Weighing it all up

Its been a long and very busy summer, with over 5000kms driven, from Stockholm to Exeter, ferries boarded, channel train tunnel traversed, motorways followed and from right side to left side of the white line and back again. I would love to say that all my extra walking (there was loads of that) and the HEAT in which that was done, have sent me further on my weight loss goal but alas, the expenditure of energy was well peppered with Swedish shrimp sandwiches (and I mean SHRIMP piled into mountains that would put Everest to shame, with every crevasse swimming in shrimp mayonnaise) and, during the final leg, interspersed with stomach lining, non-pc version quantities of english fish and chips….

So I am home and starting over, at least I didnt gain it ALL back. THis is certianly however, a case of three steps forward and 2.5 steps back…. hmmmm

I am being positive. I did it before and I can do it again, and this time KEEP GOING. I am also considering turning this blog into something more than only a weight loss blog, because, in all honesty (and I dont know how other people can maintain a single topic blog), the whole weight loss thing, it can get rather repetitive cant it. I mean, if my weight loss ‘journey’ carries on more than a few months (and I guess it has already) its going to get mindnumbingly dull to make AND read updates that are just repetitions of previous mumblings. And there are already plenty of ‘informative’ blogs with more weight loss info and tips than you could shake a soggy british chip at. So I am going to expand my topic and add stuff. Dont know what yet but if you keep reading you will find out what I manage to come up with.

TTFN

I hadnt realised how long it has been since my last post. I must have a life, because I have just been too busy! But here it is, an update. However, the update is, there is no update – everything is all just the same as it was last time! That is good (I havent regained what I lost) and of course bad…. no downward scale movement….

Oh well. Tomorrow is another day!

I found a cool thing to share though, at least for those with iphones… the Epicurious app. Its free, its easy to use, it has recipes! The category I am focussed on at present is the ‘healthy lunches’ one  It works well with my Weight Watchers points system, I can search on ingredient, then add the individual points up from the ingredients list, and divide by the number of servings.

Easy peasy!

So its been a couple of weeks and I have been sticking with my points reasonably well, although aware of going over my limit by a few points every day, so my expectations for weight loss were not unrealistically huge… However I was quite down when discovering yesterday that I had gained just over a kilo during the last week But then today, I did my weekly weigh in and discovered that not only had I not gained weight, I had actually lost over one kilo since my last weeks weigh in! I had a hard time believing this of course, so I spent some time jumping on and off the scale, bouncing on it, you know the drill…. Stayed the same! I am forced now to believe I have lost 1.1 kilos over the last week. I remain a little sceptical but hopeful that this situation will be replicated during the next weigh in and I dont find that it was a blip in the life of the scales and they have returned to their usual depressing regularity of xx.x kilos as they have over the last month, next time I stand on them!

Ok, I have been away for a while, not physically, but certainly mentally… In the time since my last post, I havent lost any weight, although I am happy to say I also havent gained any. I have been ‘loosely’ sticking to my plan and within my points, however I am sure I have been using up all my ‘extra’ weekly points each week. Obviously that is maintenance eating for me at the moment. So today I am back with a vengance, so far no more than a bowl of fruit and yoghurt and an apple. I AM hungry! but I just told myself that it is nearly lunchtime, I’m not starving, and in an hour I can eat something very yummy and satisfying, although I havent yet decided what that will be.

I have also found some inspiration in, of all  the unexpected (for me) places, a Weight Watchers magazine! I bought it last week on a whim, along with a ‘cooking’ magazine full of recipes Something of a contradiction I know. ANyway in the WW mag there is an article about a women who was my age, my weight, my height, who lost loads of weight and looks amazing now. I am keeping it open on that page and VISUALISING Interestingly there are other ’success’ stories but this was the one that got me motivated, maybe just because she is the one most like me and I could really SEE how that weight loss makes a difference. I want to look like that again!! So I have to renew my energies and get off this damn plateau that I have been sitting on the last… well probably 6 weeks. I am still not exactly sure how to do it though. Do I reduce the quantity of food I am eating again? I suppose I can do that and simply be really sure its only my minimum number of points per day that I consume and hope thats enough to start losing again. Or do I go the hard way and take a few days to kick start again with a liquid diet or something minimal, and hope I dont regain what I lose then when I start my points again? Its tempting, because I know right at the start of my dieting that I had four days on a (forced in the hospital!) liquid diet, and I lost 4 kilos then and never regained it….

Decisions decisions! Help!

Right now, being hungry, I am thinking its better to work on being strict with my points, then I can look forward to something a bit more substantial for lunch than a bowl of fruit. My worst fear is getting so hungry that I then just pig out when I DO eat and blow the diet..

Ok. So I think I have decided. Strictly points this week and see if that works. Thanks for your help

Sorry mum, this ones about food (hopefully off-set by my bike ride through the forest yesterday!). I had to post this because it was SO good and I wanted to remember what I did, because I always forget stuff like this and have to re-make-it-up each time!

Avocado roll: Chop and Avocado up, mush it up with half a red onion finely chopped, a big tomato, diced, squeeze in the juice of half a lemon, add a dash of dried chilli and half a teaspoon of smoked paprika. Finish with a blob of light yoghurt dressing, and roll it all up in a tortilla wrap.

Mmmmmm super yummy, and according to my calculations about 9 PROpoints worth. A most excellent lunch

So much for the biking frenzy of last week! We were out every day while the sun lasted, but now its gone again and we  are back to cold and rain again. The good news is that I have lost .5kg this week I am pleased with that. I cant say its a result of the cycling directly, since I havent done any of that for the last four days, but I’m sure that everything counts eventually. So yes, this has renewed my motivation levels and I am back to planning all the things I will do when I get to my goal weight. I am pretty sure that a big problem with motivation is the ongoing ‘belief’ that its actually impossible for ‘me’ to lose weight, that this is just how it is and I have to resign myself to it. So weeks of no loss (plateau) subconsiously reinforces that belief and my undermining thoughts are things like ’see told you so’ and ‘I will never lose weight’. Without seeing the scales going down its actually so much harder to stick to the plan, because there suddenly seems to be no reason to do so. Its something of a vicious circle isnt it.

So, had an awesome on plan lunch: brown bread, boiled egg, cold chicken, rucola, grated carrot, tomato, low fat cheese, and low fat yoghurt dressing, all piled up with black pepper on top and another slice of bread. I cant wait now for my New Zealand Spinach plants to grow to harvestable size now! I have about 20 seedlings sprouted and ready to plant out in my pots outside. Last time I grew it like this we were supplied for the whole season with enough juicy fresh spinach to pick each day to put in a lunch sandwich or salad. Theres something very satisfying about growing something yourself and then eating it! And you know its organic, and couldnt be any fresher so still full of all the goodies to make you healthy. And according to this picture, it seems to grow anywhere!

I cant tell you how much I wish my back garden looked like that….

Heres another post for you mum! Two days in a row we went biking now, and I know Holland is flat hill-challenged, but that doesnt mean we dont work hard on our bikes! So on Saturday we rode around the sand dunes in the middle of the forest here:

Ok it looks positively herioc when you see all that sand and think of me biking there, but in fact here in Holland you can go anywhere by bike, and most conveniently there are smooth concrete bike paths everywhere, including all around this giant sand pit in the middle of our town. I have to say, if it wasnt for those smooth, car free paths, I wouldnt be doing much biking. Anyway, around these dunes there are mountains hills bumps to go up and over, and we got a bit of speed up to do it too, lots of fun and not so hard as I had anticipated actually. We stopped mid-trip at a friends house for a drink then carried on through the forest and home again.

Yesterday wasnt such an interesting ride, we went through the forest on this side of town towards Baarn, the next village from here. Also sounds a bit herioic doesnt it! But nope, Holland is pretty small, the next village is literally 10 minutes away by bike. But we did ride slightly soft sand tracks to get there…

the ‘pond’ is a bit sad and neglected looking although I have seen lots of people there before sitting around it… but the forest paths there are pretty at the moment as the trees are just getting their leaves and its a nice shade of green under them. We ended up here:

where we had coffee, and our two year old spent a very happy time train spotting, his favourite passtime at the moment, and this cafe used to be the train station, so for him it was very fortuitously placed.

I am pleased I got the exercise, and now the weather is turning warmer and drier I think I will be doing this more often. Also, said two year old has developed an intense liking for being on the bike with us (yeah he doesnt have to pedal!) and takes every opportunity to break into the garage and shout ‘bike! bike!’….

Actually ‘Mum pressure’, because my mum was complaining that there is too much on my ‘losing weight’ blog about food. Ho hum. I guess there is quite a bit But we cant stop eating right? So why not make sure its both yummy AND weight loss inducing!? And SHARE that….

However, add to this nudge a link sent to me this week for a kind of ‘all you can eat’ exercise cycle hotel…. Intrigued? Its a hotel in Copenhagen where you can ‘earn’ a free meal by using their exercise cycles in their fitness gym – they are hooked up to a generator and you basically power the hotel with your cycling! Once you have created 10 watt hours you get a free meal. Well maybe in terms of weight loss that is a little counter-productive (I hear ya mum) however it does mean you get in your exercise, save the planet, and get a free feed all on one cycle. Thats pretty good I reckon.

Click the pic to go to the article

I did it! Today I managed to actually stay on target. These last weeks seems like every day I have been a few points at least over my quota each day. Although theoretically that shouldnt be a problem because I have ‘extras’ I can use up each week and didnt go over those, it seems that for me that means maintenance rather than loss. But yesterday and today I pretty much nailed it, so I am happy about that even though I am not feeling any effects… hopefully thoughout the week coming I can stick to it with my new sticktoitiveness and hopefully see some scale movement in the downwards direction. I dont know if this is a ‘plateau’ but its been stuck for weeks now on the same number… and my daily points consumption started creeping up. Anyway. lets wait and see…

Heres a new recipe!

Chicken Mango Salad

Ingredients

• 6 tbsp olive oil
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 Thai red chilli, seeded and chopped
• Small handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
• 2 small ripe mangoes
• 4 ready-to-eat chargrilled or smoked chicken breasts
• 150g mixed salad leaves

1. Make the dressing by mixing together the oil, lime juice, chilli and coriander. Season and set aside.

2. Peel the mangoes and cut into slices. Slice the chicken diagonally into thick strips. Divide the salad between 4 plates and top with mango and chicken slices. Drizzle over the dressing to serve

You can also do what I sometimes do and cook up some chicken yourself for this instead of using the smoked chicken – in which case I usually season it very well including a good amount of salt, then cook it in a little olive oil, chop up the chicken once cooked and cooled.

This salad is wonderful in the summer, with a rich blend of sweet and spicy, as well as having the most delicious colours with the orange mango, the red chilli, and the green salad leaves. I serve it with a crusty bread roll. I dont know how many calories it has in it, but it you allow yourself about 100-120 grams of chicken, and go easy on the olive oil, its a pretty light salad and a good filling meal too. If youre not too worried about the calories you can also chuck in some crunchy bacon bits as well (or cook them up with the chicken and slice).

slowly building up some motivation…. The ‘thin feeling’ I gave myself by losing the first kilos is wearing off, and I have been spending time on the ‘3 Fat Chicks On a Diet‘ forum reading everyones posts about how they stay on track (and fall off it too) and I am starting to rebuild some enthusiasm Today I am being more accurate with my record keeping, and also making myself only eat things that I know the points of, so there is no ‘grey area’ that throws doubt on how many points I have eaten (which apparently allows me to eat more than I am meant to rather than less…. go figure).

Just wondering now at what point people start to notice that I have lost weight? So far only one person has said a word about it. Is it because people really dont notice (I know I had/have so much to lose that what is gone is probably marginal but… really not noticeable?), or do they notice and are too ‘polite’ not to say anything because its ‘not PC’ to mention fat peoples weight? Or do they notice but doubt their own memory of how fat I really am/was?

I dont really care if people notice or not, but I am quite curious about it. I wonder if this happens to others or is it just me and the people I know?