First Weight

Well I bit the bullet and got on the scales - 11 stone 13 lbs!!!

Gutted, I've put on about a stone over Christmas, that is unbelievably although I'm not altogether surprised. But I fell like at least I know where I stand now and can do something about it.

I've created a spreadsheet in Excel where I can log my weight and things like calorie intake and any excercise that I do which will hopefully help me keep track of things.

In other news the snow is melting at a rate of notts now so this should make it easier to get out and about, but it is slightly sad in a way as I did enjoy taking the dogs out for a walk and running about the fields in the snow.

Job Situation

Well I still haven't got a job and it's been almost exactly a year now. I never would have thought I would have been unemployed for so long at the start of this.

Up until now I have been fairly chilled about not working obviously having the odd moment of fear now and again but not all the time. Now however it's starting to be so that the fear is always sort of there in the background.

I think I might be in a vicious circle at the moment, no one now wants to give me a job because I've been out of work for so long and it looks like I'm a bit of a slacker. I sent out another application this morning and I actually wrote a little extra in the email saying how keen I was to get back into a job etc, I wasn't sure it didn't sound a bit drippy but then I'm not generally getting any reply's anyway so I thought it was worth a go.

I think being at home so much is just giving me extra time to eat my way through everything in the fridge as well!

Good Start - Crumbled At The End

Excellent start to the day today, I had Shredded Wheat for breakfast with chopped up bannana and I haven't done that in a long while, over Christmas it was mostly choc bics! Ok so I did have a few bics with my morning cuppa but at least we are moving in the right direction.

Then for lunch cous cous with some chopped up tomatoes and feta cheese, still good, still healthy.

For dinner - jacket potato with chick peas and salad, excellent, excellent.

Then it all went peet tong. It started with some of the leftover choc cake from yesterday's Sunday lunch, and went into a further slide with some Quality Streets from Christmas. One of each of the flavours I like I had, oh and I might as well go the whole hog and admit it - I had 2 pieces of the choc cake!

Honestly I think there is actually something wrong with me. Things need to change dramatically on the food front. I have identified the danger time for me though I think, later in the evening snacking. I can do well all day and then crumble at night. Unbelievable. I must make serious efforts to sort this.

Christmas / New Year Meltdown

Well I have had a great Christmas and New Year but I have totally fallen off the wagon with regards to eating healthily.

I dread to think of the amount of calories I have consumed over this 2 week period and even though we are no into the 3rd Jan things haven't slowed down. Just yesterday I went out with my Grandma and Sister to the Harvester ( www.harvester.co.uk great food by the way) and ate so much I'm sure I could feel my stomach expanding. I think the thing that gets me is their salad bar. It sounds all innocent, being salad and all but they have some great stuff in there, potato salad and lots of yummy sauces, that it would be enough for a whole meal on it's own really.

Anyway just like most other people I'm going to make a concerted effort now to eat much healthier and eat much less! Although as today is a Sunday and we have family around for Sunday lunch and I've already seen a big choc cake in the kitchen, maybe I had better start tomorrow!

For those that were wondering, I havent even thought about stepping on a scales.

Gemma's Back

Had a fun day today meeting up with a friend Gemma who has been away on hols. We went out to lunch at Pizza Hut which was yummy!

It's been ages since I've worn anything half smart, what with being in Nepal and being an unemployed bum lol so I had to scour the back of my wardrobe to find something half decent. I found a few pairs of jeans that I had all but forgotten about and were way too small for me. Imagine my joy when both pairs fit me perfectly! It's a good job actually as since I've started loosing weight most of my old jeans don't fit me anymore, which is a fab feeling. It gave me such a spurt on to know that my new healthy eating / exercise is working. Sometimes you really need a boost like that I think. Gemma even asked if I had lost weight without me mentioning my efforts at all so it's defo working. Overall it all seems to be coming together nicely.

I was so inspired that I took the dogs out for an hour long walk to exercise off some of the pizza!

Recipes

Hey, well I am trying hard to stick to my healthy eating even though I don't always manage it! I have had a few slip up's since I've been back from Nepal and it's kept my weight at 11 stone exactly.

I have found an excellent book from the library, it's a recipe book with high energy foods but with a low GI so they aid weight loss, health and vitality.

So far I have tried one recipe out of it - the Morning Muffins and I thought they were really tasty. The stats per muffin are:

kcal - 212

fat - 5g (0.6g saturated)

protein - 5g

carbohydrates - 39g

I will give you the recipe if you fancy trying them out but one word of warning - it says to use chopped apricots and it really does mean this. I forgot to chop mine and so some muffins ended up with whole dried apricots in them and some ended up with none! Not ideal.

You will need:

170g dried apricots, coarsely CHOPPED

170g unsweetened museli

250g self-raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

250ml unsweetened apple juice

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

100ml honey

1 large egg

A 12 hole muffin tin lined with 12 paper cases

This recipe makes 12 and takes 12 minutes of prep time.

-Put the apricots, muesli, flour and baking powder in a large mixing bowl and stir.

-In a separate bowl, mix the apple juice, oil, honey and egg.

-Fold into the dry ingredients, but do not over mix.

-Spoon the mixture into the paper muffin cases.

-Bake in a pre-heated oven at 190C (375F) Gas 5 for 20 minutes, until golden and risen.

-Remove from the oven and serve immediately, or transfer to a wire rack to cool.

-Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

This was a really easy recipe I thought and the muffins do taste great if you like that sort of thing. I realise it's not for everybody though as only me and my Mum actually liked the one's I made. I like to have one for breakfast every now and again as they are quite dense so nice and filling.

The author of the book is Rachael Ann Hill and her website is http://www.rachaelannehill.com/ there is loads of info on this site about diet, fitness and health and you can check out the best-selling author section if you want a link to her book.

Another 2lbs Down

Hey All,

I've decided Friday's will be my weight day. Before Nepal I was weighing kinda randomly with no structure but I've decided now im back to do things right and only weight once a week. As yesterday was Friday I weighted and I was so happy to see I had lost 2lbs more! Im now 11 stone exactly.

Im still amazed this is working to be honest as I haven't started the gym up since i've been back and I was wondering if that would be a mistake. All I have been doing so far is controlling what I eat by:

Cutting out butter.

Making sure I eat 3 meals a day rather than snacking on fatty foods.

Only snacking on fruit between meals.

Making sure I eat a healthy wholegrain cereal each morning.

Keeping an eye on the calories in foods.

Drinking less sugary drinks and drinking more water.

If I find the weightloss slows or stops them I will probably go back to the gym but since I don't have a job at the moment im trying to avoid that expense where possible. Instead I have been walking wherever I can, even taking the stairs instead of lifts lol.