It’s February, Must Be Time For A New Mission

Looks like February is a time when I get myself sorted. One day it will be ALL YEAR LONG! But until then, I’ve signed myself up to do Chloe Madeley’s 4-Week Body Blitz.

So I have seen the light. The January madness at work is over, I’ve moved house and now it’s time to refocus on Project Me!

I probably need to do it for 12 weeks, but to start with a 4-week hit (and HIIT… ugh) seems a good starting point. I am on day 4 now. One day at a time. I’ll be posting a bit more frequently on Instagram with pics and daily updates.

Wish me luck! If you are doing anything similar – let me know! We can do it.  Yes, we can!

Buying a book called Racing Weight does not mean you will instantly be at Racing Weight, more’s the pity

So we have been reading a lot. What to wear. What to eat. Even how to pedal. Cycling magazines litter the house. What has happened to us? Parcels arrive at the house almost daily. Electrolyte tablets, gels, whatever. Most likely it is for me – arm warmers or other such ridiculous items. Packages from weirdly named places like Wiggle and the poor postman is a constant visitor.I found a fantastic blog called Sportive Cyclist by a guy called Monty. He offers all sorts of practical tips and recommended a great book called Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald. Sub title: How to get lean for peak performance. We need all the help we can get.

What a great book. Loads of practical tips for improving your cycling performance by improving the quality of your diet and effectively reducing your fat content while retaining your lean, muscle mass. 

Would have been even better if I had read it 5 months ago and not finished it a week ago. Ho hum. Meanwhile the Wayneybaby has been annoyingly determined and has lost 18 lbs (or 8 bags of sugar). Grrr. Good for him obviously. But grrrr nevertheless! For some reason I have found it really hard to train and lose weight at the same time. Although the scales do say that I have increased my lean tissue and reduced my fat content a bit, I had hoped that all this exercise would have shifted more weight. Nope. You really do have to address the diet too. In the last couple of weeks when we have ramped up the exercise the scales have finally started to move in the right direction. Can we move Sunday’s ride back to November? 😉 

Ah well, the super skinny cyclists will be whizzing past me up the hills for sure… but for now mwua ha ha I will have the benefit of gravity on the way down. 

Signing off now. Until tomorrow!

JustGiving link: 100 Miles of Pain

No Sauvignon Blanc tonight after a mediocre day

Today was okay. Not amazing but not terrible either. Even the good old English weather was okay. Just. This morning my Google Now thingy on my phone told me there was a 70% chance of rain. I ignored the forecast and wore a summer dress with some summery high-heeled wedge sandals. What a rebel! (Hardly!)

Overall it was an okay kind of day. Work was okay. Average levels of interuptions. My food intake was okay – ish. Walked up to the town at lunchtime to top up a few steps on the pedometer. Probably a little over my calorie goal in total but no wine consumed tonight – I didn’t fancy it.

Tomorrow will be a week since I started my own 13 weeks to the beach mission and then I will know what needs to be done tomorrow and in the coming weeks.

Looking forward to some good sleep tonight!  Until tomorrow.

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Still 2 left!

The problem with falling off the diet waggon

… is that you have to get back on it again. Go through those same hunger pangs. Just when your poor body was starting to get used to being fed less.

Today, then, I was hungry! I resisted though. Had a nice Pret A Manger avocado and crayfish no bread sandwich for lunch! Yum!

Today I did it the old-fashioned way. I physically wrote in my (food/diet) diary. It was strangely satisfying!

Tonight I have managed to save calories for a large glass of white … and possibly enough for a small bowl of ice cream, too.

Cheers to you, my fellow food lovers!

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Cool glass of white, thank you!

A stressful day tested my resolve!

Gallery

Work yesterday was stressful. Not like life or death stressful. But stressful nevertheless. I was constantly interrupted so that I couldn’t get anything of substance done. It was unfortunate, but I did need to react to the interruptions for long-term … Continue reading

4 changes of clothes before breakfast!

So I set the alarm for 5.30am but somehow didn’t leave the house until 7.45. Why? I couldn’t find what I thought was a flattering outfit to wear for work. This is not for lack of choice, but simply due to the bit of extra padding my dresses are tighter and shorter – they rise up due to the extra around the middle and bottom bit. So that’s why I tried on four outfits before I was happy enough to leave the house!

That’s one of the things I disliked so much about being heavier – the care needed to disguise unflattering lumps and bumps. And conversely, one of the things I loved, loved, loved about being lighter – being able to have much more choice about what to wear. Plus … early mornings are not my best time in the day so those few extra minutes in bed were fabulous! 

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Shoe choice was equally lengthy - one must get the silhouette right!

Having got over the clothing dramas of the morning, I did manage to successfully complete day 2 of the new ’13 weeks to the beach’ mission. My food diary is complete and pleasingly I did not feel hungry or deprived on 1,200 or so calories a day!

Good luck to anyone trying to do something similar!

Until next time.

Today I confessed my weight to …

… an old friend.  One that I hadn’t contacted in a while. The old friend has been with me since the start of my journey 2 years ago. The friend is myfitnesspal.com!

I told my old friend my new weight goal, my current weight and how much weight I’d like to lose per week. I was rewarded with a calorie goal per day and an updated weight graph.

My goal is stated – written down – always an important thing for me and I have a date (and a reward) in mind. I will track my food and activity. Day 1 is complete. I am focused. It was good to make friends with my old pal again.

Wishing you a wonderful day!

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Just say no to the unnecessary chocolates!

Back on track … nearly!

I am in the pre-contemplation phase.

It’s 13 weeks to a beach holiday so plenty of time to get back on track. Have had a bit of a splurge recently with food and drink.  Have kept off half the weight for a year. So I guess my current weight is my new “maximum, I have to stop now, weight”. Time to stop messing around and get back on it.

Went for a cycle ride at the weekend (then rewarded myself with a bottle of wine). Oops.

Today I am back… let the 13 week mission begin.

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Dinner was lovely, but now it’s time to rein in the treats.