PigPog

Inspired by a good meeting last night and armed with a couple of facts I didn’t have before, I started today with every intention of sticking to plan 100%. And I did. Go me.

To recap, I’m doing the “Mix 2 Max” plan where you choose whether to have Original or Green foods by the meal. So basically you can have a nice stodgy lunch and a light, meaty (or fishy) dinner. And I found out that my own daily Syn allowance is more than I thought it was. If you’re a member of a group, it’s always worth checking with your consultant what your Syn allowance is. Between 5 and 15 is the norm, but if you have a lot of weight to lose, like I do, you may be able to have more.

Here’s my food diary for today:

Breakfast: 2 slices of toast (nimble 400g loaf – 5 syns), marmite, banana

Morning Snack: Alpen Light cereal bar (3 syns), satsuma

Lunch: Noodles, beans, and a little grated cheddar (healthy extra ‘a’ choice), shape lasting satisfaction yogurt

Dinner: Michael’s fabulous Free burger, topped with cheese (another ‘a’ choice), served with 396g potato wedges (two ‘b’ choices, 396g raw weight), salad, wholemeal pitta bread (7 1/2 syns) and ketchup (1 syn)

The food was delicious, I’m comfortably full, I’ve had enough energy to spend the afternoon catching up on all sorts of stuff, and I’m feeling good.

So, to celebrate, let’s have another tune from my morning playlist:

Cor. Nothing like a bit of Iggy to shake you up first thing.

Till tomorrow…

It’s been a Monday. You know how they are. The days when it would be all too easy to go home and fall face first into a chocolate fudge cake, washed off with a couple of litres of chardonnay. I decided I could have a treat tonight, as long as it was reasonably healthy and didn’t involve alcohol. So at group, I had a choc orange HiFi bar (the cereal bars only available from Slimming World groups) and for dinner some salmon burgers from M&S with salad, cous cous and pitta breads. Yummy, and still an improvement on yesterday’s panini, cream tea, and wine fest.

Group tonight was fun, as ever. A couple of new members joined us and we had a good laugh. Frankie was on a high after meeting Darius Danesh at the weekend. It is fun watching my friends have a good squee! Mr Scale was particularly generous. Despite my pathetic attempts to get back to plan, I still had a 3lb weight loss, which was a good chunk off the gain from last week. I’ve set a target for the coming week, which is to see off the last of the gain. It’s a big goal to lose 7lb in a week, but when I really get going on plan, I can do it – most I’ve ever lost in a week in good health was 8lb. My other target for the week is to stay on track, and keep posting regularly.

Anyway, that’s enough blether for one day. Let’s check in on my favourite motivational speaker and see what he likes to eat on green days:

Well, they are a free food.

I’m off for a soak in the bath and then some much-needed sleep. More tomorrow.

For more information about Food Optimising and Slimming World, visit www.slimmingworld.com.

7.00am – Good morning! I’ve been up for about half an hour, coffee is brewing and I’m feeling reasonably chirpy. Starting the day with something I didn’t put on the plan because I’d forgotten about it at the time – a fruit salad consisting of pineapple, mango, kiwi fruit and blueberries. And while the coffee’s brewing I’ll rehydrate myself with water mixed with a little sugar free cordial. These are all Free food on the Food Optimising plan, so I know I can eat the whole pack without worrying.

I find that it takes a while for my more advanced motor skills to get warmed up on a morning, so I need as much help as I can get. A simple breakfast, that involves nothing more complex than opening a packet is a good start, but coffee is an absolute must. Taken black and so strong it can support a spoon, that first hit of caffeine is pure nectar.

Another important element to shaking me out of my slumber is the soundtrack. The music has got to be either spot on, or so far off the mark I race out of bed to hit skip before the vocal kicks in. This morning was a combination of the two. Second track in was a Christmas song. Not a bad Christmas song, but not what you want to hear on a sunny May morning. The songs after that were corkers and it wasn’t long before I was dancing round the bedroom in my pants. Good start.

Coffee is almost ready and the weetabix awaits for round two of breakfast, so for now I’ll leave you with a few of the tunes that shake me out of my bed, and then help me on my way when I walk to work.

Geno – Dexy’s Midnight Runners

Frantic – Metallica

Shine – Slash’s Snakepit

Ain’t Life Grand – Slash’s Snakepit

Now, for the cheese course, and an essential for any Honda owner, performed here by a man whose diet inspired my off days:

I couldn’t have put it better myself.

TTFN.

Giving the two-fingered salute to the diet with a drop of rose.

As I digest my post-dinner plonk and ponder seeing off that bar of Polish chocolate, I figure I may as well crawl into the virtual confessional and admit it. My attempt to come back to plan this week hasn’t worked at all. I have stuck to the basics of Food Optimising fine, with one exception. And it’s the one we all like… the Syns. They’re there to bring in that all-important “little bit of what you fancy”, and this last two weeks has shown what can happen if you ignore that and try to labour through your journey in ‘diet mode’. That’s not what this plan is about, and that’s what makes it different from the others and that’s why it’s possible for people like Roberto to lose the massive amounts of weight they do. The plan fits in with anyone’s lifestyle, but only if you let it.

“Get out of the pressure cooker!”

That’s what a friend of mine said to me last week when consoling me yet again (you know who you are and I owe you millions). She’s right. And that’s what the second half of my weight loss journey is going to be about. It is possible to go out, treat yourself and have a fun life without doing the ‘poor me I’m on a diet’ bit. I’m about to prove it.

And while I do this, over the next week or two I am going to share my daily food diary with you, right here in my blog. I will be enjoying my full allocation of Syns each day, and using the “Mix2Max” plan which lets you enjoy green and original choices by the meal rather than by the day.

Eyes up chocolate bar and reaches for another glass of wine

Starting tomorrow. Just like all the best diets.

Till tomorrow, friends… cheerz.

Welcome Express and Echo readers! Nothing like a bit of press coverage to wake up the old blog. Since Katy was so kind to give this here site a mention, I figured it was high time to catch up on how my weight loss journey has been progressing.

Birthday Celebrations

To celebrate my upcoming birthday I decided another spell off the wagon would be fun, and indeed it was, filled with meals out, takeaways, chocolate puddings and copious amounts of wine. I gained an amount of weight that could only be described as ‘whopping’, and I deserved every ounce. Having said that, I’m still impressed that in just over a year I have managed to lose around 130lb, so I’m not beating myself up too much.

Sponsored Dog Walk for the Blue Cross

In an attempt to justify my week of gluttony, Michael and I took part in a sponsored dog walk on Sunday. Since Sweeney wasn’t up for pretending to be a chihuahua for the day, we borrowed a dog from the centre. A gorgeous little critter by the name of Pixie.

Man of the Year

Monday night was the Man of the Year competition, and in the absence of any fellas, a few of us marked the occasion by dressing in man drag for the night. Seizing the opportunity to make a fool of myself in the guise of the sexiest DCI ever to kick a nonce, I borrowed Michael’s big black overcoat and spent the duration of the meeting having rather more fun than I really should.

What a fine bunch of fellas we were.

Back on plan and looking forwards

No more messing around with breaks here and there. I’ve had my big blow-out and now it’s time to get back to business. I’m halfway to my target now, but I still have a long way to go. After such a big change, from 28 stone down to 18 stone, I sometimes find it hard to keep going. But I’m going to keep going because there’s so much more to celebrate along the way. Mum’s visiting us again in July, so I’ll be staying on plan until then, and then may take advantage of Flexible Syns to enjoy myself when she’s here. Also coming up in July is the Race for Life at Westpoint in Exeter where I’ll be joining in as a member of Team Slimming World.

So, moving on from the last few weeks and looking forward to the second half of my adventure, the journey continues…

7th April 2008

Previously:

I find that taking a breather from Food Optimising every now and then is a good idea. It’s a chance to deal with any cravings, and remind myself just how much better being on plan actually is. I’ve done it before and it worked rather well, and now I’m back on the wagon, I’m hoping for similar results in the next few weeks.

I knew I’d taken a bit of a gamble having another break, and Mr Scale took great pleasure in announcing a gain of 4.5lbs. I suspected something like this would happen, and with not a shred of regret, I continued on with my eversoslightly tweaked version of the plan from the magazine.

Having all the meals for the week laid out in a grid really helped, and it was really easy to stick to. Eating 5 times a day? I can handle that without a problem! As the week progressed I had the feeling that it was going exceptionally well. I was looking forward to showing Mr Scale who was boss the following Monday.

14th April 2008

I lost 8lbs. Which landed me neatly on my next stop, putting my total weight loss at exactly 10 stone or 140lb or 63.5kg. I was delighted to have achieved that this week as the following day I met up with my mum for the first time since Christmas. She can’t get over my transformation, not just physically, but in my attitude and moods. I don’t think I’ve changed that much, but if I think back to my life before Slimming World, I have to say things are an awful lot better.

To celebrate… I took another couple of days off. Sorry, but even I can’t go to the seaside and stay on track. I indulged my merry little self until I was close to re-enacting a scene from The Meaning of Life. But, the following day the wagon was waiting for me and I cheerfully hopped back in.

Looking Forward…

I’ve been back on plan since Wednesday, and apart from a visit to Subway today in which I found a sandwich that fell within my Syn allowance as long as I didn’t add any dressings, I’ve been pretty good. This week I’d be happy if I maintained my weight loss, but any additional loss to help me on my way to my next stop would be nice. I’ve put together a 7 day menu on a grid inspired by the one from the magazine, so I hope that brings good results again for the following week.

This coming week marks the end of my first year at Slimming World and I am absolutely astounded at how well it’s going. No plan has ever worked for me as well as this one has, and that’s mainly down to the ease and flexibility of the plan itself and the support available at group. The group I attend is positive, friendly and above all a bloody good laugh. I would say I’m lucky, but having visited other Slimming World groups, I think they’re all the same. All of them positive, friendly and fun.

Thank you to everyone I’ve met while I’m at group, or talking about SW online. You’ve all helped to inspire me to keep going. Extra special thanks to my consultant, the wonderful Frankie Pankiewicz. The journey’s a lot easier with you showing the way, Frankie.

So then. Here’s to the next 12 months. The journey continues!

Read about myself in the local press:

My wonderful Consultant Frankie Pankiewicz submitted this editorial to the local free paper for me after I won the Greatest Loser competition last month, and the article ran in this week’s issue.

The funny thing is as readers read my story, I was wandering around our local handpicked guatemalan food emporium buying sandwiches, crisps and chocolate having decided to hop off the wagon for a little while to indulge my sweet tooth, my savoury tooth and my crispy fried tooth. So as I was buying my tooth-rotting and scale-crushing treats, I was being congratulated by people on my achievement. Not one of them suggested that perhaps a basket full of pizza and chocolate might not be the wisest choice, though. They all said I deserved a treat, and to go for it. Bless them. People here are so nice.

I find that taking a breather from Food Optimising every now and then is a good idea. It’s a chance to deal with any cravings, and remind myself just how much better being on plan actually is. I’ve done it before and it worked rather well, and now I’m back on the wagon, I’m hoping for similar results in the next few weeks.

In the spirit of constant experimentation and learning, I’m coming back to the plan by doing something I haven’t done before – having a go at the 7-day eating plan from the magazine. I’ve made a few substitutions on things I don’t fancy, but with full menus, recipes and a handy shopping list, it does make getting back on the wagon a lot easier.

And if you’re wondering what the wagon looks like, here it is:

“Listen luv, if you want a body like Bolly Knickers, you’ve got to work for it.” – Gene Hunt, Motivation Expert

If anyone wants me I’ll be at the gym…

So, with my weight loss currently standing at 9 stone 10 and a half pounds, and with still quite a bit to go, the journey continues…. fire up the Quattro!

A quick general catch-up on my progress… still ticking away nicely.

10th March

A gain, as I predicted. Bloody hormones! Seems it can’t be helped and it’s just part of the journey and the joys of being a woman. Ho-hum.

17th March

Back in business the following week, though, with 3lb off.

25th March

Succumbing to the charms of the season (i.e. taking an evening off to eat a shedload of chocolate) meant that I was grateful for any loss, so losing a pound and a half was fine and dandy with me.

So, that takes my total weight loss to – 9 stone 8 and a half pounds. Very very chuffed indeed.

Back with a more in-depth post next week, but for now… the journey continues.

I’ve never been so proud to be called a Loser before, but more about that in a minute.

25th February 2008

Weighing in after my first full week back on plan after my short break. It felt really good to be back in business, and despite having a stinking cold, and succumbing to the joys of M&S sandwiches, I felt I’d had a reasonable week. Mr Scale, bless his little LEDs, agreed. I lost six pounds, which took my overall weight loss to exactly 9 stone. The break had done exactly what I hoped it would, kickstarted my weight loss again and put me back on track. And getting another stone off meant I had only fallen behind by one month.

This spurred me on for the following week, which was a big celebration.

3rd March 2008

This week’s meeting was another competition night. The wonderfully named Greatest Loser.

So, yes. Proud to be a Loser. Ecstatic to be a loser. I took the opportunity to thank everyone in the group, and Frankie my wonderful Consultant, for their inspiration and support. And Michael joined in the fun by acting as chef for the night – making his wonderful Free Cheezburgers. Spelled that way because when he makes them I can has cheezburger!

Monday night was always going to be great fun regardless of what Mr Scale had to tell me, but his news only added to the night. I lost another five and a half pounds, which meant the weight loss being recorded for the Greatest Loser competition was a whopping…

Nine stone, five and a half pounds or 131.5lb or 59.6kg

What can I say? They’re good cheezburgers! I’m really enjoying the plan right now, taking a more relaxed approach to it all. I don’t obsess over the scales as much, and I am well aware that another little blip in the opposite direction is most probably just around the corner (it happens every 4 weeks or so thanks to my flippin’ daft hormones), but it doesn’t matter. What’s important is that I keep on plan and enjoy everything I have. And I do, whether it’s the cheezburgers or spicy potato wedges or the Brunch at Mad Hatters. So, onwards and downwards … the journey continues!

Right! Back in business after a brief sortakinda holiday. Before my little break I was getting a little downhearted and frustrated with how my progress on the plan had slowed down and my interest in the whole thing had started to wane. So, a break was just what the doctor ordered. Although I had two separate 3-day breaks from the diet I did still go to group and weigh in. Defeating the object? No, not really. It seemed sensible to keep an eye on things in case my time “off the leash” was doing far more damage than I was preparing for. As it turned out, it wasn’t too bad at all.

4th February

This was after a weekend of burgers at Wetherspoons, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, chocolate and cheese and biscuits, so I was expecting a gain. I lost 2 and a half pounds.

11th February

I wasn’t going to weigh in on Mr and Mrs night. In fact, Michael and I were only there really to photograph the winners. When the winners turned out to be us, the camera had to be turned over to someone else. Thank you Chris for such a great job!

At the end of the evening I decided to pay a visit to Mr Scale, who informed me that I had gained 3lb. Trust me, I had earned every ounce.

18th February

Back in business this week, and after the obligatory fish and chips on the beach and enough alcohol to turn me into a stumbling comedy drunk for the night followed by just 4 days back on plan, the most I was hoping was for was to have not gained any more than the 3lb I put on the previous week. I lost the 3lb, and one more for good luck.

All of this takes my weight loss to a total of eight stone, eight pounds or 120lb or 54.4kg.

I enjoyed the break, and now I’m back on plan I’m enjoying food optimising again. And for the next six weeks I’m not alone. Yes, friends, Michael’s slimming too. And for a good cause. Both of us are participating in Slimming World’s Slimathon. I’m going to be keeping on the tried and true Food Optimising plan, while Michael is doing his own thing, including joining me for Slimming World meals and cutting back on his daily pint of Ben & Jerry’s. Want to sponsor us? Please do! Check out our page on Justgiving for more details.

Ah, it’s good to be back. The journey continues!