Fantastic..

Is my very nearly three year old's word of the week, and also how I feel after losing an amazing three pounds this week and giving me my 5% award. Yay!
This is such a turn round of affairs after my wobble last week where I gained 1.5 pounds, cancelled my monthly pass and generally felt quite sorry for myself.
I guess the biggest NSV ever is that I DID go to weigh in last week despite knowing I had gained and sticking to it and getting back on track. It is oh so easy to slide down that slippery slope into bad habits and weight gain.
Only 1.5 more pounds needed to go until my next silver seven...hoping for next week but then I do have my very nearly 3 year old's birthday party to get through..cake is baking in the oven as I type and smells delish...but I didn't lick the bowl or beaters!!!!

Kick up the arse needed

Oh dear..oh dear oh dear oh dear....fell off the wagon big style this week. And all because I sampled my daughter's trial birthday cake. That was it:one taste of the evil sugar & fat and my body goes into some kind of frenzy seeking out and craving sugar to the extent that is actually pretty scary.
I don't care at the time.. I need it at the time, but after, like now...I feel awful. Bloated, ashamed, disgusted and a total failure.
I am determined that tomorrow morning heralds a new and fresh start. I am going to WI at home now, money is tight for us (we are in an IVA and planning a wedding) but will get Shawn to weigh me so I can't cheat and not weigh in.
I have seen a gorgeous wedding dress on eBay...the girl who wore it is a titchy 5 foot 2 like me, so I just need to slim into it a bit, and not worry about having it taken up. I am the winning bidder at the moment and it is just what I dreamed of. What better motivation to shift the weight, get into shape and look a million dollars. Fingers crossed the dress stays within my budget - trying that on every week and seeing it get a better fit each week would be a brilliant motivator for me.

Slow and steady

wins the race, so people say. I am looking back at my earlier moans about not losing more than 2 pounds in the first couple of weeks, and feeling a bit daft really. I know in previous weight loss attempts after the initial couple of weeks of good losses it did slow right down, a pound or half a pound a week being normal.
I am pleased to report another 2 pound loss this week - yay. This is despite going over by 17 points over a couple of days early in the week - but I did point everything religiously and clawed the points back over the week in time for weigh in - and it worked! I am well chuffed with my 2 pounds a week loss that I am experiencing, maybe it will really stay off this time as it is a much steadier and regular pace.
Some thoughts on points...the plan WW have at the moment is still the points we all know and love, but is different to points in the past. There is a quiz for starters to work out how many points you need to have, before it used to be based on weight. I was also told upoin joining that I could think in terms of points in a day or points in a week - but after the week the points saved were gone. This time the plan works on points a day, you can save a maximum of 4 - any over that don't count on the online tracker.
Well, I lost 46.5 pounds doing points the old way, and saw people lose loads more, so I know the plan works that way. Generally I do have the points in a day, but my experience over the pst few weeks and that of the famous Wendi Plan Wendi, is that points in a week works pretty damn well too.
Not done much exercising at all this week, due to knackering my ankle. It is all puffy and actually makes me feel a bit quesy when the OH tries rubbing it better. Not sure when I will get back on track with the exercise - I don't want to make the ankle worse and it was jogging on the treadmill that did it. At least I am still pointing and the weight is moving downwards.
I can really tell now that I am losing weight - clothes are much looser and family are starting to comment. I love this stage, where your hard work is rewarded by real results. It makes it easier to continue.
I think I have read before that the first 3 weeks are crucial in a diet - after that time it becomes a habit. I think I would agree, pointing and getting my tracker and points calculator are second nature to me now (again) I have longed to be in this mindset for so long - and here I am - and reaping the rewards!
Until next time...

Pretty good week

Had a pretty decent week - whoo! I have been plodding away on the treadmill and I have gone from jogging for 2 minutes at a time until 5. Not a very long time granted, but a hell of a lot better than 2 minutes - which is pretty pants. I am doing a sort of interval training I suppose, some brisk walking, jogging, walking up hill, with a couple of mins here and there at a slower pace to take on some water.

I am even thinking I would love to be able to run, rather than walk, the Race for Life next summer. It is nearly a year away so I will be a lot slimmer and much fitter - so maybe it is a realistic goal. I'd love to do it for my Dad, who was diagnosed with cancer a few months back.

Weigh In was good this week- another 2 pounds off, making 9 in total - yay! My leader was back from her hols, but you know, I much preferred the leader who we had standing in for her. Not that I don't ike my leader, she seems very pleasant - but the stand in was so vibrant and motivating, going round the room asking everyone in turn how they got on.

I do think the right leader is crucial to weight loss success. One of the factors behind me quitting when I was doing so well before is that the leader was so money focussed - I was really close, I know now, to getting my 50 pound certificate, but she never mentioned it. I honestly think if I had known of these extra rewards I would have kept going...I felt my achievement was nothing to her, that she wasn't in the least bit proud of me. I know being proud of myself should have been enough and now it would be, and having Shawn be proud of me too of course, but back then I was single with no kids and I wanted her to just have a few words of encouragement at least.

Ah well...onwards and downwards!

Seventh Heaven

Yay! Despite feeling as bloated as a bloaty thing I managed a one pound loss and that first, precious silver seven of this weight loss campaign. Feeling well chuffed with that.

OH and I had take out last night as a result of our dear darling little girl tipping paint all down the stairs and us not getting it clean until quite late, too late to cook dinner at that point.

You know what though, I would usually be stressing saying "I have broken my diet" and then promptly seek solace in a packet of bourbon biscuits, but this time I went to my Eating Out Guide wrote down the points and have worked out how many I need to be under by each day to pay for it back. I have got a whole week after all, and I will be exercising regularly so I don't see it as a problem at all.

I am pleased that I actually seem to be developing an almost normal and healthy attitude towards food and eating for the first time in my adult life. Even when I lost 50 pounds before I was obsessive - weighing myself constantly and describing foods as good or bad. I think I really am properly in recovery now, and that is worth more than the pretty shiny silver seven I have on my membership card.

Onwards and Downwads..

Weigh In Three

And another two pounds off - yay! I know I was a bit gutted at 2 pounds for the first 2 weeks, but to continue at this pace would be fantastic. I need one more pound for my first silver seven and for the first of my many mini goals to be achieved.

Treated myself to the weight watchers pedometer at my meeting last night and when I got back I went on the treadmill for 45 minutes and in that time I had gone past healthy and had earned 0.5 bonus points.

Loving the treadmill. I am looking at it now, folded up in space saver mode and it is reminding me very much of the monolith from 2001, A Space Oddysey. It is in front of the window at the back and is standing upright - like a huge black slab. I kind of expect some apes bashing bones to come leaping out of it to the tune of dah dah dah DAH DAAAH - bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum.

Really hoping it will work wonders and speed up the weight loss process, tone some wobbly bits and get the old ticker working a bit better. Gotta love Freecycle!

From the mouths of babes

Kids..gotta love 'em. I was doing the good motherly thing of looking through some books with my two toddler girls the other morning, in particular the Usborne First Thousand Words book. It had a picture of two sumo wrestlers. My eldest little girl got very excited and was bouncing up and down on the bed saying "look,mummy! it's you and daddy!" - I had to laugh, as really it was pretty funny. All the more motivation to get slim and healthy though - so my little girls can be proud of their old mum!

In other news - got a free, yes free, treadmill from Freecycle. Googled it and it appears to be worth £1,300. They said the belt was slipping and they couldn't use it, but all it needed was a new drive belt which cost £3.65. Went on it last night for an hour and it was FAB! It has pre set programmes, ones you can set yourself, a really long and wide running deck, automatic incline adjustment, cup holder and displays speed, distance, calories burnt and heart rate. I am really, really chuffed with it and I know it is going to work wonders in helping me to achieve my weight loss and fitness goals.

And I tell you what, my achey knee joints which had been so bad I had to shuffle upstairs like an old woman rather than stride up to avoid pain, are much, much better. Maybe doing some exercise will help strengthen them up.

Weigh In tonight - really hoping for a silver seven (3 pounds off needed) but I know given that it has been 2 pound a week for the last 2 weeks that might be a big ask. Will blog later with the result.

Until then...