31st July 2007 – Day 69

Barney & me

The view above are the views from the top of
Barbury Castle (an ancient hill fort)

These are the inner circle mounds which you walk round,
There is an outer circle which isn't quite as high

Some friendly sheep

Allan with Barney making his way down to me

Barney worn out after his walk......

Sunday, Allan & I went up to Barbury Castle for our walk round and the pictures above are from there. It was a beautiful day, very rare for this time of year at the moment, but hopefully there’ll be more to come. I didn’t quite get to power walking round the top of the castle as I kept stopping to take the photos, but I didn’t mind as I had done my extra walking in the morning along with a little jogging.

I’ve at last started to sort through my clothes and can’t believe how much stuff I have. I got used to wearing just t-shirts and jeans (I work in a university, so dress code is very casual) and not looking at what other stuff I had. Although admittedly, I haven’t been able to fit into the smaller sized clothes for so long so hadn’t bothered looking for anything other than my normal t-shirts & jeans.

So last night I set about going through my t-shirt drawers and putting into piles my size 20, 18 & 16. Yes, I actually found size 16, I’d completely forgotten I had this size & I now have one and a half drawers full of size 18 and half a drawer of my size 16’s.

My size 20 t-shirts I’ve put to one side and I’m taking them to my friend for her to have a sort through to see if she wants any and the rest I’ll be taken to the charity shop. I can’t take them to my class as the other ladies are a smaller size than me, although I may ask my LLC to see if any other groups would like them.

I have kept a pair of jeans & a skirt to keep for when I’m at my goal so I can see just how big I got (must remember to keep a t-shirt too). I know that may sound strange, as I know I got huge, but when I’m slim I don’t want to forget it and hopefully not slip back into old habits.

Last night my friend and I went walking and I actually wore shorts, yes, I got my embarrassingly white legs out, but I didn’t care. Through my sort out of clothes, I found a pair of trousers (the type where you unzip the legs and they turn into shorts), which again, I’d never worn, and decided that I was going to wear them, because the rate I’m going they’ll be too big for me soon.

We walked round Ruislip Lido, which has a path to follow round, it was so lovely and I wish I’d taken my camera, next time we do this walk I will. It looked a huge walk round the lake when we first got there, but we kept up with the power walking and it only took us half an hour and it was a bit more up and down (not a flat walk), so we then decided to make our way back to her house whilst doing some of our normal walking route, so in total, we were out for an hour.

My feet are getting slimmer as I even contemplated wearing my high-heeled wedge sandals to work, but for chickened out. For some reason I thought this was just too much of a change as I normally wear flat trainers or sandals. I’ve never worn heels at work before, well not where I’m working at the moment, but quite a few years ago I used to wear them. I will get there and wear them again, but I’m just not quite ready yet.

I’m even wearing my Grandma’s ring today, which I used to wear a lot, but of course, my fingers got too fat and I stopped, so I’m very pleased with this.

It’s amazing how fast this diet works and I am just so happy I took the plunge to start it after thinking how will I stick to it as my will power was non existent before LL and it’s amazing just how strong you can be when you see results happening.

I can’t believe that I’m nearly finishing my 10th week, it has just flown past. When I started LL the 100 days seemed an age away and here I am, nearly 70 days in already.

I do know now that I will be carrying on with the abstinence after the 100 days and I hope I can get to goal before Christmas. That would be fantastic as I have the most horrendous photo of me from last New Years Eve, which really should have made me go on a diet when I first saw it, but I know you have to be in the right frame of mind for this and back then, I wasn’t.

So, loads of good things happening at the moment, lets hope they keep happening…..

29th July 2007 – Day 67

Yesterday (Saturday) I was awake early and was quite restless, so decided I’ll walk down to the paper shop. So, at 7.30 in the morning off I went at a brisk pace in the sunshine, it was a beautiful morning and so quiet. I got my paper and headed off home, but instead of taking the direct route back, I kept finding diversions to take a longer way round. Normally, or before LL I wouldn’t have gone off walking in the morning and if I did, I’d certainly not keep finding longer routes to take.

When I was nearing home I thought of Lesley and her running and I wondered whether I could do this too, so I started to jog. It didn’t feel too bad, although I couldn’t go very far as I got out of breath and I definitely needed a better bra on!! Also, a car was coming towards me and I didn’t want it to see me jogging, thinking that the occupants in the car would laugh at the fat girl jogging (I don’t know why I worry about this as I didn’t know them and probably wouldn’t see them again). As soon as it passed though I started again and jogged for a few more hundred yards, I think, I’m not that good on distances. I was only out for about 20 minutes, but because I jogged for a little bit, it really felt like I’d done something.

We then took Barney swimming, which is situated in a place called the Cotswold Water Park, which is a huge place of many lakes made from old gravel pits. Each lake has a different theme like water skiing, sailing and it also has an inland beach, which has a blue flag!! Anyway, whilst we were over that way I wanted to stop at the visitors centre to get one of their booklets, which give circular walks round this park, so will hopefully start doing these shortly.

We also found a fantastic farm shop, which sold vegetables, eggs and meat from rare breeds, all organically farmed and locally reared. It was amazing and Allan bought some steak and lamb for the BBQ.

So, when we got back, he started up the BBQ and I was getting my soup ready and I came to the Adult decision that I wanted to try some of this steak and lamb. This was a big thing for me as I’ve stuck to abstinence totally since the start. I didn’t try much though, I got Allan to cut me off a little taster from each (and I do really mean a little bit, less than a mouthful), just so I could taste it. It had a fabulous flavour and I was happy with that one try and I went straight back to having my mushroom soup.

I will definitely be getting my meat from these people again when I’m back to eating.

Late afternoon, Allan, his mum & I went off to see Harry Potter and in the past when we’ve been to the cinema, I’ve struggled to drink the 4 litres of water, but yesterday I actually managed 5 litres; I was up 3 times in the night wanting the loo mind you, but I did the 5 litres.

All day the annual village festival was being held on the green, where different bands played all day and you could hear the music all over the village. We took a wander down there in the evening but to be honest, the band that was playing wasn’t my cup of tea. We stayed there for a while, Allan had a burger & chips and I even held his chips whilst he ate his burger; I didn’t touch them, just held them and I was really proud of myself as it would have been all too easy to stuff a few in my mouth, but to be honest, I really didn’t want them.

This morning I went off for my walk again round the village, leaving Allan in bed; not quite as early as yesterday, but its Sunday. I even did a bit more jogging and set myself a little goal of where to jog to and I managed it. OK, it wasn’t that far, but I didn’t stop when a car came towards me this time and it was a bit further than yesterday.

We’ve also been tidying up the front garden and we may wash the cars later although mine might die of shock as I can’t remember the last time I washed it. Later on today we are having Sunday lunch down at Allan’s mum’s house, so I’ll be taking my soup with me. If the weather is still nice we may even go up to Barbury Castle again, so I can do my power walk round the top, I’ll try & remember my camera this time.

The only thing I was a bit worried about was on Friday; I had 3 of my food packs and was going to have my 4th in the evening around 8.30/9pm, but we popped into the neighbours and didn’t get back till after 10.30pm and I’d completely forgotten about the last food pack till the next morning. I didn’t know what to do, should I have 5 packs today to make up or just carry on as normal and have 4 so I have 1 pack left at the end of the week? I decided to stick to 4 packs, don’t know if that’s right, but I didn’t feel hungry on Saturday because of it. I’ll have to ask my LLC on Wednesday what I should have done.

26th July 2007 – Day 64 – 9th Weigh In

Had a really good evening at class last night. Our normal LLC was on holiday so we had the locum come in again, who is just so nice. There were only four of us this week as one lady has now flown off to Jamaica to get married this Saturday, another one is on holiday in Kenya and the other wasn’t well, so only came to get weighed.

We learnt about our drama triangle last night, where you have the Persecutor, Rescuer & Victim and one of our ladies had a real drama triangle, so we spent most of the evening talking about that, it was so interesting. I hadn’t really thought about this at all and think I’ve gone through life a bit blinkered, so shall now keep my eyes open and try & spot these Persecutors try not to be a Victim & also try & be a Rescuer.

Anyway, last night I lost 4.62lbs, don’t know where that came from, it’s the most I’ve lost since my 3rd weigh in. I’ve now lost a total of 41.58lbs so I now weigh 14 stone 8.59 pounds to be precise, ½ lb of my 3 stone mark and I’m definitely on track for losing 4 stone in the 100 days.

I tried on a smaller sized bra this morning as I have loads of really pretty bras that I haven’t been able to wear for well over a year, probably more like 2 years actually. Anyway, tried one on this morning and it fitted, it’s a size 38FF instead of a 38GG!!! I told Allan this morning and we were coming up with suggestions of what we could use my boulder holsters for, with suggestions of sling shot, ear muffs, shopping bag; but my favourite idea was a hanging basket; I could put a plant in each cup!! If I do this, I’ll definitely take a photo and put it on here.

25th July 2007 – Day 63

I’ve just noticed something, clothes wise that is. A pair of jeans, that were too tight for me when I started the diet, then after about 3 weeks on LL I could get into them, are now so loose. I hadn’t worn them for a week and they certainly weren’t this baggy last week, but I put them on this morning quickly before I went to work, not really taking much notice. When I got to work though I looked in the mirror and saw just how baggy they are round my bum & legs, unbelievable. They really do need taking in, but I never get round to getting it done.

Yesterday at work we had a bit of a gathering in the office downstairs as one of the girls was finishing to get married this Friday in Gretna Green. They didn’t know that I’m on a diet and no one had mentioned anything about me losing weight when I’d seen them, or they probably just didn’t notice. Anyway, there was a big buffet laid out including these fantastic samosas, which I know taste superb as we’d had them at a leaving do last year. No one said anything when I declined the bubbly and just stuck to my water, but they did notice when I didn’t go up to the buffet. The girls from my office told them I was on a diet and look at the weight I’d lost! Some of the girls were asking me about it, was I feeling all right being on it but also saying how well I was looking, although I was wearing a particularly figure hugging t-shirt, in a size 18. They kept saying how strong willed I was at not touching the food, especially the little cakes. It’s funny but I was never strong willed before LL, I easily gave into temptation.

This morning when I was in the downstairs office I had all the girls & one chap quizzing me for ages on how I was doing it and saying how baggy these jeans are that I’m wearing!! Normally I would have been embarrassed with having all the attention on me, but I wasn’t this time, so I must be getting more confident in myself.

Hopefully Mum & I are off for our walk tonight before weigh-in and Dad might join us too.

24th July 2007 – Day 62

The top two photos were taken on Friday during our long drive home in the floods. I have lots more but just didnt' get time to upload them to my USB key. The thistles is when we stopped for a few minutes. The next picture is of my Dad, Sister, Mum & Allan, just setting up the table with picnic food at the concert. The next is me taking it easy with my crisps & savour drink with a wine glass of sparkling water. My Dad is dressed up against the rain, even though it wasn't very heavy!!

Well, what a journey we had going back to Allan’s last Friday, it took us just over 5 hours to get home. Going by the news the next morning though, people had it a lot worse than us, so I think we were pretty lucky.

I’d spent all Friday morning at work looking at websites for traffic reports & keeping an eye on what was happening on the M4, as this is the road I use to go to Allan’s. As the reports weren’t good, I’d decided to leave work at 1pm, but about ½ hour before this, the rain cleared up and the sun came out in Slough (where I work), so decided to stick it out until 2pm.

Thank god I did wait as Allan called me just before 1pm to say his job had been cancelled & he was on his way home. I let him know what was happening in the M4 and asked him to come & pick me up, which he did, bless him.

Anyway, we got on the M4 at Junction 5 and we were going along great until we hit a couple of junctions up and then it took about an hour to get to the next junction. We just sat there in a queue of traffic that stretched as far as the eye could see and on the radio they were saying there was a queue of hardly moving traffic for the next 20 to 30 miles.

Allan took the decision to come off the motorway and head up towards Didcot & Oxford, then go cross country to his home. Everywhere we went though was just solid traffic and I was just so pleased that Allan was driving, as I would have been stuck on the M4 for goodness knows how long, at least we were moving, albeit very slowly.

I did get bored after about 2½ hours in very slow moving line of cars, so started taking pictures of flooded fields, cars going through deep’ish water, a little soggy bunny at the side of the road, just to pass the time and keep a record of our mammoth journey home. It was funny though, as people were quite chatty in the cars going in the opposite direction. We’d be finding out where they’d been, what the road was like, finding out where they were going and telling them what it was like where we’d been, it was all very jolly really.

At least we got home that night anyway, which was more than some people could do as they were stuck on the M5 over night!!

Anyway, Saturday, day of the open air concert (which was in Gloucestershire) started off not too bad, I spent the day making up a bed for Mum & Dad and making sure Allan’s house was looking not too untidy. We also phoned the venue to see if the concert was still going ahead and the message said they were, great. Just before Mum, Dad & sister arrived; it started to rain again, quite heavy and for the rest of the afternoon. We kept ringing the venue, who said it was still going ahead. It got to about 5pm and we decided to go. We set off and when we got nearer to the concert, it was getting drier, we were still a bit dubious though as the Friday night’s concert had been cancelled due to weather & waterlogged field.

We got to the place and it wasn’t too muddy and in fact, where we set up all our stuff it was remarkably firm underfoot. We had an absolutely fabulous evening; it only rained lightly a couple of times, even though my Dad & sister look like they’re dressed for a force 10 storm, it even warmed up in the evening.

While the others were having their picnic, I had my crisps & a couple of savoury drinks, as we’d taken a flask of hot water for me. In the interval we had a walk round the venue, but it wasn’t really big enough to have a really good wander round as the area was fenced, not like the one we go to in West Wycombe, which has huge grounds to walk & explore. We then had pudding and I had my lemon bar, which I was going to make into biscuits beforehand, but just didn’t get the time and I thought I’d better not as I was already cooking the crisps. I stuck to my sparkling water and didn’t feel tempted with any wine, even though bottles were being popped all round us.

The fireworks at the end of the evening were spectacular and just kept on going. Every time we thought they’d finished, the orchestra would strike up again and more fireworks were set off. So we had a brilliant time and were so glad we decided to go in the end.

Sunday I found a bit hard and we had a BBQ and because I wasn’t having any, there was a space in front of me on the table and Allan proceeded to put all the meat in front of me. I didn’t say much about this, but I think Mum realised that I wasn’t that happy & when I got back to the table it had all been moved, thanks Mum. I didn’t have any problem whatsoever when I was preparing the salad bits and potatoes, it was just the smell of the cooked meat. Anyway, I stuck to the food packs and felt better for it.

I think I am now a hardened walker as my friend and I went out walking last night, even though it was raining. We were both really pleased that we did it and didn’t just sit at home watching telly. I must admit, I never thought I’d ever put down here that I enjoyed walking in the rain, getting soaked and looking like a drowned rat, but I did. Lesley, your energy must be rubbing off, although I don’t think I’ll be running yet!!

20th July 2007 – Day 58

My friend did a really good thing last night before our walk. She’d weighed out her big bag to a stone and also weighed out her weights to 1 stone 8lbs. When I got to her house she made me pick them up and said “Right, shall we go on our walk with you carrying this then”, my response was “No Way!!!) It really made me think, how had I carried this much weight around with me, it was so heavy, and I’ve got another 5 stone to lose!!!! It was such a good idea, so thank you for that Nich.

Whilst we were chatting on our walk, we were talking about how much better we felt with losing weight. My friend isn’t doing LL but is trying to lose a little weight and she’s lost over a stone now, which is great. Anyway, she told me I should put this in my blog, so I am.

I was saying how I don’t have headaches anymore, which I only realised the other week. Normally I suffered, having headaches nearly every day and I’d go through a packet or two of tablets a week sometimes and I could always guarantee on having my Saturday afternoon headache. Since being on LL and losing the weight, I haven’t suffered with them, which is amazing.

I’m also sleeping so much better, my LLC did say this when we started, but I didn’t quite believe her. It used to take me ages to get off to sleep, I had to read so much to clear my head, otherwise I’d be thinking of things, I’d get a song stuck on the brain and be singing this in my head (if you know what I mean). I’d always wake up in the night and then it’d take me an age to get back off to sleep again, which involved the routine of reading for ages. Now, I still read, but I only get to read a couple of pages and then I’m out like a light. If I do wake up, normally to go to the loo, I’m straight back off to sleep again.

This weekend I’ve got my Mum, Dad & sister all coming down to Allan’s on Saturday, as we are off to an outdoor picnic concert with fireworks. Going by the weather this morning, as it’s absolutely chucking it down and is so dark out there, it’s not looking good, but fingers crossed it’ll cheer up, ever the optimist me!

We are prepared though as we go to these concerts every year, although this is the first time we’ve gone to this one, so are quite prepared for wet weather, it’s just not as much fun. This time we’re off to Westonbirt Arboretum, near Tetbury in Gloucestershire for a change, but we normally go to West Wycombe in Buckinghamshire and I’m really looking forward to it.

We’ve got the picnic sorted and I’m going to have a flask of hot water so I can mix up my savoury drinks, make up crisps to munch on and also take a bar with me. I’ll be having my sparkling water, in a wine glass and I’ve also volunteered to drive home so the others can have a drink, as long as Allan doesn’t get too drunk as I’ll be driving his car, which is dam sight bigger than mine. I have driven it before but normally down the motorway, not down little lanes in the country, where the rabbits seem to be on a suicide mission and chuck themselves in front of you!!

Anyway, send good weather vibes over to the Gloucestershire region for tomorrow for me.

Bye for now
x

19th July 2007 – Day 57 – 8th Weigh-In

Had a slight disaster yesterday lunch time, I go home for lunch and I’d just made up my strawberry milkshake, poured it into the glass, and then promptly knocked it over. Glass smashed, milkshake everywhere!! I could only salvage a tiny bit that was left over in the bottom of the glass, so poured this into a second glass and drank that, then set about clearing up the kitchen and making sure no glass was about as I didn’t want my cat Harry treading on it. He gets into the wars enough by himself, without a helping hand from me!! So only had a savoury drink when I got back to work as I wanted to save my last two packs for this evening.

I bought some scales when I was in Lloyds Pharmacy having my monthly blood pressure check. They’re the all singing & dancing ones that does your BMI/ Body Fat as well as your weight. I was planning to buy some, but not yet, I was going to wait until I got nearer to management. But these were such a bargain, they were £50, but Lloyds were having a sale on their electronic equipment and they’d reduced it to £14.99. I couldn’t miss a bargain like that so I got them and for some reason, when I paid, they gave me another 10% discount so only got them for £13.49!!!! I’m still not going to use them as I’m quite happy with getting weighed every week at class, so I’m taking them to my Mum’s so she can play with them for a while.

My blood pressure is also back to normal, it was 107/82 – I think this is normal. While I was in the pharmacy I had a look at their weight chart and I’ve now moved from Morbidly Obese to Obese……YAY!!

Anyway, onto the weigh loss, I lost 3.30lbs (total 36.96lbs) and I’m now 14stone 13lbs, so I’ve moved into the 14stone bracket and lost in total just over 2 ½ stone, so another YAY!!!

It was a really good class last night as everyone seemed to lose well. One lady has also said that she’s going to bring in her size 18 clothes for me as she’s shrunk into size 16. This will be great, as she’s the same height as me and it will save me having to buy something, which I really don’t want to do yet.

I also had my second measure last night too and in total, since I started, have lost: -

4½” from my chest
4¾” from my waist
5” from my hips

23rd May 2007
Chest: 51 ½”
Waist: 43 ¾”
Hips: 53 ¼”

20th June 2007
Chest: 48”
Waist: 40 ½”
Hips: 50 ½”

18th July 2007
Chest: 47”
Waist: 39”
Hips: 48”

It got me thinking though, have I gone down a size too. I hadn’t really tried on any trousers, buy I’ve tried on some skirts, which were elasticated and a size 16, which fitted but these were flared skirts, not tight ones and my stomach bulged out too much, so a bit more work needed for these.

Anyway, when I got home I decided to have a look through my wardrobe for trousers and found a pair of jeans (only Asda’s £3.00 variety), which still had the label on and gave them a go. I thought they were going to be too tight, especially on the legs as my legs have always been really big; also the zip was really stiff. Anyway, I gave them a go, and guess what, they fitted, so a bit more jumping around was done by me, still in my jeans and the legs were perfect.

I then decided to find something else to try, to see if this was a fluke and found couple of pairs of cotton trousers, which I’d forgotten I’d had. I looked at the label, size 18. I did hum & ha a bit, but thought what the hell, let’s give them a go. Tried the first pair on and these were a bit tight round the bum and stomach, but they were on. I wasn’t going to try the other pair on as these were exactly the same as the other pair, just a slightly different material, but I did anyway and these fitted perfectly, no tightness round the bum or stomach at all. I was absolutely ecstatic and decided to wear them for work the next day, which I am.

So, onwards & downwards for me, with lots more walking. Mum & I went for another walk last night, not quite as long as the previous ones as we kept meeting people to chat to and I had to get back to have my soup before class, but it was an extra walk. Tonight I’m off out walking with my friend again; it’s definitely doing me some good.

18th July 2007 – Day 56

I actually cooked last night, well to say I say cook is stretching it a bit, more like putting the food in the oven and dishing it up, so not proper, following a recipe cooking, but it’s the closest I’ve come to it since I started LL. This was because Allan was staying over and he bought the food as I have absolutely nothing in the house.

I was very good though, because when I was dishing up, I’d normally have been eating bits without even thinking about it. I came close last night, but I stopped myself, so my abstinence virtue is still intact.

I’ve noticed something last week, I actually ran up the stairs at work and I wasn’t even out of breath!! OK, it’s not a huge flight of stairs, but before I started LL I actually started to get out of breath just walking up them. I didn’t consciously decide to run up them, I think because I was so busy last week, I just did it. It was only when I got to the top that I stopped and thought ‘I’ve just run…..wow!’ So now I try to run up them a couple of times a day.

I must also get my trousers taken in as they are so baggy round my waist. I have to pull the belt quite tight, which ruches up round the back, not a good look, but I’m still wearing my large sized t-shirts, so it’s hidden. This is great though as these trousers were tight last month. I still haven’t tried any trousers on in a smaller size, so I think I’m going to have a look through my wardrobe later on and see if I can find some to try. I must have some somewhere, as I seem to have all sorts of different sizes in there. If not, I’ll have to go to a shop just to try on smaller clothes. Although I won’t be buying any as I’ve decided not to buy until I really, really need to, or I’ve run out of smaller clothes that I already have

I had my second blood pressure test last night and it was down to normal, which is fabulous. It’s also weigh-in tonight and it’s a month since my last measure so will be having that done as well, hopefully I have, fingers crossed.

Mum & I are off out for another walk this evening straight from work, hopefully burn off a few more calories before weigh-in and hopefully I’ll have reached the 2.5stone loss. I shall let you know tomorrow.

17th July 2007 – Day 55

Still being very busy at work at the moment, but just got a bit of a breather to update the blog.

Sunday, I got a bit out of sink with my water, as we were getting Allan ready for his jaunt around the country this week and I only managed 3.5 litres of water. I’ve now got back on track and managed 5 litres yesterday and so far, I’m already up to 3.5 litres, so hopefully will do 5 by the end of the day.

Also, we didn’t do any walking at all. I find it all too easy to let the exercise slide, although I do really enjoy it, which I never used to, so that’s a first.

In the past, the only exercise that I used to enjoy was Ballroom & Latin American dancing and I suppose, as I enjoyed it, I didn’t class it as exercise. Sometimes I’d be going 3 times a week and on Fridays I’d be dancing for around 4 hours near enough non-stop. I was like a completely different person. Mind you, this was quite a few years ago, way before Strictly Come Dancing made it popular again, but I would love to get back into dancing. One day I may even get Allan to join me, stranger things have happened!!

I used to be pretty shy when I was younger (still am in a way), but I certainly wasn’t when I danced, because I knew I was good at it. I think it’s the same as when I’m in my LL class, I know I’m doing well, drinking all my water & not lapsing, so I’m not shy and I will speak out. I never used to at all in other slimming classes. But then that’s probably because they had such big classes and I never did that well on their diets.

Yesterday, Mum & I went for a really great walk round Denham Village & the golf course there. We were out for about an hour & 15 minutes and I saw bits of the village that I’d never seen before, which is amazing as I’ve lived in this area most of my life. We even found a public footpath, which we’d never noticed before, so decided to give it a go. In some parts it was like walking through a tunnel of trees and then it opened out onto a large playing field, which I didn’t know existed. It’s amazing how much more you notice when you’re walking. My friend & I have said this too, we’ve seen foxes that are so close to us and we also like looking in other people’s front gardens, we’re not nosey really!!!

Anyway, as it’s my 8th week, I have to have my blood pressure done, so I’m going straight from work to the chemist I went to last time. Hopefully it’s gone down to normal. Even if it hasn’t, I feel so much better in myself.

Oh, almost forgot, I did try chocolate flavour crisps and yes, they did work, but weren’t as nice as the savoury ones. Also, I think I put a bit too much fruits of the forest water flavouring in the mixture as it was so sweet. Don’t think I’ll be trying them again though, but it wasn’t a complete disaster like I had with the stuffing, at least I could eat them!

15th July 2007 - Day 53

I so wanted to update my blog last Thursday as it was my 7th weigh-in and also my 50th day on LL, but the end of the week at work was absolutely manic and just didn't have the time to get on the internet. Unfortunately I don't have a pc at home, so can only use my work one or at weekends at Allan's.

Anyway, I'm now over half-way through my 100 days and it has just flown by, I only hope that the second part of 100 days goes just as fast.

Last weigh-in I lost another 3.96lbs (total 33.66) and my BMI has fallen to 37.6 (was 43.7). I seem to be quite consistent with losing this amount each week (famous last words, I probably won't this week), but I'm still sure I'm going to have a bad week one of these days, even though I still haven't lapsed, which has just amazed me so much.

I'm also now down to 15st 2lbs, so I'm really working hard at hopefully getting to the 14stone something mark next week, although I won't be disappointed if I don't, it'll just make me more determined to do it the week after. Also, I'm still on track to get to my goal of losing 4 stone by the end of the 100 days.

I've been thinking that I probably will remain on LL after the 100 days are up because if I get to my goal of 4 stone lost, I think I'll want to carry on and lose the other 3.5 stone, hopefully before Allan & I go to Disneyland Paris, which is the beginning of November.

Nothing really has happened much since my last post. Work has been manic, Yesterday we took Barney swimming again and then when we got home we started on cutting the clematis back as it had gone berserk and it was hiding my fairy lights and we couldn't have that as I just love fairy lights in the garden. I'm working on Allan to get some more, but it took him long enough to agree to these ones. When I'd mentioned lights in the garden last year, he was adamant it wasn't going to happen, but since having these ones, he's actually admitted that he likes them, so I think we will be getting some more.

Food pack wise, I only had my vanilla latte in the morning and then went all the way through to the evening & had 3 packs then, as I just love making crisps from the soups (hmmm, wonder if you can do the same with the milkshakes) , so had a 3 course meal of Thai Chili crisps, vegetable soup & a toffee bar, lovely.

Today we haven't really done that much as we've been getting Allan sorted out for the week, as he's up & down the country for work. I've actually been ironing, which is a minor miracle in itself as I don't do ironing and I thought it'd save me just sitting around watching TV as the weathers not that brilliant. Just finished that and thought I'd better sit down and update this as I don't know how busy work will be tomorrow, hopefully not as bad as the end of last week so I can catch up on everyone else's blogs.

Anyway, I'm off to try crisps from a milkshake for a late lunch.

9th July 2007 – Day 47

Had a good weekend as Saturday we were out and about for most of the day as we had to hire some roller things to move a friend’s shed, which was really heavy and the only place they had them was in Reading. So off we went down the M4, my bottles of water at the ready. We got to the place in good time, picked up the roller things and then drove back home cross-country.

I’d not been to some of the places we went through and it was absolutely beautiful countryside, rolling hills, fields of poppies and stunning weather as the sun was shining. We decided to stop off at this garden centre we go to a few times a year, as it was sort of on the way back, which has the most fabulous farm shop, with P.Y.O. fruit and veg and a wonderful butcher & fish monger. They also have a restaurant, café & rare breed animals that you or the kids can pet. They have a Maize Maze as well, that is huge, but wasn’t quite ready, although it’s not far off, we may have to go back to get lost round it, we’ve only been to a Maize Maze once before, which wasn’t as big as this one and it was such great fun and yes, we did get lost!!

So we had a good old wander round the garden centre, then round the farm shop, with me looking at the fish & meat and thinking ‘I can have that when I’m eating again’. When I am eating again, I’m going to an organic butcher near Allan’s to get some really good quality meat.

Allan then had lunch in the café, which smelt gorgeous and he bought me a bottle of chilled, sparkling water and decided that as it was already about 2.30pm, we were still out & about and I hadn’t made up any crisps or biscuits to bring with me as I didn’t think we’d be that long, I’d have 3 food packs for dinner and just carry on drinking the water instead.

So when we eventually got home, I watched the Women’s Wimbledon final, whilst drinking water and Allan went off to move the shed. I then dug up one pot of potatoes that I’d been growing (I planted them before I started on LL). They looked lovely and I cooked some for Allan when he had his bbq in the evening. He said they tasted lovely.

I actually coped really well with only having my vanilla milkshake latte in the morning and when I’d finished all 3 food packs, I felt stuffed. I made crisps to go with my soup, and then made up lemon biscuits from a bar, it was lovely. Also, I actually drank 5 litres of water, which I normally struggle to do 4 on a weekend.

Sunday was quite a quiet day, we both slept in till gone 9am, which is unheard of for me as I’m definitely a morning person, although as soon as I woke up & saw the time, I was up and about, leaving Allan to sleep a bit more.

I had my vanilla latte again for breakfast (think I’m getting quite addicted to these), a soup for lunch & then made crisps for dinner (I’m also loving these and I normally have them with a savour drink).

We also went out on our walk, which I’ve said about below, which was beautiful. We do need to do some walking without Barney though (or take Barney on a small walk, take him back home & then go out on a longer one by ourselves).

The only downside to the weekend was when I was leaving Allan’s to go back home. He said something, which really annoyed me (I seem to be a bit touchy at the moment, could be something to do with the diet or it’s probably just me. I can never tell if it’s TOTM as I very rarely have them because I have Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, this is one reason why it’s so hard for me to lose weight on other diets, although I seem to be doing OK on this one). So we sort of had a mini row, well, not a row as sorts, more like me having a strop because of what he said, which he couldn’t see why it had annoyed me, but I think I made it clear to him why it had in the end. But then he didn’t even say sorry or give me a cuddle, which got me even more annoyed!! Men!! I then had a drive home thinking about this, but we were OK when I phoned him to let him know I was home OK and we did actually laugh about it.

The one good thing that came out of this though, I didn’t turn to food because I was feeling down. Well, to be honest, there’s hardly any food in the house for me to eat, unless I raid my sister’s food, which I wouldn’t do, although I have done this in the past when I was stressed/ down, or if they called to me from the cupboard!!

Anyway, I’m off out walking with my friend tonight, if the weather holds, if not, we’ll be doing exercises in her conservatory……

8th July 2007 - Day 46 ii

Just come back from a lovely walk. We went up to Barbury Castle, which is just outside Chiseldon, nr. Swindon (Allan lives in Chiseldon & I come here down here every weekend). Barbury Castle is an ancient hill fort, with fantastic views over the countryside as it's so high up. We used to go up there to fly our kites and there are often lots of kite flyers up there - only two up there today.

We took Barney with us, but because he has dicky elbows, he can't walk too far, so we walked slowly up to the castle part, with him stopping to sniff every two seconds and when we got to the castle I left Allan & Barney, whilst I power-walked round the top.

It is so amazing up there as it's just so quiet with the sun shining, which it hasn't done for weeks now and the wind blowing, but not so hard that it makes you cold.

I wanted to take my camera with me so I could take some pictures to put on here, but I rushed out of the house and left it on the side. The picture that I've put on today was taken earlier in the year, which is of Barney up one of the mounds that make up the hill fort.

8th July 2007 - Day 46

Just a quick post for the moment, as I've got Allan to take my 2 stone pictures, so thought I'd post them before we go off for a walk.

I was so pleased yesterday, as I put a t-shirt on and it fitted so much better than the last time I tried it. It has the word 'Pink' on it (it's a breast cancer t-shirt & one of these photos I've attached), but when I used to wear it, the word looked more like this 'Piiiinnnnkkkkk' as it stretched over my boobs!!! When I looked at the label, it was a size 18, so that made me even happier, much better than a 20!

Hope you can see a difference in the pics.

6th July 2007 Day 44

My friend & I went to our pamper evening last night. It was run by Virgin Vie and was such good fun, we'll certainly be going again if they do another one. They had all sorts of mini treatment session, like reflexology, mini makeovers, massages, hand peel/exfoliating thing etc.

I had an Indian head massage, which was just fabulous and so relaxing, then I had a mini manicure, but as each person was over running, I missed out on one other treatment, but I didn't mind as it was such a good evening. It was certainly a good way to treat myself on reaching my 2 stone loss.

I met my friend over her house before we went out, armed with my mixer & food pack, so I could have my soup before we left. I also took one of the bars with me, so if I get a bit peckish I could snack on that. Anyway, the evening went by so fast, I completely forgot about my bar and only when I got home around 10.30pm did I remember it. I really didn't feel like eating it, but I had it anyway.

My friend also gave me a pair of castanets, as her & her husband had just come back from Barcelona to celebrate their first wedding anniversary (I was their bridesmaid). That's a point, I'll have to try my bridesmaid dress on and see if it's too big for me. It's such a beautiful dress, when I've lost my weight, I'll have to try and get it altered professionally so I could wear it again. I'll have to get Allan to take me out to a posh do or something. Anyway, she said she could quite see me dancing round the living room, clicking the castanets and it'd be good exercise for me. Unfortunately, we couldn't quite get the hang of them, so a lot more practice is needed!! Think I'll Google 'how to play castanets', there must be something on the web about it.

5th July 2007 – Day 43 – 6th Weigh-in

The ladies in the class last night were really upbeat; everyone seemed to have done well, even though there had been a few lapses, not from me I must add. I can’t believe that this is the only diet I haven’t cheated on, I just seem to be in the “diet zone”, it’s like a trigger has gone off in my head and I have to do this. Well, I know I have to do this as I’ve got so much weight to lose, but I’m still amazed.

Anyway, the weigh-in, I lost 3.96lbs (total 29.7lbs), so just over 2 stone in six weeks. I really think that seeing the weight come off this fast is what’s keeping my mind focussed on the job in hand.

As I’m so focussed I don’t seem to have an internal chatterbox (when you tell yourself things like ‘Go on, you can have one of those chocs’, ‘You deserve a treat, it won’t harm you’ things like that). I just know I’ve got to have my four food packs a day and drink at least four litres of water, and that’s all I’m thinking off. If my chatterbox starts up, I’ll have to remember to take notes and not take any notice of it, come to a decision of my own.

Actually, thinking about it, I must have a chatterbox, as it did rear its ugly head last week when I was making the popcorn for my friend’s boy when I was babysitting– it did say ‘go on, you can have some, no one will know’, but I stayed strong and didn’t have any, not one bit, so I really do have to watch out!!

Tonight my friend & I are treating ourselves, we’re going to a do that has things like head massages, mini facials, things like that. I think this will be a great way to celebrate my two stone loss, without having something to eat, fantastic, I can’t wait.

This weekend I’ll get Allan to take my two stone pictures and I’ll post it up, so hopefully it’ll show a difference.

3rd July 2007 Day 41

I can’t believe its July already, where is the year going, and still no sign of a summer!!

Had quite a good weekend, we took Barney swimming again (he goes every other week), and he’s also lost weight and is now in his ideal weight range (hopefully I will be too soon). I did my David Bailey impression and took some more up to date pictures of him swimming this time.

We didn’t really do much this weekend though. The vegetable/ herb garden was ready for planting, so I was marking out squares for the seeds and planting them. I don’t think they’ll come up as I’m so late, although my purple sprouting broccoli should hopefully, as that comes up in early spring. I think though, the bed will be more of a herb garden, as it’s really too small for vegetables, I’ll just have to grow these in pots instead.

I haven’t been trying on any of my smaller clothes yet, but this weekend I did try my wellie boots on, which I got for Christmas last year. They are lovely, different colour blues in a swirly pattern. When I got them my calf’s were too big and I couldn’t put them on properly. Anyway, when I tried them on, I could put them on OK, well, they were a bit tight round the calf, but I could get them on!!! I’ll be wearing them soon, so I can go walking up on the hills with Allan.

Food wise was OK; I didn’t have any temptations thrown at me and am still plodding on with the 4 food packs a day. I have however made crisps for the first time. These are great and I have them with a savoury food drink. I haven’t been that experimental with the food packs in case I don’t like them or it doesn’t work, then I’ve wasted a pack. I nearly had a disaster with the biscuits that are made from the bars yesterday. I put cut up sections in the microwave & put them on for 40 seconds (which in the past has been fine). Well, I didn’t keep an eye on them this time and when I got back to it with about 3 seconds to spare, there was an awful burning smell & smoke when I opened the door. Luckily only one of the biscuits had burnt and was totally inedible; the other one had just started to turn brown, but actually tasted OK. For the other two pieces, I only put them on for 30 seconds and kept an eye on them this time, I’ve learnt my lesson.

Last night Mum & I went out for our walk; it was a great evening, although there were black clouds all around. We even went up a steep hill, which I managed OK, but I did get out of breath & had to stop talking near the top, but it felt great when we got there. We were out for at least an hour and it only started to rain when we were nearly home.

This week I seem to have struggled with the water. I normally try to have 5 litres on week days and my 4 litres at a weekend, but the most I’ve had this week is 4.5 litres. Saturday, I only had 3.5ltrs as we went to see Shrek 3 at the cinema and I didn’t want to be running to the loo every half-hour, so I cut back before we went and then tried to it make up afterwards, which I couldn’t. Oh well, it’ll be interesting to see how the water will affect my weight loss this week at weigh-in and it might spur me on and keep me drinking………