What a smoothie

I made my own smoothie/milkshake thing, inspired by this Weight Watchers recipe:



Mine was a slightly over-ripe banana, about half a pint of skimmed milk, and a pot of low fat strawberry yogurt, all blended together. Very nice it was too, and for a ProPoints value of 6.

Being used to the old Points, 6 sounds like a lot, but I don't think it's too bad. Even if that is a high ProPoints value, it was a healthy drink so I won't worry :) I only started on the new plan yesterday, so I'm still getting used to what points are in things.

I've been somewhat over-indulgent over the past few weeks, getting lazy and complacent with my point-counting (or rather, not counting). I didn't manage to reach my size 14 for Halloween target, which I am a bit miffed about. I'm still on my way down to size 14 though, and I will get there before Christmas! I think change, i.e. the new plan, should be the kick start I need to get me back on track, thinking about my food more, and therefore losing weight again.

Size 14 for Halloween

Despite an 11.5 point slice of carrot cake and a curry on Wednesday, I managed to lose a pound on Thursday's weigh-in. Wednesday had also included an afternoon of walking round Merry Hill though, racking up 7.5 miles and 4 activity points just from shopping (which can't be bad), so that must have canceled out the unhealthiness. I only had half a Chicken Biryani too, which helps.

I've started to aim for 5 activity points a week, which is a modest enough target, but still gives me something to work towards. I've met that target the past couple of weeks, exceeding it last week. It seems I've started to regularly earn a couple of points on a Thursday, which is Remploy day. I have my weigh-in on a Thursday morning at half 9, then make my way over to Merry Hill at half 10. The bus to Wolverhampton doesn't leave til quarter past 12, so that gives me a bit of time to wander around and earn some points. Having a couple of points guaranteed does help towards the weekly 5 :)

Since I last blogged, I've earned another silver 7 (last week) and got down to 10st-13.5 (this week). (Only downside to moving down a stone bracket is going down to 18 points, waaa! I'll live though, I'm sure.) I therefore have 6.5lbs to go til I get to my Halloween target of 10st-7 (147lbs), at which I will hopefully be a size 14. Can I lose 6.5lbs in 4 weeks? Of course I can!



Talking of Halloween, it's already begun in our house. I get the decorations up on the first of October, bedecking the place with pumpkins, bats, and all manner of other spooks.




I go a bit mad every year buying decorations - soon our Halloween collection will be bigger than our Christmas one!

These boots were made for walking ...

Stayed the same this week, grr. I've done more than twice the amount of exercise today than I did in the whole of last week, so I think I will have lost at next weigh-in (despite tonight's chips!). The ubiquitous pedometer tells me that I've earned 3.5 activity points today (compared to 1.5 points for the whole of last week), and that I've done 18347 steps and 7 miles. It did go beep while I was sitting on the bus though, so I'm not entirely sure how accurate it is!



I mentioned my Social Anxiety in the previous post, and my SA is to blame/thank for all the walking I've done today, as I've had to visit Remploy (an organisation that helps people with long-term illnesses and disabilities back into work) in Wolverhampton. I had my WW meeting this morning, so walking up the hill to that was the first mile. WW finished at 10:30, so I had some time to kill before I caught the bus at 1:15, which I of course spent wandering round Merry Hill (local mall), so that was another couple of miles. Then there was the wandering round the streets of Wolverhampton trying to follow the route Google Maps gave me, and then finding that the Remploy office was in fact a straight line from the bus stop (sigh). Still, I've got some exercise today, and I'll know where they are next time!

Talking of shopping, lots of the shops have their Halloween things in and, as I love all things spooky, I've been stocking up. Accessorize have a little Halloween range, and I had to have these bat studs. Only two weeks to go til I can put the decorations up - I can't wait!

What bad knee?

It occurred to me the other day, when the boyfriend and I were comparing ailments (lol), that my bad knee no longer hurts.

Boyfriend - Well I've got a bad back.
Me - Well I've got a bad knee ... Oh no I haven't!

It's actually got so much better that I had to think to remember which leg it was (the left, incidentally).

It used to be so bad in fact, that sometimes it would stop me from going out. I have a condition called Social Anxiety, and as part of my therapy last year I was told to go out every day for a week. So I was walking to the shops every day, which was good for me in terms of getting me out of the house, and was also good exercise, but wasn't so good for my bad knee. I woke up on the Saturday, after a week of walking, and found that I could barely move. I had a therapy group to go to that afternoon, which I couldn't go to because of the knee, so I was pretty miffed.

The knee wasn't that bad every day, but it still wasn't right. It would ache after a walk to and from the shops, and would quite regularly give way under me. Now that there's not so much weight on it, the days of the sore knee are (hopefully) behind me, and I'm very glad about that.

Clothes for sale

It has finally got to the stage where I am starting to sell off my fat clothes (woo!). I've started a little 'fat box' full of size 18s that are now too big for me. Many of those pieces will be up on eBay - here's one of them:



I'm quite sad to part with this little dress, as I love the neckline detail and the silvery threads in the fabric. There's no point keeping something that doesn't fit or suit me though, so I'm letting it go to a better home. Find the listing here:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Womens-sparkly-khaki-green-summer-beach-dress-size-18-/190437222559

Getting there ...

Lost a pound and half today, woo! So now I'm 11st 1lb, just half a pound away from my next silver seven (the little sparkly stickers WW give you for every 7lbs you lose), and eight pounds from being back to a size 14. Which is probably why I look so smug!

The flowery top I'm wearing under the black cardi is one I've recently slimmed back into, yay. I'm wearing a big jumper over it now though, because it's blooming cold today!

I'm sure I've mentioned my "size 14 for Halloween" mini goal before. Well, I've made myself a little spreadsheet to chart my progress. I'm currently on track to get down to 10st 7lbs (147lbs) by the end of October. Once I get down to 10st 7lbs, I'll be halfway to goal!

Polka dots

I do love this look.





Which is why I really want to slim back into this (size 14) dress:



In fact, there's a big box on top of the wardrobe, full of size 14 things I really want to slim back into. Including a black skirt with candy-coloured polka dots which would also fit well into this look, and which I kind of miss. I always wanted to get a black petticoat, like the one the girl above is wearing, to go under it too. I might stop short of putting my hair in bunches though!

I would like to think that I don't follow fashion, and have my own unique look, though this isn't entirely true. I love fashion really, and pore over the glossy images in magazines like Elle. I think it's entirely possible to be fashion-conscious and an individual. :)

Just 9 and a half pounds left to lose til I'm a size 14 again ...

Out of the rut

Finally got out of the 11st-4 rut I've been in the past few weeks! Weighed in at 11st-3 yesterday, so now I'm only 2.5lbs from my next silver 7, and, I think, I'm only 10 pounds away from being a size 14.

I worked out that, because I was a size 18 when I started, at 12st 7lbs, and I got down to a size 16 when I was about 11st 7lbs, that losing a stone also equals dropping a dress size. If I'm right about that, I'll go like this:

Size 18 = 12st 7lbs (My starting size/weight)
Size 16 = 11st 7lbs (I'm currently 11st 3lbs)
Size 14 = 10st 7lbs
Size 12 = 9st 7lbs
Size 10 = 8st 7lbs

I was a size 12-14 last time I was 8st 7lbs though, so I could be completely wrong! We'll see over the next few months :)

If I do get down to a size 10 though, I'll be able to shop in teen ranges (both size 10 and age 14-15 have a 27.5" waist, according to the New Look website), which should save me a bit of money. And allow me to wear more things with Hello Kitty on, haha :P

Ups and downs

Weight-wise, I seem to have been a bit up and down lately. Over the past few weeks, I've been down 3.5lbs, up 1lb, down 1.5lbs, up half a pound, and, this week, down half a pound. Although, that's four pounds in five weeks, so that's really not that bad.

I got to my 10% goal last week too, yay :)

I got a dinky little keyring:



And a booklet full of inspiration:



I just need to keep up the good work really! I also to get a proper exercise routine started, as that is what's missing from my routine. I'm currently only 3.5lbs from my next silver 7 - that'll be a stone and a half, three-eighths of the way to my goal weight. I just need to get moving more to stop having so many gains!

Not only am I 3.5lbs from my next silver 7, I'm also 11lbs away from being a size 14. I've found that dropping a stone also seems to mean dropping a dress size. Well, I was a size 18 when I started, at 12st 7lbs, and I got down to a size 16 when I was about 11st 7lbs. I'm 11st 4lbs now, so in theory I have 11lbs to go until I'm a size 14. In 11 weeks' time it will be late October, so, as long as I don't put any weight on between now and then (although I think I probably have a pound or so of leeway), I'll be a size 14 for Halloween. :D You never know, I might even be a size 12 for Christmas!

Oh! :)

It seems I'd completely miscalculated my 10% goal. I don't know what I'd done to work it out as 10st 10lbs, but it is in fact the first two digits of of your start weight in pounds. My start weight was 175.5lbs, so my 10% goal was to lose 17lbs, or to reach 11st 4lbs. I did that yesterday, so I've reached my 10% :D I'll get a keyring and everything.

Back on track

I gained a pound last week, oops. I know where that came from though - I went over my points 5 days out of 7, so it wasn't that much of a shock. I got back on track this week though, and I've lost that pound, plus half a pound more. The fact that I lost 3.5lbs the week before makes it pretty good overall too - four pounds in three weeks is pretty healthy. I'm only 3.5lbs from my next silver 7 (the stickers WW give you for every 7lbs you lose) too - that'll be a stone and a half, three-eighths of the way to my goal weight. :D

I also have a new favourite treat. Pre-WW, we used to have multipacks of chocolate bars in the fridge all the time, which I would just be constantly dipping into. I put had to a stop to that when I started WW (even if I did just switch to WW Belgian chocolate cakes!). Therefore, until this week, I hadn't had a Twix since I started WW five months ago. Lately though, I'd really been fancying one, so I bought one of those dangerous multipacks.



And, I found that I have enough self-control to have a multipack in the fridge again. I can take out one small, individually-wrapped finger of Twix (2.5 points) at a time, without feeling the urge to eat the whole pack.



It sounds so cheesy, but joining Weight Watchers really has changed me!

Invasion of the Body Slimmers

My kitchen is being taken over by Weight Watchers!



So many of the products I buy these days are WW ones. Crisps, ready meals, cookies and cakes, jam, bread, yoghurts, sugar-free sweets, even beans all bear the familiar blue logo. Even though I don't pay for meetings (I have vouchers from my GP), I'm sure WW make a fortune from me!

Yay :)

Bit of an nsv (non-scales victory) today. Tried on several size 16 skirts earlier (I started at a size 18) and they fitted :D



^ Happy laugh ^

Boyfriend said "I thought you were a size 16 already?" though. Doh :P

Body image test

Just took Dr Hilary's body image test, and my result was:

"Congratulations, you are perfectly in tune with your body. Whilst there are parts you would like to improve, overall you are content with who you are and how you look and don't care what anyone else thinks."

Yay :) I know it would've been rather different had I taken it ten years ago! I look in the mirror these days and the only thing I want to change is my belly. I'm in the process of changing that anyway, so it's all good.

My mini goals

I've been having a look at some other weight watchers' blogs. Joey Brooks, from the WW forums, has a great site. She's now at her goal weight, and it's interesting to read how she got there. Particularly interesting is the Maintenance section of her site. That's been something I've been concerned about myself, how to stay at goal once I get there, and it's good to hear how it can be done from someone who knows.

Also a good read is Kimberlina's blog. She has her mini goals on the side of her blog, which is a great idea. I have my own mini goals too, so I thought I'd steal her idea and put them here. They're also on the sidebar, but I'll expand on them below.

Each pound lost is a goal in itself, though my first small goal was to reach my 5% goal of 11st 12lb. I'd achieved that by my birthday (29/04/10), when I weighed 11st 11lbs. My next goal was to drop a dress size (from size 18 down to 16), which I have also recently achieved. Next on the list was to lose a stone (get down to 11st 7.5lb), which I did just over three weeks ago.



Next on the list will be to get my waist down to 30-something inches. It's currently at 40", so hopefully I should manage that in a couple of weeks. (Ideally it will be below 32", as that is recommended as a healthy size.) After that will be to reach my 10% goal of 10st 10lb, which is 8.5lbs away at the moment. A couple of weeks after that, I should get halfway to goal. At that halfway point of 10st 7lb, I should be a size 14, hopefully in time for Christmas (or even in time for Halloween). Next on the list is to get my BMI down to 20-something (it's currently 32.6). Once I'm a size 14, it shouldn't be long before I get back into the pinstripe dress I wore on my boyfriend and I's second date, about four years ago. After that, the next mini goals are to be a size 12, and to reach my goal weight of 8st 7lb. I'd like to maybe get down to 8st after that, but I'll see how I feel when I get there ...

Thinspiration

Silver 7s, the little sparkly stickers WW give you when you lose 7lbs, are pretty :)



I've lost 17lbs so far - hopefully I'll be getting another silver 7 in a couple of weeks!

In a previous post, I was talking about what inspires me to lose weight. The "How I Lost 4st" article I mentioned is one of those things, as are little targets like silver 7s. Another thing that motivates me is thinking of all the clothes I'll be able to fit back into. Your Week, the mini magazine we get at WW meetings, was talking about motivation a few weeks ago. One of the suggestions was to hang up a piece of clothing that you want to slim back into. The piece I hang up for thinspiration is this little pinstripe dress:



I wore it on my second date with my boyfriend of four years, with fishnets and sparkly flats. With the memories attached to it, it'll be really great to be able to wear it again. My target dress size is 12, though the dress is actually a size 14. It'll fit better when I'm a 12 though, because I'm a bit top-heavy!

Woo!

Well, not quite yet! But I'm getting there. This headline is actually one of the things I use to motivate me - the article was in Look magazine a couple of months ago, and is about Jennifer Hudson's weight loss. She lost four stone, going from a size 18 to a 12, on Weight Watchers. This is exactly what I'm in the process of doing, so I do find it inspiring to have an occasional look at. :)

In fact, I lost 3.5 pounds at weigh-in today :D So now I have 2st 11.5lb to go. I did think I'd lost, because my jeans have been feeling looser over the past week.

I wonder if I could lose 3.5lbs next week? That would be half a stone in a fortnight (yay), without resorting to drastic diets like this one in Grazia:



"The diet's tough, there's no way round that - no grains, which means no bread, pasta or rice; no beans; just a smidgen of fruit and no alcohol." It works, I'm sure, but I could do the same eating properly on Weight Watchers, and not cutting out all the good stuff. I know which I'd rather do!

Inch loss

Since I started Weight Watchers in February, I've lost 2" from my upper arm, 2" from my waist, 3" from my hips and 2.5" from my thigh - so I've dropped a dress size. I put my hand on my stomach earlier and there was less of me than I expected, which was nice :D Still got about 9" to go til my waist is a healthy size, but I'm getting there!

Dippy-doo-dahs

Dip, pitta bread and veggies - a more interesting lunch than my usual sandwich :)

Picturing it

I joined the Weight Watchers forum last night. I thought you had to be a paying WW member to join, and, as I had a referral from my doctor and I therefore don't have to pay, I thought I couldn't join the site. It seems that I could though! Everyone is really nice and supportive there - one of the girls posted a link to a thing called WeightWatchers Picture It - a little application that lets you see what you'll look like at your goal weight. All you do is upload a 'before' photo, mark where your head, hips etc. are on that photo, then you get a sliding scale so you can see what you'd look like at different weights. Here's mine (look at the chicken legs! Hehehe):


Try it yourself at www.weightwatcherspictureit.co.uk/. (Try it on IE if you're a Firefox user though.)

After yesterday's overindulgence, I'm back on track today. Had my usual breakfast of cereal and skimmed milk (2 points), a leftover lunch of a roast chicken and pea sandwich (8 points), and fish, oven chips and salad for dinner (6.5 points). I've also done what my pedometer tells me is a 'healthy' amount of exercise today. :) Hopefully I'll find I've lost a bit at weigh-in this week!

Another oops

Being down the Asda end of Merry Hill at lunchtime is not a good idea. McDonald's calls to me, and today I gave in. Quarter Pounder with Cheese, plus fries, plus Diet Coke came to 15.5 points (my daily allowance is only 19). Ouch. Next time (next time?!) I'll know to have chicken nuggets - 6 are only 4 points. What makes it worse is that, apart from posting parcels, I was only down there to buy healthy stuff for tonight's dinner! Bad girl.

That stone I'd lost last time I posted is not quite a stone any more - I put on half a pound last week. So I should be being good, not eating Maccy D's! Tut tut tut.


^
Me in summer clothes, at my current weight of 11st 8lb. I look like I have a weird bump on my belly, but it's just the tie on my shorts.

Quarter of the way there!

I lost two pounds this week, which means I've lost a stone (14lbs) altogether, woo hoo. A stone in four months is not too bad. Maybe I can lose the next stone more quickly though! If I lose a pound a week (not too ambitious), it'll be gone by the end of September. I might even be back to a size 14 by then, which would be very nice. I'd have so many more clothes!

Talking of clothes, as mentioned in a previous post, I've started to sell off a few pieces of clothing. It's not quite yet a case of selling my clothes because they're too big, but that can't be far off.

Click the image below for my little collection of eBay auctions:


Thank you please x

Hahaha, oops

No weight lost this week, oops. No weight gained either though, so it's not all bad. Although this week's effort wasn't helped by the pub lunch I had earlier - burger and chips, nom nom nom (and salad - healthy!). At least I didn't have what the boyfriend had - a mixed grill thing which involved steak, black pudding, gammon, a sausage, a fried egg and pork, plus chips. Mine was my entire points allowance for the day, so I dread to think of the points in his!

Fat clothes, thin(ner) clothes

I'm maybe being a bit premature, but I just felt the need to get my big-box-of-clothes-that-don't-fit-me-yet off the top of the wardrobe to see if any of them do actually fit me now. None of the jackets in the suitcase that was on top of it fit me yet, though that's no surprise because they're size 14s and 12s. Not quite there yet!

From the big-box-of-clothes, I've so far tried on a little purple skirt, as seen in a photo that I took a couple of years ago:



That just about fits me again (yay). I've also tried on two red dresses (one cotton, one velvet), but I've still got a bit too much belly for those! Hopefully there will be a few bits of clothing in the big box that can be taken to the charity shop (or sold on eBay, I'll let you know if I do that) so I can make a bit of space. I'm just looking forward to the day when I can give all my fat clothes to charity!

Nearly!

Two and a half pounds to go til I've lost a stone, woo! I'll get another sticker. ^_^

A birthday, a curry, and a fluffy pink bunny

Put on half a pound this week, oops. It was my birthday last Thursday though, so I think I'm allowed. I'm surprised I didn't put on more actually! That entire half pound (Half a pound is 8 ounces, as it happens. Not entirely sure why I felt the need to look that up.) was probably contained in last night's curry. My parents took us out for a curry last night because, as usual, they were on holiday on my actual birthday. Nothing personal I'm sure. Hmmm.

Talking of my birthday, look at the cuteness I bought with birthday monies:



Squeee!

Reasons why being on a diet is actually good

The weight loss, obviously. After losing 5% of my body weight, I do feel fitter. Walking around doesn't wear me out so much now that there's less of me to lug around!

Weight Watchers cakes are actually quite nice.

I'm doing more proper cookery these days - cooking things from scratch with lots of fresh veg, which makes me feel like I've accomplished something, at least in a small way.

I have better self-esteem these days because I'm achieving something, i.e. weight loss. I'm finally doing what I've been talking about for so long.

I can watch Supersize vs Superskinny without feeling guilty, because I'm at a happy medium, rather than feeling like I have the eating habits of the larger person.

If you're a little bit Obsessive-Compulsive like me, the writing down, and adding up the points of, of everything you've eaten that day is quite enjoyable.

I won't say that it's easy, but it's certainly not as hard as I thought it would be.

Curry

Lost 3 pounds this week, woo! Okay, so I put on 2 and a half last week, so it's really only half a pound. That's still something though. Only 4 and a half to go til I've lost a whole stone!

That won't be helped by the curry we're going out for tomorrow though. Then again, these days I never eat a whole portion of curry. Lots of calculations happen so that I can have something nice but still be ok for points. The sort of thing I used to have was just ridiculous (points-wise I mean - it wasn't wearing a party hat or anything) - my pre-diet meal of butter chicken, pilau rice and a naan would be 32 points (eep). So I'm basically having half of everything for 16 points (or 13 if I don't have a cider). Still pointy, but worth it :)

Noes!

OK, I'm miffed today. I put on 2.5 pounds D: I can blame Easter for that - Sunday and Monday were declared no-diet days, so I shouldn't really be surprised. On Sunday we went to my Mum's, and she had lots of nice foods in, which of course got eaten. She'd made a trifle with mini eggs on top too, and my brother-in-law had made chocolate cake. I had two Easter eggs the next day as well. Nom nom nom ...

Back on track for this week though, and I've had a healthy-ish snack of reduced fat dip and baked crisps. 3.5 points, and part of my lunch - not too bad at all :) The 3 miles I've walked today, and tonight's dinner of Spaghetti Bolognese, from a Weight Watchers recipe, should help me on the way.

Low fat cheese is rubbish

It is. It melts in a really weird way and tastes wrong. Bleh.

Anyway. I lost a pound this week, woo :) Which is a nice surprise after the foodie, non-points-counting weekend I've had (see previous post)! I bet it'll catch up with me next week though. Next Thursday I'll be telling you I've put the six and a half pounds back on, ha :P

A weekend away

At the weekend, we went up to the Lake District for a family get-together. It was really lovely - my parents had rented a gorgeous place called Eskmeals House for a joint celebration of their Ruby Wedding and my Dad's 65th birthday. Various members of the extended family came up, and it was great to see everyone.



Lots of very yummy food and wine was consumed over the weekend - needless to say, the diet was put on hold for a few days! We had caterers on the Saturday night and had a dinner of soup, then beef, then sticky toffee pudding or pavlova, then cheese and biscuits, then a very full belly :P My brother-in-law made a cooked breakfast for all 20 of us the next morning too. Nom nom nom. I doubt very much that I have lost any weight at all this week ...

Here's how the dining room looked just before we left:





I wish I'd taken a photo of the room when it was full of food and people. I don't think folk would have taken too kindly to being photographed while eating though!

My boyfriend Simon and I had the top floor of one of the wings of the house to ourselves - a gorgeous bedroom and surely the warmest bathroom in the world.







I think we could very happily have lived at Eskmeals, but we did have to leave.







Bye-bye big house!

Ouchie

My knee hurts because there's too much weight on it, so I'm comfort eating. That's sensible. Although, does it count as comfort eating when you're genuinely hungry?

Only lost half a pound today. Bit miffed, but it's still something. We're getting a curry tonight though, so I'll probably put it straight back on :P Haven't had a curry since I started on Weight Watchers, so I'm looking forward to it! There's a shocking amount of points in a curry though ...

Weigh-in day

I didn't lose 3 pounds today as I had hoped, but I did still lose a pound, which is good too. I was really disappointed though, which is silly. I'd just built up the idea of losing half a stone in three weeks in my mind, and convinced myself that it was going to happen. Moral of the story? Lower your expectations.

No, that can't be right ...


In other news, my big brother is in Weight Watchers Magazine this month:



Well done Dave :)

Hello to you

My pedometer thinks I'm evil. It tells me I have done 6606 steps today. That apparently counts as 'healthy' though, so I won't get too paranoid about it. I did 13800, or 5.2 miles, yesterday too. I always knew shopping was good for you.

So I started Weight Watchers last month, nearly three weeks ago now. I started at 12 st 7.5lb, pretty bad since I'm only 4' 10.5" tall (not that 'tall' is a particularly appropriate word!). At my last weigh-in, I was 12st 3.5lb. I keep thinking of long-term goals - the original one was to lose 3 stone by September, which is certainly doable. Although, since I lost 3 pounds last week, and if I lose 3 pounds again this week, that will be half a stone. So I've been thinking that if I keep up the same pace and lose half a stone every three weeks, I will have lost the 3 stone by mid-June. Which would be nice.

My mum keeps saying how proud she is of me, bless her. I've been meaning to start a weight-loss plan for, well, years now, and I'm feeling quite optimistic now that I've finally started. It's really not as hard as I thought it would be either - it's more about changing habits (like my epic snack habit) than giving up the foods I like, so it doesn't feel like I'm making big sacrifices. Though I have been craving a curry and a peshwari naan lately ...