Day 180... Lost the will!!

Im know a few people read my blog and have told me they are truly inspired, or how well I'm doing. But deep down, I know that after the first 2-3 months or so, I'm not happy. I worked hard at it for a while, and now I'm just finding excuses. So on Saturday for example, I had a Chinese. The positive is, I stopped when I realised I was full. The negative, I had Chinese!! I know that if I stuck to my guns and worked hard I would lose weight in no time. But I'm just not sticking to it. 

So if I'm remaining honest, I may as well continue. Yesterday I had left over Chinese for breakfast. Sounds weird to many people... You either love it or hate it!! It wasn't a plate full, just a small plate. Then I drank a few gin and tonics in the day, but stopped by the evening. More calories. I walked lots as I was at a festival. But I also had a hog roast roll for my lunch, and a small kebab when we got home. It's not massively unhealthy, despite thinking it is!! It had no chips, just salad and pitta bread. But it was late at night, so again I didn't want to weigh in this morning.

I don't want the negativity of a bad weigh-in. So I don't feel it would be worthwhile until Friday, when I can try to factor in a bad weekend with hopefully, a good week. 

Today I started off well. I had a yoghurt for breakfast, and green tea all day. I had grapes, a mini bagel with salmon and cream cheese, and a very mini falafel wrap for lunch. Pretty good. For dinner tonight I have lamb chops with salad. I'm also going to go out for a run, after dinner. And if I'm hungry later, which I shouldn't be, but if I am, I'll have a green tea and perhaps a belvita biscuit. So my aims are there. I'll be pleased if I can stick with it this week. I've got no major evening plans this week, so no reason to be unhealthy. If I'm 15 8 or 9 at the end of the week, ok. Above that in will be very disappointed. Below, I will be ecstatic. 

Day 178

Was very good yesterday. I had a bacon wrap for breakfast this morning, with green tea. Then for lunch I has some chicken dippers (no fresh food left in the fridge - time to do some shopping!!). We are going out this evening, so I'm eating out again! I'm only going to have starters. It's raining today so no run, although I have written in evenings in my diary of when I'm going to go running to make sure I stick with it. Instead, I did the abs, squats and push up challenges. 

Day 177

Although today should be my weigh in, I've decided not to do it. I've been doing so well all week and was aiming on my weight loss, but last night we went out for a birthday dinner and although I picked fairly healthy meals from the menu (chicken fajita wraps), there was still drinks and starters and large portions. So rather than get myself down that I've put on weight, I'm just going to give myself until Monday for a weigh in instead. That will give me time to get rid of the temporary weight from last night.

I aim to have an omelette for tea tonight, then Saturday should be able to be fully healthy, although Sunday I'm at a music festival all day until late. So not sure how healthy and regular that is going to be!!

Also going to try and go for a run on Saturday, although I'm still not well, so will have to see how I do after one lap. 

Day 175 bad times!!!

So to update... Breakfast and lunch still great. I was planning on going for a run tonight, but went to cinema instead! Dinner was late and therefore a KFC. what a fail. So I had some fries and three pieces of chicken, and a glass of coke. 

I have tried doing the challenges and I've decided to be a bit more realistic. I'm pausing the abs one for now, and finishing both the squats and push ups, missing out all the rest days. I have 12 days left but with rest days, it's probably 9. As soon as I've achieved those, I will do the abs ones. Then after that I will be running another 5k (REALLY NEED to go do some training) and my friend has set me up with the insanity programme. Apparently it's really tough! I've decided to start it after the 5k, to keep me going over the Summer. 

I think my body has got used to the majority of healthy good I'm eating, and therefore my weight has balanced out. Hopefully with the continuation of exercise and stepping it up over the Sunmer, I should be able to continue to lose weight. I don't mind if it's slower now, so king as I'm still losing it. 

Day 174 update

Rather than publishing sneaky weigh ins, I'm going to write my diet diary more often so I can check what I'm eating etc!

Yesterday I had a green tea and activia for breakfast, bananas weren't ripe! I ate my normal healthy lunch, then for dinner we had roast lamb, peas, potatoes and gravy. Although I had some carbs there, it was portion controlled.

I was too lazy to do any challenges yesterday. I WILL do them tonight. Watch this space! No jogging as I have chesty cough still, kicking off my asthma. 

Day 172 update

Yesterday I had a full English breakfast! This was pre planned! Then I was out all day running a concert with no time to eat, so I had the large breakfast to burn energy throughout the day. I drank tonnes of a water, and had a green tea in the morning too.

In the evening we had lamb chops, mash, peas and gravy. It was a  small amount of mash, so well portioned. 

In regards to my rules so far:

1. Breakfast and lunch routine is for weekdays!

2. I was aiming on a 3k jog today, but I'm ill. My throat infection has gone to my chest and nose, and it's kicked off my asthma too. I may do it this afternoon but right now, I'm taking it easy.

3. Evening meal for tonight planned: steak with peas and home made chips. This will be portion controlled!

4. Didn't do any challenges yesterday due to feeling ill. Will do at least squats and push ups today, and aim for the abs if I can.

Day 170 weigh in

This week wasn't great. As per usual, I was fine during the day. On Monday and Tuesday we had burgers/sausages with a salad, but there was loads of food left over from a party on the weekend. Crisps, coke, more crisps, and cheese and biscuits. So I was nibbling on those too.

Wednesdays Indian, I had a korma, pilau rice and peshwari naan. Thankfully I shared the whole lot with someone else, so it was much more minimal!!

Thursday I had fish and chips out, it was so yummy!! I thoroughly enjoyed breaking my diet!!

My abs squats and push up challenges have got better. However, the abs one is so intense that I do one day, then pull my muscles for the next two days!! I've come up with some options of how to fix this, including starting again from the beginning and alternative exercises. However for now, I'm going to keep going as I am, as I am still pushing through it. 

I weighed in today at 15 stone 9lbs. This was surprising and I felt quite pleased. But I know I really need to step up my game. So, new rules:

1. Stick with breakfast and lunch routine

2. Complete at least one 3k jog in 7 days (I would do more but coming to the end of term I am ill and exhausted, so I'm taking this easy).

3. Plan all evening meals so as not to indulge on fatty and calorific foods.

4. Continue on abs, squat and push up challenge, giving rest days when I've pulled muscles!! 

Day 166... Argh!!

So, I was absolutely right. I put on a tonne of weight over d of e weekend!! I weighed in Monday at 15 stone 11, gaining 3 lbs. This was disappointed but unsurprising. I'm going to keep trying this week, but I know I won't do well. On Wednesday I am meeting others for an Indian, then Thursday I'm out for dinner too. This does not bode well!!

Day 165... Bloat City

Well, I've just got back from D of E and I have very heightened concerns of my weigh in tomorrow!!

Basically, all I ate all weekend was burgers, sausages, bacon and bread. We cooked on a barbecue for every meal, and I had no control of eating anything healthy. I feel incredibly bloated tonight, and I know I'll have put on a good 5 lbs in the space of 2 days!!

I did stick to water and green tea, although one can of coke zero. I also played a rather active game of rounders one night, and did a 2 mile hike today, so I guess that's something. My legs are certainly aching!!!

I don't think I'm going to shed all my bloated bread filled stomach overnight, so I'm sad to say I will have put on weight by tomorrow. However, I feel confident that I should shed most or all of it by Friday, hopefully. 

I will update with an official weight tomorrow, but I'm not looking forward to it!! 

Day 163... Pre D of E!

I weighed in this morning and I was thrilled to see I had lost 1lb. Yes only one pound, but a weight loss nonetheless.

I am away all weekend on Duke of Edinburgh with the students. Unfortunately, that does mean I have to eat what everyone else is eating, when everyone else is eating, and I don't have much choice. I do have control over drinking, and I will be making sure that despite World Cup antics, I will only be drinking water and green tea. 

Day 159 - Race for Life complete!!

This weekend I started off really well. I ate fairly healthily and very aware of what I was eating. I've also done all my abs, squats and push ups, and still going!

On Sunday I did Race for Life, and once measured, it turned out to be over 6k, rather than 5k! I was very proud of achieving it, and I managed to raise £165 towards the charity as well. I had lots of people cheering me on, and I realised that I had run much faster than I normally do, completing a kilometre in approximately 8 minutes. I normally do it in about 10 minutes.

I had done some sneaky weigh ins on both Saturday and Sunday, and it looked like I had dropped 2 pounds, so I was really looking forward to saying that this morning! However, after the race yesterday, I had a lunch out (pork escalope) and then we had pasta for dinner. When I weighed in this morning, I had only lost 1 pound! It's so disappointing after working so hard on the run. However, I know that if I'm good today and drink lots of green tea, that extra pound will probably come off.

So today on my weigh-in I have lost one pound, and I am at 15 stone 9lbs. My plateau once again!! Hopefully by Friday I will aim to lose another pound or two.

Day 156 - Race for Life looming!!

Again, it's been a while since I blogged. Things got in the way... residential trip for a week with 88 Year 7 students... Ofsted... tired!!

Anyway, I need to update, and not only update, but sort myself out.

So since the last blog:

1. I am continuing on my excellent diet in the morning, and at lunchtime. I have a banana for breakfast (porridge on the weekends), an Activa drink for break, and at lunch I have a packet of either dried fruit (e.g. a few apricots) or vegetable crisps. They are the healthy ones - you can buy small packs that aren't seasoned or anything, and are purely very healthy. I've got the 'NuMe' range from Morrisons - such as these:

After a little bit of research, I then also switched from Snack a Jack rice crackers, to 'Velvet Crunch'. They are very similar rice cakes, but they have less calories in them, so I'm sticking with those. They are SO yummy!

2. My evenings haven't been brilliant. Sometimes, I will have salad and a chosen meat or protein item, which is fine. However, with the busy times we have had recently, we had a kebab last night (got home at midnight from a show), and a takeaway on Monday night (the Ofsted call!!). 

3. Whilst on PGL, it was full board, so it was very difficult to eat correctly. I had some bacon and beans, or beans and a hash brown, etc., for breakfast, and a yoghurt. Then for lunch I would have salad and a protein, and steer clear of potato. Then I would do the same for the evening. But I wasn't that active, and I wasn't jogging or getting much exercise, so I was a little worried when I came back. However, after my return, I stayed on the same weight, 15 stone 9lbs. I was really pleased with this, as I didn't want to go back up, and I know this is my plateau weight, I really need to break it.

4. Exercise: I went for a jog on the weekend after PGL, and I did 3 laps around the park. That equated to 4.7km! I was really thrilled with this and it really felt like I was edging nearer to my Race for Life goal. Then all week I've not had opportunity or energy to go jogging all week. I was going to go tonight but I'll be honest - I can't be bothered. I just don't find it easy to encourage myself after a long day at work. I'm really busy tomorrow, but I'd like to try and do a lap or two - nothing too strenuous, as I have the full slog this Sunday!!

5. Ok so the actual weigh in this week is not brilliant. Last night we went to a show, got home at midnight and were starving. We had no food in the house that we could cook or eat quickly, so this meant a kebab. So when I weighed in this morning, I was 15 stone 10lbs. I know this isn't awful, but I'd like to get rid of that 1lb, and a couple more! For tea tonight I've had stew, and I may have some more in a bit. Lots of healthy veg and stock, can't be that calorific. This site gave me a good idea as to the nutritional data...

I must admit I didn't exactly weigh my serving, but for a fair serving size, this looks like a very small amount of calories. 

For the rest of the weekend, I plan to still be very good! Porridge in the morning, healthy snacks for lunches, and then I'm going to do some grocery shopping to work out evening meals and make sure we have no takeaways! 

6. And finally... exercise regime!! With the 5k on Sunday, I'm hoping for a good weigh-in on Monday. Not only that, but I've started a challenge! There is currently an Abs, Squats and Push-Ups challenge as apps on the iPhone. They are 30 day challenges, and they are not easy!!! They increase each day, except for 2 rest days in a week. The abs one is definitely the toughest, with last nights' exercise as 30 sit ups, 12 leg raises, 12 crunches and a 20 second plank. I'm on Day 6 now and I have done every day so far. I intend to keep it up! 

To finish off, I have to say I feel great. Not all the time... I know I've got a lot to work on still, but there are some big positives to gain from this. Firstly, I bought some new trousers, and I was able to buy (and fit in to!) a size smaller than I have been wearing. Secondly, I went into my drawer of 'clothes that are too small for me' and chose a pair of trousers, and they fitted me too! So I have two new pairs of trousers that aren't hanging off me, and can show a slightly smaller figure! And finally, I've received so many compliments. Pretty much on a daily basis, one of my colleagues will come up to me to congratulate me, or ask me about Race for Life, or tell me how good I look. Although I KNOW I have loads to do, it's wonderful to get such praise for something I have been trying really hard at. And now, my meals are becoming a way of life. Not so much the evenings maybe... I'm starving by then, and all I want is comfort food. But I really enjoy eating salads, and I like having healthy snacks in the day and a healthy breakfast. It makes me feel better about my day. I also really enjoy drinking green tea, and I know how good it is for me. I don't think I will get to where I want to be in 365 days, but I do think I will have lost enough to feel amazing. And by the end of the year, I think I will feel like I've cracked it, and hopefully enjoy the new lease of life. I'm talking way ahead of myself here... I hope when I read back in 6 months time I'll be nodding away...