Update Xmas 2012

Hi everyone

I'm so sorry I have been terrible with writing my blog recently - I give myself far too many things to do!

So where am I now?

Well I am 35 pounds lighter!!! I feel so much better and look so much better. One of my goal's was to be able to fit into a ballgown I had made in 2008 and guess what........I did it!. It was tight and I felt uncomfortable after eating my Christmas dinner but I am so pleased I got back into the dress!

I am still on the Cambridge Plan, although I have given myself some days off over Xmas, I put on 4 pounds but have lost a couple since but that's Xmas for you, I would say Xmas is the most difficult time of year to lose weight but I have managed to curb the cravings and reduce the food intake even though it has taken 3 days!

What's next for 2013?

Well I have a few targets set for 2013, I want to be able to wear a bikini again and I would like to get into a size 12 dress and I also really want to become a Cambridge Consultant and help others to lose weight.

In total I would love to lose another 3 stone (35 pounds). I plan to do this by continuing the Cambridge Plan plus continuing my CrossFit that I still love very much.

I'm excited to continue in 2013..............i'll be back!

Cambridge Weight Plan Days 15-21

Week 3 Days 15-21

Still following Stage 2 which is 810 calories daily, this week I had decided to return to exercise so on Day 18 I had my usual porridge in the morning, soup at lunch, shake at 3pm but then I had one of the Cambridge weight plan chocolate bars at 5pm ready for my exercise session at 18.30. My coach at CrossFit is great and scaled the routine down for me as 1000 calories for the day is not ideal to complete a CrossFit session but I am determined not to let my fitness decline as I have already had two weeks off. The session was great I had no dizzy spells and felt I had done just the right amount of exercise without going overboard. I did feel a little more peckish this week and I am putting that down to be due on my period so on two occasions during the week I added a boiled egg to lunch which took the edge of the hunger. The rest of the week remained the same and I enjoyed following some of the recipes from the Cambridge book (see pic of Chinese chicken noodle). I have weighed on my scales just for a sense check and have gone down a few pounds but my official weigh-in is on Tuesday 11^th Sept so I will let you all know how I get.

The toughest part of this week was defiantly taking my son to a birthday party and having to watch everyone eat jelly, ice-cream, cakes, crisps, sweets, sausage rolls and so on.  Joshua even got covered in cup cake which I had to touch but I resisted even licking my fingers! Tough but I managed to stay angelic! I am enjoying the fact my clothes are looser!

Roll on weigh in day!!

Cambridge Diet Plan - Week 2 days 7-14

Week 2 Days 7 – 14

Nothing has changed with my eating habits since the first week, I am still on stage 2 of the Cambridge plan which consists of 3 products (porridge/soup/shake) plus a main meal of an evening and an allowance of ¾ pint of skimmed milk. If I have felt hungry at any time I pre-prepared some celery and cucumber sticks which I munch on during the day.  I am still drinking 2 litres of water a day plus I have a few herbal teas and coffee so that is more water I am drinking. The only side effect I have experienced is constipation but then if not much is going in then I don't expect much to come out! I have Senkot at the ready.

Weigh-in 2 (Day 12)

The good news is that I weighed in again on day 12 which was a few days earlier but my consultant Val is on holiday this week. So after a further 5 days I had a weight loss of 4lbs. That is a total of 10lbs in 12 days, I am really pleased with this and starting to notice the difference in my clothes, others are also starting to notice.

The things you need to remember when doing this plan:

1.       There is NO point following this diet if you are NOT going to ease yourself back into healthy eating. Your calorie intake has to be increased slowly over a period of time. You will put the weight straight back on if you lose a stone or more and then immediately go back to your old ways of unhealthy eating.

2.       If you get really desperate to eat NEVER GIVE UP just have an extra porridge/shake/soup or some protein i.e. egg, chicken, soya to fill you up – stick to the plan as much as possible.

3.      Your appetite will decrease, I don’t find myself hungry at all at the moment.

4.  Be creative with the foods you can eat for your main meal - I will be uploading some recipes next week which I have made up. You are allowed herbs and spices so use them!!

My next weigh-in is now not for 10 days until my consultant returns so fingers crossed it is good news.

Cambridge Diet Plan - whats it all about?

Shakes, Porridge & Soups

Ok so I have been useless recently when it comes to writing my blog. I have not written anything since June and for that I feel terrible but I have been really busy.

Weight wise not much of a difference – you would think after 2 months I would have dropped a couple of stone but no not with my metabolism!  My fitness has got a LOT better though and I even run now, not very far but it’s still classed as running. Still loving going to CrossFit and will continue to do so.

Although I have always been against short term diets I have decided that I need a boost, I need to see some pounds coming off the scales as I feel my effort levels are high but the results are low (from a weight perspective) so I am going to try the Cambridge Diet Plan and I will be blogging about it as of today. This diet will be a part of my life for a while until I am ready to go back to eating Paleo/healthy to maintain my weight. For the next two weeks I will also be limiting my exercise due to limitation of calorie intake. Let’s see how I get on!

Day 1 -Monday

After an hour consultation yesterday with my Cambridge Consultant Val I leave her house feeling a little anxious but also exited and motivated to start this plan. I just need a boost in weight loss, I really have been trying so hard to lose the pounds. My body shape has defiantly changed over the last couple of months so that in itself is a great achievement (pics to come later). Val decides to start me on Stage 2 of the plan which is 3 Cambridge Weight plan sachets consisting of either porridge, milkshake or soup and then a small protein portion with vegetables for dinner. I decided to go for porridge for breakfast, soup for lunch, a milkshake about 15.30 and dinner about 18.30. It’s funny how your mind tricks you into thinking you are hungry the second it knows you are reducing your food! I woke up hungry even though I was not!

I went for the Maple & Pecan porridge this morning which I found a little too sweet tasting but the consistency was good and I felt like I had eaten. Chicken & Mushroom soup for lunch which tasted like cup a soup – TO DO I definitely need one of the hand held whisk’s as I had to break down the lumps of powder. Hungary by 13.30 and looking forward to 3.30pm shake! The 3.30pm shake could have not come any quicker as I really struggled in the afternoon and by the time I got home I literally went straight to the fridge to start the “small” evening meal, I cooked 245g chicken with no skin and 80g of spinach together and mixed in some cayenne pepper and a tiny bit of spray lite. That feeling of hunger disappeared and stayed away for the rest of the evening. When I did feel a little peckish I made a herbal rooibos tea with some of my skimmed milk allowance. I drank 2.5 litres of water throughout the day and evening but I must say I could not wait to get into bed so I could stop thinking about poxy food! They say the first three days are the worst let’s hope that is true!  Hunger level out of 10 is 10!!

Day 2 - Tuesday

I expected to wake up hungry but I was surprised I did not. Breakfast was the original porridge, which was nice. I decided due to struggling so much in the afternoon yesterday that I would try having my main meal at lunchtime rather than the evening, for lunch I had two large boiler eggs and a salad made up of lettuce, cucumber and a couple of olives which I thought were ok but are not on the allowed list (oops). I waited till 4pm for my shake – chocolate & mint and then I had Oriental Chilli soup for dinner which was really tasty. In between I drank 2 litres of water but have 3 rooibos tea’s with my skimmed milk allowance. The feeling of hunger has subsided slightly and I do feel less puffy but I have stayed away from the scales as I would rather have a nice surprise on my weigh in next week. I did feel tired last night but that could also be down to the fact our son woke us up a few times during the night. Roll on day 3. Hunger level is 8

Day 3 - Wednesday

Woke up feeling slimmer but then who would not if you are only eating 810 calories a day. Put my black work trousers on and did they defiantly felt slightly looser. The first week of weight loss is going to be a lot of water so I am under no illusion its fat going just yet! Had Apple & Cinnamon porridge for breakfast (best one of the three porridge choices), then 1 egg, 150g of chicken and salad for lunch, Coconut shake about 4pm and then Oriental Chilli soup for dinner. Drank 2 litres of water plus a few herbal teas with my skimmed milk. Felt fine today although I can feel an underlying tiredness and I did go to bed at 9.45pm! Also asked if I was ok as I was super quiet at work, felt fine but it shows how food affects your energy levels dramatically! Hunger level is 7.

Day 4 - Thursday

Had to get up extra early today (06.30am) so did not get to eat breakfast till 9.30am and I could actually hear my belly rumbling. Breakfast was original porridge which I find quite thick so I add water after the microwave to make it more palatable. I had Leek and potato soup for lunch which I had to spend a little time on adjusting the thickness but it tasted ok. Butterscotch shake at 3pm which was ok but I prefer Strawberry. For dinner I followed one of the recipes in the stage 2 section of the Cambridge book which was Chinese style prawns, I substituted the prawns with chicken, this recipe allows you to have 30g of rice noodles in your portion – woo hoo something different! It tasted amazing and took about 1 minute to eat as the portion size was just enough to keep hunger at bay. About 8pm I felt hungry again so I boiled up my skimmed milk allowance and sprinkled some cinnamon and vanilla into it to make it taste a little sweeter.

Day 5 – Friday

I actually woke up today feeling a little bloated today (must have been the noodles), my partner Matt talked me into going on the scales just for a sanity check and I had gone down 5lbs! But I am not getting excited yet as the Val’s scales were a difference of 7lbs to mine! I just need to keep focused as you find your mind can wonder, I don’t think about giving in to a particular food I just think about how long I can keep this up as I would be looking to be on the plan for at least 6 weeks plus.

Day 6-7 Saturday & Sunday

These days I found the hardest as I was not keeping busy at work to keep my mind off food, I felt light headed if I got up suddenly but that did pass by Sunday. If I did get hungry I nibbled on some celery as suggested by my Cambridge Advisor Val.

Weigh-in day

I had to wait until Tuesday to weigh-in as it was a bank holiday Monday but to my delight I lost 6 pounds in my first week! This is good but I know any new plan you embark on always has a great first week weight loss. I am interested in the long term weight loss and maintenance, but at least it shows I am following it correctly. My biggest pleasure was actually putting on my navy work trousers and they are actually pretty loose! That is a combination of exercise leading up to this plan and this week’s weight loss.

From now on I am going to do a weekly update of following the plan as the days don’t seem to change much. I do feel much more alert now and I can feel my energy coming back so all good at the moment!!

Glitch in the Matrix

Dealing with Occasions

Oh dear....what can I say apart from I have lost my way a little. I have still been going to CrossFit but my diet/eating clean plan needs to go through the dishwasher!

It was all going so well until my birthday 1st June, Matt took me to this wonderful quirky hotel and restaurant called The Crazy Bear in Beaconsfield (I totally recommend it) the meal started with whitebait in breadcrumbs followed by a huge burger and chips (poshly done) and to finish a creamy rice pudding with strawberry compote oh and don't forget the strawberry champagne cocktail on the side. All the food there is organic and a lot of the ingredients are home grown at their farm in Oxford so although an indulgent treat at least I knew the ingredients were not processed. For me it was the alcohol that started the slip into past habits, later that evening we had a Chinese meal at my aunts which I tried to be good by having egg fu yung which is basically an omelet and then a little rice on the side. She then surprised me with a Thornton's fudge cake - I know this is going to sound cliche but how can you say no when someone has gone to the effort for you? I had a very small slice. The next day I woke up with a very upset stomach, I am convinced the re-introduction of the sugar and wheat was to blame. For the next day or so after that I stayed away from the "baddies".

The downhill slope started again when I decided it would be a good idea to make cupcakes for the first time for the Queens Diamond Jubilee celebrations (see pic to the left), I organised a street party and because we were not flush with cash I wanted to make an effort with the ingredients I did have already in the cupboard, can I just say that I could NEVER be a baker.....OMG I must have licked the bowl and my fingers about 9000 times! I really did try hard at first not to, I even chewed gum so I would not like the mixed flavour but nothing worked. Needless to say I don't think I can ever make them again as I cannot control myself at all. The smell they send around the house when baking is too much for me so note to self "no baking cakes". So after consuming 5 cupcakes (over a two day period) and half a tonne of icing I also consumed 2 bottles of rose wine during the street festivities and loads of meats from the BBQ's. Again I woke with an upset stomach but this time also a hangover. I don't do hangovers very well although I come from a long line of drink lovers I really suffer the next day and of course the only thing that ever helps a hangover are processed carbs and greasy food so I reached for the toast and jam - not good.

After a few not so bad days in between we then made our way down to the south coast of England with my family for a long weekend of fun and frolics in the sun, except there was no sun the whole weekend it just rained and when it rains I feel depressed and want to eat! Also anyone who knows my family know that our favourite past time is eating, our days are scheduled around eating. We had fish and chips Friday night, BBQ Saturday night plus between Matt and I we drunk a bottle of Vodka over the weekend, Sunday night was jacket potatoes and fillings plus half a large bag of thick cut cheddar cheese crisps. My trainers and I did make an appearance though for a 2.2 mile run (I only ran half though and power walked the rest) plus a swim with Josh.

If I ask myself how I truly feel after eating bad over the last week or so I would say "disgusting" although I still made healthier choices than I would normally (for example I said NO to yum yums, tortilla chips and dips, extra chips, side portion of rice etc) have on holiday I still gave in and indulged too much for someone who needs to lose 4 stone! I feel quite down today about myself and keep wondering if I will ever get to my goal. As I am typing I am trying to find that trigger again inside that will motivate me to start fresh again tomorrow.

Starting again

I have faced this feeling so many times now, I am sure like me we all have to deal with occasions such as holidays, birthdays and family gatherings and sometimes they all come at once but I am thinking that it is always better to start again than to give up right? If you are good for 300 days of a year but 65 were not so good is that not better than 365 days of eating poorly? I have to deal with these fresh starts quite regularly but I am not giving up, I try to departmentalise the last week of eating poorly and shut the door on it, there is no point sitting moping about it I just have to start again in the morning and put the past behind me. 

The luxury of tomorrow is that I can learn from this experience, I feel that I need to also up my exercise as before I was doing two crossfit sessions a week plus swimming some lunchtimes at work, however due to my cancellation of the gym I have been relying on CrossFit and I just don't think it is enough! I need to do more!

NEVER GIVE UP, TOMORROW ALWAYS FORGIVES YESTERDAY!

Right lets tackle this thing called FOOD

Last two weeks!

I was excited all week to attend the Barefoot Coconut workshop on Saturday 19th May as I really wanted to start concentrating on my eating habits. As I have said before I am just doing one thing at a time so I can eliminate the overwhelming feeling you get when start a new diet and exercise plan.

If you would like more details on Barefoot Coconut please check out Rebecca's website: http://www.barefootcoconut.co.uk/

Firstly the word “diet” is not a very positive word to use as it immediately makes me feel under pressure and cries out “lack of food” so I am changing my mind set and following in the footsteps of others by saying I am “Eating Clean” that sounds much better and very healthy!

What is “Eating Clean”?

Eating clean basically is eating foods that nature intended us to eat back in Caveman days, no processed foods, just simple natural ingredients.  Some people call it “Paleo eating”.

When you start any eating plan from scratch it is very easy to feel overwhelmed, you are trying to absorb all the information about foods to eat and avoid but also what nutrients or supplements to make sure you are getting enough of. For me knowing the science behind food is a must, I do have a methodical mind which needs lots of information hence I often ask stupid questions for example, what are Legumes? Rebecca from Barefoot Coconut kept mentioning Legumes and I sat there thinking what the hell are they? Have I missed out on something great to eat? Legumes are also known as pulses – kidney beans, baked beans, chick-peas, soy beans etc doh!

If I can understand how the body digest foods it gives me a greater appreciation of how bad processed foods are for us. To me it is as simple as – the more toxins you plough into your body, the harder the body has to work on fighting them rather than efficiently looking after the rest of it! I see eating processed foods rather like having a petrol car and putting diesel in it. I am totally guilty of eating processed foods such as microwave meals and McDonald's so I knew I was in for a shock when I started to withdraw them.

Baby Steps & Bananas

Rather than do everything that I had learnt at once I decided to break it down into "Baby Steps".

My first change was to eliminate wheat and sugar from my eating regime.

This is much harder than it sounds as when you start to read food labels you realise how these ingredients are in nearly EVERYTHING! The main thing I struggle with are ideas of what to eat for breakfast which are wheat and sugar free as I usually have cereal, toast or a cereal bar. Now when I say no sugar I mean no added sugar as I am still eating fruit but not in huge quantities. In the Barefoot Coconut recipe book I found a recipe for banana pancakes which is basically 3 eggs mixed with a banana and cinnamon to taste, fry it in a little coconut oil and there you have it something chunky to eat in the morning which not only tastes nice but is really filling. You may have to practice as I burnt my first two pancakes I ever made but now I have mastered them!

At lunchtimes I am eating salads with meat, fish or eggs and then I add seeds, nuts (especially pine nuts - love them) and pickles to give the dish variety. I am very lucky at work as we have a subsidised restaurant so we have a lot of choice. If I have a cooked lunch it will be chicken with loads of vegetables. Potatoes are not off the menu but I just don't have as many as I used to but if I want one or two I will have them. Afternoon snacks are nuts, carrots, celery or some Greek yogurt with a bit of fruit like blueberries or raspberries and then a little sprinkle of cinnamon. That is a little secret weapon - CINNAMON or any other sweet spice that you like - it can turn a sour dish sweet without adding any sugar!

Dinner tends to be similar to lunch but I am eating a lot of fish at home. I cooked a nice dish the other night, I chopped up red onion, peppers and cherry tomatoes and pan fried them in a little oil, I added the mackerel chopped up and mixed together, the last thing I chucked in the pan was loads of spinach and some pine nuts - it was lovely.

The one thing I have noticed after 12 days of eating clean is that I feel like i have so much more energy and I defiantly do not feel in the slightest bit bloated. It was hard with the sugar withdrawal at first but after a few days it subsides, don't forget I still have fruit so that is the substitute.

The other change I added was to drink more water. WATER WATER WATER. The more you drink the more the body works efficiently, its like putting oil in a car! I go to bed with a pint of water and drink it all when once I have woken up and and are walking around getting dressed. This is great for hydrating the body and brain after hours of sleep.

So far that is all I have changed, I do have some other things planned but I am doing this slowly so that it becomes a permanent part of my life. When you have been on as many diets as I have you eventually come to the conclusion that it is only ever yourself you constantly disappoint and damage. If you are really serious about changing then you have to put the work in, but that work can be done slowly and in steps which are totally achievable.

I believe it is better to make small changes than none at all! Who said everything has to be done at once?

The G.B.U - CROSSFIT 9th, 10th & 12th May 2012 -

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

THE GOOD

I did 3 CrossFit classes last week and survived! Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. I had missed one from the week before so rather than miss out Andy kindly allowed me to catch up with an extra one. It hurt but it was worth it, the first time in ages I glammed up and went to a party Saturday night feeling good, things are beginning to tighten and my energy levels are still high.

Wednesday 9^th May

Out of all the workouts I have done this had to be the shortest of all. 5.58mins to be exact. Its hard to get your head around the fact I only did 6 mins of exercise but again it is so intense that its like doing 20 mins of exercise. Today was only two exercises but they had to be repeated in a sequence of 15-12-9, so we would do 15 deadlifts and 15 over the bar burpees, then 12 of each, then 9 of each so in total 36 deadlifts and 36 burpees. I was following the pace of the guy in front and when it got to my 9's I lost count and think I may have left some out - easy to do when you are knackered!

Thursday 10^th May

Aching from the day before especially my pecs and  triceps I turned up for more punishment (I love it really). This one I found tough although I really feel I am getting so much stronger on the rower which helps! I still have not jumped a box since a week ago but its something I still need to work on so again Andy scaled the box jumps for me to step ups. I am working on my flexibility in order to jump the box so watch this space. Today was 3 exercises but we had to do 5 rounds of them so in total I rowed 2000m 50 push press and 50 box jumps! I also had healthy competition today which made my butt move faster! Good job overall. All the above in 17m 55 seconds!

I love Saturdays at the box, everyone is fresh and in a good mood as its the start of the weekend, we also tend to do a team exercise as well which is an extra motivator. There were two events today, we were spilt into two teams of 4 and each team had to decide which of the 4 listed exercises we each were going to do, I opted for the row whilst the guys in my team mastered the rest. This meant once I had completed my rowing I had a chance to breathe.

Event 2 was not on the board at the time so I thought that was it (wishful thinking) and even joked to a newcomer that its not that bad! lol Event 2's exercises were spilt between us all but I am afraid to say I could not do the push press as the weight was too heavy for me, the guys gave me a helping hand but I opted saved my energy for my 200m run - does not sound much but when you have my boobs running is problem, my moto is slowly but surely! Only the team that came in first had to do the sled - which was not us! Another great session and set me up for the weekend!

THE BAD

My diet is “the bad” I just can’t quite get to grips with it, I am at 60% good, 10% fair and 30% bad. The good is always whilst at work as we have a restaurant with a healthy salad bar which makes it easy as we have choices. I found a great new treat rice cake (see pic below) they are only 57 calories a pop and really are nice but when you know they are low it’s easy to eat 4! Also our catering staff have been making these Granola Pots (see pic below) honey at the bottom and then a mix of low fat natural yogurt and Greek yogurt then granola on the top –apparently they are good for you they are so nice but its feels naughty eating them! I have one for breakfast about 3 times a week or sometimes in the afternoon. Carbs are still taking centre stage in my life, everything is still served with rice, pasta, bread or potatoes, don’t get me wrong I know we need carbs especially when working out but I know 100% I eat too many!

I drank enough Saturday night to fuel a jet, I have never been a glass a night/week drinker I make up for it when I do get the night off and go out, we attended a wonderful wedding reception at a venue where I missed brushing shoulders with Brad and Angelina, Russell Crowe and the Royal brothers – never mind its only 10 mins from my house so a lunch visit is in order!

The influence of alcohol always plays havoc with my willpower as the buffet table seemed to move towards me not the other way round, miniature fish & chips, miniature burgers they all looked so cute I had to eat them! So Sunday morning arrived with an over bloated stomach and a mouth as dry as Gandhi's flip flop, it took until 12pm to feel anything close to normal. One English breakfast, 2 hour snooze and chicken fajitas for dinner later and I am back to myself again but the intoxication of alcohol and processed carbs left their mark.

That’s the good thing about being realistic and human, we all have bad moments but it’s how we overcome them that counts. Monday is here and I am back on drinking 2 litres of water and a healthy lunch, the weekend’s over indulgences are behind me now! Forget them and move on!

Really can’t wait for the nutritional workshop Saturday 19^th May to refresh my knowledge and learn something new!

THE UGLY

Was me on Sunday morning. Simple.

THIS WEEK

This week I plan to drink lots of water, have lots of salads, attend 2 crossfit sessions and try and get some running in on my treadmill at home as my younger cousin wants to do a 5k charity run with me in June so I need to show her I still have it! Although I find running with big boobs is the equivalent of a man running with elephantitus in his groin area, everything seems to wobble these days even my love handles have their own pace!