Good Evening my lovely followers! I'm really pleased your numbers are multiplying! I'm in the double figures now, and I love each and every one of you for reading! Even if I just help someone with one blog it will be worth it.
So, this week I'm away from home and in a hotel for work. Which presents an interesting challenge. What to eat! I have no kitchen, obviously, and all food is provided in this hotel. And I'm going on holiday in just 2 weeks. No way am I risking those lovely summer clothes being too tight before I even leave the country!
At the end of day 1 I have remained almost in control. Bagel for breakfast, coffee by the gallon, a biscuit, some pretty rubbish sandwiches and 3 pieces of chocolate for lunch, and chicken with ratatouille and one "fondant" potato for my dinner. I don't know how bad the potato is, I've not much of a clue what the fanciness means, but I know I could have added cheesecake, a lot more biscuits and probably plenty of alcohol in there too already! And I've 3 more days to go.
I know there is a buffet breakfast and lunch so those should hopefully be easy enough, and I reckon if I pick wisely there I can get away with a bit more in the evening. So there's the plan!
Pick the best and hope for the best!
This is clearly a learning curve for me so I promise to keep you updated and to hopefully come up with some sort of useful info at the end of it!
Tomorrow night we've got a formal dress-up do, hope it's not too naughty!
Never thought I'd care so much about the calories! At least there's a gym here! ;)
Monday 23 August 2010
Friday 20 August 2010
You've got to move it, move it!
Good evening everyone! :)
I am multi-tasking. Big Brother and blogging!
So I was thinking hard on the way home this evening about what to blog about today, and about what I have struggled with the most in my quest for slim-ness.
Ironically, one of the things I found hardest to achieve is now one of the most enjoyable aspects of my life and something which has given me a lot of confidence in myself.
Did you guess what it is yet?
I'm sure you did....
Oh yes. It's all about the exercise!!
My tip for today? Find a way of moving more that you ENJOY!!
I realise that this can seem an impossible feat. By now you should all know enough about me to guess how little exercise I actually did. Just walking up the stairs in my house made me so out of breath I'd have to have a rest at the top! When I started losing weight I forced myself to go to the gym whilst absolutely hating it, but once I started seeing the results it was slightly easier to force myself to go. But forcing yourself to exercise for the sake of losing weight is never going to last. If something isn't enjoyable you won't keep doing it. We all know that.
To make my tip plausible I recommend... Body Combat!
Body Combat is the most fun exercise class I've ever done! Any exercise class is fun (I never thought I'd say that), and the benefit of a class is that you have to keep going until the end. No giving up! I never get bored in a class because every four or five minutes there is a new track on the stereo and something different to do. You get a brilliant all over workout in most classes and you WILL notice the difference.
Now, I know what you're thinking. You don't want to go on your own. Honestly, most people do. You won't be the only one on your own, and after a couple of weeks you'll be chatting to everyone else. It's normally the same people each week so you'll get to know them a bit.
So that's it for today. Exercise is fun. It makes you feel good about yourself and improves your body, which, in turn, improves your confidence. There are so many different types of exercise out there that there will definitely be something you enjoy - whether it's lovely calming yoga or heart-pumping high intensity aerobics!
Stay positive :)
I am multi-tasking. Big Brother and blogging!
So I was thinking hard on the way home this evening about what to blog about today, and about what I have struggled with the most in my quest for slim-ness.
Ironically, one of the things I found hardest to achieve is now one of the most enjoyable aspects of my life and something which has given me a lot of confidence in myself.
Did you guess what it is yet?
I'm sure you did....
Oh yes. It's all about the exercise!!
My tip for today? Find a way of moving more that you ENJOY!!
I realise that this can seem an impossible feat. By now you should all know enough about me to guess how little exercise I actually did. Just walking up the stairs in my house made me so out of breath I'd have to have a rest at the top! When I started losing weight I forced myself to go to the gym whilst absolutely hating it, but once I started seeing the results it was slightly easier to force myself to go. But forcing yourself to exercise for the sake of losing weight is never going to last. If something isn't enjoyable you won't keep doing it. We all know that.
To make my tip plausible I recommend... Body Combat!
Body Combat is the most fun exercise class I've ever done! Any exercise class is fun (I never thought I'd say that), and the benefit of a class is that you have to keep going until the end. No giving up! I never get bored in a class because every four or five minutes there is a new track on the stereo and something different to do. You get a brilliant all over workout in most classes and you WILL notice the difference.
Now, I know what you're thinking. You don't want to go on your own. Honestly, most people do. You won't be the only one on your own, and after a couple of weeks you'll be chatting to everyone else. It's normally the same people each week so you'll get to know them a bit.
So that's it for today. Exercise is fun. It makes you feel good about yourself and improves your body, which, in turn, improves your confidence. There are so many different types of exercise out there that there will definitely be something you enjoy - whether it's lovely calming yoga or heart-pumping high intensity aerobics!
Stay positive :)
Thursday 19 August 2010
Nearly the weekend munchies...
Hello my lovely followers!
I have 8 of you now. I'm so proud! :D
I apologise profusely for a lack of blogging yesterday, however I'm offering two for the price of one this evening!
I came home from work yesterday, made my dinner, went to Body Combat, came home and got changed and went off to the cinema with the boyf, and ate my dinner in the car on the way! Got home at midnight and was shattered! And tiredness has inspired my blog this evening...
I've got... the munchies!!! Noooooooooooo!
But never fear, followers! We can cope with this! Let us review the situation. I've been to the gym, I've worked hard (albeit sitting on my bum all day!), and I've not been too naughty this week. Plus I've got exercise planned into my weekend (and a charity abseil down a 300ft gorge - 1000 calories in nervous energy alone!), so we won't panic just yet.
This is my first tip for today. Before you panic, think!! A little slip won't hurt. A bloody big one might. So if you give in to that little bit of chocolate or cake, don't throw in the towel and stuff your face! It'll only make you feel worse.
My second tip for this evening is: choose wisely! Quite frankly, when I've got the munchies I want to eat and eat, then eat some more! Now, something nibbly is better than something not in this situation. You need something that lasts a while, at least until the munching subsides. So, my recommendation? Raspberries!! I know, I know, it's fruit. Boring! But it's not! A punnet of raspberries contain a LOT less calories than a bag of chocolates, and they'll last just as long. At the moment they are seriously yummy, and they are lovely with yogurt so try dipping them into a low fat yogurt (I like vanilla) for a bit more flavour!
I'm sure from my somewhat rambling style it is clear I am rather tired this evening. So, to recap...
Stop. Think. Then choose your munchies wisely. Step away from the situation, take control (and a deep breath if you need to, applicable to many other situations also I'm sure!), then make a considered choice.
You can munch and stay smiley! :)
I have 8 of you now. I'm so proud! :D
I apologise profusely for a lack of blogging yesterday, however I'm offering two for the price of one this evening!
I came home from work yesterday, made my dinner, went to Body Combat, came home and got changed and went off to the cinema with the boyf, and ate my dinner in the car on the way! Got home at midnight and was shattered! And tiredness has inspired my blog this evening...
I've got... the munchies!!! Noooooooooooo!
But never fear, followers! We can cope with this! Let us review the situation. I've been to the gym, I've worked hard (albeit sitting on my bum all day!), and I've not been too naughty this week. Plus I've got exercise planned into my weekend (and a charity abseil down a 300ft gorge - 1000 calories in nervous energy alone!), so we won't panic just yet.
This is my first tip for today. Before you panic, think!! A little slip won't hurt. A bloody big one might. So if you give in to that little bit of chocolate or cake, don't throw in the towel and stuff your face! It'll only make you feel worse.
My second tip for this evening is: choose wisely! Quite frankly, when I've got the munchies I want to eat and eat, then eat some more! Now, something nibbly is better than something not in this situation. You need something that lasts a while, at least until the munching subsides. So, my recommendation? Raspberries!! I know, I know, it's fruit. Boring! But it's not! A punnet of raspberries contain a LOT less calories than a bag of chocolates, and they'll last just as long. At the moment they are seriously yummy, and they are lovely with yogurt so try dipping them into a low fat yogurt (I like vanilla) for a bit more flavour!
I'm sure from my somewhat rambling style it is clear I am rather tired this evening. So, to recap...
Stop. Think. Then choose your munchies wisely. Step away from the situation, take control (and a deep breath if you need to, applicable to many other situations also I'm sure!), then make a considered choice.
You can munch and stay smiley! :)
Tuesday 17 August 2010
If I can do it, ANYONE can.
Yes, even you. Especially you! (If there's anyone reading of course!)
You can all see the "fat" photo at the bottom of the blog, and it should give you some clue as to just how bad my eating habits were. Think family size takeaways, huge bars of Dairy Milk chocolate and slabs of cake! And that was just for dinner ;)
In all honesty, my eating habits were ridiculous. I ate excessively, unhealthily, and quite frankly I was just plain greedy. I believed, and to some extent will always believe, that food equals happiness. But whereas now a little treat can cheer me up, no matter how much I ate it never actually made me happy. The habit was a comfort, the clothes shopping tears and embarrassment at my size after were most certainly not.
In the two years it took me to lose the four and a half stone I learnt so many things about myself and about the relationship I have with food, and I know that the most important element of losing weight and keeping it off is changing your habits. It does take time, and to some degree you must fight those old habits and learn new, healthier ones. But it can be done.
To really demonstrate just how much my diet has changed I'm going to list my typical daily menu before and after. The important thing to remember here is that whenever I am hungry, I eat, and I have at least one treat a day because food still makes me happy and my mind still thinks about it most of the time!
Then Now
Breakfast Breakfast
4 slices white toast with margarine & cheese Bagel & low fat cheese
Snack Snack
Bag of Walkers crisps Special K cereal bar
Lunch Lunch
Pasta n Sauce, sandwich, chocolate bar Salad/cous cous/chicken,
low fat yogurt
Snack Snack
Chocolate or cake/flapjack WW cake/biscuits and coffee
Dinner Dinner
Chinese takeaway: Chinese takeaway:
Fried rice Boiled rice
Sweet and sour chicken (battered) Vegetable chow mein
Chicken with mushrooms Handful of prawn crackers
Spring roll
Chips
Before bed Before bed
Half a 250g bar of Dairy Milk Options hot chocolate
To be honest it's hard to remember exactly what I'd eat in a day, I'd take a lot of trips to the kitchen cupboard if I was sitting at home so it'd probably be more than what I've listed. But you can see that I'm still eating a lot, just not a lot of rubbish!
I hope all that is helpful to someone.
My tip for today is recognise your habits. Once you know where your weakness is, fight it! Find a way of substituting if you need to - I substitute chocolate with Options when I know I haven't really been good enough to eat chocolate - and soon you'll be out of the habit.
Control your habits, don't let them control you :D
You can all see the "fat" photo at the bottom of the blog, and it should give you some clue as to just how bad my eating habits were. Think family size takeaways, huge bars of Dairy Milk chocolate and slabs of cake! And that was just for dinner ;)
In all honesty, my eating habits were ridiculous. I ate excessively, unhealthily, and quite frankly I was just plain greedy. I believed, and to some extent will always believe, that food equals happiness. But whereas now a little treat can cheer me up, no matter how much I ate it never actually made me happy. The habit was a comfort, the clothes shopping tears and embarrassment at my size after were most certainly not.
In the two years it took me to lose the four and a half stone I learnt so many things about myself and about the relationship I have with food, and I know that the most important element of losing weight and keeping it off is changing your habits. It does take time, and to some degree you must fight those old habits and learn new, healthier ones. But it can be done.
To really demonstrate just how much my diet has changed I'm going to list my typical daily menu before and after. The important thing to remember here is that whenever I am hungry, I eat, and I have at least one treat a day because food still makes me happy and my mind still thinks about it most of the time!
Then Now
Breakfast Breakfast
4 slices white toast with margarine & cheese Bagel & low fat cheese
Snack Snack
Bag of Walkers crisps Special K cereal bar
Lunch Lunch
Pasta n Sauce, sandwich, chocolate bar Salad/cous cous/chicken,
low fat yogurt
Snack Snack
Chocolate or cake/flapjack WW cake/biscuits and coffee
Dinner Dinner
Chinese takeaway: Chinese takeaway:
Fried rice Boiled rice
Sweet and sour chicken (battered) Vegetable chow mein
Chicken with mushrooms Handful of prawn crackers
Spring roll
Chips
Before bed Before bed
Half a 250g bar of Dairy Milk Options hot chocolate
To be honest it's hard to remember exactly what I'd eat in a day, I'd take a lot of trips to the kitchen cupboard if I was sitting at home so it'd probably be more than what I've listed. But you can see that I'm still eating a lot, just not a lot of rubbish!
I hope all that is helpful to someone.
My tip for today is recognise your habits. Once you know where your weakness is, fight it! Find a way of substituting if you need to - I substitute chocolate with Options when I know I haven't really been good enough to eat chocolate - and soon you'll be out of the habit.
Control your habits, don't let them control you :D
Monday 16 August 2010
Self indulgence of the blogging kind...
It occurred to me today that blogging is really an excuse for everyone to indulge themselves and whinge about their life to the blank space that is the internet.
And yet here I am.
I will make a conscious effort to provide some sort of helpful tip for each post I make to give all my (imaginary) readers some added value! We all know it's about adding the value these days.
So. Off I go.
Today I've been mentally beating myself up about my (very) naughty weekend. So lets review the bad things I consumed in order to either reinforce my worries or quash them! On Friday night we went to La Carbonara (Swindon, Italian restaurant, oh so yummy and fantastic service, go there!) where I had garlic mushrooms, seafood linguine and berry tart with cream. Ouch. Points crisis right there. Oh, and I had a muffin at work Friday afternoon. Then Saturday. Had a fairly healthy lunch so we won't dwell on that, but then another muffin (they are the medium size ones, blueberry, about 4.5 points a pop), and nachos in Wetherspoons, along with approximately 5 cocktails in the evening (although next time I will definitely be sticking to the vodka and diet coke because I felt stupidly sober). Sunday began with a bagel with peanut butter and then yet another muffin and coffee. Then I had a salad for lunch which had tons of feta cheese in and sour cream on top. And a handful of chips. We had a BBQ at dinner time but that was just one bread roll and then chicken and salad so not too bad.
Now. I suppose it could have been worse. But it also could have been better. And with the holiday less than 3 weeks away and 2 weeks in a hotel for training courses for work before then I should really be behaving myself! I've been to the gym this evening though...
Ok, reprimanding over with.
In light of that rant my tip for today is don't go overboard because it's the weekend. And if you do, get your bum in the gym and work it off!
(I'll let you know whether this works at the end of the week ;-) )
And yet here I am.
I will make a conscious effort to provide some sort of helpful tip for each post I make to give all my (imaginary) readers some added value! We all know it's about adding the value these days.
So. Off I go.
Today I've been mentally beating myself up about my (very) naughty weekend. So lets review the bad things I consumed in order to either reinforce my worries or quash them! On Friday night we went to La Carbonara (Swindon, Italian restaurant, oh so yummy and fantastic service, go there!) where I had garlic mushrooms, seafood linguine and berry tart with cream. Ouch. Points crisis right there. Oh, and I had a muffin at work Friday afternoon. Then Saturday. Had a fairly healthy lunch so we won't dwell on that, but then another muffin (they are the medium size ones, blueberry, about 4.5 points a pop), and nachos in Wetherspoons, along with approximately 5 cocktails in the evening (although next time I will definitely be sticking to the vodka and diet coke because I felt stupidly sober). Sunday began with a bagel with peanut butter and then yet another muffin and coffee. Then I had a salad for lunch which had tons of feta cheese in and sour cream on top. And a handful of chips. We had a BBQ at dinner time but that was just one bread roll and then chicken and salad so not too bad.
Now. I suppose it could have been worse. But it also could have been better. And with the holiday less than 3 weeks away and 2 weeks in a hotel for training courses for work before then I should really be behaving myself! I've been to the gym this evening though...
Ok, reprimanding over with.
In light of that rant my tip for today is don't go overboard because it's the weekend. And if you do, get your bum in the gym and work it off!
(I'll let you know whether this works at the end of the week ;-) )
Sunday 15 August 2010
Sunday evening revelation...
So I'm not sure what blogging etiquette is... Is it allowed to blog twice in one day?!
Anyway, it's important.
I just realised quite how fat I was.
Dear God, why on Earth didn't I know?!
Had an email requesting a full length before photo for the WW thing, so off I went into the depths of my computer for a full length fatty shot. Now, for obvious reasons these are few and far between, and now I realise why.
Woah.
I will be staying away from the muffins this week!
Anyway, it's important.
I just realised quite how fat I was.
Dear God, why on Earth didn't I know?!
Had an email requesting a full length before photo for the WW thing, so off I went into the depths of my computer for a full length fatty shot. Now, for obvious reasons these are few and far between, and now I realise why.
Woah.
I will be staying away from the muffins this week!
Welcome to my world!
It's all about the cliche's tonight!
If anyone is reading, hello! If it's just me, well then I'm talking to myself and they do say it's the first sign of madness. Says rather a lot in my opinion.
So, introductions! My name is Hannah. I am currently 22 years and 9 months old and I have been at my goal weight for almost 6 months. The photo at the top left of my blog is from the Weight Watchers fashion show I took part in this week - more about that later - and the photos at the bottom are my before and after! I have a boyfriend who has been putting up with me for almost four and a half years now, and whose patience and understanding kept me on the wagon and got me to my goal.
Soppy stuff over now. I promise.
I think I should give you a quick overview of my weight loss journey to introduce us properly, so here goes. My "before" photo is from September 2007. I was that size until December when I decided enough was enough and that this time I really was going to lose weight. Yes, it had been said numerous times before, and quite frankly even I didn't believe it. On the 1st of January 2008 I went on a diet. I'd tried Slimming World more times than I care to count so stuck to what I knew and started following their eating plan. Two weeks later I went along to a class with my Mum and got weight. 15st 7.5lb. Given that I'd been following the diet for 2 weeks already this was rather awful.
It took me until March to lose my first stone. I'd stopped going to the classes because I found them less than motivational and felt I was wasting my money, quite frankly. The next few months were periods of following the plan interspersed with nights out and trips away "off plan" (because it's just so hard to stick to the plan when eating out!) and so by September 2008 I'd lost 1st 7lb very slowly. At this point the boyf and I went off to Ibiza for a week, and from here until Christmas I struggled to stick to the plan and regained 7lb.
January came around again and I got back on plan. Still struggling and falling off the wagon rather often I managed to lose the 7lb I'd gained plus another 7lb by July. On the 8th of July 2009 my wonderful Gran died, and I was devastated. I cried and cried and when it didn't make things any better I went to the gym. Between July and September I stuck to plan completely, went to the gym regularly and lost... nothing. The sadness coupled with the frustration of not losing weight forced me into depression and I became so worried about what I was eating that it became easier not to eat than to eat and worry about it. Luckily it didn't take me long to realise that I needed to take control and change things. So on the 8th of October 2009 I joined Weight Watchers.
In my first week I lost 5lb and I cried with relief. That week I promised myself I would never gain, and I didn't. I even lost 2.5lb over Christmas! Counting points gave me control over my eating again and I learned to control my portions whilst treating myself too. I reached my goal weight on the 22nd February 2010 and I have never been happier.
I struggled to lose weight my entire life, and to be honest I never thought I'd get there. Losing weight changed my life completely. It gave me confidence and it made me happy with myself, which makes me a happy person. And this is why I want to share it all with you lovely people! I want you all to know the total change losing weight affected in me and the life it gave me. Although I do have a few wobbly bits ;)
And there we go! That's my story!
I think that's probably enough info to be going on with. I'm off to Tesco to collect my Dad's free Elvis CD from the Mail on Sunday.
Oh, the glamorous life I lead! ;)
If anyone is reading, hello! If it's just me, well then I'm talking to myself and they do say it's the first sign of madness. Says rather a lot in my opinion.
So, introductions! My name is Hannah. I am currently 22 years and 9 months old and I have been at my goal weight for almost 6 months. The photo at the top left of my blog is from the Weight Watchers fashion show I took part in this week - more about that later - and the photos at the bottom are my before and after! I have a boyfriend who has been putting up with me for almost four and a half years now, and whose patience and understanding kept me on the wagon and got me to my goal.
Soppy stuff over now. I promise.
I think I should give you a quick overview of my weight loss journey to introduce us properly, so here goes. My "before" photo is from September 2007. I was that size until December when I decided enough was enough and that this time I really was going to lose weight. Yes, it had been said numerous times before, and quite frankly even I didn't believe it. On the 1st of January 2008 I went on a diet. I'd tried Slimming World more times than I care to count so stuck to what I knew and started following their eating plan. Two weeks later I went along to a class with my Mum and got weight. 15st 7.5lb. Given that I'd been following the diet for 2 weeks already this was rather awful.
It took me until March to lose my first stone. I'd stopped going to the classes because I found them less than motivational and felt I was wasting my money, quite frankly. The next few months were periods of following the plan interspersed with nights out and trips away "off plan" (because it's just so hard to stick to the plan when eating out!) and so by September 2008 I'd lost 1st 7lb very slowly. At this point the boyf and I went off to Ibiza for a week, and from here until Christmas I struggled to stick to the plan and regained 7lb.
January came around again and I got back on plan. Still struggling and falling off the wagon rather often I managed to lose the 7lb I'd gained plus another 7lb by July. On the 8th of July 2009 my wonderful Gran died, and I was devastated. I cried and cried and when it didn't make things any better I went to the gym. Between July and September I stuck to plan completely, went to the gym regularly and lost... nothing. The sadness coupled with the frustration of not losing weight forced me into depression and I became so worried about what I was eating that it became easier not to eat than to eat and worry about it. Luckily it didn't take me long to realise that I needed to take control and change things. So on the 8th of October 2009 I joined Weight Watchers.
In my first week I lost 5lb and I cried with relief. That week I promised myself I would never gain, and I didn't. I even lost 2.5lb over Christmas! Counting points gave me control over my eating again and I learned to control my portions whilst treating myself too. I reached my goal weight on the 22nd February 2010 and I have never been happier.
I struggled to lose weight my entire life, and to be honest I never thought I'd get there. Losing weight changed my life completely. It gave me confidence and it made me happy with myself, which makes me a happy person. And this is why I want to share it all with you lovely people! I want you all to know the total change losing weight affected in me and the life it gave me. Although I do have a few wobbly bits ;)
And there we go! That's my story!
I think that's probably enough info to be going on with. I'm off to Tesco to collect my Dad's free Elvis CD from the Mail on Sunday.
Oh, the glamorous life I lead! ;)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)