My week...

So this week has been a week of celebration for us. 

On the 22nd we celebrated our anniversary a day early, 23rd was our actual anniversary and the 26th was my 25th Birthday!

I have been perfect all week apart from the 22nd and the 26th where I didn't point or track anything apart from the activity points I clowns up on my pedometer.

To be honest, this is my first gain since Christmas. It hasn't upset me as I knew it was going to happen. 

I can get it off and hopefully more next week. 1.5lbs is my goal that I am working for, for next weeks weigh in.

3 days ago I started the Zumba sculpt and tone... I am in day 3 and I am not sure I am seeing much results yet. I am enjoying it though and working up such a messy sweat so something must be happening.

In other news... I must be getting wiser as my wisdom teeth are trying break through so I am in a lot of discomfort and taking painkillers every four hours. 

So, the scales this week showed a teenie tiny 1lb gain. 

Onwards and upwards and moving forwards!! :)

Zumba!

For my birthday on Sunday my hubby got me the 'Zumba Fitness' set, it comes with 4 work out DVD, two toning sticks and a total body transformation guide.

In the guide it has a couple of workout options:- let's get started, 10 days accelerated fat loss programme and tighten and tone program.

I decided to start with the 10 day tighten and tone programme! Yesterday was day one and oh my gosh! It was so fun! I worked up such a sweat and earned my self 10 activity points for just 45 minutes exercise. 

Day two consists of a 20 minute express session followed by 20 minutes of the flat abs dvd. 

I can't wait to do this once the girls are on bed tonight! 

Crazy, Busy week! (mini recap!)

So, as you've probably noticed I have been super quiet since Wednesday! I do have a good reason... Life has just flown by and I have not had chance to sit down and type at the computer.
So, Wednesday was weigh day... I had worked really hard this week so expected a very good loss. I banked a lot of activity points, ate all my dailies and only 4 of my weeklies Got on the scales and saw I had lost 2lbs! I was a bit disappointed but by the end of my meeting I was not disappointed anymore 2lbs is still a great amount to loose in one week!
I am edging closer to some current goals:- I am 0.5lb away from being in my next stone bracket, I am 4lb away from loosing 70lbs and 9lbs away from getting my 75lb loss certificate!  I want to have everyone of them ticked off before we go on Holiday (I have 6 weigh ins left to do it so can't loose focus right now!)

As for keeping me busy, It was our 4th Wedding Anniversary on Thursday so me and Hubby decided to celebrate on Wednesday. We went walking around a shopping centre, then to Ikea and finally we went out for a meal. Its safe to say I for sure blew all my weeklies in one day. Whoops.
Thursday, our actual anniversary we had to do boring, grown up things. We left our house at 10am and did not get back in the house till nearly half past five!

Friday I got caught up with the housework that had been semi-neglected over the past couple of days when I was have been out. I did make an amazing fish dish for tea too...

I found the recipe here at:-  www.weightwatchers.co.uk 

I also made butternut squash chips for my lunch and I have planned to write a blog post with a step by step guide on how I make them so keep an eye out :)

A year.

A year to some people is not very long, to others it seems like a lifetime, A year is three hundred and sixty five days. 52 weeks!

To me, This past year has brought a lot of changes all of them for the better.

My husband got a new job that required us to pick up and move 50 miles from our friends and family, In this past year I had also decided I had, had enough of being the 'fat one' and I needed to take control of my diet once and for all. I didn't like how I looked, I wasn't happy and it needed to change.

The first photo was taken May 2012 when we was on holiday in Cornwall. This photo was 3 months postpartum, I hated how I looked, I got tired easy and I just was not happy with how I looked in clothes. Shopping for clothes always filled me with dread.

It was still another 3 months before I knuckled down and got serious however I did try to loose weight on my own but with not very much avail. I joined weight watchers September the 5th. I know this date as Mia started full time school the day before.

While cleaning out my clothes the other day I found the dress I wore on holiday. I had only worn it once, That night on holiday. I felt so self conscious, My arms looked massive, my legs looked like they belonged hung up in a takeaway shop and my stomach...I could feel it wobble with every step I took. When we got back the dress got stuffed to the back of my wardrobe, packed in a case when we moved only to be shoved back into the bottom of my wardrobe with thoughts of I will never feel or look good enough to wear it0

.  

I figured at, at least 64lbs down from when I was last in it I would look a bit better, I'd try it on and snap a comparison picture.I stopped and looked in the mirror and I felt like a different person in this dress. I actually look like I have a figure! and my legs, my legs look like legs and not kebab spits!! 

I like how it looks that much I am thinking about wearing it when me and hubby go out to celebrate our anniversary on Wednesday.

This folks, This is what is attainable in just 365 short days. Never say never.  

Chicken goujons

These are a firm favorite in our house. They are one meal I know everyone will eat without a grumble. Mine work out to 5pp per serving (3 goujons) but I would for more accuracy weigh and track your own ingredients!

What you need...

• 350g of raw chicken breasts
• 3 slices of brown bread (mine worked out 117g)
• 3 eggs 
• 75g plain flour
• garlic powder (1 tbs)
• Mixed herbs (1 tbs)
• drizzle of olive oil (I used two pumps of my WW oil sprayer)
• 7oz of milk (I used Molly's baby milk as she is on a dairy and free diet)
• 3 bowls for battering your chicken strips.
• Salt and pepper to taste

How do make them...

1. Pre-heat your oven to 200, and cover a baking tray in foil and give it one spray of olive oil. to make my bread crumbs, I used my food processor for super quickness, I also added in my garlic powder and mixed herbs to mix them up a bit too.
2. Break your eggs into one of the bowls and mix, Once the eggs are mixed together at the 7oz of milk and mix again till both the egg and milk are combined.
3. into the second bowl weigh out your flour and season to taste.
4. Into your third bowl put your bread crumbs and lay out the bowls flour, egg/milk and then bread crumbs
5. Cut your chicken into strips (I managed to get 18 strips out of my chicken breasts)
6. Dip your chicken strip into the flour to coat, then the egg and then the breadcrumbs. Once coated with the bread crumbs place onto your baking tray, Repeat till all your chicken strips are covered.
7. Once all your chicken is coated and placed onto your baking tray put in the oven for 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked fully.

 I found making the goujons was a great opportunity to get the eldest to help! She loved getting her hands dirty and helping make tea! 

Even the youngest wanted to have a look at what was going on! (Don't worry, I took her down once I snapped the photo!!)

 The goujons before going in the oven. They looked and smelt SO good before cooking too!

20 minutes later and the goujons are perfect and golden!

My full plate: Chicken goujons (5pp), Oven chips (5pp), 75g baked beans (1pp), Garlic sauce (1pp), Salad (0pp).

Mmm steak!

I honestly don't think you can beat a good piece of steak that is seasoned and cooked to perfection!

Tonight's tea if you didn't guess was Steak (7pp) dry fried egg (2pp) baked potato (6pp) 15g of lightest Philly (0pp) half a packet of Schwartz creamy pepper sauce (1pp) tomatoes, cucumber and lettuce (0pp)

I even washed it down with 62mls of weight watchers fruity wine mixed to the top with diet lemonade (1pp)

A perfect end to a really good day! 

My Week - Review.

Can we believe its been just over a week since I started this blog?! Its gone so fast. I also can't believe in that short space of time we've had almost 200 views!! I  really appreciate all the support you have all given me. I never thought anyone would read this at all, let alone 200 of you guys so thank you :) Main Meals this week... Chicken Kebab and 2 slices of Garlic Pizza. Fish Finger sandwich Beans on toast with Cheesy bean bites Cheesy bean bites, Oven chips, baked beans and salad Chicken Kebab Pasta Bologna bake Smothered Chicken, Chips, Salad and Coleslaw. How Have I felt? I've had a really good week, The only day I felt like I had a bit of a wobble was Saturday. We went to a family party and they had a buffet and  BBQ  there was also a small table of finger foods. I had a few little treats but pointed them all the best I could. I think I handled the situation as best as I could with what I had on hand. So, Most Importantly... How Have I done this week?! I worked really hard so I definitely earned this week's loss... 2lb!!! I am so pleased!! This takes me to 64lb total. I got my 9th silver seven. Only 6lb to go to my next one ;o)

Just another manic Monday...

Whew!
Today has been very hectic! We decided to completely gut our upstairs. I had my pedometer on so every bit of house work translated into activity points... 8 activity points to be precise!

As my lovely husband let me sleep in till 8am I had half an hour to get up, ready and out the door to take my eldest to school, We wasn't coming straight back as we needed to go pick up my new glasses so I didn't have time for a  'proper' breakfast this morning. I luckily had some of the Weight Watchers Double Chocolate Cereal bars in so I had one of them. (These are a in meeting product and my go-to when I dont have time for breakfast in the morning as it means I am still having something) When we got back I treated my self to a small gingerbread latte (3pp) too.

For lunch I had 2 slices of Kingsmill brown bread with the crusts cut off (2pp), Wafer thin ham (1pp), 15g of lightest Philly (0pp), Red Onion (0pp), Cucumber (0pp), Pickled Beetroot (0pp), Pickled Gherkins (0pp), a packet of walkers Hoops and Crosses (2pp).

For dinner I made Spaghetti Bologna, This serves 3 and is 7pp per serving (I made this recipe up on the weight watchers recipe builder so for me, its more accurate for my family). 350g of Mince beef, 60g of mushrooms, 2 cans of chopped tomatoes, 2 medium onions, 3 tablespoons of tomato puree, 1 clove of garlic.  I also have 200g of pasta (7pp) and 10g of Parmesan cheese (1pp)

I still have 7 daily points left so I will most likely treat my self to a hot chocolate later made with 11g of Weight Watchers mint hot chocolate and 180mls of semi skimmed milk (2pp) and a dark chocolate mint biscuit bar (2pp)

The magical devil, called the weekend.

For the most part we have had a quiet weekend. With my husband working the late shift Thur, Fri, Sat we havent done much so I haven't been tempted to fall off the proverbial wagon.

Today we went to a family party - The party was at a house that's in the sticks so I had no signal on my phone to check and point the propoints of foods on my weight watchers app like I normally would.

Instead I had to add food and the app would store it offline and it wouldn't take it from my daily allowance right away like it normally would, so I had to keep a firm grasp on what I ate. (I suppose that worked out for the best in the end!)

For the majority of the time I kept to munching carrot and cucumber sticks, I did however succumbed to a few of the tasty treats on offer at the buffet but that's what weight watchers is about, showing how you can still have what you want in moderation and today moderation and bating temptation away with a stick was for me, definitely key to keeping in control.

I had....

• The already mentioned carrot and cucumber sticks (0pp)
• 1 1/8th of a cheese and tomato pizza (4pp)
• 2 cheese and onion rolls (3pp)
• I had a couple of crisps but as I couldn't safely say how many I counted it as one pack as I know it wasnt THAT many (4pp)
• 1 bread bun (4pp)
• Wafer thin ham (1pp)
• Butter (1pp)
• 1 very small fruity chicken wing (1pp)
• A small cupcake (I hunted the smallest one I could find!!) with frosting (5pp)

Then as we came home very late we decided to have a takeaway. I had a chicken kebab witch from our kebab place is a grilled chicken breast, salad, a large pitta and garlic sauce. I have always from the very start counted it as 12pps.

From my calculations I have used 37 points today so I have used 5 of my weeklies. I do not plan on using any more as I would really like I good loss again this week.

As far as activity points go, It is on the high side (well for me) for a weekend. I was up from 5.45am with the youngest today so I took advantage and did a lot of moving around the house before we went out. As I type this now at half nine at night, I have 4ap's racked up on my pedometer and I doubt I will be doing another 900 steps before I hit the hay.

So, as far as the weekends go, It was not THAT bad, I had a great time with family and kept a hold of the wagon. Now its back to the working week and onto the straight and narrow without the temptation of other people.

Poorly Children

If ever there was something that can throw you off course it is poorly children.

Everyone knows poorly children are pretty demanding and it's not always possible to stick to what you have planned.

As its my eldest who is the poorly patient my mile walk to and from school has gone down the pan for today taking a huge chunk out of my movement. I need to try and make up the lost activity points somewhere, so depending on how tired I feel (I've been awake since 4am!) when the children have gone to bed tonight I may bring out one of my workout games/DVDs and blast that for half an hour.

Food wise today there is nothing special planned. I had apple and pear chopped covered with yoghurt for breakfast (1pp)

I am going to have a quorn cottage pie for my lunch (5pp) as well as a 22g pack of space raiders (3pp), For tea were having 2 slices of brown bread with the crust cut off (2pp) 150g of baked beans, 15g of lightest Philly (0pp) mushrooms (0pp) 100g of asda cheesy bean bites (7pp)

That still leaves me with 11pp to play with so I can have a hot chocolate made with 11g of WW mint hot chocolate and 180mls of warm steamed milk (3pp) and a WW in meeting mint and dark chocolate bar (2pp) for supper again or I can have a small snack between lunch and tea.

Main Meal... 09/05/2013

Easy and quick tea tonight as Hubby is working lates! So for me it has to be something simple that I can do while keeping my eyes on both girls.

I like doing things that are pretty simple or sometimes (like tonight) i'll use something from the freezer section.

Tonight we had Fish Finger Sandwiches with Oven Chips and side salad.

 2 slices of bread with crusts cut off lightly toasted (2pp) with 10g of WW dairy spread (0pp), 100g of cod fish fingers (6pp), 94g of asda chosen by you oven cook fries (6pp), lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, pickled gherkins (0pp) 12mls lighter then light mayo 0pp and 12g of tomato ketchup (0pp)

'What is this I can feel?'

Last night I was in bed and I was snuggling with my husband (Don't worry, this isn't about to turn 50 shades of grey) As I moved and laid on my back (I promise this isnt going where you may think it is!!) he stopped in his tracks with a worried look on his face he says 'Em, whats this? I've never felt this before?' I got him to show me what he was feeling as the way he said it made me start to worry. Turns out we found my rib cage.

I say 'found' in a loose term as its always been there, I've always HAD a rib cage but its always been buried under mountains of fat that's made it squishy and less rib cage-y.

So, this is my NSV for this week!

My Week - In review.

As well as posting throughout the week, I also plan on recapping on a Wednesday after weigh in. I will also share how I have done at the scales.

My week in review...

Main meals this week have included...

• BBQ shredded chicken wraps with cauliflower rice.
• Lamb Moussaka weight watchers ready meal with couscous
• A Crown Carvery (I had turkey with veggies, yorkie pud)
• A grilled chicken breast, pitta bread and garlic sauce
• Steak with boiled new potatoes and salad.
• Pork and Tomato sausages with wholeweat pasta in a tomato sauce
• Chicken breast cooked in homemade tomato, onion and chorizo sauce served with new potatoes and side salad.

How have I felt?

For the most part, I have felt in control. I received a bit of bad news on Thursday and normally that would have sent me into a eating spiral. I even got as far as buying two iced buns but saw sense before I ate them both. I gave one to Mia and shared the second with Molly.

Knowing that a few months ago I would have just ate them both then started on the crisps really makes me appreciate how far I have come both psychically and mentally with my relationship to food. We went out for a family meal on Friday to a carvery and I kept my portions sensible and I was nice and full when I had finished. I even indulged in a ice cream for dessert.

On Saturday we took the girls swimming then went for a walk around a couple of markets. I had my pedometer on as I normally so enjoyed doing lesuirely things while racking up activity points!

So, Most importantly... How have I done this week?

I have done really well... I lost 2lbs! That brings my total upto 62lbs. I have 1lb to go till my next silver seven! I can't believe I have lost almost FOUR AND A HALF STONE!

Lets go back to the start.

Lets start with some basics before I get into my story.

• I am Emma.
• I am 24 (25 in 19 days!)
• I am married to Gary, we've been married almost 4yrs.
• We have two children, Mia (5 and a half) and Molly (15 months old)
• At my heaviest I weighed nearly 20st
• I love food, savories are my weakness.

Right, where do I start? I guess I will take you back to the beginning, Its kind of long so pull up a chair...

I have always been 'chubby' that is no secret. I never felt I could wear the nice clothes that all my friends did. I hid behind baggy clothes and outlandish makeup for a lot of my teenage years.

I first joined weight watchers when I was 16 years old. I came to my first meeting with my mum. I lost about half a stone, started college and quit as I couldnt manage college work, friends and loosing weight.

I joined for a second time in January 2008, 3 months after the birth of my eldest daughter, I lost around 2st and just lost my motivation and again stopped going to classes.

I got married May 2009 and we started trying for another baby. One thing led to another and I ended up being diagnosed with PolyCysticOvaries (PCOS) and to be given any help with getting pregnant I had to loose weight.

I left that meeting and the very next week (March 2010) I joined our local weight watchers group. I stepped on that scale at 19st11lbs. How did I let my self get to such a weight? Take away's and living off easy convenience foods was how it pilled on. I had a reason to loose weight this time, I either kept gaining weight or I could buckle down and help my self to get pregnant. I got to 16st8lbs and I fell pregnant with our youngest.

After our daughter was born in February 2012 I had all intentions of re-joining but I just didnt get around to it. I always found an excuse.

At the end of May my husband got a new job and it required us to move away. We moved at the end of July 2012.

By now it had been almost 9 years since I had walked into my very first meeting and I still hadn't had much success at loosing and keeping my weight off.

My eldest daughter was starting full time school in September 2012 and I was at all time low with my self confidence and image. I had always said by the time she started school I wouldn't be the 'fat' mum, but here we was and I still was. I looked and found my new weight watchers meeting more determined then ever before.

I started my new class the day after my eldest started full time school last year. On the 5th of September I weighed in at 19st10lbs. I had gained everything but 1lb back pre-youngest. Something just felt right and clicked in my head.

My first weigh in I had lost 6lbs. I was ecstatic and so pleased with my self, I knew I could do it and I was sure I was going to do it!

That was 8 months ago and I am now like a brand new person. I am 60lbs lighter and I have embraced weight watchers with both hands and it is a firm part of my life. I even convinced my husband to join!

I am now 15st6lbs. I am the smallest I have been since I was 16 years old. I weighed less now then I did when I walked into my very first weight watchers meeting 9 years ago. I am smaller now then I was on my wedding day.

I weigh less now then I did when I first met my husband almost 7 years ago.

I feel this is my time. I feel like this is the right time. I still have a long way to go and I will do it.

So this is my journey, this is my story and I hope you will laugh, cry and eat along this road with me.