Weekly Weigh In and SCC Update

Morning,

I had a good result on the scales this morning, but it's somewhat bittersweet as I have flu and have eaten very little since Friday. I don't think I've had more than 10 ProPoints any day the whole weekend, and yesterday my total was 6 (I'm usually allowed 29 a day plus a weekly allowance of 49) since I've just felt so sick. So although I weighed in at 2lbs less than last week, I'm pretty sure it's not a true representation. Although I have been drinking gallons of water (4 litres yesterday) so I know I'm not dehydrated, it's going to be interesting to see what happens this week once I am feeling better.

Previous weight: 13st 9 1/2lbs (191.5lbs)
Current weight: 13st 7 1/2lbs (189.5lbs)
+/-: -2lbs

I am hoping to at least maintain this week, as I've now entered the 180s!

Last weeks goals were:

Lose at least 1lb so that I enter my 30s at my lowest weight ever - Yep! 30 tomorrow....
3 workouts at least, including a swim and something new - nope :( I ordered myself a skipping rope though, and a little birdy told me that a Jillian Michaels surprise might be waiting for me in the morning...
Cheer the eff up! - Yes! A good night out really helped, even if I have been at deaths door ever since...

This weeks goals:

Maintain my weight at least, lose if I can.

Work out! Anything is better than nothing. Re-do week 3 of C25k minimum.

Continue to track and drink 2l of water.

Spring Chick Mini Challenge: Go caffeine free. Think I can do this. I barely drink any diet coke any more, and I'm sure if I want coffee I can cope with decaff. As it happens I've just run out of regular coffee and only have decaff in the cupboard, so if I do my usual trick of forgetting to buy more anyway it wont be hard!

Tomorrow is my birthday, so I will be hibernating. Not looking forward to it for a variety of reasons so plan to mope about and act like a sulky teenager all day. Then Thursday I'm going to put on my big girl panties and get over it! Onwards and upwards!

Now I need bed and a box of tissues...

Hx

Unexpected Motivation

I haven't been running in a long while. I think the last time I went was sometime in the week between Christmas and New Year and work schedules, the weather and lame excuses have prevented me from going since. I say lame excuses because they are just that, lame. I have a new phone which runs on Windows 7 instead of Android and the Couch to 5k app wasn't available. I could have just used my old phone which Mr FGS is now using though... And now that a free Couch to 5k app for Windows phones is available I haven't had the time to sort out my running playlist on my new phone, and I can't run without music. Lame right? Anyway, I went out last night for a girly meal and a boogie with some friends who are also doing Weight Watchers and a particular song came on that I always run to. A friend and I both jumped up and said at the same time "I always run to this!" before shaking our thang like drunken idiots...

So, while I was there, throwing some shapes, I realised how much I miss running. It always seems like such an effort to wrestle myself into my sports bra, put on my trainers and go out in the cold and dark and run, but once I'm out there I enjoy it, and I feel good when I get back. Just hearing that song again has motivated me to get back into running. Tomorrow though, running with a hangover probably isn't a good idea...

I had gotten up to week 5 on Couch to 5K, but I am going to go back to week 3 and see how I get on. Maybe I can go straight back to week 4 or 5, maybe I'll have to start again, we'll see. But as long as I'm pounding the pavements with my favourite songs in my ears, I don't think I'll care :)

Moo-oo-ooo-oo-ooo-ooo-oo-ooo-oooves like Jagger!

In case anyone's interested, I updated the measurements in my "Stats" page (click the tab along the top). I'm only 2 1/2 lbs lighter now than when I last did it, but a few cm have been shed from my waist, arms and bust. I said I would post a pic once a month, and it has been a little longer than that, but here's a pic of me all dolled up last night.

Cheeky chops had to get in the picture!

6 months ago I wouldn't have dreamed of even trying to get my fat legs into calf high boots, let alone over the knee ones.  AND I spent the night pulling them up as they kept slipping down. Small NSV there, I think, in just having the confidence to try them, and then actually wear them out!

I had a GREAT night last night. This morning I have no voice, the nail polish rubbed off my big toes from dancing so much, my handbag reeks of vodka, we ended up in a gay bar and I dropped my phone in the toilet at 4am when I got home. I think all in all that adds up to a success!

Have you ever had any unexpected motivation?

Hx

Spring Chick Challenge

I've signed up for the Spring Chick Challenge, started by Stormy at Big Butt Theory as a way to get myself motivated for the New Year and get off to a good start. The challenge starts on Monday 2nd Jan and ends Monday 19th March, and here is what I am committing to in that time...

1. Non-Scale Victory

• Complete couch to 5k (hopefully by 1st Feb, my 30th birthday :eek:)
• Comfortably run 20 minutes without stopping
• Comfortable size 16

2. Nutrition

• Water 2l per day
• 29 PP
• Tracked on WW esource
• NO Tuesday post-weigh in blow outs...

3. Exercise

• 3 hours per week - either 3 hours or 6 half hours - running, zumba, wii fit, swimming

4. Blog at least twice a week, with one of these being a challenge update.

5. Give (and receive) support to other people taking up the challenge!

Hello to any new followers reading my ramblings from the challenge! Stormy has asked us to introduce ourselves, so here I am...

Name: Helly/Helen/H
Blog URL: www.f-g-s.blogspot.com
Email: helen_louise_is at yahoo dot co dot uk

Facebook: Helen England (if you add me tell me it's for the challenge!)
Twitter: @HellBellUk
Age: 29 (soon to be 30 :/)
Location: Bedfordshire, UK (about 50 miles north of London, which is my hometown)

I will update with a starting weight and weight loss goal on Tuesday after my weigh in...


UPDATE: Starting weight 13st12lbs (194lbs)
Goal: 13st (182lbs)

So, there we go! Good luck everyone!

Hx

Coping with Christmas

Christmas is a difficult time of year for many people, not just diet and exercise wise, but emotionally and mentally too. I have certainly found my stress levels rising over the last few weeks, and we're not even hosting Christmas at our house this year. And, for me at least, when my stress levels rise, my food habits deteriorate into something less than desirable. I thought I would write a post on how I'm planning to stay in control this Christmas (and New Year!).

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My last Weight Watchers meeting is on Tuesday (20th), and we miss a week before going back on the 3rd of January. The temptation to just have 2 weeks "off" is [i]huge[/i], and I know two friends of mine are doing that, but I am going to try my hardest not to. Usually on a Tuesday after my weigh in I do allow myself an "off" day, where I wont count my points, perhaps have a meal out or cook a meal I wouldn't usually eat or a drink or two, and my worry is that I'll just continue this for two weeks! Especially as I have some baking to do and a Christmas Cake to ice. I will have my usual "treat" on Tuesday (perhaps a Christmassy themed one so I don't feel left out!), but am planning to go straight back into it on Wednesday with my porridge for breakfast, soup for lunch routine that works so well for me. I'll carry that on until Saturday, Christmas Eve, when we are travelling to Birmingham to spend the next 3 days with Mr FGS's family, and staying with my sister in law (stick thin, seems to live on tea and water. Grr.)

Now because we are not at home Christmas day itself there wont be lots of Christmas nibbles, leftovers, cheese etc there. So, as soon as we get back on the 26th I can get back into it. Realistically, it will be the 27th, meaning I'll only have 3 days "off". Plus, staying with the aforementioned SIL I can't imagine there'll be loads of snacks around, everyone knows I've been on a diet so wont be buying me chocolate so as long as I avoid the kids sweeties (there will be 5 children there) I shouldn't do too much damage. Unless she sends me back with loads of leftovers that is (I am worried she's going to send me home with 3/4 of the Christmas cake I've made as only me and the father in law like it and he lives in Spain so wont be taking it home with him).

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Alcohol, though, is a different matter. I don't drink much any more, in fact hardly anything. This year, I've only been 'drunk' twice. Once was at my best friend's wedding in May, and the other time was when a friend held a psychic evening and I was so nervous I had my reading last out of 12 people and got drunk first (and subsequently can barely remember a word he told me...). Mr FGS is a big drinker, and everyone in his family (apart from SIL) likes a drink. So, alcohol will be in abundance, no doubt. If I don't drink they will all think I'm pregnant again (for good reason, that's what happened 2 years ago...). For me, drinking leads to eating. If I have a hangover, I crave carbs and greasy food the whole day, I guess to level out my sugar levels. So, moderation for me. I don't like getting drunk and not being in control in front of other people (or eating a lot - another bonus) so as long as glass after glass isn't forced into my hands I should be able to stay in control.

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Then, I have almost a week before the New Year celebrations start. We don't have any plans yet, but whatever we do there will be food and alcohol involved. I hope on New years Eve to be able to stick to plan all day, then the damage done in the evening should be controllable. I am also going to limit my alcohol intake so I don't have another "hangover day" on New Years Day, and get straight back on plan on the 2nd.

To balance out the excesses, I'm going to up my exercise in the hopes I can limit the damage. Wednesday 21st and Friday 23rd I plan on going for a run, which hopefully will see me complete week 5 of C25K. I'm hoping I'll have time to fit in a Zumba sesh or two as well, although my evenings will be taken up with baking, wrapping, cake decorating and packing (and doing my nails, naturally). The week in between Christmas and New Year Mr FGS has off work, so I'm hoping to be able to fit in a family walk or two, and maybe a swim. I think I can sometimes lack energy around this time of year too, so getting plenty of exercise will help with that too.

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Now, while I don't think I can lose any weight over the Christmas period, I think if I can stick to this plan I'll manage to maintain my weight and not gain any. What do you think? Am I being realistic? Will the lure of the chocolate orange be too much to bear?

Whether it's stress, emotions, or just temptation that are threatening your good habits this year, how are you planning to cope with it? Are you going to have 2 weeks "off" completely, stick rigidly to your plan, or go with a bit of give and take like I am? I've come to realise I can have the things I want, I just can't have everything I want, and I'm happy with that. Please share your coping strategies!

Hx

Weekly Weigh In

It's Tuesday and you know what that means! I put on the lightest clothes I own and pay £5.99 to go and queue up to stand on a scale! Haha, cynical, moi? Anyway this week I lost 1 1/2 lbs :) I always say "I'm happy with that", and this week, well I am! I was really unsure how I would do as although I've been eating really very well and stuck rigidly to my points allowance, hormones have been in play and I've had very little energy, so the exercise has been a bit lack lustre. Since I had my son (and a Depoprovera injection 6 weeks later, which I suspect is more the culprit) my cycle has been messed up, and this was the first time since I was a teenager that I've ever felt in the slightest bit pre-menstrual. As soon as AF did arrive it was like a weight had been llifted, and hopefully now I've sent her packing again I can get back into the swing of things.

I only managed two c25k runs this week, on Monday and Wednesday, and though I should now move onto week 4 I think when I get out tomorrow I am going to repeat one more day of week 3. I'm still not 100% comfortable with 3 minutes of running - although if I'm honest I do think if I had a flat circuit I'd manage it easily. But I can't come up with a circuit in my local area without any incline so I'll stick to waht I have a repeat a day, especially as I've had such a long gap between runs. I have been doing Zumba and Wii fit in between runs though, so I'm not just sitting on my sizeable bum!

In other news, I'm thinking of taking some pics to post - maybe once a month? Hopefully then I'll be able to see the changes in my body shape for myself, and it'll spur me on even more. I have been getting lots of lovely compliments lately, which always makes me smile :)

Hope you've had a good week too!

Hx

C25k Week 3 Day 1

GIFSoup

My thighs hurt.

C25K Week 2

Today I did the week 2 day 1 run from the Couch to 5k plan, and it felt good! I took slightly longer doing week one due to my ear infection, so was wondering whether I should repeat week 1 for another day but I'm glad I went onto week two. Last week I ran on Wednesday, Saturday and then Wednesday again (it should have been Monday) and on Wednesday's run I felt like I could run for longer than the 60 seconds if I wanted to. So today instead of 60 second runs and then 90 second walks I did 90 second runs and 2 minute walks with no problem! Yay me :) There were 6 intervals over the 20 minute running time, and the first 3 were fine. The fourth was the hardest as by the time I got to that part in my circuit it's slightly uphill and but by the 5th and 6th I'd recovered again.

I was worried about going out tonight, since it's Guy Fawkes night and I thought there would be lots of people going to bonfire parties out and about (since I nearly knocked a child over in week one I'm nervous of other people on the pavement!) but it was actually quieter than usual. There weren't even any leery boys smoking outside the pub. I got to run through the cold smoky air and watch firework displays as I did. Maybe I'll learn to love this running malarky, who'da thunk it?

Feeling positive in general this week, I've worked hard and eaten will so hoping for a good loss on Tuesday - we shall see! Thank you for your lovely comments :)

Feeling snacky now, so as soon as I hit 'publish' I'm going to bed to avoid temptation!

Hx

Weekly Weigh In - illness = a bad week

Hi loves, a short and sweet post since I have an ear infection and can't see straight! I've had a cold for what seems like weeks and this weekend it came to a head. I felt rough on Saturday but pushed on, did my second C25k run fine and got ready to go and visit my Dad on Sunday. Sunday morning I woke up with raging earache, took some paracetamol, had no breakfast and then went to my Dads, where I had a huge dinner of toad in the hole and roast potatoes, then cheese on toast and lots of nibbles all day. Yesterday, I tried to be good, just having fruit for breakfast and soup for lunch, but I couldn't face a trip to the shops to stock up on fruit so I ended up eating the wrong things and the result of all that was that I gained a pound and a half this week :( This morning I feel 100 times worse than I did yesterday but I forced myself to go to weigh in and face up to it! I'm glad I did as in the past one bad week has deterred me from going back, and I don't want that to happen.

So, hopefully tomorrow I'll be feeling better as I have some medicine to help the dizzyness. I'm going to find some new recipes to try and write a full meal plan for the week this evening, and finish my first C25k week tomorrow morning (running in daylight, eek!). I haven't managed to do any of my ab exercises last week, so in between C25k runs I'm going to do a wii fit tummy routine and the post natal abdominal separation pilates, and really get back on track. I will lose this 1 1/2 lb this week and get back on track. Earache will not beat me!

How have you done this week? Have you had this awful cold that wont go away? I can see some vitamin c tablets in my future...

Hx

Couch to 5K

Hi everyone,

Last night I went on my first ever proper "run" completely on my own without having to stop every two seconds because someone needs their nose wiped or has fallen off their scooter (and I'm only taking about Mr F-G-S here, never mind the children...) I stumbled across the Couch to 5k plan though a facebook friend, googled it and downloaded the app and podcasts straight away.

Basically, the plan is designed to get you from being a non-runner (sounds like a dodgy car...) to being able to run comfortably for half an hour in 9 short weeks. You run three times a week with a rest day inbetween. Week one starts off with a brisk warm up walk for 5 minutes, and then intervals of running for 60 seconds, then walking for 90 seconds for 20 minutes total, and then a cool down walk for another 5 minutes. Each week the running interval will increase slightly and eventually you'll be running the whole way...

I downloaded a podcast to my phone, where the C25k plan's creator Robert Ullrey talks you through the plan, tells you when to run and walk, and plays some good running music, but there is also an app available that you can set to your own music - and you get a "beep" when it's time for the next interval. I used the podcast last night, but think when I go again over the weekend I'll use my own music and only use the podcasts for the first run of each week.

I found it surprisingly liberating running on my own, in the dark at my own pace, and the route I took was 1.6 miles - or about 3k. It'll be interesting to see if I get to the full 30 minutes (about 5k - hence the name) in the 9 weeks - but you can also repeat a week if you're not sure you can manage the next one. It's all about going at your own pace, which is great for me. Now as long as I get time to do it each week (Mr F-G-S works some evenings although I could do it with the pram) and don't end up injuring myself I think I could really get into it. We'll see! I'll also have to get myself some new trousers, as I spent my "running" intervals holding my joggers up so they wouldn't fall down!

You can read more about the plan here and download the podcasts here.

Have you tried this? What did you think?

Hx

Operation Fit and Fabulous Update - Week 5

A quick update on Operation Fit and Fabulous!

Week 5's mission was to jazz it up food wise. We had to try something new and share a favourite recipe. I tried a new soup and stir fry, and shared the recipes with the rest of the team, and tried someone else's chorizo cassoulet - yummy! I've also been considering going vegetarian again - I was veggie for over 10 years until I fell pregnant and was terribly anaemic (and craved chicken chow mein...) and as I've been having lots of pulses and beans in my food this week I've found I don't miss meat when I don't have it. It's something to think about anyway. As far as the rest of the missions are concerned, I think I'm doing ok! Getting my water most days, exercise is 3ish hours a week, 5 a day check! Morning pages not so much... I get up when the children do which varies between 5am and 7am so I can't really set an alarm 15mins early for it. But when I'm not rushing around making packed lunches and finding lost socks and can devote a bit of time for it I find it clears my head and helps me set out what to do for the day.

This weeks mission, Attack is the best defence, is a good one for me. We have to target an area of our body that we are unhappy about, and basically do something about it! While there are many areas of my body that bother me (it'd be quicker to tell you which parts don't to be honest...) I have lost over 2 stone, but not in proportion and I feel like my stomach is still as big as it was before. Of course it isn't, but it's not shrinking as quickly as I'd like it to, and it's the only part of me that's making me uncomfortable now. Of course I have had two children, and I've always been a big girl, so it's never going to be a washboard. When you're pregnant your abs separate to allow your womb and growing baby through, and I don't think mine ever went back together as I have a vertical line down the middle of my tummy! I think it's pretty common, but I'm going to try this postnatal ab routine every day, even though the 'baby' is 15 months old now! I am also starting the couch to 5k running plan - I just have to find time to get out of the house and run three times a week...and somewhere safe to do it now the evenings are dark or my other half is going to make me wear one of his building site high vis jackets... More on that tomorrow!

Are there any areas of your body that bother you the most? How do you tackle them? Anyone experienced Postnatal Abdominal Seperation?

Hx