5k fun run = no run!‏

Hey Guys,

I mentioned a few weeks back that I had signed myself up to do the Operation Transformation 5k Fun Run.

Unfortunately I never got to do it. For a few reasons really.

1.    I left it to 2 weeks before the event to start training. Having never attempted to run before this was highly ambitious of me! I thought that because I go to spinning classes twice a week and do fast walks a couple of times a week, that I would be able to learn how to run pretty quickly! I WAS SO WRONG! Even with the couch to 5k app, it take up to 8 weeks to learn how to run and to do it for longer than 20 seconds at a time! Oops

2.    During one of these training sessions, I felt my left ankle click under me while I was attempting a slow jog!  I was about ¾ of a mile up the route at this stage. I limbed to the mile mark and then shuffled/ dragged/ walked back to my car. Defeated!! I have a weak left ankle from a few Christmas’s ago! I slipped on the ice, sprained my ankle, went to the pub and danced on it. Never got it checked at the time and its never been the same since!!

It had been fine and pain free for months before this happened to me! So I’d forgotten that my ankle was weak and I hadn’t put a support bandage on. D’oh.

So I had to rest my ankle for the best part of a week and wear the support bandage.

That gave me  one week to learn how to run and to train to run 5k!! 3.1 miles!! Eeeek. This was never going to happen for me! I feel bad because when I saw it advertised on the television show, I was all geared up and feeling positive and I was definitely going to enter and run the race. Its always been on my to do list, to run at least one 5k run!

But alas, its not meant to be for me this time. And its my own fault! Had I started the training at the same time as the shows contestants, I would have had the 8 weeks training, possibly not the ankle injury and this would be a completely different blog post.

((I would have been all proud of myself and a little show offy that I had run 5k.. me, who’s never run the length of myself!! )) so be thankful for that at least.

I think running/ jogging will be something that I’ll have to work on over a prolonged period of time. I’m not a natural runner, nor am I light and graceful. I’m heavy and clumsy and I run like an elephant on roller skates! So its something that I will definitely have to work at! Plus being fit for an advanced spinning class is not the same as being fit to run the roads!!

I’m hoping that if I put little jog spurts into my walks and with practice and weight loss, that running will become a little more natural for me!

The Cork ladies mini marathon is held in September. I think that this is what I should set my sights on. A long term goal.

I hope to be at my goal weight for August. So running 5k when I’m 4 stone lighter should be achievable!

I hate coming on here and admitting to failing due to my own silliness and lack of planning. But I have to face up to this and admit that this is my own doing.

It was always overly ambitious of me.

But hats off to those who followed the plan and completed the run last Saturday. I will someday be in yer gang!

 

Week 7 Weigh-in 2013‏

Hey Guys,
I think you can tell form the above photo how my weigh in went on Saturday! I keep looking at the photo hoping that it will cheer me up. But unfortunately it isn’t today.

I was down 1 lb this week and its my own fault. I wouldn’t say I was super bad this week, but obviously I wasn’t as good as I normally am and it showed on the scales!

Shall we do a quick recap of my week? I think its necessary.

After my weigh in last week, I went on my Valentines night out with the boy. We went for pizza and to the cinema to see Die Hard 500! I had garlic bread, pizza, fizzy drink, ice cream and rolo’s in the cinema.
The badness should have stopped there but it didn’t!
On Sunday I had a Wispa Gold.
On Monday I had a penguin bar with my cuppa at 11am instead of my pear.
On Wednesday night another trip to the cinema (Zero Dark Thirty) I had a bag of Snack a Jacks.
On Friday I had a penguin bar cuz I HAD to have it!!

So that’s 5 days out of 7 where I didn’t stick to the food plan and it showed. The foods in themselves are small (except Saturday nights hound fest!) but they all added up over the week for me.

I just couldn’t get my act together during the week, yes it was colder and the cold makes me hungry and I was feeling sorry for myself (excuses, excuses, blah, blah, blah)

I was fooling myself into thinking that because I done 3 spinning classes and 2 walks during the week, that the exercise would cancel out my picking!! I did track all the bold foods and I hold my hands up and admit that I had a bad week!
I’m hoping that its behind me now! I think the fact that I wasn’t down more has made me want to try harder! I disappointed myself this week buy loosing “ONLY ONE POUND”
I’m not sure why I hit the scales expecting to be down at least 3lbs  when in my heart I knew that I’d had a poor week! But I’m a great girl for fooling myself!

So I spoke to my advisor and she’s decided that its time for me to shake up my food plan and see will that kick start me back into action.
She also thinks that the spinning classes could be too much on my body at the moment, but has agreed to let me continue with them for a few more weeks before I have to cut them out if necessary. I’m toning my wobbly bits, when I should be loosing the fat, not toning it!! She thinks that for the moment I should stick to a 30min walk everyday and leave the spinning to a later date.

I’m not ready to stop spinning completely. Its my hobby. I enjoy and look forward to getting out of the house, me time, a good work out and sleeping like a baby afterwards.

I’m hoping that the slight changes to my foods for this week will be enough to get the scales moving a little bit faster for me.

If you’d like to know what the changes to my daily eating I’m making, let me know and I will get clicking and do a photo post of my slightly different food plan

No one said this would be easy, but I know it’ll be worth it J

So raise your water bottle and lets have a toast… “Here’s to a good week with a great result at the end”  ****fingers and toes crossed***



9lbs  lost, 51lbs to go.... 

Leopard Print Mani

I wasn't going to post these photos of my first attempt at a leopard print mani, because my top coat dragged and kinda wrecked the whole lot  ***yip, i learn everything the hard way *** SOB***

BUT then I thought, I'll post them and the next time when I do leopard print, you'll see the improvement: :)

I'm a huge fan of leopard print... Even the wallpaper in my bedroom is pink leopard print.

I used Leighton Denny - Supermodel
Nail Art pens = gold & black = Penneys
Top Coat - ESSENCE

Week 6 Weigh-in 2013‏

Happy Monday Y'All,

I hope you had a good weekend, I'm happy to report that I hit the scales on Saturday morning and I was down 2lbs :)

And I even had 2 pancakes on Pancake Tuesday, so I’m happy with my result.

I must say that now that I’ve realised that losing the weight 2/3lbs per week is the way to go for me. Before if I was down 2lbs, I’d be wishing it was 4lbs! I never thought it was good enough, regardless of the loss, but the fog is starting to clear from my negative, foggy, silly head and the realisation is dawning that quicker isn’t better and in the long run, slow and steady weight loss means that it will stay off that way. And all the little numbers add up. Here I am in week 6 of this year and I’m down 8lbs.  woo hoo

I do hope to speed up the next 8lb loss  (it’s a personal goal/ mental block thing that I need to get over) BUT once the scales are moving down every week, I will be happy.

I promise not to be so hard on myself and to reward myself with treats that are not food! Easier said than done when I think and dream about food ALL the fecking time! But baby steps for me.

Every time I’ve ventured on a weight loss plan (there have been a lot of attempts) by 6 weeks in my interest would have waned, I’d be bored with the food, tired from the exercise, blame the weather for me being a lazyass, and be happy that my work pants is no longer leaving a red mark around my waist when I sit down and slowly the treats would slip back in and I’d “forget” to track the extra potatoes at dinner or the sneaky biscuit that I ate when no one was looking. Yes I know nobody cares what I eat or what I weigh but I do and I’ve only been letting myself down.

I was only saying at the weekend to a friend of mine of is also trying to loose a few pounds, that this time it feels different, this time it doesn’t seem so daunting to me that I’ve set a goal of 60lbs. This time I feel like I will keep going and I will achieve what I’ve always wanted. To be a healthy weight, to not be in the obese category, to give myself a chance to look in the mirror and be happy with what I see (sometimes.)

As you know I’ve tried so many different weigh loss methods and I’ve spent thousands of euro’s along the way! Thinking that if I threw money at it and got myself into crazy debt, that at least I’d be slim and broke rather than fat and miserable and broke! It doesn’t work, at least it didn’t work for me. I lost a few stone, but I was still miserable, so I ate and gained it all back and more, it’s a vicious circle.

People think that because I’m such a “big girl” that the weight should magically melt off me! Yes I guess it would if this was my first attempt ever at loosing weight, but because I’ve been on a “diet” most of my grown up life, my body doesn’t understand what’s going on. People’s unintentional cruel comments like this used to cut me. I’d take it personally and be hurt, but I realise now that its just their opinion and if nothing else its their lack of knowledge that leads them to spout rubbish like this.

But no more, I’m  on this journey for me, nobody else, let people make their comments and petty jibes. I will succeed, little by little, in the long term I know that losing this weight slowly will mean that I can enjoy my life and continue to loose weight also, I don’t have to feel deprived or compromise. Before I would lock myself in and tell myself that I wouldn’t go out until I’ve lost X amount of weight!

But now I see that if I keep busy and go out and enjoy myself and plan for my nights out and dinners out, that I can enjoy these evenings with my friends without feeling deprived.

I can make  meals that are I am allowed to eat and are tasty and lovely and that exercise is  my friend and my “me” time which I now look forward too rather than dreading.

Yes this time I’m ready to succeed at loosing weight.


8lbs  lost, 52lbs to go.... 

Valentines Day Nail Art #2 + 3

HALLMARK HEART DAY!!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

I'm not a big Vday fan I must admit, its a hallmark holiday, but I am a fan of cute red hearts and bows etc, plus any excuse to try and be a little bit creative, even tho I'm still learning.

So this post shows my next two attempts at hearts and kisses. I was mad to try out some of the flocking powder that arrived in the post last week for me :) and thought that this was my opportunity

RIGHT HAND

LEFT HAND

Unfortunately the flocking powder didn't stay put and I may have inhaled some whilst blowing my nose (not recommend, gag) also the powder transferred over to my other nails. BOO :(
In an attempt to keep the furry flocking in place I put top coat over it, but you can see from the above photos, this made it worse :(


So after maybe 12 hours, I decided that the 4 fingers with the bad looking flocking powder had to go!
I came home from work, stripped the 4 fingers and started fresh on these.

So here are the final results

LEFT HAND 

I like them, my hearts are definately improving and the lips are quite good for a first attempt

LEFT HAND

RIGHT HAND

RIGHT HAND

The Love heart weets were purely for photographic reasons only ;) cutte tho aren't they

WHAT I USED

What I used:

Essence Nail Art Peel Off Base Coat

Nails Inc St. James (red)

Avon Nailwear pro Mercury Metal (silver)

OPI mini Alpine White (white)

Essence Gel look Top Coat

Red Flocking Powder (eBay)

Dotting Tool & Tin Foil

Valentines Day Nail Art #1

I decided to have a little practice of doing love hearts on my already lovely plum Barry M nails.


These are very shakey I must admit, but it was a first attempt and hopefully I will improve as the week goes on..

LEFT HAND

I do like the pink on the purple I  must admit, I used all 3 pinks on all hands in the end because they weren't bright enough for my tacky tastes.

The silver pen was me just messgin around, but its not too bad is it?

RIGHT HAND 

These are messy compared to the other nail Arts I've seen during the week, but we all have to start somewhere and as I said above, with practise (and better light) I'll improve :)

WHAT I USED

Simple Pleasures - Pink
Catrice - R.E.S.P.I.N.K
Barry M Gelly Hi Shine Plum
Barry M Gelly Hi Shine -
Nail Art Pens from Penneys - Pink & Silver

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine PLUM

Hello hello my lil friends, 

I'm playing catch up with my posts, I've been painting and snapping my nails, but I haven't been posting.

I bought myself two of the new Barry M Gelly Hi Shine nail polish's as a treat. They cost me £4.00 each in Superdrug in Edinburgh. Today I'm here to show you the plum.

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine PLUM

These photos were taken after applying one coat of polish, I didn't think it needed a second coat, which is rare, the shine from it was nice. It applied nice and easy. No complaints so far.

NO TOP COAT

I found tho that after a day the shine faded and the tips were starting to wear and also indents from my clothes were taking shape in my nails. 

So I decided to top up my colour and to apply a top coat, I do like my nails to feel nice and shiney and to look glossy.

SECHE VITE APPLIED

 I like this colour I must say, I'm a fan of the dark Cadburys purple look, even tho its probably more suited to the Autumn season. This colour went on well and had a nice shine. I  can see it being my go to colour in the future.

Week 5 Weigh-in 2013‏

Hey Guys,

I was down I was down, I was down.. woo hoo.. Down 1 pound after 5 days away, followed by 3 good days a near poisoning and 2 spinning classes.

 

So as you all know at this stage I was away for my birthday in Edinburgh, it’s a lovely city to  visit, but pack your woollies and your walking shoes.

It was a very enjoyable break away, its just a shame we never got to go inside the castle as it was snowing/raining on the day we were meant to go!

The flight home was awful! There was a really bad snow shower, the take off was delayed while the wings were defrosted! So we left a snow storm and arrived into gale force winds and pissing rain in Ireland, to say the flight was bumpy was putting it mildly! And me not being a good traveller! I was not a happy camper! It was a loooong 50 minute flight for me!

BUT I’m happy to report that it was the only drama of my weekend, which for me is also a miracle! Although I did beep in security and got very thoroughly felt up. But I’m not counting that as been super bad, its pretty normal thing to happen to me!

So I was away from Friday lunch time and got home Tuesday evening. That’s a whole lot of eating our going on there I must admit. I did try to pick the healthy options for breakfast and lunch, and then I had whatever I fancied for my dinner AND I had dessert after my birthday dinner (chocolate Sundae = yummy)

Apologies - Didn't realise the flash wasn't on!

I was back to work on Wednesday and back to my routine. But I managed to try and poison myself that morning! I had the week previous left my cup to steep in bleach to vamoose the yukky black tea stains from the inside of my cup! I cleaned it afterwards and put it back in the press! I never re washed it on Weds morning and made my tea in it!! I thought it tasted funny at first but was thinking it was just me getting used to the taste of it!! I WAS WRONG!

After a quarter cup I felt awful! Stomach going like a washing machine, gagging sensation!! I dumped the drink and scrubbed and boiled my cup after that, but the damage had been done! 

I was so sick all day! Milk kind of helped and I managed to keep down 2 bits of soda bread for my breakfast! But I had to cancel my spinning class for that night!

I was half afraid to eat on Thursday, but by lunch time I was feeling much better! So I was back in action! I done a spinning class on Thursday and Friday evenings and I kept my food super simple, so that it would be gentle on me belly.

So when I hit the scales on Saturday morning , I was more than happy to be down 1lb. I had hoped to be the same after my break away and only 3 good days behind me.

But every good day counts and every meal does not have to be a bold one.

I’m learning slowly, every meal is a challenge, especially when your away, but I didn’t feel deprived when I choose the healthy option.

And I’m rather proud that I managed to loose anything after my holidays, but I’ve proved to myself and everyone else that it can be done.

A wise woman told me recently that all the 1s and 2s don’t be long adding up to stones

So now its back to the grindstone for me.

6lbs  lost, 54lbs to go.... 

Operation SkinnieMinnie Progress Report #2‏

Hey Guys,

Its February already, so here I am with my progress photos. Its been a month since I last took photos of me and my wobbly bits in Lycra and I know your dying to see some more, lol.

I’m not proud of these pics but as my mother says “photo’s don’t lie” and she’s right *sob sob*

I’m hoping that by showing these photos every month, they will spur me on and keep me on the right path… the road to a slimmer and trimmer me, rather than the road to cake and chocolate and an even bigger muffin top (mmmmmm muffins)

I am starting to feel better in myself, its been 4 weeks good eating and regular exercise and I’m feeling good, I had to bin my black work pants last week as it was hanging off me (result J) so even though the scales are moving slowly, its my clothes that I’m feeling the difference, not so much that I need to go buy a whole new wardrobe right now, but I’m finding that when I look in the mirror, my clothes are sitting a little better on me and that is a confidence boost for me.

It definitely the little things, the waist band of my clothes feeling a little bit looser, not panting like I've walked through the dessert for 5 days when I climb the 3 flights of stairs to get to work every morning, increasing the distance I go on my spinning bike (this went from 13km to 16.8km last week) Saying no when offered food that doesn't fit in with my plan or is offered after 7pm and feeling proud of myself (yes this does get easier) Going for a quick walk when all I really want is to sit and watch Home & Away.

You get the idea, all these little things are adding up to the bigger picture and will stand to me in the coming months as I continue on my journey to loose 60lbs (before September)

Yes I’ve decided that by setting myself an end date, I’ll be more focused for now. This date may change, but I’m hoping it won’t, its 7 months away and I've 4 stone to loose, that definitely not setting my goals too high. Well I don’t think it is anyways.

So my goal for February is to complete the Operation Transformation 5k Fun Run in Cork on 23^rd February. I’m not a runner, but I’d like to be and I think that training for this event will be tough on my body, but good for my mind and it’s achievable. I haven’t attempted a run yet, but that will change in the coming weeks. My fast power walks will become slow jogs and I’ll build it up from there, eeeeek. I CAN DO THIS!!

Have you set yourself some goal for this month to keep you on the good path rather than the road to cake? I’d love to hear what they are. What’s keeping your motivated?

Week 4 Weigh-in 2013‏

Hey Guys,
I'm reporting back early this week because I was weighed on Thursday rather than Saturday, as I’m away for 5 days, as of this afternoon. Wooooo Hooooo

So I hit the scales yesterday lunch time, and I was up 1lb on the scales, and also up 2lbs in muscle.

So its not a bad result.

However I’m taking the following into consideration

·         I was weighed 2 days earlier than usual

·         3 hours later than I’d normally weigh in

·         And on a different scales

I know these sound like excuses, but I’m finding that routine is a must when it comes to the scales, you need to weigh in on the same day, as close to the same time and preferably on the same scales every week to have an accurate reading.

Also what didn’t go in my favour is that I’ had been to spinning classes (tough they were too) Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Now I don’t know about you, but I find that my body need a day or two to recover after such intense work outs!

I said this to my adviser and he said that it could be a factor. I’m pretty sure that had I waited to be weighed this Saturday, I would have been down at least 2lbs!

But unfortunately C’est la Viv

I know in my own head and heart that I had a great week with food and exercise, I’ve been working extra hard because I’m away for the next 5 days for my birthday weekend. kinda takes the sting outta turning 29!! eeek

So I’m not beating myself up about the scales. I don’t feel like I’m up, I feel great. I’m kind of treating it as a false reading!! Being up in muscle is great tho :) it means that the exercise is paying off. Hopefully we’ll see my muffin top disappearing forever in the coming weeks J

I will have progress photos to put up next week for you I promise

I hope yer having a good week, and good luck to the #ThinThursday girls as they hit the scales

5lbs  lost, 55lbs to go....