Not good but reassuring nonetheless.

After yesterday's post I heard from lots of people.  Some offering hugs, some sending their thoughts and prayers but the thing that struck me was how many people had contacted me because they were familiar with what we are going through.

I already knew of the struggles a couple of you have been through while several messages came from people who had written to me for the first time.  One email from a very old friend (old, as in "known a long time" and not aged, I hasten to add), in particular had no chance of stopping the sobs that were stuck in the back of my throat.  This friend, who first hand had seen me make a great deal of my own life's mistakes, and with whom I gradually lost touch with over the years, still has the great knack for knowing exactly the words to say to me.  Heck, she gets me every time!  Relaying her own challenges and experiences, I'm sure it was no accident that she came across my self pitying post yesterday after a long time away from the techie world.  God knew that I needed her, I'm sure of it.

All the stories and experiences from people, both strangers and friends, have given me reassurance.  Reassurance that it's not our fault, as we often question ourselves over and over with what we could have done differently or should have done differently so that the mess we're facing now wouldn't exist.  Reassurance from those that are also going through the same.  We are not alone, even though sometimes you can hear your own thoughts echoing, so lonely and isolated do you feel.  And, finally, reassurance that it ends.  The ones that have emailed or messaged me to say that they too went through it, in some cases over years, and that no matter how dark the journey was they made it through and they are out of the other side.  There is reassurance and hope and that is just what I needed to know yesterday.

So to everyone that took the time to email, message, send a hug or simply thought of us, I want to say a heartfelt thank you to you all.

Thank you.


And let us all be safe in the knowledge that one day most of these troublesome teens will have children of their own, and we can pray that their own little angels will become teenagers just like they were!

This is what a pound of fat looks like

In yesterday's post I wrote about how I was okay with the weigh-in results for the week.  I'd lost a pound and was fine with it.  Well, I was fine with it by the time I sat at the computer to blog.  When I first weighed myself and saw that it was a pound loss I was disappointed.  After all, I'd stuck to the ProPoints plan like superglue and  did an hour and a half of workouts a day for six days of the week.  Even though I knew it was TOTM and was expecting a slow down of weight loss I still dared to hope for at least two or three pounds to have magically disappeared.

Then I went to the fridge and took out a pound of butter.  Didn't seem like such a big deal.  Then I put them into a pyrex measuring jug and put them in the microwave.  A great deal of splattering later and the whole pint jug was full of a hot, yellow, buttery liquid.  Still not convinced, I put it in the fridge.

When it had solidified enough to turn out onto a plate I was finally convinced. It no longer looked like a beautiful, smooth block of butter that makes yummy cakes but resembled more something I could imagine stuck to my thighs making the crater sized dimples on my once fairly toned but now extremely wobbly skin.

Bigger and wider than an apple.  That's what my "just one pound" looks like.  Weighing almost four apples.  That's what I'm carrying less of this week.  The first couple of weeks of dieting normally shows a speedy loss.  That's mostly water.  It takes a couple of weeks before you get to the nitty gritty important stuff.

Shifting the fat.

So next time you get on the scales and your heart sinks because you've only lost one pound, come back and look at this picture, or just look at four apples and imagine them as oozing, greasy lumps of lard.  It's not only a pound.  It's much, much more.

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)

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