payday treat = FitBit scales

This week has been a good week. I have now lost 38lbs towards my goal of 105lbs. That's approximately 17 bags of sugar, to put that in context see this pallette of sugar at the supermarket! The health benefits are evident already, I feel like I have so much more energy and walking is so much easier. For one thing when walking up hills it doesn't feel as if my heart is going too quickly, I can get to the top without stopping too, before I always had to stop and allow time to recover my heart rate.

I have been using my Fitbit daily to check my step count (and my sleep too). On days when I am stuck at a laptop home working the step count is very low (about 2000). I try to get up and walk on the spot even, just to get moving and it is some effort to remember to do this. On days when the step count is low I take a walk after dinner until I get to 10,000. Actually when you find some enjoyable walks that you can do regularly you start to know how many steps there are in each route, that's really helpful. 

I have got into the habit (rightly or wrongly) of weighing myself everyday. I find it prepares me more than a weekly weigh in, especially on a week when I make loads of effort but my weight stays the same so I don't get disheartened but it also it keeps me in check for the day ahead too. 

I do love a graph. Especially one that is going down in the right direction! This is how I track my progress on the MyFitness Pal app which also automatically syncs to the FitBit and MapMyFitness apps.

At the weekend I started walking with an added 7lb rucksack 🎒 I recently read that in order to make walking (as part of an exercise routine) most effective there are 3 things to consider; pace, distance and carrying a weight. I packed a rucksack and took to some very up and down hills. Although the rucksack was 7lbs I have already lost the equivalent to x5 rucksacks! It blows my mind because the 7lb load makes walking so much harder, how ever did I manage to carry all that weight? 

Since my last blog entry I've started to weigh all my food and put this into the MyFitnessPal app. I was worried that I had reached a plateau so I dropped my daily calorie goal by 200 calories. Interestingly I heard that going under 1200 calories a day is not recommended for health reasons and its important not to drop your calorie count too low, too soon for weight loss because this then makes it difficult to reduce the daily goal further as weight is lost. I currently aim to have 1398 calories a day, having dropped the 200 calories. 

I eat alot of salad at the moment and porridge oats.

Well this week I am continuing my aim to allow photographs to be taken of me and to like them, if I can. I'm going to do my best to get 10,000 steps a day and I am hoping for positive results on the scales 🤞

summer 2021 weight loss and 33lbs down 👍

In May when I decided I had to lose weight it was to get ready for a pending operation under general anesthetic. As I'm on the waiting list, I could be called up at any time so I feel the pressure is on. Since 7th May (now 20th July) I'm down by 34lbs!! That's 15.4 bags of sugar!! (If 1kg bag of sugar = 2.2lbs!). Wow! I feel so much lighter and fitter already yet my weight is now actually where most people would probably be starting! 

I've used eating in a calorie deficit and exercise so far but feel I need to push myself further this week to continue at any satisfying pace. I've been watching YouTube for inspiration. Do check out LouisesJourneyxo on YouTube, she is a true inspiration and has lots of helpful advice and encouragement. See below for her MyFitnessPal advice.

search: https://youtu.be/QZodbrWgq_k

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I've also been completing HIIT workouts at home 3 times a week using Joe Wicks' YouTube tutorials. When I started I could barely keep up with the low impact version of the HIIT workout below - Train with India. Now I can actually complete 8/10 of the harder options and I'm usually still going with the exercises when the timer has stopped for that rep!! That's only taken about 5 weeks. 

search: https://youtu.be/Six8m4Jm6JA

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I've continued with the weekly beach bootcamp 👍 I prefer to do the exercises on the sand to the pebbles but its all done my fitness the world of good. Again I could hardly keep up when I started but now can complete most of what is presented, even if sometimes I don't manage all of a 3rd reps or have to take an easier version for some exercises. The body weight reps are exhausting! I'm proud to say I can now hold my planks for x3 30 second reps and I can almost lift a side plank for more than 2 cm off the ground 🤣

My body fat is now approximately 57% , unfortunately I didn't calculate it at the start. I calculated my current body fat using my neck, hip and waist measurements using the U.S Navy Method. Calculator.net indicates that an ideal body fat for my age = 22.9%. 

This week I've reactivated MyFitnessPal app to track my calories next week. Payday treat this month will hopefully mean some Fitbit Aria Air Scales and some new kitchen scales so that I can accurately calculate my daily calories - whatever works right....? 

Let's hope for another good week next week 🤞 

Wet suits and getting somewhere... maybe? BMI success!! June 2021

17.7lbs down and this weekend saw me fitting into a wetsuit for a water assault course! I never ever thought that either of those things would be happening. I was so worried I had phoned the Aqua Park beforehand to check they'd have a wetsuit that I'd fit in. I gave my height + weight and they seemed pretty confident that it wouldn't be a problem at all and assured me it would fine. Actually when I was there I didn't need anything other than what was already there on the wetsuit hooks. The buoyancy aid however they did find a 'bigger' one for me but to be honest it was way too big for me and when I was swimming it rode up to my ears. I would have been fine with the original one they'd given me, they just don't make buoyancy vests for women with big boobs. They just don't! When I started this blog I described myself as a mum of two babies. They aren't babies anymore and I really don't want to be the can't do mum. When my daughter is saying I should go on the slide I knew I had to do it. Climbing was so difficult under the weight of the equipment and under my own body weight. I had to pull 286 lbs up a very high inflatable climbing frame with rungs so far apart I could hardly lift my leg that heigh - I got to the top (eventually) and then at the top of the very high tower I  had to muster enough courage to go down the slide, and I did. After alot of swimming and effort I completed my hour aqua assault course and all the kids had a fabulous time, which was of course the main purpose of going there in the first place

I have 90lbs still to go! I don't know why I set myself such an ambitious goal... Well I do; Its the weight I was some time ago and I'm an unapologetic perfectionist so crazy end goals do in fact motivate me. 

Second week into my HITT boot camp and typically I've been invited to a job interview just at my boot camp time! Well, old me would have just missed a week, new me has found a pay-as-go session on a different morning, which I'm just going to fit in! I've got to. If I need to be losing 1-2lbs a week then I need to be doing something to a) counteract all sitting down for virtual / laptop working that I do during a working day b) burn all these lbs off! So a £5 HITT at the rec on Thursday morning is booked! 

BMI

Last month I had a bit of a difficult conversation with a consultant. I'm on the waiting list for wisdom tooth extraction under General anesthetic. He asked door my BMI and I did know what it was because I had worked it out for my work covid risk assessment. My BMI on 7th May was ...... 45.6. He politely said the anesthetist would probably phone me in a panic but not to worry and that everything would be fine. I don't know what came over me, probably because I work for the NHS and wanted to say "I'm not fat because I'm stupid and it's all gone a bit wrong", I suddenly tried to explain to him that all the virtual/ laptop working had meant I sat for long hours with little exercise and I'd completed a weight management course and seen a helath coach, oh my goodness, why, oh why was I explaining myself. I think I was just embarrassed. Since that appointment last month I have been so focused on my weightless goal. I dont want to die on an operating table because of my weight. Today my BMI is down to 42.7 (remember it needs to be below 30). 

I inadvertently set myself a stretch goal last week to start liking myself in photos again. I took the wetsuit pic, was brave and uploaded to facebook! Very, very unlike me. I'm just going to keep taking photos until I'm ok with it. I'm realising that these goals that I'm making are made for me to smash down hard. Last week flew past, it really did! Here's to another week of healthy eating, exercise and weight loss 🤞

waiting for the health coach

As I sat on the 3rd floor of the library in February 2020, waiting for my first health coach appointment I wondered if they chose the 3rd floor on purpose. Do they monitor who takes the stairs up and who takes the lift? Well it worked, I took the stairs but partly because it was baby group chucking out time and there was a substantial fight for the lift in progress already.

There's a glass office behind me, I can hear them talking in there so I certainly hope that's not where I will be going? Plus it said they weigh you in the first session..... they didnt mention in a glass box, with all to see though? 

Its 11:56 so the person before me has 4 minutes to finish otherwise that would make my first session late, surely not. I mentioned orlistat before. I've read that it ought to be taken in conjunction with health care provider- supervised reduced calories diet. Since the gp (doctor) gave me the perscription for orlistat I had at the time managed to loose just over 7lbs. So maybe I didn't need the orlistat ...? a private health coach (friend) said that there were better ways to loose weight so I didn't cash the perscription and left it at that.

Since I wrote that introduction, I've completed all my health coach sessions which through the Covid-19 lockdown was a challenge I can tell you. Sometimes I was just crying down the phone so wasn't able to access the health coaching that I had originally sought. I completed the online weight management course at the beginning of the year. This was helpful. Before the online course I hadn't heard of BLISS foods, had no idea of complex carbs and no idea of portion sizes for each food groups. Now when we cook at home there are always leftovers ready for the next day, I really was eating too much, which I had very little idea about. 

Today as I write this (June 2021) I have managed to implement and sustain significant food changes in my life over the last 5 months. I've set my goal to lose over 7 stone (107 lbs) in weight. So far I am 15lbs down and remain focused on this goal every time I eat. This feels like a huge achievement to be honest. 

I visited the gym on a free trial last week and used the treadmill & crosstrainer but in this crazy 'almost' post-covid world I'm not convinced people are cleaning equipment before and after use as they were supposed to do. For this reason I won't be signing back up to the gym right now. Looking for alternative classes I made the decision to sign up for a 7 week HITT workout boot camp, on the beach. As you can see from the photo below, its a stoney beach, which makes the running and walking parts extra tricky! But I did it! I always find committing to a specific session helps to maintain my motivation. As a baseline I wasn't 'as bad' as I thought. Turns out a year spent perfecting my planks in pilates was worth it. For example: 'Elbow plank' for count of 10 -> run across beach on stones to the marker -> repeat then rest for 20 seconds.

I didn't always manage to complete the third reps of the exercises in the time but I mostly manged x1 and x2. I think signing up to these fitness challenges is the only way. I miss those days of my weekly yoga, fitness pilates and swimming but i know they will eventually return and in the meantime there are alternatives to be found.

I very rarely include photos of myself on this blog, let's face it, I avoid having my photo taken at all, but it's something I'm experimenting with. What if I carry on long enough to start to like myself in photos again...? 

Till next time, Bis bald 🦸‍♀️ 

2021 weight gain and no followers - Lets start a January weight loss course

Since covid hit the world, well March 2020 for the UK, I have missed my routine of swimming, Pilates and Yoga. I tried YouTube Yoga for a while but it wasn't the same. With lock-down I am reduced to local walks but with working from home and home schooling, finding the time to exercise has been tricky and if I am honest has fallen by the way side. 

At one point last year (2020) covid lock-down had me at home too scared to leave the house. I ate badly and hid under a duvet some days. Christmas was sad and boring, I put on a stone in weight (6.35kg). At 21st 9.5lbs (139 kg that's 306.6lbs) I started to attend a 10 week weight loss course and I am gradually getting back to things.

I am controlling portion sizes with a portion plate: 

That's working well and I actually realise that I have been eating 3 meals at every meal. You can see the difference between this plate and my old dinner plate! Now I use this plate as a guide and measure the carbs separately as the gastric band plate doesn't have those on it. I certainly haven't cut out carbs. I've actually increased some foods - broccoli, nuts, veg and fruit generally.

Being mindful of hunger levels is something that they talk about on the weight loss course so I am trying to be careful not to get too hungry - which hasn't actually happened. I have been using a Paul McKenna - 'I can make you thin' hypnosis track every night for the last 3 weeks - and - I think it is working. 

Looking over my notes from the mindset and motivation course I have also realised that most of this was all under my nose the whole time. As I am now mid-40s it is even more important to lose this weight. My Fitbit is on and the goal is set at 14 stone which leaves another 6 stone and 13lbs to lose! I don't even know if this is possible? How can we establish exercise as part of this covid working when I am spending most of the day 'chained' to a laptop. This is such a contrast to a 'normal' working day for me and it has certainly taken some time to adjust to. The impact of next to no exercise has definitely had an effect on my weight gain. On these lockdown, chained to a laptop work days I am averaging 2000 - 3000 steps a day.

I am on week 5 of the weight loss course - since January I have lost 10.5 lbs. So something is working......     

The focus is activity this week so my Fitbit will come into its own for weekly stats. My daily goal is and has always been 10,000 steps. Today I have worked out a seafront walk is approximately 7000 steps and if I add on a park walk too - I am up to 15.000 steps. At the time of writing I am on 16,076 steps today, which my Fitbit is telling me is 7.12 miles walked today. When you focus on something it really does help.

Onward and upwards - oh and I must remember to get me some followers on this blog! 

Come on, some of my previous posts had 234 views.

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