Still ill

I have a throat and ear infection and am on antiobiotics. I'm really coughy and wheezy too, so once again I'm not able to get on the treadmill. Grrrr. I wanna get on it so bad, but I also want to live. So I won't (get on it).

Monday weigh-in

Today I weighed in at 222.8. That's down 5 from last week.
I've got a bad earache and sore throat so I'm not going to be exercising for a few days, and haven't done so since about last Wednesday.

This week's exercise post

Monday
I had a really long day looking after the Little One and Little Flower, so I didn't go on the treadmill. However, I did go for a couple of walks with the kids and got some fresh air.

Tuesday
35 mins on the treadmill (3.5 km) at incline of 6.

Wednesday
35 mins on the treadmill (same as yesterday)

Weigh-in

This Monday I weighed exactly the same as last week.
(227.8)

Exercise

Monday
40 mins on the treadmill.

Tuesday
65 minutes working HARD on the treadmill.

I think I overdid it on Tuesday, cos I ached for the rest of the week, and upset my asthma a bit.

Thursday
12 minutes treadmill

Friday
11 1\2 mins treadmill

Monday morning weigh-in

227.8

That is down from last Monday (which was 228.6) but up 3 from my lowest weigh-in this week. Water retention? Who knows.
But it's down, and I'll take it!

My exercise challenge

Having been able to get back on the treadmill again (after a chest infection) and discovering how much it improves my mood and makes me feel better, I'm going to set myself a challenge.

At the moment I don't have a full time job (although I'm working on it..), but that means I have lots of time to exercise.

So, my challenge is to do at least 5 hours exercise a week. And, if those five hours are on the treadmill, and I do other stuff in addition, then that's even better.

Sunday
1 hour treadmill

Monday
1 hour treadmill
weights (approx 15 mins)

Tuesday
30 mins treadmill
30-40 mins swimming (I did 28 lengths)

Wednesday
1 hour treadmill
weights (approx 15 mins)

Thursday
45 mins treadmill

Friday
1 hour treadmill

Saturday
70 mins treadmill

Sunday
Took a day off from exercising.

This week's Monday weigh-in

On Monday I weighed in at 228.6 (my lowest so far, and breaking through the 230 barrier)

Hmmm, haven't posted on here in a while

Weigh-in Today (Monday)
230.2

I lost around 2 stone (28 lb) while I was living with blest in Texas, and another half a stone since I've been back.

I'm still dealing with my body adjusting to the time difference (having to make myself eat in the mornings cos I just don't feel very hungry then) and mentally it's been hard too.

Today I'm in a really bad mood, for a number of reasons. But hopefully it'll lift soon.


WOW! I just added a new pic in the sidebar, and look at the difference between July 2006 and Feb 2008.

Monday

Weigh-in 263 (total loss since last Monday is 6.4)

Breakfast
Baked beans, mashed cauliflower and bacon. (There's is a photo here which you probably don't want to look at because the beans and cauliflower got all mixed together, because it was the final leftovers and they were in a pot together, which doesn't look so lovely, however it tasted great!)

Snack
Jelly with ricotta, and then a spoonful of peanut butter. Just got a craving for the peanut butter so went with it - had one little spoonful and then put the jar away.

Lunch
I panicked a bit because I suddenly realised I felt cold and wanted something warm rather than lettuce etc, and all the beans are gone. I aimlessly looked in the fridge a couple of times and then realised I could do another stir-fry for myself. This one has onion, carrot, courgette, red pepper, mushroom, pine nuts and soy sauce. Note to self - come up with more simple but warm things to eat for lunch.Dinner
Cashew nut curry (which contains sultanas, so that was my fruit for the day!) and brocoli.

Sunday

Breakfast
Baked beans, mushrooms and bacon
(forgot to take the picture until after I started eating!)
Lunch
Stirfry with onion, carrot, courgette, mushroom, green beans, brocoli, red pepper, lamb (left over from the roast on Friday), pine nuts and soy sauce.Afternoon snack
Jelly with ricottaDinner
(boring, I know, but they needed using up..)
baked beans and cauliflower

Saturday

Weigh-in 262.8 (down 2 from yesterday)
I'm trying to work out how long I should stay on phase 1. I like the rapid weight loss, but I know it's not ideal for longterm. I'm considering adding in fruit next week, but staying off other carbs for another week. Any thoughs y'all?

Breakfast
Bacon, baked beans and cauliflower.

Lunch
Chili con carne, mashed cauliflower, broad beans and red pepper

Afternoon snack
babybell

Dinner
Celeriac and lentils with hazelnuts (recipe we found in The Guardian (thanks Bekki). Tasted ok, but I wouldn't recommend it!) Jelly with ricotta.

Friday

Pictures now uploaded

Morning weigh-in 264.8 (back up .2 from yesterday)
I will stict to phase one today (Wednesday and Thursday I had slight deviations from the plan, but still felt ok with the choices I made)

Breakfast
Homemade baked beans with a flat egg. (I probably ought to freeze some of the beans, because the recipe makes a large batch, and I tend to just eat it at some meal every day afterwards until it's finished. I don't mind, just wanted to point that out in case people don't think I have a very varied diet!)Lunch (I didn't have a snack this mornnig because I had a bit of a lie-in, so there wasn't such a long time as usual between breakfast and lunch)
Chili con carne with mashed cauliflower and some red pepper (not in the picture)Afternoon snack
Some cashew nuts and a babybel (no picture)

Dinner
Roast lamb with lots and lots of vegetables. Not sure I can remember what they all were without looking at the picture! Peas, broad beans, brocoli, carrots, cauliflowr. Also some gravy and some mint sauce.

Thursday

Morning weigh-in 264.6 (that's down .2, but still down!)

Breakfast
2 rashers of bacon and a flat egg










Morning snack
Some cashew nuts










Lunch
Homemade baked beans, mashed cauliflower, kale (can you tell I'm having leftovers!)










Afternoon snack
Sugar-free jelly and a babybel (not pictured!) (I was felling really hungry and knew I wouldn't get dinner until quite late)










Dinner (no photo)
Chicken curry with rice (I was babysitting and went straight from looking after J & B. The family I was babysitting for made me dinner and left it for me to have. I didn't eat all the rice, but decided I was hungry enough to want to eat some of it) I also had a couple of garlic dough balls with the curry. I probably ought to have left them, but it had been a long day and I was hungry. I need to be aware for the future that when I'm hungry I don't make such good decisions, so need to try to plan ahead.
I was able to totally resist the cake that they brought me home at the end of the evening, so that was an achievement.

Wednesday Evening

(I didn't manage to take any pictures at the party as it was all a bit manic)
In the afternoon I had some cashew nuts for my snack.










At the party I was pretty controlled. I had crockpot beans and sausage (which for some reason none of the kids wanted when compared to crisps, sweets, chocolates and cake?!) and cucumber.
I also ate a couple of falafals and a samosa. I allowed myself to have one small piece of chocolate brownie, and then thoroughly ignored it for the rest of the evening. I made sure I drank lots of water, and at the end of the evening I felt happy with my choices.

wednesday

This morning's weigh-in 264.8 that's down again. Yay!

For breakfast I had two rashers of bacon on top of 'flat' egg made with two eggs.For lunch I had some of my homemade baked beans (will try to put up a recipe, but not today cos life is too busy!), and leftover brocoli and some of the mashed cauliflower. Yum.
Little J enjoyed it too.And then after that I had a babybel because J didn't want it and I couldn't let it go to waste!
(He didn't eat it at all, I just only remembered to take the picture after I'm taken a bite!)
Thanks everyone who has been dropping by to encourage me. It really helps me stay on track.

Evening meal

For dinner this evening I had 2 lamb chops, mashed cauliflower (if you've never had this then you definitely ought to try it. It tastes yummy and is a great substitute for mashed potato) , curly kale, gravy and mint sauce. Delicious :-)

This is working

Do you know, this is really working for me. Just because I've made a commitment to myself to take a picture of everything I eat, and because I don't want to let any of the OWOA ladies (and Bird) down, it really is working. I think it was Brandi who suggested a while back that I use those guys as an excuse to tell other people, but that didn't really work, however like this is does seem to work. I'm not saying that I'm only doing this for all those guys, I am doing this for me. I know I need to lose this weight, it just helps knowing that they are behind me all the way. I needed to find a way to stay accountable, and this seems to be working for me.

Please excuse the not brilliant photography, I probably could take better pitures if I treid hard, but it's not practical to spend that long before every meal! However, just the act of taking the picture helps me to actually look at the food I'm putting in my mouth and process what I'm eating. It takes the mindlessness out of eating, and that is what I needed to do.


This afternoon I had a sugar-free jelly for my snack (actually it was jelly mixed with ricotta, but anyway). I was aware that making chocolate brownies might make me want something sweet so I went for that rather than nuts or vegetable and houmous.

Today so far (Tuesday)

Weigh-in this morning 265.2 I know that is a big drop from yesterday (about 4 pounds) but I know that some of that was fluids as I had quite a bit of unhealthy salty stuff on Friday and Saturday last week. I feel thinner, and my trousers are back to falling down slightly, so I must have been bloated.

This morning for breakfast I didn't feel like the same as yesterday, but I already had the vegetables cut up (I did a double lot yesterday and put half in a bag to use today). So I stirfried the veg in a very little oil and added a dash of soy sauce, and had them on top of what's known in my house as flat egg. (I used spray oil, broke the yolk and flipped it over so that both sides got browned)
I didn't have a morning snack as we were out shopping and I'd forgotten to take anything, but I think I do need to try to remember something for tomorrow.

For lunch I had similar to yesterday, but added a handful of chickpeas instead of cashew nuts
(lettuce, cherry tomatoes, red pepper, turkey, chickpeas, vinaigrette (we make that ourselves and tend to use more vinegar than oil which is not the traditional way to do it, but I like the vinegary taste)This afternoon I am cooking baked beans and chocolate brownies (for our church kids party tomorrow night). My plan is to have a big bowl of washing up water ready so that I don't even have chance to lick the spoon.

UPDATE: The brownies are in the oven, and I managed to not eat any of it. All I have to do now is remain strong when I cut them up once they're cool.

Monday's dinner

I had chicken turkey dopiaza with brocoli and a spoonful of mango chutney. It was yummy :-)