Tag Archive | Weight loss

114 Days of Freedom-Day 1

Feb13

002

How lovely to wake up to a beautiful sunny day knowing that it is my own. No one to answer to, the recent unrelenting pressure of deadlines lifted for a few months.

First on the agenda, my Saturday morning Slimming World meeting. I love my weekend get-togethers with fellow Slimmers. I get so much from these meetings; support, inspiration, encouragement, recipe ideas and general tips and information to make losing and maintaining weight far more enjoyable than it would be without them. I also help out at Group by taking the fees some weeks ie “Pay”, or like today, making sure everyone faces those dreaded scales! ie “Weigh”

It is fascinating to hear everyone’s hints and tips which they use on their weight-loss journey. Some make me laugh others are pure genius; Today we had;

  • When I’m hungry, I go and have a bath.
  • Instead of drinking gin and tonic, to avoid the calories, I have a glass of tonic water and smear some gin around the rim of the glass. The smell makes me think I’m drinking the real thing!

I don’t drink gin but I like the idea of having a bath while dinner cooks. It takes you away from the temptation of picking so I may give that one a go.

Another thing I like is sharing recipes. Today’s was Diet Cola Chicken, one of my favourites and so easy to make.

Diet Cola Chicken

4 chicken breasts cut into chunks
1 red pepper (chunks or strips)
1 green pepper (chunks or strips)
1 yellow pepper (chunks or strips)
1 onion-finely chopped
330ml can diet cola
200ml chicken stock
120g passata with onions/garlic
4tbsp tomato puree
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
2 tsp Worcs sauce
1tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
200g sugar snap peas

 

Spray a large fry pan with low calorie oil and place over a high heat. Add chicken, peppers, onion, and stir-fry for 5 minutes until light brown.

Add all the other ingredients apart from the sugar snaps and simmer for about 15 mins. Add sugar snaps and simmer for another 10-15 mins or until chicken is cooked through.

Enjoy!

Slimming-Worlds-Diet-Cola-chicken

 

 

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Wet Weekend

Jan4

As if we haven’t had enough rain here in the UK, yet more is on its way and it is pouring down as I write. Sadly, for many people in the South and West of the country the wet weather is causing much misery and I feel for those who have been flooded out of their homes and businesses yet again. I cannot imagine what such upheaval would be like and I am very grateful that we don’t live in a flood area.

For me the wet weather means a crafty day indoors and I’m sure that I will be able to turn my hand to something. I feel another page of my nieces wedding scrapbook coming on and I wonder if the gorgeous Kaisercraft papers which I ordered on Monday will turn up in the post today? Here’s hoping they do when hubby’s out so I can steal them into my stash without him noticing! Bless him, as soon as I “open my shop” as he calls it, he finds a friend to visit for a few hours, leaving me to spread my stuff all over the dining/kitchen surfaces. He hates mess and is better off out of my way than watching me wreak havoc with his über tidy kitchen.

creativity

Two days back at work and I am already noticing the fatigue brought on by the extra travelling but this will improve as I get back into routine, lose some weight and continue with my healthy eating programme. It seems to be working and so far I am 3lbs down on my starting weight. That seems a lot to lose in a short time but it’s how my body reacts and I know that next week it will be on full alert to conserve energy and my weight loss will slow down or come to a halt for a week. I am prepared for this which is just as well as it can be very demoralising to lose weight one week and nothing the next when you have been soooooo good. I have learned not to take much notice of weekly weight loss but look at longer periods like a month-6 weeks. If you keep going you will notice a trend and individuals will have their own ups and downs as their bodies adjust. It’s also a lot to do with the hormone cycle and again, everyone is different in this respect so week-on-week it can change dramatically and affect weight loss.

motivation002-300x235

I find however that it’s easier to keep to my new habits when in the daily work routine than at home where temptation lurks in every corner. The first weekend is always difficult but my determination and resolve is still intact and I will get through to Monday with no blips.

Fingers crossed!

Breakfast for supper

Jan2

Breakfast Like A King copy

I need to lose weight. That’s a fact and after a year of almost total physical sloth I have gained more unwelcome padding. Doc Fraser is concerned about the weight gain because the more I weigh, the harder I have to work to lug myself around and this inevitably adds to the fatigue. You only have to try to carry a few kilos of potatoes across the car-park to know that carrying extra weight is hard work. The blubber has to go.

The problem with chronic fatigue syndrome is that you need to pace yourself carefully and to start with any exercise has to be gentle and low-impact.

“Delayed post-exertion malaise” is a common feature of chronic fatigue and is something I have suffered from for many years. When I feel good, I go into denial and exercise as “normal” but I am clearly a very slow learner or I am missing the Pavlov-Dog gene as I overlook the connection of overdoing activity with my crashes. This leads to prolonged periods when I am unable to do any form of exercise as I am exhausted, tearful, often bed-bound and severely depressed.

My new approach therefore is to lose weight primarily through healthy eating, moderating portion size and gentle exercise to help shift those stubborn pounds. Patience has never been my strongest feature but I am determined to be patient and not get disheartened if the weight comes off in pounds and halves. I will keep going, slowly but surely so that I develop a different lifestyle rather than adopt a short-term approach for a particular event. They say it takes about 66 days to form a habit so I will return to this post on 7 March to give you an update!

lose half a pound a week

In the meantime, my working and travel schedule is not conducive to a 3-meal-a-day regime and I am adapting my eating habits to fit in with healthy eating guidance and my long days. This week I am trying to follow the adage, “Breakfast like a King, lunch like a Prince and dinner like a pauper” so that instead of eating fruit for breakfast, I swap my meals around so that I have “breakfast” for dinner and eat my fruit on the train home. This serves two purposes as it means I eat only a snack in the evening, and furthermore, I am eating much earlier than if I wait until I get home at 8pm.

This will also help me with my insomnia as eating a large meal late at night can cause a sugar-surge a few hours later closely followed by a sugar-drop, which will not only wake me up, but also keep me awake.

Today, trying to swap some carbs for extra protein I stuck to scrambled eggs for breakfast, baked potato, baked beans and salad for lunch and fruit for my evening snack. I have to say that I don’t feel hungry so maybe this will work for me. it looks like this will work for me!

Here we go again!

May15

Portion control, planning, plenty of water and Pro-Points. It can only be WEIGHTWATCHERS!

The time has come to knuckle down and shift some of this excess blubber. It has to happen before it’s too late and becomes a permanent fixture into my dotage. I almost started my latest weight-loss journey yesterday, but an attack of the shakes travelling home on the train  (low blood sugar) scuppered my valiant attempt and desperately searching through my handbag I miraculously found a bar of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk!

Now I could have got away with that (I get 49 points a week to spend on misdemeanours) if I hadn’t then heard the news that Alex McCleish had been sacked by Aston Villa.  Celebration was a must and so we stopped off at the pub on the way home for a couple of “pints on Alex”!  More misdemeanours and points running short in supply.

This morning however, a friend of mine posted on Facebook that she has just lost 3 stones, and is starting out on ditching stone number 4. WOW! What an achievement and so inspirational just at the right time for me. Back on track and a successful day. I need lots more successful days.

Determination, discipline and dedication.

It must be WEIGHTWATCHERS.

Goodbye 2011, hello 2012

Jan1

Like many people I found 2011 a challenging and demanding year for a number of reasons, the most frustrating of them was feeling below par mentally, physically and emotionally. Good health should never be taken for granted and I realise now that I am “at that age” (as everyone keeps telling me) when I have to work at keeping as healthy as I can. It’s not so easy maintaining a sensible weight and building sufficient exercise into my daily working routine. I need to relax more and look after myself if I am to see in many, many more New Years to come!

So.

My New Year’s resolutions are just that. Look after myself. Eat healthy foods. Exercise a little more and enjoy whatever life brings along the way. I’m not setting targets or deadlines as I can find them counter-productive if not met so I will try my best to keep my resolutions at the forefront of my thinking so I don’t lose the overall focus of just being healthier all round.

Fingers crossed that this time next year I will be lighter, healthier, buzzing with energy and “looking forward” to celebrating my half-century!

Fat & fifty?- No thanks.

Fighting-fit, fabulous, feisty and fifty?- absolutely.

Bring it on!