From here to inskinnity! My mission to lose 13.5 stone!

[Cheese Thief]

Hi guys, thanks for checking up on me. Had a bit of a rubbish week, £420 car repair bill, bad cold which kept me in bed for a few days, and of course my birthday meal, which was delicious, though not the most slimming! Been back on plan for the last couple of days but seriously doubt I'm gonna lose tomorrow at weigh in. The main thing though is that I'm gonna go, hold my hands up and accept responsibility, and stick to plan next week!

I'll check in tomorrow and let you know how I've got on, hope you're all having a good week x

 

[VeggieBev]

A belated happy birthday to you Good luck tomorrow x

 

[Cheese Thief]

Thanks Bev, you might have been my lucky charm this week! Just got back from the scales at group and i've lost 4lbs!! I have no idea how I managed that, but I guess apart from my birthday and "cake day" I did stick to plan the rest of the time. Anyway, that means I've got my half stone award in the bag! I didn't stay for group today as still not feeling great and I've got work later at 3 so want to go back to bed for a bit! I'm grinning from ear to ear this week, determined to do great this week and get another loss under my belt!

 

[VeggieBev]

I'm delighted for you, well done on getting your first award too

I hope you have another good week ahead of you x

 

[Cheese Thief]

Thanks Bev, i hope you do too. I see you're going away in October, me too, I'm aiming to be two stone lighter, well 1.5 stone now!

I'm having a great day today as been invited for a job interview tomorrow too. I've only been working at the care home for 2 weeks but it's turning me into a nervous wreck. The residents are cared for so badly (left on the toilet for over an hour, not wiped properly, lifted in completely the wrong way, care logs faked etc) that I can't in good conscience stay their in the long term. As soon as I get a new job I'm going to tell the manager all my concerns along with the Care Quality Commission. I know the home is understaffed etc but it's a private care home and there's no excuse for it. The way they lift people the wrong way so they could suffer dislocated bones etc makes my blood boil, it'd only take a minute more to do it properly! Thankfully as I'm doing radiography at uni I don't need loads of caring experience, but to make sure I've got enough for my uni application I'm going to get in touch with the Royal Voluntary Service to try and help out one afternoon a week. They run lots of services for the elderly such as befriending, and I think I'd find it much more suitable and more rewarding.

Anyway, food so far today: (will update the rest tonight)

Breakfast - Banana (in a rush before weigh in!)
Lunch - lean bacon, 2 poached eggs, mushrooms, baked beans
Tea - weight watchers hot pot - 4 1/2 syns
Dessert - mullerlight cheesecake - 1 syn

 

[VeggieBev]

Goodness me, that's awful about where you work. I couldn't stand for it either, you will be so right to pass on your concerns and take it to the CQC.

It looks like you go away the week after me - I leave on 5th but don't actually fly until the 6th, we're staying in an airport hotel the night before so I'm classing that as the official start of my holidays. I can't wait! My initial goal was to have lost 2.5st by then (from when I started) but now I'm hoping that I can get it to 3st. That will take me to roughly the same weight that I was the last time I went to Florida which was in 2004.

Best of luck getting to your goal, I'm sure you can do it! x

 

[flix]

Congrats on the fab loss

 

[Cheese Thief]

Thanks Flix

Bev - You've done so well already I'm sure you're going to make that 3 stone! Personally I think I'm being a bit too optimistic with 2 stone as it'll mean losing 1.5 stone in the next 7 weeks, but stranger things have happened and as I've got a lot to lose its meant to be easier to get big numbers early on, only time will tell! And yep the job is horrible, just thinking about it makes my blood boil, I've been preparing like hell for tomorrow. It's only working in customer service but the hours are great meaning I'll have lots of time to study, get fit, get some work experience and maybe even have time to see Chris!

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p.s While I was writing this my kittens have been running all over my keyboard driving me nuts! I'm taking it as a hint that they want a mention, so here they are! Minty (ginger) and Mischief (black and white). We've had them for 5 weeks now, making them about 17 weeks old. When we adopted them from the cat shelter they were both tiny as they'd been abandoned along with their Mum and sister, but with lots of love and cat flu treatment they are all doing great now

 

[Cheese Thief]

Yessss! I got the job! Feeling over the moon! I don't start for another 2 months until October after I've got back from my holiday, but it sounds like it's going to be really good. I finally feel like I'll be able to get settled somewhere. I'll be working 20 hours a week in the daytime, which I can change next year to evenings and weekends to fit around my uni commitments, so in theory I could be there for the next 4 years!

In the mean time I'm going to re-focus on my freelance writing work and concentrate on earning as much as I can over the next 2 months! It's easy to get distracted when you're working for yourself at home. So off I go in a minute to write an article about the Pareto rule in horse racing! (don't ask!)

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Food wise all is well, had cereal for breakfast and going to cobble something together for lunch in a minute, I'll post a food diary at the end of the day! I haven't done any exercise for the last week, so now I'm over my cold I need to make amends. Planning a walk into my schedule for tomorrow. I really want to keep on working at that Bronze award and after missing a week I'll have to start from scratch, need to keep it up this time!

 

[VeggieBev]

Congratulations! I bet you'll be glad to get away from where you are now and it seems like the hours are really going to suit you through uni - perfect!

Have a good day x

 

[Cheese Thief]

Thanks Bev! I'm handing my notice in at the care home this evening, it means I'll really have to buckle down with my freelance work but it's worth it just to be out of there! Plus I've got an interview with the Royal Voluntary Service (old WRVS) next week, if they can find me something in a hospital ward it'd be great experience for uni!

 

[flix]

Ah that sounds ace, well done! Ad love the kitties too, they're so cute

 

[Cheese Thief]

Thanks Flix, I love them to bits, although their little sods at times!

Today's food diary:
Cereal and milk - HEXA and HEXB
lean steak, new potatoes, onions, mushrooms, peas
blueberries, grapes, raspberries and strawberries with low fat strawberry yoghurt

I didn't eat lunch today as it was TOTM and was in agony. Thankfully the co-codemol kicked in for tea time and I enjoyed a lovely steak dinner at Chris's parents. Tomorrow is Chinese night, the first in 3 weeks, so I'm going to have a chicken chow mein (7 syns). Knowing that I can pick a healthier option and not blow my diet is a definite plus of the Slimming World plan. I feel more in control when it comes to food than ever, and the great thing is that Chris is eating better too. Where as we used to snack on crisps and chocolate in the evenings we're getting used to yoghurt and fruit. It tastes better and I can polish my halo at the same time!

 

[Cheese Thief]

I've been up half the night with period pains, so as well as getting 3 articles written (meaning all my work for tomorrow is now done!) I've been thinking about my goals and what I really want to get out of this journey.

The problem with losing 13 1/2 stone, or at least 11 1/2 stone to have a healthy BMI, is that if you think of it as one huge chunk it becomes incredibly daunting. I'm fully prepared that it's going to take me over a year to get where I need to be, and I'm completely fine with this. Once the first 4 stone are gone I'll be a lower weight than I've been in 7 years, so I'll be seeing huge changes over the first 6 months or so to keep me motivated!! Anyway, I was thinking about setting myself a series of short term goals to keep giving me something to aim for. It'd be all too easy to do this steadily and for it to take a few years, but realistically in an ideal world i'd like to be getting to target in around a year and half. And that's not unreasonable either, just a steady 2lb loss week in, week out will make it a reality for me. To make sure I do it I've decided to set myself a series of short term goals over the next 6 months to keep me aiming for something. In case you haven't guessed I'm naturally competitive, so I'll thrive at the prospect of a challenge!

I've got lots of cool stuff coming up over the next year - holidays planned to Lanzarote, Prague and Scotland in the next 6 months - so I'm going to use them as incentives for my weight loss goals. The targets so far will be:

Lanzarote - Oct 12th - 2 stone loss
Prague - Dec 2nd - 3 1/2 stone loss
Scotland - Feb 12th - 5 stone loss

Yep, I know that means I'm planning to lose 5 stone in 6 months, but I think I can do it, and aiming towards these mini goals will motivate me loads! So here's to meeting my targets, and having lots of lovely holidays too!

Going to try and get some sleep now, at least my writing work is all done for today so I just need to fit my body magic in later if it doesn't rain.

 

[emma_88]

Just pressed the subscribe button.

Read through the whole topic and I love your journey so far. Well done for giving yourself little goals to reach, like you said it's far easier working towards a mini goal than thinking of the final go straight away.

Look forward to your updates, you're doing so well

 

[VeggieBev]

Your plan sounds very sensible. Like emma_88 said, it is much easier to work toward smaller short-term goals, sometimes when we think too far into the future we can lose sight of our smaller achievements (I know this from experience!).

I see you are coming to my neck of the woods (Scotland!) next year. Where abouts are you going (if you don't mind me being nosey!)? x

 

[Cheese Thief]

Emma - Thanks for subscribing, looks like you're doing great so far! Do you have a diary on here that I can follow too?

Bev - We're doing one of those coach tour holidays, managed to get it for a right bargain, only £150 each for 4 nights, with 3 day trips and breakfast and dinner included! It's over valentines weekend too so will be a lovely treat. We're based at a hotel on Loch Achray but there are trips to Loch Lomond, Luss and Invasnaid, Edinburgh and Stirling. Really looking forward to it, it was a lovely surprise when we saw it on my birthday and decided to book. I've been to Scotland before to St Andrews and Edinburgh and absolutely loved it. Where in Scotland are you?

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Despite having a crappy nights sleep I woke up around 11 feeling refreshed and wide awake. Since then I've been mooching on the sofa playing with the kittens, trying to get through to the tax office for them to send me the reference number I need to do my tax returns (in the end it took 25 minutes of waiting for something that took 30 seconds! Grr!) and catching up with a few friends. I've got to say since starting SW I've actually been avoiding my friends! We usually socialise over big meals and its the last thing I need at the moment, but I've suggested a healthy picnic in the park for next week with one pal and also to go and see the new Jennifer Aniston movie with another. Although I like popcorn I very rarely snack on cinema food when I go and see a film because it's so bloody expensive. I've found some M&S mini raspberry and white chocolate popcorn sachets (5 syns) that I can take with me, they taste delicious so I won't feel like I'm missing out if my friend decides to hit the snack bar!

It's a beautiful day today so I'm setting off to the park as soon as I'm dressed for a walk and a sunbathe. Chris is coming to meet me after work at 5 and then we're nipping to get the Chinese and off out to see Kick Ass 2 at the cinema. I love films and as I've got one of those Cineworld unlimited card thingys I usually go to the movies at least once a week, sometimes more.

Food wise all is good so far, I had my breakfast about 3am which was 3 crackers (HEXB), low fat cream cheese (HEXA) and chopped tomato. Not my usual breakfast fare but I really enjoyed it and as it was 3am it didnt even really feel like breakfast, more like a night time snack! I've missed cheese so much that I need to use it for my HEXA choice more often, instead I can just syn the splash of milk I usually have on my cereal! Lunch was a tuna nicoise salad (tuna, boiled eggs, new potatoes, lettuce, tomato, olives - 2 syns - and low fat dressing) I picked up last night from the reduced section at Morrisons, it was absolutely gorgeous and I'll definitely be having it again! I'm loving the bargains you can get on salads and fruit if you go shopping in the evening.

I'll update my food diary later but so far it's looking like:

Breakfast - 3 crackers and low fat cheese with tomato - HEXA and HEXB
Lunch - Tuna nicoise salad - 2 syns for olives (but totally worth it! )
Tea - Chicken chow mein - 7 syns
Supper - strawberries, blueberries, grapes topped with low fat strawberry yoghurt

 

[VeggieBev]

I'm a huge cinema fan too. Don't think I'm there quite as often as you but I'm still there a fair bit. You'll need to let me know what you think of the Jennifer Aniston film, my friend has asked me to go see it so I think we're going next week.

I'm in Dunfermline, so just north of Edinburgh (across the Forth Bridges). Your trip to Scotland sounds amazing and such a bargain too! It's so nice that you've got two other holidays to look forward to before that though

I can't believe you're off to sunbathe, it's damp and misty here

 

[Cheese Thief]

Oh sounds like you live in a great location Bev, would be great being able to pop into Edinburgh at the weekend, it's such an amazing city! I'll let you know what I think of the Jennifer Anniston movie, going to see it on Wed. I've not got massively high hopes, but as long as it's funny that's the main thing.

In the end we decided to postpone seeing Kick Ass until Saturday as TOTM is still causing me some pain and I'd prefer to veg out on the sofa in my PJ's! We had Chinese as planned, but I didn't really get much enjoyment out of it. Instead of having my usual Hong Kong Style Sweet and Sour with egg rice I opted for Chicken Chow Mein for 7 syns and it was nowhere near as nice. I almost felt annoyed for using so many syns on something I didnt particularly enjoy! Next time I'm def going to have my old favourite, even if it means I have to save some syns from the previous day in order to stick to the plan. The good news is we don't have Chinese every week, although we used to before SW, but now we're trying to keep it to once every 2 or 3 weeks, so having my favourite dish fairly infrequently isn't going to hurt.

This afternoon I managed my walk but due to stomach pains didn't go as far as I liked. According to map my walk it was still a mile though, in around 20 minutes, though I was on the phone most of the time! So that's my first body magic done for the week. Aiming to have a little walk tomorrow afternoon as going for a picnic in the park with my friend and I've planned on a swim session on Monday, provided the pool is open with it being bank holiday *fingers crossed*

Food diary for the day is looking good, the same as I posted earlier, although I haven't had the fruit and yoghurt yet I'm going to get that now and get settled in bed with a movie. Hope everyone is having a great day!

p.s Does anyone else find themselves LOOKING FORWARD to weigh in?!!! I used to dread seeing those numbers pop up, but now they are going down each week I can't wait to step on the scale. Tuesday mornings have never been so highly anticipated I can tell ya!

 

[flix]

p.s Does anyone else find themselves LOOKING FORWARD to weigh in?!!! I used to dread seeing those numbers pop up, but now they are going down each week I can't wait to step on the scale. Tuesday mornings have never been so highly anticipated I can tell ya!

I do if I've been good its worth getting up for on a Saturday morning anyway! I do look forward to weigh in and class.