Ok so its the september and its been a six months or so since I last posted an update. Back then I was welcoming myself to the world of size 12 and had about a stone left to lose to reach my target. Well I am still a size 12 (top and bottom) but it is fitting a lot more comfortably now. I have gone from X-Large jogging bottoms to Small!! I had a few set backs along the way, what with the wedding and then the holiday and stuff but I am now at my target weight. I have lost 11 inches from my waist, 7 inches from my bust (somewhat dissapointingly lol)and 5 inches from my thighs. I am very happy with that! I still have some wobbly bits and the weight has gone from all the bits I'm least bothered with first but now I think there is not much more to come off in those areas so other areas should start toning up pretty soon.
I am still following a mostly weights based exercise plan and I get new inspiration from magazines including Mens Health, Mens Fitness, Body Fit, and many others. I do a lot of squats and compound moves (exercises that use more than one muscle group such as press ups). I have recently introduced some kettlebell moves such as swings and windmills although I do them with a dumbbell. (You can see videos of how to do all these exercises on You Tube, it's like having your own trainer!). I have been trying to do a bit more cardio and have been doing more jogging. I ran a personal best in the race for life which I was pleased with. I managed to do quite a bit of running on holiday too, even running up the dreaded beach steps! At the moment I am keeping the runs short but including hill sprints to really work my heart.
Food wise I am operating around 1500/1600 kcals on workout days and trying to keep it lower at around 1350 on rest days. I have introduced some new foods such as Greek yoghurt to help with protein levels and I've also been really good at swapping iceburg lettuce for some leafy salad and spinach. I have not been as strict for the last few weeks and have been having a few large sunday dinners but I am holding steady and still losing the odd pound here and there. I would still like to lose another half a stone or so, that way I have room for error over christmas and such like. My goal now though is more about toning up than losing weight and I think that even though the weight loss has slowed a lot I can see improvemnets all the time in my shape. I guess I am swapping the fat for muscle as they say.
So for now, the goal is to get into the best shape possible in the run up to Christmas so that I can really enjoy it when it comes. I know I will definately feel much better than last year about how I look and I'm looking forward to wearing some nice clothes. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, a few weeks ago I bought a couple of pairs of skinny fit jeans and Darren thinks I look great in them! Oh and I bought two pairs of heeled boots too. Not so long ago I thought I would never wear heels again because they made my knees hurt so bad. Now they dont really hurt at all unless I am standing or walking a lot in them.
So as the title says, Happy days! I'll probably post again on the other side of Christmas. Oh, and we are moving in to our own place in a few weeks too so I will be able to do a lot more cooking and will definatly not have the temptation of biscuits and things in the house, which we do at the moment. Also wont have to smell my Father-in-law cooking steak at 10pm!! And if I want to do silly exercises in my living room or run up and down the stairs I can without anyone asking me what I'm doing! Again, Happy days!
Monday 26 September 2011
Sunday 10 April 2011
Shepherds Pie
Shepherds Pie Ingredients: 500g lamb mince 1 onion 3 sticks of celery 4 carrots 1 tin of mixed beans (or baked beans if you prefer) 350g potato 350g sweet potato splash of milk 1 tbsp tomato puree 1 packet of shepherds pie mix paprika thyme parsley rosemary Method: Dry fry the mince to brown. Season with salt & pepper. Add paprika and tomato puree to mince. Remove mince from pan leaving the fat. Chop the onions carrots and celery and fry in the meat fat until softened (about 5 mins). Add mince back into the pan. Make shepherds pix mix according to instructions and add to the pan. Drain the beans then add. Cook on low for 5 minutes. Peel chop and boil all the potatoes until cooked. Mash the potatoes with the splash of milk and the herbs. Season with salt & pepper. Transfer the mince to a shallow ovenproof dish. Top the mince with the potatoes. Cook on medium heat for 20-30 mins or until the potato starts to brown. Serves 6 406 kcals 42 Carbs 21 protein
Saturday 26 February 2011
Final furlong
It feels like I'm nearly there now. I am less than a stone away from what I call my "realistic target" and another 1/2 stone on top of that from "over the moon" target. I am fitting in to target size jeans but still larger than I would like on top. I still have more wobbly bits than I would like but I am expecting to see some improvements on that score as I get closer to my targets.
I bought some new knickers in my target size today as my old ones are hanging off me! They all fit very nicely. I also bought two swimsuits in my target size. I didnt expect them to fit at the moment but I hate shopping for swimwear as I can never find anything I like, so I thought I should buy them as I saw them. I tried one on when I got home. It was a bit of a struggle getting in to it and as expected my top half is still too big at the moment but I got into it and I was amazed! They should look lovely by the time I go on holiday in august (just hope they are not too big by then lol). I still can't get my head around being in my target size even if it is only the bottom half.
I had a bit of a sticking patch with the weight loss recently where I only lost 2lbs over four weeks. I decided to try dropping the calories to kick start my body again. I try to be careful not to go too low (never go below 1200) and also need to consider making sure I have enough fuel for my workouts. I decided to go to around 1300-1350 to see if it made a difference. If it didnt I would try upping the calories and doing some more exercise. As the week draws to an end I have lost 2lbs. So with that result in mind, I will do a similar thing next week and then come back up to around 1450 calories. Here are a couple of examples of a day's food from this week.
Porridge
10 almonds & 10 grapes
turkey casserole & 2 slices wholemeal bread
clementine
egg sandwhich made with 1 wholemeal bread, 1 egg (white only), extra low cal mayo
Cuppa-soup & 2 wholemeal bread
1 low cal hot chocolate
2 vodka's
(1281k cals, 163g carbs, 63g protein)
porridge
1 ryvita, 1 slice of edam (the ready sliced stuff) & 5 cherry tomatoes
veg soup & 2 wholemeal bread
clementine
low cal cereal bar
2 sausages, medium potato (mashed), dry fried onion, dry fried tomato, peas, gravy
ryvita & humous
(1351 kcals, 181g carbs, 62g protein)
You notice there's still quite a lot of food there even though I've cut the calories down a lot. Still not eating "rabbit food" and still shoveling something into my gob every couple of hours!
I have started to train for this years Race For Life and I'm already putting in some good times. The best thing is that I dont feel as knackered at the end as I used to and my recovery time is much much quicker. The down side is that it does take its toll on my knees and hips, especially the day after.
I checked my "resting heart rate" yesterday, (indicates how hard your heart is having to work to keep you alive! The lower, the better). Last year it was over 80bpm, now it is around 73bpm. (Check yours by litterally counting how many times your heart beats in 1 minute).
So as the title of this post says, it feels like the final furlong now. I'm expecting good things. I am looking for my stomach to get less wobbly and looking forward to fitting back into some old tops (many of which still have the tags on them because they didnt quite fit when I bought them, then I went the wrong way with my size!)
I bought some new knickers in my target size today as my old ones are hanging off me! They all fit very nicely. I also bought two swimsuits in my target size. I didnt expect them to fit at the moment but I hate shopping for swimwear as I can never find anything I like, so I thought I should buy them as I saw them. I tried one on when I got home. It was a bit of a struggle getting in to it and as expected my top half is still too big at the moment but I got into it and I was amazed! They should look lovely by the time I go on holiday in august (just hope they are not too big by then lol). I still can't get my head around being in my target size even if it is only the bottom half.
I had a bit of a sticking patch with the weight loss recently where I only lost 2lbs over four weeks. I decided to try dropping the calories to kick start my body again. I try to be careful not to go too low (never go below 1200) and also need to consider making sure I have enough fuel for my workouts. I decided to go to around 1300-1350 to see if it made a difference. If it didnt I would try upping the calories and doing some more exercise. As the week draws to an end I have lost 2lbs. So with that result in mind, I will do a similar thing next week and then come back up to around 1450 calories. Here are a couple of examples of a day's food from this week.
Porridge
10 almonds & 10 grapes
turkey casserole & 2 slices wholemeal bread
clementine
egg sandwhich made with 1 wholemeal bread, 1 egg (white only), extra low cal mayo
Cuppa-soup & 2 wholemeal bread
1 low cal hot chocolate
2 vodka's
(1281k cals, 163g carbs, 63g protein)
porridge
1 ryvita, 1 slice of edam (the ready sliced stuff) & 5 cherry tomatoes
veg soup & 2 wholemeal bread
clementine
low cal cereal bar
2 sausages, medium potato (mashed), dry fried onion, dry fried tomato, peas, gravy
ryvita & humous
(1351 kcals, 181g carbs, 62g protein)
You notice there's still quite a lot of food there even though I've cut the calories down a lot. Still not eating "rabbit food" and still shoveling something into my gob every couple of hours!
I have started to train for this years Race For Life and I'm already putting in some good times. The best thing is that I dont feel as knackered at the end as I used to and my recovery time is much much quicker. The down side is that it does take its toll on my knees and hips, especially the day after.
I checked my "resting heart rate" yesterday, (indicates how hard your heart is having to work to keep you alive! The lower, the better). Last year it was over 80bpm, now it is around 73bpm. (Check yours by litterally counting how many times your heart beats in 1 minute).
So as the title of this post says, it feels like the final furlong now. I'm expecting good things. I am looking for my stomach to get less wobbly and looking forward to fitting back into some old tops (many of which still have the tags on them because they didnt quite fit when I bought them, then I went the wrong way with my size!)
Monday 7 February 2011
Just a quick one
Just thought I'd add that I bought 2 pairs of size 12 jeans at the weekend. One pair I can get into but just a little too tight for my likeing, The other pair (although the same brand) are a little bit smaller. Hopefully I will be able to wear them in a few weeks. In the mean time I also bought a smaller belt to hold up my old jeans. Lol. (I ran out of holes on myb old on and you cant make any more due to the design). I also managed to wear two tops which I have owned for about 3 years and never worn because they came up small at the time.
I am really kicking into overdrive now and am excited about looking good for Helen's wedding and also for my holiday in the summer. I am thinking about how I can squeeze in more workouts (never thought I'd say that)! Problem now is I want to do too many things. I want to continue with the weights to tone my body overall, but then I want to do squats to help fat burning and improve strength and stability in my knees, and I want to do stuff to improve my core strength and posture. Then there is my bike which I keep telling myself must see more daylight this summer. Lastly I must start doing some running to get my stamina up ready for the Race For Life. Too much, too much!
I am really kicking into overdrive now and am excited about looking good for Helen's wedding and also for my holiday in the summer. I am thinking about how I can squeeze in more workouts (never thought I'd say that)! Problem now is I want to do too many things. I want to continue with the weights to tone my body overall, but then I want to do squats to help fat burning and improve strength and stability in my knees, and I want to do stuff to improve my core strength and posture. Then there is my bike which I keep telling myself must see more daylight this summer. Lastly I must start doing some running to get my stamina up ready for the Race For Life. Too much, too much!
Sunday 30 January 2011
30th Jan
Ok firstly let me correct an error in the last post; Helen is not getting married in July, its April. I knew that, I dont know why I put July. Anyway I should be almost target weight by then.
So since my last update, I did a couple of weeks at 1300-1400 calories then I hit a wall and wasnt losing much weight. I decided to up the calorie count again and toughen up the workouts a little bit. So last week calories were around 1600-1800 per day (depending on alcohol intake). Examples of meals from last week: Meatloaf, mixed bean casserole, bacon pasta bake. Good wholesome food not cabbage soup and salad! Workouts are starting to get back on track, I am still not back to pre-christmas levels but getting much better. I have been mixing it up a little bit too by going for some bike rides, doing Davina's cardio DVD and I have started to do some squats and deadlifts. I am also starting to focus on core strength by doing exercises such as "The plank". Improving your core strength helps develop your abs but also helps your balance and posture.
This week I have lost 3lbs, which I am very happy with. Total weight loss now stands at 3 stone and 9lbs. Less than 2 stone left to lose now. When I lose another stone I will start to think about how I look and feel and decide how much more I would like to lose. That will leave me at 11st 4lb. Last time I was skinny I weighed 11st 3lb and I would have liked to get just under 11st. Im thinking somewhere between 10st 7lb and 11st would be about right. Like I say its more to do with how I look and feel rather than the numbers.
By the way, those size 14 jeans are already starting to get a little lose :-)
So since my last update, I did a couple of weeks at 1300-1400 calories then I hit a wall and wasnt losing much weight. I decided to up the calorie count again and toughen up the workouts a little bit. So last week calories were around 1600-1800 per day (depending on alcohol intake). Examples of meals from last week: Meatloaf, mixed bean casserole, bacon pasta bake. Good wholesome food not cabbage soup and salad! Workouts are starting to get back on track, I am still not back to pre-christmas levels but getting much better. I have been mixing it up a little bit too by going for some bike rides, doing Davina's cardio DVD and I have started to do some squats and deadlifts. I am also starting to focus on core strength by doing exercises such as "The plank". Improving your core strength helps develop your abs but also helps your balance and posture.
This week I have lost 3lbs, which I am very happy with. Total weight loss now stands at 3 stone and 9lbs. Less than 2 stone left to lose now. When I lose another stone I will start to think about how I look and feel and decide how much more I would like to lose. That will leave me at 11st 4lb. Last time I was skinny I weighed 11st 3lb and I would have liked to get just under 11st. Im thinking somewhere between 10st 7lb and 11st would be about right. Like I say its more to do with how I look and feel rather than the numbers.
By the way, those size 14 jeans are already starting to get a little lose :-)
Saturday 8 January 2011
Post Christmas update
January 8th
So here we are on the other side of Christmas. As expected I put on a few pounds. I had 3 or four 3 course meals over the period and ate what I would usually eat (when not dieting). As I have said before I dont believe in depriving yourself in these situations especially when you have to watch everyone else tucking in. I had the statutory chocolate advent calendar. June bought a tub of twiglets which only her and I eat, so I ate most of those. I had a slice of Christmas cake, some nibbles etc etc so hardly diet friendly. On the plus side, I worked through most of the festive period so work days I ate in moderation as normal. I put on about 4-5 lbs. I also havent done any exercise in about 6 weeks as I have had flu followed by a chest infection which made it difficult for me to do any kind of exertion without coughing and wheezing. So overall I think thats an acceptable place to be after Christmas.
Once New year was out of the way it was time to crack on again with the plan. I wanted to kick start my body again and also detox a little too. For the first week I ate broth based soups for lunch with bread. Usual fruit and snacks. I tried to keep main meals very low fat, so lots of fish and pasta with tomato based sauces. I cut back on the alcohol a little in particular the cider. Calorie intake was still around 1300-1400.
I started back in the gym this week and I knew I would have gone backwards quite a bit having not done anything for so long. I was still suprised at how much fitness I had lost though. I had reached around wk 16 of my exercise program and knowing I was out of sorts reverted back to wk 4-6 of the program on Tuesday. I really struggled with it! I think I was still tired from burning the candle at both ends over the last few weeks. On Thursday I did the program for wk 2-4. This weekend is the first opportunity to relax in quite some time and work is getting back to normal pace so I hope to be a bit more refreshed next week.
So after a week of low fat and exercise, am I back on track? Better than I ever hoped! I have lost 7lbs this week! I have never lost half a stone in a week in my life! So not only have I lost the added on weight, but I have lost a couple more lbs too. I am very happy with that. I am going to keep the diet similar next week but I dont expect to lose as much and my body will start to adjust.
On a good note, last night I went out in a pair of size 14 jeans. Ok so I did wear a body shaper underneath just to iron out the bumps, but SIZE 14!!
I have an added incentive now too, not that I needed one. Helen's (my sister) wedding is in june which is roughly when I expect to reach my target weight/size. I cant wait to wear something really nice and show off my hard earned new figure :-)
So here we are on the other side of Christmas. As expected I put on a few pounds. I had 3 or four 3 course meals over the period and ate what I would usually eat (when not dieting). As I have said before I dont believe in depriving yourself in these situations especially when you have to watch everyone else tucking in. I had the statutory chocolate advent calendar. June bought a tub of twiglets which only her and I eat, so I ate most of those. I had a slice of Christmas cake, some nibbles etc etc so hardly diet friendly. On the plus side, I worked through most of the festive period so work days I ate in moderation as normal. I put on about 4-5 lbs. I also havent done any exercise in about 6 weeks as I have had flu followed by a chest infection which made it difficult for me to do any kind of exertion without coughing and wheezing. So overall I think thats an acceptable place to be after Christmas.
Once New year was out of the way it was time to crack on again with the plan. I wanted to kick start my body again and also detox a little too. For the first week I ate broth based soups for lunch with bread. Usual fruit and snacks. I tried to keep main meals very low fat, so lots of fish and pasta with tomato based sauces. I cut back on the alcohol a little in particular the cider. Calorie intake was still around 1300-1400.
I started back in the gym this week and I knew I would have gone backwards quite a bit having not done anything for so long. I was still suprised at how much fitness I had lost though. I had reached around wk 16 of my exercise program and knowing I was out of sorts reverted back to wk 4-6 of the program on Tuesday. I really struggled with it! I think I was still tired from burning the candle at both ends over the last few weeks. On Thursday I did the program for wk 2-4. This weekend is the first opportunity to relax in quite some time and work is getting back to normal pace so I hope to be a bit more refreshed next week.
So after a week of low fat and exercise, am I back on track? Better than I ever hoped! I have lost 7lbs this week! I have never lost half a stone in a week in my life! So not only have I lost the added on weight, but I have lost a couple more lbs too. I am very happy with that. I am going to keep the diet similar next week but I dont expect to lose as much and my body will start to adjust.
On a good note, last night I went out in a pair of size 14 jeans. Ok so I did wear a body shaper underneath just to iron out the bumps, but SIZE 14!!
I have an added incentive now too, not that I needed one. Helen's (my sister) wedding is in june which is roughly when I expect to reach my target weight/size. I cant wait to wear something really nice and show off my hard earned new figure :-)
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