Weight Day; The Result

Weigh day has come and gone. I had a day off work yesterday and I decided that I was going to use that day to go to my class and get my hair done.  Getting my hair done was out of necessity rather than desire.  The other day someone told me that the balayage in my hair was lovely... I didn't want to tell them that what they were actually looking at was nearly five months worth of re-growth... I said thank you very much and, with a slight hint of red to my face, picked up the phone and made an appointment to get regain control of my mane! Once upon a time the thought of sitting in a hairdressers for two hours doing nothing would have filled me with dread.  I was never able to fully relax into the experience, I wanted it over and done with as quickly as possible.  These days, well, it's a completely different experience.  Two whole hours of not having to wipe a nose or change a bum.  Two whole hours of reading trashy mag after trashy mag, and they were all in date too so it wasn't months old news I was reading either! I got two cups of tea handed to me along with a couple of Roses, which I politely declined. Then the lady massaged the scalp off me. I was on the verge of making very inappropriate noises when it came to a sad end. Yes, post baby, hairdressers are my new favorite place!

My pampering was almost ruined by the scales... I was half a pound up yesterday morning.  Very disappointed in that because even though I didn't put in the effort with my exercise, I did put in the effort with my food.  But, thankfully, I had measured myself on Sunday night to compare my stats to what I was 12 weeks ago and I was very happy with what I saw.

The scales may not have  been kind to me, but at least the measuring tape was.  That's 9.5 inches lost all over my body in 12 weeks and I think that's not to be sniffed at.  I can feel it in my clothes and have already dropped a dress size. I am very happy I took these measurements because I think if I hadn't, that half pound would have resulted in me saying "Feck it, where's the selection box"?  

With only four weeks left of the year, I am going to give it all I have got to start 2016 at a minimum of one stone lighter than when I started 2015.  I will go into the new year with a much smaller challenge ahead of me.  I will not throw in the towel! 

The party season is upon me and my wee diary is already filling up with fun and frolicks. I love this time of year, catching up with people and getting dolled up and just the general happiness that seems to reign supreme for most.  So as I was scooting around the interweb looking for inspiration from some of my favorite bloggers such as the very talented Skinny Doll, I stumbled across a great post from another blog called 59 Pounds to Go.  This post had a great idea for planning the festive season that I am going to get on board with.

This is my plan for tackling the party season 

My goals for December are as follows: 

Loose 4lb 

Survive Christmas with a maximum of 2lb gain 

Exercise every day 

Do a minimum of 11,500 steps per day 

Drink at least 2.5l of water per day 

Track every day 

Happy 1st of December everyone!

Weigh Day, The Result

Isn't that a wonderful little saying? And it is very true of my life at the moment.  I am impatient and impulsive and always expect changes to happen the minute I have decided to implement them. Like, if  I work out for two days in a row, I fully expect to be a size 8 with abs to die for! Even though I may have only done 6 sit ups!!!

But right now, I am slowly throwing each and everyone of my bad habits down the stairs and replacing them with good habits! Slowly!

Today is weigh day.  I went to bed last night with a faint feeling of butterflies in my tummy.  I wasn't really too sure why I was feeling excited, until I got weighed today.  I had a brilliant week. I was very good at tracking everything I ate and I worked out a good bit too. Good hard working out where your sweating from your eyeballs (or crying, whatever you wanna call it!). And it was all very much worth my while because when I approached that scales and hopped up on there, I was told that I had lost 2.5lb this week! Which means that I am now 11lb down, a dress size if you please, and in addition to this, I have lost 5% of my body weight!  Happiness reigns supreme!

I bounced out of my class delighted with myself! All my hard work really and truly paid off this week. It gave me a massive big boost and I headed off into the day to do some christmas shopping and search for a new guna for my Christmas party.  Alas, there are no party guna's anywhere to be found, and the ones that I did find, lets just say my old trick of thinking I'm smaller than I actually am was played and I found myself standing in the changing room, looking at myself buttered into an inappropriate styled dress thinking, what happened between the rail and the changing room? What? 

But it didn't dampen my mood in any way at all. I am just chuffed with myself. 

Next week will be a challenge to say the least! I have a night away on Saturday with Himself and the rest of my family to celebrate a great man in my life turning the big eight-oh! My grandfather is turning 80! I have always been aware of how truly blessed I am to have not one, but three grandparents to celebrate every year! So we are having a great big party for him and staying over in a hotel.  It is a wonderful chance to spend some much needed time with my family and to catch up with aunts and uncles and cousins that I don't get to see a lot of. So I need to work hard to make sure that I don't gain back any of that 2.5lb I lost!! 

This is all the moving I did this week and you can find a copy of my food diary for the week here

Day	Exercise
Tuesday	Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, Level 2.  This is a work out session I am getting from You Tube
	Jessica Smith TV 30 Minute Yoga Sculpt
	10,893 Steps
Wednesday	Jessica Smith TV 30 Minute Yoga Sculpt
	Jessica Smith TV 45 Minute Cardio Ball Ballet
	11,430 Steps
Thursday	Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred Level 2
	Jessica Smith TV 30 Minute Strength Training
	7,610 Steps
Friday	Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred Level 2
	Jessica Smith TV Fat Burning Burning Belly Fusion Workout
	6,222 Steps
Saturday	4,856 Steps
Sunday	4,641 Steps
Monday	15,546 Steps

Total Steps this week:              61,198

Total KM this week:                  45.3

This road is long... today

Man oh man, some days this journey I am on is just like a never ending road trip with a really annoying, nagging companion! Today, all I could see in front of me was pounds and pounds of weight to loose and internal fight after fight to make rhe right choices (like avoiding, and failing to do so, the box of biccies my new neighbour gifted us to apologise for the noise of work happening in her house! How sweet was that in a skinny minnie thoughtless kind of way?). Today I felt like just saying feck it, I've enough, sure aren't I grand.

Then I got off the couch and I did the second day of 30 day shred level 2 and I also did another workout, which involved a side plank. I ALWAYS automatically choose the modified version of these positions, but today I decided to give it a bash. And you never guess what? I did it. On both sides. For the length of time I was meant to. With one arm up in the air. Sure I was like a pro, feck Jillian Michaels,  it's Rach Mc The DVD that'll be the best selling fitness DVD in 2016!!!!!

I swear I was utterly delighted with myself. I know to most a side plank is nothing, but it was a big achievement for me and it has helped me see the road ahead in a different light. It has reminded me to focus on getting fit and healthy and the weight loss will come with it.

In another Non Scale Victory, I had a bath tonight (victory for all in my house, the pong off me from all my side planking and jumping jacking). Anyway,  since I was about five months pregnant, I am sad to say that when I had a bath, I created what can only be described as a human dam. Water behind me would rush to freedom when I stood up. Tonight, the water flowed freely. I no longer back up the bath!! Practically svelte at this stage of the game!

Weigh Day, Week 10; The Result

I'm not skipping home let me tell you. I am up 1lb this week.  I knew that It wasn't going to be great, and it could have been a lot worse! I am taking the gain and dusting myself off and carrying on into next week.

This travelling to London is just playing havoc with the scales for me.  The travelling and my inability to say no to a night out. But mostly the travelling, because I figure if I wasn't travelling, I wouldn't have the opportunity to dance my socks off till 4am of a Thursday morning!

I am going to focus on all the NSV's this week and next week to get me over the hurdle of the travelling I need to do.  I measured myself when I started this process, and again at 4 weeks into it.  Last night, knowing that the scales was going to be brutal to me, I measured again, just to remind myself that there is more to weight loss than just the number on the scales.  I discovered that since my last measure 4 weeks ago, I have achieved this:

So even though the scales is not telling me what i want to hear, the inches on that measuring tape is making up for it. My total inch loss in the last 10 weeks is:

Bust: 1.5 inches
Waist: 1 inch
Hips: 1 inch
Thighs: 1.5inches
Arms: 1.5 inches

That's not really to be sniffed at.

I am going in to this week with a battle plan.  I will be back in London Wednesday, Thursday and Friday so I need to be as prepared as possible for the week ahead.

Himself bought me a lovely present yesterday. He bought me a slow cooker and I am dying to get home and get trying it!  Who says romance is dead eh? It may not sparkle, or fit on a finger or around a neck, but it made me very happy... anyone with some good slow cooker recipes to share, please send them on in and I will get cracking on them!

Weigh Day - The Result Week 9

Good Lord I don't know where the evening went yesterday, but it skidded by me at a thousand miles an hour and I never got around to posting! 

So I went back to my class last night after my week of MIA.  It took me until Thursday to get back into the swing of things and get working on some damage control after my Old School Boozy Weekend.  And thank God I did, because I stayed the same this week! Yay.  I really knew that if I had gone to class last Monday after my hectic weekend and gained, it would have thrown me right off.  Throughout the earlier part of the week I was full sure that I was starting to loose all focus, but a swift kick up the jacksie got me moving again.  

I have posted the above because sometimes I need to remind myself to be happy, and also, when I am happy, remind myself to tell my face, because it doesn't always receive the message!  Yesterday was spent basically preparing my family for me to leave them for three days, return for two days and leave them for a further three days.  Travelling back and forward to London is starting to take its toll on my patience.  I have gone from a stay at home Mama, to a part time working Mama to a Mama that seems to leave the country every two weeks, and I'm not loving it.  Sure, the uninterrupted sleeps are amazing.  And it is nice to be able to sit and eat a meal without fear of it being thrown all over me (well, fear of someone else throwing it all over me, I have a tendency to be a bit of a sloppy eater).  And there is a lot to be said for the comfort of going to the loo without "what's that" being shouted at my lady garden. The thing is, motherhood wasn't unexpectedly gifted to me.  It was a gift I went out looking for. It is a gift that I really really wanted, so fecking off for three days a week a couple of times a month is not giving me a chance to want to be away from that gift, ya know what I'm saying?  The novelty of no Dolly has well and truly worn off.  All of these thoughts made me very sad yesterday.  I actually felt like crying. I went to bed with a cup of tea and had a little pity party for myself. 

I got up this morning bright as a button though, full of positivity and ready for the week ahead and the challenges it will present.  I am prepared and have a plan in place for what's going to happen next week and I have my moving goals and weightloss goals set.  I am aiming for 2lb next week so I have got to get a wriggle on! 

Here's to a good week to everyone! Enjoy 

Motivation - That Fickle Little Rip

I have been thinking about how motivated I had been over the last nine weeks. Everything had clicked into place and I was powering through the weight loss without a struggle to be seen.  I was moving more and more every day and feeling on top of the world about myself, how I look, what I was doing and how committed I was (am). But then last week came along and old habits, that I have worked very hard to change, began creeping back in.  Too tired to move, too busy to cook, too..... (insert excuse here). Suddenly, all mojo has up and left me and I am happy to sit on the couch, or ignore the early morning call to get a few extra steps in.  The baby is not well, sure no time to cook. Busy busy busy.

I promised myself that I would not allow my excuses to hold me back this time.  I swore that I would be bigger than any excuse I could muster up and that I would not stand in my own way again. Thankfully, my lack of motivation hasn't last this whole entire week, and I am feeling on top of it all again.  I have also noticed that even though I have gone off track, I'm not killing myself with unkindness.  Instead I am looking at the bigger picture of this journey I am on, and I am allowing myself a couple of stumbles along the way in order to make it there in one piece (mentally and physically).  And I think the reason that I haven't spiraled out of control is because I am working so very hard on how I perceive myself and the things I think and say to myself.

So here's a couple of things that have helped me get myself back to where I need to be...

Photos I am a snap happy person.  I used to be called Tagger O'Toole, but then I got married, changed my name and had a baby so I was less likely to be out in the pub at 1am taking snaps of all the shenanigans and more likely to be walking the floors using my phone as a flash light so I could see what I was doing without actually turning on the lights and fully waking the baby!  But, back in my Tagger days, I have hundreds and hundreds of photos of myself that are absolutely not flattering in any shape or form. I see these photos now and marvel at how the girl on print never matched the one in my head... This week, I got a pop up of a memory on Facebook, which was a photo of me from 2009.  Apparently back then I not only needed to loose a lot of weight, it also would have been useful to introduce me to a decent hair straightener, some moose and a make up lesson or two... but that's not the point.  The point is, when I saw that picture I realised that I have actually come a very long way from the girl I was, not just physically, but mentally too. Comparing a then and now made me very protective of the weight I have lost and made me excited about getting to where I need to be.

Keep a Diary. Not just a food journal.  When I came back to weight watchers, I made myself a couple of promises, and one of them was to track my food and to write a diary about my day. And that's what I have been doing. Every day (or most anyway) I write a plan for the following day, what food I'm  going to eat and what exercise I am going to do and then leave a space for how it went and how I felt. It's been helpful to look back on this information.

Get adventurous. It can be so boring loosing weight.  I find that I get a couple of recipes going and then I end up just sticking with them. Then I get bored and I make bad choices. When I'm feeling demotivated I get my books out, I go on line and make myself try at least one new dish a week.

Check your thoughts. I know, I go on and on about the power of Positive Thinking. But it really works.  I was recently out with my best friend who told me that the transformation in me over the last couple of weeks is amazing.  I am less stressed, less likely to be bogged down in the little things and so much happier than I have been in a long time.  I didn't even know that I was that unhappy until I started to feel this happy!

This journey is a long one. And it can be a lonely one, particularly if you are to beat yourself up and treat yourself unkindly along the way. Find a reason to be proud of yourself every day and keep trying until that motivation kicks back in for you.  No matter how big a cheerleading squad you have standing behind you, the support you give yourself is the really the only thing that will make sure you succeed.

Birthday's, Benders and Babies

Let's start from the beginning...

After a couple of days in Lovely London, I came home to my wonderful Little Aussie and her Mum and Aunt visiting. So, being the hospitable person I am, I invited them all over for a bit of dinner and a sociable drinkie-pooh. And by sociable, I mean very sociable. I absolutely took advantage of Super Valu's 3 bottles of french wine for €25, in fact, not only did I take advantage of it, I abused the bejaysus out of it.  By all rights, I should have been curled up in the fetal position begging for a Priest to give me my last rights on Saturday morning, but I wasn't. I got up bright as a lark and  thirsty as desert dweller, but I made soup and porridge bread (which I must have made wrong cause it was rank) and I made a lovely dinner for that evening, to provide soakage for round 2.  Yes, you heard me correctly, round 2.  Before going out on Saturday evening I did a bit of shopping and bought a pair of jeans one size smaller than usual. I  didn't end up wearing them out though until round 3... For round 2, I slipped on a pair of mint green skinny jeans.  These jeans are super significant. The last time I wore these I wasn't even a married woman! Oh no. They were purchased for wearing the night before I became a wife. And not only did they zip, they fit! I felt amazing. And so happy with myself for all my hard work.

Here I am looking very pleased with myself!

And, not only was I in pre-wedding jeans, I was in pre-pregnancy shoes too!! I have loads of lovely shoes that do not fit since I got pregnant, but apparently I am getting skinny feet as well as cheek bones! 

I headed off out into the night with my girlies and I had an absolute ball for myself. I didn't rock in until 4am. I danced the feet and legs off myself, accumulating 5,888 steps between 12am and 4am - impressive footwork for sure! And once again, I fully expected to be pleading for death by firing squad when I woke up, but I was grand! Which was great, cause I had to get ready for round 3... And round three was a scream! Out for the Dubs, well, I won't say that I was out FOR the Dubs, cause anyone who knows me knows I could care less about football and all that business, but I was out because of the Dubs and had another kicking night. With no hangover! So apparently, turning 33 means no hangovers, hurray! 

Because of this PMA and bag of aura cleansing material I am carrying around with me these days, my three day bender did not leave me with a bad dose of the Fear and a mountain of negative thoughts! Instead, I took my crazy weekend for what it was, a once off blow out, I dusted myself down and fell asleep on the couch on Monday evening, like the Nana I truly am, before heading to bed at 8am to sleep soundly for a good 12 hour stretch. Refreshed and ready to make it to a weight watchers class Tuesday evening.

But alas, it was not too be! Because Tuesday was spent nursing a very very sick little baby. One that had lots of high temps and needed lots of cuddles and comfort and antibiotics and nurofen and water and just anything at all to relieve her pain and discomfort. My Dolly has tonsillitis again. The poor little divil spent all of Tuesday and Wednesday pretty much curled up on my lap. No more partying... instead it was preparing bags in case we had to go to the hospital with her and trying to get her temps under control.. See why high jinx and baba's don't mix!

Holly's Bed Time Bed Fellows 

Birthday's aren't the same as the were pre-baba days - not that my liver would agree with you after the weekend I had. It was such a stressful couple of days with my poor sick girl that I didn't really think too much about the day itself. Until I was given a birthday present to beat all birthday presents.  Himself was very good this year, really out did himself by giving me my very own designer baby that is to be kept very far away from the real baby...

The celebrations are over, my mojo is back, I'm moving again and tracking again and I am going to make up for lost time this week with loads of soups and low point meals. I am looking forward to my weigh day on Monday.

This is me at 6.30am this morning after sweating the face off myself for 40 mins! 

Operation Skinny Bitch is back in action after a brief hiatus! 

Weigh Day; The Result for Week 7..

I had an early weigh day this week because I am in London again on Monday. So I returned to a class that I haven't been to in a very long time. The last time I was in the Pavilions class I burst into tears on the scales and retreated into a 16 month long bubble of denial, cruel thoughts and personal neglect.  Today, I approached the scales so bloody hungover that I didn't have a chance to even think about it! I am literally the most hungover I have been since The Child was born. 

So I hopped up on that scales and for the first time in seven weeks, it beat me. I gained half a pound.  This would usually send me spiraling into an abyss of junk fueled negative thinking.  I would normally present a number of excuses for my gain such as; not my usual class, only five days since my last weigh day, the scales at the Pavilion Shopping  Center hates me and wants to depress me etc. etc. But I promised myself this time that I would be bigger than my excuses. So I have none. I went out last night and drank my weight in wine and even did a shot of Sambuca like I was a bloody 18 year old again. I can't do those things any more, I should have more sense.  I also have  been a little bit too cocky this week and have started to let my motivation slip. So I definitely deserve that kick in the backside. 

All in all, the gain could have been much worse, so I just need to shake it off and get back in the middle of zone instead of hanging about on the edges of it pretending I'm getting stuck in! I have until Monday week to loose my gain and then some.

Preparation is key! Traveling to London will be a hurdle but not one I can't get over.  I will do what I did the last time I was over and stick to low pointed breakfasts, salads for lunch and then dinner can be healthy choices.  Being in London is great because you can walk the legs off yourself (and if you get lost, which I will, it only increases your steps!) 

So half a pound is not the worst result in the world. I am looking at the bigger picture here.  Although I did gain, I still feel great about how far I have come in 7 weeks.  The changes I have made, and the way I feel cannot be measured on a scales.  Going out last night I felt amazing, with a lot of help from Himself.  I put on the Guna that I recently found I could fit into, but I nearly chickened out of wearing it. I had a dip in my confidence, but Himself came up and saw me and said that I was a lovely girl and that I wasn't to change into something else.  So, seeing as he loves me, I decided to take his word for it and ran away from the full length mirror so that I couldn't see myself anymore and talk myself out of the dress and into my boring old jeans and top.  After his little pep talk, I felt much more confident and headed off into the night to drink too much wine and die a holy death this morning! 

Now, I'm off to get organised for dinner. Fake-away tonight! I'm going to treat myself with some Diet Coke Chicken and Fried Rice  I'll have to add a couple more points onto the recipe for the fried rice, but feck it, it'll be worth it!

Have a great week everyone!

Weigh Day - Week 6 The Toughest One so Far

It's a new week, the end of Week 6 and I am looking forward to the start of Week 7.  The start of this week was tough for me. I had to force myself to get into the swing of things, and my sweet cravings were the highest they have been since Week 1! But I managed to remain on track and force myself to get up and get moving. By Wednesday I had gotten back into the swing of things, the sugar monster within me had quietened down and the couch potato had fallen fast asleep so could no longer badger me into joining her for a Home and Away marathon.  All that being said, I have still managed to rack up a pretty impressive 75,298 steps this week.

I have worked out every single day for at least 30 mins bar three days in the last 6 weeks.  This is the most working out I have ever done, in my life, and in fairness, I have only had to force myself to do it about five times.  The weight loss (and inches ) has been consistent.  It is the first time I have ever managed to achieve this amount of loss in such a short space of time and I am contributing it to my hard work, but most importantly, my frame of mind.  The more I work on the negativity that creeps into my mind, the better I seem to be getting.  I can't stress it enough to anyone who is on this journey, your frame of mind has as big an impact on that scales as any amount of food or movement you do.  Work on this as well as your body!! 

I've had loads of lovely meals this week. Smoked salmon is my addiction of choice. I literally cannot stop eating the stuff. I love it with avocado and tomato on toast. It is such a lovely, colourful breakfast or lunch. It's pleasing on the eye and the tastebuds, let me tell you!!! 

I will be so happy if I can continue my loss and loose 1lb tonight. If I don't, it's ok too because I am feeling brilliant. My energy levels are really high, my attitude is really positive and I am in a more consistently happy mood now than I have been in a very long time! I even have patience to deal with a newly toddling toddler and her stage 5 tantrums when I go to change her bum... 

Here's to a good weigh day, and another successful week! 

It's Friday at last!

It's been one heck of a week. Every goal I have achieved so far this week has  been hard won.  The urge to lie on my couch and eat a six pack of monster much, 3 bags of tangtastic jellies and an airport toblerone has been a difficult one to resist. A very difficult one. I have been tempted by the two McDonalds I drive past on my home. That's right, there's two. And there drive in's too. Drive in’s are feckin lethal for me. You see, in my head, anything I eat while in the car or driving is calorie free, because I don’t pay attention to what I’m actually eating and I can ‘forget’ that it happened just by throwing the wrappers in the bin outside the house. So yesterday, as I was approaching the danger zone I decided, feck it, I’m having a Big Mc Meal.  Then, for the first time ever, I decided that I would investigate just how much that big mc would cost me. 22 ProPoints for the meal. So I said no way. Then as I approached the next set of lights I thought, well sure I could take it out of my weeklies couldn’t it, feck it, I will. But, as I approached the turn to go away from the drive thru or head straight for it, I took the turn away from it. No, what if I want to have something really nice at the weekend, like Wine, or chocolate, or wine and chocolate. I’m not wasting points on that crap.

Danger zone 1 successfully averted.  But I still had one more danger zone to navigate. I knew that if I drove towards that second drive thru there would be no way I’d pass it, so I did something really bold, something that won’t jeopardise my weight, but may possibly jeopardise my clean licence… I took an illegal turn and scooted off up the road in the opposite way to the second danger zone towards the safety of my house! Yay me, although very bold for breaking the law. I would have explained the precarious position I was in to a Garda if I was stopped. I am full sure he would have understood that the severity of the situation.

So on we go to the weekend. I am not too worried about it because I have a nice relaxing time planned with my family.  We have only just settled down into the swing of things after me being away from London. My little Dolly decided that she would teach me a lesson for going away and leaving her for nearly a week by suddenly starting to walk all by herself and fed herself. In your face mam, she says, you leave me, I’ll just grow up too quickly on you!! It was a happy day when she started walking by herself on Monday. I nearly caused her to fall down with the screech of delight that I let when I turned around to find her following me up the hall!!

I have completed 35,846 steps of my 83,000 so I am well on my way to achieving my goal by Monday.  I am determined to achieve this weekly goal. I will not be beaten! I am back to feeling like I want to this, not just that I have to.  This weight loss journey business is a funny one.  No matter how much you would just like it to go from A-B in a straight line, it is generally a squiggley up and down and all over the place mess of road!! 

Have a good weekend all x

Weigh Day; The Result

Oh my goodness. I have such a busy busy evening and morning since I got weighed that I haven't had a minute to update you all... wonderful news to be shared. In absolute record time for me, I have shed a grand total of 7.5lb in 5 weeks. Completely unheard of! That never happens. I have lost consistently over the last 4 weeks and had only one maintain on Week one. I normally loose 1, gain 6, loose 0.5, gain 3 - you get the picture! I lost another pound last night and I swear to God I am so very proud of myself!!!

New month now. New goals to be achieved. My goal of 81k steps continues to evade me... I made it to 79,500 steps in the last week. I just couldn't do the last 1,500. I am raging now because I am meant to be bigger than my excuses! But it's past, I'm moving on.

This month's goal is another 7lb loss by 30 September. I am going to achieve this by getting back on my tracker and really using that tool. I'm also planning on increasing my daily steps by 500 so that I achieve 83,000 steps next week. It's a challenge,  but I will do it! I need to keep building on this momentum and my PMA!

I celebrated my loss with a workout and a cup of tea!

Here's a pic of me and my shiny silver seven

Weigh Day: Week 5 - Travelling Mama, Walking for Weight Loss and Terrible Tantrums

It's the end of Week 5 of Operation Skinny Bitch and it has gone relatively well.  The mobile stats look good, but I am not entirely sure the output will negate the input, if you get my meaning!!

Being away from home for the four days was difficult. For all my chat and excitement for my baby free time, it was not easy to spend so much time away from her and Himself and I was so excited to get back in to their loving embrace, that was until my little Dolly decided that she would punish me for her abandonment by launching into a level five tantrum that shook the house to its very foundations.  Hell hath no fury like a toddler who cannot wear her leggings on her arms, let me tell you that! For a full 35 minutes she lay on the floor and howled like she was being murdered. I must admit, I admire her dedication and commitment to her cause and it gives me great hopes for a bright and successful career in the future. But my goodness; it was a sight to behold.  By the end of the 35 minutes, she pulled her tear stained, sweaty little head off the floor, crawled up into my lap and lay on my shoulder rubbing my face saying "sssh sssh sssh". We were exhausted, mildly traumatised and relived that the (many) moment(s) had passed.  She returned to her loving little self and was all smiles and hugs and kisses from then on... while the fear of a repeat performance mounted in the pit of my stomach at the thought of having to change her bum! That was my punishment for being a Travelling Mama...

Here's hoping a frustrated drama queen is the only punishment I will receive for my break from the norm! I have asked my WW Leader to talk extra nice to her scales.  I was quiet good, but definitely had a little more than a tiple or two! I didn't go wild, like usual, but I am definitely not as confident about tonight's weigh in as I have been in previous weeks.  I am going for my silver seven. I need to loose 0.5lb to achieve this. It's so hard to have confidence in your choices when you have no control over what is going into them.  Eating out a lot is difficult. I did make some very good choices, I also made some not so good ones too - Doritos, I'm looking at you... but for the most part I kept breakfasts to fruit and yogurts and lunches to salads without the dressings so that I could be a bit more relaxed about my dinner and enjoy a glass of two of wine.

But I walked! I moved and I move and I moved. I set my self a goal of 81k steps by bed time tonight. I have 11,212 steps to go to make this goal. That's not a bad achievement if I do say so myself.

It's easy to rack up the steps in London. You practically walk everywhere, except the first day when your sense of direction fails you and you end up getting the tube to the next stop. It took longer to get down into the tube station, buy a ticket, wait for the tube, get on it, get off it and go back up to the street than it would have if I had walked, but I didn't know where I was going and looked like a fool walking up and down the road afraid to commit to a direction!!! 

Here's my stats so far this week... It's hard not to feel a little bit confident that I will achieve my goal when I look at them, but I am afraid to get cocky... 

Week 6 is about to start. Every week my confidence in myself grows and grows. And with that, so does my pride in myself.  I have made the decision to change my life, and I am not using excuses to stop me from doing this. My mantra again this week; the scales is not a true reflection of the effort I have put in.

All the same, if  you could send a few feather light thoughts my way I'd be ever so grateful!!! 

London Life

Greetings from Lovely London… I am currently living it up in a beautiful serviced apartment in the heart of London. It is amazing. It has a fully functioning kitchen, a shower that would strip the skin off your back, and the biggest bed with the most comfortable mattress, fluffiest pillows and cosiest blanket.  If you’re traveling, this is definitely the way to do it!

I have been concerned about how my eating habits my go while away. It’s so much easier to be at home and in my routine (and my comfort zone), but I know that this is a way of life for me now, I need to be able to adapt my food choices to my life. And I am trying very hard.  I made really good food choices yesterday, I had a bagel with smoked salmon and salad for my breakfast and I went out for dinner to a lovely Italian. I read the menu, I drooled over the pizza choices and the creamy cheesey gooey sauces, so much so that they had to put a “Caution, Wet Floor” sign beside my seat.  But, as tempted as I was by all that, I made good choices. I had an avocado and prawn salad, no dressing, for starter and Gnoochi with a tomato and basil sauce.  I had to fling the menu at the poor girl and order her away from my table before I changed my mind and said “Four cheese sauce, with extra cheese please”..

I can’t speak as highly of my willpower when it came to the bread and oil that was brought to my table. I ate that. I am not proud, but man it was so tasty. So I am happy to live with the shame…. The great thing about being in London is that you manage to get a lot of steps in without actually having to make a huge conscious effort to move. So yesterday I had managed to do a grand total of 14,534 steps without really trying… although tell my legs that cause they are killing me today!

After such a successful eating day yesterday, it’s given me the confidence to remain on track and not completely loose the plot while here. Smart choices! I’m starting with low pointed breakfasts (had fruit salad and granola bar (5pp)) and I’ll do the something similar for lunch so that I can be a bit more relaxed about dinner.

London is such a busy place. It’s one of my favourite places to visit, but I am really missing Himself and the Dolly. I had a facetime with them last night and my poor Dolly didn’t understand what was going on. She got so upset when I was saying goodbye to her. I think she’s wondering where the heck I’ve gone. Only two more nights to go! This jet setting lifestyle wouldn’t really be for me.

The POA for my PMA - Keeping Her Lit Week

As I previously mentioned, this is Throw in the Towel and get a Snickers Week, in my usual weight loss journey.  At this stage the last time I went back to weight watchers, I ran from the scales crying and snoting and in an awful negative place.  Granted, I was full of postpartum hormones and had only pushed a tiny human out of a tinier hole about 12 weeks before the crying and snotting and running and I had to quit.  My wonderful WW Leader reminded me last night of an email I sent her saying how trying to regain control of myself by being in weight watchers at that particular time was having an incredibly negative impact on me, and I would have to leave it for the time being. And leave it I did. I retreated into a happy lovely little bubble of myself, Himself and Herself. Sure I was delighted in my little life, still wearing my maternity jeans (because lets face it, they are just so comfortable!).

It makes me very sad reading back on some of those posts from that time.  I was very hard on myself, and if a new Mama came to me right now and said half of what I said to myself, I would give her a swift (but gentle, very gentle) kick in the backside and tell her to sit down and mind herself and her baby and have a little bit of what she fancied. Sure isn't she after growing a whole human all by herself. That's something to be incredibly proud of!

Anyway, I totally digress here! The purpose of this post is to discuss tactics!!! Tactics to protect my losses! I need to hire Fat Protectors who are going to guard me from my lost 4lb, in case they are a bit like homing pigeons and make their way back to me! I am heading to see my family in Donegal this weekend.  This means wine (yay!) and good company and happiness (more yay!).  So my plan is a simple one - sit in a corner and be a miserable moo for the weekend!

Ah not really! I am aiming for 81k steps this week.  And I have gotten off to a wonderful start! I was up at 6am this morning jumping around the sitting room for a bit of a HIT workout. Had to check what that meant when I first read it, it's High Intensity Training. Jesus I was a mess after it. Talk about making my fat cry (sweat). My goodness, I was sweating behind my ears after it! So while I was buckleaping around the sitting room, and my lovely family were snoring their heads off, I racked up at good 3k steps and it got me going for the day.  My whole mood lifted - I'm not a great morning person! I was bouncing around and I have kept it up all day with making sure I move for at least 10 minutes in every hour. This is what I've achieved so far today:

Pretty happy with that!

I am thinking that a mixture of aerobic and resistance training and keeping them steps up at around the 12k mark every day this week will ensure that I minimise the damage that could be caused at the weekend.

If anyone has any tips at all on making sure my weekend doesn't blow my whole week, please feel free to share!!!

I am looking forward to weigh day next week, when Week 4 officially gets renamed at Keeping Her Lit Week!!

Thought for Today

I saw this today on Instagram and I think it's a really good attitude to have. For me, my own body image is what has driven me to weight loss and exercise in the past.  This time round, I made a promise to myself that I would make physical and mental changes in my life, starting with how I speak to myself and how I feel about myself.

So far, I have been totally focused on how these changes are making me feel and not necessarily on what the scales is telling me.

A lot of the time, those of us on this weight loss journey have spent so long being cruel and unkind to ourselves that we don't even realise we are standing in our own way!

Motivation Tip

Exercise is the bane of my life. I am the first to admit it. I know I should be moving more, but the rain falls, the couch calls and, unable to play hard to get,I drop everything and sit in the ass groove I've lovingly and painstakingly carved for myself and before all thoughts of exercise are forgotten, I make a vague and undefined promise to try again tomorrow...

Having rejoined weight watchers,  I decided that in order for this to work I needed to look at this as a change in my life. To succeed I need to think of it as the new me, not a means to getting slim and then forget about it. So I made a a loud and definite promise to block all calls from the couch and move more every day.

The motivation is high right now - but it is only week 3! So to keep it going, I have been using the pedometer on my phone.

Everyone everywhere should have one. Yes, there are fancy Dan bracelets that track your steps and your z's and every breath you take etc etc.  But if, like me, you think there's a chance that this is a passing phase, download an app and just get walking. 

I have set myself challenges for the last three weeks. Increasing my weekly goal every time and, when I see I am doing more steps every day than the last, I am getting a bit addicted to bettering my count every day. I am a numbers girl.... I  like to see the numbers getting higher and higher. And, as a result, at the end of the week, regardless of what the scales tells me, I can see for myself that I am doing the right thing to get me where I want to be!

So my tip? Get a pedometer. As basic or as fancy as you might like.

Today, I did over 15,000 steps... my best yet!

Weigh Day is Looming

It's coming around to that time of the week again.  And what a week it's been! As I mentioned in a previous post, the day after weigh day this week was a tricky one. I just felt very disappointed that I wasn't seeing the results that I was feeling.  So I let myself have a moan day (one day? I hear my husband say, sure don't you do that every day!), and then I got up off my backside and got going again.  I challenged myself to 60,000 steps this week.  It was a challenge that I didn't think I was going rise to, given how enthusastically I had thrown myself into pity partying. But, despite this, I have so far managed to achieve a grand total of 54,108 steps and I still have one more day to go!

I am feeling so great with the changes I have made.  Last night was the first time in a very very long time that I went on a night out and felt good about myself and how I looked. I even managed to fit into my Hen Party outfit. Although, the look was not really fit for human consumption just yet.  But the jeans zipped, which was more than they did a couple of weeks ago. The last time I attempted to put them on they had a massive row with my hips and thighs.  It was an almighty battle, they were returned, bloodied and bruised, to the wardrobe to lick their wounds.  So that gave me a great big boost alright.

I had such a great night! But the end of it was a feckin minefield.  Have you any idea how many fast food places are open on Swords Main Street at 3.30am on a Sunday morning? Well? There's a million of them.  I trotted on past Mizzoni and ignored the calls of the cheesey fries, I clip clopped on past McDonalds and refused to listen to the Big Mac's begging me to eat them, I tottered on past Apache Pizza and declined to respond to the invitations from the chicken dippers to come in and have a dunk. It took all my willpower to trot, clip clopp and totter on past those tempting invitations.  But I did it, and I got home delighted with myself. Even in a decent enough state to remove my make up correctly and remember to bring some water to bed with me! Managed to remove my lenses AND put them in the bin instead of leaving them somewhere to dry out and become crusty and gross! All in all, it was a successful evening.

I slowly arose from my slumber this morning, gingerly moving my thumping head (I may have avoided the fast food, but I wasn't so virtuous with the aul Vino..) and, instead of having a dirty big cooked breakfast and heading down to the shops to stock up on jambons and wedges and crisps and chocolate and jellies, I had an lovely egg poached in a spicy tomato sauce for my breakfast (recipe on the Recipe page of my blog) and got up and did a work out for 45 minutes! Himself was in shock.  I was in shock. The usual turn of events after a night out consists of removal from horizontal position in bed, to horizontal position on couch barking orders to be brought food of all sorts and watching Harry Potter from start to finish.  But not today! Oh no sir!

So with all that in mind I am expecting to wake up tomorrow morning a size 8! Here's hoping the scales recognises all my work, because if it doesn't, I will have to set it on fire!!!

Although in all seriousness, even if the scales doesn't want to recognise my hard work, I can feel it in myself.  I'm not as tired as I usually am, I am in a constant good mood (although Himself might have something to say on that subject!), my stress levels are decreasing daily and I am starting to notice a big change in my attitude towards myself.  The negative thoughts are not as frequent and I am much kinder to myself this week.  Which was one of my main goals for the week.

Wish me luck tomorrow morning people!!!

Thought for Today - Staying on Track

I have to be totally honest, yesterday was a bit of a tough day, and for all my chat about not minding about the scales and feeling great regardless of what it said, I think I was a little bit more disappointed than I was letting on. Actually, a lot more disappointed. Like, a Malteaser Bar, 1 meringue nest, a Babybell Cheese and a packet of popcorn, disappointed - not all in one go mind! It was spaced over the day. I was hollow all day, nothing I ate could satisfy me, but it didn't stop me from eating let me tell you! I didn't get anywhere near my goal of 9,000 steps because I was in a 'can't be feckin arsed' kind of mood.

As my wonderful Hubby kindly pointed out to me, Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was the wide load I call my ass (he didn't say that last bit, I did!). He knows that I have unrealistic expectations with food and exercise.  I am from the "eating well and moving more for one week will totes undo years of sitting on the couch making bad food choices" camp.

So today, despite a terrible nights sleep with the worst bedmate ever - my daughter, I have woken up with renewed positivity and am back to really believing in the benefits I am feeling. No more feeling sorry for myself! Yesterday's bad day will not be Monday's bad week!

Implementing Operation Skinny Bitch

Yesterday wasn't the greatest day in the history of being Mama Mc (hoping that this nickname catches on!!).  My poor little Dolly has been sick as a small hospital with a dose of tonsilitis.  The poor divil has had it since Sunday and is on an antibiotic.  As a result she is doing an award winning impersonation of a sticking plaster... Her temperatures were through the roof! But at least we can give her medicine for her pain, there's not a pill in the land that could heal the ache in my heart when I left her at creche Tuesday morning. I lasted three hours in work and then went and collected her.  Thankfully my boss is incredibly understanding and allowed me to work from home for two days.

As I was saying, not the greatest day, but we got through it.  On Tuesday night I set myself a challenge of completing 8,000 steps.  When I realised that I wasn't actually going to get out of the house, I wondered how on earth I was going to achieve that trapped inside my little duplex. Old me (Me from Sunday 26 July 2015!) would have just said "Ah Feck it.  Lets sit down on the couch together and eat our weight in chocolate".  But new me (born Monday 27 July 2015) got creative... Today's weight loss assistants were these bad boys; my dumbells and the two steps out to my balcony.

While they are not the heaviest weights in the world, they are a starting point.  The greatest amount of assistance came from the two steps.  I used these as the smallest stair master ever.  It's a good job we are not overlooked, because if we were I'm pretty sure my neighbors would think I had lost my mind bobbing up and down on them throughout the day.

I decided that to achieve my goal, I would spend a minimum of 10 to 15 minutes of every hour moving.  So I spent a lot of time going up and down these steps like a crazy person stuck on some sort of a loop! But it worked, and I more than achieved my goal  because I actually completed a grand total of 12,589 steps for the whole day.  Which was 112 minutes of activity! I didn't just go up and down these steps 12,589 times, I also got out for a little run. Imagine how boring a workout would be if you just went up and down a couple of steps that amount of times?

My sick little Dolly sat on the couch watching me and laughing her little head off at me, which was great cause at least she was laughing and not crying, or looking to be on my hip.  These steps are hard work, but harder with a 15 month old sat on your hip pulling your glasses off your face....

Operation Skinny Bitch (name courtesy of Himself), is underway...

6am and I'm already moving

I am apparently very serious about this weight loss thing... it's only 06:38 and I have already completed over 3000 steps...

Body has gone into shock...