I may be a sheep afterall

I always thought I was more of a shepherd than a sheep in nearly all my walks of life, and if I am going to copy someone I will tell them beforehand e.g. 'Oooh I like your comic book, I am going to buy one for myself' or 'Oh that activity sounds cool I am going to try it too!' 

I know my sheep are good! I should be an artist! ;)

But, when it comes to diets and weight loss I have been reading a lot of people's blogs for help, support, and sometimes even a giggle or two. I have looked at their blogs and thought.. maybe I should do that too.....

Things like before and after photos, now I have a lot of before photos from holidays etc but no 'posed' ones. And now I've lost a stone it's a bit late, however I will do one because I still have a lot of weight to lose do there will still be a comparison to make.

People keep asking me what my end goal weight is and, honestly, I have no idea! My 'ideal' weight from such things as BMI calculators are around 11 stone. Now, whilst that sounds amazing I personally know that being that weight would not suit me, I would look anorexic most likely because of my height etc. I think what I will aim for is ultimately around 13 stone. That would still leave me looking healthy without passers by trying to shove doughnuts in my mouth.

At the same time I am not stupid or ill-informed about weight loss, I know that the closer I get to my goal the harder it will become. I just have to keep positive and keep up the exercise (that hopefully) I will be in the rhythm of and keep pushing.

Another blog I saw they were keeping track of their measurements so that even if they may not have lost weight they had lost some cm/inches off their waist for example. Now I used to do this when I first started losing weight for that very reason, but last week I started again properly, unfortunately I didn't do it this morning as I woke up late and had to rush to work so that will be tomorrow mornings job. I am keeping track of whatever I can; neck, upper arm, bust, under bust, waist, hips, bum, upper thigh and calves.

Now two weeks ago we started going back to the gym and swimming pool, however last week I was hit with the mother of all colds and coughs, Unable to breathe, I thought it was prudent that I didn't extenuate the situation and gave it a miss. Now, I am still suffering from said illness however I have said that we will still go swimming tonight, but I am on light duties, no underwater swimming (my favourite) no ploughing up and down the lanes until I pass out from lack of oxygen! ;)

Quick Flashback to a previous blog

We tried the Inside out chicken kievs last night... and they were NOMMY!! It was basically garlic crusted chicken, but nonetheless was still tasty, even Jon, who doesn't like garlic, enjoyed them! I chose to have potato chunks cooked in fry light as our side. I would recommend the recipe though as it really was tasty, and is going in our recipe book! Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of them before I ate them up! Maybe next time?

Now onto business: This week's weigh in!

Well it seems was a great week for my because after WEEKS of trying I have finally dipped under the 19 stone marker that has been tormenting me! I have lost 3lbs this week making me 18st 12lbs. It may not seem like much but to me it is amazing! It has been SO long since I saw that number 18 on my scale, I was jumping around the bathroom very excited.

Now my target for 2 weeks time is still 12lbs away due to my hovering weight around my birthday, because I forgot to think of this when setting the target and the unlikelihood of me losing 6lb a week for the next two weeks, I have granted myself a small extension. I have now made the target 6th October and still to be 18 stone. I think that this is doable now I am back in my groove!

Current Weight: 18st 12lbs

Target weight loss date: 6th October

Pounds left until target: 12lbs

Weightloss so far: 4lb

Target weight: 18st 0lb

This week in my life...

This week I have done a great many things, most of them not interesting to everyone else, but some might be:

1) I have now booked my PRINCE 2 Foundation Exam, so on the 14th September I will be bricking myself trying to pass the exam and prior to that trying to cram in as much revision as possible without wanting to kill myself! 

Remember that time I said 'I miss learning, and school, I really enjoyed learning new stuff'? Well the exam parts are the bits I hate, I get too over stressed and fluff it up 8/10 times. However, I am staying positive, hopefully I will pass with flying colours, and then I can look forward at saving up for the next part if I want to after this. It is about £500 for the course and exam and doesn't include the PRINCE2 Manual that they charge £60 for, so before I pay that amount of money I need to make sure that it is something I can do and want to do otherwise it is a waste. It may also have to wait until after the wedding.

2) I have managed to do a couple of Crafty things this week, mainly decoupaging some photo frames, some JLA (Justice League of America) ones and a Walking Dead frame that was a commission.

JLA Square Frame Test

JLA Rounded Frame Test

The Walking Dead Commision

TWD Commission 2

I did a couple of tests to start off, one was a square frame the other was a rounded edged one, I personally found that the Square one was easier to use with the pictures as the straight edges meant they could be pulled tight around them, with the rounded ones however the paper wanted to fold and crease which made the finish rough, bumpy and just not overly very smooth. The thickness of the rounded frame however made it easier to see more of the pictures/text so I went out and found a thicker square frame as a compromise.

The Walking Dead frame was an interesting one to do as I know that the (soon-to-be) owner of it has a small child, so I didn't want too much gore, or swearwords (of which there are many in the comics). So, although I have added some zombies there is not too much killing on there, I think maybe one made it through.

3)  Weightloss - So it is another weigh in day and another target has been set, however I can admit that this past week I have not been great with my food, I slipped back onto the carb wagon having sandwiches for lunch a lot of the time and a couple of naughty food items got in there as well. This weekend however I started back on the healthy food, but as predicted I became bloated etc from the carbs, but I am definitely back on it today! Got my salad and popcorn (only 46 calories a bag) and had my yoghurt for my breakbits, dinner is going to be a roast I think but will try and do more veg than potatoes and yorkshires, on my plate at least!

This week I am down to 19st 1lb, so even with my naughtiness midweek I have managed to lose a pound, which is still a loss so I am good with that! I am hoping for more next week and intend to start swimming again this week, possibly walking to and from the pool too. Jon maybe be away tonight and I need to get shopping, however I may be able to fit it in, I need to get used to doing it even when he is not there, because that is my downfall. I don't like to exercise alone...or in front of people... I just need to get over it and stop being so lazy! Worse comes to worst I can jump on the Wii Fit and do it at home, its just getting it out. I am also thinking that we should try and do it before work so that we can just chillax when we get home tired from work. Tiredness is our main reason for not going out and exercising so if it's already done before we get home then we might not notice as much, the trouble will be waking up earlier to do it! ;)

Current Weight: 19st 1lb

Target weight loss date: 22nd September

Target weight: 18st 0lb

Pounds left until target: 15lbs

Weightloss so far: 1lb

Better late than never!

So this weeks is a bit later than my normal post on a Monday, we have been busy looking after my nephew all week but I have stolen some time to write this draft which I will publish later!

So I didn't quite hit my target this time but I am not downhearted I have lost a lb this week and I have lost a lot of weight so far and I am happy that I've lost this much. Since my heaviest I have now lost 17lbs (1 stone 3lbs) which is more than I have lost on any diet so far. 

I definitely need to ramp up the weightloss a bit per week but I think that 2-3lbs a week is a more healthy weightloss target and makes me less likely to chuck it all back on.

With the wedding less than 12 months away it's made me think of my end game , by the time of the wedding I would LOVE to be a size 14 however I would be happy with a size 16. I am trying to be realistic where possible and I know that it will get harder the more weight I lose, but I see these women in their wedding dresses and although they look beautiful I say to myself, 'I do not want to be that size on my wedding day' if they are happy with their size then that is fine I have no judgement of them, but for me I don't want to be this size forever. 

I already have problems with my knees at 25 and although a past injury to one knee doesn't help I think that all of this extra weight is only making them worse. I want to be able to play games with my (future) kids and nieces and nephews and not have to stop after a few minutes because I'm out of breath and bright red and in pain.

So, with that in mind my next target is:

To be 18 stone by 22nd September

That gives me six weeks to lose 16lbs which is about 2.5lbs a week. If it's more than that I will be overjoyed!

So weigh in today:

Current weight: 19st 2lbs

Target weightloss date: 22nd September

Weightloss so far: 0 lb

Weightloss to target: 16 lbs