At the beginning of the week I mentioned that I was going to try tracking on the notes application on my mobile phone. The idea being that if I could get in the habit of tracking on the phone I might be able to tackle my chaotic approach to the weekends.
So all week, I've been quietly building a new habit of tracking during the day on my phone, and then transferring it to my online tracker in the evening. Yesterday was therefore the first test to see how it would work for me, away from my structured days in the office and evenings at home.
And the verdict? So far, so good. We spent yesterday at the Guardian Literary Festival in Hay-on-Wye. Normally, as much as I enjoy these fun days out, they are a nightmare for me in terms of food. Out all day, limited options on healthy food, but all the opportunities in the world to eat tastey but bad food.
It really helped to have something on hand where I could just discreetly note everything down and keep a running total. I like that, as an iPhone user, people are used to me fiddling around on it all the time, so nobody is any the wiser that I'm actually tracking my food. I know it's stupid, but although I'm not ashamed of my dieting, I don't want it constantly on view to my friends.
Anyhoo, it did make things easier, and I could make more conscious choices. Even to the point where when I picked out my lunch, I stopped to check calories and sat fat, and didn't dump the whole pot of dressing on my salad.
I won't deny that I was a few points over my the end of the day, but I felt in control and I knew that everything I'd chosen to have was worth it and much appreciated. And to be fair any day when you finish 7 points over but manage to have incorporated cake, champagne, and other such niceties is a good one.
Today I'm still feeling comfortably control - I'm actually currently lying on a blanket in the park listening to the weekly brass band concert. I'm on track to save a few points - mostly because I cooked a big vat of homemade minestrone soup last night and I've avoided the usual icecream in the park today.
Other than that - yesterday was lovely if a little more rainy and overcast than we'd have liked. We saw some interesting talks by Bill Bryson and Quentin Blake, who was drawing characters from the Roald Dahl books as he went along on the overhead projectors. We also spotted quite a few famous folks round the place like John Snow, Rob Brydon and Kirsty Allsop, and generally had fun.
Tomorrow I'm heading off to the beach for the day with Jo and Lissa.
More later!
- Posted from my iPhone
Sunday, 30 May 2010
Thursday, 27 May 2010
A bit of love for me
Is it wrong for me to say I LOVE my legs today?
I don't know, and I'm not sure of the etiquette on these things, but I'm going to say it anyway:
I super love how my legs look today :-)
Maybe it's the additional bit of colour they have after the sunny weekend (in shorts no less! SHORT shorts!). Maybe it's the shape and definition that continues to change slowly (a combination of running, cycling and body combat is fabulous for your calves). Maybe it's the new shoes and favourite skirt I'm wearing today (with a proper tucked in shirt for a change - I've totally started wearing more girly clothes these days). Anyhoo, I feel good.
I was a bit gutted last night, that when it came round to the evening, both Bridget's meeting ran over and the heavens opened, so the walk got cancelled. Booooooooo. But we've rescheduled to catch up tonight after our respective classes - Body Combat for me and Balance for B. Mmmmmm - bring on the sweat!
Without anything to do last night I cooked a simple tea and flaked on the couch. Always nice so I wasn't complaining. Besides - I kind of like sitting comfortably inside listening to rain pattering in the trees outside through the open windows - only beaten by lying in bed listening to it!
Sorry, I think the point I was trying to make there, before I got distracted, was my simple tea. I've noticed that when I'm eating well and on plan, my food gets simpler. It's like my tastebuds get more sensitive the less crap I eat, and the plain stuff like a grilled chicken breast, a jacket potato and some peas and sweetcorn tastes fab.
In between watching a bit of tv, and enjoying my tea and the sound of the rain, I read some more of the wise words of Ms Beenie - almost makes me want to dive back into the world of dating and try again. Or at least, have a slightly higher opinion of myself and not feel I should be less picky as some of my friends tell me I should be.
What??? I can't help having high standards!
- Posted from my iPhone
I don't know, and I'm not sure of the etiquette on these things, but I'm going to say it anyway:
I super love how my legs look today :-)
Maybe it's the additional bit of colour they have after the sunny weekend (in shorts no less! SHORT shorts!). Maybe it's the shape and definition that continues to change slowly (a combination of running, cycling and body combat is fabulous for your calves). Maybe it's the new shoes and favourite skirt I'm wearing today (with a proper tucked in shirt for a change - I've totally started wearing more girly clothes these days). Anyhoo, I feel good.
I was a bit gutted last night, that when it came round to the evening, both Bridget's meeting ran over and the heavens opened, so the walk got cancelled. Booooooooo. But we've rescheduled to catch up tonight after our respective classes - Body Combat for me and Balance for B. Mmmmmm - bring on the sweat!
Without anything to do last night I cooked a simple tea and flaked on the couch. Always nice so I wasn't complaining. Besides - I kind of like sitting comfortably inside listening to rain pattering in the trees outside through the open windows - only beaten by lying in bed listening to it!
Sorry, I think the point I was trying to make there, before I got distracted, was my simple tea. I've noticed that when I'm eating well and on plan, my food gets simpler. It's like my tastebuds get more sensitive the less crap I eat, and the plain stuff like a grilled chicken breast, a jacket potato and some peas and sweetcorn tastes fab.
In between watching a bit of tv, and enjoying my tea and the sound of the rain, I read some more of the wise words of Ms Beenie - almost makes me want to dive back into the world of dating and try again. Or at least, have a slightly higher opinion of myself and not feel I should be less picky as some of my friends tell me I should be.
What??? I can't help having high standards!
- Posted from my iPhone
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Swimming and flirting
Oh my lord - I'm totally stuffed at the moment! Innocent Veg Pots do a rather tastey mushroom risotto which was easy to grab for lunch today and now I'm muchly full. I love that I can be totally, satisfyingly full and on plan.
As promised I went for a swim last night. I blitzed my errands on the way home (bank, parking pass for the hills renewed, Fat Face sale raided - another cute short skirt, good jeans and a totally lush knit waistcoat bought - and a health-conscious trip to the supermarket), had dinner, walked round to the library to return some books, before burrowing round through my room to try and find my swim goggles.
It occurred to me (when I couldn't think where on earth my goggles were) that it must be at least 6 months since I last went swimming - tragic! I love that I can leave my flat on foot at 5 past 9 and be changed and in the pool by 9.15 ... so I'm not sure why it's so long since I last hit the pool.
Given my lengthy absence I though I'd take it easy and just go for a nice round 40 lengths at a steady speed. Actually, that felt really easy, and I probably would have stayed to do more but I fancied 5 mins in the sauna and a leisurely change afterwards. So 1km swum in 30 mins - not too shabby.
On the downside of life - because there always is one - the guy I liked at work, and thought just might have reciprocated a bit of my interest? TOTALLY going out with another girl from work, and I was the only one who didn't know. Shows you how faulty my radar is, doesn't it?
I can't read the signs, miss then when they are there, and apparently imagine them when they're not. Kind of embarrassing as I'd been saying to him how much I find clingy new couples annoying, and he'd been kindly agreeing with me .... but is in a new relationship himself. Ach .... bury head in the sand time. I give up, since I only seem to embarrass myself.
Better to know now I guess than embarrass myself properly later!
Better go and finish reading Sarah Beenie's book on flirting and dating (her off Property Ladder on the tv, and owner of the mysinglefriend website) and see if I can get a clue!
- Posted from my iPhone
As promised I went for a swim last night. I blitzed my errands on the way home (bank, parking pass for the hills renewed, Fat Face sale raided - another cute short skirt, good jeans and a totally lush knit waistcoat bought - and a health-conscious trip to the supermarket), had dinner, walked round to the library to return some books, before burrowing round through my room to try and find my swim goggles.
It occurred to me (when I couldn't think where on earth my goggles were) that it must be at least 6 months since I last went swimming - tragic! I love that I can leave my flat on foot at 5 past 9 and be changed and in the pool by 9.15 ... so I'm not sure why it's so long since I last hit the pool.
Given my lengthy absence I though I'd take it easy and just go for a nice round 40 lengths at a steady speed. Actually, that felt really easy, and I probably would have stayed to do more but I fancied 5 mins in the sauna and a leisurely change afterwards. So 1km swum in 30 mins - not too shabby.
On the downside of life - because there always is one - the guy I liked at work, and thought just might have reciprocated a bit of my interest? TOTALLY going out with another girl from work, and I was the only one who didn't know. Shows you how faulty my radar is, doesn't it?
I can't read the signs, miss then when they are there, and apparently imagine them when they're not. Kind of embarrassing as I'd been saying to him how much I find clingy new couples annoying, and he'd been kindly agreeing with me .... but is in a new relationship himself. Ach .... bury head in the sand time. I give up, since I only seem to embarrass myself.
Better to know now I guess than embarrass myself properly later!
Better go and finish reading Sarah Beenie's book on flirting and dating (her off Property Ladder on the tv, and owner of the mysinglefriend website) and see if I can get a clue!
- Posted from my iPhone
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
Visualising
I think that last night's spinning class must have absolutely been the sweatiest on record. Our air-con seems to be a bit screwed up at the gym at the moment, so it was like cycling in a bowl of warm soup in there last night. To add insult to injury, usually we all get a turn with the big fans turned on us to cool us down, but there's a lady who's still spinning despite being 7 months pregnant. She therefore got the fan for the full session, despite the fact she was just taking it easy while the rest of us sprinted and climbed the metaphorical hills!!! Not that I begrudge her the fan, but I was highly jealous of her coolness as I dripped all over myself and the towel.
After that epic effort I didn't have much more energy in me other than to get home and collapse with an Innocent Veg Pot and a bit of bread and butter.
Today for the first time in ages, I've felt something really positive. I've been able to imagine myself losing more weight - properly clearly visualise how I'll look and feel as I get a bit smaller again.
I know it sounds weird but that's so comforting to me, because it means I feel like I believe in myself again. When I first embarked on my Weightwatchers journey, I wasn't really convinced that it would work for me, but I was desperate so I stuck to the plan, and waited to see what would happen. As the weight started to peel away, and for the first time I knew what that sort of success felt like, I was able to imagine how it would feel to lose further weight, and make further steps like buying smaller clothes.
Since I've been struggling in my rut, I've not had that same sense of positivity or clarity about where I'm going. I've been feeling like this was the end of the dieting line and I wouldn't be making any further progress.
I'm not sure why the imaginary slimmer me has suddenly become visible to me again so sharply, but it's a nice feeling.
Bqck in the real world - having purchased a new swimsuit at the weekend that actually fits and will keep my modesty in tact, I'm planning on running a few errands after work, then grabbing some dinner and a couple of hours chill out time, and rounding off with a late evening swim.
How do you guys cope with staying active in the heat?
- Posted from my iPhone
After that epic effort I didn't have much more energy in me other than to get home and collapse with an Innocent Veg Pot and a bit of bread and butter.
Today for the first time in ages, I've felt something really positive. I've been able to imagine myself losing more weight - properly clearly visualise how I'll look and feel as I get a bit smaller again.
I know it sounds weird but that's so comforting to me, because it means I feel like I believe in myself again. When I first embarked on my Weightwatchers journey, I wasn't really convinced that it would work for me, but I was desperate so I stuck to the plan, and waited to see what would happen. As the weight started to peel away, and for the first time I knew what that sort of success felt like, I was able to imagine how it would feel to lose further weight, and make further steps like buying smaller clothes.
Since I've been struggling in my rut, I've not had that same sense of positivity or clarity about where I'm going. I've been feeling like this was the end of the dieting line and I wouldn't be making any further progress.
I'm not sure why the imaginary slimmer me has suddenly become visible to me again so sharply, but it's a nice feeling.
Bqck in the real world - having purchased a new swimsuit at the weekend that actually fits and will keep my modesty in tact, I'm planning on running a few errands after work, then grabbing some dinner and a couple of hours chill out time, and rounding off with a late evening swim.
How do you guys cope with staying active in the heat?
- Posted from my iPhone
Monday, 24 May 2010
A lesson learned ...
... the hard way.
Isn't 20/20 hindsight a marvellous thing??
I just did a quick but painful exercise which proves a point about how easy it is to go so horribly wrong.
Points actually consumed this weekend - a horrible 49 over my budget.
Now go down the side and make a few quick substitutions. Swap food at the Saturday night BBQ from what I actually ate to what I wanted to eat but was too self-conscious to ask for. A couple of drinks subs (shandies and Pimms for vodka) and cut an extra brownie I wouldn't have eaten had I realised the damage I was doing.
Et voilà - amended total only 10 points over.
Damn.
A clear reason to figure out how to keep tracking over the weekend.
How does anyone else do it? Tips please!
- Posted from my iPhone
Isn't 20/20 hindsight a marvellous thing??
I just did a quick but painful exercise which proves a point about how easy it is to go so horribly wrong.
Points actually consumed this weekend - a horrible 49 over my budget.
Now go down the side and make a few quick substitutions. Swap food at the Saturday night BBQ from what I actually ate to what I wanted to eat but was too self-conscious to ask for. A couple of drinks subs (shandies and Pimms for vodka) and cut an extra brownie I wouldn't have eaten had I realised the damage I was doing.
Et voilà - amended total only 10 points over.
Damn.
A clear reason to figure out how to keep tracking over the weekend.
How does anyone else do it? Tips please!
- Posted from my iPhone
Losing my head in the heat
Oh, weekends - how I have such a love / hate relationhip with you!
I've had a dreamy, sunny, summer weekend - one of those where you have very little planned and it turns into an epic of fun.
Friday lunchtime after work, I beetled off to meet up with my friend Claire who is on maternity leave at the moment. A couple of the other girls from work were there too and we had a lovely catch up on all the news over lunch, in between cooing over how gorgeous little Maddie is (just 7 weeks old!).
I left there a little later than I'd intended and had to rush home, grab a bag full of clothes and shoot off over to Lissa and Jo's for the weekend. Our friend Katherine, who's getting married in July, popped over for the evening and we had takeaway and sat in the late evening sun in the garden chatting and catching up.
Saturday dawned gloriously sunny, and since surfing plans were shelved due to lack of organisation, we decided a day in the Cotswolds was in order. Shorts, vest tops and little summer dresses at the ready, we piled in the car and headed off for lovely Bourton-on-the-Water. We had a picnic by the river in the centre of town (us and about 5 million other people), browsed the shops and boutiques, bought homemade fudge, played in a maze and tried to solve the puzzle in the middle, and finally slumped in a very nice sun-trap of a pub garden on giant outdoor sofas to recover with icy cold shandies. Lush.
We were supposed to be having a BBQ when we got home, but the coals resolutely refused to light, so eventually we put the food on the grill indoors and relaxed with a Pimms and lemonade. Clearly I'm getting old as I fell asleep on the sofa afterwards watching Sherlock Holmes.
Yesterday was ANOTHER gorgeous day. How lucky are getting with this weather???? After breakfast in the garden, I pottered from the girls' house to the shops, and spent a happy couple of hours in air-conditioned comfort browsing for summer clothes.
I'd been home approximately 10 mins before being dragged back out the door by my flatmate Sheena, for an afternoon of live music. Just enough time to shove a bowl of cereal down my neck as a late lunch and change to another pair of short shorts and a clean top. Trilby and aviator sunglasses at the ready for that cool summer vibe.
First stop - the park for an afternoon of musical classics played most excellently by a military brass band. Picnic rugs and icecreams at the ready. From there onwards to a pub up on the hills holding a weekend long music festival - sweltering heat, some really good blues music, cold drinks, and later on, our friend Moss doing his DJ thing with a mix of funk and reggae for a sunny afternoon.
Finally, back home and collapse in a very humid flat to eat dinner, tidy away the mess of the weekend's packing and fall into bed.
The downside of weekends like that is that I still struggle to hold it together eating-wise. After my recent weeks of making an effort, I can see elements of my eating that have improved, better habits that are creeping in. Things like lunch on Saturday when I automatically picked up a prawn mayo sandwich and Walkers Baked crisps because I know they're healthier. Choosing one scoop of ice cream instead of two, or an ice-lolly instead of a Magnum.
But there's still areas I slip up.
1) Lager shandy may be deliciously cooling in the heat but it's crammed full of sugar. Best I don't get too attached to them and instead stick to my usual vodka and slimline tonic or just diet Coke. At least I had my Pimms with diet lemonade on Saturday night.
2) Little Starfishies can't count. An accountant I maybe, but when it comes to keeping count of my points on the weekend I suck!!! During the week I stay accountable by the simple method of having a pad of post-it's on my desk which I jot down my intake on daily. It's quick, it's easy and it's THERE - I can see at a glance what I've had and what I've got left for the day. Come the weekend there's no desk and no post-it's, so there's no on-the-spot tracking. I'm trying to train myself this week to use the notes function on my phone to do my tracking, to see if I can do it over this coming weekend too. That would be a vast improvement if I could, because I tend to forget what I've eaten til much later otherwise.
10 weeks til Costa Rica - I need to figure this out. I think I've got a little too comfy where I am - afterall I wouldn't have dreamed of wearing short shorts this time last year, but I should bear in mind that I can still be much more comfortable in this heat and that bikini season is coming soon - eeeeek.
Oh - and I bought a new swimsuit at the weekend .... if it's too hot to walk / run / bike then it's time to take it to the pool!
- Posted from my iPhone
I've had a dreamy, sunny, summer weekend - one of those where you have very little planned and it turns into an epic of fun.
Friday lunchtime after work, I beetled off to meet up with my friend Claire who is on maternity leave at the moment. A couple of the other girls from work were there too and we had a lovely catch up on all the news over lunch, in between cooing over how gorgeous little Maddie is (just 7 weeks old!).
I left there a little later than I'd intended and had to rush home, grab a bag full of clothes and shoot off over to Lissa and Jo's for the weekend. Our friend Katherine, who's getting married in July, popped over for the evening and we had takeaway and sat in the late evening sun in the garden chatting and catching up.
Saturday dawned gloriously sunny, and since surfing plans were shelved due to lack of organisation, we decided a day in the Cotswolds was in order. Shorts, vest tops and little summer dresses at the ready, we piled in the car and headed off for lovely Bourton-on-the-Water. We had a picnic by the river in the centre of town (us and about 5 million other people), browsed the shops and boutiques, bought homemade fudge, played in a maze and tried to solve the puzzle in the middle, and finally slumped in a very nice sun-trap of a pub garden on giant outdoor sofas to recover with icy cold shandies. Lush.
We were supposed to be having a BBQ when we got home, but the coals resolutely refused to light, so eventually we put the food on the grill indoors and relaxed with a Pimms and lemonade. Clearly I'm getting old as I fell asleep on the sofa afterwards watching Sherlock Holmes.
Yesterday was ANOTHER gorgeous day. How lucky are getting with this weather???? After breakfast in the garden, I pottered from the girls' house to the shops, and spent a happy couple of hours in air-conditioned comfort browsing for summer clothes.
I'd been home approximately 10 mins before being dragged back out the door by my flatmate Sheena, for an afternoon of live music. Just enough time to shove a bowl of cereal down my neck as a late lunch and change to another pair of short shorts and a clean top. Trilby and aviator sunglasses at the ready for that cool summer vibe.
First stop - the park for an afternoon of musical classics played most excellently by a military brass band. Picnic rugs and icecreams at the ready. From there onwards to a pub up on the hills holding a weekend long music festival - sweltering heat, some really good blues music, cold drinks, and later on, our friend Moss doing his DJ thing with a mix of funk and reggae for a sunny afternoon.
Finally, back home and collapse in a very humid flat to eat dinner, tidy away the mess of the weekend's packing and fall into bed.
The downside of weekends like that is that I still struggle to hold it together eating-wise. After my recent weeks of making an effort, I can see elements of my eating that have improved, better habits that are creeping in. Things like lunch on Saturday when I automatically picked up a prawn mayo sandwich and Walkers Baked crisps because I know they're healthier. Choosing one scoop of ice cream instead of two, or an ice-lolly instead of a Magnum.
But there's still areas I slip up.
1) Lager shandy may be deliciously cooling in the heat but it's crammed full of sugar. Best I don't get too attached to them and instead stick to my usual vodka and slimline tonic or just diet Coke. At least I had my Pimms with diet lemonade on Saturday night.
2) Little Starfishies can't count. An accountant I maybe, but when it comes to keeping count of my points on the weekend I suck!!! During the week I stay accountable by the simple method of having a pad of post-it's on my desk which I jot down my intake on daily. It's quick, it's easy and it's THERE - I can see at a glance what I've had and what I've got left for the day. Come the weekend there's no desk and no post-it's, so there's no on-the-spot tracking. I'm trying to train myself this week to use the notes function on my phone to do my tracking, to see if I can do it over this coming weekend too. That would be a vast improvement if I could, because I tend to forget what I've eaten til much later otherwise.
10 weeks til Costa Rica - I need to figure this out. I think I've got a little too comfy where I am - afterall I wouldn't have dreamed of wearing short shorts this time last year, but I should bear in mind that I can still be much more comfortable in this heat and that bikini season is coming soon - eeeeek.
Oh - and I bought a new swimsuit at the weekend .... if it's too hot to walk / run / bike then it's time to take it to the pool!
- Posted from my iPhone
Friday, 21 May 2010
Blah
Another non-movement on the scale - neither up nor down. Another strop; 5 minutes considering whether just to give the whole thing up and then the realisation that it will NEVER be better if I do that.
Good things: I found a ready-made salad I liked last night, and I DID go the gym, after much mental to-ing and fro-ing that it was far too hot to bother.
Bad things: the stupid salad turned out to have 9.5pts in it. I get 21pts a day. How is that fair??? Why does eating healthy have to be such a mine-field? Thank god I'd been to the gym huh? I also made brownies last night. I haven't had any, but they're sitting on my desk tormenting me.
Today is going to be tough. I've got a lunch with the girls, where I'm going to meet my friend's new baby for the first time (hence the brownies which are my contribution to lunch), and then over to Jo's this evening for another girly reunion and takeaway. Give me strength!
I badly want to stay on track, as I'm DETERMINED to break out of this rut.
I'll check back in later and let you know how it's going.
- Posted from my iPhone
Good things: I found a ready-made salad I liked last night, and I DID go the gym, after much mental to-ing and fro-ing that it was far too hot to bother.
Bad things: the stupid salad turned out to have 9.5pts in it. I get 21pts a day. How is that fair??? Why does eating healthy have to be such a mine-field? Thank god I'd been to the gym huh? I also made brownies last night. I haven't had any, but they're sitting on my desk tormenting me.
Today is going to be tough. I've got a lunch with the girls, where I'm going to meet my friend's new baby for the first time (hence the brownies which are my contribution to lunch), and then over to Jo's this evening for another girly reunion and takeaway. Give me strength!
I badly want to stay on track, as I'm DETERMINED to break out of this rut.
I'll check back in later and let you know how it's going.
- Posted from my iPhone
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)