Monday 23 September 2013

Winter is coming

I can't believe how nearly I just started this blog post "Dear all" - clearly I write too many emails for my own good. Anyway, back on to business. It has been a poor week for weight loss as I have somehow managed to put on 2.7lb(!) which has literally put me straight back to square one with 21lbs still to lose. At first I was all, how have I managed that?! I've been surviving on bananas and cous cous! But then I remembered last week:


  • I went to TGI Fridays
  • I had a 'small night out' involving a cocktail or four
  • I went out for a curry
  • I went to McDonald's for a 'team lunch' 
  • My mum and I may have had a bottle of wine
  • I may have had a massive brownie for dessert on Saturday
  • I had a massive carby bolognese on Sunday night
So I guess when you have that many 'slip ups' the fact you are eating a half decent breakfast and lunch on most days doesn't really cut it. Oh well, I have learnt my lesson... kind of. 


As time goes by this blog is becoming less and less about weight loss and more about running. I must admit I am going through a phase where the fact I am a few pounds overweight is not actually bothering me that much. I don't think I look that terrible and I can say, quite confidently, for the first time ever, I am pretty fit. However, I really don't want the pounds to creep on so I am going to keep on going, but take a fairly low key approach to eating and food. However last week was no excuse so I have to do my best to keep mainly on the straight and narrow this week... 80:20 is the aim (whereas last week was more like 20:80).

So as for running....


I am still following my training program (more on that on another post) and it's going fairly well. Monday and Wednesdays are endurance/stamina and the goal is time-based, and Saturdays are fast runs at the moment with the goal distance-based. When I have a distance goal as opposed to "run for 40 minutes" I find myself automatically going faster anyway without even trying hence the fact my Saturday mile time beat by Wednesday mile time by nearly two minutes(!). This week I only have to run for 30 minutes on my Monday and Wednesday runs, but last week I was allowed to take walk breaks if I really wanted and have them count towards my time. This time I can't! I did manage to run 30 minutes today with literally no stopping and it wasn't even too tragic a speed, but towards the end I was feeling pretty exhausted/rough. Oh well onwards and upwards.

I still LOVE running!!! Even when I feel rough at the time, such as earlier, by the time I'm recovered I'm feeling buzzy buzzy buzzy for the whole rest of the evening. I just wish I had the time to run in the early mornings because I would love to have this feeling all day but sadly I get up at 5.45am as it is and I don't think anyone is THAT motivated. 

Sorry that all I am doing at the moment is Monday summary posts, I do have loads of ideas for actual 'content' so bear with me. It's coming. Like winter. Which is definitely coming. It's now dark when I leave the house :'(


PS this is my workout song of the week.



PPS If you want 'fitspiration', watch Spring Breakers.


Monday 16 September 2013

You better work bitch.

So I've lost 2.2lbs, which is AMAZING as it was a dodgy week for food and I was fully expecting a gain. I have 18.1lbs to lose until my goal, so I am kind of getting there, sort of. Basically I feel I have won due to my return to running which has gone ace!








As you can see I am still running crazy slowly - it feels almost unbelievable that I managed a 5k in under 33 minutes only a couple of months ago - but I'd rather run slowly and finish than run too fast then give up. Managing a 40 minute run felt good, towards the end I just felt better and better. Karen Gouger (Sp?!) let me know my goal was in sight and I was sprinting an 8 minute mile and I swear for a second time just stopped and I felt like I could have kept on going forever. (I didn't.) The high is just indescribable, this is why I do it, and I am loving it more than ever.

The week for food, as mentioned, was a little hit and miss, mainly due to spontaneous plans to be honest (forever my downfall) and getting a huge Nando's takeaway without actually checking how much points it all was. I even gave up tracking points around Thursday which is NOT good.

My plan this week is to stick to my 28 points daily except for the social occasions I have already planned in which I will just eat/drink whatever I want. I haven't got too mental a week so I hope that should be okay. I think my main downfall is borrowing from my weekly 'overdraft' when it's just a normal day rather than occasions so I should be alright. I will also not be pointing my pre-run snacks, which are mainly some kind of nut mix as I know it's good for me even though it's super high in calories/points but whatever.

I will leave you with the best workout song ever


and a picture of my new boots, which you can get here, which I am just posting as they have exponentially improved my life in the 3 days in which I have owned them.



Until next week my dears. x

Monday 9 September 2013

Already brushing off that dust

So I followed Weight Watchers for a week and...

gained 0.2lb. Hmph. I still have 20.3lbs to lose until goal.

But it could have been worse as

  • I went over by 17 points
  • I didn't really take a very fascist approach to Weight Watchers and guesstimated points of loads of things
  • I did absolutely NO exercise WHATSOEVER
so I don't think really what is essentially a 'stay the same' is that tragic. CONSIDERING.



However, at least I achieved the goal of tracking Weight Watchers for the whole week, and it had been the first time I'd done that in about 3/4 months, so every victory. This week I am feeling a bit more confident I can do well as

  • I've sorted my life out in advance a bit better e.g. bought things to make lunch with/planned dinners/allowed for social events etc
  • I am back in the running game!

Today I ran about as fast as if I was trudging through lard but managed to knock back 2.28 miles in half an hour with only like one 30 second walk break, which I don't think is too bad seeing as I literally have done no running whatsoever for weeks. I am back on a running plan which involves tick boxes and achievements and so on which I feel is a good thing for me as when I just run aimlessly when I feel like it, it is so so easy to not bother to go. But now, you know, I have a PLAN. I must stick to it. 

Right now I feel really great and buzzing which is why I know it is really good for me to go running and I definitely need to carry on and not let myself lapse out of it again! 

A bit busy at the moment as I'm still preparing to move flats and work is pretty hectic, plus a few of my good friends all seem to have moved to London all at once which is so great but does mean weeknights are getting pretty jammed! But I do want to start getting some recipes all up online soon!

x x 

Monday 2 September 2013

Hello September!

Hello all! I have returned from a great holiday in Tunisia and feel super well rested. I also have shocking news, for the first time in my life I literally LOST weight on holiday. I only lost half a pound, but to put it in perspective, when I returned from holiday last October I had gained six pounds, so I am in utter disbelief.

I am still feeling really motivated and have started my return to Weight Watchers today with a bang. I work in education so have a total "new term, new start" approach to everything right now and I really feel like this is going to be a good moth!




On to continuing on with at least one blog project I start - monthly goals! I will review August's.

August Goals 

General weight loss: to start September weighing no more than 3lbs more than I started AugustI am in fact starting September merely 1.8lbs heavier than I started August, so goal achieved.

Food: Give up morning snackingI did actually follow this for pretty much all of August (with one or two slip-ups) but I have come to the overall conclusion that this was not in fact a particularly positive goal for me as it is never good for me to be particularly hungry, as then I just end up overeating. Throughout September I will be snacking once in the morning and twice in the afternoons as a general rule.

General fitness:  Do at least 3 workouts every week for the duration of August (apart from when on holiday)I did really well at the beginning of August but tailed off towards the middle when it was around my birthday and there was loads going on and I couldn't really be bothered. So I pretty much failed here...

Running: Complete a full 5k with no walk breaks.
Total fail, the furthest I ran in August was just over 4k and I have just realised with a terrifying jolt it's been nearly 3 weeks since my last run...

General health/well being: Drink two litres of water every day.I have improved on this front but I don't think I have achieved the goal really as I'm still hooked on Diet Coke and barely drank any water on holiday.

Blogging: Write at least one blog every week, apart from when on holiday.Achieved!

So a bit of a mixed bag really, but oh well. On for September...


September GoalsGeneral Weight Loss: To lose 3lbs before the beginning of October.3lbs sounds a little low for a month but my ultimate yearly goal of 21lbs by the time I am 24 needs to be attacked very, very slowly I feel otherwise I am setting myself up for fail. I think it's a fair and reasonable target. I have no major reasons to go off plan this month and I am in a good place right now so I do not see any reason why I should not meet it.


Food: Give up eating bread.This might seem a little bizarre but I randomly didn't eat wheat for like a week in mid-August and found myself feeling so much better about everything. I also have not eaten wheat for the past 2 days and also feel so great right now. Maybe I'm kidding myself but I possibly do have a mild wheat allergy I believe. I'm not a mentalist, I'm not going to go totally gluten free and give up pasta (my ultimate fave), or even pizza, but I'm not going to eat bread on it's own, or sandwiches, or as part of a burger bun or something, for a whole month. I'll see how it goes. I don't think it will be particularly hard as I don't eat a lot of bread anyway, and it might make a lot of difference.

General fitness: Work out 3 times a week (Pass on this given if GENUINELY ill)I have a cold at the moment hence the conditional factor...but I really need to get back on this as my exercise has slipped dramatically recently.

Running: Run a full 5k with no walk breaks.Same as last month. I imagine my 3 weeks off running have dented my ability quite a bit so I don't have too lofty dreams for my September running.

General health/well being: Go to bed early enough to get a MINIMUM of 7 hours sleep every night. Aim for 8 hours.I feel so much better when well rested and I actually haven't even drank coffee in weeks so I am going to try and carry on with this.

Blogging: Blog a recipe. I've wanted to do this for ages but find it difficult to find the motivation to take photos etc, but I need to share one particular amazing dish with the world so I am going to get on it.


x