Time to get back on track!

I have the last couple of weeks really difficult trying to loose weight!  In fact I have even tracked what I have eaten the last couple of days!  The problem I have had is not eating enough veg and fruit and filling up on other food including sweets.  I should have also been to the gym a couple more times this week for my exercise, but I have been so tired (not eating enough fruit and veg?).

Time to refocus and look at what I really want to achieve!

Goals

On Tuesday 17th of April I decided to set some goals for weight loss, but before I did this I decided to review why I started my weight loss journey.  The reason for doing this is I could decide how quickly or slowly I want to loose weight.

My reasons for losing weight are:
1) To be light enough to ride horses again
2) To lower my blood pressure
3) To be fitter
4) To fit into size 12 clothes

To achieve these goals I have decided to reach my club 10's every 6 weeks except my first one.  So here goes:

By 01/05/2012 I want to have lost 6 and a half pounds
By 12/06/2012 I want to have lost another 2 stone and 1 pound
By 24/07/2012 I want to have lost another 1 stone 12 pounds
By 04/09/2012 I want to have lost another 1 stone 10 pounds
By 16/10'2012 I want to have lost another 1 stone 7 ponds
by 27/11/2012 I want to have lost another 1 stone 5 pounds

So in 32 weeks my aim is to loose 8 stone 13 and half pounds.

Every week I am going to carry on with my weekly menu planners and writing down what I actually eat, as lets face it we always have that hidden extra!  I am also keeping up with my gym visits, which I am thinking of increasing to 5 times a week if I can fit them in.

Good day turning into a bad day!

My day in the terms of my healthy eating plan started out really well.....but having finished work at 8pm and the other half not being in a position to be able to pick me up, I has to get the bus home!  Where I get of the bus  is a shop that sells wine, cheese and chocolate.  So where did I go?  Yep you guessed it and what did I buy?  I brought wine, chocolate and cheese!  These are my 3 nemesis, the three things I'm trying not to eat!

In the terms of exercise...it was really bad, as I was going to get up early to try and go for a run, which didn't happen!

On Tuesday I worked out my 10% weight loss goals.  The reason I am writing them in this post is because of what I have just done to myself bu drinking the wine and eating the chocolate and the cheese!

To achieve my 1st 10% i need to loose 6 and half pound and I am going to do that by my weight in on the 1st of may.  My second 10% I need to loose a further 2 stone and one pound (that's 29 pounds) which I want to achieve by the 12th of June!

I have written a list of ways to achieve this...but I want to think about this again and think about wether this is realistic!

Today was weigh in day and I haven't made the 3 pounds weigh loss this week, but I did loose half a pound.  On the positive side I still did loose....and I need to loose 2 and half to get to a total of 2 stone weight loss and I need to loose 6 and half pounds to achieve my Club 10 (10% weight loss).

So I have been thinking on how I am going to achieve this!  First of all stick to plan all week,  some of the problems I have had last week is not having to much wine and for those of you who know the diet I have eaten all my Healthy Extras.

I am also going out Friday night to have a meal at Nandos and I know already what I am having, so I have that under control.  I am going to try and do extra exercise this week, but I do need to plan this in to my routine.

I need to think more about what I have achieved so far and what more I do want to achieve, some deep thinking and think were I want to be in 6 months time.

Why did I start my weight loss journey?  My main reason, so I would be light enough to start riding horses again.  Second reason to lower my blood pressure, thirdly to be fitter and fourthly I would love to fit in size 12 clothes comfortably.

I have decided to help me reach these goals, I am going to put a monthly goal setting plan to help me achieve these goals, and then break this down into a weekly plan!  I may even post this at a later date.

Catchup

It has been a few days since I made a post!  I went to the gym friday and ended up with the personnel trainner as his car broke down!  I thought I worked hard, but by god I worked even harder when  I had my session on saturday morning and increased my running on the tread mill!  My plan was to go again on sunday, but I didnt make it (and I was recovering from a hangover!)

Sunday we spent 3 or 4 hours down the allotment digging away qnd sorting the beds out....it is looking so much better.  I am so looking forward to the freah veg we are growing...so far we have got broad beans, runners, courgettes, chard and strawberries ont he way.  We have also planted some sweetcorn!  I cant wait for them all to grow and for us to start harvesting them!

In regards to me following the plan, I am trying really hard to follow the plan, but I have found it hard this week and have drank to much wine!

Sunday I did the weekly shop and as usual I have cooked all my meals this week.  I had chicken stirfry tonight and will have it tomorrow night and I have one portion for lunch this week.  I have cooked a chicken curry and a beef madras for dinners this week and will at some point have some Salmon ( we have loads in the freezer as it was offer in Tescos just before Easter).  For my other lunches I have a chicken soup and will have salad to.  I have also stocked up on plenty of fruit.  I have been stuffing my face with strawberries the last couple of days as I got 2 punnets for a pound in tescos (but here were about to turn) and they were yummy!

I am hoping to have made some loss tomorrow, and I am hoping it is the three pounds that I was aiming for after my last weight in.....but I can understand if I havent!

Please read the new link!

www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2127461/Secret-sugars-food-From-cubes-salad-16-half-bottled-water-youre-eating-realising-it.html

Above is another good article to read, a few surprising results!

I downloaded the Paul Mckenna 'I can make you thin' App to my phone last night.  I watched the video on how t o beat cravings and have put this into practise today and managed the whole day without Diet coke.  I am going to try the whole day without caffeine tomorrow, so no diet coke and coffee and put the videos into practise.  Cravings are my one big things to tackle,  and I put what I learnt into practise when I had a craving for chocolate and crisps today.  I haven't had a craving since!  I am feeling so much more in control.

I have also managed three litres of water today, which is 5.2 pints!  Apparently by drinking 6 pints of water can help speed up weight loss. Please also check out this link:

http://news.discovery.com/human/glass-water-weight-loss.html

Paul's technique uses visualisation and I think the way he has taught this practise is great and I am going to carry on looking for new methods and techniques to help my weight loss.  Is anyone else using techniques that's helped them, or have you tried something that hasn't worked?  I would be interested in finding out.

Gym visit. So close yet so far!

I have been visiting the gym for a while now, and have been having a personnel training sessions each time, today I decided to brave it alone.  It was quite scary and I nearly chickened out, but I braved it and  completed the session ( i much rather have had a lie in!).  I don't think I pushed myself hard enough as I didn't feel as worn out as I normally would!

I am on a real mission to achieve my 3lbs weight loss this week, to hit the 2 stone total weight loss and to get closer to my first 10% total weight loss (another 7lbs away).  My mini challenge is the 10 %, or 7lbs..can I do it in 2 weeks or maybe even less?  Time to push myself and get focused!  Does anyone want to join me in the challenge?

Tonights weigh in

I was very pleased with my weigh-in tonight, and in all fairness I was expecting to have put weight on this week.  The reason I thought I had put on weight was that I had planned what I was going to eat and tracked everything I ate.  Every day I went way over my syns values, but it gave me an idea of what passed through my lips. 

This week I lost two and half pounds, making the combined weight loss for the last two weeks seven and a half pounds.  My goal for this coming week is to loose three pounds, as this will take me to a total of two stone weight loss.  My goal after this is to reach, what Slimming World call Club 10, which is a 10 % weight loss of your original weight.  For me to reach this after tonight's weigh-in I have to loose seven pounds!  If I reach this i will have lost a total of two stone and four pounds.

At the moment I am really excited!!  I have had a night where I have gone way over my syns, but fresh start tomorrow, as I don't want last week to catch up with me!

I am also going to try this weeks challenge that Gill, who takes our meetings set us.  The challenge is to eat five bits of fruit or veg before consuming any syns, and being on a late tomorrow, will mean I can try and stay of the chocolate until I have done this.

Another big step for me tomorrow is to do my first session without the personnel trainer at the gym tomorrow!  I don't know if I am going to find this easy or hard!  I will keep you posted this week!

Secret Sugars in your food

Check out this Daily Mail link:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2127461/Secret-sugars-food-From-cubes-salad-16-half-bottled-water-youre-eating-realising-it.html

Interesting reading!  What does everyone else think?

For those of you trying to loose weight and are using diet drinks (like myself) check out the link to this daily mail article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2009055/Why-guzzling-diet-drink-make-fatter--trigger-appetite.html

As this is a new blog for me, I am constantly changing the layout and adding new bits to it.  I have added some photos of me before I started loosing weight and will be adding some new ones soon.   I am seeing it more in my clothes at the moment and I have managed to get into some smaller work trousers!!!  My jeans and tracksuit bottom's are feeling looser to!

I have also added some links, please let me know if anything doesn't work!

My first Slimming World Meeting

On arriving at the first meeting I was taken through the plans (there is more than one).  I decided to follow the Extra Easy Plan as it sounded so easy to follow.  The basic principle is that I fill a third of my plate with super free foods (mostly fruit and veg).

I also stayed for the whole meeting and have done so every week, since.  I really find this helps keeps me motivated and its great for ideas and tips, especially if you have had a bad week.

By the end of January I had lost a total of 12 pounds in weight!

It wasn't until the 14th of Feb that I reached my stone weight loss, after putting on the week before.  This was the month of really struggling, but I just stuck with it, as I know it works.  February was the month I also started to go to the gym.  I had a introductory lesson at the end of January and I am know loving it!  I must admit all my sessions so far have been with the personnel trainer, but it means I go and it keeps me motivated.

By the end of Feb my total weight loss was 13lbs, so just 1lb over the month.  but by 3rd of April  my weight loss has 1 stone 8and half pounds and that's done in 14 weeks!  The last week I lost 5lbs and I had felt like that I had put weight on that week!  It just goes to show!  But, how did I do it?

Firstly, as I do every week I do a weekly menu planner, but what I did differently was noted what I actually had!  It got me results. So this is was I decided to do for this week, as I wanted to achieve the same kind of weight loss.  But I have found it so difficult this week to stick to the plans and have gone over my daily syns every day, but I have done my diary every day.  So what else am I doing about it? I am reminding myself of my goals, and using visualisation techniques!  I've also got to remember how much I've lost, as I certainly can't carry that in weights at the gym, so how did I do that when I was heavier!

I have also got what I call my fat file, which started out as slimming world recipes, then my menu planners got added and has expanded from there.  The key to the weight I have lost is planning ahead and then reviewing what I have done (which I find very difficult) and one of the reasons for this blog!

I would love any hints and tips from other people on how they have achieved their weight loss goals!

My first post about my weight loss journey

Hi,

My name is Lucy and I have decided that I want to write about my weight loss journey that started on 3rd January 2012.

Towards the end of last year my blood pressure shot up and I was advised by the doctor to start loosing weight.  In all fairness my weight had been creeping upwards for about a year (or more), when my job role changed at work, I was working 5 days a week on a riding school yard.  This meant I was constantly on the go and I could get away with eating and drinking what I wanted.  My job changed and I wasn't moving around as much, but guess what I was eating and drinking just the same amount and living in denial!  I then completely changed jobs and I am now working from behind a desk.

I don't think the roller coaster of all the changes in jobs helped with my weight and having the shock of my blood pressure rocketing my me realise that I needed to do something which didn't involve surgery (which I apparently qualified for).

I had previously signed up to weight watchers and never stuck to it, so I decided to rule this plan out and chooses to go to Slimming World instead.  I also decided to start in January as well as I now Christmas was going to be difficult and wanted to get started on the plan first before having to tackle such a big event!

Of I toddled to my first meeting on 3rd Jan 2012.  I was shocked at how much I weighed!  I had put on loads in a year and three months.  (I started my new role at the stables on 1st Sept 2010).  Everybody was so friendly and welcoming and made me at home.  I found it really hard to walk through the door that time.

Since that date I have lost 1 stone 8 and half pounds!