No WW for me

I am poorly sick. I was up until 4am this morning as I couldn't swallow and the hypochondriac in me had visions of me suffocating during the night or something equally as unlikely. I've had to call in sick as I actually have no voice at all so working in an office full of people could be a tad tricky.

Today I am existing on Pea and Mint Soup (I am sure it tasted lovely, but my taste buds are hidden somewhere until a mound of swolleness), Lemon and Honey in Hot Water and Soluble Aspirin.

Woe is me. Bit of a bugger though as I now won't get weighed officially until after my holiday.

Ah well, I suppose this bit of enforced starvation can't do me too much harm. Hopefully, I'll be back tomorrow and a bit more chirpy and a bit less mute.

Lovely weekend, but woe is me.

I'm back from a lovely weekend in the Cotswolds. Reading is thankfully back to normal now the Festival is finished, so it's nice to be home.

We were up bright and early on Saturday morning and had a quick breakfast here before heading to Stow-on-the-Wold. I'd love to say I've had a very healthy and virtuous weekend, but that would be a big, fat lie. Everywhere we looked there were tea-shops, little cafes, pubs and bistros. Diet hell. I have discovered a new love - Lardy Cake - this has to be a mahoosive diet disaster, but I only sampled a little bit so it maybe wasn't the end of the world. Thankfully I've never seen it around here so that could be my first and last taster. Crisis averted.

Our B&B was in Stow, so that was our base, but we also went to Moreton-in-Marsh, Upper and Lower Slaughter and Bourton-on-the-Water. All of which are lovely little places, I could definitely see myself living somewhere like this when I grow up :) Beautiful countryside and loads of quirky little shops and houses. Lovely.

We walked a little bit (about 10 miles in 2 days), but I generally ate what I wanted (I was mindful of it, but I didn't point) so I don't expect a good result tomorrow.

I feel fairly unwell today (and therefore very sorry for myself), I woke up this morning with lots of mouth ulcers - a definite sign I am run down, and a sore throat and tight chest. The plus side of this is I can barely eat today as my mouth bloody kills. As a result of feeling under the weather, I am massively craving vegetables, so for dinner we've had a big salad with some Haddock and I've made a big old pan of Pea and Mint soup to get me through tomorrow.

We are off on holiday on Friday (one week's all inclusive in the Dominican Republic - help) so I've only got a few days of being completely in control.

Ah well, middle of September onwards should be good!

Good intentions

Well... The intention was to at least try and be good. Clearly that didn't happen.

I just love this restaurant, it's too hard to control myself!

For starter:

Salmon and spring onion, beer battered, fish cakes. Bloody lovely.




Main course:

Hampshire beef bavette with herb butter, chunky chips and watercress. OMG.




Dessert: crepe suzette with cream. I'm not a fan of ice cream so I asked for the cream bit :)




Possibly we had prosecco too.

Quite possibly one of the best meals I've had in a very long time. I know I should feel bad for blowing my points, but I can't. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

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Bumbling along

I'm getting this post in early as I am not sure when I'll next be online. Will try and post my dinner later to attempt to keep me restrained....

Day 5 of Jillian is in the bag. I am still a sweaty mess upon completion and I still cannot do a press up. I fail to understand how I will ever be able to support my weight (that's a lot of stones) on my granny arms. However, I shall persevere on my knees until I feel I can support myself without the fear of losing my teeth on the wooden floor. I also majorly struggle with the last set of sit ups - you have to cycle your legs at the same time as sitting up... have you seen my thighs?? It's like a normal person trying to cycle with a 7 year old child sat on each leg. Hard.

Breakfast this morning - Bear Granola Nibbles (1.5) and Lychees (0.5)

For lunch I popped to see a friend on Maternity Leave who lives near my work. Another friend of ours is on holiday so had popped over with her 18 month old son. Blooming heck - how do people cope with children? I was exhausted just watching him.

Anyway, lunch was: A couple of spoonfuls of Moroccan Cous Cous, A spoonful of houmous, sliver of Broccoli Quiche, square of extra mature cheese, Carrot and Red Pepper sticks, few pretzels and some onion chutney. Lovely - no idea of points however. Probably far too many.

Tonight we are off out for dinner at our favourite local restaurant. I've had a little look at the menu and none of it looks like an overly healthy option, so I'll just have to drink less or something.

Tomorrow we are escaping Reading for a weekend in the Cotswolds. Lot's of walking is planned and I'll attempt to be restrained with my eating. Enjoy the Bank Holiday everyone, let's hope the weather cheers itself up a bit.

Reading Festival Hell

I am currently suffering from the torture that is the Reading Festival. This morning it took me 45 minutes to travel 0.3 miles thanks to ridiculous amounts of people trying to get to the Festival. It takes place about half a mile from our flat (as the crow flies) with just the River Thames in between us. At the other end of our once tranquil (shared) garden you can hear the thud of extremely loud music and the festival doesn't start until tomorrow. Am I getting old or what??

I hate it, at risk of sounding like a right killjoy, our town becomes a traffic nightmare, the noise is horrendous and the amount of people (quite smelly by the Sunday) is just ridiculous. You can't buy anything 'normal' in any of the shops, it's all Pot Noodles and Beer. Fortunately we are going away Saturday morning (to escape it), but I've still got to try and get to work tomorrow... Bah Humbug!

Anyway, enough of my whining. Another fairly good day for me today. I could actually be back on track.

Breakfast was left over Tuna Empanada from last night. Not really a normal breakfast choice, but it's a make do situation once again (3)

Mid Morning I was a bit peckish so I had a WW Chocolate Caramel Whip bar (1.5). I quite like these, but don't have a massively sweet tooth so they have been in my drawer for ages (unlike crisps which I demolish within seconds). I really need to get a bit healthier with my snacks.

Lunch was Salad of Watercress, Spinach, Beetroot, Cherry Tomatoes and Red Pepper, with 40g of Salad Cheese and some cous cous (3.5) - and a can of Diet Lemonade. I need to substitute the Pop for water. That will be tomorrow's task.

Mid afternoon I gave into the crisp addiction and had a packet of Frisps (2.5) and a bit later on 9 lychees for 0.5 points. How bargainous is that? Careful though, have 10 and it's a point :)

Dinner was Rib Eye Steak served with Roasted Veggies and a few crispy potato slices (11). Rib Eye Steak is very pointy, but totally delicious so worth it every now and then. One of my most favourite dinners.

22/26. That will do nicely.

I had to give Jillian a miss as I am hurting from the past couple of days and totally knackered. Tomorrow morning I will definitely partake.

Yesterdays food - kind of on track....

I worked from home yesterday due to a very early start (630am). 20 minutes of Jillian done - with new hand weights, which definitely made a difference. My arms are not overly happy with me today. Washing my hair this morning was a bit of an effort.

Our fridge is not overly full at the moment since we are away for the weekend, so breakfast was a make do (although one of my favourites). A savoury pancake made with 1 egg, 2 level tbsp of flour, water (the milk had turned to cottage cheese) and salt, cooked in half a teaspoon of lurpak lighter (5 points).

Lunch was a delicious chicken tikka kathi kebab with mixed salad, a little bit of Citrus Kick cous cous and a dollop of extra light mayo (4.5 in total perhaps). I've had to guess the kebab points, but it's just chicken tikka and onions in a small tortilla affair which I cooked in the oven - wasn't at all greasy. Could be a massive underestimate!

Last night I headed into London to my Spanish friends flat for dinner. I walked to the station in the pouring rain and ended up completely drenched, but it was a bit of exercise all the same. Note to self, don't wear plimsolls and long jeans when it's raining, you will end up more soaked than a soaked thing.

Marisa had cooked tapas which was amazing, but a bit difficult to point, although I did ask her what was in everything to get a bit of an idea.

I had 2 glasses of red wine with cloudy lemonade (tinto de verano apparently) - this is gorgeous. 4 points maybe? Definitely a new drink for the future.

Followed by a slice of toasted bread with tomato and garlic (2). So simple, yet lovely.

Gazpacho served with chopped egg and ham - the ingredients were all free apart from some oil and the toppings so I think about 2 points perhaps?? I need to make this, it was so lovely.

I then had 1 slice of Spanish Omelette (eggs, potatoes and onion) and some tuna empanada - tuna with peppers, onions and tomato in filo pastry brushed with egg - 8 points in total perhaps?

I am on 26 points a day (well officially 27 given the weight gain this week, but I am not giving into that) so I think I am alright, who knows though?!

Hopefully another good day to follow.

Thinking it over - back to basics

After my initial strop last night (I think tears made an appearance) and a lot of WTF's, I've been mulling it all over and trying to work out exactly how I got it so wrong.

Realistically, I know I cannot have put on half a stone of fat in such a small period of time. It's likely to be a bit of fat and a lot of water and a lot of bread, but I am hopeful it will come off fairly soon.

I've thought again about my weekend away as I've another weekend away coming up and then a week's holiday so I need to sort this out. I managed a 2 week holiday in the US and lost 2.5 pounds, so something is not going right here.

So whilst in Spain I did the below which I thought would help:

• Had eggs on toast for breakfast instead of the Full English the rest of the party ordered
• Skipped lunch
• Avoided Chips at dinner and asked for Jacket Spud or Salad
• Drank a load of water
• Stuck to Vodka and Soda in the bars
• Ordered Falafel with Salad instead of a Kebab when drunk :)
• Walked home (at least 30 mins) instead of taking a taxi

But, I seem to have conveniently forgotten this:

• Skipped lunch but shared a few large bags of crisps with the girls
• Drank shots while out
• Drank wine with Dinner
• Drank a lot of Diet Coke
• Had a pizza slice on the plane over
• Ordered food when drunk having already had dinner

So, clearly, I made some good choices, but I also made a lot of bad ones, including yesterday when I ate my bodyweight in bread.

Back to basics today. I am weighing everything, I am photographing everything and I am going to do Jillian every day (done this morning, ouch!).

I'll be back later with my food diary to try and keep me on the straight and narrow.

Dreadful

I'm not even going to try and justify myself. 7 pounds on.


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Bread attack

Thank you everyone for your lovely comments yesterday, you lot rock :) While I won't be off out in a bedsheet anytime soon, I was maybe a little bit hard on myself. However, if I do ever get married, I shall be forcing my sister to wear a fat suit on my hen weekend. That will teach her.

I was bad last night and stood Jillian up, which meant I had to drag myself out of bed this morning to face the music. It BLOODY hurts. I cannot do a press up to save my life - even on my knees, so I clearly need a lot of work here. I cannot see how I will ever progress past Level 1! Mind you, it's only my second attempt so I perhaps need to be a bit more patient. I've bought myself a couple of cheapish dumbells today as the tins of baked beans I was using just weren't cutting the mustard - in fact I may as well have not used them at all. I am sure I will now be moaning that my arms don't work from here on in as my arm was killing just carrying them back to the office.

Food today should have been good as I have an encounter with the scales tonight. However, for some inexplicable reason, I have been famished and lacking in all self control. I've eaten 3 bread rolls this afternoon (freshly baked cheese topped rolls at that - slap me now). Utterly stupid as bread hates me and will therefore be clinging to my thighs like a leech tonight. I now have heartburn from hell and a general feeling of bloatedness that I get every time I eat a lot of bread. Do I ever learn? No.

I'll be back later to tell you just how bad WI has been having just talked myself back into going. Prepare for self flagellation and more promises to be better.

Hen weekend...

Well I am back from a weekend of frivolity (and excess) in the sun. Jillian Michael's, as predicted, did indeed kill me. So much so, that I was struggling with movement of any description on Friday and Saturday. A clear sign that it works I guess. My calves still feel somewhat tender. That woman is evil.

So, the weekend was lovely. Weather was amazing, our apartments great. There were 16 of us, so a good mix of people. I danced a lot, drank a lot, walked a lot and slept a lot. My only saving grace was that I drank mainly vodka and was too hot to stuff my face overly. Walking a lot in 30 degrees when you are obese is hard work. My skin is amazing today due to large amounts of sweating. Nice huh? Food wasn't brilliant, but I didn't go mad either. I tried to be sensible, but I clearly didn't point anything. I don't expect the scales will be too kind to me tomorrow, but I'll dust myself off and carry on.

I had meant to attempt Jillian this morning. However thanks to a delayed flight, I didn't get to bed til after midnight and there was no chance of my 6am alarm being headed. I've pencilled her in for this evening - God help me.

I had a very scary incident yesterday at Malaga airport with some mad man taking a shine to me and deciding to follow me around Duty Free. He kept trying to talk to me, was standing far too close and then when I finally thought I'd shaken him off, I turned round to find him filming me on his mobile phone. I told him where to get off more than once, but that seemed to encourage him if anything. Fortunately after about 15 minutes, I was able to find some of our group and he eventually buggered off... Very odd. He obviously had a thing for large bottomed, blonde haired ladies as he was filming me for a good while. Freak.

Anyway, that aside, it was a great weekend. I did wear the toga on Friday night and thought it looked ok, but looking back at photos - white is not really my colour, I look fairly huge. Me and my 2 best mates below - they managed to pull it off a bit better than I did - far too much boobage on my behalf. Dreadful picture of me, but you get the gist.

A picture of me and my 2 little sisters on Saturday night - fortunately I was then allowed to wear my own clothing. On the right is the hen. Hard work being related to these two skinny malinkeys.

So back at it today, I am craving healthy. An Innocent Veg Pot for lunch is on the agenda and then Matt is cooking tonight as he has the day off. I've given him instructions so hopefully all will be good.

Hope everyone had a good weekend, I've a lot of blogs to catch up on (oh and some work to do) so I had better get to it.

Jillian Michaels may kill me....

Goodness me, has anyone tried Jillian Michaels 30 day Shred? I did it for the first time this morning and it's a complete killer. I can definitely see how it will get results, you literally don't stop for 20 minutes and it's all mixed up, 3 minutes of Strength, 2 minutes of Cardio and a minute of abs and repeat.

Warning - hideous photo to follow, I don't think it quite shows the level of exhaustion I was feeling. There was sweat literally pouring off my face!

I will definitely do this on the days I can't get out and walk - I can't see how you'd not get results from it.

So, working from home (ahem) today as I need to be on a train to Gatwick fairly early. I've packed my case about 30 times but am bound to have forgotten something vital (a toga perhaps...)

Food today has been minimal - there is not much healthy in the flat as it would be wasted on Matt over the weekend, so I've had to make do with what we have.

Breakfast - Parma Ham, Basil, Extra Light Mayo and a tiny sprinkle of Cheese in a toasted sandwich (4)

I probably won't have lunch as I didn't eat breakfast til around 0930. I felt sick after my date with Jillian. We'll be grabbing food at the airport later, but I'll attempt to be fairly good.

Back on Sunday, hopefully in one piece. Have a good weekend everybody.

Doing ok...

Thanks all for your comments yesterday. I think the ridiculous eating situation is a bit more under control. I am perhaps a bit hard on myself, but I do get beyond frustrated that after 18 months almost, I am still not mastering this weight loss business. Ho hum.

I finished working around 7pm last night so obviously WI was a goner - perhaps, given my state of mind yesterday, that was for the best. We had "Date Night" as we often do on a Tuesday (Date Night means we try and do something together, instead of Matt finishing work at stupid o'clock and wolfing down whatever I cooked in front of the TV whilst still checking his emails.) We ended up in our local and I decided I just needed to get the crap cravings out of my system. Instead of perusing the menu for hours, trying to find the least fattening item on there, I decided to have whatever I fancied. That turned out to be a Steak Burger and Chips and a pint of Cider. Bloody lovely, but I paid for it later with stomach cramps and bloating.

Worth it perhaps as I no longer have the urge to stuff my face with junk. I think perhaps I just needed to stop obsessing over it so much and enjoy what I fancied and be done with it.

Today has been good. Instead of 30 Day Shred this morning, I was up bright and early to walk. 3.5 miles in 45 minutes. I am still loving getting myself out and about and getting exercise out of the way before work.

Breakfast when I got back from my walk was 2 packets of Bear Granola Nibbles with a few strawberries and skimmed milk (3.5).

As I've said before, Cereal is not one of my favourite things but I am trying to eat less bread as I don't think it overly agrees with me and these Nibbles are tasty enough.

Lunch was a salad of Spinach, Lettuce, Red Pepper, Cherry Tomatoes and Beetroot with Sweet Chilli Chicken, 1 Tablespoon of Reduced Fat Coleslaw and 1/4 sachet of Ainsley's Citrus Kick Cous Cous (4.5)

Delicious, I sometimes forget that Salads can be tasty!

Mid afternoon I had 40g of Olives from my Graze Box (3). Now, I love Olives, but 3 points for that little portion... not ideal.

Dinner was fairly pointy and also somewhat disappointing. Pasta with Steak, Onions, Pine Nuts and Blue Cheese (12). I've cooked this before and it's normally delicious, but I managed to buy the most tasteless Blue Cheese and Steak known to man. Harumph. Gotta love using 12 points on something fairly lacking in taste.

So all in all, a fairly good day - 23/26. Tomorrow will be a bit hit and miss. I am working from home as we need to be on a train at 1630 to get to Gatwick. Plan of action for the weekend is to stick to Vodka, eat as healthily as I can and either do a bit of walking or some swimming, but ultimately to enjoy myself. Should be fairly doable me thinks.

Lard arse

It seems that I can only stay on track if I photograph every morsel that passes my lips and post it here for you all to see.

I wanted to have a really good week (on account of the impending Hen Do and Toga Saga), but I seem to have some sort of mental blockage which has made me crave all sorts of crap and my willpower to resist said crap seems to be somewhat lost.

I've managed to walk past Greggs on a daily basis for the past 2 years and ignore the call of pastry (for the record, I loved pastry, possibly why I was nearly 21 stone). However this morning, having forgotten my breakfast, I seemed to be unable to ignore the call of Satan's Shop. Half a very greasy and congealed Cheesey thing later, I felt sick and threw it away. It was awful. Lesson Learnt. BUT, I still bought it, I still ate half of it and I am still annoyed.

Last night as well, I popped to the supermarket to buy some healthy items for lunches this week - I think they are called vegetables. Somehow I was seduced into buying 10 Onion Bahji's for £1 from the Deli Counter. I convinced myself they were a bargain and for Matt and I could have one only and the rest were strictly out of bounds. So, I obviously had 4 and then couldn't have any dinner as I felt stuffed and had no points left anyway. Clever Lindsey, very clever.

Today, I think I've become a bit slapdash as I know I can't get to WI tonight. I want to lose weight so I can't understand the self sabotage. I am resorting to taking photos for the next few days of everything that I eat once again as it might shock me into being less of a lard arse.

On the positive side, I am wearing a shirt dress today in a size 18 which I couldn't fasten when I bought it. I've only lost a few pounds since then, but I am thinking the walking may have toned up the lard arse a bit. My 30 Day Shred DVD has also arrived, so that commences tomorrow...

Expect a few photos from here on in so you can monitor me and chastise me for being a pig.

I will be better.

Seven things about me....

Just a quick post - I was kindly nominated for this award by Laura at Keeping Slim and Getting Stylish and I am always happy to talk about my favourite subject (me!) so here we go:

Here are the rules:

• Thank the person who gave you the award. – Thank you Laura!
• Share seven things about yourself.
• Nominate fifteen newly discovered blogs (I might struggle with this bit but I'll have a think)
• Let your nominees know about the award.

So 7 things about me.....

1. I am from the North East (Chester-le-Street in County Durham) originally but now live down South. All of my family is still up North and I still refer to that as home (despite not having lived there for 16 years)

2. My boyfriend Matt is a carbon copy of my dad - a Brummie Accountant who dislikes people and loves sport... Not quite what I had in mind when searching for a life partner. Scary.

3. I love to travel and always have about 3 holidays planned at any one time. Currently planned trips are Dominican Republic, Tenerife and France. My favourite places so far are San Francisco, Las Vegas, New York, Kuala Lumpur and Buenos Aires.

4. I have a completely irrational fear of Windmills. Yes, I am a little bit strange.

5. I am completely obsessed by shoes and handbags and currently have around 200 pairs of shoes and over 50 handbags.... and I wonder why I have no money.

6. I work in IT supporting Linux and Unix hosted applications... yawn. I really am a geek.

7. I spent 2.5 years living in Prague and I'd love to move abroad again one day.

So - people I'd like to pass this on to for now are Lexie, Seren, Peridot, Zanna, Emma, GlasgowGalah and Victoria, I am sure there are loads more, I just need to go through my blog list.

Toga trauma

This Thursday see's me jetting off to Malaga for my baby sister's hen weekend. When I say baby sister, I mean 11 years younger than me, 5' 11", and a size 10. My middle sister (who incidentally has 2 offspring) will also be there, in all of her size 10 glory. How on earth did this happen? On the positive side, I am naturally blonde and booby, whereas they both dye their hair blonde and have fake bazoomas, so I have that over them at least. I have to take any positives I can here.

To make matters worse, Friday night has been deemed a "toga" night. Can someone please tell me, how I am supposed to wrap myself in a sheet and not bloody well resemble the Michelin Man?? At risk of sounding like a killjoy, I'd rather stick pins in my eyes. Instead, I will be the well behaved big sister and dress like a complete numpty in my kingsize monstrosity. Pictures will not follow!

Despite the obvious concerns, I am looking forward to getting away for a couple of days of sun. My 2 best mates are coming with me and my mother and a couple of her friends will also be there, so it should be a laugh (my mother is a party animal like my good self). And despite being twice the size of both of my sisters put together, I seem to be much more confident than either of them are. The benefit of my extra years perhaps.

Anyway, food today is going ok. I've just given in to a biscuit (that bloody food table again) which hasn't made too much of a points dent and I managed a 3 mile walk this morning. It was a struggle as I was awake from 4am with some sort of hideous hayfever episode which saw me drowning in snot for the 2 hours before my alarm went off. Obviously I fell asleep 10 mins before it was time to get up, but nonetheless I got up and walked.

I may not make my weigh in tomorrow night as I need to work late to make up for leaving early on Thursday. I had requested I do this on Wednesday night, but customers have other ideas it would seem and want stuff done tomorrow. Ah well, means I'll have to try and be extra good in Spain as I won't have a clue where I am at. Fingers crossed I can still stand on the horror scales tomorrow night to keep me on the straight and narrow.

Where has the weekend gone?

Why do the weekends fly by? Can't believe it's nearly Monday again. I've had a lovely weekend, but my eating hasn't really been ideal - I don't seem to have tracked anything since Friday night, big wrist slap required.

Friday night we stayed in, Matt cooked dinner which was lovely - all WW friendly, bless him and it made a nice change to be waited on. I am apparently a bit of a control freak in the kitchen and kept checking up on him, but he did me proud. Stuffed Lamb with Veg and Swede and Carrot Mash and a couple of glasses of wine.

Yesterday we got up and had bacon sandwiches and milky coffees at home before heading off on a 3 mile walk. It was pouring down with rain (feels like bloody winter) but with our umbrella's up, it was actually really nice to be outside.

When we got home, I decided it would be a good idea to dye my ridiculously blonde eyelashes. I am now practically blinded and need to repaint the en-suite due to dye dripping down the flipping walls. I am definitely not destined for a career in beauty.

After that we headed over to one of my best friend's houses in Twickenham for a BBQ. Despite the rain, they were well and truly prepared for an amazing BBQ. Tarpaulin covering the whole garden and delicious food (home made burgers, marinated chicken and lamb, salad and fresh breads - gorgeous) . I didn't eat millions, but me and Caroline seemed to make our way through a fair amount of Prosecco (started at 5pm and finished at 2am!!) Despite a full shift boozing, I feel completely fine today. My vow to never drink again after last Saturday appears to be long forgotten.

Today has been a bit of a lazy day, we had breakfast with Caroline and Thomas at a lovely delicatessen called Zoran's in St. Margarets near Twickenham. I had French toast with crispy pancetta which was A-MAZING and then drove home to do very little.... well, I attempted to patch up the bathroom after the dye incident, but we probably shouldn't mention that.... I now need to remove paint from various places about my body and the bathroom floor.

So, tomorrow, back to tracking 100%. A 3 mile walk in the morning is arranged. Breakfast and lunch are prepared. All should be good.

Disappearing leaves and a mini rant...

Thanks all for your comments yesterday, I ended the day with a few points to bank and a BP on the pedometer (without actually trying, I'll take that) so all was not lost. Dinner was fairly miserable (stir fries never excite me and turkey should just be for Christmas) but that was my penance for the Nik Nak episode.

Today I am not sure if I am hungry or I feel sick. I am sure by the age of 34 I should be able to distinguish between the two. I felt queasy all morning (I am definitely not with child or hungover) which has been a little bit unpleasant, but my meagre ration at lunchtime seems to have perked me up a bit.

I made this Peach, Parma Ham and Gruyere Salad (I've downloaded the Waitrose App on my iPhone which is dangerous, it's not like it's a cheap place to shop) and this morning when I brought it to work, the leaves seem to have completely disappeared. I presume it's something to do with the dressing breaking them down or summat (clearly I know nowt), but I literally had about 2 forkfuls. Not overly satisfying, but tasty all the same. I drastically cut down the oil in the dressing so it worked out at 3.5 points for the (not a) lot. Will definitely try it again - but may bring the dressing separately in future to avoid baby portions. Fortunately I have a fruit YoYo to tide me over for 5 mins or so before I start attacking the cabbage I've bought to accompany dinner later.

No plans this evening for once - Matt is apparently cooking, which means I buy something he can stick in the oven and he plates it up (stuffed lamb breast, do lamb's have breasts??), although we tried this last week and ended up at our local Thai. Tomorrow we're off to Twickenham for a BBQ and that is about it. In theory, I should be ok on the diet front. Need to try and get some walking in. I did 100 squats last night and 80 sit ups this morning, but that's not really good enough is it? I don't find torrential rain makes me want to get myself out pounding the streets.

Ok and now a mini non-diet related rant, feel free to stop reading now. I have been a landlord for the last 2 years (not something I really wanted to do, but needs must) and last night I popped over to my flat to take a few bits over for my friend who moves in at the end of the month whilst it's on the market and not selling any time soon, Goddamn recession. My flat is the top floor of a Victorian Conversion with a shared hallway with 2 other flats.

If you rented a flat, and post arrived at that address not for you, would it really be that difficult to pop it back in the postbox marked return to sender or would you just leave it all piled up in the hallway making the place resemble a Royal Mail sorting office?? And if the lights in the shared hallway needed new bulbs (you can't actually see my front door if the light is off, Lord knows how my tenants ever got in) would you not spend a few pence and replace them? And if a couple of lights in the flat had gone too - would you not do the same?? Bearing in mind I bought 5 bulbs for 99p in the 99p shop yesterday. Harumph. I spent about half an hour last night sorting through 2 years worth of post (it actually filled a bin liner) and another 10 minutes today sticking it all back in the post box. Royal Mail will love me. Clearly this is not worth getting myself wound up about, but it's a slow news day in Linzerello land so forgive me.

Right then, rant over, that's it from me, toodle pip people. Have fabulous weekends.

One good week, one bad

It seems this week is not off to the best of starts. After my meagre lunch of Onion Rings yesterday, I was about to chew my arm off, when saviour came in the form of a left over platter of sandwiches from an office buffet lunch. Saviour for my stomach, trauma as a WWer. 1/4 of a cheese and onion sandwich (why did I not pick ham or something less lardy??) and a miniscule slice of quiche abated my hunger until I got to my friend Laura's house for dinner.

Turns out the Salmon En Croute was actually to be Salmon Wellington. Think Salmon, think Pastry, think Cheese Sauce. Think 583 calories and 19g of Saturated Fat. Think 13 points. Think feckadoodle do.

So 31.5 points yesterday out of a possible 26. Thankfully I managed to bag myself another few BPs on the pedometer so I was actually only 1 point over for yesterday if I take those into account - which I don't want to do, but needs must. I get traumatised if I see a negative balance on my online points tracker.

Today should have been better. It can still be rescued, but I haven't learnt any lessons about buying multi-packs of crisps. Mindless eating is also an issue here.

Breakfast = 2 slices of Wholemeal toast with Peanut Butter - keeps me full for ages so far so good. (4.5) A bag of Bear Fruit nibbles to assist with my 5-a-day (1)

Mid Morning = Bear Peach Fruit YoYo (1) - healthy, 5-a-day, we like it.

Lunch = Butternut Squash Macaroni Cheese - delicious if a little pointy for lunch but contains veg so its good (more 5-a-day here) (7)

Post Lunch = 2 bags of Nice and Spicy Nik Naks (5) WTF???

I have now learnt said lesson and given the remaining bags of crisps to a colleague much to his delight. What a numpty I am.

Thankfully dinner is a Turkey Stir Fry (4) (yet more 5-a-day, if I wasn't a crisp addict, I'd almost be a saint) so in theory I am ok - 22.5/26. Not the end of the world, but still. I will endeavour to do some sit ups and thigh master later to make myself feel suitably punished and the hill of hell will be attempted tomorrow morning.

Right, I am off to chastise myself a bit more. Have a good day y'all.

Trying....

Thanks for all your comments last night, I am spurred on this week to be as good as gold. I always have a fear when I have a big loss that it's some freak of the scales and it'll all be back on the following week, so I NEED to be good. I'm now back at 50 lbs in total lost, only 2 more to go to match my lowest weight in recent history and then it's unknown territory.

Today is trying my ability to be good. Up early this morning, 3 mile walk done, 3 BP's earnt. Bosh. 2 packs of Granola Nibbles and 1 pack of Fruity Bits with skimmed milk for breakfast (4.5). Bosh.

Text message from friend who I am visiting tonight to say she is cooking Salmon En Croute with Veg for dinner. Bosh and Aaarrrggghhhhh. Have you seen the points in this? 10 at perhaps the very least (presuming I get an average Salmon Fillet and a sheet of ready made pastry), but more likely around 14-16. Ok, no panic, will have a simple salad for lunch and life will be sweet.

And then... completely forgot I'd arranged to meet another friend for a pub lunch and she called me at 12 to find out if I was on my way as she was there already. Whoooops. So I flew out of the office, Eating Out Guide in hand so I can be super prepared and pick something for 4-5 points at the most.

Well thanks Brewer's Fayre, you have indeed made that tricky. Chicken and Bacon Salad perhaps? 7.5 points. Tomato and Roast Vegetable Pasta perhaps? 12 points. Tandoori Vegetable Curry perhaps? 13 points. Why is it everything you think sounds fairly good, is not? So, a portion of Onion Rings for lunch it was - 3.5 points. I won't mention that I am about to chew my arm off within 90 minutes of eating them. I just hope my friend has dinner ready the minute I walk in her door tonight.

WI result

3.5lbs off!! Over the blooming moon. I'm even spurred on to be relatively healthy with my post weigh in meal. Miracles will never cease.






See how happy I am??

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Food diary - done

It all went a bit Pete Tong this morning. I was meant to get up and meet Alex for a walk, but I felt like crap due to a disturbed night's sleep. My darling boyfriend is in Stress Head mode presently, which means he spends the night impersonating a Whirling Dervish on acid. Turns out Alex had also had a bad night's sleep and I awoke to a text sent by her at 4am to say she'd not be making it either. Thankfully it was persisting down so I didn't feel any need to go it alone. No exercise for me (apart from 80 situps and 10 minutes of the thigh master before bed last night - spurred on whilst watching The Biggest Loser USA).

So it's the end of my WW week, which means the end of food photo's for now - although I do find this really useful so it may have to become a bit more of a regular feature. I may have to extend the repertoire of Linzerello's Kitchen, however.

I've worked from home today, on account of feeling like crap, so breakfast was 2 slices of Warbuton's wholemeal toast (1.5) with Scrambled Eggs (2.5) and Lurpak Lighter (1).

and a Skimmed Hazelnut Latte (0.5)

I'd prepared lunch last night (I don't usually eat out of tupperware at home, sometimes I use plates) which was lovely.

50g of Quinoa (2) cooked in Veg Stock, with red pepper, cherry tomatoes, spring onions, spinach and a dressing made with Tahini (0.5), Lemon Juice, Garlic, Parsley and Mint. Topped with 40g of dry fried Halloumi Light (2). Very filling.

So that's it I think. WI is at 1830 and I am keeping my fingers firmly crossed. We'll probably have a Rib Eye Steak post WI with loads of Veggies - don't tell anyone, but I don't usually point this meal as it's after my WI for the week. Bad??

I'll be back later with the results from the scales.

A good food day and a busted ankle (again)

I was in bed very early night last night (9pm) and I still feel totally shattered today. Drinking is not big or clever. Fact.

I'm trying to be much better today and eat a bit more healthily but food shopping yesterday didn't happen (due to lethargy) so it was a make do situation this morning. A roll with one chopped hard boiled egg and extra low fat mayo with Spinach (4.5). Litre of water and the obligatory cuppa.

For lunch I popped to my friend Sarah's house (the same friend who we were very drunk with on Saturday) apparently her hubby was as ill as us yesterday so he wasn't overly popular with a baby daughter to contend with. I don't think hangovers and children go together too well. Our friend Caroline had popped over to see Sarah as well so we had a lovely lunch and a catch up.

On my plate: small spoonful of reduced fat coleslaw, houmous, red onion marmalade, carrot sticks, red pepper, cucumber, beetroot and lettuce with 2 small slices of wholemeal pitta, extra mature cheddar and a small slice of crustless quiche (8 ish)

Shame I only had an hour really, would have been nice to spend a good few hours nattering with the girlies.

Mid afternoon I had 400g of Melon (1.5). I wouldn't normally buy pre-packed fruit because it's so expensive, but this was reduced to clear.

I need to reign in my spending the next few months as my tenants have officially moved out and whilst the flat is up for sale, I am having to cover the Mortgage and council tax until my friend moves in for a bit in September. Not sure how to reign in said spending when I have so much coming up over the next few weeks. Friends BBQ at the weekend - should be fairly cheap, following weekend I have my sisters Hen do in Benalmadena (won't be at all cheap), after that we are off to Stow-on-the-Wold for a weekend (probably not cheap either) and then we go on holiday. Hmmmm. May need to have a major sort out tonight and get some stuff on eBay or offer to sell my body for medical research purposes.

Dinner tonight was Lamb Massaman (7.5) bulked out with mushrooms and onions and a few potatoes to keep the lamb content down - I stole the lovely Laura's idea of using Cauliflower instead of rice to try and keep my points down. All in all, not a bad day on the food front.

On my way home from work I managed to bust my sodding ankle again, I stood on a small stone in the car park and the bloody thing sprained once again. I'm at a total loss as to what to do with it now, that's 6 times I've sprained it. Perhaps I need to get back to physio and get it looked at again. Does anyone have any tips for strengthening my ankle? It's obviously so blooming weak now. Very frustrating. I'll just have to strap it up tomorrow and go walking anyway.

Fingers crossed the scales are kind to me tomorrow night, I'll be most unhappy if one day of boozy excess has ruined my fairly hard work.

Hangover at the Hind's Head. (Day 5)

As you may have guessed from my last post, yesterday was a bit of a write off. I was soooo hungover. I just cannot drink like I used to. I don't think it was overly clever of me to have a salad and then nothing else but booze and expect to feel ok the next day. Anyway, after a few false starts yesterday, I managed to get up and out and off to the Hind's Head in Bray for Alex's Birthday lunch.

Thankfully everyone at lunch was a little bit worse for wear so I didn't feel too bad. You'd think we'd all know better at our age.

I really like the Hind's Head, it was packed which I guess is not unusual for a Sunday afternoon and the menu was really good. It was difficult to know what to order. Anyway, I started with one of Heston's Scotch Eggs. AMAZING. This was blooming lovely. I am not sure of the points - perhaps around 4 or 5.

For Main course, I had the Roast Beef. I asked for an extra Yorkshire Pudding (I could exist on them alone) tried to eat as much Veg as I could and only had one of the delicious Roast Potatoes. I guestimated around 12 points for this.

Thankfully food assisted the hangover a little bit and I no longer felt like I might projectile vomit at any moment... TMI? :)

Spent the rest of the afternoon lazing around the flat. Matt was in a bad way as well so we just lounged on the sofa watching rubbish TV. Most enjoyable.

We ended up sharing a Pizza Express American Pizza for dinner (6 points for half) as it was in the freezer and I just wasn't capable of cooking anything 'proper'.

So, I think yesterday was ok from a points perspective - if not my most healthy day. Saturday was most definitely not good from an alcohol perspective and I really don't know where I am at now. Most probably there is a bit of a deficit over the week, but a couple of good days should see me alright.

Fingers crossed.

P.S. I am never drinking again.....

Messy Saturday

I'm fairly ruined today. Food yesterday was good. Stuck to my plan all day. However, I didn't account for drinking my bodyweight in spirits which has left me more than a little fragile.

Brakfast was a bacon roll (6) with a coffee.


We headed off to meet friends at Cafe Rouge and it went very much downhill from there. They have a 10 week old daughter and haven't been out of late, so there was a bit of making up to do.

So I stuck to what I'd planned even though I was tempted to sod it and have a 28 point steak!!

French onion soup to start (2.5)



Followed by chicken Caesar salad (8). I think something stodgy would have been more appropriate to line my stomach!!



Vodka, wine, more vodka, amaretto and an assortment of Czech shots later and I was in bed by 2030. I feel sick just remembering. I'm sure at my age I should know better!! Suffering muchly today.

Off now to try and enjoy food at the Hind's Head. It's going to be tricky!!

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Location:Henley Rd,Eye and Dunsden,United Kingdom

Day 3, a much improved Friday.

Managed to drag my sorry ass (that should maybe read sore-y as it's still bloody painful - ha, do you see what I did there?) out of bed this morning to do the hill of hell. 5 times. This is the view from the bottom... does it look hard work? Because, believe me, to a 17 stone something woman, it feels it! I even... wait for it... RAN half way up on the final trek. Me and running will never be friends, FACT. However, walking is something I am starting to like - being outside when the world is quiet and getting a little bit of a workout - well what's not to like? (clearly my opinion will change when the weather gets worse and it's dark of a morning.)

I've ordered Jillian Michael's 30 day Shred as I've heard it's meant to be a killer. I figure I can fit in 20 minutes before work most days so in theory, I should be able to manage this. Although I fear it may finish me off.

Breakfast today was one of my favourites (Sorry Peridot). Toasted Parma Ham, Cheese and Spinach Sandwich with Extra Light Mayo and a couple of basil leaves (3.5). With 2 Bear Fruit YoYo's (1) and a cuppa.

Lunch was left over Chilli (7.5) and Spinach. A few more points than I would have liked for lunch, but delicious and it would have been wrong to waste it. Bottle of Skinny Water as well which I really enjoy, don't think it's making me overly skinny however!

Mid afternoon I had some wasapeas from my Graze Box (2.5) (Use code N4D9KJ1 if you want to try a free Graze Box) Man, some of these were hot, proper nose soreness! I had tears at one point. Lovely though (am I a sadist?) and a bit better for me than the crisps I was contemplating...

The battle of the food table goes on, I managed to ignore these for most of the day. Hard work and I don't even have a sweet tooth. At around 3pm, I caved and had a bite of one.... 1.5 points wasted. A whole one (ring doughnut) is 4 points so I am thinking I had about a third. No idea why I had any of it, I am not even keen. Gah!

Upon leaving work I popped to buy a bottle of wine to accompany dinner (it's Friday after all) and I was asked for ID! Apparently you have to look over 25 to purchase wine. As a 34 year old 'girl', I was over the bloody moon. I could have kissed the checkout assistant. Last time I was asked or ID, I was 19.

For dinner, Matt was meant to cook. Well that was always a long shot. His mate called us at 6ish and invited us out for Thai, so clearly the decision was easy, possible food poisoning or nice food?

So I tried to be restrained. 1 prawn toast, 1 sweetcorn fritter affair and a Chicken Satay.

Followed by: 1 spoonful of sticky rice, mixed vegetables, 1 spoonful of chicken curry and a bit of steak with black pepper. Washed down with a glass of wine (fairly large). How on earth do I point that??

I think around 10-12 points - most probably more? Which clearly takes me over for the day, but by recent standards, that's bloody good. Oh and going out meant we had to do the hill for the sixth time.... so at least half a bonus point earnt there.

Tomorrow we are off to Cafe Rouge in Wokingham to meet friends for lunch. I thought I'd be able to find something fairly healthy on their menu, but checking my Eating Out Guide is a bit of an eye opener (this is progress, I am never normally this prepared.) Steak Frites is 18 points, Croque Monsieur is 13 and Fish Cakes -which for some reason I thought would be ok - 23 points?! So, I have decided to go for French Onion Soup (2.5) followed by Chicken Caesar Salad (8). I'm stating this now so I have to choose that and take a photo to prove it ;)

So, 3 days down, 4 to go. I'm going to attempt to make them good ones. Have fabulous weekends Y'all.

Ouch mark 2 and another good day

Is it possible to do serious damage to ones bum cheeks from hill walking? Seriously, I am in agony today, every time I try to stand up, I whimper a little. Not very becoming, I can assure you. As a result of aforementioned bottom pain, I woke up to my alarm (Dolly Parton's 9-5 was the tune for today which Matt was not loving) at 6am, but failed miserably to get up. I literally had to fall out of bed and crawl to the loo. It hasn't improved much since then. Ouch!

Food today has been another veritable health fest, but we're not out of the woods yet. Wednesday and Thursday are usually good for me, it's Friday, Saturday and Sunday when I normally lose the plot.... so watch this space.

For breakfast I had 2 slices of Hovis Wholemeal Toast (1.5) with Whole Earth Organic Peanut Butter (3) and a cup of tea. Plus half a point banked for tea's and coffees during the day.

Lovely. I could eat peanut butter every day if it wouldn't turn me into an even bigger lard arse.

I also had a couple of Bear Raspberry Fruit Yo Yo's (1). I like these, a LOT. 2 of my 5 a day and they are like sweets really - licorice belts or something... nice.

Lunch today was a bit of an experiment. 60g of Quinoa (3.5) cooked in Veggie Stock with Broadbeans (0.5), Cherry Tomatoes, Spring Onions, Spinach, Parsley, Mint, Garlic, Lemon Juice and 70g of King Prawns (0.5). I've had Quinoa in the past and it was fairly disappointing, but this was lovely. The Veggie Stock is the key me thinks. I shall definitely be giving this a go again, I felt full all afternoon.

Dinner was Lamb Chilli (7.5). Absolutely lovely, but Lamb Mince is a little bit evil points wise so I added loads of mushrooms, onions, carrots and red pepper to bulk it out. Served with a sprinkling of Low Low cheese (1.5) a minuscule amount of rice (1.5) and some salad (a tiny bit of low fat cottage cheese on top as I had no sour cream).

So, 21 points used out of a possible 26. I shall have 1 of those later as I may treat myself to a thimble of wine. Happy Days.

Tomorrow evening Matt is cooking - this is an event as he's cooked approximately 4 times in the 2 years we have lived together, so I've given him a few pointers on portion sizes and what's good and what's not. I think he is cooking Lamb Massaman Curry, which I can point fairly easily (sauce from a jar) so we should be good!

Really looking forward to the weekend as it's been a busy old and extremely long week. We've a lunch with a couple of friends and their baby daughter on Saturday and then Sunday it's Alex's birthday so we are off to The Hind's Head in Bray for lunch. Plan is to eat as little as possible for breakfast and do a bit of exercise. Hopefully all should be good.

So, hopefully tomorrow's eat's will be as good as the last couple of days. I feel a scale movement coming on if I carry on like this.

Finally, a big shout out to Emma who made this lovely make up bag which I purchased the other day. I am loving all things red and polka dot at the moment, so this is right up my street. Thank you Mrs. Shilts! I wish I could make things, but sewing a button on is about my limit unfortunately.

Hope you've all had a lovely day. À Bientôt