My Inspiration & My Motivation

So here we are, 2 months on and I am 17lbs lighter  and I am seeing the number 16 on the scales for the first time in over 10 years - this makes me happy :-) very happy :-).

So my inspiration and my motivation, Yes of course I am doing this for myself, to make myself feel better, healthier etc but what sparked it? Aside from the shocking number on the scales!

A very old (old as in I know her a long time ;-) ) friend posted something on Facebook about operation transformation and I commented on it and we started a little conversation about weight loss and the ups and downs of it.  She decided to set up a group for those of us in that conversation and she called it the not fat anymore club :-)  In that group are 5 other ladies 4 of whom I have never met and I don't know at all, these ladies have become my inspiration and my motivation.

The terms of the group were that each week we would weigh ourselves and take a picture of the scales and post it to our group, at the beginning we also set challenges for ourselves drinking water, counting steps etc.  We did this every Monday morning because then we weren't so willing to fall off the wagon at the weekends.

Each day we have conversations, we post motivational pictures to keep us going, we share low fat recipes and enjoy our fat loss banter. 

These ladies were the very first people I shared my actual weight with, up until that point I hadn't even shared it with my husband, and if I am being completely honest I hadn't weighed myself in some time what’s that old saying? "What the eye can't see the heart can't feel" unfortunately the heart does feel it in this case!   

Out of the 6 of us I was the one with the most to lose, Some of the girls had maybe 7 or 8lbs to get to their target and others a little more - but that didn't matter - if we had 5lbs to lose or 5 stone it was all the same - we were all on the same journey, we wanted to be healthier, slimmer and feel better.

We are happy to share our failures and we support each other in them, we are delighted to share our success and we applaud each other for those.

Of course other people in my life have motivated me but these girls were the ones who sparked the fuse for my light bulb moment!

Our group has been renamed, Now we are the Skinny Minnie’s Club - some of us have gotten there sooner than others but we are all there for the journey.

Those ladies are my inspiration and my motivation - Thank you girls xx

Here's to us totally losing it!

05.03.2015

To Carb or Not to Carb

Hey folks,

So my first post was a couple of weeks ago now and I was in week 5 of my plan...Since then my weight loss has kind of slowed down aka stood still ;-)  I did hit my stone loss but went back up the following week so as it stands now I am currently weighing in at 17 stone 4 & 1/2 pounds.

I am not disheartened tho, Just because the scales hasn't moved doesn't mean I am not feeling the benefits... I have exercised more so I feel myself toning up, I have lost 1.5 inches from my waist since I started so it’s all good.

Recently I won a 6 week programme with a gym in my area, it was going to be all about losing weight whilst doing regular exercise, I was over the moon and couldn't wait to get stuck in.

On Sunday we had our first session - I am still feeling the pains from the exercise we did and whilst it is pain it’s a good pain, when I try to stand up I am getting up from the chair like an ole woman of 80!

So the diet part of the plan is a NO CARB - yep NO CARB diet...

This I will admit I am struggling with for a number of reasons:

1)  I shop for a family of 4 and to add additional items to suit my no carb plan would increase my costs

2)  My Hubby does the cooking during the week in our house and when I get home I just want to eat my dinner and not have to think about no carbs!

3)  The sustainability of it - What happens when I go back on my carbs after week 6?
4)  99% of the time we sit down to eat dinner as a family, alot of the time its the only part of the day where we are all together for that period of time, I don't want to have to be cooking my "other" dinner when they are having theirs
5) I have 2 kids, both thankfully relatively healthy with no major Food issues or hang ups (of course like all kids they don't like certain things) but I don't want to be showing them that I think its ok to not eat a balanced meal ie; no carbs!

Now don't get me wrong I am not saying it’s something you shouldn't do but I am just unsure if it the right thing for me to do.  I guess it’s a combination of all of the above and the fear of the unknown to a degree, I also worry that I will hate the fact I can't have carbs and I will just get sick of it all and throw in the towel on my whole plan! So for now Week 1 I am concentrating more on low carb than no carb let’s see how that goes!!

Until next time :-)

23.02.2015

The F Word!

So here we go, my first ever blog!! WOW

Let me introduce myself, I'ma 38 year old Mammy of two, wife to one.  I work full time doing a job I love and overall I am a fairly content person! (obviously winning the lotto and being skinny would make me happier but hey one thing at a time)...

This blog will mostly be about my weight loss - the ups and the downs (because isn't that what weight loss is all about) how the downs create the ups and when you’re up your down!!  I am a qualified MUA also and love clothes (doesn't every girl) so once in a while to break away from all the FAT talk I might change it around, mix it up so to speak and post some non-fat facts :-)

What do I call it?  a journey / transformation / rollercoaster / challenge ?? I have settled on calling it my New Year New Me plan!!

I have always been "Big Boned" as my nana likes to say - over the years I remember hearing statements like "ah tis puppy fat" or "that’s just puberty" always followed with twill fall off ya or one of my favourites "you will need every bit of it if you were to get sick in the morning".  Then came the "baby weight" well my baby weight came with my first child who is now 16 years old and well it became quite happy where it was and decided to stay! I have used all the excuses...I have tried all the diets. Weightwatchers (I used to ring my Chinese order in as I stepped off the scales) - Motivation (I held my nose drinking the shakes)...Well I even did the Total Food Replacement diet...I would lose a stone and think yeah I’ve done it! forget the other 7 stone I needed to add to it!! 

I like to dress well and make the best of what I have, but at the end of the day I have FAT and lots of it! 

So January 5th I decided this is it, its time to P*ss or get off the Pot!! I pulled my scales out took a deep breath and took that step!!  I have always heard people say that until you get your head around the fact that you need to lose weight all the diets in the world won't help, Well let me tell you the numbers I saw on my scales certainly set things moving in the motivation land of me!

I stepped back from those scales and I told myself - That is the last time you will ever see those numbers on a scales you step on! My light bulb was well and truly switched on!  I took a picture of that weight and honestly it was all the inspiration I needed to get started!

I am part of a weight loss group that my friend started on Facebook - a group of 6 determined ladies who are motivated to lose weight and each week we promised we would post our weight pictures on that group as a way of monitoring our weight loss! My picture that day was the first time a very long time that I publicly shared my weight. I was sick at the idea of posting it but those ladies were amazing with their encouragement that day was the beginning for me!

That morning January 5th 2015 my New Year New Me Plan kicked off and I had a starting weight of 18 stone 2 and a 1/2 pounds.

I am now 5 weeks in and it is all going well.  I will post my weekly losses and gains in my next post but for now I wanted to start with an introduction to me and where I am coming from and I hope you might enjoy my story and stay with me as I work to where I want to be!

10.02.2015