And on the flipside...

...of my post from earlier today, I met a friend who I speak with regularly but don't see often, and she was amazed at the change in me since she'd seen me last. She was genuinely happy for me, and complimentary. We went shopping together and everything I tried on in an 18 fitted and a 20 literally hung off me. I couldn't believe it!

I had such a nice morning and I'm feeling very happy now.

I've also decided to start taking my measurements every Saturday morning before I weigh in. My waist is an absolutely ridiculous size so when I get my gym program redone next week I am going to concentrate on my core. I'll probably add a ticker for my waist measurement but I'm guessing it will be a lot slower moving than my weight one.

Oh, and I dropped a pound, which I am SUPER pleased with as I thought I would actually put on this week with all my bad eating shenanigans (including a 3 course meal last night).

Don't be a Fakey McFakerson...

If you have found out that someone is following a weight loss plan, or attempting to lose weight some other (healthy) way (eg through exercise) and you genuinely can't see if they have lost weight, don't tell them that they've lost lots of weight / look amazing / are super skinny, blah blah blah.

I know you may be doing it for "noble" reasons (like you want to encourage this person, recognise their efforts or make them feel good) or you may be doing it for, what I consider, not so "noble" reasons (like you want them to think you have noticed and you want them to think you're great for noticing).

People aren't stupid. They can tell if you genuinely can tell if they've lost weight and by giving a fake "OMG! Like wow, you look great! You can totally see you've lost loads!" it does not make them feel better. In fact, it can have the opposite effect.

So if you think you're being nice/helpful/encouraging when doing this, my advice would be don't - when you can genuinely see a difference and tell the person it will mean so much more to them than a forced compliment ahead of time.

Eeek!

I am about to venture outside for leggings in the first time in about...oh maybe 23 years. I am feeling pretty self conscious but I am going to push myself to wear something fashionable. Eeek!

Ain't nothin' goin' on

Well I haven't blogged recently as there's not really been anything to blog about. Nothing great has happened, and nothing bad either. I dropped 0.5lb at my weigh in on Saturday, and I think I've found my pattern - three or four weeks of small weight losses or staying the same, and then one big drop of 3lb - 3.5lbs.

I've joined two challenges through the WW eSource site. One is 12 for 12 - lose 12lbs in 12 weeks (this one will start from Saturday for me) and the other is Christmas Countdown - again, lose a minimum of 1lb a week until Christmas. I've already failed my first way in on that one!

This is the only thing I can say I don't like about WW, and it's not even so much WW it's me - my body and how it reacts to things. I joined both of the challenges after being spurred on by much positive talk from my OH. When I dropped the chunk of weight the week before last, he said to me "you could easily lose another stone before Christmas" and the thought was so appealing! That would mean I'd be into the 11s. I've not been 11 stone something in about 10 years. And I thought "yeah, I can do this!" so I joined. But although I think I might lose another good bit before Christmas, with my weight pattern I don't know if it'll be as much as a stone (14lbs for any US readers!). I will still give it a go though.

I am still toying with the idea of photographing everything I eat and putting it on Flickr. I'm thinking about it for two reasons - one because if I can take the time to photograph it, I will definitely track it and maybe think twice about mindlessly scoffing something (not that I do that much now anyway) and also because it might give someone some ideas for dinners. I'm a very visual person and always like a picture with a recipe and Flickr is obviously the perfect forum for that and I find that the majority of the WW stuff on there is American where the points system is different. On the same token though, I pretty much eat the same thing for breakfast & lunch every day so it might be pretty boring. I'll give it some more thought.

Anyways, for this week's WI I am not sure what to expect. If it was a normal week I would expect 0.5lb off, but I'm out for a family get together on Friday night which involves a three course meal. I will try and choose wisely but let's just say my disgestive transit does not move quickly so the weight of food I consume will probably still be in my tummy the next day at weigh in...

Quick post

Well all this week I have really, really struggled staying on plan. Last Saturday I deliberately rammed a shitload of fatty, unhealthy food down my throat even though I didn't really want it, and the rest of the week was no different. I've generally been crabby, work has been crap, I was fed up, I didn't track, I've not been to the gym and even though I tried to stay on plan but when it came to it, I don't know how many days I did. It's the first week I've really thought to myself "what's the point?".

When I went to WI this morning I was fed up. I was expecting to STS or even have put on. I got there late so I had to wait ages to get weighed. I was getting more and more pissed off standing in the queue and going over in my head why I was doing this and what I am trying to achieve, but generally just reiterating to myself that I didn't see the point. So finally (30 minutes later) it was my turn to get weighed and you can imagine my surprise when I dropped 3lbs! I honestly couldn't believe it. I was 1lb away from hitting my 2 stone off, and didn't expect to do it, and there I was - over it! 30lbs down. 30lbs!! Not only is that now 2 stone off it's also 15% off!

It was just the little boost I needed. Now I see why I am doing this. And I will remember the feeling when she told me I had dropped 3lbs this week. And that will spur me on through difficult weeks in the future

NSVs and Negative Nancys!

Today I dropped half a pound at my WI. I was pleased with this. I had a huge meal out on Sunday - all covered in cheese and sour cream and delicious things like that! I knew I was going to be going over my points, and was prepared for this. I've no idea how many points I went over by, but I estimated 15 (although in all honesty, it was probably more). I was happy to save points the rest of the week to make up for it, and I did (I ended up saving 13.5 points in the end) and I dropped half a pound and was very happy.

Saying that, I'd be happy dropping half a pound even if this wasn't the case. I am happy to drop anything. I've always been of the opinion that this journey is a marathon and not a sprint and the whole point of WW is to "lose a healthy amount of 0.5lb - 2lbs per week". The last few weeks I've been hovering between dropping half a pound to a pound. Every time I have dropped this my Leader has said something along the lines of "oh, just half off. Well at least it's still coming off" or "A pound? Oh well, I suppose it's still going in the right direction".

I've been doing WW for over 3 months now and I expected my weight loss to slow down and I have never done a diet / healthy eating plan before, but I know through common sense that you won't drop loads every week. When I do drop any weight, I feel that I show I am genuinely pleased and happy so can't understand why I am getting these (what I consider) negative remarks from my Leader. Maybe she's scared that when people's weight loss slows down they stop trying or leave. But if that's the case, the attitude she has is not a great encouragement to stay or keep going. I'm sure some people think "well if she has no faith in me, then why bother trying?" or "if she doesn't think I can do it, maybe I can't - she's the 'professional'".

It's something that has been bugging me but never mind. I don't attend a meeting so it is literally maybe 30 seconds of my whole week. I just need to block it out and make sure her negativity doesn't influence me!

So being down a half means I only have a pound til I hit the 2 stone off mark. Wahey!

Moving onto some NSVs (Non Scale Victories) this week. I think I have finally dropped a dress size! I'm almost too scared to say it out loud as it has taken so long to happen but I think it finally has. Today after WI I went window shopping. Since I have the whole day to myself (I don't usually) I decided to take a wander round the shops and decided to try some stuff on. I saw a lovely lovely jacket in New Look (I didn't buy it, but I'm going to I think) and tried it on. At the beginning of the year when the bad weather hit, I went into NL to get a winter jacket and I either couldn't button up a size 20, or it was too tight on the upper arms (so would've been v uncomfortable with a jumper or layers on) or it looked dreadful. Well I took the size 20 of this one into the changing rooms, as well as a size 20 hoodie and they were both TOO BIG! Granted, they weren't falling off me, but they were definitely too big for me. I didn't try the next size down for two reasons - one I wasn't buying but two I didn't want my little "I've dropped a dress size" bubble burst! Hopefully by the time I go back to get the jacket (probably end of the month) then I should comfortably be in the 18. . This also means I will be able to shop in their "regular" store and not just in the "Inspire" (ie plus size) section, so more choice! Yay!

After that I went to Dorothy Perkins (my most favouritest shoppy in the whole widest wooorld!). My local store has been a pain recently. They used to stock loads of 20s, but recently have cut back on them. I saw lots of stuff I liked, but they only had 18s but decided to try them anyway - they all fit too. Now I've always sort of been a 18/20 in there so it's not a huge deal but I tried on this one top and I loved it. It's the first time in I-can't-remember-how-long that I've put something on a loved it. Normally I'll think "hmm, that's okay" or "that'll do". If I'm lucky I might "like" something, but I LOVED THIS. Loved it. So that was my window shopping over - I promptly trotted out to the counter and bought it - naughty me!

My final NSV this week is both a good and annoying one. About maybe 18 months to two years ago I changed shoe size from a 5 to a 6. This meant none of the shoes I had fitted and I had to buy new ones (I am not a shoe kinda gal. I have one work pair, one weekend paid and one going out pair). Well now the shoes I am wearing just now are really uncomfortable and I've realised why - it's because they're too big! I'm sore because I am tensing my feet in them to stop them sliding about. I tried on an old pair of size 5s and yep - they fit! Only problem is I didn't keep my old work or weekend shoes so now I need new ones! It's great things being too big but this could be an expensive experience haha!

So all in all it has been a very positive week for me. I tracked all week like I said I would, but didn't make the gym much again. That is what I am going to work on for next week, and hopefully shift this pound to get to my 2 stone mark!