My Journey to a Lighter Life

13th December 2007 – Day 204 – 26th & 27th Weigh-in

2007-12-13T09:11:00.000Z

Again, I’ve been very lax on the updating, it’s just been so busy and then when I wanted to do an update yesterday, the system at work was taken down so I couldn’t do it. It’s up and running again, don’t know how long for so thought I’d do a quick catch up and let you know how I’m getting on.

I’m finding it hard on the dieting still, but I seem to be managing my weight quite well. I will have things to eat, but now I sort of compromise and have smaller amounts or if I’ve had a naughty I won’t have a food pack. Whereas before LL I would have had the naughty and just carried on eating regardless of what I’d had previously and if I was hungry or not. Now, I find I don’t eat if I’m not hungry, which is what I did in the past and how I got to be so big in the first place.

Anyway, my previous weigh-in on the 4th December I lost 1.76lbs and the other night (11th December) I lost 2.2lbs, which I was so happy about. In total I’ve lost 90.8lbs and I’m 2lbs away from my 6½ stone loss. So, if I can be quite good this week I’ll hopefully, fingers crossed, get that at next weeks weigh-in.

Tomorrow I have my posh works Christmas meal, which I bought my dress for, which I’m really looking forward to. I’ll get some photos taken of my all dressed up and I will get them posted on here. This may have to be after Christmas (in-between Christmas & New Year) as it’s just so busy at weekends with getting Allan’s house ready for Christmas as this year we are hosting Christmas dinner as it was only going to be us and his Mum, but his cousin & girlfriend have invited themselves over so there’ll be 5 of us. That should be fun as we’ve never done the dinner before, but I think I’ve got everything ordered/ in control.

When I post my dressed up photos I’ll make sure I also put the Disneyland ones on too as my blog is seriously lacking in pictures at the moment.

The lump is to be going down, so the antibiotics seemed to have worked. It’s still there, but much, much smaller now, which is good news, but I’m still keeping an eye on it and if it doesn’t go completely I’ll be back to the doctors.

Tonight I’m off to the hairdressers to have my highlights put in. I think this year I’ll have some red put in again as I had this done a few years ago and loved it.

My sister and I put up our decorations last night too and this year our whole tree is decorated with Christmas ornaments which we’ve bought from whatever place we’ve travelled too. We started a tradition that wherever we’ve been, we buy a Christmas decoration, so the new ones this year are from New York and Disneyland Paris. We’ve also got a glass Santa on a gondolier from Venice, a beautiful bauble from Chicago, black bears tangled in Christmas lights from Canada and a snowman made out of clear dice from Las Vegas to name a few.

It’s a lovely tradition now as it brings so many memories back whenever we unwrap them.

Anyway, I hope your all doing well and again I’ll try & catch up on your blogs soon. I had a quick look at yours Lesley and your new bedroom looks fantastic.

28th November 2007 – Day 189 – 25th Weigh-In

2007-11-28T09:37:00.000Z

Well, I went back to LL class last night for my weigh-in after my binge over the last week and I actually lost weight. I was amazed and again had to get back onto the scales to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.

I lost 1.54lbs (total 86.3lbs) which means I’ve lost 6 stone 2lbs in total. I can’t quite believe it, but I’ve only got about another stone and a half to go. Although, I may go into management if I lose another stone but I will only do this if I get totally fed up with LL and am very happy with how I look and weigh.

I feel much more in control now and not craving food like I was over the last couple of week, this has happened after I went to see the doctor last Monday. The reason for this was because I found a small lump in my breast, which to be honest I wasn’t worried about, but I think I must have been subconsciously, which brought out the binge eater in me as I was really craving cakes/ sweets, well anything really. Now I know I’ve had my picking over the weekends, but that was nothing compared to this.

Anyway, I went to the doctors and he doesn’t think it’s anything to be worried about and he’s put me on a 2 week course of antibiotics, which should sort it out, but if the lump is still there after the 2 weeks, then he’ll send me for a scan.

I feel much more in control of the diet now and I noticed yesterday that I wasn’t craving food again, I’m happy having my packs. It really shows how I cope with emotional/ stressful things with eating and it’s definitely something that needs to be kept an eye on in the future, especially when I do get back to eating properly.

Anyway, tomorrow Nich & I aren’t walking as we’re having a mini fashion show with our dresses for our Christmas parties. I need Nich’s advice about what jewellery/ shoes and little bolero jackets to wear with my dress and she’s going to do the same. Allan is hopeless at this sort of thing and I’m really looking forward to our girly night in.

Hope you’re all doing well.

26th November 2007 – Day 187

2007-11-26T13:30:00.000Z

Hello, I’m back to blogging again.

I’ve been having a really tough time with sticking to LL lately and on more than one occasion, have come off completely. I’m nearly back on track now, fingers crossed. I was so bad the other week I didn’t even go to weigh-in, which I know doesn’t help, but it’s what I needed to do to try & get myself back on track again (strange I know, but I’m getting there). I seemed to have complete binges on a few occasions where I just carried on eating, even though I didn’t really want/ need it. I am definitely going to weigh-in tomorrow though, it might shock me into keeping on track!!!

I also know I should have carried on blogging as you are all such a great tower of strength for us dieters that are slipping, as we’ve all been there, so I’ll try and update my blog more frequently.

The only thing I’m having now, which is not on the diet and seems to be helping me through this tough spell I’m in at the mo is one or two of those little cappuccino sachets. It’s not ideal, but it’s helping me stay away from eating a prawn salad, two pieces of chicken and packet of 4 chocolate muffins in one go (and not mini ones at that)!!!!! It did make me feel a bit ill though after all that, so that serves me right.

Anyway, Disneyland Paris; Allan & I had a fabulous time and yes, I did eat and I enjoyed myself. The weather was great, for the first two days it was cold but the sky was a beautiful blue. The last day it was even colder & was grey but it was still great and at least it didn’t rain. Took loads and loads of pictures, which I’ll post some shortly and yes, had my photo taken with Mickey & Tigger (Tigger being my fave, which I was very excited about). We both loved travelling on Eurostar and want to go on the train, this time from the new Eurostar station as the company I work for now built the ceiling for it. Hopefully we’ll travel on it next year somewhere for a short break.

I did go to be weighed after my little break and I only put on 0.2lbs, which I was absolutely ecstatic about and had to get back on the scales to see if they were lying or not, which they weren’t….wayhay!!! Now you would have thought this would have kept me on track, which unfortunately it didn’t, but as I said, I’m getting there.

Anyway, this weekend I went dress shopping, which I was really, really excited about. I have a posh works Christmas do to go to, which I’ll certainly be eating at as the menu looks amazing and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to afford eating in place like this again (unless I win the lottery that is). So, I decided I wanted to wear a lovely dress, as before LL if I wanted to get something posh it would be a struggle to find something and you just made do with what you could get. I never bought dresses though as my boobs were so huge I had to buy a tent just to go over them.

Well, this time shopping, it was great (I still haven’t gone out to shop for new clothes yet, everything I wear at the moment has been given to me, apart from the odd couple of cheapy tops that I’ve bought).

It was certainly different this time, as everything I tried on looked nice and it was such a change to not have to search at the back of the clothes hanging up to find the largest size.

Anyway, I took into the changing room 5 different dresses in sizes 16 & 14 and every dress in size 14 fitted, I was gobsmacked.

The one that I bought is a simple black dress, which is fitted on the bodice, and sort of flares out a bit at the bottom (it’s not a long dress, but it’s below the knee) and it swishes lovely. The funny thing is though, it’s a puffball………now I never had a puff ball skirt when they first came out in the 80’s (had my ra-ra skirts), and I always thought I would never ever own a puffball as I thought they were just plain daft, well, how wrong was I, as I loved it.

The thing that swung me into buying it though (as all the dresses were nice) was when I stepped out of the cubicle, with my sparkly black heels on, to find Joan (Allan’s Mum) to see what she thought, were the ladies that were queuing up to try things on. Loads of them said to me “That looks stunning/ lovely on you” and things like that. Now I’ve never had strangers in a changing room say this to me before, and Al’s Mum said I looked amazing. Even when I was walking out of the changing room, one of the ladies still queuing stopped me to say it really did looked stunning on me. This boosted my confidence so much and I can’t wait until I get to goal or nearly at goal until I do my big clothes shop.

I also bought a little black, sparkly crochet bolero as the dress only has thin straps and I wanted to cover the tops of my arms, which I need to take back & change as for some reason I bought a size 16 instead of a 14. Think this may have something to do with trying it on with all my clothes on, plus the dress on the hanger hanging over my head and then the bolero over that, it felt fine then (if not a little strange), but with just the dress, it’s a bit big. I’ll post a picture of me all dolled up on the evening (14th December) so you can see what I’ve been enthusing about.

I have set myself another mini target of trying to lose another stone before Christmas, which is 4 weeks tomorrow, can’t believe it’s so close, so I hope that now I’m back to posting on my blog and I can keep myself in check, I can reach this target, or at least get very close to it.

Well, I suppose I’d better get on and do some work and I’ll try and catch up on all your blogs over the week.

Hope your all doing OK.

1st November 2007 – Day 162 – 23rd Weigh-In

2007-11-01T16:17:00.000Z

I’ve been struggling lately with nibbling which you know about, admittedly only when I’m down at Allan’s for the weekend as I find I can be so much stricter with myself at work and home.

I was thinking about why I was doing this when I was driving back to my place Sunday night and also talked it over with Nich during our walk on Monday and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s because I’m actually liking the person I see in the mirror now. It’s no excuse I know, but at the moment it’s the only conclusion I can work out as to why I’m doing it.

I wrote this in an e-mail to Mum and have printed it out & highlighted it for me to keep to hand, but I thought I’d put it down here too.

“I think one of the reasons I’m nibbling is because I’m feeling so much better about myself and also I’m liking what I see in the mirror. When I started LL I really hated myself and the way I looked, so had that determination to change myself, but because I’m getting happy with how I’m looking I might be thinking that this little bit won’t hurt, which is wrong, because if I keep doing it, then I could get back to square one. Also all the comments I get now are how great I’m looking and you don’t need to lose much more weight do you?, which is nice, but doesn’t help with sticking to the diet”

I’ve decided to get Allan to scan one of my fat photos in to print off, so I can stick it somewhere in the kitchen with “If I nibble, I’ll end up like this again” or something like this written on it. I don’t actually have any of my fat photos at his place, so maybe it might do the trick or at least make me think about what I’m doing.

Saturday, I had my first proper bit of eating at a restaurant. We’d been out all day and Al was going to get a burger, but had no money on him & they didn’t accept credit cards, so we ended up at a Mexican restaurant. I then decided that I will have something, so spent ages poring over the menu to work out what would be best and decided on chicken fajitas as these were just chicken, onion, pepper and the wraps.

When they arrived I took my time, using a minimal amount of sour cream & salsa with the chicken & onions and then eating slowly, whilst sipping my water (which I didn’t even notice until half-way through that it had a slice of lemon in it, a no no in LL’s eyes). Anyway, I really enjoyed it and was listening to my body to see if it told me if I was full or not, which it didn’t seem to be telling my anything to be honest. I did just have 2 fajitas, although there was enough to make 4, and felt really happy with that. I could have easily finished off the other 2, but to be honest, I didn’t want to make a complete pig of myself and make myself feel really bloated, which I didn’t. I also didn’t feel hungry until at least 9pm when I made up a chocolate mouse out of my food pack.

Anyway, back to the weigh-in last Tuesday and I spent ages telling my LLC my deductions on my nibbling and also eating a meal. Then stepped on the scales quite expecting to put on or at least stayed the same. I was very surprised when I’d actually lost 3.08lbs (total 83.4lbs) and my BMI is now 29.25.

I won’t be getting weighed next week though as on Monday Allan & I are off to Disneyland Paris for 3 days, which I’m so looking forward to as it’s our only holiday of the year, so intend to make the most of it.

I will be taking my food packs with me, but have decided to eat a meal in the evening, although I have told Allan that it has to be in a proper restaurant, not a fast food place. He can eat where he likes in the day, but dinner has to be in a restaurant. I’ve also said to myself though, that if I do decide to have breakfast & lunch, I’m really not going to beat myself up about it as I’ve done far better than I thought I would on LL and it is my only holiday, so I’m going to enjoy myself. OK, I’m not going to go mad, I will make sensible choices, or at least I hope I can trust myself to make the right choice as, yes, I want to enjoy myself, but I don’t want to go mad and undo all the hard work I’ve done.

So, hope you’re all doing well and have a good weekend.

25th October 2007 - Part 2

2007-10-25T13:04:00.000+01:00

I can't believe I forgot to say, I'm now no longer morbidly obese or obese, I am overweight, how fab is that.

Anyway, if I don't get on here tomorrow, hope you all have a good weekend.

25th October 2007 – Day 155 – 22nd Weigh-In

2007-10-25T12:40:00.000+01:00

Well, had my weigh-in and YAY, I did lose. Thought I’d sabotaged it a bit what with the nibbling at the weekend and not drinking enough water due to changing jobs and getting out of my routine.

I seem to have a routine at work now regarding the water intake and can manage 4 litres while I’m there and then at least a litre in the evening. Work is still going well and I’m really enjoying it, although I have noticed that I’m not running up and down the stairs like I used to in my previous job. I am going out walking every lunch time though, so hopefully this’ll make up for the lack of up & down stairs walking!!

Anyway, I lost 2.42lbs (total 80.32lbs) and have reached my 5.5 stone loss, which I’m so happy about.

So, now only have 2 stone 1lb to go, unless I start to get skinny, as I want to still be curvy, all be it smaller curves, I don’t want to end up skinny. I’ve told Allan that if I start to look that way then to tell me, which I know he will.

Also, I got myself measured last week to hopefully cheer myself up as my first gain and also it had been a while since I’d last had it done.

So, the total inches I’ve lost so far are: -

10” from my chest

9¾” from my waist

11¼” from my hips

15th October 2007

Chest: 41½”

Waist: 34”

Hips: 42”

22nd August 2007

Chest: 43 ¾”

Waist: 36 ½”

Hips: 45 ¾”

18th July 2007

Chest: 47”

Waist: 39”

Hips: 48”

20th June 2007

Chest: 48”

Waist: 40 ½”

Hips: 50 ½”

23rd May 2007

Chest: 51 ½”

Waist: 43 ¾”

Hips: 53 ¼”

Hopefully this weekend I can combat the nibbling, repeating to myself a line from one of Mrs L’s posts “Don’t let a blip become a trend” as this seems to be happening at the moment. Fingers crossed it’ll work and make me think about what I’m doing.

22nd October 2007 – Day 152

2007-10-22T10:02:00.000+01:00

Well, had my first full week at my new job, which has gone really well. There was a temp here to show me the ropes for most of the week, and I seem to pick things up very quickly. I am here on my own now and all is well. The guys here seem really lovely (yes, I work in a company full of blokes!!)

So, I’m now starting my second week……

Anyway, back to the diet, had my weigh-in last Tuesday, which didn’t go well as I had my first gain - yes, still the nibbling at weekends, still trying to combat them. I keep trying and actually took a bit of bread out of my mouth at the weekend (yes, I know it’s disgusting, but I suppose I didn’t swallow it!!) I did do a bit of nibbling this weekend, but hopefully not as bad as last weekend.

The gain was only about ¼ lb, but that’s not the point, it’s still a gain, so have to try and get myself on track. I think now I have to work a day at a time, especially at weekends and try to get through these without picking.

The other thing I’ve noticed, since I’ve started this job is that I haven’t been drinking enough water. I’ve been managing the 4 litres, but that’s about it. When I was working in my old job, I’d got into a routine and could easily manage 5.5 to 6 litres a day. I suppose I’ll get there with my routine again, but it’ll take time. I couldn’t even make it up the water drinking at the weekend as I rushed off on Friday leaving my flavourings at work. I was so annoyed at myself, but there was nothing I could do as I was already on the motorway before I realised. I did just about get the 4 litres in, but it was a real struggle.

I have however managed to do more walking as I make sure I walk every lunchtime for at least ½ to ¾ of an hour, plus I did walking Thursday evening with Nich.

This weekend was good, we took Barney swimming and then I was helping Allan with the deck, it’s still not finished but is getting there. He was cutting the curve over the pond and spent ages making up jigs & templates and then finally set to work cutting the deck. It looks great and we’re really pleased with it and now I can’t wait for him to put the little LED lights round the edge.

I did do some cooking, even though I swore I wasn’t going to this weekend end as I wanted to use up the apples, so made Apple Crump from the recipe from the show on ITV – Britain’s Best Dish. It was so easy to make and I did decide to try a taster and it was delish, Allan and his Mum loved it and said I can make this again anytime. If I do make it again, I will have to make sure I won’t have some as I’ve already tried it the once.

So, once again I’m hoping I haven’t ruined this week’s dieting with my nibbling and I wish I can get back to how determined I was at the start of LL. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still very, very determined, but I want to get back to not even trying/ tasting anything, so I can get to my goal as quickly as possible.

Nearly forgot, good news, the car seems to working again after being in the garage 3 times last week, they seem to have solved the problems.....eventually....YAY.

Anyway, I hope you all had a good weekend. I haven’t had a chance to catch up on your blogs yet as I was busy helping Al, but I’ll try throughout the week.

14th October 2007 - Day 144

2007-10-14T18:22:00.000+01:00

Barney on the deck

Allan & Barney - deck isn't finished yet though.

The deck in progress

Have had a good weekend and only nibbled a little yesterday. Saturday we took Allan's Mum to the farm shop where we get the fantastic meat. His Mum loved it and bought loads and Al got a little too. I did do a bit of cooking (potato & mushroom gratin), which Al said was lovely and I've put the rest in the freezer for another day, also to save me picking too much.

Allan's been doing a bit more to the deck, which I thought I'd post a picture of as it's taken up a lot of the last few weekend, so you can see what I'm talking about. Today, we also went sloe picking and found a fab place, which had loads of really big ones. Although to be honest I wasn't quite sure if they were sloes and Allan wasn't that sure either, so we then had to take them over to a friends to check with them and we weren't going to poison anyone!! They were, so it'll be full steam ahead on the sloe gin making, well, as soon as I get the gin that is.

I got my car back but I'm really not happy with it. As I was driving down the motorway, as soon as I hit 70mph the warning light , yes, the same warning light that was supposed to be fixed, started flashing at me again, the whole journey down to Allan's. When I got to his, I immediately phoned the garage, who said to bring it back in, of which I couldn't as I'm an hours drive away and here for the weekend. To make matters worse, my sister called me in the evening to say I'm leaking oil....I checked where I had the car parked and it was, couldn't believe it. Not only doesn't the job seem to be done properly, it's worse as it's leaking!!!!! The garage was also advised of this and they are going to pick my car up from my new job to take another look at it. Not a great way to start a new job, but I can't do much about it unfortunately.

Anyway, the girls at work gave me a nice send off and bought me a lovely bouquet of flowers.

So, I'll be making my journey back down to my house soon, hopefully without incident or breaking down and then starting the new job.

I hope you've all had a good weekend and a good week, as I won't be able to check in on your blogs till the weekend.

12th October 2007 – Day 142

2007-10-12T10:11:00.000+01:00

Introducting Harry

I got my car back evening, so now safe to drive around again and I can drive down to Allan’s after work today.

Well, it’s my last day here in this job and I probably won’t be able to post as much after this weekend – until I get used/ suss out the new place that is. I’ve bought lots of cakes for the girls in the office and for myself I’ve cut up one of the cranberry & raspberry crunch bars into little pieces and treated myself to a bottle of sparkling water. As Allan said last night when I told him ‘I really know how to live it up!!’ I certainly won’t be eating any of the cakes though and for me, sparkling water is a treat as I only have this when we go out as then it’s something different.

I’m a bit sad to be leaving as the girls here are so lovely and I’m also a bit apprehensive about starting a new job, but, there was no security in being a temp and there didn’t look like there’d be any chance of being made permanent as the university are cutting back and not taking on anyone at the moment. I know my boss would have made me permanent like a shot if she could, so that’s really nice to know.

The other night little Harry cat had to go to the vets to have his annual jabs & check over, which he got a clean bill of health. The vet then told us we have to start to clean his teeth at least once a week!!!!! Not with just the dentistix things that they chew on, but with some solution & a toothbrush!!!!!

Well, we decided to give it a go last night, so I was holding him on the kitchen worktop, trying to prise his mouth open. For a little thing, they can really clamp their jaws together!! My sister had the job of trying to clean his teeth with the toothbrush, which is huge for a little mouth, but has a very long handle – I suppose to keep your hand away from a biting cat.

Harry really wasn’t going to play ball though, don’t blame him to be honest. He’s a little old boy & to suddenly have this brush thrust in his mouth whilst being held down isn’t much fun.

So, we tried, but failed miserably and Harry was very quick to scarper out the house in case we came at him again. I really don’t know how we’re going to be able to do this every week. I think he might have to have the dentistix things everyday instead.

10th October 2007 – Day 140 – 20th Weigh-In

2007-10-10T09:48:00.000+01:00

It was a day of good news & bad news yesterday.

Had a disaster in the afternoon but thankfully not diet wise, the problem was with the car. When I was driving home at lunchtime I kept getting a warning light flashing at me & it felt like the car was going to cut out on me as soon as I took my foot of the accelerator. When I eventually got home I looked up what the warning light was – failure of the injection system and then phoned the garage. He said to take it down straight away and they’ll do a check on it.

Well, I was sitting there for about 2 hours, with no water, but thank god I’d stuffed one of the bars in my bag before I rushed out again, which I could nibble on as the waiting room had biscuits, coffee, chocolate & juice, but no water!!! I’d also forgotten to take a bottle of water with me, so really didn’t drink much yesterday at all.

Eventually the man came to give me the bad news & the head gasket has gone/ going, which needs sorting out urgently as I couldn’t drive the car much as it could go at anytime and is going to be very costly. So, my little car is in the garage this morning and hopefully I’ll be getting it back on Friday, if not, he’s going to sort me out a courtesy car for the weekend.

The good news is, I lost 6.38lbs (total 75.92lbs) and now weigh 12stone 2lbs. I couldn’t believe it. Unfortunately I couldn’t stay to class as my Mum came over straight from work to take me to be weighed & pick up my food. I think she was just as amazed as I was at how much I’d lost. That’s my biggest loss, apart from the first week that I’ve had since I started LL.

It has spurred me on again though to control my nibbling at the weekends as it really goes to show that if I don’t nibble, the weight will hopefully come off faster. I know that’s not always the case as your body does strange things like holding onto water and stuff like that, but if I keep saying it, I’ll hopefully curb the nibbling/ picking.

7th October 2007 - Day 137

2007-10-07T16:38:00.000+01:00

Well, as you can see, I've had my 5 stone photos done (well, smidgen off pics) and I'm so glad I have as it's spurred me on again. I haven't picked or nibbled at all today. They've also made me realise that I actually look slim, I still couldn't see myself as being this slim. I know I've lost weight and I'm a lot smaller than I was, but I still felt big. Just seeing these though have changed the way I see myself a bit.

Also, these are the size 14 trousers I was wearing for my interview the other week, still can't quite get my head round it, I can wear a size 14!!!!!

I had a good day yesterday, but I made my lemon cakes so I could freeze them & then take them into work on Friday, but they turned out so bad that there's no way I can take them in. Don't know what's up with my cake making skills lately!! Anyway, I was tasting the mixture, on quite a few occasions, then when the cakes were out of the oven & cooled a bit, I cut one open to see if they were OK (which obviously they weren't), I ate a bit (still tasted lovely though) and then I kept eating bits!!!! In the end I just put them in the bin and decided that I won't even attempt to make anymore as it wasn't worth putting my diet at risk anymore. I'm so glad I did.

So, hopefully, I haven't done too much damage and instead of two days of nibbling like the last couple of weekends, I've only had one day, so a bit of progress there.

Allan had been working on the deck most of the weekend again, it's getting there, but still lots to do. Poor thing, I haven't even cooked for him this time either, but he's been so good about it, which is a great help.

Hope your all having a good weekend.

4th October 2007 – Day 134 – 19th Weigh-In

2007-10-04T10:05:00.000+01:00

I GOT THE JOB…!!!!!

I found out just after I last posted but have been busy at work that couldn’t post till now. I couldn’t believe it when the agency phoned, I’m so pleased as this was the first time I’d come out of an interview really wanting the job. It seemed such a nice company & the two guys interviewing me seemed so nice. So, I start on Monday, 15th October, so I may not be able to post much after then, or until I’ve been there for a while & sussed the place out. I’ll have to make it up & catch up with all your blogs at the weekends.

So, back to weigh-in, I lost 1.32lbs (total 69.54lbs) so just a smidgen to go until my 5 stone loss, it’ll definitely be next week, although I am going to be making lemon cakes at the weekend to freeze ready to take into work for next Friday, my last day!!!! I won’t be eating any, I probably won’t have a chance as I made some for my birthday this year and the whole lot went so fast, it was unbelievable, which is good news for me & the diet.

Anyway, not much has been happening, been walking with Nich & over my friends last night and I’m having my hair high-lighted tonight, thank god as it hasn’t been done for months & months & is in total need of something being done to it.

I’ve stuck to the diet totally since weigh-in, well, I’m normally fine at home, it’s just at weekends. I’m determined to stick to it this weekend too, although I will most probably be cooking for Allan as he’ll be doing more decking, so I have to be determined not to pick at what I’m cooking, have to remain strong and think of how I strong I felt when I first started LL – easier said than done, but I have to try.

So, anyway, I’m happy I still had a loss as I wasn’t really expecting it after losing so much last week, which was totally out of the blue, so fingers crossed I can have another good loss next week. I must also get back on track to walking at weekends too, although I did walk to the shops & garage where normally I would have driven, so a bit of progress there. Also, hopefully going sloe picking this weekend too, so a bit of walking there.

1st October 2007 – Day 131

2007-10-01T12:12:00.000+01:00

Had a lovely day on Friday, as it was a day off and after the week I’d had, it was well needed. Had a little lie-in, well, I was still out of the house by 7.30am to drop my time-sheet into the agency and then have a quick recki on where I was having my interview in the afternoon. Found it OK and then went home, where I set about cleaning the kitchen, then had my breakfast of a vanilla milkshake with coffee, which I have every day as I love them, never thought I’d say that about diet food, but I do.

The night before my friend who was now back from Los Angeles & Las Vegas, so we went out for our walking. Anyway, she gave me some clothes which she didn’t want anymore and there were two fabulous suits (one of which I wore to my interview) & some lovely trousers. The best bit though was when I got home I started to try them on and to be honest, didn’t think they’d fit as looked so small and some of the trousers were a size 14!!!!! But they did, I was so amazed and absolutely ecstatic, I can’t remember I’d worn that size, especially trousers.

It’s funny but I still see myself as big, I know my stomach is a lot flatter, hips smaller & boobs definitely a lot smaller, but I still see myself as wide.

Anyway, the interview went really well, it seemed such a lovely company to work for and the 2 guys that interviewed me were really nice & friendly. I went out of there feeling very positive, happy & I was smiling on the journey all the way down to Allan’s.

I didn’t think about the interview too much over the weekend as I didn’t want to get my hopes up too much (going by my track record in interviews lately), they also had a couple more people to see, and Allan & I were also busy with building the decking over the pond.

The deck has gone down brilliantly, it’s not finished yet, but Allan & I are so pleased with it. It’s definitely been worth the 3 year wait. I have taken some photos, but forgot to download/ reduce the size to put on here, I’ll try & do that at the weekend as I seem to be lacking in photos lately.

On Sunday, when we’d packed up for the day I got the garden chair out, put it on the deck and sat there reading my book, with my bottle of water and wrapped up in a blanket as it was freezing!!! I couldn’t stay out there too long as I just got so cold (I seem to be really feeling the cold lately), but I was determined to sit on the deck…..

Anyway, had a good weekend, I cut up one of my bars so that if I had the nibbles they were there waiting, although admittedly I did nibble a little as I was cooking for Allan (lunch & dinner, on both days). No excuse really, but at least it wasn’t as bad as last weekend, so a bit of an improvement. I had said to myself that after last weekends nibbling when cooking that I wouldn’t be cooking again, but he was working so hard and was so tired & achy in the evening that I thought it wasn’t really fair for him to then start cooking. When the deck has finished, I will not do anymore cooking, but I really must get my act together over this nibbling!!!

27th September 2007 – Day 127 – 18th Weigh-In

2007-09-27T11:20:00.000+01:00

Can’t believe I haven’t posted for over a week, but it’s been so busy here at work due to the new intakes of students and getting all their forms & details loaded onto the databases. It still hasn’t finished yet, but had to post due to weigh-in the other night. I also started writing this yesterday when everything hit the fan at work with regard to the sort of additional role I’ve taken on. The woman running the course is putting so much stuff on me that even my boss wouldn’t be doing, let along a temp!! I got so angry that it actually made me cry (I very, very rarely cry at work), not in the office, I could feel it coming on and rushed off to the loos and then was walking around outside. When my boss got back from her meeting with her boss, she spent ages talking to me and knows that I’ve never flown off the handle & realised that this was quite serious as it’s been building for a long time now. My bosses spent all afternoon dealing with this for me and will continue to monitor everything, so I feel so much better.

Anyway, back to weigh in. I was convinced I’d put on or hadn’t lost anything as this weekend I’ve felt like I’ve really struggled. I’d been nibbling when I was cooking for Allan & even had a rice pringle (only one), but just seemed to be in a really picky mood. I was quite annoyed at myself for doing it, but I just didn’t seem to be able to stop. My Mum thought it could be because I was down about my job, as I was very down when we were walking on Monday. Also, Allan has given up smoking, which he’s doing really well at, but he’s eating lots of nice things, so that’s not really helping, but I’m just so glad he’s given up. I have come up with a plan of either making biscuits out of bars or the crisps, or cutting up the new bars, which are fab by the way, into little sections so if I do get the nibbles, they are there waiting for me. Hopefully this’ll work.

Well, got weighed on Tuesday and I lost 5.28lbs, (total 68.22lbs) which I was astounded at, but so pleased. I won’t get complacent though this weekend, as I’m now 2lbs away from my 5 stone loss, which means I’ve only got another 2.5 stone to go….YAY. I didn’t quite sink in at the class that I was so close to losing 5 stone until I was out of class and on my way to Mum & Dad’s, it was his birthday, so wanted to pop over, and it nearly made me cry when it finally occurred to me…….I seem to have had a bit of an emotional week so far!!!

I’ve got the day off work tomorrow as I have another job interview (didn’t get the last one), then I can go straight down to Allan’s after that, which means I’ll miss all the traffic on the M4.

Hopefully, the weather will be lovely as we’re finally laying the deck, so will be busy doing that, well, I’ll be helping out. I say finally as the structure for the wood has been down for at least 3 years, so it’s been a long time in coming, fingers crossed we’ll get some wood down.

Must dash, just off to a meeting.

19th September 2007 – Day 119

2007-09-19T15:36:00.000+01:00

I was very pleased at weigh-in last night as I lost 1.1lbs (total 62.94lbs) so am just a smidgen off my 4.5stone loss….YAY!!

This was good as I was a little worried after the nibbles I tried at the County show I went too, even though it was just protein, I didn’t try any of the bread/dips etc. Also, I noticed on my water chart this week that on quite a few days I’d only just managed to drink 4 litres of water, whereas normally I’m guzzling 5 to 5½ litres a day.

There weren’t many in the class last night but we were discussing how the emotion Anger, can make you feel hungry, seemed strange as I haven’t felt this at all, but one lady in the class could relate to it and said that after she’d been angry she felt really hungry; so I think I’ll have to look out for this emotion.

When I got home I rang Mum with my loss for this week (I always ring her after each class), then had my soup & then set about making my blackberry & apple jelly.

It went so well and I must admit I did get a little carried away with the tasting, so will have to watch this in future and make sure I only try it a once; but it did taste wonderful and I’m really looking forward to giving these away as gifts. I had a little left over, which I poured into a small jar for my sister to try, which she did today. She said it tasted lovely, not too sweet, good jelly consistency & spread well on toast. So, my first venture into jam/jelly making was a success.

I’ve now found a recipe for Chilli Apple Jelly, which goes with pork according to Anthony Worrel-Thompson (as it’s his recipe), so I think I’ll be making this at the weekend to use up the rest of the apples (another thing for the Christmas hamper).

Anyway, I’m off out walking with Mum tonight straight from work, then I’ll be going straight over to my friends for the evening.

18th September 2007 – Day 118

2007-09-18T14:21:00.000+01:00

Well, I couldn’t get my blood pressure test done last night as the chemist was very short staffed & she said to come back tomorrow, so I’ll be off there again tonight, fingers crossed I’ll be able to get it OK as it’s weigh-in later too.

So I trundled back home and started making my blackberry & apple jelly. I’d never made anything like this before, so was quite excited. My friend’s mum has lent me her preserving pan, so I cut up the apples, which one of my colleagues at work had given me, chucked in the blackberries, added the water and stuck it on the stove.

While this was heating up I sorted out my jars, which friends & I had been collecting for months now. I had a nice assortment ready for the jelly and another lot of jars for my blueberry & lime jam, which I’ll be making next week. These are now all ready to be sterilised this evening.

I had a stand ready, which held the muslin to strain the juice and poured this in when all the fruit was mushy and left it overnight to strain.

I can’t wait to get home tonight after weigh-in & class to finish off the next stage, which is making it into jelly. So, the first of my mini hamper gifts for Christmas are nearly done YAY!!.

I also did lots of bouncing on my mini trampoline last night, to hopefully combat the little nibbles I did at the show on Saturday, so hopefully I’ll have lost something tonight.

I had my interview this morning. It seemed a nice enough company, but even though I’ve lost nearly 4½ stone and my confidence is coming back, I’m still pretty crap in interviews. Even if I’ve done loads of re-search on the company, as soon as I get asked questions I seem to just go blank! I had prepared answers to some questions they may have asked me and these seemed to go OK, but I don’t think I came across all that great. Oh well, I’ll just have to wait & see.

17th September 2007 – Day 117

2007-09-17T16:19:00.001+01:00

I’ve been very lax on posting this week, but nothing much happened after my last weigh-in and then the Saturday I was out all day.

Last Thursday I was supposed to have had a job interview for Admin/PA, but this was postponed last minute as the interviewer went home ill, so I’d got myself all prepared & then nothing. Oh well, it’s been rearranged for tomorrow morning, so, we’ll have to see how that goes. I normally get quite nervous in interviews and don’t sell myself very well, although now I have a bit more confidence so hopefully that’ll come across more this time.

Friday night, my parents & sister came down to Allan’s to stay the night as we were off to the Newbury County Show the next day and were leaving at 7 to 7.30am!!! For dinner a Chinese takeaway was ordered and whilst they had this, I had my Thai Chilli soup, I didn’t even pick at any of the food, even though it smelt gorgous.

On Saturday, we set off early to the show, which is huge and we got parked right near the entrance. We’d also got there in time to see the mass hot-air balloon launch, which was great and took a few photos. They also do a mass launch early evening, but we’ve always missed it. We had a great time and spent all day wandering round loads of different stalls.

I’d come prepared with bottles of water and had made up crisps to have when the others stopped for lunch. I had already decided beforehand that when we got to the food tent, I would try samples, but only protein, most of this though ended up being small samples of different flavoured sausages, which were delicious and a bit of smoked chicken & a couple of pieces of bacon. I steered well clear of trying any dips, relishes, biscuits, sweets & cakes. I had already warned my lot about this, just in case they decided to have a go at me or worry when they saw me trying things.

It was a baking hot day and I really noticed the difference from last year (as it was a hot day last year too). I wasn’t sweaty, uncomfortable and by 4pm my feet were only just starting to ache. The same time last year my feet were aching so badly. I also had my pedometer on me and by the time we’d left the show I’d done over 21,000 steps!!!!!

After we’d left Mum, Dad & sister came back for a BBQ and we cooked some of the sausages we’d just bought and again I did have another little sample of each flavour as I know that Allan would eat the others quite quickly (we’ll have to order some more when I’m back to eating), I then just stuck to my soup. I didn’t have my fourth foodpack though as I wasn’t hungry and thought this might compensate for the little samples I had at the show.

Sunday, we had a nice long lie in and really didn’t do much else as we were so tired from the day before. It was a nice day though, just relaxing.

Today, as been busy as we had the new intake of student nurses, so I was directing them on where they had to go next and generally making sure they were OK. Time flew by and it was nice walking around and not sitting at a desk, which I normally do. I even managed to drink 3 litres of water before 12 noon!!

A buffet lunch was provided but I didn’t eat any, just drank more water and then went back to the office to make up a mushroom soup.

It’s my monthly blood pressure test tonight, so I’m having that done straight from work, then its home to start making my blackberry & apple jelly, which I’m really looking forward to doing.

Hope you all had good weekend.

12th September 2007 – Day 112 – 15th Weigh-In

2007-09-12T14:26:00.000+01:00

Had a really good WI last night, which I wasn’t expecting as I had a big loss last week, but I lost another 3.74lbs (61.84lbs in total), which now brings me down to 13st 2lbs.

This, I think, is the lowest weight I’ve been at for 4½ years (I think I was a bit heavier than this when I met Allan). So, I’m in line to reach my mini target of 4½ stone loss by the end of September. The thing I’m more excited about though is I’m nearly there to break another stone barrier and get into the 12 stone somethings!!!!

The class last night was really nice & we were talking about if we have more confidence in ourselves, which I am getting. I’m still quite quiet and don’t like speaking in groups much, but I am getting better. The LLC was also saying about how, when she was larger, she would never say no if anyone asked her to do things she didn’t want to or put more work on her etc. I know that I’m normally like this, as I don’t like to upset anyone by saying no/ tip the applecart. It seems that most of the ladies in the group were like this when they were large, it’s like we have to please everyone to be accepted or we were too afraid to say no because they wouldn’t be friends with us anymore. I can really empathise with this as I’m still like it in a way, although I am sticking up for myself more. A lot of the ladies have said that they have grown in confidence as the weight comes off, they feel more accepted, which is wrong I know, because everyone should be accepted no matter what they look like, but I suppose we all make judgements.

Tonight I’m over my friend’s house, I normally go each week, but haven’t been able to go over for a few, so I’m looking forward to it. My other friend Nich is off on holiday tomorrow to Los Angeles & Las Vegas. She has family in Los Angeles but has never been to Vegas before, so I’ve been filling her in on what to do, where to go as I’ve been 3 times and love it. I hope she loves it too, but I did warn her that my first reaction to arriving in Vegas was ‘Oh my God! I’ve got to spend a week here’. I thought it was just so tacky & not the sort of place I’d like to stay. But, the first night, we walked into the Venetian and thought ‘WOW!’ & from that moment on, Vegas grew on me, so I’m looking forward to hearing how they got on & seeing her photos.

Anyway, best get back to work, it’s been so busy here as being a university we’re getting ready for the new intake of students on Monday.

10th September 2007 – Day 110

2007-09-10T10:48:00.000+01:00

I’ve been starting to get a variety of reactions to my weight loss recently, the most bizarre of which was that ‘I looked weird’ from one of the guys at work. My reaction was ‘Oh thanks!’ and laughed when all the girls in my office piped up with ‘how can you say weird, typical man’. He did a serious amount of back tracking saying he meant weird in a good way, not a bad way. I did say to him this was probably because you’ve only ever known me as big’. I suppose, going by my before & half-way photos, I can see what he means.

Also today, one of the girls in my office, who’s been off sick & then on holiday for the last month said how much I’d changed and that I was looking quite petite now. I was quite amazed as I’ve never been called petite in my life or even thought of myself as a petite person. I suppose though, if I do actually get down to my goal of 9 stone something, going by my Mums frame, I could be quite small. Still can’t get my head round this though.

The weekend was good, although only got out for one of my early morning walks, as Saturday, we went early to the fabulous farm shop to get some meat for Allan to BBQ, and then we took Barney swimming. I can’t actually remember what we did for rest of the day, so it couldn’t have been that exciting, probably just everyday stuff.

Sunday I went on my early morning walk, came back & had my vanilla latte, then we set about the front garden. I was de-weeding the lawn & then went round on my hands & knees getting all the weeds out that were growing against the house & in between the block paving. This took hours as there were so many and I still have a bit more to do in the drive, but its all clear round the house. Then I was spraying weed killer round the house, sweeping up and was really pleased with my efforts and must admit, it looked good, so much better. This morning though the backs of my thighs & bum are really aching.

While I was doing this, Allan cut the grass, then washed both cars, so it was a very productive morning.

After lunch, we went blackberry picking, well tried. Allan drove us up to where he thought there would be loads, but there were no brambles at all, tons & tons of sloe trees, so I know where to get these for making sloe gin. We did a nice bit of off-roading, so when we got home his car didn’t look like it had just been cleaned and then popped up to Barbury Castle to have a quick wander round & let Barney have a good sniff. We did spot loads of elderberries, so have just had a quick look on the internet to see what I can make with these. I found quite a few recipes so may go picking next Sunday.

When we were nearly home, I spotted a whole load of blackberry bushes, teaming with berries, literally a 2 minute walk from Allan’s house. Couldn’t believe it. So as soon as we got home I grabbed my tub and set off to finally pick berries. Got a nice tub full & now, with the ones I picked last week, that are in the freezer, I think I’ve got enough to start making my jams. Can wait, but I’ve never made jam before so hope it turns out OK; otherwise I’ll have to re-think Christmas presents.

Tonight I'm off out walking with my Mum, which I haven't done for a while now since the LL class has changed days, so I'm really looking forward to that.

7th September 2007 – Day 107

2007-09-07T10:45:00.000+01:00

My friend & I had a fabulous evening last night at our pamper evening. It’s such a good way to try out different things without the expense as each treatment only costs £5.

My first treatment of the evening was threading. When I went to the pamper evening a couple of months ago I was watching it being done, it was absolutely fascinating. Now having PCOS, I do have a bit of hair growing under my chin, that I’ve tried to get rid of with electrolysis, which didn’t work, so I normally end up shaving it off or having it waxed every now & then. Threading is supposed to be a bit kinder to the skin than waxing, so I thought I’d give it a go. Yes, it still hurt a bit when she did under the chin, not half as bad as having electrolysis though, & it didn’t hurt at all when she did my eyebrows. Good news too, the beauty salon she works in is not far from me at all, so I will definitely give it another go.

My next treatment was a mini hand peel, which used a lovely scrub, some stuff that looked like butter, which was fabulous & she massaged the hands while rubbing this in, then a hand cream. My hands still feel lovely & soft now.

While I was having these done my friend had reflexology, which I want to try next time and a back massage.

I’ve just asked Nich whether the reflexology tickled as she has very ticklish feet & so do I, but apparently it doesn’t. She said it’s a very firm pressure which felt really nice and if there was a problem i.e. not drinking enough water, it showed up in the kidney area of your foot and it was a little tender but not actually painful (she certainly won’t get that with me with the amount of water I drink). She was really amazed at what the lady picked up on as Nich didn’t tell her anything and she said this morning, she woke up without ear ache for the first time in 18 months!!

We then watched a make-up demonstration of the new Virgin Vie products (forgot to mention, this is organised by Virgin Vie consultants, so all products used are from this range) and after this I had my last treatment of the evening which was a mini facial. This was absolutely fabulous and so relaxing; I really didn’t want it to stop & was a great way to round off the evening. While I was having this done, Nich had the mini hand peel.

So, a great way to celebrate my 4 stone loss and I’m really looking forward to the next one.

I've just realised, it didn't even occur to me to treat myself with a foodie reward for reaching a goal, which in the past I would have done. I'd have thought, as I'm sure everyone does, I've done so well, I deserve a cake/ chocolate etc., but since being on LL, I haven't rewarded myself with food, another first. Nich, is so great at this though; I don't mean rewarding with food, I mean she always gets me a little pressie when I reach a target. For my 4 stone, last night she gave me a fabulous make-up power/foundation, which is so light on the skin and is really natural. I'm wearing it now and it's so quick & easy to use, so thank you again Nich.

Anyway, hope you all have a good weekend.

5th September 2007 – Day 105 – 15th Weigh In

2007-09-05T10:15:00.000+01:00

Had my second Development class last night and it was much better this time, probably because there weren’t as many there, only 8 of us and 4 were from my old class. We were talking more as a group this time too instead of our own little groups.

Well, this weigh in was much better than last weeks as I lost 4.62lbs (total 58.1 lbs), which means I’ve now done my 4 stone loss…..YAY. It’s actually 4st 1lb by the LLCs scales but the weight I go from it is 4st 2lbs. This is because when I had my induction I was 17st 8lbs (as she weighed me then), but when I started the next day I weighed 17st 7lbs, so that’s why there’s a little difference, I don’t care though as it’s still a 4 stone loss. I am so pleased.

It’s actually come at the right time as my friend & I are going to another pamper evening tomorrow night and Lesley, we don’t go round in large nappies, although that has now put very strange images in my head. Last time we did this it coincided with my 2 stone loss (actually I thought it was only last month and I’d just got to my 3 stone loss and have just flicked back through the blog, how time flies). I’m really looking forward to it. We are also walking to the place, instead of driving, unless it’s chucking it down as we don’t want to arrive looking like drowned rats!!

I haven’t done as much walking this week, but I have dug my mini trampoline out and have been bouncing around at home loads of times throughout the day, at least 3 to 5 times. I must refer back to my list of goals for September though.

Also, after Lesley’s post about blackberry picking, I went out on Monday and picked lots. Still need loads more so I’ve said to Allan we’ll have to go out at the weekend and he has to come with me to reach the high ones. There were some lovely ones up high, but just out of reach and I could imagine if I’d tried for them, I’d have ended up face first in the brambles.

I've just put my ticker on and for the first time my loss is greater than my 'to go', that feels good.

3rd September 2007 – Day 103

2007-09-03T11:09:00.000+01:00

I can’t believe I’ve now gone over 100 days, I didn’t think I’d make this with only one little slip up, I thought I’d be good for say a few weeks and as normal, with other diets, start to cheat, but I haven’t.

As I’m now in development and with no fixed date on when I’ll be joining Route to Management I thought I’d make little mini targets/ goals to aim for. I thought I’d do them for a month at a time and also achievable ones, so I don’t feel disappointed if I don’t reach them and if I do reach or surpass them, then that will encourage me to keep going.

So, here goes September’s list: -

* Stick to the LighterLife diet for the whole of September without any cheating whatsoever.

* To reach a total loss of 4 ½ stone by the end of this month.

* Drink at least 4 but preferably 5 litres of water a day.

* Keep up with the walking at least 3 times a week and do more exercise at home.

* Have my wardrobe sorted out with my smaller clothes and to have either given my friend or charity shop all my big clothes by the end of this month.

* Sort out all the junk that has accumulated in my car (and there is a lot) so I have a nice clean car. Also wash it more regularly (I can’t remember the last time I washed it).

* Do more housework, which will keep me active and not sitting around watching TV all the time.

These seem pretty achievable to me and they are not all diet orientated but things that need to be done, so I hope this will encourage me to get up off my not quite so fat backside.

I have already started on all of these, well, as yesterday I washed the car and no, the dirt wasn’t holding it together, it’s still standing and I’ve already started to de-clutter my whole bedroom & wardrobe.

This morning I got out my mini trampoline and was bouncing around for ages. I got it last year and only used it a few times and then I got too heavy for it, so it’s been sat in the garage ever since. I really enjoyed it and found it so much easier, so I’ll probably be bouncing when I go home for lunch and then again in the evenings.

My 100th day, last Friday, I had the day off as I had to wait in for the gas man as the meter needed changing, but he arrived pretty early, which left me with most the morning free. I went over to see Dad and to pick up my vehicle docs as someone reversed into my car and broke the number plate, luckily while I was still sitting in the car at the time and he’s going to pay for a new one. I then went down to Allan’s nice and early to miss the traffic.

We didn’t really do that much this weekend, but on Saturday we were out shopping and then had to measure out the deck frame to find out how much wood was needed In the evening we went up to Barbury Castle so Barney could have a little wander and sniff.

Sunday we took some friends who’d come down from Liverpool up to Barbury Castle again, can you tell this is one of our favourite places? I also took my kite up and spent quite a while flying this, it was such great fun and I did loads of running around to pick the kite off the floor and launch it again. I found the running much easier this time, so it must be starting to pay off!!

We then took them for a drive round the countryside and then it was back home for Sunday lunch, while I had my soup. I didn’t feel deprived although I was a little put out when a place wasn’t set for me as it was presumed I wouldn’t sit at the table with them. I feel it’s important to sit at a table normally and not to shut myself away, I didn’t want the food and sitting there with food in front of me wasn’t torture, I wanted to join in with the conversation instead of feeling excluded, which is what would have happened.

After lunch, instead of just flopping out in front of the TV, which is what would have happened in the past, Allan and I washed my car, which took quite a while as it hasn’t been washed for such a long time, definitely not this year. Next weekend we’re going to get some stronger shampoo as we couldn’t get all the sap resin off, so we’ll be washing cars again and polish it as well, it won’t know what’s hit it. Then the next job for my car is to sort it out and get rid of the junk that in there.

After this, we then did flop in front of the TV and watched a really good DVD called The Guardian about the US Coastguard Sea Rescue service. I also had a soup and then made coffee ice-cream, but I ate it straight away instead of putting it in the freezer and it was just like Angel Delight, fabulous. Lesley, I hope your ice cream turned out OK, if you tried it.

That’s about it I think, I’m off to do some work now and then catch up on every one else’s blogs. Hope you all had a good weekend.

29th August 2007 – Day 98 – 14th Weigh In

2007-08-29T10:06:00.000+01:00

Well, I had my first class in Development last night and I was really nervous. I think this was down to new people there and it wasn’t just my little group anymore. I got there early and all the other ladies were chatting amongst themselves and I was the first one of my group to arrive. I began to wonder if any of them would turn up, but thankfully one did, which put me much more at ease and then eventually another arrived, so we were chatting in our own little group.

It took an age to get everyone weighed as there were 11 of us. My weigh in was not good this week as I only lost 0.66lbs, but that’s better than nothing or putting it on, so I now only have 3lbs to go to my 4 stone, which hopefully, if I stick to the diet 100% (and I know I’m going to do that this week) I should reach my 4 stone mini target by next week. This has taught me a lesson in cheating and I think I’m going to sit down and re-read my goals I put in the green book and read some of the chapters again to re-focus myself, although this small loss has made me more determined. I’m still really happy though as I’m wearing size 16 jeans and I can’t remember the last time I wore jeans in this size!!!

When everyone had been weighed our LLC got everyone to introduce themselves, although I can’t remember any of their names at all, it took me forever to remember them in my own little class, let alone this amount of people!! Quite a few of them had lost 5½ stone, which is really encouraging and one lady had lost 8 stone and still wants to lose another stone…….she looked amazing, I’d love to see her before photos.

All the ladies in the group seemed really nice and I was a bit worried that all the chat would be about food, but it wasn’t, so I was quite pleased about this, especially after my little blip at the weekend. We didn’t learn anything new, but going by Mrs L’s guide to Development you don’t really, it’s mainly chatting about how you’ve got on in the week and I suppose, if anyone is struggling, then helping them get through it.

I’m really hoping that I’m not in this class for too long though, although it’ll most probably be at least until November/ December time and then I’ll be at my goal weight, although I’m not going to set myself a deadline, I’ll just have to see how it goes. It would be great to be at goal weight by the New Year though.

Good news on the diet front for Allan. My friend (Allan’s neighbour) said to me at the weekend that they were talking to Allan and it came up that when they come back from holiday (which will be next week) they need to lose some weight and Allan actually replied that yes, he needs to lose weight too!! I can’t quite remember if she said that he’s going to start dieting/ cutting down, but hopefully he will soon as he’s now acknowledged that he needs to do something.

Allan also told our friends about the clothes I’d been given from the lady in my class and he actually said that I looked ‘Stunning’. My friend made a point of telling me this as she knew Allan wouldn’t, so that and the fact that he’s acknowledged that he needs to lose weight absolutely made my day.

One thing I did discover over the weekend was ICE CREAM!!! Why oh why didn’t I try making this earlier. I made a chocolate with a bit of Fruits of the Forest flavouring (I think I over did it a bit on the flavouring but it was still nice) and then I made a strawberry one, which was delicious. It made a decent size bowl full and took me ages to eat and I was so full up at the end of it. I’m going to try coffee flavour next (vanilla milkshake pack with instant coffee) as I adore coffee ice cream, can’t wait.

28th August 2007 – Day 97

2007-08-28T09:32:00.000+01:00

As you can see, I’ve scanned my end of 14 weeks foundation photos on. I’m calling the after photos my half-way pics as when I get to my 4 stone loss, I’ve got about another 3.5 to 4 stone to go. The before is even more hideous than my own before photos and I now have them stuck on my fridge so I see them every time I use the front door.

Had a really good weekend, but had my first cheat since starting LL, which I’m not happy about, but it also goes to show me that I’m not sailing through this and also just how easily I slipped back into my sneaky eating ways. I’m really annoyed at myself because I so wanted to do this without any cheating what so ever, but as the saying goes, you learn by your mistakes!

It was only because this pudding had been left out of the fridge uncovered (I was fine when it was covered or in the fridge) and I was alone in the kitchen that I decided to cut some off. I did cut the slice so thinly though that it was crumbling up, but I did this probably about 3 or 4 times, so if totalled up, it probably ended up as a small slice. I’m not trying to justify what I did in saying it was a really, really thin slices as I shouldn’t have done it in the first place, but I really hope I haven’t put any weight on, although if I do, that’ll certainly teach me a lesson.

One good thing, Allan did catch me and I stopped and covered it over again and have got straight back onto the diet. If he hadn’t caught me, I might have thought I’d got away with it and tried it again another time.

Anyway, I’ll put this behind me and I’m straight back onto the diet, although this is a short week between weigh-ins as we get weighed tonight instead of Wednesday, as tonight will be my first class in Development. I’ll be reading up on Mrs L’s guide to Development shortly.

I didn’t do too much walking this weekend, but I did help Allan with building a small window of glass blocks in his Mum’s garage and I did do a lot of dancing around to the radio. I was also doing arm exercises whilst holding a block in each hand & also waist exercises, which I could certainly feel yesterday, so I wasn’t just sitting around.

Another good thing, today, I’m wearing a size 16 top & a size 16 pair of jeans!!!!! And I feel fab. Last night I also tried on the pair of sparkly jeans that my friend gave me a couple of weeks ago, which are a size 16 and were a bit tight, but they fit lovely now, so that’s cheered me up.

Anyway, I’m going to be catching up on all of your blogs soon, although I’d better do a bit of work in between. Hope you all had a great weekend.

23rd August 2007 – Day 91 – 13th Weigh In

2007-08-23T10:49:00.000+01:00

Had a really fabulous weigh-in last night and I lost 3.08lbs (total 52.8lbs) so in total I’ve lost 3stone 10lbs and my weight is now 13stone 11lbs. I was jigging around like a loony when I realised this, I was just so pleased to get to the next stone bracket. I’m still the only one in my class to have reached the 3 stone mark, but no one seemed disappointed in what they’d lost, which was a good thing I think.

I also got measured and again last night and the inches really seems to be coming off me now

The total inches I’ve lost so far are: -

7¼” from my chest
7¼” from my waist
8” from my hips

22nd August 2007
Chest: 43 ¾”
Waist: 36 ½”
Hips: 45 ¾”

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

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

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

As it was our last class before we head off into Development (actually, we’ll all still be together as we’re all going to the same Development class, so that’ll be great) we had to do a drawing of a field separated by a river. One side was to show where we are now, the other side was to show where we want to be, which we had to depict in drawing, writing or symbols. The river represented the barrier stopping us from achieving our goal. We then had to draw a way of crossing this river, i.e. stepping stones, boat, bridge, stuff like that.

Our next task was to put our names at the top of a piece of paper and pass it round the circle. Each time it was passed, that person had to put something they like/ positive about that person whose name was at the top. When it got back to me I had some really lovely comments, which I’ll keep.

After this, we were given our before & after photos, which was great to see, even though I already have my before picture. This one though was even more hideous than the one on this blog, so I’ll be scanning it in at the weekend and I’ll put it on here for you to see. It was great actually seeing all the other girls photos as we’d grown accustomed to each other, so seeing these pictures reminded us of how far we’d all come.

I also had another bag of clothes from the same lady that gave them to me last time, which are absolutely fabulous. Now normally, I usually buy my clothes from M&S (normally the £5 3 for 2 t-shirts), or from Sainsburys, places like that, but these are from Monsoon, Wallis, John Rocha, they are fantastic. I was up till 11pm last night just trying them on and then I was so excited it took me ages to get off to sleep!! I could get into all the size 18s and there were even some size 16s, some of which, surprisingly enough, I could fit into and they felt great, not tight at all. Some of the size 16 trousers were a bit tight, but they won’t be for long.

So, a fantastic evening was had and next week, I’ll be in Development, even though my 100 days doesn’t come to an end until the 31st August.

21st August 2007 - Day 90...!!!!! Blood Pressures

2007-08-21T09:08:00.000+01:00

Just a quick post as I have loads of work to do but wanted to post something on my 90th day, which I still can't believe as it's just flown past.

Anyway, in my last weigh-in I got my blood pressure reading from when I first went to the doctors before I started LL (don't know if this is particularly high or not, but it seems it, compaired to what it is now. I've listed them down so I have a record, although I've just noticed I haven't made a note of my second BP test, must get that at weigh-in tomorrow.

23.05.07 - 150/92
18.07.07 - 107/82
13.08.07 - 105/82 (112/83 on the other arm)

I'm also looking forward to getting myself measured tomorrow too, hopefully I've dropped a bit more, I think so, but it's always nice to get it confirmed. We also get given our before & after photos, so I'll get these scanned in at the weekend and post them on here.

Thanks for your suggestions Lesley about jogging & breathing, I'll give that a go & hopefully it'll work for me.

20th August 2007 – Day 89

2007-08-20T15:01:00.000+01:00

Had quite a good weekend, apart from the weather as it was really cold, wet & miserable, although I did managed to drag myself out of bed on Saturday for my walk/ learn to jog at 7.30am!! Sunday I didn’t bother as it was just too wet, so had a lie in instead.

On my walk round on Saturday, I did manage a bit more jogging than the time before, but I really can’t get my breathing right. I start off taking deep breaths in through my nose & out through my mouth, but very quickly I completely forget and I’m gasping for breath!! Think I’m going to have a look up on the internet to see if there’s a guide to jogging in easy steps!!

Didn’t really do much this weekend though, apart from wandering round Wickes & B&Q twice on Saturday, Screwfix on Saturday & Sunday and Wickes again on Sunday. Now I must assure you I really don’t have a fetish for hanging round DIY shops, although I think my other half does, especially after this weekend!!

Allan did actually have a purpose for going, although I don’t think we quite needed to go to all of them, it’s definitely a man thing!! He did need to replace a valve in the water tank in the loft, then decided he wanted a push button flush for the toilet. The only reason why I went to B&Q the second time was that they had a toilet as by then he’d broken the flush unit, I was then subjected to the joys of Wickes again. Oh what fun I had…….

Anyway, this weekend I actually did some cooking, it was no nouvelle cuisine mind you. I’ve been sort of avoiding doing this since starting LL, which for me was quite easy as I don’t have children and Allan fends for himself at weekends. But I thought I’d cook for him as he’d been working really hard and he’d probably be spending most of Sunday doing it too (which he did). I was actually really looking forward to it and made him jacket potatoes, which I hollowed out into a bowl, added bacon, mushroom, sweetcorn & spring onion (which I’d already cooked, apart from the spring onion), mixed it all together with half-fat crème fraiche (I was quite amazed he’d agreed to this as he wanted full fat cream), then put the mixture back into the jackets, sprinkled with grated cheese & popped it under the grill. It looked lovely and he really enjoyed it.

Sunday, I cooked roast lamb, with rosemary & garlic, roasted some vegetables and potatoes. I did try a tiny piece of lamb, which, if I say so myself, tasted fabulous (this could be because I’ve only had food packs, so anything could taste fab at the moment) but it was really tender and moist. I’d never cooked lamb before so was really pleased with my efforts and Allan finished off the whole lot (it was only a tiny bit of lamb, not a huge joint).

One other thing that came out at the weekend was that he was saying how well I’ve be doing on LL, but he didn’t think he could commit to this sort of diet due to his work. He has to travel up & down the country a lot and couldn’t commit to going to a class on a set night in the week, as he wouldn’t know where he’ll be from one week to the next. I did say about cutting down though and drinking more water and coming out walking with me (when his ankle is better). So, it looks like he has been thinking about losing some weight, which is what I really hope he does, not for looks as that doesn’t worry me, but for his health. So, I maybe getting there with him, slowly but surely......a mini breakthrough!!

Last Thursday, my friend gave me a fabulous present for getting to 3.5 stone, which was put to use straight away, but she also did this fab sign, which she stuck to the pressie bag. If I get the chance I’ll scan this in so I can put it on here, it did make me laugh. I have it stuck on my fridge at the moment and it makes me smile every time I pass it.

She also gave me a pair of her jeans that she didn’t want anymore that had patterns embroidered with sequins on them. I’ve never had a pair of sparkly jeans before, I just normally went for the basic, stretchy ones from M&S but these are lovely. Anyway, they’re a size 16, which I thought I’d be able to wear in a couple of months time, seeing as I’d only just got into my size 18 pair. Well, I tried them on and I could get them done up (without having to lie on the bed), OK, they were tight round the bum & legs, but I think I’d be able to wear them in about 3 weeks time, good job I didn’t put them away for a few months.

15th August 2007 – Day 85 – 12th Weigh In

2007-08-16T09:47:00.000+01:00

Had an OK weight loss last night as I’d lost 2.42lbs (total 49.72lbs & I'm now 14 stone, so hopefully I'll be 13 stone something next week!!), so I wasn’t disappointed as I’ve now lost a total of 3.5 stone and my BMI is now 34.8, so it’s all good. Funnily enough, all the ladies in the class had a bit of a low loss this week, I blame the weather!! Also, I didn’t drink as much water this week as I normally do; I’d only done 5 litres on 1 day. I think I’ll be trying to get back to drinking 5 litres most days this week.

I’ve still got to the 31st August till my 100 days, so including today, I’ve got 16 days to get near to the 4 stone (notice I wrote near, I’m not focussing so much on actually reaching 4 stone now).

I also thought back to what Nich had written last week when I was a bit disappointed, so focussed on how far I’d come and how much better I feel about myself; the most important of which was that I actually like what I see now in the mirror.

We also had my after photo taken last night, and yes, I did have my little fashion show of tops for Mum and we’d decided on the slinkiest. I hope it shows up in the photos, which we get given next week. I was thinking about getting measured again as I only do this every month, so I should of had it done last night; but thought I’d leave it till next week instead.

One lovely surprise was that the lady who joined LL to lose weight to get married came back to see us, she’d only been back in the country for a few days so was a bit jet lagged. She’s now at her goal weight, so will be going into Management, whilst the rest of us are joining Development. She did say how much she wants to stick with our group and not join other people, which I think goes to show how much we’ve bonded as a group, we all get on so well. Anyway, she’d also brought in her photos from her wedding in Jamaica. She looked absolutely stunning, and the place looked gorgeous. She did so well too and only put on 1 pound with 3 weeks away, so there’s hope for us all……

This morning when I got up, I decided to go through my wardrobe for my smaller sized jeans. My size 22s were getting so baggy now and not just around my waist; they’re baggy round my bum & thighs!! So, I dug out my old jeans that had dust on them as they hadn’t been worn for over 4 years. I know this because I last wore my black ones when I first met Allan, which is nearly 4½ years ago. These are a size 18 (well, they actually say 16, but I bought them in the US, so really they’re an 18) and they all fitted fantastically, apart from the green pair, which are a tad tight, so hopefully I’ll be in these in a few weeks time. This means I’ve dropped 2 dress sizes, how fab is that!! I’ll now be getting my big jeans washed & ready to give to my friend, although I am keeping one pair to remind me of what size I got too and to shame me into not doing it again.

I’ve decided that I must do my walking at weekends and not be lazy like I was last weekend. I don’t think we have that much planned, so I think I’ll extend my walk to go a lot further round the village & I’ll do a bit more jogging too.

There’s a show on the BBC at 7pm called The One Show and last night they had a report claiming that walking actually burns more fat than jogging. They did this experiment with identical twins, who weighed the same, where they had to wear this apparatus & mask, which took all sorts of readings. Then one had to jog & the other had to walk for one mile. When the readings came back the jogging burnt off more carbohydrate, but the walking actually burnt off more fat!! Anyway, the link is here if anyone is interested.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/theoneshow/article/2007/08/mm_walking.shtml

Mum & I went off walking last night and as Allan had popped in on his way home, I roped him in too. He did enjoy it, although he wasn’t dressed for it, as he still had his shirt & office trousers on, but he’d hurt his ankle last month and it started to hurt again during the walk. So we had to cut our walk short and I’ve told him he must go to the doctors to get it sorted out.

Tonight, I’m off walking again with Nich and I think we’ll probably try our long route again.

I've just noticed something with my ticker, I've now got 10lbs to go and I'll be half way there.....!!

15th August 2007 - Day 84

2007-08-15T15:33:00.000+01:00

I had to have my blood pressure checked again last Monday (the normal LL monthly check) and it's still showing as normal. This lady checked both arms and when it was on my right arm it showed as 112/83 and my left showed 105/82, which the pharmacist said was normal, YAY. I wish I'd put down how high it was when I first went to the doctors. Actually, I think I'll ask my LLC tonight to see if she can give me the figures, if so, I'll post them on here.

Tonight at class, as I'll be going into my 13th week, I'm having my after photo taken. Seems strange as I'm carrying on with the diet, but what the heck. Although she has said that we won't be getting them till next week. OK, I know I already have my own before photos on here to shock me into carrying on with LL, but it'll be fun to see. I'm going to make sure I look nice, I'll be wearing my size 18 black trousers and I think I'll be sorting out tops with Mum later, before we go out walking, to see which one makes me look the slimmest.

Today I was out and about a bit at work. I had to go into Ealing for a bit of training, so I made up some crisps and had 2 litres of water to take with me and headed of via the train. I do quite enjoy going on the train as I don't get to do it that often, but I used to worry a bit when I was bigger, that the person I sat next too would be annoyed, as I thought I'd take up too much space. OK, I still felt like this to an extent today, but not half as much as before I started LL. I've also noticed this with cinema seats (the ones with the drinks holders), I can just sit in these easily and not worry about being too fat for them.

Anyway, I suppose I'd better get back to doing some work!!

13th August 2007 – Day 82

2007-08-13T10:15:00.000+01:00

My 38GG hanging basket!!

Well, that’s another weekend gone, why do they just fly by when the week drags, oh well. As you can see by the photos, I got round to doing my hanging basket, what do you think?

Had a really nice weekend, although I didn’t do much walking, well apart from the normal wandering round shops & things. I didn’t make a point of getting up for my early morning walk with a little jogging (on last weekends walk I could do a bit more jogging), so I must make the effort next weekend.

On our wander round some shops I popped into Next, just to have a look round, I still wasn’t going to buy anything. Anyway, before I started LL I used to pop in there to try & find something to wear, which was pretty hard and I always thought people were looking at me thinking ‘What’s she doing in here, she’s far too fat for these clothes’ things like that, don’t know if anyone else thought the same? Actually, looking back on it, I felt the same in whatever clothes shop I went in. Anyway, I had my wander round and as I was walking out, it hit me, I hadn’t had that feeling that people were looking at me, I wasn’t too fat for these clothes anymore and it was SUCH a great feeling!

In the evening we were off to the pub for a meal with friends, so as normal, I got Allan to check to make sure it was OK for me to bring my food & if they can provide me with a bowl of hot water, which they were perfectly happy to do. I’d made my crisps, & had my savoury drinks with me & as I knew our friends & Allan would have a pudding I’d did my lemon biscuits.

I made a real effort to look good, I find I’m doing this more & more when I go out now. In the past, if we were off to the pub for a meal, I’d probably have still gone in my normal jeans & t-shirt. I wouldn’t have bothered too much with my hair, still worn my glasses & only had a bit of mascara on. But Saturday, I planned my outfit. I wore my black Monsoon trousers (that the lady from my class gave me, actually everything I wore that night was from her). These were the ones that were a bit snug when I first tried them on, but now they fit great. I also wore a gorgeous top & my sparkly sandals, with a heel (I’ve worn flats for so long now, it felt a bit strange) that my feet were too wide for a while ago. I felt really great and Allan said I looked really, really good. I felt a little dressed up when our friends husband arrived in shorts & t-shirt, but actually, I didn’t care, I was just so pleased that I looked good. I haven’t felt that way about myself for a long time.

It was a lovely pub; the food looked & smelt great and again I really didn’t feel deprived that I wasn’t having any. When they had their main course, the waiter brought out a lovely soup bowl of hot water on a plate, so it blended in with the other dishes on the table (hope that makes sense,) and I had my crisps & savoury drink. The puddings looked lovely too but again, I didn’t feel the need to have any, although I knew what I would have gone for if I was eating; a chocolate fudge brownie thing with chocolate sauce & ice cream mmmmm, which Allan had and looked lovely. I had my lemon biscuits and they were so lovely & chewy that the others had finished their desserts while I was still munching through them.

Sunday, we didn’t really do that much, had a nice lazy day. We did go up to Barbury Castle in the morning and wandered round a little. I made my hanging basket and then we decided to have a drive round the countryside trying to find pubs in the area that did good food. This was because the pub we were originally going to go to on Saturday was fully booked, so we had to find somewhere else, which obviously we did, but Allan had a complete blank on other pubs in the area.

It was a lovely afternoon and the countryside was gorgeous, we went through Avebury, Marlborough and loads of little villages that I can’t remember the names of. Found a few nice pubs and got their cards for our notice board, so hopefully we now won’t be stuck for a place to go.

This morning I was up and out to check on my little vegetable garden, which needs a good weed, so I’ll be doing that this evening, before my walk with Nich. I picked some French Beans and some Petit Pois pods, which I’m now freezing for when I’m back to eating again. Allan & Mum have already had some, so I thought I’d freeze them for myself now. I also noticed I have a few cucumbers growing, but I haven’t quite got the hang of my courgettes. My yellow cherry tomatoes & strawberries are lovely though.

Everything seems to be growing fine, so hopefully I’ll be digging up carrots, spring onions, beetroot & leeks in the not too distant future. Again, Mum & Allan will have some & I’ll freeze some for myself.

Tonight I’ve also got to have my blood pressure check again so I shall report on what it is tomorrow.

Anyway, think that’s enough waffling for now, hope you all had a good weekend.

9th August 2007 – Day 78 – 11th Weigh In

2007-08-09T11:18:00.000+01:00

Had another good class last night, but honestly can’t remember what we were supposed to be talking about and what chart needs to be filled out. I think we were all just talking too much, so I’ll have to read up in my green handbook what we should be doing.

I think it was something about what we’ve mastered in the past, so for me that would have been my dancing & cake decorating and that we have to master this diet and into the future, mastering management and getting back to food. My LLC did say that this could take around a year or so to do & she thinks she’s just getting there now!

I do realise though that management and keeping the weight off is going to be forever and I’ll have to be constantly vigilant. What the mastering means though is that our eating and what choices we make will hopefully become second nature, we won’t need to think about it, just like driving a car was one of the examples she gave as I don’t need to think about what to do to get from A to B, I just do it. Hope that makes sense. See, I was paying attention really.

Anyway, I lost another 2.86lbs, which gives a total of 47.3lbs in total. I am really pleased with this, but couldn’t help feeling just a tiny bit disappointed, as I’d upped my water intake to 5 litres or over every day bar one and at this rate I won’t get to my mini target of 4 stone by the 100 days.

I e-mailed my friend this morning, who I go walking with and her reply nearly made me cry, as she is talking a lot of sense. I should focus on what I’ve achieved and how I feel, compared to how I used to look & feel, she’s very wise I think…..

I’ve put these e-mails on my blog (I did check with her first to make sure it was OK), so that if I’m feeling a little low, or don’t get to my mini target, I can read this to remind me, this isn’t about mini targets, it’s about how I feel, which is so much better than before I started LL.

My e-mail to Nich.

I lost another 2.86lbs last night, which now takes me down to 14st 2lbs (or maybe 14st 2.5lbs depending on which chart you look at. My online weight converter says 14st 2lbs, so I'm going with that one).

Anyway, I'm 2lbs off 3.5 stone......YAY. At this rate though I won't get to my mini 4st target by the 100 days, fingers crossed I will, or at least I'll be very nearly there.

I know I won't be that disappointed if I don't (OK, maybe a little) because I think, on what other diet could I have lost nearly 4 stone in just over 3 months!!!!

Nich’s reply

You should absolutely NOT be disappointed if you don't reach 4 stone in 100 days!!! You have done fantastically well and should be really proud and pleased of how well you've done, not disappointed for not doing better!! Forgetting the weight, think about how you feel now and how you felt before - all that back ache and not being able to walk up stairs without getting our of breath! Your blood pressure is normal again and you are no longer morbidly obese!! Think about how you look (boobs and belly!!!) - they are now separate and not all merging as one!! and the fact that so many of your clothes are too big for you now!

I think we all forget too quickly how bad we felt and how much has been achieved...don't play down your achievement. You look fantastic now, and wearing make up again which you haven't done for ages. It's more important to focus on the fact that you look and feel better than focussing on not quite achieving the total weight loss you hoped to.

Anyway, onwards & downwards!

I can’t believe I’m now in my 12th week, next week at class our LLC will be taking our after photos, so I’ll make sure I wear something really flattering, put my make up on & wear my contacts. I know I have my own before photos, but I’ll be making every effort to look as good as possible.

Hope you all have good weeks and thank you to all the comments, they really do spur you on.

8th August 2007 – Day 77

2007-08-08T10:34:00.000+01:00

Yesterday at work it was a bit manic and was the first time I struggled with my water intake at work. This was due to being in meetings a lot longer than expected. I’m not normally in meetings but I could be starting a new role within the university, so there were lots of discussions. I did do my 4 litres though.

I’m still not that clear of what exactly this involves, so hopefully I’ll be finding this out soon as I’m going to make a point of sitting down and going through what they want me to do. I was worrying about it a bit last night as I was thinking, can I do this, as most of what they were saying went right over my head. I was even dreaming about it, and I very rarely dream about work.

This involved lots of walking backwards & forwards from office to office and up 5 flights of stairs twice. I was determined not to use the lift. I did get quite puffed out though by the time I got to the 3rd floor, so had a little breather and set off again. I was very pleased with myself though as I didn’t use the lift. You never know, I may be running up all 5 flights of stairs without getting out of breath, although if I did this I will probably be falling up them quite often as I did this morning. My toe is still throbbing!!

The one thing I am looking forward to though is that we have to organise a reception to say thanks to everyone who’s helped over the months (even though I was only brought in yesterday, so know nothing). I love to organise things like parties, weekends away in cottages. I think my ideal job would be a party/ wedding planner as I always like to have a project to work on.

Last night, after work, Nich & I went off to the cinema to see Hairspray. It was such an excellent film, but then again, we both love musicals and the music & singing was great. John Travolta was absolutely fabulous as a woman!! We both took our bottles of water and I had my lemon bar to munch on while she had her slimfast bar. Before the film we walked round the shopping centre, mooching in the shops, which I haven’t done for ages. I kept looking at clothes & thinking, would these look good on me? I’ve still resisted the urge to buy anything yet.

I had my pedometer on yesterday (I’ve been a bit lax in wearing it lately), and actually walking wise, even though I was in meetings & sitting in the cinema, I did over 8,500 steps, so was really pleased.

On Monday, Nich & I did the new walking route, which she & her husband had found a little while ago. It was a really good long walk with a few more hills (not hills like Lesley does mind you) and we were out for over an hour. We could really feel it in our legs when we’d finished.

Hopefully I’m out walking tonight with Mum before weigh-in later. I say hopefully as I’ve got to go and pay for our trip to Disneyland Paris (I’m very excited as only 3 more months to we go). Fingers crossed this doesn’t take long & I can go off walking.

6th August 2007 – Day 75

2007-08-06T11:40:00.000+01:00

Here are my 3 stone photos. When I'd loaded these onto my computer, I had a look back at my first pictures before I started LL and I couldn't believe how fat I was. I can really see the difference now.

I had a really good time yesterday at my parents BBQ. Everyone said how good/ well I was looking and were asking me loads of questions about LL, which made me feel great. One of them had already heard of LL as a colleague of theirs was on it and had lost quite a lot of weight.

My family & family friends hadn’t actually seen me since New Year’s Eve/ beginning of the year which I mentioned in my previous post, so I was quite excited about what they’d say. Most of my friends see me regularly so it’s doesn’t have quite the same impact, although my friend Nich, who I go walking with & who’s in the photos of us larking around in the previous post, always says how great I’m looking & thank you for that Nich.

I’d already planned my outfit to show me looking my slimmest, but due to the weather being so hot I didn’t wear it. Although I do admit, the t-shirt I did wear was actually a size 16, which I was amazed at; this is the one in my 3 stone photos. I’d done my hair nice, put my contact lenses in and took particular care over my make-up, as I really wanted to look my best and it also made me feel really good too.

I’d already made two packs of soup into crisps in the morning to take with me, I had two savoury drinks sachets & a lemon bar to have, which I put in the freezer when I got to Mum & Dad’s. I know you’re not supposed to cook two food packs in the one day, but I knew there’d be loads of food & nibbles and I thought two lots of crisps would last me the evening, which they did.

I really didn’t have a problem with all the food and I kept busy topping up the crisps & peanuts and this time I didn’t mind if food was put near me. I just savoured the smells of all the food. While the nibbles were out I had some of my crisps in a pretty little bowl and ate these slowly when they had sausages & little chicken bits. Then I had my two savoury drinks in a soup bowl, with more crisps while they had their main meat course. My Dad did try one of my crisps, but I don’t think he liked it that much, I think their great though.

I was really pleased with myself when they had pudding, which consisted of loads of strawberries with warm dipping chocolate (the one from the M&S advert). One bowl of chocolate was quite near me, which smelt absolutely divine but I really didn’t have the urge to have any; it just didn’t cross my mind and as we were going home this suddenly occurred to me; this was chocolate & I didn’t want it!! I must be a reformed chocoholic or at least getting there!! I think I was too busy taking photos of everyone and I’d completely forgotten that I had my pudding till Mum reminded me. I had loads of sparkling water throughout the evening and I didn’t feel hungry at all. So a great time was had by all.

Nich & I had good fun on our walk last Thursday, as I think you might be able to tell. We don’t normally do this on our walks by the way, just thought I’d put that straight. There weren’t that many children around either, but I did notice one woman giving us strange looks, we didn’t care though, we were having fun. We didn’t do quite as much walking as normal; but when we eventually got back to walking we did keep our speed up for the rest of the walk. I think we’ll be making up for that tonight though as we’re trying out a new route.

I forgot to take the clothes that the lady in my LL class gave me, round to my friends, but I did try them on for Allan, who amazingly thought they looked really good. I said amazingly as I was sure he wouldn’t like them; so there you go, men can surprise you sometimes, doesn’t happen very often.

Nich also gave me a couple of t-shirts, one a size 18 & one a 16, both of which fit me now. I think I may have to re-visit my size 16 tops & try them on to see if any others fit me, as when I was sorting them out, I just put them straight into the drawer without trying. At this rate, I may well be down to my goal of a size 12, how fabulous would that be!!!

5th August 2007 - Day 74

2007-08-05T11:01:00.001+01:00

Just a quick post as Allan & I are off down to my parents and I just wanted to put these photos on of my friend & I when we went on our walk round Ruislip Lido. We did get some serious walking in, in the end, but we did have fun.

We are off down to my parents for a big bbq with family & friends, all (apart from Mum & Dad) haven't seen me since I sarted on LL, so I'm really excited about what they'll say.

I've got my food planned already, I'll be making my crisps, have soup & take a bar along, which I'll put in the freezer, so it'll take a bit longer to eat. I've also got my sparkling water chilling already.

Anyway got to go & I'll post my 3 stone photos soon.

2nd August 2007 – Day 71 – 10th Weigh-In

2007-08-02T09:49:00.000+01:00

Had my weigh-in last night and I lost 2.86lbs, which is my lowest loss to date, but I wasn’t disappointed as I was quite expecting it due to the large loss I had last week, which seemed to come out of nowhere. The best bit though is that I’ve now lost 3 stone 2lbs (44.44lbs to be precise) in 10 weeks, my BMI is down to 35.7 (was 43.7 when I started LL) and I am just so chuffed to bits.

Our class was really depleted last night as there were only 3 of us but this is because there are 3 now on holiday and I think the other lady couldn’t make last night. We thought we’d be out really early due to so few, but we were chatting for ages and were actually out later than normal.

One of the ladies brought in some of her size 18 clothes for me, which I tried on as soon as I got home, well after phoning Mum & Allan first. I looked at the trousers and thought ‘they won’t fit me yet,’ especially one pair as they looked tiny. I had a go though and you know what, they all fitted, even the tiny ones, which were a bit snugger than the rest, but I did them up no problem and with none of this lying on the bed to zip them up, which is what I’ve done in the past as I’m sure everyone has at some stage. One pair was even from Monsoon, I’ve never bought anything from there as I always thought I was too fat & too short for their clothes, so that made it doubly special. Most of the tops are pretty fashionable, being the longer style that people wear over trousers/leggings and there were a couple that looked really good, I think. I’m not sure as I’ve never worn that type of top before so I think I might take them over my friends and do a little fashion show to see what she thinks . It’ll make a change from my normal M&S 3 for 2 t-shirts that cost a fiver.

This lady has also come up with the idea of having a magazine/paper article about our group along with a photo shoot when we’ve all got to or nearly at goal, promoting LL and how good the group sessions are and stuff like that, along with our individual stories. She’s already spoken to a journalist, who’s covered quite a few LL people; he seemed interested and wants to see our before photos. We’ve all agreed to it, well the ones on holiday don’t know about it yet, but I’m sure they’ll be up for it. If nothing comes of it, it won’t matter, but it’s certainly given me a goal to work towards, as I didn’t really have any major goal when I first started LL, I just knew I had to lose the weight.

Last night Mum & I were off for our walk again, round a beautiful golf course and through the village and forgetting my camera yet again! I’m out walking again tonight (I don’t think I’ve ever walked so much) with my friend round the lido that we did on Monday and I will be taking my camera this time, so hope the weather holds for some nice pictures.

Well, that’s about it for the moment

31st July 2007 – Day 69

2007-07-31T10:07:00.000+01:00

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

2007-07-29T12:44:00.000+01:00

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

2007-07-26T09:30:00.000+01:00

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

2007-07-25T14:19:00.001+01:00

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

2007-07-24T14:11:00.000+01:00

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

2007-07-20T09:44:00.000+01:00

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

2007-07-19T09:36:00.000+01:00

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

2007-07-18T10:56:00.000+01:00

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

2007-07-17T15:28:00.000+01:00

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

2007-07-15T14:02:00.000+01:00

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

2007-07-09T10:42:00.000+01:00

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

2007-07-08T17:30:00.000+01:00

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

2007-07-08T15:11:00.000+01:00

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

2007-07-06T09:08:00.000+01:00

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

2007-07-05T10:48:00.000+01:00

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

2007-07-03T10:54:00.001+01:00

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………

27th June 2007 Day 35, Part 2 – 5th Weigh-In

2007-06-28T09:24:00.001+01:00

Just a quick update on how the class went last night.

Our normal counsellor wasn’t there so we had a locum, who was also doing the Lighter Life diet and had just become a locum. She was lovely and we didn’t really learn much in the class this week, but the group seemed to bond well.

A couple of the group were quite down as one member had lost 2.44lbs and the other less then a pound. The whole group rallied round to cheer them up and to get them to look at what they’ve achieved so far. We also seemed to talk a lot more this week, not just about the diet, but about the support we’re getting at home and I was quite surprised that the two who were down, hardly get any support at all. So, this makes their achievement even more admiral. One lady was even talking about giving up. I think we’d talked her round by the end of the evening and I hope she won’t.

We have lost one member of the group though, it’s nothing to do with the diet, she’d just found out that she’s pregnant, and so the group were really happy and not disheartened.

Anyway, down to the important bit; I was convinced I’d only lost a pound because I hadn’t done any walking this week, but I’d lost 3.08lbs, which is now a total of 25.74lbs. I now have 2.5lbs to go until I reach the 2 stone mark. I just hope I can do this by next week. I’m off out walking tomorrow with my Mum as my friend has gone on holiday……I have to keep up with the exercise.

27th June 2007 Day 35

2007-06-27T13:50:00.000+01:00

Only 65 days to go now, that sounds sooo much better than 100!!

I’ve noticed something this morning; I’m starting to take more care in my appearance, like I used to do before I put on loads of weight.

For ages now I’d been going to work with no make-up on, well, apart from mascara, I always had to wear mascara, and at weekends I often didn’t wear any make-up at all. Where as when I was slimmer, I wouldn’t have been seen dead without putting my face on to go anywhere. Now I don’t mean putting it on with a trowel, but just to make myself look nice, you know what I mean.

But this week, I’ve been using face creams to stop the wrinkles when my face gets thinner. I’ve always said that I haven’t any wrinkles as my face is so round it plumps them out!! So I’m starting now with all the help I can get. I’ve also been putting make-up on and then wearing tops that I wouldn’t normally wear to work, as I kept them for wearing out in the evening. But I’ve decided to get the wear out of them now before they get too big for me.

Last night I was on babysitting duty, to my friend’s son, although you can hardly call it babysitting as he’s 10 and he was upstairs watching a DVD, while I was downstairs watching Eastenders, with me calling up the stairs every now and then to make sure he was OK.

My achievement last night though was making popcorn for him to eat whilst watching his film. OK, I know this is so easy to make, but it was very easy of me to just put some in my mouth, as no one was there to stop me and they wouldn’t have known if I had some. I nearly put one bit in my mouth, I brought it up to my lips, held it there for a second or two and then told myself ‘No, you really don’t need this!’ so I put it back and left the bowl there for him to have later and had my lemon bar with more water instead.

I did use my stretch band though, using the exercises that are given in the book (still haven’t used the DVD), and I could really feel this in my arms. I will have to do this at least once or twice a day to sort my arms out.

Anyway, it’s weigh-in tonight, not feeling too confident of a largish loss as I haven’t done any walking this week. I shall let you know how I get on later.

25th June 2007 Day 33

2007-06-25T10:21:00.000+01:00

Another weekend gone and this one went really well again. We actually went out for a meal with some of Allan’s family on Saturday evening, this is the first time I’ve eaten out since starting Lighter Life. When we booked the table I got Allan to say that there was one of the parties on a strict diet and asked if it was OK if I could be provided with a bowl of hot water. They were more than happy with this.

I didn’t take a food pack with me, I took two of the savoury drink mixes instead, as I found these mixed easier, but I had made lemon biscuits out of the bar to have when they had desserts.

When we arrived I had a glass of sparkling water with ice, while the others chose their meals from the boards. One of them kept asking me if I was alright with them all eating and I said that it wasn’t a problem and don’t worry, just order what you want, I’m more then happy.

Not everyone had a starter, so that was OK and then when they brought out the main meals, they brought me a lovely soup bowl of freshly boiled water and a spoon, and I mixed up my savoury drink. I added some pepper and a couple of drops of Tabasco (which I’d never used before and it did give it a slight kick, so I’ll be getting some of this when I next pop to the shops). Everyone’s food looked fabulous and I kept asking how it tasted, not that I wanted any; I just like to know how it tastes.

I’ve been like this for a while now, as I’ve said in a previous post about getting Allan to try corn-fed chicken and then grilling him about how it tastes, watching cooking programmes and reading recipes, very strange, but it really isn’t worrying me, I’m not craving food at all. This is very unusual for me as with other diets I’ve craved for food and given in to the cravings.

Anyway, back to the meal, no one had dessert, which is quite unusual. I don’t know if this was my influence or because two of the party were quite light eaters. They just had coffee and then we went home. When I got back I had my Thai Chili soup and ate my biscuits, which I love as they are so chewy.

It was a really nice evening and I was so please that I coped that well, as I was dreading my first time eating out.

This weekend we also finished off the raised bed that Allan built for me, where I’ll be growing vegetables and herbs. It felt a real achievement getting all the earth in and then planting the beans, tomato & chilli plant. I don’t know how well they’ll do as it’s quite late in the year, but I’m giving it a go. Next year I can be more organised with what’ll be grown there.

So, all in all a really good weekend, I didn’t get round to using the stretch band and DVD that we were given in class last week, but I will get round to using them.

I also went into Next at the weekend as I thought I’d try a smaller size in tops, although I’ve said to myself that I’m not buying anything yet until I’ve lost a lot more weight, unless I really have to that is.

Normally I wear size 20 on the top and a size 22 on the bottom, so I got an 18 in two different t-shirts and tried them on. The first was a bit tight, especially round the arms, but the small sleeves didn’t have any give in them whatsoever as it had a lot of stitching/ embroidery all over. The other one fitted great, although the sleeves were, still a little snug, but not like the first t-shirt. I felt really pleased with myself and noted that I have to do work on toning up my upper arms. I did however get a few more holes put into my belt now, so I don’t feel like my trousers are going to fall down on me!!

xx

20th June 2007 Day 28 – 4th Weigh-In

2007-06-21T10:00:00.000+01:00

Here we are at my 4th weigh in; it has gone so fast and only 10 more weeks to go!! Again, I was a bit apprehensive as I’m convinced I’m going to have a week where I’ve only lost 1lb (a couple of the girls last week had this), even though I’ve stuck to this diet without lapsing at all.

Anyway, I lost 3.96lbs this week (total 22.66lbs) and was so pleased as I’ve now lost just over 1½ stone in 4 weeks, more importantly I’m now 15stone 13lbs, which sounds so much better than 17stone something!!

I also asked to be measured again, as it’s now been a month since it was first done (I think I’ll do this every month so I can hopefully see a big difference, a couple of the girls in the class get measured each week). As I haven’t already put my measurements down I’ll put my original ones first.

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

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

Which means I’ve lost 3 ½”from my chest, 3 ¼” off my waist and I think 2 ¾” off my hips. I can really feel the difference as my bra is now on it’s tightest setting and I need to put at least 2 more holes into my belt.

Our counselling session was good; the DVD was talking about how we all need strokes (sort of compliment type thing/ activity/ treat ourselves). I have to read the handbook though as our group were all talking too much after the DVD, which is a good thing as we all seem to have bonded well and talk about all sorts of things that we probably wouldn’t discuss with family or friends. So, I need to have a read up and refresh myself and then I can do the homework which had been set.

We were also given a stretch band and exercise DVD, which I think I’ll have a go at over the weekend, it’ll probably give Allan a good laugh, but if it works I don’t care!

I’m out tomorrow night over my friends, who know I’m on the diet, but I haven’t seen for a couple of weeks, so I’m really hoping they’ll see the difference. I’ll let you know.

Almost forgot, I now have something to aim for as Allan & I have booked to go to Disneyland Paris on the 5th November for 3 days. So I’m looking forward to being able to slip into the seats on the rides and not worry about having to squeeze into them and be flopping over the sides (I’m sure you know what I mean).

16th June 2007 - Day 24

2007-06-16T19:22:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, I really notice the difference in myself since I've started this diet.

At the moment I'm working as a temp and have to take my time sheet down to the agency each Friday. This normally involves a 20-25 minute walk, which would make my feet hurt, my back would really ache and I'd be really out of breath and hot and in the end I'd started to drive down as I couldn't be bothered to walk.

Last Friday though I set off at a brisk pace and was there and back in 15 minutes, without any back ache or aching feet and I enjoyed it. I was so pleased that my back didn't ache anymore.

This morning we were up early as we had to take Barney, a Bernese Mountain Dog, swimming. He goes to a hydrotherapy pool as he has arthritis and elbow displasia, so he can't walk that far. He's also been on a diet and has lost quiet a bit of weight, which helps his joints. Anyway, he did so well at swimming and we really enjoyed encouraging him, as he can easily get distracted by the other dogs. The photo of Barney was taken a while ago now, as he doesn't need the harness anymore, but I forgot to take a picture of him this morning, he's not actually swimming here, he's in the jacuzzi, which he loves (yes, he's a pampered dog, but so lovable).

The diet has been going great today. I've tried a bit of experimenting and made lemon biscuits from one of the bars, which were great and will definitely try those again. Then for dinner I tried to make the stuffing from a mushroom food pack, to go with my vegetable soup. I really disliked the stuffing, it was absolutely foul and I could only eat a small amount of it. Oh well, that's the only experiment that I haven't liked yet, as I have now got the hang of making the muffins. I've still got one more food pack for pudding, so it'll take away the awful taste of the stuffing.

Well, I think thats it and Allan & Barney are dancing round the living room, so I think I'll join them.

Bye for now.....

13.06.07 Day 21 – Week Three Weigh-In

2007-06-14T11:07:00.000+01:00

The day of my 3rd weigh-in and to be honest, even though I’d stuck to the diet rigidly without deviating one bit, I didn’t feel like I’d lost anything. I can’t see a difference in my clothes, like I had the first couple of weeks, even though the girls at work are saying my t-shirts are looking baggier.

This is probably just me expecting too much, so when I went to be weighed, I was quite expecting to have only lost a 1lb. So I was really surprised when she said I’d lost 4.62lbs, which now takes my total up to 18.7lbs. I’m now nearly 2lbs off 1½ stone, this is the most I’ve lost on other diets, which took me at least 5 months to do.

This really is a very simple diet as you don’t have to worry about what food you’re having as long as you have your four food packs a day and drink at least 4 litres of water (I’m actually trying to do 5 litres, which I’m not struggling with at all).

Saying that, I haven’t been out to any restaurants yet, so I don’t know how I’ll cope with that, but going by what I’ve read on other people’s LighterLife blogs, you can get round it quite easily, hopefully, I’ll be able to as well. I do find it a little difficult at weekends when Allan is having a BBQ or nice dinner, but I’m so determined not to try anything as it really motivates me when I see the weight coming off.

Last weekend I even got Allan to try a piece of corn fed chicken (as this is what I want to try when I can eventually eat something again). He cooked it on the BBQ and I sat there with my soup and was asking him “What does it taste like?”, “Is it different to normal chicken” etc., I really didn’t want to try any; I just wanted to know what it’s like.

I seem to have a fascination with watching cookery programmes and reading recipes, but I’m not the only one, as it seems quite a few in our group are like that as well!

I’m persevering with trying to make the muffins from the milkshakes, and they’re getting much better. Last night I had a vanilla one where I put some of the Fruits of the Forest flavouring into the water I mixed it all up in. It actually tasted more like a little cake this time (albeit quite a flat cake, but I think this is normal) and was really nice. Think I’ll be experimenting a lot more now. One of the girls in my group said she’d made the stuffing and had it with her chicken soup, so I might give that a go too, I’ll keep you informed of how I get on.

Bye for now.

11th June 2007 - Day 19 – Week 3

2007-06-11T14:03:00.001+01:00

This has been a good week so far and I can’t believe that I’m nearly a month into this diet.

The weekend was good as we had quite a quiet one, compared to the last one, although Allan barbequed everything as the weather was gorgeous again. I stuck religiously to my food packs and water and just savoured the smell of the BBQ’s that were wafting around from all different gardens.

Not much has happened this week, my friend and I went walking last Thursday and we managed to do an hour and covered 3.5 miles. I can’t remember the last time I walked that far. Although it was quite painful for me as I’d removed my trainer socks as they kept sliding under my feet and I soon regretted doing this, as I ended up with huge blisters on both my little toes and heels. I won’t be walking without my socks this time!! I’m still looking forward to it tonight though.

As I’d lost a stone I got Allan to take a couple of photos of me to see if there was a difference. I couldn’t see much of one, but I’ve kept it for my records anyway. Don’t think I’ll post it on here, I’ll probably leave it until I reach the 2 stone mark before I post anymore photos, I then hope you’ll be able to see the difference.

Well, that’s about it, so bye for now.

6th June 2007 – Day 14 – Week 2 Weigh In

2007-06-07T09:40:00.000+01:00

Well, I had my second weigh-in and I’m very happy as I lost 5.6lbs, which now means I’ve lost 14.8lbs, just over a stone in 2 weeks!!

I was a little apprehensive going to my class, as after the large weight loss last week, I thought that this time it would be quite small and I was thinking that after all my hard work over the week, what with a BBQ and a buffet to contend with, and my experience with other diets, I was imagining I’d only lose one or two pounds. So I was absolutely ecstatic with the 5.6lbs and I was bouncing around like a looney when I realised I’d actually lost a stone.

I think now the hard work really kicks in, as I’ve had two really good losses, so it’s bound to slow down now. I just have to keep focussed and think, “I’m going to be slim”. I did try on a pair of jeans after my weigh-in that had been hanging on my bedroom door for the best part of a year, with all the labels still on as I couldn’t do them up. Now, I can fit into them, OK, they’re still a tad tight, but I can do them up, so hopefully it won’t be long until I’m wearing them.

This week in our class we had three new ladies join us, so now our class is complete and no one else can join us. I think we have a good little group and I’m sure we’ll all be supporting each other.

Our homework for this week is to write ourselves a letter to say how we’ll look after ourselves over the coming year etc. So, I think I’ll sit down at the weekend to do this, I’m not normally one for doing homework, but I’m so committed to this diet I will be doing all the homework given to us, to the best of my ability.

When I got home from work today, I decided to plant up my little vegetable patch. I found it quite hard work as it made my legs ache and I got out of breath and normally I would have given up, have a sit down and probably eaten something nice and naughty. I didn’t though as I kept telling myself to not give up, carry on and think of the exercise your getting. I did carry on and felt a real sense of achievement when the ground had been raked and all my seeds had been planted & labelled. I do think to myself, “Why on earth am I growing vegetables that I can’t eat!” but if they do come up (and that’s a big if as I haven’t had much luck with growing seeds), they’ll hopefully be ready for when I’m on Maintenance, so I can have fresh vegetables straight from the garden. Well, that’s the idea anyway!!

Last time I left you, my friend and I were going walking, so we set off last Monday and did a really good 45 minute round trip with gentle slopes uphill. It was great as I never normally go walking much and I felt really good afterwards. We’re off again on Thursday (weather permitting) and going to make it an hour walk this time. Hopefully we’ll be able to build these walks up to steeper slopes over the weeks.

Well, I think that’s it, so bye for now.

4th June 2007 – Day 12 – Week 2

2007-06-04T09:49:00.000+01:00

Well, that’s another weekend over and this was quite a hard one for me, as the weather was beautiful and it was BBQ time (my first one since being on Lighter Life and quite a large BBQ at that as Allan had his family down for the weekend). Unfortunately, I absolutely love BBQ’s, so I did find it quite difficult, but I thought of myself being slim and dug deep to strengthen my will power and again had my sparkling water in a wine glass, while they were having their lamb kebabs and then had my soup while they were tucking into their steak & salad. When they had strawberries & cream for pudding, I had my fruit bar and I felt really proud of myself for sticking to it.

On Sunday afternoon, when the family had left, we’d been invited to a neighbour’s birthday party, which had loads of buffet food laid on. Normally, I would have gone up a couple of times and not necessarily fill my plate, as I always felt self-conscious that people would look at my size and then at how much I’d put on my plate, but I would have gone up at least a couple of times. This time though, I stuck to just my sparkling water and had my soup when I got home and just enjoyed chatting in the garden with everyone in the sunshine.

So, all in all, quite a hard week food wise, but I got through it OK and felt proud of myself. I just wish I’d found this diet earlier – if I’d found it at the beginning of last year, I would hopefully have been slim for my friends wedding where I was her bridesmaid, or if I’d found it at the beginning of this year, I may have been able to have a little of the BBQ. Oh well, I just have to stick to what I’m doing now and think, I WILL be slim.

My friend and I have decided to go walking or aqua aerobics tonight, depending on the weather, which I’m really looking forward to. I have to start upping my steps as we were given a pedometer in our class last week and I’ve only managed to reach the 10,000 step goal on Saturday, I must improve on this.

31st May 2007 – Day 8

2007-06-01T09:08:00.000+01:00

In our class last night we were given a recipe sheet so we can do things with our food packs, instead of having just shakes & soups. One recipe was to make a muffin – great I thought and decided to use my last food pack of the day (the chocolate one) and have a go. I mixed it all up in a ramekin dish and put it in the microwave for a minute as the recipe said. It started to rise lovely, then, in the blink of an eye it collapsed, and I still had about 20 seconds to go. I opened the door anyway, as I didn’t want it being burnt to a crisp and there was this stodgy looking brown lump in the bottom of the dish looking up at me. I decided to give it a go anyway and tasted a bit. It was quite chewy and not altogether unpleasant, so I decided to mix some of the St. Clements drink powder into it to sweeten it up a bit, then sat down to enjoy my so called muffin. It had more of the consistency of a fudge brownie, so wasn’t as bad as it looked. I think I need a bit more practice, so I will give it another go, I may even try a cheesecake recipe………I’ll let you know.
Bye for now.....

30.05.07 – Day 7 - Weigh in for Week One

2007-05-31T09:48:00.000+01:00

I am so pleased as I lost 9lbs in one week…….. I’m amazed and so happy. I can already feel the difference around my waist as before, when I wore trousers to work I had to have the belt on the 3rd hole from the end as it was uncomfortable to sit with it any tighter. When I wore them last Tuesday I had the belt on the 7th hole and it was comfortable!! I also tried on a pair of trousers when I got back from class, which I could wear, but a little tight around the waist, so again, I wouldn’t wear them to work; now I’ll be wearing them tomorrow as they aren’t tight at all.

The class was good last night; there were five more girls there, who were all really nice. They were asking me loads of questions about this diet so I spent ages telling them how I got on, how I found the food packs etc., I was so enthusiastic about it and I wasn’t embarrassed about talking to a group of people. This is a lot different to the girl who would want to sit at the back and not want to join in and only did reluctantly when asked direct questions. I can’t believe how confident I feel with this diet already.

This week in class we were asked to write our goals for the future and how we were going to get to them. We also had to draw a picture of how we’d like to see ourselves. This was great too, because you didn’t have to say to the class what you’d put or show your pictures, it’s all private and just for you to read and I suppose if you’re feeling a bit low, just look at what you’ve written and drawn to get you motivated again. Although, I think just looking at these photos I’ve put on this blog is enough to keep me motivated.

29th May 2007 - Day 6

2007-05-29T09:58:00.000+01:00

It’s the day before my first weigh-in and I’m quite excited as I’ve stuck to the food packs and at least 4 litres of water a day. Well, apart from Sunday when Allan & I went to the cinema to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3, which we thought was great by the way. The only problem was, as it was such a long film (nearly 3 hours), I didn’t want to be running to the loo every ½ hour (didn’t think the other cinema goers would be happy about that), so I didn’t drink too much before hand. After the film I drank water like crazy to try to make it up but I could only manage 3 litres, it could have been worse I suppose.

Anyway, the Chinese meal round our friends went really well. I took my Thai Chili soup, which I love, a chocolate milkshake and a bottle of sparkling water with me and they were all really supportive, not offering me anything and to be honest, I really didn’t feel tempted. I had my soup in a bowl and used a teaspoon and I alternated soup with a sip of water (out of a wine glass, so it felt like I was joining in) and I took so long that they finished their meal the same time I finished mine.

I think I’m in Ketosis now as I don’t feel hungry, but I do have the downside of bad breath, which Allan pointed out to me yesterday. I think he was a little surprised by my reaction as I got quite excited saying ‘That’s great I must be in Ketosis’ and then had to explain all that to him. I’m now stocked up on fresh breath spray and mouthwash!!

Anyway, I’m sure my Counsellor will tell me if I am or not at the weigh-in……..I’ll let you know how I get on.

26th May 2007

2007-05-26T17:58:00.000+01:00

Well, 2.5 days into the Lighter Life diet and it seems to be going OK. I've drawn myself up a water chart so I can check off every time I drink a 500ml bottle, I've got to do this as I know what I'm like at forgetting, so far it seems to be working for me.

Day One - 24.05.07

I was full of enthusiasm, the shakes and soups were a lot better than expected, I managed to drink 5 litres of water and didn't feel as hungry as I thought I would.

In the evening I was visiting my friends straight from work, which I do most weeks, normally having dinner with them too. So, I went prepared with two food packs (I'd only had one for breakfast and lunch and your supposed to have four a day), and had mushroom soup, while they had a lovely looking Shepherd's Pie with veg, then the kids had a chocolate trifle thing. My will power and enthusiasm was still strong then and I really didn't feel the need for what they were having. At about 8pm I was starting to feel a little peckish, so I had my chocolate shake.

Day Two - 25.05.07

This was the worst day so far, Philippa, my Counsellor did say that the first 4-5 days would be the worst. In the afternoon and evening I had a really bad headache and didn't feel that great in myself. I still stuck rigidly to my food packs and had 4 litres of water, but went to bed early.

Day Three - 26.05.07

Woke up feeling much better and full of energy and having a good day. Allan & I have been invited over to our friends for a Chinese takeaway, so I'm taking over my Thai Chili soup and a shake and have my sparkling water chilling in the fridge - I'm determined to stay on track.

I've now got some photos taken and I plan on having new ones taken each time I lose a stone, hopfully. I can keep looking at these to spur me on.

23rd May 2007

2007-05-23T17:34:00.000+01:00

This is my first ever blog, so please bear with me. This blog is for me to put in writing my experience as I start my new journey with Lighter Life.

Well, I've just been to my first class and there were only 3 other ladies with me, who all seemed really nice and just a nervous as me, there should be some more joining next week.

When I got weighed, I had an inkling of how heavy I was (as I haven't actually weighed myself for at least a year) and I was nearly right, but it was still a bit of a shock to see it there in figures. I weigh 17 stone 8lbs with a BMI if 43.7, and as I'm only 5ft 3", that's not good.

Ideally, I'd like to get to 9 stone something, as I can't remember the last time I've been under 10 stone, but I think for now, I'll concentrate on trying to lose 4 stone, as the most I've ever lost on any diet, and yes, I've tried them all, is 1.5 stone.

I'll be posting a photo of me shortly and also throughout my journey.

Well, bye for now