SELF IMPROVEMENT - THE WEIGHT LOSS CHRONICLES.

Week 6 – birthday week! That pretty much sums up my week lol.  After the catastrophe of last week, I agreed to give myself the week to not stress or pay too much attention to my diet.  I was going to eat and drink what I like and then draw a line under it and get back on it. I still didn't change any of the habits I'd formed though, the daily lemon water, less snacking, less fizzy drinks and generally being more aware of the decisions I'm making and how those decisions form habits. I also invested in some Jillian Michael workouts from Google play so that when I'm back on it, I hit it hard.  But aside from those things, there has been zero effort made.  We all have those times when we fall off the wagon, but the important thing is that we get back on a new wagon asap, that we don't let one failure, one bad decision suffocate our motivation, desire and ambition to achieve.  You will only fail if you admit defeat.  You will only admit defeat if the goa...

Ok, so we all know that saying that ‘what goes up, must come down', yeah?  Well let me introduce you to its long-distance cousin, ‘what comes down, must go up'.  Yeah, he's the unpopular cousin that's only ever invited out of obligation even though he only dampens the party like a dirty dish cloth! Eugh! Week 5 was a rollercoaster of good days and bad days, good choices and bad choices and a whole lot of wishful thinking!!  Rather than putting the effort into cooking healthy meals, making health decisions and finally starting an exercise regime, I spent a lot of time trying to disprove basic maths theorems so that I'd be able to justify what I knew was going to be a bad week.  And the end result?  I failed on both counts!  Maths – 1 , Me – 0  😔 My days see-sawed between grilled chicken and jacket potato and chips, cake and coke – oh wait, is that a Ferrero Rocher???? 😒 I convinced myself, in a very small, deluded part of my brain, that it w...

So week 4.  Wow.  The last 4 weeks seem to have dragged, I feel like I've been battling this new lifestyle for much longer than nearly a month lol. Again, I have been overwhelmed with support and encouragement and empathy and understanding.  I am truly honoured when people tell me that they can relate to thoughts, feelings and situations and it empowers me to continue to bring a voice to my journey with truthful encounters. So I started the week full of enthusiasm, energy and positive thinking!  I started putting actual thought into schedules, timing, planning and organisation.  My weekly meal plan was done (in my head obviously in case there was some catastrophic event which meant that there was no way that I could possibly fit kale into my perfectly worked out plans or every supermarket had ran out of wholegrain rice – or other cardboard tasting goodness!) I was even finally going to unbox the kettlebells! 😮 And then I felt it, and pretty much all my plan...

Again, I just want to start by thanking everyone that is supporting my journey.  Your comments, compliments, encouragement, advice and well wishes really inspire and motivate me to carry on and try harder. Now on to week 3.  Surprising, successful, challenging and confusing lol but finally approaching the end of the week, I'm starting to feel more organised and in control.  Non- scale victory 1! The week started how week 2 ended, disheartened and discouraged.  Have you ever just thought that if I can't get my eating habits right then I should just stop eating?  I don't know if it's just me but when I have a difficult time, I decide that at least if I starve myself then I have to lose weight and I won't have the stress of trying to plan and buy and organise and cook and store, I just won't eat.   Problem solved! Obviously that wasn't sustainable and not a great idea with the mindset I was in.   Luckily I pulled out of that funk on Wednes...

I've lost it, and no I'm not talking about the weight!  I know we all have those times when our motivation abandons us but I guess I'm disappointed that so early on in my journey and after such a good loss last week that I couldn't find the energy to remain focused and driven.   It has made me realise though that I shouldn't be surprised by my weight when I keep such a large stash of excuses stored up for such occasions So the week started badly, I had hardly any of the food left from last weeks overzealous shop and was reluctant to do more shopping after the sheer amount of waste, so I decided to work with what I had until I could research some recipes and create a sensible shopping list and meal plan. So Monday comes, and I've got some chicken and veg roasting nicely in the oven and I have about 20 minutes to wait until it's ready.  Now, I'm also trying to quit smoking and avoid snacking opportunities which are the things I would normally do to fi...

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...

So, let me introduce myself! I'm a 34 year old female with a lot of weight to lose.  I've been overweight my whole life from years of eating junk and leftovers, bad lifestyle, bad genes, the inability to cook and a plethora of other internal and external influences (I'm sure working at KFC for almost 15 years didn't help either!) I do partly blame my upbringing.  I believe that my mother especially, could have done more to reduce the situation and be a better influence.  I believe that the limited menu options I grew up with could have been better, (if it didn't come with potato or bread then it wasn't a meal), and I believe that more effort could have been put into encouraging a more healthy lifestyle, but those responsibilities fell on me a long time ago. So now, here I am, 34 years old finally coming to the realisation that I'm not happy but I could be.  That changes can be made if I'm prepared to make them.  That no one is accountable for my ...