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!

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.

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! 

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

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!!

Weigh Day - End of Week Three

It’s the end of Week 3 and the start of Week 4.  Week 4 is usually “Jack It All In and have a Curry” week for me. But this time round it’s going to be ‘Keep her Lit’ week. I started weigh day as I mean to go on, with a good old workout to get the heart pumping good and fast before work. I have worked out every day since last Monday. That’s never happened in all my life. And I’m not even working out for the sake of it. I am doing it because I really want to do it.  I am enjoying challenging myself with different You Tube videos.  The only issues I really have is my inability to co-ordinate all my limbs.  Everything is smooth sailing when it’s just the lower half of my body or the upper half of my body, but when I have to combine the two… lets just say it’s not pretty. I can’t get it all to work in unison, with the result, I look like I am thrashing around the place just drowning in the air. But I’m doing it, and the lady on the TV assures me that I don’t have to be perfect, I just have to keep moving, so I’ll take her word for it!

My PMA is through the roof. I am delighted with all the effort that I am putting in. I’m enjoying my food and moving more and it’s helping me with sleeping better, being more patient and just overall feeling very happy. Although Himself did mention that I looked a little bit cross recently, so I must pass the ‘I’m delighted with life’ message on to my face!  The PMA is so high, that my whinging unhappy insomniac of a Dolly couldn’t even drive me to ordering a take away! Oh no Sir.  Usually, when my favourite tiny human gives me a day like she did yesterday, when she’s done nothing but cry and refuse to sleep, I am exhausted (which I was) and feel hard done by (which I totally was!) and so I cheer myself up with a take away because I haven’t the energy to cook. Not this time! I got her to bed and decided that I really didn’t want to go fluffing about making a big dinner, so I “treated” myself with a little sausage sandwich and a packet of popcorn, and it was delicious! All within my points and no crazy “I hate myself” guilt!!

It is only the start of Week 4, but I am beginning to notice little things are changing – like I don’t grunt as loudly when I bend to pick something up these days. That’s always a nice change.  I have some tops that are beginning to look a little bit big on me. But then I lose the run of myself and beat my hips and ass into something skin tight and body con and realise that  -2lb does not equate to -2 stone, so I have to shout in the mirror “Get your ass outta that lyrca and into something a little bit more forgiving”….

Some of my favorite meals this week included a lovely Strawberry and Feta Cheese Salad which can be found here and also a gorgeous Grilled Hake and Avacado Sauce which can be found here

Last Monday I set myself a goal of 70k steps for the week by bed time tonight.  At 9pm yesterday evening, I had achieved 71k steps, and as I type, I am currently at 75,184.

This weeks stats:

So with all that effort, I would be really happy to be down 1lb. Regardless of what the scales says, I know that I have put in a massive effort and I am still remaining very focused on the positive changes that I am already seeing and have faith that even if the scales choose to ignore all my efforts, all the sweaty and fuzzy headed sacrifices I have made this week.  Even if it doesn’t take into account all the ice cream and chocolate and fizzy cola bottles I resisted, I know that it will eventually pay off and I will start to see results.  Rome wasn’t built in a day, as himself says, so in this case, RachMc won’t be deconstructed in a day either!

Now, excuse me while I go pray to the Pooh Gods, cause it’s weigh day today! 

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!