Tracking my weight loss

W E L C O M E

Welcome to my blog about my dieting adventures, thoughts, philosophies.

THOUGHT

Taking steps forward takes you into the unknown! Taking steps back keeps you in your comfort zone! Be adventurous today and step outside your comfort zone - life is an adventure!

Friday 28 February 2014

The Temptation Tin

This is an idea I've taken from another member of rosemaryconleyonline.com. (with their permission) :

Take a tin (or box) if the tin contained sweets or biscuits etc - give those away, really you don't need them!

This tin will become your temptation box.

Every time you feel the urge to stray from your weight loss plan - go online, or look through magazines or catalogues and find something which will inspire and encourage you to stay on your plan! e.g. if you're going on holiday and you want to shed some extra weight - cut out pictures of swimming costumes or if you're slimming for your wedding - cut out the wedding outfit of your dreams! Put the pictures in the box! Look at it every so often to remind yourself why you are wanting to lose those pounds!

Put in there whatever works for you! 

All the best for your quest for a healthier and slimmer future 

xxxx

Thursday 27 February 2014

Days of the week diet

Someday - have some treats but don't go berserk

Mundane (day) - don't stick to boring salads, pep them up with low fat dressings, add fruit too!

Chooseday - choose healthy low fat options from the menu when out

Spendsday - spend time planning your menus and allow for those times when you have to stop your diet for a day e.g. a day out with friends!

Thirstday - make sure you drink plenty of water

Fryday - keep off those high fat oils and dry fry things!

Statureday - don't forget to exercise!

Have a good week

Xxxx

Tuesday 25 February 2014

Bags of Sugar

I was thinking about the number of Kilos I want to lose - it works out at 22 bags of sugar (1 Kg bags)!






















Sunday 16 February 2014

loser!

Ok it's only 1lb but I lost again this week - so far I've lost 5lb! Onward to losing more! (Mind, today I've probably eaten more than I should)! 

My calorie allowance this week has gone up from 1,200 to 1,400! Let's see what happens :D

xxxx

Saturday 8 February 2014

What a loser

I weighed myself to day and I've lost just under 4lb - happy with that! 12 stone 0 lbs 8oz! Onward and downward!

Have to admit, it has been a struggle - been so tempted to give up and eat the wrong stuff, but I've stuck with it and it's paid off! 

I need to drink more water this week
'step-up' the exercise

Focus focus focus!

xxxx

Tuesday 4 February 2014

A word from a Life-Storm survivor

In life there are many storms - trials, difficulties etc - those storms can either drag us down and make us weak or we can rise above them and come out stronger than ever! 



To get pure gold, the furnace has to be hot hot hot - the hotter the fire, the purer the gold. Putting this into context - the harder and more difficult the trials (if we are determined to learn through them), then the stronger we become!



To climb a mountain - we may have to overcome many hurdles, difficult hurdles, annoying hurdles, but if we persevere then we overcome those - we reach the top.



I was thinking about my High School's badge - it was a phoenix rising out of the flames, because out of the ashes can come beautiful and stronger things (in some parts of the world for plants to grow stronger each year, they have to be burned up with fire). 



Let's not let our present situations discourage or hinder us from our ultimate goal - let this help us to become stronger and more determined people!


xxxx

Saturday 1 February 2014

Article from BT.com called 9 ways you're making your skin look older


9 ways you’re making your skin look older

Guilty of heavy-handed exfoliation or forgetting the SPF? You could be ageing your skin…


 

  • Last updated: 28 January 2014, 17:10 GMT
    From going to sleep in your make-up to forgetting to moisturise, we all know the little habits that are bad for our skin.
    But were you aware of these nine other skincare crimes? Jill Zander, founder of theJill Zander Skin Rejuvenation Clinic, tells us where we’re going wrong…
    1. Too much moisturiser
    The more the better, right? You could be doing more harm than not applying it all. If a moisturiser is correctly suited to your skin, it should feel comfortable; the wrong one could leave your skin dry or greasy. And never apply your skin moisturiser around your eyes, as the skin is thinner here and can easily become overloaded with products. That’ll be the cause of those little white spots, you know!
    2. Over-exfoliating
    Scrub-happy people must stop now. Over-exfoliation can lead to redness and irritation and constantly stripping your skin can actually make it become greasy as it over compensates for the lack of oil. Try a non-abrasive scrub that uses AHA, BHA and fruit acids to exfoliate, rather than grains which can tear the skin. (We loveMurad’s AHA/BHA Exfoliating Cleanser, £17.)Twice a week is all you need.
    3. Rushing serum application
    Skincare products need to be carefully layered, like you would your clothes. When using an anti-ageing serum, like Botanics Triple Age Renewal Super Serum, £10.49, it’s important to let it sink in and dry before applying your moisturiser – otherwise you dilute the concentrated anti-ageing formula with your moisturiser in one fell swoop.
    4. Squeezing spots
    Step away from the blackhead! Not only can you cause the spot to become infected but you could make it leave a scar if you’re not careful. Use a spot gel (likeNo7 Beautiful Skin Rapid Spot Rescue, £9.95) to help it fade on its own or leave it to the professionals.
    5. Skipping the SPF
    It’s grey out there so need for the sun cream, right? Wrong! The sun is the biggest cause of wrinkles and you should wear SPF come rain or shine. Many moisturisers and even make-up contain SPFs like IMAGE Skincare’s Prevention + Daily Hydrating Moisturiser SPF 30, £39.95, which moisturises while protecting. Genius.
    6. Slapping on creams
    Somewhat slap-dash when it comes to applying your creams? Stop. Vigorous rubbing can age the skin; instead, apply from the neck up using semi-firm upward movements, so you’re working against gravity. Drag downwards and you’re literally ageing yourself every morning.
    7. Skimping on sleep
    It’s called ‘beauty sleep’ for a reason. Skin repairs itself at night so if you’re regularly sleep-deprived, your complexion will give the game away.
    8. Anti-ageing before you need to
    Until you show signs of ageing, step away from the anti-ageing products. If you use potent anti-ageing products before you need them, your skin can become fragile and thin or immune to their powers.
    9. Using face wipes
    When using a face wipe, we tend to rub our skin quite vigorously, especially around the eye area. This is a big no-no as it can cause irritation, redness and even strip the skin of its essential oils.

Dieting and music?

I posted this on the forum of Rosemaryconleyonline.com!

I weighed myself this morning and I'm 12 stone 4lb [I think that is about, or just under 80kg!! about 172lb] (the heaviest I have ever been as an adult)! I am 5' 2" (1m58). 

I was thinking about confidence and how many of us seem to feel as if we have failed totally if we gain for the umpteenth time BUT this is self-destructive and totally not true! So what, we've had one or two (in my case more) gains and it would only be a failure if we didn't think anything of it, if we threw in the towel completely and stopped climbing that hill (I go on about quite often lol)!

Am I a failure for gaining nearly 4 stone over the past 20 years? Not really because here I am wanting to change and today is a new day! I'm not a total failure in my life anyway! Dieting is only ONE part of my life! 

Why not take up a hobby or do a course because this is an area where I was thinking about just now - am I a total failure in my life? Nope because, after years of being scared to sit my Grade 5 flute exam in 2010 (I'd never done any grades in music at all, so Grade 5 [out of 8] was a major step), I passed, but to do Grade 6 flute I needed Grade 5 music theory, but again, I was too scared. With a lot of coaxing and cajoling my singing and piano teachers helped me through those fears and in 3 months, after never doing a lot of theory before I came out with 88% and now I'm doing Grade 6 [which I haven't got a clue about lol] THEN in November last year I took Grade 5 singing and thought I'd failed but I was 5 marks off a Merit - I got 115/150. Did I have blips? Ummm yes - in my Grade 5 flute I lost my place in my B piece and had to pick up the piece again later on in the music, in my Grade 5 music theory - I made a few silly mistakes, but I still succeeded, in my Grade 5 singing I forgot the words of my first song for a while, but pulled it together and got a much better mark than I was expecting! I have to admit that these successes have given me the confidence to sit Grade 1 piano in March-April time - I'm not good at reading the Bass Clef, but I'm giving it a go! 

Why did I tell you this? Well because I have thought "I've failed!" where dieting [and music] is concerned - BUT I haven't! Playing the piano is difficult [for me anyway, as all the instruments I've ever learned have only used one clef - the Treble] but I'm determined to succeed and I WILL learn those pieces of music! Come on don't look at your dieting 'failures' Look at your successes and if you've only just started - think success - yes you might have hurdles, but as we overcome them we gain much more confidence! Back to music, again, I'm thinking of taking Grade 5 Descant Recorder (as I've been playing since I was about 5) and Grade 5 Treble Recorder - why? Because I KNOW I can do it! 

I've also signed up to do a writer's course - but I won't bore you with that as well lol! 

Wishing you all every success in your weight loss adventure - you CAN succeed! 



xxxx