I’m Baaaaaacccckkkkkk!

Wow, I can’t believe I’ve been away so long! I haven’t blogged since September 2017 and I’ve missed it so much.

Why have I been missing for so long? Well let me tell you about the exciting things that have been happening here at The Palace. The main one being that, after getting to my dream weight, I decided to do this:

I am now a fully fledged Consultant for Slimming World!

The last 7 months have been an absolute whirlwind. I’ve been up and down the M1 to The Sparkly Castle for 8 full on days of training!

I have been pounding the streets in snow, sleet, rain and the occasional sunshine delivering leaflets:

I’ve been making sure that everywhere I go details of my group can be seen:

I’ve flung open the doors and welcomed my new members:

And so far it’s going well, really well actually and I LOVE it. 

My members are so amazing and friendly and I am so proud of the amazing losses they’ve had and the bonds and friendships they’ve formed. 

I’m 4 months in and the time has flown by but, with each passing week, I’ve managed to get into more of a routine. This means I’m able to add a few more balls to the many other balls I’m juggling at the moment which means I can get back to blogging again :)

I run my group every Wednesday evening at 7:30 in:

St Andrew’s Church 

Northey Avenue 

Cheam

SM2 7HF

So if you’re thinking of joining then pop along, the kettles always on :)

I’m still scrapping, crocheting, knitting and sewing so my blog will still be just as varied as it was. 

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by

Jo x

We Need A Target To Get To Target!

At the start of 2016 I decided that enough was enough and I had to sort out my weight problem once and for all! 

I shared this picture of me failing to get in to a pair of jeans that I really love and I vowed that I would fit in to them by the summer:

By the summer I was in them and feeling fantastic!

The next target was to weigh lighter than my sister Jemma (middle) and late last year I did it.  So I was on to my next target, get to a lighter weight than Jessica (left) and I did that a few weeks ago!

Working towards small targets is really helping me to reach that final big target.  To get to that final goal I need to lost just 1st 5.5lbs and I know I will do it this year.  The only trouble was I didn't have another small target to aim for, until today. 

This morning Jessica gave me a bag of clothes and in the bag were a pair of jeans, not just any pair of jeans though, the jeans she wants to lose weight to get back in to.  Perfect, the goal I am working towards now is fitting in these jeans before she can :)

Weight loss isn't always about the scales, sometimes you just know your body is getting smaller or changing shape but the dial on the scales just isn't budging.  This is where those little, non scale victories, really help.  If you're getting married or going on holiday then you have easy targets to aim for.  If you haven't got big goals to aim for then look around for the little ones because it really does help.

I hope someone finds this useful.

Thanks for stopping by
Jo xx

Hungry?

Today's post is short and not so sweet.  I'd even go so far as to say it's a little bit harsh, but sometimes that's just the way it has to be.

Ever wondered if you're hungry or just bored? Gone to the kitchen in search of food and found nothing that takes your fancy?  Felt absolutely starving but just don't fancy a piece of fruit?

I used to do it all the time, I'd look at the fruit and it just wouldn't appeal, I'd want something more.

Now I say to myself "would a starving child in Africa turn it's nose up at a bowl of boring rice?"

NO of course they wouldn't!

So if I'm turning my nose up at an apple then I'm not really starving I'm just bored and instead of looking in the kitchen for something to eat it's time to look somewhere else for something to do!

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by
Jo xx

Getting It Write

I am a documenter (not sure if that's even a word), I document everything that happens in my life.

I document the good:

I document the bad:

And I document the downright ugly! :)

But it took me a long time to work out that documenting what I ate would get me a much better weight loss!  As soon as the penny dropped so did the pounds.

I got myself a cheap notebook and wrote down everything, every day and sure enough it worked.

Slimming World then started selling their own journal, a bargain at only £4.95!

It made logging my food and exercise even easier.  It only takes a few moments every day and, if you're really serious about losing weight and getting healthy, I'm guessing that you won't have a problem finding those few moments.

I'm over 7st (100lbs) lighter and I've filled three journals.  Not only do they keep me on track but I also use them as a tool if my weight loss is slowing down.  If I have a few weeks when I'm not happy with the losses I'm getting then I look back through my old journals to see what's changed, to find out what I was doing in the weeks when I was losing lots.

Writing everything down is the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT thing I've done in the last nine months and it's something that I'm not going to stop doing.  In the time it takes the kettle to boil I've managed to fill in my journal.  Therefore, I highly recommend you go and get yourself a brew and make a quick note of what you've eaten today :)

I hope someone finds this helpful.

Thanks for stopping by
Jo xx

What's For Dinner?

I don't know about you but during the day I used to start thinking about what I was going to have for dinner that evening.  I'd think about all of the things I could have that were 100% on plan and what ingredients I'd need.  Thoughts of food would soon turn in to some sort of word association game and I'd go from a healthy chicken stir fry and end up at a chicken pie with maybe a suet pastry and thick gravy (my mouth is watering as I type this!!!)

To stop me thinking about food I decided to start planning what I was going to eat in advance.  I now get my planner out along with a few recipe books and my shopping list and set to work.  It only takes about 20 minutes and as well as putting what we're going to eat on the planner I also put what events I'm doing each day.

To keep my shopping costs down if something needs half a carton of passata then I'll look for a recipe that will use the other half later in the week so nothing is wasted.

The planner stays on my fridge and I glance at it in the morning as I head out of the door to make sure I don't need to get anything out of the freezer, then I don't need to think about food for the rest of the day.

I always do my shopping straight after weigh in so that I''m feeling really inspired by things that have been discussed in group, that way I'm not tempted to go off list.

I hope someone finds this useful.

Thanks for stopping by
 Jo xx

Super Speed....y

I know just how hard it is to find an eating plan that fits in with a hectic life.  I work full time and I do some form of exercise every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday then on Thursday evenings I'm at my Slimming World group.  Add to that a daughter who's a fussy eater and it's almost like I'm fighting a losing battle and thoughts of shoving a pizza in the oven seem an easier option.

I never go for the easy option though so I've found meals that are quick, simple and tasty.  On Tuesday I go to Zumba, as I head out of the door I shove a jacket potato in the oven for fussy daughter and it's almost done when I get home.  When I get home I quickly slice some mushrooms and tomatoes and fry them in a pan, using Fry Light of course!  I add to that some of a frozen stir mix from Tesco that has zero SYNs and all speed food.

I add to that some fish, this week is was Sea Bass.

And 10 minutes later it's on the plate, that really is fast food!  I get to enjoy a meal packed with speed foods while fussy daughter enjoys her jacket potato.

After dinner I like to have a dessert and these soya yoghurts are amazing!  They come in three flavours and range from 1 to 1.5 SYNs, they're thick and creamy and I really feel like I'm having something naughty at the end of my meal.

Even Alfie loves them :)

Nowadays there are so many different, pre prepared foods available that it's really  not hard to make your eating plan work for you.

I hope this helps someone.

Thanks for stopping by
Jo xx

Beware The Imposter!!!

Slimming Worlders are great at taking a recipe and making it Slimming World friendly.  If there is anything you fancy trying then just Googling a recipe and adding the words 'Slimming World' will result in a huge array of recipes.  It really is amazing.  However, I personally think that some of these recipes actually hinder your weight loss because they make you eat more!

Take for instance the 'fake' pancake.  You take egg whites and maybe a bit of baking power and whisk it in to a froth, then you have to try and fry the froth!  When they're done they are indeed an eggie pancake BUT I don't and never have had pancakes on a regular basis.  As soon as I got home from group after we'd been talking about this recipe I made them.  Why?  I'd ended up eating an extra thing and it was a thing that I'd only ever had on Pancake Day!  What I'm trying to say is, if you don't eat something regularly then just SYN the real thing and if you go over your SYNs just that once then it won't really matter.

Another 'fake' that I had a go at making just ONCE was the roulade.  Now until that point I'd never even had roulade so all I was doing was adding something extra to my diet when I should have been looking at the things I need to cut out of my diet!  Getting hyped up about this recipe had just made me eat something extra that I didn't really need.  I think little things like this can be more of a sabotage than a help if it's something that you don't eat on a regular basis.

Now there are many hundreds thousands of great Slimming World alternatives out there for every day recipes and I will be sharing some of those soon.  What I'm trying to say now though is always ask yourself "do I really want/need this or am I just making it for the sake of it?" Fake foods don't always assist your weight loss.

I hope this helps someone question when to spend the time and effort creating a great dish and when to use some SYNs on a real, occasional, treat.

Thanks for stopping by
Jo xx

A Tight Fit

If you'd have asked me a few years ago to take up exercise I would have told you I didn't have the time.  I'm out of the house at 8 in the morning and don't get home until 5:30 in the evening.  Then there's cooking and cleaning to do, maybe some washing and ironing and in the drier months there's the garden to look after.  On top of that I like a hobby or two twenty!  I scrapbook, card make, sew, crochet, knit, paint, bake, journal, quilt, cross stitch.......the list goes on.

How could I possibly find time to fit in some exercise?  Ask me if I wanted to go out for a drink and that's a horse of a different colour! :)  Things changed when my thoughts on exercise changed and I suddenly realised I did have the time.  Finding exercise that I loved made it go from feeling like a chore to being something fun, finding friends to exercise made it feel like a social event.

When I was younger I was a swimmer, a proper, competitive swimmer, a gala every weekend swimmer!  I dusted off my swimming hat and took the plunge :)  Every Monday, no matter how cold it is, I go for a swim and I swim at least a mile.  I sometimes meet my friend Lorna there and we have a chat while we pound up and down the pool.  When I finish, without fail, I always feel great.  There have been times when I've had a cluster headache but after a few lengths in the pool it's gone.  It's also a great exercise if you suffer with painful joints as it's zero impact.

Every Tuesday I go to Zumba.  I bung a couple of potatoes in the oven as I walk out of the door so I know dinner will be ready when I get home. The session I go to is run by Yvonne and she makes everything fun.  There are all ages and all shapes and sizes in the group but they are all, without exception, a great bunch of ladies who are turning in to friends.

On a Wednesday I go walking with my friend Jo.  We cover about 5 or 6 miles in an hour but we are so busy talking that it sometimes feels like we've only been out for about 10 minutes.  Even though we go to Zumba together we always have plenty to talk about because Zumba doesn't leave enough breath in the lungs to talk too much :)

Monday to Friday from 12 until 1, without fail, I can be found walking around the park.  I walk at least a couple of miles and feel so refreshed once I get back to the office.  When I'm walking alone I listen to a book and because I only listen to books when I'm walking, never indoors, then getting to a juicy bit of the story makes me walk even more!

I get a minimum of 10,000 steps in per day, no matter what the weather and I feel so much better for doing it :)

I still manage to do all of my hobbies, the house is still tidy and Maddie is still fed.  If I can fit exercise in to my day then anyone can, it's all about finding exercise you enjoy, exercise that doesn't feel like a chore.

The exercise I do, along with Slimming World, has meant that I am 7 stone lighter and feeling FANTASTIC!  If you look hard enough then it is possible to make a bit of time.

Thanks for stopping by
Jo xx

What's The Rush?

So many people are looking for a quick fix, not just post Christmas but throughout the year.  When I post about my weight loss the one question I get asked the most is "how long has it taken you?".   The first flush of magazines in the New Year don't really help either, all of them claiming that you can lose a huge amount of weight in a matter of days!

Yes I did used to be one of those people, I want to get slim and I wanted it to happen overnight.  I'd go to bed thinking about those skinny jeans I was going to get in to, I'd feel so positive when I fell asleep and then deflated and disappointed when I woke up in the morning and realised what a mamouth task it would be.  And I'd do nothing.

Although I've lost 6st 9.5lbs in total, 4st 7lbs of that has been lost in the last 7 months and I can tell you now, those last 7 months have gone in the blink of an eye!  Although I've always wanted a quick fix I've never actually tried anything other than changing my eating habits.  I have friends who have been down the route of pills, potions and shakes.  I've seen them lose the hair from their heads and I've seen that hair reappear on their chests!  I've watched them go from a size 18 to a size 8 and then back up to a size 22!  The reason?  They are trying something that can't be sustained for life.

I do Slimming World and I love it, it fits in well with me & Maddie and the busy lives we lead.  Everything clicked for me and I realised that I was going to lost weight a damn sight quicker if I got of my backside and found something that worked well for me, for every day, forever.  I can't remember the last time I went searching in the post Christmas mags for a quick way to shed those pounds because I've found something that allows me to enjoy a guilt free Christmas.

Now to answer the question "how long has it taken you?", well about 30 years!  I sometimes feel that those 30 years were wasted looking for a quick fix when I could have been enjoying the journey I'm on now, a journey that would have probably reached it's destination a very long time ago!

The best thing you can do, the best thing I've done, is to set myself a goal and just keep that goal in mind.  The time will pass anyway so you may as well make small (or big) changes everyday to reach your target because you will definitely get there a lot quicker than those people waiting for the January 'quick fix' magazines to go on sale.

I hope this has helped someone in someway.

Thanks for stopping by
Jo xx

New Year, New Me

This isn't a post telling you how I'm turning over a new leaf and this year there's going to be a whole new me.  Oh no, this is a post showing you that in the past year I have become a new me!

When I first started my Slimming World Journey I looked like this:

I did manage to lose about 3 stone and I was very proud of myself but there was still a way to go.  I then spent a whole year putting a few pounds on and then losing them again so, by the end of the year, I weighed virtually the same as I did when the year started!  Last year I took this photo and promised myself that I would make a change:

:

I also took this photo and declared that I would fit in to those jeans by the summer.

Well I got myself focused and I worked hard.  I found food that tasted great and helped me lose weight as well as exercise that was so much fun that it didn't feel like a workout.  By the summer I did manage to fit in those jeans!

The photo I took at the end of 2016 looks very different to the one I took at the start of the year. I have now lost a total of 6st 9.5 lbs (93.5lbs) and in the last year I have lost a total of 30 inches from various parts of my body! I can't believe how far I've come and how close to target I am getting.

This year I am going to share more of my journey and the route it's taking me.  I'll share tips and recipes as I work hard to shift the final 2 stone (28lbs) and make my own dreams come true.

I've gone from a size 26/28 down to a size 14/16 and my final target is so close I can almost taste it :)

I hope you'll join me in the final stages of this journey but, more than anything, I hope that I inspire others to make their own weight loss dreams come true.

Thanks for stopping by
Jo xx

You Can Have Your Cake.....

And eat it!

On Saturday this week I went totally off plan, it was a friend's big birthday and it would have be rude not to have enjoyed the amazing buffet she laid on for us to :)

This was my first plate, I may have had one or two more throughout the course of the day!

On Sunday morning I was up bright and early doing my Couch to 5K run and then went for a lovely 5K walk.

On Tuesday I may have had definitely did have two of these beauties :)

This old photo of me popped up in my timeline and seeing how far I have come pushed me on to do more running and walking during the week and making sure that the rest of the days were 100% on plan:

And it paid off with another loss :)

It just goes to show that, if you stick to the Slimming World plan, you can enjoy the sweeter things in life and still lose weight :)

I'm feeling very fired up and focused for this coming week because I want another loss next week!

Thanks for stopping by
Jo xx

It's Paying Off!

After having the huge disappointment of a gain last week this week could have gone one of two ways. I could have given up and stuffed my face or I could have dug my heals in and soldiered on....I soldiered on.

Even though I was away for the weekend I still managed to find the time to do Couch to 5k, it was really lovely running along the prom watching the waves :)

Although I did have two treats at the weekend, after all it was Paul's birthday, the rest of the time it was Slimming World all the way.  The was the one pan roast chicken dinner from last month's magazine and it was delicious.

Tuesday's walk took a slightly different route which included a very long path with an incline that the eyes couldn't see but the thighs certainly felt!

Wednesday was a busy day and I knew I wouldn't be able to do my Couch to 5k in the evening so I took my gear to work and did it in my lunch break :)

And it really did pay off when I got on the scales this week!

I normally menu plan and write my shopping list on a Wednesday so I'm all ready to do the food shop straight from my Slimming World class on a Thursday when I'm really focused on the plan.  This week I didn't have time to do it on Wednesday so I actually wrote my list during the class, I added some great things to my list that I would never have thought of if I hadn't been listening to the input from the rest of the group.

I'm hoping for another loss next week and I'm not going to let anything get in my way.

Thanks for stopping by
Jo xx