Stressful week at work = chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate!

Lets just say I am glad it is the weekend.  When I checked my Euro Millions ticket this morning I was thinking about how great it would be not to have to work again!  But alas I did not win (and by the looks of it nobody did) so I shall be heading back to the office on Monday morning.  To be honest I'm not too sure why it was stressful this week, I think it could just be a mixture of headstrong people running the company, not having a plan and each with their own ideas along with the expectation that the staff should know what is required of them without being told directly (I think next year one of my targets should be to learn the art of mind reading!).

Well whatever the reason for the stress, it has lead to me indulging in chocolate (all tracked and within my points) - Thursday and Friday menus looked like this:

Thursday:

Breakfast:

• 40g muesli - 4pp
• 1/4 pint ss milk - 2pp

Lunch:

• 1/2 packet couscous - 5pp
• 15g sultanas - 1pp
• Fruit salad (homemade consisting of strawberries, grapes and blueberries) - 0pp

Dinner:

• Oven cooked chicken breast - 4pp
• 80g (dried weight) pasta - 8pp
• 1/6 jar red pesto - 3pp

Snacks:

• 1 apple - 0pp
• Malteaser bunny - 4pp
• Packet of Snack a Jack Crunchy Curls - 2pp
• 1 sunrice crunchy square - 2pp
• 35g white chocolate buttons - 5pp
• 2 chocolate and hazelnut wafers - 5pp

TOTAL - 45pp out of 29pp - 16 weekly points used

Friday:

Breakfast:

• 40g muesli - 4pp
• 1/4 pint ss milk - 2pp

Lunch:

• Jacket potato with tuna & sweetcorn - 14pp

Dinner:

• Sweet & sour king prawns with noodles - 14pp

Snacks:

• Strawberries - 0pp
• Packet of Velvet Crunch - 2pp
• 46g bar of Galaxy - 7pp
• 2 sunrice crunchy square - 5pp
• 2 chocolate and hazelnut wafers - 5pp

TOTAL - 53pp out of 29pp - 24 weekly points used

This leaves me with 9 weekly points for the rest of the week, which isn't too bad as I'm still trying to use my weeklies by the end of the weekend so I have Monday and Tuesday just on my 29pp per day.  

Off to Zumba this morning and as long as its not raining tomorrow morning I shall be back on track with my C25K (up to session W2D2, missed last weeks as I was very VERY achy from moving furniture around all day on the Friday).  

Oh and not sure if you guys have seen these but I found them in Superdrug this week:

Only 2pp per pack and very tasty (I prefer them to the usual Snack a Jacks to be honest, loads more flavour).  Enjoy :o)

Week so far...

... has been a mixed bag I guess.  Had a major sweet tooth on Thursday so ended up using 16 of my weekly points!  I'm putting it down to TOTM and it seems to be under control now (although I could happily munch my way through a huge bar of milky bar right now!).  Menu's for last couple of days have been:

Thursday:

Breakfast:

• 40g Swiss style muesli - 4pp
• 1/4 pint ss milk - 2pp

Lunch:

• Jacket potato with tuna, sweetcorn and red onion - 14pp

Dinner:

• Fish pie (Aldi) - 9pp
• Veg - 0pp

Snacks:

• Mullerlight - vanilla with chocolate sprinkles - 2pp
• 2 curly wurlys - 6pp
• 1 apple - 0pp
• 1 sunrice crunchy square - 2pp

TOTAL - 45pp out of 29pp - 16 weekly points used

Friday:

Breakfast:

• 40g Swiss style muesli - 4pp
• 1/4 pint ss milk - 2pp

Lunch:

• 1/2 packet couscous - 5pp
• 15g sultanas - 1pp

Dinner: 

• 2 sausages - 7pp
• Swede mash - 0pp
• Veg - 0pp
• Gravy - 1pp

Snacks:

• 2 apples - 0pp
• 1 M&S banana & honey cake - 3pp
• Strawberries and raspberries - 0pp
• Mullerlight - vanilla & chocolate sprinkles - 2pp
• 1 curly wurly - 3pp
• Options hot chocolate - 1pp

TOTAL - 29pp out of 29pp

Saturday:

Breakfast:

• 3 crumpets - 6pp
• 10g chocolate spread - 2pp

Lunch:

• 2 slices of toast and marmalade - 7pp
• 100g fat free Greek yogurt - 1pp
• 20g Swiss style muesli - 2pp
• Strawberries and raspberries - 0pp

Dinner:

• Homemade beef & veg stew - 5pp
• 1 bread roll - 4pp

Snacks:

• 1 square of M&S banana and honey cake - 3pp

TOTAL - 30pp out of 29pp - 1 weekly point used

So not too bad really, have 32 of my weekly points left which is great as heading to Pizza Express tomorrow with Stew for an early valentines dinner - already decided to have my favourites, bruschetta to start, Padana pizza for mains and cheesecake with ice cream for dessert - yummy!  These add up to 49 points which leaves me with 12 points for the rest of the day, totally doable :o)  

On the exercise front I did my zumba class this morning and plan on doing my W2D1 session of the C25K programme in the morning.  May also try and squeeze some boxing in on Monday night with Stew as last week this seemed to do me some good. 

Saturday is done and dusted

Really pushed myself at Zumba yesterday and this morning have woken up with a couple of aches, not that I'm complaining but I guess that means I did go 'the extra mile' so to speak :o)  Gonna head out soon and do my C25K W1D3 jog, still impressed that I'm carrying on with it (the old me - well last year me - would have given up on this by now!  Especially as its still a bit chili outside and I usually only head out in the cold with numerous layers of clothes, coats, scarfs and gloves!) 

Food for yesterday was as follows:

Breakfast:

• 3 crumpets - 6pp
• 10g chocolate spread - 2pp

Lunch:

• Mixed veg noodles - 6pp

Dinner:

• 2 haddock and broccoli fishbakes (Aldi) - 10pp
• 1/2 packet couscous - 5pp

Snacks:

• 1 apple - 0pp
• Packet ready salted crisps (Aldi multi-pack) - 3pp
• 2 chocolate and hazelnut wafers (Aldi) - 5pp

TOTAL - 37pp out of 29pp - 8 weekly points used

This leaves me with 8 weekly points left which I plan to eat today leaving me with the rest of the week on 29pp per day.  

I'm also planning to make some soup today - when my monthly pass turned up last week the recipe actually took my fancy - Butternut Squash, Red Pepper and Soft Cheese Soup - I'll post the recipe and my verdict later today :o) 

The weekend has landed

Think I have almost snapped out of my WW funk, yesterday I have an inner dialogue going for most of the day where I told myself I just need to stick to the plan, eat all of my points for the week and see what happens at WI on Wednesday - I have therefore planned to have all of my weekly points eaten by the end of Sunday so I have 2 days of 29 points on Monday and Tuesday to help settle everything down (and if it doesn't work at least I can't be told that I'm not eating enough!).  

Menu for Friday looked like this:

Breakfast:

• 2 slices of brown toast with jam - 7pp
• 1 apple - 0pp

Lunch:

• 1/3 of a large tub of reduced fat hummus (M&S) - 6pp
• 2 M&S pitta bread - 8pp

Dinner:

• Homemade chili - 7pp
• 70g (dried weight) rice - 7pp

Snacks:

• 3 clementines - 0pp
• 2 chocolate & hazelnut wafers (Aldi) - 5pp

TOTAL - 40pp out of 29pp - 11 weekly points used

This leaves me with 16 weekly points left for the weekend, more than enough :o)  

Off to Zumba soon, really looking forward to it, I have noticed that now I have more of an idea with the routines that I can put more effort in - last week my leg muscles did ache a bit on Sunday from the higher intensity!

Week so far...

... has gone well (I think!) - I'm still tracking everything that passes my lips and I went to my Zumba class this morning so earned 5 activity points.  Menus for Friday and today are as follows:

Friday:

Breakfast:

• 2 weetabix - 3pp
• 1/4 pint ss milk - 2pp

Lunch:

• Jacket potato with tuna, sweetcorn and mayo - 14pp

Dinner:

• Haddock fillet - 4pp
• 1/2 packet of couscous - 5pp
• Butternut squash - 0pp
• Broccoli - 0pp

Snacks:

• 2 bananas - 0pp
• 3 clementines - 0pp
• 1 digestive biscuit - 2pp
• 1 onion ring - 1pp
• Homemade chocolate and banana bread pudding - 5pp

TOTAL - 36pp out of 29pp -  7 weekly points used

Saturday:

Breakfast:

• 3 clementines - 0pp
• 2 toast and marmalade - 6pp

Lunch:

• Chicken shish - 10pp

Dinner:

• 225g chicken breast - 6pp
• Homemade sauce with onion, garlic, mushroom and 150mls reduced fat creme fraiche - 7pp
• 70g (dried weight) pasta - 7pp

TOTAL - 36pp out of 29pp -  5 activity points and 2 weekly points used

Planning to do W1D2 of the C25K programme tomorrow morning (as long as its not raining).  With 21 of my weekly points remaining I should stay on track until WI on Wednesday evening :o)

I did it!! W1D1 of C25K - Woop!

I actually did it! I managed W1D1 of the C25K programme! This is a big achievement for me for 2 reasons

1. I'm not a runner, never have been and always assumed I never would be; and
2. I didn't give up after my first attempt! I went back out there and pushed myself!

When I finished the last of the jogging segments I had the biggest smile on my face – anyone who saw me probably thought I was a bit crazy but I really don't care!

While I was walking home from the park this morning I was thinking about why I have started to push myself more – to be honest I'm really not too sure what it is. I think it could be a combination of the following things:

• Age – now I know I'm not old, 27 is a good age and I still feel like I did when I was 20. But a lot of people I know have been settling down and having kids and since my best friend had her little girl (18 months ago) I feel like I'm getting to that point where I would like to have kids soon. Due to this I guess I want to make sure my body is ready and it is widely known that if you are an overweight woman it can potentially cause issues if you become pregnant (I think at my current weight I would be ok but I wouldn't really want to wait and see – I should point out that I can be slightly neurotic and once an idea is in my head it is very difficult to shift it!)
  
  

• 

  L-R - Me, Kelly and Claire at Kelly's Wedding  (Nov. 2010)

  Image – this probably happens to most women but the image of myself I see in the mirror always seems different in photos. When I get ready for a night out I usually think I look good (unless I'm having a 'fat' day in which case it doesn't matter what I wear I just won't be happy with it!) - but once the evening is done and I'm home and look at photo's that have been taken (the joy of camera phones and facebook!) I always think 'oh my god, what the hell happened!'. The main issue is being the 'bigger' friend in the group which I go out with most often – I always seem to look huge in comparison, probably because they are both in the 9 stone bracket and I'm around the 12 stone mark. 
   
• Health and fitness – my fitness levels are not great, and this was proven to me towards the end of last year when the lift at work was broken for over a week, having to walk up to the 6^th floor really got my heart rate up and made me out of breath, not good at all! 
   
• Goal – over the years I have done numerous diets and eating plans but I have never gotten to a goal weight (for one reason or another I have abandoned which ever plan I have been on and never got back into it). This really bugs me and I want to prove to myself that I can actually get to within my healthy weight range and stay there.

There probably are other reasons which I didn't have chance to think about on the 10 minute walk home but these are the main ones for now. So I have decided this year I will get to goal and I will increase my fitness levels so I am at a reasonable level for my age.

I think I'm doing quite well so far for 2011 (I know we are not even at the end of January yet!) - in addition to my triumph this morning I also did my Zumba class yesterday morning. I currently have 18 of my weekly points left (Stew and I went to Wagamama's on Friday, chicken katsu curry and duck gyoza are my downfall! Plus the Mojito I had added 6 extra points to my meal – totally worth it) and I have planned most of this weeks dinners so I should only have my 29 daily points until weigh-in on Wednesday evening.

Hope you are all having a good week

Zumba, week 2!

Had my second Zumba class this morning and it was more intensive than last week!  I was drenched in sweat by the end and really felt the benefits of the cool down stretches after - thats got to be good right?!  Erned 5 activity points which should help counteract Thursday night, so its all good :o)

Still planning to start the first session of C25K tomorrow morning - Stew is being an angel and making me a podcast for it (the ones you can get for free online are good but my own playlist will deffo help).  I figure if I head out once I'm up and then have breakfast once I'm home I'll cope ok!

WI - Wednesday 12th January 2011

To be honest I wasn't expecting much from this WI as I didn't feel like I had lost anything but I must say I was very pleasantly surprised!  Got on the scales and my current weight came up as 12st 1.5lbs - a whopping 4.5lbs lost!!  Woop woop!!  

Me and my 'Girls' on our night out - I'm in the middle

So after a great week I had a night out with the girls last night - it was so good that all tracking went out of the window, loads of cocktails and a few shots combined with a platter of food.  On the plus side there was a fair amount of dancing so that's good from an exercise point of view!  I have decided that the best way to proceed is assume all of my weekly points have been used and just stick to my daily points for the rest of the week, hopefully that should counteract the damage caused!  At least it happened on the first day of my tracking week, much better than closer to WI :o)

Got my Zumba class tomorrow morning, really looking forward to it.  I have also been looking into other exercise plans and have come across the 'C25K' jogging plan - as anyone who knows me can confirm I'm not a runner and I don't seem to be built for running to be perfectly frank.  But this plan has peaked my interest and from reading about other people's success with it I feel I should be able to cope with it (although I'm not too sure about being able to do the 3 runs a week as its still really dark - so I may just start off with 1 or 2 a week until it gets lighter in the evenings).  I'm thinking of trying out the first session on Sunday morning, figure if I go out as soon as I'm up and about I should avoid too many people in the park. 

Zumba!

I attended my first Zumba class yesterday morning and must say I had so much fun I didn't even feel like I was working out!  It is going to take me a few weeks to get my coordination into gear with the steps (I'm the typical '2 left feet' type of person) but the instructor makes everyone feel at ease right at the beginning of the class by saying 'there is no right way or wrong way for your body to move, just have fun!'  And when I got home I worked out that I had gained 5 activity points for the hours class, bonus! 

Menu for yesterday was as follows:

Breakfast:

• 2 weetabix - 3pp
• 1/4 pint ss milk - 2pp
• 2 slices of toast with marmalade - 5pp (had after Zumba)

Lunch:

• KFC Chicken drumstick - 4pp
• medium fries - 7pp

Dinner:

• Homemade chilli - 6pp
• 80g (dried) rice - 8pp

Snacks:

• 1/2 chocolate tart (at Ikea) - 6pp
• 5 mini daim bars - 5pp (guessing 1pp each)

TOTAL - 46pp out of 29pp - I was 17 points over, using my 5 activity points means I used 12 of my weekly points today

After Zumba I had an impromptu trip to Ikea with Mum and Laura (my sister) hence the chocolate tart shared with Laura from the cafe when we had a drink break, it was unexpected and if I had gone to the counter I wouldn't have got it but it was very yummy :o)