Wasted Weigh In?

After a stonking 4lb weight loss last week this weeks weigh in was less impressive. I was good ALL week, I swear it!!! I saved up 8 points during the week to use at the weekend. I stayed within my daily allowance on Friday night (which is rare) and used my saved points for a bourbon pecan pie on Saturday. On Sunday Hubby and I had a Chinese takeaway but I only had a chow mein which was within my points allowance too. Why then, tell me, did I not lose a single solitary lb this week? A stay the same after a week of good behaviour is pretty disheartening to be honest. Granted, it's better than a gain but still I was expecting to lose at least something!

Anyway ... I have come to the conclusion that my hard work will shine through at the next weigh in. Well, fingers crossed anyway ... if I can get away with going out for not one but TWO meals this weekend (Friday night me, Mom and BG are having dinner out before going to the theatre to see Take That The Musical! Sunday we are out for my dad's birthday/parents wedding anniversary)! I've made a good start to the week eating only 16 points on Monday and Tuesday and have 16 points planned for today. If I can do the same on Thursday I will have 12 points saved by the time I get to the pub on Friday evening. I am not at aerobics this week but if I can fit in some exercise over the weekend then hopefully there will be some positive movement on the scales. Fingers crossed.

I have two new diet discoveries for the week. The first is a food item ... weight watchers caramel shortbread iced dessert. Blooming tasty I tell you now with a good layer of crumbled shortbread at the bottom, lovely tasting ice cream and then a sticky caramel sauce on top. 2 points and just delish! The second discovery (thanks to my lovely friend PH) is two exercise channels on the TV. Yoga, Pilates, Aerobics, Toning, Belly Dancing ... you name it there is a programme for it and they play non stop on these channels between about 6am and 10pm (Body In Balance - Channel 275. LA Fitness TV - Channel 282 on Sky). It's like having an unlimited collection of exercise DVDs ... I did some "Yoga for Families" last night which was quite amusing LOL. I'll be revisiting that channel again for "Belly Dancing for Beginners" very soon!!!

Gem x

The Great Cheese Hunt

So, after weigh in on Monday I treated myself to eating my full 19 points allowance. I had two fajita wraps with low fat cheese that were lovingly cobbled together by Hubby. Now, Hubby is not a fan of "diet" food items in general so was already suspicious of the low fat cheese I had bought. "It's just wrong" complained hubby while pulling a face like he'd been sucking on a lemon. "It can't be," I said, "they told me at meeting it was good!" I chose it after it was recommended by another member who had said, "It's just like real cheese ... it has a good texture and it melts!"

OK, yes I suppose it does have the texture of "real" cheddar. I couldn't say whether it melts or not as I didn't try it out and to be honest I am unlikely to do so. The flavour of this cheese was not good. It was kind of tangy in the way that a grapefruit is tangy which quite frankly isn't a quality I look for in a cheese (and also explains Hubby's facial expression after sneaking a nibble of the stuff). My advice? Just eat half a portion of the good stuff instead of suffering a whole 40g of this substance for about the same points.



Other things I tried this week were more successful. I can recommend the Co-operative Healthy Living Fisherman's Pie if that sort of thing takes your fancy. 5.5 points, quite filling and with a good smoked haddock flavour. My only minor criticism would be that a couple of the chunks of haddock were almost perfect little cubes which was slightly disturbing lol.

Gem x

Gobsmacked!!! Woohoo!!!

Monday's weigh in was unprecedented success ... you know that evil thought I had about losing 4lbs? I only ruddy well went and did it! 4lbs off taking me to 10st 8lbs (in jeans) and the lightest I have been since the blog began. Hurrah! Yeay for me!!!

So, looking back at my week what did I do that worked for me?

1. I was honest. I wrote down everything, even at the weekend when I ate more points that I wanted to (but not so many as to blow the week).
2. I saved points during the week to use at the weekend (and I did use most of them up).
3. I went to aerobics. It wasn't a happy experience but I'm sure it contributed to the loss.
4. I planned my breakfasts, lunches and dinners AND I stuck to the plan. Even when tempted with goodies such as a box of chocolates that appeared along with our friend on Saturday evening.
5. SOUP!!! Soup for lunch has been amazing and SOOOOO much better than any salad.

I don't have access to a microwave so I have to bring a flask filled with a tin of low point soup. Today I have Asda Be Good To Yourself Thai Chicken soup ... 2 points for the whole can which is cheaper and a bigger portion than the weight watchers ones. I know I could make my own low point or even no point soup but I kinda think that life is too short. At about 50p a tin for supermarket healthy brand soups by the time I have bought all the veggies to make a batch for the week it costs about the same and saves me a couple of hours at the stove.

Off to a good start so far this week with only one potential hurdle ... a family meal in the pub on Saturday evening. BUT if I can save points like I did last week we should be all good. I've got a figure in my head of 2lbs to lose at the next weigh in. Perhaps visualising my goals is the way to do it and keep me focused? Lets give it a try.

Gem x

Shockingly Good Behaviour!

It's weigh in tonight ... and all my good intentions remained intact for the whole weekend. I planned. I tracked. And I said no ... several times. I'm really quite proud of myself actually. I admit I have had a couple of hungry days. On saturday I was especially hungry as I had planned and tracked for half a pizza for my tea (7.5 points) but after I had eaten it I was still hungry. I enjoyed it. It was delicious but it wasn't a smart way to spend my points. I will think twice about doing that again. I did go over my points during the weekend but they were points I had saved up during the week so overall my calorie intake has been under my allowance. I had 2 spare points left on my week. Its been good, I've enjoyed my meals and I feel confident about weigh in. I'll let you know how that goes.

Gem x

Unrealistic Goals and Evil Thoughts

I was well aware, when I was dragged kicking and screaming to weigh in by Mom and BG, that there was going to be a gain this week. I was prepared for the scales to have gone in the wrong direction. I was NOT however, prepared to have gained 3lbs in 7 days. That's just crazy! It also means that I now have 9lbs to lose if I am going to get to my 10% goal before Christmas rather than the original 6lbs before my weeks annual leave. Goddammit!

Anyway ... I have taken a v. strict approach to the week so far. On Monday morning(pre weigh-in) I planned 16 pts of meals for the whole of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. So far this has all gone to plan and if I can stick to my planned evening meal tonight I will have saved 9 points in the last three days and earned 3 activity points from Aerobics this evening. That will give me a little bit of slack for the weekend BUT I don't necessarily want to use them up if I can help it. In the back of my mind I have a distant memory of losing 4lbs the first week of my diet and being as this is essentially starting from square one I would like to lose the same amount this week. I know this is a BAD thought to have and a slightly unrealistic goal to set myself. And I know that if I don't do it I run the risk of getting fed up and sabotaging myself but it's too late. I had the thought and now it's out there waggling its bits at me and blowing raspberries.

All I can do is hope that I stay well in the zone like I have been for the last few days until next weeks weigh in. At which point I shall cut myself some slack and go back to my full 19 points per day again but this week I need a severe boost to the metabolism.

Gem x

Save £££'s and Lose lbs!

I wanted to blog two things before I go to weigh in tonight.

Firstly I have made an amazing discovery (no, not marmite cheese and marmite cashews which although were introduced to me this week are not what I m referring to) ... the discovery was mysupermarket.co.uk . Anyone who has a severe hatred of supermarkets like myself will have discovered the joys of shopping online and browsing all the special offers and having your favourite items all waiting there to be added to your basket. Now, with this genius little website you give them your user information for your supermarket sites and it will import your favourite items. You then pick a supermarket, choose a delivery slot and do your shopping. and at the top of the page you will see the price of your trolley in each of the four supermarkets (tesco, sainsburys, asda and ocado). My shopping was £20 cheaper at asda this week than tesco or sainsburys and £22 cheaper than ocado! Not only that, it also suggests lower priced alternatives when you add items to your basket AND (now for the really good bit) suggests lower calorie alternative too. Saving you calories as well as cash. Chuffing excellent. Check it out ... here's the proof!




Secondly ... I haven't got my dieting mojo back at all however on saturday I had all my lovely healthy food options delivered from Asda at a fraction of the cost so this week I am truly ready to be on my best behaviour. The holiday is definitely over and xmas is fast approaching so if I want to get to goal before the year is out I need to get on with it and stop bloody sabotaging myself!!!

There will be a gain at weigh in tonight. I know it, but I already have my food planned until wednesday so I feel in control and in the zone so I'll be able to handle a bad result today. I know I deserve it.

Gem x

Let Operation Get-To-Goal Commence!

Since my last post I have done my duties as bridesmaid, had my weeks holiday and had the first weigh in following that. Somehow (and I'm not quite sure how it happened so please don't ask me) I managed to lose half a lb on Monday since my previous weigh in. I have to confess that I ate out every night for just over seven days, however I did also walk up not one but two mountains and do a sizable coast walk during the week so I must have burned off more calories than I consumed. We were also staying a couple of minutes walk from our preferred pub so we would walk down the hill to dinner/drinks in the evening and back up the hill to the cottage so I was certianly more active than usual. Anyway, that half pound doesn't have much of an effect on the graph as I'm still at the 10st 9lb mark but at least I haven't got any making up to do before I can get on with the business of getting to goal, which is a relief.

I also admit that since weighing in on Monday night I haven't quite got into the swing of things diet-wise. I'm still getting my mojo back ... it was not helped by the fact that I had planned a week of different flavoured weight watchers soups for lunch all week, taken to work in an v. cool pink food flask. Unfortunately, said cool flask was exactly that. It didn't actually keep the soup warm till lunch time so it is utterly useless. So, it's back to the drawing board this weekend (well, back to the camping shop to return the crap pink flask and get a decent one at least). My loathing for lettuce is only increased during the winter months and I think soups and stews packed with goodness are the only way to keep me from stuffing my face with carbs at lunchtime and I reeeeeeeally want to be at goal for christmas so that I can treat myself to some lovely new clothes in the January sales!

Let Operation Get-To-Goal Commence!

Gem x