Monthly Archives: March 2014

The Results Are In – Week 12

Posted
Filed under My Progress

Weight loss:    1.5lb5%

Current weight:    11st 11lb

Weight loss since start:    9.5lb

Lbs to go to reach next target:    0lb

What’s gone well?

I’m delighted to have finally reached (and actually exceeded) my “5% since January” goal and can now pick a treat off my list (more about this tomorrow).  My next small goal is my “10% since January” goal.  I need to lose another 8.5lb to reach this target and would like to do so by 2nd June.  However, that’s still a long way off so my next mini-goal is to lose 4lb by 28th April.

I was on the ball with tracking my weekly points this week which I think really helped with my weight loss.

I was really pleased with my exercise because, although I was unable to attend two of my usual classes, I went to my spinning class and actually stayed for a couple of extra tracks and I went back to parkrun and kept going even though my hip-flexor was niggling a little bit and the devil on my shoulder was more than ready to use this as an excuse to throw in the towel.

I think it’s been helpful to not be as focused on food: I’ve been cooking less recipes due to being extremely busy with work and trying to get a new business off the ground.  Instead I’ve been relying on simple foods such as jacket potatoes and beans on toast.  It’s actually been really liberating to realise that I can still lose weight despite not having time to devote to trying out new recipes all the time.

 

What’s been difficult?

It has been a little bit difficult to fit in all of my planned exercise due to other commitments this week.  However, I’m already not letting this throw me off course by making sure that I go to the classes I can get to and work a bit harder while I’m there.

 

The week ahead

I’m going out for a friend’s birthday on Saturday to Chiquitos.  I’ve been wanting to try this place for a long time as I really like Mexican food.  However I do know that the meals are quite high in PPVs.  But I’m simply going to plan ahead, save my weeklies to help cover it and limit myself on the cocktail front.

Thanks for reading.

PS Look out for my post on rewards that I’m finally going to get round to posting tomorrow!

Don’t Stop Fat-Fighter!

Posted
Filed under All Things Weight Loss

I’ve had a bit of a mixed experience when it comes to exercise this weekend.

Image courtesy of jesadaphorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of jesadaphorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Firstly, I went to my normal spinning class on Friday despite me not being that keen on the music now that there’s a new instructor.  When the class started, she announced that she’d be doing a couple of extra tracks at the end of the normal class but gave people the option of leaving after the timetabled 45mins.  I firmly decided “No! It’s Friday night.  I’d only planned on doing the normal 45mins.  At soon as possible, I’m out of here!”.

However, as the class progressed, I started to think, “I’m here now, so I might as well do a little bit extra.  It’s early on a Friday evening after all so I still have the rest of the weekend to do other stuff.”  To my own surprise, I stayed and worked really hard for the extra 13mins.  I left feeling very pleased with myself.

On Saturday morning, I was back to Parkrun after a break of a couple of weeks.  I was running it with two of my cousins – one of whom left her house at 4:45am to drive 140miles to take part (yes she is a bit mental but we love her!).  It was a nice sunny but cold morning so I was thinking it was going to be a lovely run.  However, about 1mile in to the 3mile course, my hip-flexor started to pull.  I tried to ignore it and focus on my music thinking that as I got into my stride a bit more it would probably loosen up a bit.  It didn’t.  By about mile 2 it was really hurting and all I wanted to do was to stop and walk.  But I didn’t.  It took a lot of positive thinking to keep me going including: the amazing challenge completed by Davina McCall for Sport Relief that I’d watched  a programme about last week (Davina: Beyond Breaking Point).  If she could keep going for all than distance, I could manage to complete a 5km run; all those who managed to complete the Coventry Half Marathon last week; and thinking about writing this blog post!  Despite my hip being sore and this having the knock-on effect of making my lower back sore from my altered gait, I managed to keep running all the way around and still run a little bit faster over the last 100 yards (not my usual sprint finish but hey).  I was surprised, and not a little proud, that I managed to dig-in mentally and keep going.  Even more surprisingly, when I checked my time this morning, it was actually only 47 seconds slower than my PB!!

During the run, and reflecting on my mental attitude towards it post-run, I started thinking about how the mind-set needed to complete a physical challenge is mirrored in the challenge of losing and maintaining weight: sometimes it is unexpectedly hard to keep going and obstacles that are not of your own making can slow you down.  But if you keep a positive mental attitude, dig in and keep going, you can achieve your goals.

Thanks for reading.

PS How do you keep going when the going gets tough?

 

Bacon, Mushroom & Tomato Pasta

Posted
Filed under Recipes

This is one of my staple mid-week recipes. It is quick, economical and it’s so easy that Mr FFF actually cooked the dish pictured all on his own. And to give him the full credit he deserves, he didn’t even make much mess!

Servings:   2

This batch loving prepared by Mr FFF

This batch loving prepared by Mr FFF

Pro Points:   7

Simple Start:   0

Filling & Healthy:   0

Preparation time:     5mins

Cooking time:   15mins

Ingredients

  • 120g dried wholemeal pasta
  • 4 bacon medallions, chopped
  • 150g mushrooms, sliced
  • 400g tin chopped tomatoes or 4 fresh tomatoes chopped
  • 2tsp mixed herbs

 

Method

  1. Fry the bacon and mushrooms in a non-stick saucepan until the bacon is just cooked.
  2. Stir in the tomatoes and bring to the boil.
  3. Reduce the heat and stir in the mixed herbs.
  4. Simmer the sauce while you cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet.
  5. Season the sauce to taste and serve on top of the drained pasta.

 

Top tip: Add a pinch of dried chilli flakes to give this dish a fiery kick.

The Results Are In – Week 11

Posted
Filed under My Progress
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Weight loss:    0.5lb

Current weight:    11st 12.5lb

Weight loss since start:    8lb

Lbs to go to reach next target:    1lb

What’s gone well?

My fear this week was that after getting back under the 12st mark last week, I’d end up back in the 12st bracket this week which is what I did the last time I got under 12st despite vowing to never end up there again. So I’m delighted that this week I’ve actually managed to lose a little bit more.

I went to an unexpected party on Friday night but I’m really pleased with how I dealt with it.  I still went to my spinning class beforehand to get some activity points in the bag.  Then I ate my planned F&H dinner before we went.  I knew there’d be some kind of food there but I didn’t know what so I thought it best to play it safe.  I also bought a jar of peanut butter so that I could have a breakfast (peanut butter & banana on toast) the following day that I knew would hit the spot in terms of ‘the morning after the night before’ but without breaking the bank points-wise.

What’s been difficult?

I haven’t found anything to be particularly challenging this week.  If I’m really looking for something I suppose I’m not enjoying my spinning class as much as I used to due to a change of instructor.  I might go to the Body Balance class that is on after it instead as I think this will also help me to de-stress at the end of the working week.

 

The week ahead

Although I’m following the F&H plan at the moment, I’m not tracking what I spend my weekly points on.  I’ve been doing it mentally but I’m going to aim to track them properly this week.  I’ve also set my next goal which is to reach my 5% target by next week so tracking properly will really help me with this.

Thanks for reading.

PS Thanks for your suggestions about rewards, I’ll be writing a post based on these later in the week.

Even The Pros Struggle

Posted
Filed under All Things Weight Loss

Two of my closest friends are personal trainers and they are two of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet.  Over the years as I have struggled with my weight, I have often felt inferior to them in terms of my body

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

image and my self-control and motivation around diet and exercise.  This is not in any way because of anything they have ever done or said: they have only ever been extremely supportive of me and have congratulated me on my successes.  I realise that what lies behind these feelings of inferiority is my own attitude towards myself and my weight-loss journey.

Imagine my delight then when on Saturday, just as my anxiety towards my Monday night weigh-in was starting to build, I read the following blog post by one of these friends:

 

A dieting downward spiral            

In our private FB coaching group our members post their meal plans,
food choices etc for accountability and support to keep on track
when they feel a little out of control.

Having a group of supportive people who have got your back when
things start to slip can really help, everybody who has ever been
successful with weight watchers or slimming world know this.  The
meetings can really work.

However, sometimes things do slip through no fault of our own,
we're not even really aware that we have made any changes at all.
 Until suddenly you wake up one morning and your clothes feel
tighter and you feel like shit.

You decide that you know what to do and you will get started
straight away.  A day in and you realise that you just haven't got
the energy or inclination to put the effort in to eating well and
making informed choices.

You simply can't be arsed with the effort of it all.

There are many reasons that this happens and I will cover in more
detail over the coming weeks.

One of the reasons is that you can lose sight of the goal or the
importance that looking or more importantly feeling good no longer
floats your boat.

Another is that when you get in to the shit food cycle, it is hard
to break free.  Essentially we are just big test tubes that walk
around and interact with each other.

Every item that you consume will create a chemical reaction in your
body, which in turn affects your bodies chemistry and more
importantly your brain chemistry.

Eating good quality food will reset it but you have to get through
those first few days of change.  When your brain chemistry is
running on crappy processed foods, it is more difficult to make
choices that will put you back on track.

And that's without even starting on the addictive nature of some
additives and ingredients in processed foods.

If you fall off track, don't beat yourself up about it, it doesn't
help you in anyway.  You just end up feeling shit and wanting to
punish yourself.

Do the best you can and surround yourself with like-minded people
(this can be on FB it doesn't have to be in person) who want to
support and help you in your quest for better health.

Darren "Mince is definitely not steak" Checkley

P.S.  Our next Achieve Bootcamp starts on Monday 31st March 2014.

P.P.S. I know I have sent this after my 8.30pm technology
water-shed but we have been out for dinner with friends and I
didn't want to miss a day :)

 

Reading this made me realise that I am not alone.  Many of us face these diet-demons and the difference between those who succeed and those who fail is that the successful people don’t let the demons win.

If you’d like to read more of Darren’s blogs about nutrition and exercise, you can find them here: http://archive.aweber.com/achievebootcamp/4lQLb/h/A_dieting_downward_spiral.htm

Here’s to fighting your demons!

 

 

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