Weigh in and catch up

This has been a very busy week. It has actually gone really well food wise and exercise wise (more about that in a moment). One of the things I learnt a couple of years ago is that home educating Bookworm and Hyperboy takes a lot of time from other things. Something that has been really good for me over the last few months is truly appreciating the time I have given to myself. It feels good to have spent time focusing on me and being nice to me. I have fed my body well and I have enjoyed the time I have spent exercising. I have enjoyed the results of it, losing weight, not feeling so uncomfortable in my own skin and not feeling like a blimp! The result of all that has been a happier Me, Wife and Mummy. We all win. :oD

So weigh in this morning. I only set myself a goal of 1/2lb loss for this week. I knew we were going to be at my parents for a few days and I know that when I am there it is not as easy to eat the way I have been lately. I also knew that I'd be spending a lot less time being active.

Weight - 11st 6lbs- A loss of 1/2lb making 16 1/2lbs loss total. :)

Body fat - 35% - 1% lost this week making 5% loss total. :)

1/2in lost from my waist making 10 1/2in lost from chest/waist/hips in total.

 

I am very happy that I met the weight goal I set myself. It wasn't easy to eat well at my parents and I didn't feel great as a result but I was glad to see the loss I had been aiming for. I now weigh the same as I did 12 years ago. 4lbs to go and I will be weighing the same as I did when I was 21. :oD I am also 1 1/2lbs from losing 10% of my starting weight.

 

I was really surprised to see the body fat drop. It had dropped to 35% 3 weeks ago but the next week was back up to 36%. It did a similar thing when I had the drop to 37% so hopefully the drop will stick this time around.

 

The 1/2inch loss from my waist sort of surprised me and sort of didn't. I knew I had got smaller there because trousers feel loose. These are trousers from my "not a chance" pile that has got shrunk to almost nothing. They are ones that I haven't worn for years (or ever in some cases). I wasn't expecting 1/2in though. (Happy dance).

 

I posted very briefly about the NSV of running. While we were out for a run my husband was in charge of timing. He wouldn't tell me how long we had run for until we got back. He made me wait and tormented me for ages before finally telling me that the first block of running was 10 minutes. After a 2 1/2 minute walk we then went on to run 8 1/2 minutes. I was even more pleased because I had been the one to say when I wanted to stop running and start walking. Not bad seeing as I was so disheartened the other week. Two days later I went out again by myself (husband had competed the day before and little brother was still in his pit bed. I took my ipod and did c25k week 5 run 1. The NSV's came thick and fast. I went the same route and

I was enjoying it.

I wasn't phased by the few other people I saw.

I spoke to another runner I saw (yes I felt like 'a runner').

I ran all the way up an incline.

I had to extend the route because it wasn't going to be long enough and the extension took me up a fairly steep hill WHICH I RAN UP.

I felt like I could do more afterwards.

 

And when we got home that night I ran again after dropping Bookworm off at Brownies. In the heat, dripping with sweat and managed all but 1 1/2 minutes of the route running.

 

 

I AM ON FIRE! No false modesty here. I am doing a great job and am loving exercising.

I have entered a 5k race. It is in August. A lot sooner than the 10k I am entered for next May! I feel super confident that I will be able to run it all by then. And I even feel ok about the small chance that I might need to walk a little bit of it. The only goals I have set for it are

1) Finish the distance.

2) Don't be last.

One last NSV. I mowed our back garden yesterday. It was really hot out and thunderstorms were due so it was very muggy. Our mower is a push mower so it's not an easy job. 45 minutes of doing that and I was dripping with sweat. I noticed something though. I didn't find it hard going. Last time I did it I was aching afterwards and kept feeling out of breath. Not this time. It was a doddle.

I have another super busy week coming up so don't think I have sneaked off into a corner with a big bar of green and black's caramel. I have no intention of doing that. I just might not have much time to check in here. I will be thinking about it though and making good choices.



You are dismissed, I have finished waffling!

No time for a long post

But I have a NSV that I want to shout about. Actually make that two.

1) We had a weekend at my Mum's and when I had a bath after a run my tummy was actually below the water level. Bizarre but true and made me :oD.

2) I went for a run with my husband and brother and knocked 10% off the time I did 2 months ago on the same route but best of all manage a 10 minute stretch of running. I was buzzing afterwards.

I will come back tomorrow with a longer post but right now I am tired after a long weekend and horrible, hot car journey home.

Couch to 5k - week 4 and a heavy rucksack

I did it. I actually bloody did it. The whole thing. Plus an extra 5 minutes walking at the end because, well it was either that or not get home. :oD

I am so pleased with myself. I slowed my pace down and it worked. I am feeling so proud of myself right now. And if you'd been in the park I was in you'd have witnessed me shake my fists and say "YES!" as I finished the second 5 minute run.

At the end my knee felt a bit delicate but when I got back my husband went over some stretches with me and it's ok now.

I also realised there was one of my goals last week that I never got round to. I didn't fill that bag with the weight I have lost so far. I did that tonight and then carted it round on my back for half an hour while I made tea. Holy cow. 16lbs is a fair weight. I can't believe I was lugging that round all day every day! It can stay in the rucksack, I can take that off.

I also realised when I was filling it up that I am about 2lbs away from having lost 10% of my weight. I am almost 9/10 of the woman I was. I think my confidence and happiness has increased 100% though so I am not missing anything.

I could just wait until tonight and post about today...

Or I could post now and be honest about yesterday. If I wait until tonight I can gloss over yesterday. If I post now I can have this here as a reminder to myself and a lesson.

 I started off with very good intentions for the day. I had decided to change my weigh in day so that I now weigh in on a Wednesday. Did that, was pleased to see that since Monday I had lost 1/2lb. I was going to go and do 2 levels of 30DS. I got to that and there was my first hurdle. My legs were tired. Very tired. I did level 1 and couldn't even begin to entertain the idea of doing another level. That was ok, I could see how good it is that I am now exercising for 5/6 days every week and have done for 11 1/2 weeks now. So I left it there and didn't beat myself up about it.

My problem yesterday wasn't exercise it was food. Not so much a hurdle as a tiny pony meeting a ruddy, great jump with a pond on the other side. Now I am logging EVERYTHING on myfitnesspal it's not so easy to ignore what crap (sorry to those who are easily offended) I put in my body yesterday. Myfitnesspal tells me, all cheerfully, that yesterday I consumed 2987 kcals and 120g fat. That is about twice what I should be looking at. So what did I eat that led to this. I am going to be really honest here.

Breakfast - orangey oats (25g rolled oats soaked overnight in 2tsp orange juice) mixed with 20g raisins, 4 strawberries, 1 pot yogurt. - This is my usual breakfast. No big deal.

Snack - caramel slice (shortbread base, covered with caramel and topped with chocolate) - not a big deal at the time. I had made some for a friend and planned 1 into my day.

Lunch - Jacket potato, butter, baked beans and cheese - again no real problem here. it was meant to be for tea but a lack of bread for the sandwich I planned to have meant swapping lunch for tea.

Snacks - caramel slice um. the caramel and chocolate part of TWO more caramel slices - yes I am ashamed, yes it is ridiculous that I actually took the time to slice the top away from the shortbread, threw that away and just ate the caramel and chocolate. WTF!!! Why the hell would I do that? I have a very sweet tooth.

Dinner - 1 slice of bread and butter - this was completely unnecessary. It was fresh out of the oven and I couldn't resist have the crust from the end while it was still warm. Egg/salad cream sandwich made with 2 slices bread, 1 hard boiled egg, salad cream and butter. - this part was what I had originally planned for lunch.

Evening - 4 homemade ginger biscuits and (yes and) 1 chocolate coated ginger ice cream stick - I didn't NEED either of these things. I had made ginger biscuits for Bookworm and Hyperboy and nibbled dough while I made so the '4' was actually 1 cooked and  the equivalent of 3 in dough. The ice-cream is one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted. I bought them from one of the supermarkets here in the UK and they are so yummy. It was the last one in my freezer.

So there you go. That as you can see people is the ridiculous food consumption for me yesterday. It all went to pot from about 4pm onwards. Now I know that before I started my journey it would have looked a little like that every day. The main difference being that most days the dinner (see lunch above) would have been a bigger meal and probably meant somewhere around 500cals/20g fat more than yesterday. So most days I was eating 3500kcals/140g fat. Everyday!!! Add into that the fact that my only exercise was normal day to day movement and I think we can see exactly why I was where I was. Frankly I am amazed I was not a  LOT bigger and very ill!

So I guess I learnt a big lesson yesterday. I treated my body like rubbish. I don't believe in low fat/low calorie food. That is fine when I am making sure that it is full fat/full calorie things balanced out. But when I eat like I did yesterday that adds up to a whole lot of stuff.

Today I feel sluggish, my legs are heavy, I have a headache and my throat is sore. Serves me right but in some ways it is useful to me. I think I had  been doubting how bad it was before. IT WAS BAD. There are no excuses for treating my children's mother that way.

Weigh in - Yes I decided to change it

I said I was considering changing my weigh in day to a Wednesday. I have decided I am going to. It was mainly prompted by the fact that for the next two weeks I won't be able to do it on a Monday. So it's only been 2 days since I last checked in but I figure there is no time like the present! Plus if I leave it until next week to swap and don't check on for 1 1/2 weeks I know I am likely to think "loads of time to make up for any little gains". I don't want to do that. It would mean being less careful, because if I am honest that is exactly what would happen, for 2-3 days before getting back in to it. So I weighed this morning and took it as a proper weigh in.

Weight - 11st 6 1/2lbs- A loss of 1/2lb since Monday(!!!!!) making 16lbs loss total.

Body fat - 36% - Same as Monday making 4% loss total.

1/4in lost from my hips making 10in lost from chest/waist/hips in total

 

I am going to go and get Bookworm and Hyperboy started on their work for the day and then I shall shred for all I am worth.



So it's true, you can run for longer if you slow down

Last week when I was running with my husband and then again when he was nearby playing with Bookworm and Hyperboy he was watching the speed I run at. I have been really struggling to get past 3 minute blocks of running. Husband suggested that if I slow my pace down a bit I would probably find that I could run for longer time. This was met with scepticism by me. I really felt that if I slow down then I wouldn't really be moving.

Last night on my weekly trip back from dropping Bookworm at a group I decided to give it a go. I set out slowly and just carried on until I needed to walk. I managed 5m 22s of running. Darn, the man is right. After 1 minute of walking I ran for another 2m 30s before being almost home.

My right knee is a little sore but I think the cause of that is the gears on my bike not changing properly on Sunday and jarring my knee a bit. I will take it easy for a couple of days and with a bit of luck it will be back to normal. I am looking forward to my next run as it will be the longer route (by longer I mean 2.3 miles compared to the 0.94 miles I did last night) on Thursday.

I am thinking of changing my weigh in day. For the next two weeks I won't be able to weigh in on a Monday anyway so now is as good a time as any. I am considering making it a Wednesday. It is the day we get fresh fruit and veg delivered and having that there to lead me away from being tempted by other things would be better. Mondays tend to be Old Mother Hubbard time in our food stores so after weighing I am thinking 'hmm we have biscuits and cakes that could do with being eaten'.

Friend making Monday

I haven't done this for a couple of weeks and I have missed it. If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments and head over to www.alltheweigh.com to check out Kenz's answers and others links.

FMM: Yes or No?

1. Do you use coupons? Yes, I am always up for saving money.
2. Do you like football? I am guessing when Kenz added this question she didn't mean soccer but as I am in the UK to me that is football. I do like football (ie soccer) but haven't really watched any for a long time.
3. Are you in a relationship? Yes, I am happily married to my childhood penpal. Nearly 10 years now. 
4. Is your phone always within arm’s reach? No, but I always know where it is.
5. Do you like thunderstorms? Yes! I love storms.
6. Can you cook? Yes, I love to cook. It is one of my favourite ways to spend my time. 
7. Are you – or have you – lost weight? Yes, finally successfully for the first time ever. 
8. Do you know how to read a map? Yes,but it has to be 'the right way uo' much to my husband's amusement!
9. Do you wear makeup? No, I really can't be bothered!
10. Do you read regularly? Yes, every day. 
11. Are you publicly affectionate? Yes. 
12. Do you like picnics? Yes! Open air eating is great.
13. Do you have a/c? No.
14. Have you ever been out of the country? Yes. But I am now scared of flying so unless we get on a boat or Euro star it's not happening. 
15. Do you know how to ride a bicycle? Yes.

Happy Monday.

Weigh in - 12 weeks

It seems strange that I have now been keeping this blog for 3 months. Without a doubt it is the biggest factor in me sticking with losing weight this time around. In the past I have tried keeping a diary but I would get bored of filling it in or 'forget' to put things in it. How stupid was that?! It's not like anybody else read it. I have been far more honest on here. Anyway it's working so I don't really mind why! :o)

I can't say I am over the moon with the numbers on the scales/tape measure this week but they are still in the right direction.

Weight - 11st 7lbs- A loss of 1 1/2lbs since last week making 15 1/2lbs loss total.

Body fat - 36% - A gain of 1% making 4% loss total.

1/4in lost from my chest 9 3/4in lost from chest/waist/hips in total.

I am now 12 weeks from when I started so I have taken other measurements too.

Left bicep - 12 2/8in -loss of 2/8in over 4 weeks/1in total.

Left thigh - 22 6/8in - loss of 3/8in over 4 weeks/2 1/8in total.

Left calf - 15 2/8in - no loss over 4 weeks/4/8in total

The reason I was hoping for more of a loss is just because things have slowed down so much now. Instead of focusing on those numbers though I am going to concentrate on the fact that a lot of other things have changed drastically in the last 12 weeks.

My skin is so much softer. I guess all the sweating when I have exercised has helped. So there is a benefit to looking like someone has painted me with postbox red face paint!

I have a whole heap more energy.

I can run for 3 minutes without needing to stop. 12 weeks ago I couldn't run for 1 minute. I think I can do more than this. My husband says I run too fast and if I slow down I will be able to sustain longer. Going to try that later.

I can workout hard for 50 minutes and feel fine again 10 minutes later. 12 weeks ago 20 minutes of working out with a little bit of effort left me feeling like I was about to die and so sore the next morning that I struggled to move.

My nails are growing really nicely. They weren't pretty 12 weeks ago. Now they look lovely.

My body is tighter. Yes it still wobbles a fair bit but my skin is so much tighter than it was.

All of the pairs of trousers that I was wearing (except pjs) are now too big and have GONE. I have got rid of them. Some got thrown out because frankly they were tatty beyond belief, some have been given to charity and some are going on ebay. I don't really care where they go but they aren't going back in my wardrobe!

There are more changes that I am happy about but that will do for now. I am going to start my day at 11 1/2stone (161lbs) for the first time in over 10 years.

Choices

I sat down last night to read through new posts on blogs that I enjoy and came across this. It really couldn't be better timed. The way I have been feeling lately has been very frustrating. It wasn't so much the list of reasons for losing weight that caught my attention as the bit about self-sabotage. I realised reading it that self-sabotage is just what I am on the verge of. I have been a bit lax with food. Not eating over the guide amounts on myfitnesspal but getting as close as possible. Where exercise is concerned I have been getting frustrated with lack of progress and haven't been enjoying it as much. I have a choice right now. And it would be a conscious choice because exercise has become something I do more days than not and being aware of the food I eat has been something that I have given thought to everyday for 12 weeks.

I decided reading that blog that I have to make that conscious choice NOW. Not wait until I tip over the edge and start gaining again suddenly realising that none of my clothes fit and I am back to where I was before. So my choice is this. Forget the c**p I wrote yesterday about giving myself a break. That is rubbish. That is a cop out. It would be a justification for slowly fading into the background and forgetting all about this blog and the last 12 weeks. Nope, that is not going to happen.

I choose to carry on with this.

I choose to start properly working at this.

I choose to need new clothes a few months from now because everything I own is too big.

I choose to be happier with what I see in the mirror.

I choose to keep going with teaching my body to run.

I choose to eat well.

I choose to not give up.

While it wasn't the reasons for losing weight that caught my attention it is important for me to be aware of why I am doing this.

I want to be healthier. I know that my health is affected by my weight and I know that if I don't do something now it will be more than a little niggle when I am older.

I want to be able to run around with my children rather than just watching my husband have all the fun. I can do this more now but want to be able to do it for as long as they can keep it up. 

I want to wear smaller clothes. I can now wear all but 7 items of clothing that I have from before I gained a whole heap of weight or bought to slim into. I want more.

I want to feel comfortable with what I see in the mirror. It's better now, there are actually things that I can pick out about me that I like. But there are also things that I despise. I know that some of those things could be changed by removing the layers of fat.

I want to not feel like hiding my body from my husband. I want to enjoy moments with my husband instead of thinking about what bothers me about me.

I want to set a good example to my children. Bookworm loves nothing more than to sit and read. I was the same at her age. She is fine at the moment but as she gets older that won't be the case. I don't want to be thinking 20 years from now that if I had set a better example she wouldn't be struggling with weight.

I don't want to feel like a fraud when someone says 'wow you've lost loads of weight'. I don't want the next time I see them to be the unspoken 'yes but I've gained it all back'.

I want to thank Need to get me back for writing the post she did. I needed to read exactly that. The timing couldn't be better. I am off to have my breakfast now. Have a good day and enjoy whatever you do.

Temporary blip in positivity

Right now I am struggling a bit to think positive thoughts when it comes to losing weight and making progress with getting fitter. After my troubles with running yesterday I am feeling really down about that. I did do Banish fat, boost metabolism DVD this morning and while I know that doing the whole workout is not something I could have done 3 months ago my head just keeps going back to the fact that I can't increase my running time at the moment.

I don't know if the weather has anything to do with my mood but today, where I am, it is wet, miserable and grey.

I am just about staying within my goal for food but it is a bit touch and go. I was going to say "hopefully normal service will be resumed shortly" but that sounds a bit of a cop out so instead I am going to say that I am going to go easy on myself for a couple of days, kind of give myself a holiday, and then come back fighting.

Mood swings

Food today - no problem. Exercise. Harrumph.

I have a serious case of the grumps right now. I am feeling very frustrated and seriously doubting my ability to get to the point where I can run 10k for next May. I went out this evening to do c25k. Even though my legs were a bit tired after yesterdays double 30DS and gardening session I stupidly decided that I would give week 4 a go. After last week deciding to hold off on moving up. I seriously need to have a little lot more patience.

I managed the first 3 minutes running after the 5 minute warm up but I am nowhere near ready to move up to being able to run for 5 minutes. From the moment I started (what was supposed to be) the first 5 minute block I knew it was a mistake to move up. You'd think I would have learnt my lesson from my last attempt to move up. As a result I am now sat here feeling very miserable and sulking. I can also frequently heard to be mumbling "I can't even run for 3 minutes at a time. What makes me think I will be able to run a full 10k". Grump, grouch, mumble.

I know that in reality I have another 11 months before the run. I know that I have made a huge amount of progress in the last (nearly) 3 months. I know that as I move on the increases won't seem so big. But right now I am annoyed. I am annoyed with myself for letting myself be lazy for the last 20 years (ie since childhood). I am annoyed with myself for trying to move on too quickly. I am annoyed with myself for being annoyed! Yes it is an absurd situation.

I have nothing constructive to say right now. I am going to label this post 'read this when you can run for 5 minutes and again when you can run for 10'. At that point I can laugh about how flipping stupid this all sounds.

I like this extra energy

One thing that I am noticing a lot right now is that I have so much more energy than ever before. I am doing more in day to day life as well as exercising. Today was a good example. I did my 30DS level 1 workout as planned. After completing level 1 I started on level 2. After the first circuit of level 2 I considered leaving it there. But I didn't (to be honest I couldn't think of any good reason to stop) I carried on and completed level 2 aswell. The high I felt afterwards at being able to sustain really hard working out for that amount of time was huge.

That wasn't enough to use all my energy up though. This afternoon while Hyperboy and Bookworm were playing games I decided to do something about the state of the front garden. I went out with the intention of clearing the longer patches of grass. 15 minutes later I had done that and cleared the dead things from the planter we have out front. Going through the back garden to put tools away I decided to 'just clear a small patch out there' too. 45 minutes later I had cleared a quarter of the garden and realised I'd lost track of time. Just aswell I had already put baked potatoes in in the oven for tea!

I now feel nicely tired. Admittedly I also feel ever so slightly achey but it feels good to know that I can do all that on top of the usual days activities now.

I have kept on top of food today but this evening I am going to sit down and enjoy some chocolate. Bookworm and Hyperboy have gone to bed and my husband is out cycling somewhere so I am going to enjoy the peace and quiet. Of course I also have the knowledge that the gardening and 30DS I did earlier today means that I can have the chocolate and not have it sabotage my weight loss.

Mostly good

I have had a (mostly) good day today. 30DS was great. I am still surprised that I am enjoying exercise. That has never been the case for me in 33 years. I am starting to feel that level 1 of 30DS is actually fairly easy so have added in weights to some of the bits like punches and jumping jacks. Yes, this is the same person who couldn't manage all of the jumping jacks 10 weeks ago. And yes I am feeling a little smug about the progress.

I ate well for almost all of the day and this is where the 'mostly' comes into play. I make all the biscuits my children have and for the last few days there haven't been any for their to have with their milk and stories at bedtime. After major guilt trips from Hyperboy about how I "never make us biscuits anymore" I decided to make some tonight. Biscuit dough is a weakness and I realised (too late) that all the little nibbles I had eaten added up to about 5 biscuits worth. I have tracked them in my food log though and given myself a slap on the wrist.

This evening despite already having done 30DS and cycling the 3.4 mile round trip for Bookworm's swimming lesson I actually felt like I wanted to do more. I haven't because at the same time as that my legs feel tired. I will see how I feel tomorrow and might do two levels of 30DS instead of the one level I have planned.

Third time today.

In the interests of not procrastinating any more... These are the squares I have knitted so far for my blanket. Come winter this will be much bigger and will be keeping me warm. :oD

If you have no idea of the relevance this has to me 'getting there this time' then this will explain.

My legs have that aching feeling

You know the one when you have exercised and your breathing has returned to normal, the red face has calmed down and the sweat has been showered off but your legs still ache. I didn't know about that a few months ago. Exercise was alien to me. It was something that other people do. Today I have done level one of shred, walked to and from an appointment and run/walked the route home from my daughters group. Now my legs are feeling it.

When I did 30DS this morning I did feel like I could handle another level but I knew that I had the walking and walk/run to do later in the day so I left it at just the one level.

My husband and Hyperboy came with me to drop Bookworm at her group. Hyperboy brought his bicycle so me and husband walk/ran back. I was rather pleased when husband informed me that rather than running at what I thought was about 5mph I was actually closer to 8mph.Of the 11m 21s journey I ran 6 minutes of it (3m 30s + 2m 30s). I did the journey about 1m 39s faster than last week.

I have signed up for a 10k race next May. It seems a long way off right now but I have never done anything like it before so I am more than a little scared. Looks like I really am stuck with this healthy, fitter new me. I like it.

Weigh in - 11 weeks

Back again for another weigh in. After last week where I was so miserable I thought I would look at that post again and see how I did on my goals for the week.

eat well - I did this. Planning my meals and snacks worked really well. It usually does so I have done the same for this week.

exercise as per my plans - I almost did this. Where I didn't it was because I realised I was either trying to step up too soon or hadn't planned very carefully. I am going to aim for more careful planning this week.

by the end of this week step up to level 4 of c25k. - I gave this a go and realised it was going to be too much too soon. I am not ready to move up to level 4 yet so will stick at level 3 and work on technique and breathing right.

be happy! - I managed this most of the week.

 

So where did it get me?

Weight - 11st 8 1/2lbs - A loss of 1/2lbs since last week making 14lbs loss total. UK people will know that this means I have lost a stone.

Body fat - 35% - A loss of 1% making 5% loss total.

Another 3/4in lost over chest, waist and hips making 9 1/2in lost in total

 

As I said last night I was kind of expecting no loss or possibly even a small gain. Having lost 1/2lb is ok with me. Obviously I would have like it to be more but I will take the 1 stone total and be happy about that. Especially when using my body fat % I worked out that 13.9lbs of that is fat. I guess that explains why some people have said it looks like I have lost more than 1 stone. Things are getting tighter. :o)

 

Using the body fat % from last week and this week also suggests that this week I have lost 1.98lbs of fat. I am happy with that. I shall take that as my reward for the extra effort I put in with the exercise.

 

The other thing about my loss is that while I have lost 1 stone since I started this blog I also realised that I am now 2 stone less than I was 2 years ago and 3 stone less than I was 8 years ago. Earlier this week the idea of losing another 2 stone seemed pretty daunting. But realising today that I have already lost 3 stone (ok, it was over a long time but it is still gone) makes it seem not so bad. Losing another 2 stone would put me at the top of the healthy weight range using BMI charts. Once I get there then I will decide if I am comfortable with that or am going to go a little bit more. I am not completely sold on the BMI measurements so will use that as a guide and follow my body/health as the overall decider.

 

Setting some specific goals last week worked well for me so I am going to do the same this week.

Eat well.

Exercise as per plan.

Fill a bag with 14lbs 'stuff' and carry it round for half an hour one evening to remind myself what I was carrying about 11 weeks ago.

What a miserable day!

You know those grey, soggy, wet, icky days? Well that is what we have where I am today. It is just plain miserable. I don't mind those sort of days in the Autumn but it is late spring here and I want sun. As a result I am feeling pretty sulky. Of course that could also be something to do with the way TOM is messing me about. It is here (finally) but has brought with it a bit of water retention. I am so very unimpressed by this. This week of all weeks it is not welcome. I have done my bit of making sure I get out there and exercise. Even this morning when I went out to do C25K in the drizzle. I have kept on top of food and eaten as planned with the exception of one chocolate bar. In the past I have had a tendency to lose rather than gain when TOM rolls around. I guess this might be one of those things I will just have to accept with my body changing.

Ah well. I do have a couple of NSV's to brighten my day. I am sitting typing this wearing one of my snuggliest pairs of pyjamas. I have worn the top for a long time. It is one of those flannel shirt tops. I have the buttons done up and there is, as my husband just so delicately put it "No straining in the top". He has a way with words bless him. :oD

The other NSV is running related. After my not so good C25K week 4 run on Friday I decided to stick with week 3 for now. This morning I found the 90 second runs easy, even thinking "Is that bit done already?". The first 3 minute run was also manageable and finished before I expected (remember I don't clock watch anymore as it distracts me, I wait for the podcast to tell me). The second one wasn't so good and I had to stop after 2 1/2 minutes. My legs were very achey (which I put down to TOM, it has a lot to answer for this month!) and didn't want to go a second more. I did do the remaining 30 seconds after a bit of walking. I was still pleased though because my ability to breathe whilst running has improved massively.

Tomorrow entries open for the 10k race I plan to do with my step dad and brother. Scary. I will also get to see, officially, how much I weigh in at after my week of getting back to being properly aware of food and exercise. I am preparing myself for seeing a small gain on the scales rather than the loss I was really hoping for. That is ok. I know it will be because of TOM and after another week I will be able to see the loss. I figure too that if I can talk myself into being ok with that then it is another NSV of sorts.

I shall make my theme tune for this week Tubthumping by Chumbawumba. If you don't know it head off to You tube, it is bound to be there. Enjoy.

Too busy for Saturday!

I skipped coming here yesterday. The day flew by and by the time I remembered I hadn't been to check in my eyes were half closed and I needed my bed.

I stayed to plan with food but I didn't do the cycling that I had planned. In the morning I took Bookworm and Hyperboy to the Saturday morning cheap showing at the cinema. We walked there and my legs were feeling quite tired. I want to be able to make a really good effort at properly doing my C25K run today so decided to rest my legs. Hopefully I will be able to come back later today with a wonderful report of a fantastic run. ;o)

A quickie.

A short one tonight. I did attempt C25K week 4 but I think it's a bit too much too soon. I am actually ok with that. 4 weeks ago I couldn't run for a minute without feeling like I was about to keel over. 11 weeks ago I couldn't do 30 seconds of cardio before I felt like I was about to explode. I am happy to take it slowly. I have time. Back to week 3 next time.

Food has been fine today. I have stuck in my target range (using my fitness pal) and when I decided to have some chocolate I had a small normal sized bar. Admittedly I did look first at the bigger sharing bar but I knew that if I bought that with the intention of sharing it or leaving some for later that wouldn't happen. So I bought some smaller bars and just had one.

TOM is really bugging me. It keeps pretending it is just about to start. It has been checked out in the past but basically I am condemned to irregular, messed up TOM that can't decide from one month to the next if it is going to be light/heavy, short/long, on time/late/early. Grrr.

Is it really Thursday already

I am starting this in the morning because as the day goes on and I get busy I might have forgotten by this evening when I sit down to blog. I am currently (9.30am) very glad that I have set today as a day off. My shoulders, upper back and (so my husband tells me) anterior deltoids are aching. I guess it's down to the strength parts of 30DS yesterday. I did all of level 1 and the first circuit of level 2. Anyone who has done it will know that the first level has press ups and the second level has walking into press ups. My body knows about it this morning.

Before I go I must mention that I am wearing a pair of trousers that I have had for about 10 years and have NEVER worn before. They were bought back then with the intention of shrinking into them. I have kept them all these years but have never reached a point where I could actually wear them. Until now. Next goal with them has to be for them to be too big. :oD

I am off now to tackle the day. I will finish this later and you will never know it's been written in two parts except for the fact I have told you!
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Did you miss me? No, ah well. I am back anyway. I am glad that I wrote those things down this morning. My muscles aren't aching so much now and I would have forgotten! And the trousers, well I probably would have remembered to talk about those because I am over the moon to have been wearing them all day.

Our busy day has been very full on and I have seen a lot of people today. Most of whom have commented that I look like I have lost a lot of weight. :oD One said it looked like a lot more than 1 stone (14lbs) so I guess all the exercise is really doing it's thing as far as toning goes.  And do you know what. I enjoyed every one of the compliments. I didn't feel uncomfortable. In fact some one said "You are looking very slender". My response... "Yes, I am aren't I". No false modesty, no brushing it off just plain and simple enjoying the moment. Progress for me

Food has been easy to deal with today. Breakfast prepared last night. Lunch planned and ready to go come lunch time. Dinner in the slow cooker so it was ready when we got home. Snacks sorted and easy to eat.

Oh and one more NSV before I head off to read blogs. I have another pair of trousers that I bought 14 years ago as a 19 year old whippersnapper. I wore them once and never ever got into them again. I have kept them all this time in the hope of one day being able to wear them again. I have not been able to do them up for the last 9 years. I dug them out today and put them on. I could just, only just, do them up. It looked comical the way they cut into the middle (don't think muffin top here, more two snowballs stacked one on top of the other). But I did them up. Last time I wore them I was 21lbs less than I am now. I am going to keep them as a progress marker. I don't care if I don't get as far as being able to wear them in public. If I do fantastic. If I get to a point where I am happy but they still don't fit that is fine (after all I have had two children since then). But they are my guide. I might even get brave enough to use them to take progress photos. (Don't hold your breath but you never know).

I nearly forgot

I almost forgot to come and check in with how the day has gone. Fortunately I didn't forget to eat well and do my exercise today.

Planning all of this weeks meals and snacks has worked really well for me so far. Tomorrow is going to be super busy so I know I am going to appreciate it then.

I did level 1 of shred today and before I started I was thinking how good my legs felt after two days in a row of interval running. I got to the end of level 1 and was feeling it a bit but still had some energy left and felt really good. So I decided to do level 2 as well. Ha ha. It wasn't really happening so I did the first circuit and then the cool down. I was really pleased though when I thought back to how I felt after just the warm up of level 1 the first time I did 30 day shred.

Tomorrow I have planned as a day off from exercise. We are too busy for me to realistically fit it in and I want to make sure I get rest days in now I am doing so much more exercise than ever before!

I am one of those scale junkies who has to weigh everyday. I know some people say that isn't good but I find it really keeps me accountable. So far this week my re-committing to my plan is working well for me. I only log my weight on a Monday for it to mean anything but so far so good.

Now I have to go and finish getting ready for our super busy Thursday and preparing things for Friday that I won't have time to get ready tomorrow. After that I plan to collapse into bed with a book then sleep.

Best laid plans

So a quick look at my exercise plan for today will show that my intention was to cycle to the pool and back for Bookworm's swimming lesson and also to do C25K. It didn't quite work out that way. Before I lead you into thinking that I decided I couldn't be bothered that isn't the case. My bicycle was trapped. At the weekend it got put away behind my husbands two good bikes (there is another one that is an old faithful). If it was just the one needing moving I would have braved it. But two, I'm not going there.

Plan B then. I got my running things on and decided to combine the trip to and from the pool with a walk run. I wasn't sure about this because my legs were aching still after BFBM and running yesterday but it was either that or the car and I am not going down that route.

State of legs - aching and tired but capable of a lot more than I thought.
Total walking time - 44 minutes.
Total running time - 12 minutes.
Longest block of running - 4 minutes.

I was really pleased with the 4 minutes. I didn't take my ipod because frankly with an easily distracted Bookworm and a speedy Hyperboy that would be a recipe for disaster. So I made it a 'run for as long as is comfortable' session.  I was also really pleased with my ability to breathe more easily. I struggle to stop myself sounding like I am about to hyperventilate but I guess my body is getting used to the speed.

Food wise I have been fine again today. I need food now though.

Back on track day 2. Going well.

abcdefood

I have stolen this from Sarah at running for myself. A woman who has made a remarkable change to her life.

A is for Apple, what’s your favorite variety?
I'm going to cheat and have two. I like Pink lady but I adore Spartan apples.

B: is for Bread, regardless of nutrition, calories, or whole grains what is your favorite type to have a nice big piece of?
My husband bakes bread. My absolute favourite has to be the olive bread he makes. I am a lucky woman.

C: is for Cereal what is your favorite kind currently (just one!)
I'm not a huge cereal fan but if I do have some then I really like Rude health's 'The granola'.

D: is for Doughnuts, you might not currently be eating them but what kind do you fancy?
Until 5 months ago I had only ever tried jam filled doughnuts. Then my baking husband made some plain ones. They were goooooood but I am still a raspberry jam filled doughnut girl..

E: is for Eggs, how would you like yours prepared?
I really like a fried egg sandwich. The yolk has to be runny enough to spread around.

F: is for Fat Free, what is your favorite fat free product?
I don't buy any fat free alternatives so I would have to say in season strawberries.

G: is for Groceries, where do you purchase yours at?
All over the place. Abel and Cole veg box scheme, supermarket internet delivery and farmers market.

H: is for Hot Beverages, what is your favorite hot drink?
Bleurgh. I don't do hot drinks. Actually that is not strictly true. I like hot chocolate but it has the be the real deal made with milk and actual chocolate.

I: is for Ice Cream, pick a favorite flavor and add a fun topping.
Ben and Jerry's fairly nuts. Mmmmmm

J: is for Jams or Jellies, do you eat them, and if so what kind and flavor?
My Mum makes both so whenever we head home we come away with pots of it. At the moment in my fridge there is raspberry, strawberry, pear apple and plum, gooseberry, blackcurrant, redcurrant and mint.

K: is for Kashi, name your favorite Kashi product?
Never heard of them.

L: is for Lunch, what was yours today?
It's 8am here so I'll do yesterdays. I had some delicious bean and salad wraps.

M: is for microwave, what is your favorite microwave meal/snack?
I don't have a microwave. I prefer 'real' food cooked slowly.

N: is for nutrients, do you like carbs, fats, or proteins best?
Given where I am it is plain to see I have had far too many fats.

O: is for oil, what kind do you like to use?
Olive oil.

P: is for protein, how do you get yours?
Meat, fish, eggs and cheese.

Q: is for Quaker, how do you like your oats?
Soaked overnight in a little fresh orange juice. In the morning mixed with some fresh fruit, raisins, pumpkin seeds and yogurt.

R: is for roasting, what is your favorite thing to roast?
Beef. Roast beef, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, stacks of steamed veg and lashings of gravy. You can't beat a roast dinner.

S: is for sandwich, what’s your favorite kind?
I love ham salad sandwiches.

T: is for travel, how do you handle eating while traveling?
When I am travelling (which happens very rarely) handling eating is easy and I tend to lose rather than gain because I don't have food to pick at.

U: is for unique, what is one of your weirdest food combos?
I'm not sure, I don't think I eat anything too weird.

V: is for vitamins, what kind do you take?
Occasionally vitamin c if I am feeling a little run down.

W: is for wasabi, yay or nay?
Nay.

X: is for XRAY. if we xrayed your belly right now, what food would we see?
My breakfast (see Q)

Y: is for youth, what food reminds you of your childhood?
Tinned Heinz spaghetti and toast.

Z: is for zucchini, how do you prepare it?
In pasta sauces, in place of lasagne sheets, grated into cakes, raw in salads. I used to hate the stuff but now I use it a lot.

YOUR TURN. Pick a letter and tell me what YOU like! Or let me know if you fill this out on your own blog so I can see what you eat be nosey!

Give the girl a slap!

I do kind of feel like that is what I need after re-reading my post from this morning. I needed to let off steam a bit and a good old whinge did help but my goodness I sounded miserable. As I said I would in that post I am back to check in with how my day has gone.

It hasn't been too bad really. After posting I did the whole of Jillian Michaels Banish fat boost metabolism workout. For someone who struggled with the 2 minute blocks of cardio in 30 day shred 2 months ago I am really pleased with myself for being able to kick butt in BFBM for the whole 54 minutes. Yes I include the warm up and cool down in my time.

I found it easy to stay away from snacking today. We were at a friends house for a large part of the day. She is also trying to lose some weight and I have brought her over to the dark side of 30DS. I didn't have to worry about what was for lunch because I knew it would fit in with my goals. It did and the distraction of having other people around and not having my own food stores tempting me was very helpful. I stuck to my food plan for the day.

I have decided that after walking my daughter to her Brownies group each week I am going to take the longer route home and see how much of it I can run. My goal is that I will reach the point where I can run the whole thing. It isn't a long way but it will give me a regular marker of progress. Tonight was that night so as well as BFBM this morning I have also done a walk/run. It is a very short route and involved 9 minutes of walking 4 minutes of running (roughly, I have lost the piece of paper I made notes on from my split timer when I got back!).

All in all today hasn't been too bad really. My plan for this evening is to relax and watch some rubbish on catch up tv.

Weigh in

This is a mostly miserable post. I am not feeling too cheerful. I feel a bit like Eeyore, there are good things to report but I can't seem to focus on those. This is not normal for me and I hope it passes soon! This week I haven't lost any weight (although I haven't gained any either) and my body fat % has stayed the same. I have at least seen a small move in again on the tape measure. 1/4in lost from my waist and 1/2in gone from my hips. I should at least be happy about that.

The trouble is I don't feel like I deserve it. In the last week I haven't eaten as well as I could. As a result I don't feel like I have eaten as well as I should. I hate thinking about food in terms of 'should' and 'good/bad' eating. That is not how I truly believe food should be seen. What I do know is I have got a bit carried away with a little bit here and a little bit there. My meals have been (mostly) fine. They haven't been the problem this week. The problem has been snacks. Chocolate, cakes and desserts. They have been my downfall this week. I know the only thing that has saved me from seeing a gain on the scales is the exercise.

I know that if I don't get a hold on it now then this will become another failed/aborted attempt at losing weight. Well not this time. I am not going back to being obese. I refuse. Do you hear me? Whatever bloody force is out there that is trying to knock me off track I'm not having it. I will not be obese again. I WILL get a grip on this. Next week I will be able to post a more positive check in post. To help me do that I have made plans.

I have planned my meals for the next week.

I have planned my workouts for the next week.

I have taken into account days where we are out or very busy. I have made sure that on days where we are going to be out for most of the day I have planned slow cooker meals so that I don't get home and decide to go for something else.

I am going to go and start my week with a 50 minute workout. This week instead of updating my This weeks exercise box after every workout I am going to post every day about how the day has gone. This will probably be mind-numbingly dull but I plan to use it to keep me accountable and get back on track before I get to a place where I am just slipping quietly away pretending the last 10 weeks never happened. They did and I have liked it. I AM getting there this time, no matter how hard I have to fight my demons.

My goals for this week are to

eat well

exercise as per my plans

by the end of this week step up to level 4 of c25k.

be happy!