Twinkles Trek

It's been a long time...

2011-07-05T23:04:00.003+01:00

since I last posted. It's been 3 months! So much has happened and I don't know where my head is at.

Nearly 15 weeks ago I discovered I was pregnant after trying for 5 1/2 years. We were over the moon and so very excited. I then went for my 12 week scan and it was discovered that I'd had a missed miscarriage. I'd had no pain and no bleeding but sadly our baby had stopped growing at 8 weeks. I then went on to miscarry at home 2 days later. It was a very long process and not like it is on the TV at all. It's left me heartbroken. It's nearly 7 weeks on and I'm still finding it hard. Every where I look, every time I switch on the TV there seems to be babies. This is one of the toughest things I've gone through in my life.

I have up and down days. Hopefully the down times will become less. I'm still grieving and it'll take time to start to feel better. Russ has been fantastic and a great support. He's found it difficult too.

I've been told that there's no reason why I can't go on to have a healthy pregnancy. After trying for so long to get pregnant I now feel that time is running out. I'll be 41 in a few weeks and I've only got a couple of years left. Only time will tell if it'll happen again.

On the WW front, I've totally given up. I've turned to my old faithful for comfort and it's working well. I'm putting on a couple of pounds a week. My clothes are all too tight, well actually they won't even do up to be just too tight, and I've had to buy some new bits and pieces.

On the exercise front, I had to go easier doing water workouts, then when I miscarried I was unable to go. I've now returned back to class last week and I'm slowly building myself back up to the 6 classes a week I was doing before. I'm booked in for 4 classes this week. Hoping to do 5 next week.

I've got something to look forward to though. We've booked a holiday to Sarasota in Florida and the 3 of us are going in 11 days. We'll be staying with family and I hope to do a lot of chilling and relaxing. No doubt I'll be doing lots of eating too.

Ryan has completed his exams and has now finished school. He had his school prom at the weekend and he looked fantastic. He looked so grown up in his suit. I can't believe he's going to be 16 in a few weeks. (We're both celebrating our birthdays in Florida.) I'm so proud of him. I suppose this holiday will be our last holiday as a family as I dare say he'll be wanting to go to Ibiza with his mates next year.

I'm hoping that after our holiday my head will be a bit clearer, my heart mended a little and I'll be able to return back to WW or I might even try SW on my return.

Please bare with me and I hope to return back to normal very soon. Karon xxxxx

DAY 814- quick update

2011-04-05T15:59:00.002+01:00

and to let you all know that I'm still alive. I seemed to of been really busy lately and haven't had much time for anything. I can't belive it's been over 2 months since I was last here.
On the Weight Watchers front, I'm still hanging on in there. I still go each week but my weight loss just doesn't seem to be happening. I seem to lose 1lb then gain 1.5lbs then lose 2lbs. So I'm really around the same weight as I was when I last checked in.
I've also been attending 'aqua fit club'. This is a 12 week course, where we disguss things like fibre, vitamin D and the different types of fats amongst other things. The diet focuses on a Low GI diet. I've been trying to follow this whilst still following WW. It's quite good and it does seem to prevent me from snacking but I do find it rather limiting. I've only got a 3 weeks left on it. After our weekly chat we then go in the pool and have an intensive water workout class. I really like this side of things. The lady who takes us is my usual water aerobics teacher but the class is a lot more advanced and we work at an even harder level. As a knock on effect, when we do our usual class we all work harder. We then have a 1 hour toning class on a Friday in one of the studios where we do something different every week. We've used the gym balls, an hours class with a kiddies football, mini circuits and gliders (my bum still aches from the gliders last Friday!) As I said before, my weight hasn't really changed, by have noticed a difference in my shape. I've lost on my arms and thighs and also on my bum, hips and waist as I can now get back into my size 16 jeans. So that's got to be good.
I don't know if I told you before that I gave up eating crisps and bars of chocolate just before New Year. Well I'm still keeping up with that and I'm now on day 97!! Now that has really shocked me. I didn't think I'd last a week!!
I've also signed up for the Star Shine Stroll in aid of Arthur Rank Hospice in Cambridge. It's a 10 mile evening walk around Cambridge wearing pyjamas! :o) If anyone would care to sponser me please click here or on the Just Giving widget at the side of my blog. Even if it's just £1 it's all received very greatfully. I've always wanted to do something like this and I'm really looking forward to it.
I'm hoping to resume normal services with my blog very soon. Hope everyone is ok. I'm hoping to catch up with you all over the next week. xxx

DAY 746 WI wk 104 & 105

2011-01-27T16:33:00.003Z

Well I've had a change of meeting and a change of WI day and a change of leader. My previous WW leader has returned from maternity leave and has started a new meeting on a Thursday morning. I'm so glad to be back there. She is so nice and very encouraging and she remembered me by name when I walked in. She includes everyone in the meeting and doesn't just talk about all the naughty food that you can eat with WW. My last ww leader got the hump when I told her I was changing meeting and removed me as a buddy on facebook and removed me as a buddy on the ww message boards. How childish is that?
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WI result today was a STS which I'm over the moon with. I went to Morecambe to my great aunt's surpise 80th birthday and I've got to say I ate complete crap all weekend. Friday wasn't too bad, I had fish and chips. Called into Morrisons (as there isn't one near to me) and got a packet of WW carrot cakes and scoffed the whole lot before going to bed. We stayed in a little guest house on the sea front and our room was overlooking the sea. Just a pity that we couldn't really see it. It was really cold and quite foggy for most of the weekend. Below is a picture of what I would be able to see out of my widow if it was summer.
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Saturday and Sunday was of course the full English breakfast, though I did alter it a bit and had beans, slice of bacon, scrambled egg and mushrooms.... with plenty of toast and a pot of tea..... oh yeah, forgot to mention the bowl of Special K before eating the hot food. The party on Saturday started at 12.30 and lasted all day. I had all the usual coleslaw, rice and pasta salad and a few sarnies in the afternoon which I didn't think was too bad. Then later on all the desserts came out.... I had to have a slice of apple pie that was topped with caramal..... nom, nom, nom. I didn't really need to eat the slice of lemon meringue pie later on in the evening.... or the brie and crackers.... though I did have a few grapes and a banana :o) But guess what, I managed to stay away from all of the crisps that were about, so that's got to be some kind of achievement, right? I'm now on day 29 without having crisps or chocolates. Go me!!
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I tried to point my weekend away, I managed to eat all of my weekly, all of my exercise points plus another 50 so to get a STS was great. I have been very good with my food since Monday so it must of paid off.
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I'm looking forward to being on track for a whole week with a full week of exercise. I've got a double water workout booked tonight and Monday night. I've not got a class for tomorrow as I'm taking my parents to Gatwick airport as they are jetting off to Florida for a whole month. I wish I was going along too. Sooooooooooo very jealous of them both. I might well get the Wii Fit out tomorrow evening instead. Next Tuesday is the first day of a Health and Fitness programme that I'm going to attempt. It's a 12 week course at Newmarket Leisure Centre. On a Tuesday I'll be there for 2 hours where we'll be weighed and measured and they'll disguss healthy eating. To be honest I'm not to bothered about this side of it as I'm happy following WW. Maybe I'll be able to combine it. The meeting will then be followed by an intensive water workout. I done this for 6 weeks before Christmas and it was very hard work but I got a lot out of it. Then on a Friday I'll be there for an hour of legs, bums and tums one week then something else the week after. This side of it is worrying me a bit as I don't like jumping around at all. I will see how it all goes though.
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I'm thinking about doing the C25K. I've never done running before, but I'm seriously thinking about giving it a go. I've got a tread mill at home that I haven't used for a while and I really need to get it going again. Still undesided about C25K, if I do it, I might well start on Monday..... will see.
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Forgot to mention last weeks WI result, I lost 1.5lbs, so I'm now at a total loss of 52lbs. I do not want to go back under 50lbs again!

Forgot to add

2011-01-14T22:22:00.003Z

that I decided to give up eating crisps this year. I usually have at least 2 bags of crisps a day and if I'm in the right/wrong mood I can polish of a 6 pack no problem! I've never given up eating anything before. It worked out that I hadn't had any for a couple of days before the year ended so I'm now on day 16 without any. I've also not had any chocolate either..... not that I was planning to give that up! Let's hope I can continue with it!! :o) xxx

Day 733 Happy?? Anniversary....

2011-01-14T11:32:00.009Z

2 years ago today I joined WW. I can't believe I've been going to meetings for that long. In all that time I've only missed 3 meetings. Once when I was on holiday, once due to a BH and the last time being between Xmas & NY as I overslept. Not bad going! I know that if I was to miss too many meetings I'd probably end up giving up. When I started this I knew it was going to be a long trek and that there was going to be lots of ups and downs along the way.

The highlight of the last year was reaching 75.5lbs off and reaching 14st 8lbs on 24th February. I managed to stay at that weight for 2 whole weeks and haven't seen it again as since then I've really struggled. I'm starting my 3rd year with ww weighing 16st 3lbs with a total loss of 50.5lbs. This time next year I really do hope that I'm back at a total loss of 75lbs off or what would be even better is reaching onederland and making 199lbs or 14st 3lbs. That's exactly 2 stones from where I am now and really I should reach it without a problem. I'm not going to set my goals any higher, just a teeny weeny little 1/2lb off for 48 weeks with 4 weeks of 1lb off. I don't think that's asking too much is it????? I am still pleased that I no longer look like this though. This pic was taken the day after I joined WW.

I've had 2 WI's this year. First week I lost 3.5lbs and this week I gained 1/2lb. WTF??? Really don't understand that as I had 29 weekly ppts and 19 activity ppts left. I should of really had a bit of a lose surely? WW really don't make sense at times. I was so pissed off and I ended up having a bit of a blow out. I made proper homemade deep fried chips, chicken escallop in a roll with cheese slice (half fat) plus a slice of bread with 'real' butter for a chip sarnie. I then made a rice pudding, probably big enough to serve 6-8 portions, or 4 really large fat peoples portions. I had a big bowl full and then just as I was about to go to bed I decided to have another spoonful which ended up with me finishing it off! Anyway, yesterday I pointed everything and ended up going over by 4ppts. That's not too bad I suppose.

Last weekend I was meeting Tina for a cuppa and a catch up, put my boots on, went to walk and had a shooting pain up my back. It took my breath away for a while. This was really painful for 3 days and I could hardly move. I'm glad to say that it has now eased quite a lot. Still not 100% but it's on the mend. I've never ever had problems with my lower back and I've no idea what happened. I'm wondering if it's connected to the car accident and whiplash injury that I had in July. It also ment that I've missed all my water workouts this week other than 1 that I tried today. Usually I burn 350-400 calories but today it was just 240. It's better than nothing and I did take it quite easy.

I've been eating / drinking a lot of smoothies. I got a Kenwood Smoothie Maker To Go for Christmas from my mum. She got one after our WW leader recommended it. I've got to say they are brilliant! I've been buying frozen strawberries and blueberries from Sainsbury's (lot cheaper than fresh), put about 1/3 of a bag (no need to defrost) in the cup, add a kiwi (loads of vitamin c), a chopped banana, a ww vanilla or toffee yogurt and 1/4pt skimmed milk. Blend for a few seconds and it's done. No need to move it to a glass as it's in it's own cup. It even has a lid so you can take it out with you. It also comes with a spare cup. Anyway for just 2pts it's fab for breakfast or for a dessert.... could even freeze it for your own icecream. Must give that a go.It's like having a Mcdonalds strawberry milkshake!

I've also been making quite a bit of soup. My favourit so far is BNS and red pepper and it's so easy to make. Very yummy if I do say so myself. If you want to give it a go it's very easy.

1 large BNS, 3 large red peppers (blackened under the grill then skin removed, though you don't have to) 2 vegetable stock cubes mixed with 2 litres of hot water, a couple of garlic cloves or garlic puree and some mixed herbs. This can be cooked in the slow cooker over night or throughout the day (though it's ready in about 3 hours) or it can be cooked on the hob for about 1/2 an hour. Then just put it all in the blender. If it's too thick just boil the kettle and add some more water. Simples!

It's good to see that some of you are blogging again. Catch you all again soon. :o) xxx

DAY 718 Happy New Year

2010-12-30T22:24:00.004Z

I hope you've all had a fantastic Christmas and enjoyed all the Christmas fayre that's been about. I know I certainly have. :o)

Since I last blogged 6 weeks ago I've managed to gain 7.5lbs, 6 of those in the last 2 weeks. I missed WI yesterday so I had my WI at home and gained 3lbs. I thought it was nearer 7lbs so I'm quite pleased that it was only 3lbs. The last 6 weeks I've eaten out loads with various Christmas meals and had quite a few take aways. I've not been that great at pointing. If it wasn't for the fact that I'd been exercising loads (up to 2 weeks ago) I'd of easily gained double.

As of today I'm back to pointing and I'm looking forward to getting totally back on track. My water workout classes don't start until next Monday and I've really missed not going to them over the last 2 weeks. I've also signed up for a 12 week fitness course at the sports centre that starts the first week of February. On a Tuesday I'll be going in, getting weighed and I think measured, they'll be advising on how to eat healthily and giving us a fitness plan. After this there'll be a 1 hour intense water workout. I've just completed an 8 week intensive water workout class and it was very hard work so I know what to expect there. Then on a Friday evening there'll be a Legs, Bums and Tums class every other week and on the other week there'll be circuits or something along those lines. They're not totally sure yet. Either way it'll be 'land' exercise and I really don't know what to expect. I've only done 1 workout class over the last 2 years and I hated it. I haven't done any form of aerobics for 20 years so that will all be new. (Unless you count me attempting to jump around in my small living room to a Davina DVD.) Saying that I'm really looking forward to it all starting. As a result of doing this course I'm going to have to give up my belly dancing classes which is a shame. With all my other water workout classes I'm going to be out 4 evenings a week and I won't be seeing much of my OH. I get more out of the water workout classes than out of the belly dancing classes and for the time being something has to give.

Looking back over the last year I've really struggled. This time last year I was 13.5lbs lighter and I'm now exactly 2 stones heavier than I was at my lightest in February this year. It's a shame that I haven't been as good as I could of been but on the plus side I've not given up completly. I still turn up to my WW meetings every week so that's got to be good. I've got 3 more WI's to go and I'll of been going to WW for 2 years. I'm now back to a loss of 47.5lbs and I want to go into my 3rd year with a total loss of 50lbs+.

I'm looking forward to 2011 and I'm feeling very positive about it.

Happy New Year to you all!! xxx

Day 678

2010-11-21T20:31:00.003Z

I had a great afternoon out in London with Tina and Lindsey on Satuday. Unfortunatly Sarah wasn't able to join us which was such a shame. :o( Hopefully next time she'll be able to.
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I had fruit for breakfast and once Tina arrived we headed into Cambridge. We only just managed to catch the train into London as the queue was so bloody long and out to the entrance. We managed to catch the train with a couple of minutes to spare.
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We met up with Linz and then headed up to Covent Garden. Never been there before and there's so many street acts and entertainers around and they all had huge crowds gathered around them watching. One of the acts was on an eight foot uni-cycle, topless and wearing nipple tassels!
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We had a bit of a look around and as we were all famished we headed for something to eat. We decided on Italian for lunch and ended up a place called Pasta Brown. There was so many nice things to choose frome that it took us a good 20 minutes to decide. I had garlic bread with mozzarella as a starter followed by penne boscaiola which was chicken, bacon and onion in a tomato sauce, basil and parmesan. This was absolutely wonderful and I thorougly enjoyed it. We also shared a portion of fries between the 3 of us.
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We spent a few hours in the restaurant, eating, drinking and chatting loads. The 3 of us headed back to Covent Garden and watched a few of the street entertainers. We then walked up to Leicester Square to work off some of our lunch and more importantly to make room for dessert! We ended up in Cafe Rouge where I ordered a hot chocolate to drink(which came out with a small pot of cream and a small pot of marshmallows) and Pavé au Chocolat (Warm chocolate and walnut brownie topped with melted chocolate ganache and vanilla ice cream) for dessert. We done a lot more chatting with a bit of people watching before catching the tube to Kings Cross to head home. It was lovely to meet Linz and we hope to do it again some time in the New Year.
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I felt shattered when I got home and just vegged out in front of the TV watching X-factor and other rubbish. For tea I had a tuna salad roll and ened up polishing off 2 packets of crisps and 2 2-finger kitkats. I wasn't even hungry so I don't know why I ate it. I reckon I finished the day having approx 73 ppts. That wasn't too bad but I had already dipped into my weekly allowance and I've now gone into my activity bonus points. I've earned 24 and used 6 but over the next 2 days I should earn another 21 bonus points. So I'm still hopeful.
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I'll be back later in the week with my WI results. I hope you've all had a good weekend.

DAY 674 WI wk 95

2010-11-17T22:55:00.003Z

and I lost 1lb on my first week of the ProPoints Plan. Not fantastic but not bad considering the weekend I had. I'm more pleased with the fact that I've now lost weight 2 weeks running. I haven't managed to do that since February!! How bad is that? Let's hope I've broken the week to week cycle of having a loss then having a gain, then a gain and then a loss.

I've had my last physio session this week and I'm hoping my shoulder will get back to normal over the next few months. The physiotherapist has said that the more water aerobics and belly dancing I do then the stronger it should get. I do hope that will be the case. I'm now back to doing 6 water workouts a week (was doing 7) and doing a 90 minute belly dancing class.

Really looking forward to Saturday as me and Tina are getting on a train to London and meeting up with the lovely Linz and delightful Sarah. We've not got any set plans as of yet. What ever we decide to do I dare say that there'll be plenty of chatting, some good food, the occasional drink and lots of laughs. I can't wait!! :o) xxx

Day 673 WI wk 94

2010-11-16T22:54:00.002Z

I'm a bit late posting my last WI results but I lost 2lbs last week at WW. My meeting has now changed from a Monday to a Wednesday and I started the new ProPoints Plan with a new card. I just need all my silver 7's stuck on the front. ;-)

I've now been on the new WW PPP for the last 9 days (officially 7 days) and have my first WI tomorrow morning. I'm on 31 PP's a day and I've finished the week eating all of them. I've also eaten all 49pts from my weekly allowance and I've also had 9 of the 45 activity points I earned.

At the weekend I had a girls night in with a few friends. Tina came along and she met 3 of my other friends. 4 out of 5 of us are all on diets so I tried to cook healthy options. To start off we had red pepper and BNS soup. Main course we had sticky bbq chicken and bacon pasta with Sainsbury's Be Good To Yourself garlic bread. Then for dessert I made a meringue gateaux. I found a recipe from an old Your Week leaflet that we're given at the meeting. OMFG, it was wonderful. I made 2 circles of meringues and I impressed myself as I've never made meringues before. Sliced up some strawberries and red grapes, added some blueberries and mixed them with a little bit of jam. Topped one merinue with 1 1/2 tubs of WW cream, most of the fruit then topped with the other meringue then piled the rest of the fruit on top. At only 6ppts a serving I thought it was fantastic. Really felt like I was having a proper treat. (I wish I'd taken a picture of it as I was so impressed with it.)

The whole meal was about 40ppts, which I didn't think was too terrible. Then I had a few pimms, and then a few more, then some taboo and then the vodka found it's way out. I tried to point the alcohol and I think it came out at about 17pts. So I'm really glad that I'd saved my weekly points for the weekend. We had a lovely evening and a good time was had by all.

I've got on ok with the PPP plan this week. Though I do feel as though I've over indulged. Hopefully the scales will show a good result in the morning.

I'll be back to report tomorrow.

TTFN

DAY 658 WI wk 93, 92 and 91 All Change

2010-11-01T16:13:00.004Z

You will probably know that due to my lack of blogging I've been struggling again. WI week 91 was a gain of 1.5lbs. After class I went home and just ate and ate and ate and finished the day consuming over 70points or more than 3 days worth of points. WI week 92 I managed a STS. How the hell I managed that I just don't know considering all I'd scoffed. Then at WI today I had a gain of 2lbs. Totally expected and deserved as I'd eaten out, been to a party at the lovely Tina's and had lots of nice food and quite a few to drink. Also this week is a 'star week' as my WW leader Elisha nicely puts it, to others TOTM. I've also not felt well for the last 5 days and have eaten what ever I fancied.
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I'm well aware that I'm using the fact that there's a new plan starting as an excuse not to stick with the current plan. Rather a silly thing of me to do. I'm not going to do that this week as I need to lose 2lbs to put me back to a total of 4 stones lost. I want to start the new plan with 8 silver 7's on my new card. Next week my WW meeting is changing to a Wednesday so that gives me 9 days to get those 2lbs off. No excuses this week Karon!
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We were given a leaflet about the new plan in our classes today so I'm going to share some of the info with you:-
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MOVING to the ProPoints plan
For everyone who knows the POINTS system
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The original POINTS system
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With the introduction of the original POINTS system almost 15 years ago, WW revolutionised the way members were able to manage their weight loss. They could eat any food they wanted, simply monitoring their portion sizes awith POINTS values as their guide. By devising a new calculation that took into account the calories and the saturated fat in a portion of any food, weight loss became simpler, healthier and more liveable. Members could still eat their favourite foods, keep track easily and lose weight regularly.
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The new ProPoints plan
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In the last decade, weight loss science has continued to build. Evidence shows that the nutrients that make up food can impact weight and can be measured in a more accurate way. The new ProPoints system takes this into account by evaluating how the body processes the nutrients in food. And now that we've run independent clinical trials to satisfy ourselves that it works - we want to make sure you are able to enjoy the advantages of this new system too.
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REVITALISE YOUR WEIGHT LOSS EFFORTS:
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Changing to a new system can be really beneficial when it comes to re-energising weight loss. Having to look again at portion sizes, new ProPoints values and the other changes that make this plan so flexible means you may regain some of the motivation you enjoyed when you first joined WW. Many experienced members who've already tested his new plan found that the changeover to the new ProPoints system gave their weight loss efforts a whole new boost.
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The new ProPoints plan is more flexible and liveable:
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Fruit has a ProPoints value of zero. This means you can snack on apples, strawberries, grapes or bananas (or any other of your favourite fruit) and dd them to meals without needing to count them as part of your daily allowance.
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A weekly ProPoints allowance, alongside your daily allowance, means you enjoy added flexibility so you can fit the plan more easily around your daily life. From now on, there's no need to cut back, as you one did, to save POINTS values for a special occasion or a night out. Instead you just use some of you weekly ProPoints allowance whenever you need more than your daily allowance provides for.
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Filling and Healthy Foods continue, like Filling Foods, to hightlight the most satisfying foods you can eat. The added benefit now is that they also indicate the healthy choiced too. For each food group, we've carefully selected choices that at are higher in fibre and/or lower in salt,sugar and saturated fat. So you can still s-t-r-e-t-c-h your ProPoints budjet, stay fuller for longer and now know that you're making really informed choices for your health.
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Everything's going up...
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You'll notice that the daily allowance your Leader gives you, when you start to follow the new ProPoints plan, is significantly different from your POINTS allowance.
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It doesn't mean that you necessarily have more values to spend of food. the fact is that the ProPoints values of foods and drinks have changed and your daily ProPoints allowance has changed, in line with this whole new system.
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There is no way to compare values in the old system with those in the ProPoints plan. ProPoints values reflect the amount of protein, carbohydrate, fat and fibre in food - rather than calories and saturated fat of the old POINTS system.
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The two systems will not work together to produce regular weight loss.
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A McDonalds Double Cheeseburger was 9.5pts on the POINTS system and will now be 12pts with the ProPoints system.
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... but your weight
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What we now call your ProPoints budjet includes a daily allowance combined with an additional weekly allowance too. Along with any activity ProPoints values you earn, they will create the calorie deficit your body needs to lose weight at a regular, healthy rate of up to 2lb a week.
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The daily allowance can only be used for the day in question. It can't be carried over to the next day. The lowest daily allowance is now 29.
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The weekly allowance can be used in anyaway you choose across the week. You may want to eat bigger portions each day, save it for a big occasion or you can keep it in your 'back pocket' for those unexpected or unplanned events where you need more than your daily allowance.
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Activity ProPoints values have changed too, but continue, like activity POINTS values did, to help yo ubuild up and track your activity levels. You can stil exchange them for food if you choose to. The activity ProPoints values chart can be found in the Pocket Guide you receive in your first week.
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So there you go. Weight Watchers is changing it's pointing system from POINTS to ProPoints from next week. The points value in food will be going up. We'll be having a higher daily ProPoints allowance. We'll be getting a weekly ProPoints allowance on top of our daily ProPoints allowance. Fruit and Vegetebles will be zero points. (I have read somewhere that it doesn't include tinned fruit so that will have to be pointed.) We won't be able to save points from one day to the next. Exercise points will alter.
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I'm actually really looking forward to the new changes. The old system has been going for 15 years and does work. Like with everthing else, things improve and alter for the better.
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I'd just like to finish with a few pictures taken at Tina's halloween party.
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.Me and my OH Russell dressed as zombie school kids

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. Me and Tina dressed as a Fallen Angel

DAY 637 WI week 90

2010-10-11T21:32:00.007+01:00

and I lost 2lbs this week and I'm back down in the 15's. :o) I'm ok with that though I was hoping for a little more as I'd been rather good. I've now lost a total of 57.5lbs which has taken me to just over 4 stones lost. Also means I have to drop a point this week. I've decided to continue taking pictures of my food each day and posting some of them on here. I want to have another loss next week as I haven't managed to loss weight for 2 consecutive weeks since February which is rather crap! I'm determined to have a loss next week. Even if it's half a bloody pound.

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Last night my sons injury continued to bleed and the glue disolved. Phoned A&E around midnight and they said to go back but there was at least a 3 hour wait. There was no way I was sitting up there until 4o'clock in the morning. So decided to leave it until this morning to go back. We had to wait for a doctor to appear as it was so quiet. Again the nurse said it needed a stitch, then the doctor said to use some steri strips and a dressing to cover it. So that's what they did in the end followed by a tetanus jab. We were gone for just a couple of hours which wasn't too bad.

I managed to get to my WW meeting just as the leader started talking. So good timing. I then went swimming after the meeting but only for 35 minutes. Still managed to swim 30 lengths.
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My ww leader has had to change the day of her meeting from a Monday to a Wednesday and it's changing the week the new pro points plan starts. Bit of a bugger as I was looking forward to starting the new plan on the first day it starts. So I've got 4 full week plus 2 days left on the old plan. I'm kind of looking forward to it. From the info I've found on-line it looks as though fresh fruit and vegetables will be free. Tinned fruit being pointed. We'll be having a higher daily points allowance (as a result the points in our food will be higher) and we'll also be getting an extra weekly allowance which we can choose to have or not and divide it up daily or have them all in one go. Not 100% certain though so don't quote me on it.

BREAKFAST

Oaty bar 1pt
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LUNCH
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6 slices hovis wheatgerm bread 5pts
Morrisons BBQ chicken slices 3pts
2tblsp healthy living salad dressing 1/2pt
Square crisps 1.5pts
2 pink n whites 1.5pts
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DINNER
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Chicken breast 2.5pts
Stuffed with 25g Philadelphia Extra light, garlic salt and herbs 1/2pt
Topped with a slice of WW Bacon 1/2pt
200g mashed potato and carrot 2pts
Grean beans
Roasted BNS, red onions & cherry tomatoes
Skinny Cow caramel shortcake lolly 1.5pts
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Exercise 2.5pts
Water 1500ml
Points used 21/22
Saved 1pt

DAY 636 Food diary day 7

2010-10-10T23:17:00.007+01:00

Picture Food Diary Day 7

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The day started off quite well even if the choices were crap.....
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BREAKFAST

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If you can call it breakfast I had an Oaty cereal bar 1pt
and square crisps at 1.5pts.
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LUNCH

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Tinned WW spaghetti 1.5pts
4 Hovis Wheatgerm Bread 3.5pts
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I spent part of the day in the garden again. That was until my son tried to chop his finger off with a chopper whilst chopping kindling. Off we went to Addenbrooks Hospital and spent a couple of hours in A&E.First of all the nurse said he needed his hand stitched, then he had to see the doctor. He said it needed steri strips & glued and a tetanus jab given. Saw the nurse again, she glued it, no steri strips and the doctor had forgotten to write up that he needed a jab.
Called in at my parents on the way home and ended up scoffing 2 cold Aunt Bessies Yorkshire puddings that were sitting on the side 1.5pts.

Then when I got home I ended up stuffing 4 of these in my gob
Guess at 2.5pts?
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followed by a smaller one of these
Guess at 1/2pt
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and 3 of these
and I know that was 2pts
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and a WW toffee bar which I forgot to take a picture of. 1.5pts

Then I had my DINNER.
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140g ww oven chips 3pts
2 tesco salmon burgers 3pts
1 Warburtons sliced white roll 2pts
lots of salad
followed by a ww mint torte at 3pts.
. .

Exercise points none, but maybe a few in the garden
Total exercise points 19.5 plus 11 on my pedometer for the week and that's not including the day and a half i didn't wear it for. So 30 activity points earned for the week is rather good :o)
Total water 1200ml
Points used 26.5/23 so over by 7pts for the week. I think my BP's more than cover that.

I'm rather pleased with the week I had :o) xxx

DAY 635 Food diary day 6

2010-10-10T21:40:00.008+01:00

Picture Food Diary Day 6
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BREAKFAST

Shredded wheat, skimmed milk and 20g blueberries, 2.5pts.

LUNCH

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Tin of tuna in brine 2pts
6 slices hovis wheatgerm bread 5pts
2 tblsp Tesco Healthy Eating Salad Dressing 1/2pt
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DINNER

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Melba toast 1pt with left over tuna mix piled on top
270g Rump steak 6pts
280g Jacket potato 3pt
Mixed salad.

My mum recently gave me a small deep fat fryer and I rarely use it. I made the mistake of cooking some chips in it and I couldn't resist them. Big mistake! So I'm guessing that I ate about 2pts worth.

SNACKS
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Square crisps 1.5pts
Oaty bar 1pt
2 pink n whites 1.5pts
Options belgian choc drink 1/2pt

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Exercise, no official workouts but I did spend the day in the garden and should of earned a few BP's there.
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Total exercise points 19.5
Total water 2200ml
Points used 26.5/23
Over by 3.5

Day 634 Picture Food Diary Day 5

2010-10-08T22:47:00.006+01:00

I tried deep water workout today and I got on ok. It's been over 3 months since I last went and I really enjoyed it. It was nice to see some of the ladies who regularly go.
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Russ took the day off work today to put a shed up in the garden. So this afternoon I was out in the garden helping him. It's now all done, fingers crossed the wind wont blow it down! I was also weeding the garden and trying to pull up all the grass that grows over the paving. I think I earned quite a few BP's there too. Hope to do lots more in the garden over the weekend.
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Russ tried to get a bonfire going without success. I give it a go and it starts with one match. The fire has now been burning for the last 8 hours. How good am I? We've got so much wood in the garden to burn. My son Ryan has been chopping up kindling since the summer holidays and there's loads of off-cuts with stapels in to get rid of. Ryan's done quite well and is supplying a shop in Cambridge with kindling for the winter. They usually sell about 1200 bags so that should keep him busy for a little while. It's good that he's trying to earn himself some money.
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I'm finding doing this picture food diary is really helping me to keep on track. You've only got 2 more days to put up with it.

BREAKFAST

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Shredded wheat, 1/4pt skim milk, 20g blueberries 2.5pts.

LUNCH

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Bacon sarnies made with 4 rashers WW bacon 2pts
red onion
4 slices Hovis wheatgerm bread 3.5pts

DINNER

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STARTER - Melba toast with 2 laughing cow, cucumber and onion. 2pts
MAIN - 100g chicken breast 2.5pts, cooked in the oven with tinned tomatoes, passatta and basil
Mixed together with 250g new potatoes 2.5pts, courgettes, leeks, peppers, spoon full of peas and sweetcorn 1/2pt, sprinkled with 5g hard cheese 1/2pt
DESSERT - 2 meringue nests 1.5pts, topped with a skinny cow caramel shortcake lolly 1.5pts and 2 pineapple rings 1/2pt.
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SNACKS

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Square crisps 1.5pts
Morrisons chewy lemon curd cereal bar 1pt

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Water aerobics 4pts
Total exercise points earned 19.5pts
2100ml water
Points used today 22/23
No points banked or to pull back. Totally on track! :o) That makes me very happy.

See you tomorrow xxx

Day 633 Food diary day 4

2010-10-07T23:55:00.005+01:00

Day 4 of my photo food diary.... exciting stuff this isn't!
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BREAKFAST

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.Oat So Simple 2pts
1/4pt skimmed milk 0.5pt

Looks rather boring.

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LUNCH

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WW Sweet Chilli Vegetable Pizza 7pts
Mixed salad, lettuce, beetroot, spring onions, tomatoes and cucumber.
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DINNER

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I cooked dinner tonight before going to water aerobics and after the class had finished I decided to pop in to Tesco where I got some WW Chocolate Mint Tortes (half price at 69p a box. I cleared the shelf as I love these!) By the time I got home it was 10 o'clock and that's when I had my dinner.

125g Tesco Extra Lean Minced Steak 3pts
mixed with onions, tinned tomatoes, carrots, passatta and an oxo cube.
250g potatoes2.5pts sliced and arranged on top of meat then cooked in oven
Courgettes, green beans and broccoli
WW Chocolate Mint Torte 3pts

SNACKS

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I caught a lift to my local Morrisons today (which is 25 miles away from my house so rarely go there). Discovered lemon curd and blueberry & cream cereal bars in there and I had one of each flavour in the car on the way home. How yummy were these and just 1pt a bar. The lemon curd ones were delicious.
Also discovered tomato and basil melba toast. Ooooooooooooohhhhhhhhh, how nice were they. I had a pack of 6 topped with 2 extra light Laughing Cow triangles and cucumber.
Also had a toasted sandwich made with 2 slices of Hovis wheatgerm bread, red onion, lettuce and 1 extra light Laughing Cow triangle before I went to water aerobics tonight.
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Laughing Cow 1pt
Melba Toast 1pt
2 slices bread 1.5pts
2 cereal bars 2pts

I was also glad to see that raspberry ripple flavour sugar free squash has returned to Morrisons. Sounds minging I know but it really does taste like icecream and is great to have after a meal or if you want a sweet fix. I also got sherbert lemon squash which tastes like the sweets and marshmallow flavour squash which I found quite weird and does have that same powdery taste. I also come away with 6 packs of WW bacon that was half price. So I ended up with quite a few good bargains today.
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Water aerobics was rather good this evening. My shoulder is improving all the time. I'm going to give deep water aerobics a go tomorrow. I'm looking forward to that as I haven't done it since June.
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Water Aerobics 4.5pts
Total exercise points earned 15.5
2200ml water. I drank loads today trying out the new squash.
Points used today 23.5 / 23
Points to pull back 1

Day 632 Food diary day 3

2010-10-06T22:40:00.011+01:00

Day 3 of my photo food diary

Breakfast

2 slices Hovis wheatgerm bread 1.5pts (already scoffed 1 slice)

2 tsp WW jam 0.5pt

Lunch

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62g packet Uncle Bens rice 3pts
mixed with courgettes, leeks, mushrooms and peppers
5 pieces of Tesco BBQ Salmon mini fillets 3pts
Oaty bar 1pt

Dinner

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100g pasta (dry weight)
mixed with courgettes, leeks, mushrooms, peppers and onion.
120g cooked chicken breast
All stired together with 40g Philadelphia extra light 1pt
Skinny Cow caramel shortcake lolly 1pt

Snacks

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2 packets of French Fries 2.5pts
Sandwich made with
2 slices of Hovis wheatgerm bread 2pts (as 4 slices are 3.5pts and I've already had 2)
40g chicken breast 2 tsp sweetcorn 1pt
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Been belly dancing this evening and dont really know how many points to put it down as. Only danced for an hour instead of my usual 90 minutes so maybe it's 3pts?
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I can tell I've been drinking my water as I seem to keep nipping off to the loo! Hopeful that's an indication of a good weight loss this week.
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Belly dancing 3pts
Total exercise points earned 11pts
Water 1600ml
Points used today 25/23
Used my 1.5pts saved and gone over by 1/2pt
Day 3 completed.

Day 631 Food diary day 2

2010-10-05T23:30:00.004+01:00

Didn't have breakfast today but opted for brunch instead. I really enjoyed this and it's really filling.
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2 egg whites whisked, then whisk in 1 whole egg. 1.5pts
Onion, sliced courgettes, peppers, mushrooms zapped in microwave until cooked.
Put some of the egg mix in a non stick pan,add the veggies, top with the remainder of the egg mix.
Sliced cherry tomatoes on top.
Cook until set then finish it off under the grill.
4 slice Hovis wheatgerm bread 3.5pts.

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Snack
WW Salt and pepper tortillas 1pt

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.My son Ryan had a double cooking class today and made Shepherds pie and apple crumble. He's very good and makes it all lower in fat and calories where possible. Above is the finished product and bellow is my rather large portion. It was very yummy and I felt stuffed after I'd eaten it all.
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.Shepherds pie 8pts
(1/3 pack tesco lean minced steak 4pts, carrots, onions, tinned tomatoes, 300g potatoes 3.5pts, 2 tsp I cant believe it's not butter light 0.5pt. The ingredients for my portion.)
Courgettes, cabbage, green beans and broccoli.

.Apple crumble 3.5pts
Topping, 100g flour, 50g can't belive it's not butter light, 35g silver spoon half sugar.
500g peeled weight apples (only had royal gala) 35g silver spoon half sugar. Serves 4. Total of 13.5pts.
1/4packet Sainsburys be good to yourself custard (packet stuff add water) 1.5pts.

.The crumble was wonderful and I haven't had a home made dessert like that since before joining WW. For a total of 5pts I thought it was rather good. Maybe I should get him to cook at home more often.
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I went to water aerobics with my friend Rachel this evening. This is a mixture of a workout, mostly in the shallow end of the pool and partly in the deep. In the deep part of the work out, our instructor, Corrin, gets us walking across the pool and back, well more of a march. If you don't move your arms and legs you sink so you have to keep going. Then we have to do it again but running. Trying running across the pool and not being able to touch the floor. It's not the easiest thing to do. We also do a lot of woggle work in the deep section. We're given 2 woggles and do a lot of arm exercises and tipping yourself back and forward with your legs out in front of you or behind you. I tried to make it harder for myself this week by crossing my feet. Can really feel that working on the tummy muscles. I've booked in for another class on Thursday with Corrin and I'm going to attempt a deep water workout with Zita on Friday. I haven't been to a deep water workout class since June and I'm quite looking forward to giving it a go again.
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I'll be back tomorrow with my food diary. xxx

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Water aerobics 4.5pts

Total exercise pts earned 8pts

2000ml water

Points used today 20/23

Pulled back 1.5pts, banked 1.5pts

Rather a successful day I think xxx

Day 630 WI wk 89

2010-10-05T22:32:00.004+01:00

and I had a STS. I'm ok with that. TOTM appeared at the weekend and I had the munchies. I ended up eating most of the bonus points I earned throughout the week. Fingers crossed I'll have a loss next week.

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I went out Friday evening and stuck to diet coke and stayed away from the buffet table. How good was that? :o) I had a busy Sunday afternoon helping my sister cut down, remove and dig out the hedge in her front garden so that my nephews car will fit in the garden. My legs and stomach muscles are still aching!
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WI day is always weird food wise for me as I don't eat or drink anything before going to class. I leave home at 8.15 to take my son to college in Cambridge and then head to Newmarket for my meeting followed by a swim. I then head back to Cambridge, do a bit of shopping, meet my OH for lunch then pick my son up from college and finally get home about 3.15. I make my lunch before going out so I don't end up buying sandwiches from the shop.
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I've decided to do a food diary this week as I know this helps to keep me focused. So here's my diary for Monday.

4 slices of Hovis wheatgerm bread = 3.5pts
plus 6 more slices = 5pts
Tin tuna in brine = 2pts
mixed with red onion, red pepper, tomatoes, cucumber and 1tbs sweetcorn = 0pts
2tbsps tesco healthy living salad dressing 0.5pt
(All of this was for breakfast and lunch as well as a sarnie in the evening.)

The Hovis wheatgerm bread is 1pt for one slice, 1.5pt for 2 slices, 3.5pts for 4 slices. It's so much tastier than ww or nimble bread and you know you're having proper bread.

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Snacks
WW Nachos 1pt
Wotsits 1.5pt
WW All day Breakfast Bar 2pts
Oaty Bar 1pt

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Tea
Pack of Tesco Light Choices melba toast 1pt
topped with left over tuna mix.

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130g Chicken 3pts
200g potatoes 2pts
Courgettes, carrots, green beans and broccoli

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Skinny cow Caramel shortcake lolly 1.5pt

OMG these are wonderful. If you find them anywhere I highly recommend them. I found these in Asda and they're on offer at £1 a box this week. Very yummy!!
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Swimming for 45 minutes and I did 40 lengths. 3.5BP's

1500ml water

Total points used for the day 24.5/23

1.5pts to pull back.
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Quite a good day I think. Not quite stuck to it 100% but very nearly!

Day 627 WI week 88 ......

2010-10-01T16:24:00.003+01:00

2 fat ladies!! BINGO!! I can't believe I've been going to WW for 88 weeks. I've never stuck at WW for longer than 6 months before and here I am on my 4th card with just 8 squares left in it to stamp. I think when the new WW programme starts on November the 7th I'll ask for a new card. With just over 5 weeks to go I'm looking forward to it. I'm hoping it's going to be the kick start I need to get me well and truely back on track.

My WW leader, Elisha had her regional meeting last weekend where she gained her 2nd diamond award for being an excellent WW leader. Well done to her on her DD's :o). At class on Monday she informed us that she had started the new plan the day before and that it looks excellent. She couldn't tell us any more than that until the official start date. So I guess I'll find out more on the 8th November.

Well at WI this week I lost 1.5lbs. I did have a bit of a blow out at the weekend, though I didn't go over my points but ate most of my bonus points I earned for the week so I'm quite happy with that. I've managed a couple of aqua aerobics sessions this week and I've been swimming, I've also returned to my belly dancing classes. :o) I do enjoy all my classes and I have missed them whilst I've been out of action.

I've had quite a busy week. Drove up to Manchester on Tuesday evening with my OH, sister and nephew to collect a car for my nephew. I picked up my sister, nephew and then my OH from work at 4.45 and he then drove us up there. He then drove the car back with my nephew Lee for company and my sister kept me company. We didn't get home until 2am and it has well and truely mucked my body clock up this week. It's made me feel so tired all week. I couldn't to driving for a living. We didn't mind doing it and my nephew has a lovely little 2003 black Fiesta with only 17000 miles on the clock. Very lucky to have a nice little car for a first car. My very first car was a white Fiesta with a brown bonnett and a big dent in the middle!

I met the lovely Tina yesterday for a cuppa and a chat at the Weatherspoons in Newmarket yesterday. I'd only had toast and decided to have jacket potato with tuna mayo and side salad. 13 bloody points in that!! So much for thinking I was picking something healthy. I'm off out to one of my best friends parents 30th wedding anniversary celebrations this evening at a local pub where a band is playing. Haven't decided if I'm going to have a few vodkas or not. I've had an OKish week so far and I've already had most of the BP's that I've earned through exercise this week.

I'm very proud and happy for my wonderful friend Hayley who started the Cambridge Diet last week. She lost 1 stone in her first week. Amazing stuff. Well done to you. :o)

I'm off to get ready. I hope you all have a fantastic weekend xxx

Day 616 WI week 87 and

2010-09-20T22:35:00.004+01:00

I'm gutted!! The scales at the meeting showed 1/2lb gain. I could understand it if I'd not had a very good week but I haven't. I've pointed everthing, had my points, drunk my water and even gone back to doing some exercise. So the scales showing a little gain wasn't what I expected to see at all. Had a chat with my ww leader and she suggested that maybe I'd retained fluid. Hopefully that's all it is and it'll show on the scales next week. Sometimes this journey is so bloody un-rewarding!!! :o(

My friend Rachel goes to WW with me and after the meeting we both went swimming. I was rather pleased as we managed to do 40 lengths of the pool in 45 minutes. I didn't think that was too bad considering we were chatting throughout and with my dodgy shoulder. It seems as though it's on the mend at last. Talking of my shoulder I've got more physio tomorrow. The other sides insurance have agreed to 5 sessions to start off with and I'm on my final session. I'm also going to be assessed to see how many further sessions I may need.

I've got a couple of finds to share with you all.

First of all is Tesco barbecue 2 Salmon Burgers with a light zesty lemon flavour. These are quite nice and are only 1.5pts each. You can find these in the freezer section and are on offer for £1. Probably because it's now the end of the BBQ season and they're being sold off.

Second is Tesco barbecue 10 Salmon Mini Fillets. These are coated in a lime, chilli & coriander glaze and take only 12 minutes to cook in the oven or under the grill. In each pack there are 2 packs of 5 and are only 3pts for 5 pieces. These are also half price at only £1.50 which I think is a bargain!! I really liked these and had them with rice and salad. A very quick meal for when you're in a hurry to scoff food down your gullet! :o) If you can find them in Tesco I recommend them. I bought some a couple of weeks ago and the last couple of days I've looked in 4 different Tesco's before finding some more. So I bought 6 packs which should keep me going for quite some time. :o)

Also here's a picture of the pasta bake that my son made at school last week. He had to make something that was suitable for someone who wants to lose weight. It was 9pts for 1/4 serving but it could be less if you miss out the cheese. Very, very tasty and I think he done rather a good job. It tasted great!!

Do any of you who go to WW meeting notice in last weeks 'Your Week' (no 37), that on page 7 the sandwiches on the page have a different description next to them. They've both got listed the total kcals, the fat, carbs, fibre and protein with the points value. Never noticed that in the magazine before. Maybe that's an indication of the 'new WW plan' that's supposed to be happening in the coming weeks. The leaders have their meeting this week so hopefully we'll know more about it next week at our meeting.

If the rumours are true it looks as though points are going to be worked out differently. Both how many points we're allowed and the points value in our food. It looks like it might be very similar to the American way of doing things. It'd be nice if WW just admitted that it's going to happen rather than removing threads of the message boards and denying it's happening. You can't get kitchen scales or calculators at meetings anymore, as well as they were heavily reduced a few months ago, and they've not been available in the WW magazines since May. The signs are there, it's just a question of when is it going to happen?

Lastly I'd like to say a big hello to Nicola who contacted me through facebook to say that she's been reading my blog for the last 7 months and what an inspiration I'd been over the months. She's been on her own weight loss journey and has lost an incredible 70lbs in 7 months and is just 7lbs away from her goal. WOW, WOW, WOW!! It was so lovely to have the message from her. Thank you so much for getting in touch. It's nice to know that there's a few people out there who like to read it.

Hape you're all having a good week people. Catch ya all soon xxx

Day 610, WI week 86 RESULT!!

2010-09-14T14:50:00.004+01:00

Had a great result on the scales yesterday with 6lbs off!! Over the moon with that especially after a heavy night out on the piss. That brings me to a total of 54.5lbs off and leaves with 21lbs to go to get back to where I was in February. That seems quite do-able right now. It feels good to be back on track :o)

The WW meeting is held in a hall opposite the sports centre where I usually go for my water aerobics class. They hold a ladies only session from 11 o'clock which is when the meeting ends. I decided to give it a go and to see how my shoulder and arm was. It ached to start off with but I carried on and I managed to do 30 lengths in 40 minutes. Normally I would of done 40 lengths in the same time so I think I done rather well. My shoulder aches a bit today but isn't any worse. I've decided to give one of my water aerobics classes a go this evening and I've booked in for another class on Friday. I have missed them and I can't wait to get back to normal.

My son is cooking in school today and had to make something that was suitable for someone who wants to lose weight. Well, I could definatly help him out with that one. So he's making a pasta bake with veggies, sauce, extra lean minced steak and low fat mozzarella. That's our tea sorted and really looking forward to that tonight. Hopefully he won't muck it up in school!!

Catch up again soon x

Day 608 All is going well

2010-09-12T17:06:00.003+01:00

I've had a fantastic week on the ww side of things. My halo is so shiney everyone needs to wear sunglasses!! I even managed to bank 14pts for going out last night and only had 9.5pts. I didn't even feel the urge to have burger, kebab or chips at the end of the evening either.

I'm quite looking forward to my WI tomorrow. The scales were looking rather good when I last had a SP.

I had a great evening out last night with Tina. We ended up going to a pub in Newmarket and just laughed and chatted all evening. On my way back home I heard from my friend Neil that his partner Kate had a little girl weighing 7lbs. She was 12 days late. They've yet to pick a name. Looking forward to meeting the little lady. Hope to do that very soon. Lot's of love and kisses are sent to their family.

Will be back tomorrow with WI results xxx

Wow day 604 WI wk 85

2010-09-08T23:19:00.002+01:00

Where does the time go? I haven't blogged, yet again, for ages. Mainly due to the fact that I've been having a difficult time sticking to WW and have really let things slip.

Because I've changed my WW meeting to a Monday and it being a bank holiday I missed my 2nd ever WW meeting since joining WW in January last year. Normally I would of gone to a different meeting to get weighed but this time I just couldn't be arsed. In doing that it ment I stayed off track for another week.

Result on the scales this week showed another gain, as expected. I've now gained a total of 27lbs since the beginning of March. It's now got to stop Karon!! I woke up Monday morning, logged on to WW eSource and retook the points quiz. I'm back on 23 points and I'm feeling rather positive. :o)

I've decided to log my food on-line as I haven't done that since last year. I'm going to use my facebook profile more for support and I'm going to start blogging again. I've been very quiet in the land of blog lately and must catch up with other bloggers properly. Having a quick look at my blog roll there seems to be a lot of bloggers who haven't blogged for a while. Where have you all gone?

I've been 3 days back on track and so far so good. The only down side to getting back on track is the amount of time I spend going for a wee. Last night I got up 5 times!! I'm earning loads of BP's trotting off to the loo!

I'm also hoping to get back to my water workout classes very soon. I do miss them. I was doing up to 7 classes a week. I'd stopped going due to the car accident I had at the beginning of July. I'm currently having physio and my therapist has suggest I have acupuncture. I respond well to physio and she's hoping that acupuncture will help releive the dead arm feeling that I've still got.

I'm looking forward to the weekend as I'm having an evening out with the lovely Tina. Not sure what we're doing or where we're going yet but I'm sure it will involve lot's of booze!! I've managed to save a few points already and hope to save a few more by Saturday.

I'll be reporting back in a few days and do not intend to leave it so long again!!

Here's to a great week xxx

DAY 575 WI WEEKS 81 & 82

2010-08-10T22:49:00.002+01:00

I'm still finding things difficult and can't quite get totally into the WW zone. The last 2 weeks I've managed to gain 1/2lb each week. It's not an awful lot but it's still in the wrong direction. Really wish I can find my mojo. I seem to be ok for a few days and then fall off the waggon towards the end of the week. I don't know what to do to find my way again.
I'm still not able to go to water workout classes and I'm really missing it. I haven't done much other exercise other than a bit of extra walking. Managed to earn 16 BP's this week by just wearing my ww pedometer.
Last night I had a call from a friend of ours. His partner is 37 weeks pregnant and she's been in and out of hospital with different things and one of them being a cyst. Yesterday it burst and it means that she might have to have a c-section. She's been kept in for a couple of days to try and ease the pain she's in and to keep a check on the baby. He ended up bringing their 2 year old daughter to mine last night and I've looked after her all day today. I'd forgotten how hard it is looking after a 2 year old. She woke up at 6.30 this morning. I'm not used to such early starts and having to entertain a child. It's been quite a nice day though and I've been runnig around after her a bit.
I can't wait for tomorrow. Me and the lovely Tina are spending the day at a spa and having a pamper day. Neither of us has done anything like it before and we're really looking forward to it. We've got a couple of treatments booked, use of the pool, spa bath, sauna, steam room and a 3 course lunch to look forward to. It's going to be a really lovely day and I'm so looking forward to it.
Maybe once I reach my next stone off I should book another pamper day.... it'll be something to look forward to :o)
I really must try and catch up with some blogs. I haven't had much time lately. I've been really busy selling things on ebay. It's surprising how much time it can take up with answering questions, wrapping things up and writing out address labels. I've made over £300 by just selling a few clothes so can't be bad.
I hope everyone is well and enjoying the summer. I'm planning on popping in to your blogs and saying 'hi' to you all very soon xxx

Day 560 WI week 80

2010-07-26T18:24:00.002+01:00

I don't know how I managed it but the scales showed 3lbs off this week. That'll do nicely, thank you very much. I'm over the moon with that. :o))

I'd love to say that getting back on track has been easy, but the truth is, it's been bloody difficult. I only managed to stay on track for 4 days. For 2 of those I felt famished. The other 3 days I went quite a lot over points and give up with tracking.

I'm really missing my water aerobics classes too. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll be back in pool. It's been nearly 4 weeks since my van got hit up the back. On a good note the lady has admitted liability and I'm now waiting for a cheque to arrive. We managed to find another van at the weekend. It's 3 years newer than the old one which means that we've had a temporary daddy loan from my father in law. The pay out won't cover it all and it means we've got to dig a little bit deeper into our pockets. There's also an increase in insurance of £200 as it's changed catagory. All a bit of a pain in the arse really. You don't expect to have an accident and then it to cost you quite a bit. For now I've just been doing a bit of extra walking. I really should increase that too.

So the plan for this week is to track - correctly. Aim to drink 1500ml of water a day and to do a bit of gentle exercise. Hopefully I won't feel so famished and I intend to fill up on the filling foods.

DAY 553 New decade, new meeting, new start

2010-07-19T16:07:00.002+01:00

Well I survived it. I didn't wake up on Saturday morning with my arse at my ankles and my boobs hanging round my knees. Turning 40 wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I had a lovely day and some wonderful gift.

My partner Russ, bought me a new computer which is fantastic and a joint gift from him and my son Ryan, was a beautiful pair of white gold, diamond and ruby earrings. I was so pleased with the earrings as I really wanted a pair of earrings with rubies in. Very appropriate for turning 40 and ruby being my birth stone. They were just gorgeous. I then went off to Newmarket and met up with my lovely friend Tina for breakfast and a chin wag. Breakfast ended up being more of a lunch date as it was so busy and we chatted for nearly 3 hours. We never run out of things to say to each other and it's always nice to meet her. Tina bought me some beautiful flowers and a bottle of vodka!! wooooohaaaayy!! Tina has also won a pair of tickets for a spa day at Clarice House in Bury St Edmunds and she's going to take me along as a treat for my birthday. I'm really looking forward to that. :o)

After our breakfast / lunch date I then called in to see my parents on my way home and got given some lovely gifts from them. First of all I got a new mobile phone which I got a few weeks ago as my last phone went wrong the day I got back from my holiday. Mum and dad also got me 2 lovely pairs of white gold earrings, a beautiful love heart shapped compact mirror for my bag and a pretty top. My sister bought me a ticket to go and see the psychic Sally Morgan at Cambridge Corn Exchange in a couple of months. I'll be going with my sister and our mum. Never been before so should be interesting.

Then Saturday evening I went to Frankie and Benny's with Russ, Ryan, my mum, dad, sister and her 2 children and 6 friends also come along. It was a really nice evening and we had a lovely meal. I had some more lovely gifts given to me and they were all really nice. A few friends came back to my house at the end of the evening where we opened a couple of bottles of vodka and it turned in to a really late evening. A good time was had by all. :o)

During the last 6 days I've eaten out 4 times, had 2 take aways and meal at my parents house. By the time I went to bed last night I felt really stuffed and was looking forward to Monday morning and it being a new start.

This morning I decided to go ahead with my plan to go to a new meeting. I joined a new class in Newmarket with a new leader called Elisha. This will be my 5th leader since joining WW. I'm hoping that by weighing in on a Monday morning it'll keep me in line throughout the week and then come the weekend I'll be thinking that it's weigh in soon so I've got to be good. That's the plan anyway. I've now gone back up to 16st 1lb. A total gain of 21lbs since I was at my lowest at the beginning of March. Quite shameful really. I purchased a track book today for the first time ever and I'm hoping that will help. I've made up some sugar free jelly and I'm planning on making some BNS soup to enjoy over the week. I've got out my WW scales, my pedometer is clipped on and I'm ready to go. I can't do my water workout classes or swimming at the moment due to whiplash. So I'm going to have to get my trainers out and go walking again. I haven't done that for ages.

New decade, new meeting, new leader, new venue. New start!!!

DAY 550 - bumps and grazes

2010-07-16T23:40:00.004+01:00

It's the eve of my 40th birthday and I thought I'd just drop by and let you all know what's been going on.

I've been absent for such a long time now and I've fallen well and truely off the waggon and managed to get quite a few bumps and grazes where I've been hanging on. I've been gaining weight regularly every week and I'm back up to 15 stone 11.5 lbs. Though I have been attending my WW meetings every week. I've decided that what I need is a change of meeting. So on Monday I'm going to start attending a class in Newmarket. Lately, i've been ok for the first couple of days after WI, but once whe weekend arrives I've been going off the rails. Then it's the start off the week and I continue with the 'oh, sod it attitude'. So what I'm hoping is that by weighing in on a Monday I'll be ok throughout the week, then come the weekend I'll be reasonably ok as I'll have WI on the Monday. That's the plan anyway.

The other thing that happened recently is that 2 weeks ago I was on my way to pick my mum up and take her out for the morning. My parents live just 1 mile away from me. I was driving my van down the road and half way there some lady thought she'd try and see if her big expensive Suburu Forester would fit in the back of it without opening the doors first. I've ended up with whiplash and a bruised foot. Unfortunatly my van is going to cost far to much to repair and is going to be written off. So I'm now on the look out for a replacement. I've been aching since it happened and it's also put a stop to all my water workouts. I was doing up to 7 classes a week and 2 belly dancing classes a week. I've not been able to do any since then and I'm really missing it. It looks as though I won't be able to do any classes for the next few weeks yet. :o( Maybe with the time away from my classes I'll be able to get round to putting all the things on ebay that are mounting up.

Anyway, it's my 40th birthday tomorrow and I'm going out with family and a few friends for dinner and a few drinks. I'm also meeting Tina in the morning for breakfast. I've been feeling rather crappy this week and at the beginning of it I was in an awful mood and very teary. Now it's finally here, i've decided that there's nothing I can do about it and I'm just going to enjoy it. I intend to enjoy my meals out and enjoy the drinking. As my friend Sue said to me, you'll enjoy all the people saying, wow, you don't look 40. I'm looking forward to hearing that very often :o)

I'm also planning of catching up with all of your blogs over the next few weeks. I've got to come back to this on a regular basis if this is going to work.

Monday is going to be a new start xxx

Day 517 I'M SO SORRY I'VE BEEN MISSING FOR SO LONG

2010-06-13T22:19:00.006+01:00

It's been over 6 weeks since I last blogged. I've really been struggling since coming back off my holiday. Things have been slipping big time and I'm finding it hard to find my motivation and get back on track. I've managed to gain 10lbs since my WI before my holiday and I'm now 15.5lbs heavier than I was at my lightest on 24th February. I now weight 15st 9lbs!!

I've been crap! I've not been blogging, I've not been tracking, I've not been pointing, I've not been drinking my water. The only things that I have managed to keep up with is going to my WW meetings and doing my water workout classes. If I had given up on those then I'd of probably gained 2 stones in the last few months!

At this weeks WI our class had yet another new WW leader..... this is our 4th, as our last leader Christy, has now gone on maternity leave. She's so lovely and will be really missed. She'll have to re-apply for all of her classes once she returns to work so hopefully we'll see her again by the end of the year.

Anyway, back to what's been happening since I last blogged. I had a fantastic holiday in Zante with Tina. That seems such a long time ago and we've been back 5 weeks already. I'll share a couple of photos with you. We had such a giggle :o) It was a very much needed break for the pair of us. Thank you Tina for helping to make it such a wonderful holiday darlin xxx

.Below the view from our table on our last evening :o)

.Below - The view from our sun loungers on the beach that we had to endure every single day ;o)

.Below a picture of me mucking around on the beach

.Below - Me attempting some Greek dancing!

.Below- Me and Tina on our last evening in Zante

.Below the pair of us on an evening out in some bar

.The pair of us catching some last rays of sunshine

.Below - Me on the beach enjoying an alcohol free cocktail would you believe?

.Below the water from Turtle Island.

.Below - A picture of the little island just of Laganas beach. Just beautiful here.

I went to a wedding the weekend I got back from holiday which was a really nice day. The weather was fantastic and the bride and groom couldn't of asked for a nicer day.

I've also been to a couple of dinner parties and bbq's over the last few weeks. So I've been fairly busy.

Just before half term my son Ryan, who's in year 10, had a 2 week work placement in a garage just 4 miles from home. This ment I had to take him there and pick him up every day. It also ment I had to go and see him every lunch time as there was no where for him to go as the garage was situated just off a dual carraige way. He couldn't walk or bike any where as it was such a busy road and the garage didn't have a kitchen or a place for him to sit. So for 2 weeks I couldn't do much of anything during the day which was a bit of a pain. It was a total shock for him having to do a full days work. So very different from a normal school day. Ryan completed the 2 weeks and had a brilliant time. I'm so very proud of him for doing this.

The other thing that's been happening recently is I've been preparing to appear at a carnival belly dancing. A group of about 10 fellow dancers took part in the parade and then 16 of us took part in a dance display at the end of the procession. This happened yesterday and we all had a fantastic time. This has ment that I've been rehearsing for the last few weeks a couple of evenings a week with other dancers as well as rehearsing at home when ever I could. It was very exciting and it's something I would never of considered doing 18 months ago. A great time was had by all of us and we all had lots of fun. I'm going to share a few of these pictures with you too.

Below - Just me in the outfit I wore for the parade

.Below me with a few of my fellow dancers and our instructor Sue at the front.

.Below- We're all on our way at the start of the parade

.Below - A change of outfit and 2 pictures of us dancing to Shakira - Hips don't lie

The week ahead I'm quite hopeful. I've had 4 good days with today not being so great. I intend for the next 2 days to be good. Getting back on track in certainly harder than I anticipated. I don't want to give up and undo all the hard work I've acheived over the last 17 months. I've got 5 more WI's until my 40th birthday and I'd like to try to undo some of the damage I've done over the last 4 months. It's time to stop mucking around and get back firmly on track. A couple of weeks ago I purchase some WW kitchen scales as they were half price. I've now got to work out how to use them. I've also bought one of the new pedometers. I've just got to get the thing out of the box.

If I disappear again can someone give me a big kick up the arse and pull me back on that waggon please.... as it is I'm only hanging on by my fingertips. I need a firm seat and a seatbelt to keep me there!!!

Day 475 a couple of wi's

2010-05-02T01:10:00.004+01:00

Well what can I say about my abscence? To be honest I've not had an awful lot to say. Since I last blogged I've had two WI's. WI week 66 I lost 7lbs which I was totally shocked about, but very pleased. Then this week I gained 2lbs. Oh hum.

This week really isn't going great on the ww front. I think I went into holiday mode the day I weighed in. I've mainly been eating what ever I fancy, not weighing or pointing anything. To be honest I really do feel like taking a break from WW for a short while. I'm hoping that after my holiday I'll find my mojo and bring it back home with me.

Had a couple of NSV's this week. I was shopping in a local town and walked by someone I knew, said hello as I passed and carried on walking, like you do as I was in a hurry. Later on that day, she'd left a message on facebook saying that she didn't recognise me at all as I'd lost so much weight and that I'd done really well. That's the first time some one has said that to me. Kind of nice. :o) The other one I was in Tesco's and bumped into my sister's friend Tracy. We just said a quick hi to each other. Tracy goes to WW with my sister and mum and she mentioned how noticable it is that I've lost weight. This really pleased me as Tracy very, very, very rarely gives a compliment or mentions anything when it comes to weight. She doesn't even mention to my sister how her WI's go each week. So I'm rather honoured that she paid me a compliment. So thank you Tracy. :o)

Exercise is going good though I still haven't started my 200 sit up challenge. That's now been put off for a couple of weeks. I really enjoy my water work out classes and when I'm able to, I do 2 classes in a row. I done that Thursday and Friday this week, burning 700 calories on Thursday and 600 calories on Friday. I done a double water workout today too. That'll be the last of the exercise now until after my holiday. :o)

I've done quite a bit of clothes shopping for my holiday. I've bought white linen trousers, white cropped jeans, a short ra-ra skirt and short denim skirt all in size 16. Quite a few tops in size 18. I've even picked up a few bits from the car boot sale. I bought a beautiful pink stripe linen Monsoon skirt for £1 and a pair of Monsoon cropped jeans for £1. Very good bargains. I wish I could find them like that all the time. For the first time ever I've been able to borrow some clothes from my sister. I'm borrowing several pairs of shorts, bikinis and some tops from her. I suppose really that's another NSV.

I started this post a couple of days ago and now here it is a few hours before I fly off with Tina on our holiday to Zante. I've packed and re-packed a hundred times. Finally having to re-pack because my suitcase was damaged. I leant it out to someone a few months ago and didn't notice until I done it up that the fabric had come unstitched in 3 or 4 places on the zip! Not impressed as the case I changed to was smaller but heavier and put me over my luggage allowance by 600gms. Not a lot I know but I then had to rejig everything around and swap what footwear I'd chosen to wear on the journey to the heavier pair.

I'm looking forward to spending a week of not doing very much at all. Maybe snooze by the pool, maybe by the sea, read a book or 2, eat what ever I fancy and drink a few cocktails too. :o)

I'm off now and I hope to catch up with all your blogs when I return. I know there'll be plenty of pictures to share with you all.

Bye for now. See you all soon xxx

Day 459 - WI week 65

2010-04-16T16:57:00.003+01:00

As expected I had another gain of 2lbs this week. I'm actually quite pleased with that as I thought it was going to be so much more. I told my WW leader that I need a kick up the arse and she told me that she'd already ordered my 75lbs off certificate. I told her I'd already got one and she'd forgotten that I'd already reached that landmark. So once I reach it again she'll be giving me a 2nd one.
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I'm pleased to say that I'm now firmly back on track and plan on staying there for the foreseeable future. The last few days I've even managed to bank 5 points for the weekend. That should come in handy as we're going to dinner at Tina's on Saturday. Really looking forward to that and I'm sure it'll be a lovely evening. Tonight I'm going to a belly dancing party in the village. That should be fun. I dare say we'll all be doing some dancing as a few other members from the classes are going along. Makes a change for a Friday evening. Boot sale time has now arrived and I'm planning on going to a couple on Saturday and 3 or 4 on Sunday to see what bargains can be found.
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My gain this week hasn't bothered me too much and I'm feeling really positive for the week ahead. I done the initial test for the 200 sit up challenge yesterday. I managed to do 37 sit ups and I can really feel it on my tummy today. I'll be starting the programme on Monday. I should be earning a few BP's with the walking I'll be doing around the boot sales this weekend. I went to water workout yesterday and today and I'm booked in for 2 classes on Monday and 1 on Tuesday. Really enjoyed the last couple of work outs as the instructors have stepped it up a bit and are pushing us that little bit further. Felt really good coming away from class today and feel as though my upper tummy is reducing already. This is my problem area, my lower tummy has been getting smaller but my upper bit just sticks out. Maybe it'll tone a little bit in time for my holiday with Tina in 18 days.
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Hope you all have a nice weekend. I'm off to shake my boobies and bootie :o) xxxx

Day 456 - Missing and a Wedding

2010-04-13T09:34:00.007+01:00

I've had such a busy couple of weeks, but not really doing much of anything at the same time. I'm trying to pop down the road and see my mum as much as possible and I've also been sitting at my sisters house whilst workman are in sorting out her bathroom. They're now there into the third week and it just seems to be taking forever. Unfortunatly it's the only loo in the house and if I need to go I have to go back home. Just as well I only live half a mile away.

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Spending so much time at my sisters house means that I'm out of my usual routine and am still struggling to stay on track. Last week I had a gain of 2.5lbs and this week is looks like the scales are still moving in the wrong direction. I've not been eating as well as I could be and I haven't been doing quite as much exercise as I'd like to be doing. I really want to get out and go walking but by the time I get home at 4.30 it's starting to get cold again and all I want to do is go home and do a few bits. I'm still managing to go to my water workout classes in the evening so I'm doing something. I've also been thinking about doing the 200 sit up challenge. I'm going to do the initial test in the next couple of days and then start next Monday.

I had a fantastic weekend which is another contributing factor to another weight gain this week. Our friends Lynn and Daniel got married on Saturday. We stayed at a Travelodge the night before the wedding and went out for dinner at TGI Friday's. I love there food and the nearest one to me is an hour away. For a starter we shared the bruchetta. Main course was 2 chicken breasts with their Jack Daniels sauce and cheesy mash with veggies. Very nice it was too. Then I decided go the whole hog and finished with the chocolate fudge cake and icecream for dessert. It was good though. Then on Saturday morning we got up and went to Tesco's for breakfast where I was planning on having egg on toast..... but no, the smell of the bacon and sausages got to me and the offer of 10 breakfast items and a pot of tea for £3.95 seemed a lot more inviting. I asked for 2 sausages, a fried egg, scrambled egg, mushrooms, beans, 2 toast & butter and 2 bacon. The bacon ended up as being 4 slices on the plate and I also demolished Russells 2 slices of toast as well. I did leave a sausage though. ;o) Still I really enjoyed it and I hadn't had a cooked breakfast since before starting WW.

The wedding itself was wonderful. They couldn't of asked for a more beautiful day. The sun shone all day and it was marvalous. The bride and groom looked gorgeous and it was a fantastic day all round. The afternoon meal was lovely and we had potato and leek soup, lamb with all the trimming followed by profiteroles. Not forgetting the pimms and wine on the table. Then the buffett in the evening was sandwiches, wraps, bbq chicken pieces, sausage rolls, quich... all lovely finger food that said 'pick me up' each time anyone passed the table. It didn't help that I was sitting right next to it either.

I did have a little bit of a dance with a few of the girls in the evening and had a few more drinks. I wore a dress for the 2nd time in 2 weeks, the time before that being 18 1/2 years ago. It's becoming a regular habbit!! I don't think I scrubbed up too bad. At the end of the evening Russ drove me home which took 2 hours instead of 70 minutes as the M11 was closed. Instead of going the way he knew he decided to leave it to the sat nav and it took us along some very bendy narrow roads. I get a bit of travel sickness and felt bloody horrible by the time I got home. We got home at 2am and all I wanted to do was sleep off the sick feeling. I didn't even take my make up off.

Sunday morning we were up and out by 8 o'clock and went to 3 car boot sales. Didn't really buy much but it was nice to get out in the fresh air and do a bit of walking.

Today it's 3 weeks until I go on holiday with Tina. My suitcase is out of the loft ready to be packed. I've got a little bit of holiday shopping to do before we go. It's coming round so quick!! So looking forward to it.

It's also only 95 days until I turn 40. If I want to reach the 100lb off by that date I've got my work cut out cos I've been mucking around all this year. As I'm looking at another gain this week it's going to be around the 35lbs to lose in 13 weeks, with a holiday.... that's going to be a tough one. Actually, writing that down is making me feel like I really want to get back on track and stay there! Let's hope that feeling continues. I don't think I'll be able to get 35lbs off by my birthday but I'm going to try for at least 20..... any more will be a bonus!!!

Day 445 - missing again

2010-04-02T09:22:00.000+01:00

Above is me at the beginning of the evening.
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So sorry I've been missing again. I've just been really busy lately. Firstly WI last week was a gain of 3lbs. Not surprising really as I'd eaten loads of rubbish, and it was quite a stressful week with mum going in to hospital. WI this week was much better and I lost 3.5lbs. This has taken my total weight loss back to 5 stones off. I have no idea how I managed to lose so much this week but I'll gladly take it.

The beginning of my WW week was ok, went to Frankie and Bennies on Friday with Russ as he was off work and we had been together for 6 years. I had the bruchetta for starter, a pasta dish with chicken, panchetta and pepperoni in a tomato based sauce, minus the pepperoni. Then I had to have a dessert and had 3 mini chocolate brownies with a scoop of vanilla icecream and cream (left majority of it). Not totally good choices, but not terribly bad. It was all very nice though.

Saturday Russ drove me down to Orpington Kent at lunch time so that I could meet my friend Lynn for her hen night. I was very good and took a tuna salad with me for lunch. Got ready with her and we started drinking at 3.30. I wore a dress for the first time in 18 1/2 years and I must say that I felt pretty good. The heels were a killer though.

Bellow is me, Julia, Lynn, Dawn and Katie

Below is me at the end of the night, I've got legs!!

We caught a train into London, standing all the way. We then went on a party boat up the Thames which was lots of fun. Dinner on the boat was included which was a piece of chicken, 1/2 a jacket potato, spoonful of pasta in tomato sauce, lettuce and a bread roll. Just going on the food points I was quite good. Then I totted up my drink points which added at least another 18 :o/ I didn't mind though as it's not something that I do very often. We managed to get the earlier train back to Orpington but it meant we all had to run to catch it. I don't know how all 16 of us managed it as we were all wearing heels. I think we managed to annoy a few fellow passengers on the train as we were quite loud, singing and also blowing bubbles. One young lad did end up moving.... I think he was scared of 16 drunk ladies. Still it was a good night. We got back to the station 1/2 hour early and we had to wait for Russ to return to pick us up. Bless him, he took me to drop me off, went home, then come back again to take me home. Total of 300 miles so that I could go out, have a drink and have a fun night. He's such a sweet heart and I love him to bits. :o) We ended up getting home at 4 am as the clocks had gone forward.

Below is Lynn at the end of the night :o)

I could hardly walk the next day as by feet were throbbing from wearing the heels. Really not used to it. They were still a bit sore 3 days later!! I'm really looking forward to Lynn and Dan's wedding on the 10th April. I'll be wearing another dress!!

Must also tell you that mum went in for her knee replacement. She arrived at the hospital at 3pm last Tuesday and mum was due to have her op at 7pm. We didn't see anyone until nearly 7pm and her op was nearly cancelled. In the end they decided to do it and she went down at 9pm. She was back in her room just after midnight we were all there. She was so pleased that she hadn't been sick when she come round. She kept on laughing and it was like she was drunk. She entertained us for the short while we were there. Bless her. The op went really well and she was sent home less than 48 hours later. Can you belive that. She's had a few problems with the district nurse not coming out to dress her wound when she were supposed to. It was done 4 days later when she had to go to the doctors. The doc took her through to see the nurse and she was a right cow! She yanked her leg, tutted and moaned about the doctor and then informed my mum that they only do house visits if you're house bound. FFS, she can't drive for 6-8 weeks, that means she's house bound! Mum got wound up about it for a few days until we told her to talk to her GP and complain. The doctor phoned yesterday and he's looking into it. Mum's also had a few bad nights sleep but the last couple of nights have been much better. She's been doing her various different exercises and is trying to walk about as much as possible to get her leg working. Her leg is still very swollen and the bruising is only just starting to come out. Still, things will start to improve for her soon.

This last 2 weeks I've also been really busy selling my old clothes on ebay. I can't believe how much some people are willing to pay for second hand clothes. I managed to get nearly £400 which is more than enough spending money for my holiday to Zante with Tina in just over 4 weeks!! I so can't wait. I've bought some cropped trousers, a few tops and bikinis. All I need now are some shorts. I can't wait to get my suitcase out and start packing!!!

I've not really got much planned for Easter weekend. If the weather improves I hope to go to some boot sales on Monday.

Happy Easter everyone. Catch ya soon xxx

DAY 435 This is so difficult!

2010-03-23T13:15:00.002Z

Sorry I've been away for so long, I've just not had much to say really. Also been busy listing my old clothes on ebay and that takes ages! Still i'm hoping to get a nice bit of spending money for my holiday to Zante with Tina in 6 weeks. Can't wait!

I'm really struggling with this WW milarky at the moment. My WW week starts on a Wednesday and I'm usually ok through to Friday, come Saturday it all goes tits up. I have no idea why this is happening. I've been craving things that don't normally bother me at all, and even things I never used to eat. I'm craving pork pies and cheese sarnies.... I very rarely touched them before ww so why do I want them now? I'm finding it really hard to say no to other food too. We often go to my parents on a Sunday for dinner along with my sister and her children. Lately there's been chocolate biscuits and trifle in the fridge and I can't seem to say no. Saying 'I'll just have one' turns into 4 without even thinking about it.

Does anyone know where my mojo has gone, if so please give it back to me.

I'm really looking forward to the weekend. Off to Orpington in Kent for my friend Lynn's hen night. We're starting at her local and then heading into London. We're heading up the Thames on a disco party boat. I've never done that before so that should be a nice evening. I hope the weather is at least mild. I'm wearing a dress for the first time in 18 1/2 years!! That's gotta be a good thing.

The rest of week is going to busy. I'm off to pick my parents up shortly and taking my mum to hospital where she's having a knee replacement this evening. She's so nervous and scared of waking up with no one being there. That's not going to be the case and we'll all be there when she wakes up. Bless her. The remainder of the week I'll be back and forth to the hospital as she doesn't really want to be on her own. She'll be in hospital for 3-5 days. Supposed to be going out for dinner on Friday with my other half as we'll of been together for 6 years.

No water workout tonight due to the hospital but I'm booked in for Thursday evening and Friday afternoon. Also got belly dancing classes tomorrow evening. Lot's of dancing and drinking planed for Saturday evening and sleeping in on Sunday hopefully. I've got a double water workout booked for Monday and a water workout booked for Tuesday. Quite a bit of activity booked for the coming WW week. I've just got to get my eating sorted out!

I haven't been able to read many blogs over the last week so I've got a bit of catching up to do. Hope you're all ok.

WI tomorrow and I'm expecting another gain. I need a kick up the backside or 6!!

DAY 425.... OH DEAR

2010-03-13T23:21:00.002Z

I braved the scales this week and I had a terrible gain of 7lbs!! I didn't think it was possible to gain so much in one week. That's just terrible. I went to WI and said there's no excuse, I've just been a complete pig and eaten everthing in sight. I suppose at least I went and I'm almost back on track this week.

Wednesday and Thursday I came in bang on points. Friday Tina and her hubby Dave came round for dinner. They brought me a lovely bunch of flowers and Russ a box of chocolates. Thank you so much. Russ hid the chocs in his work bag and took them to work today and scoffed the lot. I didn't even get to sniff an empty wrapper! We all had a lovely time and we only stopped talking to put food in our mouths. It was such a nice evening and made a change. Really must do it again real soon :o)

I made a BNS soup for starters 0pts, me and Tina and 2 WW part baked rolls each (3pts), cottage pie (5.5pts), I even weighed out the potatoes and cooked ours in a seperate dish to everyone elses. Loads of veggies (forgot to dish up the BNS garlic and herb wedges that I'd made), be good to yourself garlic bread (4pts), then for dessert me and Tina had Sainsburys be good to yourself chocolate pud and can you believe that's only 2.5pts. What a fantastic cake and chocolate fix all in one. That was served with LF custard (1.5pts) and a small spoon of light ice cream (1pt). I ended the day coming in just over points and I have 5 to pull back.

Today I've gone over points by 2. Hopefully I'll be able to pull the 7 back over the next 3 days. I'm not too worried though.

There's a couple of boot sales starting up again tomorrow. We've missed them over the cold months. Sad I know, but we like to pick up a bargain or 3. We can't wait for April to arrive and all the usual ones we go to will be starting up. We're also plan on calling in at Tina's house inbetween boot sales as we have something to pick up. Nothing else is really planned for tomorrow.

I forgot to say that my mum has got the date for her knee replacement operation. She was supposed to be going in to Hinchingbrooke hospital in Huntingdon which is about a 50 minute drive away. The hospital phoned her a couple of weeks ago and she was told that the hospital had a lot of emergencies and they were going to transfer her to a private hospital in Cambridge which is only a 20 minute drive away. They also told her that the op would be around April the 1st. I took mum for her pre-op assessment last Thursday and spoke to the surgeon and we thought he was going to say he wouldn't do it as he said she's a bit young at 58 to be having it done. My mum looked like she was going to cry when he was talking. Eventuall he said he would be doing the op on March 23. She'll be in hospital for 3-5 days depending on how far she can move her knee after the op. Mum is now getting a little nervous and understandably so. Bless her. She's petrified that no one will go and see her. She remembers having her tonsils out when she was 7 and hiding under the blankets and peeping out the bottom of the bed and being scared that no one would visit her. Of course that didn't happen then and it won't happen now. I'll be visiting her during the day and my sister will be visiting her during the evening. Dad works 12 hour night shifts and will visit her between sleeping and working then he's taking some time off work to be with her when she gets home.

I love you mum, happy mothers day xxx

Day 420.... Lost the plot...

2010-03-08T17:55:00.008Z

big style!! Last week I had a crap week and I was showing a gain of 3.5lbs but somehow managed to pull it back and had a STS.

This week I've been even worse. In fact it's the worse I've ever been since starting nearly 60 weeks ago. I've been craving food I don't normally have..... salty crisps, chips, burgers, toast with butter, french stick with butter, bacon, kebabs.....flapjack, carrot cake, chocolate and more chocolate. Jumped on the scales this morning and I was up 6lbs!! FFS Karon, WHY????? You'd of thought I'd of jumped straight back on the waggon.... but no, i've continued to eat shit all day. I've not even felt hungry once whilst stuffing my face with all kinds of rubbish. Tomorrow I'll probably end up doing the same silly thing and hopefully I'll get back on track at the start of my WW week on Wednesday.

The big question is, do I go to WI this week or do I not bother?

Anyway, I got awarded my 75lb certificate last week and this week I don't feel as though I deserve it. I wasn't going to share it with you but I've changed my mind. Here it is.

I was so pleased to reach that mile stone. Pity I've managed to balls it up! My WW leader is expecting in July so it looks as though we'll be getting a 4th ww leader for a short time whilst she's on maternity leave. Christy is a lovely girl and so full of encouragement.

On the plus side I've bought 2 dresses. The last dress I actually wore was when I was 21 and married my ex in 1991!! I suppose that's a bit of an NSV....

This dress I got from ebay which I paid £18 for. It still had the price tag of £80 attached to it and it was from the Debut range at Debenhams.

I'm chuffed to bits with it and it makes my boobs look great. :o) It's got some lovely diamante and sequin detail on it. It's a tiny bit too big on my boobs and around the back so I've got to make a slight alteration to the neck tie area to make it fit correctly. When I got this dress I intended to wear it for my friends wedding in April. I was a bit worried about wearing a black dress so went out and got this dress from Debenhams at the weekend to wear instead.

With this dress the colouring on each one is slightly different. There's more navy in my dress. This can be worn with or without straps. I'll probably wear it with straps.

I also bought this fascinator to wear in my hair but in navy and a navy taffatar clutch bag that was reduced to £4.20. Bargain!!

What do you think to them?

The black dress I've now decided to wear on the hen night in 3 weeks. We're going up the Thames on a party boat so that should be fun. Really looking forward to that.

I've had a couple of NSV's this week. Whilst out shopping for clothes I tried on mainly size 18 dresses and even a couple of size 16's! I raided my sisters summer wardrobe and I'm able to borrow her shorts and t-shirts for my holiday with Tina. I've never been able to borrow my sisters clothes. Not ever!! I went out Saturday evening to the local pub and my friends mum was full of compliments and praise on how well I looked. Then tonight at water workout another lady who goes to the class stopped me in the showers and said I looked smaller from the last time I saw her about 2 weeks ago. That was nice to hear too :o)

.
I really can't wait for this WW week to be over and done with now. Roll on Wednesday....
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Only 8 weeks to our holiday. Reaching the 13's by that date looks slightly unattanable right now. I can only try though.
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I hope you're having a better week than me.
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Catch ya all soon xxx

DAY 408 - WI week 58

2010-02-24T12:51:00.004Z

and I'm doing a happy dance!!! The scales showed I've lost 4lbs this week taking me to a total loss of 75.5lbs!! To say I'm happy is an understatement. My WW leader said she'll order my certificate and give it to me next week.

My hard work this last week has paid off!! I guess dropping those extra 2pts a day is what my body needed. I'm going to stick at 21pts a day instead of the 23. I'm now just 1lb away from reaching my 3rd 10% off goal and 1.5lbs away from reaching my 11th silver seven!!

I felt quite nervous before going to WI as my scales were showing a 3-3.5lb loss and I soo wanted to reach that 75lb landmark. I was so pleased when the scales showed 4lbs off. I suppose having much more of a PMA also helped too. :o))

Tonight I'm going to belly dancing classes followed by the aqua gym. If I feel up to it I might even do half hour swim afterwards too. I'll see how I get on. :o)

Day 407 Food diary day 7

2010-02-23T22:54:00.004Z

Final day of my food diary.

No breakfast again, not very good at breakfast.

Lunch

50g roasted pepper houmous (1pt) carrots, peppers and cucumber sticks, 4 crackerbreads (1pt)topped with 3 extra light laughing cow (1pt), side salad topped with tesco choices balsamic dressing (0pts), packet of square crisps(1.5pts), alpen light bar (1pt).

Tea

WW chicken, potato and leek soup (1pt), 2 ww bread (1.5pts), 80g pasta (4pts), mince (3pts), green beans, broccoli and leeks.

Snack - packet of square crisps (1.5pts), ww toffee bar (1.5pts).

I've had an excellent week. I've reduced my daily points allowance by 2 a day and I've managed to pull back the points I'd gone over. I've managed to come in bang on points. I've done quite a lot of exercise earning 27.5 bonus points. WI tomorrow morning and I'm feeling very positive. Fingers crossed it'll be good. I think I deserve it to be :o)

Points 18/18

Water 1000ml

Exercise 1 hour water workout 6BP's.

Day 406 food diary day 6

2010-02-23T17:34:00.003Z

Monday's food diary - sorry, more boring reading

I didn't have breakfast on Monday and opted for brunch instead. I made an omlette with 1 egg and 2 whisked up egg whites and added chopped peppers, mushrooms, onions and tomatoes (1.5pts). 2 slices ww bread (1.5pts). Side salad with tesco salad dressing (0.5pt). Really enjoyed this lunch and for just 3.5pts it was fab!

Snack of melba toast (1pt) with 50g roasted pepper houmous (1pt) and cucumber. Alpen light bar (1pt), packet of Square crisps (1.5pts) and a WW bar (1.5pt).

Tea - WW tomato soup (1pt), chicken breast in bbq sauce (3pts), 200g dry roasted potatoes (2pts), roasted BNS with mixed herbs, side salad, WW blueberry muffin (2.5pts)

Managed to pull back some points and have 18 left for Tuesday :o)

Points today 18/18

Water drunk 1100ml

Exercise 1 hour water aerobics 50 mins aqua gym 6BP's

DAY 404 and 405 - food diary days 4 and 5

2010-02-21T23:47:00.000Z

Food diary for Saturday - Sorry, boring reading.

Didn't have any breakfast. Lunch was 3 dutch crispbreads (1pt) and 3 laughing cow light (1pt) with sliced cucumber, WW hoops (1pt) and an Alpen light bar (1pt).

No picture for tea as we decided to go out to eat then go to the cinema to see Avatar. We went to the Harvester and I tried to be good. I had the chicken and bacon stack. chicken breast (2.5pts) small piece of gammon (2.5pts) topped with cheese, which I scrapped off and bbq sauce. A few boiled potatoes (1.5pts) and peas which I left. I also attacked the salad bar, coleslaw (3pts), dressing (2pts), 2 rolls (4pts), 2 small packets of butter (3pts).

When we got home 6 hours later I had the munchies and had an Alpen light bar (1pt), WW cheese bites (1pt) and white and a milk chocolate WW lolly (4pts).

Total of 28.5pts. Need to pull back 4.5pts. Not sure if I've pointed my meal out correctly but it's hard to do.

Points 28.5/21

Exercise None

Water 1200ml

Food diary for Sunday

No breakfast again, got up rather late.

Lunch 4 nimble bread (3pts), tin of tuna (2pts) mixed with onion, peppers, cucumber, tomatoes and salad dressing (1pt), skips, (1.5pts), WW cheese bites (1pt), alpen light bar (1pt).

Tea - 50g Sainsburys be good to yourself roasted pepper houmous (1pt), carrots, pepper, pickled onion, cucumber and cherry tomatoes.

Fish in butter sauce (2pts), coley steak (1pt), 200g potatoes cooked with grated carrots and mashed with 1.5 laughing cow light triangles (2.5pts). Roasted butternut squash with herbs and garlic salt, green beans, broccoli and leeks, WW eclair (1.5pts)

I had a snack of melba toast with the remainder of the tuna piled up on top (1pt), ww toffee bar (1.5pts) and then my son opened up a bar of galaxy and I had 5 squares for (2.5pts).

Points used 22.5/21

Water drunk 800ml

Exercise - None.

Now have a total of 6pts to pull back over the next couple of days. eeeeekkkkk, that's going to be tough going!

DAY 403 - Food Diary day 3

2010-02-19T23:14:00.000Z

Third day in and things are still going well. Went to water workout with my friend this afternoon and burnt 300 calories. I spoke to Zita who does the workouts to ask for advice on what exercises to do to try to reduce my upper stomach. I'm now quite a weird shape and through the workouts my lower tummy, bum and legs have reduced in size and now my upper tummy sticks out. Zita gave me a few pointers so I'm going to work on those exercises to see if they'll help.

Forgot to mention yesterday that I had a NSV. I went food shopping and whilst in there saw an old friend and her mum. They both said 'wow, look at you, skinny minnie, don't you look good'. I said thank you and then gave the usual response that I've still got a long way to go yet. Why do we do that? LOL. Probably embarrassment. Still it was very nice to hear and made me feel good. :o)

Here's my food diary for the day, sorry it doesn't make very exciting reading.

Breakfast, WW bagel (2pts) with 10g low fat spread mixed with cinnamon (1pt).

Lunch, 4 slices nimble bread (3pts), 3 turkey rashers (1pt) sauce (1/2pt), sliced mushrooms, onions, tomatoes lettuce and cucumber.

Tea, WW chicken, leek and potato soup (1pt), mince left over from yesterday (3pts), 200g potato mashed with grated carrot and 1.5 extra low fat laughing cow (2.5pts), roasted butternut squash, green beans, broccoli and cabbage. Followed by the dutch crispbreads with blueberries that I had the other night. (3.5pts).

Snacks, WW hoops (1pt), alpen light bar (1pt).

Points today 19.5/21

Water drunk 1800ml.

Exercise water workout 58 minutes, 4BP's.

DAY 402 PMA - Food Diary day 2

2010-02-18T23:29:00.006Z

I'm feeling so much more positive this week. Second day in and it's gone well. I'm going to have a much more positive attitude this week and see if that helps.

I've been to water workout this evening and that was quite tough going tonight. We done a lot of leg and core muscle work. Didn't burn a high amount of calories but it was still good. I've got another class booked for lunch time tomorrow. I look forward to the classes and feel so much better when I come out.

Here's my food diary for today. I wasn't really hungry this morning and breakfast just consisted of a pear and an orange (1pt).

Lunch was delicious. I had 2 WW bagel (4pts), 3 turkey rashers (1pt), 2 slices low fat cheese slices (1.5pts), tiny bit of sauce and extra low fat mayonnaise (1/2pt), dry fried onion and mushrooms, lettuce. That was soo nice. When I made it up I even cut the cheese into circles with a cup and then cut a hole in the middle with a bottle top! Just to make it look pretty. I also had a WW toffee bar (1.5pts).

Dinner was 1/4pack of Tesco extra lean minced steak (3pts) with tinned tomatoes, onions and carrots, 200g of potatoes (2pts), leeks, cabbage and broccoli. 2 WW eclairs (3pts).

Snacks 1 Alpen light bar (1pt), 1 packet of WW cheesy nachos (1pt).

Total points 19.5/21

Water drunk 1300ml

Exercise 57 mins deep aqua aerobics 3 BP's

Day 401 - WI week 57

2010-02-17T23:06:00.003Z

and the scales were kind and showed a loss of 1lb. Sometimes this is such hard bloody work!! If I hadn't of earnt 28 BP's last week does it mean I'd of gained? The amount of exercise I'm doing the weight should be falling off me but it's not! aaaaaaaaaaaaagggggggggghhhhhhhhhh. So annoying!!!

My ww leader said to drop 2pts off a day and see if that helps. So that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to eating 21 points a day this week. Well, at least try.

Have decided to do a food diary for the week which makes rather boring reading. Hopefully it'll help me stick at though. Only decided to do it late this afternoon so haven't got this mornings offerings.

My WW leader gave me a free WW breakfast bar to try so I had that for my breakfast (2pts).

Lunch, chicken (2pts) mixed salad, balsamic dressing (opt), WW nachos (1pt), ww toffee bar (1.5pts)

Had an early tea at 5.30 of more chicken (leftovers) (2.5pts), 200g potatoes, cooked with grated carrot and mashed with 1.5 laughing cow extra light (2.5pts), butternut squash wedges dry roasted in their skin, cabbage, broccoli and leeks. I added a little bit of gravy (1pt).

Then for dessert I had 3 tesco dutch breads (1pt), topped with 30g tesco extra low soft cheese mixed with canderel (1pt), 30g ww jam (1/2pt) and 100g of blueberries (1pt).

After tea I went to a different belly dancing class to normal. That's not on for a couple of weeks so thought I'd try the new class at Newmarket Leisure Centre. That was really good and I enjoyed it. I then went and used the aqua gym for 52 minutes followed by a 30 minute swim where I covered 30 lengths. In total I burnt 670 calories and earned 8.5 BP's.

When I got home I had a few points left and had 2 frozen Aunt Bessies pancakes (3pts) with 50g Walls light icecream (1.5pts) and 30g ww strawberry jam (1/2pt). That was very yummy and a lovely treat after my work out and all within my daily points allowance.

Points used 21/21

Water 1600ml

Exercise 142 minutes 8.5BP's.

Day 400

2010-02-16T23:54:00.002Z

and I'm not feeling confident about wi tomorrow. I've been fairly good with my points and have come in at 5 over. I've managed to earn 28BP's through exercise this week. Managed to drink enough water every day. TOTM has been and gone. Had a SP on the scales this morning and it's showing a tiny gain. I am not happy at all and if I'm honest it's making me feel a little depressed.

I hope the scales change in the morning but I doubt they will. I seem to be quite stuck at the moment and it's taking so much will power not to raid the kitchen cupboards. All the snacks I've got are healthier options but if I start I'm likely to scoff the lot!

This is where I normally feel like saying 'fuck it' and give up. That would actually be quite easy to do right now. I'm not going to that though. I've come too far to go back. I don't want to get back to the state I was in before. I don't want to have to buy bigger clothes again. I'm going to persevere and try to stick with it. I'm going to drop my points by 2 a day from tomorrow and see if that helps. Maybe I'm eating too much. I don't know. All I can do is give it a go. I'll have a chat with my WW leader in the morning and see what she suggests.

I'll be reporting back tomorrow xxx

DAY 396 WI week 56

2010-02-12T16:31:00.002Z

I gained 2lbs this week putting me back up to 14st 13lbs. At least it didn't go back up into the 15's. Last week I ate all my points plus nearly all of my activity points. Looking back over my tracker some of my food choices were quite crap. I ate far to many crisps and snacks. One day I had 6 bags of crisps (8pts), 2 cereal bars (2pts), a ww bar (1.5pts) and another bag of snack biscuits (1.5pts). 13pts on snacks for one day is terrible!!

This week I'm making better choices. I've made up some zero point soup and some sugar free jelly. Bought some fresh melon as it's so low in points and looks like loads in the dish. SP on the scales this morning was showing a loss of 1.5lbs already. :o) Hopefully it'll be more by the time WI comes around. I'm making doubly sure that I'm drinking enough water, squash and green tea. That's working as I wake up several times during the night for the loo and seem to keep rushing there during the day.

My WW leader wondered if I've been eating enough. She's asked me to take my tracker in next week and to monitor all my exercise.

Exercise has been good. Belly dancing was on Wednesday for 100 minutes. The lady who usually takes the water workout class is on holiday so a lifeguard took the class last night. Wasn't really very good as I could talk all the way through it. It lasted for 52 minutes and I was only in the correct zone for 7 minutes. Average heart rate was 100 and the max was 140. Only burnt off 213 calories. I'd of probably done better if I went swimming instead. Water workout today was a lot better as it was a proper instructor. Managed to burn off 314 calories in 54 minutes today.

Next Monday I'm booked in for water workout and the aqua gym and Tuesday is water workout again. Might try and get out for a walk this weekend if the weather is ok.

I've been continuing with clearing out my clothes. Sorted out all my coats and jackets. There's at least 10 of them. I'm going to try and get a load of my stuff on ebay this weekend so that I can get some money for my holiday with Tina. Just over 11 weeks to go and I want to get down into the next stone bracket.

Hope you all have a great weekend. xxx

Day 392 NSV's

2010-02-08T17:10:00.002Z

I popped into Cambridge today and tried on some size 14 jeans from Evans and they done up!!! Woohooo. I know they're Evans jeans and they're a bit bigger than most shops, but still, I got them on!! I've also got a pair of New Look size 16 straight leg jeans in my wardrobe and they also done up. Couldn't move in them too easily but they fastened!! I'm sooo chuffed. I've got some jeans that have size 14 on the label. Woohoooo. I've never owned a pair of jeans that are a size 14. Yipppeeee!!!

Also a few more NSV's from the weekend. I'm now able to borrow some of my sisters clothes. I've never been able to do that before. She's lent me all her bikinis for when I go on holiday with Tina so that saves me from buying any. I can also raid her wardrobe for some summery tshirts and tops and some shorts. The last lot of shorts I bought were size 22/24 and last year I made do with them. Can't do that this year though :o)

I've had a clear out of my wardrobe and now removed all the size 22/24 tops that I had left and all my trousers that were a size 20. Also done the same with my swimwear drawer and sorted out all my bikinis that I last wore 2 years ago. They're all size 22/24 and no good! Also sorted out all my cover up beach tops / kaftans. My wardrobe looks so bare!!! I think I need to put most of my stuff on ebay and get a few pennies together for my next lot of clothes. :o)

Final NSV that was noticed by my sister was how I was sitting on the sofa with my legs crossed. She hadn't noticed me doing that before, though I have been able to do it for a while now. She did ask me if I was able to sit crossed legged when I was bigger and I couldn't! So it's nice that she noticed.

On the eating side of things, I haven't been great. I've been really picky all weekend. Had a huge fight with 2 cheesecakes and artic roll whilst at my mums for dinner yesterday. The desserts won and I ended up with rather a large slice of each cheesecake and a tiny slice of artic roll. Oh dear. Promptly felt guilty afterwards. Whenever I go to my parents for dinner, more often than not I end up over my points and end up reducing my points for the remainder of the week. Maybe I should give up going there for Sunday dinner. To pull back my points I need to have about 12 a day. With todays tea planned I'll come in at 16.5pts. That's if I have no dessert and no more snacks. Had a late lunch at 4 o'clock today of smoked haddock, potatoes mashed with carrots and laughing cow and veggies. I cooked enough potatoes for tea too. I'm going to need tea later on as I'm off to do water aerobics followed by my 2nd go in the aqua gym. I'm sure to be famished when I get out of the water. I always am.

SP on the scales this morning were showing a gain of 3lbs.... hopefully I'll burn a bit of that off tonight and tomorrow night. Think I'll have to go on the treadmill tomorrow and maybe even use the wii too. I haven't had that out for a few weeks. Tomorrow I can't go anywhere as I'm waiting home for my nephews new computer to arrive. It'll be his 3rd one. The previous 2 had the same fault and have had to be returned. Third time lucky for him.

Even though I'm well over my points this week, I suppose if I take my activity points for the week into account I'll be ok. So why do the scales say otherwise?

TTFN xxx

Day 389 WI wk 55 Aerobics.....

2010-02-05T22:45:00.003Z

never ever going to do it again!!! That's the conclusion I've come to after just one session. I was aching by the end of the session and still ache 2 days later. I felt as though I could hardly move when I woke up yesterday. The class had about 22 people in it and nearly everyone was about a size 10 or 12 and in their mid twenties. That put me and my friend off before we even got in there. I knew within 2 minutes of the class starting that it was the wrong form of exercise for me. I wasn't going to let it beat me though and managed to stick with it until the end of the session. I'm going to remain a water baby and do exercise where I don't ache or feel intimidated by all the skinny people. I still went to my water workout class last night and today though as it helped to stretch the muscles out and try to work the aches out of my body.

According to my HR Monitor I've managed to burn a total of 1899 calories over the last 5 days. That included 4 water workouts, the induction at the aqua gym, 20 minutes on the tread mill and the aerobics class. I also went to my 90 minute belly dancing class but didn't wear my monitor for that session. So not too bad for 5 days worth of exercise.

Because I went to the aerobics class I didn't manage to make WI Wednesday morning. Instead I went this evening and have managed to lose 1.5lbs taking me to a grand total of 72.5lbs. Just 2.5lbs until I get my 75lb certificate. I doubt I'll get it this week with it being a short WW week of just 5 days but I sure do hope I reach it for the week after.

As my WI today wasn't until 5.45 I've hardly eaten anything all day other than a ww bar (the new double chocolate bar must really be tried) and 2 cereal bars at a total of 3.5pts. So a Chinese takeaway followed by a WW mint torte dessert was called for. Mushroom chow mein for 4.5pt which always amazes me that it contains so few points. Chinese roast chicken on beansprouts which I pointed at 5 points as it has nearly 2 chicken breasts in it and 2/3rds of an egg fried rice which I pointed at 6.5. I also had 2 chicken balls at 1pt each. Still got half of the chow mein and roast chicken left which I'll probably have for tea tomorrow night. As I've already pointed it that means I can have a nice lunch tomorrow and not worry to much. I'm meeting Tina for lunch at the Weatherspoons and a few diet cokes. We haven't seen each other since booking our holiday and it'll be nice to catch up.

I hope you all have a really good weekend.

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TTFN :o) xxx

Day 386

2010-02-02T16:20:00.002Z

Last night I went to water aerobics followed by an induction at the aquagym and I really enjoyed it! There's 8 different types of machines in the pool. An airwalker type machine, a rowing machine, a bike, weights to lift, a board that you put your back against, hold on to the handles and then lift your legs up and hold. A stepper thing where you just work your legs and another stepper thing a bit like an elliptical trainer, where you reach up and grab some handles and pull them down and push them up so you work your arms and legs at the same time and another machine a bit like a body figure twister.

I didn't put as much into it as I normally do as I had really bad wind cramps in my tummy. They were so bad that I didn't think I'd be able to do either of the classes. I told the instructor and she said exercise might actually help and advised me to take natural charcoal? Never heard of it but I'll look them out next time I'm in Boots. Whilst doing the class and induction things seemed a bit easier. I also burnt 500 calories according to my HRM. After I finished though the pain seemed to get worse through the evening. It finally eased off after 9 hours about 1.30am and I was able to get some sleep.

I've had wind cramps before but not like that. It was right up to my bust and down my back. It was awful and there was nothing I could do other than wait for it to work it's way out. I took some windeeze but they didn't work. Hopefully it'll stay away for a while now.

I've booked in for the aquagym next Tuesday lunch time. Couldn't get in before. There's 10 sessions a week and each class can only take 8 people. I'll have to look out for a cancellation. Ideally I'd like to go after doing my water workout on a Monday but it's already booked up for next week.

It's WI day tomorrow and I had gone over points by a few but have managed to pull them back, other than 5 and I hope to pull 3 of those back today. So my WW week is ending ok. SP on the scales isn't looking so great though. They've showed a tiny gain then a bit later a tiny loss.

I've got another water workout class tonight and I'm going to go on the treadmill before going out. WI is in the morning and then I've got my first aerobics class in 19 years! I'm going with my friend Rachel (she's also doing WW) and she's not done it for years either. I even went out and got myself some proper workout trousers rather than wear tracksuit bottoms. Got to wait round my sisters house in the afternoon for a workman to turn up and do some work. Then I've got belly dancing classes tomorrow night..... so a busy busy day.

I'll be back either tomorrow night or on Thursday to let you know how WI and aerobics goes. I'm kind of looking forward to the workout and a bit scared at the same time.

Just wanted to say a massive well done to Feebe for reaching her 8 stones off. She's worked really hard and is doing amzingly well on her weight loss journey. Well done hunny xx

Bye for now xxx

Day 383 New goals

2010-01-30T23:55:00.005Z

I've decided to set myself some goals and was wondering what my fellow bloggers and readers think to them.

The next goal I've currently got on my blog is to be in the magical world of Onederland and weigh 199.5lbs, 14st 3.5lbs by 31 March which is 9 WI's away and I've got 9lbs to go.

Here are some more goals I'm thinking of setting myself.

Next goal, I'm going to a wedding on 10th April and would love to be in the 13's. This means I've got 13lbs to lose with 11 more WI's.

Holiday with Tina is 14 more WI's away and I'd like to be firmly into the 13's and to stay in the 13's even with a holiday gain.

I'm going to be 40 on July 17th which is 25 WI's away and I'd like to of reached the grand total of 100lbs off. That's 29lbs to lose and will put me at 12st 11.5 with a total loss of 7st 2lbs.

By Christmas to weigh 11st 9.5lb and put my BMI at 29.9 and to be classed as overweight rather than obese or morbidly obese with a total loss of 8st 4lbs or 116lbs.

I know that the nearer I get to my overall goal weight it'll become harder to continue losing the lbs and it will slow right down. Aiming to lose 45lbs between now and Christmas, with the other goals inbetween, is it expecting to much of myself?

DAY 381 WI and I'm half way!

2010-01-29T11:26:00.002Z

At WI this week I lost 1/2lb, was hoping for more but hey ho. On the plus side I'm just over half way through by 1/4lb. I've now lost more weight than I have left to lose to reach my healthy BMI weight of 9st 12lbs. 71lbs lost, 70.5lbs left to go!! I'm a happy girl.

Oh, had a run in with a victoria sponge cake yesterday. My son had to make some sort of cake for school and I sent him to school with the ingredients for the Victoria sponge recipe in last years WW Irresistible magazine. I should of taken a picture because it looked sooo good. It's the first time he's made a cake by himself and he was sooooo pleased. He cut it as soon as he come home from school and I couldn't not try it. It was really tasty and light and 3pts a slice. I ended up having another slice after tea and put me over points. It's all gone now so got a few points to pull back over the next few days.

Out to the Harvester with some friends for dinner tomorrow night. I'm fine picking my food, usually gammon or chicken with baked potato, but when it comes to free salad bar that's where I pick far too much. I can't say no to coleslaw, potato and pasta salads, the fresh rolls and butter. I try to have one roll but end up with 2, and I just love the thousand island dressing that goes on top of the salad.

Hope you all have a great week.

Catch ya soon xxx

Facts and Awards too....

2010-01-26T14:58:00.005Z

Thank you to Linz for my beautiful blogger award. Also a big thank you to Manda for the same award. I've now got to give 7 facts about myself that you may not know then pass on the award to 7 fellow bloggers who's blog I really enjoy. That's a tough one as I enjoy the majority of them.

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1) As a child I had a pet hen called Charlie. Me and my sister used to push her in the pram, take her on the swing and slide and even dress her up in dolls clothes. We used to crawl into the coal bunker to collect the eggs and she used to come running when we called her name. We used to bring her in the house and even hid her in our parents wardrobe once. Mum and dad got woken up by her clucking.
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2) According to facebook I can type 74 words per minute and I'm 79.4% faster than the rest of facebook.
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3) I used to work in a badminton factory. My first job was stringing badminton racquets. I was good at that and could string a racquet in 10 minutes on a good day. That job went and I moved to another section of the factory and made shuttlecocks.
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4) I've lived in the same village for most of my life. I moved to the next village 3 miles away, which is also where my dad was born, when I set up home with my ex and I lived there for 6 years. My parents still live in the same house at the other end of the village and my sister lives in the middle.
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5) A few years ago I was on holiday in Zakynthos and there was an earthquake. Very strange feeling and the only way I can describe it is how I'd imagine it would feel if a stampede of animals were heading my way and feeling the ground trembling. Hasn't put me off of going back though. :o)
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6) I was still 15 when I left school as my birthday is at the end of the school year. I left school on a Friday at the end of May and started full time work at The Co-Op on the Tuesday after the BH.
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7) I hate coffee flavour anything, chocolate icecream and milkshake, any blue cheese, celery, radishes and curry.
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Now to pass the award on..... hhhhhhmmmm tough one..... I would pass it back to Linz and Amanda but wasn't sure if we were able to. I also thought I'd pass it on to some blogs who haven't already received one which I like reading.
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1) Emily

2) Tamara

3) Gemma

4) Clare

5) Kerry

6) Nicola

7) Lorraine

That's it, all done :o) x

Day 378 - Meeting with others

2010-01-26T11:50:00.003Z

I had a great time on Saturday. Tina arrived at my house quite early and we headed off to Lakeside which is about an hours drive from me. We had a little look around the shops before heading to the Old Orleans for lunch to meet up with some of our fellow Weight Watchers. The restaurant is on a boat on the Lake. Rebecca who ran the New Year, New You group came along with here sister and Carole came with a friend. It was a pity a few more didn't come but we still had a nice time. The 6 of us have all been losing weight and have lost a total of 32 stones between us. Can you believe that. That's 3 whole people! Amazing. Of course there was lots of talk about our weight loss and we were all exchanging ideas and tips.

Food was quite nice. I had a starter of garlic bread, main course of roast chicken, baked potato and veggies. The others shared a dessert between 2 but there was no way me and Tina were going to be doing that. We had a whole dessert each!! Some kind of chocolate cake with a white chocolate sauce and a strawberry.... so it wasn't all unhealthy. LOL. I don't have something like that very often and I thorougly enjoyed every last mouthful.

After we'd finished we went and carried on looking round the shops. I tried on a red dress from Debenhams in a size 16 that didn't quite fasten but wasn't far off it. I've got a wedding to go to in April and quite like the idea of wearing a dress. The last dress that I wore was when I married my ex in 1991, eighteen and a half years ago!! Now I'm losing weight I don't have a clue what style and colour will suit me best. I might see a personal shopper in Debenhams and see what they say. I'm even a bit arprehensive about doing that though. I've never done anything like that before.

Anyway, after shopping for hours all I got was a wrap around towel which has velcro at the front and shoulder straps which I can wear on holiday or when I go for a sauna. Quite a poor shopping trip. Was hoping to come home with my car boot full of goodies.

Not done very much else this week. Sunday me and Russ drove down to Orpington to pick up another motorbike. He's now got 19 in various states of repair. I call them all heaps of shit, but he's intending to get the majority of them mot'd and selling them on to make a bit of money. There's a few that are going to be dismanteled and sold on ebay in bits. Just as well we've got 3 sheds in the garden.... and we've got another shed and a summer house waiting to be put up. After collecting the bike we then called in to see our friends in Orpington who's wedding we're going to in April. Mum phoned me whilst out and asked us round for dinner. We had a lovely roast dinner... mum's dinner is always great.

Exercise wise has been my usual water workouts. Been to 3 classes and I'll be going to another workout class tonight. I've been busy spring cleaning the house the last week so hoped to of earned a few BP's there too. Just got the windows left to clean and I should be done.

WI tomorrow and I'm just after a tiny loss of 1/2lb so that I can then say I've lost more weight than I have left to lose.

I've also received an award from Linz. Thank you so much darlin. I've then got to give 7 facts about myself that you may not already know and then pass it on to 7 bloggers. That bit is going to be really hard as I really like the blogs that I read. I'm going to think about it and then add them later.

Hope you all have a good week. xxx

Day 373 WI wk 53 I did it!!

2010-01-21T09:42:00.002Z

I got my 10th silver 7 as I lost 1lb. This takes me to a total of 70.5lbs off and it's taken me into the 14's!!! Wooohooo. I can't even remember the last time the scales showed that I was in the 14's. I was a little disappointed that I'd only lost 1lb as I stuck to points and done quite a bit of exercise, but I'm sooo happy that I'm in the 14's. :o)) I've now got to work at getting firmly into them. I've been in the 15's for 19 weeks and it seems to of taken forever to drop down into the next stone bracket. I'm now there. Look out 13's, here I come!!!!
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I'm hoping to get at least 1/2lb off this week so that I can finally say I've got less weight to lose than I've already lost. :o)
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I've planned some exercise for this coming week. I'll use the treadmill a few times (already done 4k), 4 water workout classes are booked. Went to belly dancing classes last night. I've changed classes, still Sue teaching me. I attend a class that lasts 90 minutes and it's a bit more advanced. Really been enjoying it as I'm learning some new moves. I might fit in a few hours on the wii over the week. I'm also planning on do it a bit of walking around Lakeside shopping Centre in Thurrock on Saturday. Hope to get a few new items to add to my wardrobe as it's getting a little bare. I've got to have another clear out. I'm now wearing size 16 jeans but still have a few 18's and 20's that I'll wear in an emergency. I put a pair of 20's on last night and they were hanging off me and looked bloody awful!
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I've been part of the NYNY (new year, new you) Challenge since last May and Bex who used to run it has arranged a get together. We're going to meet on Saturday at The Old Orleans Lakeside for lunch. It's only a small group going but it shall be nice to meet a few of the members. As all the ladies that are going are following WW, I wonder how many of us will pick healthy choices and opt out of dessert? That's something to look forward to at the weekend :o)
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Hope you all have a great week.
xxx

Day 366, WI wk 52, 1 year on

2010-01-14T15:27:00.002Z

I went to WI yesterday and I lost 2.5lbs. Shit, damn and bollocks!! Normally I'd of been over the moon with that but I so wanted to lose 3lbs to reach 5 stone off. I even thought about going into the loo to remove my socks, bra, knickers, jewelery and glasses to see if that'd make a difference. LOL. I didn't though. I'd of loved to of reached that target by my 1 year anniversary. What's a week though? I'll be there next week :o)

Today is exactly one year since I joined WW and I can't believe that I'm still here and I'm still losing weight. Previously when I'd joined WW I'd give up after 4 or 5 months, sometimes after 5 weeks, sometimes it's been just 5 hours. But not this time. I'm determined to stick to it and get to goal. All my adult life I've been obese or severly obese and I'd love to be just overweight or better still reach goal!

When I started WW I weighed in at 19st 13.5lbs and yesterday the scales were smack on 15 stones! My BMI started at 51.1 and it is now 38.4. I'm no longer severly obese just obese LOL. I told my dad on Monday that I had 3lbs to lose to reach 5 stones off and he said how well I'd done. I spoke to mum the next day and she was telling me that dad had told her how I'd done and that he is so very proud of me. She told him to tell me but I doubt he will. It's lovely to hear though.

I've had a pretty good week. I drunk enough water each day and stuck to points throughout the week. I went to water aerobics 4 times and done 3 or 4 hours on the wii. I've now moved some things around in my house and moved my treadmill out of the outhouse and into the kitchen. It was too cold in the outhouse to use it. Not an ideal place to keep it but hopefully it'll only be a few weeks before I can move it back out. I've been on it twice and covered 7 km. I can't run on it, I just walk. My speed is picking up though and one day I might even attempt a jog. Pleased to say that belly dancing classes restarted last night too. Only 7 people showed up so it was nice and small and we were all able to get a little bit of individual tuition. I do love the classes, they are so much fun :o)

I've now got just 1/2lb to lose to reach 70lbs off and 1.5lbs to lose to reach a weight where I've got less left to come off that what I've already lost. 7.5lbs to reach my 3rd 10% off and 10.5lbs to reach the magical world of Onederland. I'm aiming to reach all of these targets by the end of March.

I've now officially taken over the New Year New You Challenge from Bex. We've currently got 27 members and it looks as though there'll be a couple less in a few weeks as we haven't heard from them for a while. Once I've been doing it a few weeks I might well open it up again for more people to join. Everyone sends their WI's each week and a challenge is set for the members to complete every 3 or 4 weeks. It's a nice little group and the majority participate in the little challenges that are set. Hopefully I'll be able to continue with the good work that Bex has done.

I hope you all have a fantastic week.

Karon xxx

Day 360

2010-01-08T17:02:00.005Z

and me and Tina have booked our holiday!! Never had a girlie holiday before! We can't wait. We're off to Laganas in Zakynthos for a week at the beginning of May. Woohhooooo, so looking forward to lots of sunshine..... and lots of shopping, I need new bikinis!! LOL

I've got a great reason for sticking to the plan. It's just over 16 weeks away and with a bit of luck I aim to get 21-28lbs off by then!! A lot of hard work ahead me thinks :o)

Day 358 WI wk 51 First of the new decade

2010-01-06T23:39:00.004Z

The snow managed to hold off until after my WI today so I was able to get their and back without a problem. I'm pleased to say that the first WI of the new decade was a good one and I lost 4lbs!!! I'm so pleased that I've managed to get off what I gained Christmas week. Now back to a total loss of 67lbs.

It's my first year anniversary with WW next week and I think it would be fantastic if I mange to loose 3lbs this week to reach my 5 stone off. That'll be just a nice round number to finish my first year with. It'll be hard but I'll try. I've been to 2 water workout classes this week. The first one on Monday was deep water workout and that was quite hard going after 2 weeks away. I had done a half hour workout on the wii before going though and done a 20 minute swim before the class. The 2nd class was last night and only 4 of us turned up and we had the huge pool to ourselves. That was a bit like having a one to one as we could hear the instructor better and she was showing us how to do the movements correctly and how to get the most out of it. Being just the four of us we really did have a giggle and at one point we were all in tears laughing..... trying to hold a woggle under each foot, balance on them in the deep end and trying to walk to the other side of the pool really isn't easy. We just managed to get them under our feet before they popped out and we'd all end up on our fronts or backs. I know that I've done the workout today, my arms really ache.

I also decided to join the sports center. There's different levels you can join at and with my membership I get all the water workout classes, aqua gym (need to pay for an induction if I want to do that), use of the pool, racket sports, table tennis and use of the sauna and steam rooms. All for £18 a month. That's going to save me loads. I got reduced rate classes at £2.80 a session and some weeks I was doing 4 workout classes but mainly 3. Hopefull this year I'll be doing 4 classes a week as I'm changing my belly dancing classes to a Wednesday. They start up next week and will be longer sessions of 90 minutes. I can't wait for them to begin. Water workout is booked for Thursday, Friday this week and Monday and Tuesday of next week. Still unsure about using the gym or taking other workout classes. If I want to try a couple of different classes I can just pay the £2.80 for the session and if I like it I can always change my membership. It's also great because it's a month to month contract and not a yearly one.

I'm hoping the weather will still remain ok. We've been rather lucky and it only snowed here for about 90 minutes today and the roads look quite clear at the moment. That'll probably change though. I think we're due more snow here over the weekend. I hope it holds off on Friday as I want to book my holiday before going to water workout! Me and Tina are so looking forward to that already. It's going to be great to get away on our own. wooohoooo

Another bit of news. I've been a member of the NYNY (New Year New You) challenge for the last 33 weeks. It's been run by Bex over that duration. She's now decided not to run it anymore, but will still remain a member and I've agreed to take it over. I'm going to be taking over from next week. Bex has been a fantastic support over the year and has done amazingly well. She'll make a great ww leader one day. Thank you so much for all your hard work over the course of the year. It's been much appreciated.

It's great seeing nearly everyone blogging again and their motivation returning. Hope you all have brilliant starts to the new decade :o))

See you all soon xxx

Day 354 New Year post

2010-01-02T22:39:00.001Z

I didn't do a lot New Years Eve. Me and the OH were planning on going to bed early then some friends asked if they could come over with their little girl. They were an hour and a half late and showed at 9 o'clock. They bought some nuts and cakes over and I refused them all and stuck with having my ww snacks..... bbq snacks, cheesy biscuits, cheesy nachos and cheese and red onion rice sticks. All were just 1pt each. Also had a ww peanut bar for 1pt and a packet of lemony special K bites for 1.5pts. I ended the day coming in at exactly 24pts so not bad.
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New years day we went to my parents for tea. My mum cooked roast chicken and pork tenderloins and even made roast potatoes cooked in spray. I also managed to stay away from the remainder of the chocolates and biscuits that were hanging around.
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It's 4 days in to my WW week and I'm still pointing and tracking everything that's passing my lips. A SP is looking very promising. :o) I still don't know if I should be on 22 or 24 points a week. I re-took the points quiz a couple of months ago and changed my day to day life score from mainly sitting down, which was 0 points to Occasionally sitting, but mainly standing for 2 points. This changed my daily points allowance from 22 to 24. To be honest I think I'm somewhere between the two. I don't know if I should be on 22, 24 or maybe 23 points a day. I think I might have a chat with my WW leader on Wednesday if she's not too busy with all the new members that are bound to turn up to the meeting. If I go by my daily allowance being 24pts I've managed to bank 6pts already. If it's 22pts then I've gone over by 2pts. :0/
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I've remembered to track on line so far this week and I've managed to drink my daily allowance of liquid each day. I've been able to book in for 4 water workout classes next week. I've really missed not doing them the last couple of weeks. I have been on the wii fit playing a few games for 65 minutes today and 45 minutes yesterday. I guess that's not to bad and better than nothing. Not really had chance to get out and go walking it, just going out the front door to the car I nearly slip over. We haven't had much snow, more sleet really and it's making the frosty ground quite slippery
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I went out this morning to buy my son a 32 inch tv for his bedroom. He'd saved 2/3's of the money and he's paying me back the rest out of his pocket money each week. It's something he relly wanted and he's chuffed to bits that he's got a big screen to play his xbox on. Boys and their toys eh?
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Whilst out today I brought myself a new pair of sassey red high heeled suede shoes and a royal blue necklace in the sales. I also picked up some holiday brochures as me and a friend are planning on going away to the sun for a week in May ;o) I've never ever been on a girls holiday and I can't wait :o) That'll mean lots of shopping in 3 months for new clothes and bikinis hopefully in size 16's :o) lol I'll have to make sure I keep up with the exercise as I'm affraid of getting saggy tummy skin. It's a good reason for keeping me focused and staying on track.
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Good luck to everyone who's returning to their first WI since before Christmas this week. Also good luck to everyone who's beginning their journey next week and good luck to everyone who's continuing with their weight loss journey.
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2010 is going to be a great year..... I can feel it xxx

Day 351, WI wk50, Christmas and a new decade

2009-12-30T20:41:00.011Z

Above is me on Christmas day.

To the right is me and my wonderful fella Russ xx

Like most people, I've managed to gain this week. A total of 4lbs which I didn't think was too bad. I ate lots of nice things for a few days and it was a real treat. After a few days of eating chocolate and nuts my body started craving healthy food again. I just wanted salad again. How weird is that? So that's exactly what I've been having the last few days. I've been pointing the last few days but still managing to go over by a few. I'm so pleased the week is over and that I went to my WW meeting today. I'm back on the waggon today....official! I'm not to bothered about my gain, it'd of been really nice if it had only been 2lbs but hey, it's still only 4lbs.

Christmas day was spent at my parents house along with my sister and her 2 children. We had a lovely day and mum cooked a wonderful as always. After dinner my dad, sister and me had got the scrabble board out. We do this every year and it's something that we have to do. I sat there quite happily scoffing pringles and cashewnuts whilst keeping score.

To the left is a picture of me and my son Ryan. He's only 14 and towers above me already. He's lovely xxx

Below is a picture of me with my niece Kacie. She'll be 14 in the new year. She's such a pretty girl.

Below is a picture of my mummy doing what she does best. LOL. :o)

Below is a picture of my daddy with Kacie

I had some lovely presents. From my OH I got some shoe boots (shoes that look like boots but don't even come up to the ankles), some flat shoes, a heart rate monitor and a bottle of lime flavoured vodka! Can't wait to try that Tina ;o). I got a couple of CD's from my son that I wanted. I got a lovely turquoise coloured necklace and braclets from Tina which I wore Christmas day. From my parents I got a new coat, an umberella, leather gloves, a scarf, handbag and some pretty underwear. Mum and dad are also paying for 2 new front tyres on our car and my father-in-law gave us the money for the road tax for our van. How nice is that? Dad also put a red coloured note in an envelope for me. :o)

I've spent that and bought myself wii Fit Plus and Your Shape. It includes a camera that scans your body and projects your image onto the TV. That's gonna be a bloody sight LOL. My son has a wii and never uses it so I'm going to give it a whirl. I tried to use it before and bought My Fitness Coach. Only tried that once and didn't try again. I'm going to try them all this time though. Well, that's my intensions anyway.

I did book up for aqua aerobics on Monday and Tuesday this week but the pool didn't have any instructors and had to cancel. So on Monday night I went swimming instead. I was able to try out my heart rate monitor. You enter your height, weight, sex and age and it works out how many calories you burn during activity. I managed to cover 64 lengths of the pool in an hour and burnt off 366 calories. I thought that was quite good. I'll use it next time I do some kind of exercise. I've booked for aqua workout next Monday and Tuesday and I'm hoping to book up next Thursdays class in the morning. As the swimming pool is closed on New Years day I won't be able to book up for next Friday's class until Saturday morning. I hope I can get in. I do enjoy the classes and have really missed not doing them this past week. I never thought I'd be saying that I've missed doing exercise.

I'm quite excited about going into the New Year and into a New Decade. I'm leaving the last year and entering into the new one feeling a lot healthier and happier in myself. I'm in a positve frame of mind and still think that I can continue on this journey. Also as the year is drawing to a close I don't seem to be dreading turning 40 as much as I was at the beginning of the year. There's 28 weeks until my 40th birthday and I've got no plans for a party or big celebration. I quite like the idea of being somewhere hot for my birthday. I've got a little while to think about it yet.

I've set myself some new goals. The first is to loose 8lbs in the next 4 weeks hopefully sooner which will take me half way to goal. The 2nd is to loose 17 lbs by 31st March (13 wks away) which I think is the Wednesday before Easter and will take me into Onederland. I can't wait to reach that landmark and not be so affraid of telling people how much I weigh.

I've also joined Slimming for Cupid - 7 week Valentines challenge and Pauls F4N10 group. I was in it this past year and ended up in 2nd position on the final weight loss board.

I'd like to say a big thank you to all the people who take time to read my posts and to also thank you for all the comments that you leave. They are so greatfully received and very appreciated.

Anyway, I'd like to wish all my fellow bloggers and readers a wonderful 2010.

Happy New Year to you all!!

Cheers

Lots of love

Karon xxx

DAY 342 WI week 49

2009-12-23T18:00:00.004Z

and I lost 2lbs! To say I'm gobsmacked is an understatement. I haven't had a fab week food wise. It started last Wednesday when I went to my 2nd belly dancing haffla and indulged in a bit too much of the party food. Then I went out drinking with Tina on Friday night. What a fantastic night was had by all. Saturday night was my OH's Xmas work do. I decided not to drink and stuck to the diet coke and plenty of water. Then I've had the munchies for the remainder of the week. Then yesterday I went out shopping with my mum and we called into the Weatherspoons and I had bbq bacon and chicken melt and I think they forgot to put any cheese on it. I did have it with baked potato and salad though. Then I decided to have apple, pear and raspberry crumble for dessert. That tasted so good. I haven't had anything like that for nearly a year. LOL.

So when I hopped on the scales today and it showed a loss I was really surprised. I'll gladly take it though and do a little happy dance in celebration.

I've now reached a total of 67lbs off and I was only 4lbs away from the Xmas target I set myself of 71lbs which would of put me at half way to goal. Still with a bit of luck I'll be there in a few weeks, with a bit of luck by my 1 year anniversary in 3 weeks time.

Last Christmas I weighed nearly 20 stones and this Christmas I'm nearly in the 14's. I think I should give myself a big pat on the back. I've not missed one single meeting and I'm now on to my 3rd WI card. Not forgetting 3rd WW leader. The latest leader seems really nice which has got to be a good thing. I'm a lot fitter than last year. I now don't mind running up and down the stairs to fetch things. Before I'd ask my son to just fetch this or that. I really enjoy going to my water workout classes and I have so much fun going to belly dancing classes.

Another thing I've noticed is how much more confidence I now have. The last few months I've refound the enjoyment I get from going out with friends. Last year I rarely went out, if I did it was out to dinner or round to a friends house. Now I like to meet a friend for lunch or go out for the occasional night out on the lash. I'm so much happier and feel so much better in myself. Now when I go out I don't feel like everyone is looking at me or that I'm just the fat friend who no one wants to talk to. My mood is a lot better and I smile so much more too. :o)

Comic book girl asked what others goals and resolutions were for the coming year in her blog today. This made me think and I've got a few. I'm not usually one for setting New Year resolutions but I'm going to set a few for myself involving my new healthier life style.

1) Track on line..... I stopped doing this back in July, though I still do it on paper.

2)Be more accurate with my tracking. No doubt there would of been things I've missed.

3)Try to exercise 4-5 times a week.

4) Wear my pedometer even if it's not very accurate and to walk at least 5,000 steps a day.

5) Drink more water. I still find it hard to consume the recommended daily amount.

6) Try to blog 2-3 times a week. I don't do it as much as I did at the beginning.

7) Do a picture food diary once a month. I think this will help with keeping on track.

8) Take more pictures of myself and to continue with measuring myself. I used to hate the way I looked in pictures and don't really have many photos of myself over the last few years. I was always the one behind the camera.

9) To have fun, go out more and laugh.

That's probably about it for now, other than taking better care of my nails. I used to give myself a manicure every week and now it's probably only 3 or 4 times a year! I've got at least 60 bottles of nail polish and I should really make more of an effort to paint them. Has anyone else thought of their New Years resolutions yet?

I finally managed to get my Christmas tree up at the beginning of the week. I wasn't going to bother but I'm so glad I changed my mind. It looks pretty all decrated in gold and brown. I've got my last few gifts to finish wrapping up tonight and then I'm all ready for the big day.

We're off to my parents for Christmas day along with my sister and her children. Dinner at my parents is always wonderful. We always follow Christmas dinner with 3 games of scrabble. I always get moaned at for taking too long with the crap letters I always seem to pick out of the bag.

I've done all the food shopping and the only extras I've bought is 2 bags of sugar free marshmallows and a tub of light vanilla icecream. I've bought no extra sweets, chocolates, cakes or nibbles. We don't drink at home in our house. We don't like wine or beer so why bother getting it. I've just got the usual stuff in. Not really any more than my average weekly shop to be honest. Does that make me bad or tight? If I get that stuff in it's only going to tempt me. If I really feel the need to have any of those goodies I'll get it when I'm visiting my parents. I'm not going to be giving myself the day off on Christmas and maybe even boxing day too. The remainder of the time I'm planning on sticking with it.

My WI is still happening next week on Wednesday and that'll be the last one of the year.

I'd like to wish all by fellow bloggers and readers a very Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year.

Cheers to you all.

See you after Christmas

Lot's of love, Karon xxx

Day 339 - Festive Frolics ;o)

2009-12-20T00:57:00.005Z

Oh my god, what a bloody brilliant night out I had with my lovely friend Tina last night. My Russ was a darlin and drove me 25 miles in the snow to her house so that the pair of us could drink vodka before heading out. Oh my and did we drink some!! Tina's husband dropped us off into Newmarket and we popped into the Weatherspoons for a quick drink before heading down the road to the club. It was fairly quiet in the club but that didn't stop us from having a blast. We chatted and laughed all night along with the occasional vodka and a boogie on the dance floor. Tina, thank you so much for a wonderful evening out. It was fantastic!

We were peckish part way through the evening and what did we have........ WW cheese biscuits!! I'd taken a couple of bags out in my handbag. LOL.

I phoned Russ to pick me up and we finally got home about 3.30am. I dived in the house, desperate for a wee and then dozed off on the loo! LOL. Russ came in and removed my boots for me and I then fell onto the bed. I couldn't even move let alone get undressed. He had to do it for me. LOL. Bless his heart, he found it funny that I was so drunk. I didn't even surface until 2.30 this afternoon and I could still taste the vodka.

I can't remember the last time that I got so drunk, but it was totally worth it. Looking forward to the next time, and hopefully it'll be a bit warmer.

Tina, I'm so glad that I found you at that car boot sale. You're the best bargain ever!! I know that I've found a fantastic friend for life. You're a star. Have a fab Christmas and a fantastic New Year. Looking forward to more lunch dates, evenings out and chats over cups of tea. xxxx

Finally, I got on the scales after getting up and they showed that I was now in the 14's. I know it's not a true reading because of the dehydration but it's probably going to be the only time this year that they will be in the 14's. Just thought I'd share it with you all. I'm so happy today, if a little worse for wear. Had a fab night and briefly dropped into the next stone bracket.

One more WI before Christmas. I'll be back later in the week. TTFN xxx

DAY 336 WI wk 48

2009-12-16T13:23:00.002Z

and I lost 1.5lbs!! I'm quite pleased with that. I had a slight slip up earlier on in the week when I visited my mum. She'd opened a box of maltesers and asked me to take them away and give them to my son so that she didn't eat the other half of the box. Well I obliged quite happily and before I knew it I'd had the majority of what was left, leaving about 20 in the box. Oh dear, we all do it.

Had a good week exercise wise. I've been to water workout 4 times. I didn't get round to doing any other form of exercise other than walking around the shops.

I met Tina for lunch last Friday and we went in the Weatherspoons and both had plaice and chips. Small NSV whilst there, just a silly little thing that I noticed, squeezing inbetween the gap of 2 tables to get to the back seat. At the beginning of the year I wouldn't of been able to do that and I'd of probably opted for the outside chair.

Another NSV that I noticed. I was painting my toe nails with my foot up in front of me whilst sitting on the bed. This may seem silly but when I used to paint them I used to try and balance my foot on a chair and have to lean down to my side and try and paint them at a funny angle.

Best NSV of all this week came when I went to see my sister. She said her son had said to her that he'd noticed how much weight I had lost and was looking quite slim!! She asked him if he'd told me and he said, deeeeeeer, nooooooooo. So he'll never say it to me directly and he'll probably not speak about it again. Still, coming from my 16 year old, 6'2" nephew that's quite a compliment. Bless him, I could give him a huge cuddle but he probably wouldn't appreciate it. LOL.

Got quite a bit on this week. Got my second belly dancing haffla this evening. That should be fun. My friend is coming along and she's never done it before. Thursday I'm having a hair cut then going to deep water aerobics. Friday I've got another water aerobics class then in the evening I'm going out into Newmarket with Tina. I'm soooo looking forward to that and I really can't wait. I'm sure we'll have quite a giggle. I think we'll have to take a few pictures of our evening together :o)

Saturday is my partners work do. My partner has already chosen my food options.... butternut squash soup, followed by turkey dinner then xmas pud, which I hate so won't be touching. There was no other option for dessert which is a pity. No plans for Sunday as of yet. I'm booked in for water workout on both Monday and Tuesday next week, so fingers crossed I'll be having a loss the week before Christmas.

I'm not going to be reaching my target of 71lbs off by Christmas, but fingers crossed I won't be too far off.

One more WI before Christmas. Have a great week everybody. xxx

Day 329 - Sorry for the absence, WI weeks 46 and 47 - hard times

2009-12-09T23:51:00.003Z

Well I've been away from blogging for a couple of weeks and I really must appologise for being away for such a long time. The time seems to have just run away with me. I've just spent a couple of hours catching up on your bloggs. Not really had much of a chance to post comments so I must also appologise for that too.

Anyway, things seem to of been really strange the last 2 weeks. I started off week 46 very well and by the end of it I totally gave up on pointing. I'm sorry to say that WI week 46 showed a gain of 2lbs :o(

The begining of week 47 started really well. I went out clubbing with a girlfriend in Stevenage on Saturday night. I hadn't been out with her for 3 years! Anyway, up to going out I'd only had 8pts and when we come out of the club we ended up in KFC. I had a fillit burger meal which I really enjoyed. I hadn't had one since last year. I didn't go over my points until the vodka was added...... I had 2 double vodkas whilst out, but before that nearly consumed 1/2 a bottle. I did have a SP on the scales on the Sunday morning which showed a loss of 3.5lbs, but that day I felt famished all day. I think I ate double my points allowance on Sunday and went a long way over points on Monday.

Tuesday night I was going to my first belly dancing Haffla and we all had to take some food. I cut out small squares of flakey pastry and topped them with low fat sausage meat, tomato sauce and red onions. Once they came out of the oven I couldn't resist tucking into a few and then a few more. I thought I'd be ok as I hadn't eaten anything up to that point. Anyway, at the Haffla there was loads of lovely food and I couldn't resist tucking into cashew nuts, kettle crisps, sausages, crackers, flapjack and brownies. So no pointing went on at all.

The Haffla itself was brilliant. The students from the beginners and more advanced classes learned a dance to Dean Martin - Let It Snow. There was also a couple of complete beginners who joined in with us. It was all tongue in cheek and we all had a laugh. We then performed the dance to some guests. My group of dancers also performed the choreography we'd been learning in class over the last 10 weeks. There was performances from the other group, a dance group performed and there was also some solo's. It was all very good and we were probably all dancing for about 2 1/2 hours in total.

I liked it so much I'm going to another Haffla next week at the instructors other class. :o)

Anyway, I went to WI today and the scales showed that I'd lost 1lb. I was ok with that, but it could of been so much better. Never mind.

I was looking at the targets mini targets that I'd set myself. I've got 7.5lbs to loose to reach half way and 16.5lbs to loose to reach Onederland. The first target I'd set myself to reach by Christmas and the second target to reach by my 1 year anniversary. With only 2 more WI's to go before Christmas and 5 more WI's until my 1 year anniversary, I don't think I'll be able to reach either goal by the times I'd set myself. I think I'm going to aim for loosing 7.5 lbs by my 1 year anniversary..... any more will be a bonus.

On the exercise front things have been really good. I've been belly dancing and going to water workout 3 times a week. Belly dancing has now finished and I'm booked in for 4 workouts before next WI. Maybe I should really get on the treadmill and do some exercise DVD's to aid my weightloss this coming week.

I took mum back to the hospital today to a knee and hip replacement meeting. She should be having the operation done within the next 16 weeks. After the knee replacement op she's not going to be able to drive and will be on crutches for for 6-8 weeks. Also they were advised that they wouldn't be able to bath or shower for the same amount of time. She's not allowed to get the knee wet for the first 2 weeks. She's really going to hate not being able to shower. She's also got to have an injection everyday for 4 weeks after the op that helps prevent clots. She really doesn't want to do that herself and dad's not too keen either. I think that is going to be my job..... not too keen on doing that, but someone has to. After the op it takes a year to fully recover. At least now there's an end in sight. Bless her, she's scared but can't wait to get a normal life back.

Today has been good food wise. I even went to a friends mums birthday party tonight and didn't touch any of the lovely food that was laid on for us all. I think that was rather good of me. Instead I had a packet of monster munch when I got home. Today I've come in at 21.5pts. 1/2pt banked. Woooohoooo. I haven't really got much planned for the coming week. At the moment I'm meeting up with Tina Friday after my water workout and that's about it. It's the week after where things get a little busier.

Fingers crossed for a great week ahead. I want at least 2lbs off to take me down to my lowest weight in 10 years.

I must keep telling myself that I WILL do it, I WILL do it, I WILL do it!!!

DAY 316 - WI and measuring

2009-11-26T22:04:00.003Z

I went to my WW class yesterday morning and we had a new leader. I weighed in and I had a STS. I was a bit frustrated about that. I'd manage to go over my points which left me with 39 points for the last 3 days. I managed to pull them all back other than 2 points. I'd done 3 water workouts, used the treadmill and been to a belly dancing class and I didn't use any of the BP's I'd earned. I'd also reduced my points by 2 each week s I retook the points quiz in my folder and changed the amount of activity I do back to 0 points from 2. Just a 1/2 lb off would of been nice, but the scales wouldn't give it to me. Blooming annoying at times. Anyway, my new WW leader seems like a really nice lady. The class was very quiet this week. I think a lot of people give up at this time of year. She also told us that she's not allowed to stay at the current venue and has got until the end of the year to find a new one. So things are changing at my WW class yet again.

Yesterday I ended up in a picky mood. I ended up having 5 ww carrot cakes and a rocky bar and a slice of bread with my tea. I really fancied chip shop chips for tea so had them with a chicken and salad kebab. Thorougly enjoyed every last thing I ate. Back to normal today and playing catch up with my points.

I took my mum to the hospital yesterday for them to check her knee out and to see if she would be able to have it replaced. She went along 6 months ago and was told to go away and try to loose 4 stone. Well that's hard enough to do when you're mobile in such a short space of time. This time she saw a different doctor and he was gob smacked that she'd manage to loose 2 stones in that time considering she can't hardly walk and can't do any exercise. He said that he does things differently and it's obvious that she needs a replacement and gave the go ahead for the operation. He said that it'll be done and then she can go and exercise to help her loose weight afterwards. Going in she was so scared that she was going to be told off for only loosing 2 stone. She's been worrying about it for months. My mum is now over the moon that it's going to happen. He asked her if she would be able to go in at short notice as there's often a lot of cancellations over Christmas. So with a bit of luck it'll be done in the next couple of months. Once it's done she'll be able to walk properly again, be able to sit, stand and sleep. She can't wait for it to be done.

On my last post I mentioned the fact that I'd got into a pair of size 16 jeans. Well today I went out wearing them when I went to see my friend. I pulled the label off and then decided to fold it back over the waist band just so that I could show it off to her. LOL. It made her laugh when I lifted my top up to show her. I then went to show my mum and dad. Dad asked what does it mean to wear size 16. He hasn't a clue when it comes to ladies sizing. Bless him. I just said that I haven't worn a size 16 pair of jeans since I was 18. That's 21 bloody years!!! Can you believe that?? I know UK sizing has changed a bit since then and a 16 then is probably more of a 14 now, but I don't care.

I decided to measure myself again today, the last time being 4 weeks ago. Most of my measurements had only slightly changed but my hips had changed by 8 cms! That's just over 3 inches. WOW, I couldn't believe that. I guess my deep water workout classes are working. I totted up the total amount I'd lost in cm's since January and it's exactly 1 metre, or 100 cms, or 1000mm or nearly 39.5 inches. That's from each thigh and arm, my hips, waist and bust.

I've been to deep water workout again this evening. Our instructor returned this week and the classes are back to normal. I really enjoy her workouts. I'm booked in for another water workout at 12 tomorrow but that's going to be in shallow water. It's still good though. I'm then meeting Tina for lunch and we're going to Prezzo. Really looking forward to that treat.

Hope you all have a good week x

DAY 314 WOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

2009-11-24T17:12:00.002Z

I went clothes shopping today in Harlow and tried on some size 16 jeans and they done up!!! Ok they were stretch jeans and ok I probably won't be able to bend over in them, think I'd actually be lucky to be able to breath in them. But what the heck, they done up without having to lie down and put a coat hanger through the zip!! When I started at WW I was wearing size 24 jeans and that was a tight squeeze. I also got 2 tops in size 18. I'm a happy girl today :o)

Good times!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DAY 312.... Oooooooopppppppsssss

2009-11-22T22:38:00.002Z

Up to last night I've somehow managed to go over my points on 2 different days, big time! This left me 39 pts for the 3 remaining WW days. That's just 13 pts a day. Oh dear, I think I'm going to struggle a little. I decided at the begining of my WW week to drop my points by 2 each day. I was on 24 and now on 22pts. If I was to take them back that'd give me another 14pts. So if I come in somewhere between 39-53 pts for 3 days I'll be happy.

Today I've had rather a good day points wise. I've only had 10pts and I'm still feeling rather full up. I didn't have any breakfast. Lunch, chicken salad and 0pt soup (3 pts).

I cooked up a pack of Tesco healthy living mince steak (11.5 pts) with a tin of ww tomato soup (1pt) stock cube, tinned tomatoes, 2 leeks, swede, 2 large carrots, mushrooms, red and yellow peppers and 2 onions. I divided it up into 6 portions, and at 2 pts a portion it's not to bad at all. Rather tasty in fact.

Tea, mince (2pts) baked potato (2.5pts) LF spread (.5pt) = 5 pts

Dessert 1 meringue nest, ww yogurt, mandarin oranges and sugar free jelly = 2pts.

Total used today 10pts.

I don't know how I've managed it today but I have. I've had quite a few fruit teas and glasses of squash today so that's probably helped to keep me full.

I haven't done any exercise over the weekend, but went to aqua aerobics on Friday. If I really have to I'll dip in to my BP's but I try not to do that.

Let's hope I can continue to pull it back over the next couple of days.

xxx

DAY 308 WI week 44

2009-11-18T16:08:00.002Z

At WI today I lost 1lb. To be honest I'm a little disappointed in that. I earned 22 BP's this week through exercise and I was hoping for at least a 2lb loss. I suppose that having 4 packets of crisps yesterday for 6 pts wasn't such a good thing. I retook the points quiz about 10 week ago and decided to up my activity points from 0pts to 2pts. Since then I've had quite a few gains and STS's. Now I'm thinking that maybe that wasn't such a good plan. I think I should be back to where I was before so this week I'm going to have 22pts a day instead of 24 and see if that helps.

After 11 weeks with our fantastic WW leader at the meeting, she's now given up as she has a new job. So from next week we'll have a new WW leader. She's supposed to be really nice, and there's no way she could be as bad as our previous leader. It's such a shame, as I really liked her.

I went to belly dancing classes last night followed by aqua water workout. I really enjoyed both of the classes. 10 months ago there's no way I would of said that I liked any form of exercise. Now I love aqua aerobics and go 2 or 3 times a week, go to belly dancing classes once a week and go on the treadmill a couple of times a week. That's not too bad really.

Today I went on the treadmill for 49 minutes covering 4.6km. I didn't go as fast as normal but I did manage to get up to a fast walking pace of 6.2km at one point. I watched an episode of Cold Feet whilst on the treadmill and the time just flies by whilst perving at James Nesbitt. It's so much better watching something at the same time as exercising.

I'm booked in for water workout on Friday this week and for Monday next week. With belly dancing next Tuesday.

Only 5 more WI's before Christmas. Hopefully I'll reach my half way target which is 6.5lbs in that time.

I hope you're all having a good week. See you all soon xxx

DAY 306 Food Diary Day 6- Old Friend

2009-11-16T22:15:00.010Z

I've had quite a busy day today. I had breakfast then dropped Ryan off at college for 9.30 in Cambridge and then went to see an old friend of mine. I bumped into her husband a couple of days ago and he said that she hadn't been well at all. She's only 50 and 6 months ago was told that she has 2 forms of MS.

It's quite sad really to see how she now struggles. She's got walking sticks and crutches all over the house to help her get around but she tries her hardest not to use them. She was cruising around the furniture like a toddler does. :o( It's affected her memory, speach and balance and also her sense of humour as well as giving her the shakes. It makes her feel quite depressed and very teary. She used to do a lot of hairdressing and now can't do any at all. She's affraid of falling over in front of customers. Even doing something simple like putting shoes on she struggles with. I helped her with her slippers whilst I was there. She's also started sleep walking and fell on to a TV the other day and cracked a rib. She can't even cook dinner as she can't put things in and out of the oven. In the house they've even had to put a fire guard up in case she was to fall and she's now had to stop banking up the fire as she's got scars on her arms from where she's got the shakes whilst doing it. She doesn't look her age and looks in her early 40's but she feels as though she's become old before her time. To make things worse she had a car accident 18 months ago and it's made her so scared of getting into a car and she now can't drive herself. If she needs to go out she has to know well in advance to work herself up to it. Despite all this she tries to stay as cheery as possible and we did have a bit of a giggle. She enjoyed talking about her husband, their 3 children and their 1 year old grandaughter.

Before I knew it, it was time to collect Ryan back up from college at 2. We then headed into town when I picked up a new iPod which was a birthday present to me from Russ. My birthday was in July and I've just never got round to getting it. I got a bright purple one and have now got to work out how to use it! By the time I got out of Argos it was 3 o'clock and Ryan and me both wanted lunch...... so we stopped at Mcdonalds. I ordered a chicken deli roll without the mayo. So it was just chicken and salad in a roll. I pointed this at 5 and I had half of a medium portion of fries (2.5pts).

I called in to see my mum and dad and finally got home at 5.30 where I just had enough time to prepare tea before going out to water aerobics. The class was ok considering the stand in instructor isn't qualified and had only taken a class a couple of times before. If you follow my blog you'll know that I mentioned that the usuall instructors 18 year old niece had a heart attack. Sadly she passed away over the weekend from a DVT. How very sad for her family.

The workout wasn't as intense as usual so I'm guessing that I probably earned 3.5 BP's. I'm going to belly dancing classes tomorrow night in Cambridge and then I'm going to Newmarket for another water workout session. There's 3 instructors that take different water workout classes so it should be the usual Tuesday night lady taking the class. I'm quite looking forward to both classes.

Tea was rather lovely and I was so looking forward to on my return from aqua. I had some left over chicken from yesterday, mixed it with mushrooms, onion, carrots and peppers. Then stired in a tin of WW potato and leek soup. I then topped it with potatoes mashed with laughing cow and heated it through in the oven. It was qute different but very tasty. It could of probably done with another 10-15 minutes in the oven to brown it off but I was so hungry I couldn't wait. It's another easy recipe and it was very tasty.

Anyway, here's my food diary for today.

BREAKFAST 3.5pts

2 shredded wheat 2pts

1/4pt skimmed milk .5pts

fresh fruit 1pt

LUNCH 7.5pts

Mcdonalds chicken deli roll 5pts

1/2 portion med fries 2.5pts

diet coke.

TEA 11.5pts

Starter 2pts

1/2 tin tuna mixed with onions, 1pt

peppers, cucumber and tomatoes,

mixed with salad dressing (counted yesterday)

melba toast 1pt

.
Main Course 6.5pts

Tin WW potato and leek soup 1pt

Chicken 2pts

Onion, mushrooms, peppers and carrots.

250g potatoes mashed with 2 EL lauging cow

the 3rd lauging cow I had as starter. 3.5pts

Savoy cabbage

Broccoli

Dessert 3pts

3 Tesco light choices dutch crispbreads 1pt

30g Tesco light choices soft cheese 1pt

30g ww jam .5pt

fruit .5pt

SNACKS 2PTS

Oaty bar 1pt

WW Nachos 1pt

Total Points used 24.5/24

Points to pull back 4pts

Water intake 1500ml

Exercise - aqua aerobics 3.5pts

Total Exercise BP's 14pts.

DAY 305 Picture Food Diary Day 5

2009-11-15T23:25:00.006Z

Not much to report today. I didn't get up until this afternoon and I've spent the afternoon sorting things out to put on ebay. I did cook a chicken in the slow cooker for tea today. Just switch the slow cooker on and put the chicken in. No need for any liquid. It took about 6 hours to cook. The chicken doesn't have crispy skin like when it's cooked in the oven but I throw it away anyway so it doesn't really matter. I also cooked a value packet of yorksire pudding mix up and added onion to the tin first before adding the mix. Very tasty it is too. I've pointed the whole packet at 6 and had 1/3. Most of the food I've had today is in pictures other than the cashew nuts and WW muffin.

.
Didn't bother with breakfast.

.
LUNCH 8pts

4 Nimble bread 3pts

1/2 tin tuna 1pt
Salad dressing 1pt

ww nachos 1pt

ww rice sticks 1pt

Alpen light bar 1pt

.
.
SNACKS 4.5pts

.
Melon, rasperries and blueberries 1pt

ww vanilla yogurt 1/2pt

25g cashew nuts 3pts

.
TEA 10.5pts

.
Chicken 3pts

250g Garlic and herb roasted potatoes 2.5pts

Oniony yorkshire pudding 2pts

pack value pudding mix. Mix up as

per packet. Spray tin. Add a finely chopped

onion and red onion. Cook for 10 minutes.

Add mix. Cook for 25 mins.

Gravy .5pts

WW muffin 2.5pts

.
Total Points 23/24pts

.
Points to pull back 3.5pts

Water intake 1200ml

Exercise none

Total Exercise BP's 10.5pts

Hope everyone has had a great week. xx

DAY 304 Picture Food Diary day 4

2009-11-14T22:45:00.006Z

Not much to report today. I slept in until 10.45! I really needed that. Had breakfast/lunch at 12.30 then took my mum christmas decoration shopping in Cambridge. Got home then Russ took me for tea at the Harvester in Haverhill. I picked half spit roast chicken, with corn on the cob and boiled potatoes. Left the corn on the cob and removed all the skin from the chicken. Had a bowl and little bit more of salad with 3 rolls though. OOOOPPPPS. I adore the fresh baked rolls with butter. It's a case of guessing the points value in everything. If you think it may be a little different let me know please. I didn't have a dessert there but when I got home I had a WW caramel crunch dessert which was very yummy.
.

Oh yeah, I had WW tinned spaghetti today. Has anyone else noticed that the points have been reduced from 2 to 1.5 a tin. :o)

BREAKFAST / LUNCH / SNACK 6PTS

Tin ww spaghetti 1.5pts

3 nimble bread 2pts

Omlette made with 1 egg, 1.5pts

egg white, peppers, onion,

tomatoes and mushrooms.

Alpen fudge bar 1pt

TEA AT THE HARVESTER 25pts

.
Chicken 4pts

potatoes 2pts

bbq sauce 1pt

3 rolls 6pts

2 butter 4pts

coleslaw 2pts

pasta 1pt

potato 1pt

pineapple 1pt

croutons 1pt

dressing 2pts

Dessert when I got home 3pts

WW Caramel Crunch 3pts

.
.

Total Points 34/24

Points to pull back 4.5pts

Water intake 1200ml

Exercise None today

Total Exercise BP's earned 10.5pts

Day 302 Picture food diary day 3

2009-11-13T19:38:00.012Z

God I'm tired tonight. I'm just about ready for my bed. Last night I didn't get to bed until gone 2 and this morning the alarm went off at 6.15. My son had his first GCSE maths exam today and he wanted some help with some last minute revising before going to school. He thinks he done ok in his exam. He seemed quite pleased with himself when he got home.

I went to water aerobics at noon today. That was quite a good workout. Our usual instructor wasn't there as her 18 year old niece has had a heart attack and is in intensive care. I've never heard of someone so young having one. I don't know what that poor girls family must be going through.

.
Anyway, I've done another day of my picture food diary. Check out the cod goujons that I made for tea. I was looking through some blogs and come across a recipe for crispy coated chicken strips. It's just chicken dipped in lightly beaten egg white and then dipped in the cornflakes. As I had some cod to use I thought I'd try it on that instead. I was surprised that it was actually quite nice and worked quite well. Next time I won't slice the cod up so much and use a whole fillet instead. It probably wouldn't need so many crushed cornflakes either.

BREAKFAST 3.5 pts

2 Shredded wheat 2pts

1/4 skimmed milk .5 pts

200g melon 1pt

LUNCH 6.5 pts

Chicken breast 2.5pts

Mixed salad

2 Nimble bread 1.5pts

Tesco H/L salad dressing .5

WW Nachos 1pt

Oaty bar 1pt

.
TEA 10pts

Homemade garlic & herb potato & BNS oven chips. 250g potato par boiled with BNS. Roasted in the oven with garlic salt and mixed herbs. 2.5pts

Cod goujons. Made with 200g fillet cod, 2.5pts

40g cornflakes and egg white. 2pts

Skin cod, slice into chunks. Dip in egg white. Cover in crushed cornflakes.

Baked in oven for 20 minutes.

I also made up a mixed dessert.

2 M&S meringue nests 1.5pts

200g melon (400g is only 1.5pts) .5pts

WW yogurt .5pt

19g sainsburys low sugar

marshmallows .5pt

SNACKS 1.5pts

WW toffee bar 1.5

Total points 21.5/24

Total points saved 5.5pts

Water intake 800ml so far

Exercise 60 minute aqua aerobics 6.5pts (somewhere between moderate and high intensity level)
Total exercise BP's earned 10.5pts

Day 301 - Picture food diary day 2

2009-11-13T07:51:00.011Z

I didn't sit down to eat my tea until 10.30 last night. I had to take my mum for 2 MRI scans at Addenbrooks hospital at 5.45 and we wasn't expecting it to take so long. She's been so scared of having it done since being told 4 weeks ago and mum is claustrophobic. It's quite a new unit and the staff there were just brilliant with her and helped so much in putting her at ease.
.

I went in with her and whilst she was in the scanner I just kept my hands on her ankles so that she knew I was there. When she came out of the scanner she was so pleased with herself that she had done it. Bless her, she done so well. She felt so good that she said she deserved a cake.

We stopped at Tesco and she got a pack of 2 fresh cream slices. After she'd paid for them she asked me how many points were in them. 7.5pts in one of those. So she ate one and chucked the other one away. She had got more than enough points left and I wasn't going to stop her from having it. She deserved the treat. She's going to Huntingdon hospital in 12 days for them to check out her knee again and to see when they'll be able to replace it. She had to loose some weight and she wanted to loose 2 stone before going. She's just 3lbs away from that and has 2 more WI's before then. She's done very well with her weight loss considering she can't do any exercise. Mum is only 58 and she struggles so much with walking. Fingers crossed the hospital will be able to tell her that they'll be doing her knee op. She so needs it.

Whilst in Tesco I come across a pack of WW Blueberry Muffins. I haven't seen them before. At 2.5pts each, I thought that was rather good and I had one after tea. If you get a chance try them. Also got a ready cooked chicken for tea as I couldn't be arsed with lots of cooking when I got home.

Day 2 of my picture food diary. Everything is in pictures other than a WW toffee bar that I had. My sandwich looks a bit sad, but I grabbed that as I went out the door to take mum to the hospital. It looks quite lonely on the plate.

Breakfast 1.5pts

200g mixed melon 1

ww yogurt .5

.
.
.
.

Lunch 8.5

2 ww pitta bread 3

Pack Sainsbury's BBQ Chicken 3
Mixed salad

Walkers cheese onion crisps 2

Hellmanns extra light mayo .5

(3tblsp for .5pt get more than ww)

Dinner 10.5pts

Chicken breast 2.5

2 Tesco Value Yorkshire Puds 1

Cauliflower and broccoli

Gravey granuals 1

Cheesy onion mash 3.5

250g potato, cooked with spring onion,

mashed with 2 EL laughing cow

WW Blueberry Muffin 2.5

.
.

.
Snacks 3pts

WW Toffee Bar 1.5

2 Nimble bread 1.5

1 laughing cow (already counted)

Salad

.
.

Total points 23/24

Total points saved 3

Drink 1300ml

Exercise - none

I'll be back later x

DAY 300 - WI wk 43 and Picture Food Diary

2009-11-11T23:41:00.010Z

This morning I got up quite early and walked for 54 minutes on the treadmill covering 4.8 km approx 3 miles. I was aiming to do an hour but I was wearing trainer socks and one slipped down my foot resulting in a lovely blister on the back of my ankle. I didn't go as fast as I normally do either. How fast I'd been going before I should of covered about 5.4km. Still I don't think I did to bad.

I went to WI and I wasn't surprised to see a gain of 1.5lbs. I've pointed everything this week and came in bang on target and exercise hasn't been too bad going to aqua aerobics Thursday, Friday and Monday, belly dancing Tuesday and using the treadmill a couple of times. I don't use my exercise bonus points so don't take them into consideration over the course of the week. I knew last weeks WI wasn't quite an accurate reading as I was very dehydrated after not drinking hardly anything for 2 days before WI and having a tummy bug. Also this week I've gone the oppostie way and I'm retaining fluid. 3-7 days before TOTM appears my wrist and hand swells and I can't hardly use it for a couple of days. Hopefully it'll be back to normal in a few days.

A couple of people have asked me what I have to eat each day so I've decided to do a picture food diary. Not sure if I'll keep this up for a whole week but I'm going to try.

As today I WI early in the morning I don't have breakfast until later. I've combined the picture with snacks.

Breakfast and snacks (4pts)

2 weetabix oaty bars 2pts

ww yogurt .5pt

apple .5 pt

ww nachos 1

Lunch (5.5pts)

2 ww rolls the ones you cook

150g pack youngs prawns 1.5pts

1 tbsp asda light seafood sauce 1pt

mixed salad 0pt

Tea (12.5pts)

2 x 1/4 pounder bbq burgers 4 pts for the 2.

500g pack tesco healthy living steak mince 11.5pt

1 egg white 0pt

1/5 bottle tesco sticky bbq marinade 1pt

garlic salt or chopped garlic

finely chopped onion

dried mixed herbs

Mix all ingredients together. Divide mixture into 6. Shape into burgers and grill. At 12.5pts for the whole mixture the burgers work out just 2 points each.

2 Sainsburys burger buns (2pts each) 4pts

200g potatoes made into homemade oven chips 2pts

butternut squash oven chips 0pts

onion, mushroom and salad. 0pts

tiny amount of ketchup and hellmans extra light mayo .5pt

To make the potato and BNS chips just slice into chunky chips, zap in the microwave in water for 4 minutes, drain, then cook in the oven for 25 minutes on a sprayed baking sheet.

I then had a slice of the Apple Crumble Semifreddo for 2pts.

Tea was wonderful tonight. I haven't made burgers for ages.

Other than an apple and the slice of semifreddo my food intake is all in the pictures.

I'll be back tomorrow with some more pictures.

Total 22/24 points

Water 1400ml

Exercise 54 minutes treadmill 4pts

DAY 299 - New Recipe and getting together

2009-11-10T15:01:00.002Z

I tried a new recipe this week from the Yourweek leaflet that's handed out at the WW meeting. I made Apple Crumble Semifreddo and it blooming lovely and very easy to make. If you haven't seen the recipe here it is.

2 WW vanilla yogurts

500g tub 0% Total Greek yogurt

450g bramley apples (approx 2)

8 ww oat digestive biscuits

1tblsp clear honey

1) Mist a 1lb loaf tin with low fat cooking spray and line with clingfilm (make sure there is plenty overhanging the sides of the tin). Set aside.

2) Peel, core and chop apples and place in pan with honey and 1tbsp water. Cover and cook, stirring for 5-8 minutes, until softened. Set aside.

3) Crush biscuits with end of rolling pin to make crumbs. Stir into the apple.

4) In another bowl stir the greek yogurt and ww yogurt together.

5) Spoon 1/3 of the yogurt mix into the tin, then spoon over the apple crumble mix. Top with the remaining yogurt, wrap the clinfilm around the tin and freeze for 6-8 hours.

6) To serve, unwrap the clingfilm and carefully invert the tin onto a plate to slide out the semifreddo.

7) Remove the clingfilm and serve in slices.

The whole recipe is a total of 14 pts and serves 8.

I added extra sweetner to both the yogurt mixture and the apple mixture as it wasn't sweet enough for me. I couldn't find the WW digestive biscuits so used the strawberry and white chocolate ones instead. I also think that it would be even nicer if it was made with WW toffee yogurt to make toffee apple crumble semifreddo. I probably wouldn't add the honey to the apple mixture when cooking either and just add sweetner. I've also added a picture of the one that I made.

Give it a go and see what you think :o)

I had a couple of NSV's this week. First of all I went to Orpington in Kent to see some friends who had just had a baby. I haven't seen them for a while and they commented on how nice I looked and how much weight I'd lost. I also saw my cousin with her partner and their children. They couldn't believe how much weight I'd lost and said how well I looked.

Tina recommended that I go out and try a pair of jeans on in the next size down. So whilst in Sainsburys the other day I thought I would. I tried on a pair in size 16, they went up ok but didn't quite fasten. They were just about an inch away. I would of bought them but they only had a regular length leg and not a short length in a 16. I can't be bothered with turning them up. So I'll have a look out for some more when I'm next out shopping. Whilst in Sainsbury's I did buy a pair of tracksuit bottoms and leggins in a 16! They're both elasticated though so don't really count as being in a size 16, but they're on quite comfortably :o)

A few people have mentioned that it would be nice to have a get together so I've decided to organise something for in a few weeks if there's enough interest. It's going to be on Saturday 28th November from 6.30, sitting down to eat at 8 o'clock. At The Gatekeeper, Harlow. It's just 2 minutes from junction 7 off the M11 or approx 10 minutes from junction 27 off the M25. I've never been there but it does have good reviews. The Christmas menu is £18.95 a head and the restaurant requires £5 deposit per person. If anyone is interested in going, please can you email me at twinkle--eyes@hotmail.com or contact me through my facebook link ASAP. Put 'The Gatekeeper get together' in the title and I can email details on where to send the deposit to.

I'm off to use the treadmill before going to belly dancing classes tonight. Day 300 tomorrow and WI. I'll be back to report on how I've done.

Hope you're all having a good week :o) xxx

I almost forgot...

2009-11-04T21:59:00.001Z

I'm now at my lowest weight in 10 years!!!! wooooohooooo :o) xxxx

DAY 293 WI and Mini Targets and a major!

2009-11-04T13:10:00.005Z

I went to WI this morning and lost 4.5lbs!! I'm pleased with that but at the same time I expect some of it to come back on after having a 24 hour sickness bug. I've now lost a total of 65lbs.

I reached a few of my mini targets at the same time. I got my next silver 7 and reached my 3rd 5% target. Best of all my BMI dropped to 39.2! I'm no longer 'severeley obese' I'm just 'obese'!! Woooohoooo How good is that? When I started WW my BMI was 51.1 and now I'm in the 30's. I'm so very happy about that.

Above is a 65lb cobia. That's how much I've lost. I bet if I was to try and pick up a 4.5 stone child I wouldn't manage it but that's how much more I was carrying around with me every day.

I saw an unusual sight on my way back from WI today. A man in a local village has a wooden box the size of a rabbit hutch on the side of the road and he sells fresh eggs, pickles and veggies from it. Driving past it today there was a bloody cow eating his goods! It wasn't what I expected to see on a lovely sunny day. It made me chuckle though.

It reminded me of the time I was going to work with my mum in Saffron Walden, we turned a corner and all these cows came running towards us. Someone had left the farmers gate undone and they'd all got out. There was my mum trying to reverse whilst we were both going 'aaaagggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh' as they run towards us. Mum was tooting the horn and we eventually got the attention of the farmer. He just called them and they all went running towards him like a pet cat would go running to their owner.....

Thank you ladies for wishing me well. I'm nearly back to normal, just haven't quite got my appetite back yet. I dare say when it re-appeares it'll be stronger than ever. LOL

DAY 292 - Cooking new things

2009-11-03T14:08:00.010Z

On Thursday I decided that I'd try to cook with a pumpkin. I'd never eaten it before and decided to make a couple of things. First of all I made a pumpkin and sage soup. That was ok, not my most favourite of things and I won't be in a hurry to make that again. I much prefer butternut squash soup.

I also made a Pumpkin and mushroom lasagna. The recipe for that was off the WW web site and I just made up 1/3rd of the recipe. That was surprisingly nice and just 4.5pts for the whole lot in the dish which served 2. The picture on the left is half of it served up on a plate. If I was to make it again I'd mash in 3 extra light Laughing cow to make it a bit more creamy.

I had rather a nice weekend. It started on Friday when I met up with Tina for lunch at Prezzo. We shared a garlic bread for starter and had Pollo Siciliana with Gratinated Potatoes. We guesstimated the points in the main course as coming in at around 13. I'd been on the treadmill for 20 minutes in the morning covering 2km and gone to an aqua class before hand. I needed to go to Stevenage in the evening to pick something up and we ended up at Macdonalds. Other half ordered a meal and I ordered a chicken salad!! How good was that?? LOL. I did pinch a couple of his fries though. I got home at 11 and then had the munchies. I should of just gone to bed but I didn't and ended up having a couple of chicken rolls, half a pack of WW flapjacks and a packet of maltesers. I come in about 37pts for that day. eeeekkkk.

It was my friend Lucy's 40th birthday party on Saturday and I was doing quite well until I decided to pinch some roast potatoes and a big lump of french stick. Also raided the huge jar of haribo sweets, which are my favourite, and had a few chocolate coins. I come in at about 36pts that day.

Sunday brunch I made an omelette with 1 egg and a whisked egg white with veggies. That was rather nice and I served it with a tin of WW spaghetti, mushrooms and a couple of slice of ww bread. For a total of 5pts there was quite a lot on my plate. Went to mums for tea where she'd made baked potatoes, roast chicken and pork. As I'd also added a tiny amount of cheese and a little bit of butter to my potatoe I consumed 26pts. So not a good few days points wise.

So come Monday I had a total of 20pts remaining for 2 days. That's going to be a bit of a struggle. Yesterday was a busy day and I sat down for lunch until 3 o'clock. Half hour later I wasn't feeling too great, tummy churning over, going all hot and sweaty. I fell asleep for a couple of hours and woke up feeling a bit better. Went off to aqua aerobics, then as soon as I got home I felt ill again. I think I had a bit of a sickness bug. I felt so cold in bed but I was burning up at the same time. Hopefully, fingers crossed, it's now gone. I've just had a couple of digestive biscuits and a couple of pieces of toast. So through not eating much I've managed to pull most of my points back. I've got 1pt left. Not the best way to do things. Had a SP on the scales and that was showing a 4lbs loss. I know a lot of that is going to be through dehydration and will probably return. I'll see what tomorrow brings........

DAY 286 WI Week 41 & Blog Award

2009-10-28T18:55:00.011Z

Do you know what, WW really doesn't make any sense at all some weeks. I've had a good week, tracked everything correctly, weighed everthing, kept my fluid intake up and I've done some exercise. At WI today I bloody STS!!! Yesterday I had a SP and the scales were showing a 2lb gain. Like, how the hell??? I suppose at least today the scales had dropped again.

Exercise has been quite good this week. I've been to deep water aerobics twice, a mixed water workout of deep and shallow and I done 3km on the treadmill in 30 minutes which was going some for my little ol' legs. Monday I had a phone call at 5.45pm to say there was no aqua class on in Haverhill that evening at 8 o'clock. So instead of not going at all, which was rather tempting, I phoned Newmarket pool to see if there was any cancellations in their class. There had been, so after quickly getting tea ready, and my mate Rachel ringing round for a sitter, (she also attends WW) we left for the class that started at 7. It was quite a mad dash, but we got there just in time. We were rather glad that we went, and we felt quite good after.

This morning I went on the treadmill before going to WI and covered 4KM in 40 minutes. The sweat was pouring off me. That probably helped with loosing a bit of extra weight this morning. My treadmill is in my outhouse and it gets really boring whilst out there. Listening to music doesn't seem to help me. So today I moved my TV from the kitchen to the outhouse and put a DVD on. Stuck on Cold Feet, watched an episode of that and the time just flew by. I used to love that programme. I've slowly got all the DVD's off ebay and I've never sat and watched them. Hopefully it won't take to long to go through them all. I can perv over James Nesbitt whilst working up a sweat!!

I'm going to try and go on the treadmill at least 5 times this week. I'm booked in for aqua on Friday, Monday and Tuesday in Newmarket. I might even go to an extra session of aqua in Haverhill in the morning.

Had a stand in leader at my WW meeting today and we were chatting about how and what things we've changed since joining WW. There was only about 10 of us who stayed behind and the subject turned to tracking. Out of everyone in the group, I was the only one who tracked when they were having a bad day. If I have a bad day, I can see what the damage is and try to rectify it rather than thinking 'fuck it' and continue eating badly and for it to quite likely continue for the remainder of the week. I've kept nearly all my old trackers and they are still in my folder and I'm able to look back on them. If I don't track when I've had a bad day, who would I be trying to kid? Just because it's not on the tracker it doesn't alter the fact that I've scoffed it!!

I'm meeting Tina for lunch on Friday. It'll be nice to have a catch up with her. Saturday I'm going to my friend Lucy's 40th birthday party at her house. I shouldn't have too much of a problem there. She's cooking chilli and curry and I don't eat either. She lives in the street opposite mine so I think a few vodkas will be called for!! It's not as if I've got far to stagger home.

I've also been sent a Gorgeous Blog Award from Tina. Thank you hunny. I'll have to sit and think about who I'm going to pass it on to. That's going to be rather difficult as there are so many great bloggs that I read.

I think I'm going to have an early night tonight..... feeling rather tired after all the extra activity this week.

Have a great weekend. TTFN. Be good, and if you can't be good be careful ;o) xxx

DAY 279 WI week 40

2009-10-21T17:07:00.002+01:00

and I lost 2.5lbs this week. I'm over the moon with that. I've now lost a total of 60.5lbs. Just checked out my BMI and I'm now down to 40.1. When I started it was at 51.1. Just 1lb to loose and I'll be classed as Obese instead of being Severely obese and with a BMI of 39.9. Wooohooo. I've got 2.5lbs to loose to reach my next silver 7, 4lbs to loose to reach my 3rd 5% goal and 4.5lbs to loose for my BMI to be 39. I've also got just 2lbs to loose to be under the lowest weight I was 6 years ago or the lowest weight I've been for about 10 years. I'm now officially back to 24 points a week which should be a bit easier.

I hope you're all having a great week. See you soon xxx

Day 278 Picture updates

2009-10-20T21:48:00.004+01:00

I've seen a few blogs over the last couple of days with picture updates and I thought I'd do the same. Since my birthday in July I've only lost 7.5lbs which is quite crap really. On the plus side I have noticed a difference in my shape. The first picture was taken the day after joining WW on January 15th and the 2nd picture today. I was wearing a size 26/28 top and I'm now wearing size 20's with the occasional 18 and my jeans were a size 24 and are now a size 18 :o).

I've not had too bad a week food wise. I'm supposed to be on fast start having 20 points a day and I blew that at the beginning of my new WW week. I was thinking about it and I was supposed to have a total of 140 points over the week and have come in at 161 which is still 7 points under my total weeks allowance. So not as bad as I initially thought.

Exercise wise I've been ok. I done a bit of walking around 5 bootsales over the weekend. It's surprising how many miles you can clock up wandering around those things. I went for a walk on Sunday to the next village and back stopping at the pub to watch the lady morris dancers and to have a quick diet coke before returning home. That was about 4.5 miles. Monday I went to water aerobics and today I've been to shake my bootie and my boobies at belly dancing classes. I really enjoy that, it's so much fun.

I've booked in for a deep water workout on Friday in Newmarket and I'll probably go to a normal water workout on Thursday in Haverhill. I've also booked in for a water workout next Tuesday in Newmarket as there's no belly dancing for the next 2 weeks. I really should get the exercise DVD's out again and do some of those as I haven't used them for about a month. Also with the weather changing this week I don't suppose I'll be out walking that much in the rain.

I got a few bargains at the boot sales this weekend. A new pair of red suede wedge heel sling backs for £1, a black wool coat for £1, a couple of tops for 50p each, a pair of jeans in size 18 for £1 (and they weren't Evans jeans but Cheroke at Tesco). I also got 8 bottles of OPI nail polish for £10. They usually cost £8-£10 a bottle in Debenhams so I'm very pleased with them.

I also got a 2nd slow cooker from the boot sale for £3. I love my slow cookers and I've had both of them on the go twice this week already. I've made butternut squash soup in it and it's just wonderful and so easy to make.

SLOW COOKER BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

Dice butternut squash and put in slow cooker. Add mixed herbs, garlic and a vegetable stock cube. Cover with boiled water and leave to cook for 3 hours. Simple. All that it needs is to be squashed with a masher. It really doesn't matter if it cooks for longer. Mine was ready for lunch time and I left it going until tea time.

I was reading on the WW message boards about slow cookers and I discovered that you can roast a chicken in it. Just sit it on some balls of foil and leave it to cook in it's juices for the day. It's supposed to just fall off the bone and be quite tasty. I'm going to give that a go some time soon. I tried baked potatoes in it once but they weren't that great. I might give them a go again though.

Has anyone got any recipes for pumpkin. I've never tried it before and want to do something with it other than soup. I spotted a recipe for pumpkin lasagne on the WW site. What about something sweet? Any ideas would be good.

I had a little NSV today. My friend Karen had a baby girl called Isobel 2 weeks ago and I paid them a visit today. Her husband Mark was at home and noticed how much weight I'd lost. He found it incredible that I'd managed to loose 58lbs and was fasinated as to how I'd managed to loose that amount. It makes a change to get a compliment from a man.

WI tomorrow and a SP is showing a loss. Fingers crossed it'll stay that way. I'll be back tomorrow to let you know how I get on . Hope you're all having a good week.

xxx

PS A big congratulations to Tina on getting the Saturday job with BMW. Well done matey :o)

DAY 273 WI WEEK 39

2009-10-15T23:40:00.004+01:00

I went to WI Wednesday evening instead of the morning and the scales showed that I'd lost 2lbs. I'm quite happy with that. Was hoping for a bit more. It was quite a tough week on fast start with just 20 points a day.

I went to water aerobics Monday night followed by 20 lengths of the pool. Tuesday night I went to belly dancing classes with my friend Hayley. Really enjoyed it this week. Learnt a few new moves and the class flew by. After the class the pair of us went out for dinner. We just went to the local Harvester. I picked gammon steak and boiled potatoes with a fried egg. The 'help yourself' salad bar is always fatal to me. I try to just pick the salad that's not covered in mayonaise but I can't resist the coleslaw and potato salad. I always have a spoonful of thousand island dressing and a couple of bread rolls. I even got talked into dessert. I must admit it didn't take much persuasion. Had a dark, milk and white chocolate mousse type thing on a biscuit base. I ate it and then wished I hadn't. I forced the last couple of mouthfuls into my gob then ended up feeling quite sick. Why did I do that?? My will power is rather shit really.

Wednesday I ended up going over my points and had 25 instead of the 20. Today I've been even worse and had around 32 points. My son come home from school and had made lemon meringue pie. I couldn't not have any. Of course it was served with icecream..... but it was the 'lighter' version. It was very nice though. So like that it leaves me with just 16.5pts a day. Not sure if I should be eating so few though. It's tough enough at 20, don't think I could servive on just 16.5!! I might try for 18pts. If I have less then all the better. I guess I'll have to make sure that I make plenty of home made '0 pt' soup and eat plenty of salad.

Haven't had the chance to do any exercise this week. I canceled swimming today as TOTM arrived Tuesday 5 days early. Very strange as it's often late. I've also had to cancel water workout on Friday as I've got to go down to Rainham in Kent to collect my sisters new car with her. She's so excited and is so looking forward to getting it. I'm booked in for water aerobics on Monday night and I've got to book water aerobics for next Friday in the morning. If I don't book it a week in advance it's often full up. I'll probably go next Thursday aswell. I do enjoy aerobics in the water as I don't feel it on my knees so much.

I spoke to a lady at the sports centre in Newmarket for advice on a beginners class but she said to try any as I could go at my own pace. I haven't been to an aerobics class for about 18 years and I don't know what half of them are!! What the hell is Zumba?? They do body pump, body pump technique, body combat, freestyle aerobics, pilates, spinning,yoga, bums and tums, circuits, tai chi, boxercise..... I don't have a clue what would be good for me. Maybe I will just stick with water aerobics, swimming and walking with the occasional exercise dvd at home chucked in for good measure.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I've joined Angela in her quest to loose a stone by Christmas. So 2lbs down, 12lbs to go. I also received my 2nd blog award from Becky a short while ago. Thank you hunny, it's greatfully received.

I hope you all have an excellent week. Have a fab weekend xxx

DAY 265 WI and a line

2009-10-07T14:59:00.003+01:00

WI day today and I gained 1lb. I'm so pleased with that. I'm surprised it wasn't more. I hope my behaviour this past week doesn't come back and bite me on the bum next week!! I'm so glad my WW week is over and I'm starting afresh today. So here's my line and I'm moving on.

____________________________________________________________________

I had a quick chat with my WW leader and she's advised me to do Fast Start for 2 weeks. Having 20 points each day to get my metabolism going. I feel like I've been stuck round the same weight for a couple of months. It's gonna be tough but I'm going to give it a go.

New week, new start and all that.

Had a small NSV this week. I got my boots out and I was able to zip them straight up without having to pull them about to get around my calves. It's surprising what little things you notice after loosing some weight. :o)

DAY 263 - The waggon has come off the rails....

2009-10-05T23:57:00.003+01:00

and I've fallen off the waggon.... BIG STYLE!!

Since WI last week (where I lost 1lb) I just can't stop eating. I've been picking at anything and everthing. It's not that I'm hungry, I've just been stuffing food into my big fat gob!!

I don't know what's been wrong with me. I went out for dinner twice at the weekend, where I picked healthy courses, grilled gammon steak with jacket potato and spitroast chicken with jacket potato, but then I piled on the food from the salad cart, including pasta, potato salad, colslaw, thousand island dressing, croutons plus 3 rolls with butter on each occasion. I picked all day Saturday, not having some proper to eat all day. Managed to make my way through at least 1/2 a dozen ww bars and 4 bags of crisps. OH had been to work until 3 then fell asleep as soon as he got home. He slept until 9 then said he fancied fish and chips. So I ended up having those too. I think it was boredom as I hadn't seen or spoken to anyone all day. I probably had at least 150 points over the 3 days. That doesn't count Wed and Thur last week where I went over points by a lot each day.

Then today it started well. Cereal for breakfast. I took my son to Cambridge Regional College then went home for a short while before going off to Haverhill to look at the clothing in Sainsburys as there was 25% off everthing. I got myself a mixed salad and a packet of sweet chilli chicken to have for lunch. I collected Ryan at 2 and he asked for a macdonalds. Soo off we went where I had a cheeseburger happy meal. I then ate the salad and chicken. So that wasn't too bad. Then I called in to see my mum as she was off work and not feeling well. She happened to say that there was some shortbread..... so I helped myself to at least 4 bits. So from then on it got even worse. I had a couple of rolls for dinner before going to aqua aerobics with my mate. followed by a couple of bags of crisps. I stopped at Sainsburys on the way home where they had reduced loads of cakes. So I put 4 different packs in my basket. I only ate the one.... but still, I didn't need the bloody things at all. Then I still had 2 more rolls filled with sausages and cheese.

I've lost just 7lbs in the last 3 months. It seems like I've not really got anywhere in the last 3 months. I seem to be really struggling at the moment. My next target of reaching 199.5lbs by Christmas seems so unacheivable right now. I've got 23.5lbs to loose. So I think I'm going to have to push that target back a little bit.

I don't know..... Why the fuck have I been so bloody stupid? When I've been like this before, this is where I've given up in the past. I really don't want that to happen. I've not done too bad in the last 9 months but the last 3 I don't seem to of got anywhere at all. I seem to loose a little then gain a little, loose a little then gain some more. I suppose at least by still attending the meetings I'm not undoing all the good work I've done by putting lots of it back on. That would be so easy to do.

I think once WI day gets here on Wednesday I'll be able to start the ww week with a clean slate. I wouldn't be surprised if I gained at least 3lbs this week with way I've been eating. It's going to be fully deserved.

Roll on Wednesdays WI and the start of a new WW week

DAY 256 I've had a night out :o)

2009-09-28T15:14:00.003+01:00

I've been quite good on the exercise front. I went to aqua aerobics followed by 35 minute swim on Thursday morning and on Friday I went for a 6 mile walk with my friend Rachel. She goes to the same WW meeting as me and lives in the same village. We sometimes meet up and go for a wlak or go swimming together. It's nice to have an exercise buddy.

On Saturday I got up and went to a couple of boot sales where I bought yet another handbag for 50p, a pair of new leather sandals for £2 and a shirt for £1.20. Just a few of my little bargains obtained this weekend.

I came home for lunch then took my mum into Cambridge. Had a quick look around Evans, Dorothy Perkins and Asda looking for something to wear. I was going out into Newmarket with my sister Shelly and our friend Jenny that evening. I didn't have a bloody clue what to wear and everything in the shops seemed too frumpy or was too young. So I returned home and raided my wardrobe and tried on about a dozen tops. I wanted to look half decent and a lot of my clothes were too big. It had been 3 years since I last had a proper night out. 3 bloody years!!! I've been out, but usually I've been driving and have usually been out meeting friends for dinner. So I've not had a proper night out where I've been out drinking and dancing for absoloutely yonks. I've been asked to go out clubbing a few times but never went as I felt to old and to fat. I didn't want to feel like people were looking at me. Now I've lost a little bit of weight I'm starting to feel a bit better about myself and slightly more confident.

I went to my sisters house at 8 o'clock taking another 2 tops and a change of shoes, oh yeah, and a bottle of vodka. :o) Decided to wear the top that I'd walked down the road wearing. I was a bit behind in the drinking and was forced to down a couple of rather large glasses of vodka and lemonade (diet) to catch up. My sister got given some mini bottles of flavoured Absoloute vodka for her birthday. I really liked the raspberry and vanilla ones. The vanilla one reminded me of when we used to have coke with vanilla icecream in it as a kid. mmmmmmmmmm, very nice.

Before going out I probably had at least 8 shots of vodka. Our mum dropped us off in Newmarket and we went off into the pub where we had 2 or 3 drinks. Then we went on to the club at 10.30. I remember having at least 4 drinks in there but I'm sure it was more than that. Anyway, I had a great night dancing and having a giggle. My sister and our mate both smoke so when they went out for a cigarette I went along to, climbing up and down a flight of about 50 steps each time, and thats not counting the other flights of stairs to get there. At the beginning of the year I'd of probably struggled with the stairs and avoided using them. So even though I had quite a lot to drink, I'm hoping that I burned off quite a bit with the stair climbing and dancing. I heard from Tina about 11.30 saying she was on her way but she didn't appear. It's such a shame she got refused entry for being to drunk. hehehe. Next time Tina ;o) xxx

I got home at 3 o'clock and fell asleep straight away. I woke up at 7.30 needing a wee and looked in the mirror and thought it best if I took off my make up. Green eyes and black panda eyes aren't a very good look first thing in the morning. I then went back to sleep and woke up again at 11.30. I then dozed on and off for most of the day. I had some toast in bed made with REAL bread instead of WW bread. I decided to get up properly at 7. I could hardly walk as my legs ached so much. I had a radox bath and put my pyjamas back on. No point getting dressed by that point. Russ went out and got a chinese take away and I shared that with Ryan.

Got up today and my legs are functioning a little better though they still ache. I reckon it's going to be another couple of days before they don't hurt anymore. I'm off to aqua aerobics with Rachel this evening and we should be meeting up for a walk tomorrow, plus I've got belly dancing classes again tomorrow evening :o) Really looking forward to that.

Had a SP on the scales and they're showing a 2lb loss. Hope they stay that way.

Hope everyone is having a good week xxx

DAY 251 Been a pig and WI week 36

2009-09-23T21:44:00.002+01:00

After writing my last post I ended up pigging out. It was after midnight and I decided to eat 4 ww bars and a go ahead bar. Wasn't really hungry, I just wanted it because it was there. If there had been biscuits and bars of chocolate in the house I'd of had them instead. Lucky for me there wasn't any. Why do we do that? Then yesterday was going ok until I decided to eat 2 cheese and onion rolls and a bag of crisps whilst waiting for my roast dinner to cook. I had my dinner and then had half a tub of Cart dor icecream. What a pig I was.

Anyway, I've started afresh today after my WI where I gained 2.5lbs. Totally deserved and expected. I'd also not done any exercise all week. So back to it tomorrow. I'm going to aqua aerobics in the morning followed by a swim. I'm meeting up with a mate to go for a walk on Friday and I've booked for an aqua class on Monday.

I started belly dancing classes last night with my friend Hayley. We really enjoyed that and had a giggle. We've signed up for a 10 week beginners course. We've started to do a dance routine, learning the moves as we go along. We were doing shoulder shimmies, hip shimmies, hip figure 8's, headslides and side camel moves. It was brilliant. Can't wait for next week to come.

Tonight I cooked up a packet of mince with loads of veggies, gravy and a tin of WW tomato soup. Total points of 13 and then split it up into 4 meals to put into the freezer. I've made up 2 packets of jellies and I'm going to make some butternut squash soup tomorrow. I'm going to try very hard to have at least 1200ml of water a day. I've not been drinking enough the last couple of weeks. I've bought a papaya to try, some blueberries, strawberries and 2 different melons to chop up into a fruit salad. So I'm starting my new WW week with good intentions and a positive attitude.

Hope everyone is ok and having a good week

DAY 249 a fab wkend and dangerous times

2009-09-21T22:42:00.004+01:00

I had a great weekend. Met up with Tina on Friday for lunch. We went to a Weatherspoons where plaice, chips and peas is 8.5pts and I had half a slice of bread with a scrapping of butter. Enjoyed every mouthful as I'd only eaten 5 low sugar polo mints all day. By the end of the day I'd managed to stay within points, just.

I went to a couple of boot sales with mum and dad Saturday morning. In the afternoon I went to a garden center with my sister to shop for mum and dad's Ruby Wedding Anniversary gift. None of us are gardeners so it's quite funny that we were looking at plants. We decided on a big silver planter and planted a Ruby Wedding Camelia plant then put some red heathers and red cyclemen around the edge. We also had to buy the correct soil to fill it with. I finished it off with a red ribbon and bow. It looked so nice. Me and my sister were quite impressed with ourselves. Mum and dad went out Saturday evening to a Golden Wedding Anniversary party. Whilst they were out we decided to scatter red sequin love hearts all over the living room floor and scattered a few red balloons. We found this very amusing as mum is always complaining about any form of mess. We actually got quite a kick from scattering it everywhere. We wanted to see the look on our parents faces when they walked in the house so we decided to hide in the garden and watch through the patio doors until they got home. We thought they'd be home about 11, but no, the dirty stop outs didn't get home until 12.45!! We watched them come in (along with mums brother and his wife) and then didn't know what to do. We could hear mum laughing at the balloons we'd placed as heads in their bed. She went into the kitchen to make a cuppa and we just popped our heads up. She did scream then called the pair of us a few names. Bless her, she first looked worried and then she did laugh.

Sunday was mum and dads anniversary. I had a phone call from them quite early in the morning to say thank you for their planter. They were impressed with us for doing it all ourselves. For the remainder of the day I stayed in bed. I felt bloody shattered. The first time I ventured down stairs was at 5.30 in the afternoon. Bloody lazy cow. Me and Russ picked my son up from his fathers and then we all headed into Cambridge for dinner with my parents, sister and her 2 children. Dad was driving one car with my sister and mum was in our car. Just as we got out of the village and turned a corner we looked up in the sky and there was a huge love heart with an arrow going through it in the sky. The Red Arrows were at Marshalls open day in Cambridge. What's the chances of that happening?? It couldn't of been planned any better. It was fantastic. We like to think that it was done just for them. It was so lovely and really made their day.

Other than a WW bar I hadn't eaten all day. We went for a Chinese buffet and I really did eat far to much. I've got no idea where to start pointing. I probably finished the day having 40-50 points. Do you know what, I don't care. It was a special occasion and it's not something that I do very often. I enjoyed every single bit of it.

Today has also been a bit of a strange day. My 14 year old son was starting a Motor Vehicle Maintenance course at Cambridge Regional College. Someone from his school was supposed to be taking him there but had an appointment so I had to take him. Just as well I did. Reception didn't know where we should be exactly. They sent us to one place. The guy there said he'd got no lessons until tomorrow. We then got sent somewhere else. Then got sent back to where we had been before. There had been a number of other students sent away too. So it wasn't a very good start. The few students that had got to the right place were being shown around the complex so I sat with my son for an hour until the other kids returned. I was the only parent there, the other kids had Teaching Assistant's with them. I felt really out of place. I'd also been told the wrong collection time. I collected Ryan from school and then had to take him to buy a pair of overalls and some steel toe cap shoes. The 2 items cost nearly £70. They did have shoes and overalls there but all the other students wear them. Not very nice at all.

Food wise hasn't been as good as it could of been. The day started reasonably ok. Cooked a pizza for Ryan when he returned from school and I pinched a slice of that. I then decided to open a bag of wine gums. I pinched 10 then got rid of the rest rather quickly otherwise I'd of scoffed the whole packet. I then picked at WW biscuits, melba toast and a few other bits and that was before tea. I ended up going over by 4 points. A thought keeps popping into my head that is saying sod it for this week, have what you want and then start again on Wednesday. I could quite easily do that and I'm finding it difficult to keep saying no.

I fully expect a gain this week. I've not done any exercise and have not made very good food choices.

On a positive note, belly dance classes begin tomorrow :o) Really looking forward to that, it's going to be fun x

DAY 245 WI just doesn't make sense at all

2009-09-17T13:35:00.004+01:00

I went to WI yesterday morning and the scales said that I had gained 1/2lb. I bloody gained! If I'd not stuck to the plan I could understand it, but I've stuck to it. Counted all my points and I earned a massive 32 bonus points through exercise this week. It is TOTM but usually it doesn't affect my weight at all. I dropped a point going down to 22 from 23. I checked how many points I should be on and before I ticked the 0 box for my day to day life. I thought I'd change it to 2 as now I've lost weight I have become more active. So that now puts me on 24 points a week. Over the week I came in 1 point under. I made good food choices, I didn't have any ready meals. I had take away once which was a chicken breast kebab and a portion of chips, all pointed. It really doesn't make sense at all to me. I suppose the last couple of days my fluid intake hasn't been as good, but that was only a couple of days. I just hope it shows on the scales next week.

On a postitve note I retook my measurements. Since starting in January I've lost 19cms/7.5" from my hips, 16cms/6.25" from my waist, 13cms/5.1" off my bust, 9cms/3.5" from each thigh and 7cms/2.75" from each arm. Overall that's a total of 80cms or 31.35 inches. I started off wearing size 24 jeans and I'm now nearly into 18's. I was wearing size 26/28 tops and I'm now wearing size 18/20. So all that is good. I went into Asda today and bought a new bra which was a C cup before I was a DD/E and the knickers were a 14!! Yes a big 14, but still there's a 14 on the label and they fit. LOL.

Since Monday I haven't been able to do any exercise. I think I over did it as I've had back ache since then and that's something I rarely suffer from. I've had to cancel aqua aerobics tomorrw and I think I might have to cancel Monday's deep water workout too. I think it may of been the deep water workout rather than the 5.5 mile walk that has buggered me up. The deep aqua class is really quite difficult. With a bit of luck things will be back to normal by the end of the weekend.

I'm looking forward to meeting Tina for lunch tomorrow. It will be lovely to catch up with her. :o) On Sunday it's my parents Ruby Wedding Anniversary and we're all going out for dinner on Sunday evening. I'm going to be saving a few points for then as we're going out for Chinese. Really looking forward to that. I haven't got a clue what to get them. Both of them say that they don't want anything and not to waste money on them. Really makes it difficult. They don't drink so no point getting a bottle of bubbly. I did think about making up a hamper which contains all red food and drink or has red in the title. Talking of which, why are red onions and red cabbages described as red when they are purple??? I might see if I can get a picture of the both of them blown up and put into a nice frame. My dad isn't much of a gardener. Maybe something simple to put in the garden that doesn't need a lot of looking after. I know very little about gardening myself so any ideas greatfully received. It's also my mum's uncle and aunt's Golden Wedding Anniversary on Saturday. I'm going to help mum with sorting out a hamper for them. We're going to try and find 50 things to put into it.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend. x

DAY 242 - feeling good after a long walk

2009-09-14T16:48:00.002+01:00

I've been out walking with a friend today walking for about 5.5 miles. It took us about 2 hours and our journey might of even been a bit further than that. We didn't stop at all and we got our heart rates up. Quite a bit of it was tough going as we were walking across fields and up hills and against the wind. I could really feel it in my thighs by the time I got back home. Tonight I'm also booked in for a deep aqua water workout at 7 o'clock. I've only done that once before and it's really difficult. I found it quite strange working out in the water and not being able to touch the ground. I'm willing to give it another go and I've also booked in for another class next Monday.

Exercise has been pretty good this week. After tonights class I'll of earned 32 bonus points. Good going I think. I'll probably do an exercise DVD tomorrow morning and that'll be the lot for the week. I really hope it shows on the scales. I have gone over my points by a total of 7 this week. I decided to have a topic bar and mini toffee crisp bar yesterday which took me over. TOTM is due which is probably the reason for the chocolate craving. I've got the rest of today and tomorrow to pull those back. I've still got 14 points left today so should be able to pull a few back there. At least I've got my bonus points to fall back on, but I try not to touch those. I'd better have a lose this week, I think I've worked quite hard and deserve it.

Belly dancing classes start in 8 days. I'm so looking forward to that. I can't wait. It'll be so much fun. wooo hooo.

Hope you all have an excellent week. Bye for now xxx

DAY 237, WI week 34

2009-09-09T16:39:00.005+01:00

and I lost 4.5lbs!!!! I'm over the moon with that result. I worked extra hard at it this week. I went swimming, water aerobics twice, exercise DVD twice and a little bit of walking. I made sure I weighed and measured all my food correctly and pointed everything that passed my lips. I'm so pleased with loss. I've gone down into the next stone bracket, got my 8th silver 7, my bmi has dropped to 40 (started at 51) and it's put me well into the 15's (at 15st 10.5lbs). I seem to of been hovering around the 50lbs mark for ages. Now I'm just 1lb off reaching 60lbs off. Wooooohooooo. I'm a happy girl today.

I went to the meeting today and I couldn't believe what I saw. There was loads of cars in the car park, a queue at the door and loads of people sitting down to stay for the chat. There must of been about 30 people by the time it started. That just never happened with the old WW leader. I stayed most weeks and I think that a maximum of 15 people ever stayed. More often than not there'd only be about 8-10. The area manager was at the meeting today and she weighed me. She congratulated me on my loss and said how fantastic I'd done. She pointed out that I'm not far from getting my 75lbs off certificate. (A bit premature but nice that she was aware of it.) She then asked what size I'd started at and where I'd like to get to. I've never had that response at my meetings at this venue before. Emma who takes the class asked us all how we got on and set us some 'homework'. She was playing at being a teacher today and this made the meeting quite entertaining. She wanted us to check our points, measure ourselves and read Food in Full from our folders. The meeting was a giggle and encouraging. Just what we all needed.

I tried the Natalie Cassidy Then & Now Workout DVD before going to the meeting. That was a lot more difficult than the other DVD's I've tried. I pushed myself and managed to do the majority of it. My friend that also goes to WW is going to book for us to go to water aerobics tomorrow morning in Haverhill. I've also got an aqua class booked for Friday morning in Newmarket and I've booked for next Tuesday too. I might even go swimming Monday night too. I think I need to get the polish out for my halo. LOL.

I also wanted to share my latest dessert creation. I have no idea what to call it, any ideas?

3 Tesco light choices dutch crispbakes (1pt) (only 2 in the pic as I'd already eaten 1 when I thought about taking a picture)
30g Tesco light choices extra light soft cheese (1pt)
canderel sweetner granuals
30g ww raspberry jam (1/2pt)
15og sliced strawberries (1/2pt)

Mix the cheese with sweetner granuals to taste. Spread on crispbakes. Spread the jam on top. Pile up the sliced strawberries and serve. Very quick and easy and rather tasty.

So I've had an excellent week and next week is going to be equally as good!!

Oh yeah, mum went to her WI last night and she was so happy that she lost 1.5lbs. She hadn't had a good couple of weeks but managed to pull something back after re-starting on Sunday. I'm so pleased for her.

PS. I've added a link to my facebook at the top of the page if anyone is interested.

Byeeeeeeeeeeeee xxxxxx

ABSENT, WI wk 33,BOOTSALE BARGAINS AND FEELING POSITIVE

2009-09-06T14:59:00.005+01:00

First of all I'd like to appologise for being absent for the last 9 days. I've been busy with things and haven't had time to blog. Sincere apppologies to you all.

I had WI on Wednesday and lost 1lb which brings my total weight loss to 54.5 lbs. I'm just 1.5lbs away from reaching the 15's and 4 stone off. I so want it next week. I'm pointing, weighing and tracking everything religously. Made plenty of soup and jelly to keep me going. I went swimming after WI on Wednesday and managed to do 80 lengths which is well over a mile. I went to a aqua aerobics on Friday and it was a different class to the ones I'd done before. Really liked it though. Have booked up for a class on Tuesday evening and for next Friday already. Hope to get a bit of swimming done too. I intend to get the exercise DVD's out next week. Routine returns back to normal as Ryan goes back to school. Yaaaahhh!!!! I won't have an audience when I'm bending and stretching my body around the living room.

I've got some really good news about my WW meeting. Our leader has packed it in!! I'm so pleased about that as I really didn't like her at all and she wasn't very encouraging. After going to WW for nearly 8 months she didn't even know my name. The lady now taking the class is called Emma and she's fantastic. She was a stand-in at one of my usual meetings and I've seen her at her meetings when I've missed my normal one. She showed us how to make a french onion soup for zero points and it was so tasty. I went home the same day and made some for my tea. Emma also informed us that she is the 2nd highest in the area and getting members to goal. She's only been doing it for a year so that's fantastic to hear. So now I have no need to change my class. Whoopwhoop!

I've been to several carboots over the last few days and I've added a picture of a few of my bargains. I got a set of 4 ww cookbooks, the ww Summer Sizzlers cook book and Ultimate Low Fat cook book for £1. What a bargain. The low fat cook is brilliant as all the recipes have all the NV's per portion. Very handy indeed. Already made a zero point pepper and tomato soup from it. Also got WW The Pure Points Cookbook for 50p. 2 hand bags, 2 bottles of OPI nail polish and a set of finger cymbals for when I go to belly dance classes. They all cost 50p each. A new pair of very high black shoes from Evans for £1.Also got 5 workout DVD's for £4 which consisted of 2 Davina workouts, Coleen Nolan, Natalie Cassidy and a sealed WW Claire Sweeney DVD. Already got Claire Sweeny so I'll give that to my friend.

I'm going to sit and look at them all this afternoon as Russ has taken Ryan to Alton Towers for the day. They probably won't be home until about 9 o'clock.

I've spent the morning with my mum helping her get to grips with her WW diet. I worked out how many points were in a lot of the staple food she normally eats. I've written them all down in a note book for so that she can use it for reference. She really likes the WW mayonnaise at 1/2pt for 1 tblsp, but she can have 3tblsp of helmanns extra light mayonnaise for 1/2pt. Just shows that just because it has 'Weight Watchers' on the label it doesn't necessarily mean it's the best option.

Mum went to the hospital a few months ago and they informed her that she needs a replacement knee but she needed to loose some weight first. They told her that she needs to try and loose 4 stone before she goes back to be re-assessed. Bit of a hard task to loose 4 stones in 5 months especially as she's unable to exercise. She's lost 17lbs since June and has 11 weeks before visiting the hospital again. I think she should try to loose 1.5lbs a week. That should take her to 2 1/2 stones off. My sister works at the hospital and spoke to a nurse and she seemed to think that if mum lost 2 stones, that as she'd shown that she'd been trying, that she should be considered for the knee operation. Finger's crossed she'll be told she can have it. Mum is feeling so down about not loosing weight quick enough at the moment. She feels under so much preassure and it really doesn't help at all. After our chat today she seems so much more positive about it. I don't know how she's managed to loose as much as she has considering she couldn't find her kitchen scales and has been guessing the weight of some of her food. I was able to get right into the back of the cupboards and find them for her today. So they've been placed on her work top next to her list.

I've also been thinking about who to send 'One Lovely Blog Award' to. I received this from tina 2 weeks ago. The rules are to pass this lovely award on to 15 other bloggers and to acknowledge the sender of yours. Now this is the difficult part, choosing just 15 from all the ones that I read

1) Tina http://tinasjourneywithww.blogspot.com/

2) Jackie http://shrinking-thinking.blogspot.com/

3) Sarah http://thinfor30.blogspot.com/

4) Manda http://enigmanda.blogspot.com/

5) Becky http://rebeccaprice-becky.blogspot.com/

6) Jackie http://desperatedietersdiary.blogspot.com/

7) Melissa http://myjourneymelissa200987.blogspot.com/

8) Victoria http://tordyjo.blogspot.com/

9) Jo http://jowantsasmallbum.blogspot.com/

10) Lorraine http://howmanypointsin.blogspot.com/

11) Kimberlina http://kimberlina09.blogspot.com/

12) Becks http://willdoitthisyear.blogspot.com/

13) Shaz http://shaz-chewingthefat.blogspot.com/

14) Angela http://aguilleg.blogspot.com/

15) Linz http://linzerello.blogspot.com/

I wanted to pass the award on to so many people, it was so tough choosing just 15. You're all fantastic.

Have a fantastic week everyone. I'm off to watch some DVD's xxx

DAYS 224 & 225 Things are getting better

2009-08-28T23:33:00.005+01:00

Yesterday after sulking for the morning we finally left to go to South End on Sea and arrived at 2 o'clock. I'd made myself a tuna salad and some rolls for Russ and Ryan. We had those as soon as we got there. (Did you see my halo glinting in the summer sunshine?)

After lunch we headed for the pier. We walked the length of the pier and decided against getting the train back and walked back instead. The length of the pier is 1.3 miles and it was quite nice walking along it in the sun with just the sound of the sea, the birds and the wind. I ended the day walking just over 15,000 steps according to my ww pedometer and earned 3.5 BP's. We stopped at a pub for dinner in Braintree on the way home and I had slow roasted chicken, baked potato and salad. Stuck to my points having a total of 23.

Today I got up and phoned Newmarket sports centre to see if there was any spaces for aqua aerobics. Went along to that at 12 o'clock. I really enjoyed the class and felt good when I left. When I got home I'd completly forgotten that I'd promised my son that I'd take him swimming in the evening. I prepared a chicken casserole before going out and we went off to the swimming pool in Haverhill. The pool was quite busy and we couldn't do our lengths to start off with as the kids kept darting across the pool. Then they sectioned part of the pool off so that people could do lane swimming which was so much better. We swam for 55 minutes and done 50 lengths. That wasn't too bad considering we got off to a bad start. Got home at 9.50 tonight and dinner was ready. I well and truely earnt my dinner tonight.

I love to go swimming my son. He keeps saying he wants to get fitter so I push him to keep going for as long as I can keep going. I'm quite lucky as I don't think many 14 year old boys would go swimming with their mum. It's quite funny as he keeps asking me how many points are in things that he eats. I think it's starting to rub off a little bit. He's even taken to lifting some 6 kilo hand weights each night doing 50 lifts with each arm and sometimes doing some sit ups.

I'm feeling quite good tonight, though a little tired after aqua aerobics and swimming in the space of 8 hours. I'm going to up my exercise this week. At the weekend I intend to go to my usual boot sales. Got 2 to go to on Saturday, not quite sure on Sunday as it depends where we end up going to and on Monday there'll be between 3-5 that we'll be going to. Should earn plenty of BP's with all the walking I'll be doing. I've earned 8 BP's today and I'm very pleased with that.

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My best friend Hayley and I have booked up to start Belly Dancing classes. They start in 3 weeks. We're really, really looking forward to starting them. We went to some classes 3 years ago and really enjoyed it then but we gave up due to a change of tutor. The original tutor was off sick for the majority of the time we went and she had 2 stand-ins. Now one of those ladies has become qualified to teach. We're so pleased as we really enjoyed her classes. We're going to have to dust off our veils and are jingley belts again. Woohooo, can't wait. Belly dancing is so much fun and I recommend it to anyone. It doesn't matter what size or age you are, it really is for anyone. :o).

Food choices were good today though I did end up going over by just 1/2pt. So not too bad.

Finally I've got to say a huge thank you to Tina. She sent me my first blog award which I'm really chuffed to get. Also I'd like to thank her for taking the time to e-mail me today and check that I was ok. Thank you darlin, it's much appreciated and great to know you care.

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The rules are to pass this lovely award on to 15 other bloggers and to acknowledge the sender of yours. I read so many blogs and it's going to be hard to choose from them all. I'm going to think about it over the weekend and list who I'm going to send them to over the weekend.
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I hope everyone has a lovely bank holiday weekend. The weather here is supposed to be really nice. I love it when the sun shines xxx

DAY 223 - WI week 32....

2009-08-27T00:42:00.003+01:00

.....and I gained 1.5lbs this week! I wasn't expecting that at all. It's left me feeling totally pissed off. I'd gone over my points by a few this week, but not an awful lot and the bonus points I earned through exercise should of covered it.

I went to an evening meeting instead of a morning one and I'm so annoyed that I've gained. I'd had the grand total of 4 points up to leaving WW and then what did I do, go in the petrol station and pick up a Galaxy Ripple. I could of quite easily scoffed one of those twin pack of galaxy bars. I'd scoffed the velvety chocolate witin 1/2 a mile of leaving the garage. Then when I got home some friends were coming round for dinner and I'd done bbq ribs, sausages and was intending to do myself a piece of chicken. I couldn't be arsed with the chicken, instead I had 4 ribs (3.5pts maybe, not quite sure), 3 sausages (8pts) and 2 finger rolls (4pts) a couple of potatoes that at least I'd cooked in light spray (2pts) and plenty of salad. Oh yeah, not forgetting the bit of sauce and light mayo. Then I sat and had an ice lolly, 2 WW chocolate bars and a go ahead bar. How fucking stupid was that??

I've just sat and worked out my points and I've had at least 32. I need a kick up the bloody arse. Aaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggghhhhhhhhhh I'm so annoyed at myself. It's the first major blow out that I've had since joining WW. If I had more chocolate, sweets, cakes or biscuits in the house I'd of probably sat and scoffed my way through the lot. Thank god I don't have any!

Tomorrow we're all off to South End so I guess I'll be able to get some bonus points with a bit of walking. I might even walk the length of the pier and back. I really need to do some extra exercise this week if I'm going to claw back those extra points I've had already. It's not going to be easy with it being a bank holiday weekend.

Bugger, I'm still annoyed at myself. What the fuck did I do it for?????