Why can't all days be like today?

I have a had a fab day trying to loose weight.  I was up early for a Saturday (about 8am) and organised my breakfast which was a fruit smoothie.

The smoothie is made up from milk, which came from my Healthy A allowance, natural yogurt (free on slimming world) and Black Forrest fruits, which include grapes, cherries, blackberries and blackcurrants (which are all super free).  This gave me the energy boost to get going to the gym as I really didn't want to go today.  I do go however and did 45 mins in the gym and did weights, CV and toning work.  I followed this up with a swim and only managed 30 minutes.  I had planned to do an hour in each, but considering I really didn't want to go at least I did something, which is better than nothing. 

I got back home for about 11.30am, as I had to stop at the shops for wholemeal bread.  When I got home I had a early lunch as I needed the protein to start repairing my body after the exercise.  I had a bacon sandwich, which was on plan as fat is remove as much as possible and bread is my healthy extra b allowance.  I had this with homemade pumpkin soup made up from left over super free veg such as peppers, broccoli, brussels and of course pumpkin.  There was also potato on there which is also free.  The soup was topped with left over pork croutons and added extra flavour.

Lunch was followed by a shower and a food shop.  Food wise we always start at the local butchers and buy most of our fruit, veg and meat there as the quality is fab and is cheaper than local supermarkets, with the bonus of fab customer service. Here's a link to their website http://www.villagebutchers.co.uk/

We then headed onto Waitrose to buy a few store cupboard items, as is the usual routine as on the odd occasion the butchers haven't quite got the odd bit we need.

With the shopping unpacked, the housework was done, lamb rogan josh in the slow cooker and I then headed on out for a walk.  My intention was just to go out for an hour so I could reach the 10k steps we are supposed to reach every day.  I ended up walking for an hour and a half and have so far done 13,414 steps today!  Total exercise today is 2 hours 45 minutes.  Hey I should be biggest lose!

When I got home I got the rice, broccoli and cauliflower on for dinner and it filled me up a treat.  I so wanted to eat one of my home cooked mince pies that were cooling down on the wire rack, but I resisted them and just waited for my dinner.  I have so far resisted the wine to.

Pictures of dinner (or whats left of it):

 I also was I bit cheeky today and brought some mini scream eggs at Waitrose.  I ate 2 of them, and will only have the occasional one, as I couldn't find the syns for them so I have taken the syn value of a mini cream egg (they are essentially the same thing) and are 2.5 syns for one, so that takes my syns to a total of five so far today.

For those of you that don't know the Extra Easy Plan that Slimming World offers, it works something along the lines of splitting foods into the following groups:

Super free:   This includes most veg and fruit, but not all.
Free:           This includes high carb veg such as potatoes, peas, sweetcorn and beans, meats and fish

Slimming world suggest on this plan you fill up more than a third of your plate with super free as this is what will start to fill you up and the rest of your plate with free food.  None of this food has to be weighed or measured.  But be sensible about it.

The other two groups are:
Healthy Extras:    You are allowed one A and one B on the extra easy plan.  'A's include things a milk or cheese allowance and 'B's' include things like breads and cereals.  These need to be weighed
Syns:          This is for your naughty bits like wine and chocolate.  These also need to be weighed to work out the correct syn value.  You are allowed a total of 15 a day.  Some people work them over a week, so they can save them up for night out.

And talking of night's out, i need to and get ready!

Minor setback or not?

the scales on my weigh in on Tuesday 29th of Jan, stated I had lost 5 and half pounds! Fab, great, whoop and I jumped up and down with joy!  Helped me to win win slimmer of the week and month!  Weigh in on Tuesday the 5th I had put on a a pound a half!  I hadn't been that bad! Then I was told they were different scales as basically the old ones had failed.  This things happen! Upset understatement, but I kept telling myself I had lost 4 pounds in two weeks!

But more importantly than that its motivated me even more to keep going! I've worked out that if I carry on loosing 2 pounds a week I can have lost nearly 4 stone by my birthday!  I am also aiming to fit into my red dress for a wedding in June!

Just a reminder what it looks like (I know its a bad picture!)

I have also entered the Race for Life again this year.  This is a 5km race you can walk, jog or run and help raise money for cancer research.  The last 2 years I have walked it!  This year my aim is to have lost enough weight to try and run it!

I have also completed a 6 month plan which is stuck on my notice board next to my desk which includes things that I want to get done this year but don't necessarily relate to my weight loss journey so I'm afraid I'm not ready to share the whole lot!

Ive had a fab day trying to become fitter, I spent 33 minutes in the gym on the cross trainer and on the treadmill and then spent an hour swimming, clocking up 3.5km on all 3 activities.  This is part of one of my steps to be ready to run the Race For Life!

New Year a New You!

What a wonderful view over Tilehurst, Reading and onto to the Oxfordshire Hills the other side of the river Thames on a gorgeous sunny day!

This picture was taken today on a 3 mile walk to blow the cobwebs away from to much drinking last night and what a reminder of places where we can go walking here just a short walk from our doorsteps!

There was another reason for the walk today, to increase my exercise levels so my fitness levels improve and to help me to loose the weight I badly need to, so I can achieve that all important goal that I want to achieve!

I want this picture to remind that my journey has to be fun and exciting and not boring and dreary! Whats the point of doing this journey if it isn't going to be fun!  We had a special New Years Day meal today. We had Roast Beef and Roast Potatoes with leeks, peas and broad beans!  It was lovely and this was followed up a Slimming World Strawberry Swiss Roll and had no syns in it, but was lovely! I did enjoy a glass of wine with my meal and while I was cooking!

As I had to Turkeys to cook over Christmas we have lots of turkey meals in the freezer and now I am trying new recipes to add that all important variety to my diet! Anyone got any low fat recipes that I may enjoy that I could try?

Goals For 2013

I have decided on my New Years Resolutions for 2013, or how I prefer to stay it my goals for the following year to come!

1) To carry on with my weight loss journey that I started last year.  I have also reminded myself  why I have started my weight loss journey.  I am also going to do a monthly plan on what I want to achieve to help motivate me.

2) To help achieve my dream and my weight loss I am going to make sure I do at least some form of exercise at least 5 days a week (aim is to go for 7 days a week!)

I have to forget that I have put weight on over Christmas (that was going to happen) and not let it upset me.

Here is to the next 12 months!

This month so far!

First weight in this month on Tues the 4th of September I came out of class buzzing!  Which refocused and recharged me at the beginning of that week.  I wanted to aim for the big looses again so wrote a fitness plan as well as my weekly food plan!  In my fitness plan I have also included some new classes including Pilate's and Zumba which I am enjoying!

I also started to keep a scrap book of ideas, thoughts and feeling to help me keep focused and refocus me where needed!  It includes fitness ideas and recipes to.

What do I have to do, to get back the big weight loose? try new recipes and stop picking at the wrong foods and to have more self discipline!  This means my attitude and habits have to change!

I also need to remind myself of what I have achieved! I have lost over two stone and have kept it of....something I have never achieved so far!  When I have done other plans, my biggest draw back was not staying to group, but I have this time and have never missed a meeting so far (is it becoming a good crutch?) so much so that our annual holiday is going to be in this country so I can still attend a slimming world group!  I have also made some really good friends, that I hope will last a lifetime!

Need to also remind myself that I am loosing the weight for myself and no one else and I have to do it to be able to ride again!

A technique that I am going to try is to use the power of the voices in my head  to talk myself out of wanting the things that are going to affect my weight loss.

I had a big challenge on Saturday the 8th as went to Blenheim Horse Trails (burger vans etc) so I had planned ahead food wise and was very good, until I got home and went to the pub and had 6 vodkas (15 syns) and a bottle of wine (24 syns).

Unbelievably on Tues the 11th I recorded a loss at weight in, but since then I haven't really been motivated!  I have tonight done a thought chart on why I started this journey, what I have achieved so far and what I want to achieve by Xmas

Wow, what a month so far!

This month started with a bang this month! Lost a total of 6 pounds in the first 2 weeks, but put on 4 and a half pounds on last week.  I am not upset or obsessing over it!  Why? Because it was all my own doing and enjoyed every minute of it!  I had a week of and spent every night at the pub and also celebrated my birthday on Saturday!

What am I going to do about it this week?  Stick to plan, exercise everyday and write everything down.  I need to loose what I put on and more!  I must do it!

Exercise plan for the week!  Wifit tomorrow and Thursday am,  then gym and or swimming on Friday through to Monday.  Plus also allotment and helping out at the show on bank holiday Monday!

Self Discipline

self-dis·ci·pline (slfds-pln) n. Training and control of oneself and one's conduct, usually for personal improvement.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published byHoughton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

self-discipline

n

the act of disciplining or power to discipline one's own feelings, desires, etc., esp with the intention of improving oneself

self-disciplined  adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

Yesterday I totally lacked self-discipline, hence the reason for today's blog with the same name.  I went out with the intention of just having one wine last night, as I had already used up the days syns (on chocolate), but one led to another, which then led to more!

Here is an interesting link, which has some tips and ideas that may help (some I could change slightly)!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/wellbeing/5899818/How-to-improve-your-self-discipline.html#


Also take a look at this
http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/self-discipline/

and this
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/06/self-discipline/

Empowerment!

em·pow·er  (m-pour)

tr.v. em·pow·ered, em·pow·er·ing, em·pow·ers

1. To invest with power, especially legal power or official authority. See Synonyms at authorize.

2. To equip or supply with an ability; enable: "Computers ... empower students to become intellectual explorers"(Edward B. Fiske).

---

em·power·ment n.

Usage Note: Although it is a contemporary buzzword, the word empower is not new, having arisen in the mid-17th century with the legalistic meaning "to invest with authority, authorize." Shortly thereafter it began to be used with an infinitive in a more general way meaning "to enable or permit." Both of these uses survive today but have been overpowered by the word's use in politics and pop psychology. Its modern use originated in the civil rights movement, which sought political empowerment for its followers. The word was then taken up by the women's movement, and its appeal has not flagged. Since people of all political persuasions have a need for a word that makes their constituents feel that they are or are about to become more in control of their destinies, empower has been adopted by conservatives as well as social reformers. It has even migrated out of the political arena into other fields. · The Usage Panel has some misgivings about this recent broadening of usage. For the Panelists, the acceptability of the verb empower depends on the context. Eighty percent approve of the example We want to empower ordinary citizens. But in contexts that are not political the Panel is markedly less enthusiastic. The sentence Hunger and greed and then sexual zeal are felt by some to be stages of experience that empower the individual garners approval from only 33 percent of the Panelists. The Panel may frown on this kind of psychological empowering because it resonates of the self-help movement, which is notorious for trendy coinages.


empowerment [ɪmˈpaʊəmənt]

n

1. the giving or delegation of power or authority; authorization

2. the giving of an ability; enablement or permission

3. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) (in South Africa) a policy of providing special opportunities in employment, training, etc. for Blacks and others disadvantaged under apartheid

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

The above have been copied and pasted from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/empowerment

I have realised in the last couple of days how important empowerment is when you are on a healthy eating plan, to loose weight.  Why have I come to this conclusion?  I went out last night to meet up with friends at my local, and I always end up having far to much to drink, which affects my weight loss.  Last night I gave myself permission not to drink alcohol and drunk diet coke instead and which left me enough syns (part of the slimming world plan) to have a packet of Quavers instead.

This afternoon I went to the gym and had a really good session, and did 1.1km on the cross trainer (in 20 mins), followed by weights and then in 10 mins on the treadmill I did 1.05k.  I then went for a swim and managed 24 lengths today.  My fitness level is improving and I am now looking forward to doing the race for life tomorrow and I might even go for a swim afterwards.

He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.

~ Maria Robinson

 

You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.

~ Sri Ram

The mind is everything. What you think, you become.

~ Buddha

These are all so true, please take time to consider them when you are trying to loose weight!

Time to get back on track, part 2!

I can't believe it's been so long since I last wrote an entry.....since the end of April I have sort have been cruising along and staying roughly the same weight.  Last week we had a different consultant at my Slimming World meeting as our normal consultant was away on holiday.  Lets just say she was the bitch from hell and she made me feel like a bit of rubbish (just trying to be polite and not be dragged down to her level!).  She laid into me for about 20 minutes.  Any way due to this I relaxed a bit last week and only put on a pound, which I'm happy with as I enjoyed myself!

But I'm so glad I went back to group last night it was so positive and chilled thanks to the girls! (You know who you are).

Since my last post I have still planned my meals on a weekly basis and have started to enjoy cooking again, but the last couple of days I have started to write down everything that passes my lips, so I will be absolutely mortified if I haven't lost weight this week.

What do I need to do to help me with my weight loss journey:
1) Take one day at a time
2) Write down everything I eat
3) Do I need that glass of wine?
4) Enjoy what I'm eating and If I don't like it, don't have it!
5) Realise when I am full up
6) I can have a treat (I had ice cream and fruit for desert, which was lovely).
7) Take responsibility for my actions
8) Visualisation.....3 times a days how do I perceive what I look like now and how I want to look in the near future
9) Being more positive

Why do I want to loose weight?
1) To be able to fit into smaller clothes
2) To look nicer
3) To reduce my blood pressure
4) To be able to ride again
5) To be fitter


Why I wouldn't want to loose weight?
1) I see it stopping me going out and socialising as I can't drink as much

Race for Life
I am taking part in this on Sunday, at 11am in Prospect Park in Reading.

Here is my link.....so please please sponsor me
http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/lucyjohnson406

I am doing the 5k challenge and I am not fit enough to run all the way round but I will complete it an am also looking at going to the gym and swimming over the weekend to.

How am I feeling now?
I have now got that positive feeling and am eager to achieve a weight loss each week, no mater how small...it is achievable!  Just need to keep that focus and enjoy doing it.  There was a very good line in the following article:
http://www.rd.com/health/diet-weight-loss/easy-ways-to-lose-weight-50-ideas/
Its the line about ice cream being the jewel in the crown and fruit being the crown!  That's so true and I read it after I had dessert of fruit and 60g of Ice Cream (5 Syns for those of you that are currently following the Slimming World healthy eating plan).

Hypnosis
I have got a Hypnosis app on my phone which I used for the first time in a long while, and I selected the weight loss and confidence session combined, which helped be to relax and I had a brilliant nights sleep

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.

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?

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!