It is time now to do my (more than) 2 stone lost review!!! I can certainly see the differences appearing. I can't wait to do it again when I'm down to my original goal weight. So exciting!

Here are the progress photos:

And now the Comparison Photos. This shows a two stone 1 lb weight loss. 13 stone 5 on the right and 12 stone 4 on the left  :

The only difference Is the front and back photos are from 13 stone 1 as I didn't think to do those pics when I started. Phew, what a difference!

Week 47

I've had a few weeks of bad period-related  bingeing and general illness and malaise. I've tried really hard to control myself and to balance out binges. I've skipped a lot of exercise too and felt worse for it. Exercise is now an important part of my life and it really affects my mood and behaviours positively. I've even had a weekend away with friends and bought a dress. I even wore the dress in public!!! I had some positive weight loss comments that made me feel good. I'd noticed my arms looking a little slimmer and I decided to do one last weigh in before I turn my scales in until 2014. And I got a little Christmas surprise: 11 stone 4! Only 8 lbs left to my original goal and my target to start online dating. If I can get on top of a new year health resumption I could lose that in just January. Just 8lbs left until I have lost 5 stone. I'm so happy and proud.
My holiday eating plan is to stay as healthy as I can until Christmas Eve. From Christmas Eve dinner until Boxing Day lunch I'm going to eat whatever I want with no guilt. I'll keep my exercise up and start off my cooking kick for the new year. My new years resolutions revolve around weight loss and saving money. I hope to keep it up. Happy holidays everyone!

Week 42 - good news!

I've worked so hard not to binge this week and it's starting to pay off! First of all, I feel much more in control which helps in many physical and psychological ways.  Secondly, I managed to beat my personal best in the 5k again this week. Thirdly, I've saved so much money by not buying binge food. Finally, I've lost 3lbs. Yeah, baby!

11 stone 7, and that's yesterday and today just to make sure! If I can keep it up and lose even 1 lb a week I can be 2 stone down by the end of the first week of December!!! A part of me wants to hit 11 stone and a normal bmi rating by the end of the year, you know, start 2014 as I mean to go on - a healthy weight! However, slow and steady wins the race and I know putting too much pressure on myself makes me want to binge and that's not an option.
I'm going to carry on with plenty of exercise and working hard to stay strong and not binge this week. A binge free week is what I'm aiming for and the weight loss will come in its own time!!

I'm going to take and post photos later just to mark the occasion.

4 stone lost!

Today's scale reading:

Officially 4 stone down, however I had a pizza for dinner last night (bad girl) and I think there may still be some residual cheese/salt bloating. Also my period is still clinging on for one last day, so I think there is a possibility that I might lose a few more ounces if I weigh myself tomorrow. I think that will be my plan! 

New progress photos:

I got all emotional thinking about being 11 stone 5, and realising that would make me 2 stone less than when I started this blog.I have done some comparison photos, as I like seeing them, but I am excited to do the next set when I will have lost 2 stone from the beginning of the blog. These are today's comparison photos, today's weight on the right, and the photos from 13 stone 5 (side) and 13 stone 1 (front/back) on the left:

This is the first time I've been able to notice a real stomach difference. It just seems really noticeable here, on the side views, and I know that I have even been noticing little differences in real life so I'm pleased and long may that continue.

Right, well, I'm continuing with the exercise (shaved 2 mins 20 secs off my personal best at the 5km run yesterday :-) ) and NOT BINGEING. I've decided this is non-negotiable and I'm working now on reducing the over-eating that I do to break the binge habit. I'm pleased with my progress this week, though, and I have even been able to eat my way around a few treats (plain chow mein and prawn crackers from the chinese takeaway on Friday, and a personal Domino's cheese & tomato pizza with a few wedges yesterday) - I said when I started this that it was a 'weight loss journey' but also a 'path to healthy habits'. That means something I can sustain my entire life and that means periodically eating treats without everything going to hell in a handbasket so I'm proud of myself. Another pound down! Four stone from the beginning - it is hard to remember being 15 stone 10 now. I'm so happy.

Week 40 - Back on the Bandwagon

Well, it has been an interesting couple of weeks. Two days after the last post I wrote I weighed myself and it was 11 stone 10. This was very exciting, but didn't stick around. Nothing majorly bad happened, but binges came back and so my eating habits and exercise habits slipped enormously. Particularly this last week I really didn't feel like exercising, and I went to McDonalds at least twice and stuffed myself. It left me feeling sluggish and even less motivated to stick with anything. I've gotten back into the exercise, though. On Friday I did a fun exercise DVD with a friend and Saturday I did a 5 km run. Today I am going to go out for a run too and then I'll be back at the gym tomorrow - minus a stop off at McDonalds! I'm breaking that habit.

I've managed to pull myself back into my good eating habits too. Do you want to know how? A magic muffin. Yes, I have managed to prevent binges by eating a muffin. My mother and nephew made healthy fruit muffins and gave me a week's worth. I took one into work along with my usual food. It got to break time and my mind went to 'let's binge on cake and crisps and because you've already messed up you can go into McDonald's after work ahahahaha'. I reminded myself that I had an exciting muffin and this completely removed my binge thinking. I had to do some re-thinking of my eating plan though, as I sat down and worked out my calorie allowances. This re-working, however, allowed me the extra calories to eat my extra muffin. Woohoo! I am sticking to a limit of 1500-1750. This is what I ate:

1 banana chocolate muffin - 135
1 banana - 100
1 chocolate chip cookie - 170
1 magic muffin - ?
Handful of banana chips - 50
1 portion of stir fry - 350
1 chia seed pudding - 110
4 pizza bites- 240
1 spinach and tofu lasagne roll - 220
1 portion of steamed veggies - 75
1 bag chicken strips - 47
Calories - 1497 + muffin

So, this brings me to this week's weight after a rocky couple of weeks. 2 ounces up, but still 11 stone 11. I have the feeling 11 stone 11 is going to be one of my great weight loss nemeses. I'm going to smash it up and kick it in the balls though. This week, I just know it. Here's to a binge-free week and hopefully getting back into my good healthy habits.
Smashing that 11 stone 11 would be the icing on the cake (that I won't be eating of course)

Week 38

Wow, I've just counted back and this is week 38 of my blog. If I was pregnant the baby would be arriving about now!
I've managed to lose three pounds this week so I'm back to 11 stone 11 -where I was back in August but that's ok. I want to finally get lower next week and I'm confident. My willpower is much better, I split a pizza in half and saved half for dinner and I ate it with vegetables and didn't binge or anything. I had one double milky way for dessert and that was it.

I've found a great load of recipes to cook for my meals until Christmas and I'm quietly confident. A friend has invited me to do a 5km run every week so that will be great. I just need to keep up the exercise and good eating and not bingeing next week and I hope to see that elusive 11 stone 10 next week!

Just for reference, I started out at 13 stone 5. I'm now 1 stone 8 lbs lighter. It's taken me 9 months to lose 22 lbs, works out about 0.5lbs a week. And I still have 32 lbs left to lose. Gulp. It can't take me another 9 months, God help me. 

This week's weight:

Positive Weekend

I swear I took photos between the last post and this one, but I'm not sure what I did with them. I haven't lost any weight, in fact I have put it on. I am up to 12 stone as of Monday. I think this might be partially a period induced kind of bloat, but I did keep bingeing last week. I was up to 12 stone 2 the Friday before and I spent all weekend eating and boozing, so I'm assuming that it was inflated. I'm hoping to be back in the 11s this week, and then to do some good work during half term next week! I realised that my motivation and willpower was off due to TOM. Now, and next week I'll be feeling much better.
I got some good motivation this weekend from some friends who kept commenting on how much weight I'd lost and saying they were proud of my new exercise routine. The comments and positive praise are what had me in my pyjamas just after 8 this evening so that I could not get in the car and drive to McDonalds and eat chips until I exploded. I am going to go and make myself a snack, though - I think tonight I am actually hungry not just bingey. And it would be really embarrassing to rock up at McDonalds in my snowflake pjs....
I wanted to go for a run tonight but it is actually chucking it down with rain. Tomorrow I'll be gymming it and then I'm going to plan my routine for next week - a week's holiday. I'm hoping to break the back of the 11s and get back into my downhill streak. I have a meet up with friends at the end of November, and I'd like to look a little fitter by then.
My new goals are to be at 10 stone 10 by the end of the year/Christmas, and work on being 9 stone 3 by Easter. I originally said Valentine's Day but I'd like to be realistic so I don't keep missing my goals and being disappointed. So, 1 stone 4 lbs to lose in 12 weeks by the end of the year. 18 lbs. not sure, but I'd like it to be do-able. I've rediscovered my motivation and I'm going to be switching up my exercise routine so fingers crossed! I'm just about to go and look up waterproof running gear....

Thoughts

It's the first of October.  12 weeks until Christmas including this one.  Potential to lose 24lbs at a rate of 2lbs per week. For some people this is totally doable.  Hopefully I'm one of those people. That would put me at 10 stone 3 with less than a stone to lose till my goal weight. Significantly less than a stone, like just 10lbs. I would hit my dating goal weight around the end of November so potential Christmas romance.  Wouldn't that be lovely?

Yesterday I ended up skipping a meal due to eating lunch at dinner time so I had a couple of pieces of toast before bed.  No biggie.  Today I had one individual packet of crisps, a grab bag of minstrels, 2 curly wurlies and a double milky way in addition to my usual meals.  Alarmingly this is a minor binge by my standards but notice I only got and consumed ONE individual bag of crisps.  That's huge for me and the temptation had been there.  I'm feeling satiated and I'm taking(and leaving) the chocs to work tomorrow- yes, I didn't consume them all!!!! I've signed up for extra classes at the gym and I'll go running.  My breakfast is protein and vegetables and fruit. I've calculated that TOM symptoms may begin next week so I want to shore up my defences by a good loss this week.  COME ON!!!!
I'm going to get some water now and pack my meals for tomorrow. I think I signed up for yoga tomorrow, then zumba on Thurs, pilates on Fri and yoga on Sunday.  I just need to keep strong.  I'm going to set my phone screen saver as something inspirational and maybe I'll print something out for my purse.  I need to do this.  Need to. Fare thee well 11 stone 13. I bid you adieu.

Sticking but not stuck.

We are here on Saturday morning at exactly the same weight down to the ounces.  I'm proud although disappointed too. I'm keeping myself accountable so I think I can identify what went wrong. I had one binge evening where I had a packet of giant hula hoops and a big bag of those pita chips I love. Bingeing is stopping now though.  In an effort to avoid binges I have been deliberately over eating, which has meant lots of toast, lots of kitkats and one day I bought sandwiches+crisps+soft drink for lunch.  I've also been eating toast for breakfast on top of that as I haven't had money for fruit or eggs, and I had an abundance of cake at the start of the week and I agree an entire pizza+garlic bread yesterday.  All that and only one binge though so I'm proud of myself. The number of binges I talked myself out of was high though. It's really hard.

With that feedback I'm going low carb next week! No more bread, biscuits, potatoes. I need to kick the 11 stone plateau. I'm also upping my exercise game as Monday and Friday (usual gym days) will be taken up with work training so I'll have to not make excuses and fit it in at other times.

Fingers crossed for a good, solid loss next weekend!

So. It's been about a month. And what a month. Since the last picture, I went entirely off the rails. This culminated in a tear-filled run last night as I finally admitted to myself that maybe I have a problem that is bigger than I am able to deal with. It is hard for me to admit that. In spite of myself and all I seem to be doing to sabotage myself my weigh-in this morning, which I hope to be something of a fresh start, is as follows:

 Which, considering everything that has happened is not too bad. I'm back in the 11s, which is good and makes my mind feel better. Last week my weight was:

I know that my weight has fluctuated within 7 lbs of that weight from various times I have weighed myself out of curiousity over the past month. I mean 7 lbs up of course, if it was 7 lbs less I would probably not be in this mess! To record them, I have started taking my usual progress photos. Here are this week's offerings:

My fears about losing control with the lack of structure of the summer holidays were completely correct. I managed to stick to eating relatively reasonably and doing a few workouts for the first three-ish weeks. The last three weeks and the time since then? All to shit. All of it. Everything I worked so hard for gone. I ate not just everything, but I ate everything unhealthy all of the time and then I binged on top of that. I didn't go to the gym and I didn't even go out for walks most of the time. I think that my only saving grace probably was the few walks that I did go on, honestly. I think that is the only thing that kept my metabolism going and stopped me, at the same time, from losing my mind completely.

I think I might have finally reached rock bottom this weekend and I am hoping that by starting off with a 1 lbs loss and a good breakfast (two pieces of seeded toast, a kiwi fruit and water) that I can kick this week into being the week that saves me. If not, I've come to the sickening conclusion that I am going to have to seek outside help and I can't do that. A. because that means admitting out loud to someone else that I have a problem and that means it is true so much more than it does just admitting it to myself. B. I'm not sure that I really do have as much of a problem as it feels to me, and the idea of confessing it to someone and having them listen politely only to tell me there is nothing wrong with me might just push me off the deep end. C. I'm not sure I could physically deal with this outside of myself. I am a secretive person, I do not share information easily and the idea of having to explain myself to someone makes me feel ill. I need to try and deal with this myself.

Yes, I'm putting off explaining what pushed me to this point. Yes, because it is difficult for me to write about. I'm also not sure how far back in time to go. Yes, because once I type it and press publish it is there for me to see over and over and it means that I really have admitted to a problem. I find that writing about it makes me feel better though. It helps me to sort through my twisted thoughts and make sense of them.

I have to go to a birthday party now. I'm going to leave this with pleasure at losing 1 lbs and being only 1 lbs higher than the last time I posted. Let's end this on a good note.

Re-arranging my priorities and goals

I came to a realisation last week that I am sick of being single. In fairness, I have been sick of being single for years now, but I have not been able to make myself or any single male do anything about it. I'm sick of being the third wheel, sick of people dancing around asking me if I've met anyone, sick of avoiding questions and sick of wondering what is wrong with me. Sick, sick, sick. I'm fairly oblivious and I tend to assume that people don't like me and aren't interested in me that way. I am 99.9% sure that I have been correct in these assumptions until now, but I need to change that. I desperately want to get married, have kids and settle down ultimately. I know you aren't supposed to be seen as desperate, but really, there is only so much that someone who has been single for 4 years can do to cover up the desperation. I am too nervy to come across as desperate, I think, but if not I really can't do anything about it. If one more person says "That's ok" when I say that I'm single or asks questions like, "is that your choice?" I'm going to lose my fucking mind.

With this realisation, I am altering my goals and motivations. When I hit 11 stone (in 12-13 lbs from now) I will officially be in normal BMI. In just 4 more pounds from that I will have lost a grand total of 5 stone and be at my original goal. Obviously, my new goal is 17 lbs even lower than that. But if I continue at the rate I am going, around 1 lb a week but not every week so let's say 3lbs a month (on a good month), that leaves me with 11 months to lose the next 34 lbs at the rate I'm going.... Gulp. Major gulp. That will mean I've been doing the weight loss dance for 2 and half fucking years. Probably longer though. Jeez. So new motivation; at 10 stone 10 I am going to sign up for and embrace internet dating. It is only 17 lbs away, and I have already lost so much more than that. If I can average 2 lbs a week then it is just 2 months to wait. I could have a new boyfriend for Halloween ;-) It's really driving me, and I think it will be more of a motivation and reward than boots or perfume. There hasn't been anything stopping me buying these things, but I won't have the guts to sign up to online dating without having the body and photos to show without losing weight first. I really, really don't want to be single anymore. I want someone to appreciate this body I have worked so hard for! And I keep finding really coupley things I want to do, but can't do by myself or with a girlfriend. Maybe relationships shouldn't be a weight-loss bribe but maybe it has to be this way. If i can lose another pound this week, then I will have only 1 stone, 14 tiny little pounds until I hit my goal. 7 weeks if I work really hard and get 2 lbs a week. If I were to lose more then it would be quicker, but I really do have to be honest and say that short of illness I don't think my body can do that right now. And I don't want to be ill ;-)

I need to make an update post that I weighed myself this morning and it was 11 stone 11, hence why if I can lose 1 lb before... Friday (I'm going away for the weekend) I will have lost a grand total of 4 stone (and I'll probably lose my mind when that happens) and I'll only have one stone, 14 lbs until I can get a dating life for the first time in .... well, ever. Fingers crossed.

11 is sticking!

Hopefully not in a permanent way like the bloody 12s but in a definitely-11-stone-not-a-blip-on-the-scales type of way.  1 lb down (actually just a few ounces but it still counts!!!) Which isn't as much as I'd hoped but it's something and I'm pleased.  There's more I want to write about but I wanted to get this down in black and white before I stop believing it : 11 stone 12!

Heeey there 11!

Once again after some toilet dancing there is a change.  1 lb down and into the 11's y'all!!!! This is in spite of a carb heavy week with cakes and chocolates on the last day of term then a bbq in the evening where I indulged with a burger in a BUN and some delicious fancy bread and a piece of cake. I avoided the jacket potato but I have caved and eaten crisps or popcorn on several occasions this week and I went to McDonald's at least twice.  I've been to the gym nearly every day though so hopefully that balanced it out. As it is only a few ounces to the next pound down I might try being extra good today just to see if I can be really strongly into the 11s tomorrow.  I'm v excited to see the 11s as it so close to my end goals now but I know I'll feel a lot better about being firmly and not just tentatively into the 11s. Maybe a new post tomorrow!

Photos and progress photos

Today's pictures (12 stone):

Haha, I've just noticed you can see my actual shoulder in that back photo. Whoops! Well, I never claimed to be a photographer ;-)

I think a difference is gradually becoming apparent. Gradually being the operative word. For funsies, I have done some progress photos. These are 13 stone 5, 12 stone 5, 12 stone, in that order:

I think my back fat looks better and my arms look smaller. I am really struggling with seeing a difference in my stomach though. My arse certainly looks (and feels ;-) ) higher, although alarmingly I think my thighs look better in the middle pictures. I think that might just be a symptom of exercise though, and hopefully it will correct itself. The cellulite makes me sad but oh well. Shouldn't have been so fat in the first place!

These ones are 13 stone 1 and 12 stone as I didn't take any front and back photos when I started off:

Yes, back fat, arms and arse certainly noticeably improved! The stomach though... needs work still, right?

Just to heighten my curiousity a final comparison without the middle photo. So a comparison left and right with 13 stone 5 and then, 19 pounds down, at 12 stone:

Ok, well I can see the difference a bit better here! The whole shape of my back has completely changed! My arse is in a totally different place! My stomach is certainly less... although the shape is more or less the same - sticking out! I need to work more on stomach toning, this is obvious but there is a difference, it is clearly there. Phew!

I wonder how it will look at 11 stone 5?

So. Close.

For the briefest of brief moments, the scale flashed up 11 stone 13 today. It didn't last before settling at 12 stone 0 but it was there. So close I can taste it. I am 1 more pound down now and even my mother's noticed. The 3rd person to have commented in a year and a half of weight loss. I think it is because my stomach is finally going down, incrementally but going down nonetheless. I'm going to do progress photos later today once my camera has charged. If all goes according to plan I could start next weekend off in the 11 stones. Gulp. that would be brilliant! At the moment I have a mere 8 ounces to go, but work ends on Tuesday so if I can work my butt off this week and crack the 11 stone barrier I will weigh and post immediately! This means I have lost 1 stone 5lbs since starting this blog in January. pretty good going, right?
I'll post later with photos.

Summer weather weigh in

It's finally sunny and I'm at the beach ready to start feeling a bit more body confident now that I'm about 2 and a half stone less than last summer.  I'm not feeling fabulously confident (if anything
I'm probably feeling worse) but I did lose another pound this week.  For reasons I don't fully understand, I measured myself on a few different scales and obviously I got a few different results.  I'm deciding just to stick to my normal scales and not upset myself.  Even if the other scales day something else, I can't deny that once upon a time I weighed 15 stone 10 so they're is definitely a decrease,no denying it!!

So, 12 stone 1 this week.  Better than nothing! I'm  desperately hoping to crack the 11 stones next week. .. fingers crossed!

Summer countdown is on: T- 2 lbs

Ok, last weigh in had me at 12 stone 4. Last weekend I ended up going crazy and eating everything. It was just one of those unstructured weekends that always throws me into this. I am also seeing a pattern with my period approaching (got it now) and the beginning of this week was a huge bitch - I had headaches, stomach cramps, general grumpiness and lack of patience; unfortunately I'm starting to see that the period I worked so hard to get back is not too happy to have returned! I'm guessing this is what people always refer to as period pains and general period unhappiness?! Even when I was much, much younger and still had a regular-ish cycle I never got these symptoms. Maybe they will ease off with more weight loss.

So, in spite of my horrendous performance last weekend and even though I am on my period right now, I am TWO POUNDS DOWN!!! This is the first time I have lost multiple pounds in one week in a very long time. Also, since I did weigh myself last weekend and it had gone back UP, (I think it said 12 stone 6 on Sunday morning), I'm assuming that actually I have lost more than that, although it was possibly just bloat. Anyway.

I'm so pleased because since Monday theoretically, and Tuesday in earnest, I have done a mild low-carb, high-protein diet. It has looked something like: scrambled eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes for breakfast, chicken or some meat, cheese, veggies and fruit for lunch and some kind of meat with vegetables for dinner. Any snacks in between have been those Fridge Raiders chicken bags or some kind of fruit thing. I have also had the odd bit of wholewheat toast, and a veggie burger with no bun, and even some cakes and danish pastries this week! I know low-gi is the preferred diet to treat PCOS so I'm guessing my body approves. Last night and today I have over-indulged on bread and biscuits, so the rest of today and this coming week I will be strictly back on the wagon in order to continue my downward trend. If I can do 2 more pounds down this week then I will realistically be able to see myself in the 11s in the summer!!! I have upped my exercicse a bit too. I have allowed the  same amount of time, but I've increased the intensity a little bit. I do feel like my body is working well at the moment - maybe I'll even drop a little more weight when my period water retention is over for this month?

Fingers crossed for two more pounds down this week. As I am losing weight my stomach looks more and more disgusting. I am interpreting this as a good sign, that the fat is breaking down and turning into soft lumps ready to be burned off. At the moment the bottom part kind of folds into a triangle and the top bits make waves over the triangle. It's truly bizarre. The FUPA doesn't seem to be going anywhere though, haha! I wonder if there are specific exercises for that?!

One more pound down

It is my nephew's birthday today so knowing that I would be consuming vast amounts of cake and other crap I pre-emptively weighed myself. One more pound down! This is great, and I am glad that the scale is finally moving, even if it is not moving as quickly as I would like! I am trying to remind myself how grateful I should be as I am so devastated whenever I don't lose - I'm a bit cross with myself actually that I still seem to be making this difficult for myself.

So, the scale photo just to prove to myself it is going down:

I think I might take some more progress photos as I can see various differences. I am looking forward to being 12 stone 3 as I can officially say  I've lost 3 and a half stone then! Which I know is really good, but there is still so very much left to lose. I'm excited about approaching the 12 stone mark too. Then it will be just a brief jump into the 11 stones!!! WOO HOO!!! Only 8 lbs left until the 4 stone lost mark. That's nothing ;-)

I'm not-so-secretly desperate to have a great week this week and lose like 5 lbs, but 1 pound will still be a great achievement. I'm going to cling onto my secret hope though, just in case it guides me out of bad eating or guides me into a bit of extra exercise. When I do work at it I do get results. This is maybe what I should get tattooed on myself!!!!

1 stone lost photos

Somehow I didn't notice that I have now lost 1 stone since starting this blog. I started this blog weighing 13.5 stone, and now I am 12.5 stone. I am wondering if I messed my calculations up somewhere along the way as I was sure  I hadn't reached a stone yet... but the figures are there! So without any further ado I have new pictures and then comparison pictures. Today's pictures first:

 And the comparison photos are below. Left is the heavier ones (13.5 stone/187 lbs/85 kilos) and right is the photos from today (12.5 stone/173 lbs/ 78.5 kg). I wish I had taken a better shot of my left side when I took the first photos! Ugh!

I'm pleased to have made progress, but 1 stone in 6 months isn't great progress is it?! Let's see how we get on from here.

One pound down again

Hooray!! One more pound down again - 12 stone 5. Even the ounces almost line up after a bit of well-timed toilet visits and jumping about a bit inbetween weighings!

So, something is going well at the moment then. This week has been a bit crazy as it was my birthday last Monday which necessitated eating out on Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights. Then there was the leftover cake and birthday chocolates. Also all that eating out threw me into a bit of a tail-spin and I had McDonalds twice after that. I managed to restrain myself yesterday and I think that  all the junk food made my body remember why it didn't like junk food any more, and I was actually craving the banana I had planned with my dinner after my workout yesterday. Crazy times! Today I have a big meal at a buffet planned so I did the weigh-in this morning again, to avoid any demotivating artificial inflation tomorrow morning. Seems like it is turning into Magical Saturday! This week I am going to be extra good. No eating out (I can't afford it anyway) and I'll be able to go to the gym at least 4 times including yoga tomorrow. I wanted to go swimming last night after my workout but I forgot that my gym closes early on a Friday. I bet that would have gotten rid of those last 6 ounces to push me down that extra pound! Still, I am beyond happy that my weight not only didn't go up but it didn't stay the same - it went down this week! Happy birthday week to me! I'm so excited about the slide down into the 11 stones now. I can't wait to be able to start counting in the 4 stones lost, instead of still the 3 stones lost category.

Right, once I locate my camera I will do some more comparison photographs as I find those very helpful. Here's hoping for at least a loss next week and maybe a big one!

Less than 3 stone less to lose now!

It has been three loooong weeks since I last weighed in or wrote anything. Can you guess why? I bet you can. Go on, give it a go. No, it is not because I magically lost 42 lbs overnight ( I wish). It is, of course, because I lost absolutely nothing. Zero. Nada. Zilch. Zip. Nil.

Today, I am weighing in as it is my birthday on Monday so much celebrating commenced today including, of course the immense eating of cake and other bad treats. So, I wanted to give myself the best shot possible! Today's weigh in included a loss of 1 lbs!!! Which is good, as it is the first anything I have lost in three frigging weeks, but I had been hoping for 2lbs and so I am only half way there. I'm trying desperately not to be disappointed as I don't want that to be my attitude to my weight loss journey. But I am. And I didn't get to nearly 25 years of life by lying to myself about this so I'm not going to start now. Fingers crossed that next weigh in day I am down at least 2 lbs if not 3 to make up for this week! I forgot to take full body shots to compare, so I will try to do that really soon as I think the gym is making a mark on my muscles, even if it isn't making any marks on the scales. So, official weight of 12 stone 6!

We won't talk about the dark days that stalled my weight loss. Or the fact I'm still struggling to pull myself out of them and fighting it at every moment. I have slipped into a bit of a carb-withdrawal accidentally. I didn't start it on purpose, but when I realised it I have encouraged it. I haven't had carbs for lunch 4 days out of the last week, and not for dinner on at least 3 days. I think it helped with weight loss and I didn't miss them too much. I have more than made up for it this weekend but I think I will try to keep it going through this week as it can't hurt.

I have also bought some chia seeds to try and replace the yoghurt in my morning smoothie. I think this will make a big difference to my levels of protein and fibre, and I hope to be able to cut out my morning fibre cereal as soon as the box is gone. I might weigh myself the next few days just out of interes, so if there is any positive change (such as an extra 1 lb gone!) I might weigh in again!