Must try harder

I thought I'd hop on the scales this morning to see if I'd made any progress. A bit disappointing as I was much the same but then again I have eaten: a large box of Maltesers, two chocolates off the Christmas tree, a number of toffees and loads of ginger thins (they're thins for goodness sake, how many syns can there be in them?)

Must try harder.

Last night's dinner was good though. Pork tenderloin on a bed of apples and onions served with mashed potato, carrots, sprouts, and garlicky courgettes and mushrooms. A blob of marg in the mash but apart from that syn-free. 

Not the most attractively served but yummy nevertheless.

Make like a frog and croak - or groan in my case

As expected I had gained one and a half pounds at weigh-in. Since then I've eaten the bulk - Husband ate a few - of a large box of Maltesers. I have two boxes left but I hereby resolve not to open those until I reach my target weight. 

I'm only two and a half pounds off it but those last few pounds are proving to be most difficult. Can I do it by next Wednesday? Almost certainly ... not. My weight loss has been steady rather than spectacular. If I lose a pound in a week I'm pleased. But we shall see.

Will I be determined enough? Or will my will power weaken when I get peckish/bored/depressed?

My first exercise class - I had to leave the Slimming World session early to get there on time - was flipping hard work. It's a Legs, Bums and Tums class and, because most of the regulars are students and not back at college yet, I was the only participant.

The last thing Husband said to me before I set off for class was, 'Don't overdo it now,' bearing in mind I had an operation before Christmas. But you know what it's like: it's just you and the teacher and you don't want to be put to shame so you try to keep up and overdo it. (Not that I could keep up with the lunges; I kept wobbling over.)

One of the exercises for the glutes (bum to you and me) is this frog exercise. Lie flat, feet together and legs apart - as the doctor says when about to do an internal exam, 'Just let your knees flop out,' then lift and lower, lift and lower.

It looks obscene and is hard to do. But this exercise is just impossible.

If you can get your knees that high above the floor I salute you!


Today every action is painful.

If I just sit here I'm fine but ask me to move, walk, go up stairs or, worst of all, pick something up from the floor, 'Do I have to? Could it just stay on the floor for a few days? I'll pick it up on Sunday.'

Fiddle, I've just noticed three Maltesers on my desk. Do I:
a) throw them away;
b) give them to Husband;
c) save them for the grandchildren;
d) eat them myself?

Answers on a postcard - or in the Comments - please.

Weigh Day today

The first after Christmas. I could have gone last Wednesday but it was Nuora's birthday party tea, complete with salted caramel pavlova made by Daughter.

So I await weigh-in with something approaching dread. I have not eaten as much as I do most Christmases. I resisted the urge to buy any large tubs of Quality Street or Heroes (and again yesterday I was strong even though they were reduced in price!) and we didn't have much chocolate in general.

My real downfall came in the form of cheese and vegetables roasted in oil - as opposed to my usual frylight. And most delicious it all was.

I confess I weighed on our scales yesterday morning - Tuesday morning is traditionally when Husband and I weigh - and I had gained one and a half pounds approximately, but last time I tried it varied a lot from the slimming world scales so I am a little anxious as I say. It feels like a lot more!

Anyway, this evening I intend to go straight from slimming world weigh-in to a new exercise class, Legs, Bums and Tums. It's led by Hannah, who took our gentle exercise class and I very much enjoyed her instruction, if not the exercise itself. I am never likely to become a fitness fanatic.

In the club

Yesterday I was awarded my Club 10 certificate!

Everyone said, 'Well done! Fantastic!' etc. I returned to my seat, hugging my certificate and thinking, 'I wonder what it means?'

It turns out it means I've lost 10% of my starting weight. Which sounds like a lot until you think about it and then it doesn't seem like much. 

Anyway I have it and I'm now just one pound off my target weight. Alas Christmas comes next week so I'm unlikely to reach target for a few weeks' at least. Still I'm in a good place and I am resolutely refusing to buy tubs of Heroes, Quality Street or Celebrations. Which is just as well as our present from Husband's sister arrived yesterday.

First stone gone!

The teacher had run out of certificates but I had my sticker! One stone lost, a pound and a half to go to my target weight. It would be so good if I could do that for next week. 

Nearly there

I have said this before but the weight loss way forward for me seems to be to eat out and to have puddings.

Last Wednesday, after Husband's birthday meal at Slice and being invited out to friends' for dinner, I lost two and a half pounds. That was after two weeks when I'd only managed half a pound each time.

Still mustn't grumble. My total weight loss is now thirteen and a half pounds. Half a pound more and I will get my stone certificate!

But ... since my last weigh-in I've been in hospital for an operation leaving me all pathetic and obliged to rest, meaning I'm not using many calories and eating too much.

But that aside I'm feeling slimmer and more confident. If I can eat sensibly-ish until Christmas then the damage from a small blow out will be easily repaired.

December is not a good month

A number of birthday celebrations meant I was pleased to record half pound losses for two consecutive weeks. This week I may not be so lucky.

Yesterday was Husband's birthday. He began the day with breakfast in bed: warm croissants, butter and jam; I had my usual weetabix.

For lunch, after a long walk, Husband had a cheese and beetroot sandwich; I had salad and a few prawns.

Tea time the family came around for birthday cheesecake; I made do with a cup of tea.

Then we went to Slice for a meal.

Slice is one of our favourite restaurants. Not that we go there very often as I always leave it too late to book and we can't get in. In fact, we only got in yesterday because of a last minute cancellation.

But I had it all planned: I would refuse any offer of bread, and only have two courses. Husband could have cheesecake for pudding when he got home.

(Have you guessed where this story is leading yet?)

The waitress brought us a basket of warm, mini loaves, one white and one seeded, and a bowl of pale butter. The smell alone was filled with calories so I decided I might as well eat it - but only with a scraping of butter as oppose to my usual lashings.

For starter I had venison carpaccio, cold parsnip puree, parsnip crisps and pickled red cabbage.

For main I had roasted monkfish, curried cauliflower, mussels and something else I can't remember.

Then when we said we didn't want dessert the waitress pointed out that it was included in the set price ...

So I had apple bavarois (a sort of apple custard), apple compote, honey madelines and a very rich and creamy ice cream.

Probably enough syns to keep me going until Christmas.