Hi all,
Very sorry I haven't been updating my diary much, I just seem to be so busy all the time, and unlike all the other things I do online (and even here on Minimins) updating my diary needs longer!
I will attempt to make amends now ... I have worked out that my last proper post was way back on Thursday 8th April. I am so naughty for leaving it that long, and I will endeavour to not let it happen again!
Hard to know which is the best way to bring you all up to speed, do I do it in time order, or under different topics (weight, exercise, etc) or just throw things in as I think of them lol.
So I have decided to just write, and things will come out in the order they want to!
As I left things, I had just begun on my first week on Extra Easy. I had decided from the off to give it a fair go, but if after a couple of weeks I wasn't getting good results (as I have most definitely been getting on my green days) I would just switch back. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Sadly, I didn't actually give EE a chance to work in the first couple of weeks! During the first week I managed to avoid the pitfalls of a poker night, only to succumb to a massive chinese the following night! At official weigh in I put on ½lb as a result. To be honest my home scales had still shown a loss and I think it was more to do with my shift that day and what I had eaten and had to drink during that day, rather than a bad week.
But the second week, I had a 'flexi-syn' night straight after weigh in. That is to say I put all thoughts of healthy eating/weight loss to one side and pigged out. This was a planned splurge, as I had been struggling to stay focused and enjoy the plan as I had been, and decided to have one big blast to clear out the cobwebs so I could be refreshed again from the next day. And the plan went like clockwork ... until the Friday night ... I went out to a friend's 50th birthday, stuck to plan having only 5 vodka/diet cokes and sticking to plan at the do ... only to pick up a meat and chips from the kebab on the way home!! That is the kind of thing I can get away with every once in a while when at target and maintaining, but not while I still have so much to lose. I don't even have the excuse that we were drawn in by the nice smell as we purposely diverted our walk home to have one! Not my proudest moment, but I don't drink very often so I don't see it being a problem that will repeat all too often. And, for the record, the food tasted naff anyway lol.
Then on the Sunday that week, the wife went out with her friend to watch the Dancing on Ice show at the O2 and I had the kids for the day. I took the boys to Wetherspoons for lunch, I had the 5 bean chilli (only 4½ syns and delicious!!). The day was going perfectly in terms of food until the wife got home late and we decided to have an indian!! Unlike the kebab earlier in the week, the indian was of course delicious
But just like the kebab it was unplanned and not a good decision to make. As you would expect, I put on 1lb at my official weigh in that week.
So my first two weeks on EE hadn't exactly been a success, but then I hadn't given them a chance to shine.
So I decided to have a 100% fortnight on EE, starting from the Wednesday 21st April. I am just over one week into it, have been enjoying it immensely, and it is definitely working.
At weigh in Tuesday night, I showed a loss of NINE pounds
This got me my 6½ stone award - though perhaps ironically not the Slimmer of the Week award as I had put on the previous week lol.
I'm two days into the second EE trial 100% week, and so far so good. Both in terms of how much I'm enjoying it and finding I can make it suit my home life and work shifts, but also in terms of the results I am seeing/feeling. I'm not expecting much of a loss this week following the superb amount that came off last week, just a ½lb loss on Tuesday will give me an average of 2lb a week loss over the four weeks regardless of my poor attempts in the first two weeks!
I am now only ½lb away from reaching my 7 stone award as well, another reason why I am keen to lose ½lb this week
As for home weigh ins, on Tuesday 27th April I weighed in at 16 stone 12¼lb, which took me past the 8 stone total weight loss milestone which was massive for me!
The same Tuesday also saw me passing my practical driving test, so once again I am the proud owner of a full car driving licence. And this time I intend to keep it lol.
We have been trying lots of new meals since starting EE, including: shepherd's pie (with mince opposed to Quorn), spag bol (same), pork sausages and spring onion mash, jacket with minced beef, spiced chicken casserole, chicken and leek pie, lasagne, chicken tikka masala, spaghetti carbonara (using ham instead of the HEb bacon that I had on green days), cajun chicken burgers and spicy wedges, and today for lunch I have just finished eating spicy chicken, spinach and potato curry. All these meals so far have been delicious (in particular the cajun chicken burgers/spicy wedges - SW magazine no. 76, page 24 if you are interested!!) and we have many many more lined up to try in the forthcoming weeks.
So long as the weight continues dropping off, I will stay with EE.
I have been keeping up the exercise when I have had time, although haven't made it to the gym in weeks, and haven't been swimming either. I have been out cycling whenever time has allowed (more about cycling later!!), and also jogging. Yep, jogging!!
I have found a route from my house, around town, and back to my house, which is 6 miles or thereabouts, and have been doing it every couple of days. Who needs a gym or pool when the weather is this good?!?
As for cycling, I have signed up to do a sponsored bike ride called the Nightrider. Sounds good eh? Wish I had read the smallprint before agreeing to it to be honest ... it is a 100km ride (62 miles!!) around London ... at night! We start at 23.00 from Crystal Palace, and end up there again some time in the morning. Hopefully. I am doing it for a local charity, the Kent Air Ambulance Trust, and if you can find your way to sponsoring me we would be very grateful - you can do it online here :
Dave Piggott is fundraising for Kent Air Ambulance Trust - JustGiving. I am hoping to raise a total of £1000, and so far have over £600
Oh, and I went for a ride the other day just to see how long I could go for on the new road bike, and ended up cycling all the way from Faversham to Margate, which was 25.7 miles!! My bum was well sore, and it has scared me to think that on the Nightrider I will have to ride twice as far as that PLUS another 12 miles
Congratulations to everyone for making it to the end of what is definitely my longest diary page ever! Sorry again for leaving it so long, I will keep on top of it I promise.
I will try to pop in again later to reply to everyone who posted before I came in today, but for now I must go and get ready for work. No rest for the wicked and all that!!
Hope you're all well, back again soon ♥