Emily's Journey to a Jawline - including food pics!

It's physically painful to think about how many of these diaries I have started over the last two years, but I'm praying with all my heart that this will be the last one. On the positive, I've actually joined a Slimming World class! I feel really good about it, it's a really lovely group and I was a bit embarrassed about going back, but the consultant was really encouraging.

Anywho, I want to lose about 5 stone, any more than that is a bonus but for now, I'm focusing on the big 5! I've broken it down into a stone at a time, and I'm going to reward myself with a new tattoo for each stone I lost. Super excited.

I think writing this all down will really help and keep me focused, and also remind myself why I am doing this and where I want to be. Here are my top 5 reasons for wanting to lose the chub:

1. I want a face! And I mean a nicely shaped face, with a nice jawline. I've seen an amazing amount of before and afters lately, so I'm sure it's possible!
2. I want to be confident within myself, personally, socially and in the workplace. T'would be nice to not have to worry about my weight everytime my friends ask me out to do something!
3. I want a healthy body ready to start thinking about babies. I have PCOS, and I think it's going to be super difficult for us to have a tiny person, losing weight should hopefully help that.
4. Clothes! Pretty clothes, in pretty stores where I don't have to worry whether or not they do my size.
5. To make my husband (and myself) proud. I know he loves me no matter what size I am, but he's so supportive and he always puts so much faith in me. It'd be nice to actually say 'look, I did it!'.

I'll be getting weighed on Fridays, can't wait til my first one!

Day 2 - Extra Easy
Thai sweet chilli chicken salad (3 syns)
Chicken and vegetable soup
Rice, green beans, onions, sticky asian chicken and grated carrot with a sweet chilli dressing (4 syns)
2 x Hifi bars (HEX)
Banana
Glass of milk (HEX)

Total syns: 7

And here's some photos! Food porn, gotta love it!

Good luck Emily- your food looks lovely and with all them fab goals I'm sure you'll be getting your first weight loss tattoo in no time!

Thank you! Fingers crossed Hope your journey is going well! x

Here to subscribe! I like you're writing style and saw your blog after you posted your lunch on a different thread.
Wishing you the best of luck! I know you can do it!!

From a fellow shorty xxx

Thank you muchly! Just had a bit of a stalker sesh and read your blog and food diary, you have such a good figure! You've done crazy well so far, it's also rather awesome seeing what other people look like who are the same height (not forgetting the half an inch). I'm now feeling very inspired and slightly over excited at the prospect of looking that good when I hit 9st7lbs. I even used the word 'when' instead of 'if'. It's a new year miracle!

Good luck with SW, not long til your birthday! Woohoo! x

Wowwy Emily- you're enthusiasm is contagious! I've been having a post-Christmas self-loath. Spose that's one good thing about going back to work tomorrow- regaining some sort of routine/ restraint on FOOD.

Here's to more New Year miracles for all of us xxxxx

Best of luck. We are a similar weight and I'm hoping your enthusiasm cas boost me along the way. Loving your pics.

Xxx

Thanks Katie, hopefully this is the last time we'll be this weight onwards and downwards!

I'm surprisingly looking forward to going back to work tomorrow, got a little lunch box sorted and everything. New year miracles all round! x

Hi there, popping in to subscribe. Well done on restarting and good luck with the rest of the week!

Your food pic from today look AMAZING! Do you have a recipe for that chicken?

Hi subscribing to your diary ;-)
Good luck on your journey looking forward to following your progress ;-)

How did you do your sweet chilli chicken looks soo good Xxx

Good Luck Emily.. heres to Jawlines and capes x

Do you by any chance run the slimmingrambles blog? I follow it on blogspot and just noticed your delicious looking salad over there and thought im sure ive seen that before!

Haha, I do! I started it last year but I ended up moving house and lost access to my PC, so I stopped doing it. I got a laptop for Christmas though, so I'm planning on getting it back up and running! That's so funny, I'd almost forgotten about it. Weird (but pretty cool) to think people actually read it!

Thanks also to everyone for the epic support on here. It's really motivational!

Here's the recipe for thai chicken salad: Thai sweet chilli chicken salad. | Slimming world recipes and other ramblings.

The sticky chicken was a bit of a 'trial and error' combo of sweet chilli sauce, honey, diet coke, garlic, ginger, spring onions, fresh chilli and five spice. The syns for the sweet chilli sauce are 1.5 syns per tablespoon, and the honey was 1 syn per teaspoon, but between four people it's nada. I also made the sweet chilli dressing (tbsp sweet chilli sauce mixed with a tbs of light soy sauce) and drizzled that on top. Bit addicted to it! I've got it for lunch with some plain chicken and salad today.



Day 3: Extra easy

Banana
Activia 0% peach yogurt
Hifi bars (HEX)
Chicken salad with chilli dressing (1.5 syns)
Mugshot (free - woohoo!)
Mexican honey and chilli chicken with jacket potato, cheese and salad (HEX + 4 syns for honey and a teeny bit of bbq sauce)

Total synnage: 4.5

Hope you're all having a good Monday.

Love your lunchbox!!!

Thanks! Got it for Christmas, as cute as it is, I have today learned that it is not water tight. As did the seat in my friends car, had a bit of a rogue soy sauce fiasco!

Very lame excuse for a photo of my dinner tonight, my dslr battery is dead and I couldn't wait. Was crazy nice though, I couldn't eat it all too which is awesome. I actually left food on a plate, self high five!

Soo... going to have a bit of a 'thinking out loud' post. Or typing out loud? But yeah. I've been thinking today about what my five tattoos are going to be for each stone I lose. There are some that I have wanted for a long, long time. Here goes!

I want an arrow tattoo, as I've gone up and down so many times with my weight, but I'm coming around to the idea that there are times in life where you can't move forward without being 'pulled back' (like an arrow - see where this is going?), so that'll be my first 1 stone down tattoo. I think I shall get this on the back of my neck orrr my upper forearm.

Russian dolls. I shall find (and be) my inner, tiny self! I'm going to get three of these going down the center of my back. This is a pretty epic one, so I'm thinking either my 3 or 4 stone goal.

"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light." - Yes, it's from Harry Potter. I love Harry Potter. The books, the film, the behind the scenes, the extras, the studio tour (uhmazing) and in October, I'm off the Harry Potter world in Orlando, Florida. Yes, I'm a little lame. One of the key things spurring me on at the moment is an article I recently read about a woman who went to HP world and had to wear two capes tied together, as she was too big for them! THIS SHALL NOT HAPPEN TO ME! I shall rock that cape. Plus, it's a really epic quote and means a lot to me. I might get this on my rib cage, when I find my rib cage. No pain, no gain!

The obligatory sailor tattoo. I know it's awfully common, but I have a bird tattoo on my chest as a little hommage to my mum (who also has a bird tattoo on her chest) and I would love to have a tattoo that is a tiny hommage to my dad, who has spent his life working on boats. I also use the phrase 'sink or swim' way too much - and this will prove I am most definitely swimming. I guess I'll either get an anchor or a tiny boat.

And FINALLY, the 5 stone final piece. I want a big floral piece on my upper thigh (once I have tattoo worthy thighs naturally). That's going to be my 5 stone lost present to myself. It has no meaning at all, other than it will look awesome and I'll have some pretty art of my a piece of my body I may actually consider showing off when I get to target.

Boom. Done!

Here are the tattoos in visual form, so I can look back on this and keep focused! Rant over, time to go clean up before Secrets of the Living Dolls on Channel 4 tonight - SO SO CREEPY. S'going to be a goodun!

I always think tattoos look really good on other people but ive never really wanted one myself. I actually really like the look of the little anchor - cute

And YAY another Harry Potter fan. I LOVE it all too and am beyond jealous that you are going to Orlando hppefully in a couple of years I may get the chance! Went to the studio tour a couple of months ago though - amazing! Hogwarts OMG!

Tattoos definitely aren't for everyone My husband would never get one lol, but I guess it's good that everyone's different.

The studio tour is amazing, isn't it? I reeeally hope they do butterbeer in Orlando, when I went the studio tour I was trying to be really good on my diet so I didn't have any, it looked awesome though! I watched the deathly hallows again over christmas, so emotional! I'll grow up one day.

Feeling positive about my food today. I thought I'd be struggling more at work but it's much easier than I thought it'd be. We also got a microwave in the office today, super excited about the prospect of hot food for lunch!

Day 4: Extra Easy

3 x Babybel Lights (hex)
Banana
Half a packet of uncle bens savoury rice, chicken and soy sauce (1 syn?)
Plum
Kiwi
Peach yogurt
Hifi bars (hex)
Chicken and lentil curry with rice and grated carrot

Bit obsessed with adding grated carrot to all my meals at the moment, seems to be the easiest way to get some superfree into my meals. Lacking a bit on the lunch front though, shall work on this for tomorrow! x

Curry was pretty good but made it a little too spicy. I've definitely made better, but it's work in progress. Will upload some pics in a bit! Off to do some body magic aka Miranda Hart's 'Maracattack', sans maracas. Shall be resourceful and use some spoons...

Just been reading your thread. I've restarted my slimming world journey too and have 4.5 ish stone to lose. I'm not sure how much, when I feel comfortable in my own skin. Reading all the reasons you want to do this is like reading my own thread (apart from the PCOS) - although I got married in August so babies is something we might look into in the next year or two so being healthy would be good.

If you like curry, my mum does an AMAZING madras. We're from Leicester originally. It was a non slimming world recipe which we've altered to be completely syn free, and it doesn't taste any different. I like spicy food, but not massively spicy, so even though it's a madras it's lovely. You can make it to the heat you want it anyway. I'll get the recipe off her if you want.

I love to cook too and hope to share lots of recipes on my weight loss journey thread as and when I do them.

Good luck in your weight loss journey. I'm sure that 2015 will be a skinnier start for us both!