"Free Skinny Me!" - Week 5

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.largerfamilylife.com" title="Larger Family Life" target="_blank"><img src="http://i792.photobucket.com/albums/yy203/largerfamilylife/free_skinny_me3.jpg" alt="Larger Family Life" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

I have truly been wasting my money lately as I haven't been using Weight Watchers Online at all.  I haven't used it for tracking, for pointing nor for logging my weight for the last couple of weeks.

I haven't pointed any foods I have eaten.  I haven't kept an eye on what I have been eating.  It's all a waste of money, and I hate to do that.

I really think this is the wrong time of the year to be trying to lose weight.  All I do is think of the once a year treats I allow myself at Christmas time.  Things that wouldn't normally make it to the shopping basket every week because there is no room left in the budget.  I love evenings in late December, spreading brie and cranberry sauce on crackers.  Oh, and pate!  We can't forget the mince pies either!

I think I am slowly coming to the conclusion that Christmas time is not for dieting. So rather than backing myself into a corner, making myself feel bad for not sticking to the diet or not making as much of an effort as I should, I am going to give myself permission to relax for the next couple of weeks.

I am not going to point, or track.  I will weigh myself and I will keep myself aware of what I am eating.  I will try to stick to eating a little of what I fancy and not gorging for the sake of it and I will keep myself aware of the effects on the scales.  I will not deprive myself of having something as a once a year treat and I will not admonish myself if I gain weight, because let's face it, a way of eating "bad stuff" and not gaining weight hasn't been invented yet.

I can then get right back into it after the festive period is over.  By then I should be able to incorporate some exercise back in, hopefully having recovered enough after the caesarean.  I am still looking out for the best weight shifting exercise or dance games for the Wii.  Any recommendations?

Despite not tracking or pointing I have lost one and a half pounds this week which was a complete surprise.  A welcome surprise to have, I hasten to add.  This makes it a total of three pounds so far.

Here are my results:

Week 5's result: Lost 1½lb

Current weight: 12st 5lbs (173lbs)

Mini goal: To lose 19lbs by week 18

Starting weight: 12st 8lbs

Goal weight: 8st 11lbs (123lbs)

Total to lose: 50lbs

Total lost to date: 3lbs

Are any of you joining in?  How are you doing?

If you are trying to lose weight too why not join the quest to "Free Skinny Me!"? You don't need to be following Weight Watchers to do so and your weigh in day doesn't have to be a Monday. Just grab the button at the top of this post or in the right sidebar of this blog (the code to copy and paste on your blog is in the text box under the button) and put it on your blog, then come back each Monday to report each week's weigh in result. You can also write a post on your own blog and leave a link back to it in the comments below so we can visit and leave a message of encouragement or support. You can choose how much or little info to disclose.

You can follow my quest to "Free Skinny Me!" by subscribing to a full feed in your reader.  You can also chat with me throughout the week on Twitter  (click here or search for the handle "@largerfamily" and let me know if you are doing the quest so I can follow you back) and become a Facebook friend too.   Don't forget that we now have our very own Healthy Living board in our new LFL Family Forums.


 Tweet

Subscribe to Larger Family Life and get the latest news directly in your inbox or reader.  You can also join us on Facebook and Twitter too!

Larger Family Life is also available on Kindle!

"Free Skinny Me!" - Week 4

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.largerfamilylife.com" title="Larger Family Life" target="_blank"><img src="http://i792.photobucket.com/albums/yy203/largerfamilylife/free_skinny_me3.jpg" alt="Larger Family Life" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

I have had a real problem with motivating myself to since starting this challenge.  It's like my heart really isn't in it at the moment.

Whilst I do want to lose the weight I am finding it a bother to point and count and even to log on to Weight Watchers.  Yes, I downloaded the app too, but it's still too much hassle to remember to fill it in half the time, or, if last week is anything to go by, any of the time.

I'm tending to stick to a bowl of fruit (melon, mainly) in the mornings for breakfast with a mug or two of coffee .  Lunch, as a rule, is a salad or a sandwich if I'm out of the green stuff.  Dinner is whatever the rest of the family is having.  Sometimes it's a low pointer, sometimes it's not, but I figure if I'm more careful about what I'm sticking in my mouth the rest of the day it should be ok.

The theory this week has sucked because I have added half a pound.  I am getting fed up of this.  I'm a month into trying to "Free Skinny Me!" and I'm only a pound and a half down from where I began.

I need motivation.

Are you trying to lose weight too?  How are you doing and how do you keep yourself motivated?

Can anyone share any tips or encourage me here please?

Here are my results:

Week 4's result: Gained ½lb

Current weight: 12st 6½lbs (174½lbs)

Mini goal: To lose 19lbs by week 18

Starting weight: 12st 8lbs

Goal weight: 8st 11lbs (123lbs)

Total to lose: 51½lbs

Total lost to date: 1½lbs

Are any of you joining in?  How are you doing?

If you are trying to lose weight too why not join the quest to "Free Skinny Me!"? You don't need to be following Weight Watchers to do so and your weigh in day doesn't have to be a Monday. Just grab the button at the top of this post or in the right sidebar of this blog (the code to copy and paste on your blog is in the text box under the button) and put it on your blog, then come back each Monday to report each week's weigh in result. You can also write a post on your own blog and leave a link back to it in the comments below so we can visit and leave a message of encouragement or support. You can choose how much or little info to disclose.

You can follow my quest to "Free Skinny Me!" by subscribing to a full feed in your reader.  You can also chat with me throughout the week on Twitter  (click here or search for the handle "@largerfamily" and let me know if you are doing the quest so I can follow you back) and become a Facebook friend too.   Don't forget that we now have our very own Healthy Living board in our new LFL Family Forums.


 Tweet

Subscribe to Larger Family Life and get the latest news directly in your inbox or reader.  You can also join us on Facebook and Twitter too!

Larger Family Life is also available on Kindle!

"Free Skinny Me!" - Week 3

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.largerfamilylife.com" title="Larger Family Life" target="_blank"><img src="http://i792.photobucket.com/albums/yy203/largerfamilylife/free_skinny_me3.jpg" alt="Larger Family Life" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

After last week's terrible result I was left feeling a little disheartened.  I really do want to lose this weight yet to have hit such a stumbling block so early on in the quest has made me feel really pessimistic about continuing.

This didn't help when I ended up tracking barely anything at all last week.  I know that the problem there is that I don't track as I go, tending to go back in the evening or the next morning to update.  The issue is that the Weight Watchers tracker does not save the information if you go back and complete it the following day.  Is this just an issue with my computer or does this affect everybody?  I then get frustrated at having spent time adding a days worth of foods, the info for which cannot be saved to the system and so tracking doesn't work anyway.  This then leaves me feeling unhappy about paying out my money for something I am not using.

Rather than pointing everything and making different meals for myself to everyone else in the family, which isn't always cost effective to do given that we have a budget we need to try and stick to, I am sticking to having a bowl of fruit for breakfast and a huge salad for lunch. I will then eat anything the rest of the family are having for dinner without any guilt or worry, knowing that most of my points have remained intact.

Now the days are getting colder I am settling down with a mug of low calorie hot chocolate once the children have gone to bed.  I have even added some low fat squirty cream to the top as a treat.

Anyway, to summarise, I managed to lose the weight I gained last week plus an extra half a pound so I'm happier!  I have now lost a huge 2lbs from my original starting weight.  Ok, so not fantastic considering I am on week three now but I would rather be 2lbs under my starting weight than half a pound above it, so I'll take the successes where I can.

Here are my results:

Week 3's result: Lost 4½lbs

Current weight: 12st 6lbs (174lbs)

Mini goal: To lose 19lbs by week 18

Starting weight: 12st 8lbs

Goal weight: 8st 11lbs (123lbs)

Total to lose: 51lbs

Total lost to date: 2lbs

Are any of you joining in?  How are you doing?

If you are trying to lose weight too why not join the quest to "Free Skinny Me!"? You don't need to be following Weight Watchers to do so and your weigh in day doesn't have to be a Monday. Just grab the button at the top of this post or in the right sidebar of this blog (the code to copy and paste on your blog is in the text box under the button) and put it on your blog, then come back each Monday to report each week's weigh in result. You can also write a post on your own blog and leave a link back to it in the comments below so we can visit and leave a message of encouragement or support. You can choose how much or little info to disclose.

You can follow my quest to "Free Skinny Me!" by subscribing to a full feed in your reader.  You can also chat with me throughout the week on Twitter  (click here or search for the handle "@largerfamily" and let me know if you are doing the quest so I can follow you back) and become a Facebook friend too.   Don't forget that we now have our very own Healthy Living board in our new LFL Family Forums.


 Tweet

Subscribe to Larger Family Life and get the latest news directly in your inbox or reader.  You can also join us on Facebook and Twitter too!

Larger Family Life is also available on Kindle!

I'll rescue you yet, Skinny Me!

Anna and Libby - 18 days old

The twins are almost three weeks old already. Three weeks! Can you believe how quickly that has gone?  This means that it's time for me to be thinking seriously about getting back into trying to lose the couple of excess pounds I've gained.  Once I've lost the couple (can you believe I just typed "losed"?) of excess pounds, I'll then need to focus on losing their friends and family who have joined them in abundance on my hips, thighs, face.  In fact they are squatting on every part of my otherwise lithe and lean body.

First thing will be first.  Weighing myself.  Then I'll need to shop accordingly.  No more ice cream splurges for me.

Much.

Exercise is out of the question for a while longer, thanks to the surgery but there is no excuse that I can drag out any longer that is preventing me from getting back on the diet wagon.


Then I need to sign back up with Weight Watchers Online and re-familiarise myself with everything.

Finally, I need a catchy title for the weekly update posts.  The jury is out on that at the moment.  I'll need a brainstorming session.  Then I'll probably just settle for anything.


Right, I've just returned from weighing myself and the starting weight is...

12st 8lbs (that's 176lbs).

It's not actually that bad to be starting off with when I compare it to my starting weight last year after the birth of Joseph when I weighed in at 13st 1lb so I'm half a stone lighter already than I was then.  Not bad!

My goal once again is 8st 11lbs.


By week 17 and 18 of my last "Skinny Me" quest I had lost a total of 1st 5lbs (19lbs) and got down to 11st 10lbs (164lbs) although unbeknown to you at this point I was already pregnant again (and unbeknown to me, it was twins) which explained the weight increase of the couple of weeks previously.  I might use that as a benchmark for a mini goal.

So who is with me?  Anyone?  Anyone want to join me?  It'll be fun!  We can update here weekly, we can motivate each other, we can celebrate all the way to the Land of the Skinny People!  Have I convinced anybody yet?  Umm oka-ay... I'll just wait.... here.  Let me know when you're ready.

Here are my stats to kick things off:

Starting Weight:  12st 8lbs (176lbs)

Mini Goal:  To lose 19lbs by week 18

Goal weight:  8st 11lbs (123lbs)

Total to lose:  53lbs

Can I lose it?

Yes, I can!


 Tweet

Subscribe to Larger Family Life and get the latest news directly in your inbox or reader.  You can also join us on Facebook and Twitter too!

Larger Family Life is also available on Kindle!

Monday Weigh-In (Free Skinny Me): Week 15

Nothing new to report this week.  I'm still following Weight Watchers Online but confess that I haven't tracked as well as I should have for the last week.  I know that once that happens things tend to start slipping as I conveniently "forget" things that I've eaten and my brain thinks I've consumed far more than my hips are telling it I actually have.  I must get back into the habit of tracking everything especially since I seem to be going a little overboard with meringues lately.


I am also sticking to the exercise routines but I have to admit that I'm beginning to get a little bored of the step routine now.  I've been doing it five or six days for the last few weeks and it is starting to get a little repetative. I do wish Nintendo would bring out a workout which is exclusively made up of various step routines.  I enjoy the workout and I do work up a sweat but I'd like a little more variety.  So, Nintendo, if you have something like that in the pipeline you'd like me to review do let me know ;-).

Is anyone else reading this trying to lose weight?  How are you doing?  What are you doing?  Do you have any tips to share?  I'd love to know.

My report for this week is as follows:

Starting weight: 13st 1 (or 183lbs)

Week 15 results: Lost 2 lbs

Current weight: 11st 5½lbs (159.5lbs)

Total loss to date: 1st 9½lbs (or 23½lbs)

Amount to lose before freeing Skinny Me: 2st 8½lbs (or 36½lbs)

You can follow my progress each week by subscribing to the Larger Family Life blog feed.  It's a full feed so you don't even have to visit the blog but can keep up with the latest through your reader.

Monday Weigh-In (Free Skinny Me): Week 14

Since last week I've kept up with the workouts.  I managed six days out of the last seven and did between two and four different workouts on each day.  The two main workouts are still the 60 Day Challenge and half an hour of Step, both of which are on EA Sports Active: More Workouts on the Wii.  If you already have EA Sports Active: Personal Trainer you should already have the leg strap and the exercise band and the follow up Sports Active: More Workouts is such a fantastically reasonable price that it's well worth the minimal investment.  It's far, far cheaper than a gym membership plus you can do it in the comfort of your own home whenever you can best fit it in (preferably with the curtains shut so inquisitive passers by don't see you huffing and puffing your way to Skinnyville).

Quite honestly, I don't always feel motivated to exercise.  I've been so tempted on some days to think "Sod it!", and not to bother but then it would only be myself I'm letting down.  Nobody else really cares whether I do exercise or not, or whether I stuff my face silly with rubbish.  I think of the progress I've made so far and on the days I'm completely unmotivated, tell myself to just get through today's workout.  The funny thing is that other days I'm raring to go.

Weight Watchers wise, I kept within my ProPoints limits too last week.  This was no mean feat considering my friend Amanda and her son came over and I had made Choc'n'Baileys Brownies, Butterscotch Tart and a couple of Chocolate Pies in honour of their visit.  It really was in honour of their visit, despite the fact that I ate more than anyone else, glutton that I am.

Keeping this in mind, I decided to up the workouts for the rest of the week plus fit in an extra three on Saturday, whereas I normally take the weekends off.

All in all it has been another successful week with another one pound loss, taking me over the stone and a half mark.  This week's weigh-in was done at the usual time yesterday but I didn't get around to updating on the blog as we've been busy preparing for my father-in-law's funeral tomorrow, hence the delayed update today.

My report for this week is as follows:

Starting weight: 13st 1 (or 183lbs)

Week 14 results: Lost 1 lbs again

Current weight: 11st 7½lbs (161.5lbs)

Total loss to date: 1st 7½lbs (or 21½lbs)

Amount to lose before freeing Skinny Me: 2st 10½lbs (or 38½lbs)

You can follow my progress each week by subscribing to the Larger Family Life blog feed.  It's a full feed so you don't even have to visit the blog but can keep up with the latest through your reader.

Monday Weigh-In (Free Skinny Me): Week 13

I'm still managing to stick to Weight Watchers ok.  I haven't felt like I couldn't have anything or that I'm depriving myself.  I know I have the extra weekly points to use if I want to but I haven't felt the need to dip into them.  It's nice to know there's that cushion there if you are close to your daily points yet fancy a little treat.  I do find though, that I'm thinking about whether I truly want something or not before eating whereas before I'd just grab whatever I fancied and eat it.  That, my friends, is why I'm in the position I am in now!  Thinking about whether it is worth using up valuable points on the latest craving is certainly helping to keep me in check.  I hope I can keep this mindset up!

Exercise wise, yes I'm still at it.  I find it easier to work out during the week and take my rest days at the weekends.  I completed my Wii Active 30 Day Challenge on Friday and did feel like I'd achieved something.  I wasn't so worn out by the time I'd completed exercises that, when I first began the challenge, almost killed me.  That is not an exaggeration.

Today I began the Wii Active More 60 Day Challenge.  Day 1 and again it has become apparent that EA Sports want to end my life.  It's nice to switch to a new set of exercises though.  I wouldn't have been happy to re-start the 30 Day Challenge again as it is time for a change.  Some days I really have to push myself to do  the workouts, so I daren't let boredom set in as I'd then very likely start slipping.  You can also weight yourself using the balance board.  While I do so twice a week so it can register on my profile and because I like looking at the downward slope as I lose weight, I don't really take too much notice of what it says.  This morning, for example, it stated I had lost 2lbs more than my bathroom scales said just seconds later.  Now, even as a self confessed serial weigher I know not to take any notice of several times daily weigh-in results.  Weight fluctuates even within minutes.  You know the story, you weigh yourself once and take note of the result.  You have a cup of coffee and you weigh four pounds more than you did half an hour ago.  Really, it's no good.  Why put ourselves through the torture?  The best way to do it is to only weigh yourself once a week on the same day at the same time with the same scales.  If you're doing it right you'll find yourself losing regularly.

Oh and the other thing I hear a lot of is that muscle weighs more than fat.  You know when people say "I Put on two pounds this week but I worked out three times so I think I burned fat and put on muscle instead."  Umm, the thing is, a pound of fat weighs the same as a pound of muscle.  A pound of whatever is equal to a pound of whatever else.  A pound is a pound.  A pound of one thing cannot be equivalent to two pounds of another.  Fat is f-a-t-t-e-r and wobblier.  Muscle is leaner and more toned.  So, if you haven't lost weight but you've eaten healthily and haven't overdone the sweet treats, and you've exercised regularly, make a habit of measuring yourself and even if the scales say you haven't lost you will likely find that you're losing inches instead.

I decided that I would take my measurements every four weeks.  I took the first lot when I started my 30  

Day Challenge and my second lot of measurements this morning - three days after completing the challenge.  The results will follow the weigh in results which are coming right up.

My report for this week is as follows:

Starting weight: 13st 1 (or 183lbs)

Week 13 results: Lost 1 lbs (that's okay.  Remember what one pound of fat looks like?)

Current weight: 11st 8½lbs (162.5lbs)

Total loss to date: 1st 6½lbs  (or 20½lbs)

Amount to lose before freeing Skinny Me: 2st 11½lbs (or 39½lbs)

And my four weekly measurement results are as follow:

Bust: Lost 1½ inches

Waist: Lost 3½ inches

Hips: Lost 1 inch

Thighs: Lost 2 inches from each

Upper Arms: Lost 1 inch from each

Calves: Lost ½ inch from each

Are you trying to lose weight too?  How are you getting on?

Monday Weigh-In (Free Skinny Me): Week 12

Despite a not-good-at-all-week that would normally have me reaching for the chocolates (then again, I don't need much of an excuse to reach for the chocolates), I've had yet another fairly good week.


I continued with the workouts every day, even though I wasn't in the mood to start them at all.  I didn't allow myself the break though, thinking that it would be harder to get my motivation back if I took a break than it would if I just continued.  As it stands I only have another four days of my Wii Active 30 Day Challenge left. Next week I'll be measuring myself as well as weighing. It will have been four weeks since I took my measurements and realised just how big I was.   


I can see a difference in myself now.  My lumps are becoming smaller and I do notice a little more definition in my thighs than there was a month ago.  Best of all were the words, "You are losing weight!  You can see you are!" from Mike.  That made me very happy :-)  Especially since they were unprompted by me and came completely out of the blue.  


My report for this week is as follows:

Starting weight: 13st 1 (or 183lbs)

Week 12 results: Lost 2½ lbs 

Current weight: 11st 9½lbs (163.5lbs)

Total loss to date: 1st 5½lbs  (or 19½lbs)

Amount to lose before freeing Skinny Me: 2st 12½lbs (or 40½lbs)


And so on to next week with the battle cry,  "Onwards and inwards!"

Monday Weigh-In (Free Skinny Me): Week 11

I have stuck to the plan well again this week.  I haven't found it difficult, especially after discovering an evening  treat saved for after all the kids are in bed, of a couple of meringue nests topped with a spoonful of 0% fat greek yoghurt and a handful of grapes. Mmmm, now that is something to look forward to of a daytime!  And all for just 1 ProPoint each.

I've been continuing with the exercising too having worked out six of the last seven days.  I'm over halfway through the Wii Active 30 day challenge now, and also do a fast, high intensity step workout for 30 minutes a day too.  I've now introduced a 3 times a week abdominal workout and let me tell you, after three caesareans, it's not easy trying to find those abs again.  I remember the days they were strong and firm.  Long, long ago...

Despite my efforts I was expecting little difference this week, if any at all, thanks to the dreaded TOTM.  I have noticed that weight loss slows down considerably, often staying the same or even showing a gain during this blessed time.  Water retention has a lot to answer for.  The good news, and something I do try to remember, is that it is only temporary, and as long as I continue positively following the ProPoints plan and stubbornly endure the exercises each day, I am pretty certain that next week will make up for the slowness of this week. 

My final results this week then showed a 1lb loss.  At first it doesn't seem like much of a difference but come back here tomorrow for something that may surprise you.  Once you see it, you'll think differently about "only" losing a pound at a time.  Now I need to lose another 1½ lbs to have lost 10% of my starting weight.  Hopefully next week I'll hit it, or even better, surpass it.

My report for this week is as follows:

Starting weight: 13st 1 (or 183lbs)

Week 11 results: Lost 1 lbs 

Current weight: 11st 12lbs (166lbs)

Total loss to date: 1st 3lbs  (or 17lbs)

Amount to lose before freeing Skinny Me: 3st 1lbs (or 43lbs)

Remember, you can join in or just follow my efforts each week.  Sign up to the full feed here so you can catch up with my efforts through your reader each week.

Monday Weigh-In (Free Skinny Me): Week 10

I've managed to keep my resolve for a second week and I'm pleased to say that making a firm decision to concentrate solely on ProPoints and to forget how the old plan worked was the right one to make.  Reading through the Weight Watchers message boards it is evident that I'm not the only person who has stumbled with the change.  My advice for anyone in the same boat who is struggling making the change from the original Weight Watchers plan to the ProPoints is simply to forget everything you've been told so far.  Start ProPoints as if you are totally new to Weight Watchers at all.  Forget you ever had a relationship and don't compare the two but remember that WW are a big brand and aren't about to risk their reputation for something that hasn't been tried, tested and doesn't work.  It has to work.

This week I ate most of my points most days.  A couple of days I dipped into my weeklies but only half a dozen or so.  I just didn't need them this week.  I also earned twenty-something activity points, thanks to daily exercise on the Wii.

Fitting in the exercise is proving a bit of a challenge.  Early mornings are taken up with getting as many chores done as possible and getting the children breakfasted and ready for the day.  The rest of the mornings are spent on lessons while rotating laundry, fitting in other bits and pieces that can be done while lessons are being done and simultaneously bouncing a baby on my lap or carrying him around on my hip.  Then comes lunch time and then the afternoons are there for non workbook activities for the children and is also meant to be the time I ought to be doing the bulk of my chores that I can fit in while baby sleeps before beginning preparing and cooking the evening meal between 3.30-4pm in time for Mike to return home at 4.45pm.  This means that I have between about 1 and 3.30pm to fit everything in that I need to fit in, but this doesn't always work out and lately I'm getting frustrated that the jobs I need to get done aren't getting done.

Anyway, I was talking about fitting in exercise.  I find that if I finish sitting with Eddie and his lessons early enough, I can squeeze in a workout while the baby is still awake and the toddler is napping.  It does mean though, that I still have to be available if Cait and Harry need me as they'll still be working so often workouts can be interrupted to sign something off, to discuss something or simply to tell them to stop talking and get on with their work.  Another thing I've tried is to get up at 4am, rather than my usual 5am.  However, it's not something I think I can make a habit of doing!

Regardless, it's definitely something I want to keep at as I am enjoying it and do like seeing results.  I'm just going to have to find a way of better using my time during the day for the "need to do" things as well as the "want to do" things.

The night before weigh-ins is always stressful I find, because I'm wondering if I lost or not.  If I didn't after all the hard work I did putting in the exercise and sticking to the plan religiously, I would be extremely disheartened. My friend came up with the idea that WW should invent a set of scales that plug into your computer and if you haven't lost weight they'd blow the thing up.  She reckons everyone would make sure they lost weight.  Somehow I don't think WW would be asking her for the patent to that idea anytime soon.

If this were the case then my computer would be breathing a sigh of relief this week as the scales showed up a 3lb loss, giving me a total loss of 8lbs on my first two weeks on the ProPoints plan.  Not only that but my total loss so far since going back onto WW (original and ProPoints) over the last ten weeks is 1st 2lbs!  My next mini-goal is to lose a further 2½lbs, whereby I'll have lost 10% of my starting weight.  It would be so wonderful to hit that target next week.

My report for this week is as follows:

Starting weight: 13st 1 (or 183lbs)

Week 10 results: Lost 3 lbs

Current weight: 11st 13lbs (167lbs)

Total loss to date: 1st 2lbs  (or 16lbs)

Amount to lose before freeing Skinny Me: 3st 2lbs (or 44lbs)

Looking forward to lunch

It's a pretty poor photo taken with my phone and doesn't do the meal any justice at all but this is what I had for lunch yesterday.  It's what I'll be having today too.  Not only is it tasty and incredibly filling but best of all it is only 4 Weight Watchers ProPoints! 

I put 2 large flat mushrooms on a baking tray with a couple of chopped shallots.  I cut 50g of Apetina Light 10% feta cheese into slices (2 ProPoints) and placed them on top of the mushrooms, then put them in the oven until the cheese had melted (around 15-20 minutes).  In the meantime, I soaked 20g of bulgar wheat (2 ProPoints), then placed the lot on a lovely, fresh green salad.

It's eating stuff like this that makes me think, perhaps I can stick to it after all!

Monday Weigh-In (Free Skinny Me!) - Week 6

Remember how last week I was waiting for Weight Watchers to get back to me regarding a problem with their online planner saving my info?  Or rather, not saving my info.   And you remember how I was hoping that I would make it down below the 12 stone mark?

Well, how can I put this? 

I'm still waiting. 

For both.

Weight Watchers did finally get in touch with me with a bog standard response about clearing my cookies.  They obviously hadn't read my email properly.  I hate it when places do that.  So I still have the problem with their online planner not saving my info.  It's usually ok if I'm saving for the day of the week I'm on but if, for example, I go to add something I ate last night the little "Save" button flashes and flashes and flashes and flashes... (you get the idea) and doesn't actually save anything.  I end up leaving it for ages going through the motions as if it's trying really hard to save the extra information I've given it but nothing actually comes of it and I end up losing every change I've made.  I'm getting fed up with it.  More so when I think that it's costing me £10 a month for something that doesn't work properly.

Despite not being able to go back and add the previous night's pack of Snack a Jacks or whatever, I'm pretty sure that I stayed within my ProPoints allowances during the week.  Even when you account for the packet of fig rolls on Saturday night and the dumplings in my vegetable casserole yesterday.  I got excited during the week when my serial weighing showed me drop another pound.  The joy was short lived when I got on the scales this morning and was faced with the reality.

I stayed the same.

No progress at all. 

I'd have been happy with even a half a pound loss.  Actually, knowing me, I probably wouldn't have been.  I really wanted to get down to a round 12 stone number, or preferably 11 stone 13 ½ would have been nicer. 
I'm hoping now that I don't take this very minor setback to heart and think "Oh, what the..." and eat a tub of ice-cream in one sitting.  (Although, as the weather is chillier, I'm less inclined to feast on the cold stuff).  I'm trying to keep my focus and am trying to convince myself that next week I'll have a super big loss to make up for this week.

Focus.

My report for this week is as follows:

Starting weight: 13st 1 (or 183lbs)

Week 6 results: Lost 0 lbs

Current weight: 12st 2½lbs (170½lbs)

Total loss to date: 12½lbs

Amount to lose before freeing Skinny Me: 47½lbs (still).

Monday Weigh-In (Free Skinny Me!) - Week 4

This week went well until yesterday when I had a blow-out on mince pies.  Having said that, I had been everso good the rest of the week and didn't use up my entire points allowance on any day, so I'm hoping I had enough carried over to allocate to the mince pies (which were delicious).

I use the word "hoping" because I've been terrible at logging everything I've eaten this week.  Or, to use the correct Weight Watchers term, I've been terrible at "tracking".  Call it what you will, I haven't done much of it. 

My excuse is that having followed Weight Watchers not long ago, and having got to memorise the points for the foods I eat or recipes I make, I can pretty much keep track of the points in my head.  I must get back into the habit of recording everything though, because I forsee that this will be where I stumble in the future. 

I suppose that now it's neither here nor there as Weight Watchers have today launced a new program.  They've bid farewell the the points system they've had since, well I'm not sure since when but you understand me when I say "since forever" and have replaced it with the new ProPoints plan.

To explain it in a nutshell, the folk at WW have taken the developing scientific research into how our bodies process the food we eat.  Foods are given points according to how full they keep you.   To better explain this I'm going to use this example from the Weight Watchers website.  One croissant with 2 teaspoons of butter comes to 300 calories but would be 8 ProPoints.  However, 2 eggs and 3 slices of lean bacon, although coming in at 300 calories also, only have 6 ProPoints.  This is because you're likely to be fuller for longer on the latter than you would on a medium croissant. 

As before you have a certain number of ProPoints allowance per day (it's different to the old points system, so the allowance will differ to that you'd have had under the old system).  Unlike the old system, you can't carry points over to the next day.  If you don't use them up each day you lose them. 

However, you do have an extra 49 points per week for extras, be they toward a daily treat such as a glass of wine or, in my case, ice cream, or a weekly blow out if you just can't go without a takeaway or you know you have a party to attend.

It seems pretty straightforward, and at least it'll make me track my eating again as I don't have a clue any more about what my foods are worth under the new points system.  I had a bit of a shock as my muesli which was previously 3 points under the old system is now calculated at 8 points! That didn't seem too good even though I keep telling myself that I should really forget about comparing and just get on with following the new system.

No matter, all I hope is that it works!

My report for this week is as follows:


Starting weight: 13st 1 (or 183lbs)

Week 4 results: Lost 4½ lbs (*cheer!*)

Current weight: 12st 5lbs (173lbs)

Total loss to date: 10lbs

Amount to lose before freeing Skinny Me: 50lbs