Who you talking to! What did you mean by that!

14^th May 2012

 In any family, measles are less contagious than bad habits.   Mignon McLaughlin

Well I think I’ve got something along the lines of man flu ;-) felt proper poo yesterday, not much better this morning, but I shall be okay for work and at least I only have to work this morning then I may go to bed extremely early again.  All hail Night Nurse that’s why I think.

I didn’t do much of anything yesterday, apart from sitting round feeling sorry for myself, I did manage to drive to IKEA for some ideas, I’m looking at making my office more fuctional,  I wasn’t impressed they hadn’t got any catalogues though.

The rest of the day was spent, surfing the internet, watching tele, looking on facebook, boring really but I didn’t have the energy to do much else.  I felt yacky too so not much appetite – bonus some would say.

Whilst having what I thought was a conversation of different thoughts and ideas online yesterday I was reminded of the importance of watching what you write!  In our world of hyper communication, it would appear that the written and spoken word is the dominant form of communication. In fact, far more is communicated on the physical level of body language than any other form of communication. For example, most research breaks down the relative power of communication in the following three ways:

Body language: 55% Tone of voice: 38% Word: 7%

Imagine how much of the message we are missing when we read! It’s also an incredible challenge to be a writer, knowing that the written word is limiting. For example, when I write my blog each morning, the words may flow quickly, but because you can’t hear my tone of voice, see my smiling face, watch my physical gestures (hands, eyes, relative activity, etc.), I should take extra care in what I say and how I say it. It is so easy to be misunderstood in writing alone. How many times have you responded to an email or text and offended or upset the other person? Perhaps you were in a rush to reply, or you were ‘cold’ in your message, avoiding some of the required niceties to open the lines of communication and trust. Unless the other person knows you well and expects a ‘yes/no’ type response, miscommunication may result.

So I think it’s a good idea for all of us to remember in future, don’t assume you know what someone else is thinking, or that you know what someone else meant if you’re reading.

I try to always see another person’s point of view, even when I don’t agree with them or their behaviour I attempt to put myself in their shoes and see why they are behaving in that way.  I don’t necessarily excuse their behaviour, as there’s no excuse for certain things, but I do try to understand it.  I think if more of us did that there wouldn’t be so many full blown arguments. 

A simple example of this was how angry one of my members was last week because her husband and kids had eaten a packet of biscuits she’d treated herself to so she could have one now and again.  She came home to find her family eating them in front of the tv, when I asked if she’d told them not to eat her biscuits or if she’d marked her biscuits with her name she said “no, but they never go in that cupboard usually”.  When you read that you realise they weren’t to know they couldn’t have those biscuits when it’s okay to have any of the other biscuits in the house.  Lack of communication is a dangerous thing, if you want someone to do or behave in a specific way, then tell them, don’t assume they’ll know!

If none of the above makes any sense, I apologise as I’m not 100% this morning, it all makes sense in my head but I’m not sure if I’m communicating it well.  This mornings meeting will be interesting for sure! ;-)

It’s good to talk about using our mouths for something other than eating for a change – have a great day. x

What do you do all day!?

13^th May 2012

You make mistakes. Mistakes don't make you!

A short one from me today, had a rough night got a bad throat so woke up with my tonsils burning, luckily no white spots so hopefully just part of the head cold and it’ll go away soon enough.  Mom’s a bid dodgy too, so it’s a day of quietness and relaxation for our household. 

I’ve still managed a good hours walk with Alfie which was lovely because the weather is one again superb, after all the rain we’ll take anything that’s dry won’t we!

I just had a delicious breakfast, mushrooms, ham, spring onion and cheese omelette, 10pp of scrumptious which would have been free had I been on a filling and healthy day.  I’m not though because I would eat too much, I know what my appetites like when I’m poorly, I can eat a lot!

I’m going to tinker in my office this morning and enjoy myself, yeah that sounds like a plan.  Whatever you do, make sure it’s enjoyable or necessary, I got the ironing out of the way yesterday so that’s  my housework allowance for the weekend done, I’m not doing anymore.

Although I might be moving things around in my office! 

So I’m off enjoy you’re day, and remember the reasons you joined Weight Watchers, they’ll help you stay focused and on track today. x

And if you’re feeling like an undervalued housewife, this might cheer you up and make you smile;

What Did You Do All Day?

A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard.

The door of his wife’s car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog.

Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall.

In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.

In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened.

He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door.

As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap, and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls.

As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel.

She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked:

“What happened here today?’”

She again smiled and answered, “You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?”

“Yes,” was his incredulous reply.

She answered, ‘”Well, today I didn’t do it.”

I love days like these, look up at that sky!

12^th May 2012

People may doubt what you say but they will believe what you do.

42 ProPoints! Yes that's how many pp were in my Chiquitos Classico burger meal yesterday lunchtime after the cinema. Shocked doesn't even come close to how I felt when I checked my eat out guide when I got home. I had tried to look on the iPhone app but Chiquitos wasn't coming up, so I had what I fancied knowing all of the menu looked high, we were on a time schedule so couldn't drive about. It was delicious but could be made at home for half the pp, big mac & large fries is only 26pp. I'd said to Lynne how many do you reckon I thought 30 she said 20 lol just shows this guesswork lark isn't really very accurate and we're leaders!

So if you're not 100% tracking, weighing and measuring then don't be surprised if you don't always lose.

I had a wonderful day yesterday and I have used every spare ProPoint I had, I in minus figures now which means I'm running every day till weigh day to earn them back. Today and tomorrow is all about moving more and staying within my 26pp daily allowance.

Started the day well, changed my bedding before leaving the house, as I type I'm out walking Alfie on a glorious sunny morning. Don't be fooled though we've had a frost and it's cold. My hands going a bit numb now so I'm going to stop typing for a bit!

Warmed up again now me and Alfie have been out 45 minutes so far half walking / half jogging and we are still a mile or more from home, he's not impressed with the mucky wet road we are on but I'm not turning round now! ;-)

A bit of sun makes all the difference doesn't it, it's absolutely glorious out here walking through the farmers fields. And it looks like its forecast for the weekend too.

I shall enjoy the morning walking and being outside then later I'm going to get a bit of housework done, it's long overdue, can only put the ironing off for so long I'm running out of clothes! Maybe a movie whilst ironing, it's never as bad in reality as I imagine it's going to be.

Might cook too, something easy but tasty, mmm I have some new potatoes which I might boil then slice into a dish with fried onions and red peppers, top with Parma ham and cheese and cook through in the oven. I can serve it with salad leaves. Ooo yeah I like this walking, thinking & typing lark and I now can't wait for my dinner tonight and no sorry there isn't enough to share.

Right I'll post this when I get back but for now I'm going to enjoy the views.

We’ll we’re back, 5 miles we’ve done and it was great, my back gave up the last ½ mile though, so I’m going to do the housework stuff out the way first and if my back eases or time allows before my appointment later I will run too.  I already have 3pp on my pedometer though so that’s great for a Saturday 12,000 steps = result.

Almost forgot to say we saw American Pie reunion at the cinema, if you enjoyed the films the first time around, then you’ll enjoy this one, we laughed out loud a good few times.

The photos are from my walk this morning, for more click on photo below.  Happy Saturday everyone – enjoy it. xx 

Mmm what shall I spend my 26pp on today!

11^th May 2012

My circumstances do not make me what I am, they reveal who I have chosen to be. (from James Allen)

Almost the weekend and so far so good, I’m on course for a weight loss on Tuesday as long as I stay strong through the weekend, I have 32 of my weeklies left and have earned 28pp too that I will most likely use.

It does take effort to get back on track, it’s remembering that you do have the power to say, “no thank you”, and that you don’t have to have 50g of bran flakes to fill you up, 30g will do the job if you add a banana!

I think the biggest challenge though is realising there’s 7 days in a diet week, not 4!  Yep, when I’m talking to members at the scales who are telling me they’ve stuck to it and tracked so don’t know why they haven’t lost weight and I ask if that’s the entire week or just Monday to Thursday, they usually own up they didn’t track Saturday and Sunday, or they had a couple of meals out over the weekend and you can’t track them can you.  HELL YES you can, and if you can’t track something and you really want a weight loss – don’t have it!

Am I being a bit blunt with that statement?  Maybe but again if you want a weight loss you got to put in the work. It’s too easy to say “oh go on then”, last night a member asked me if I wanted a coffee but she got me a cappuccino instead, which was 1pp, I could’ve drunk it and thought “oh well”, but instead I didn’t I gave it away and luckily the lady who had it got me a coffee.  You may be thinking it’s only 1pp, but if you only have 26pp to start with – every one of them counts!

I’ve started my day with fruit today because I’ve not got a busy day, I’m off to the cinema when my paperworks done and yes I shall be resisting the popcorn.  The idea of it is always better than the reality of it, a bit like the crisp sandwich I had for my tea last night, I’d planned it all week and when I finally had it, well it wasn’t anything special!

My plan is to not be lazy this weekend, I think going on a diet doesn’t just affect what you eat, it affects your life all round.  I know I’ve been more active this week and I want to enjoy my weekend and get something done, rather than just sit around doing nothing.  The weather isn’t helping is it, hopefully the rain will stop soon and let us all get out and doing.

Anyways I better get going, paperwork to do, places to be! 

If you’re losing weight, don't do it for someone else, or to prove them wrong, don't do it to get skinner than ...., don't do it so people will like you. DO IT FOR YOU and to make yourself feel proud and good about yourself - You're worth it!

Less is more - RUBBISH! I like lots!

10^th May 2012

We know not where our dreams will take us, but we can probably see quite clearly where we'll go without them. Marilyn Grey

What a fabulous night last night, 3 members achieved their goal weight, that always makes my day when one does, let alone 3, so well done Natalie, Pauline and John, you’ve all done absolutely amazingly. 

Natalie and Pauline both lost 19lb, Pauline was motivated by a wedding and Natalie by her wardrobe full of clothes she wanted to get back into, just saved a fortune on her summer wardrobe!

John has lost an amazing 90lb, almost six and a half stone, it’s taken him just under two years and when asked what one tip he would give others he said exercise, which proves we all can get active in some way, because he’s found ways to exercise in his wheelchair. He’s an inspiration and very, very witty, I love having him in my meetings. 

Yes, last night put a huge smile on my face, always rewarding to see a members hard work pay off. 

I slept like a baby last night, all this running is certainly tiring me out by the end of the day, I managed half hour yesterday, although I shall not be going today, too busy and body needs time to recover, oh yeah and if you look outside it’s raining heavy so I’ve gotten wet quite enough this week!

Ended yesterday on 32pp but I did earn 14pp through pedometer and running and the ProPoints did all go on good food (except the ww jellys), my day looked like this;

Breakfast - Tinned tomatoes, mushrooms, fried egg (2pp), fried potatoes (2pp), oil (1pp) = 5pp total

Snack – banana

Lunch - Spatchcock chicken with garlic & herb marinade (8pp), Cauliflower, carrots, roast pepper, onions & tomatoes.

Dinner - Chicken, salad open sandwich (10pp)

½ pint milk in drinks – 3pp
Weight Watcher sour fruits – 2pp

Total 32pp

Activity earned – pedometer 9pp, 30minute run 5pp

I think my meals yesterday show you don't have to eat less to lose weight, you just have to eat differently.  I’m really pleased with that, especially as I was ravenous from about 5.30pm onwards and didn’t eat my dinner until 3 hours later, I managed to resist having a bag of crisps or a bar of something from my meeting, I waited till I got home and had a proper meal, delicious it was too, and I shared my chicken with Alfie.

“I will loss next Tuesday!”  That’s my mantra this week, I keep repeating it, I’m believing in the law of attractive this week, putting out what I want to get back.

I’m sure you’re all up for a good week and losing weight with me next week, so decide now on your positive mantra, a statement you can use when temptation rears its ugly head or the weekend arrives.

Have a great on track day, I will because I will lose weight next Tuesday!

I won't let the fame go to my head!

9^th May 2012

Never give up on something you really want. It’s difficult to wait, but more difficult to regret. Bev Longsden.

Would have loved a loss yesterday, but I got a stayed the same, I deserved it, I should have carried on tracking over the bank holiday weekend instead of sticking my head in the sand and pretending I didn’t care!

Well I had my own little claim to fame yesterday, was on the radio, BBC WM, http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0021kmd/broadcasts/2012/05 I’m on it about 51 minutes in, I was so relieved when I listened back, that I didn't sound quite as Wolvo as I thought I would!  I was very nervous for some reason and yet I talk to hundreds of people every week, isn’t it strange how we react to different things in different ways.  I was on there because Weight Watchers have teamed up with Debenhams to launch The Ultimate Weight Loss Wardrobe, designed to empower slimmers all over the UK to embrace the clothes shopping experience, whatever their shape, size or how confident they feel.

http://www.playweightwatchers.co.uk/weightlosswardrobe/

Shopping is rarely fun when you have weight to lose and even as your losing it, it still has its problems, sizes vary so much, I range from a 10-16! What’s that all about, it can be soul destroying when you’re looking for an outfit for an event and you can’t find anything to look or fit right.  Nightmare, that’s why I used to live in black, elasticated waist trousers, now I don’t own trousers, I have a few pairs of jeans but most of the time I wear skirts and dresses and I love them, I can’t believe I’m saying this but I love the girly-ness and feminine feel of a dress.  20 years ago you would have had to fight me to the floor to get me in a dress, actually even 8 years ago, so yes I have most definitely changed not just in shape but in confidence too.

I now wear clothes I like and enjoy wearing not clothes I think people will ignore me and leave me alone if I wear.  I’m happy to be stared at when I’m out if I like what I’m wearing, I really don’t care if others don’t because I bought it for me and I follow my own fashion.   As I said on the radio “we all want to rock our look”, and I have my own image, I don’t need someone else’s.

I think it’s really important to realise a number on a label doesn’t define you any more than a number on a set of scales.  We’re all gorgeous and the labels can be cut out, as long as you look and feel good in what you’re wearing who cares what size they are!

So because I was waiting to talk on the radio, I missed my run and by the time it was done and I’d caught up on my paperwork it was too late, so yesterday afternoon I spent half hour putting together my first vision board, it turned out to be a ‘MOVE MORE’ one, which wasn’t how I’d started it, it just ending up going in that direction.  It’s now stuck on my office door, this is it;

I shall definitely do another one, I enjoyed looking through magazines, cutting things out and putting them on the board, it made me feel positive doing it.

It also motivated me to go running after I’d finished work, last night at 8.15pm!  Check me out, I’m usually getting ready for bed then!  I also run further in the 30 minutes than I have before so maybe that time suits me, the only downside was I didn’t go to bed till 10.30 because I needed to relax first, so not a time I’d run on a weekday very often.  Although I’m not tired this morning so it’s not too bad.

On that note, I’ll go take the dog for a walk, my pedometer clocked up 7pp by the end of the day yesterday and that was without the 6pp I earned from my run.  I finished the day on 26pp, so that’s 1 day down, 6 to go in pursuit of the perfect week and a weight loss!

If you can see it, you can achieve it!

8^th May 2012

It's not what you do once in a while, it's what you do day in and day out that makes the difference. Jenny Craig

Well that’s another Bank Holiday gone, I didn’t really do anything with mine just chilled out and recharged my batteries, we all need down time otherwise we burn ourselves out and as I work a 50 hour week most weeks, I definitely feel the need for the odd weekend of doing absolutely zero.

I did manage a bit of paperwork yesterday but the housework never happened and now I’m looking round wishing it had, hey ho I cope with the chaos well.

I started my vision board though, well I started the cutting out stage, it’s all in a box waiting for me to get some card for it to be put onto.  The actual looking through magazines and cutting out was good for me, made me feel very positive just doing it. Yes I’d definitely recommend sitting looking for positive words/photos in magazines, it definitely made me think about a few things. 

So what exactly is this vision board all about, it’s simply a visual representation or collage of the things that you want to have, be, or do in your life. It consists of a poster or foam board with cut-out pictures, drawings and/or writing on it of the things that you want in your life or the things that you want to become. The purpose of a vision board is to activate the law of attraction to begin to pull things from your external environment that will enable you to realize your dream. By selecting pictures and writing that charges your emotions with feelings of passion, you will begin to manifest those things into your life.

What exactly is the law of attraction? It states that we attract into our lives anything that we give attention to, regardless whether it be positive or negative, whether that’s true or not, I would believe thinking about something you want and having a constant visual of that in front of you on a daily basis can serve as a constant reminder to what you want to be/do.

So if you fancy making one of your own, then here’s how, your personal vision board is only limited by the extent of your own creativity. Having artistic ability is not a prerequisite for creating a functional vision board and the general elements that a well-designed vision board should include are:

Visual. Your subconscious mind works in pictures and images, so make your vision board as visual as possible with as many pictures as you can. You can supplement your pictures with words and phrases to increase the emotional response you get from it.

Emotional. Each picture on your vision board should evoke a positive emotional response from you. The mere sight of your vision board should make you happy and fuel your passion to achieve it every time you look at it.

Strategically-placed. Your vision board should be strategically placed in a location that gives you maximum exposure to it. You need to constantly bath your subconscious mind with its energy in order to manifest your desires quicker than you hope.

Personal. Negative feelings, self-doubt, and criticism can damage the delicate energy that your vision board emits. If you fear criticism or justification of your vision board from others, then place it in a private location so it can only be seen by yourself.

All you need to complete one is either a foam core board, cardboard or poster board.  A large assortment of magazines. Glue or tape & scissors

Start by going through your magazines and compiling all the pictures that you can find that are relevant to your goal. Don’t evaluate the pictures or start pasting them onto your board. Just stack them into a pile. If you are internet saavy & have a printer, then a much quicker method is to use an internet search engine to find good pictures that you can use for my board. Make sure that each image that you put on your board resonates with your heart and makes you excited at the mere look of it. It’s also important when selecting pictures to include anything that is congruent with your goal, such as any changes in your life that might result from obtaining your goal. So if your goal is to lose weight, then select pictures of a lifestyle that is congruent with your weight loss. Asking yourself the following questions might help you design a congruent vision board:

What would you do differently when you realize your goal? Where would you travel? Where would you live?
What would you wear? What things would you own? What kind of vehicle would you drive? What would you do for work?...Or would you work? Who would you help? How would you be different?

Next sort and cut. Go through your pile of pictures and select the ones that impact you the most emotionally. Cut the extraneous material away from the image. Then start arranging your pictures creatively on your board. Don’t worry about being artistic—that’s not the point. The point is that your board should resonate with your emotions. Arrange your pictures in a way that gives you an emotional connection to your vision board. After you are satisfied with the arrangement, glue all your pictures in place. Additionally, you might want to add writing or drawing on your vision board if you feel that it would better resonate with your emotions.

The most important part of having a vision board is having it in a strategic location that gives you as much visual exposure to it throughout the day. For most of us, this is in the office or kitchen, but if that is not possible or appropriate, then try your living room or your bedroom.

I’m looking forward to putting mine together, I’m even thinking about either doing an online one or taking a photo of it and having it as my screensaver.

If you do make one, I'd love to see a photo!  Here's a few I found online, we can do better can't we?

Have a great shorter work week – YAY!

Curvy, skinny or toned - whatever makes you happy!

7^th May 2012

Beauty, to me, is about being comfortable in your own skin. Gwyneth Paltrow

Yay another 5k, took me a few minutes longer today but I was on trails rather than paths and I felt better doing it, Mike Skinner is distracting me perfectly with his story of the streets, great audiobook, I think so anyway.  But we all have different tastes don’t we whether it be a book, or music, you’ve only got to watch “The Voice” on BBC and see the facebook status updates or twitter comments to see that! 

Thankfully we are all different in our likes and dislikes otherwise we’d all want the same thing and life would be dull, plus there’d never be any smoky bacon crisps in the newsagents when the mood takes you in that direction!

There’s seems to be quite a big divide when it comes to “What is the perfect body?” For some it appears to be that lovely curvy figure like Kelly Brook, where any fat on her body is situated perfectly in the right place & not only is it in the right place, its smooth too, unlike the fat that positioned in a similar place on my body which doesn’t look quite the same and it certainly isn’t smooth lol, but I still love it ;) why – because it’s mine and I’ve spent way to many of my earlier years slagging it off and trying to change it, my main focus these days isn’t to change it, its to take care of it, to feed it nutritious food, to treat it to the occasional massage, ensure it gets plenty of rest and exercise it to keep it mobile. 

At the other end of the spectrum we have the super toned, ultra fit or skinny bird and some women aspire to this figure too.  Not all skinny birds are anorexic, some are just super fit and work out a great deal, you’ve only got to look at Paula Radcliffe (a women I am totally in awe of)  to know that. she's super fit! Heck in an ideal world I’d have Paula’s fitness levels and endurance and Kelly’s body but I’d quite like to keep my personality and face if you don’t mind cos I likes it.

These days though rather than an image in my mind of how I want to look I have a thought / idea of how I want to feel.  One of my facebook mates just said, “When I was at my largest I worked out that looking at fat pictures of myself just made me eat more and I'd never been skinny in my life. So I didn't have a skinny picture to motivate me. I saw this pic in a magazine and thought she looks great, sexy, curvy and real’  So I cut it out and stuck it and some WW online success stories of people my start weight and height on the inside of my wardrobe door” in a magazine and thought 'she looks great, sexy, curvy and real' so I sit it out and stuck it ,and some WW online success stories of people my start weight and my height, on the inside of my wardrobe doors. 

What a fabulous idea, kind of like a vision board, she’s just helped me decide how I’m spending a few hours this afternoon, I’m going to create a vision board for my office wall to help motivate me to stay on track, photos of things that show how I want to feel, not necessarily photos of people - I know what I mean in my head, maybe I’ll share it with you tomorrow.

We all know I’m in the zone on a Monday morning but come Thursday night I start to forget how important it is to stay on track so maybe a vision board will serve as a reminder!  The fridge door might be a good place to position one!

We all have different visions and ideas of what we want from life, it’s important not to judge anyone else’s or poo pah their ideas and dreams.  Regarding your body it’s also important to remember you’re working on a Masterpiece and to reate one of those takes time!  And everyone has a different idea of what a good masterpiece looks like, personally I'm not a big lover of the Mona Lisa, but Van Goghs Starry Night, now your talking!

It's like fitness, when I'm asked "are you fit?" my response is usually "for what?" because it depends again how fit you want to be, I'm fit enough to run 30 minutes or walk 26 miles, but ask me to do a few hours of Zumba and I'll decline!

Great being different isn't it!

Enjoy your day, I’m off to find magazines to cut up, even though I should be doing housework and paperwork!  It’s a Bank Holiday – sod it!

No I will do a little grown up housework and stuff first = boo to being a grown up!

9 stone lost! Now that's a success...

6^th May 2012

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Well today started a lot different to yesterday, this morning I’ve walked Alfie for an hour & run 5k, yesterday morning I woke up in a hotel room with two other women – that sounds way more rock and roll than it was!  In reality it was a family room at the Travelodge and staying there was easier than trying to get a taxi to get us all home the night before, plus one of us had gone back there at 9 and although I’d stayed out I’d fallen asleep at the table in the curry house – we’re proper hard core us lot! NOT!

So I spent yesterday doing not much of anything other than chilling, I wasn’t hungover, I was just tired, I’m usually in bed by 9 so staying out till midnight was almost the pumpkin thing! 

Today, I’m still planning on chilling out but at least I’ve been a little active to start with. 

I’m a very proud leader this morning, one of my members “Debbie Murphy” is in the Sunday Mercury, a huge double page success story, fantastic, 9 stone lost and beautiful inside and out.    I’ll post the article below.

It’s amazing what a bit of sunshine can do for your mood isn’t it.  Looks like being a lovely day, fingers crossed especially as it’s a bank holiday weekend.

Right I’m off to decide how to spend my day, whatever you’ve got planned enjoy. x

The morning af the day before!

5th May 2012 Life is like riding a bicycle, in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving. Albert Einstein I'm not going to be doing a lot today, feeling a little delicate after our day on the town! I do actually think I am still on track for a weight loss because I fell asleep in the curry house - yep I'm a proper old lady now ;). But on the bright side I didn't eat anything so I'll be an old lady with a weight loss! I've had 2 eggs and a pitta for breakfast (no bread in) so that's 8pp, just got to fight the munches all day now! I will though because I really want a weight loss on Tuesday. If you feel the same about losing weight you've got to keep reminding yourself resisting temptation is worth it as is finding something to do to occupy your weekends. On that note I'm going to stop writing and go do something, I suggest you do too. Enjoy your day xx

May the fourth be with you ;-)

4^th May 2012

You are not fully dressed until you wear a smile.

Was pleased I got through yesterday without going crazy with the food, I’m always hungry on a Thursday but I stayed on track, finished with some weeklies in place for today ;)

I’ve really enjoyed work this week, I enjoy it all the time but this week a lot of members having realisations of the tracking thing, how we all kinda do it sometimes but not 100%.

Last night as I was getting ready for bed looking for my Pjs I looked at myself naked in a full length mirror, 20 years ago even though my body was firmer I wouldn’t have liked my reflection. Any my body really has chanced and that’s partly because I’m 42 and it’s older and partly because I’m not willing to put in the gym hours and diet as strictly as I once did.  I’m too busy doing other things, like helping people find a happy balance in their lives so they’re comfortable with who they are too and of course I’m also having fun.  I joke that I can either blow dry my hair every day or I can walk my dog.  I can be at work on time after a run, or miss the run and beautify myself!  I can’t do it all, there are only so many hours in the day and I’ve made choices and decided what’s important to me and if those choices mean I’m a little heavier on the scales and I tie my hair up most of the time, well that works for me because my life gets better everyday.  I’m way happier at 42 than I ever was at 22, at 22 I was so obsessed with my appearance and the shape of my body to the point where I forgot I was supposed to be having a fun time too!

Yeah life’s good, I eat healthily 95% of the time, I run when I can fit it in, I walk the dog daily, I have a job I enjoy doing every day.  I never get up in the morning and think “oh no it’s…….” whatever day it may be, because I enjoy them all.

So last night when I looked at my 42 year old naked body and it’s different shape, it’s a little softer and rounder than 20 years ago, I smiled because it’s a happy body with a happy mind attached. 

Do I ever think otherwise, of course I do, I’ll have the odd, “OH my gosh, I’m fat & I need to lose weight and get fitter” moments, but they don’t last!  They usually appear after I see an ex I haven’t seen for 10 years or an old school friend, these people remind me of my past so instantly I think about how I looked then, but then I remind myself I’m older now and I look at photos and see that I didn’t look better back then just slimmer and I know I wasn’t happier then so I soon get back to being a happy owl as I like to call it. (happy Over Weight Lady).

On that note, I’ve got loads to do because later I’m going to use every remaining weekly and activity ProPoint I have left to go get myself a bit giggly drunk with my besties and my brother, me and Lynne haven’t been out since 23^rd March so we missed out on the month of April! 

YAY bring on the day I can’t wait for it to begin. 

May the Fourth be with ya – get it ;-) only get to use that joke once a year. x

One day at a time!

3^rd May 2012

Anger makes you smaller, while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you are. Cherie Carter-Scott

Made it through another day on track, although I used 3 of my weeklies, even after using the activity ProPoints I’d earned, need to keep this momentum going, my only trying day will be Friday, we’re off out for the day so it’ll be a real test of strength!   I can do it, we’re going to run on the morning to earn some activity ProPoints, and Lynne’s adding minutes to the run every time I insult her, we’re at 39 minutes at the moment, so I better be nice today ;-)

It would be too easy to think sod it, I’ll start Monday, as we so often do, but that mentality can lead to us never actually starting, so I’d rather stick to the plan and be as good as I can on Friday then get straight back on it on Saturday, all the walking the dog and running can only help too.  I earned 12 ProPoints yesterday on my pedometer and with my run, I love that it means I can eat more, really helps me stay on track because I like eating.

Some great weight losses this week in the meetings, loving that we’ve been handing out lots of 10% keyrings and seeing that members who had a bad week last week have got straight back to tracking and had good results this week.  If you’re struggling, talk to me, think how best can I help you with your weight loss journey and let me know, that’s what I’m here for.

I ran for 30 minutes yesterday and for the last few weeks I’ve been finding it really hard work, not just physically but mentally too, even just getting out the door has been a real effort but yesterday was easier, the only difference was instead of music I was listening to an audio book, I’d started listening whilst walking the dog on the morning and I couldn’t wait to continue so that encouraged me to put my trainers on, then as I was running and listening concentrating on the book took my mind off my body and what it was feeling and also distracted me from the time so hopefully this will be my way to improve without it being painful.  I also improved the distance I went, from 2.76 to 2.8 miles in 30 minutes, not breaking any world records but making me feel good!  Remember you can still join us for the 5k race for life, you don’t have to run you can walk or if not you can donate a food item to our raffle hamper, just bring it to the meeting and make sure it has a decent sell by date on it.  Let’s raise some money.

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I had a nice lunch yesterday using those Weight Watchers garlic cook in the bags, there zero propoints and £1, I added chicken, courgettes, onion, carrots and mushrooms and it was only 3pp, I served it with quinoa (7pp) which I’m really into since I discovered it, it’s the microwave kind so already flavoured- very nice.  Then for tea I had one of the frozen meals I prepared the other Sunday, great to have them as a fall back for when I’m not in the mood to cook.

Right speaking of food, need to get my breakfast and walk the dog, catch ya tomo. Xx

Losing PP not flavour!

2^nd May 2012

Without the rich heart, wealth is an ugly beggar. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Midweek already, that’s gone quickly – for me anyway.  I gained a pound yesterday at weigh-in = GUTTED!  I wasn’t impressed at all, really knocked my neck in and surprised me.  Then I thought about it and knew exactly why I’d gained, I may not have drank in the house last week, nor eaten any processed packaged food, I may have treated my body like a shrine but I overloaded that shrine with good foods.  Basically I ate too much, even if it’s good stuff, if there’s too much of it, you ain’t gonna lose weight. 

So as my tracking week started Monday, I’m still on track, by the end of Monday I had 31pp weeklies left.  Yesterday looked like this

1 pint skimmed milk for drinks and cereal = 5pp

50g bran flakes = 5pp

Lunch

Curry 3pp =

Mushrooms, Weight Watchers Curry Paste (1pp), tomatoes, spinach, potatoes (2pp)

Poppodum 1pp (ate a few pieces before throwing the rest in bin!)

Banana

Tea = 7pp

Pastrami (2pp)

Salad leaves

Pitta (4pp)

Cucumber dip (1pp)

Glass red wine = 6pp

Total for day 27pp 

Earned on pedometer 4pp

So 3pp saved to add to my weeklies, giving me 34pp in the bank for later in the week.

I was really pleased with the curry, I had bought a Sainsbury’s meal deal 4 mains and 2 sides for a tenner, but I’ve put them in the freezer for now.  The sides were 8pp each and weighed 300g, the curry I made weighed the same for 5pp less and tasted delicious.  I might make a chicken version today instead of potato, mmm roll on lunchtime!

It just proves with a bit of thought you can stay within your ProPoints and make the plan work for you.  I’ve had a large breakfast again today to see if it makes a difference with my hunger levels later in the day.  I have to say I wasn’t at all hungry yesterday afternoon or tea time when I got back from work and that light tea did the job.  Tomorrow and Friday I’ll have 30g instead of 50g and see if it makes a difference. 

Here’s hoping the rain stays away long enough for me to get a run in sometime today, I know a lot of you read my blog first thing, so if you’re one of them, lets all have a wicked Wednesday, confuse people by saying “Isn’t it a lovely day” if they reply no its not it’s raining, just reply “not in my heart its not!”

Just because it’s raining you don’t have to be miserable.  Everyday can be seen as a good one, it’s just how you view it, I don’t even notice the weather until it’s pointed out to me. 

Here’s a little bit of my day from yesterday that made me smile, I was looking for my hairbrush and mom had it, the conversation went like this,

“Mom that's my hairbrush.” 

Mom "I'm only borrowing it"

Me “yeah mom but yr using it on the dog!!!!”

Xx Enjoy your day – I always do xx