A weighty issue

Many moons ago I told you all (sounds like I have hundreds of readers! that would be nice by the way!) how I wanted to be fit and fabulous by time I'm forty! I called it my 3 F's challenge got myself all psyched up started wearing actual clothes other than jeans and a tee, brushed my hair at least once a day, when I can find the hair brush of course! I even wear make-up now and have bought myself new clothes but one thing that has been my nemesis is weight! Who am I kidding it's homemade cakes, bread and red wine that have been my nemesis or rather my lack of will power to stop eating them! I even joined WeightWatchers with the theory that if I was accountable to someone else I would be good and lose weight but the only pounds I've lost are the 20 quid a month that it costs me to weigh myself in front of people and be told I weigh the same! Ok not strictly true I've actually lost 7lb but that's in 9 weeks! that's how little willpower I have! And the amazing thing is I've doubled the amount of exercise I do in an attempt to get fit, I walk ALOT now , I Zumba I even attempted the gym yet my weight loss is pathetic which leads me to believe that I'm actually eating more than I was before or my own body is trying to sabotage me!

Couldn't be my fault after all!

Even illness didn't aid my weight loss I had the chest infection from hell, I'm still coughing but still managed to shovel enough food in to stop me losing any weight!

I've been off the wine for a week now because of the antibiotics but even that hasn't helped.

It just doesn't make sense!

So with the realisation that I turn 40 in just over a month I am going to step up my game make sure I note everything that I'm eating, food eaten while walking does count apparently as does food pinched off the kids plates! I know right who'd have thought it!

So I want to be accountable to all of you who read this, ask me how I'm doing, keep me in check remind me that just because wine is made from grapes it's not one of my 5 a day! And ask me in a weeks time if I've lost any weight!

Its actually working!

Last night my was my weekly weigh in at WeightWatchers, its the end of week 4 and last week as you know I had gained a pound and was a little upset (ok extraordinarily upset) and this week I had been very busy and hadn't really been keeping track of what I had eaten so I was more than a little hesitant in going to the meeting, My mind works like this, I've paid this money to go and have someone tell me what to eat because I haven't got enough will-power/commitment to do it by myself and if I've gained weight again then I'm just wasting my money so I'll just go next week and try extra hard this week, In my mind that all made perfect sense! but then I thought, ok, you're an idiot you're paying this money because you're too weak willed to do it by yourself so don't to it by yourself, go and face the consequences of your actions or lack of them! so I did! and I'm glad I did because wait for it ..............................................................I lost 3.5lbs this week! yay me! that's 8lb in total since I started, ok I might not reach my ideal weight by my big 4 0 like I had hoped but a lot can happen between now and August.

I think even though I hadn't tracked my points the whole process has made me a little more aware of what I'm eating so onwards and upwards or in my case hopefully downwards and lets see what I can achieve this week, I can honestly say that this little accomplishment has made me feel much more positive and motivated and with that in mind I'm off to do Zumba!!


Wish me luck xx

Gained a pound shame it wasn't cash

So as you know or don't know depending on whether you read my blog regularly! 10 weeks ago I set myself a challenge which I like to call my 3 F's challenge! Fit, Fabulous and Forty! Not neccessarily in that order! By my birthday in August,it's all about being fitter, thinner and having some seminance of style that doesn't just involve a pair of jeans and Uggs or Birkenstocks ( though I love my Uggs and Birkenstocks with all my heart and always will!)i realised it had become my daily wear so I thought enough is enough it's time for a change! And I have to a big extent done something about the fabulous side of my challenge, I now regularly brush my hair, actually moisturise and wear make-up ok not every day but seriously do you really need to wear make-up everyday? And today I went to the hairdressers and had a complete new look, check out my new profile pic! I love it!

But and it's a big butt! I am having a big issue with the weight loss, I love food! I do, I adore it! I love to cook and you have to try what you make, don't you?

So I joined WeightWatchers and this is the end of week 3 doing it and I have gained a pound, :-( ok a pound might not sound a lot to you but to me it's massive and upsetting and I feel quite sorry for myself :-( so what did I do, I comfort ate! I came in, had a bacon sandwich with cheese and tomatoes, then to add further insult to injury I found the bowl of leftover coffee buttercream that I had iced a cake with 2 days ago and I had a big old spoon full of that, ok 2 spoons or was it 3!*Hangs head in guilt and shame* See it takes a special kind of stupid to eat more food because you're miserable that you gained weight, because that really makes sense!

So now with that realisation I'm going to Zumba my ass off, eat properly this week, try my hardest to avoid wine well maybe not quite as much wine as usual and aim for a much better result next!

Wish me luck x

A loss of lbs and pounds

Last night was my weigh in for the end of week 2 at WeightWatchers and I have lost just 1 lb this week I know I should be happy that it's a loss but I was secretly a little dissappointed I guess I was hoping for another 4 lb weight loss but I did realise that I hadn't been quite as meticulous about recording everything that I had ate and I had baked a birthday cake and about a 100 cupcakes and of course I had to taste 1 or 3 to check that were ok, it would have been wrong not to wouldn't it!

Don't get me wrong I am taking WeightWatchers seriously, they're taking 20 quid a month off me after all but you have to live too , don't you? and life is too short to deny yourself everything, my 3F's challenge isn't just about losing weight by time I'm 40 it's more about being fit for the next forty years and looking more like the person I feel on the inside and I realised today while looking for an outfit for a wear to a reception (I will tell you more about this later) that I have a lot of clothes that are perfectly suitable for everyday wear and are far more stylish than my usual Jeans, t-shirts, Birkenstocks combo that I seem to have adopted as comfortable and practical and ok they are but and it's a big butt ( do you like the little play on words?) I have lovely stylish dresses that would be equally comfortable with the right shoes or sandals so why do I consider it wrong to wear anything other than jeans? Seriously I'm asking you?

I hope by time I'm forty I'm closer to finding the answers and losing the lbs quicker than I'm losing the pounds but for now I shall persevere and I'll let you know next week how I'm getting on! Xx

Same Challenge , different approach

So tonight in my continuing quest I decided to join weight watchers well technically I joined online yesterday,I did try and get some kind of sponsorship from weight watchers in return for reviewing them on my blog but alas and alack I didn't even get a response to my email! So I paid my £12.95 for my first month and then after that it's £19.99 a month and in return I get a membership card that entitles me to attend as many meetings as I want in a month and access to their online resources.

Tonight is my first meeting, I'm not quite sure what I was expecting before hand, images of Marjorie Dawes from Little Britain did spring to mind

But thankfully it was nothing like that! It was held at local school and by time I got there it was pretty packed , the weight loss industry is big money! I already knew that though we all crave to be thinner anyway I digress, I lined up to weigh in , was greeted by our lovely Leader Claire, nothing like Marjorie! and she herself is a weightwatchers success story having lost 5 stone and looks fab, then the part I dreaded the actual weigh-in! I weigh, not sure if I want to share this but a staggering 14st 7lb! I was given a personal record card which has some small achievable goals first of all which are losing 5% of your weight then 10% of your weight and then with your leader you choose your goal weight.

I was given my daily points total, and lots of literature and handy guides then Claire talked to us about this weeks topic, planning ahead, then we split into groups to discuss different scenarios that might hinder weight loss.

All in all a positive experience, so let's see if it pays off!

Just a little break from the norm

Monday is usually the day I give you an update of my 3F's challenge and quite frankly at this the end of week 8 all I can think of are another 3F's that I can't repeat in polite company or yours for that matter!

In case you were curious this weeks weight loss in a big fat ZERO! Now I have questioned myself greatly about all of this, by this point I had hoped to have lost at least 16lb and be waxing lyrical about how fabulous I felt but instead I infact weigh slightly more than my start weight but hey if you're going to fail do it big, right! so in all my questioning and thinking I have come up with either I wasn't in the right place emotionally to do this( I'm a serious emotional eater, pick an emotion any emotion and I will eat my way throughout it!) or quite simply I love cooking and eating!

The thing is I started this challenge not only to get myself out of a post baby fashion rut that has lasted 2 years you know the one comfort over style but I had also forgotten how to apply make-up and use a hairbrush let's be honest half the time I don't even know where the hairbrush is! Paint a pretty picture don't I? But to do something about my future health before I turn 40 in August, there are many health implications connected with being over-weight and with a little one to take care of I wanted to be in the best condition I can be and of course the idea of turning 40 sends me into a state of panic and hysteria , I'm not coping very well with the idea of turning 40, you'd never guess would you?

So seeing how absolutely fabulous Jennifer Hudson looks I have decided to join weight watchers! The first meeting is Thursday so from now on my 3 F challenge update will be on Thursday evenings.


Wish me luck and if anyone out there has tried or is doing the weight watchers pro points then get in touch! I love to hear your experiences and maybe we can support each other!