Friday 29 March 2013

52.5lb and counting!!!


Hiya everyone!!

Me again, just when you thought I had fallen off the planet......again......I am back again like the proverbial bad penny, lol!!

As you can see from the title I have now lost a total (so far) of 52.5lb which is almost 4 stone since October 13th last year.....just over 5 months. I haven't felt so well for ages and I have not been this light in 12 years!! Last time I was losing the weight I fell in a pothole and dislocated my knee badlly which totally scuppered my weight loss progress so I am avoiding all potholes, lol!!

It is Easter weekend and I don't have any chocolate in the house apart from the grandchildrens eggs and not one hot cross bun has passed my lips....albeit very tempting the plan I am on does not allow carbohydrates of any kind apart from Oatbran!! There have been times when it has been hard to keep to it but keep to it I have and I will continue to keep to it until I reach my target weight which I should achieve, at this rate, by August/September!!! By the way the flowers in the picture are from a friend congratulating me on my achievement so far.....the small box of chocs are hidden away so I am not tempted by them, lol!!


I should really be out in the garden today pruning back my roses ready for the summer but it is too damn cold out there to even think about it!!! We had snow again this morning whilst we were out shopping and it was bitter!! We have to go out again tomorrow so hopefully it will be a tad warmer......won't hold my breath tho cos looking at the sky it looks like it is going to be a very chilly Easter altogether!! Roll on summer, I don't like it too hot but anything is better than below freezing temperatures; mind you I just might cope with the heat better this year with the pounds falling off!


Anyway my friends, I will love you and leave you....I now have to get to grips with installing our new internet router; we have been lucky to have our speed tripled from 20mb to 60mb but the new speed needs a new fast router and we opted for self install....mmmmm, wonder if that was such a good idea, lol??!

TTFN lovely people, till the next time

Friday 28 December 2012

Can't believe I haven't been back for a month!!! Time just goes by too damn quick!

I have hit the 2st (28lb) off in time for Christmas with another weigh in due tomorrow. Some people weigh themselves daily and can cope with the body's fluctuating weight but I can't do that; if my weight goes up a fraction I get despondent even tho I know it is just the way the body works, I am happier weighing myself weekly because I then know that I have achieved what I want to achieve.....and that is a loss!!! I am feeling better than I have in a long time and don't feel so lethargic!! I have also started seeing a difference in the mirror which has taken me a while to see, when others have seen it, and I am beginning to like what I see!! I am sure that if I carry on losing the way I am I will get to my target by May next year (2013, not 2014!!!) which will be sooner than I expected.

We all had a good Christmas this year, the best we have had in ages and it was good to have Rob home for both Christmas Day and Boxing Day this year as he has been working them for the past 6 years.

So on that note I will love you and leave you for the last time this year......2012 is nearly at an end. For once I am not dreading the New Year, I am feeling quite positive about it as I know we will achieve a lot of goals including my main one to get the rest of this weight off so no resolutions need to be made for 2013 other than to remain positive and happy.

Take care my friends and have a wonderful New Year wherever you plan to be!!





Sunday 25 November 2012

Back again to report how the 'Plan' is going!!! 6 weeks in and 19.5lb off now and to be honest I have suprised myself!!! I look in the mirror and don't see any difference yet people who have not seen me for a while have said that I have definitely lost the weight and my Robbie has said he can see the difference!!! I know I am getting into smaller clothes and the winter coat I have not worn for a couple of years is now fitting okay again!! Rob has admitted that he thought I would crumble a couple of weeks in as it is a very strict regime to a degree but fortunately I enjoy meat and fish (along with the other proteins I get to eat) so it is fairly straightforward for me to keep to the plan plus I now have vegs alternate days but still no potatoes or sweet veg (i.e. peas)which I am not really missing and the same with bread!!! I have a long way to go still but I should be in to my 'slim me' clothes by next summer easily!!

Anyway I am going to say ttfn and catch up with you again soon!!!




 


Sunday 21 October 2012

My Dukan journey into week 2

Its me again!!! Back as promised, lol!!

Well I am now into the 2nd week of the Dukan plan.....Attack phase (which is just pure proteins )ended Friday night and I started the Cruise phase (Proteins and selected veg but definitely not peas or potatoes) on Saturday. You also have to drink at least one and a half litres of water a day but that could also include diet drinks and tea and coffee with skimmed milk....oh and not forgetting the 1.5oz of bran daily. 

My weight loss for the 1st week was 5lb but I also lost some inches and managed to slide into a nice new pair of trousers one size down!!! I had been exercising as well and going for a walk with the dog so that helped as well!!

I have never felt so in control on a weight loss plan as I do with this one. I am not getting any urges to eat the things I shouldn't (chocolate, all things unhealthy etc) and feeling totally happy with what I am eating and the foods I can eat are unlimited. The one thing I have discovered though is that Diet coke does not agree with me so that is being kicked into touch, lol!!!

I have to admit my ever suffering husband Rob was dubious (He had heard it all before apparently.......and I will agree with that) at the start as I have attempted to do a few other diets since piling the weight back on after I had my bad fall and my huge weight loss with Slimming World went down the pan, but he now sees that I am determined and although it will take me some time (at least 9 months apparently) I WILL see it through and I WILL get the result I am aiming for!!! Plus I am learning a helluva lot from the Dukan plan book about nutrition and the rights and wrongs of what we eat and its long term effects on our bodies!!

Anyway, I will say ttfn for now and catch you again next week!!!

Love to you all



 

Tuesday 16 October 2012

A fresh start

I have been missing for quite some time.......again!!! I have slapped my own wrist just in case any of you were wondering!!!

As some of you know I have had an ongoing battle with my weight but did successfully lose almost 6 stone over 4 years ago and managed to keep it off until one day in August 2009 when I fell in a pothole, dislocated my knee and needless to say the weight piled back on!! I tried a few times to lose it again but my amazing and wonderful consultant at Slimming world had left and the 3 attempts I had at rejoining over the last few years have prooved a waste of time due to the consultants only being interested in bums (large ones!!) on seats and failed to inspire me!!! Anyway, back in June I was finally put on treatment for an underactive thyroid and also joined a Facebook page for people with an Underactive Thyroid discussing everything from bad GP's not recognising that although your tft blood tests say borderline you have all the symptoms to general support for fellow 'sufferer's and giving advice if possible.....all in all just to be there to support one another. Anyway, a couple of weeks back on this particular page someone asked where everyone was from and I happened to mention I was living in Northants but originated from Hampstead in North London. The next day a fellow page user commented that she knew Hampstead and mentioned a few streets, including the one where I lived as I grew up. Basically it turned out that she had been the girlfriend of my then best friends brother and I remembered her from a couple of brief meetings!! Small world or what, especially as she now lives in Cyprus!! We have chatted a lot since and I happened to mention that I am struggling with my weight - one of the side effects of Underactive Thyroid. She told me she had lost 14kg on a diet plan called the Dukan and I was eager to know more. After a lot of chatting on FB, I ordered the book and I started the plan on Saturday just gone.


Now the Dukan plan is a bit extreme but it has been well researched and it works, plus my GP is happy for me to continue on it as she knows it has been well researched and was formulated by a Doctor in France. It has 4 phases and I am currently in the first phase, called attack, whereby I have to just eat Proteins in the form of meat (except Lamb and Pork), chicken, fish, eggs and fat free yogurt/cheese, plus some oatbran daily (to help keep 'things' working if you get my drift!!!).........oh and plenty of water and sugar free drinks! So far I am enjoying it, I do love meat and therefore it is not a struggle for me. Once I have finished this current phase I will then move onto introducing vegetables - but no potatoes or rice  - just green/red veg and have them on alternate days. No fussy weighing and faffing around with portion control, lol!!!


Basically I am going to use this blog to chart my progress!!! I will only say what I have lost......I won't be saying what I weigh (not good, lol) but I will say the plan has given me a realistic goal to aim for unlike the charts you see at some Slimming Clubs with silly goals and are not feasible for your body structure unless you are a tiny frame, which I am defitinetly not, lol!! My first weight check will be Saturday and I can't wait to see what I have lost in my first week!! Incidentally I am not doing it online as it is too expensive but having read the book I am sure I can go it alone with support from both my friend and other FB users. 


On that note I will say ttfn and will come back on Saturday to update my progress.
Loads of love to you all!!

Saturday 7 April 2012

Naughty me!!

Well, yours truly has been naughty and not blogged since January!!!

Lots been going on but nothing, unfortunately that was worth blogging about.......apart from the fact we are going to be grandparents again in August!!

Easter has, so far, been a strange weekend!! I am baout to go and visit my friend Lynn from schooldays, we have only been back in touch again for 18 months or so and still doing a lot of catching up......it is great tho cos it is as though we have not lost touch at all!!!

Tomorrow we are going to visit Virginia Water in Royal Windsor Park, then having some special time with my good friend Penny.....she is cooking us Roast Dinner as well!!!

As for Monday, well that is yet to be decided.....but I doubt it will be a relaxed day if my normal routines are anything to go by!!!

Anyway, I will love you and leave you for now......will be taking pics tomorrow so watch this space, lol x

Loads of love

Sunday 22 January 2012

Sunday, lazy Sunday!!!


I have not been too good this week, stinking cold has weighed me down; I had Monday off in the hope that if I stayed in bed and dosed up I would be okay but it didn't happen so I had to go into work for the rest of the week armed with tissues and paracetamol to counteract all the aches and other side effects that go with a cold. I am feeling brighter today, slight sore throat now and a tickly cough but otherwise not too bad!!



I spent part of yesterday baking cakes, I find it therapeutic and takes my mind off feeling rough or if anything is playing on my mind. I made 2 large coffee sponges and loads of chocolate chip cupcakes with chocolate buttercream icing and white chocolate sprinkles......well pleased with myself!!



The band gigged locally last night but as it was such a small club I did not go for fear of passing on my remaining germs!!! Shame because it was an excellent evening by all accounts.......I just hope next weekend is just as good when we are at Sutton Bridge, near Spalding in Lincolnshire.



Because of this damn cold I have not been able to see Max as it would not be fair to inflict my germs on him .......or his mum - Angela does not do colds very well!!! I have not been to see Kevin, Lucy, Alfie and Leah either as they have had enough of their fair share of colds lately.........plus .......mmmmmm won't say anything - will keep you all in suspenders, lol!!!


I have been debating a haircut again as my hair is getting quite long again and proving a chore to keep under control......I like it long but the hassle of keeping it tidy gets to me, but at the same time it looks nice when it is long.....decisions, decisons........and to be honest I have not seen a shorter style that inspires me much just lately either so guess it is going to have to stay long until I get the 'got to have it cut NOW' point!!



Rob and I ventured into Kettering town yesterday to go to a couple of shops......butchers, chemist, Marks and Sparks, etc. I was saddened to see the town has changed a lot; let me point out that I do go into Kettering occasionally but is just normally to the bank at the far end of town and back out again, yesterday was the first time in ages that we actually walked round to do some shopping and could not believe the empty shops. Unfortunately it is the same scenario in a lot of towns these days, but when I moved to Kettering from London in 1986 it seemed to be a thriving town with lots of promise and I was happy to settle there. We moved to just outside Kettering (to a small town called Burton Latimer) in 2001 and consequently don't have much need to go into Kettering town centre, hence the shock at seeing how it had declined.......now with the news that Peacocks and Bon Marche are in receivership it looks like there may be 2 more empty shops to add to the list in the high street. Sad, so very sad.....and the immediate future does not appear too promising either as the local council don't appear to have a clue!!!


Anyway, time to go and sort Sunday dinner......roast chicken etc and all trimmings, followed by cherry pie and custard........yum!!