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!)

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!