Weight loss update

On the 4th April I started healthy eating. I thought I would mention his that’s going..

In the past 7 weeks (ish) I have lost a stone in weight. I am not weighing myself too often, but now and again to make sure that generally things are how I want them to be, I have about another stone to lose, but that’s not as important to me as how my clothes fit. My clothes are fitting a bit better and I’m feeling more confident and comfortable. I’ve started getting the odd comment – someone at work mentioned today that they can tell I have lost weight – which to me means that other people are starting to see what I see.

I’m eating carefully, but not too strictly. On an average day I will have a breakfast of either porridge, a slice of wholemeal toast with peanut butter, granola, fruit and yogurt or poached egg and toast. Lunch will be salad, soup or a sandwich but a couple of times a week at home I will make jacket potato with tuna and salad or fishcake and vegetables. Then tea is whatever I fancy really – tonight was battered fish, mushy peas and a round of bread. Last night was chicken, mash and veg. I try to vary it as if I get bored it won’t work, and I don’t want to make separate meals to my family. I’m thinking about it and am not eating snacks – sometimes about 3/4 I’ll have fruit and a handful of nuts, but only if I’m running or if I’m having a later tea. I’m not eating ‘junk’ class though and don’t really miss them. 

There have been the odd days of things that are not healthy. On Sunday night after race for life I couldn’t be bothered to cook and we got a takeaway (chicken kebabs). And the odd glass or two of wine. But this is only once a week or so, not too often.

I’m feeling pretty good overall. I’ve changed some habits – I’ve started drinking water in the day, stopped drinking tea, made breakfast healthier and learnt about what works for me. 

And I’ve been running. I started a beginners 8 week running course and am on week 7 this week. And I’m really enjoying it. It’s hard sometimes, but I always feel good afterwards. And in 7 weeks I’ve gone from really struggling to run a mile to running 5k last Sunday in 38 minutes. My next one will be in 35 🙂 I have been running 3 times a week, on Fridays with the club and then on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings with Zara, hannah and sometimes Lydia and Brooke if they can make it. And it’s nice going, and it feels great to have done it afterwards. It’s something I hope to carry on for a while to come, and I’ve already booked another 2 5k races, one in June and one in September. 

So yeah, enjoying life so far 🙂 xx

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Healthy eating update

I’ve been thinking a lot more carefully about my lifestyle since the beginning of April (I started on the 4th April) and in the past month things have been going really well. I feel really focused – not in an obsessive, calorie counting way, but just following some general (made up by myself!) rules, which are:

– Eat a healthy breakfast. This is usually either muslei and yogurt with fruit, banana porridge (no sugar added) or toast with poached egg or tomatoes. I don’t calorie count it but know that generally it’s around 3-400 calories. 

– changing my drinks. I now drink a herbal tea in the morning, and water through the day. I have one normal cup of tea in the evening. 

– reducing bread. On days when I have toast for breakfast, I don’t have bread for dinner. And sometimes no bread at all. I have a salad or soup instead. Bread isn’t bad, but I find it does no harm to reduce it either. 

– Meal planning. I know (mostly) when I’m going to be eating each day. So tomorrow I already know that I’m having porridge for breakfast, then an egg salad (already made) for lunch, and Craig is making tea, but I will ask him for it to be healthy for me. 

– Say no to treats. The only treats I have now are planned for. So, for example, this week on Sunday was Rosie’s birthday. I knew I wouldn’t eat well, so I ate healthy all week to allow for that day. I didn’t eat any sweets, or unhealthy snacks, and ran 3 times. And On Sunday I did eat (and drink)  more than I probably should have (once I start I have no willpower!) but instead of then giving up totally I just ran this morning and ate well again today and it’s back to normal now. 

– Doing running. I’ve been running 3 times a week, which I am loving. I go with a couple of friends and it’s been great. Once a week we go to a club. And I feel much happier, more confident and am getting so much enjoyment from it – I really feel that it could become a routine that I stick to as I’m loving it so much. 

– I’ve mentioned it already, but not giving up. Having a day, or meal, when I eat too much doesn’t make me feel that I’ve failed, or that I should give up. I just get back to it rather than let myself feel bad about it. Life happens and not everything goes right all of the time. 

That’s it. It’s not rocket science, but it’s working. I can see changes in myself – not huge changes yet as that will come over time. I’m much more confident though, and drinking loads of water (I’m also trying to drink 2 litres a day) has made my skin so much better. 

I don’t weigh myself (or only occasionally anyway) as I always find that this for me does more harm than good (no weight loss makes me give up and ruins my confidence) so I have no idea where I started. I’m definately finding that taking pictures of myself and keeping an eye on how my clothes are fitting a more useful guide right now. 

So yeah, all good so far 🙂

Weight loss week one..

It’s the end of the first week of being healthy. It’s gone really well actually. The things that have gone well are:

– drinking less tea. I’ve swapped tea (with sugar) to herbal or fruit tea, or water with lemon apart from one evening cup of normal tea. I’ve cut down from 3/4 cups of tea to 1 this week. I had a huge headache on Wed and I think it is because of this. I’ve felt good the rest of the week though. 

– I’ve meal planned for the whole week for all meals – that’s been especially helpful at breakfast time as if breakfast goes wrong I find the whole day follows.

– I’ve been running. Four times this week. And I joined a beginners running group doing a couch to 5k programme. I really enjoyed the first week, and after it me, Zara, Hannah and Sarah have planned to meet up for extra runs in the week. We did one this morning (at 8.30am!) and although I am now shattered it was worth it.

– I’ve found it easier than I would have thought to turn down chocolate 🙂

– I’m feeling more confident already, and I took some photos of myself and although not huge, there is already a bit of a difference. 

Things I need to focus on:

– this week I just want to stick to the same as last week. My meal planning slipped a bit at the end of the week – not too bad but I swapped a couple of things around. I want to stick to the plan this week. 

– I am going to think about swapping my evening tea to something else with less sugar starting next week. This is a huge thing for me actually but I feel I will be glad if I do it. 

– not slipping into bad habits!

Favourite meal:

I have been enjoying my salads this week, although I’m trying to vary them so I don’t get bored. I have enjoyed everything except for an apple pie porridge that I tried – I need to ‘tweak’ it a bit more to my taste. I still struggle with healthy breakfast as I just done enjoy them, but I’m trying to make things I want to eat. 

My meal plan for this week is:

Monday:

B – banana porridge.

L – chicken salad (already prepared).

T – fish chargrilled with steamed sweet potato and veggies.

RUN

Tuesday:

B – fruit, yogurt and muslei

L – butternut soup (half a tub, bought from morissons).

T – chicken, veg and mash.

Wednesday:

B – poached egg on toast

L – ham salad sandwich with fruit.

T – spaghetti bolognaise with wholewheat spaghetti.

RUN

Thursday:

B – porridge

L – jacket potato with tuna and salad

T – haddock and new potatoes with sweetcorn and peas.

Friday 

B – fruit, muslei and yogurt

L – Tuna and sweetcorn pasta and salad

T – out after running club (sort this out!)

Saturday

B – scrambled egg on toast

L fish fingers, new potatoes, veg

T – BLT in wholemeal baguette with salad

Sunday:

B – porridge

L / T – Sunday lunch. 

RUN

Xxx

Healthy eating take two…

Back in January, I started a healthy eating plan. It worked well for me – I joined the gym too, and together I felt healthier and fitter,and just generally better. However, when I returned to work in March it all went wrong. Nothing drastic, but things slipped here and there and I just stopped trying, basically.

Time is a huge factor. Time to exercise is one thing – me and my boyfriend only get one day a week off at the same time. And every other day either he or I don’t get home until around 6pm. I can exercise later, but by that time of day I really struggle to get myself motivated as I’m tired.

But. Now I’ve been back at work 6 months. Amelia starts full time school this week, and so I will have two days a week with Rosie. This means that I can take Rosie on long walks with the pushchair, or take her out on the bike. Things that I can’t do with two children I can do with Rosie.

So I wrote my meal plan last week. It’s full of healthy meals, plenty of veg, salad and fruit. And I aim to exercise as much as possible. I am aware that this is real life, and so I’m not going to go overboard. If I miss a day, it’s not the end of the world. What I want is just to make time where I can, and know that the things I am eating are good for me.

This is what I’ve had today:

The top photo is breakfast. It was mixed fruit (grapes, strawberries, banana and apple with yogurt). Lunch was egg salad with a tiny bit of grated cheese, spinach, tomatoes, peppers and a brown oven roll. Tea was chicken stew with lots of veg.

I have to have meals that fit in with my family. I won’t cook separate meals for me – Amelia loved fruit for breakfast – she said it was the best breakfast ever. She also enjoyed lunch and tea, as did everyone else. Thats my aim – to fill us all with healthy, well balanced foods.

I will weigh myself as and when I feel like it – today I was 10.11. I don’t want to get obsessed so it will only be when I feel the time is right and will never be more than once a week.

Right, time to go do more decorating – we are decorating the dining / play room and it’s hard work!

Xxx

Weight loss week 6

Things are going really well for me regarding losing weight. I’m actually feeling really good about it – I feel like my lifestyle habits have actually changed a lot (not perfect, who is?!) but I feel like the changes I’ve made are really helping me. I’m losing weight more consistently than I ever have before, I don’t feel like I’m missing anything as I still plan for the occasional treat food, and I’m seeing a big change in my body shape now – still a way to go, but it’s going well.

This week I’ve lost 4 pounds. This is actually more than I’d planned for, and I may put a little back on next week, I’m not entirely sure. I lost so much because I’ve had a tummy bug – not going into details but I haven’t eaten much at all for 2.5 days, and when I have I’ve just gone to the toilet afterwards! It put me off eating, so other than toast I’ve not really eaten anything much.

I feel better today though, so going to have my cereals in a minute, and eat normally today – hopefully ill feel fine today!

Here are my stats:
Starting weight: 10.13
Week one: 10.9
Week two: 10.8
Week three:10.7
Week four: 10.6
Week five: 10.4
Week six: 10.0

I track all my weight loss on the porridge on tuesday website. I find it really helps me – it has kept me motivated. In the past I’ve always done ‘lose a bit, stay the same, lose a bit, gain a bit’ type of diet – this is actually the first time ever that I’ve lost every single week for this many weeks in a row.

It takes willpower at times, and it takes a bit of thought and planning, but other than that it gets easier the longer I do it. I know this week that my treat days are going to be tonight (going out for tea with a friend) and tomorrow night (valentines day, want to have a meal with my boyfriend in the house.) but ill choose slightly healthier options during the meal out, and I’ll skip pudding. And tomorrow night we will probably have steak, which I can make with wedges rather than chips, some grilled mushrooms and tomatoes, and light mayonnaise. So although they are my treats, they are slightly healthier than I would have made them before.

Losing weight is really not rocket science – it doesn’t take a fad diet or extreme measures. All it takes is a bit of willpower, making changes gradually and a bit of patience. It’s pretty obvious, but there is so much written about it – so many different theories, so many rules in some diets. I feel like if it takes too much though its never going to work long term. What I’m doing can work anytime, and I feel confident that I can maintain this throughout life, rather than starting and stopping silly diets.

Xxx

Good news Friday..

I’m doing my Friday positives again today – this week has gone so fast, I’ve only just remembered that its time to do this again. I’m a bit grumpy right now though (Rosie woke up at 5 so I’m tired!) so thinking of the positives will be good for me. Here goes:

1. I’ve lost 2 pounds this week. Weigh day was yesterday. It brings my total loss to 9 pounds, so I’m really pleased. Since January I haven’t gained anything. The last week went well too – I felt really positive about my eating and exercise all week. I can see a big difference in m tummy area (my least favourite area after 2 girls!) too. Not with clothes on so much, but that will come in time.

2. I went spinning last night. It was hard work – I did 30 minutes and that was enough! But it was something different – I’ve been to the gym twice too and worked hard, but I enjoyed the spinning class and will be doing it again next week.

3. I saw my friend Zara and her lovely daughter. Our girls played really nicely, we had cookies which I baked, and it was good to catch up with her. She’s having another baby, due next month too, can’t wait to meet her new baby boy.

4. Last weekend we saw my unofficial sister in law. She came home from London for the weekend, and we all love seeing her. Amelia loves her to bits, and loves spending time with her auntie. And we had a lovely Sunday dinner with her and Craig’s parents. We had a nice lazy Sunday actually.

5. We’ve spent a lot of time this week listening to the frozen soundtrack. Amelia loves dancing and singling along to it, and puts it on whenever she gets the chance. I like it too, which is lucky!

I think that’s it for this week. I’ve been really tired this week, but it’s still been a good week. ,y return to work it getting closer and closer too – I’m dreading it but a the same time part of me just wants to get it over with now, and get used to the new routine.

Xxx

Healthy eating week four…

A quick one this week. I’ve actually been doubting myself all week – my head has been telling me that I’m not doing well, that I’m going to fail, and that I could do better. I’ve tried to ignore it, and on the whole have managed to, but it made me feel that I wasn’t going to see much of a change this week.

I was wrong. I’ve just weighed in and lost another pound this week. I’m so pleased – it’s not a huge amount, but actually since January when I started porridge on tuesday I’ve lost weight every week. And on the whole it’s been really easy – I’ve had the occasional bad meal, but overall my meals are really good. And I love going to the gym, that’s my ‘me time’ and I like feeling like I’m pushing myself and getting healthier and fitter.

Here are my stats so far:
Starting weight: 10.13
Week one weigh in:10.9
Week two weigh in: 10.8
Week three weigh in:10.7
Today’s weigh in:10.6

At the top I’ve added an example ‘menu’ from one day. Here’s what they are:
Breakfast – frozen berries, natural yogurt, a handful of porridge oats. Mix together and put n fridge overnight – the berries defrost and it’s ready to eat in the morning. I have this 2/3 times a week, cornflakes the rest of the time.

Lunch – this day we had turkey wraps and salad. We added cheese which wasn’t in the photo, but I was careful not to have too much. We love lunches like this, although only once a week – usually it’s just sandwiches and fruit and soup!

Tea – baked jacket potato with tuna mixed with spring onion and cherry tomatoes. We eat loads of tuna – this is simple but really filling and tasty.

Xxxx

Healthy for life.

Last week I blogged about healthy eating (post here!). I thought I’d do an update about porridge on Tuesday, and how I’m doing in my journey to have a healthier lifestyle.

I struggle to blog about my feeling on losing weight on my blog – I don’t know why, I don’t have problem talking about most things! I guess it’s because I don’t want anyone to think that I’m unhappy with myself. I’m not – I’ve always felt fine in my own skin, and I’ve never worried about what others think of me. I can only ever be myself.

However, I always feel best when I make time for exercise, and when I eat more healthily. For me, the two are linked. If I don’t exercise, I struggle to make consistent healthy options. Not meal wise, but more in terms of snacks and extras. It’s easy to have peanut butter on my toast every morning, crisps or a cake with dinner, a few cups of tea with sugar, and a couple of biscuits at night. Add this to ‘film night tea’ (pizza or hotdogs and microwave popcorn) and the occasional glass of wine, and it adds up. And I find that the more I eat the more I want to eat. And the less I want to exercise. It becomes a bit of a vicious circle.

Since new year though I’ve been signed up to porridge on Tuesday. I’ve tried really hard to think more about my meals, and having a way to track it all makes it easier. I have a long term goal, and it’s broken down into a graph to track progress. I really like it. I’ve not followed the plan exactly, but It has still helped me to make changes just by acting as a reminder of why I want to succeed. I want to change my eating habits, and my relationship with food. Not as a quick fix or a way to lose weight fast, but as a better way to maintain my eating and lifestyle habits over time.

This past week I’ve done well. I slipped for a couple of days, I went a bit off track, as the car went into the garage, I couldn’t get to the gym and as a result my eating habits slipped too. But once we had the car back I went to the gym, and got back on track again. Since then I’ve had one day which wasn’t so good, but that was planned – I meet with a work friend once every 5-6 weeks and we make cakes. But I had a lighter lunch than usual to compensate a bit, and went to the gym the following morning. Other than that I’ve been fine. I have cereals for breakfast, a sandwich and fruit for lunch (or something similar) and something including veg / salad for tea. Then other than one cup of tea in the evening nothing else. I’m not too hungry, I don’t feel tempted to cheat, and it works for me.

And exercise is going well. I go Sunday, Tuesday, and usually Thursday or Friday evenings to the gym. I work hard – I run for 15 mins, I bike for 20 mins, do a few weights and do 15-20 minutes swimming. It’s my ‘me time’ and I see it as a pleasure, not a chore. I feel better for going. I’m not sure what will happen come march when I return to work 2.5 days – it’s harder to find time for me then as i will want to be with my girls as much as I can, but I guess I’ll tackle that when it comes to it.

And it’s working. I’ve lost 7 pounds so far. For me it’s more about my shape than weight, but I’m heading in the right direction at least! I haven’t seen much of a body change yet, but I know that I will. It’s not super fast – the last two weeks I’ve lost a pound each week – I find that a bit frustrating considering how many changes I’ve made for the better, but I guess slow and steady is much much better than nothing at all. And if my weight is going down it means my shape is changing too – much more important to me!

How is everyone else’s January weight loss going? What tips or advice do you have to keep weight off long term? Xxx

Losing weight the healthy way

With the new year, everyone seems to want to lose weight, get fitter and be generally healthier after the excesses of Christmas. I’m the same – something about a new year makes me more motivated, and helps me reflect on my goals and hopes for the year ahead. I don’t know exactly why I feel like this, but every January I feel the same way.

This year I’ve been much more determined to meet my goals. I’m not someone who obsesses too much over weight, and I really really hate fad diets – they are designed to fail in the long term. I prefer a good, healthy eating plan with loads of healthy but tasty meals. For me, if I get too hungry I will reach for sugar, and so for me what I think works is to make sure that my meals, are filling, healthy and satisfy me. I don’t tend to snack I between meals, as I like to feel hungry when I do eat, but that does mean that my meals have to keep me going for a good few hours.

This year I felt like I needed a bit of extra support. I sent a tweet asking for healthy eating links, and a couple of people replied recommending a website called porridge on Tuesday. I had a quick look and was really impressed by the website layout and the whole idea behind the site. You get a weekly meal plan, there are exercise videos of 30 minute sessions you can do, and you can clearly see your progress in a chart.

I’ve been signed up for a week now, and I wanted to give some of my first thoughts on the site.

These are the things I really like about the porridge on Tuesday:
– the website is great. Easy to use, not over complicated with some great features.
– it’s not encouraging a ‘diet’. Instead it’s a long term healthy eating plan, designed with your own goals in mind (it can be either a weight loss or maintenance plan depending what you want from it.)
– it’s an alternative to weight watchers or slimming world – to me, it’s a more sustainable version of those.
– I haven’t tried to exercise videos as I don’t like exercising at home (I go to the gym and swimming instead) but I like that they are available.
– the eating plan is clear, and you can change any meal for something different if the particular meal that comes up is not one you want that day.
– some of the recipe ideas are gorgeous – it really is tasty, filling food, and some of the recipes are ones that I think will become family favourites.

Things I’m not so sure about:
– I think I only have two concerns. The first is the cost of the meals. I’m on a tight budget these days, as I’m on maternity leave and so don’t have an income at the minute, I’m living on savings. However, the meal plan gives a different meal for every meal of every day. This makes things expensive – last week i spent more than usual on my food shopping bill. I can’t do that all the time. I would like it if I had the option to choose a different option. For example, although there are some lovely breakfast ideas, I’m happy to stick to cereals (non sugared cornflakes or Cheerios) or occasionally frozen fruit and yogurt. I’d like the option to just have a ‘standard’ breakfast rather than something different each day. I love that the meals are so varied, but budget wise I just can’t afford so much variety!
– my only other concern is how long I would use this plan for. I think it’s fantastic as an introduction to healthy living, especially for people who perhaps needs to learn how to make healthy meals and portions. But once you get used to this, it’s probably something I’d move away from and continue on my own.

Having said all that I’ve visited the site daily since my plan started – I have to be honest and say that I haven’t followed my plan exactly – as started above, I’ve changed my breakfasts back to my simple breakfasts on the whole, and some of the recipes I love, but have adapted slightly (but still healthily) to suit mine and my families preferences. But, it’s a reminder of my goals and targets, it is a safety net if I’m struggling, and there are so many ideas and recipes that what’s certain is that you’ll never be stuck for ideas!

I’m going to post again in the next couple of weeks with some photos of my typical days plan. Ill also include a recipe for one of the meals that I post photos of. And of course, some more thoughts about how it’s all going!

For now, this is my achievement so far:
– original (starting weight) was 10.13
– weight a couple of days ago was 10.8

Not bad ey 🙂

Xxx

disclaimer- I have been given a 3 month subscription to porridgeontuesday in order to review it. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and I am always honest about my views.