Nearly at the end of my third week on ProPoints and I'm still on plan! Had one minor wobble last week with too much wine and a curry, but still came out with a loss! Here's progress so far:
Week 1: -2lb
Week 2: -0.5lb (even with the wobble!)
Week 3: ??
Third weigh in is tomorrow evening but sneaky peeking at the scales (and the feel of my clothes!) tells me I'm in for a decent loss this week! Started at 10.5lb to goal, as of last week was at 8lb to goal and am hoping I'll be closer still tomorrow night. Would very much like to be back at goal by mid April.
Yummy things I've been eating...
Tons of fresh fruit with yogurt and seed/nut mix I made myself - fab pudding for just a couple of points or a brilliant late night snack which takes a while to eat and doesn't use too many weekly points!
Bolognaise made with soya mince and a dash of balsamic vinegar which really seemed to make a difference. Only pointed ingredient was the mince!
Home made butternut squash soup - once with courgette and once with red pepper and chinese five spice. Both yummy!
And, being the chocolate addict I am, Curly Wurlys for 3pp each and orange Club biscuits for 3pp each.
Now, potential things to knock me off kilter coming up in the next couple of weeks...
This weekend we're dancing in another show, yay! I'm in 7 dances so roughly half an hour of dancing on stage "banging it out" as we like to say, plus rehearsal beforehand. Doesn't sound bad, right? Think of all the PP I'll earn! It's the night out after and hungover Sunday that's gonna do the damage! Am determined to save my weeklies for the weekend and stick to my daily points for the other five days so I'm sure it'll work out alright, but when I'm hungover I'm constantly hungry! It's a challenge.
And... the following weekend we are moving house!! Very excited about this but controlling what I can eat on moving day will be difficult, and we'll be treating our hard working moving team (mums, dads and mates!) to take away surrounded by boxes at the end of it. Again, think of the PP I'll earn, but keeping in control of those points over the weekend will be difficult.
Still, I can make sensible decisions and if I have a dodgy week when we move it'll all be back under control by the next weigh in and I can get straight back on it. Right..? ;)
If anyone's reading my ramblings thank you, and I hope you're enjoying eating ProPoints style too! :)
Tuesday 5 March 2013
Sunday 17 February 2013
Here's my line... --------------------------------------
Hello everyone! Remember me?!
Am so ashamed my last post was August last year. Where have I been?! The lack of posting coincides with the increased work pressures and lack of time to myself, so I can blame a little of my absence on that. John is now running his own business - a mobile noodle bar essentially! - which is going from strength to strength. However this means I now work six days a week as we have a stall on the market every Saturday, so with only the one day off a week my time is normally taken up with washing, cleaning and hangovers from the night before!
On a positive note, my weight has remained fairly static since August. It floats around between the 11st 7lb and 11st 12lb marks depending on how "good" I've been, and it went up a little more after Christmas, but I count not regaining all the weight as a success all round!!
So why am I back? A few things have spurred on my return. Firstly, in response to the ridiculous and laughable mockumentary that Dispatches produced a few weeks ago Weight Watchers posted this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUvaEiVHMaU
About 4 and a half minutes in you'll see me!! WW used the footage taken at the catwalk event I did in 2010 of me and a couple of other ladies. How slim was I?! I am approximately 10-12lb more than this these days, and although I'm still a size 12 and still a healthy BMI - yes, Dispatches, contrary to your rubbish report some of us do succeed!! - my body shape is different. I had to give up running because of my knee problems, and I've exchanged Body Combat for dancing twice a week which I love but which isn't as intense.
Watching this video made me feel both proud and sad that I wasn't still in the same position with my weight.
In addition to that I got the results of my final exams on 6 February and I passed! No more study, no more revision and no more exams!! Big weight off my mind.
Add to that the fact that in a couple of months time the sun will be shining and the summer clothes will be reappearing and there's my motivation.
I have been trying since January to shift some weight alone with minimal success. I can stick to things for a couple of weeks but then lose my focus and put it back on. So this week I rejoined a WW class. I'm embracing ProPoints and so far I'm actually enjoying it! The first time I tried ProPoints I had limited success, so I'm trying to apply sense to it and not eat quite so much fruit and zero point food as last time. Let's face it - eating an entire butternut squash so you have enough points for a bar of chocolate can't really be the point. And it didn't work. Just because it's zero points doesn't mean it's zero calories!
Here's my stats:
Start weight (13 Feb '13): 11st 12.5lb
Weigh in day: Wednesday
5% goal: 11st 4lb
Goal weight: 11st 2lb
Things I'm loving this week include these:
Energy bars: http://www.weightwatchers.co.uk/food/rcp/RecipePage.aspx?recipeId=7018852
Eating these for breakfast. Yum! Cut them slightly bigger so 5pp each.
And these dark chocolate kit kats, 2 finger - 3pp.
Lots of cups of tea, with skimmed milk, too!
So off I go! I will report back, promise!!
Am so ashamed my last post was August last year. Where have I been?! The lack of posting coincides with the increased work pressures and lack of time to myself, so I can blame a little of my absence on that. John is now running his own business - a mobile noodle bar essentially! - which is going from strength to strength. However this means I now work six days a week as we have a stall on the market every Saturday, so with only the one day off a week my time is normally taken up with washing, cleaning and hangovers from the night before!
On a positive note, my weight has remained fairly static since August. It floats around between the 11st 7lb and 11st 12lb marks depending on how "good" I've been, and it went up a little more after Christmas, but I count not regaining all the weight as a success all round!!
So why am I back? A few things have spurred on my return. Firstly, in response to the ridiculous and laughable mockumentary that Dispatches produced a few weeks ago Weight Watchers posted this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUvaEiVHMaU
About 4 and a half minutes in you'll see me!! WW used the footage taken at the catwalk event I did in 2010 of me and a couple of other ladies. How slim was I?! I am approximately 10-12lb more than this these days, and although I'm still a size 12 and still a healthy BMI - yes, Dispatches, contrary to your rubbish report some of us do succeed!! - my body shape is different. I had to give up running because of my knee problems, and I've exchanged Body Combat for dancing twice a week which I love but which isn't as intense.
Watching this video made me feel both proud and sad that I wasn't still in the same position with my weight.
In addition to that I got the results of my final exams on 6 February and I passed! No more study, no more revision and no more exams!! Big weight off my mind.
Add to that the fact that in a couple of months time the sun will be shining and the summer clothes will be reappearing and there's my motivation.
I have been trying since January to shift some weight alone with minimal success. I can stick to things for a couple of weeks but then lose my focus and put it back on. So this week I rejoined a WW class. I'm embracing ProPoints and so far I'm actually enjoying it! The first time I tried ProPoints I had limited success, so I'm trying to apply sense to it and not eat quite so much fruit and zero point food as last time. Let's face it - eating an entire butternut squash so you have enough points for a bar of chocolate can't really be the point. And it didn't work. Just because it's zero points doesn't mean it's zero calories!
Here's my stats:
Start weight (13 Feb '13): 11st 12.5lb
Weigh in day: Wednesday
5% goal: 11st 4lb
Goal weight: 11st 2lb
Things I'm loving this week include these:
Energy bars: http://www.weightwatchers.co.uk/food/rcp/RecipePage.aspx?recipeId=7018852
Eating these for breakfast. Yum! Cut them slightly bigger so 5pp each.
And these dark chocolate kit kats, 2 finger - 3pp.
Lots of cups of tea, with skimmed milk, too!
So off I go! I will report back, promise!!
Wednesday 1 August 2012
"Official" weigh in result and NSV
Back from my training course without inflicting too much diet damage! In fact, quite the opposite somehow.
Official weigh in night is Tuesday night, so after the 3.5 hour drive home from Crewe I hopped on the scales. And couldn't believe my luck.
Last Tuesday evening my scales told me I was 11st 13.8lb (my official start weight was on another set of scales which I will be weighing on with a friend from next week, but due to training couldn't do this week...!). Nasty. Yesterday they told me I was... 11st 8lb!! Minus 5.8lb in a week?!?
I know. I don't believe it either. But last week was TOTM which clearly had some impact on that result. And while part of me doesn't believe I've lost that much in a week my clothes say differently. My NSV was trying on a dress this evening that I bought about 2 months ago that didn't fit over my bum or really do up. Tonight it fits perfectly!
Didn't get this result in weeks on ProPoints, so I am sticking to old Points forever!!
Want to be back at goal by the end of the month. Now feels totally achievable :)
Bring on the next Weight Watchers week! :)
Official weigh in night is Tuesday night, so after the 3.5 hour drive home from Crewe I hopped on the scales. And couldn't believe my luck.
Last Tuesday evening my scales told me I was 11st 13.8lb (my official start weight was on another set of scales which I will be weighing on with a friend from next week, but due to training couldn't do this week...!). Nasty. Yesterday they told me I was... 11st 8lb!! Minus 5.8lb in a week?!?
I know. I don't believe it either. But last week was TOTM which clearly had some impact on that result. And while part of me doesn't believe I've lost that much in a week my clothes say differently. My NSV was trying on a dress this evening that I bought about 2 months ago that didn't fit over my bum or really do up. Tonight it fits perfectly!
Didn't get this result in weeks on ProPoints, so I am sticking to old Points forever!!
Want to be back at goal by the end of the month. Now feels totally achievable :)
Bring on the next Weight Watchers week! :)
Sunday 29 July 2012
Day 7, and another Points vs ProPoints post!
I've been considering old style Points versus ProPoints and the pros and cons of each over the last couple of days, mainly because I have so much more success on old Points, and my verdict is that the reason is the way each plan forces your mind to see food.
This doesn't sound like a very simple blog post, granted, but it's not as complicated as it sounds...
Old Points
Set number of Points per day
Able to save Points up to a maximum of 12 per week
Only way to top this up for treats is to earn Activity Points
ProPoints
Set number of ProPoints per day
Unable to save any ProPoints
Bank of ProPoints for treats
Sure you can all spot the difference now, but I'll elaborate, because it's me. Old Points teach you to earn your treats. ProPoints teaches you to have them anyway.
Now, I don't know about you, but the whole reason I went on Weight Watchers in the first place is because I'd had the treats anyway!
When I've tried to do ProPoints I've had less to encourage me to exercise, so to have those treats I've stuck to my 26 ProPoints a day (approximately 1000 calories before allowing for 0 point fruit and veg) and used my weekly ProPoints for alcohol, chocolate and eating out.
Sounds like exactly how you're supposed to follow the plan, right? And doesn't sound all that bad either because I'm getting those treats in the week?
Flip it up and look at it this way: On old Points I am on 20 Points per day. Weight Watchers had two main rules when I began that plan which were that you had to eat a minimum of 16 Points per day, and you could only save a maximum of 12 Points per week. The difference between the minimum Points and my daily Points is 4 Points each day.
4 Points is the equivalent of 4 squares of Dairy Milk chocolate.
4 squares of Dairy Milk chocolate is the difference between me being miserable and me feeling unrestricted and happy on plan.
Making sense? What I'm trying to say is that in order to stick to plan I have always built a treat into my daily diet. It's my motivation to get to bed at the end of the day within my Points allowance. And why might I fall off ProPoints after every couple of days? Because to stick to 26 ProPoints per day I find it impossible to build those treats in without stuffing myself with 0 ProPoint fruit. And what happens when you do that? You eat too many calories and don't lose weight.
And throughout all of this I don't need to exercise to earn those weekly ProPoints.
I truly believe that the mentality I use to stay near my goal weight (I say near, as we all know I've gained some weight, but two and a half years after goal I'm still wearing a size 12, so we'll stick with near!) which is that if I've done exercise I deserve the treat is the success factor for me.
To conclude my long and rambling Sunday morning blog I will leave you with some evidence to support this theory...
My scales are showing a likely weight loss of about 3lb this week. On ProPoints it took me two to three weeks to lose this much, often because I fell off plan during the week. But the biggest measure of success for me is the fact that I am happy. I have eaten chocolate and cake, I have drunk wine and Costa coffee, but I've been to the gym and to dance and I have lost 3lb.
I am celebrating this success a little early though. This afternoon I am off to a two day residential training course for work. At these things they feed you. A lot. *big sigh* Just when I was getting somewhere!
See you when I'm back, but hopefully still without that 3lb! :)
Wednesday 25 July 2012
Day 3
It's day three of the attempt and so far so good.
I now have my official start weight - 11st 11.75lb. I therefore have 9.75lb to lose to return me to my goal weight. The challenge is on, once again!
I need to keep that skinny image at the forefront of my mind, and I'm hoping this blog will help me do that. I'm tracking and I'm weighing with a friend to motivate me, plus John has promised me a new book on my Kindle for every 3lb I lose so that's also a motivation as I've found a new favourite author whose books I want to read. I've tried to find a non-edible motivation (!) as I often focus on a binge of some sort to keep me on plan and it's not a good way to do things.
So far so good with sticking to plan. I have to make it to Sunday afternoon, then from Sunday night to Tuesday afternoon I'm on a residential training course with not much control over my food, although I can try to make sensible choices. I am planning to weigh Sunday before I go, then again on Tuesday evening when I return which will be my official weigh in. Hopefully then I can kick myself up the bum and get back on it Wednesday without too much difficult!
God, I do ramble on.
Sunshiney smiles :)
I now have my official start weight - 11st 11.75lb. I therefore have 9.75lb to lose to return me to my goal weight. The challenge is on, once again!
I need to keep that skinny image at the forefront of my mind, and I'm hoping this blog will help me do that. I'm tracking and I'm weighing with a friend to motivate me, plus John has promised me a new book on my Kindle for every 3lb I lose so that's also a motivation as I've found a new favourite author whose books I want to read. I've tried to find a non-edible motivation (!) as I often focus on a binge of some sort to keep me on plan and it's not a good way to do things.
So far so good with sticking to plan. I have to make it to Sunday afternoon, then from Sunday night to Tuesday afternoon I'm on a residential training course with not much control over my food, although I can try to make sensible choices. I am planning to weigh Sunday before I go, then again on Tuesday evening when I return which will be my official weigh in. Hopefully then I can kick myself up the bum and get back on it Wednesday without too much difficult!
God, I do ramble on.
Sunshiney smiles :)
Sunday 22 July 2012
Serial (cereal?) Dieter
Yep, that's me.
Up and down like a flipping yo-yo.
Lose half a stone diet attempt number six million, thirty-three thousand, four hundred and twelve begins tomorrow.
8lb to lose to get me back to goal. Am finally able to exercise properly (gym at least, no Combat yet :( ) so I can do this.
Deep breath, suck it up, get on with it!
Up and down like a flipping yo-yo.
Lose half a stone diet attempt number six million, thirty-three thousand, four hundred and twelve begins tomorrow.
8lb to lose to get me back to goal. Am finally able to exercise properly (gym at least, no Combat yet :( ) so I can do this.
Deep breath, suck it up, get on with it!
Sunday 15 April 2012
On the wagon once again!
So I'm well and truly back on the WW wagon! Managed a few days up until Easter without too many wobbles, then over Easter weekend things went a little (a lot) wrong. 2 Easter eggs wrong. And a bottle of wine, pizza, kettle chips, chocolate raisins and muffins! Oh, and an amazing hotel breakfast which included a pain au chocolat, about 6 pieces of toast and some very yummy and very buttery scrambled egg with smoked salmon. Although we also went for a meal at Prezzo and I had a salad, so unbelievably it could have been even worse!!
So, after that horrendous weekend I kicked myself up the bum and got back on ProPoints on Tuesday morning. I have a lovely shiny new Journal (a 12 week tracker basically) which gives me some sad little satisfaction to fill in! Also managed a night out last night and didn't go over my planned points, so I still have 18 weeklies left to get me to Thursday (the end of my week - Thursday seemed the safest day to weigh!).
This week I have mostly been eating:
Breakfast
Tinned peaches/pineapple, drained, with a tablespoon of Morrisons Eat Smart low fat natural yogurt (1pp) and 20g of muesli (2pp)
Toast (4pp) with a poached egg (2pp), mushrooms and tomatoes
Lunch
Salad with butternut squash and tuna (2pp) with a tsp of light mayo
Dinner
Quorn fillets (4pp) with a tsb of pesto (1pp) with salad
A seriously yummy thai green curry (recipe from the WW website) which was 6pp (we swapped chicken for white fish which reduced the pp value) with 40g rice (4pp)
Pitta pizzas made from a pitta bread (6pp) spread with a little tomato puree, a tsp of pesto (1pp) and a light Babybel cheese grated on the top (1pp). Also put some cooked mushrooms, courgette, peppers and red onion on there and then grilled until it went crispy round the edges. Very yummy!
I have eaten tons of fruit too - really like that fruit is now 0pp. Also been munching WW cookies (2pp) and WW jaffa mini rolls (2pp).
Pitta pizzas and thai green curry were the highlight of the week I think - I'd recommend both!
And that's all I have to say about that. Am enjoying ProPoints more than my initial attempt last year, and sneaky weigh in on my scales is showing a loss, so will stick with it until Thursday and hope for a good loss. Friday we are off to Norwich for the weekend so I'll be well and truly off the wagon whilst away. Lets hope I can jump straight back on next Tuesday!
I feel this post was a little dull - I am perhaps uninspired due to the horrendous hangover I've been suffering today! Will try to make my next post a little more exciting, promise!
So, after that horrendous weekend I kicked myself up the bum and got back on ProPoints on Tuesday morning. I have a lovely shiny new Journal (a 12 week tracker basically) which gives me some sad little satisfaction to fill in! Also managed a night out last night and didn't go over my planned points, so I still have 18 weeklies left to get me to Thursday (the end of my week - Thursday seemed the safest day to weigh!).
This week I have mostly been eating:
Breakfast
Tinned peaches/pineapple, drained, with a tablespoon of Morrisons Eat Smart low fat natural yogurt (1pp) and 20g of muesli (2pp)
Toast (4pp) with a poached egg (2pp), mushrooms and tomatoes
Lunch
Salad with butternut squash and tuna (2pp) with a tsp of light mayo
Dinner
Quorn fillets (4pp) with a tsb of pesto (1pp) with salad
A seriously yummy thai green curry (recipe from the WW website) which was 6pp (we swapped chicken for white fish which reduced the pp value) with 40g rice (4pp)
Pitta pizzas made from a pitta bread (6pp) spread with a little tomato puree, a tsp of pesto (1pp) and a light Babybel cheese grated on the top (1pp). Also put some cooked mushrooms, courgette, peppers and red onion on there and then grilled until it went crispy round the edges. Very yummy!
I have eaten tons of fruit too - really like that fruit is now 0pp. Also been munching WW cookies (2pp) and WW jaffa mini rolls (2pp).
Pitta pizzas and thai green curry were the highlight of the week I think - I'd recommend both!
And that's all I have to say about that. Am enjoying ProPoints more than my initial attempt last year, and sneaky weigh in on my scales is showing a loss, so will stick with it until Thursday and hope for a good loss. Friday we are off to Norwich for the weekend so I'll be well and truly off the wagon whilst away. Lets hope I can jump straight back on next Tuesday!
I feel this post was a little dull - I am perhaps uninspired due to the horrendous hangover I've been suffering today! Will try to make my next post a little more exciting, promise!
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