Losing inches & keeping myself to myself.

I am a tad bored with my blog. I am thinking of starting up a new one where I can be a little bit different, but I haven't completely sorted it out yet. I think that one of the reasons I haven't been here much lately is because I have been doing other things ...

I had always thought that I would be a slightly overweight person - not massively, but increasing with age. As time has gone on I noticed my tummy changing to a little bit of a barrel shape and thought that the change was just life. I have tried diets every now and again and realise that food has always been a very important part of my life - as both a comfort and a pleasure.

However, I started a new regime in November and I am the fittest and slimmest I have been in a long time. I will probably write about this new way of life, because that is what it is, at another time, but suffice to say for now I am eating less, eating far more healthily and exercising nearly every day. Weight is dropping off me, as are inches. So far I have lost 3 inches around my waist, 3 inches round my hips and 4 inches round my boobs. Its brilliant!

The photo below is me after a work out - knackered. But happy! I am enjoying working out rather than sitting at my laptop!

The photos below are my usual landscapes. I just love the countryside around where I live and am always stopping to take pictures, particularly of the sky.

I haven't joined up to the 365 linky because last time I did the code messed up my blog, but if you go to The Boy and Me you will find links to other blogs who are taking part.

I am finding myself distancing myself a little bit from the world of blogging. There are some lovely people and some interesting blogs out there, but there are also lots of people who seem to be all about "me, me, me". I have tried in the past to be supportive, to link to other blogs, but recently I have been irritated by people who just don't seem to reciprocate. I'm not saying that this applies to anyone you know, but I think that if I back off a bit and just enjoy writing and posting photos as a diary for myself then I won't get annoyed.

Having said that there are also a core of very lovely, kind and genuine people out there who support me come rain or shine and have done for a long time. Perhaps I just need to be picky and enjoy those people?

Its easy sometimes to feel a bit left out of the "blogging world". But if I keep myself to myself and not expect to be part of it all then I won't be disappointed. Am I sounding curmudgeonly? I hope not. 

Dr Michael Mosley's Fast Diet ... I have begun!!

I am currently sitting at my laptop in the kitchen eating a bowl of porridge. It is delicious! It is also my breakfast of choice these days, even on my fast days. ... Yes, I did say 'fast days'. I might have to explain that ...

I had noticed a couple of friends at work looking particularly well and rather slimmer than usual - not that they were particularly overweight to start with - and I mentioned how well they looked. It turns out that they had started Dr Michael Mosley's Fast Diet and were enjoying the benefits of said regime. At first I was skeptical  but as the book was selling for only £2.95 and my friends were so enthusiastic I bought it, read it and decided to try it for myself.

Now you may be thinking "fast?? That sounds a bit radical and unhealthy" but this idea is not about starving oneself. It is also known as the 5:2 diet or eating plan and involves intermittent  low calorie days. The book explains far more eloquently than I can here how it works, but, briefly its like this ...

In days gone by we humans would eat well some days because we had hunted well and then we might not eat as well or at all for a day or two. Over the last fifty years or so we have, in the Western world, developed a grazing habit. We are rarely hungry ... we eat because its time to eat and we eat portions that are too large. We eat too much meat, too much processed food. Dr Michael Mosley researched into the history and science of fasting and came up with the Fast Diet idea. This was not a flash in the pan and he self experimented with startling results. Not only did he not die of hunger, but as well as losing weight  ...and  most important of all, his blood test results revealed fascinating changes in his make up:

• His fasting glucose levels had gone down. 7.3 down to 5.0
• 
  
• His cholesterol levels had reduced.
• 
  
• His Triglyceride level had gone down ( high levels are associated with increased risk of heart disease) 1.4 down to 0.6
• 
  
• His IGF-1 level had reduced from 28.6 nmol/l to 15.9 nmol/l (I am no scientist but this is apparently a measure of cancer risk and may also be a marker for biological ageing)
• 
  
•  His BMI had gone from 26.4 to 24
•  His body fat from 28% to 21%
• His waist size from 36 inches to 33 inches
• His neck size from 17 inches to 16 inches

He looks upon this scheme as not so much a diet as a way of life forever. You eat normally for 5 days a week and then on 2 days you eat a quarter of your normal daily intake. For normal daily intake women should be eating about 2000 calories a day and men 2400. So, on split days you eat 500 calories as a woman and 600 as a man.

I started the diet last week. On Monday I ate porridge for breakfast with a teaspoon of honey and a cup of peppermint tea. This came to just under 200 calories. The trick (probably a bad word that and not terribly scientific!) is to leave 12 hours between your intakes of food so for the next 12 hours I drank water and peppermint tea only. Then I ate an Innocent curry which I knew was 316 calories. This was yummy but not ideal as I don't like eating foods I haven't cooked myself from scratch, but the range is fresh and I wanted to be absolutely sure of the calories.

I have to say I found that first day quite hard. I felt ravenous, but my hunger reached a certain level and then got no worse. I did get a headache, but I think that's because I didn't drink enough water. I was determined to reach the 12 hour mark and felt quite a sense of achievement when I did. Cooking my curry I looked at it in my bowl and was amazed that even after one day of fasting the quantity looked huge!! I savoured every mouthful ... chewing slowly and enjoying every burst of flavour! When I finished I felt really full ... bizarre!!

The following morning I woke an hour earlier than usual and felt oddly alert and full of energy. I can't quite explain it, but all this week I have felt somehow ... cleaner, more awake. And although this was not a fasting day I had no desire to cook a huge fry up for breakfast. On non-fast days you can eat what you like, but I enjoyed my normal healthy fare. I did get a twinge of guilt as I made myself a milky coffee, but then remembered that on this day I could drink milky coffee if I wanted. The feeling of glee was lovely!!

My second fast day was Thursday and as I was at work all day it was somehow easier. I suppose the trick is to just keep busy. I made sure that I drank lots and the dreaded headache did not appear. In fact I felt great! I ate 500 calories again and it was definitely enough. The great thing is also that even when you feel hungry you know that tomorrow you can eat normally again. Anyone can make it through one day can't they?? And you feel a sense of achievement when you do finish the day.

Before I started I measured myself ... weight, waist, hips and I also treated myself to a posh weighing scale which measures fat percentage, water, bone, muscle. I worked out my BMI and, as I already knew, I am obese. God, but that's hard to write ...

I am not going to reveal my measurements to you yet, but I do plan on keeping this blog updated with my progress and opinion and if it goes well I shall reveal all!! Stats that is ... don't get too excited. One of the things that I really like about this is the health benefits that the plan appears to have. I am heading towards 50 and if I can reduce my weight while at the same time reducing my risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes then that is fantastic. I also love food, love cooking so this will enable me to still enjoy the odd cheese board without pangs of terrible guilt. The strange thing is that I don't crave anything at the moment, other than healthy foods ... 

So ... my thoughts on the Fast Diet at the moment are very positive. If you are doubtful then I recommend you read the book and perhaps keep checking back here to see how I do!! 

Losing weight - day 1.

I am absolutely starving. This is a good thing as my dinner will be ready shortly and I am trying to be healthy.

not what I look like ...

I went to the gym today for my session with the friendly personal trainer and I took advantage of the high tech weighing machine there. I discover that I have put on 2 stone ... 28 pounds. Groan!! Here I go again, trying to eat healthily, do lots of exercise and generally pull myself together in an attempt to be healthy, fit and be able to sit down without my belly hanging between my legs.

ok ... I know I'm not vast, but I'm vaster than I want to be. Matronly I would say. Grrr

The last bit about my belly is an exaggeration ... but it seems that my whole life has been a fight against being overweight. Its bloody boring.

Still ... I am hardly huge. I have 28 pounds to lose and if I aim for a pound a week and start to eat the way I should then I will be fit and slim by February. Easy eh?? I think I have let myself go this year - not helped by a rubbish year at work, illness in the family and a general tendency to be a greedy mare. Comfort food and a liking for a glass of Merlot do not lend to healthy lifestyle.

The gym was great and I am looking forward to getting stuck into my routine. I just have to make the time for me and it will become a part of my life. Let's hope so anyway. Right now I would kill for a peanut butter sandwich!!

New weighing scales that lurk behind the sofa, whispering of my obesity...

I recently bought myself a new pair of bathroom scales. They are to replace the rather shabby, rusting ones that lurk behind my bathroom sink.I have not yet used them. They are, at this moment, sitting behind my sofa, glistening with newness and as yet unsullied by my ever increasing weight.

I am a liitle afraid of using them. With my old scales I knew where I was. With my old scales I could comfortably stand on them, first thing in the morning, devoid of all clothing, jewellery and make up ( they all add up in the poundage stakes, you know ) I could happily manipulate the amount I weighed depending on my position on the scales and I usually opted for the 'best of three' strategy.

There will be no such leniency with my new machine. They are ready, waiting for me with unsympathetic sterility.They are shining and clinical - full of digital wizardry and aggressive, critical information. The minute I step on them I will know for sure the exact amount of fat lurking on my thighs, the precise details of my obesity. There will be no lee way, no 'tricking' the mechanics.

These new scales are a merciless, unstoppable, lean, mean weighing machine. I can almost hear them breathing as they await me. They crouch with reptilian stealth, waiting their moment, the moment when I will be humiliated.There will be none of the creaking sympathy of my old scales. No, these ones will label me coldly, heartlessly. I will no longer by a person, but a pile of blubber. My shame, my weakness will be there for all to see. I would not be surprised if somewhere, hidden amongst the sleek glass and chrome, was a link to Twitter or Facebook, automatically updating the world with the intimate details of my Body Mass Index.

I have had them for two weeks now.... I am not sure if I will ever use them.

Nearly at the end of the week.My thoughts...

I have nearly made it to the end of a busy week... a week punctuated by full moon influenced children, trips to the physio and general over eating. Oh, and by the nagging fact that my essay has not yet been returned to me.

Over the years I have come to the conclusion that we are all influenced by the moon. Call me crazy if you want to but I can tell by the behaviour of a) myself and b) the kids I work with that the moon is full.If you look around and there is tension in the air, unrest, frustrated grumpiness, then look into the sky and the odds are the moon will be full... its true, trust me.

My leg is still not fixed. I am very lucky to have been able to see the physio 3 times now for treatment to my calf muscle. I have torn some muscle fibres which are healing rapidly, but not quite rapidly enough. The physio has magic, if somewhat cruel fingers with which she massages my leg. Strange how something so bloody excruciating can be doing you good! Still, she swears she is doing me good and not just indulging in some sort of mean torture...

I realised the other day that I had forgotten I was supposed to be on a diet. A pathetic excuse for over eating, I know, but its true.I am waiting for a new battery for my weighing scales and then I will get on and weigh myself. After that the plan is to restart football and running. At least I will do that as soon as my physio says I can. When I mentioned football the other day she told me off. I am not allowed to play until she says I can. So there. Must stop eating...

And my essay? Still not back. How long does it take to mark these things? Last time it was 2 days, this time its a week and a half and no sign of the darn thing. I am checking my e-mail every 5 minutes to see if its back yet. Come on tutor lady!!! Get it back to me!!!

And last but not least... my VYou thingy. Have you seen it on the side there? I know... its a bit odd and the quality is not great, but I am still weighing it up. To keep or not to keep... Looking at the VYou web site I seem to be the oldest person on there by about 20 years - not that age matters to me. I just like the technology and the thought that I can interact.We shall see how it goes...

Don Juan and the hectic life of a woman...

Here I am, trying to write an essay on Byron's Don Juan, whilst cooking tea, ferrying children to football and tennis and also acting as diplomat/boxing referee for the kids. Oh, and writing letters for my husband.

I have done copious notes for the essay, began writing it all up and discovered that I had written 500 words just on rhyme and meter.Ooops.I still had to write about caesura, enjambment, imagery, meaning and do a comparison with the other bleeding poem.I had really got into my notes and am gutted that I can't fit it all in. I somehow have to find a way to get all the salient points in, without it sounding like I am texting. I think that would be the only way to get my essay in under the word spec..... if I just miss out all the vowels.

Despite the pressure of another assignment being due in ( next Wednesday ) my life is overflowing with things to do. They are all good and all enjoyable... there are simply too many of them... work, meals out, reunions,reading,studying... I would like to go for a run, but I don't have the time, unless I get up at the crack of dawn. I am going to bed earlier and earlier to be able to get up earlier and do stuff like get dressed, put slap on,make pack lunch for son,eat breakfast...

And during all this my boys are niggling each other and being a pain.I am bored of it I really can't be bothered to get all wound up and tell them off so I am just sending them to bed ever earlier too. Before you know it we will all be in bed by 7pm each night.

I think I must be starting to get hormonal because I am feeling fat and moany, even though I know I have not broken my diet and have lost 10 pounds.Nobody seems to have noticed that I am practically wasting away. So that starts me thinking... my scales must be wrong... I must be as fat as ever...How evil are these hormones?? They know just where to strike a woman... in our soft fat underbellies...

Not so much a diet as a way of life!!

I am soooooooooooooooooooooooo happy to report that since I started my diet/new way of living.... I have lost 10 pounds!!!! I am so chuffed!!! And you know what ?? I don't feel hungry or that I am missing out. I feel healthy and happy.Its the first time in ages that I haven't lived my life around food.Right now food just doesn't feature that much in my life.I am still enjoying cooking and I still eat well, but I am eating far far less and far far more healthily.

I have 7 more pounds before I reach my target weight, but I think I might just keep on eating like this forever. It doesn't feel like I am " on a diet". I hope that when I reach a good weight for me it will just level off and I will stay healthy, but slim.

Yippeeee!!

To Dr Moore... Helen Maria Williams' poem is nearly analysed!!

I am really quite pleased with this afternoon's work. I have been sitting here writing my essay on the poem by Helen Maria Williams -' To Dr Moore...'. I was dreading writing this assignment as I am totally uninspired by this Romantic Poetry, but it has gone quite well today. If you have Googled the poem and poet and have found yourself on my blog... well, welcome. I don't think I am going to help you with your essay, but my heart goes out to you in understanding and sympathy!!

I did not, at first, like this poem,but its actually not too bad and having read it a million times I think I understand it.It is just hard to get the words down to 1500. At the moment I am taking a break as tea has to be cooked for the boys, but I still have quite a bit that I want to write and only 500 words left!! Aaaah!! Still, I have tomorrow afternoon in which to finish it and I think it will get done. Its due in on Thursday, but I always like to get assignments sent in at least a couple of days before the deadline.

I keep looking out of the window hoping it will snow again.I don't want to have to go into work tomorrow. Its just a bit boring at the moment. I think that I just would rather not work at all. I would certainly fill my days with all the things I like doing!!

I had my big weigh in this morning and.... I have lost one pound.That's ok.I just have to keep going with this.I am so tempted to cheat sometimes. I love food!!So far I have lost 3 pounds - only 14 to go before I reach my target.Ok... no more diet talk as its boring. I am going to go and cook tea.Oh... I nearly forgot... I am having trouble leaving comments again.I have tried on Gail's,Kork's and Urban Cynic's blogs and I keep failing. I think its my computer that is soooooooooooooo slow and nothing to do with yours, but I am visiting and I am reading. I will keep trying to leave comments too.

shortbread....I sooo want to eat this....groan....

Take care everybody!! xx

In 17 weeks I shall be a snap dolly!!!

Yes... I know this is a cliche, but as it is a new year I feel the time has come to.... lose weight.I wish when I was 22 somebody had told me that being 8 stone 7 was pretty good and healthy ( that's 119 pounds I think ). I have always thought of myself as overweight, although I know that I am not huge.I have always worried about my weight and over the years have varied from 8stone 7... up to 8.12.... then 9.7 and so on.

I got to a stage where I was always on a diet and that, as we all know, is not healthy.After 2 children I was up to 11 and a half stone ( 154 pounds ) and it was time to do something. I joined a class and over the next 9 months I lost 35 pounds and gained in confidence and happiness.I managed to keep it off for a long time and have led a health, sporty life... running, walking, swimming.

But.... I am now back up to 10 stone 10 and that is NO GOOD!!!! So.... it is time to act.I have set myself a goal.... 1 pound a week loss for 17 weeks. My aim is to be 9 stone 7 or 133 pounds.That will be fine. At that weight I will be a size 10 ( UK ) and I will be much healthier.

So far ( yes, I have already started!) I have lost 2 pounds in this, my first week... so all is good. I just have to keep going and keep healthy. I aim to start running/ walking again this week if I can fit it in with the aim of running a 10k in September with my sister-in-law. If I can do it I will run other races as well, but my main aim is to be fit, slim and happy.I am sick of seeing myself ballooning and at the age of 45 I need to think more healthily.

me... a little too bulgy, but trying to be fit.

 

So... wish me luck!! I will mention it occasionally on here, but not manically!! The last thing you need is a run down on everything I consume each day!! If you have started a diet for the new year let me know how you are getting along.... maybe we can help each other!!