SW: 13st 2lbs
CW: 11st 9lbs
GW: 11st 2lbs
I’m not very good at keeping up to date with this, am I? 8 weeks has passed since my last entry and in that time, I’ve lost an additional 14lbs bringing my current total lost to 21lbs. I’m now only 7lbs away from my goal weight, which is something that is quickly becoming irrelevant as I become more focussed on my exercise and fitness goals.
About 3 weeks ago, I joined the gym and was invited to join Fitocracy, this signalled the beginning of a major turning point for me. I am a lot better educated and focused on diet and fitness than I was, exercise has become part of my routine and watching what I eat is second nature.
Diet: It’s easier just not to eat the chocolate bar than it is to have to run 3km to burn it off. That seems to be obvious but the logic is often ignored. I know that it is tempting to ‘reward’ your gym session with a tasty treat but that just undoes all the hard work you put in, meaning you don’t see results and don’t feel any better.
I sorted my diet first, not intentionally because diet was going to be my only solution. Changing the way I ate, the foods I ate, changing the associations and breaking any habits relating to food was hard. My thought paths before had often been - Friday night is Chinese food night, I can’t be bothered cooking tonight so let’s get fish and chips, I had a bad/good/indifferent day so I want some chocolate. Are you going to the shop? Get me some chocolate please…I’m bored; I’ll eat something or go and buy chocolate. These routines are difficult to get out of and they ended in me feeling fat and awful. When I realised I needed to do something about losing weight, I was wearing one pair of trousers for work. I had 5 other pairs in my wardrobe that I couldn’t get into; I covered all the bulges with loose tops and long-line cardigans. I felt horrible, unattractive and it was depressing. At that stage, the thought of dieting is hard enough, changing everything and trying to include an exercise routine would have been a recipe for a very quick failure and massive lack of motivation to continue with either.
I made a plan at the beginning, I did some research and found a diet I thought could work for me; I decided that once I’d lost the first stone, I would start running. I told my husband this and my friends and I bought some running shoes. Not doing it was not an option now because these people were expecting me not to stick to it! I was going to prove them wrong. For some people, that might not be motivation, the thought of people expecting you to fail becomes a self fulfilling prophecy but you figure out what works for you, you make a plan and you make it happen.
No matter what your diet is, your calorie intake has to be less than the calories you need to sustain yourself. Regardless of how good or bad your metabolism is, you can’t argue with the basic principal of losing weight.The loss might only be gradual or it might fall off in huge chunks but you will definitely lose weight. Calculating your BMR (Basel Rate of Metabolism) will tell you, based on your weight, sex and height, how many calories you need to maintain your normal function and current weight if you were completely sedentary i.e. in a coma. You then take that number and apply the Harris Benedict formula, which multiplies your answer by differing amounts depending on how active or inactive you are. If you want to lose fat it is usual to deduct 500 calories from whatever that total figure is but it is advisable not to go below 1800cal for a man and 1200cal for a woman. This becomes your daily allowance, eating this amount or less can only result in weight-loss, regardless of how good or bad your metabolism is. The loss might only be gradual or it might fall off in huge chunks but you will definitely lose weight.
Results are very important, you’re making the effort to diet, it feels like you’ve cut out all the good things, you’re tired because your calorie intake is low and even worse if you’re trying to cut out all the carbs you possibly can. It’s hard but you need to know it’s worth it. Take all the measurements you can, weight, thighs, calves, upper-arm, waist, hips, bust, chest….Everything. Seeing that I’d lost a few lbs after only 2 or 3 days was excellent motivation, it made me more determined, as did every pair of trousers I could fit back in to!
As I was overweight, the initial loss was great. It seemed to come off quite easily, which is good for motivation but after a time, it slows down and maybe reaches a plateaux where it seemed like I wouldn’t lose any more. At this point, I’d lost 16-17lbs, my clothes fitted better, I felt better and I’d lost 2inches from my initial measurements. However, the flab was still there and I was starting to become a little disconcerted with the effort I was putting in to diet for so little return. At a similar time in the past, I probably would have thought “sod this, where’s the M&Ms” however, this time I reminded myself of my plan; having lost my first stone, I had no excuse to put it off any longer so I was going to join the gym so I could start running.
Exercise: Urgh, do I have to? I have never been that great with exercise, I used to play football for a local women’s team and I would work as hard as I needed to but I’d never do more than that. When I stopped playing about 2 years ago due to injury (I dislocated my knee and 18 months later broke a metatarsal that required surgery) I stopped exercising altogether.
Now I wanted to start becoming a bit more active again, my only plan was running and I set up a programme on the Asics website, my goal was to be able to run a marathon in 9 months time. It sounds like quite a big ask and I’m sure I’ll reach a certain level in my progress that will be hard to break through but I’m determined to try. This is why I needed to lose at least a stone first, running was going to be hard enough, and I didn’t want it to be torture….
Around the same time that I got my gym membership, an internet buddy sent me an invite for Fitocracy, it was thanks to this I managed to stay motivated and learnt a lot about diet and fitness in general, as well as the specifics of lifting and how best to start out in the gym. It’s basically a game that you play to level yourself up, you are awarded points for working out and you get achievements and quests to complete. The desire for points becomes the driving force and a tangible marker of your progress and because you’re tracking your workouts, you can see how much faster, stronger and how much further you can go.
I enjoy exercising now, I like seeing the gains I’m making and how much better I feel for it. Getting to this stage hasn’t been as tortuous as I thought it would be, it takes determination but I was at a stage were I was genuinely fed up and wanted to change. It is hard to get up at 5:20am some days so I have to go in the evening and there are 2 days a week I have scheduled as rest days but I usually end up doing something on those days too! A half arsed attempt never works, which is why my weight has tended to fluctuate so much over the last few years, I’d starve myself to get to the weight I wanted to be for an occasion or event, then go back to the same old habits. I’m enjoying my lifestyle change and I hope it is one I can make stick.
The Diet #4 - Food Ideas (and Progress Update)
Day 4
SW: 13st 2lbs (BMI 24.96)*
CW: 12st 9lbs
GW: 11st 2lbs (BMI 21.16)*
I’ll probably only update this weekly after today, I wanted to share some food ideas so thought I’d take the opportunity to log my progress against my starting weight and goal weight. Losing 7lbs in 4 days is really helping me stick to it and I should be down to a healthy, maintainable weight within 10 weeks.
As always, breakfast is good. Despite all the advice in the world, you don’t realise how much you need to have breakfast, until you actually start eating it. At the moment, my breakfast is consisting of a 125g pot of fat free natural yoghurt, I got the one with the lowest sugar content I could find, which is about 4g per pot, I think.
I know that’s it’s sugar and more importantly, carbs but fat free yoghurt is allowed on The Dukan and I haven’t been able to find one that contains sweeteners instead. As I’m losing weight, I’m quite happy with my pot of yoghurt for breakfast and the pro-biotic ones seem quite filling and will happily carry me through all morning.
Preparing lunch to bring to work has been a bit of a stumbling block for me, I’m not a morning person…I just about have enough time for a large glass of water and a yoghurt in the mornings! I have been relying on leftovers at the moment, which is probably how I’ll continue yesterdays lunch consisted of stir fried steak with chilli, garlic, ginger and Szechuan peppercorns. The peppercorns and ginger will result in a tingly tongue! It is equally delicious cold as when it is hot, the best thing about stir fry is that you more or less add any spices, any amount of chilli, garlic, whatever you want to throw in there to your taste. I used:
2 cloves of garlic
2cm cube of ginger
3tblsps light soy sauce
1 fresh red chilli
1tsp Szechuan peppercorns, crushed
200g of lean steak.
- Roughly chop the garlic, chilli and ginger
- Add the crushed peppercorns, chopped spices and soy sauce to a food processor and blend until finely chopped.
- Cut the steak into thin strips, they want to be about 5mm thick and 2cm wide
- Marinade the steak in a bowl with the spice mixture for up to 45mins, ensuring all the meat is well coated.
- Wipe the frying pan or wok with oil or use spray oil, get it very hot and empty the contents of the bowl in to the wok and keep it moving for 3-5mins or until you feel the meat is cooked to your tastes.
It’s a simple, tasty and satisfying meal and if you have to cook for others too, reserve some of the meat, add some veg and/or noodles to the pan and serve. I don’t even miss the noodles and vegetables can added in the Cruise Phase of the diet so I can see stir fry becoming a staple!
I have also done a bit more experimenting with oat bran….Last night I tried adding it to a prawn omelette, it would probably have been fine but it did taste a bit too fishy for me to enjoy fully. It was also extremely filling, next time I would probably reduce the number of eggs and prawns I used but I have put the recipe below, it might provide 2 servings if your appetite is starting to become suppressed and I would only add the fish sauce if you really like fish (I don’t so I don’t know what I was thinking!) If you don’t have any, don’t worry, it doesn’t need it.
1 clove of garlic, crushed or finely chopped
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 of a small onion (the onion is for taste and texture only, be wary of carbs!)
1tbls fish sauce
1.5tblsp oat bran
Ground black pepper
A handful of prawns
(If your prawns are cooked, add them in while the omelette is cooking in the pan, while it is still moist on the top just before you flip it. If they’re uncooked, carefully stir them in with the egg mixture after beating).
- Lightly beat the eggs, add the diced onion, garlic, pepper, oat bran and fish sauce to the egg mixture and beat until pale and airy. If you’re using uncooked prawns, add them now.
- Add a wipe of oil to a frying pan, use a high heat and when the pan is very hot, add the egg mixture. As the egg cooks, push the edges towards the middle, tilting the pan so the runny egg fills the gap you have made. Do this until there is no runny egg left.
- The top of the omelette will be a little soft and yellow, this is when you should add cooked prawns. Flip the omelette and give it a minute or so on the other side.
- You can serve it flat, like a pancake or flip it back over and fold the edges into the middle to fully enclose the prawns.
One of the worst things for me, has been having to cook for my family whilst trying to stick to the diet. As much as you try and tell yourself one chip/half a sausage/a mouthful of lasagne won’t hurt, it should be avoided at all costs, one step on that slippery slope would be enough for me! Overcoming the urge to help myself to the meals I make for them has been quite hard, especially when faced with leftovers….I have kept a packet of cooked chicken in the fridge to eat while I’m in the kitchen or drink lots of water to try and suppress the desire to eat whatever it is I’m making them. Cooking my meal, usually a quick 10 or 15 minute thing and eating with them helps too, it is annoying sometimes, as I end up cooking 3 different meals but it keeps me busy so there is an upside.
Cooked meats, either in a packet or ones prepared at home, along with hard boiled eggs, are good things to snack on too. In the evening in front of the tv, peeling an egg and munching small chunks of chicken gives you something to do and is like popping sweets or crisps in to your mouth. Eating through boredom is something else I have a weakness for; if I feel restless, I’ll go and find something to eat…whether it’s toast or crisps or chocolate. With small snack-size portions of protein in the fridge, I can still eat when I’m bored without feeling guilty, I have resisted the urge to turn to the yoghurt’s though, as the sugar content means I’m restricted to one a day.
*I know a lot of people don’t like using BMI as an indication of anything and it is true that body mass does not necessarily give a true reflection of whether someone is over-weight or not i.e. people with high muscle mass, such a body-builders, athletes, rugby players etc.
I think it has it’s uses and relative applications and like any system that provides a benchmark, it is based on averages so I’m happy enough to apply it to myself in this instance! I used the NHS BMI calculator, which is probably one of the best.
The Diet #3 - No, really. I’m starting….now
I’m actually going to start a diet now, I didn’t get far with the whole ‘healthy eating and exercise’ thing. I need a plan…Something to follow, something I can stick to. That is the idea, anyway. I’m up to an impressive 13st 2lb now, so I’m already about 8lbs heavier than I was when I decided I needed to do something about my ever expanding waistline! That just illustrates my lack of will power, I think….
I looked into various types of diet (not with much interest, it has to be said), there seem to be 3 main types, low carb/calorie shake diets, calorie counting and protein only.
The Cambridge diet is a recent example of a milkshake diet, which revolves around 3 shakes or food sachets per day and is very low calorie. You basically starve the weight off. The UK site shows the extreme results the diet can have, I think it’s aimed more at obese people, who need the kind of results the diet gives and it is recognised as an affective option for tackling the problem of obesity by the NHS National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. I cannot stand the milkshakes or food sachets and I’m not quite in the BMI range recommended for The Cambridge. Thankfully.
Weigh Watchers is a good example of a variation on a calorie controlled diet. Anyone who has tried dieting has either tried it or is familiar with it and at it’s core, is a points system. I’m not sure how they decide the points, it could be some magic ratio of carbs/fat/calories for each foodstuff. I discounted this one because I don’t want to pay to ‘subscride’ to a diet plan, I also think I’d struggle with the eating what I wanted as long as the points didn’t go over the prescribed amount. As soon as I eat a bit of chocolate, I need a bar. Sweets, chocolate, desserts are my weakness and having them as an option in any diet would not work for me!
Protein only diets were probably made a fad by Atkins, then there was a lot of concern about the damage that it might do to peoples kidneys etc. so it fell out of favour in its original guise. It has made a come back, in a revised form but I tried it when it first came over the pond, around 2000/01 I think but I really didn’t have the desire to stick to it and I found it quite expensive, as good quality meat that is high in protein tends to be. I have switched my allegiance to Dukan as far as protein only goes, for no reason other than it’s the new fad, I think and the potential results seem pretty amazing.
You don’t need to buy the book or any ‘special supplements’ or shakes or branded food or diet packs. All the information you need, including recipe ideas, can be found online. I bought the book for my Kindle because I didn’t know any better, it was a bit of an impulse buy as it was on offer at the time, too! The website will also give you an indication of how much weight you can realistically lose and the time-scale involved and a guide to all the foods you can have in each stage.
I have to say, the biggest issues I’ve had so far (I’m only on day 2, mind you!) is the oat bran and getting 1.5ltrs of water. The fact I can eat when I want has been a bit difficult too, as I’m finding myself getting hungry when I’m home in the evenings, yet I want to resist the urge to graze at it goes against everything you associate with weight-loss.
Here is a truth no-one will tell you…Oat bran tastes awful
Honestly, no matter how many “Delicious oat bran cookies/muffins/pancakes/galette recipes” you come across, they are not. It’s all a lie! Unless you’ve been brought up on cardboard and Ryvita, especially if you have a sweet tooth like I do, you will struggle to eat the required daily amount. In the first stage it’s a measly 1.5tbsps, which sounds like nothing but when every mouthful makes you turn up your nose, it may as well be a bucket full. I haven’t actually got round to making porridge yet but I’m not sure I could force it down, the only way I could eat The Dukan Galette was to chase it down with a hearty swig of water. I guess it helps you get your required amount of liquid….?
Getting all the water (1.5ltrs) I’m supposed to have is more difficult than I thought it would be. I don’t drink very much at all, I started on a Sunday so I was forcing myself to drink as much as could throughout the day to see how many glasses I would need and the rate I would need to drink to get it all in. It doesn’t seem like a big deal at all, does it? But it is when you’re not used to it! Today has been a bit easier, I’ve made a lot more visits to the loo than I normally would but I don’t think that’s a bad thing, I’m probably going to do my body more good on this diet than I have for the last year or so.
Inventing ways to make cardboard taste good!
Tonight I tried making a crispy coating for some chicken and it was really very palatable, the chicken was nice and juicy and I added a little salt, black pepper and half a tblsp of mixed herbs to the 1.5tblsp of oat bran and mixed them on a plate. I sliced the chicken breast lengthways (butterflied?) and coated both sides in the crumb mix, until practically all of it was used up. It worked a treat and was the first oat bran concoction I’ve actually enjoyed. I better get thinking about what else I can use to disguise the flavour and texture….
I’ll try to keep this aspect of my tumblr up to date, I hope tracking my progress will at least keep me on the path of skinniness….
Rose cupcakes. Vanilla cake with coloured vanilla icing. Beautiful and delicious!
Quilt Project #2
Yesterday, I made a start on my new quilt. First came all of the cutting, about half way through, after the therapeutic nature of being immersed so fully in the preparation wears off, I was wishing for an easier way to do it. Like, someone else doing it…Not advisable unless it’s someone you trust!
Preparation is everything here, I don’t cut anything without having a plan first or knowing exactly what I need to do. As they say, measure twice, cut once! It’s not something you should rush with and although it can get repetitive and menial, it needs your full attention as even just a small slip with the cutter can ruin a whole batch so it’s best to avoid if you don’t have a few hours to dedicate purely to cutting up fabric.
When you start sewing, you’ll see how accurate measuring and cutting pays off, as all the pieces will be the same size and the edges will line up nicely, which helps keep everything square.
I base my quilts on 12cm x 12cm squares, so when cutting triangles you need to start with a 13cm x 13cm square as you will lose 1cm in the seam allowance when you join the different colour triangles through the middle. The same is true for the smaller squares, which start life as 13cm x 13cm squares and are then cut into rectangles.
Today I started piecing everything together. My cutting plan then becomes the guide for how to put the component parts of the quilt together. This particular quilt is made of 3 different sections, the largest of these is section 1, a 3x3 panel. Each of the 9nr. 12cm x 12cm squares that make up the panel should be constructed first before you start putting it together.
Then on to section 2, which is a 3x1 panel.
Then section 3, a 4x1 panel.
Next, all the panels are joined together in order, in accordance with the cutting plan from earlier. No matter how many panels I make, I will constantly refer back to the plan to be sure. It’s best to check now, while everything can be easily changed, before setting the completed panel aside only to find out later that one of the stars is spinning the opposite way to the rest.
These 4x4 panels will then be joined together to form the quilt. It’s going to be pretty big when it’s finished, about 6’4” square. That should be big enough for me to wrap up in! I still need to think about what backing material I’m going to use and practice my binding skills as I’m not great at mitred corners.
Mothers Day
My mum got an iPad for Christmas…I know, right? Spoilt or what? So for mothers day I decided to make her a sleeve for it. I used a pattern I found here as a guide but the way the panel sizes were calculated didn’t really work out for me so I made some adjustments with trial and error and a lot of unpicking! I treated this first attempt as a trial run with some spare material I had, it turned out ok, a bit small I think (I have no iPad to test it out) and it wasn’t as rigid as it needs to be.
Before I made the second one I bought some medium weight interfacing to use in the main body, as well as the fleece interfacing, to give it a little more rigidity. I also got some denim needles as I found going through the velcro a little tricky the first time.
I’m pleased with the end result, in fact, I want an iPad now so I can make one for myself! Or at least a Kindle…
Quilt Project #1
I need to make another quilt…it’s quite addictive. This time, I’m going to make one for the bedroom so it’ll be much bigger and will keep me busy cutting and sewing for a long, long time!
I’m using Amy Butler fabric again, I really like the colours and prints she produces and it’s not as expensive a material as some of the others with comparatively attractive designs. The ranges are pretty big too so complementary colour schemes are easy to find.
The actual quilt design I’m going for is called ‘milkyway’, as it’s made almost entirely of stars. I have made up a picture of what it will look like, using good ol’ MS Paint and images of the material I actually intend using, which are as follows:
Soul Blossoms: Passion Lily, Cerise
Soul Blossoms: Sari Bloom, Raspberry
Soul Blossoms: Laurel Dots, Cherry
Floating Buds, Ivory
And this is how I envisage the quilt looking, the stars are made from the Floating Buds and Laurel Dots fabric, with the small dividing squares made up in the Passion Lily and Sari Bloom fabrics.
Updates to follow! I hope to make a good start on the cutting this weekend, I can see myself needing a replacement blade for my rotary cutter by Saturday afternoon….
Finally…..
So the project I started in the Christmas holidays is finally finished! I made a lovely quilt, it is most awesome, even if I do say so myself. And I do.
I should probably run a line of stitches across it a couple of times, just to make sure the wadding doesn’t slip. It’s all held down at the edges and I made some binding with the same material I used for the backing so I’m pretty confident it isn’t going anywhere soon. I think some extra rows of stitches might child-proof it for a little longer, though!
The finished size is approximately 160cm x 160cm, I’d probably make the next quilt larger, possibly to suit a kingsize bed. This one is a nice size throw for the sofa and the boys have been huddling up under it whenever they can, so I think it has been a success.
Now I need to find something to do with the material I have left….
The Diet #2 - The Horrible Truth
Urgh….The diet is not going so well.
Time for drastic action! In the form of my vital statistics below. I’m hoping this will a) give me an incentive, as having it in black and white should depress me into doing something about it and b) I have a record, something to compare any progress I (hopefully) make to.
So…here goes *cringe*.
Height: 6’0
Weight: 175lbs
BMI: 23.7
Thighs: 25”
Calves: 16”
Arms: 12”
Waist: 33”
Hips: 42”
Bust: 40”
Probably, statistically speaking, there isn’t really much wrong with those numbers. I’m probably quite in proportion for my height but ideally, I would like to lose half a stone and get an arse that less resembled that of a an old woman.
I actually will start exercising this week, mornings are lighter and not as cold so it should be easier to get out of bed at 5am, right…? #fml
Now added, a picture of me looking totally fabulous is thermal baselayers, knee high woolly socks. Note my amazing end-of-the-day hair..
Introducing…Zombie Jeff * Rapturous applause*
Firstly, I am in no way any kind of artist or graphic person. Jeff was made on a whim, using MS Paint on my laptop and a trackpad, I don’t even have anything as sophisticated as a mouse…
Here is Jeff’s head. I probably would have stopped at that but my husband thought he probably needed a body. I’ve never drawn people or drawn much at all outside of art classes at school, so I was unsure of his hands too. Luckily, I do have a body and a basic understanding of anatomy so I gave it a go. I started with a basic outline, just done with a lot of scribbling with the pencil tool.
Then I started to give the rest of him some colour. This was all much more time consuming than I thought, I kept going back to tweak areas I had previously ‘finished’.
The next time I came back, I thought the proportions weren’t quite right, the right shoulder of his jacket was too rounded and my husband thought his head was too high, so I made a few more changes as I coloured the rest of him.
Now to finish him off, I didn’t think it would take long now, although I wasn’t really sure what to do with his feet. I had tried to use just 2 shades of a colour for each area as I like the simple effect it gives but it was starting to look a bit ‘busy’…So yet more tweaking was required!
I’m quite happy with the finished product, for a first attempt I think I did pretty well! I added a bite to his arm and tidied up his trousers and the left-side of his jacket, it wasn’t sitting quite right. I could probably change something about him every time I opened the file, so I’m going to call it a day now!
I think this is how Jeff would look just before he started to run after you.
