Wednesday Weigh-In - Holidays, weight gain and starting again.

Phew!
I really should have though about what I had coming before I started this feature a few weeks back.
In the past couple of weeks, we've been on holiday, ate awfully, (as you do when by the sea. Who doesn't love ice-creams, fresh donuts and burgers,) and indulged far too much!

Luckily for me, I only gained a couple of pounds within our weeks away, and since then I've lost double what I had gained.

That puts me currently at 218lbs.

Today, I decided to make a fresh start and put the holiday behind me. I started logging my foods again and also plan on beginning to exercise twice a week. Currently, I have set nights to work out. Those being a Tuesday and a Thursday, so I will let you know how that goes next week. I didn't end up doing anything yesterday as both Liam and I are ill with a crappy cold.

Liam has also decided to start doing this with me, which is awesome. It means we are less likely to influence the other with bad food choices and hopefully we can be each others motivation. We're also going to take our 'before' photos sometime this week. Whether or not I feel totally confident in showing them to you just yet, I don't know.
I think I described myself to Liam as 'feeling lumpy' at the weekend. It's time to get rid of some of the lumpiness.

Starting from next week I will be sharing my food diary from the week previous. So next week you will see what I have eaten from today onwards. I really need to get into the habit of photographing my food and also logging them in myfitnesspal. I find it the easiest way to keep track of what I'm eating, otherwise I end up pigging out and not really being aware of what I've eaten that day.
I know myfitness pal is quite popular, so if you use it too you can follow me here.

I've also decided to start filtering out meat. I'm fully aware of what we have in the freezer right now and I'm not one to waste food, but once that it gone I am going to eat only white meat for a little while, and then totally give up meat all together.
Once all of our white rice/pasta is gone, these will also be replaced with the wholemeal options.

I'm really looking forward to seeing some changes in the next few months, and I've set my goal at a loss of 20lbs by Christmas. At only 2lbs loss a week, I think it's totally doable if I keep my head in the right place.

I'll check in with you guys again next week, hopefully with my first 2lbs down.

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#FridayFitness

Hey beauts! 

I have been dying to write this post all week. 

After what seems like forever at staying the same weight, I am pleased to say that the number on the scales is finally going down. 

On Monday I started drinking a different brand of shakes. I generally have 2 a day, a meal in the evening and some light snacks throughout the day. Evenings are the hardest and I tend to find myself more hungry and craving bad stuff in the later hours. But, luckily I am getting better at the whole will power thing. 

Exercise wise I have been on my stationary bike for an hour a day, with a rest day yesterday. I have cycled a total of 31 miles so far this week and I plan on getting another ten done today once I've finished with all of my housey duties. 

So, on to the important bit. I haven't had time to measure as of yet, I'm going to get Liam to help me this evening as it gets a little fiddly.

This weeks stats...

Weight - 229.8 lbs -4.6lbs

Upper arms (r) -  cm  (l)- cm

Thighs (r) -  cm  (l)-cm

Bust - cm

Waist -cm

Hips - cm

I shall update the rest as soon as I have the figures. Generally I don't feel like I have lost much in way of cm but I so happy with the nearly 5lbs off! 

How are you all getting on?

Don't forget to join #fridayfitness on facebook, tumblr and use the hashtag on twitter. 

✌

Bringing #FridayFitness Back!

Hi beauts,

I am so sorry for not posting for so long. I fell off the wagon, a lot of life things happened and I'm finally ready to hop back on it. I've gained a ridiculous amount of weight and I'm now tipping the scales at 234lbs. 

Jeez that is so scary to me. 

When I look in the mirror I don't see it, but if I see a photo of myself, it's there, staring right back at me, and I hate it. 

Liam and I were planning on getting married July next year, and apart from being far from prepared/have no money, I wouldn't be happy walking down the aisle this big. 

I'm giving myself a year to drop 2 dress sizes. That's all. I don't want to be a super skinny size 8, because it just wouldn't suit my height. But, I do think that being a size 12 again would at least make me feel good about myself again. I'm not too worried about what the scales say, but to drop a good 30lbs would make me incredibly happy. 

My plan of action...

To begin with I am going to focus on eating the right foods. With moving and everything else that has gone on, we have found it far to easy too call a takeaway and we have literally been living off of junk. It's become a horrid addiction as both Liam and I find it difficult if we go without lots of carbs of sugar for too long.

As of today I am currently drinking 2 meal replacement shakes and eating a good healthy dinner. I'm upping my protein, and lowering my carb intake. My sister has just become a Herbalife coach and has done incredible on it herself, so once we have sorted our bills and such like out, I'm hoping to change my shakes to those. They are rather pricey. If it comes to it and we still can't afford Herbalife, then I will continue with the maxitone shakes I am drinking at the moment. 

Side note - Banana is waaaay better than chocolate!

Shortly after our move I purchased an exercise bike and I'll be doing an hour's worth of cycling a day. It's scary, but at the moment I am finding it really difficult walking long distances. My leg muscles seize up all the time and make it really painful. I'm hoping that'll get better once I actually start working those muscles again; and being able to do that on a stationary bike in my own home is brilliant because it means no-one will see my 'oh my god this hurts face' and won't think that I'm a morning drunk. (I cannot walk in a straight line when it happens.)

If you want to join in...

- I shall be posting a new #FridayFitness post every Friday. I'll make it my weigh in day so anything and everything will be tracked. I will be tracking my weight, but more importantly, I shall be whipping out my tape measure every Friday morning also. 

Feel free to write about #FridayFitness yourself and link it in the comments below, or if you like just let me know what you are doing and how you are getting on. 

- You can use the hashtag on twitter and I will check it weekly and reply to any tweets. 

- I also have a Tumblr dedicated to this here.

- I have a Facebook group in which you can join here.

 - I may also turn this into a Youtube series over on my vlog channel, but I'll let you guys know in the future if this happens. 

Starting Stats...

Weight - 234 lbs

Upper arms (r) -  42cm  (l)- 39cm

Thighs (r) -  71cm  (l)- 73cm

Bust - 106cm

Waist -90cm

Hips - 129cm

Anywho, hopefully some time in the future, I will feel confident enough to post a 'before' photo. But not right now. 

Let me know if you decide to follow me on this journey!

xoxo

#FridayFitness - Smoothie week clean eating | diet | exercise | fitness | friday | fridayfitness | health | recipes | smoothie | update | when flowers fall | whenflowersfall

Well, hello there.

I decided not to include an update last week as mother nature was visiting, and if I'm completely honest, I felt like utter poo poo.

This week I haven't eaten brilliantly and I'm feeling really guilty about it. 

It always happens towards the end of the month, whenever money is starting to get a little low.

But, yesterday was pay day, and I relished in buying tons of fruit and veggies, ready for a week of smoothies. 

I've done this before, I lost a bit of weight, but the bigger advantage was that I felt amazing for it. 

This time I'm not going as hard with it as I did before. Last time I was having 4 or 5 smoothies a day and nothing else. It was bloody hard. 

This time I've decided to have 2 or 3 smoothies a day, and a small evening meal. 

Weight wise, I'm still sitting at 217lbs, the same place I was last time I weighed in.

I'm hoping this will get me off this plateau and help me lose a little before my birthday. 

This mornings smoothie consisted of

four strawberries

half a mango

a handful of spinach

almond milk 

natural sweetener

It honestly looked disgusting, but tasted amazing.

If you're a fan of smoothies, please leave your favourite combos in the comments below and I'll be sure to try them out. 

The new and improved #FridayFitness community | diet | exercise | facebook | fitness | friday | fridayfitness | help | inspiration | lbs | lose | recipes | support | twitter | weight | weightloss | whenflowersfall

Previously known as, Friday Fitday. 

Now, you guys know that I've been atempting some kind of weightloss for the past year. For the past year I have failed! But, now I have an incentive. 

My brother has made a group on Facebook called 'The Challenge'. He has challenged myself and a few of his friends to a weight loss mission. We have six months to healthily lose as much weight as we can. The one who loses the biggest percentage by then will get a prize from him. 

This week I have been tracking my food on MyFitnessPal, which you can feel free to add me as a friend on, and I've also been walking the dog every day. Which, if I'm totally honest, I haven't been doing until now. 

#FridayFitness will now become a weekly post where I can update you on my activities and favourite meals of the week, and of course any weight lost. 

I'd love to create a little community here, where we can all help each other and keep each other motivated. 

If you want to get involved, make sure to use the hashtag #FridayFitness on twitter and let me know how you are getting on. 

In the comments, feel free to leave inspirational quotes, meal ideas, recipes, or even exercise ideas.

I've also created a group page on facebook for anyone wanting to get involved. It's a closed group, meaning that anyone can see the group and join, but only members of the group can see what is posted. 

I hope to see some of you doing this with me! I think it'll be a great way to make friends, even if some of us struggle to shift the lbs! 

Friday Fitday - Measurements Time! 30 day shred | 30ds | diary | diet | exercise | friday fitday | fridayfitday | goal | health | measurements | my fitness pal | myfitnesspal | update | weightloss | when flowers fall | whenflowersfall

Well, halllooo there! 

Any who, you know last week I said I would be on day 7 of the shred by now? Ummmm.....yeah...fail! I totally forgot how bad my back gets when I actually start exercising, so although I haven't given up, I have taken a few days off to get some proper sleep and rest my back. I'm not too sure what it actually is, I think it may be an old work injury flaring up again, or it may even be a trapped nerve. Either way, it's bloody painful. 

I am doing my next shred tomorrow, which will be day five. 

So far I feel good, the shred has definitely felt easier each day I've done it. More hurting, more sweating, but certainly less out of breath. If all is well, I hope to complete a full week this week. I've discovered that it's amazingly difficult to do with a nine week old puppy in the room though. Haha. Picture Bug sitting on my stomach or chewing my hair/face whilst trying to do the abs section. 

I haven't lost any weight yet, neither have I lost anything inch wise, but I am beginning to feel less bloated and frumpy. I know it's sad, but I always get a little excited when I can see the beginnings of collar bones. I feel way more feminine. 

I imagine you're wondering what my measurements are by now, so without further a do, these are my beginning stats.

Arms - 14" (36cm)

Chest - 41" (104cm)

Waist - 36" (91.5cm)

Hips/Bum - 48" (122cm) Yup, I gots a big toosh.

Thighs - 27.5" (70.5cm)

I've decided not to be so hung up on the numbers on the scale, but more on the the numbers above. As the picture below says, it's not always weightloss that makes you smaller. 

Hopefully by next week I can give you more of a progress update. If you missed my announcement on Twitter earlier this week, you can now follow me on My Fitness Pal at Whenflowersfall. There you will be able to keep up with me daily and check in on my food diaries too. If you do add me and you see I haven't filled in my dairy for the day, please yell at me because I keep on forgetting!! 
I hope you are all doing well with your goals! Make sure you keep me updated!!

Friday Fitday - A new day, a new start. 30 day shred | exercise | friday fitday | goals | healthy | party | weightloss | xmas | zaggora hot pants

Yup! You guessed it. Friday Fitday is beginning again. 

It's taken me so long to get my mojo back, but now I have, I'm not letting it go again. 

As I type this, my hands are shaking from completing day one of the 30 day shred. My friend Rachel has been doing it for a while and has managed to get to the end of level two, so I figured it was time to join her. 

I am knackered...

...and mildly sweaty. I honestly feel I'd forgotten how unfit I am. 

I've tried to do the shred before and now I remember why I didn't complete it. Jillian Michaels is a real ball buster and her voice just gets on my tits. But, if I get the results I want, then I am going to get through the entire thing this time.

Just like it used to be, I will be posting updates every Friday. I was going to do it today, but I just didn't feel brave enough, but next week I'm hoping to be able to post some full body photos. They won't necessarily be before photos, as I will be 7 days into the shred by then, but I can't imagine I am going to have huge results that quickly. 

Right now I am weighing in at 15.2 stone (214lbs) and I am 5ft 11. Seeing the numbers like that really scare me and with the #Northernbloggersxmasparty only a month away, I'd like to shed at least a stone by then. According to the BMI charts, I am verging on obese. My ideal weight is somewhere between 9 and 12.5 stone. Let's be real, if I was 9 stone, I would look really ill and I think even at 12.5, I feel I wouldn't want to lose any more. Overall my goal is to get to 13 stone (182lbs) by my 23rd birthday in March. 

Food wise, I am going back to eating home cooked meals, controlling my snacking and just being generally good. I think without the diet to go with it, the shred will just be useless. 

My puppy, Bug will be able to go outside in the next three weeks, so before then I am going to try and get back in the swing of walking also. Unfortunately, I don't have any workout gear suitable for the British winter, so I may just have to do it in my pjs? This is something I am going to have to find a way of sorting before I can actually start. Although, with Xmas coming up, work out stuff for myself is the last thing I can afford to spend my few pennies on. I'm going to ask for a pair of Zaggora Hot pants for Crimbo. I want a pair so, so much and the results just look amazing!!

Anywhoo, I seem to have rambled for quite some time about my goals. 

If you guys would like to follow my journey, make sure to check back every Friday evening. If you would like to join me, send me a cheeky tweet @whenflowersfall using the hastag 'Fridayfitday' and we can keep each other motivated. 

Friday Fitday diet | exercise | fitness | friday fitday | health | health kick | LFW | meals | update | weightloss | whenflowersfall

Hi my lovelies!

I chose last week to change the layout of Friday Fitday to videos, but seeing as I'm in London as you read this, this post has been written today (Thursday) so I didn't miss a week.

I've been feeling great about this whole thing this week. I've been sticking within my calorie limit and I haven't actually felt hungry very often. It just goes to show that I don't need to eat the ton of junk food that I was choosing to eat before. 

Below is a few examples of what I have been eating. I've found eating an egg for breakfast has keep me fuller for longer, and I'm really enjoying mushrooms too.

I may a huge decision this week to do something I have wanted to do for a really long time.

I am now no longer eating red meat. For the time being I am only going to be eating fish and chicken, but eventually I will be completely pescatarian. The only reason I am still eating chicken for the time being is because we have a whole ton of it in our freezer, and I don't think liam could finish it himself without living off of it for the next four weeks. Once it's gone, it's gone.

So far I'm not missing the meat, but I think that will come with time and it will become a real challenge. A challenge I am ready to tackle head on. 

Exercise wise, I haven't made a huge effort. I've been pretty run down on my new tablets, but as soon as my body has adjusted to them I'll be starting the 30 day shred. 

Starting weight - 216.4lbs

This weeks weight (as of Thursday) - 213.6lbs

Weight + or - 

- 2.8lbs

How have you guys done this week?

Friday Fitday exercise | fitness | friday fitday | healthy | series | water | whenflowersfall

 You guessed it guys! 

I'm starting again....

but with a totally different approach. 

I've decided that trying to eat less is not working out very well, so instead both Liam and myself are trying to focus on eating a little healthier. Also, fitness is becoming a big thing for us. We both feel that if we can get active, then the food won't be so much of an issue any more. Neither of us really over eat too much nowadays, so from now on, what we do eat shouldn't make us gain. 

For fitness I intend to complete the 30 day shred (because I haven't managed it yet,) but I'm planning on completing it in 60 days. This is because on alternate days I will be doing half an hours kick boxing. I feel this way I can't get too bored with the same routine and I can focus on different areas of the body if I'm feeling a little strained. 

We are also planning on making walking a more regular thing, hopefully we can fit in 4 hour long walks throughout the week.

With all this exercise I need to start drinking more water. I am awful for keeping up with fluids. 

Hopefully, I can train myself to become a bit of a fitness junkie. I'd like to think that by September the exercise I am doing is natural and no longer feels like a chore. 

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Friday Fitday! diet | exercise | friday | friday fit day | goal weight | healthy | lose weight | skinny | slim | thin | update | weightloss | when flowers fall | whenflowersfall

Hi Lovelies!

It's update time....

This week hasn't been the best of weeks, if I'm completely honest. I've spent the majority of it thinking about food and trying to get my head in the right frame of mind to get started.

Saying that, I have lost 2lbs! 

It's a great start, especially when I wasn't really trying at all. I'd like to think that I can keep at a steady pace and I'd be totally happy if 2lbs a week became a regular thing. Obviously I'd love to lose more but at least this way it is steady and more likely to stay off. 

This week I am working on my eating, I need to try and change the way I see food. When my depression was at its worst I went to food for comfort, hence more weight gain. The only problem is, I still do it, on my bad days I just want to eat and this really needs to change.

As much as I love all food, bread and other starchy carbs are most definitely my downfall. I'm going to try and have the most carbs in my morning meal. Hopefully this way it will curb my cravings and keep me from reaching for them for the rest of the day. Lunch, I'm working on having smoothies, cramming in my fruits and veggies, beacuse this is another thing I struggle with. Dinner will just be as healthy as the kitchen cupboards will allow. 

The pictures above are me at my goal weight, I say goal weight because I'm actually not sure of exactly how much I weighed at that time. (I'm guessing at about 180lbs-ish?) This was four years ago, and as you can see I have visible collar bones and a flat tum tum. (The photo's also make me want a holiday and a tan!! Is is right to be jealous of yourself?)

Anywhoooo, this is what I am striving to get back to! I need to get back to this. My confidence was at its highest, I had no body hang-ups and I felt so happy. I know I shouldn't think of me being slim as the reason I was happy, but I honestly think that if I could get to that point again, I would be so much happier. 

Exercise wise, I'm going to try and up my activities. Planning walks, trying to complete the 30 days shred again and maybe even a bit of kick boxing. 

If any of you would like to join me on this journey to a happier and healthy self, leave me a comment down below or tweet me @SamanthaJane_01, and we can work at this together! 

Friday Fitday diet | exercise | friday | friday fit day | healthy | healthy eating | spring clean living | when flowers fall | whenflowersfall

Hi Lovelies!

So once again I am saying "I will get fit!"

There have been so many excuses recently, feeling down, crappy weather, just being plain old lazy.

Well, with all that I've now reached my heaviest weight. Wonderful. 

So now is the time to really knuckle down. I've started to focus mainly on my diet to begin with. I sat and planned meals for the entire month the other day, I have to admit, we've struggled keeping to it and have slipped up a lot this week, but I think it's going to be a slow process and we can't expect to all of a sudden love  all the healthy stuff.

I'm setting myself a goal, in September I have a wedding reception to attend and that is when I'd like to finally feel happy with the way I look. I don't think I necessarily want to lose a ton of weight, I'd just like to feel a little less bloated all the time. 

If you would like to finally follow my journey, (for real this time) I will be posting every Friday with updates and recipes I've come to love. 

Friday Fitday!

Hi Lovelies!!!

This is probably going to be the quickest Friday fitday yet. Unfortunately after last nights post about my poor dying laptop, it really did dye. Hopefully getting a new charger cable will fix the issue a little, but until then I have to post from Liams PC and getting on that will be very limited. 

Anywhooooo, with birthday week officially over, it's time to get on this thing properly!! I have even more motivation for this now after a trip to see the nurse yesterday, as now I apparently have high blood pressure. 

Today is shopping day and I am ready to fill my fridge up will yummy fruit and veg and finally get on with detoxing after weeks of binging on junk food! 

I plan to have at least one smoothie a day, either first thing in the morning, or at lunch. I'm going to cut down on the amount of stodgy carbs I eat, (this is how I seem to gain a lot of weight) and exercise is going to be crucial. 

As I said when I first started this who Friday Fitday thing, I want to be 100% honest at all times, so at the moment it kills me to say, that after all the birthday food, I now weigh in at a scary 210lbs. 

I have two weeks until my next check up with the nurse so I am hoping to lose at least 5lbs before then. I don't want to be ridiculously silly with this so I am going to aim for about 2lbs loss a week. 

My ultimate goal is to lose 2 stone by Christmas, but we shall see how that goes, as we have plans for this year that could change everything!!

I cannot wait to share it with you guys if it all works out!

If you have any tips or healthy recipes that I could try, feel free to post them in the comments below!!