Big isn't always Bad!

28^th February 2014

If it seems a childish thing to do, do it in remembrance that you were a child once & it was a fun time!

I am being spontaneous this week, got up yesterday morning and decided as they’ve changed moms pre op to Monday that I’m going to the Harry Potter studios for a day out today – excited much ;) not a big kid at all!

My meetings have been fab this week, I just love my job – I know I’ve said it before and I sound like a broken record but I do, my members are just fab they really are!  We have a giggle mostly, we lose weight mostly, sometimes we share sadness and other times we share weight gain because life has its obstacles!  What’s fabulous about having a Weight Watcher meeting to go to is that when you get there you know there are others who feel and behave the same way as you do and who you can share with and I see that week in – week out and that is why I love my job.

This week we’ve looked at portions and being an ‘ISH’ member, some knew instantly what I meant, some looked at me confused but as soon as I explained what an ‘ISH’ member was, they all smiled.  An ‘ISH’ member is someone who looks at a food and says, “mmm that’s about 4ish ProPoints!” you get my gist don’t you, it’s a member who isn’t accurate in their ProPointing or tracking, it’s a guestimater, hope for the best kind of person which I believe we all are at one time or another but if we become that person all the time weight loss gets much tougher.

I talked about how size matters but big isn’t always Bad and don’t believe labels, use those calculators know what you’re buying, don’t assume anything, you can buy this custard in full fat or low fat version!

and guess what both are 3pp a pot, there’s only 13 calories difference between the two, so just don’t lick all the lid of the full fat one!

Cake is always a choice and this example just shows that big isn’t always bad;

Don’t assume the smaller cake is good or the larger cake is bad – it isn’t always the case, use your ProPoints calculator and KNOW what you’re having, knowledge is power as they say!

On that note, I’ve got to get a wriggle on, I’m off to buy me a wand today, I’m gonna magic the pounds away ;) love a bit of Harry I do, I’m so excited, yes I’m 44, but if you add those numbers together I’m 8, that’s my mental age today – can I get a WHOOP WHOOP!

Have a happy Friday, BeYOUtiful and EatGorgeous because life is as good as you make it, we all have drama just accept it and smile. xx

A change is as good as a rest!

27^th February 2014

Success isn't a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire. Arnold H. Glasow

 

Well I don’t know what came over me yesterday but I had to cancel my hair appointment because of mom’s operation next week and she said “I can fit you in today”, so I thought great I’ll get my ends trimmed.  I’ve been growing the colour out since last July, decided to go to my natural colour with all the grey to see what it looks like, however as I have it tied back 99% of the time I was starting to get a grey head and a brownish ponytail!  Well to cut a long story short as I was driving there I remembered it was ten years ago this month that I had it all shaved off bald for charity, and I toyed with that idea for a while, realised what a pain it was the last time and changed my mind.  I told the hairdresser my thoughts and then said I could just have it cut short and BANG there it was gone, all my long hair on the floor, little Emma’s eyes lit up at the idea of cutting it all off and I have to say, I’m not a huge fan of hairdressers, they never think about the fact you have to try to make it look the same the next day, but I am chuffed with the result and it looks okay this morning too so I’m not going to have to try and sort it out ;)

 

Apparently it knocks years off me (I must have been looking proper worn out before!) and it makes me look ‘better’ ooo I was quite happy with my previous image lol, I’m a practical girl, tying my hair up was convenient, I’m not vain enough to be bothered if I ‘look good’ as long as I’m healthy and happy in my own skin.  I must say though, I’ve had lots of compliments and they’re always lovely to receive.  If the next time you see me I’m in a baseball cap, you’ll know I can’t do anything with it!

Now to the more important business of food – yesterday morning I noticed that some bake at home baguettes had past their sell by date by a day so I decided to get them used, however when I weighed them they were 10pp each = ouch!  I baked them whilst cooking 4 Weight Watcher Cumberland sausage (4pp) and once cooked I tore the soft squidgy filling out of the bread and saved myself 4pp which covered my sausage, and I had a delicious 10pp huge sausage baguette with brown sauce (8g = 0pp, I weighed it by putting the plate and zeroing off my scales then squirting my sauce) and it was delicious!

Weight Watcher sausages - 1 = 1pp, 2 = 3pp, 3 = 4pp

(Weigh your food, get the correct ProPoints values!)

For lunch I had leftover salmon from day before and microwave chilli flavour rice with cherry tomatoes (10pp) and for tea I had a muffing with chorizo and cheese (11pp) and I earned 5pp on my pedometer.

I’m fancying a toasted tuna sandwich today I think, just seen a picture of one in last weeks, YOUR WEEK and thought mmm yes, there are also some very delicious looking cakes in the new Weight Watcher magazine that arrived yesterday which I might have to have a go at this weekend.  

Before that though I have a busy day of meetings in Bloxwich with my BeYOUtiful Bloxwich Babes, time to get ready for a giggle and lots of weight loss success, it’s been a great week looking at portion sizes and identifying those ‘ISH’ members! 

Have a great day and of course Eat Gorgeous. xx

A reminder of what that weight feels like!

26^th February 2014

Stop waiting for things to happen – go out and make them happen!

 

Yesterday morning I went to make my breakfast as I usually do and I decided to have sausage, egg, mushroom and muffin and it was delicious, however I weighed the muffins in the packet using the nutritional information on the packet and my Weight Watcher scales and 2 of them weighed 4pp each, and 2 of them weighed 5pp each – neither weighed the 64g portion that the packet suggested!  This is why I use my scales because I like the accuracy, that 1pp is important to me when I only have a 26pp allowance! My sausage and egg muffin cost me 7pp – bargain.  If I’d gone to McDonalds a sausage and egg McMuffin that would have set me back 12pp, and I wouldn’t have got the lovely mushrooms I had with mine either, I’d also have probably been talked into the big breakfast instead for 17pp too!  Mine tasted so much better and meant I saved 5pp which went towards my 8pp tea of 2 crumpets with cheese, ham and coleslaw! 

 

 I prefer my runny egg version above to the McD below one any day of the week!

It really does make a difference how you spend those ProPoints!

We had salmon (110g = 5pp) with Actifry chips (250g = 5pp plus oil = 1pp), peas (2pp) for lunch used a lemon and dill 2pp Colmans bake in the bag to cook the salmon, it cooked it lovely but I did think the seasoning was a little too much, if I made it again, I’d on use half the mixture and save the other half for another time.

Really enjoyed all my meals yesterday and at the moment I’m off the wine too, don’t know what’s going on there but since I had that nasty lurgy the other week it hasn’t tasted nice, so I haven’t been bothering – miss my red stuff I do ;) 

Jane got more than she bargained at her meeting yesterday, she’s lost over 9 stone so far and whilst chatting to Alison who’s happily maintaining at goal, she told Jane she’d lost the equivalent of Alison and suggested that Jane try to carry her round the room as that’s what she would’ve been doing day in, day out 3 years ago.  The video looks like a bit of fun but it really brings home the reality of what effect carrying excess weight must have on your joints and back, I know I can always feel the effects when I gain weight at Christmas, even half a stone makes a difference to me.

To view click https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152250018817351&set=vb.133361767350&type=2&theater

 

This photo shows them side by side, Jane on the left, Alison on the right – both are successful Weight Watchers and it’s quite unbelievable to think that Jane has lost what Alison now weighs!

Yesterday I shared a fabulous weight loss success with you, and this morning I want to share another – the BeYOUtiful elegant Dorothy achieved her goal yesterday, 24 weeks, 19lb and proving that age is nothing but a number and if you put your mind to it – you can achieve anything you want to. 

Believe in yourself – BeYOUtiful – Eat Gorgeous – Because you’re worth it!

You can't beat a good success story & Em really is one!

25^th February 2014
Failure is only postponed success as long as courage 'coaches' ambition. The habit of persistence is the habit of victory.  Herbert Kaufman

After a delicious breakfast of crumpets filled with ham and cheese, we took a lovely drive out was had yesterday to Ironbridge with mom to get her out, we didn’t walk far when we got there but far enough to fill her lungs with some fresh air, get some vitamin D (yep the sun was shining) and see some pretty flowers and scenery.  The crocus were out and looking lovely, I’m so glad spring is on its way.  Despite being in continuous plan and having to use 2 sticks to help her walk she still carries on, as you can see in the album https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152189675065862.1073741854.595730861&type=1&l=3ff9af959a

I’d spent all morning on the computer putting together success photos for our page www.facebook.com/area37 and I decided that Em’s was worth more than just a before and after photo because the shots she sent me showed a journey that has obviously taken a while and I loved what she’d wrote in the message she sent me;

“For me Weight Watchers was the answer to my prayers , I have never been able to stick to a 'diet' but I have made this a lifestyle change.  I love Filling & Healthy, but if I really want something that's not F&H, I just switch to ProPoints for the day , no food is off limits.  Weight Watchers has made me experiment with foods I didn’t eat and I now get excited about fruit and veg and good food!  I have never stuck to a diet past dinnertime on Day 1, but 19 months on I am still going and love it. Xx”

I think she’s more than covered what makes Weight Watchers Works in one paragraph!

From a size 28 to a size 10, what an amazing achievement!  Em has lost almost 8 stone in today, what a phenomenal amount; she’s now lighter than she’s been in 10 years

Why did Em decide to try and lose weight again after knowing that she’d never made it past day 1 previously on any other ‘diet’, a couple of reasons, the first a very serious one, she had a build up of pressure around her brain which she I had to have a lumber puncher to drain some fluid off and was told she needed to lose weight otherwise it would get worse.  The other deciding vote as if that reason wasn’t enough was the holiday where she decided I had to lose weight!  She told me, “I was so big, my sleeping bag only done up to my knees and I froze, I couldn’t get up and down off the floor, not good when your camping!”

We all want to be healthy and happy, sometimes it takes that one thing, maybe even that one photograph to motivate us and remind us how important it is!  Seeing Em’s and other members before and after photos makes me realise it’s possible, anyone can do it if they want it bad enough and if they get good support and follow a healthy plan.

Believe in yourself – you can do anything you set your mind too!  BeYOUtiful & Eat Gorgeous – Em did ;)