75.5kgs UGH, but can't be sad.

it's the end of April 2017. I've put on weight again. My fault. entirely. I ate the food. I drank the wine. I lived.
I wish I weighed less. But you can't have both - eating and drinking with friends and those you love - and stay thin. Unless you are vomiting it up. And that ain't gonna happen. So it means I'm just going to have to be good again. And exercise.

74kgs autumnal plateau

I want to lose weight again. BUT I want to also have a life. It's the lead-up to Christmas so there are lots of events. The interim nights are spent focusing on diet, what's going into my mouth, the exercise I'm doing, putting calories in, burning calories up, ageing. I will be going through menopause in time, so I know that it's only going to get harder and harder to lose weight.
It's essential that I have a goal. I have a lush dinner soon. That's goal Mark I. small steps....

74.9kgs end of summer hols

So 2016 has been a mixed bag. Things started falling apart a bit over the May Bank Holiday when we spent the weekend with Cath, Charl, Jax & Claudio. Too much pizza being consumed, and very few options. I find the slide into baguettes with slatherings of butter is a slippery slope to FatBettiness. Hence my gaining about 2.5kgs between May and July. Then 2 weeks of holidays in France and eating out every day meant that I put on another kilo, so here I sit with about 3kgs that I need to try and kick. I've gone back to WeightWatchers - it's really the only way to win. I will be there forever and for always. Regular meetings, regular support. It's the only way!

71.5kgs to 72.5kgs

I made GOLD ! at Weightwatchers. whoop whoop!
Can't believe I've been messing around with a final pound (lb) for nearly a year. Well, a whole year, to be fair. But I'm there, which means no more subs. It goes up, it goes down. But generally I'm staying ontop of things. Ta-da! Hurrah!

72.2kgs - gotta get it off

So our lovely Italian trip meant I gained 2.2kgs that I just could not shake. Drinking heavily and feeling very low because of the Zack situation, meant that I just couldn't get things back on track no matter how hard I tried. Roll on the half-term break and a trip to Greece where I didn't have to shop, prepare, cook or serve a meal for 7 days. perfect !
I got to eat salads every day, and steer completely clear of meat. It was only the last day that I had a meat feast. I also tried really hard to say goodbye to carbs - always a tough one. It's been a good reboot. Of course, I didn't hold back on the booze and had a few cocktails every day, but since coming back I haven't had a glass of wine - 4 days already. I intend to have a lovely drink tomorrow night to celebrate my WW weigh-in day, and a launch event in the evening with friends.
I've also gone back to training once a week, and have stopped taking the pain meds for my neck. You gotta pick it up again.

My current favourite YouTube personality is SuzelleDIY - a South African phenomenon. Her most recent DIY session is co-hosted with paleo nutrition guru Prof Tim Noakes. I'm really interested in his ideas on nutrition, that and raw food.

71.9kgs - hard to stay down low

I didn't get to WW this week - our therapy session ran over what with one thing and the next. But I'm feeling a bit blue about the weight thing so I wasn't hugely motivated to go. We had a big party on Sat night and then yesterday I went to Kosher Kingdom with Ajay and bought a mountain of pitta bread and hummus. It's just plain bad news - it's so tasty. Forget the "no carbs" story - I just tucked in. Hmmm... trying to be good now. Must be strong through the rest of the week.

72.7kgs

I've lost a little and gained a little, and done it all again. But here is where I've found myself this Christmas. Whoop! Whoop! to being a stone lighter than last year. But I do need to renew the effort and lost a good chunk in the New Year. Merry Christmas one and all.

72.1kgs stasis

Always nice to have a bit of eye-candy. So here they are! they're gorgeous.
And on the downside, I have not managed to lose a thing in 2 months. I can blame it on lots of things - holidays in Italy, having Mum staying with me for 2 months (ah - correlation), etc. etc. But it's now time to get focused again. It's so hard when the weather is cold though. Boo!
I am trying hard tho' so watch this space.

72.1kgs it is shoe shopping time

I decided some time ago that once I got to the 73kilos mark, I would need to go shoe shopping. And I don't mean shoe shopping, I mean SHOE shopping.
I had wanted a pair of Louboutins, I had oggled them. I visited the shop in Paris and pressed my little middle-class nose against the windows. I decided to visit the Mount Street shop - a part of Mayfair I've never wandered. It was glamorous, it wasn't very busy, the service was slack. S-L-A-C-K.
And the shoes were very uncomfortable. I had dreamt that they would be sexy and hot and wow! but.... they weren't.

So I walked next door and bought a glorious pair of sexy shoes at Nicholas Kirkwood.

And they are totally amazing. They aren't black and I look at them regularly and think how wonderful they are... which means I should never have bought a pair of Loubies, and I didn't. Hurrah!

72.8kgs - hold on. hold on.

we made it. It's been so hard. I eat like a wee bird.
Dealing with all the other shite in my life means I'm drinking too much right now, so expect the number to rise. Not much for it - something's gotta give. I hope to continue the "good work" in the weeks to come - it's just very hard at the moment.
Viva vegetables. Viva!

73.8kgs

De fat beeyatch is now de skinny beeyatch.
Yes, despite all the shite in my life this past week I have managed to lose another 2 1/2 pounds of mighty aphrodite. This means that I am now in the 73kgs zone and that equals a trip to a certain very high end shoe retailer. My reward for getting to a goal.

74.4kgs and it's been a month... hmmmm

So it's been about a month, and I haven't lost a whole lot. My local WW meeting has closed down. Meh! Started a new one. I'm now eating rice cakes for recreation (who would EVER have guessed?!), and sipping my alcohol with caution. Salads all 'round but still not able to kick the need for latté (full fat please barista, or semi at the very least). I will be breaking the 74kgs barrier this week - I will be down to 73kgs next week :)
Yes! hold your breath

74.9kgs to 75.5kgs bing bang bong

I been a good girl. Huzzah! Tomorrow night I fly away to an exotic location with a small blue polka-dot bikini in my suitcase. I wanted to weight 75kgs before I left... and I DID IT ! I shouldn't be so surprised but I am. I'm going to be 43 this year, and it's always harder to lose weight when you're older. I have very steadily lost, and lost, and lost. Weightwatchers has worked well and I've found it easy to swallow and follow. I am turning into a vegetable-bake (courgette is the green of choice) and (brazil) nut junkie - it's all good. I'm still training twice a week with Sufyan, I've cancelled by gym membership at the Lab (waste of money really), and will be cycling more and more too - the Nightrider event is in 2 months time, so my time is going to be cut out for me when I get back from my hols. Beep Beep.
What would I change ? Learn to be more self-motivated about the exercise.

it's all in yer 'ead

Trying not to overthink "motivation"... what it is? what it does? what it achieves? goal-setting, and I mean REAL goal setting - where you know EXACTLY what it is you want to achieve. No fuzzy edges. So, I wanted to lose weight for Keith's 40th - which was last Saturday night. I think I looked happy, fabulous, slim (mer) than normal. It was a key 'marker' in the weight-loss plan.

Now I need to stay on track - stay motivated - stay focused. I want to lose enough to confidently wear a bikini on holiday in 8 weeks time. Yes, 8 weeks. I need to really have a clear idea in my mind - BIKINI. Sunshine. holidays. relaxing. fresh fruit. It's so real I can almost touch it :)

That means I want to lose at least another 5 kilos. 78kgs minus 5 equals 73kgs : which is what I weighed when I conceived baby #1.

I can do this!

double time

So things are going well. Reading my book on Willpower and thinking about the "how" of losing weight and sticking to a diet. One of the big things about goal setting and goal-reaching is telling people that you're on the path, doing the thang, going to succeed.

Suf is enthused and has put my training up to twice a week. What fun! what pain :(

And on we go.

1.8kgs off - WeightWatchers whoop! whoop!

And so it begins. We're on the downhill run now.
Few depressing statistics. I started off last week weighing in at 180lbs. I lost 4lbs which means that I'm 176lbs. I find the conversions from pounds to kilos takes up oodles of my time. yawn!
Anyhoooooo....
my BMI says that I should we anything UNDER 70kgs. That is 9kgs +
I think that means that I'm NEVER going to be a Gold Member of Weight Watchers as I'd be happy to just weigh 72kgs, nevermind 70kgs. Or less. Guess we'll wait and see.

79.7kgs joining Weight Watchers

Yup. Suf suggested I focus on getting more bang for my buck and he's right. I think it's something that wore down training with Mike. And will probably wear down training with Suf. But that's life - I want to train and will have to keep changing my trainer every few years, so that I stay enthused, encouraged, challenged. Each one's style is different. Hurrah!
So Suf said I need some goals, and one of them is losing weight. Going on the Paleo diet isn't REALLY enough, so I've joined WW.
It's good to do it in a year when there are a few goals to aim for :
1. Keith's 40th - 22 January
2. Keith's 40th party - 8 February
3. beach holiday in Thailand - 8 April
4. Cycling challenges - May and June
5. Two weeks in Tuscany - August

Need to cycle more!

too much booze

The wheat free, or shall I saw "low" wheat diet is going well. I'm not missing eating bread at all. Nor am I consuming butter. And the two together are not a good combination, so it's a win! However, I have found that I'm substituting ice-cream at 10pm... now I understand my brother's ice-cream eating binges. [light bulb moment].
The weight has come down a bit, but it's been a crazy week of alcohol. Last night was the year-end social for the parents, and then today's double-whammy:  Hemmo's birthday at Iberica in Canary Wharf. We just drank red wine and ate deep-fried tapas, cheese, oily sausages, etc. (what the Spanish do best). Came home and made dinner for friends and thought I can't really face any more wine. So it's no wine for me for a while. I've started thinking I'm on the verge of alcohol poisoning or something... I just feel like it's too much.

80.6kgs eating protein

Sooooo... I have started reading about Mark Sisson, and Paleo. I'm feeling full all the time. Waking up in the morning I really don't want to eat egg. sigh. but I do. I'm eating more courgette than I thought was possible. And trying my damndest to have veg and protein for lunch and dinner. Feeling full means I don't always want to tho'. Also, I've found that my penchant for lattés is waning.

82.2kgs a new beginning ?

So Sufyan (my personal trainer) and I had a sit down on Friday and talked about goal-setting and the game plan. He proposed that I lose 10kgs (or more) in the next 3 months. it's possible. I know it is. He's proffered the "low carb" diet as an approach, and I've done a bit of reading on it. A "bit" being the operative word here.
Yesterday was Day 1, and my mouth felt dry and my tongue felt like I'd burnt it for most of the day. One of the write-ups I'd read said you'll struggle with bad breath, and as such I've been super-breath-aware. Boo! it does affect your breath. Yuck!
On the positive side though - I have felt full and not hungry. So you don't feel like you're on a starvation course.
Today was Day 2, and I remembered to take my multivitamin AND my fish-oil tabs (whoohoo!). I also remembered to have 2 glasses of red wine, 2 slices of cheese and few pieces of penne pasta.
Tomorrow I see Sufyan again.

I'm back on my bike which is a happy happy thing.