A perfect 10

Well, 10.5 really.  Because that's how many pounds I lost this week!

I really wanted to write a new post tonight, whilst I'm still on a bit of a high, because I feel fantastic! 

I was very much hoping that I'd lose the 4lb that I put on last week (it turned out to be that time of the month [or quarter in my case] after all!).  Even if I hadn't have got the 4 off, but had 2 or 3, as long as it was in the right direction, I'd have been happy.  I am absolutely thrilled, and this is why:

• my net loss after just 3 weigh ins is 17.5lbs
• I have achieved my first target of losing a stone before Christmas (and no, that doesn't mean for me to put half of it back on - cheeky!)
• I'm 3.5lbs into my next stone
• I now have 3 awards (7lb, stone & slimmer of the month for November)
• my weight is moving in the right direction
• I'm changing my life now and my future life
• I've now lost a total of 7 inches - 3 from my chest (isn't it always the way?) and 4 from my waist.  Sadly none from the hips (see they really don't lie), but there's plenty of time.
• It has been easy so far.

I'm absolutely elated. I said to friends earlier tonight that if I could bottle this feeling and give it away, then I would.  Right now, I have all the motivation I need (though I do still await the moment when I lose it!). 

After last week's disappointing result, I didn't lose heart.  I just carried on doing more of the same, and believed that it would work - and it did.  On reflection, I'm glad I put that 4lb on last week - when I was still motivated enough for it not to bother me, because I've proven to myself now that if I do have a good week (diet & activity wise) and the result (weight loss) isn't there, that it is worth sticking with it because the results will show eventually.  In my case and on this occasion this was 1 week later, but it could be more than that at other times.

Tonight, I felt confident enough to share my blog with the other class members at our group.  I didn't plan on doing it tonight, or ever for that matter.  This blog is personal to me, and I really set it up to express my feelings and help me through what is undoubtedly the biggest task I've ever faced.  I've shared it with close friends and family, and gradually, I'm getting the confidence to share with others.

There were a couple of ladies tonight in group (and I hope they don't mind me saying so) who seemed to be struggling (motivation & weight loss wise) and I just thought on the spur of the moment, 'do it, share it'.  Not because I think I can help, or offer great wisdom on the losing of weight, but because you'll see that someone else is in the same situation as you.  I don't kid myself and think I'll be this motivated and this determined forever, I know there will come a time where I lose my way, maintain or even put weight on.  And that's why I've written this blog and writing this post now, so that when that time comes, I am prepared! I will have a whole host of experiences, feelings and general ramblings to look back on to spur me on and put me back on track.  And if my ramblings help somebody else to do that, or even give them a giggle (it has been known), then I'd be thrilled.

I stick my awards (stickers we get when making achievements) on the front of my green food optimising book that you take to class for weigh-ins.  I find it's a good reminder of how far I've come - and I see it every week at class as a minimum (and generally most nights as it's usually on the chair arm next to me).  I've not decided where the Slimmer of the Month certificate will go - I think maybe on the kitchen cupboards.  It seems a tad juvenile, proudly displaying my achievements, but you know what, I don't care.  Keeping these reminders around me, will stop me going back to 17.5lbs heavier than I am today.  So to share them with you:

Here are my awards so far

And this is what my weight loss chart looks like online after today's weigh in (red = progress; blue = predicted progress; purple = next target; green = club 10 target).

My next targets are:

• A further stone off by my birthday in late January, or even better, by Christmas (though this is a big ask as I realise the weight loss will slow down)
• Achieve a 3rd week towards bronze award for Body Magic (activity based rather than weight loss based)

This week I'm baking more cakes (to sell at a ladies night - not for me), so I shall be looking but not touching double chocolate cakes, carrot cakes and gingerbread loaves. I'm addicted to pineapple at the moment, so I'll just make sure I have plenty of that on hand if I get peckish looking at the cakes. ;)

Thanks again to everyone for reading.  Your love, support & friendship is second to none, and I very much appreciate you all sharing my witterings.

Lots of love,
Hippy xxx

Je ne sais pas pourqoui...

...I put 4lb on this week!

After losing 11lb in my first week, I was very optimistic and fully expectant that I would lose the 3lb needed to get that stone off.

I had a good week, followed the plan and achieved my goal of one week towards body magic bronze award - I actually ended up doing around 3 hours of activity. I've had lovely home made bolognese, ham minestrone soup, lemon syllabub and pasta with tomato & veg sauce (all syn free).  I've made the perfect poached egg (as you may have seen in my last post!).  I really have been good.  I don't think I would mind so much about gaining weight if I had cheated, but I can honestly say I haven't (at least not intentionally).

To illustrate just how good I've been, I baked 2 batches of double chocolate muffins, iced them with vanilla buttercream & decorated with marshmallows  (pictures below) for my Goddaughter's 14th birthday and I didn't even have one of them. Granted, I had to lick a couple of smears of icing off my fingers when I'd finished, but that is nothing (and I'd hardly had any syns that day, so I think I'm covered)! 

At work, someone came back from a trip abroad and put a big box of chocolates in the middle of the office.  Every time I walked past the chocolates were winking at me and calling my name (at least it felt like they were) but I didn't cave in.  At one point I thought, "well, I've not had any syns yet today, so I could just have one", but I didn't because:

1. I wasn't hungry, so I would just be eating for the sake of eating
2. I didn't really want one
3. Chocolate is my weak spot and I was afraid once I started, I'd be opening the floodgates
4. I was being good and I had the will power to just say 'no'

Although I am incredibly disappointed to have gained 4lb, I haven't lost my motivation or determination.  I've still lost 7lb, which is still half way to my Christmas target of losing a stone and I've still changed my diet (as in eating habits) & lifestyle for the better.  Admittedly, there are certainly still changes to be made, but Rome wasn't built in a day, and likewise many stones are not going to be lost in 2 weeks.

On another note, I have seemingly lost inches already.  3 inches of my chest and 2 inches off my waist.  So there is a different kind of loss this week.

My class leader (who is fab by the way) suggested it may just be down to fluid retention - particularly if it's 'that' time of the month.  She told me that some of her attendees can vary by as much as 7lb for this reason, and that I shouldn't be too shocked as it will undoubtedly happen from time to time.  The problem I have is that I don't know when it's 'that' time, because I don't have a regular cycle (probably because I'm so overweight more than anything).  So far in 2011, I've had 2 periods. That's it. Now, at first glance, this may seem like a blessing (and in some ways it is), but it also makes the cycle unpredictable (therefore unable to gauge if I'm in a bad mood for a genuine reason or because the hormones are out to play) and worse, you imagine have 3-4 months worth of period all at once  (ouch).  Oh and did I mention they can last for 3 weeks!  Excellent.  I can tell you all just want to share them with me.  (What's that, silence?)

That's just another reason why I cannot and will not lose my determination just because I happened to put 4lb on.  I'm focusing more on the fact that I am 7lb lighter than I was 2 weeks ago.

I've not been very well the last few days - I've hurt my back (not sure how, just woke up with it hurting on Sunday) and on top of that yesterday and today I've been extremely nauseous and bloated :( .  I'm still sticking with the eating plan, and I'll be aiming to get a second week towards the Body Magic Bronze Award, but I may not maintain the same level of activity that I achieved last week, due to my back being so sore.

I had a reassuring text message from my class leader today who confirmed my food diary for last week looks fine but that I may just need to drink more.  I had already started drinking more yesterday (more to combat the nausea!) but have carried it on through today.  Makes you need the loo more, but then that's more walking to and from the toilets (and I have 8 steps to get to our office toilets so even more beneficial) - I'll just have to hope the colleagues don't think I'm on drugs or something!

I think I may have waffled on enough for now, so I shall leave you with my targets for this week:

1. Weight loss: any loss would be good, but I'd like to get that 4lb back off (although this may be a big ask).
2. Achieve a second week towards Bronze Award (Body Magic).
3. Stay motivated, on track and determined.

Thanks for reading and supporting.
Lots of love,
Hippy xx

Here's what I resisted this week!
Double chocolate muffins (before icing)

 Double chocolate muffins now covered in vanilla buttercream and marshmallows.

Don't forget, I didn't eat ANY of these!

Could it be magic?

So.  I'd had a pretty good week last week (so I thought).  I followed the plan, kept checking back in the book that I was doing it right.  But it felt too easy, you know?  So despite the fact I'd had a good week, there was a little doubt in the back of my mind that just kept niggling, "It's been way too easy, there's no way you'll have lost weight".  Despite all of that, I was excited (I know, my life must be lacking for me to be excited) about going to my first proper weigh in at Slimming World on Monday night.

I paid my class fees, and stood in line waiting to be weighed, with a growing sense of both anticipation and dread - in equal volumes!  I took my cardigan off (every little helps!), put my bag down, and stepped onto the scales. Last week, I was xx stones and 13 pounds (I'm not ready to share my weight with you just yet).  The display steadied and showed xx stones 2 pounds. 

I was gutted.  I'd put 3lb on.  It really was too good to be true.

I looked again, and it dawned on me, the first number was the same as last week.  That meant I'd lost weight.  Not only that, a lot of weight.

I'd lost 11 lb.

ELEVEN POUNDS.

E.L.E.V.E.N. P.O.U.N.D.S

The girls asked me to stand still a bit longer. Ha! You try standing still when you've just realised you've lost 11lb in a week.  I felt like that joke Peter Kay used to do "I'm on a new diet, I've lost 13 stone in a day" (whilst sucking his cheeks in & pouting his lips).  I thought for a minute they were going to say the scales were wrong.  But they didn't....it went in my book that my weight difference was -11!

OH MY GOD! Never in my life have I been so truly and utterly flabbergasted.  I was so many emotions at once: happy, excited, thrilled, eager, giddy, ecstatic and annoyed (that I hadn't done this sooner).  I wanted to go running around the room with my arms waving and me screaming incoherently.  But I didn't!  I just got very, very giddy indeed.

So it was a good first week.  I got my first half a stone (& a shiny sticker to go with it), lost an extra 4 on top of that, am only 3lb off my first interim target (a stone by Christmas) and I stuck to the eating plan as well as achieved my activity target (use the stairs at work and do not use the lift - I didn't use it once).

Our SW class was quite inspirational.  Our class leader had just been to the SW Woman of the Year competition, where the winning lady had lost 19 stone (no mean feat)....in just 2 years (incredible).  If I'm honest, I've got at least 15 stone to lose (if not more) so hearing stories like that are a great example of what is possible with motivation, dedication and most importantly support.

I've shared this blog with more people now.  The response I've had from family, friends and colleagues in addition to the new people I have met at our SW group has been incredible.  Everyone has been so supportive, and the reactions when I passed on news of what I'd lost were incredible.  Knowing that I've got that support there is a brilliant feeling, not only because I know that you're all happy to help me on my way, or put me back on the straight and narrow if I should stray but most importantly, the fact that the reaction has been so very positive proves to me that I really, really needed to do this.  So, I thank you, each and every one of you for this support, for your kind words and your encouragement.  It really does mean the world to me and you can never appreciate just how much it helps.

Thank you,
Hippy xxx

P.S.

Targets for this week:

• Lose at least 3lb to achieve my first interim target of 1 stone loss
• Maintain using the stairs at work and go for a 5 minute walk every day.

P.P.S.

I almost forgot.  Today, I braved poached eggs (again) for dinner (that's lunch to Southerners). I used the aforementioned silicone pouches - the trick is to have the water deep enough for them to float but the water simmering so as not to tip over the pouches!  They were perfect and hopefully there should be a picture here as proof!

How do you like your eggs in the morning?

Unfertilised, fertilised? Fried, scrambled, boiled or poached?

I like all of the above (especially with a runny yolk!).  Well, the food related ones in any case.  My favourite being poached.  But, and this is a big but, (hence why I'm on the diet!) I'm still striving to find the method that makes the perfect poached egg.

I don't like to microwave them - they go rubbery. In a pan of water they go watery and separate.  Though, admittedly, this is better than rubbery, as at least you can catch all the bits of egg and get some sort of nutritional benefit from it without feeling like you're chewing gum.  A few months ago, we bought a couple of those little silicone egg poaching cases - they're designed to look like half a cracked eggshell and the idea being you put your egg inside one, pop it into the boiling water and approximately 5 minutes later you have your perfect poached eggs.  Sounds simple, yes?

Yesterday for lunch, we decided to have poached eggs on toast.  I made Hubby's first and was quite impressed with the result (even if I do say so myself).  He had 2 perfect poached eggs.  I encountered difficulties when it came to getting them out of the water - trying to do so without burning fingertips on the steam or water from the pan. I eventually cobbled together a clumsy method using a ladle and my hands.  Glamorous it was not, and I really can't imagine Nigella keeping her bulging bosom and breathy undertones free of curses were she to be in the same situation (then again she can probably make them okay without the need for said silicone moulds).

Having sorted the Hubby's lunch, I set about making the same for me. EPIC FAIL! The first 2 eggs & their moulds, toppled over into the water and emptied said contents all around the pan.  So, in the bin they went. Attempt 2: turned the power down on the hob a little, put a little less water in the pan, popped the eggs in & covered (as per instructions).  This time I wasn't going to be fooled, oh no! I kept taking the lid off to check that the moulds hadn't toppled over.  After the elapsed time of 4-6 minutes, I checked them, but found because of my lid-removing checking, the whites were still partly raw.  Left them in for a while and ended up with solid yolks (see above: I like runny yolks) and partly cooked whites.  Two more eggs for the bin. 

At this point it was fair to say that I was disgruntled at the unfairness of it all - I had made Hubby's lunch without issue, which by this time he had eaten and come to "supervise" me in the kitchen - you know since I was obviously incapable unless I was under his watchful eye.  I was hungry and just wanted my poached eggs thank you very much.  At one point the Hub did suggest I might be better opting for scrambled egg.

1. I had just binned 4 eggs in my quest to get a good poached egg.
2. He had has his lunch of poached eggs on toast - he didn't need to compromise with the poor cousin, scrambled eggs.
3. I haven't yet thought about a way to make healthy scrambled eggs (my scrambled eggs usually have lots of butter/marg in)
4. I WANTED MY EGGS POACHED!

So, I think you can imagine my reaction at this.  You may have also figured that I can be quite stubborn/obstinate when i want to be.  So we went for attempt 3.  The moulds tipped a little bit & let a little water in on top of the egg, but I think this only served to help cook the top of the eggs cook.  This time we had success.  It's a good job, because I had no more eggs left at that point and I dread to think what I would have done had they not worked.  Probably gone in to a petulant sulk for an hour or so! Ha ha.

So you see, eggs may be "good food, fast & simple" (or words to that effect from the advertising campaign), but they can be more complex than you could ever imagine!  I think it will be a while before i have poached eggs again.  I need to get over the stress of it all.

Aside from the egg drama, yesterday was my first weekend day on the new regime.  I was a little apprehensive about how I'd get on with it being a slightly different routine, but I did okay.  I stuck to the plan, made a lovely sausage & veg casserole (out of the supercharged slimming book that's in the SW starter pack - if you're going to make it, be cautious with the chilli flakes, I put 1.5 tsp in & it was quite fiery!) and had a jolly good day thank you very much.  I had lots of veg & sauce left over from the sausage & veg casserole, so I'm planning on cooking some pasta later to mix with it & have for lunches this week.  I think I'm going to attempt the chunky minestrone soup later (also in the supercharged slimming book I think) and see what that's like.

So, coming up to the end of my first week.  On reflection, not at all difficult.  In fact, I can quite honestly say, that this has been incredibly easy.  I think I've interpreted everything right (I hope so), and I'm looking forward to making more changes (and hopefully progress) as the weeks go on.

I'm baking double chocolate muffins, iced with vanilla buttercream icing this week for my Goddaughter's birthday.  And I'm not even bothered that I won't be having any.  Of course, that may be a more difficult thing to say when they are in front of me, but I'm sure I'll get through it.

I'll report back with the results of the weekly weigh in.  Until then, keep smiling!

Love,
Hippy xx

A change would do you good

...so said Sheryl Crow.  And by 'eck, she was right!

I'm at the end of day 3 now, and I've already made some positive changes to my dietary habits.

1. Cut the caffeine
Probably my biggest change yet but surprisingly easy.  I know that tea and coffee themselves are 'free' on Slimming World, but I drink both tea and coffee very weak, with lots of milk (almost half a cup) and 2 sugars! A colleague and I have a saying at work, “We don’t like our tea to taste of tea.” It’s not that radical really. I work in an office, and some days we might only have 2 or 3 brews, but other days we might have had 2 or 3 by lunchtime!  So I knew that if I didn’t get this sorted straightaway, this could easily be my downfall. 

I sometimes drink Peppermint Tea (without milk or sugar!) to help with bloatedness after meals so I set out to make this my substitute hot drink.  I learned pretty quickly on Tuesday, that as soothing as peppermint tea is after a meal / before bed I can’t drink it throughout the day for ‘fun’.  So I’ve now switched to having no added sugar squash with hot water.  I still keep warm and hydrated, but I don’t use any syns and to be honest a caffeine reduction can’t be a bad thing!  I still have a coffee in the morning with breakfast, before leaving for work, but the milk comes out of my Healthy Extras (with the remainder going on my 2 weetabix - also healthy extras).

2. Lose the lift
I work in an office on the top floor - it's only the second floor though.  And I'm quite ashamed to say that using the lift to get to the top floor has become the habit rather than the exception.  So far, since going to SW on Monday night, I haven't used the lift once. Walked straight past it and up the stairs. 

On Tuesday morning, when I got to the top, I did have to stand there and gather my breath for a couple of minutes! But it already seems to be getting easier - though i'm sure that's not possible so quickly.

3. Plan, plan, plan
I think this is the most important lesson so far.  It's no good coming home and thinking, 'what shall we have for tea?' By tea, I mean my evening meal here.  To any Southerners reading, you would most likely recognise this as dinner or supper.  Ideally, planning a day or so in advance what you're going to have is best, but night before or the morning is also good. 

For example, last night we made a spaghetti bolognese recipe (from the SW website - http://group.slimmingworld.com/recipes/spaghetti-bolognese.aspx ) and i purposefully made extra pasta, so that i could use it for my lunches today and tomorrow.  I've made a tuna & sweetcorn pasta, by mixing in fat free natural yoghurt (we'll come back to this in a minute) and some sprinklings of paprika, blacked pepper, chilli flakes & a dash or 2 of worcestershire sauce.  It's no Nigella, but it filled me up quite well at lunchtime today.

Back to natural yoghurt.  I have an issue with this.  How can something so white, pure and innocuous-looking taste so awful?  Don't get me wrong, I like yoghurts...it's just the natural yoghurts that offend me! A friend today said that fat free fromage frais is a better alternative, so maybe I'll try that next week.


So that's where I'm at so far.  It's not been a bad few days really, has it?  It does feel like it's been a bit too easy so far and I do keep thinking that a crushing reality of where I've been going wrong will dawn in me soon.  But I keep checking the books, and it seems I'm doing everything right.  I guess the proof will be in the pudding (bad choice of adage for a dieter eh) on Monday night.

I'm touched by the responses I've had so far - in person, by text and other means.  Thank you to each and everyone of you for reading my ramblings in the first place, and for your (much needed) moral support thereafter.

Love,
Hippy xx

And so it begins...

My first blog. Ever.

It should be something epic.
Something monumental.
Something...life changing. 

And it is. Or it will be. Because yesterday, i did it, i finally went to the slimming club. 

I've been umm-ing and ahh-ing about it for a few weeks (and months) now.  If I'm honest, I've been putting off doing something about my weight for years.  I've never been what you would call slender, but I have always been (up until my early 20s) fit and in good health.  I've been a swimmer since being a toddler. At school, I played netball, hockey, rounders, gymnastics, badminton, and threw javelin, shotput & discus.  At university, I swam, played netball and hockey, then rugby (union of course!). Then I came back home, got a job and a boyfriend - fiance - husband.  And got comfortable.  On the settee mainly, but also at my desk (after having previously been in lab work, took a promotion and then got paid to sit at a computer all day).

Over those years since the early 20s, the exercise has gradually declined and the food intake has gradually increased.  Consequently, the weight has ballooned (and we're not talking party balloons here, we talking great, big, hot air balloons).

I got a motivational splurge in my mid to late 20s.  Spurred on by the prospect of a wedding and hence wedding dress, I went to Weight Watchers, went to Body Pump twice a week, Body Combat 1-2 times a week and lost almost 3 stone.  I was by no means a skinny-minnie, but I was quite happy, and quite fit. So i stopped going to classes (both WW and fitness classes).

Fast-forward four years and you find me now.  Heavier than ever before, bigger than ever before, unhealthy, unfit and thoroughly cheesed off with myself.

About a month ago, I got as far as looking on the Slimming World website for my local class and discovered that of the many they offer in my area, there's only a couple I could reasonably go to  (without going back across town or spending an hour finding a parking space).  So I picked 'the one': Monday evenings, 6:30pm in one of the function rooms at the local football club.  The first week I'd decided to go I was unwell, so i didn't go.  The next week, I worked late and got home after the start time of the class.  Yesterday, I felt fine and made it home in good time and thought to myself, "It's cold, it's dark. Do I really want to go out again and not get my tea until gone 8pm?"

As tempting as it was to stay home, I made myself go out.  And I'm so very glad I did.

So, first impressions:

• Everyone, and I mean, everyone (class helpers, group leader, other slimmers) were all really welcoming.  And I'm not saying that in a 'sell it to everyone' way.  Genuinely, they were all very nice, warm & friendly people.
• It's a completely different ethos to Weight Watchers (or appears so at least at this stage).
• It seems a fairly easy plan to follow, that doesn't divert from 'healthy eating', as you are encouraged to eat 'healthy' foods (rather than just low fat).
• I think I can do it!  Nothing seems to be unachievable, everything seems to be broken down into small stages so that nothing seems too daunting.

I've completed my first day today.  And whilst it hasn't been perfect (I'm still getting used to superfree, free, healthy extras & syns) it's been good and easier than I thought.  And if you had said to me yesterday that my biggest challenge on the first day would be coping without tea and coffee (due to the milk content - having them black is fine!), then I wouldn't have been fazed at all.

So, all in all, I'm feeling quite positive.  I need to remember this feeling and that's why I'm writing a blog.  Because at some point, I will be thoroughly cheesed off and want to go and eat a pizza and a great big piece of cake.  But I shan't.  I'll come back here, share my thoughts and read this first blog about what's gone before and how easy it all seems now, and I'll start again if I have to.

This has to work and this will work. I owe it to my husband, my family and my friends.  And perhaps most importantly, I owe it to me. 

So here we go.
Target 1: weight loss in the first week
Target 2: a stone off before Christmas (achievable and class leader agrees)
Target 3: ignoring the lift at work and using the stairs instead (I started this today)

Thanks for reading,
Hippy x