Only 8 Days till Christmas...

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, your looking very Christmassy...

I can't believe there are only eight days till the big day.  This is all very exciting let me tell you.   Time has been shooting away from me.  It's been four days since I got weighed and I am only getting around to posting about it now! But before all that, let me fill you in on the last two weeks.

I had my Christmas party two weeks ago.  It was a grand night.  We had some crazy "entertainment" and booze galore for most of the night.  I walked the legs off myself and me and one of my besties ended up partying the night away in a London casino till the wee hours of the morning.  The result? I died a holy death. I mean, the worst hangover I have had in years and years.  It took me 40 minutes to complete a 15 minute walk from where I was staying to where I work. Sweet divine baby Jesus my flight home was horrific. I swear to God I had the little paper bag poised and ready.  When the plane hit turbulence I was instantly thrown back to that time I went on Space Mountain in Disney land Paris and wished I was dead... Some poor man sitting beside me was rubbing my arm reassuring me that it was only a bit of turbulence and all would be well.  I think he took the beads of sweat racing down my face in a marathon to see which one sploshed onto my lap first as a sign that I thought the plane was going down in flames. Thankfully, I managed to make it to solid ground and the privacy of a cubicle before I made a holy show of myself.  I got home, prayed that the baby would be easy for me, which she was, put her to bed at 6.30pm (this is her usual bed time, not the 'mammy has a hangover and can't be dealing with you' bed time) and I lay on the couch and begged for death. When death didn't take me, I rang for a Chinese and prayed it would stay down.  It must have been all my walking and what not because when I got weighed after that weekend I maintained. And when your in the throws of party season, you can't be sniffing at a maintenance.

On to this week.  Well I walked and stepped and lifted my way through the week like a mad woman.  I achieved 1,000,000 steps since 30th August 2015 and decided to achieve 2,000,000 steps by 6th March 2016 (that's 2 million in total, just so we are clear!)

This has given me a real boost to get moving and keep moving over the Christmas. What has also given me a boost is this little ensemble I wore to my father in law's 60th birthday bash 

I felt really great heading out on Saturday night. And I had a great night as a result of all my hard work. I did not feel so great on Sunday. Oh God, I thought the hangovers had left me. But they haven't.  I do not recover well anymore.  I had offered to do a big chicken curry for day two of my father in laws celebrations, and as I stood there, hungover to bejaysis, cutting up those chicken boobs, I genuinely thought I was going to pass out into the raw chicken and get food poisoning. I didn't, but it nearly happened.  I think I must have drank about 50 liters of water and I was still thirsty!!!  

All my hard work paid off, because when I got weighed on Monday, I was informed that I had lost 2.5lb! I'm delighted with myself! I am now 1lb off my stone and I want it on Monday.  I will go into the Christmas week with my stone in my hand. 

With Christmas week fast approaching us, my plan is in place on how to cope with the excess food and drinking. I  am allowing myslef three free days and the rest will be like any other day of the week.  And I have my challenge to continue with, 11,111 steps per day to achieve the goal of 1 million more steps in March. 

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 11

It is weigh day again. I can't believe how quickly the weeks are going by!! It's the end of Week 11 and while I was away, I was getting a little bit disheartened by how I have slowed and my focus feels all over the place the last couple of weeks.  I know that it is mostly down to travelling and not being in my usual routine, and I am very hopeful that the travel is coming to an end, and soon.  But this week is brighter and more positive for a number of reasons.  Firstly, because I do not have to step foot outside the country for the week. Yay me! I get to spend all my time at home with Himself and Herself! It makes me happy.

Because I have not been in the driving seat with my food prep, I have decided that it is best to focus all my energy on my NSV's this week and ignore what the scales says to me. These are my NSV's this week:

1. My wedding rings are swinging around like a pair of bangles on my fingers! Delighted with that. Wonder should I plug for a new bridal set and get the aul eternity ring included?
2. I put on a pair of long boots I wore last winter and there is room in the leg.  Last year, I had to rub vaseline into the zip in order to get it to close easily over my baby cows (calves, you get it?) and when they did close, lets just say I am doubtful about the amount of blood that actually made it down to my toes! I had rings around the top of the baby cows for days after wearing them! 
3. I am feeling so good in myself.  As I mentioned last week, travelling is getting me down a bit.  Before I started this journey I would have spiraled into a bleak and horrible mood and just eaten everything in front of me, and behind me, and beside me, heck, if you stood still long enough I would probably have taken a lump out of you too! 
4. I can move further for longer and faster than I have ever been able to do. This makes me happy! 

Regardless of what the scales tells me, I know I am making lasting and happy changes in myself.

Thought for Today is: 

Kindness to ourselves is the only way we are going to complete this journey successfully. 

This weeks stats include: 

Not bad going so far is it? I'm 20k steps off my goal for this week, but there is time to make some of that deficit up before bed today! 

Finally, some of my meals this week: 

My new slow cooker is my favourite new toy! It has produced Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs and Pork Goulash. They were both amazing!! My Homemade Granloa is an amazing breakfast or just as added crunch to a 0% fat greek yougart!! 

Here's to a happy week this week and, hopefully, a more successful scales week next week!! 

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!

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.

Week 4 of my 12 week challenge

I decided to start a 12 week challenge on the 11 August 2015 which would bring me up to 2 November 2015. The aim is to loose 21lb by that date and track in a 12 Week Journal everything I eat and how I feel. It's going well. I haven't missed a day yet.

I took my measurements at the start of this challenge and decided I would retake them at the end.  But I'm impatient, so I took them just now.

In 4 weeks I have lost 7.5lb, but I have also lost;

0.5 inches from my waist
0.5 inches from my hips
1 inch from my bust
1.5 inches from thighs
1 inch from my arm

At this rate I'll be able to stop carrying around that fire extinguisher every where I walk! The Chub Rub is less likely to set me alight!!!!

Here's to Non-Scale Victories!!!