A New Thing

I have two blogs, this one, and my health and fitness blog. I usually try to keep them separate, and not post about weight etc on here. However, I have undertaken a big change as of Thursday, so it seemed relevant to write about it on here too.

After struggling to battle my weight on my own, I finally took the plunge and joined Slimming World. This is going to be a big overhaul and I'll be acclimatizing to different eating habits. I would go so far as to say this is a lifestyle change...I'm commiting to attending the weekly meetings every Thursday, and to following the Slimming World eating plan.

I'm going to have to put in a lot of effort to plan out my meals - especially lunches at work...

I feel apprehensive about everything at the moment, so I'm not entirely sure how I feel about doing this. A part of me is looking forward to it, another part of me feels apprehensive about sticking to a plan - I'm worried I will fail and waste everyone's time. BUUUT there we go. I'm doing it and changing my food choices.

Today was day 1 of Slimming World, I'm finding it a bit confusing to work out how many syns things are actually worth, especially when the starter pack book says one thing, and the website says another. Annoying...Anyway, that's what's been going on with me recently.

Happy Friday!

Bring on 2014!

With 2014 arriving, I've been thinking about how fast this year has gone. And the past 3 years since I trotted off to uni land and back. I feel that I've achieved a lot in that time frame. Going to uni, surviving a long distance relationship, graduating, and gaining full time employment. For example. On the flip side of these, I feel there are a few things that I haven't been able to achieve yet. Including my 2013 resolutions... It's with these in mind that I made my 2014 goals, and I feel determined to make all of my resolutions happen in the coming year.

1. I will lose a minimum of two stone by July. Goals that seem more achievable are more likely to actually be achieved.

2. I will pass my driving test this year. This is on track For the end of Feb. Exciting!

3. I will manage my finances more successfully-pay off debt and start to ammas some savings.  I created a 2014 financial plan to assist me in this goal.

4. I will look after my skin by moisturising and exfoliating more often.  A little self-love is always a good thing!

5. I will de-clutter my belongings. I have too much stuff.

I've made a small poster which is up on my wall so I am reminded of them, and stay on track.

I feel that 2014 will be an interesting year, I don't know what to expect from it. I am no longer in education, so the framework of knowing roughly where I'll be in 6 months time is completely gone. It's like I'm suddenly adrift in real life, and the tide could take me anywhere! That sounds really cheesy...Buuuut, I don't care. :) 

What are your resolutions?

Chocolate

I recently decided to give up a favorite food each month. I have a friend who does this, and I thought it was a good idea, so now im doing it too!

This month I have given up chocolate (until Christmas). I created a table with what I was giving up each month, and my goal weight for that month. I haven't been finding this too difficult so far, however I havent come across any cravings for it thus so far. Apart from wanting a cookie from subway, but only because I saw them when buying my other half's dinner.

I think this will become more difficult as time goes by, especially in the run up to Christmas. Speaking of which, my boyfriend has akready bought chocolate to go in my advent calender. DILEMMA. I need to decide if im allowed to have them or it I have to save them up until Christmas... (Clearly I didn't think this through when deciding chocolate was this month!)

Clothes!

I finally got around to organising my clothes into sizes! I thought there would be more size 16's, turns out I have more size 14's! Now when I get to those sizes I can just open up the bags and be like, 'Oh heyyy new clothes!' 

Very Exciting. Graduation and Grad Ball are looming, and I need outfits to wear for it - I did want to buy new dresses for them, then I decided on only needed a new dress for one. Now, I am re-wearing another dress for Grad Ball and wearing smart clothes for Graduation. Ohwell! No point in buying millions of new clothes when I don't need to...

I've set myself weigh rewards, so when I hit a particular weight I am allowed a treat - e.g. Get below 220 pounds, rewarded with a pasty / milkshake / chips. the ultimate reward IS TO BUY MYSELF A WHOLE NEW OUTFIT! Exciting... I'm hoping this will help me to avoid those foods until I hit the goal and can have it as a treat, otherwise it won't be a treat at all!

I'm sure there are more clothes hidden away in the boxes I've yet to unpack, but I think it's more socks and swimming costumes...Need to get on that and finish the unpacking! So close to finishing it! 

New Start, Again.

Back from holidayland! wooo! But of course, now I have to face facts and lose the holiday weight, as well as the rest of my weight! The good news is I lost half a stone before going, but put it back on again. Hopefully it will be relatively easy to drop it off again!

Started the 30 Day Shred (again!) and have made a tracker which is proudly bluetacked to the wall along with a weight tracker. Have also taken before pics, and will be taking after pics, when I finish it! (Which I will this time! I WILL!) Doing this with my sister/personal trainer ;) who is very strict. Mostly.

Food diaries are back in effect as of today, and healthy eating will commence!

Exciting.

I have my graduation in October, and am planning on looking a lot less like a marshmallow. A ton of clothes and dresses waiting to be worn is another reason to stick to this. Also, I don't like being this big! It will change! IT WILL. The End.

I'd like to get running too, but I think I'll need to work up to that again. Most definitely. In the heat though...may end up dying!

I'm gutted that swimming is so expensive, had a blast in the swimming pools while on holiday! Would love to swim regularly, I'd have a better chance of sticking to it if it were cheaper and easier to get to!

To conclude, I'm restarting 30DS and food diary, and I am going to be thin. One day.

My New Personal Trainer...

I seem to have acquired a personal trainer.

She has been on at me for a while about losing weight, and moaning at me about weigh-ins and reminding me that my holiday is coming up.

She broached the subject of food diaries which we are now doing every day.

Today she forced me to do a workout (30DS) even though I was tired and wasn't really up for it.

She has also decided that we will now be drinking green tea as it is good for you.

As well as all this, she informed me that when I get a job I will be buying Shakeology/protein shakes for us and doing more workouts.

She also lives with me.

My (not so much) Baby sister has transformed into my own personal demon!

Life and other stuff

Officially moved out of uni and finished all education! finished with a 2:1 which was a very awesome surprise!

So, as you can imagine I've been very busy with packing and moving and working. I got a job that started as soon as I moved back home, doing door to door selling. Now, I was a bit dubious about doing this but decided to give it a go anyway and hey - exercise, right? I lasted a week, left on friday. Not something for me, I believe you need to have the gift of charm and likability to do door to door, as well as being able to not take it to heart when people say no to you all the time and slam the door in your face. Its a hard, draining job which I didn't feel was for me, but I do admire those who stick to it.

Now I am an unemployed student, one of many! Hoping things will pick up soon.

One downside of quitting is missing out on the exercise I was getting. To rectify this, I have started doing the 30 Day Shred again! I'm doing this with my sister, alongside food diaries to keep track of what we are eating! The last time I did 30DS was in February, just before I hurt my ankle and ceased all exercise for a while. The next couple of weeks are going to be a strict regime up to my holiday (soo excited) and I'm hoping to lose a significant amount!

Holiday Countdown: 14 Days

Splish Splash

Went swimming at the beginning of the week! I always forget how much I like swimming until I do it again.

Now I am getting ever closer to moving home, I suddenly realise that I have wasted cheap opportunities to swim. It costs £1.55 to swim where I currently live. (this is after buying a special card for £3.something to get reduced prices-available to students, OAPs etc) The closest swimming place back home is £4.60 to swim! Eep! A big difference to what it costs me at the moment!

Regardless of this realisation, I swam 18 lengths, which is just over a 1/4 mile. Doesn't sound like a lot, but for an unfit girl like me with no arm strength, it's a lot! Let's hope I find a job back home so I can continue to swim ;)

YumYums!

Stayed with my Bessie recently, and she made the most confusing cookies.
They were protein gluten-free cookies. And they tasted GREAT.

The recipe: Click Here!   

very yummy, and low on saturated fats. high on protein, so they are great for an after-gym treat!

Close Friend/Worst Enemy?

Oh heyyy!

I was thinking a lot today about me, and my weight, and how I react to friends trying to help me with this. Friends (and boyfriend) who are intending to help by making comments like 'should you really be eating that?' when I'm contemplating something yummy can sometimes have the opposite effect. Especially if I am feeling naff about myself already, and their comment just highlights it and make me feel worse, then I overeat anyway because I am an emotional eater. Vicious cycle.

Therefore, I humbly request that my friends, family and boyfriend no longer comment about things like this, and allow me to do this my way. I want the weight loss to be my achievement, something I did myself. Granted, not all of my friends make comments like this, and some are great to chat to about weight ETC, but at times I just feel like saying...if I don't ask for your opinion, then please don't comment on my choices. KTHANX.

End of an Era

Uni is finished! Forever! 
AAAAAHHHHHHHHH

Slowly starting to pack up my things, and it dawned on me that if I were to hang up all of my clothes in a wardrobe, I would need three wardrobes to fit everything in. so much stuff that I'm keeping for when I lose weight!

Such a dilemma.

I know the obvious answer is to throw out/give away everything, but I don't want to! Some of it has never been worn, or worn rarely! Can't be throwing stuff out that I'll need again! Wasteful!

Mum is going to kill me.

Natural Cleanse and Lipo Slender

These products are a waste of time! They don't work, and make you ill. BooHiss!

I was skeptical of them anyway, so it's good to know my instincts were right about them. Made me a very unhappy camper.

Green Coffee and Natural Cleanse Review Update!

In my last post I said I would keep you updated on these pills.

Well, I had to stop taking the natural cleanse tablets. The directions say to take them twice a day, with water preferably before eating. So I did this for about 4-5 days, and the effect was pretty swift. It was like bulimia of the bottom. NOT a healthy option! I cant help thinking no wonder people have lost so much weight on these pills, they are abusing tablets to flush the food out!

However, These are good for short-term use. I would suggest no longer than 2-3 days, as after that the effects are not particularly nice, or comfortable.

I stopped taking the green coffee bean pills at the same time, to let my self recover, and have starting taking them again today. I shall update you with the effects of the green coffee bean extract pills on their own!

So Far So Good...

first weigh in of the 18 week plan and I've lost 2 pounds. All is going according to plan! Big yay.

Hoping I can keep it up. I really want this. I want to look good, and feel good about myself.

I have such narrow clothing options at the moment because I look awful in everything. Not something that would make anyone feel good about themselves. But hey ho.


I'm looking forward to summer arriving, by the looks of things dungarees and overalls are in for spring/summer. I quite like dungarees, they're quirky.

Stress, life, update

Hello world!

About time I did a proper blog rather than a random pictures one, or no blog at all!

I've been SO Busy recently. Shows, Uni work and my job all coming before health and fitness. But as it's my third and finial year I hope you'll forgive me.

Super stressful couple of weeks, of course that meant that I've found it really hard to eat healthily. Binge Binge Binge. After tomorrow I will be past one of my biggest deadlines EVER, for better or for worse, so I am hoping to get back into a good healthy routine.

I have 18 weeks until I go on holiday. My aim is to hit 180 pounds by then, I estimate that will be 1-2 dress sizes. Exciting, right? New (old) wardrobe time! All I have to do is lose 2 pounds a week. I need to stay focused and GET IT DONE.

Speaking of getting it done, I have an assignment to finish.

Goals!

I wanted to post about my goals, hopes and aims. And moan a little.

I want to be slim and healthy.

I'd love to be a dress size 8 or 10.

I want to look good.

I want to feel comfortable in my skin, and not worry about being too big all the time.

blah blah moan moan you get the picture.

I am going on holiday at the end of July, so I have just under 6 months to get an acceptable beach body. 168 days! 24 weeks. I really want to do this, I would love to have holiday pictures I can look at without being too embarrassed to look at. I don't want to hate how I look any more.

I hate that weight loss takes time. It gets me down because I feel like I'm working hard and not getting anything back from it. It's irritating that it isn't instantaneous. I want to be skinny NOWWWWW not months down the line!

It's hard work, especially hard when all my close friends are super skinny. TIRED of being the fat friend.

So now I've moaned and vented a little I'll get round to posting about specific goals at some point. hope your ears aren't bleeding from my whining. Enjoy.