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. 

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

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!

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! 

The Weekly Result; This Roller coaster is only going up...

And by up, I mean the weight is just going down!I have lost another 2lb this week.  I'm not going to lie,  I got nervous hopping up on that scales because of the crazy sugar monster that took over my willpower earlier in the week. But all of my moving has paid off, because I lost another 2lb!I am 0.5lb off 10lb. That's a dress size! An almost dress size in 6 weeks! This has never ever happened in all the time I'm weight watching. I am so pleased.

And, to add some sugar free icing on top of my low fat weight watchers desert... I FINALLY fit into a guna  (dress) that has been laughing at me for over 18 months from the back of my wardrobe. And not just it zips fits, oh no, actual fits and is appropriate viewing for the general population! So, after 18 long months keeping my wardrobe warm, it will keep me warm for a night out on Friday night.

Here's to a great week to 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! 

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.

It's Weigh Day - Keep Her Lit is nearly over

The end of Keeping Her Lit is in sight.  It's been a tough week! The Diet God's have conspired against me all week and done their utmost to distract me from my goal, but for once,  I was bigger than (most) of my excuses! I have been as sick as a small hospital all week - might have mentioned that once or twice. But I still managed to get up and going and do over 10k steps every day this week bar yesterday. Which was the worst day ever....

I thought I was going to die!

In preparation for my weekend in Donegal, I got up on Saturday morning and worked out to about 5k steps. I hopped in the car, fresh as a daisy, and headed off for my 3.5 hour drive. The Dolly was a pet and slept a good portion of the journey but we stopped half way to stretch the pins and grab a quick something to eat. And herein lies my downfall... I went to a supermarket / garage place and decided that I would say no to the spicy wedges and jambon and go for a chicken and salad wrap. I paid dearly for this choice... because I got a dose of food poisoning that hit me at about 4am and caused me to pass out in a heap on the bathroom floor ensuring that my poor father nearly had (another) heart attack. I was bed bound for most of the day yesterday. It was Feckin horrific.... but may bode well for the scales eh???

Despite all that conspired against me, I have completed 68,330 steps. I am just over 12,000 short of my goal of 81k and am going to do what I can to achieve it. I am still weak as a kitten but a little walk won't kill me...

Someone made a comment to me during the week about my positivity and that they hoped that I had the support to back it all up..it got me thinking. I am blessed to be surrounded by some incredibly supportive people,  Himself being my biggest cheerleader. But regardless of the support I have,  this journey will not be a success unless I support myself. We need to give ourselves the very best chance to succeed. So, for example,  right now may not be the best time to look into that tour of Cadburys ....

Speaking of the Husband. He went off out and bought me a lovely early birthday present. Diamonds?  Good lord no! A hunk of black rubber that vibrates if I sit still for 30 mins and tracks all my moving and grooving? Why yes, that romantic old divil knows how to cut straight to my heart!!!! He bought me a jawbone UP24. The most addictive thing I have ever owned. I am obsessed with it!

I made it through Week 4. I haven't jacked it in and thrown in the Towel. I am still remaining positive and I am so proud of myself for getting over this week without just saying "ah feck it, I'm sick, pass the curry and prawn crackers".

I would be over the moon with another 2lb loss, but will be conservative and say 1lb. And again, that scales is just a number.  It's not always a fair representative of all the work I have put in during the week. It can not make me as happy as I was made on Friday morning when I put on a pre-pregnancy work dress,  and it zipped, and I could wear it out in public! Granted I had a massive amount of scaffolding on underneath it holding everything in. But I felt amazing!!!! The scales can't give you that feeling!!

Good luck to all my weight watchers this week! Sending you all feather light thoughts

Some of my meals

All of my moving and grooving and my new favourite toy 

Me in my work dress delighted with myself of a Friday morning !!

Thought for today

It is by attempting to reach the top in a single leap that so much misery is produced in the world - William Cobbett

We all know Rome wasn't built in a day,  no matter what it is we are trying to achieve; personal success, professional success,  increased fitness or decreased girth, it won't be done over night. We need to work at it and be prepared to stay the length of our journey. Don't sabotage yourself by expecting too much too soon!

(Final) Thought for Today

Keeping Her Lit... on a slow burner

Ah lads! It's finally got me. The Feckin head cold has taken a hold of me! I can't believe it. I've dodged throat and ear and chest infections like an immunity ninja for weeks! Himself has been struck down, my Dolly has had it twice and I've still avoided it. But last night before I went to bed I could feel the cotton wool expanding in my head,  my throat starting to burn and a tightness in my chest as I coughed up a lung like a seasoned smoker!!

I haven't the time or the inclination to be sick! I have steps to maintain, pounds to loose, weight to keep off!

Still managed to do over 10k steps today so that's not good.

All sympathy and virtual hugs and love gratefully accepted and appreciated! 

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!