Spring Chick Challenge 2012

So I've decided to do my First Challenge 'Spring Chicks Challenge', which is hosted by The Big Butt Theory.

I want to see if it helps with my weight loss motivation. So here are my stats that I will try and achieve before 19th March!

1) Committment to a NSV (non scale victory)   

• losing inches - I want to lose 20 Inches from all over my body (will post inches on 1st January)
• improving my 1mile time - My Mile time si about 11/12 minutes. So I want to do it in 10 minutes.
• I want to be a size 14 comfortably

2) Committment to a set of nutrition parameters

• Calories - stick to my 1000 a day (make it up to 1000 if I burn it off to clarify)
• Water - 6 Glasses a day
• No Bread

3) Committent to a set of exercise parameters.

• Exercise 6 Times a week
• Gym 4 times a week
• Swimming 1 times a week
• Zumba 1 times a week
• Horse Riding once a month
• Try a new sport each month

4) Committment to blogging

• I commit to blog at least twice a week
• One time will be about my update for this challenge

  So there are my goals that aren't tied into my weight. I'll see how it goes!

Emily x

Holiday Events

Today's agenda invovles running, exercise shopping and smaller clothes!!!!

So the first thing to address is that I have finally exercised. I ran on my sister's treadmill (which I've finally got the hang off). I actually ran a whole Mile, first time ever for me!! woooo! Very pleased, so in my calculations thats 1.6km. I'm hoping to run that for a week or so now! I think a goal for me is to be running 5km by Easter time.

The next thing worth mentioning is the fact instead of buying myself goodies or treats, I instead bought myself new digital scales, an exercise mat and a fit ball. Things have definitely changed in me. I would have never willingly spent money on this kind of thing a year ago. So I think it marks a significant moment in my evolution.

The last thing that has put a smile on my face, is the fact that when I went clothes shopping the other day, I could try on clothes that were smaller. It made me feel really great about myself and urged me on for the coming year.

I'm looking forward to New Year's Eve, where I can have some fun. All in all, feeling very positive at the end of the year. I have treated myself this Christmas but it just makes me feel more determined to get back on it now.

Emily x

P.s You'll be proud of me. My family had an indian last night but I had a salad instead!!

The Christmas Aftermath

So did I survive? I guess so but I don't think I survived unscathed.

I don't know what it is about being home but I just seem to eat unhealthly here. Probably something to do with the amount of fatty food lying around and the feeling of treating yourself that Christmas brings. I am enjoying myself (because you know it's Christmas) but I know I'm going to have to work these calories off.

I've been walking the dog every day so far but I haven't properly exercised since Friday. I know bad. bad Emily. It's not the end of the world fo me but I am slightly disappointed in myself. I have found not being at work stressful because I haven't been able to go to the work gym, which throws me off my exercise plan. I hate not being able to folow my routine :(

Oddly enough my family make me much more docile and unactive. Their inactivity seems to make me feel more tired and therefore more likely to want to skip exercising.

Tonights dinner was lettuce, yellow pepper, cottage cheese, two crumpets and some very very nice smoked salmon :D Very delicious and seems to be settling much better in stomach. The food over the festive season didn't seem to be settling very well and was causing my stomach to be upset. I'm not sure whether it is due to the amount of food I have been eating or the type of food but as soon as I've returned to my beloved salad my stomach settled immediately. Something can definitely be said for eating better food.

I'm looking forward to returning home and my normal food and exercise regime. Bring on the year of the healthy living :D

Well after a stonking good party.......

Emily x

Food, food, food everwhere :o

So I'm home for xmas and I must admit I've snacked a lot :o I had a party at mine last night. The food wasn't exactly healthy but I relaxed myself and indulged. I know One of the reasons I lost all the weight was because I didn't want to have it still all on when this xmas came around.

I went for a walk today with my dog and I ran for a mile yesterday. I'm hoping to run tomorrow as well. I'm going to eat what I want but I'm going to keep eating some nice food :) I know I can get it off in the new year. Saying that I'm not giing to go wild but we all know what we are here for :)

One thing thing worth mentioning that shocked me was the fact the treadmill at home is so different to the one at my gym. As a beginner at the Gym this really shocked me. My first mistake was to think the running speeds would be the same. They were NOT. Nearly fell off the damn machine.

My second mistake was to assume they would both be in Km. Wrong, the one at home uses miles and I almost didn't notice. I think the lesson from this story is to make sure you understand the equiptment you are using before you get on :D

I just want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!!!!!! Emily xxx

Illness

So I'm ill, the thing people losing weight dread the most and I'm afraid to admit I'm not doing so well. I haven't massively overeaten or anything but I've been unable to exercise, which makes me sad and paranoid that I will put on lots of weight.

I'm hoping to be better by tomorrow but you never know with these things. I don't want to be ill on Christmas day. I don't want to miss seeing my Grandparents.

Not been keeping on top on my calories as much, but as I don't have a lot of bad foods in the house, it's hard for me to snack too badly. I think preparation can help avoid temptation. Having no bad food in the house means I have to consciously go out and get bad food, which in turns deters me from getting it.

I think that is why people put on weight at Christmas because there is so much food around and available to eat.

Just got to try and not eat it.

Emily x

Weekends

I'm not sure how it's happened but I seem to be getting incredibly incapable of exercising at the weekend.

I think I excuse myself by saying stuff like, 'Oh, I walked into town and back. I walked there..etc' but in reality, I'm simply not doing my usual exercise at the weekend. Before I was making sure I exercised at the weekend, either a run on Saturday or just popping on my Exercise bike on Sunday but every weekend it seems that it's over before I've even considered exercising :(

So bad weekend for Emily.

I had my *final* physio session on Friday (trying to sort out my tight calf muscle in my left leg) and my leg was really painful after the session. He had stuck needles in my leg and given them a right good old bashing. So I was bruising. I almost didn't exercise but thankfully I actually went to the Gym. AFTER work on a FRIDAY, I know go me :D

The Gym was really quiet, which was nice. Still only running 1km max at the moment. So I'm hoping to attempt a 1.25km or even a 1.5km this week... wish me luck.

In total I have been invited to/organised 3 Christmas dinners. The first one was at the weekend and man it is hard not to overeat. I managed to snack only a wee bit and I didn't have any meat (as I'm a vegetarian and they killed my fake meat). My plate consisted of Roasted Potatoes, Parsnips, Carrots and Brussels sprouts with some Stuffing. So I think I ate far less calories than everyone else but I still feel like I ate bad food. I skipped Christmas pudding but I couldn't turn down the cheese board. I definitely had less than I would've had last year, so that's a postivie point. The alcohol consumption probably didn't help either though but in preparation I had only eaten a salad.

I'm very scared to weigh myself at the moment as I feel as if I haven't lost any weight in a while. I think, as I've said before, the main goal around Christmas is to not put on weight or as little as possible. I'm hoping to at least stuck to that. Unfortunately the next two Christmas dinners are both on the same day :o So I'm going to have a fat day :(

My plan is to come into work early that day to go to the Gym and get a good workout done before I even begin eating. Then I will just make sure that I exercise every day this week, even Christmas day!

Are other people exercising on Christmas day?

Does anyone have any tips on how to avoid eating mince pies etc? Feeling very tempted and failing more often than usual, which is depressing me.

Why in the back of mind do I keep saying, 'I can get back on the horse in January'... I don't want to even fall off :(

Emily x

A Few Highlights from My Previous Blog

As I mentioned before I had a blog before I started this one, so I've decided to post a few of the highlights from my old one for your reading pleasure of course :D


Extract 1
'I was shocked when I realised the recommended soup portion was only HALF A CAN. Ouch, my tummy rumbled just at the thought of only eating half a can but yet again I'm thinking this is just another one of many inaccuracies by which I have lived my life. Having had soup a few times now at the correct portion size, I find that I am adjusting better than I thought I would. '


Extract 2
'Waking at 7am - I know what you're thinking I'm crazy, who on earth gets up at 7am to exercise before work! Well I guess I do. I've been so busy the past couple of days in the evenings that I've resorted to getting up earlier to exercise! I know, pretty crazy. The best part is that I feel good at work because I know I've already exercised! I'm thinking of upping my exercise time but I think that means I would have to be awake in the 6-7 hour in the morning and I'm not sure I'm prepared for that.'


Extract 3
'Last night for the first time I was genuinely really hungry at about 9pm. Now I think it is mainly because I had to have my tea before 6pm because I was supposed to be going to a meeting. I then had to walk across town and back again (took about an hour). The meeting I was supposed to be going to was cancelled, which instead of being busy meant I was just sitting at home watching television and we all know what that leads too. I tried to put it off as long as possible but by 9pm I was too hungry to be ignored. 


Before deciding to eat, I drank at least a bottle and half of water, as I thought I may just be thirsty but no I was still hungry. I decided to eat a small bowl of cereal. I felt guily as we all do when we snack or break from a usual pattern but I just keep telling myself that I was genuinely hungry. I think its key to listen to our bodies when they are telling us things like this. After I ate the cereal I felt much better and did not the feel the need to eat anymore food. '


Extract 4
'I had a Mr Kipling's Choc Chip bar today as my mid-morning snack and I've got to tell you that I was left seriously unsatisfied. What was the point in even eating it, I asked myself, after demolishing it in three bites!! Disastrous as I was still hungry! I had to eat my banana only an hour later. It makes me think that little treats like that are a waste of time. I'd rather go without! '


Extract 5
'Food I miss you :( . It's making me very sad seeing all my friends eat nice, lovely food! It's got so bad I've even started to plan my treats. For example, this Saturday I get a piece of lemon cake to eat that my house mate made. She is saving me a piece. 

A week on Saturday I will be making fairy cakes and I will be able to have one. Yay :D I guess it means I've got something to look forward too. Focus on the positives I guess.'

Extract 6

'Weighing Scales seem to be the bane of my existence. One week on one set of scales I'm one weight. Then a few days later I'm heavier on a different set of scales. I thought electronic scales were supposed to be accurate.

I started weighing myself on my friends non-electric scales and that is what we've using to weigh ourselves every two weeks. However my other housemate has electronic scales that seem to think I'm heavier than the non-electric ones do. Confused yet? I am! To make matters worse I then popped on my father's scales when I visited home last weekend and those scales told me I was even lighter :( Bah I'm not sure what to believe any more. '

Extract 7
'The oddest thing that I've experienced since starting to lose weight is that when I look in the mirror I think I look fat. When I was bigger I never had that issue. I didn't look into the mirror and think gosh I'm rather big aren't i? I don't know whether its because I was subconsciously avoiding the fact that I had become so big or whether I genuinely didn't believe it but now it matters more to me how I look. I think everybody wants to see positive results when they work hard, which is why when you work this hard to lose weight you want to see the results.

I struggle everyday with the fact I don't think I look thin enough. I just reassure myself that in time it will go down and I will become thinner and thinner. I want to say that losing all this weight is just about health but its not. Some of it is vanity. I want to be thin and I hope I will get to a size where I'm more happy with my body. I don't think I've become obsessed and I try to talk about it a lot, so that I don't agonize over it. I think it would be very easy to become bottled up and put all my emotions into what I eat. 


My food intake does not affect me as person. I must remember that.'


So that's insight into the crazy mind that I have :D


Em x

Goals and Prizes

Today I saw a blog where they had rewards for when they reached a goal. I'm thinking I would like to do the same :D

So here goes:

12st 7lbs - New Shoes

12 Stone - New Dress

11st 7lbs - Visit Blackpool Pleasure Beach

11st - Weekend Trip to London including seeing Wicked the musical

I think this will be a fantastic motivational push for me.

I do love clothes and err shoes and errrrr fun :D.

Em x

Christmas Dinners

Christmas time is such a fatty time of the year. You can't see anyone or do anything without the mention of food. I'm getting worried that I will put on weight or get obsessed with exercising!!

My housemate and I made homemade mince pies yesterday and they tasted great :D Did about 6m on the bike beforehand though so I wouldn't feel as guilty. It didn't work quite as well as I'd hoped :( Guilt just seeps in through your pores I think!!!

Well will keep trying to eat the healthy option!

Em x

A New Blog for Me

Hello,

My name is Emily and I'm currently in the process of trying to lose 3 Stone. I had a previous Blog but found the community hard to connect to, as a result I've been feeling less motivated and losing strength.

I'm hoping on here I can share more and learn from others who are trying to get healthier like me.

I look forward to getting to know you all better!

Emily