Weekly Update and SCC week 9 review

I nearly didn't write this update. I am about ready to give up, or do something drastic. This week I exercised 5 times, ate within my points every day except for Saturday (which would have been covered by the extra activity points I earned), got 2l of water every day, and had what I consider to be a "good week". So I should be celebrating a loss and giving my halo a polish. But I gained 1 1/2lbs. For no reason. I can't blame my monthly cycle, because I'm right in the middle of it. I'm perfectly healthy, not suffering from a cold or any other ailments. I sweated through a run, two zumba sessions, a pilates session and a legs, bums and tums DVD. I mostly ate clean, not too many carbs, lots of fruit and veg, lean meat and dairy. Over the weekend I had a few biscuits and an extra slice of bread, I refuse to believe a that would make me gain a pound and a half. Plus like I said, on the Weight Watchers system you can earn extra points from activity, and over the week I clocked up more than enough. I can't give up any more of the things I love! I drink mostly water and have almost completely given up caffiene - I used to drink almost 2 litres of diet coke a day, now I have a small 500ml bottle once a week and only allow myself one decaff coffee a day - which I don't even have any milk in. I snack on fruit, veg and rice cakes, instead of crisps, biscuits and bread. I never drink alcohol except special occasions - I've had a drink 3 times this year, whereas I would usually have a bottle of wine in the fridge on the go, and have a glass or two a few times a week. So why am I struggling to much? Why am I gaining weight when I look at what my diet and activity was like before compared to now and it is so different? I am so frustrated, and fed up. Two steps forward and one step back. I could cry.

I met my Spring Chick Challenge goal this week. I wanted to work out 5 times and I did:

Wednesday - rest day
Thursday - 30 minute run
Friday - 50 minute Legs, Bums and Tums DVD
Saturday - 20 mins Zumba + 10 mins Wii Fit
Sunday - 20 mins Zumba + 10 mins Wii Fit
Monday - 50 mins pilates DVD

This week I'll aim for the same if not more - some activity every day, even if it's just 20 minutes Zumba or a walk. This week's challenge is to try a new recipe - which is something I love doing anyway so I'll be sure to blog about it too. I got a new WW mag at my meeting today, so I'll try something from there.

I am so disheartened. I want this so badly, I am trying so hard, I can honestly say that since my birthday I have barely put a foot wrong, but I'm not seeing the results. It's all I think about, but it's making me miserable. I just don't know what to do any more.

January Blues...

I haz them. I can't get going with this at all. The amount of food I ate yesterday was ridiculous and I have exercised a total of once this week. Can you say fail?

Lots of things are making me feel this way, and there's not a lot I can do about them. Financially, we are struggling to say the least. Mr F-G-S spent a few months in 2011 unemployed, and just over a year ago the company he was working for then went bankrupt, owing him about £4k. So although he now has a steady job, it's bringing in less money than we're used to and we're still catching up from the time he wasn't working. He's actually working two jobs at the moment - his regular one during the day and as a delivery driver a couple of evenings a week. He's asked for more shifts at his second job which means that while he's earning more money he's also not around in the evenings to help with the kids and so that I can go running. I am not going to make my goal of completing Couch to 5k by my birthday, which makes me want to give up altogether. It also means I don't get to see him in the evenings. Which actually isn't a bad thing because we are getting on each others nerves.... But having no money means I can't get the kids to their activities and see my friends too - so a lack of adult company is driving me mad! The only time I get out of the house is to take Ollie to school, and when he's not at school he and his brother are constantly fighting. Seriously yesterday I felt like just looking myself in the bathroom and just letting them fight to the death.

Food wise, I'm generally making good choices. Porridge made with water for breakfast, soup for lunch and a dinner of under 10pp, plus my 2l of water means I have leeway to have a few sensible snacks during the day. But sensible doesn't mean two pork pies and a packet of crisps... I don't even know why I'm stuffing my face like this. I got a pack of crisps from the cupboard the other day, then said to myself that I didn't need them and that I was better than that and put them back. Only to grab them an hour later and have them anyway. Urgh.

Also, for some reason my birthday is a source of impending gloom. I'm turning 30 on Feb 1st and for some reason I am dreading it. I really don't know why, I've never been one to worry about birthdays or getting old but I'm really not looking forward to it. I'm sure part of it is the fact that we wont be doing anything to celebrate it, again due to the money issue. A night out plus babysitter is just too expensive, and we don't have any family close enough to help out.

I need to shake up my workout, I'm bored of Zumba, much as I love it, and I feel like Wii fit isn't doing as much as it could do. It just isn't inspiring me to get on with it. Ideally I would love to get to the gym or a class, but again childcare and cost is an issue. I have a couple of DVDs that I would like to get into again, but we don't have a remote for our DVD player and I can't get past the first menu LOL. I've tried following some videos online but my screen is too small and my eyesight is not up to squinting while I jump around!

Solutions:

• Stalk Freecycle for a DVD player/exercise DVDs
• Walk with the buggy while Ollie is at school
• Stop eating like a greedy dog and being a whiny little bitch!
• Use the time I have in the evenings to do something for myself.
• Get out of the house more, although to what I don't know...

I feel like I need a good slap to get me out of this mood. Someone needs to take me by the shoulders and shake me! I went on Pinterest last night and found some workouts I can do at home, and am going to try this one in addition to whatever else I can manage.

I also have pinned the next 3 levels, join me on Pinterest here. If you want to join just ask and I'll send you an invite.

 This weekend I am going to stick to a very simple diet - fruit, veggies, low fat dairy and fish - avoid carbs as much as possible and generally eat cleaner in the hopes that a detox of sorts will make me feel better. And knock off the pounds... Now I just need some motivation....

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

It's been a bad week...

I don't know what has gotten into me this week, but I just haven't been able to stop stuffing my face! Bread, sweets, biscuits, cheese - anything and everything. I've still been eating my healthy main meals, but having a slice of bread with it, or a sandwich mid afternoon, or a packet of crisps in the evening. THen once I've had one bad thing it's like I can't stop. Shocking behavior Helen! And not even any exercise to counteract it. I know I am going to have a gain tomorrow on the scales, let's just hope it's not a big one...

I seem to have righted myself again today, having had fruit and yoghurt for breakfast, then ran to the park and chased the kids around for a while before running back, and then having a nice big bowl of veg soup for lunch. Tuna salad planned for dinner and then maybe some Wii fit aswell to hopefully minimise the damage. Better late than never I suppose.

I'm attributing this funk to cutting down on the amount of diet coke I'm drinking. All I've had in the last 4 or 5 days in half a glass, whereas I could sometimes get through a litre or more in a day before. It's seriously addictive stuff! It's terrible but I get awful headaches sometimes, and the only thing that will sort it out is to drink a diet coke. I wont give it up completely, but I've pledged myself that I'll only drink it with meals, or in the evening, and only after I've drunk at least half of my 2l of water for the day. We'll see how that goes... I'm going cold turkey on the cheese too - one little blob of cottage cheese is like a gateway drug and a few hours later I'm onto the extra mature cheddar .

What do you do on days (or weeks!) like this? Any tips gratefully accepted!

Hx