Bad Things

Well, well, well.  It's been a little while hasn't it?  My wrists, hands, backside and eyelashes are all duly slapped and I'm back on the fatty-to-thinny wagon.

It would be fair to say that I've lost my way a little these past few months, a few bad habits creep in one by one.  Then after a little while, you convince yourself that they're not that bad after all.  Then a few more creep in, and you (again) convince yourself that they're not that bad and that you'll get back to the angelic ways soon.  And anyway, when exactly is 'soon' because 'soon' never quite seems to arrive does it?

I did quite well for a while, kept going to weigh in, but not staying to class.  I had many, very legitimate and honest reasons.  Working late, other things to do, feeling unwell, looking after friends or poorly other half or poorly dog.  And do you know what?  I could carry on making excuses until Kingdom Come. I didn't really feel like going to class this week.  I got home from work, I was bloody starving and to be quite honest, simply couldn't bear the thought of sitting at home for an hour waiting for class time to come round then cooking my tea when I got back home some time around 8:30pm.  So, guess what I did?  (Brace yourselves, because this is truly groundbreaking.) I had my tea BEFORE going to class. "What a rebel!" I hear you cry.  "But you're not supposed to eat before a weigh in" I hear you silently scream at me.  Yes, maybe you're not.  But I figured, as I haven't weighed in for 4 weeks now, then what difference does 1 extra meal make?! (and really, I suppose, what difference would it make any other time - unless you're eating a whole cow for tea, it's really not going to make that much a of a change to your weight loss/gain, but these are the silly things we convince ourselves of).

And so off I went to class, I'd put weight on as expected, and i know why.  I've been cheating and not attending class.  So I'm back on the wagon. I'm spending this week trying to iron out, one-by-one, the bad habits that have crept in over the past few months and by Tuesday (the start of a new week as weigh in is Monday night) I shall be lighter (if not in body then certainly in mind) and back on the straight and narrow.

As an indicator of some of the 'cheats' and 'allowances' you make for yourself, i thought I'd list some of the bad things (see what I did there) that I've eaten/done over the past few months.  Uh-oh!

• Creme egg, mini eggs, Easter egg, Malteaster bunny (they were in season!)
• Chocolate bars (Cadbury's dairy milk bubble with white chocolate centre mmmmmmmm)
• Bread (not very bad, but carries high syn value, so needs to be moderated with other bad stuff)
• Crisps
• Vanilla slices
• Ice cream sundaes (on a couple of meals out)
• Eccles cakes
• Biscuits and cookies

Well, when you put it like that, it look seven worse. I feel like I've just confessed now, so maybe I should say some Hail Marys, kneel at the alter and cross my chest?! (I'm not religious, but every little helps, right?!)

So there it is.  I've done quite well this week. Admittedly, I've had as few more syns than I should do thought they were conscious choices and were done to use up food that we already had in the house rather than it go to waste.  And each day has progressively improved over the week, so I do know that I'm heading in the right direction.

Who knows what my weight loss will be this week?  As long as it's a loss, I really don't mind.

Hippy xxx

Last Christmas

Can I call it 'Last Christmas' already or is it too soon?  Either way, it's definitely the last Christmas that I'll be the weight that I am now. 

It's been a while since my last post, so quite a bit has happened (some good, some not so good!).  December and the run up to Christmas was hectic for me (as I expect it was for most people) so I simply didn't get chance to sit & compose a new blog post!  Which is why, here I am, on the night before I go back to work (!) taking a few moments to fill you in on what's been going on!

The best thing (and most important thing) is that I made the target of 2 stone loss for Christmas - at my last weigh in before the big day - as of Monday 19th December, I was exactly 2 stone & half a pound lighter than I was on the night I enrolled (7th November 2011) for Slimming World! 28.5lbs in 6 weeks.  I was truly amazed, and absolutely thrilled.  I was only aiming for a stone by Christmas, so to have doubled it was an amazing achievement. 

The Friday before my Monday weigh in, I'd gone to our work Christmas party too - I'd saved my syns for the week so I could enjoy the evening, guilt-free!  I totted up around 80-90 syns with the food & drinks on offer, and still managed a 5lb loss that week (not sure how as the only "dancing" I did was to Tina Turner's 'Proud Mary' like a woman possessed!).  I even managed another Slimmer of the Week award!  So I was set up nicely for the Christmas break.

I'd planned that I would only have 2 'treat days': Christmas Day and the 27th December - the latter being because my weigh in day (usually Monday) had moved to Tuesday (Boxing Day being the 'true' weigh day), and I didn't want to entirely sabotage my hard work by having a treat day just before a weigh in!  So, that's what i did.  And I am pleased to say that on Tuesday's weigh in I had stayed the same, which was great. 

That's where the good stuff ends.  By the end of Tuesday I was besieged with the Christmas Lurgy (to be fair I've got through the whole of 2011 with barely a sniffle and not had a serious cold or flu since winter 2010, so I'm quite pleased about that as I normally have 2 or 3 a year).  I have spent lots of time this week with my dear friends, Kleenex Balsam tissues, paracetamol, decongestants & Jakemans Throat & Chest Soothing Menthol Sweets!  Although I'm now feeling much better, I'm still not 100%, but well enough to return to work tomorrow :( Booooo. 

Consequently, since last Tuesday I have pretty much lived off porridge, toast, crumpets & Heinz Cream of Chicken Soup.  I haven't measured milk, nor counted syns purely because these foods were the only ones that I fancied eating, and I knew they weren't food optimised choices.  I have at least, eaten 'proper' meals for tea the last couple of days.

Whilst I'm disappointed that I didn't adhere to my original plan of food optimising throughout the festive break, I also know that I have nothing to gain from being angry with myself. I was ill and we all know that even the most basic of tasks is a chore when not feeling your usual self.

I'm prepared for a gain of up to 7lbs tomorrow (again a Tuesday weigh day due to the bank holiday).  I'm hopeful that it won't be more than 7lb, but if it is... then it is, and the solution will be the same as if it is 5lb on, 3lb on, maintained or 2lb loss - continue with the SW food optimising plan and keep on track for even bigger losses throughout 2012.

I've upped my exercise regime a bit since i last posted too.  I've managed to do the required weekly times & sessions for Bronze Body Magic, and am now on my 3rd week (i think!) for Silver.  I try to do 20-30 minutes most days on Just Dance on the wii or a walk, and I'll be starting swimming again soon (a friend messaged me this weekend to see if I'd go with her so I've said I will once I've shifted the remnants of this lurgy).

So my next targets are:

• Achieve Club 10 (10% of body weight lost)
• Achieve Silver Body Magic

and I'm aiming to do both of these by the end of January.

Thanks to all of you who have offered support in any way and thanks for continuing to share my story.  I wish you all a very happy, healthy 2012 - Happy New Year to you all!
Hippy xxx