kinda bummed: WW weigh in

So tonight was my 6th weight watchers weigh in and I stayed the exact same weight.

I should be happy that I didn't gain, but I tracked this week and went to the gym EVERY day, so it's a bit disappointing to not lose anything. Plus I really wanted to hit that stone mark.

My goal vacation is in 12 weeks, and I'm still 40lbs away from my goal weight, which means it's not at all feasible, and yeah I'm kinda bummed.

To make matters worse, after our weigh in, my friend and I went out for Indian food, which is pretty much the worst thing you can eat.

I tried to rectify some tiny, minute part of the day and walked on the treadmill for 3k before the gym closed at 10pm.

But yeah, I'm still bummed.

I may have sunk to a new low!

Breakfast this morning was the poached eggs and toast that I'd been craving since Friday. Good to finally get them done, and they were as good as I'd hoped.



This is only the second time I've poached eggs - I'm a natural! They were perfectly gooey.



Lunch was roasted butternut squash and feta salad. I roasted the squash last night and fell in love. This was my first time ever purchasing the squash and unfortunately half of it was devoured throughout the roasting process or shortly thereafter. The salad could have done with a few more chunks! It also could have done with some darker leaves. I'm not a fan of iceburg lettuce, but my spinach was not looking so good today so lettuce it was. I also didn't know what a good dressing would be for the mix of squash and cheese...what does everyone else use? I tried the sweet chilli again and it was good, but that may just be because I love sweet chilli dressing rather than it being a natural partner!




Finally, my all new low...the feta comes in a block that totals 16 points and is 'best consumed within 3 days'. I know I can't eat 16 points worth of cheese in the next three days - well I could, but that's not the point. After some googling, I learned that feta is freezeable, so I've cut it up into manageable chunks, shrink wrapped it and because I have no good pens about the house, had to create little labels with the points values on it. Yes, I realise how sad this looks!




Now, I'm just trying to motivate myself to get to the gym...clean my apartment and get ready for work tomorrow! Back to the grind unfortunately.

Heaven is chocolate...and brownies...

There's an advert here, for butter mind you, that says something about making Saturday mornings about breakfast...and I totally agree. I meant to get eggs last night as I was really thinking poached eggs on toast would be a wonderful breakfast, but I forgot so all I had in the house was my porridge.

I like my porridge normally, with some fruit it's perfectly satisfactory but this morning I just wasn't feeling it. I wanted a brownie pot - and once I'd gotten that idea into my head it wasn't going anywhere!

So instead, I made 2.5 points worth of porridge, mixed it with a brownie pot and got this delicious 5 point chocolate, brownie porridge - heavenly!



Lunch was the second seeded hake fillet, with mashed potato and grilled vegetables - I inhaled it before it was photographed, guess that chocolate porridge didn't tide me over as well as my usual fruit version!

I did almost 5k on the treadmill today. No running, as I thought I needed a rest day after yesterday's 20 minutes. I wanted to do a full 5k but the gym closed at 7:30 and I'd already stayed until 7:32 so I had to stop at 43 minutes and 37 seconds. They wouldn't even let me make it a round 45 minutes!

Then dinner was tuna, coriander and lime fishcake with a salad of lettuce, sweetcorn and tomatoes with a sweet chilli dressing. I had high hopes for the fishcake but instead of the tuna steak chunks I was imagining it was just grey in the middle and by the taste of it, it could have just been a potato cake. Oh well...next time I'll stick to my hake.



I'm going to try and watch the Bourne Identity as I've never watched any of those movies, but 37 minutes in I'm already losing track...I'm useless!

I really don't want tomorrow to be Sunday because that means Monday is right around the corner...I've REALLY enjoyed having this week off from work...I don't want to go back! I want to stay at home, doing my own thing, making it to the gym and having time to cook and photograph fun, healthy meals. Work sucks!

g'night all

xoxo

Fish, chips and peas and 5 miles

Today was C25K, week 5 day 3 - the dreaded 20 minute run.

I seriously procrastinated this one until 7:30pm. I think I was hoping the gym shuts early on a Friday night, but deep down I know it doesn't. I finally dragged my ass to the treadmill and about half way through my warm-up I decided maybe I'd do the two 8-minute runs again instead.

But I didn't! I survived the 20 minute run, and not only did I survive that 20 minutes, I stayed on the treadmill for a full hour and ten minutes total. Granted, I did not run much of the second half hour, just a few minutes here and there when the song got me going, but I really wanted to see if I could go 5 miles...and I did!

I truly am so proud of myself for running for the 20 minutes straight. My blisters are SORE, and I've rubbed off the magical 'second skin' treatment that I was using, so tomorrow might have to be a proper rest day, but it was well worth it to accomplish my 20 minute run.

I've never, in my life, run for that long straight...and although this is maybe the third time I've started the C25K programme, this is the furthest I've ever gotten.

And damn it feels good!

I celebrated with a healthy version of fish, chips and peas. Loosely translated as hake in a seeded breadcrumb...there's whole sunflower seeds in there! Oven-baked, no battering and frying here!

That was served with some mashed potato, with carrot and swede and some more of my trusty green vegetable medley. The picture was taken before I poured ketchup all over the beautiful fish!



I'm off to watch one more episode of the wire and then bed...g'night all

xoxo

Blisters and confessions of a shopaholic

Tuesday dinner: Tagliatelle bolognese with a green vegetable medley


Yesterday, I walked 7k on the treadmill. I now have the blisters to prove it. Not cool. Also went spinning, earning myself a total of 7 activity points for the day - awesome!

Dinner was movie theatre popcorn, while watching 'Confessions of a Shopaholic'. Crappy movie. I'm usually one for the girly, cheesy chick-flicks, but this was so far from the book it just wasn't any good. Plus, I love Isla Fisher - she was my girl crush when she was in the Australian soap 'Home and Away' years and years ago. But I just wasn't feeling it, it was cheesy and not in a good way. I was just disappointed.

Today, as a result of my blisters, I did not go running, but now that I have some fancy, expensive patches to put on both heels, I'm planning on Day 3, week 5 of C25K tomorrow. That's 20 minutes straight running - which terrifies me. Part of me thinks I sabotaged my heels subconsciously to put off the 20 minute run - that would be insane!

Eats today were porridge with blueberries (4.5 points), a morning snack of grapes (1 point), 2 bowls of zero point tomato soup, ham (1 point), an afternoon snack of carrots and morrocan humuus (5 points) and a pre-dinner/post-pilates snack of salt and vinegar snack a jacks (2 points). For a pre-dinner total of 13.5 points.

Dinner was chilli and potato crush, with a little sour cream for another 5 points and I plan on eating a ww brownie pot as a reward for fulfilling my daily water goal.


Phew - long post!

Oh, I was down another 1.6lbs for the A-team today. If I lose 1 more pound I officially move out of the obese category and into overweight. Looking forward to that one!

xoxo

I lost a point :(

So...my weightwatchers weigh in was good. I lost 2lbs, which means I'm now down from 24 points daily allowance to just 23. I'm a little bit sad to say goodbye to that extra point...but if it helps with the weightloss then I'm all for it.



I get a little confused because my weightwatchers weigh in is on Monday evenings and my starting weight was a pound higher than the starting weight I'd used for my blbe weigh ins, which I've continued to do first thing Thursday so while the numbers are all a little different, I've stuck to the two separate weigh in times and I think it helps to keep me motivated knowing that a weigh in day is never more than a few days away!

My weightwatchers leader/helper person is a bit of a nut job and cannot do simple math. To the point that EVERY week she gets my total weight lost wrong. She told everyone I lost 4lbs this week, which is a lie. If she could do a little better with that math she'd see that it was a 2lb loss. Whatever, stupid woman!

So breakfast this morning was porridge with half a point of blueberries.



My porridge pics are not nearly as pretty as everyone else's. I must be missing a trick!

Lunch was vegetable chilli soup, which I didn't get a picture of. Followed by two ryvita with chicken, spinach and sweet chilli sauce.

Dinner was pizza express, where again I went for the 12 point Padana. Goats cheese, spinach and carmelised red onions. Delicious!

My goals for this week are:
Make it to the gym at least 4 times
Organise my bedroom
Clean the kitchen/living room
Get to the post office (I've had two packages waiting to go out since Christmas!)
Stick to my 23 points :(
Drink 2 liters of water each day

We'll see how I do. This is my first week of goals!

g'night all

xoxo

Slumdog Millionaire

Went to see Slumdog Millionaire tonight and it certainly lived up to expectations. It was fantastic. So pretty, such a good soundtrack, and the child actors were brilliant.



I saw Dev Patel on a chat show the other night and he pointed out that the gameshow host pronounces mill-Ionaire, as mill-onaire, which I then noticed EVERY time the word was said! I also loved the dance track at the end. Bollywood/India has such great dance routines. Anyone know if there is a Bollywood-style workout video? That would be fun!

So, dinner tonight was a high point one. I marinated a tuna steak in soy sauce, garlic and red chilli and baked sweet potato fries that I had coated in 1 point of garlic olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika. The portion was huge, and at 6 points just for the giant potato, I probably should have saved some of it...but damn it was too good to do that! Peas, brocolli and sugarsnaps on the side made this a perfect and filling pre-movie theatre dinner. The photo is making me hungry!



Oh, and I did my half hour on the treadmill: day 1 of week 5 of c25k before bodypump. Unfortunately, I think the combination of such a good run yesterday, and more running today meant that I couldn't get in the zone for bodypump. I took a bunch of water breaks, actually leaving the class between tracks and felt myself switching to lighter weights than I'd used for the same tracks last week. Oh well...it was still an hour spent sweating and toning muscles!

g'night xoxo

I am determined to eat all of my 24 points today, and then hopefully I'll have lost weight this week and from Tuesday I'll be down to eating 23 points.

So, today started off with a big powl of porridge, blueberries and a small banana for a total of 4.5 points.


Then two slices of weightwatchers bread and low fat butter spread for 2.5 points, followed by a second batch at 3 points.



That's 10 points down for the day already! This afternoon I'm heading to the gym for day 1, week 5 of C25k and then bodypump. Tonight I want to organise my bedroom. I still have three boxes of clothes to unpack from when I moved in November!

6 point veggie-chicken pasta

I am stuffed! I probably should have eaten about half of this huge portion, but given that I had six points left for the day I figured I'd eat all six points. Especially as if I've lost even half a pound at my weigh-in on Monday, I'll be losing a point from my daily allowance...sadness.

So, while this is not the prettiest of dishes...This is whole wheat pasta, chicken breast pieces, cauliflower, broccoli and carrots stirred together with some half fat creme fraiche:

I ran 10 minutes straight!!

So...I was debating last week about whether I was ready to move up to week 5 of C25K. Well, clearly I am.

Today, I ran 10 minutes straight, without stopping, 10 minutes!!

I didn't write down what week 5 actually entailed, but I remembered being scared of an 8 minute run, so I thought I'd aim for that, and then once 8 minutes hit, I thought I could actually probably go a bit further. At 10 minutes, I still felt like I could probably keep going, but I don't want to overdo it. Especially as the longest I ran last week was 5 minutes straight, more than doubling it seemed like it might damage something.

But still....I am so proud of myself right now. I don't think I've ever ran 10 minutes straight without stopping in my entire life!

Plus, after my 10 minute run, then a 4 minute run, I ran another .4k and successfully calibrated my ipod nike+ thingy. It's only taken me a month and a half to do!

So, happy valentines day to everyone!

How do you fix a crappy workout?

Today I just couldn't get in the groove on the treadmill. I think of the 35 minutes I was at the gym, I ran for about 10.

Firstly, the treadmills were all taken so I did my warm up on the treadclimber. When one became free I ran over and jumped on and realised that they were new! and they measure in kilometers!

Now, my ipod tracks in kilometers so you wouldn't think it would be that confusing, but my old treadmills measured the pace in miles...so I knew how fast I walked, and how fast I ran...I don't know my speeds in kilometers! I was a little panicky with all the change!

I think I set the running too fast straight off, so after 2 minutes I was back to walking, then I couldn't settle on a walking pace and I tried running for another 3 and then ran the last 4, but that was about all I could manage.

It was very odd. My right thigh started hurting, my left shin was hurting, and my period cramps that I usually get in the lower back where absolutely KILLING me once I stopped...so much for gentle exercise helping with those!

So yeah, not a good workout...but at least I was at the gym...that's gotta count for something right?

xoxo

A week off!

I shouldn't be taking a week off blogging...not good at all! I'll do better this week!

So, Monday was a snowday so I had no Weight Watchers weigh in, so tomorrow will reveal the last 2 weeks efforts and that's a little scary. Last weekend I had family visiting so wasn't perfect, then this week has been a bit blah. I haven't been cooking, so I've been eating junk. I've had a cold that has made me not really want to work out (Tuesday I literally came home and slept after work! I didn't even make it to bed, I crashed on the sofa!)

Then this weekend a couple of crappy meals have got me down. Saturday night I was out with a friend and ordered diet coke, except they didn't have it. They had no diet drinks whatsover and I should have just switched to water but I didn't. I had full fat stuff. Then later I ordered a vodka with diet coke (in a different venue!) and when it got back to me my friend pointed out that the woman had actually poured from a regular coke bottle. Then my caesar salad came with the dressing on instead of on the side, but we'd waited so long and the theatre was about to start that I just ate half of it instead.

Today I feel like I have worms, and I know it's because its that TOM, but damn I could eat ALL day.

I've snacked on 5 crispbeads, I had the BIGGEST plate of zero veggie salad, followed by another plate of salad with my meal and I'm still not full!

On the plus side though, after not working out from Tuesday to Friday, I did week 4, day 2 of C25K yesterday, and then half of it again today before BodyPump.

I might, might, (possibly not) try to move up to week 5. I really think I should because I don't even run that fast and I really need to push myself!

My goal vacation is in 14 weeks, and I NEED to have this sorted by then!

Have a good week everyone and fingers crossed for my weigh-in tomorrow!

C25K - week 4

I almost, ALMOST talked myself out of going to the gym tonight.

I remember from last week that week 4 was quite a scary week on the C25K programme, but I made it to the gym only to realise that I'd not actually written down what I needed to do. Luckily, they have free internet access in the lobby, and I borrowed a pen from the receptionist and now have it written on my hand!

I again almost talked myself out of it even when I was on the treadmill. I just didn't want to speed up from my walking pace at all.

The worry in advance was SOOOOO much worse than the actual running! Last week 3 minutes was pushing me and I didn't know how I'd manage not only with two 3 minute runs, but also two 5 minute runs PLUS less walking time in between. But you know what? I actually enjoyed it! I didn't even use my power song for the first two runs.

Almost makes up for my overeating since Friday! Not really, but we can't all be perfect 100% of the time!