Use it or Lose it

Since deciding that I need to lose weight, I’ve become a lot more concerned about knowing what I’m actually eating.

I’ve never really been one for making home cooked-meals, always preferring convenience above all else. Now that I’m home most days, I have the time to cook a dinner for my boyfriend and myself each night and I know that he enjoys having a hot meal to come home to. It makes sense for me, as I know exactly what’s going into each dish and so have more control over the things I’m eating.

I have a very limited repertoire of dishes to make, though, which means that after a couple of weeks it has started to get bit repetitive!

So, I’ve decided to branch out a bit and try some new recipes. How exciting!?! Tonight, I made my first ever Lancashire Hotpot. Granted, it could probably do with a bit of work, but it was edible and we both enjoyed it. A couple of nights ago, I made an attempt at home-made, low-fat oven chips and they were delicious!

I’m really starting to enjoy cooking now and can’t wait to try out some more new recipes. There’s one for a carrot cake that I’m itching to have a go at – I just daren’t, as I’ll probably eat the whole thing with a giant cup of coffee!

I hate shopping for jeans.

I detest it with every fibre of my being.

I own several pairs of jeans, some that are too small since I gained weight – and which I intend to be wearing again in a couple of months – one pair that are big and baggy and falling down and one pair which fit perfectly and, consequently, got worn to death. Literally.

I noticed last week that the pair that fit perfectly were starting to wear a bit thin around the top of my legs. Not really surprising, given that I have owned them for almost three years and wear them a LOT. So, I had to give in and buy a new pair.

I went to my local department store, bought two pairs – one black bootleg and one blue slouch fit – in the same size as they were on sale. I got home, took off the old pair to try the new ones on and realised that not only were they wearing thin, but had actually developed two holes during the course of my shopping trip.

Mortified by the fact I’d been walking around the city centre with holes in my jeans, I tried the blue jeans on. Marvellous – perfect fit and, therefore, an absolute bargain. The black jeans wouldn’t go past my thighs. It just gets me wound up. They’re the same size, so why don’t they fit? I understand that they’re a different fit, but how can there be that much difference in the size of them?

Now, I have to begin the whole process again. Wish me luck on my trip back to the store.

Having posted about the Special K “Slimmer Jeans Challenge”, I thought it might be worth giving it a try myself.

Being all about the instant results and being completely lacking in motivation, self-discipline and will-power of late, I figured it couldn’t hurt. As I’m at home at lunchtime most days of the week, I’m not being tempted by co-workers or friends are eating, so it seems an ideal time to give it a go.

I started on Sunday and, I have to say, I’m pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to stick to. I bought two huge boxes of cereal from the wholesalers near here and am livening the regular cereal up with some dried fruit to make it a little more interesting, rather than buying several boxes with different flavourings in.

I’m having a bowl of cereal for breakfast and one for lunch, with a regular evening meal and either a piece of fruit or a Special K snack bar between each meal. I’d already begun to make an effort to cook a healthier evening meal before starting this, so I’m hoping to see some results by the end of the two weeks.

I haven’t had any hunger pangs and, knowing that I’ve got set meals and snacks already planned and to hand means that I’m not being as tempted by any goodies I have in the cupboards.

The combination of the plan and trips to the gym should, I hope, be the kick-start I need to continue losing weight and getting into shape.

For anyone struggling to get on track, maybe lacking some motivation with their New Year’s weight loss, there is something out there that may just help.

I, for one, feel more motivated to continue with something when I start to get immediate results. If I can’t see or feel anything happening then I am apt to give up fairly quickly. If I do start to notice a difference then I’m more inclined to continue and keep up the good work.

Obviously, there’s no quick fix when it comes to weight loss. It’s a process that takes time, particularly if you want to ensure that the weight stays off in the future. Nothing can replace healthy eating and exercise.

However, a quick start that may just give you the motivation to eat a healthier diet and be more active is the Special K Slimmer Jeans Challenge.

The idea is to have a bowl of Special K cereal for breakfast and another for lunch or dinner, and a healthy, well-balanced meal for the third meal. A small snack that is both low in fat and low in calories can be eaten between meals, with fruit, nuts, vegetables or Special K snack bars or bites suggested.

By doing this for two weeks, you should drop a dress size (although, of course, this is not guaranteed – different people will lose different amounts of weight). The plan should only be continued for two weeks, no longer, and should only be followed by people over the age of 18 with a body mass index (BMI) above 25. Anyone with medical conditions must discuss this plan with their GP before embarking upon it.

There is a website which is designed to assist with this challenge, creating an eating plan, suggesting balanced meals and offering support, but unfortunately it is unavailable at the time of writing. I suggest entering the relevant terms into a search engine to sign up.

Good luck to anyone who decides to try the challenge. I’d love to hear how you get on with it.

As you might have noticed, I’m very fond of the notion of “tomorrow’s another day”. So, after my spectacular fall from weight-loss grace earlier this week, I have picked myself up, dusted myself down and started over with a clean slate.

I’ve had a relatively healthy day today, with healthy high-fibre cereal for breakfast and lunch and dried cherries as a snack. I even took myself off to the gym by myself this afternoon – I usually feel a bit too self-conscious to work out alone, preferring my boyfriend to be with me. I don’t know why, we work out in different parts of the gym and barely even see each other, but it just makes me feel better.

Anyway, I spent 30 minutes on the cross-trainer doing the total-body workout. In theory, this should work out all my flabby bits, toning them all up and burning the fat as I go. It wasn’t the most epic work out ever, but it’s a start!

Here’s to actually managing to sustain this for a little bit longer than I did last time.

I fell spectacularly off the wagon yesterday!

My boyfriend and I haven’t been out on a date in a while, so he treated me to dinner at one of my favourite restaurants last night.

I started off fairly well, opting for vodka, lime and soda when we went for a drink beforehand, instead of having lemonade in it. When we got to the restaurant, though, it all fell apart.

A full three course meal, with every morsel finished off, and half a bottle of wine were probably not what I should have indulged in, but the food is so delicious – and the wine was free because of a special offer – I shouldn’t have expected anything less.

To make it even worse, we then went for drinks after the meal, where I indulged in not one, but two cocktails – a Cosmopolitan and an Amaretto Sour.

The calorific intake must have been phenomenal and was only worsened by the fact that I had a massive hangover this morning and the associated munchies! Snacking all day has been the only reprieve from the shocking headache that’s plagued me all day.

I’ve been a very bad girl and must haul myself back on the wagon tomorrow, even if it takes every ounce of strength and determination I possess!

Readers of this blog might be interested to know that WeightWatchers UK are offering a two-week free trial of their online membership here.

This is a limited time offer and payment details are required upfront, but cancelling the subscription within 14 days will guarantee that payment will not be debited.

I have been a member of WeightWatchers Online in the past and they were very good about processing the cancellation promptly, so I wouldn’t have any qualms about giving them my details. In fact, I’ve done exactly that and signed up for the free trial myself!

The trial will give you the opportunity to try out the services they offer without any financial commitment. It includes access to the recipes, forums, weight tracker, points tracker and activity tracker. There are a number of great tools on the site which can be of great use to anyone looking to lose weight.

So, sign up for the two week free trial. You’ve got nothing to lose – except some excess weight!

Monday again, and another new week rolls around.

I had been feeling a little disappointed with my progress over the last week. I hadn’t exercised as much as I had hoped to and had still been snacking on some of the unhealthy food we still have in the cupboards after the holidays. To top it all, I was struggling to shake a cold that I felt I’d been suffering from, on and off, forever.

This morning, even though I wasn’t expecting a pleasant result, I got weighed so that I can keep track of how things are going. To my absolute astonishment, I’ve lost 2lbs in the last week.

I’m more than happy with that loss, as I haven’t been sticking rigidly to any diet plan, but have been slowly trying to introduce healthier aspects to my lifestyle and they do seem to be making a difference.

Right now, it feels like this could be the catalyst needed to really make some significant changes in my diet and exercise regime. I’m already psyched to get to the gym tonight and am planning healthy meals for the week ahead.

Well, I’ve spent this week trying to fend off the awful cold that has been doing the rounds just about everywhere. The cold, on the other hand, has been doing its very best to put me out of action and has disturbed just about everything.

I haven’t been writing as much as I’d hoped to as I’ve been feeling so under the weather. I did manage to finish knitting a scarf yesterday, which is about my only achievement over the past few days.

Obviously, being bundled up on the sofa with hot drinks and tissues hasn’t been conducive to being the health conscious fitness fanatic I was hoping to be this year. I have, however, managed to start increasing the amount of vegetables I’m eating each day, although not fruit as yet.

Today, I headed off to the gym and spent the best part of an hour swimming laps at the pool. Not continuously, of course, as I’m very unfit but I still managed to do more than I had expected.

I’m feeling good after having managed to get some exercise – I always do – but still can’t shake this cold. Fingers crossed it’ll be gone by the weekend.

My start to the year has been a bit up and down so far.

Much like the first couple of days, the weekend was a mixed bag.

Saturday, I got out and walked to town, spent hours trawling the shops before heading home. I chose a healthy roasted vegetable sandwich for lunch, instead of a chicken, cheese and bacon panini or McDonalds – which took a lot of willpower for me. I did indulge in a couple of drinks in the evening, though, and snacked on a couple of chocolates.

Yesterday was pretty much a complete write off. I didn’t get out to do any exercise as I was nursing my poor boyfriend, J, back to health – he’s come down with a nasty bout of man-flu! We had massive Sunday lunch, although I’m consoling myself with the fact that vegetables formed the greater part of the meal, so it could have been a lot worse.

Today, I’ve done very little again. I took a walk to the shops to get some more veggies for us to eat and because I really needed some fresh air. Dinner wasn’t particularly healthy – crispy chilli beef, although I swapped the egg fried rice for some noodles with vegetables stir-fried (dry – no fat) into them.

I think the reason I’m struggling is that things still aren’t back to normal.

J has been working from home today, as he’s been too ill to go into work, and we still have a lot of “Christmas” food in the cupboards, so it still feels very sort of holiday-like to me.

Hopefully once things get back to normal I’ll be able to be a little more disciplined!