Update

I'm now 9st 11lb - it's a long journey, but the destination will be worth it!

UPDATE!!!

I signed up for the personal coach service on Rosemary Online in February and so far I have lost over 1 stone (nearly 2) I went from 11 stone 11 pounds (165lb; 75kg) to 10 stone 0 pounds (140lb; 64kg) ! I still have about 1 stone (14lb; 6.35kg) to lose!

It's a fabulous site with a lot of information from recipes, to exercises, health articles, a free online magazine for members and much much more! 

Weekly Blog, journalling and losing weight.

I was wondering, today, whether to do a weekly blog (memory depending 😉). I don't know if many people read this, but hey, it's good to document your life, sometimes!

I journal and try to write daily - doesn't always happen, but I do try and keep it updated as much as possible. I started writing a journal last year (2017) and really enjoyed writing one so this year I've continued and I have next year's ready! 

It's so important to remember the good and bad times, how one coped during difficult times. 

Losing Weight:

Managed to get down to 10 stone 10 a few months back, but weighed myself last Sunday and I'm 11 stone 10lb! ARGH! Why is gaining easier than losing? Well not beating myself up - it's not worth it, best thing is to pick myself up and carry on again! 

Last Sunday I went for a longish walk and I enjoyed it! The day was sunny and quite warm for this time of year. Felt pleased!

I've started singing lessons with a new teacher because it was a bit far to go for my other teacher. The new one will be good, I think! He is explaining pronunciation of words, was telling me of research which has been conducted when voices are strained by trying to reach low notes etc. Now to practice more - at least half an hour a day! Maybe I will get to do Grades 6, 7 and 8! OK baby steps...

Well until next time

xxxx

Starting weight for next round!

11 stone 2.6lb or 156.6lb or 70.76kg

This is my start weight for my next round of weight loss!

Goal: 2 stone (28lb) loss by October this year! Need to stop faffing and just get on with it!

Yesterday I made a lot of soup so that my lunches are made up, I also bought some gluten free bread rolls to have with the soup!

I peeled and chopped a lot of vegetables!

Have a fab day, readers

Xxxx

Yo-yo

I feel like a yo-yo - up and down, down and up. No walking the dog though (remember the tricks people did?). OK I digress! 🎢🎢🎢 <---no emote="" font="" have="" rollercoaster="" so="" suffice="" to="" will="" yo-yo="">

Well I lost 3lb then gained 1.5lb last week - Oh to keep moving downward, 📉 but all I've done is munch my way through bread (gluten/dairy free) and drunk loads of hot chocolate with mini marshmallows on top! Habits MUST be broken! ⚖⚖⚖

I wrote, a few years back, about dumping the bad things into a dumper truck (or garbage can etc), well things I have to do:

1. PLAN PLAN PLAN then...📜📝
2. Stop buying any old food after work (doesn't help I work in M&S) 🍉🍌🍏🍒🍓🌽🥒🍆
3. PREPARE PREPARE PREPARE food - I have a slow cooker so no excuse! 🕰🍴🥥🥑🍵
4. EXERCISE again - I used to be fit, now I'm fat and lardy 💃🏃‍♀️🚶‍♀️🧗‍♀️🏊‍♀️🚴‍♀️🤸‍♀️
5. FOCUS on the goal 🎯🔬😎🤓👩‍⚖️👩‍🏫👍

Oh well, better get planning then! I'm a member of www.rosemaryconley.com - an online slimming group! It's really good!

Hope whoever reads this is having more success!

Have a fab week

xxxx

Gained 4lb

I forgot to weigh the other week, then it happened - I've gained 4lb! 

4lb of yellow adipose tissue - yuck! 

Keeping going though - mustn't get fed up about it - getting fed up makes me feed up! ha!

NO'crisp'VEMBER

Decided to challenge myself to not eating any crisps during the month of November - hence the name No'crisp'vember.

I love crisps 😍  they are so yummy and I have no willpower when it comes to eating them! 

It's 30 days of no eating any of them - 30 days isn't too bad is it? 

If anybody is reading this - fancy joining me by cutting out a food vice?

All the best if you do

xxxx 

Comparing yourself to others...

...DO NOT do it!


I was watching a video on Facebook. The lady was a single mom who said she would feel like she was a bad mom because she never had money for holidays and nice things, the kids and her shared a bedroom. One day she was talking to her kids and all they saw were the fun things - sharing their bedroom with mom was exciting and they loved it. They only saw the good, fun things, but the mom focussed on the negative!

A few years back I told my sister that I felt I was always living under her shadow, as a kid, because she was academic, always had good school reports, on the whole was a good kid who never got into trouble. Her reply astounded me because she had felt the same way about me because I was chatty (still am), Miss Personality, adults loved me because I was bright, bubbly and friendly - my sister was always in the background while I got all the attention! 

You might look at other people and think - they have their lives altogether, they know what they are doing, BUT do you know what's going on inside? Do you know their every thought and action? No! They may look at you and think - wow they are so gifted in this way or that way. 

You know, we can look at others in the light of our own presumed inadequacies, but who knows, they could be thinking how amazing YOU are and how they wished they were like YOU! 

Be encouraged - you may be struggling at the moment, you may feel down, but that doesn't change the fact you are special and precious!

xxxx

🐱👤Dieting Ninjas - Prepare your battle plan!🐱👤

Edited from a thread I started on www.rosemaryconley.com

I measured myself today and from 15 years ago my:

Waist - 12 inches [30.48 cm] (that's 1 foot!!) larger, 
Chest - 10 inches [25.4 cm] larger, 
Each thigh - 4 inches [10.16 cm] larger, 
Each knee - 5 inches [12.7 cm] larger, 
Hips are about 10 inches larger [25.4 cm]  

all in all I have gained: 

3 stone [19.05kg; 42lb]

plus

a MASSIVE 50 inches [4.16 ft/127 cm]  I'm only 5'2" [158 cm] 

Time for action - dieting 🐱👤ninjas🐱👤 are you ready?

What are YOU going to do to get back on track?

What am I going to do to get back on track?

Plan, plan, plan! I am in a battle with the bulge and battles always need planning! No point going to attack something if there is no reconnaisance (reccy) - so I must think about the foods which make me feel yuck! They may make me feel good as I'm eating them - but do I remain feeling good? Crisps - I love them, but I have found they make me desperately thirsty and headachy so forget those yummy little potato rounds - they are the enemy in disguise  - infiltrators! 
Think - when do I eat junk? Why do I eat it? - generally when I'm in work, on a break, I've not planned for my break so I buy a large bag of crisps! I also eat junk when I'm feeling miserable or upset/tired etc. 
There may be more we could address, but for now the reccy is over - now for strategic planning!

Have I any dinner dates coming up?
Is there anything which could hinder my dieting efforts (should I be calling it a diet or should I call it a lifestyle change)

OK if there is anything coming up which can hinder ones weight loss - don't think - Oh no I'm going to fail today - think - I know I'll eat more this day, but I have a plan of action in place. Don't worry about the dinner I'm going to, I'll get back on track the following day! Why is it - we know we are going out, yet we go in with the attitude of failure (before we even get to the party/dinner etc). Go in KNOWING you WILL eat more, but don't get disheartened, one day isn't going to make a huge difference - make a plan for the following day and beyond!

If you know there is someone's birthday in work and they will be bringing in yummy cream cakes - plan strategically! Know what you are going to say to refuse them! I don't eat gluten or dairy and everyone knows that so they don't offer me cakes - they apologise profusely  because I can't have any, but I see that as a good thing (not having any, not people apologising because I can't have any lol)! Don't give in just because someone says - "Go on! One won't hurt!"  

So come on fellow 🐱👤ninjas🐱👤 - let's get into action! 

Have a fab day 

xxxx

PS this (on my computer)🐱👤 looks like a ninja cat, but on your phones etc it may look like a normal cat - thought I would explain because you might think I've totally and utterly cracked - well ummmmmmm! 

NAFLD and other tid-bits

Just been reading up on Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and thinking - eeeek I sometimes get a pain on the right side of my body, underneath my ribs AND the area is bigger than the other side! OK not really panicking - yet! 😱😱😱😱😱

Why oh why did I get this big in the first place? Well for a start I work in the foodhall of a well known store with well known yummy food. I couldn't help trying out the cakes and biscuits etc - problem was, I had not exercised in 10 years (due to a dodgy ankle) so the pounds piled on! 

I have lost 10lb btw - since Christmas - whooo! 

SUGAR - well here's something I shouldn't be eating - it gives me acid and makes me feel rotten - I'm sure it's not good for the old joints! Too much acid isn't good for you! And I'm sure it must be an acidic food and without any nutritional value whatsoever!

Anyway less of a whinge session and onward to a PLAN! 

Less fat
Less sugar
Less red meat
More veg
More fruit
More water

No Gluten or dairy! 

Onward I go - although I don't know if anyone reads my blog - is it worth posting anymore? I think so, just in case... you never know... it may happen one day...

Have a good one whoever reads this

xxxx

Zumba Gold on a chair

Came across these videos on YouTube - remember if you do start an exercise regime always make sure you are medically fit enough to start them! I take no responsibility for any injury which may occur. These videos are not mine and I am posting them not to make any profit from them. I haven't watched them all, and take no responsibility for content!

Chairobics

I know it's a funny name, but basically it's exercising while on a chair. 

Yet again I have injured my ankle and I desperately need to lose weight so I can't do standing aerobics atm - I rejoined Rosemaryconley online and on there is a section for chair workouts! I did about +-20 minutes and they were really good (considering I was sitting down). I'm going to do these from now on, for a while! 

If you are very overweight or have limited mobility - try them. I've just found a Rosemary Conley one and another on YouTube

A poem I wrote in 2016

I went off to A&E 
Cos of my dicky heart,
They hooked me to some monitors,
I'd say that was a start!

They'd also done an ECG 
And found a weird blip,
They took me to radiology
X-Ray'd my chest, and not my hip.

They took some vials of my red blood,
Sent them off to be tested,
I waited in a little room, 
And that is where I rested.

After a while - seemed like an age
The Dr came to see me
And said there was something strange -
Referred me to cardi-o-logy.

Now this has got me thinking,
It will not cause a riot,
But being 3 stone overweight,
I really need to diet!

I have to dump the junk food
Eat things good for my heart,
Buying lots of veg and fruit
Really is a start.

I must see all the rubbish,
As poison, fit to kill,
Because I don't want to take
A little round heart pill!

So now we're in the New Year
Time to take the bull by the horns,
And start to look to good health.
This brand new wintry morn!

Words NOT to use

This was written by me, about a year ago, on the Rosemaryconley.com online slimming group (I may have posted it here, but can't remember so reposting)

do not use...

...negative words or phrases! There's a post on one of the boards posted by a lovely member, but she's being naughty because she's using a negative word (mind, I use them too) but we shouldn't! None of us are useless, hopeless, pathetic, rubbish etc. If we diss ourselves then what is that telling our brains? Words and phrases not to use:

I'll start tomorrow (tomorrow never comes, instead say, I'll start on Wednesday - or whichever day you're starting)

I can't - of course you can! 

I'll never lose weight - well with that negative attitude you won't

Never is definitely a no-no unless it's followed by the words - I'll never gain all my weight back again!

Hopeless 

Useless

Rubbish

Ugly

Any other words which put you down! 

Why do we put ourselves down so often? It's mad! Ignore the media (for the most part - especially those papers and magazines which obsess over women looking like models! It really doesn't matter - we are who we were made, we just have to learn to embrace ourselves)

Once we learn to respect ourselves (despite our size and shape) then negativity goes bye bye (and good riddance)

If you suffer from depression (as I do), it can be terribly difficult to nip negativity in the bud, but if you can, try and do it! Start singing (I think I sing the most when I'm starting to go down the doldrums road), thinking happy thoughts, recognise those times when you're feeling low - I know that can be hard - and talk some perspective to yourself!

Every one of us is worthwhile! Life is precious and so are we! 

Come on now, chin up - we can do this together!

FOCUS...

... on your good points, steer away from the negative because if you focus on those, you will never get up the energy to lose weight! 

Has anyone complimented you on something (not necessarily how you look)? Has someone thanked you for your help and really appreciated what you have done for them?

Are you talented at anything? Art? Music? Photography? Maths? Writing? Focus on those things! 

If you don't like the way you look at the moment, quit looking in the mirror!

When did you ever feel good? Have fun? Summer time as a child, playing on the beach? Think of all the good times! 

For each negative thought, think of 5 positive ones!

Sing your favourite song

Reread a favourite book

Look at photos of things which have made you happy in the past

Keep going, come on, you can do this!

💖💓💝💞💕💗

🤔Is losing weight my main priority now?🤔

For a fair few years I have gained weight - last time I weighed myself  I was 4 stone (56lb/25.4Kg) heavier than I was 20 years ago. My health is a lot worse than it was years ago! (Now for the TMI part):

I am breathless
I get more migraines
My digestive system is strange
I have a lot of acid reflux
Wind
Constipation
broken sleep
depression

OK maybe the list was a bit TMI, but this is the reality I live with on a daily basis!

I have a book called Honestly Healthy and is primarily a low acid, vegetarian book and reading through it I think I actually need to follow something like this, where the recipes are full of fresh fruit, vegetables, grains, legumes etc.

We weren't created to eat high fat, processed junk. Thinking back when I was a child (in the 1970s) - I ate a lot more fruit and veg and less junk, even before then there would have been no processed food at all!

OK so after saying all that - I wonder if I should skip the dieting diets and stick to this one for a while to see how it goes! See if there's an improvement in my overall health and if I lose weight - BONUS, if not, but I feel better, also a BONUS!

The key 🔑to a diet is to really make a lifestyle choice and change that will be with you (used in the general sense) forever. 

I have a YouTube channel called DietingDizzy so perhaps, just maybe, I should keep the cyber world updated with my progress, or even if nobody watches the videos - it may just make me accountable. 

Will keep you updated! 

❤💕💝💘💖💌💞

🎡 Yo-yo 🎢

OK everyone - my days of dieting yo-yo style MUST end - I'm sure it can't be healthy for ones body! Not long after the new year, I'm 47 - only 3 years until I'm 50, then my metabolism will go to pot. 😱

I have soup recipes for yummy healthy soup for lunch! 🍵
I have low fat dinner recipes - yummy low fat dinner recipes! 🍽

All I have to do is plan a menu for a month (to begin with) 🗓

Come on people let's show the world what can be done and get moving and grooving! 🎤🎵🎶🎙💃🏻🕺

🎇🎇Update!🎇🎇

So here I am again! You can tell I haven't been good on my diet (what diet?). OK OK I mustn't use the word diet! 

Words NOT to use:

Diet - it invokes pictures of lettuce and yuck stuff like that 🍃🍃🍃 (although it's not that yuck really)
Tomorrow - it never comes you won't say on Monday (which is tomorrow) - oh it's tomorrow today! NEVER start your diet tomorrow - ALWAYS make yourself accountable and say I'm starting it on Monday 19th September 2016 (for example) 📅📅📅
Can't - of course we can - I think "I can't do this!" what a wuss! It's hardly rocket science. 🙈🙉🙊

DO NOT blame anyone or anything else - if you are fed up and comfort eat - did that person or situation make you eat? BE ACCOUNTABLE - TAKE OWNERSHIP for your gluttony! Only YOU shoved that bad food into your gob, no one else did! (talking to myself here)

OK Monday is another day - a NEW day, a day where we can start to make a difference! Remember we didn't put all that weight on overnight and we won't shed it overnight! Want to be dedicated to shifting those pounds - Let's get going!

💓💗💝💞💟💘❤💕💖💙💜💛💚

Let's do more than lose weight - let's make this quest a full package - a new adventure! 

Let's get fit - start off gradually, don't go nuts and burn ourselves out. 🏃🏃🏃🏃
Let's start taking care of our skin - skin care regime, moisturise, dry brushing, foot soaking etc 👀💍👙👖👚👠👢💄👞👛👕👒👓👔

Don't buy food as a reward - a bunch of flowers or a new garment would be better!

Come on WE can do this! Really we can!

💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

**UPDATE**

Not a lot has happened lately (as always). Last time I weighed myself I'd gained weight! I am 12 stone 9lb and the path to fatty-hood forever if I keep this up! 

Next year is my 25th wedding anniversary and I really want to lose just over 3 stone for it! 42lb/19.05kg

I seem like a lost cause, but I'm not! I need to address the issue in hand! 

Things stopping me losing weight:

Apathy
Lack of sleep
Fear of gaining again if I lose
Fear of getting a migraine if I exercise
Lack of exercise due to above point
Lack of will power
Lack of self discipline - saying NO to the cake!

All in all - I am the problem, ME - I'm stopping myself losing weight!

Today I ate so much - it's ridiculous! 

Maybe I should do a Vlog for a month - hmmmmmm, but have I got the self-discipline to do it?

OK this was a quick update

Have a fab time readers/followers

❤❤❤❤❤❤💓💓💓💓💓💗💗💗💗💗💘💘💘💘💘💝💝💝💝💝💖💖💖💖💖💖💕💕💕💕💕💞💞💞💞💞💞

UPDATE

I haven't been good for years where eating is concerned and I'm just fed up with the word 'diet'. I have followed Rosemary Conley's diets in the past and they do work! The thing is I feel a bit bored with them - the food is gorgeous and I have every book she has published (except her latest 3-2-1 Diet).

I have wondered if I can be self disciplined enough to actually stop following a set diet and make up my own plan using MyFitnessPal and healthy recipes!

Did people have this problem years ago before high fat and sugar processed food became freely available? Start from scratch meals are always yummier than processed ones and probably much more healthy so maybe that's the key!

Below is a photo of me in 2005 when I swam 6.5 miles a week, did 2 aerobic and toning DVDs a day etc. I was really fit! I ain't putting a photo of me online like I am now - unfit, and lardy! Maybe I could get to this weight again (3 stone lighter) IF IF IF I put my mind to it and ate less, exercised more! 

HAPPY EASTER folks - don't eat too many eggs :D xxxx