Off with those pounds

Well 2.5 of the pesky buggers off anyway. I am very pleased with that given my loss of focus a little bit last week. Tracking everything is definitely the only answer. Even with last night's post weigh in Chinese, I was only 3 points over for the whole week using my Activity points (I don't usually point my after weigh in meal, but try and make sure I have enough points left). Need to try and stay out of the activity points this week where possible.

I don't have much going on socially for the next few days, so that's a minor blessing. I've dinner out with a couple of girlfriends tonight, but I've only got Cottage Cheese and Salad to tide me over 'til then, so in theory, all should be good. Other than that, I've a lunch on Friday at a friend's house and I am taking the food, so I should remain in control.

The rest of the plan of action for this week is to keep up with the gym. I am hoping I can walk again by tomorrow after Monday's PT, so I can do a reasonably intense work out. I will also get myself to the gym on either Saturday or Sunday. Matt is having a minor operation on Friday, so the weekend should be fairly dry and therefore I won't have the excuse of a hangover to stop me.

8lbs down in 4 weeks with a 10 day holiday in the middle. I'll take that.

Things I've eaten today

Chocolate Philadelphia. 2 Pro Points for a mini tub and fairly lovely. I imagine on a digestive biscuit, this'd be bloody lush. I'm not usually that bothered about sweet stuff, but this was very nice.

Spoon is required to get all of the chocolate cheesy goodness out of the tub.




Pop chips - 3 pro points a bag and very tasty. Available on offer on Waitrose at the moment. I urge you to try them.




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Dear Mr. Personal Trainer....

I know I pay you a lot of money every week to help me to get fit. I know that I am right fatty and when I first met you, my fitness levels were shocking. I also know that we've seen a big improvement in my levels of fitness. However, you are literally beasting me. Seriously, I can barely move any muscle in my body today. Smiling feels painful. Can we please cut this out?

I know you wanted to punish me last night for almost cancelling my session, but did I really need to do such an intensive session? Honestly, 4 different exercises, for 40 seconds and repeat x 3, is really bloody hard for a fatso like me after I've already done sprint intervals on the cross trainer. I know I managed a plank a few weeks ago, but really, expecting me to hold it for 40 seconds next to that really fit bloke who can hold a plank for about 3hours, well that's just evil.

When I told you my lunch might make a reappearance, I wasn't joking. Just be glad I'd already cooked dinner otherwise I'd have been getting a KFC on my way home as the thought of standing for any longer than 10 seconds was beyond me. I had to sit down in the shower for goodness sake.

Oh and apologies for the swearing. I didn't mean to call you that horrible name.

So, in summary, I really appreciate your assisting me in this getting fit malarkey, but next week can we please just be a little bit nicer to each other?

Thanks in advance
Linzerello (literally broken).

the best laid plans

Happy Monday y'all. Another lovely day chez Linzerello, almost takes the edge off a Monday morning.

This week has not been as focussed as I'd like. I've been stupidly busy, which makes me take my eye off the ball a little bit. Everything has been pointed and I've ended up having to use a few of my activity points, which I really don't want to do. 

So the plan didn't quite go according to plan. I ended up missing the gym on Wednesday as I had to work late. Thursday went ok points wise but no exercise as I was visiting a friend, thankfully she'd made vegetable curry so that was healthy, but I succumbed to a little bit of Sticky Toffee pudding which wiped out 9 points (seriously 2 spoonfuls - eek). Friday, again, didn't make the gym as I got there and discovered my gym pants had a massive hole in the backside, seriously not a good look. Thought I'd go for a swim instead, but there was a children's swimming lesson on, so I took that as a sign that I should just go home and drink wine instead. The small consolation that I pointed the wine isn't really anything to be proud of.

Friday night's wine meant Saturday morning's gym session was really difficult. Exercise on an empty stomach and somewhat dehydrated is tough, I almost threw up on the cross trainer and had to stop after 25 minutes and a few strength exercises. That afternoon, I went for a walk along  the river in Henley with my friend and her baby while Matt and her other half played golf, so that was something I guess. 

Saturday night involved Chinese and Wine with friends, I ate a lot less than the other two ladies, but drank (more than) my fair share of the wine, saw the clock change from 1259 to 0200 and woke up at 0600 to the sound of my friends children shouting. Ouch.

Yesterday was another busy day, I drove home from my friends via the car valet (managed to completely flash the valet men who must have thought I was a right dirty stop out), came home, woke Matt up (lazy arse) cooked brunch, did Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, showered, collected a friend from home from the train station, went baby visiting, went to the pub to enjoy the sunshine (diet cokes for me) and then for dinner at a local Italian, came home, tidied up and made up the spare bed for my friend and then went to bed. Phew.

Today, food is planned and seems to leave me with 20 points to spare. I know WW doesn't work like this, but if I don't need those extra points, I am not going to force myself to use them to try and make up for some of my excessive use of points over the last few days.

PT tonight will be bloody hard work on account of my feeble attempts at exercise since my last session. Really not sure what the scales will show me tomorrow, but we'll not stress too much. I'm still trying and that's half the battle!

I don't have much on this week other than dinner with a couple of girlfriends on Wednesday, so hopefully I will have a much better week. 

The skinny one....

Unfortunately I'm not talking about myself here, but a ready meal I picked up for lunch today when filling my car with petrol at our local Tesco Express.

I think these are only available in Tesco's, but this was blooming tasty for 8 PP's if you need something quick and full of flavour. They are made by City Kitchen who don't use and additives or preservatives in their ready meals.

I had the Skinny Thai Coconut Chicken and it was bloody lovely. On first glance, I thought it seemed a bit tiny, but I can confirm I feel very satisfied having sampled that for lunch. There was a lot of chicken, a good amount of sauce and just the right amount of rice. Not at all spicy either, just very fresh and tasty. They also do a Skinny Bombay Chicken (also 8 PP) which I am sure I shall sample at some point.

(City Kitchen haven't asked me to sing their praises - in fact they aren't aware of my existence and I'm not getting a load of free ready meals in return for this... unless they want to send me some then obviously I won't complain).

and the scales said...

.... 1.5lbs on. I am happy with that really, the last time I went on holiday I gained 6lbs so it's not the end of the world. I've been living on crappy ready meals since we got back from Cyprus as I've not had time to go shopping so I imagine that's not helping overly. I felt like Violet from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory last night when I stepped on the scales. Too much salt and a longish flight maybe? Anyway, I'm still 5.5lbs down so it's all good.

PT on Monday night was totally hard core. I was a bit smug that I'd been to the gym 4 times so it shouldn't be too much of a shock to the system. What a mistake. My trainer clearly thought he needed to take it up a notch and increased my cross training sprints from 1 minute to 2 - no steady increase, just straight in there doubling  the time. Feck a doodle, I'm not sure what he thinks I am. He also had me lifting heavier kettle bells, lowering my squats and so on. The man is evil.

So the plan of action for the rest of the week to hopefully get the weight off:

Gym this evening - mini PT session. Dinner at Tampopo afterwards. Stir fry for me.
Tomorrow - Low pointed breakfast and lunch as visiting a friend after work and not sure what she is cooking.
Friday - Gym, then come home and cook a curry - my first Friday at home for about 8 weeks!
Saturday - Swim in the morning, then off to a friends for the night. Take away and wine with the girls - weeklies will be used for this. We are having Chinese so I can point in advance.
Sunday - Gym - some form of home cooked Sunday roast with a lot of Veg.
Monday - PT again. Ouch.
Tuesday - get weighed and lose 2 lbs.

Easy.

Wedding accessories

A shameless plug here, but 2 of my best friends have just set up their own wedding accessories site. Their stuff is amazing and I'll very likely be sporting something of theirs in August.

Go take a look and try not to swoon overly.

Back with more weight related topics later....

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I'm back!

Oh happy days - how delightful to be back at work :) At least the sun is shining so it's not too much of a shock to the system. How are you all?

Excuse the photo heavy post - but I need to document this so I can remember in future that it can be done!

I had a lovely time in Cyprus, the weather was a bit iffy on some days, but we went exploring so it wasn't too much of a trauma. We were staying in Limassol but went to Paphos, Nicosia, Famagusta, Ayia Napa (totally dead at this time of year) and a few other little villages near by. I feel like I've done Cyprus now!

Our hotel was amazing, and they upgraded us to a suite, how fancy?! This made a massive difference on the days when the weather was bad, we could spend time in the room reading or watching films and it didn't feel like we were too confined.

I definitely feel relaxed, I read 7 books while we were away, slept a lot and generally just forgot all about work (until my boss texted me on Friday, but we'll brush over that). Back to earth with a bang today with a 530am start. Ooooof.

I have been so amazingly restrained (for me) whilst away. I went to the gym 4 times and really worked hard on each occasion. This is unheard of, I normally actively seek to avoid any form of exercise when I am away. I actually started to feel guilty on the days I didn't go. I swapped Wine for Vodka & Diet Coke mostly, had 3 dry days, I only ate lunch 3 times in 10 days and I photographed and pointed every single thing that passed my lips.... here's the proof!

 Day one - Fresh Fruit and Yoghurt, Bacon, Poached Egg and Veggies

Grilled Sea Bream and Greek Salad 

Chinese!

 Day two & three

Toasted Brown bread with beans and cheese and a slice of ham

Sunday Roast (don't ask)

Toast Fried Egg,  Mushrooms and Cheese

Kleftiko with Jacket Spud and Greek Salad (the chips were Matt's!)

Day four

Slice of toast with Jam, 2 more slices of toast with tomatoes and cheese

Burger and Chips - bloody lovely!

 Various breakfast options.

Day five 

Cappucino

Salted Popcorn

Slice of bread with tapenade

Ravioli with Veal and roasted Veg

Day six (not the healthiest)

Tomatoes on toast with cheese

Afternoon tea

Lamb Curry

 Day seven

Beans and Cheese on toast

Fruit

Parmesan chicken with spinach and roasted Veg

 Day Eight (not the best day)

Halloumi, Tomatoes and Mushrooms

Handful of Matt's Curly Fries

Free cheese, ham and carrots with drinks

2 pieces of KFC chicken! 

Day nine 

Toasted Bacon Sandwich and mushrooms

Cheese & Onion  toastie 

Meat Mezze

Finally

Beans and cheese on toast, Halloumi, tomatoes and poached egg

Lunch at the airport lounge - Mini Pittas, Chicken Nuggets and Pizza (which I left)

Dinner on the plane - mixed savoury starters

Lamb and potatoes and veg - left the cheesecake and some of the cheese

Bored yet??

The scales show me 1lb up today, I will take that as yesterday probably wasn't the best of days food wise since we ate at the airport and on the plane mainly. I've got until tomorrow night to claw that back, plus PT tonight so here's hoping.

Some more photos to bore you to death :)

The view from the hotel - how amazing?

Me in a red dress :)

The view from the breakfast table every day.

So, whatever happens with the scales tomorrow, I know I did everything I could to try and mitigate any major gain and it wasn't actually too hard. Yes, I had a couple of dodgy days, but I tracked them and didn't actually go over points. It really showed me that I can get totally carried away when away with that F*** it mentality and to be honest, I didn't feel like I missed out on anything. Granted, my first trip to the gym was a major mental stumbling block, but once I was there, it was fine and I felt 100 times better for going.

Hopefully PT tonight won't kill me and the scales will be kind tomorrow. Wish me luck!

A flying start...

I was feeling pretty confident last night that I'd have dropped a couple of pounds, but was a little bit disappointed when I got on the scales and it looked as though I'd gained. Clearly, my maths is completely out as I'd actually lost.....

7 pounds
or
Half a stone
or
3.175 Kg
or
14 half pounds
or
112 Ounces

I can't think of any other ways to say it, but I am over the flipping moon in case you can't tell. I'm down into the next stone bracket (hence my mind playing tricks on me as I only looked at the pounds figure so thought I'd gained a shed load) and feeling quite chuffed with myself.

So, now the hard bit begins. We are off to Cyprus tomorrow for 10 days. My trainers have been packed as there is a gym at the hotel and I can't go 2 weeks without doing anything otherwise my next PT session will kill me. I expect we'll do a lot of walking as we want to go out and explore and I don't think it's going to be lying by the pool kind of weather.

I'll be working on my plank as I had a massive (for me) achievement on Monday. I did 2 which weren't on my knees and held the second one for 18 seconds. I know it doesn't sound much, but for someone who could barely last 5 seconds on her knees in December, I feel like I've come a long way. PT has definitely helped my fitness more than I could have possibly imagined.

The plan of action for the holiday is to track everything. It'll be a bit tricky as we don't get WiFi in the hotel unless we pay for it, so I am going to photograph everything I eat and track using the old method - i.e. pen and paper and then put it all in my online tracker whenever we get internet connection. Having gotten off to such a good start, I really don't want to undo all of my work.

Wish me luck people, I really don't want to tell you all in 2 weeks time that I'm back where I started and then some.

See you all in a few weeks time!

Wedding chat

Just a quick wedding update as I feel it's been a while since I bored you all.

The invites went out a few weeks ago, so it all feels very real now. I still bloody love these!

I am still having the odd panic that this is not actually happening and it's some elaborate hoax, but since we are dragging (my Mothers word) everyone to Italy, at least everyone can have a nice holiday if we have been scammed...

As I mentioned, I spent the weekend at home. My little sister is very creative and is doing my wedding shoes, bouquet, button  holes for the men and little pomanders for my nieces. So, I've been purchasing buttons of late like they are about to be rationed.

She has managed to turn this little lot:

Into this:

How flipping clever is she? I did assist in that I spent hours threading buttons onto wire, my fingers were bloody sore by the end of Saturday but that's the limit of the credit I can take. It's not quite finished yet, but I totally love it. Next job is my shoes, I just have to find some that I can actually walk in for her to customise.

My nieces tried on their bridesmaids dresses again and they totally love them. What's not to like about red and white polka dots and a big, swishy skirt.

My eldest niece has been totally adorable and has bought me all manner of red accessories (well, she's forced my sister to buy them) so I now have a red handbag, red strawberry sunglasses, a red bracelet, a red and white lip balm and she's found the tiara's they are wearing above and shoes for her and her sister which I need to order.

So it all feels like it's coming together. Can you tell I like red?? In 6 months time, I'll be married. Eeeeek.

It happened....

It's been a busy few days Chez Linzerello since my last post.

The weekend was lovely, I flew home (i.e. to my parents in Durham) very early on Friday morning, so was up at 0445. I'd checked my WW eating out guide, so I knew what I was going to have from Pret rather than risk the sandwich on the plane. A Pret Ham, Cheese and Bacon Croissant is 10 PP and when you get 46 to play with, well that's not too bad. Better than some of the other options that I'd have thought would be more healthy.

I managed to jam the seatbelt shut on the way up, so no major drama's there. Kept control all of Friday with my food, Salad for lunch and Chicken with Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato for dinner. I also managed a few Vodka and Diet Cokes that night in Durham, all within my daily points and came home and didn't eat a thing despite every one else tucking into chips and kebabs. Happy days.

Saturday morning, I declined the offer of a full English, in favour of a bacon sandwich. Shared a portion of chips at lunch time with my sister (and had about 1/4 of her fish) and managed to circumnavigate the buffet at my Mother's on Saturday night, with a few more Vodka and diet Cokes and only used about 10 extra points from my Weeklies. It was all going so well.

Then yesterday, I spent the day looking after my nieces. I adore them, but bloody hell, childcare is hard work. They spent the night with me (in my bed so I had no sleep) and then were up at the crack of dawn demanding pancakes for Breakfast. No drama, I can have a pancake from my daily points. So far so good. We spent the entire day doing stuff, Bathing them and washing hair (traumas - they both have a LOT of hair) Baking, Painting, Drawing, Reading, Playing games on the iPad, Playing Jenga, Helping my little sister make my wedding bouquet (more on that in another post), Doing homework, talking the dogs for a walk - you get the picture. Since when could you not just stick the TV on and let that do the entertaining??

I didn't actually eat a 'proper' meal after breakfast, but I tracked every single thing that passed my lips during the course of yesterday and it really shows how all the little nibbles and mindless mouthfuls, add up. I managed to use all of my daily points and the rest of my weeklies and it was pretty much all on crap.

Breakfast - Pancake fried in a teaspoon of oil (8PP)
Mid Morning - a few bites of Chicken and Mushroom Pie that was left from the buffet (4PP) 1/2 a bag of Mini Cheddars left by my niece (2PP)
Lunch - 3 mini cheeseburgers not eaten by my nieces, a bag of space raiders and a spoonful of Chocolate Philadelphia (15PP)
Dinner - A large Pork chop and 2 roast potatoes, various Veg (I'd told my mother not to cook for me so this was just stuff leftover that I picked at), 3 meatballs left by my nieces (26PP)
At the airport - 2 shortbread biscuits (6PP)

What a load of rubbish and totally mindless eating. It's not such a massive trauma, as I've not gone over my points, but it's annoying me a little bit as I was hoping to try and have a very good week without needing to use all of my weeklies and stay focussed. If nothing else, it's totally made me more aware of the crap that I can consume when my eye is off the ball.

And then it happened.... my worst nightmare. I got on the plane to come home, the seat felt tiny, the arms were totally rigid and I knew I was going to struggle to fasten the seatbelt. Plus, the plane was totally full, so I couldn't spend my usual 10 minutes trying to manoeuvre myself into the best position to get the seatbelt done up.

I had to ask for an extension. I spent a good 5 minutes talking myself into asking, I was in danger of elbowing the bloke sat next to me a few times as I struggled to try and get the sodding seatbelt done up. The stewardess didn't bat an eyelid, she as fairly discreet, but there is no getting away from the fact that the extensions are bright orange. It's like a neon sign saying "look at the fatty". However, as horrifying as it was to have to ask, it was actually also a bit of a relief not to have to sit completely pinned to the seat. At least I know I am trying to do something about it, I guess. I seriously hope I don't have to repeat the experience.

It's made me all the more determined to get a good loss tomorrow night. Despite yesterday's blip, I'm still on track. I've a couple of weekly points left over and I'll have gained about 38 activity points by tomorrow (PT is ideal for that!) which I've not touched. I really hope the scales are kind.

Fingers crossed....

Day one - done

Well it's not really day one - since I actually started with my half hearted attempt last week, but so far so good.

I feel like I ate quite a lot yesterday and still came in slightly under points, but clearly I won't complain about that.

I've come to realise that my biggest failure over the past year has been alcohol. My eating, generally is not too hideous, and really hasn't been too bad for most of the last year, but, I've been drinking a lot of empty calories. So it takes an extra 3500 calories roughly to gain a pound of fat, well I can safely say I've probably overdone the calories by that amount in booze on a weekly basis. The odd glass of wine after work in the pub, the bottle of Prosecco on a Friday night after a few Gins, the pints of cider on a Saturday afternoon watching the footy. It all adds up and totally makes sense as to why my weight (despite me thinking I've been doing ok on the food front) has shot up.

So it stops now. I am not saying I will give up booze completely, as I enjoy a social drink, but I am giving up drinking during the week and I imagine, I won't even miss it. It's become a habit and it's one I need to break.

My leader at WW told me that the 49 Flex points you get every week, equates roughly to 2.5 bottles of wine, she uses hers for that over the course of the week. So, I am aiming to use my daily points (and I get 46 of them, I am that fat) for food, I really shouldn't struggle, and only use the Flex points for alcohol which naturally limits me.

Yesterday's meals were all very delicious and I honestly didn't feel deprived.

Breakfast - 2 slices of brown bread, 2 rashers of grilled bacon, 1/2 teaspoon of Lurpak
Lunch - Huge Salad of Spinach, Rocket, Peppers, Cherry Tomatoes, Cucumber, Onions and Olives with Grilled Halloumi and Lime Dressing. Fat Free Yoghurt.
Dinner - Homemade Chicken and Veg Curry with Pilau Rice and half a Paratha.
Snacks - Dried Apple pieces, roasted spicy Chickpeas and an apple.

I bought a few new bits from the WW meeting as they were on special offer, including these curry pastes:

1 point for half the pot. I normally use dried spices when making a curry, but these are definitely very handy for a quick meal.

Et Voila - very tasty indeed.

PT last night was fairly hideous as usual, but I am actually beginning to enjoy  the weekly torture. My fitness levels are so much better than when I started and it really encourages me to work harder every week.

Tomorrow morning, I am flying up to Newcastle to spend the weekend with my parents. I'm really looking forward to going home and spending some time with my nieces, but I do worry about the temptations I might encounter. My mother's house is always full of food. Wish me luck!