Harsh. But true. I was rightly corrected by my friend when I mentioned writing my blog, but it's just as well because it has made me pull my finger out and start up again.
Now, I don't normally get busy — I'm far too lazy. But everything was going fine until it Got Busy. I was exercising every day, watching my food intake, losing weight… In fact, prior to my holiday, I was stressing about all the 'Shred' days I would be missing and working out what exercises I could do whilst I was away. So, off I went up north, and this is what happened:
Day 1 of Scotland Holiday : squats and sit-ups, feeling the burn
Day 2 of Scotland Holiday : nothing.
Day 3 of Scotland Holiday : nothing.
Day 4 of Scotland Holiday : nothing.
Day 5 of Scotland Holiday : nothing.
You get the gist.
Instead, I ate my way through my 8-night break — a Scotch pie here, a doughnut there, chocolate treats, steak, chips, cheesecake, fucking expensive ale, gourmet crisps... We walked a fair amount in the day, but I felt obese by the end of it. Even the boyf gave my tum a bit of a weird look at one point. I would have been more upset, but even I was concerned at how rotund I was. I got on the scales when I got back and I had only put on 2.6lbs, which was actually a nice surprise, as I felt about half a stone heavier if I'm honest.
But then when we came back, it was my birthday. And then it was the bank holiday. And then it was even harder to be good, as healthy eating was a hazy, tasteless memory. Chuck on another pound or two. BF asked me if I was going to exercise one morning and I bit his head off: "STOP ASKING ME — I WILL START. IT IS ALWAYS IN MY HEAD!". I just needed to motivate myself. I always know when enough is enough because eating nice things stops delivering any pleasure. Samosas taste mediocre, chocolate cookies taste sickening and I get bored of eating Chinese takeaway.
But one evening, the realisation was all too much and I freaked out. I contacted my sister to give me a virtual slap over texts, which she did. It helped. I got on the exercise bike the next day, started getting back on MFP and generally got into Looking-After-Myself mode. And it feels really good to be in control again (not as good as when I have a chip butty in my hand, but you know what I mean).
Annoyingly, I was just over a third of the way through the 30 Day Shred before I went away, but I have come to the conclusion that it makes more sense to start it again. So now my next session will be Day 3. It's not all bleak though, as I've been using heavier weights this time round and it feels like I'm getting more of a workout, which is obviously better.
I need to get stuck into a mindless-but-healthy routine again. Same breakfast, same lunch, same snack, etc. Just so its all pre-decided. I'm going to try and be more organised next week and a bit more strict.
Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood has been a fave tune on the bike, and I'm back having an affair with Jillian Michaels again. She is so muscly :-)
Wednesday, 14 May 2014
Thursday, 3 April 2014
"You wanna look like a burrito in your prom dress, huh blondie?"
I've had two mates yelling at me for not writing my blog, so I'm doing it now! LOOK! This is not supposed to be a bi-monthly blog, so my apologies.
So, I think the last time I wrote an entry, I was lamenting having a social life. Well, since then, I've done nothing, mainly because all my friends got pissed off with that post and stopped inviting me out…KIDDING! It's just been quieter, and thank god. Because since then I have actually lost some fucking weight! I have really tried to be careful with everything I eat at the moment — I actually feel guilty eating out mid-week now so I try to avoid it, but it seems to have paid off because in a fortnight I have lost 2.8lbs. Thank FUCK.
I haven't managed to stay on a slow-and-steady 1350 calories a day — it's more of a weekend-binge-plus-two-fast-days-to-try-and-rectify-the-damage kinda thing. Although, to be fair, my fast days have been pretty shoddy over the last few weeks — the less said about them the better. But I'm not getting too hung up on it at the moment. And on the weekends, I do try not to eat vast amounts and stay around the 1500/1700 mark, which has probably helped me start losing again.
I finished six weeks of heavy lifting, so now my next exercise regime (I am trying to change it up every 6-8 weeks) is my Jillian Michaels : 30 Day Shred DVD. It's only 30 minutes long in total, but it is reasonably tough. I dabbled with the idea of buying the Insanity programme after I saw someone on Facebook with amazing results, but I know myself well enough to realise that I am not going to like or continue doing an hour of very intense training first thing in the morning, six days a week, for 60 days straight. One thing I have learnt from reading up on exercise advice is that you should actually enjoy it. Now, I'm not saying that I enjoy lifting weights more than I enjoy eating a bag of crisps on the couch in my Dalmatian-print dressing gown whilst watching Friends, BUT I do get some kind of kick out of it. So I saved myself £100 and spent £5 on Jillian instead.
I was a bit worried that seeing as I always try to do some some kind of exercise (I'm not saying I'm amazing or anything here!) that I would find it a bit easy, but that hasn't been the case. It's split into three levels, and you do each level ten times. I'm still on Level 1 and I haven't quite been able to get through the whole thing without stopping at all (really need to focus on my last few sessions), so it is tough enough. Some reviews said people thought they were going to have heart attacks, some people were dripping with sweat, some people couldn't walk for three days (???), but I was fine. These people must have done no exercise EVER, but it made me feel like my body isn't as useless as I always think it is. It's basic circuit training, and its nice and straightforward. Apparently it's Level 2 that's the bitch, so I'm bracing myself for that… Oh, and I took some very unflattering pics of me in un-matching pants to do a compare-and-contrast once I've finished, just to see if there are any changes. I know two things will happen: 1) I won't look any fucking different, and 2) my phone will almost certainly get stolen in the next few weeks.
But so far, I really like it. Jillian is a refreshing change from fucking Davina McCall and her stupid, shit jokes that I am used to — and sick of. Jillian was the fitness expert on The Biggest Loser, so she talks to you more like a personal trainer, which I really love. She is a bit of a 'dude', and calls her helpers 'buddy' but I also like that. I mean, men will find her very typical of fitness DVDs (BF walked in whilst she was on once and just went "Oh nooooooooooo!" and started mimicking her and laughing) but I think women are a bit more used to the cheesiness of workout DVDs. I like someone shouting "abs like this don't come for free", "you gotta push though this", and "your neck is not invited to this party!" at me. The title of this post is from another of her DVDs (apparently), and I think it's fucking brilliant. Oh, the imagery… Also, when she tells you that she has seen people who weigh 400lbs do jumping jacks (so you have no excuse not to), it really does spur you on.
Whilst I do love this DVD, it is a bit more cardio-based — and it's really making me miss my weights sessions! Never thought I would say that in a million years, but I love feeling that I have muscles. So I am going to have to fit in some lifting twice a week I reckon… I don't really fancy doing it after work, but even if it's only 15 minutes twice a week, that' not exactly hard to find. If Obama has time to exercise…
I have also realised that I don't do my push-ups properly. I mean, I do the proper ones (not lady ones), but since setting up a mirror to check out my form, I am DEFFO doing them wrong. In fact, so are you probably. Watch a few videos on YouTube — one's arms are supposed to be much closer to one's body… Who the fuck knew this??? Not me. I can bust out 10 of my shit press ups, but I reckon I would struggle to do even one the proper way. So I am just going to have to train myself — by the end of the year, I would like to be able to do 20 PROPER push ups. Even if I can only do one at first, it will be proper. Then I can move on to two. It's going to be slow but I was to be able to bust a bunch out like Gwen Stefani in that Just A Girl video… [HA, I just went to check out a video of her doing them and even hers aren't TOTALLY perfect! But they nearly are and she looks amazing.]
Wow, this was quite an exercise-heavy post. You'd think I was as buff as hell given how much I have waffled on about it! Ok, so let me sum up with some more cheery info — food! The best thing I've eaten recently was at a pub in Camden called the Lock Tavern. They do the Big Apple hot dogs that I mentioned in my FEAST post, and I still maintain that they are the best hot dogs that I have ever eaten. Fucking amazing. Even my veggie mate was almost tempted to take a bite! And of course, I have no fucking pictures of it.
Also, a word of advice : don't ever worry about being the person who turns up at a friend's house with low fat crisps to snack on — there is no shame in that. The only shame is when you get home and realise you have just eaten half a bag of tortilla chips when you could have eaten half a bag of Popchips. Your hips will thank you, as will mine. Next time.
So, I think the last time I wrote an entry, I was lamenting having a social life. Well, since then, I've done nothing, mainly because all my friends got pissed off with that post and stopped inviting me out…KIDDING! It's just been quieter, and thank god. Because since then I have actually lost some fucking weight! I have really tried to be careful with everything I eat at the moment — I actually feel guilty eating out mid-week now so I try to avoid it, but it seems to have paid off because in a fortnight I have lost 2.8lbs. Thank FUCK.
I haven't managed to stay on a slow-and-steady 1350 calories a day — it's more of a weekend-binge-plus-two-fast-days-to-try-and-rectify-the-damage kinda thing. Although, to be fair, my fast days have been pretty shoddy over the last few weeks — the less said about them the better. But I'm not getting too hung up on it at the moment. And on the weekends, I do try not to eat vast amounts and stay around the 1500/1700 mark, which has probably helped me start losing again.
I finished six weeks of heavy lifting, so now my next exercise regime (I am trying to change it up every 6-8 weeks) is my Jillian Michaels : 30 Day Shred DVD. It's only 30 minutes long in total, but it is reasonably tough. I dabbled with the idea of buying the Insanity programme after I saw someone on Facebook with amazing results, but I know myself well enough to realise that I am not going to like or continue doing an hour of very intense training first thing in the morning, six days a week, for 60 days straight. One thing I have learnt from reading up on exercise advice is that you should actually enjoy it. Now, I'm not saying that I enjoy lifting weights more than I enjoy eating a bag of crisps on the couch in my Dalmatian-print dressing gown whilst watching Friends, BUT I do get some kind of kick out of it. So I saved myself £100 and spent £5 on Jillian instead.
I was a bit worried that seeing as I always try to do some some kind of exercise (I'm not saying I'm amazing or anything here!) that I would find it a bit easy, but that hasn't been the case. It's split into three levels, and you do each level ten times. I'm still on Level 1 and I haven't quite been able to get through the whole thing without stopping at all (really need to focus on my last few sessions), so it is tough enough. Some reviews said people thought they were going to have heart attacks, some people were dripping with sweat, some people couldn't walk for three days (???), but I was fine. These people must have done no exercise EVER, but it made me feel like my body isn't as useless as I always think it is. It's basic circuit training, and its nice and straightforward. Apparently it's Level 2 that's the bitch, so I'm bracing myself for that… Oh, and I took some very unflattering pics of me in un-matching pants to do a compare-and-contrast once I've finished, just to see if there are any changes. I know two things will happen: 1) I won't look any fucking different, and 2) my phone will almost certainly get stolen in the next few weeks.
But so far, I really like it. Jillian is a refreshing change from fucking Davina McCall and her stupid, shit jokes that I am used to — and sick of. Jillian was the fitness expert on The Biggest Loser, so she talks to you more like a personal trainer, which I really love. She is a bit of a 'dude', and calls her helpers 'buddy' but I also like that. I mean, men will find her very typical of fitness DVDs (BF walked in whilst she was on once and just went "Oh nooooooooooo!" and started mimicking her and laughing) but I think women are a bit more used to the cheesiness of workout DVDs. I like someone shouting "abs like this don't come for free", "you gotta push though this", and "your neck is not invited to this party!" at me. The title of this post is from another of her DVDs (apparently), and I think it's fucking brilliant. Oh, the imagery… Also, when she tells you that she has seen people who weigh 400lbs do jumping jacks (so you have no excuse not to), it really does spur you on.
Whilst I do love this DVD, it is a bit more cardio-based — and it's really making me miss my weights sessions! Never thought I would say that in a million years, but I love feeling that I have muscles. So I am going to have to fit in some lifting twice a week I reckon… I don't really fancy doing it after work, but even if it's only 15 minutes twice a week, that' not exactly hard to find. If Obama has time to exercise…
I have also realised that I don't do my push-ups properly. I mean, I do the proper ones (not lady ones), but since setting up a mirror to check out my form, I am DEFFO doing them wrong. In fact, so are you probably. Watch a few videos on YouTube — one's arms are supposed to be much closer to one's body… Who the fuck knew this??? Not me. I can bust out 10 of my shit press ups, but I reckon I would struggle to do even one the proper way. So I am just going to have to train myself — by the end of the year, I would like to be able to do 20 PROPER push ups. Even if I can only do one at first, it will be proper. Then I can move on to two. It's going to be slow but I was to be able to bust a bunch out like Gwen Stefani in that Just A Girl video… [HA, I just went to check out a video of her doing them and even hers aren't TOTALLY perfect! But they nearly are and she looks amazing.]
Wow, this was quite an exercise-heavy post. You'd think I was as buff as hell given how much I have waffled on about it! Ok, so let me sum up with some more cheery info — food! The best thing I've eaten recently was at a pub in Camden called the Lock Tavern. They do the Big Apple hot dogs that I mentioned in my FEAST post, and I still maintain that they are the best hot dogs that I have ever eaten. Fucking amazing. Even my veggie mate was almost tempted to take a bite! And of course, I have no fucking pictures of it.
Also, a word of advice : don't ever worry about being the person who turns up at a friend's house with low fat crisps to snack on — there is no shame in that. The only shame is when you get home and realise you have just eaten half a bag of tortilla chips when you could have eaten half a bag of Popchips. Your hips will thank you, as will mine. Next time.
Tuesday, 18 March 2014
The Trouble With Having A Social Life
Sorry for missing a post again last week. I did absolutely nothing, so there was nothing to say. And obviously, I went up by 1.5lbs again. This is not news to anyone, given that it has been happening for 7 weeks now, so really not worth telling you. BUT THEN I went up a pound further and broke the cycle, except in the wrong direction. FUCK.
I've been trying to set my brain right and make a few lifestyle changes. One thing I have done is not leave any food at work. Nothing. Crisps, chocolate, crackers, fruit — all gone. All lunches are now prepared after dinner (when I am not hungry) and that's all I'm allowed to bring in. Seeing as I have no willpower at all, I've just had to remove everything. And it seems to be working, which is really good news. However, I made the mistake of implementing this on a week where I was eating out three times, so I probably won't get to appreciate the results as much. But next week should be better!
On the subject of eating out — I think I have finally fulfilled all my dinner plans with people. Being social is a fucking bastard. Everyone is too busy to meet up around Christmas, then everyone is skint in January, so come February, everyone wants to start catching up again. Fucking hell, I've never been so busy (well, busy for me!). I am used to having pages and pages of my diary having nothing on them except for eyebrow threading appointments, but since February I have been involved with the following: dinner with bf's mates, work lunch, food market, dinner with my friends, surprise party, work dinner, dinner with bf's mates, dinner with my mates, dinner with BlogMate, dinner with Aunt, and late lunch with my sister. Now this might not seem terrible for someone with willpower, but for me, it's a fucking minefield.
Since Saturday last week I had tried to be quite strict with my calorie intake and I was doing pretty well, but then I went to my friend's for dinner. They were all having pizza and seeing as the calories were just too much, I decided to go for something a little less calorific so I could enjoy the other snacks and desserts that I knew would be there. This was all fine until it was revealed that one of mate's had bought garlic bread. I could have said no (and I am in no way blaming her AT ALL) but I am so shit that I ended up having two slices of garlic bread, plus a quarter of her Chicago Town pizza. Calories over goal? 407. Motherfucker. I only decided to check calories AFTER I had eaten it, which I won't be doing again! I was so annoyed at myself. Whilst I can control food at work, I really need to work on controlling it in other areas. My friend that we were visiting has a bf and he has lost loads of weight by basically going vegan (I think). He was there that night, and when garlic bread or pizza was offered to him, he just said "No thanks" very easily. No drama, no "Oh my god, no, I really shouldn't… oh go on then", nothing. He just politely declined and that was it. I have no idea if he wanted garlic bread or not, but I am sure that it must have involved some strength of will. I wish I had that. There were a few other spare bits of pizza being offered to me — I'm back to being a human bin! Maybe that is the next thing to work on — staying focussed. Food is always there — I don't ALWAYS have to eat it.
The next day (Wednesday night), I went to Bodeans with BlogMate. We'd had this booked in the diary for a couple of months so we were VERY excited. But that all changed when they told us a wait for a table was going to be 1hr 45mins. What the fuck? In Soho, where there are a million other restaurants? At 6.30pm? It wasnt even a newly opened! Thankfully, BlogMate said that would be too long (I was actually contemplating the wait), but the waitress told us that they could seat us in the upstairs area, which was all long, tightly packed sharing tables… Now, given that Bodeans is based on traditional American rib shacks with chicken wings and pulled pork and BBQ sauce and burgers, I was slightly worried about sitting quite so close to strangers and eating what was bound to be a messy meal… It was also annoying that the Boss Hog Platter that we were going to get was not available upstairs, but it would have been too childish to leave because of that. To be fair, I needed a moment to come to terms with that fact (boo-hoo!), but once we had ordered something very similar, I was fine.
The food was excellent and I probably ate a little too much, but fuck it — this was AN EVENT. Then we went for peppermint tea and (small pots of) gelato — a thoroughly pleasant evening with excellent company. On the way home, I did try to work out the calories for every thing: turns out I would have had to not eat any food for the next two days to make up for extra calories. Fucking great. I figured the best thing to do was just move on and be good for the next two days until Weigh Day. I can't turn back time — I'm not Cher.
Thursday was a fasting day, and after all that fucking protein, thank fuck. I have actually got back on the fasting again, which has just made life a lot easier this last week. It's not as bad as I remember it, and having no food in the office made it a lot easier actually. It's the only way I'm going to lose any weight and I know it works for me when I actually do it. Also, every time I have been slogging away on the exercise bike or doing weights this last week, I reminded myself that if I dont eat less, breaking a sweat is all for nothing. I will never see the muscles I have worked quite hard to develop — they will just sit there under all the fat from over-eating. The website I posted last week stressed that losing weight is 80% what you eat, so I really need to keep that in mind.
Friday I ended up doing all-you-can-eat Chinese with my sis and Aunt. We overestimated our eating capabilities and almost had to resort to stashing some of it away secretly in a tupperware box I happened to have in my bag. But thankfully (or unthankfully, depending on whether you are looking at wastage charges or waistage charges, fnar fnar!), we took a breather and managed to finish it. Except for the chicken satay, which was too dry. I really will eat anything, but this was more like beef blimming jerky. Anyway, I went home feeling guilty but also ready to start afresh on Saturday: next week, I will be watching my calories like a fucking HAWK…
Back in the fasting groove and looking at new recipes, I found something quite good: zucchini spagetti! I know we call it a courgette, but the former sounds better, doesn't it? Anyway, It looked amazing and I figured it could fool the brain a bit, so I bought myself a julienne peeler and made this great meal on the left for a fast day. Courgettes, mushroom, extra light Philly, paprika, half a veg stock cube, chilli flakes and a tiny bit of parmesan. I cannot recommend it enough. After you have julienned the courgette, you just put it in the microwave for 2mins and have it with whichever sauce you want. Blimmin' brilliant. Will try it with bolognese sauce soon… Also just chucking in a pic of a piri piri chicken and sweet potato meal that I had — also delicious. Sweet potatoes are also back on the menu!
As I have also been on a bit of a protein kick, I went to another good wesite called http://www.fitnesstreats.com/. This lady is very inventive and makes lots of cool stuff that I have been experimenting with. I made her savoury lentil cake (with hemp protein), which was ok, but I think I might experiment with my own receipe next week… I also made her White Chocolate Protein Brownies, but they tasted more like scones… which was fine by me! Both filled a hole. I have also developed a New York Deli Salad — pastrami (lots of protein), salad leaves, cucumber, tomato, light cheese, red onion, gherkins and a bit of mustard — really loving it.
So, as my social life is pretty empty from here onwards, I'm actually really looking forward to not having any excuses to be bad and trying my best to shift off this weird plateau I seem to be on. I must be eating too much or I would be losing weight — simple as. And whilst I need to be able to eat out and show some willpower, it's nice to not worry about any upcoming dinner dates and know that I am totally in control — it's all down to me.
FOR FUCK'S SAKE.
As I was typing this, someone just sent me a Facebook invite to an event called "Jolloff Rice Night". What the fuck? See what my life is filled with?? I am being invited to evenings based solely on eating carbs — THERE IS NO ESCAPE. SAVE YOURSELVES.
I've been trying to set my brain right and make a few lifestyle changes. One thing I have done is not leave any food at work. Nothing. Crisps, chocolate, crackers, fruit — all gone. All lunches are now prepared after dinner (when I am not hungry) and that's all I'm allowed to bring in. Seeing as I have no willpower at all, I've just had to remove everything. And it seems to be working, which is really good news. However, I made the mistake of implementing this on a week where I was eating out three times, so I probably won't get to appreciate the results as much. But next week should be better!
On the subject of eating out — I think I have finally fulfilled all my dinner plans with people. Being social is a fucking bastard. Everyone is too busy to meet up around Christmas, then everyone is skint in January, so come February, everyone wants to start catching up again. Fucking hell, I've never been so busy (well, busy for me!). I am used to having pages and pages of my diary having nothing on them except for eyebrow threading appointments, but since February I have been involved with the following: dinner with bf's mates, work lunch, food market, dinner with my friends, surprise party, work dinner, dinner with bf's mates, dinner with my mates, dinner with BlogMate, dinner with Aunt, and late lunch with my sister. Now this might not seem terrible for someone with willpower, but for me, it's a fucking minefield.
Since Saturday last week I had tried to be quite strict with my calorie intake and I was doing pretty well, but then I went to my friend's for dinner. They were all having pizza and seeing as the calories were just too much, I decided to go for something a little less calorific so I could enjoy the other snacks and desserts that I knew would be there. This was all fine until it was revealed that one of mate's had bought garlic bread. I could have said no (and I am in no way blaming her AT ALL) but I am so shit that I ended up having two slices of garlic bread, plus a quarter of her Chicago Town pizza. Calories over goal? 407. Motherfucker. I only decided to check calories AFTER I had eaten it, which I won't be doing again! I was so annoyed at myself. Whilst I can control food at work, I really need to work on controlling it in other areas. My friend that we were visiting has a bf and he has lost loads of weight by basically going vegan (I think). He was there that night, and when garlic bread or pizza was offered to him, he just said "No thanks" very easily. No drama, no "Oh my god, no, I really shouldn't… oh go on then", nothing. He just politely declined and that was it. I have no idea if he wanted garlic bread or not, but I am sure that it must have involved some strength of will. I wish I had that. There were a few other spare bits of pizza being offered to me — I'm back to being a human bin! Maybe that is the next thing to work on — staying focussed. Food is always there — I don't ALWAYS have to eat it.
The next day (Wednesday night), I went to Bodeans with BlogMate. We'd had this booked in the diary for a couple of months so we were VERY excited. But that all changed when they told us a wait for a table was going to be 1hr 45mins. What the fuck? In Soho, where there are a million other restaurants? At 6.30pm? It wasnt even a newly opened! Thankfully, BlogMate said that would be too long (I was actually contemplating the wait), but the waitress told us that they could seat us in the upstairs area, which was all long, tightly packed sharing tables… Now, given that Bodeans is based on traditional American rib shacks with chicken wings and pulled pork and BBQ sauce and burgers, I was slightly worried about sitting quite so close to strangers and eating what was bound to be a messy meal… It was also annoying that the Boss Hog Platter that we were going to get was not available upstairs, but it would have been too childish to leave because of that. To be fair, I needed a moment to come to terms with that fact (boo-hoo!), but once we had ordered something very similar, I was fine.
The food was excellent and I probably ate a little too much, but fuck it — this was AN EVENT. Then we went for peppermint tea and (small pots of) gelato — a thoroughly pleasant evening with excellent company. On the way home, I did try to work out the calories for every thing: turns out I would have had to not eat any food for the next two days to make up for extra calories. Fucking great. I figured the best thing to do was just move on and be good for the next two days until Weigh Day. I can't turn back time — I'm not Cher.
Thursday was a fasting day, and after all that fucking protein, thank fuck. I have actually got back on the fasting again, which has just made life a lot easier this last week. It's not as bad as I remember it, and having no food in the office made it a lot easier actually. It's the only way I'm going to lose any weight and I know it works for me when I actually do it. Also, every time I have been slogging away on the exercise bike or doing weights this last week, I reminded myself that if I dont eat less, breaking a sweat is all for nothing. I will never see the muscles I have worked quite hard to develop — they will just sit there under all the fat from over-eating. The website I posted last week stressed that losing weight is 80% what you eat, so I really need to keep that in mind.
Friday I ended up doing all-you-can-eat Chinese with my sis and Aunt. We overestimated our eating capabilities and almost had to resort to stashing some of it away secretly in a tupperware box I happened to have in my bag. But thankfully (or unthankfully, depending on whether you are looking at wastage charges or waistage charges, fnar fnar!), we took a breather and managed to finish it. Except for the chicken satay, which was too dry. I really will eat anything, but this was more like beef blimming jerky. Anyway, I went home feeling guilty but also ready to start afresh on Saturday: next week, I will be watching my calories like a fucking HAWK…
Back in the fasting groove and looking at new recipes, I found something quite good: zucchini spagetti! I know we call it a courgette, but the former sounds better, doesn't it? Anyway, It looked amazing and I figured it could fool the brain a bit, so I bought myself a julienne peeler and made this great meal on the left for a fast day. Courgettes, mushroom, extra light Philly, paprika, half a veg stock cube, chilli flakes and a tiny bit of parmesan. I cannot recommend it enough. After you have julienned the courgette, you just put it in the microwave for 2mins and have it with whichever sauce you want. Blimmin' brilliant. Will try it with bolognese sauce soon… Also just chucking in a pic of a piri piri chicken and sweet potato meal that I had — also delicious. Sweet potatoes are also back on the menu!
As I have also been on a bit of a protein kick, I went to another good wesite called http://www.fitnesstreats.com/. This lady is very inventive and makes lots of cool stuff that I have been experimenting with. I made her savoury lentil cake (with hemp protein), which was ok, but I think I might experiment with my own receipe next week… I also made her White Chocolate Protein Brownies, but they tasted more like scones… which was fine by me! Both filled a hole. I have also developed a New York Deli Salad — pastrami (lots of protein), salad leaves, cucumber, tomato, light cheese, red onion, gherkins and a bit of mustard — really loving it.
So, as my social life is pretty empty from here onwards, I'm actually really looking forward to not having any excuses to be bad and trying my best to shift off this weird plateau I seem to be on. I must be eating too much or I would be losing weight — simple as. And whilst I need to be able to eat out and show some willpower, it's nice to not worry about any upcoming dinner dates and know that I am totally in control — it's all down to me.
FOR FUCK'S SAKE.
As I was typing this, someone just sent me a Facebook invite to an event called "Jolloff Rice Night". What the fuck? See what my life is filled with?? I am being invited to evenings based solely on eating carbs — THERE IS NO ESCAPE. SAVE YOURSELVES.
Monday, 3 March 2014
A Very Precise Yo-Yo
Apologies for the post that never materialised last week... My bad. But it is what it is, and we all need to move on.
RIGHT! So what has been happening? Well, I did A LOT of reading about calories, weights, fat, protein, exercise, BMI, BMR, RDA... Fucking shitloads. It got to the point where I was actually stressing myself out with how much I was reading. To be fair, I did learn a hell of a lot — but alas, I am still fat. I can talk the talk, but when it comes to walking the walk, I'm definitely waddling.
I was doing all this research because since I have been doing weights, I am always tired and hungry. It's not that I'm doing too much (30mins exercise a day is recommended) so I thought maybe I wasn't eating enough. After a bit of research, I thought I'd hit the jackpot with a site that was telling me to eat 1700 calories a day (woo-fucking-hoo!!), but then I fucked myself over… I found an a different website that was very well written, really well researched and full of actual info rather than crap. It was excellent because the information was straightforward and busted a lot of myths. However, if I was going to put my trust in this site, I also had to accept that the fact that it was advising me to eat the grand total of 1379 calories a day. That is only 100 more than what I was on with MFP. * Sigh* One thing that really stuck in my head from this website was the screen shot on the right:
Now, I know that this is not new particularly new information, but it really makes you realise how important what you eat is, demonstrated brilliantly in this piece (from the aforementioned website): http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/.
I mean really, that article is basically my blog summed up, isn't it? But that is the one problem I have — I can't stop eating. I am exercising hard almost every day and really sticking to it, but because I am a little piggy who loves food, I'm undoing all my good work. But I just cant stop. I am seriously thinking I need to get hypnotised — I really just don't know how to control it otherwise. I have no willpower.
But before I go down that route, I really think I need to make a concerted effort to try harder. So some new rules I have are:
1) No crisps until the weekend. Not even healthy ones.
2) FINALLY CHUCKED OUT THE MOTHERFUCKING MARZIPAN!
3) No stockpile of food at work — all food is to be brought in from home. If it's not there, I can't eat it.
4) High-protein lunch, and generally increasing my protein intake throughout the day
5) Eating out less.
The last one has been difficult. For some reason, the last month has been really busy and I've had dinners with people or an event with food every single week since mid January. It's made life more difficult, but only because I'm a little piggy who won't then cut back calories on another day. Why is it so hard? WHY? WHY? All foodies, can't all be fat, surely? I remember the last time I properly did weights and was under 10st (several years ago), I never really went out. People would ask me out to drinks after work but I would decline and go for a run followed by weights. On a Friday night. Depressing. To be honest, I didn't feel depressed, but I missed out on a lot of social events, but I don't think that bothered me that much… So perhaps it was worth it? Maybe that is what it is going to take — cutting back on socialising and not giving myself an excuse to eat extra food every week.
My weightlifting lady (Nia Shanks) advises on her website to stop counting calories and just eat 'real food' (meat, cheese, fish, beans, fruit, veggies) until you are comfortable, but I definitely can't do that. I know she has been anal in the past about her diet and this is a way of relieving yourself of weighing food like a crazy person, but I don't think she ever had a problem with being OVERWEIGHT (she is tiny). So until she shows me a pic of herself as a total fatty, I will not be following her advice! Literally, it's the worst the worst thing you could tell an overweight person to do. Some people need boundaries. I wouldn't be in this predicament if I knew how to control myself, would I? I am actually too scared to even try it for one week. Some people need to follow some strict rules — that is just life.
However, Nia had some nice recipes for things to do with protein powder, so I have been using some of those in the morning. I have thrown away tonnes of protein powder in my life. My mum uses my old jars to keep her lentils in, and she has quite a lentil collection! But I bought a small tub this time and actually, I like it so much that I could eat it with a spoon. I DO eat it with a spoon! It tastes just like baby milk powder. [God, my mouth is watering right now, but when I google 'eating protein powder neat', all that comes up is "Woah, dude! Why the fuck would you do that? It's gross!". Oh, the shame.] I've had a chocolate one mixed with yoghurt and banana slices — so filling in the morning and I didn't need anything else until lunch — RESULT! (Although I did feel slightly oppressed by it — it took determination to get through the whole bowl). I've also mixed it with pumpkin puree, yoghurt and some pumpkin spice — this was really tasty with a dash of sugar-free maple syrup and some oats. Next week I am going to try to bake with it.
So, what's been going on with my weight, eh? Well, the week that I didn't write a post for I went up 1.5lbs. This week just past, I went down by the exact same amount. Now, this friggin' yo-yoing has been happening for six weeks. It is bizarre. My weight is always up or down by the SAME exact amount as well, which is really hard to believe. It's not muscle, that's for sure (women can only put on like, 0.2lbs of muscle in a week). It might be water. It is very probably fat. My masses of reading has lead me to believe that this can happen when you start lifting because your muscles will retain water, but I still should be losing fat and it should still be showing on the scales, at least on the body fat read-out if nothing else… I dunno, I am trying not to get frustrated, but it is testing me. I can definitely feel a difference in my muscles, but I want this blimmin' bulge to sod off too! Urgh — I just need to lock myself away for a year, not go out, not be allowed to go to the shops, not work out. Maybe then something would happen.
OR... I could stop being such a whiny bitch and just eat less.
There is no easy diet. If I'm not suffering, I'm probably eating too much. Anyway, lets see if upping the protein, sleeping more to combat tiredness (rather than eating M&Ms), and keeping the calories down will nudge the scales in the right direction next week… Ah yes, next week, where I have two midweek restaurant visits with friends… Oh for fuck's sake.
Pass me the bastard M&Ms.
RIGHT! So what has been happening? Well, I did A LOT of reading about calories, weights, fat, protein, exercise, BMI, BMR, RDA... Fucking shitloads. It got to the point where I was actually stressing myself out with how much I was reading. To be fair, I did learn a hell of a lot — but alas, I am still fat. I can talk the talk, but when it comes to walking the walk, I'm definitely waddling.
I was doing all this research because since I have been doing weights, I am always tired and hungry. It's not that I'm doing too much (30mins exercise a day is recommended) so I thought maybe I wasn't eating enough. After a bit of research, I thought I'd hit the jackpot with a site that was telling me to eat 1700 calories a day (woo-fucking-hoo!!), but then I fucked myself over… I found an a different website that was very well written, really well researched and full of actual info rather than crap. It was excellent because the information was straightforward and busted a lot of myths. However, if I was going to put my trust in this site, I also had to accept that the fact that it was advising me to eat the grand total of 1379 calories a day. That is only 100 more than what I was on with MFP. * Sigh* One thing that really stuck in my head from this website was the screen shot on the right:Now, I know that this is not new particularly new information, but it really makes you realise how important what you eat is, demonstrated brilliantly in this piece (from the aforementioned website): http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/.
I mean really, that article is basically my blog summed up, isn't it? But that is the one problem I have — I can't stop eating. I am exercising hard almost every day and really sticking to it, but because I am a little piggy who loves food, I'm undoing all my good work. But I just cant stop. I am seriously thinking I need to get hypnotised — I really just don't know how to control it otherwise. I have no willpower.
But before I go down that route, I really think I need to make a concerted effort to try harder. So some new rules I have are:
1) No crisps until the weekend. Not even healthy ones.
2) FINALLY CHUCKED OUT THE MOTHERFUCKING MARZIPAN!
3) No stockpile of food at work — all food is to be brought in from home. If it's not there, I can't eat it.
4) High-protein lunch, and generally increasing my protein intake throughout the day
5) Eating out less.
The last one has been difficult. For some reason, the last month has been really busy and I've had dinners with people or an event with food every single week since mid January. It's made life more difficult, but only because I'm a little piggy who won't then cut back calories on another day. Why is it so hard? WHY? WHY? All foodies, can't all be fat, surely? I remember the last time I properly did weights and was under 10st (several years ago), I never really went out. People would ask me out to drinks after work but I would decline and go for a run followed by weights. On a Friday night. Depressing. To be honest, I didn't feel depressed, but I missed out on a lot of social events, but I don't think that bothered me that much… So perhaps it was worth it? Maybe that is what it is going to take — cutting back on socialising and not giving myself an excuse to eat extra food every week.
My weightlifting lady (Nia Shanks) advises on her website to stop counting calories and just eat 'real food' (meat, cheese, fish, beans, fruit, veggies) until you are comfortable, but I definitely can't do that. I know she has been anal in the past about her diet and this is a way of relieving yourself of weighing food like a crazy person, but I don't think she ever had a problem with being OVERWEIGHT (she is tiny). So until she shows me a pic of herself as a total fatty, I will not be following her advice! Literally, it's the worst the worst thing you could tell an overweight person to do. Some people need boundaries. I wouldn't be in this predicament if I knew how to control myself, would I? I am actually too scared to even try it for one week. Some people need to follow some strict rules — that is just life.
However, Nia had some nice recipes for things to do with protein powder, so I have been using some of those in the morning. I have thrown away tonnes of protein powder in my life. My mum uses my old jars to keep her lentils in, and she has quite a lentil collection! But I bought a small tub this time and actually, I like it so much that I could eat it with a spoon. I DO eat it with a spoon! It tastes just like baby milk powder. [God, my mouth is watering right now, but when I google 'eating protein powder neat', all that comes up is "Woah, dude! Why the fuck would you do that? It's gross!". Oh, the shame.] I've had a chocolate one mixed with yoghurt and banana slices — so filling in the morning and I didn't need anything else until lunch — RESULT! (Although I did feel slightly oppressed by it — it took determination to get through the whole bowl). I've also mixed it with pumpkin puree, yoghurt and some pumpkin spice — this was really tasty with a dash of sugar-free maple syrup and some oats. Next week I am going to try to bake with it.
So, what's been going on with my weight, eh? Well, the week that I didn't write a post for I went up 1.5lbs. This week just past, I went down by the exact same amount. Now, this friggin' yo-yoing has been happening for six weeks. It is bizarre. My weight is always up or down by the SAME exact amount as well, which is really hard to believe. It's not muscle, that's for sure (women can only put on like, 0.2lbs of muscle in a week). It might be water. It is very probably fat. My masses of reading has lead me to believe that this can happen when you start lifting because your muscles will retain water, but I still should be losing fat and it should still be showing on the scales, at least on the body fat read-out if nothing else… I dunno, I am trying not to get frustrated, but it is testing me. I can definitely feel a difference in my muscles, but I want this blimmin' bulge to sod off too! Urgh — I just need to lock myself away for a year, not go out, not be allowed to go to the shops, not work out. Maybe then something would happen.
OR... I could stop being such a whiny bitch and just eat less.
There is no easy diet. If I'm not suffering, I'm probably eating too much. Anyway, lets see if upping the protein, sleeping more to combat tiredness (rather than eating M&Ms), and keeping the calories down will nudge the scales in the right direction next week… Ah yes, next week, where I have two midweek restaurant visits with friends… Oh for fuck's sake.
Pass me the bastard M&Ms.
Wednesday, 19 February 2014
In the words of Eric Cartman — "BEEFCAAAAAAAAAAAKE!"
Firstly, I lost weight. It looks like I basically just lost whatever I 'put on' last week, but given that I am doing weight training and have been reading so much about water retention, losing inches rather than pounds etc, I'm really not putting too much stock into this. If I lose, I lose. I just have to know that I am sticking to my calories and exercising enough. I would normally be excited about a loss, but at the moment, it all seems fairly meaningless, so I'm just getting on with it.
My new weigh day is now Saturday, just because I normally end up eating something unhealthy this day, and it means I have a week to repair the damage! On this particular Saturday, we went to Frankie & Benny's for dinner — woo-hoo! The food was all delicious, even though I didn't get to eat their amazing hotdog — BUT I WILL ONE DAY. I was quite in the mood for a cheeseburger, so I had settled on that until my boyfriend ordered the double Philly steak burger… For some reason, I felt that this gave me the green light to order a double cheeseburger — WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? I'm supposed to be watching what I eat! Well, I got punished in the end, because I couldn't finish the second patty in the bun and felt terrible for wasting it. Note to self: don't do that again, because you are not a slim man with a super-fast metabolism. Despite this, I had the low-fat pancake for dessert (well, let's try, eh?)— 200cals and really very nice! No pics cos I wolfed it all.
On Sunday, I went a bit mental in a food market in St Albans and spent about £15. And that's only because I stopped myself. I went with my uncle and his son — my poor cousin tried to buy a gourmet bacon roll for £4 and my uncle just told him, "Don't buy that — we've got two rashers of bacon at home"… ehehehehe. Thankfully, he was allowed to buy a scotch egg and a mini quich later. I bought some giant flat mushrooms, a black pudding scotch egg, a huge croissant, ostrich burgers and a coconut bird feeder thing, which I obviously didn't eat, even though it looked quite appetising — a bit like a rustic Bounty. Oh, I also bought some super-spicy pickled onions! They are an absolute godsend on a fast day — really fucking hot (there are Scotch Bonnet chillies in the vinegar and my mouth is watering just thinking about them) but very low in calories. The flat mushrooms were amazing just grilled, but on the second day I added some sundried tomato paste, garlic salt and a few herbs and stuck them in the oven — frigging fabulous!
Last Thursday, I made the mistake of eating my fasting dinner (because I was fucking starving!) before doing my weights session. I will NOT be doing that again in a hurry, dear god, no. I was really fucking thirsty, so I had also drunk quite a lot of water through the evening… It was mainly all fine until I had to lie on my front to do back extensions and suddenly I could feel air and food all swooshing around dangerously close to the top of my throat… I ended up not completing the exercise because I was on the brink of throwing up — nobody wants to be found wearing cheap leggings, an exercise bra and furry boots, drowned in their own vomit under a 5ft dried-up Christmas tree, do they? Lesson learnt.
This brings me to the problem I have encountered since I upped my exercise routine (I now work out every day except Sunday) — I feel like I am permanently ravenous. And it's been affecting my fast days quite badly, to be honest. Last week was a pile of shite when it came to fasting, but at least I didn't go over my daily calorie allowance. To combat this crazy hunger, I've tried to find a more filling breakfast — step in savoury porridge! Yup, sounds disgusting I know, but it was actually just like risotto. Oats, red onion, mushrooms, parsley, ham and light garlic cream cheese. I don't really like sweet breakfasts, so this was perfect for me, but I imagine some people would really struggle with it. But at least it was filling. I think I will experiment with some other savoury oat recipes next week — makes a change for breakfast! [FFS — whilst I am trying to type this, I keep seeing an email come up titled 'Donut Tasting' — seriously??]
Still very much enjoying the lifting, and sticking with the principle of just lifting more and more each week. My posture feels a hell of a lot better, my arms feel strong (I cannot stop flexing and moving my biceps whilst sitting at my desk — what a geek!) and whilst I probably can’t quite crack walnuts between my thighs, I could definitely smash a few on top of them. So at the moment, that is what I am concentrating on — feeling good and trying to eat well. The theory is that everything else should fall into place… right? RIGHT?
My new weigh day is now Saturday, just because I normally end up eating something unhealthy this day, and it means I have a week to repair the damage! On this particular Saturday, we went to Frankie & Benny's for dinner — woo-hoo! The food was all delicious, even though I didn't get to eat their amazing hotdog — BUT I WILL ONE DAY. I was quite in the mood for a cheeseburger, so I had settled on that until my boyfriend ordered the double Philly steak burger… For some reason, I felt that this gave me the green light to order a double cheeseburger — WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? I'm supposed to be watching what I eat! Well, I got punished in the end, because I couldn't finish the second patty in the bun and felt terrible for wasting it. Note to self: don't do that again, because you are not a slim man with a super-fast metabolism. Despite this, I had the low-fat pancake for dessert (well, let's try, eh?)— 200cals and really very nice! No pics cos I wolfed it all.
 |
| These looked and tasted delicious. |
Last Thursday, I made the mistake of eating my fasting dinner (because I was fucking starving!) before doing my weights session. I will NOT be doing that again in a hurry, dear god, no. I was really fucking thirsty, so I had also drunk quite a lot of water through the evening… It was mainly all fine until I had to lie on my front to do back extensions and suddenly I could feel air and food all swooshing around dangerously close to the top of my throat… I ended up not completing the exercise because I was on the brink of throwing up — nobody wants to be found wearing cheap leggings, an exercise bra and furry boots, drowned in their own vomit under a 5ft dried-up Christmas tree, do they? Lesson learnt.
 |
| Looks gross, but was actually delicious. |
Still very much enjoying the lifting, and sticking with the principle of just lifting more and more each week. My posture feels a hell of a lot better, my arms feel strong (I cannot stop flexing and moving my biceps whilst sitting at my desk — what a geek!) and whilst I probably can’t quite crack walnuts between my thighs, I could definitely smash a few on top of them. So at the moment, that is what I am concentrating on — feeling good and trying to eat well. The theory is that everything else should fall into place… right? RIGHT?
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