Operation Damage Limitation: Starting Statistics

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As mentioned in a previous post, I’ve been off-track for a while and my weight has been slowly and surely creeping

Image courtesy of zirconicusso at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of zirconicusso at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

up.

As a busy primary school teacher, I usually use the long summer holidays to kick-start/refocus my weight loss efforts and I organise my holiday around this – going away at the beginning of the break so that I have time to get back on track before going back to school.  However, this year, we’ve had to rearrange our holiday dates and destination and I’m now not going away until the end of the summer.  AND the place I’m going to is a Gourmet Inclusive place with amazing food and drink available 24hrs.

 

So, I could either write the whole summer off, and no doubt put on even more weight before my holiday, or make the most of the time I’ve got.  I’ve decided to go with the former and try to kickstart my weight-loss before I go away.

 

Start of summer weight (20/7/15):    13st 5lbs

Waist:    35.5in

Hips:      45in

Bust:      40in

Arms:    12in

Thighs:  26in

I’ve set myself a goal of getting below the 13st mark before I go away.  When I come back, I’ll set myself some medium and long term targets.

WI Results – Damage Limitation Week 1

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Weight loss:   1.5lb

Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Current weight:    13st 3.5lb

Weight loss since start:   1.5lb

Lbs to go to reach next target:   4lb

 

What’s gone well?

I’m really pleased with my weight loss this week.  I’ve been exercising really hard using my new training app (more about that soon) and have found it pretty easy to stick to eating healthily.

Unbelieveably, I’ve managed to ‘run’ (more like a steady plod really) two 5km distances this week.  I’m not loving the running aspect of the training so far but I know that I soon will once I get back into it properly.

Despite eating out a couple of times this week, including on a fantastic day out in London taking my mum to see The Lion King, I managed to make sensible choices and avoided the temptations of desert on boths occassions.

 

What’s been difficult?

I’m finding tracking difficult.  I’m not sure why.  I seem to have some kind of mental block.  I did ok with it up until Friday and then it went out of the window.  I still had the plan in the front of my mind but I just didn’t write anything down.  I don’t really know why.  I had time and I’m determined to eat healthily.  It’s a puzzle.

 

The week ahead

I’m planning on sticking with my training programme this week as well as trying a new circuits class this evening.  I’ve got to increase my run to 6km for one of the two this week and I’m quite looking forward to that.  I’m going to add the extra 1km to the beginning part of the route so that in my head, I’m doing the extra before I get tired.

My biggest challenge this week is going to be spending a girls’ weekend in Liverpool.  I’m really going to try hard to track so that it will hopefully help to keep me focused.  I’m going to take my trainers and running gear with me too so that I can complete this weekend’s run along the waterfront.

I’ve also set myself a mini-target of losing another 4lb by the time I go on holiday which will take me back into the 12st bracket.  I’m hoping that this small but achieveable target will help me to stay on track.

Wish me luck.  And if you’ve got any idea about why I hit a block with tracking at the weekend, please let me know!

 

Thanks for reading,

FFF

 

 

 

Mission: Damage Limitation

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Well, as you may or may not have noticed, I’ve been away from the blog for a LONG time.  This is partly down to me getting a promotion and getting my head around my new role.  But it’s largely down to the fact that I haven’t been prioritising my own health and fitness.  The result is that my weight has gradually been creeping up for the last few months.

I can't wait to be back here!

I can’t wait to be back here!

I have felt really annoyed at myself but I’m choosing not dwell on it as that’s not going to get me anywhere.

I’m now on holiday from work for 7 weeks (just over 6 left) and so my plan is to get my fitness and diet kicked back into shape.

Well, that was my plan but, as we all know, the only sure thing in life is change:

Originally, we’d planned to go to Tunisia for 10 days in the middle of the holidays.  I felt that I’d have enough time to get my prep for September done before going then have a couple of weeks when we got back to get back on track.

So, we’re now not allowed to go to Tunisia so are instead going to Mexico at the end of the holidays.  It gives me only a few full days to get back on track between coming home and going back to work.  AND where we are going is a Gourmet Inclusive hotel.  We’ve been before and the food and cocktails are absolutely to die for.  Now, we’ve paid a lot of money for this holiday so I don’t want to feel like I’m missing out BUT I also don’t want to have to pay for an extra seat to accomodate my backside on the return flight!

So, I’ve come up with a new damage limitation plan:  I’m working really hard to eat really well and exercise daily to enable me to be in as good a position as possible when I go on holiday.  We’re going to make use of the gym facilities at the hotel (if my sister is reading this, “Ssshh! It’s my holiday, I’ll do what I want!”).  I’m going to do some energetic swimming whenever I need to cool off (this really helped when I was in Turkey a couple of years ago and worrying about not fitting into my wedding dress) and I also really wnat to try the yoga classes that are available at the hotel.  I’m going to enjoy the food on offer but will make sure I make sensible choices and don’t go overboard.  When I get back, I’m getting straight back on track.

Sorry for the long post but it feels good to be back!  I’ll write a couple of shorter posts over the next couple of days with more info on my exercise plan etc.

If anyone’s got any suggestions for how to keep focused on making sensible food choices and how to motivate themselves to exercise on holiday, please share!

Thanks for reading

FFF

The Dreaded Shopping-for-Clothes Trip

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I love window-shopping. I don’t mean that I spend my weekends browsing double-glazing.  I love wandering around shops and looking at things that I would like to buy: books, cds, homeware, toiletries, handbags, shoes and accessories and making the occasional purchase.

But not clothes.  I hate going shopping for clothes.

Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It’s ok if I’m not looking for anything in particular: if I see something that I like and it fits great, if not, no problem.  But when it comes to shopping for clothes that I need, I dread it.

I hate being in the changing room, under the horrible fluorescent lights that make your skin look terrible, trying to find something that will a) fit, b) do something to hide my lumpy bits and c) look somewhat fashionable.  I usually find that anything that does fit is unflattering and anything that has the possibility to flatter they don’t have in my size.

Several shopping trips for interview or wedding outfits and the like have left me in a foul mood, close to (and in some cases, in) tears and with nothing to show for it except for a shopping companion who cannot do or say anything to lift me out of my pit of despair.  That sounds a tad melodramatic reading it back, but it’s honestly how I feel.

During the Christmas holidays, I realised that I’d got less than a week until starting a new job and that my work-wardrobe was in dire need of an update.  Add in to the mix the fact that prior to Christmas my weight had crept up somewhat even before any mince pies or Celebrations had passed my lips, and you can probably imagine my state of panic.

I had two options:

  1. Brace myself and face the madness of the Jumble January Sales with someone sympathetic; or
  2. Stick to my old stuff.

So what did I do?  I actually chose secret option number 3: I booked a session with a personal shopper.

I hadn’t used a personal shopper before but I had booked a session with one for my mum to help her choose an outfit for my wedding 18 months ago.  It was a really positive experience and I knew from booking it that they also offered the service for updating your ‘work-wardrobe’.  So I booked an appointment and off I went.  I dragged my mum along as I always find a second opinion to be useful when purchasing important outfits and I know I can rely on my mum to be brutally honest about how I look.

As is our habit, we arrived about 20 minutes early for my appointment and we spent some time having a quick browse as I also wanted to buy a new pair of jeans.  Although I picked up a pair of jeans that looked promising, nothing stood out in terms of work-wear and I thought that I was likely to spend the next hour and a half trying on things that looked far too old and conservative before making my excuses about not buying anything.

Luckily, I was wrong.  After a chat about my job, dislike of my big hips and the kind of clothes I feel comfortable/uncomfortable in, the lovely personal shopper, Stacey, went off to find me a load of clothes leaving me and mum to relax in our own personal changing room.  When she came back with a rail full of clothes, my heart sank.  I didn’t like the look of anything.  There were a few pairs of trousers on the rail though so I thought that I might at least find one pair that fit and were kind to my shape.

Then I started to try things on and was pleasantly surprised: I loved loads of the blouses she had chosen and all the trousers not only fit but also looked fab.  I was spoiled for choice!  I ended up coming away with 3 pairs of trousers, 3 blouses, a pair of shoes (which she nipped back out to get for me to demonstrate what kind of shoe to wear with the ankle-skimmer trousers she’d picked out – I really am pretty clueless when it comes to these things!), two bras (which she fitted me for after it became apparent I had no clue what my actual bra size was – more about that soon) and a pair of jeans (not the first ones I picked as they were too short but another pair that Stacey suggested would flatter my shape and dutifully went to get for me).

So, far from ending the day distraught and clothes-less, I ended the day feeling good about myself and looking forward to wearing my new clothes.  I was also excited to have some new styles and colours in my wardrobe that I never would have thought to put together.

In short, I’d recommend anyone book an appointment with a personal shopper if they’re looking for an outfit for a special occasion or a wardrobe update.  Mine was booked through Debenhams and was free.  When we booked my mum’s we thought there would probably be a bit of a hard sell as it was a free service but this wasn’t the case at either her or my appointment.  A quick bit of research shows me that they are also available at House of Fraser and Topshop.  John Lewis offer 2 complimentary appointment types as well as a paid ‘Style Profile’ appointment which costs £125 but is redeemable against spend over £500 when booked with one of the complimentary services.

I’d definitely use this service again.  I’m actually considering booking another one for late Spring to update my summer wardrobe.  I might even save up and get my colour profile done at John Lewis.  I’ll let you know how I get on.

New Year, New Start v2.015

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At this time of year, many of us make resolutions of things we are going to give up or start doing in the hope of improving our health, appearance, job or quality of life.

Setting goals and self-improvement are all well and good.  However, for many of us, the setting of resolutions for the new year is often followed by the failure to stick to those resolutions.

I had been thinking about setting some resolutions for 2015 when I read an article about this topic in which many things rang true for me.  I have said for the past 12 years that this will be the year that I reach my goal weight and I never have.  This has resulted in 11 years of me feeling like a failure and being critical of my body and my appearance.

Enough is enough.  It’s time to stop putting it off.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

So this year, I am going to do it.  I am setting myself some specific goals to reach by a specific deadline.

I’m heeding the advice about ‘taking baby steps’ and so I’m giving myself a full year to reach my goal.  This works out at 0.5lb per week so is more than achievable.  I’m also taking on board the idea of phrasing my goal positively rather than negatively: it’s necessary to talk about how much weight I want to get rid of (not lose, I don’t want to subconsciously try to find it again!) but I’m going to focus on how good I’ll feel when clothes start fitting me better and going shopping for an outfit makes me smile instead of cry.  I’m also going to think about how good I know I’ll feel on the inside when I’m eating well and exercising.

I’m going to have a visual reminder of my progress by putting a bead into a jar for every 1lb I shed.

So here are my initial goals:

2 weeks:             Complete week 2 of the Couch-to-5k programme

6 weeks:             3lb total weight loss

12 weeks:           Run 5km non-stop

1 Year:                Reach Goal Weight (-26lb)

 

I’m going to set other short-term goals as I go to help me to stay on course and I’m going to make sure that I plan how to ensure that I stay on track on a daily and weekly basis.  I’ll also be thinking of new ways to reward myself for my progress.

Asian Quinoa Stir-Fry

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I made this Asian Quinoa Stir-Fry tonight for dinner for myself and my sister from the January 2015 edition of the BBC Good Food magazine. Asian Quinoa Stir Fry

It’s a vegan-friendly, wheat-free recipe and came in at 7pp on the Weight Watchers Plan.

It was simple to prepare, really tasty and felt incredibly healthy to eat.  The only change I’d make if cooking it again would be that I’d use less liquid than it states in the recipe as mine turned out quite soupy.

Back to Blogging

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Wow! I can’t believe it’s been nearly 6 months since my last blog post!!  There are many reasons why but I won’t bore you with them.  Suffice to say that while I’ve been away from the blog, I’ve

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

been on a fabulous holiday and landed myself an exciting promotion.  And my weight and body issues have remained about the same.

My weight has been up and down over the past 6 months and is currently up.  I’ll post my stats after the dreaded post-holiday WI on Monday but as I was 12st 7.5lb before Christmas, I’ll just be happy if I haven’t tipped into the 13st bracket.

As with most people at this time of year, I’ve been reflecting on my progress (or lack thereof) towards the goals I set for myself last year.  I’ve read some interesting articles on some of the reasons why people tend to fail at their New Year’s Resolutions and so I’m using these ideas to come up with a plan to help me to achieve my goals in 2015.  More on that in the next couple of days  – I promise it won’t take me 6 months to come up with them 😉

 

Happy New Year

 

You Never Fail Until You Stop Trying

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Women sifting peanut shells to make a living in The Gambia - image copyright Hayley Shortt 2014

Women sifting peanut shells to make a living in The Gambia – image copyright Hayley Shortt 2014

Last night I had my first weigh-in following my latest bout of not focusing on my weight loss.  I wasn’t particularly looking forward to it as I’d not been completely ‘back on track’ due to another busy week and weekend (Good Food Show and Father’s Day).  I had considered this when I wrote my last post pledging to get  back on track.  I did think that I could wait until this week to begin but I knew the chances were that doing that would lead to another 1-2lb creeping back on.  So I recommitted knowing that I’d have a week where it would be difficult to focus on healthy eating.

I stepped onto the scales expecting to have stayed the same or put on 1/2-1lb.  Imagine my delight when I found that I’d actually lost 1/2lb!!

I’m so glad I decided to refocus on my weight-loss despite knowing that it would be a challenging week to do so.  Although I didn’t completely stick to the plan it helped to have my weight-loss goal in mind as I made decisions about what to eat and drink throughout the week.

It reminded me of a motivational poster that I saw years ago which said “Putting off something easy makes it difficulty.  Putting off something difficult makes it impossible“.  This really resonates with me when it comes to my weight-loss and sticking to the Weight Watcher’s plan: I know it works when I stick to it and sticking to it is pretty easy when I get back on track.

So I’m going to be seizing the proverbial bull by its horns this week and getting my WW mojo back on track.

I must admit that I’d thought about giving up on this blog as I feel pretty foolish for having to write about getting back on track again for what feels like the umpteenth time this year!  But then I thought about the words of the late, great Albert Einstein who once said “You never fail until you stop trying.”

So, with that in mind, I’m setting the following two small goals:

Weekly goal – to stay on track this week leading to a loss at the scales next Monday

Medium-term goal – to lose 5lb in the next 5 weeks, at the end of which I’m off on holiday.

Thanks for reading.

PS For those of you short on time but eager to cook tasty, healthy food, look out for a review of a fresh food delivery service that I’m trialling next week…

 

 

I’m Still Fighting!

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Hi everyone!

For those of you who read my posts regularly, you may have noticed that I haven’t posted in a while (and thanks to those of you who’ve asked when you’ll see my next post).Exhibition Flyer

I’m still fighting the fat but I’ve been incredibly busy over the last couple of months.  I won’t bore you with the details of what I’ve been busy with (although if you enjoy photography you might want to take a look at one of the reasons – Spectrum: A photography exhibition hosted by myself and fellow students at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry.  On until the 26th June).  However, my crammed schedule has meant that I:

a) Haven’t had any time for my blog; and

b) haven’t had as much time as I’d like/need to devote to my weight-loss.

 

As a result, my weight has remained pretty static – small losses and small gains – and currently stands at 12st 1.5lb following a fab Hen Weekend in Liverpool last weekend.

Two main things have spurred me on to restart my weight-loss efforts:

1) My leader has pointed out that it’s only 29 weeks until Christmas!  I vowed that this would be the year I’d finally get to goal so I really need to get a wriggle on.

2) In my Weight Watchers meeting, we have been developing our own visual representations of our weight-loss.  I’ve used glass candle holders and red glass beads.  The 2 smaller jars show the weight I have left to lose (22lb) and I’ll be moving a bead for each pound lost into the ‘lbs shed’ jar.  The larger jar holds a glass bead for each pound I’ve lost so far on my Weight Watchers Journey – 21lb.  I’m really looking forward to moving my first bead (or maybe even beads…) into the ‘lbs shed jar next week.Jars

I’ve got some more recipes ready to post in the next couple of weeks and I’ll also be writing a blog about getting my priorities straight (I may need your help and advice with that one!) so please keep an eye out for them.

Thanks for reading.

PS What visuals do you use to help record your weigh-loss?

The Results Are In – Week 15

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Weight loss:   +0.5lb

Image courtesy of jesadaphorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of jesadaphorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Current weight:    12st 0lb

Weight loss since start:  6.5lb

Lbs to go to reach next target:   3lb

 

So: I had another small gain this week.

This made me feel a) a little bit annoyed at myself and b) a little bit silly. Why? Because, here I am, writing this weight-loss blog (which was supposed to keep me focused) and I haven’t lost any weight for 4 weeks and I’ve only lost 6.5lb since January!

I allowed myself to feel annoyed and silly for a few minutes, but I realise that if I dwell on these feelings, the effect on my mind-set is likely to be negative: I have definitely been guilty, several times, in the (recent) past of dealing with my disappointment at a weight gain by comfort eating. Because that makes such good sense: I feel rubbish for putting on weight so I eat loads of stuff that is guaranteed to make me put on yet more weight!

So, to combat this, I decided to remind myself of what I have achieved on my weight loss journey:

  • I have lost just over 2 stone since I first started my weight-loss journey
  • I have lost 11.5lb since Christmas (this is calculated from my weight at weigh in prior to my official Weight Watchers weigh in so, although I’m fairly confident in the reliability of the scales used, I’m not counting it as this year’s starting weight)
  • I used to wear size 18 jeans which were too tight and now I’m wearing size 14
  • I have dropped a dress size since Christmas
  • I haven’t given up on my goal

I don’t want to make excuses about why I gained last week, but I think it’s important to think about the reasons why I gained weight to make sure that this doesn’t become an upward trend.

I was still on holiday from work last week and, following a fairly busy first week, it was a quieter week. Therefore, I could’ve gone to the gym each day. Or at least once. But I didn’t. Why? Because I just felt like being lazy! Do I need to feel guilty about that? No. I work hard and I’m always on the go with various other commitments and projects so I think it’s important for my mental health and well-being to have some down-time from time to time.

I did cook a number of healthy meals and have stockpiled a load of portions of different soups (click here for my Spicy Chicken, Tomato & Chickpea Soup and Persian Beef Pilaf recipes)to keep me going for lunches at work over the next few weeks so that has helped with the damage limitation.

I did eat quite a lot of chocolate. It’s my biggest downfall. I love it. I need to think about how to incorporate a small amount of it into my diet without letting it get out of hand. To help with this I took advantage of the Weight Watchers bars being offer and have bought some of those. I’m planning on going back to the Simple Start plan this week and using the bars as one of my daily treats. I’ve put them right at the back of the cupboard so I don’t see them every time I open the cupboard. In fact, I think I’ll even get one out of the box when I’m making my dinner and have it on the side ready for my treat – then I don’t have to see the rest of the box when I’ve got my chocolate craving.

I’m 2 days in to my new week now and I’ve already taken a couple of positive steps towards achieving my goal of losing weight this week: I’ve stuck to the plan on both days, I went to the gym last night and I’ve bought a pedometer. I’m going to use it over the next couple of weeks to gauge the average number of steps I take each day. Then in a couple of weeks, I’ll try to up my average.

Looking back at my achievements so far, I think the last one is probably the most important. And that’s what I’ve got at the front of my mind this week as I get tempted to indulge in foods that aren’t going to help me to achieve my goal, or as I’m tempted to miss an exercise session: DON’T GIVE UP Fat-Fighter!

Thanks for reading.

What do you do when you feel like you’re stuck in a weight-loss rut?