WEEK ONE - TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS!
WARNING: LONG POST ALERT!
Wow! Just wow! The first thing I need to say is a big THANKYOU to everyone who has read my last post. I have been overwhelmed by kindness and support especially from a specific Facebook group – you know who you are! I truly appreciate the time and effort you have all taken in reading and replying to my post and I hope your support continues throughout my journey.
So, week one – what a week! For me personally I get over-excited and overwhelmed at the same time, which leads to a very stressful and disorganised beginning. Firstly, I've unpacked all my new contraptions, because to be honest, with the sheer level of my culinary challenged-ness, they may as well be replicas of the Hadron Collider, and now I'm ready to shop.
There was no forethought to this shopping trip at all! I simply knew that I needed food and that it had to be as healthy as I can deal with, so a trip to Tesco and £60 later, I'm now armed with the whole fruit and veg aisle, frylight, chicken, frozen fish and a bucket (yes! A bucket!) of fat-free, bio yoghurt. I obviously thought I was feeding the 5000 because there was no way I was consuming that amount of food before their expiry dates!
So now I have food, I have utensils, my Fitbit is set up and placed proudly on my wrist and I decide that exercise is important to my new lifestyle and regime – enter kettlebells stage right. Sorted!
A few years ago, I joined slimming world. It worked, I was amazed. I lost over 5st in 9 months and I was so pleased but then the minute I couldn't get to group or stay on plan due to long work hours etc., the weight just piled back on, so although I am using some of the ideas and processes I learned back then, I have decided that for me it isn't what I want. I want to learn to do the right things and make the right changes so that the habits will become a natural part of my life and will stay with me – even on the bad days. It was the loose skin that I had that made me realise, exercise is probably more important than the diet itself and it was something I needed to conquer. (FYI, the kettlebells are still in the box, another failure after the abundance of food).
So this is the reality of my first week, I cooked chicken casserole in the new multi cooker 👍 it was too dry 👎. I made a smoothie (mixed berries and yoghurt) no recipes followed, I mean, how hard can it be?! 👍 It tasted like cheese and I nearly threw- up. 👎 I made vegetable soup – God bless slow cookers! 👍 It had the consistency of baby food 👎 I cooked pan fried chicken, potatoes and veg 👍 I burnt my hand and dropped it on the floor 👎 So all-in-all, a pretty disastrous start to a supposedly wonderful new life. But you know what, you live and learn, each mistake is only bringing me closer to the culinary adept person that I know I can be. On the plus side, my recipe of the week is jacket potato with frylight butter spray instead of real spread, fresh mixed salad and Italian herbed chicken breast (courtesy of Maggi papyrus papers – only 70 cals per piece) a definite winner for me!
I'm not going to say that I didn't get disheartened, I did. There were two fish finger butties (on white) and a bowl of fries sneaked in during the week, but what I can say is that I cut out all fizzy drinks and rubbish snack foods and replaced them with no added sugar cordial or just water and plenty of fruit and veg. I started each day with lemon infused water and kept my mind on the end goal. I want this and I'm doing it for me, there will be trials and there will be triumphs but I'm learning and growing and succeeding.
So, first weigh day and I'm feeling a little discouraged and almost don't step one the scales but thankfully I did because the boost I needed was waiting for me. 7.8lbs lost! I'm not ashamed to admit that I did a little happy dance. I was so chuffed at the unexpected loss that I almost ran to the nearest fast food but I didn't because I refuse any longer to live a life of self-sabotage. I may not have had an easy or especially well- planned week, but I started and that first step is taking me in a good direction.
Just one last thing to say, for me it's really important to see the physical evidence of progress. I think that's why I liked slimming world so much with their stickers and certificates and I think it's a really great motivator too. There are many ways to see your success before you may physically notice it, pound for pound charts, marble jars, hanging thread, for me personally, I painted a feature wall and bought card stars and foam emoji’s and I'm creating my own celebration wall because having the evidence right in front of you can help you motivate yourself and find strength and encouragement, so my advice is celebrate yourself in a visual way to remind yourself how far you've come and how nobody can undo your hard work but you!
Thanks everyone for reading, I know it was arduous but I want to honestly share my journey with you. As always, I appreciate advice, feedback and support. Here's to week two - let's smash this!
Wow! Just wow! The first thing I need to say is a big THANKYOU to everyone who has read my last post. I have been overwhelmed by kindness and support especially from a specific Facebook group – you know who you are! I truly appreciate the time and effort you have all taken in reading and replying to my post and I hope your support continues throughout my journey.
So, week one – what a week! For me personally I get over-excited and overwhelmed at the same time, which leads to a very stressful and disorganised beginning. Firstly, I've unpacked all my new contraptions, because to be honest, with the sheer level of my culinary challenged-ness, they may as well be replicas of the Hadron Collider, and now I'm ready to shop.
There was no forethought to this shopping trip at all! I simply knew that I needed food and that it had to be as healthy as I can deal with, so a trip to Tesco and £60 later, I'm now armed with the whole fruit and veg aisle, frylight, chicken, frozen fish and a bucket (yes! A bucket!) of fat-free, bio yoghurt. I obviously thought I was feeding the 5000 because there was no way I was consuming that amount of food before their expiry dates!
So now I have food, I have utensils, my Fitbit is set up and placed proudly on my wrist and I decide that exercise is important to my new lifestyle and regime – enter kettlebells stage right. Sorted!
A few years ago, I joined slimming world. It worked, I was amazed. I lost over 5st in 9 months and I was so pleased but then the minute I couldn't get to group or stay on plan due to long work hours etc., the weight just piled back on, so although I am using some of the ideas and processes I learned back then, I have decided that for me it isn't what I want. I want to learn to do the right things and make the right changes so that the habits will become a natural part of my life and will stay with me – even on the bad days. It was the loose skin that I had that made me realise, exercise is probably more important than the diet itself and it was something I needed to conquer. (FYI, the kettlebells are still in the box, another failure after the abundance of food).
So this is the reality of my first week, I cooked chicken casserole in the new multi cooker 👍 it was too dry 👎. I made a smoothie (mixed berries and yoghurt) no recipes followed, I mean, how hard can it be?! 👍 It tasted like cheese and I nearly threw- up. 👎 I made vegetable soup – God bless slow cookers! 👍 It had the consistency of baby food 👎 I cooked pan fried chicken, potatoes and veg 👍 I burnt my hand and dropped it on the floor 👎 So all-in-all, a pretty disastrous start to a supposedly wonderful new life. But you know what, you live and learn, each mistake is only bringing me closer to the culinary adept person that I know I can be. On the plus side, my recipe of the week is jacket potato with frylight butter spray instead of real spread, fresh mixed salad and Italian herbed chicken breast (courtesy of Maggi papyrus papers – only 70 cals per piece) a definite winner for me!
I'm not going to say that I didn't get disheartened, I did. There were two fish finger butties (on white) and a bowl of fries sneaked in during the week, but what I can say is that I cut out all fizzy drinks and rubbish snack foods and replaced them with no added sugar cordial or just water and plenty of fruit and veg. I started each day with lemon infused water and kept my mind on the end goal. I want this and I'm doing it for me, there will be trials and there will be triumphs but I'm learning and growing and succeeding.
So, first weigh day and I'm feeling a little discouraged and almost don't step one the scales but thankfully I did because the boost I needed was waiting for me. 7.8lbs lost! I'm not ashamed to admit that I did a little happy dance. I was so chuffed at the unexpected loss that I almost ran to the nearest fast food but I didn't because I refuse any longer to live a life of self-sabotage. I may not have had an easy or especially well- planned week, but I started and that first step is taking me in a good direction.
Just one last thing to say, for me it's really important to see the physical evidence of progress. I think that's why I liked slimming world so much with their stickers and certificates and I think it's a really great motivator too. There are many ways to see your success before you may physically notice it, pound for pound charts, marble jars, hanging thread, for me personally, I painted a feature wall and bought card stars and foam emoji’s and I'm creating my own celebration wall because having the evidence right in front of you can help you motivate yourself and find strength and encouragement, so my advice is celebrate yourself in a visual way to remind yourself how far you've come and how nobody can undo your hard work but you!
Thanks everyone for reading, I know it was arduous but I want to honestly share my journey with you. As always, I appreciate advice, feedback and support. Here's to week two - let's smash this!
"Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than the one with all the facts.”
~Unknown~
WTG!!! love the ups, sorry but I lmao at the downs.... we've all done it if we're honest.
ReplyDeleteLook forward to next weeks tales x
Thank you so much! To be honest there were times when I just wanted to give up and cry lol but then I realised that I can't be the only one adjusting to a new lifestyle and making mistakes.
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