off by the New Year, but I think for now, maintenance has to be the aim.
Yesterday I had a 6am start for work which mean working from home - so no WI. I feel a little bit lost as I needed to know how much of an impact the weekend had on me. I could go to another class, but I am not overly sure how useful that would be as I get weighed in of a morning usually and all other local classes are night times. Ho Hum. I guess I will have to wait until next week to find out.
Last night I ended up in a different pub which was totally unplanned. I ordered Herbed Turkey escalope with New Potatoes, Broccoli and Cranberry Jam. Ok - make that Deep Fried Turkey escalope, Fried New Potatoes and butter drenched Broccoli and Cranberry Jam - oh and a side order of oil slick for good measure. I couldn't really eat most of it - I am finding of late that if I eat a lot of fat, I end up with fairly bad stomach cramps and a fairly sharpish trip to the loo is required (sorry TMI!). Not sure what that's all about, but it certainly puts me off eating too much fat.
Exercise has been practically zero. My car is in for its MOT today which means I can't get to the gym later unless I want to walk the 4 miles there (which I am not overly up for). I've been out for a wander at lunchtime and I walked to the station this morning at a fairly brisk pace, but its not really the same is it? Mind you, once upon a time I would have gotten the bus to the station, so it's progress of sorts. I've just been told I need to pay £368 to get said car through its MOT - I am inclined to walk to the station every day from now on. Gah!
The plan tonight is to cook a very low pointed dinner and do a bit of Wii Fit so at least I am moving. I'm out with the girls tomorrow night which again involves much alcohol and Saturday with have Christmas dinner with Matt's friends. I'm finding it practically impossible to stay within points at the moment!
Fingers crossed I can get through the next few weeks unscathed. I had hoped for another 2.5 off by the New Year, but I think for now, maintenance has to be the aim.
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Grown up?
I may have to work from home tomorrow which means I miss my usual weigh in - which means I have an excuse to take my eye off the ball and be a little bit lapse with my pointing. However, given the horrors of the weekend, I am determined to try and stick with it. I don't mind a STS, but I am not in the market for a gain thanks ever so.
Off to Knitting Club tonight (how old do I sound??) My scarf is coming along slowly - its more of a hanky at the moment (with many holes). I am not sure I have found my forte with this one, but it's enjoyable all the same and keeps the old hands out of the fridge. Don't know what I will do about dinner later as I have an appointment with my osteopath first. Hopefully I won't resort to peanuts in the pub.....
Exercise of late has been practically zero, I just don't seem to have the time at the minute - actually correction, I don't seem to be making the time. I need a kick up the bum on that front. I should make Spinning tomorrow, but then I am struggling again to work out when I can fit anything else in. I guess I just need to be a bit more strict with myself.
I've just had one of those moments where I wonder what I have been doing with my life of late. I had an email from an old school friend who I've not spoken to for a long while. She asked me what I had been up to..... Hmmmmm, what have I been doing? Well, I go out and get drunk, I go to work and I go home and I go on holiday sometimes..... Is that really it? I kind of feel like I am not a proper grown up as all of my friends are getting married and having babies and the thought of that scares the bejesus out of me. Marriage I could probably cope with - but kids?? I still feel like I am too immature for anything that involves the responsibility for another life. I can't even keep plants alive! I guess I shouldn't compare myself to others, I have a good life, great friends and I live with my favourite ever boy, just because I don't have any announcements of the baby or wedding variety, doesn't mean my life is going nowhere. I just need to remember that.
Ok, I have rambled enough. Time for lunch me thinks. Will I stick to salad from the Italian Deli or will the Lasagne tempt me....... answers on a postcard please....
Off to Knitting Club tonight (how old do I sound??) My scarf is coming along slowly - its more of a hanky at the moment (with many holes). I am not sure I have found my forte with this one, but it's enjoyable all the same and keeps the old hands out of the fridge. Don't know what I will do about dinner later as I have an appointment with my osteopath first. Hopefully I won't resort to peanuts in the pub.....
Exercise of late has been practically zero, I just don't seem to have the time at the minute - actually correction, I don't seem to be making the time. I need a kick up the bum on that front. I should make Spinning tomorrow, but then I am struggling again to work out when I can fit anything else in. I guess I just need to be a bit more strict with myself.
I've just had one of those moments where I wonder what I have been doing with my life of late. I had an email from an old school friend who I've not spoken to for a long while. She asked me what I had been up to..... Hmmmmm, what have I been doing? Well, I go out and get drunk, I go to work and I go home and I go on holiday sometimes..... Is that really it? I kind of feel like I am not a proper grown up as all of my friends are getting married and having babies and the thought of that scares the bejesus out of me. Marriage I could probably cope with - but kids?? I still feel like I am too immature for anything that involves the responsibility for another life. I can't even keep plants alive! I guess I shouldn't compare myself to others, I have a good life, great friends and I live with my favourite ever boy, just because I don't have any announcements of the baby or wedding variety, doesn't mean my life is going nowhere. I just need to remember that.
Ok, I have rambled enough. Time for lunch me thinks. Will I stick to salad from the Italian Deli or will the Lasagne tempt me....... answers on a postcard please....
Monday, 7 December 2009
It all went a bit Pete Tong....
As predicted at the weekend I really struggled to stay within my points. Saturday morning started off at our local Cafe where I went for a bacon sandwich instead of the Big Breakfast that was calling my name, so far not so bad. We then headed to the station to get the train over to Twickenham for the rugby. Cue the hottest, busiest train journey ever. I think I must've lost around a stone in weight on that journey - my many layers of clothing didn't really account for fact that I would be bloody boiling on the train.
Rugby was good, atomosphere is always great at Twickenham and the game was really good to watch despite me not really understanding all of the rules.
So foodwise, Hog Roast Bap with stuffing at Twickenham Stadium , 2 ciders, 2 lagers, followed by dinner at a really nice wine bar (lots of bread and butter, olives, half a baked Camembert, Mushrooms and Leeks in cream sauce on toasted Brioche, coffee, amaretto, 1/2 a bottle of wine) - didn't exactly go according to plan really. So much so that I was actually up most of Saturday night feeling really ill - probably due to all the flipping fat I managed to consume.
My only saving grace for Saturday is that we literally walked loads (about 6 miles in total). My feet are in a right state from blisters caused by my new boots - I even had to buy some emergency shoes on Sunday to get me to Clapham! I think forcing my jeans into my already overly tight boots may have been a step too far.... well 6 miles worth of steps too far in the end.
Sunday was in much the same vein - breakfast at the hotel in Richmond (bread and cheese). 2 glasses of Mulled wine in the pub before heading to Nina's for Xmas dinner - I did actually fill my plate with the least amount of food, but I still managed to get through some smoked salmon blinis, Turkey with all of the trimmings, Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding with Baileys Cream and Cheese - all washed down with shed loads of Prosecco and Port. Hecky Thump.
Again I felt ill last night when we got home - clearly a sign that my body doesn't like being filled with fat as much as it used to.
Anyway, no point stressing about it, damage is now done. I had a fab weekend with everyone which is what it was all about really. I'm back on track today and not even slightly hungry. It's reached 3pm and I am still feeling full from my Porridge at 8am. I am not planning on trying to bank loads of points as I think its pretty darn unlikely I can make back any sort of defecit by Wednesday. If the weekend has taught me anything, it's that I don't like the feeling I get when I overdo it and that eating lots of fatty foods makes me feel bloody ill!
Rugby was good, atomosphere is always great at Twickenham and the game was really good to watch despite me not really understanding all of the rules.
So foodwise, Hog Roast Bap with stuffing at Twickenham Stadium , 2 ciders, 2 lagers, followed by dinner at a really nice wine bar (lots of bread and butter, olives, half a baked Camembert, Mushrooms and Leeks in cream sauce on toasted Brioche, coffee, amaretto, 1/2 a bottle of wine) - didn't exactly go according to plan really. So much so that I was actually up most of Saturday night feeling really ill - probably due to all the flipping fat I managed to consume.
My only saving grace for Saturday is that we literally walked loads (about 6 miles in total). My feet are in a right state from blisters caused by my new boots - I even had to buy some emergency shoes on Sunday to get me to Clapham! I think forcing my jeans into my already overly tight boots may have been a step too far.... well 6 miles worth of steps too far in the end.
Sunday was in much the same vein - breakfast at the hotel in Richmond (bread and cheese). 2 glasses of Mulled wine in the pub before heading to Nina's for Xmas dinner - I did actually fill my plate with the least amount of food, but I still managed to get through some smoked salmon blinis, Turkey with all of the trimmings, Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding with Baileys Cream and Cheese - all washed down with shed loads of Prosecco and Port. Hecky Thump.
Again I felt ill last night when we got home - clearly a sign that my body doesn't like being filled with fat as much as it used to.
Anyway, no point stressing about it, damage is now done. I had a fab weekend with everyone which is what it was all about really. I'm back on track today and not even slightly hungry. It's reached 3pm and I am still feeling full from my Porridge at 8am. I am not planning on trying to bank loads of points as I think its pretty darn unlikely I can make back any sort of defecit by Wednesday. If the weekend has taught me anything, it's that I don't like the feeling I get when I overdo it and that eating lots of fatty foods makes me feel bloody ill!
Friday, 4 December 2009
Busy weekend ahead
I was very restrained last night at the pub, only 2 drinks and I even managed to watch Alex eat ham, egg and chips without too much salivating. I did nearly hit Matt when I got home and he told me that dinner was ok, but a bit "fatty" for his liking.... Fatty??? It was 5.5 points each... and so says the man who happily polished off a Donner Kebab and Chips on Tuesday. He's lucky he didn't end up wearing it.
The weekend is going to be tricky. Tomorrow we are off to Twickenham for Caroline's hubby's birthday. Some form of rugby match (Barbarians v New Zealand perhaps?!) which will no doubt involve much alcohol and not much in the way of healthy options. I guess I'll just have to try and moderate my intake. We're then staying over in Richmond as we're heading to Clapham on Sunday for a Christmas Lunch at Nina's. She's catering for 10 of us - not sure she realises what she has let herself in for! Slightly concerned I will overdo it, but I'll give it a shot at being good.
I don't think I am going to do much tonight, except maybe put the Xmas tree up. I've had an ok day foodwise, but I've just remembered a coffee I went for earlier when I inadvertantly snaffled a pecan and date cookie... Doh. It said reduced fat on the jar so I was sucked in. Numpty.
I am wearing my new boots today with a dress, I am not normally a dress girl unless its over jeans, but I don't have a cat in hell's chance of getting jeans under these boots at the moment so it had to be tights....
It's all a bit ladylike for me! The boots aren't quite so restrictive as yesterday - at least I don't feel like I am wearing callipers anymore. Dress is a bit short for my fat legs as well, but I've had a couple of compliments about it so I can't be looking too much of a lump.
Work has been ridiculous this week so I am very glad the weekend is fast approaching. I also discovered that I am stupid and have managed to book 2 different hotels for the same weekend to stay in Birmingham. Wouldn't be such a trauma, except they were both special rates and are therefore non-refundable or changeable. Great stuff. I've tried begging both hotels to let me change the date. No joy. I can't even palm it off on anyone I know. Maybe me and Matt will just have to stay in different places to get our money's worth! Sometimes I am overly blonde.
Anyway, I think I am about to make a hasty exit before I get saddled with more work.
Have a great weekend!
The weekend is going to be tricky. Tomorrow we are off to Twickenham for Caroline's hubby's birthday. Some form of rugby match (Barbarians v New Zealand perhaps?!) which will no doubt involve much alcohol and not much in the way of healthy options. I guess I'll just have to try and moderate my intake. We're then staying over in Richmond as we're heading to Clapham on Sunday for a Christmas Lunch at Nina's. She's catering for 10 of us - not sure she realises what she has let herself in for! Slightly concerned I will overdo it, but I'll give it a shot at being good.
I don't think I am going to do much tonight, except maybe put the Xmas tree up. I've had an ok day foodwise, but I've just remembered a coffee I went for earlier when I inadvertantly snaffled a pecan and date cookie... Doh. It said reduced fat on the jar so I was sucked in. Numpty.
I am wearing my new boots today with a dress, I am not normally a dress girl unless its over jeans, but I don't have a cat in hell's chance of getting jeans under these boots at the moment so it had to be tights....
It's all a bit ladylike for me! The boots aren't quite so restrictive as yesterday - at least I don't feel like I am wearing callipers anymore. Dress is a bit short for my fat legs as well, but I've had a couple of compliments about it so I can't be looking too much of a lump.
Work has been ridiculous this week so I am very glad the weekend is fast approaching. I also discovered that I am stupid and have managed to book 2 different hotels for the same weekend to stay in Birmingham. Wouldn't be such a trauma, except they were both special rates and are therefore non-refundable or changeable. Great stuff. I've tried begging both hotels to let me change the date. No joy. I can't even palm it off on anyone I know. Maybe me and Matt will just have to stay in different places to get our money's worth! Sometimes I am overly blonde.
Anyway, I think I am about to make a hasty exit before I get saddled with more work.
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Not much to report
Food seems to be going fairly well so far. Banked 1.5 points yesterday which I've been struggling to do of late. Food was all planned and pointed and I didn't deviate from that at all. The fact that I am so busy at work, I barely get time to go to the toilet is probably helping me stick to plan.
I spent most of yesterday talking myself out of Spinning, but I am pleased to say I gave myself a rather large kick up the jacksy and I went. I worked really hard, but I didn't seem to find it as difficult as I usually do. Maybe I am actually getting fitter, either that or I am kidding myself when I think I am working hard. Might need to invest in an HRM after Xmas.
Today has been good on the food front too, porridge for breakfast, Jacket Spud and Beans and Les Kol cheese for lunch and I've just had a Slow cooker concoction of chicken thighs cooked in Campbells low fat mushroom soup, stock cube, onions, mushrooms and leeks. Bloody lovely with a bit of rice. I've got 8 points left so I am going to spend them wisely and meet my friend Alex in the pub for a couple of cheeky vinos.
I was meant to go to Yoga tonight and I'd already had a word with myself to make sure I went. However, I am completely stupid and when I took the rubbish bag out to the bins this morning, I managed to deposit my gym kit in the bin store. Dozy cow. I intended to pop out at lunch time and buy a cheap vest and joggers but I seriously didn't leave my desk all day... ok that's a bit OTT, I did get to the kitchen to heat up my Jacket spud and beans, but I didn't get time to go out. Anyway, enough of the excuses, I am crap and I should have done something. Bad Linz.
In other news, my darling boyfriend has bought me a pair of DUO boots for Xmas. I ordered them 4cms smaller per calf than my last pair of DUO boots which I have worn to death in the vain hope that they would fit and last me a bit longer. They arrived today so obviously I had to try them on. I nearly gave myself a dislocated shoulder trying to get the flipping zips up. I've seriously blistered my fingers but I got the buggers on!! I think I lost most of the circulation in my calves whilst wearing them and I was a bit restricted in my movement, but I got them on! Yay! Thanks Matt :)
I've just come home to a flipping speeding ticket - Grrrr. I've got a clean licence for the first time since I passed my test and now I am going to get 3 bloody points again! I can't even do the Speed Awareness Course as I've already done it once - clearly it made a lot of difference to me. Doh.
Right then, I'll stop my blethering and get myself down t'pub.
I spent most of yesterday talking myself out of Spinning, but I am pleased to say I gave myself a rather large kick up the jacksy and I went. I worked really hard, but I didn't seem to find it as difficult as I usually do. Maybe I am actually getting fitter, either that or I am kidding myself when I think I am working hard. Might need to invest in an HRM after Xmas.
Today has been good on the food front too, porridge for breakfast, Jacket Spud and Beans and Les Kol cheese for lunch and I've just had a Slow cooker concoction of chicken thighs cooked in Campbells low fat mushroom soup, stock cube, onions, mushrooms and leeks. Bloody lovely with a bit of rice. I've got 8 points left so I am going to spend them wisely and meet my friend Alex in the pub for a couple of cheeky vinos.
I was meant to go to Yoga tonight and I'd already had a word with myself to make sure I went. However, I am completely stupid and when I took the rubbish bag out to the bins this morning, I managed to deposit my gym kit in the bin store. Dozy cow. I intended to pop out at lunch time and buy a cheap vest and joggers but I seriously didn't leave my desk all day... ok that's a bit OTT, I did get to the kitchen to heat up my Jacket spud and beans, but I didn't get time to go out. Anyway, enough of the excuses, I am crap and I should have done something. Bad Linz.
In other news, my darling boyfriend has bought me a pair of DUO boots for Xmas. I ordered them 4cms smaller per calf than my last pair of DUO boots which I have worn to death in the vain hope that they would fit and last me a bit longer. They arrived today so obviously I had to try them on. I nearly gave myself a dislocated shoulder trying to get the flipping zips up. I've seriously blistered my fingers but I got the buggers on!! I think I lost most of the circulation in my calves whilst wearing them and I was a bit restricted in my movement, but I got them on! Yay! Thanks Matt :)
I've just come home to a flipping speeding ticket - Grrrr. I've got a clean licence for the first time since I passed my test and now I am going to get 3 bloody points again! I can't even do the Speed Awareness Course as I've already done it once - clearly it made a lot of difference to me. Doh.
Right then, I'll stop my blethering and get myself down t'pub.
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
WI Wednesday
Hmmm, not sure how but I lost another pound this week. I've done no real exercise for a week and not exactly been healthy, but I'll take it! Best not to over analyse these things when they go in my favour I find.
Had physio last night on my ankle and it was incredibly painful (admittedly I am a wuss), she massaged the ligaments and I swear I nearly kicked her in the face it was that sore. Anyway, no pain, no gain and all of that. It feels a little tender today, but I guess that is to be expected.
Bit of a stressed call from my mother when I left physio as my little sister has been taken into hospital. She's got an infected Wisdom tooth which is somehow impacting her eyesight (something to do with puss apparently, yuck). I think she's ok and she's in the best place so I'm not going to worry too much.
Following on with the unhealthy theme for the week, last night's dinner consisted of Kebab Meat and salad. It was blooming lovely, but gone are the days when I could snaffle down a large Donner Kebab with Chips quite comfortably. I had 16 points left for dinner so it was completely within my points, but I still feel a bit of guilt if I eat something like that. I guess it's my many years of 'dieting' that have ingrained in me that I cannot lose weight unless I exist on Salad and Dust. That's what I love about WW, I can still eat what I want within reason. I just need to banish those feelings of guilt.
Spinning tonight which will be much fun (or maybe not). I need to bank some points for the weekend as we've much alcohol on the horizon. Happy Days!
Had physio last night on my ankle and it was incredibly painful (admittedly I am a wuss), she massaged the ligaments and I swear I nearly kicked her in the face it was that sore. Anyway, no pain, no gain and all of that. It feels a little tender today, but I guess that is to be expected.
Bit of a stressed call from my mother when I left physio as my little sister has been taken into hospital. She's got an infected Wisdom tooth which is somehow impacting her eyesight (something to do with puss apparently, yuck). I think she's ok and she's in the best place so I'm not going to worry too much.
Following on with the unhealthy theme for the week, last night's dinner consisted of Kebab Meat and salad. It was blooming lovely, but gone are the days when I could snaffle down a large Donner Kebab with Chips quite comfortably. I had 16 points left for dinner so it was completely within my points, but I still feel a bit of guilt if I eat something like that. I guess it's my many years of 'dieting' that have ingrained in me that I cannot lose weight unless I exist on Salad and Dust. That's what I love about WW, I can still eat what I want within reason. I just need to banish those feelings of guilt.
Spinning tonight which will be much fun (or maybe not). I need to bank some points for the weekend as we've much alcohol on the horizon. Happy Days!
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Plodding along
Monday wasn't the best day ever. Not bad on the food front, I managed to bank points. However I left the house in the pouring wind and rain to realise my car was in fact at work. Grrrrr. That meant a 25 minute walk to the station in monsoon conditions with my laptop, worlds largest handbag and my lunch all about my person. My umbrella spent most of its time inside out and I was sporting a large perm mid way through the journey. (Think Bridget Jones in that open top car - nice)
You can imagine I was even more happy when I got to the station to see my train leaving. 30 minutes wait til the next one. When I eventually got to my destination I couldn't get through the barrier - I thought I had lost my ticket and been trying to use an old one as a quick scan of the ticket said Maidenhead (no idea why I'd have a Maidenhead ticket as I never go there!). It was only at lunchtime that I realised that the barrier had spat out someone elses £50 weekly travel card which was nice of it. Fortunately I am the honest type so I trekked back to the station to hand it in. I had a nice, warm glow from being such an honest and upstanding citizen.
So food yesterday went ok, I had a cheese bagel with marmite for breakfast and a skinny latte while I waited for the train (6 points). A homemade parma ham and pesto sandwich for lunch with spinach and a side of cherry tomotoes and a large helping of Slow Cooker Bolognese with pasta for dinner. Banked about 6 points, but that's not going to overly make a dent in the weekend's defecit. I suppose my unplanned walking yesterday may have gained me a couple of BP's as well.
I find this time of the year quite difficult. I've a lot of social events coming up over the next month which invariably means eating and drinking. The weather is a bit depressing and I want comfort food and motivating myself to get to the gym is proving hard. I've booked in for Spinning and Yoga this week so that should help. As much as I want to lose another 3.5 pounds before the New Year, I think I'll be more than happy if I can just maintain. Obviously I am still going to try to lose, but it's not going to be a disaster if I just stay the same. I think I need to stop putting pressure on myself and realise that 46.5 pounds off since April is not bad going at all.
You can imagine I was even more happy when I got to the station to see my train leaving. 30 minutes wait til the next one. When I eventually got to my destination I couldn't get through the barrier - I thought I had lost my ticket and been trying to use an old one as a quick scan of the ticket said Maidenhead (no idea why I'd have a Maidenhead ticket as I never go there!). It was only at lunchtime that I realised that the barrier had spat out someone elses £50 weekly travel card which was nice of it. Fortunately I am the honest type so I trekked back to the station to hand it in. I had a nice, warm glow from being such an honest and upstanding citizen.
So food yesterday went ok, I had a cheese bagel with marmite for breakfast and a skinny latte while I waited for the train (6 points). A homemade parma ham and pesto sandwich for lunch with spinach and a side of cherry tomotoes and a large helping of Slow Cooker Bolognese with pasta for dinner. Banked about 6 points, but that's not going to overly make a dent in the weekend's defecit. I suppose my unplanned walking yesterday may have gained me a couple of BP's as well.
I find this time of the year quite difficult. I've a lot of social events coming up over the next month which invariably means eating and drinking. The weather is a bit depressing and I want comfort food and motivating myself to get to the gym is proving hard. I've booked in for Spinning and Yoga this week so that should help. As much as I want to lose another 3.5 pounds before the New Year, I think I'll be more than happy if I can just maintain. Obviously I am still going to try to lose, but it's not going to be a disaster if I just stay the same. I think I need to stop putting pressure on myself and realise that 46.5 pounds off since April is not bad going at all.
Sunday, 29 November 2009
Ooooops
I am not sure oooops really sums it up. I've suffered a massive lack of self control since Friday night and am now feeling thoroughly stuffed and generally queasy from all of the crap I've consumed over the last 48 hours.
On Friday me and the girls set off on our secret journey - we were heading up to Liverpool to see one of our bestest friends Debbie. I met Nina, Caroline and Deb in my first year at Uni in 1994 and we shared flats together throughout our 4 years at Uni and beyond. I love them all to bits and given Debs lives in Liverpool we probably only spend time all 4 of us together 2 or 3 times a year.
Deb's other half had arranged for us to come up without her knowing - brave man! I am surprised she didn't kill him once she found out - she's not good with surprises. The journey is about 3.5 hours in the car. We stocked up on supplies for the journey - I did have some good intentions with carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes and reduced fat houmous, but I may have been seduced by the Quorn mini eggs and sausage rolls, Walkers Sensations crisps and the mini chocolate muffins. Ahem. When we arrived at Deb's we cracked open the sparkling stuff - she recently got engaged so it was a bit of a celebration. 6 bottles later and after much chin wagging, we got to bed around 0230. Typically I was awake at 8am - along with Caroline and Deb. Cue bacon and sausage sandwiches and a hangover from hell.
We spent yesterday afternoon at the Chesire Oaks outlet village. I should really have bought some Xmas presents, instead I got some completely ridiculous green sparkly shoes and a ridiculously expensive Mulberry handbag (I am completely obsessed with Mulberry to the point that I need help - and a much better paid job) I justified buying the bag as it had 65% off. That means it was only the equivalent of a months mortgage payment instead of 2... ok I jest, but I must never go shopping again with a hangover and a credit card. I seem to lose all sense. We had lunch at the food village and I opted for a giant yorkshire pudding filled with roast beef and gravy - not exactly the healthiest thing I could have gone for, but certainly not the worst.
The evening seemed to go in the same format. We decided to stay in - so that meant pizza, crisps, houmous and bread. Not to mention about 10 glasses of wine. That today has been washed down with another bacon sandwich and a totally healthy KFC. What was I thinking??? Well that's the problem - I actually wasn't.
I had a fab weekend with the girls though and I am just not going to stress over my excesses. I imagine I'll get a small gain this week, but its just not the end of the world. Spending time with my bestest friends means more to me than losing a pound this week. I know I will be back on track tomorrow. Life is going to get in the way sometimes, I just need to make sure it doesn't happen all of the time and we should be sorted.
On Friday me and the girls set off on our secret journey - we were heading up to Liverpool to see one of our bestest friends Debbie. I met Nina, Caroline and Deb in my first year at Uni in 1994 and we shared flats together throughout our 4 years at Uni and beyond. I love them all to bits and given Debs lives in Liverpool we probably only spend time all 4 of us together 2 or 3 times a year.
Deb's other half had arranged for us to come up without her knowing - brave man! I am surprised she didn't kill him once she found out - she's not good with surprises. The journey is about 3.5 hours in the car. We stocked up on supplies for the journey - I did have some good intentions with carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes and reduced fat houmous, but I may have been seduced by the Quorn mini eggs and sausage rolls, Walkers Sensations crisps and the mini chocolate muffins. Ahem. When we arrived at Deb's we cracked open the sparkling stuff - she recently got engaged so it was a bit of a celebration. 6 bottles later and after much chin wagging, we got to bed around 0230. Typically I was awake at 8am - along with Caroline and Deb. Cue bacon and sausage sandwiches and a hangover from hell.
We spent yesterday afternoon at the Chesire Oaks outlet village. I should really have bought some Xmas presents, instead I got some completely ridiculous green sparkly shoes and a ridiculously expensive Mulberry handbag (I am completely obsessed with Mulberry to the point that I need help - and a much better paid job) I justified buying the bag as it had 65% off. That means it was only the equivalent of a months mortgage payment instead of 2... ok I jest, but I must never go shopping again with a hangover and a credit card. I seem to lose all sense. We had lunch at the food village and I opted for a giant yorkshire pudding filled with roast beef and gravy - not exactly the healthiest thing I could have gone for, but certainly not the worst.
The evening seemed to go in the same format. We decided to stay in - so that meant pizza, crisps, houmous and bread. Not to mention about 10 glasses of wine. That today has been washed down with another bacon sandwich and a totally healthy KFC. What was I thinking??? Well that's the problem - I actually wasn't.
I had a fab weekend with the girls though and I am just not going to stress over my excesses. I imagine I'll get a small gain this week, but its just not the end of the world. Spending time with my bestest friends means more to me than losing a pound this week. I know I will be back on track tomorrow. Life is going to get in the way sometimes, I just need to make sure it doesn't happen all of the time and we should be sorted.
Friday, 27 November 2009
Thank crunchie it's Friday.
I've never been so relieved to reach Friday in one piece. I hate stressy work days, the only saving grace being that I don't have much time to snack so I tend to stick to my points when I am busy. Despite working from home yesterday, I had phone calls pretty much all day. I worked 0730-1830 with only a 20 minute break for lunch. Not good. I had promised myself I would go to Yoga, but my boss called me just as I was getting ready to go and told me I needed to do a customer install and they had approved downtime for 6pm - the same time as Yoga starts. Gah!!!!!!!!
As a compromise I dusted down my Wii fit and did 30 minutes of Yoga poses on there once I'd done with work - not quite as good I grant you, but at least I did something. I also did a few of the balance games that my physio recommended for the fat ankle. We then went to the pub - but I insisted we walk (normally we'd drive) so that got me another 20 minutes of movement in and I stuck to soda water. Go me.
Today is not shaping up as well. I am starving already. Had breakfast at 7am, its only just 11am and I am practically chewing my arm off. Lunch may end up being a tad earlier than anticipated. I'm getting the train over to Twickenham after work to meet the girls and then we are driving off to a secret location (I can't divulge as it's a surprise and I can't remember which of my friends know about this blog!). I don't expect we'll ge there til around 11pm tonight so dinner will happen in the car - I'll have to buy a few healthy items to take with me. I'm going to relax a bit over the weekend but not go too mad. Fingers crossed I can be relatively restrained.
Another boring food photo to follow but I made this yesterday for lunch and it was good:
Boil 60g of pasta
Dry fry leeks, mushrooms and onions
Add a splash of while wine (optional) and some veg stock and a sprinkle of sage
Simmer until the stock starts to reduce
Add in some chopped parma ham and a tbsp of extra light creme fraiche (or ELF) and simmer until it all thickens.
Throw in the pasta, toss to coat add a spinkle of parmesan and voila! Mine worked out at 7 points and kept me going for ages :)
Hope you all have fantastic weekends x
As a compromise I dusted down my Wii fit and did 30 minutes of Yoga poses on there once I'd done with work - not quite as good I grant you, but at least I did something. I also did a few of the balance games that my physio recommended for the fat ankle. We then went to the pub - but I insisted we walk (normally we'd drive) so that got me another 20 minutes of movement in and I stuck to soda water. Go me.
Today is not shaping up as well. I am starving already. Had breakfast at 7am, its only just 11am and I am practically chewing my arm off. Lunch may end up being a tad earlier than anticipated. I'm getting the train over to Twickenham after work to meet the girls and then we are driving off to a secret location (I can't divulge as it's a surprise and I can't remember which of my friends know about this blog!). I don't expect we'll ge there til around 11pm tonight so dinner will happen in the car - I'll have to buy a few healthy items to take with me. I'm going to relax a bit over the weekend but not go too mad. Fingers crossed I can be relatively restrained.
Another boring food photo to follow but I made this yesterday for lunch and it was good:
Boil 60g of pasta
Dry fry leeks, mushrooms and onions
Add a splash of while wine (optional) and some veg stock and a sprinkle of sage
Simmer until the stock starts to reduce
Add in some chopped parma ham and a tbsp of extra light creme fraiche (or ELF) and simmer until it all thickens.
Throw in the pasta, toss to coat add a spinkle of parmesan and voila! Mine worked out at 7 points and kept me going for ages :)
Hope you all have fantastic weekends x
Thursday, 26 November 2009
Work - bah.
Yesterday at work was ridiculous, we are so busy at the moment I am struggling to stay on top of things. I've a list of things to do, which I keep looking at, panicing and then doing none of them. That coupled with one of the team being on holiday is just adding to the chaos.
I didn't have breakfast yesterday morning as it was WI day, but fortunately my Graze box arrived around 10am so I had some Grapefruit and Orange and some Goji Berries as a mid morning snack. Not overly satisfying, but blooming healthy I guess.
For lunch, I only had time to rush out to Greggs (nearest place to the office unfortunately) and grab a sandwich which cost me 10 flipping points. I should have had a pasty!! It always kills me walking in there - the smell is to die for.
Unfortunately I was still at work at 7pm which meant I didn't make the gym for Spinning class. I was so tired that I doubt it would have been a beneficial work out, but I still should have gone and done something, I just couldn't force myself to do it. Slap on the wrist Miss M. I did end up working when I got home and didn't finish up til 11pm so I suppose the gym had to go by the wayside. I am knackered today.
Anyway, being so busy meant no unnecessary snacking and me coming in on points. One result I guess.
I'm working from home today so it's a bit less manic, but I am still in headless chicken mode every time I look at my task list. Breathe woman!! I've booked in for Dynamic Yoga tonight so hopefully no disasters will stop me from going to that later on and that might help me relax a bit.
I'm away at the weekend with the girls so I anticipate a fairly boozy and possibly unhealthy weekend. Will have to do my best to focus - perhaps I'll take photos of the weekends consumption to try and keep me on track.
Also took my measurements at the weekend which I forgot to post:
6th May
Thighs = 33 inches
Chest = 47 inches
Waist = 39.5 inches
Hips = 50 inches
Arm = 14.5 inches
22nd November
Thigh = 30 inches
Chest = 43 inches
Waist = 38 inches
Hips = 47 inches
Arm = 12 inches
Pretty pleased with that :)
I didn't have breakfast yesterday morning as it was WI day, but fortunately my Graze box arrived around 10am so I had some Grapefruit and Orange and some Goji Berries as a mid morning snack. Not overly satisfying, but blooming healthy I guess.
For lunch, I only had time to rush out to Greggs (nearest place to the office unfortunately) and grab a sandwich which cost me 10 flipping points. I should have had a pasty!! It always kills me walking in there - the smell is to die for.
Unfortunately I was still at work at 7pm which meant I didn't make the gym for Spinning class. I was so tired that I doubt it would have been a beneficial work out, but I still should have gone and done something, I just couldn't force myself to do it. Slap on the wrist Miss M. I did end up working when I got home and didn't finish up til 11pm so I suppose the gym had to go by the wayside. I am knackered today.
Anyway, being so busy meant no unnecessary snacking and me coming in on points. One result I guess.
I'm working from home today so it's a bit less manic, but I am still in headless chicken mode every time I look at my task list. Breathe woman!! I've booked in for Dynamic Yoga tonight so hopefully no disasters will stop me from going to that later on and that might help me relax a bit.
I'm away at the weekend with the girls so I anticipate a fairly boozy and possibly unhealthy weekend. Will have to do my best to focus - perhaps I'll take photos of the weekends consumption to try and keep me on track.
Also took my measurements at the weekend which I forgot to post:
6th May
Thighs = 33 inches
Chest = 47 inches
Waist = 39.5 inches
Hips = 50 inches
Arm = 14.5 inches
22nd November
Thigh = 30 inches
Chest = 43 inches
Waist = 38 inches
Hips = 47 inches
Arm = 12 inches
Pretty pleased with that :)
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Wednesday WI
And a 2lb loss for me this week. Most happy with that - this food diary definitely helped me stay on track and I'd recommend it for anyone who needs a little kick!
So thats 46.5lbs now gone. 3.5lbs is the aim before the New Year!
So thats 46.5lbs now gone. 3.5lbs is the aim before the New Year!
Tuesday tennis and troffing
Had a lovely day yesterday. We had tickets for both the day and evening sessions of the ATP tennis finals so we drove over to the O2 (blimey its a long way). We left the house around 10am and were there just before 12. Grabbed a quick lunch from Starbucks and settled down to watch the first doubles game of the day. Pretty good stuff. We then saw Verdasco v Del Potro which was great. Our seats were great so we were sat fairly near to the front. The atmosphere was brilliant!
We had a few hours to kill between sessions so we went for food, Matt decided it would be nice if we went to a Brazillian BBQ - not exactly the easiest option when you are trying to be good, but bloody lovely. They had a buffet table of salads and hot dishes which you help yourself to and then come round with various different meats on massive skewers and serve you at your table. I was so restrained given I had WI today but it was bloody hard!
The evening session of the tennis was amazing, another doubles game and then Murray v Federer. It was unbelievable! I am no expert but I could see how talented these 2 players are, a totally different class. Shame Murray didn't win, but a great game and great atmosphere all the same. Finally got home around 1am this morning so you can imagine I am not feeling the perkiest today!
My final day of the food diary for this week.
Breakfast - 7 points
Pancake made with 1 Egg, 1.5 tbsps of flour, 100 ml skimmed milk and 1/2 tsp of oil
2 slices of grilled bacon
Lunch - 6.5 points
Starbucks Chicken and Red Pesto Pasta Salad and a small Skinny Latte
Dinner - erm no idea how many points!
The below plus 3 slices of beef and a slice of lamb
And then during the final tennis game I had some of these.... ooooops
So all in all, not the best day ever, but much more restrained that I could have been I guess. This food diary has definitely helped me and I think I will definitely do it more often, whenever I feel myself slipping off track.
We had a few hours to kill between sessions so we went for food, Matt decided it would be nice if we went to a Brazillian BBQ - not exactly the easiest option when you are trying to be good, but bloody lovely. They had a buffet table of salads and hot dishes which you help yourself to and then come round with various different meats on massive skewers and serve you at your table. I was so restrained given I had WI today but it was bloody hard!
The evening session of the tennis was amazing, another doubles game and then Murray v Federer. It was unbelievable! I am no expert but I could see how talented these 2 players are, a totally different class. Shame Murray didn't win, but a great game and great atmosphere all the same. Finally got home around 1am this morning so you can imagine I am not feeling the perkiest today!
My final day of the food diary for this week.
Breakfast - 7 points
Pancake made with 1 Egg, 1.5 tbsps of flour, 100 ml skimmed milk and 1/2 tsp of oil
2 slices of grilled bacon
Lunch - 6.5 points
Starbucks Chicken and Red Pesto Pasta Salad and a small Skinny Latte
Dinner - erm no idea how many points!
The below plus 3 slices of beef and a slice of lamb
And then during the final tennis game I had some of these.... ooooops
So all in all, not the best day ever, but much more restrained that I could have been I guess. This food diary has definitely helped me and I think I will definitely do it more often, whenever I feel myself slipping off track.
Monday, 23 November 2009
Monday munching and sporting injuries
I've come to the conclusion that exercise just isn't good for me. After yesterday's fairly leisurely swim, I am now suffering a trapped nerve in my right shoulder which is making arm movement a tad tricky. It's not painful all of the time, but certain positions that I try to move to are bloody sore. I was screaming like a stuck pig in the office at lunchtime whilst trying to get my coat on and realising that I was in a position that I couldn't really get myself out of. Not overly professional I grant you but I notice none of the men I work with came to my rescue. Chivalry is most definitely dead in the world of IT! Anyway, I've had this before and while it's painful, I know it will work itself out in a few days so fingers crossed. I've taken Nurofen Plus and had a hot bath to try and loosen things up a bit. Should be fine by Wednesday night Spinning.
Another fairly decent day on the food front, although I am realising my fruit and veg intake is probably not enough on a daily basis. We're running low on supplies so I need to replenish. Spent tonight at a friends who cooked me dinner in return for me entertaining her 2 little girls for a few hours. That must have earnt my some Bonus Points, I had to do a ballet show for the duration of SCD - It Takes Two. I was flipping shattered!
I've got the day off tomorrow as I bought Matt tickets for Christmas to the ATP tennis finals at the O2 arena so we're off there for a day. Matt is tennis obsessed and fortunately tomorrow we get to see Murray v Federer, which is a bonus. Should be a fairly good day out, just need to try and make sensible choices on the food front. I'm sure the final day of the food diary will assist with that.
So today's food has gone like this:
Breakfast - 3 points
1 sachet of Oatso Simple - 1.5
2 packs of Sunmaid snack raisins (28g) - 1
60ml of semi-skimmed milk (mixed up with 120 ml of water as we had no skimmed milk at work) 0.5
Lunch - 7.5 points
1 pouch of Green Giant Mushroom Soup - 2.5
2 slices of white bread - 2.5
with 150g Tuna mixed with onion and 1 tbsp of Light Salad Cream - 2.5
Cucumber and Spinach - 0
Mid Afternoon - 1.5
1 packet of Frazzles
Dinner - approx 11.5
Pasta - 4
Tomato and Chilli Sauce - 1.5
Sainsburys Garlic Bread (1/3 of a baguette) - 4.5
Frankfurter Sausage - 1.5
That comes in at 23.5/26 but its possible dinner came in at more points so I'm happy with that. I am almost excited for WI on Wednesday as I feel like I've been almost saintly this week.
Another fairly decent day on the food front, although I am realising my fruit and veg intake is probably not enough on a daily basis. We're running low on supplies so I need to replenish. Spent tonight at a friends who cooked me dinner in return for me entertaining her 2 little girls for a few hours. That must have earnt my some Bonus Points, I had to do a ballet show for the duration of SCD - It Takes Two. I was flipping shattered!
I've got the day off tomorrow as I bought Matt tickets for Christmas to the ATP tennis finals at the O2 arena so we're off there for a day. Matt is tennis obsessed and fortunately tomorrow we get to see Murray v Federer, which is a bonus. Should be a fairly good day out, just need to try and make sensible choices on the food front. I'm sure the final day of the food diary will assist with that.
So today's food has gone like this:
Breakfast - 3 points
1 sachet of Oatso Simple - 1.5
2 packs of Sunmaid snack raisins (28g) - 1
60ml of semi-skimmed milk (mixed up with 120 ml of water as we had no skimmed milk at work) 0.5
Lunch - 7.5 points
1 pouch of Green Giant Mushroom Soup - 2.5
2 slices of white bread - 2.5
with 150g Tuna mixed with onion and 1 tbsp of Light Salad Cream - 2.5
Cucumber and Spinach - 0
Mid Afternoon - 1.5
1 packet of Frazzles
Dinner - approx 11.5
Pasta - 4
Tomato and Chilli Sauce - 1.5
Sainsburys Garlic Bread (1/3 of a baguette) - 4.5
Frankfurter Sausage - 1.5
That comes in at 23.5/26 but its possible dinner came in at more points so I'm happy with that. I am almost excited for WI on Wednesday as I feel like I've been almost saintly this week.
Sunday, 22 November 2009
Pulled it back
I've had a pretty good day today. Did very little this morning, but sometimes you just need a bit of time to sit about, doing nowt. (Hey I'm a poet). We dropped Matt's Brother off at the station around 1pm and then headed to the gym. I did 35 minutes of swimming and 5 minutes of sitting on a float and kicking my legs furiously - which was fairly hard work. Fortunately I had the pool to myself so I didn't look too much of a nutter bobbing up and down in the pool, but not really getting anywhere. Finished off my 'workout' with a relax in the jacuzzi. Most pleasant.
After the gym Matt wanted to head to the cinema, so we grabbed a very quick lunch from M&S so as to avoid the perils of cinema food - hot dogs, nachos and chicken nuggets. Not the best ever. Matt has been half heartedly doing WW with me for the last couple of months and when we worked out his points for yesterday he came in at a staggering 94 (he's allowed 29!). So I guess my day yesterday could have been a hell of a lot worse. He's pulled a few points back today, so is now only facing a defecit of 97 for the week. Ahem.
We saw 2012 at the cinema - blimey, that has to be the longest film ever. 3 hours of my life gone. Not a bad film, but too much doom and gloom for my liking on a Sunday. I almost nodded off after 2 hours, I'm not so good at sitting still for that long. A lot of films these days seem to be telling us the end of the world is imminent... not the most cheerful sentiment.
So here is today's consumption. I'm pretty pleased that I've managed to pull back yesterday's defecit.
Breakfast - 5.5 points
2 slices of toast with Lurpak Lighter and 1 poached egg.
Lunch - 5.5 points
Grabbed from M&S before heading to the Cinema.
Count on Us Chicken Sandwich (drier than a dry thing on a dry day) - 4 points
Bag of Count on Us Baked Salt and Vinegar Crisps - 1 point
Ribena Extra Light - 0.5 points.
Dinner - 10 points
1 bowl of homemade Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup - 0.5 points
150g Tesco Thin Beef Steak - 4 points
Mushrooms, Leeks and Onions, dry fried - 0 points
3 McCain Smiley Faces - 2 points
6 oven chips - 1 point?
French Mustard - 0 points
Half a Double Decker and a Cuppa - 2.5 points
That makes 21/26 points, plus 3 Bonus Points fom Swimming. That'll do nicely thanks.
After the gym Matt wanted to head to the cinema, so we grabbed a very quick lunch from M&S so as to avoid the perils of cinema food - hot dogs, nachos and chicken nuggets. Not the best ever. Matt has been half heartedly doing WW with me for the last couple of months and when we worked out his points for yesterday he came in at a staggering 94 (he's allowed 29!). So I guess my day yesterday could have been a hell of a lot worse. He's pulled a few points back today, so is now only facing a defecit of 97 for the week. Ahem.
We saw 2012 at the cinema - blimey, that has to be the longest film ever. 3 hours of my life gone. Not a bad film, but too much doom and gloom for my liking on a Sunday. I almost nodded off after 2 hours, I'm not so good at sitting still for that long. A lot of films these days seem to be telling us the end of the world is imminent... not the most cheerful sentiment.
So here is today's consumption. I'm pretty pleased that I've managed to pull back yesterday's defecit.
Breakfast - 5.5 points
2 slices of toast with Lurpak Lighter and 1 poached egg.
Lunch - 5.5 points
Grabbed from M&S before heading to the Cinema.
Count on Us Chicken Sandwich (drier than a dry thing on a dry day) - 4 points
Bag of Count on Us Baked Salt and Vinegar Crisps - 1 point
Ribena Extra Light - 0.5 points.
Dinner - 10 points
1 bowl of homemade Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup - 0.5 points
150g Tesco Thin Beef Steak - 4 points
Mushrooms, Leeks and Onions, dry fried - 0 points
3 McCain Smiley Faces - 2 points
6 oven chips - 1 point?
French Mustard - 0 points
Half a Double Decker and a Cuppa - 2.5 points
That makes 21/26 points, plus 3 Bonus Points fom Swimming. That'll do nicely thanks.
Shocking Saturday
Taking these photos has really made me more aware of what I shovel in my mouth normally on a weekend. I was fairly restrained with what I ate and drank compared to what I would consume on an all day session. We were in the pub for 1230pm and finished up back at ours with a Chinese. I didn't drink anything for the first 3 hours or when we got home, I ate much less than everyone else and I still end up massively over consuming points! Just goes to show where I have been going wrong most weekends.
Breakfast - Bacon Sandwich. 2 slices of grilled Bacon, 2 bread. 1 tsp Lurpak Lighter - 6 points.
Lunch in the pub whilst watching footy (a day of Sport on TV - yawn) Lamb and Mint baguette with Salad. 8.5 points. 3 Diet Cokes. Notice the chips on the place opposite - I didn't have ANY and no booze yet!
Large bag of Quavers between 3 of us whilst watching yet more sport.... 1 point for my share.
Dinner is where it kind of went downhill. After watching Matt and his Brother get more and more drunk, I could take no more diet coke. Once Nicola turned up, I hit the booze. 5 smirnoff Vodkas plus slimline tonic - 3.5 points. 2 glasses of Champagne - 4 points. No idea why the Champers came into play.... not entirely sure what we were celebrating!
Chinese Take Away at home between 4 of us.
Prawn Crackers - I had 1/4 of these 1.5 points.
1 Crispy Duck Pancake - 7.5 bloody points. Everyone else had at least 3. This was me being restrained!
1 Spoonful of Egg Fried Rice, 1 Spoonful of Boiled Rice, 1 Spoonful of Beef Curry, 1 Spoonful of Chicken and Cashew Nuts, 1 Spoonful of Duck in Honey and Black Pepper Sauce, 2 Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls - 11 points.
I wish I'd taken a photo of everyone else's plate because mine looked like it had nothing on compared to theirs - normally I would have my 'share' of everything and eat at least twice as much as on my plate there. Just goes to show where I have been going massively wrong!
So my day came in at 43 points. Good work Linz. I had 10 points banked and we walked into town (about 30 mins) so it's not such a massive trauma. I now have a defecit of 5 to make up. I'm off to the gym later on for a swim which should help. It's not easy this life change malarkey.
Breakfast - Bacon Sandwich. 2 slices of grilled Bacon, 2 bread. 1 tsp Lurpak Lighter - 6 points.
Lunch in the pub whilst watching footy (a day of Sport on TV - yawn) Lamb and Mint baguette with Salad. 8.5 points. 3 Diet Cokes. Notice the chips on the place opposite - I didn't have ANY and no booze yet!
Large bag of Quavers between 3 of us whilst watching yet more sport.... 1 point for my share.
Dinner is where it kind of went downhill. After watching Matt and his Brother get more and more drunk, I could take no more diet coke. Once Nicola turned up, I hit the booze. 5 smirnoff Vodkas plus slimline tonic - 3.5 points. 2 glasses of Champagne - 4 points. No idea why the Champers came into play.... not entirely sure what we were celebrating!
Chinese Take Away at home between 4 of us.
Prawn Crackers - I had 1/4 of these 1.5 points.
1 Crispy Duck Pancake - 7.5 bloody points. Everyone else had at least 3. This was me being restrained!
1 Spoonful of Egg Fried Rice, 1 Spoonful of Boiled Rice, 1 Spoonful of Beef Curry, 1 Spoonful of Chicken and Cashew Nuts, 1 Spoonful of Duck in Honey and Black Pepper Sauce, 2 Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls - 11 points.
I wish I'd taken a photo of everyone else's plate because mine looked like it had nothing on compared to theirs - normally I would have my 'share' of everything and eat at least twice as much as on my plate there. Just goes to show where I have been going massively wrong!So my day came in at 43 points. Good work Linz. I had 10 points banked and we walked into town (about 30 mins) so it's not such a massive trauma. I now have a defecit of 5 to make up. I'm off to the gym later on for a swim which should help. It's not easy this life change malarkey.
Friday, 20 November 2009
Friday food and the musings of Mick
Another ridiculously early start for me on a Saturday. I seem to have an inability to lie in unless I have consumed my body weight in wine. Oh well, at least I get to catch up with a few things before the brothers surface. Matt's Brother is down for the weekend so we ended up taking him out last night to our local, where we met my friends Alex and Rory and then off we went for Thai.
Now, Matt's brother - Mick, is a really nice guy. He is however, fairly stuck in his ways. He's 10 years older than Matt, doesn't undestand why people have relationships and his life revolves around work, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Beer with a Friday night Indian Curry thrown in.
Imagine the trauma of trying to persuade him to try Thai last night for the first time instead of Indian. He spent ages looking at the menu - I kept telling him it was the Wine Menu, but he persisted. Eventually he piped up "Does this place only sell booze?? There's no food on this bloody menu." Oh dear.
Once he did in fact have the correct menu, he was aghast. No chips on the menu, no Chicken Balti. He eventually decided to try Chicken Satay (just chicken in funny sauce apparently) and after much persuasion, Beef Massaman. He doesn't like a beef curry as beef should only be served with Yorkshire Puddings and gravy by all accounts. But he decided it wasn't bad, a bit like Beef Stew (potato in a curry??) but not enough spice. Not sure he'll be going for Thai again in a hurry.
Mick is also rather blunt after a few beers. Some of our conversations have gone like this:
Him: So are you and Matt getting wed then?
Me: No, you know he's not overly keen on the marriage idea given he tried it once and it didn't work.
Him: Well you're obviously not the one for him then.
Me: Thanks Mick.
Him: So, how do you and Mom get on?
Me: We get on quite well, I like her.
Him: Yes, but she only likes you because she thinks you like her.
Me: Thanks Mick.
Him: How do you and Nicola get on? (Nicola is one of Matt's friends who I get on really well with)
Me: Yes, really well, she's a nice girl.
Him: You know she wants him don't you, don't leave them alone together.
Me: Thanks Mick.
Him: How do you feel about Matt working long hours?
Me: Well I don't really like it, but I know its only temporary so it's not such a big trauma.
Him: I don't see why you bother, you should leave him.
Matt: Thanks Mick.
Fortunately I don't take too much notice of most of this anymore, I did the first time we met and Matt got a right ear bashing after a few of Mick's revelations. But now I've come to realise it's just the way he see's the world. He seems happy enough with it!
Yesterday I managed another fairly good day on the food front. Taking pictures of everything I consume is definitely keeping me in check.
Breakfast - 1 sachet of Oatso Simple with 180ml of Skimmed milk and 14g of raisins, cup of Red Bush Tea - 2.5 points
Lunch - 1 bread roll with 1 tsp of pesto, 1.5 slices of Parma Ham, Spinach, 15g of Les Kol and 1 tsp of extra low fat Mayo. Packet of Pickled Onion Monster Munch from a multipack. Bottle of Dr Pepper Zero - 5.5 points.
This is my new favourite sandwich - it is my attempt at the Pret Italian Proscuitto Artisan Baguette, which I love, but not for 10 points. Not quite the same, but fairly tasty for 4 points.
Mid Afternoon - 1 apple, 750ml of water - 0.5 points
Dinner - 5 Smirnoff Vodkas with Soda water and fresh lime (1 with tonic - thanks Matt!) - 4.5 points.
In the pub we had some Bombay Mix between 5 of us. I had 3 pinches of it (3 points?)
Thai Restaurant - Spicy prawn crackers, I had about 6 crackers with some sweet chilli sauce (1.5 points?)
Main course - Half a portion of Chicken stir fried with mushrooms and cashew nuts (5). 1/4 of a portion of Pad Thai (2) and one spoonful of rice (1) . You can see the rest of my dish on the plate behind, but I gave that away (even though I could have snaffled the lot).
1 chocolate toffee that came with the bill - inhaled by me before I even thought about it (I had to photograph another one once I realised it was in my gob!) - 1 point
So 18 points in total I reckon - fairly handy given that's how many I had left after Breakfast and Lunch. I really think this food diary is helping me stay on track. It's all too easy for me to forget what I eat after a night out or to stuff things in my mouth without giving it any extra thought.
So 26/26 points - leaving me 10 points still in the bank.
Not sure what the plan is for today. The aforementioned Nicola is coming over from London which will be nice. We'll meet her in Reading and see where that takes us. Better be careful not to leave Matt alone at any point - just in case :)
Now, Matt's brother - Mick, is a really nice guy. He is however, fairly stuck in his ways. He's 10 years older than Matt, doesn't undestand why people have relationships and his life revolves around work, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Beer with a Friday night Indian Curry thrown in.
Imagine the trauma of trying to persuade him to try Thai last night for the first time instead of Indian. He spent ages looking at the menu - I kept telling him it was the Wine Menu, but he persisted. Eventually he piped up "Does this place only sell booze?? There's no food on this bloody menu." Oh dear.
Once he did in fact have the correct menu, he was aghast. No chips on the menu, no Chicken Balti. He eventually decided to try Chicken Satay (just chicken in funny sauce apparently) and after much persuasion, Beef Massaman. He doesn't like a beef curry as beef should only be served with Yorkshire Puddings and gravy by all accounts. But he decided it wasn't bad, a bit like Beef Stew (potato in a curry??) but not enough spice. Not sure he'll be going for Thai again in a hurry.
Mick is also rather blunt after a few beers. Some of our conversations have gone like this:
Him: So are you and Matt getting wed then?
Me: No, you know he's not overly keen on the marriage idea given he tried it once and it didn't work.
Him: Well you're obviously not the one for him then.
Me: Thanks Mick.
Him: So, how do you and Mom get on?
Me: We get on quite well, I like her.
Him: Yes, but she only likes you because she thinks you like her.
Me: Thanks Mick.
Him: How do you and Nicola get on? (Nicola is one of Matt's friends who I get on really well with)
Me: Yes, really well, she's a nice girl.
Him: You know she wants him don't you, don't leave them alone together.
Me: Thanks Mick.
Him: How do you feel about Matt working long hours?
Me: Well I don't really like it, but I know its only temporary so it's not such a big trauma.
Him: I don't see why you bother, you should leave him.
Matt: Thanks Mick.
Fortunately I don't take too much notice of most of this anymore, I did the first time we met and Matt got a right ear bashing after a few of Mick's revelations. But now I've come to realise it's just the way he see's the world. He seems happy enough with it!
Yesterday I managed another fairly good day on the food front. Taking pictures of everything I consume is definitely keeping me in check.
Breakfast - 1 sachet of Oatso Simple with 180ml of Skimmed milk and 14g of raisins, cup of Red Bush Tea - 2.5 points
Lunch - 1 bread roll with 1 tsp of pesto, 1.5 slices of Parma Ham, Spinach, 15g of Les Kol and 1 tsp of extra low fat Mayo. Packet of Pickled Onion Monster Munch from a multipack. Bottle of Dr Pepper Zero - 5.5 points.
This is my new favourite sandwich - it is my attempt at the Pret Italian Proscuitto Artisan Baguette, which I love, but not for 10 points. Not quite the same, but fairly tasty for 4 points.
Mid Afternoon - 1 apple, 750ml of water - 0.5 points
Dinner - 5 Smirnoff Vodkas with Soda water and fresh lime (1 with tonic - thanks Matt!) - 4.5 points.
In the pub we had some Bombay Mix between 5 of us. I had 3 pinches of it (3 points?)
Thai Restaurant - Spicy prawn crackers, I had about 6 crackers with some sweet chilli sauce (1.5 points?)
Main course - Half a portion of Chicken stir fried with mushrooms and cashew nuts (5). 1/4 of a portion of Pad Thai (2) and one spoonful of rice (1) . You can see the rest of my dish on the plate behind, but I gave that away (even though I could have snaffled the lot).
1 chocolate toffee that came with the bill - inhaled by me before I even thought about it (I had to photograph another one once I realised it was in my gob!) - 1 point
So 18 points in total I reckon - fairly handy given that's how many I had left after Breakfast and Lunch. I really think this food diary is helping me stay on track. It's all too easy for me to forget what I eat after a night out or to stuff things in my mouth without giving it any extra thought.
So 26/26 points - leaving me 10 points still in the bank.
Not sure what the plan is for today. The aforementioned Nicola is coming over from London which will be nice. We'll meet her in Reading and see where that takes us. Better be careful not to leave Matt alone at any point - just in case :)
Food accountability
So far so good this week. I've managed Spinning class on Wednesday night and Dynamic Yoga last night which I think almost finished me off. We had a different teacher as ours is on holiday and he certainly didn't mess about. I am not overly good with my strength or balance, but am hoping that if I keep going to the class, I can only improve.
In a vain attempt to keep on track with food and having been spurred on by Karon (or Twinkle!) doing it last week, I've decided to photograph what I am eating. Then at least I'm a bit more accountable if I am posting it here every day - no more snaffling things without admitting it to myself. If I keep this up over the weekend - this might help me understand how completely off track I normally go!
So here is yesterday - a pretty good day for me:
I actually found this kept me full until lunch time - normally I'm staring at the clock every 5 mins.
Lunch - Bowl of Home made Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash Soup and a Tiger Roll. Can of Diet Cherry Coke, 750 ml of water - 4 points
Mid afternoon snack - Packet of Pickled Onion Space Raiders with 50% extra free. 2 points. I love these!
I also had a small skinny latte from Costa for 0.5 points.
Dinner - My version of Carbonara and Garlic Bread. I had a fairly hefty portion as I was very hungry after Yoga, normally I'd have less pasta with this.
80g Dried Pasta (4)
2 lean rashers of Bacon (3)
1 onion
Portion of Mushrooms
30g Les Kol Cheese grated (1.5)
1.5 Medium Eggs (2) - I cooked this for 2 of us, so I didn't half an egg for myself which might be quite tricky!
Cook pasta. Dry fry onions, mushrooms and chopped up bacon. When pasta is cooked add to the bacon mix. Mix the eggs with salt and pepper and the grated cheese. Take pan off the heat and stir in the egg mix to coat until egg is slightly set but not over cooked.
Also served with half a crusty roll spread with lurpak lighter and garlic and then grilled.
11.5 points in total
Total for the day 21.5 points leaving me 4 to save for the weekend.
Phew.
Work has been fairly busy this week which has kept me out of trouble - I am definitely a boredom eater so the fact I am flat out works pretty well for me.
Matt's brother is down for the weekend - this always involves a lot of drinking, so I am going to have to try and reign that in a little bit, the scales haven't budged (well apart from 0.5 up this week) for 2 weeks. I so want to see a new number on the scales on Weds!
Hope you all have a lovely weekend and this hideous weather isn't causing too much trauma for anyone.
In a vain attempt to keep on track with food and having been spurred on by Karon (or Twinkle!) doing it last week, I've decided to photograph what I am eating. Then at least I'm a bit more accountable if I am posting it here every day - no more snaffling things without admitting it to myself. If I keep this up over the weekend - this might help me understand how completely off track I normally go!
So here is yesterday - a pretty good day for me:
Breakfast - 1 sachet of Oatso Simple with 180ml of Skimmed Milk, 14g of Raisins (SunMaid Snack Pack) and 1 small banana. Cup of Red Bush tea and 750 ml Water - 3.5 points
I actually found this kept me full until lunch time - normally I'm staring at the clock every 5 mins.
Lunch - Bowl of Home made Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash Soup and a Tiger Roll. Can of Diet Cherry Coke, 750 ml of water - 4 points
Mid afternoon snack - Packet of Pickled Onion Space Raiders with 50% extra free. 2 points. I love these!
I also had a small skinny latte from Costa for 0.5 points.Dinner - My version of Carbonara and Garlic Bread. I had a fairly hefty portion as I was very hungry after Yoga, normally I'd have less pasta with this.
80g Dried Pasta (4)2 lean rashers of Bacon (3)
1 onion
Portion of Mushrooms
30g Les Kol Cheese grated (1.5)
1.5 Medium Eggs (2) - I cooked this for 2 of us, so I didn't half an egg for myself which might be quite tricky!
Cook pasta. Dry fry onions, mushrooms and chopped up bacon. When pasta is cooked add to the bacon mix. Mix the eggs with salt and pepper and the grated cheese. Take pan off the heat and stir in the egg mix to coat until egg is slightly set but not over cooked.
Also served with half a crusty roll spread with lurpak lighter and garlic and then grilled.
11.5 points in total
Total for the day 21.5 points leaving me 4 to save for the weekend.
Phew.
Work has been fairly busy this week which has kept me out of trouble - I am definitely a boredom eater so the fact I am flat out works pretty well for me.
Matt's brother is down for the weekend - this always involves a lot of drinking, so I am going to have to try and reign that in a little bit, the scales haven't budged (well apart from 0.5 up this week) for 2 weeks. I so want to see a new number on the scales on Weds!
Hope you all have a lovely weekend and this hideous weather isn't causing too much trauma for anyone.
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Not to self - Don't get drunk the night before WI
Half a pound on - but I am pretty sure that's down to the copious amounts of alcohol I got through last night. Not at all clever. I am not even sure why we decided to have a drink on a school night. Popped to the pub after work and I had a couple of G&T's (slimline of course) and then we got home and it all went downhill from there. I'd cooked that Chicken Fajita stack that I was raving about a few weeks ago and I had mine with Spinach and oven roasted cherry tomatoes - bloody lovely:
So that was only 6 points worth of food. But then we opened a bottle of wine... and then another one. Doh. I went to bed feeling fairly squiffy to say the least. Ho hum, you live and learn.
Had my first physio session yesterday - not really sure what to make of it to be honest. I guess it was more of an assessment than anything else, but the physio was running late and therefore spent most of the time looking at the clock, which somewhat annoyed me. Anyway, she told me my balance is shot (I kind of knew that already) and that the ligaments are damaged and weakened from my repeated spraining of it. I've also got a collapsed arch and am over compensating for the sprain by walking more on the inside of my foot. Anyway, I've got a wobble cushion that I need to work with for the next 2 weeks to try and improve my balance. I have a feeling I am more likely to fall off the bloody thing and do even more damage, but we'll give it a go.
Made a slight faux pas with today's lunch - bought a couple of rolls yesterday so made myself some sandwiches with Parma ham, spinach and a bit of pesto. Trauma is each roll is 4 bloody points. Only leaves me with 8.5 points for dinner tonight so I'll have to go low pointed so I can save a couple in case required at the weekend. I've booked in for spinning so that should earn me a few as well.
I am going to do my best not to let the weekend blow it all for me, I really want to get my 50 pound loss and its within touching distance.
So that was only 6 points worth of food. But then we opened a bottle of wine... and then another one. Doh. I went to bed feeling fairly squiffy to say the least. Ho hum, you live and learn.Had my first physio session yesterday - not really sure what to make of it to be honest. I guess it was more of an assessment than anything else, but the physio was running late and therefore spent most of the time looking at the clock, which somewhat annoyed me. Anyway, she told me my balance is shot (I kind of knew that already) and that the ligaments are damaged and weakened from my repeated spraining of it. I've also got a collapsed arch and am over compensating for the sprain by walking more on the inside of my foot. Anyway, I've got a wobble cushion that I need to work with for the next 2 weeks to try and improve my balance. I have a feeling I am more likely to fall off the bloody thing and do even more damage, but we'll give it a go.
Made a slight faux pas with today's lunch - bought a couple of rolls yesterday so made myself some sandwiches with Parma ham, spinach and a bit of pesto. Trauma is each roll is 4 bloody points. Only leaves me with 8.5 points for dinner tonight so I'll have to go low pointed so I can save a couple in case required at the weekend. I've booked in for spinning so that should earn me a few as well.
I am going to do my best not to let the weekend blow it all for me, I really want to get my 50 pound loss and its within touching distance.
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Physio and flashing
First of all, thank you everyone for your lovely comments on my last post regarding the dress. I may even wear one more often now that I have mastered the art of tottering in a heel.... well, thats perhaps a tad optimistic, I can stand in them for around 3 minutes at a time, that's progress.
Despite my best efforts the past 2 days, I am going to finish off my WW week -15 points. Not at all the end of the world and I am hoping it won't result in a gain given you are technically allowed 6 points a day for maintenance, but somewhat annoying that my lack of control at the weekend undoes most of my hard work. I've also not done any form of movement since painting on Sunday - I was in bloody agony all day yesterday from said painting which made any form of movement somewhat difficult. Anyway, tomorrow we shall see. I'll be digging out my lightest of clothes, removing all jewelry and possibly underwear in a vain attempt to see the scales move down. I'd get weighed naked if my fellow WW'ers didn't mind.
Working from home today as I've finally managed to arrange physio on fat ankle. Got my first session later so I am hoping it will be beneficial, my ankle is still large, but really hard so I am not overly sure what's going on there. I guess that's because I work in IT and didn't spend years studying medicine. Let's hope the physio can work out whats happening with it!
Unfortunately physio means I am going to have to miss Knitting Club tonight as I won't be able to make it over to Twickenham in time. Bit of a shame as I was looking forward to it and my knitting is not exactly coming along in leaps and bounds. I've had to resort to buying myself a scarf as the 2 inches I've so far managed just wasn't going to cut it in Winter.
I also made the unfortunate mistake of flashing at the Gardener today. We live in a ground floor flat and ours is at the back looking onto the garden - no one is ever in the garden so I've gotten into the rather bad habit of not closing the curtains when I am getting dressed. Imagine my horror (and definitely his) when I stepped out of the shower in the en suite with the door wide open to see the Gardener staring back at me through the bedroom window. Poor, poor man. I am really hoping he is short sighted. Hopefully he won't recognise me with my clothes on.
Ooooh and at lunchtime I bought a couple of bottles of wine as they were on offer in Morrisons - I was asked for ID!! I could have kissed the lady, I am a fairly haggard looking 33 today (I'm normally 33 obviously but not normally haggard - lack of sleep). I think losing a bit of weight off my face has made me look younger - I was also told that by my friend last night who I used to live in Prague with. I popped over to Windsor to see her last night for dinner and to see her 9 month old son - he's adorable, anyway, I digress..... She said I was looking really young at the moment. I presume she meant it in a good way and not that I was resembling mutton in my attempts to dress a bit trendier of late :)
Despite my best efforts the past 2 days, I am going to finish off my WW week -15 points. Not at all the end of the world and I am hoping it won't result in a gain given you are technically allowed 6 points a day for maintenance, but somewhat annoying that my lack of control at the weekend undoes most of my hard work. I've also not done any form of movement since painting on Sunday - I was in bloody agony all day yesterday from said painting which made any form of movement somewhat difficult. Anyway, tomorrow we shall see. I'll be digging out my lightest of clothes, removing all jewelry and possibly underwear in a vain attempt to see the scales move down. I'd get weighed naked if my fellow WW'ers didn't mind.
Working from home today as I've finally managed to arrange physio on fat ankle. Got my first session later so I am hoping it will be beneficial, my ankle is still large, but really hard so I am not overly sure what's going on there. I guess that's because I work in IT and didn't spend years studying medicine. Let's hope the physio can work out whats happening with it!
Unfortunately physio means I am going to have to miss Knitting Club tonight as I won't be able to make it over to Twickenham in time. Bit of a shame as I was looking forward to it and my knitting is not exactly coming along in leaps and bounds. I've had to resort to buying myself a scarf as the 2 inches I've so far managed just wasn't going to cut it in Winter.
I also made the unfortunate mistake of flashing at the Gardener today. We live in a ground floor flat and ours is at the back looking onto the garden - no one is ever in the garden so I've gotten into the rather bad habit of not closing the curtains when I am getting dressed. Imagine my horror (and definitely his) when I stepped out of the shower in the en suite with the door wide open to see the Gardener staring back at me through the bedroom window. Poor, poor man. I am really hoping he is short sighted. Hopefully he won't recognise me with my clothes on.
Ooooh and at lunchtime I bought a couple of bottles of wine as they were on offer in Morrisons - I was asked for ID!! I could have kissed the lady, I am a fairly haggard looking 33 today (I'm normally 33 obviously but not normally haggard - lack of sleep). I think losing a bit of weight off my face has made me look younger - I was also told that by my friend last night who I used to live in Prague with. I popped over to Windsor to see her last night for dinner and to see her 9 month old son - he's adorable, anyway, I digress..... She said I was looking really young at the moment. I presume she meant it in a good way and not that I was resembling mutton in my attempts to dress a bit trendier of late :)
Sunday, 15 November 2009
Busy weekend
Once again I've really struggled to stick to points over the weekend - me + socialising = points disaster. We had a lovely meal out with friends on Friday, I made a vague attempt to be good with my first 2 courses (parsnip soup, although I am sure it was full of cream and then coq au vin) but dessert I opted for treacle tart with clotted cream. This plus a few vinos and then 3 cocktails, didn't really make for the healthiest of evenings!
We had a christening yesterday - for which I wore a dress and a pair of heels. I actually felt quite ladylike for once -I usually feel like a man in drag when I wear shoes higher than half an inch. I'm less of a boiled egg on stilts these days however. Not really the best picture but you can kind of get the idea. I can't wait til my calves are less humongous.
There was a buffet at the christening and I tried so hard to be good - but I probably went way over points again. It so hard to estimate when you're not in control of the food. Self control when I am hungry is something I struggle with.
Today hasn't been hideous points wise, I've spent most of the day painting the en suite, which I think is a proper work out - I've even got blisters on my hands! Popped out for a couple of hours with my friend to look around the shops and ended up £90 worse off! I had vowed not to spend any money so that was pretty useless. I've only had a baguette from Pret all day so I should be ok to have steak and chips later.
Back to proper planning tomorrow. I need a loss this week.
We had a christening yesterday - for which I wore a dress and a pair of heels. I actually felt quite ladylike for once -I usually feel like a man in drag when I wear shoes higher than half an inch. I'm less of a boiled egg on stilts these days however. Not really the best picture but you can kind of get the idea. I can't wait til my calves are less humongous.
There was a buffet at the christening and I tried so hard to be good - but I probably went way over points again. It so hard to estimate when you're not in control of the food. Self control when I am hungry is something I struggle with.Today hasn't been hideous points wise, I've spent most of the day painting the en suite, which I think is a proper work out - I've even got blisters on my hands! Popped out for a couple of hours with my friend to look around the shops and ended up £90 worse off! I had vowed not to spend any money so that was pretty useless. I've only had a baguette from Pret all day so I should be ok to have steak and chips later.
Back to proper planning tomorrow. I need a loss this week.
Friday, 13 November 2009
Dynamic Yoga - another name for torture
Oh my poorly aching body. I've only done the one dynamic yoga class - prior fat ankle, and I don't remember it being so painful. I've pains today in places I didn't know I had. I was always of the belief that for a larger lady, I was fairly supple, but Jesus Christ, some of the positions people get themselves into - not a chance. Have a look at this little puppy:
Honestly - how is that humanly possible? The teacher was heading off on holiday today for 3 weeks so I reckon she was making sure we didn't forget her by trying to cripple us before she went. It worked. It doesn't help that my friend is the supplest person known to man and she can bend herself into all sorts of knots while I am huffing, puffing, wincing and struggling to support my vast girth on one leg. I'll get there though. Maybe.
With last nights pizza, I went a couple of points over, but I'm not stressing too much given I'd done an hour of Yoga. With Dynamic Yoga you move really quickly between all of the poses, so you do tend to work up a bit of a sweat as well as hideous pain in every muscle in your body. Am I selling it??
Food today is sorted. Toast for breakfast. Have 1.5 point slow cooker chicken curry for lunch with 2 points of rice. Leaves me with 18.5 points for dinner tonight, plus the 11 I've banked so far. I won't be drinking loads as my friend is pregnant so I feel pretty bad for her if we all end up getting blotto, I'll maybe let the boys do most of the drinking and just have myself a couple of glasses of Vino so I can hopefully maintain some control. Food at the place we are off to is amazing so I am really looking forward to it.
I'm hoping I won't get flooded in before that, the weather is absolutely hideous at the moment, I was practically driving through lakes last night to get home from the gym. Not sure my poor little Clio is equipped for under water exploits.
Right then, lunch is calling. Have a great weekend everyone.
Honestly - how is that humanly possible? The teacher was heading off on holiday today for 3 weeks so I reckon she was making sure we didn't forget her by trying to cripple us before she went. It worked. It doesn't help that my friend is the supplest person known to man and she can bend herself into all sorts of knots while I am huffing, puffing, wincing and struggling to support my vast girth on one leg. I'll get there though. Maybe.With last nights pizza, I went a couple of points over, but I'm not stressing too much given I'd done an hour of Yoga. With Dynamic Yoga you move really quickly between all of the poses, so you do tend to work up a bit of a sweat as well as hideous pain in every muscle in your body. Am I selling it??
Food today is sorted. Toast for breakfast. Have 1.5 point slow cooker chicken curry for lunch with 2 points of rice. Leaves me with 18.5 points for dinner tonight, plus the 11 I've banked so far. I won't be drinking loads as my friend is pregnant so I feel pretty bad for her if we all end up getting blotto, I'll maybe let the boys do most of the drinking and just have myself a couple of glasses of Vino so I can hopefully maintain some control. Food at the place we are off to is amazing so I am really looking forward to it.
I'm hoping I won't get flooded in before that, the weather is absolutely hideous at the moment, I was practically driving through lakes last night to get home from the gym. Not sure my poor little Clio is equipped for under water exploits.
Right then, lunch is calling. Have a great weekend everyone.
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Bumbling along
I've managed a day and a half of being on track - so far so good. Let's hope it stays this way. Last night I did Spinning, even though it was the last thing in the world I felt like doing, I'm finding it hard to motivate myself to move more when its dark and miserable outside. Glad I went though, we had another new trainer and he was cool. This sounds a bit daft, but he has just been travelling for 6 months so has lost some of his fitness - I kinda liked the fact that he was sweating and as out of breath as the rest of us, it made a nice change from Robo Trainer who barely breaks a sweat.
Dinner last night was Low Fat Sausages with mashed Swede, Onions, Mushrooms and Leeks, Bisto and a couple of Yorkshire Puddings. Absolutely lovely for 5.5 points. Managed to save 2 points for the weekend as well, go me!
Today has been good foodwise as well. I've got 15 points left for dinner (after I have been to dynamic Yoga - ouch) so my mate is coming round with a pizza - should be able to have a couple of slices with some salad and still save points for tomorrow. I'm finding zero point butternut squash soup is my absolute saviour at the moment. I make it really thick so it feels really indulgent. Lovely at the moment with miserable weather.
Other than that, not much to report. We're out for dinner with friends tomorrow night so I won't be massively good then, Saturday we have a Christening and Sunday we've lunch with other friends. Why does my socialising always seem to revolve around food??! I guess my progress has been kind of slow this year as I have been determined that WW would become part of my life as opposed to it becoming my life. I still want to socialise and enjoy myself, so that means I'll go over points some times. I suppose I prefer it my way as I'm more likely to stick with this for the long haul.
Dinner last night was Low Fat Sausages with mashed Swede, Onions, Mushrooms and Leeks, Bisto and a couple of Yorkshire Puddings. Absolutely lovely for 5.5 points. Managed to save 2 points for the weekend as well, go me!
Today has been good foodwise as well. I've got 15 points left for dinner (after I have been to dynamic Yoga - ouch) so my mate is coming round with a pizza - should be able to have a couple of slices with some salad and still save points for tomorrow. I'm finding zero point butternut squash soup is my absolute saviour at the moment. I make it really thick so it feels really indulgent. Lovely at the moment with miserable weather.
Other than that, not much to report. We're out for dinner with friends tomorrow night so I won't be massively good then, Saturday we have a Christening and Sunday we've lunch with other friends. Why does my socialising always seem to revolve around food??! I guess my progress has been kind of slow this year as I have been determined that WW would become part of my life as opposed to it becoming my life. I still want to socialise and enjoy myself, so that means I'll go over points some times. I suppose I prefer it my way as I'm more likely to stick with this for the long haul.
Wednesday, 11 November 2009
Got away with it
Phew. I've never been more happy to see the scales refuse to budge. A STS which means I quite unfairly got away with the weekend excesses. So I'm saying it again, as I seem to quite often these days - I am now back at it, 100% focussed and determined to get my arse back into gear and get those 5 pounds off by New Year.
My fridge and freezer are full of healthy options, meals are planned for the next few days, Spinning is booked for tonight. I have no bloody excuses!
We've a fairly busy weekend planned which means I need to save some points over the next couple of days, shouldn't be a problem though as I am in tonight and tomorrow. I'm working tonight at 9pm for a few hours to upgrade a system, so I get tomorrow morning off. The plan is to get myself to the gym before work, so I can't talk myself out of it.
I've just ordered myself a few new bits from Marisota as I had a 25% off code. I've gone a size smaller in everything - I am hoping to take some of it to Tenerife at New Year so here's hoping stuff fits! I had a slightly odd feeling of disappointment at the weekend when I realised that my trusty going out jeans are now too big for me. They always made me feel quite good as they were fairly tight and structured and therefore kept everything in check. I know its good that I'm getting smaller, but the jeans I have the same in the next size down (I bought about 3 years ago - ever the optimist!) are still too small. Bugger. I'll get there though.
My fridge and freezer are full of healthy options, meals are planned for the next few days, Spinning is booked for tonight. I have no bloody excuses!
We've a fairly busy weekend planned which means I need to save some points over the next couple of days, shouldn't be a problem though as I am in tonight and tomorrow. I'm working tonight at 9pm for a few hours to upgrade a system, so I get tomorrow morning off. The plan is to get myself to the gym before work, so I can't talk myself out of it.
I've just ordered myself a few new bits from Marisota as I had a 25% off code. I've gone a size smaller in everything - I am hoping to take some of it to Tenerife at New Year so here's hoping stuff fits! I had a slightly odd feeling of disappointment at the weekend when I realised that my trusty going out jeans are now too big for me. They always made me feel quite good as they were fairly tight and structured and therefore kept everything in check. I know its good that I'm getting smaller, but the jeans I have the same in the next size down (I bought about 3 years ago - ever the optimist!) are still too small. Bugger. I'll get there though.
Monday, 9 November 2009
Dreadful weekend points wise...
Well the title says it all really, Friday was a write off due to copious amounts of alcohol, Saturday was not much better due to eating my way through the freezer in attempt to stave off the hangover. Yesterday I only had 2 meals, but one of them was a Sunday lunch at a gorgeous pub near us and I didn't exactly make the healthiest of choices (erm like cheese for dessert!!). That leaves me facing Monday with a defecit of something like 52 points on this week. Good work Linz. The fact I've not been to the gym in a week really hasn't helped. I'm going to have fairly low pointed days between now and Wednesday, but think there is a real danger of a gain this week. Ho hum.
On a brighter note, had a lovely day yesterday. Went to the Spa in Henley for my Signature Ritual (a present from Matt for my birthday back in June but this was the first date they could fit me in). It was lovely, a petal foot soak, 1 hour full body aromatherapy massage, half hour body scrub and then a soak in a rose petal bath with Champagne and chocolates (which I've forgotten to point... doh, more of a defecit!). I came out smelling like an old ladies handbag according to Matt (lavendar I believe) and with a right greasy mop thanks to the oil, but I felt amazing. We then went for a late lunch/ early dinner before heading home to watch the debacle that has become The X Factor. All in all, a good day.... despite the diet disaster.
The aim is to stick to 18 points today and tomorrow which should be doable if I plan properly, but I doubt that will make much of a difference this week, I think I am too far gone. I am praying I'll get a STS.
Not a lot planned this week really, another busy weekend is looming though so I really need to get to grips with dealing with my social life without runing all of my hard work. I seem to have become a bit blase about the weekends, which is bound to bite me on the sizeable backside at some point.
Hopefully the bathroom situation will be sorted today, am praying I'll get home tonight and have my flat back. After 7 weeks it's become a tad unbearable living in a dump.
Anyway, here's to a good week. Back on track with a vengeance.
On a brighter note, had a lovely day yesterday. Went to the Spa in Henley for my Signature Ritual (a present from Matt for my birthday back in June but this was the first date they could fit me in). It was lovely, a petal foot soak, 1 hour full body aromatherapy massage, half hour body scrub and then a soak in a rose petal bath with Champagne and chocolates (which I've forgotten to point... doh, more of a defecit!). I came out smelling like an old ladies handbag according to Matt (lavendar I believe) and with a right greasy mop thanks to the oil, but I felt amazing. We then went for a late lunch/ early dinner before heading home to watch the debacle that has become The X Factor. All in all, a good day.... despite the diet disaster.
The aim is to stick to 18 points today and tomorrow which should be doable if I plan properly, but I doubt that will make much of a difference this week, I think I am too far gone. I am praying I'll get a STS.
Not a lot planned this week really, another busy weekend is looming though so I really need to get to grips with dealing with my social life without runing all of my hard work. I seem to have become a bit blase about the weekends, which is bound to bite me on the sizeable backside at some point.
Hopefully the bathroom situation will be sorted today, am praying I'll get home tonight and have my flat back. After 7 weeks it's become a tad unbearable living in a dump.
Anyway, here's to a good week. Back on track with a vengeance.
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