Still going

Another prolonged silence from me, mostly due to a bit of a manic time. I got promoted at work (v. unexpected), I've been away a fair bit and I've had friends come to stay over the past few weekends. I also had a prolonged bout of what can only be described as dysentery which was a lot of fun...

However, I'm still here and still hitting the gym regularly. My eating is going pretty well, I'm avoiding gluten as it seems to have a massive effect on both my stomach and my urticaria and I am generally feeling a hell of a lot better in so many ways.

I seem to have formed a habit now with the gym so I am not even thinking about going any more, my routine currently looks like this:

Monday 0615 - 45 minutes of Spinning
Wednesday 1900 - 30 minutes of Insanity/Burpees/Bear Crawls/Some other kind of hell
Saturday at 0845 - 60 minutes of Boxercise/Legs, Bums & Tums.

I've lost nearly 2 stone now - but a lot of that came off when I was ill and I haven't put all of that back on. Even though I don't feel like I've lost that much weight, it massively hit home last weekend.

We went to Copenhagen for the weekend and I've not been able to fasten the seat belt on a plane for at least the past 3 years. I didn't even try it this time as 4 weeks ago when I flew to Amsterdam for work, it was at least 4 inches off me.... but lo and behold, it fastened! This feels like a massive victory given I am not being totally strict on the food front (other than trying to eat clean) and has spurred me on to continue with the sweaty stuff.

Copenhagen was wonderful, if not bloody freezing. We had dinner at Geranium which was a delight, drank gløgg & cocktails, visited the Christmas markets and general tried to stay warm, I will definitely go for another visit in warmer times.

So, we're nearly in December and I need to keep up with the gym, avoid the temptations and see where it takes me. I'll try and bit a bit more regular here too!

Our lovely Copenhagen hotel

Dinner at Geranium

Frozen in Copenhagen

Getting crafty - homemade wreath session!

Carry on gym-ing

So after another particularly hectic week Chez Linz (several social occasions and a work trip to Amsterdam), I'm still ploughing on with the gym and healthier eating. Since I last blogged, I've done several more exercise classes, each one resulting in far more pain than is normal. I am such a calamity, it's a wonder I've not done myself some serious damage already.

Insanity again last Wednesday - slightly less horrific than the first one, but a killer none the less. I was already sporting a bruise the size of a banana on my thigh thanks to a run in with the spinning bike, but after insanity, my legs pretty much gave up on me sand I had to get down 2 flights of stairs with straight legs. That's not easy, I can assure you.

Friday morning I did a kettle bell session and got very cocky with the amount of weight I was swinging around (12Kg) which resulted in my lower back deciding to give up on me for most of the weekend. I honestly thought I might need a wheelchair at one point, I couldn't stand for more than a couple of minutes and sitting down was equally painful. This was excellent given we'd traveled up the Midlands to watch the husbands beloved West Brom in action. I'd dosed up on ibuprofen and purchased some stick on heat patches to ease my pain. All very well and good if the heat patches had stayed in place and didn't keep falling off looking very much like sanitary towels as they landed on the floor next to me. Embarrassing.

With the agony of my back very much in mind, it was with trepidation that I attended Spinning on Monday morning. It hurt like hell but did work wonders on loosening up my back. It didn't work such wonders for my coccyx however. At one point my saddle tilted backwards and as I scrabbled around to remain seated, I very forcefully hit my bottom on something metallic and lets just say, it now feels like a very horny elephant has had it's way with me. Ouch indeed.

So onto last night when I did a resistance band session. Who knew that an oversized elastic band could inflict so much pain? Today it is the turn of my arms. I cannot even lift up my cuppa this morning and washing my hair this morning was nigh on impossible.

What on earth am I doing to myself?

Anyway, despite a couple of very boozy days (Friday and Saturday) the scales showed another 5lb loss. That's 12lbs in 2 weeks. Clearly this is not sustainable and probably not even real, but it's spurring me on to continue with the torture of exercise for now.

My injury

Duck with roasted beetroot and beetroot puree

Pulled lamb with Kale salad and spelt flatbread (amazing)

My face post resistance bands

Ouch

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've signed up for a programme at my local gym in an attempt to get fit before I turn 40 (8 months and counting, gulp). We had our first meeting on Tuesday to go over the programme and what it would
 entail and I left feeling very enthusiastic about it all.

Our first exercise class was Wednesday night, I was assured I could ease in gently having done no exercise of any worth for about 2 years so I wasn't too worried about it.... Oh how wrong I was. One word. Insanity. Has anyone ever tried this? If not, I don't suggest you do unless you're currently in training for the next Olympics. Oh my days. We did a 30 minute class, of which I managed probably 20 minutes tops. I thought I was going to be sick (thankfully there was a bin strategically placed next to me) and at one point, I got down to do a press up and my legs point blank refused to get me back up again. Cue me lying on the floor in a distressed heap.

Needless to say, Thursday and Friday were fun in that any form of movement was an impossibility. I'd forgotten how painful muscles can be when you use them...

On Friday afternoon we headed over to Suffolk to visit one of my besties for her 40th birthday, much booze and food followed so my first week attempting to be good was someone foiled, but I realise this is life and I cannot be swayed by a few bad meals. A lovely weekend was had and that is the most important thing of all.

So, the 2nd class of my 'programme' was at 0615 this morning. What sort of God awful time is that to be out of bed on a Monday? As if I didn't hate Monday's enough. Spinning today - I used to be an avid spinner, back in the day, so again I wasn't overly concerned. Again I was naive. How painful are bike saddles?? You'd think with my excessive ass cushioning, I'd find it relatively comfy, heck no! I can think of several ways to describe the pain in my under carriage right now, none of which I should probably publish, needless to say, I feel bruised in places I didn't know existed. My legs are also protesting some what. I am struggling to get on and off the toilet which is a tad embarrassing. Still, it can only get better, right?

My 'clean' eating hasn't been completely on point, but I'm definitely doing a lot better. I've not managed to (and I don't intend to yet) eliminate gluten from my diet and the odd Diet Coke is still creeping in (Aspartame is the work of the devil by all accounts) but it's definitely better. I was rewarded with a 7lb drop this morning but I suspect that is a false reading given I got weighed when I'd just got back from holiday and bloat was in full flow...

Anyway, Insanity again on Wednesday and a PT session on Friday. God help me and my nethers.

Remember me?

It has been forever, life has just totally gotten in the way of late. Work has been super busy, I have been away lots and needless to say, my weight has not been a priority in the slightest.

Since I last posted, I've spent time in the US and Canada for both holiday and work, spent time with friends in various parts of the UK (Liverpool, Hull, Gleneagles, London) and had a weekend with my family for my parents 40th wedding anniversary in the Lake District. Healthy eating has always been in my mind, but clearly not enough for me to stick to any kind of plan.

However, I am back from a week in Tenerife, feeling like the porkiest of porkers after too many crisps and a lot of Cider. I was so uncomfortable on the plane that I decided it was time for action. My weight has never bothered me massively, but feeling unhealthy has and that's where I am right now.

So as of today, Slimming World has restarted (I've put 1.5 stone of the 2.5 stone I previously lost back on, go me.... ) and I have signed up for a health programme at my local gym. 3 classes a week plus various seminars on nutrition, decluttering, osteopathy etc. Let's see how that goes given I've done zero exercise for approximately 3 years.

I won't ramble on any longer but I am going to try and get back into the habit of blogging more regularly in an attempt to keep me on the straight and narrow. I'll leave you with some photos of the past few months instead of attempting to describe all of my escapades.

Seattle

Seattle

Toronto

Vancouver Island

San Francisco

Wimbledon

London

Rewind Festival

Gleneagles

The Lake District

Tenerife

Tenerife

Tenerife

London

AWOL Again

Oh blimey, where does time go? It's all been a very busy one round here. I keep meaning to post and then something else crops up and it's all a bit rubbish really.

I've not been to my last 2 weigh ins due to various work related issues, but I did lose another 3.5 lbs the last time I stepped on the scales. I've one more weigh in to go before we head off to Seattle and Vancouver for 10 days so I need to make it a good one.

So, what have I been up to of late? It feels like I've not stopped. Me and the husband spent a lovely weekend in London using up some of his 40th Birthday gift vouchers, dinner at Benares on the Friday, lunch at Petrus on the Saturday and wine tasting at Vinopolis, followed by Afternoon tea with my sister and her OH on the Sunday - SW friendly, much?

Lunch menu at Petrus - totally amazing food - will go back

 Sunny drinks at Borough Market

Dinner at the local

We then spent the following weekend up in Birmingham with friends, which involved more wining and dining. Dinner at Lasan was a particular high. My weekends seem to revolve around food and drink!!

Bellinis at Selfridges

The other weekends have been spent with various friends, decorating the spare room and another day trip up to Birmingham with a friend to see Take That (totally amazing, I was such a fan girl!!)

Take That!

11 days til we jet off on holiday again. We're spending time in Seattle, Vancouver and Vancouver Island. I'll be spending my 39th birthday out there, so it should all be very lovely. I need a plan of attack, I'm expecting we'll be walking a lot which helped in Oz, but US portions - well that could be a struggle!!

So, the plan for the next week is to take it one meal at a time. I'm not being bad by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm not being very good either!

In an attempt to remind myself of how far I've come - despite the somewhat ridiculously slow progress, here is me yesterday. I don't hate what I see, so I just need to keep going.

I'll try to check in again before we head off on the 30th, blogging definitely keeps me focused so I don't know why I can't keep it up!

Checking in

Thanks for the nudge Lesley and Peridot, I hadn't realised I have been AWOL for quite so long.

Silence = bad news usually. Guess what? I've lost the plot with the old diet at the moment, mostly due to a ridiculous social life which means I am spending most of my Syns on G&T. I've dropped 2.5lbs since my last post which is not exactly life changing, but it's better than up I guess.

Easter weekend was spent in various bars and restaurants, much wine/gin/cocktails were consumed. Along with various other none SW meals.

The scales are still looking kind, but I am not sure how long this will last. I know SW works for me and I know I am not at my happy weight, yet I still continue to sabotage myself. What is that all about? I missed class last week as I hadn't actually realised it was Monday (bank holiday weirdness) until it was too late (too late as in I had eaten and drunk far more than acceptable on WI day).

I'll definitely be there on Monday to see the damage, I've just a weekend in Liverpool with one of my Bestie's to negotiate first.

Ho hum.

The problem with...

... a small weight gain after an epic holiday is that you get complacent. I skipped SW last week as I was stuck at work until late. That seemed to encourage an "I don't give a sh*t" attitude, which saw me banish all my SW ideals for the past week.

I've made myself so busy of late that I literally don't know whether I am coming or going. I've been out most nights, working long hours and out all weekend.

I was expecting a shock last night and I really needed one. I got away with a 2lb gain, which given I have consumed the following over the past 2 weeks, is pretty unbelievable:

1. Cider 
2. Subway sandwich (steak and cheese)
3. Pulled pork burger
4. Pork scratchings
5. Chinese take away
6. Fish and chips
7. Lebanese mezze
8. Sticky toffee pudding
9. Prosecco
10. Champagne tasting along with cheese and meat platter

All that aside, the meals I cooked at home were SW friendly (laughable really) but that is not the consumption of a woman wanting to shed a few more stone, is it?

So, the sum total of this year is that I have gained 9lbs. What was a shiny 2 stone 2lb loss, is now a slightly dull 1.5 stone loss. It's time to refocus!

In the spirit of reminding myself that I can eat really tasty food and stay on plan, here is some of the SW friendly stuff I have actually managed. Let's hope there is more of this over the next few weeks.

Overnight oats with strawberries & raspberries

Creamy bacon pasta

Shepherds Pie 

Breakfast muffins & fruit

Tomato & veg pasta

Chicken & leek risotto

Meatball pasta bake (using the SW frozen meatballs)

Slow cooked roast lamb

Fruit & peanut butter

Tuna pasta salad

Pork Chop

SW sausages, bubble & squeak & (overcooked) eggs

I'm back to writing it all down, weighing out my HE's and thinking about what I'm consuming (I'd originally written "what is going in my mouth" but I've just watched 50 Shades of Grey and my childish mind couldn't cope with the innuendo).

I'll be back... 

The wanderer returns

So I'm back and not at all happy about it. We had the most amazing 3 weeks in Australia and Hong Kong and I can't believe it's over already. There was so much we wanted to see and do and we probably didn't even manage half of it, but it was blooming brilliant and gives us an excuse to go back!

Now, I was mindful of weight gain given I have a pretty bad track record when it comes to holidays, but at the same time I didn't want to spend my holiday obsessing over every morsel that passed my lips. I ate what I wanted, but we made sure we only ate twice a day, sometimes only once and we walked a hell of lot more than I usually do. Probably around 5-6 miles a day on average - my feet certainly knew about it.

I wasn't too worried about weigh in on Monday as I knew I'd had the best 3 weeks ever and that is more important than a slight blip on the scales. Anyway, by some kind of miracle, I only put on 3 pounds. I am pretty over the moon with that.

So, Australia. I loved it. Sydney is pretty cool, Hamilton Island was heaven (I'd fly for 22 hours just to go back there) Melbourne has quite a European feel to it and Brisbane was pretty chilled (and very hot after the cyclone). Hong Kong is just crazy, but crazy good. We spent a lot of time exploring, researching (and eating at) the best restaurants (amazing food everywhere we ate), a bit of time lazing by pools or on beaches and did trips to the Great Ocean Road, Manly beach, Bondi, various Whitsunday Islands and the Gold Coast. Hong Kong was our stop over on the way home and as you can see from below, the weather was very overcast so I don't feel that we saw the place at it's best - we'll just have to go back....

Here's just a tiny selection of the million photos I took!

Sydney

 Sydney

Hamilton Island

Hamilton Island

Great Ocean Road

Brisbane

 Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Back to earth with a bang now. Work on Monday was pretty awful, over 24,000 emails to get through and a lot of catching up. I am struggling to motivate myself. Thankfully I've haven't really been hit by jetlag so I'm not feeling exhausted but I have a bit of a post holiday come down which I guess is understandable.

I was really looking forward to some home cooking so the past few days have been totally back on track. Hopefully I can get those 3 pounds back off this week and then continue with losing a few more pounds before the summer. Watch this space...

G'day mate....

So back in July (or whenever it was) I decided I wanted to lose a bit of weight for our trip to Australia to celebrate Matt's 40th, the thought of spending 22 hours on a plane at that size was a hideous one. A few hours on a plane was uncomfortable, so anything else was terrifying.

I joined Slimming World with Matt and it's been brilliant for us. It doesn't feel like a 'diet' and it's something I'm pretty sure we can stick to.

I've not lost as much weight as I'd hoped, but to be honest, I'm pretty happy with what I've achieved. I have a pretty full on social life and I get great joy from eating out and weekends away. It's not easy to be completely on plan when you're doing this, so the fact I've dropped 35 pounds or so over this time is pretty damn good. I've dropped a dress size, my ankles no longer swell from sitting at my desk all day and my knees don't ache any more. That's pretty good going I reckon.

I made an effort to have one last big push before we go away, but have failed quite miserably at that! I had a hen weekend a few weeks ago, which involved 3 nights in Bath, much alcohol and not a lot of SW action. Cue 6.5 pounds on. I honestly think I can dream about food and wake up heavier. Still, I had a brilliant weekend and that is more important.

I've lost another couple of pounds since then, but the sum total for January is 0.5 on. Not exactly stellar is it? Ho hum.

Anyway, tomorrow we fly off to Australia for 3 WHOLE weeks. This is the longest holiday I've had since I started working 17 years ago! I can't wait.

We're off to Sydney, Melbourne, Hamilton Island and Brisbane, with 2 nights in Hong Kong on the way home. My aim is to not gain back the 35 pounds I've lost.... but the rate I seem to put weight on, who knows :) I expect we'll walk a lot, but I also expect we'll eat and drink and not worry too much. Anyway, I'll come back in March and start again. That's all we can do, right?

And so as not to break tradition, a couple of photos from Bath and some of the SW friendly food I have managed to consume in Jan. It's not been all bad!

Bath

 Hens

on plan food

cheese, ham & spinach toastie, wrap*** pizza, roast rib of beef, prawn salad

on plan food

'carbonara', lemon & butternut squash chicken, mushroom and onion scramble, dim sum

 on plan food

garlic stuffed chicken and fried rice, Chinese pork with curry sauce & fried rice, spinach & onion eggs with low fat sausages & toast**, leek & bacon pasta, tuna & cheese stuffed potatoes with salad

Right, I'll see you in March with numerous photos to bore you all senseless no doubt!

** this bread is a HeB and is amazing... 
*** these wraps are also a HeB and a pretty good for a change

Ticking over

Last week was meant to be a quiet week which would lead to a kick start to this year's lard drop, I was prepared, shopping done, batch cooking, lunches prepped etc. Then I ended up eating out 4 times and I have an inability to choose well when I eat out. Anyway, the scales still showed a 1.5lb drop on Monday night so I'll take that.

This weeks follows in much the same vein. Out tonight, Friday and Saturday. Alcohol will be limited due to the boy's (extremely dull) flirtation with Dry January so damage could be minimal but you can never be too sure with me.

edit: It's already going badly, I'm working from home today awaiting an electrician (the light is still suffering the after effects of being a water feature) and my friend just turned up with coffee and croissants.... no lunch today then!

A lot of my class are following this new EE SP plan which I've not really considered, but they are seeing really good results. It seems very restrictive to me - no potatoes, pasta, rice and the freedom of SW is what makes it work for me. I may try the odd day here and there, but cauliflower rice and mashed parsnip don't exactly excite me. It may, however, have to come into full effect the week before we go away if I don't get to where I want to be by then.

So in an attempt to keep myself on the straight and narrow, here are some of my on plan meals....

 Mini omelettes/quiches, tuna salad, steak egg and chips, mini omelettes and toast with butter (butter I love you)

Homemade 'pot' noodles, slow cooked lamb curry, leek and bacon pasta with salad, steak pie with mash and veg

And a picture I took on Saturday because it looks pretty....

Brighton

Happy New Year!

So here we are, another year and all of that "New Year, New Me" propaganda is everywhere.

I had my first weigh of the year after a 2 week break at Christmas and was extremely surprised with a 3lb loss. Pretty amazing, all things considered.

The class had about 15 new members, which is not at all surprising given the time of the year, but I can't help wondering how many people feel the need to change themselves at the start of January and then give up after a few weeks or months.

I've always found weight loss hard, because quite simply, I don't care enough. I have always been happy with who I am and how I look but I had started to get to a stage where my weight was ever increasing and I was in danger of being out of control. I've lost over 2 stone now and I'm happy with the results, but I'd still like to drop more over the next few weeks before we head to Australia at the start of February. I imagine 3 weeks in Oz can do a fair bit of damage so I'd like a buffer before we go!

Matt is partaking in "Dry January" so that's definitely helping so far this year as no alcohol has passed my lips. After a couple of weeks of eating and drinking rubbish, it's really nice to be back to healthy foods again. I missed my own cooking.

Christmas and New Year were lovely but it's always pretty full on. I was looking forward to coming back to work for a break.....

However, Monday was a disaster:

1) My car wouldn't start
2) I discovered I didn't have "Home Start" on my AA policy
3) I had to pay £100 for the aforementioned Home Start
4) I then had to wait 3 hours for the nice man to come and fix my car to tell me I needed a new battery.
5) My bank card got cancelled by my bank whilst I was attempting to pay for the new battery
6) The upstairs neighbours decided to turn our kitchen light into a water feature causing the entire flat to trip and the temporary loss of electrics to the kitchen and bathroom.

It's enough to drive anyone to drink.... Thankfully the scales were kind to me otherwise I may well have drowned my sorrows in spectacular fashion!

Anyway, since then things have improved so let's hope that's all my bad luck out of the way for a while... I've a plan for food and drink this week so I am hoping for good things this week.

And finally, a few photos of the festive period.

Gong Bar @ Shangri-la @ The Shard

Amazing Meal @ Tim Raue in Berlin

Checkpoint Charlie

 German Markets

 Serve your own beer and awesome burgers @ The Pub

We fly out to Oz on the 6th Feb, so I've 4 weeks or so to make a difference. Watch this space...