AWOL again

Crikey, it's been a while since my last post. Things have been mental Chez Linzerello. Work is utterly stupid - for the past 3 days I have been covering a team of 4 people on my own. I literally cannot wait for 6pm tonight or earlier if I can manage it.

I've had a couple of trips to the gym for PT - one ending up with leaving me completely disfigured thanks to my urticaria and a swollen eye which took nearly 48 hours to return to normal. Nice... thankfully the doctor is now referring me to a specialist (but only after I insisted) so hopefully in the New Year that will be sorted. Warning - ugly eyes to follow:

Obviously this has made me a bit nervous about exercising, which is rubbish, but I am attempting to persevere with the help of numerous anti-histamines. My second PT trip since my last post didn't leave my looking like the above, so maybe I just need to continue with the drugs.

We had a works Christmas party last Friday which was on a boat down the Thames, food was rubbish so I barely ate, but proceeded to drink far too much free wine. Thankfully, I made the sensible decision to go home once the boat docked, or I dread to think what rubbish I'd have been spouting at my boss about being totally overworked. The rest of the weekend was fairly relaxed, present wrapping on Saturday and a lunch with the girls on Sunday which was a lovely catch up.

Since then, we've driven up North to my parents house and I've spent the last 3 days attempting to avoid the numerous gorgeous food items dotted all over the house. I'm working from their Lounge (my dad is in the office and Matt has commandeered our bedroom), mostly with one sister's dogs running around like crazy and my other sister's daughters demanding my attention. I can't wait to switch my laptop off tonight and actually spend some quality time with them, it's pretty difficult trying to do a day's work with a 4 year and a 7 year demanding attention. No work until the 3rd January once today is over - it feels like it's very much needed. We are at my parents til the 29th and then travel back down via the Midlands to see Matt's family. My parents will be travelling down too and spending New Year's eve with us and some friends in a local restaurant. All very relaxed and lovely.

The plan of action regarding the lard is to take the aforementioned dogs for long walks and practice some squats and sit ups when I can so my next PT session on the 30th December isn't too much of a shock to the system. Diet begins afresh in Jan.

Right, I had better get back to work so I can hopefully finish at a reasonable time. Have an amazing Christmas and New Year everyone, I doubt I'll be posting again before Jan as this laptop is staying firmly off :)

xx

Tis the season to be jolly...

... except if you are doing my job at the moment. I am run ragged. Literally dead on my feet and it is doing my head in. Thankfully I've only 5 more days in the office and then 3 days working from home before I can have a bit of time out. I am literally counting down the days.

I've been suffering some form of man flu/ sore throat/ general feeling of rubbishness for the last week as well which really hasn't helped. My eating has been ok, I'm not making a right pig of myself, but I most definitely could do better. Being so busy at work and getting home a lot later than usual means I am so much less prepared than I normally am. Dinners have been a bit more of the convenience variety of late and there has been too much bread creeping in. Not good enough.

I did PT on Saturday and we focussed on strength instead of Cardio as it sounded like I was about to cough up a lung after 10 minutes on the cross trainer. I have never done so many squats or arm exercises in my life. I could barely move on Sunday and was literally walking like I'd had an accident in my pants, couple that with a massive hangover from far too many bubbles on Saturday night, well you can imagine I was a total joy to behold. Still, Saturday night was much fun with good friends so I won't complain.

I've not been near the scales for at least a week so I need to get an idea of the current situation with regards to maintaining. I meant to get weighed last night but we had a work's Xmas lunch yesterday which involved 3 courses, however it took them so long to serve us, I ended up having to stay at work til gone 8pm to catch up so dinner didn't happen. It's all swings and roundabouts at the moment.

Matt is away all week so I'm literally working and sleeping until the weekend. PT is scheduled before work on Thursday morning - it's the only way I can be sure I will make it. Work Xmas party on  a boat down the River Thames on Friday, I bloody hope we don't have a recurrence of last night's weather or we're likely to be swimming. Saturday will be spent with Matt and probably involve me moaning about being hungover and then I've an Xmas lunch with my girlfriends in Richmond on Sunday but that will be very civilised since all of them are either bringing their offspring, carrying an offspring or trying to get themselves impregnated with some form of offspring. Will be nice to catch up however and should stop me drinking so as to not look like the lush of the group.

Right, I had better get back to work. I've had 27 emails since I started writing this...

Someone tell me it's nearly Christmas...

AWOL

Apologies for the radio silence, work is literally kicking my ass this week and I've not had time to think of anything else. I'm dreaming about Load Balancers and databases. How exciting.

The weekend (which seems like a very distant memory) was lovely. We walked miles, visited Borough Market (it's a good job I don't live closer to that place, the food is amazing) and had possibly the best meal of my life at Marcus Wareing. Every course was totally amazing, Especially the Quail and the Lamb. I'd go back every night if money was no object! Thanks for the tip Seren, we told the waiter we'd just got engaged so were invited into the kitchen to meet the man himself. I was all a bit star struck.



Afternoon tea at the Ritz on Sunday was also particularly lovely, but I'm still very much off cake. I don't have a sweet tooth at all but i couldn't resist.

The middle tier was later filled with freshly baked scones. Swoon.




Since all that loveliness, I've been bogged down with the drudgery of covering 3 people's work. This sucks! I had to cancel PT on Monday as I didn't finish work til 8pm - when you start at 730am, that's not a happy place.

I then had to cancel again on Tuesday due to the onset of man flu which couldn't have come at a worse time. Bah humbug.

So, I've skipped breakfast every day this week as I've literally not had time and by the time I've remembered it's been lunch time, this is ridiculous, i never forget to eat. Lunch has pretty much been a sandwich every day and dinners have been some form of meat with various vegetables. Nothing too hideous really but my eye is slightly off the ball.

I'm not going to make WI again as I'm still working, but to be honest, so long as I can maintain my current weight until after the festive period, I will be happy.

I've scheduled PT for Saturday and then we've a Christmas do with friends. Muchly looking forward to that.

So, hopefully next week won't be so stressy, but with 2 of my team out til Jan 12th, I'm not too hopeful! Merry Christmas to me :)

At least all this work is keeping me mostly out of trouble. Every cloud I suppose!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Fed up.com

I'm having  one of those days where I just feel pretty darn miserable and I am actually annoying myself wallowing in this vat of self pity.

I hopped on the scales this morning - they've not budged at all (in fact they may even by up 1/2 since last week) so I really don't want to go to WI tonight. I thought I'd had a fairly decent week, I've tracked, made sensible choices and eaten so much Veg I'm sick of the bloody sight it.

Work is driving me mad already and I've got until 12th January before it returns to normal (2 of my team are off from now until then so I am basically doing the work of 3 people - whoopy do). Let's hope I don't get ill.

And finally, my urticaria is really playing up every time I go to the gym. It's now getting to the point that if I forget to take an antihistamine (which don't do much for me anyway) that my heat rash gets so bad that my right eye swells up and sometimes my tongue... Seriously - WTF?? I went back to the doctors today and he basically told me there is nothing they can do for me. So in an attempt to get fit, I am spending half the week looking like the Elephant Man (my eye is still swollen from Tuesday!). He's given me some more tablets to try and if these don't work, then it's tough. Happy days. I thought exercise was meant to be good for you, but I appear to be feeling fairly annoyed with it at the moment.

Lovely.

On a positive note, I am really glad it's almost Friday. We are spending the weekend in London  as our Christmas present to each other. We are going to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park and then dinner at Marcus Wareing on Saturday plus Afternoon Tea at the Ritz on Sunday. Hopefully that will cheer up my miserable face. Clearly it won't help too much with the weight loss, but if I keep an eye on things and cut back the rest of the weekend, then hopefully it won't be too bad... or am I kidding myself??

So, gym again tonight, spend the night looking like a freak, WI (possibly if I don't spit my dummy out completely) and then a weekend of Christmas Joy...

Normal more cheerful service shall resume next time.

Long Island Hangover...

I am finding work fairly ridiculous so far this week so I am currently on strike and taking 10 minutes out to write an update. Let's hope no one notices.

I spent a lovely weekend with the boy. We made it to the gym on Friday which left me feeling utterly exhausted for the rest of the night. Alcohol was avoided (success - this never happens on a Friday) and we ate a home cooked Lamb Curry packed full of Veg. 

Saturday started off fairly successfully, I made a healthy breakfast of Bubble and Squeak, Grilled bacon, poached eggs and beans before we headed off to Pennyhill Park to spend the day in the spa. Such an amazing hotel - our room was ridiculously large with an actual four poster bed....

The bathroom was bigger than our flat.

We spent the day lazing around in the spa, in the outside jacuzzi (amazeballs) and then got ready for dinner.. That's where it all went a bit wrong. We drank Prosecco (smuggled in so as to save cash) I made decent enough choices food wise. Pan seared Duck Liver with puy lentils to start, Char Grilled beef tenderloin with Bone Marrow for main with tomato and shallot side salad and then baked apple for dessert...   We drank a bottle of wine (it was paid for so it'd have been really rude not to) and then decided to retire to the bar for an after dinner cocktail....

Look at the price of these little beauties.. Only we could have a free weekend and manage to turn it into the most expensive night out ever by ordering numerous Long island Iced Teas, thus resulting in the hangover from hell on Sunday and a stupid hotel bill (£75 for a pedicure!!). Oh well, you live and learn.

Sunday was quite difficult, but we went for a 45 minute walk since the sun was shining, I really couldn't face the gym so it was a good compromise. My eating has been pretty ok since. Lots of lean meat and fresh veg. We've just been for a team curry (ridiculous idea at lunch time) but I ordered Shaslick to try and be slightly healthier.

I've got PT tonight which I imagine will be a challenge after a large lunch, so let's hope I don't see it again.

Really not sure what WI will bring this week, hand on heart, I've not been 100% committed, but it's a definite improvement on recent weeks so fingers crossed. 

My name is Linz...

.... and I suck at losing weight.

I seem to have entered some sort of weight gain contest in my head. 1.5 pounds on last night. Totally deserved so I am not going to bang on about it. I'm almost back where I bloody well started. Harumph.

The conversation in my head went like this last night:

Me: No point going and getting weighed, you know you've put on weight.
Me: Just go and get on with it. Face the scales and be done with it.
Me: But I really don't want to go. I will feel demoralised and fat and like a total failure.
Me: Just being an eejit and man up.
Me: But I really don't want to.....
Me: FFS do it!

So I went, got weighed and came home in a huff. My head is just not in the right place for dieting, the exercise bit seems to have clicked thankfully, so at least I am feeling somewhat fitter, if not fatter.

I got up early on Wednesday to do a walk, but ended up just doing shy of 2 miles as the darkness and the fog wasn't really conducive to a leisurely stroll - Nice huh?

My eating I thought had been ok. I made a big vat of Kale, Goats Cheese and Bacon Pasta (I'm drowning under a mountain of Kale) which I've had for lunch most days, breakfasts have mainly been toast or bacon Sarnies and dinners have been random. Clearly, I'm not properly focussed so I need to get back to planning my meals.

So, yet another plan of action (forgive me if I am repetitive). Stop eating crap, stop eating when I am full, start following SW properly and crack on with the exercise. One meal at a time, one day at a time.

Gym is scheduled for tonight and Sunday. We've a night at Pennyhill Park hotel tomorrow which was an engagement present from Matt's best man. We get a 3 course meal included, so I am just going to have to make the best choices I can. Booze will be limited and exercise will occur.

My weight loss journey is like Ground hog day....

Have a lovely weekend everyone. Hopefully I won't be any fatter the next time I write.

Exhausting

This last week has really taken it's toll on me. I love to be busy, but I think I might have over done it of late as I feel utterly drained today. I spent last night dreaming I was marrying Matt Goss as well as hearing numerous strange noises which had me parading around the flat starkers with a hammer in my hand to confront any intruders (Matt is away this week). I am fairly sure the sight of me naked would be enough to scare anyone off.

The ridiculously busy weekend was in the end very worthwhile. I have ordered my wedding dress!! The designer was lovely, listened to exactly what I wanted but also gave me a few ideas as to what would work with my shape. Despite my large thighs and backside, I am apparently an hourglass - so this dress will flatter that. The top is a very fitted bodice which supports my large breasticles and nips me in at the waist and the skirt will be a very full tulle ballerina style tea length skirt. I just hope it is as lovely as I am picturing. I am almost excited!

Eating is still a bit suspect, I'm not being a pig by any means but I'm not as focussed as I should be. On the other hand, exercise is going well. I made it to the gym on Friday and did an hour of cardio and various weight exercises. Last night was PT again and it literally exhausted the hell out of me. I had to sit in the car park for 10 minutes afterwards as my arms were feeling too weak to drive. As you can imagine, everything bloody hurts today. Thankfully I'm working from home so the office is not subjected to my constant groans every time I try to move.

Tonight is my first free night since last Sunday, so I am planning to do absolutely bugger all. I'm meeting a friend in the morning at 7am to do a quick 3 mile walk before work and then I will attempt to get to the gym on Thursday before I face the scales of doom.

Right, I am off to hobble to the kitchen to see what delights I can come up with from this weeks Veg Box. Parsnip, Beetroot and Kale... hmmmmmm.

Purple and pain

I am missing WI tonight as I don't have time to get there and get back to town to see Sarah Millican. I should probably find another class, but since I've managed to make myself utterly ridiculously busy, we shall assume I won't. I will hop on the scales at home tomorrow so they can berate me in their usual fashion.

I've not made it back to the gym since Monday's torturous session and to be honest, I am struggling to work out when I can fit it in. If I leave work early enough tomorrow, there is a chance I can manage a quick visit... but seriously, how likely is that on a Friday? Perhaps that's not that right attitude.

Another lesson learnt this week - if you drop something behind a chest of drawers, move them to reach it. Don't presume you have Mr. Tickle arms or you will end up in excruciating pain with 2 twisted vertebrae. Thankfully my Osteopath has managed to sort out that little disaster I'd created for myself, although I'm still feeling a little bit on the sore side, I shan't feel too sorry for myself.

My food hasn't been hideous this week, but I've been famished and craving comfort. Shepherd's pie and soups have featured mostly - including this strangely coloured delight.

Red Cabbage Soup. Very easy to make and fairly tasty - Red Cabbage, Onions, Garlic, A couple of Potatoes, Chicken Stock and seasoning. Dry fry the Cabbage, Garlic and Onions, Chuck in Stock and potatoes, simmer til veg is soft. Blend and season. Voila. Oh - and be careful if you are blending this with a hand blender - there is a chance you'll end up with purple all over the walls and yourself. Not clever if you're wearing white.

And finally - a shameless show off as to how clever my little sister is, she clearly gets it from me. 

Learning

Hello Tuesday, how are you all? I'm good, slightly tired today, but mainly due to the evil that is Personal Training last night. In other news, I've had an enlightening few days. A summary of my learning shall follow:

1. I should not drink a lot of Cava/Prosecco on an empty stomach as I will be up at 430am on Saturday morning feeling like death warmed up. Saturday will mostly be a write off.
   
2. I should not park my car under a tree as birds will use it as a litter tray and I will not be happy. 2 car washes will not be able to remove the crap.
   
3. My fiancé is devious. He knew on Friday afternoon he would need to work on Sunday, but he kept his mouth shut until an hour before we were due to leave the house and meet my parents in Milton Keynes. Thus, annoying me immensely, but limiting the amount of time I had to be annoyed at him. Clever.
   
4. Sat Nav cannot be trusted - if I blindly follow it to get to Milton Keynes, I will end up in the middle of a field on a dirt track which will eventually run out. Choosing the 'shortest' route is therefore not the best idea.
   
5. Performing a 3 point turn on a dirt track in a muddy field is quite difficult.
   
6. I will drive to Milton Keynes for lunch - to discover that everyone had a big breakfast and no one is eating, therefore I will have spent 1.5 hours driving to have a pint of Lime and Soda.
   
7. I should never tell my Personal Trainer that I am tired in the hope he will take it easy on me or even better still, cancel the session so I can go home for a nap. Instead, he will work me harder than ever before so I am sweating so much I cannot see due to sweat pouring into my eyes.
   
8. The day after Personal Training will forever be painful and I will spend most of the day groaning when trying to get out of my seat.

I think that about covers it. 

My eating is still a bit on the suspect side, yesterday I had a sterling SW day and then snarfed 2 packets of Love Hearts before I went to the gym - why do I do this? I then got home from PT and was ravenous so I ate a bit of Game Pie that I've been ignoring on the fridge and a slice of bread. Today should be better, but it's definitely very much a case of one meal a time at the moment. On a positive note though, I am starting to feel fitter. 

So, this week looks mental:

• Tomorrow night, visit the Osteopath and then pop in to see my half child (I didn't make it at the weekend due to alcohol consumption). 
• Thursday night, dinner out with Matt and then we have tickets for Sarah Millican.
• Friday night, I am out in Windsor with the girls.
• Saturday I fly to Newcastle for the day to meet my wedding dress designer (she's normally based in Cheltenham which is obviously a bit handier) - I couldn't risk staying  the weekend at my parents in case aforementioned half child had not yet been born.
• Sunday meet a friend and go for a massage and then lunch 
• Monday - then it's PT again.

I am exhausted just thinking about it. 

Porker

3.5 pounds on - expected and totally deserved. I flogged my guts out at the gym beforehand - so I'm fairly sure I was in a state of total dehydration when I did actually get weighed, so possibly I'd actually put on even more. Sigh.

I did 25 minutes of Cardio last night, followed by various vipr pole exercises and those blasted kettle bells made a reappearance. I am in agony today... I must persevere however.

Kick up the bum has duly been received. I turned down the offer of a pub lunch today, I've had SW friendly meals so far and I've tracked everything which is better than previous days.

We're meeting friends for dinner tonight at a Spanish restaurant, visiting my half child tomorrow (since I was present at his birth, I am claiming parentage) and seeing my parents on Sunday in Milton Keynes. Hopefully I can retain some form of control. A trip to the gym is also planned for tomorrow.... if I can move my arms.

Have a good weekend everybody.

P.S - Amy, I've changed my layout as it was getting a bit tired - is that any better?

It's all going horribly wrong

I've totally lacked focus on my food this week. I don't get myself really. I almost kill myself (gross exaggeration) at Personal Training (hello Kettle Bells - you are hideous) and then I proceed to pick at all sorts of crap food all week. My body is aching like buggery (well not literally, but you get me) and instead of feeling all pleased with myself for having had a really good workout, I feel fat and bloated as I can't stop blooming eating. Clearly I want to be a big fat bride in some sort of marquee for a dress.

A hop on the scales this morning almost produced tears, I am officially dreading getting weighed tonight. I'm going to go to the gym beforehand - kind of last chance workout (Biggest Loser stylee) in the vain hope it will shed a pound or so from the horror story I saw this morning.

I am hoping whatever the news, there will be some form of massive shock to the system and it will inspire me to be a super star Slimming Worlder from now on. Failing that, I'm opting for a frontal lobotomy to try and fix my thinking.

Wish me luck!

Tales from Morocco

So I am back - back to drizzle and grey skies - and hopefully back to some form of sensible eating.

Morocco was most definitely an experience. We stayed in a lovely hotel which we got via Groupon, so it worked out quite good value. We nearly didn't make the flight due to an overheating car - but thankfully Green Flag came to the rescue and transported us there (via recovery truck) just in the nick of time.

So Marrakech - well, our hotel was about 10 minutes away from the centre - or the Medina, so we didn't actually get to see much of the place until Saturday as we had already decided Friday would be a day of 'nowt' i.e. reading, sleeping and a Hamam which was part of our deal.

The Medina was a totally crazy place - like nothing I've ever really experienced before. As soon as we stepped off the shuttle bus, we were besieged by men offering to be our tour guide - warning us of the dangers of 'going it alone' and generally just making a nuisance of themselves. A tad overwhelming. The place is really busy - tourists, snake charmers, beggars, motorcycles carrying families and sheep (yes sheep) and just a general sense of chaos prevails. I loved it - Matt hated it!

We ended up taking a tour bus to get us around and to escape the chaos - it was a good way to see main sights without fearing for our lives on the mental back streets and roads. There is no sense of road safety! Literally there are people hanging off the back of vans and trucks and no one seems to drive with any sense.

The Medina:

Compare this to the relatively tranquillity of our hotel

I'd love to say I ate sensibly - but I didn't overly. In the 4 days we were there we only had lunch once - but that's mainly due to eating too much at breakfast (a buffet is never a winner for me). Dinner was either Tagine or Cous Cous, so nothing too hideous and I did go to the gym, but I feel fatter and somewhat out of control. I'm trying to reign it back in today - but it's not been a resounding success so far.

Anyway, I've Personal Training again tonight, so that will give me the kick I need to refocus I am sure. I shall find out the damage on Thursday I guess.

Oink

It's been a strange old week. I've gone a bit off the Slimming World rails because my routine has been all over the place. After seeing my best friend on the operating table having a baby by emergency sun roof extraction (let's just say, I'll be having my steak well done for a while), I was somewhat hyper for most of Monday morning before I totally crashed and burned around 1pm. I woke up and proceeded to eat Super Speed Soup, a pitta bread and cheese and then cooked a massive Bolognese which I had with Spaghetti Squash. Piglet.

Yesterday was also a bit messed up food wise. I was fairly good for most of the day, then I had PT. Seriously, that man is evil personified. He looks all innocent and charming and then he nearly kills me. Last night's session almost saw me faint (an improvement on the projectile vomiting), so I had to spend 5 minutes lying on the gym floor with my legs in the air. I'm so cool. After the initial feeling of impending death, and once I no longer resembled a giant beetroot, I felt able to socialise, so went out and proceeded to polish off a 3 course meal with a couple of girlfriends. Eejit.

Today, I've reigned it back in a bit, but since I know I'm not getting weighed tomorrow as I'll be in Morocco, it's been an internal battle with my inner pig. For once, I've actually packed my trainers, so I am going to attempt to use the gym whilst we are away. I will also try not to gorge myself on tagine and cous cous - or whatever else is typical Moroccan fayre. At least now I can relax for the 4 nights we are away without worrying about an impending child birth.

Right, I've just realised it's almost 9pm and I've not eaten anything since this morning, so I'm off to eat vegetables. Yummy,

An early entrance

Despite gaining that hour yesterday, Monday morning has come around far too quickly for my liking.

I had a lovely weekend in Birmingham with old school friends. It was not Slimming World friendly at all. We spent Friday night in our apartment dancing to 80's and 90's music, drinking wine and eating an assortment of nibbles (think Onion Bhaji's, Falafel and Peanuts). Saturday saw some exercise - 30 minutes walking up a very large hill, plus 20 lengths of the Spa pool, a massage, lots of shopping, an Italian Lunch and  a Japanese dinner. I wasn't a massive pig, but I most certainly wasn't a saint.

And then last night - I got a phone call around midnight to say my friend had gone into labour and my services as a birthing partner were required. 2 weeks early - OMG. Let's just say, I've not had an awful lot of sleep and I'm feeling fairly spaced out. An amazing, if somewhat terrifying experience as it all happened a lot quicker than anyone anticpated. I think I'm maybe a bit in shock today. I've had a bacon sandwich and a lot of tea, so not the best start to my SW day, but I am not going to stress too much.

I've had to cancel PT tonight as I am really not sure I can manage after 1 hours sleep (I am in the office at the moment) but I can hopefully rearrange it for tomorrow. Thankfully, I've only a 3 day week as we are off to Marrakesh for a long weekend. I need to come up with some sort of strategy for that so as not to undo all my efforts so far.

And on that note, I might head home. I think I need a lie down.

Quick catch up

Excuse the radio silence, this week has flown over in a blur of work stress and migraines. I'm so glad it's Friday.

PT on Monday did not kill me and did not induce any form of vomiting - minor success. It did, however, leave me incapable of movement for the best part of the week. 20 minutes of cardio, followed by 40 minutes of lunges, squats, sit ups and a variety of other pain inducing movements is hard work for a fatso. My arms were so sore, I could hardly wash my hair on Tuesday morning.

The rest of the week my eating has been pretty bang on. I cooked some fairly tasty meals (Butternut Squash Macaroni Cheese and Asparagus and Ham Toad in the Hole), did more exercise and was rewarded last night with a half pound gain. I'm actually not going to stress over that to be honest, it's that time of the month, so I've felt bloated and fat and I'm pretty sure any water retention shall be banished next week.

So, the weekend see's another trip to Birmingham, this time with some girl friends. We've a spa day planned tomorrow and the rest of the weekend will be catching up and possibly some drinking. I'll try and stick to SW as much as possible. I'm also going to go for a swim at the spa to get some exercise in.

Have a good weekend y'all.

Vegful weekend.

A fairly good weekend for me really, other than the massive amounts of Prosecco consumed on Saturday night (I blame Aldi for selling it relatively cheaply) my food has been pretty on the mark.

Saturday turned out to be a very lazy day, but it was just what the doctor ordered. I started the day like this - 2 Joe's Sausages which are Syn Free with a very colourful Bubble and Squeak (Potato, Red Cabbage, Red Onion, Kale and Leek) and a dry fried egg. Delicious.

And ended it with this - Chicken (and lots of Veg - broccoli, red onion, spinach) Massaman Curry (made with paste - 1 syn per tbsp) with Rice and 1/2 a Paratha (around 6 syns - but so worth it). And this was actually cooked by Matt - the 4th time he has ever cooked I think - he did me proud.

Since Saturday was beyond lazy, I couldn't quite justify another day of rest on Sunday unfortunately, so ended up running around like a blue arsed fly.

The flat looked like squatters had invaded it, so a massive clean was in order, plus I had to then drag my sorry ass to the gym as well as cooking up a storm in the kitchen.

I made up a massive vat of Super Speed Soup - which looked like this when in the pan... Minging.

but actually turned out ok. It's very 'beany' not surprisingly - and mine was very thick (although I like that), but it's fairly tasty - although I had to add a lot of salt. I got 10 portions out of that pan full - so lunch is pretty much sorted for the foreseeable.

After breaking into a massive sweat cleaning the flat from top to bottom (which in my mind is exercise, but I am not sure my Personal Trainer will agree) we headed to the gym. I still don't like it, but I've put together a new playlist on my phone, so listening to that seemed to help the 30 minutes on the Cross Trainer go by a lot quicker - I was beetroot by the end of it. I did a few weights - mainly arm related, but had to stop the squats as my backside is still sore from last week. Honestly, I fear I am falling apart at the moment.

For dinner I put a joint of pork in the slow cooker with Leeks, Courgettes, Carrots and Onions and little bit of stock. This was cooked on low all day until the meat fell off the bone and then the sauce was thickened with a couple of spoonfuls of Bisto. Served with dry roasted potatoes and onions and braised red cabbage. Yum.

Please excuse the photo overload - I don't normally have healthy eating weekends, so I am just showing off.

Personal Training again tonight - let's hope I don't projectile vomit again...

Another random WI

Apparently I lost 8.5 pounds last night - which I don't for one minute believe. So we'll presume I didn't actually gain  those 4 pounds last week, for my sanity's sake. Still, 4.5 down is not to be sniffed at so I will take that and be happy.

I've had a fairly stellar week, gym again on Wednesday and I managed not to be sick - although whilst doing squats something seemed to give way in my arse cheek which has left me walking like a 90 year old. I'm going back tomorrow for a Health MOT, plus another work out and possibly a swim. If I go often enough, I might start to like it, right?

We've a fairly quiet weekend planned for once. I'm off to Twickenham tonight to meet up with a few friends, but I am driving so I can't really do too much damage, tomorrow will be mainly gym action and cooking up a load of soup for next week. Apparently SW Speed Soup is the future, it sounds fairly rank to me, but I will give it a go. Sunday will be a day of rest.

So all in all, not a lot to report. All going in the right direction however, lets hope it continues.

Have a good weekend y'all.

Ouch

Personal Training really bloody hurts - so much so that I was actually sick half way through. Shameful.

10 mins warm up on the running machine, 20 mins of interval training on the cross trainer - then puke, 15 reps on 3 different arm machines, squats, lunges and stretching.

I can safely say I feel like a bus has hit me today. Can't wait to go back....

Losing the plot and attempting to refocus

I'm aware I've been quiet, for the most part, that was not down to me struggling really. My eating was going ok mostly last week, I had a sneaky peek at the scales on Thursday morning and they showed me 2 pounds down - all was good with the world.

And then I went to WI. I've not really talked about my Slimming World Class overly - mainly because it's not overly exciting.... but here's the thing, I haven't at all warmed to my leader. I am sure she is nice enough, but at the risk of sounding pretty rude (and I am sure I am about to) - well she is still a larger lady, for some reason I expect leaders to be a shining example of what the diet can do and when you turn up and the leader is bigger than you are - well it kind of deflates you a little. I know, I am wrong to think like this - she has lost weight with SW, but I think I just wanted to turn up and see a success story in front of my eyes - and I did not.

The other trauma from last week is I went to class feeling smug that I'd maybe lost a pound - and their scales showed a gain of 4 pounds. 4 BLOODY POUNDS. Seriously, how can this happen? I didn't stuff my face on Thursday, I did my usual routine or wearing the lightest clothes known to man, not eating or drinking anything after 1pm and I was still 4 pounds up. Utterly deflating.

That totally knocked my confidence. I went out on Thursday night with Matt and some friends for dinner and I refused to eat. I felt sick and bloated - and I'm fairly sure that was all in my head. I just didn't want to eat anything as I couldn't trust myself to make good choices. I felt like a right misery guts. I drank Soda water and sat with a face like a slapped arse for the rest of the night. Good times.

On Friday, I went to the doctors. I had cancelled last week's appointment as I couldn't get out of work. I apparently have some viral thing called  Labyrinthitis - which means I will remain dizzy for the  foreseeable - another thing which lead to Miss Huffy Pants remaining in full force going into the weekend. On a plus note, I'm now a cheap date as drinking is not overly required since I feel drunk most of the time anyway.

Thankfully the weekend was lovely. Matt and I celebrated 4 years together on Friday, we were up in Birmingham so went to a lovely restaurant for dinner and I stuck to SW choices as much as I could. Saturday I was also pretty good. Beans on toast for breakfast, Jacket Potato with Chilli for Lunch and Steak and Salad for dinner - all this whilst watching 2 games of footy in the pub as Matt and his brother got more and more sozzled.

Yesterday we went to see Matt's beloved West Brom against Wolves - thankfully the Baggies won, so despite his mammoth hangover, he was in a good mood. I managed to resist the burgers and Pukka Pies and grabbed a Jacket Potato with beans when we got back to New Street Station.

Last night I cooked another SW friendly curry and a batch of pasta for lunch today. Everything is being tracked - I seriously don't want another fall out with the scales this week.

Oh and tonight I start personal training.... I am scared. Matt went last week and nearly fainted. I dread to think what will happen to me. Gulp. Wish me luck.

Recipes and wounding

Urgh, Monday again. I had a lovely weekend, but really struggled to get myself out of bed this morning. I hate dark mornings, especially when I can hear the wind howling outside!

Thursday night's babysitting was fairly uneventful, other than my paranoia - seriously, I'd be a nervous wreck if I had kids. I must've run up and down the stairs about 30 times every time I heard a cough or a snuffle. Still, it must've been a good workout as my calves were killing me on Friday.

We spent Friday night over in Twickenham having dinner with friends which was lovely. We went to Pizza Express and I didn't over indulge too badly, no starter or dessert, but a fair amount of Prosecco. It was nice to see all my friends in one place for a change (due to families and pregnancies, we rarely catch up all together these days).

On Saturday we were treated to lunch at Zuma in London. The food was amazing, we had lots of different sharing plates and predictably I ate too much. Still, it meant I didn't need any dinner or breakfast on Sunday. Yes, I clearly ate far too much.

Yesterday I decided it would be a good idea to cook up a few Slimming World friendly meals. Unfortunately, during this process, I managed to slice the end of my finger off. This led to a lot of panic on my behalf as Matt had gone out with his mobile and I was literally bleeding all over the kitchen and bathroom. Once I stopped shaking and managed to stick my finger back together, I finished off the two little beauties below. One with a helping of finger end and possibly some finger nail. 

Exhibit 1 - Lamb and Vegetable Curry

What you will need:

• Diced Lamb - all visible fat removed (as much as you fancy)
• 1 Onion
• Mushrooms - as many as you like
• Other Veg - I used Squash and Red Chard as I had these in my Veg box
• Tinned Tomatoes
• Teaspoon of garlic, ginger, garam masala, chilli 

Spray a pan with fry light and fry the onions and spices for a couple of minutes, add in the meat and brown. Stir in the rest of the veg (and the stalks from the chard, not the leaves yet) and fry until the veg softens slightly. Chuck in the tinned tomatoes and give it a good stir. Simmer for about 20 mins until the sauce has reduced and then throw in the chard leaves. Voila. Syn free and tasty as hell.

Exhibit 2 - Creamy Leek, Bacon and Mushroom Pasta

What you will need:

• Pasta - I used Penne 
• 2 leeks 
• 4 large mushrooms or about 8 smaller ones
• 4 slices of bacon, fat removed and chopped
• 1 tub of Low Low Cheese Spread
• 2 chicken Oxo Cubes

Spray a pan with fry light and fry the mushrooms, leeks and bacon until the bacon is cooked and the veg is softened. Crumble over the Oxo Cubes and pour in a glass of hot water - enough to cover. Stir and scrape up any of the nice brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Simmer for around 5 mins. Stir in 1 tub of the Low Low Cheese (or dairly lea light/ laughing cow would work) and mix to combine. Serve with Pasta. 

This makes 2 large portions and is syn free if you count the low low as one of your healthy extras. I guess you could use Quark instead to make it totally syn free.

Tastes bloody good too and will be today's lunch.

This week should be fairly uneventful. My last birthing class tonight, visiting a friend on Wednesday and SW on Thursday. Hopefully there will be some sort of minor loss. 

I am actually really struggling to type this, I didn't realise how much I relied on my left index finger for every day activities. Woe is me.

Frustration and Stress

In the grand scheme of things, life for me is generally not stressful. I consider myself fairly lucky in this respect, I work hard, I earn a decent wage but my job is not particularly stressful and life is generally good. I have come to discover, I don't deal overly well with stress. I am a comfort eater most definitely, I want to hit the wine or eat bad food. Not overly helpful when I am trying to lose weight.

I had an unofficial weigh in this morning, which showed me a pound down. Better than expected since last night, I decided to eat my way through a lot of bad food (think 'Global Buffet' at our local Indian Restaurant) and drink half a bottle of wine.

I felt stressed yesterday, work was really frustrating me. I spent a lot of wasted time trying to get something in our application working, only to be told the configuration needed to change, to a version that doesn't work and no one can now tell me how to fix it, but they expect me to do that all the same - even though my version was working. I was also told I was going to be on my own in my team (usually 4 of us) for the whole of December again (this happened last year and it nearly finished me off). Couple that with the fact work is really stalling with any news on pay rises or promotions (we should have found out mid Sept) and my tenant has not paid his rent on time for the 2nd month in a row - well I just felt like it was all too much. I'm also not feeling quite right - dizzy spells and a sick feeling - which has me presuming the worst (I am a major hypochondriac).

Seriously, how ridiculous is that? There is not really anything stressful in any of that - well except for the lack of rent money which means I am seriously struggling to cover my bills until my useless agents actually bother to chase the tenant and get my bloody money in. So, in my mind, that meant I could go out last night and stuff myself silly.

Gah. I am frustrated at myself.

Today I have tried to take control a bit more. I'm taking my meals one at a time, I've applied for a couple of new jobs (in all honesty, I don't really want to move companies, but I feel like I need to do something) and I've emailed my tenant to ask him if everything is ok. If he doesn't reply to me or pay up, then I need to cross that bridge when we come to it, I am blocking that out for now. I've also made an appointment with the doctor as this dizziness has been ongoing for a few weeks now - and well it's probably nothing.

Food today has not been stellar. I've not snacked on crap, which is a start and I've upped my water and fruit intake. Tonight I am babysitting, so dinner is in the hands of my friend, but I will not make a pig of myself.

Tomorrow night we are at a friend's house for dinner and then on Saturday they are taking us for lunch to say thanks for my attendance at their birthing classes and my future role in the birth of their child (eeeek). Other than that, my weekend is hopefully going to be very relaxed and on plan. I might even get myself to the gym.

Round up

I seem to have been a bit AWOL of late again. Life has been pretty hectic which has left me little time for blogging.

I joined SW last week, but then realised I can't actually make my first weigh in as I am babysitting this Thursday, about 35 miles away from home. I guess I can try and find a different class, or I just plough on in the hope that a 2 week loss will be amazeballs.

We spent the weekend Oooop Norf with my family so Matt could go to the Sunderland v West Brom game with my dad and brother in law. I went wedding dress shopping which was not as stressful as anticipated. I now have come up with a cunning plan. Since I can't find exactly what I want in a flattering style, I am having a dress made. Seriously, no idea why I didn't come up with this plan from the start.

The top will be something like this - the bottom will be nothing like this. I can't be coping with a mass of satin.

So fingers crossed this works. I am meeting the dress maker/ designer next month to discuss exactly what I want and hope that I don't need to re-mortgage to fund it.

The diet is going ok. The weekend was a tad suspect due to the massive amounts of food my mother always has in and a trip to the beach for Fish and Chips. I've been back at it since Sunday though so I am hoping not too much damage has been done.

We've also taken the plunge and signed up for Personal Training at the gym. I actually do need a mortgage for this - but I really need a kick up the bum with my fitness and this seems like the best option for now. I'm signing up for 5 sessions at first and then hopefully I can carry on under my own steam.... Well that's the plan anyway. First session is the 17th October (due to Birthing Class commitments, I can't do anything til then).

So, that's me in a nutshell. I am going to make an attempt to plan my meals better over the next week or so and to try some new SW recipes. Be prepared for lots of food posts if things go to plan.

Birthing and Boozing

Another lovely weekend Chez Linzerello. Once again, a few too many beverages were consumed, but food didn't feature overly in abundance, so I guess it kind of balanced out. Without fail, I am joining SW this week, even if I have to trawl the county to find a class.

Friday night, was just the two of us at our local pub, a few drinks, a bit of food and then home early to watch TV. I'm getting too old to stay out late. On Saturday we met friends for lunch, which became very messy. Let's just say, these were involved...

Our friends have a daughter, so when they get a chance to go out - well they kind of make the most of it. Surprisingly, lunch was therefore the only meal consumed on Saturday and I was in bed by 8pm!

Sunday was another lunch with friends at our favourite restaurant, no breakfast consumed due to a lie in and no dinner required. Following lunch we headed home for a quick power nap before heading to the theatre to see Cirque du Ciel. This was brilliant - if it's anywhere near you, I would highly recommend seeing it.

Last night saw a first for me, I attended an NCT class. No, I am not pregnant, but I am very honoured to be a birthing partner for one of my best friends who is due to give birth in November. Her husband has a massive hospital phobia and is therefore likely to be more of a liability than any form of help. It was fascinating - having made the decision that children are not for me (and I am fairly sure seeing someone I love, give birth, will cement that sentiment), it was very enlightening.

It was also hilarious when we first arrived at the class to see everyone trying to work out how the hell I fitted into the equation - was I a single mother? (possibly pregnant or just fat), was I a lesbian lover? Anyway, I've 2 more classes before I am ready to assist in her labour. Eeeeek.

So other than that, not much to report from me. I've a fairly quiet week ahead, I'm venturing back to the gym and refocussing my diet attempts (although I've been pretty SW friendly anyway). I've more wedding dresses to try on at the weekend (more on that later) so if that doesn't kick me up the bum after my hatred of it the last time, to shed some lard, I've no hope.

Slimming World fail

So, I've spent all week preparing myself to join Slimming World - when I say preparing myself, this can be translated as eating a load of shit knowing I was about to make a commitment to this weight loss journey for approximately the 9000th time in my life. I feel ready to knuckle down, I'm sick of nothing looking good on me, I need to lose weight. Imagine my discontent when I rocked up at my local class last night to discover it was off.

Well, I presume it was off, the hall was empty with the exception of some street dance class in the room next door (not sure I am quite ready for that just yet) so I hung around like a saddo for 20 minutes before admitting defeat and heading back home in a proper huff. This huff was duly taken out on Matt, who upon his return from Germany for 3 days, dumped his stuff all over our freshly cleaned flat and proceeded to sit on the sofa watching irrelevant football having turned over what I had been watching (I actually can't remember what that was, but it was very important at the time).

He's still in the bad books having spent the night star shaped in the bed leaving not very svelte me to lie on the bed frame for most of the night. Consequently I feel like a bus has hit me and I cannot turn my head to the left.

However, I'm spurred on to be good with SW this week by the fact that I purchased some new boots from Evans only to find that one fits me perfectly, and the other I cannot fasten more than half way. I either have one much fatter calf or the boots are dodgy. Anyway, I love them, so I am keeping them and attempting to slim down my left calf :) Failing that, anyone know how to stretch leather??

Other than that, I am in a glorious mood today. Actually, I am not really that grumpy, the sun is shining and it's Friday. We've plans with friends tomorrow and Sunday and I am possibly going to venture into London tonight. The world is not so bad really.

Have a good weekend y'all.

The wanderer returns

So I am back from a fabulous 2 weeks in Vegas. Can't say I am overly happy to be back at work today, post holiday blues are most definitely in attendance. I'm also suffering a bit from Jet lag, so I was up from 3am yesterday, which made most of Sunday fairly painful. Thankfully, I slept a bit better last night so I don't feel too hideous today.

I've somehow managed to escape with just a 1lb gain. I was fairly mindful of what I ate and drank the whole time I was away and we walked a hell of a lot - at least 3 miles a day I would say. I also found myself unable to eat a lot most of the time, the portions were either far too big or the heat just made me not really want to eat much. A revelation I can tell you. Thankfully there were scales in the hotel room, so I could weigh myself most days to keep an eye on things. Americans also have a lot more healthy options available (as well as really bad ones too!) - Light beer (as in low calorie) is fairly standard, so I drank that or Gin and Slimline mostly. I tried to employ the basic principles of SW mainly and ate a lot of lean meat and Veg mostly.

The weather was brilliant most of the time (we had rain 3 times, unheard of) so there was a bit of sunbathing action, we saw a couple of shows - Cirque du Soleil and Mr. Matt Goss.... as a former Brosette, this was most exciting.

We went to some amazing restaurants, we shopped, we drank a fair amount, we explored the Strip. All in all, a wonderful holiday.

I look fairly massive in these photo's so it's made me even more determined to crack on with this weight loss business.

So, back to reality. I am joining a Slimming World class on Thursday and exercise is back on the menu. Having walked a lot while we were away, it's made me realise that it definitely helps. I am even considering a few personal training sessions to get me started once I work out my finances.

So, back on the diet today and Wii Zumba tonight. No more messing around.

Right, I'm off to wade through 1000+ emails and catch up with you all. Happy Monday people.

Vegas baby

I'm off. A friend's wedding tomorrow followed by a 2 week holiday to Vegas. The sun has kindly made an appearance today, so all is good with the world. 1 hour and 15 minutes til I am free. This week has felt like forever.

I'll be back in 2 weeks or so, no doubt a little bit heavier, but with less than a year til I get wed, operation fat shift will begin in earnest. 

Have fun y'all.

Another week

... another lack of movement on the scales. I suppose in a way, it's a good thing as I've not gained, but I was hopeful that my foray into the world of exercise might do me a bit of good... actually perhaps it did and hence no gain.

On the exercise front, I did a 3 mile walk, 2 bouts of Zumba on the Wii (after which I couldn't move) and another 2 mile walk - nothing amazing, but definite progress. My dancing skills are suspect. I always thought I had rhythm but clearly I have been kidding myself.

The weekend was lovely. Reading Festival was really loud - we could hear everything from our flat, but managed to sleep thanks to ear plugs and wine. Friday night involved a SW friendly curry and a couple of drinks plus series 2 of The Inbetweeners. Nothing too earth shattering.

Saturday was a tad stressful with the wedding dress shopping. The shop was lovely and had a large selection of Plus size dresses - but they all looked the bloody same to me. The dress in my last post, that I was in love with, was actually a size 12. So I got in it, and I still loved it, but it was impossible to tell really if it looked nice or not since it was held up by the shop owner. I tried on a few horrors, one which I thought I'd hate but looked nice and I am still no further forward in deciding on the dress. 


We spent Sunday with friends and my sister at a Food Festival in Oxford. It was a lovely day, I ate a bit too much, although again nothing too SW unfriendly - Thai Chilli Beef noodles, 1 Churro, some parma ham and a couple of glasses of Champagne. I managed not to buy too much either - although we did come back with some delicious popcorn for future cinema visits. Seriously - this stuff is amazing (caramel and sea salt and goats cheese and black pepper - to die for).

Since then, nothing major to report. Monday we had a BBQ before taking my sister back to the airport. I was supposed to be out last night with friends in London, but all 4 of us managed to forget, so that saved me some syns. The rest of the week will be spent counting down the days until the weekend. We've a friend's wedding to attend on Saturday and then Sunday we are Vegas bound. I cannot wait.

My current plan of survival for 12 days in the US is:

• Walk every morning for at least 20 mins - well this is Matt's plan so I am going to attempt it.
• Swim every day.
• Eat two meals a day - 3 are not required when eating massive portions.
• Try and stick to the basics of SW when making meal choices.
• Don't drink booze every single day.
• Don't stuff your face just because you are on holiday. You don't need to eat 24 pancakes for breakfast, just because you can.
• Don't scream too much when you see Matt Goss. You are no longer a 14 year old Brossette... (Ok that's nothing to do with weight loss but I need to remember it).

I am joining a SW class when I come back - I clearly can't be trusted on my own.

Quick catch up

Thanks for your comments on my last post, trying on session of the dress tomorrow. Gulp.

I'm so glad it's Friday - work has been a shocker this week. I cannot wait to shut this laptop down and banish work from my mind til Tuesday. We've made ourselves housebound tonight as town is literally teaming with Festival goers and you cannot really get in anywhere, so a SW friendly curry, couple of glasses of wine and Series 2 of The Inbetweeners is on the cards.

Not much else to report really, I  walked 2.5 miles on Wednesday night (nothing too impressive, but it's a start), we needed to get supplies in prior to the Festival starting, so we walked the long way round instead of the 0.5 mile direct route. I had forgotten how hard it is to carry  shopping up the hill - note to self... don't buy 2kg of ice plus large bottles of drink when you are without car. That felt like a full on work out by the time we got home.

Carrying on with the exercise theme, I'm just about to stick Zumba on the Wii, baring in mind last time I attempted this, I needed medical treatment, this might not go so well.

Have fabulous weekends y'all. Hopefully my plot won't get too lost.

WI and wedding dress

The scales have me the same as last week. This is not bad, considering, but it's also a bit rubbish given last week I was a pound up. I need to sort this out. I am starting to lose patience with myself. If I believed in all that star sign stuff, I'd say I was displayed true Gemini qualities here - one half of me is thinking eff it, what's the point and my other, less evil half is thinking stop sodding well messing around young lady. I'm constantly battling with myself at the moment.

I'm also scared of how unfit I have become. I need to just bite the bullet and get on with some form of movement, my whole aim for weight loss is to be more healthy and that's just not going to happen unless I start to move my sorry arse. I'm suffering with my back again and I'm fairly sure it's because I am not doing anything that could help strengthen it.

I'm still eating fairly well  during the week so I just need to carry on in the same vein at the weekends. Love Cat really struck a chord with me in this post. Take control now and make the moment count. Well I shall bloody well try.

My sister is coming to stay on Saturday and we are going to try on a wedding dress (well just me obviously since she is already married). Gulp. If that doesn't spur me on to shift some poundage, I don't know what will. I am already fearing being bulldog clipped into it. They've only got a size 14 in the shop at the moment (but it is available up to a 24) - but the kind lady assures me that won't be a problem. Ahem. Anyway - this is the current dress of my dreams. I am sure I'll hate it on Saturday once I've tried to squeeze my large breasticles into it.

Sunday we are off to a Food Festival in Oxford (seriously, why do I do this to myself) so that is going to be a lesson in restraint, but the rest of the weekend is, as yet, unplanned.

I'm working from home the next 2 days as we have the joy of the Reading Festival taking place across the river from the flat. This means my usual 25 minute commute to work becomes a 2 hour horror story so I am not even going to attempt it. I am going to use this time to try and get back into the exercise malarkey. Please shout at me if I don't report any form of movement in the next few days.

Weekend 80's style

After a lovely weekend with friends, I am thoroughly miserable to be back at work, made especially more miserable by the dreary weather.

I forgot to WI on Friday so I guess I have to stick with the pound up that Wednesday showed... boo. To be honest, I don't overly expect amazing things after (yet another) weekend of excess.

I spent Saturday at the Rewind Festival in Henley with 6 of my girlie friends, the weather got off to a hideous start - pac-a-macs, wellies and umbrella's a plenty, but after a couple of hours we were met with glorious sunshine. I had such a lovely day singing along to the likes of Hue and Cry, Banarama and ABC. I drank a lot of G&T's and Cider (it was either that or Black Tower wine), I ate a hog roast bap with apple sauce for lunch and chips with curry sauce for dinner and I generally had a lovely day. I am not stressing overly about my calorie intake or my lack of SW focus, it hasn't forced me off the rails since.

Sunday was a bit of a write off to be honest. My friend and her hubby had stayed over, so while the boys headed off early to the Cricket, me and Deb lay around on the sofa mostly, watching crap telly and drinking copious amounts of tea. We eventually ventured into town around 6pm for dinner and to meet the boys - steak and salad for me and a small glass of wine. Nothing too earth shatteringly bad.

Yesterday was much better, no snacks, Toast for breakfast and fruit, lunch was a shop bought pasta dish for 2 syns (Tesco Healthy Living Creamy Mushroom Pasta - £1 and I love it) and dinner was a home made chicken curry with practically an entire veg box in it with boiled rice.

Today is following in a similar fashion, cheese on toast for breakfast (how decadent) and fruit, massive tuna salad for lunch and dinner is pasta and sauce - I am babysitting tonight for friends, so they are feeding me. I am hoping their daughter decides tonight is a good night to sleep.

I will WI tomorrow as usual and see how bad it is and if it's not looking too pleasant, I'll aim for a Friday WI too. It's less than 2 weeks til we go to Vegas, so I could do with a couple more pounds off before then.

Ouch

Exercise does not agree with me. I attempted Zumba on the Wii last night before I went out for dinner and now I am in agony. If only it was down to having had a good work out. I have clicked something in my neck/ spine and now cannot turn my head to the right and have pins and needles in my right arm and shoulder. Seriously not good. I'd have been better off having a post work lie down.

As luck would have it, I am off to the Osteopath tonight anyway, so fingers crossed she can crack something back into place otherwise I am going to get fairly sick of swivelling my whole body every time I need to look to the right.

Stuck to the plan last night to try and have a fairly SW friendly dinner..... not sure it was totally the best option. Bubble and Squeak with Asparagus, Poached Egg and Hollandaise Sauce. I've syned the sauce and some oil for frying, so it's perhaps not the end of the world.

A quick hop on the scales this morning had me a pound up from last week, but I'm ignoring that til Friday....

Alcohol induced hunger...

I survived a weekend of debauchery in Oxford, I'd love to say with my Slimming World halo in tact, but that would be a slight lie. We drank a lot and for most of Saturday. I didn't eat too horrifically, but I did drink a lot of Wine, Champagne, Gin and the odd Cocktail. Still, it was a lovely weekend with some of my best friends, so I won't stress overly.

Can I just say however, that punting, with a load of alcohol on board is a dangerous idea. We nearly capsized more than once, we lost the pole a few times and the Hen nearly went for a swim on more than one occasion. Hilarious, but bloody scary! I refused to have a go at punting, on the basis that I can't stay upright on dry land, so my attempts would more than likely capsize the boat - and with a pregnant lady on board.... well that would be bad.

We punted to a pub where we were able to have a picnic - I baked these items especially for the day. Never let it be said I am not classy! 

Post punting, we went for cocktails, then dinner and then onto a club - I felt incredibly old. You know you are getting on in years when you are looking at the rest of the clientele and working out if you are old enough to be their mother. I finally got to bed at 0330. Ouch.

Since Sunday, I have felt ravenous. I am presuming that's due to a very boozy Saturday. Most of what I have eaten has been in line with SW, but I've maybe eaten more than necessary. Sunday, I had a full English at the hotel (all SW friendly items of course) and then came home and made a massive lasagne, again SW friendly packed with tons of veg, but I ate a lot of it. Yesterday, I had egg on toast for breakfast, then left over lasagne, then a salad and then a home made lamb & rosemary burger last night with home made wedges and more salad followed by cherries and fat free yoghurt - and nothing is satisfying me.

Gah.

Today, I am downing water like it's running out in a bid to satiate myself. I've had more cherries and yoghurt for breakfast, Lunch is home made bacon and mushroom risotto with a spinach salad and then I am meeting friends tonight for dinner. I am going to stick to the plan of seeing it as a normal meal - not an excuse to treat myself... so I am thinking I'll either go for the bubble and squeak croquettes or maybe the lamb shoulder. Either way, I am going to track it all and not see a night out as an excuse to go mad.

I think this week, WI will move to Friday in an attempt to give me time to recover. I can't be doing with any setbacks. 

Wish me luck.

Success and Failures so far this week...

It's been a mixed bag really. My eye has been off the ball on a couple of occasions. I seem to only stay completely in control when I photograph everything! I may have to resort to this again.

Success 1 - buying snacks to take to the cinema on Wednesday so I could syn them more effectively.

Failure 1 - eating more than I needed/wanted just because (Percy Pigs, I am looking at you).

Success 2 - drinking diet coke in the pub last night.

Failure 2 - mindless eating of the Bombay Mix that was on the table. 

Success 3 - making a Lamb Rogan Josh so it was Syn free instead of grabbing a takeaway after the pub.

Failure 3 - drinking a couple of glasses of Prosecco on a non boozing night.

So a mixed bag really. Today has been ok as I brought breakfast and lunch with me and we are staying in tonight with films, Rib Eye Steak and loads of veggies. I shall be alcohol avoiding to make up for last night.

Tomorrow, I am iff to Oxford for a hen do, I have been in charge of 'gifts' there is a strong tacky theme running through my purchases. I have also made cupcakes which are quite special. I shall share a photo on Monday!

Have a great weekend y'all. 

And the scales say....

.... 2 pounds off. I'll take that considering yesterday I wasn't exactly exemplary (it was all going so well until I got home and it was sunny.... but we'll brush that under the carpet) Another week - onwards and downwards I hope. I'm thinking of moving WI to a Friday as of next week, but I will assess that on the basis of what the scales say next Weds.

This week is shaping up to be fairly quiet by my usual standards. I am off to the cinema to see Bridesmaids (again) tonight with a friend. She's not seen it yet and was desperate to go, so being the good Samaritan I am, I offered to accompany her. She's cooking me dinner beforehand, but I already know it is something Salad based and I will probably use a few Syns for some cinema style snackage.

Other than that, I've only a hen do on Saturday in Oxford to contend with and I am fairly confident I can make good food choices at least, booze might be a bit OTT, but I will try and reign it in a bit. We are punting during the day - lets hope the weather stays good.... if not I can always wear my new Wellies provided for me by my little sister (tedious link but I had to shoehorn the picture in somehow) She's just had a massive order from Minnie's Boutique of The Only Way is Essex fame. I am tearfully proud of her.

What's going on?

I'm totally shocked by the TV footage of the riots last night. I cannot even begin to comprehend why people are acting this way - I understand that the country is in a mess and unemployment is high, but I really cannot understand the actions of the mindless idiots setting fire to peoples home's and businesses. What is it they are trying to achieve? It makes me so sad to see.

I used to spend a lot of time in Ealing and Clapham, so the scenes last night all seemed a bit too close to home. I couldn't sleep last night for thinking about it all.

I really don't know what the answer is, but obviously something needs to be done before our country is completely destroyed. I just hope we don't see scenes like that again tonight, it makes me almost ashamed.

Moody Monday 2

Oh Monday, you really are miserable. Rain, road closures and a general lack of sleep meant I gave up trying to get to the office and worked from home. 

I got myself back into bed with my laptop (I am seriously cold) after I had cooked a couple of Scrambled Eggs with Wholemeal Toast (Healthy Extra B). 

For lunch I cooked up a shed load of Veggies - Courgettes, Mushrooms, Onions, Carrots, Runner beans and  Tomatoes with some lean chopped Bacon, a splash of Balsamic Vinegar and Salt and Pepper. I let this cook down for about 30 minutes and then served it with some pasta and  teaspoon of grated Parmesan (synful). Very tasty!

For some reason I then decided that this....

.....would be a good idea. Yip.... the entire contents of my wardrobe. I seem to have a lot of clothes!

After about 2 hours of sweating, swearing and general disbelief that a fatso can have so many clothes.. I ended up with some sense of order...

Believe it or not, I got rid of 3 bin liners of stuff for charity and I still have loads... I must stop buying clothes! I am the proud owner of 17 pairs of jeans (yes really) 11 maxi dresses and 18 short dresses (seriously..) and don't get met started on shoes or bags. I am ridiculous.

For dinner I made burgers (extra lean mince, onion, chilli powder, worcestershire sauce and an egg) topped with a dollop of dairlylea extra light and served them with Savoury Rice (free on SW) and some salad. Syns in the ketchup but I counted the dairylea as my healthy extra A so a fairly synless meal.

So, today is the last day of my SW week and it has been fairly good by my standards. Let's hope the scales agree.