Tuesday night's weigh in

So, after nearly 2 weeks of being half on track half off, I was pretty curious to see how my weigh in would go last night. I wasn't expecting loads, not only was I not as on target with the plan as I should have been, it's also ''that time'' which sees me always put on a bit extra. But, I was pleased when the scales showed 1 1/2 pound off! This takes me to 9 1/2 pounds since starting Slimming World and a grand total of 12 1/2 pounds since I started my weight loss. I'm hoping that by next Tuesday's weigh in, I will take that to a full stone off. I'm very pleased and feeling as though it's starting to finally show that I've lost some. Only have a stone more to see off before I am back to the weight I was when I met my boyfriend. I told him last night that it's only a few weeks away that I'll see that and that everything beyond that point is new territory for him! I'm happy he's so supportive but equally, he loves me just as I am and let's me know it every day.

So, this week the plan is to get extra focused, count every little ''Syn'' that goes into my mouth and stick to the plan 100%. That should sort me!

Oh where have I gone?!

Well well, after such a few successful weeks now, I seemed to have lost my way just a little bit. Yes I am still watching what I eat, but due to a meeting last Tuesday I missed my Slimming world meeting. I am hoping that this tuesday yeilds some more results and puts me right back on track with extreme focus. I didn't realise what missing one meeting would do to me to be honest, but although I still feel totally motivated to lose the weight, attending every week keeps it fresh in my mind without too much effort. Now I'm putting all the effort I can muster into keeping that focus, I only have two more days left and we'll see how I've managed on my own. EEK!

I'm hoping I haven't fallen too far off the wagon and I most certainly have not stuffed my face with total crap - of that I am certain. I do however need to dig out my little notebook and make it my permanent place to keep a food diary as these past 2 weeks have seen me mostly doing mental calculations and doing my best to keep on track. I have no hard records and this I vow to start doing TODAY. There is no way I can keep that up long term without seeing in black and white clearly what I am eating. So I will go and dig out my little green notebook out of my purse and clean it up for a food diary.

That said, let's hope Tuesday brings results!!

The weigh results are in!

Well well well! Last night saw me at Slimming world with yet another weigh in. To be honest, I knew I had been pretty good all week and I was crossing my fingers for a pound gone to be happy. I didn't get a pound off however.....nope I got 3 1/2! Wow, that's 6 pounds in just 3 weeks making me one happy camper! Making my total weight loss since I started this whole journey 9 pounds.

I'm hoping that next week brings at least a pound off in order to achieve my first goal with Slimming World which is a half a stone off. (or 7 pounds). I cannot believe how easy this feels, as I don't seem to really hesistate making the better choices. Sure I have the odd thing, day or moment but I really haven't allowed any little minor upsets spiral into major ones. This is where I feel the big difference is and I'm never, ever hungry on this plan. I couldn't be more happy. As well as my own choices, my boyfriend has been a huge part of keeping me on track. I really feel that with him taking my goals into consideration, times that might have easily gotten lost into the path of destruction were avoided. Thank you honey!

My focus this week is to introduce a little excersise into my routine. Nothing too big, just 15 minutes at least 3 days a week to start. Today I started off with my dog with the intention of a quick 15 minute jaunt and ended up doing 30 minutes - guess I was happier walking along to the music than I thought! It was great, she was happy and I got a boost.

So here's to another 3 1/2 pounds gone!

At the cinema

Last night my guy and I headed off to the cinema to see Transformers (part 2 ofc). The cinema is always ''diet hell'' for anyone, especially me when I see all those gorgeous chocolates and bad food calling out. To top it off, we didn't get a chance to eat before the movie started, we were starving, hungry and we ordered two nachos. Well they were buy one get one half price!

Sitting there, staring at it in all its gorgeousness, I decided there was no way in hell I was wasting my Syns or precious calories on it. I knew it wouldn't really fill me up in the way a meal would and I figured I'd be feeling pretty bad about the whole thing the next morning anyway. So it sat on my lap, glaring at me in disgust, until I offloaded it onto my partner who looked at me as though I'd just asked him to eat a 10 course meal. He was stuffed apparently, and couldn't manage two large nachos...wimp. I guess I shouldn't say that, it was he who was supportive and also my guiding voice to make sure I knew what I was eating before I ate it. He's not some nagging coach who tells me what to eat, but does give me a reminder to know what I'm doing first. After all, these are my goals not his, he'll stay out of it if I need him to but he knows me well enough to give me a sticky note when he feels me falling off the rails. I love him for it.

Once again I think this whole eating regime is doing me some good in keeping me on the straight and narrow (with my boyfriend's help of course at times!) and I'm hoping Tuesday is another good weigh in showing some loss which would be nice. I'm sticking to my Lose a Stone by the end of July goal....so here's to another great choice helping that goal come to life.

To hell with cinema food!

Goin' Down!

Well! What a great feeling to see all these choices work for me this week. I got to group last night, not too sure of what to expect, making mental notes not to get any high hopes. A loss of half a pound would have still put a smile on my face, just not perhaps as big of one as I did get. I dropped 2 1/2 pounds this week, taking back the 2 1/2 that I put on last week. Hey, it's not huge but it's a step in the right direction!

It's also really driven home just how much those little choices throughout my week make a difference. Seeing this week the scales move in the direction that I wanted gives me even more motivation to keep things rolling. Those ''one off's'' happen more often than I thought and they certainly have kept me from succeeding in the past. I feel determined to stick to my guns this week and keep to the plan and see if we can't offload another 1 1/2 pounds next Tuesday when weigh in comes. I won't cross my fingers, I'll simply make good choices!

My plan is to have dropped 6.4 kilos (14 pounds or 1 stone) by the end of July, which I feel is very realistic. I also now need to really up the stakes a bit and focus on building in some exercise more often. Last week saw me out in the garden helping out Sunday afternoon, which I think really helped. So this week the plan is to build in a few walks with the dog and perhaps a couple of dance sessions in my living room to help the scales along a bit.

I'll check back tomorrow and update on how I'm feeling and how things are going. Until then! x

Getting there, one little choice at a time

Wow, what a last few days it's been. Since my last post here I've come to make some very good choices I must admit, staying in control of that back on board feeling. I've not been perfect, but I am hoping that my hard work will pay off on Tuesday's weigh in. If not, well I'll just have to work a bit harder!

Friday night saw us all pretty tired, run down and all in all slumped on the sofa. My partner looked at me and asked if I wanted to just order in, he could see I was tired and honestly he was too. So he suggested Domino's and that he'd pick it up on his way home from the store with light shopping. I thought a minute, I could have the pizza alongside everyone else, or I could take another hard look in the mirror and do something else. I opted for the latter, I asked him to please simply get me a pasta dish, something without cheese, something as healthy as he could find at the store, I'd skip the pizza. You have to know, I LOVE...no ADORE Pizza, so to make such a choice was the most empowering thing I can recall doing when it comes to food. You know, I didn't miss it. I thought that I would sit there drooling over every little piece of pizza going into my family's mouth but, I didn't. My pasta was lovely, I had some dairy allowance and put my weighed portion of cheese on the top and sank into pasta heaven. It felt so good.

Riding on the high from Friday night's grand dinner decision, I was faced today with yet another dilemma. We took the kids swimming today and decided after to have a bite to eat there at the leisure center. My partner ordered a burger and chips (fries to us Americans), my son the same, the little one, chicken and chips and now my choice. Tempted by all the fried goodies on offer I had a look at the menu. If it wasn't fried, it was sausages, or something with chips, or sandwiches on white bread. However I noted on there a nice Jacket Potato with Baked beans and although the burgers smelled lovely, my thighs in the bathing suit at the pool were enough to make me want to choose anything other than fatty burgers.

I cannot tell you how much in the past I would have just buckled in and called it a ''one off''. Previously that one off would have meant both Friday and Saturday totally ruined by just these two meals. Top that off with probably desserts and other goodies I would have allowed myself and wham bam thank you mam, my thighs wobbling their own dance routine. When you start to jot things down and look at your eating habits on paper, you begin to take more notice of all those ''one offs''. They all add up fast, much faster than I gave them credit for. Finally I'm feeling very in control this week. I've had one ''bad'' day when I just seemed to want to eat everything, but all in all I've kept it in check and not let it become a spiral.

I'm also going to have a try at the S.A.S. log that Slimming World do. It stands for Slimmers Against Sabotage and it gets you to have a look at your eating habits in more detail so you can assess where you might be sabotaging yourself. That is me totally, I know this fat represents much deeper issues and letting go of it means I have to square with those issues once and for all.

I have a choice, hang onto it all and let my heart grow heavier by the day with emotions so pent up they are screaming to get out, not to mention that the fat lays heavy on my body wrecking it day by day.

Or, face the only thing in life I've been scared of facing and let it all go. Only when I do this will I find the courage in myself to move forward, without the emotions, without the fat, just me, loving life and most importantly myself.

Feeling back on board

Ahhh...and what a nice feeling it is too. Today I was so over-emotional from hormones again that I really thought I was gonna blow it. I had a box of Maltesers in my cupboard, which I stupidly bought the other day for myself as a treat to have (and one to count!). It seems however that one portion is 9 1/2 Syns (I aim for 10 a day, you are allowed up to 15) and in my utter shock at this disgrace I was ready to munch the whole box because ''I NEED this chocolate!'' In my temper for the first time ever I got out the scales and weighed out one portion and put the rest of the box away. Wow....such pride at that moment that I cannot begin to describe it. So, I am not over Syns at all today and so far only have 11 1/2 Syns racked up with 2 more to go with my usual evening coffee. Which I must have, with Light creamer and one sugar. It keeps me sane and I can just count it.

Needless to say I didn't die from not having the entire box of chocolate today, but rather felt pretty good to have what I wanted in a modest portion and still live to tell the tale. I WILL find those scales on Tuesday with a loss instead of a gain, however I manage to get there.

So here's to feeling back on board, so good I can almost taste it.