Wednesday Weigh In - First Food Diary & Emotional Eating baby | diet | fitness | food | healthy | myfitnesspal | pregnancy | wednesday weigh in | weight loss | whenflowersfall

Happy Wednesday, flowers!

This week has been quite the success, although it was pretty rocky at the beginning.
At the start of my first week on this journey, I was finding it incredibly hard not to binge eat. I felt incredibly low mood wise through both Wednesday and Thursday, and it was through these days that I learnt that I am a huge emotional eater. The thing is, if I'm down, I eat and if I'm happy, I eat.
I knew this was something I needed to get out of the habit of doing, and I think it's also something that is going to be an ongoing battle with myself. So far, I think I've done alright.

This week we have made a conscious effort to cook our evening meals, and eat much better than we normally would. We've tried a couple of new things and found we really enjoy them! I can now say that I am well and truly on the quinoa bandwagon.

Exercise did not go quite to plan though. With Liam being ill, (which he still is, nearly two weeks down the line,) and Scout teething like crazy, any spare time I've had I've been spending cleaning, doing washing or sleeping. Even last night I was meant to do an hour of cycling, but spent the time catching up on blog/youtube things that I was behind on. So this week that is something I'm really going to work at. I want to be able to say that I've worked out at least once in next weeks post.

That being said, this morning I weighed in at 214.6lbs!! Meaning with changing my diet only, I have lost 3.4lbs. *I'm currently dancing in my chair as I write this.*

It's weird how different I feel about this journey now. Usually, a bit of weight loss and I'd find it ok to go and eat a greasy take out for the next week; instead, this time it's giving me the motivation to continue and I can only hope that I will have the same result next week.

Below you can find my food diary for the week. I've not been fabulous at photographing each of my meals and I have missed some. I think this is something I'm going to have to continue to get better at before tucking in.
If you do want to add me on Myfitnesspal, you can do so here.

Wednesday 15th October

Thursday 16th October

Friday 17th October 

 Saturday 18th October

 Sunday 19th October

Monday 20th October

Tuesday 21st October

PROGRESS
Pre-pregnancy weight ... 227lbs
Heaviest weight during pregnancy ... 252lbs
Start (October 15th) ... 218lbs
Week One ... 214.6lbs -3.4lbs

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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 - 2 Weeks In #fridayfitness | diet | fitness | food | fridayfitness | health | loss | motivation | sportswear | vegetarian | weight | weightloss | whenflowersfall

Hi flowers!

So I'm two weeks into the vegetarian chapter of my life. I'm happy to say that I think I've done pretty well considering I just decided one day to give up meat. The only thing that I did allow myself to have, which I said I would anyway, was a small portion of sushi from Asda. 

This week though, has been a tough one. I've found myself craving meat like a mad woman and I even fell asleep thinking of steak on Wednesday night. Yup, sounds crazy, but it's true. Because of this I have decided to allow myself fish/seafood for a while, which will hopefully mean that I won't cave and stuff my face with beef one day. 

I'm not sure if it will become a forever thing, but for now I think it's best for me. 

I cannot tell you how much willpower I had to use not to make a sausage sarnie. Liam's been away this week and I, unfortunately had no petrol in the car to go to the shop to buy some veggie sausies. 

Other than that, I need to cut down on the things that I've started to replace meat with. I've found myself reaching for cheese far to often and I imagine it's one of the reasons that I haven't lost much weight in the past two weeks. 

I've only lost a pound since my last weigh in with you guys and I really feel the need to step up my game, so I've made this to spur me on...

These two jars are now sitting on my shelf until behind my desk. You may be able to see them every now and then in my videos.

The 'lbs to go' jar originally had 50 glass stones in it, a stone for each pound I would like to lose. As you can see, it's now missing a few and they are happily sitting in the 'lbs lost' jar. 

I'm hoping that now I have something visual to keep me going, I may be able to keep up my motivation. 

There's no feeling like moving a glass bead from one jar to the other. 

Today I'll be moving one more over and in my eyes, it's better than nothing.  

Start weight...

234lbs

This week...

229lbs

-5lbs

ps - I'm looking for some good quality, affordable sportswear. If you have any recommendations please leave them in the comments. If I do get my hands on some, I'll do some reviews for you guys. :)

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

Friday Fitday! curvy | fitday | fitness | food | friday | friday fitday | fruit | health | running | salads | walking | weight gain | weight loss | weightloss | whenflowersfall

*image - google
Now I bet that you're all getting pretty sick of me saying over and over that I am going to start again with this whole weight loss thing.

Well, this week I really did. In the past five days I've walked ten miles, and that includes a day off from walking yesterday. (So really it's four days.) These are ten miles I wouldn't normally walk,  four hours I would have normal spent sitting on my butt.

I have to admit, I'm absolutely loving it. I really thought that it would feel like a chore and that it'd become boring. Each day I've tried to push myself a little further, the first couple of days I walked two miles and felt knackered, Wednesday I walked half a mile extra, uphill. Again, I was pooped but I felt good for it. Today though, I walked three miles and I feel amazing. I got to about two and a half and felt like pushing on for the little extra bit, and I'm really glad I did. 

The only reason I've never done this before is because I thought it would fill up too much of my day, but truth is, I was only out for an hour today. I've even cleaned my house top to bottom, filmed a video and now I'm writing this post too. 

Eating wise, I've filled up on salads and fruit. I've eaten a lot less than I usually would and even though I haven't necessarily lots any weight this week, I feel so much better in myself. 

I'm hoping to feel much more toned and a lot more fit. 

I can truely say that I have turned a corner and I won't be giving up this time.

Extra Yummy Hunters Pork bbq | bbq sauce | cheese | cooking | dinner | food | how to | hunters pork | melted cheese | pork | pork steaks | pub grub | recipe | when flowers fall | whenflowersfall

Hi Lovelies!

It's been a while since I did a recipe post so I thought I'd treat you to something I conjured up last week. 

Liam loved it!

1- Take your pork steaks and coat in seasoned flour. We just seasoned with salt and pepper but you could add herbs or even maybe some garlic powder. Lightly fry in a shallow pan.

2- Cook until the pork is on the right side of cooked and your coating is browned.

3- Place your pork steaks on a baking tray and add your favourite BBQ sauce.

4- Top with grated cheese. We used extra strong cheddar but the choice is yours.

5- Grill until your cheese is melted.

6- Serve with an accompaniment of your choice.

ENJOY!

It's quick, easy and super tasty! 

Quick Steak Fajitas beef | bell peppers | cheese | cooking | dinner | fajitas | food | foody bits | mayo | nom | onions | steak | tea | when flowers fall | whenflowersfall | yum

 I used diced lean beef steak.

First I cooked my onions and peppers, then added the steak.

 Cooking on a low heat, I added Old El Paso BBQ Fajita Mix. I let the beef cook as much as I wanted it to, then turned off the heat, covered with tin foil and let rest for 10 minutes. 

We then added out choice of extras, garlic mayo and cheese, nom, and wrapped up in flour tortillas. 

Yummy Chinese Style Battered Chicken. batter | chicken | chinese food | cooking | dinner | food | fried rice | meal | pork | recipe | rice | sweeat and sour chicken | sweet and sour

Hi Lovelies!
I made this for the first time last night and it was so tasty, I just had to share it with you!!If you do decided to give it a go, let me know what you think of it!! Also if you don't like chicken, you could also use this batter with pork or another meat or meat substitute of your choice.

 First chop you chicken fillets into chunks. 

 To make your batter you will need -

1 egg

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup milk

1/2 flour

 Mix all of your ingredients together, it should be quiet a thick consistency.

 Brown your chicken in a dry frying pan. 

 With a fork, dip your chicken into the batter until it is lightly coated.

 Shallow fry the chicken...

 until the batter is golden and crispy.

Take your chicken out and place in a bowl on top of a piece of kitchen roll. This will get rid of any excess oil.

 Prepare the sauce of your choice. I cheated and used pre-made Chinese sweet and sour.

Enjoy with fried rice and prawn crackers!

BBQ Chicken Noodles. barbeque | bbq | beans | chicken | cook in | dinner | food | green beans | homepride | noodles | recipe | sauce | sharwoods | when flowers fall | whenflowersfall

This is what we had for dinner last night. It was really quick to make, I admit the sauce came out of a tin, but it was super tasty!

 Homepride BBQ Cook In Sauce - Yummmyyy!

 Cook your chicken for 5 minutes.

 Boil some green beans.

 Add the sauce to the chicken and let simmer for another 10-15 minutes.

 I used Sharwoods Medium Egg Noodles.

 Boil for 5 minutes.

 Drain your green beans and noodles, then add to the chicken. 

And tadahhhhh! Yummy, chickeny, bbq'y goodness!

Chocolate & Vanilla Cake baking | cake | choc chips | chocolate | cooking | food | frosting | icing | pink | white choc | white chocolate

 You will need - 

A spoon, a mixing bowl, some scales and bowls. 

 I like to measure the ingredients out before I mix them. 

You need - 

4oz self raising flour,

4oz caster sugar,

4oz butter,

2 eggs,

Vanilla Extract (not Pictured)

Food Colouring (optional)

 Mix the butter and sugar...

 ...until creamy

 Mix in the flour and eggs, I usually add 1 egg and 1 spoon of flour at a time,

then add the rest of the flour.

 Mix in your food colouring of choice.

 Also add the vanilla extract at this point.

 Grease your cake tin.

 Pour in your mix.

 Preheat your oven to 200 degrees and bake for 25-30 minutes, or stick a knife into the center. If it comes out clean, it's done!

Leave to cool.

 Ice your cake with yummy chocolate icing.

 Decorate and Enjoy!!

YUMMMMMMO!