What is Christmas to you?

I have been thinking long and hard about christmas since my last weigh in of the year on tuesday where I had a very lucky stay the same. I was very worried i would be up and the thought was making me have butterflies in my tummy. I did not want to face christmas on a gain.
After talking to a number of people about their own christmas plans, some wanting to sts and some wanting to loose over christmas I decided to make my own.
I decided to write down what christmas means to me in order of priority and that would help me decide on the weight watchers result I would be content with.

Christmas to me is first and foremost about family, its no easy task getting my family all together during the year but at christmas we all know we will be together. We all love christmas and my mam and dad work very hard to make it special for us. even though we are all adults now, we are all shipped off to bed at midnight so the presents can be ''delivered'' under the tree. We all must wake up together and nobody is allowed down the stairs until we are all going.

Secondly christmas is about presents, this mind sound shallow and materialistic to some, but for me its more about the tradition we have as a family. After descending the stairs together in giddy excitement we gather in the living room and sit under the tree. The funny thing is we are all still like little children. we each have our own space under the tree, the same every year. me on the right, my sister in the middle and my brother on the left (we will squeeze his wife in there somewhere this year!) we each take turns opening a present, taking the time to pay attention and thank each other for the gifts. we love the little things like socks & PJs, oh christmas wouldn't be the same without the new PJs!

Thirdly then comes food. Like in most irish households, there will be an abundance of food in the Murphy household. After presents we have a grilled breakfast. fry ups were never fried in my house, they were always grilled so at least I know it wont be too bad! we are usually stuffed then until dinner time but might have a nibble on some chocolate. Its after dinner that i usually ask for the tin of roses and seeing how my mother forgot them last year i'm sure she has more than made up for it this year!
Alcohol plays a part too, my sister introduced me to Baileys with a shot of brandy in it a couple of years ago and its been a traditional drink at christmas for me since then. I have to have ginger ale on christmas! I have drank it with my christmas dinner since I was a little girl. That usually means that I dont drink very much alcohol through out the day.

I am so very much looking forward to christmas this year, its definitely my favourite time of the year. I dont want to come back to cork after christmas feeling like I didn't properly enjoy myself or have my traditional christmas, so I have decided that If i am up after christmas I will be ok with that so long as its not any more than 2 lbs! Ideally I would love a stay the same and of course we all want to loose. I'm half a lb over my goal so even loosing that half would be super, there is a big gap between christmas and the next weigh in so if I allow myself christmas even christmas day and St. Stephens day off weight watchers I can rain it in and hopefully see a loss at the first weigh in in January.

But like I said I love Christmas and I am going to enjoy it and if that means facing a gain then so be it. I will have that gain gone in no time. Make a plan that suits you and  you feel comfortable with. Nobody can tell you what is right or wrong. Enjoy your christmas and be happy with how it went afterwards.

Merry christmas sarah x

Weight watchers (unofficial) Christmas Party

At the weekend I attended the unofficial weight watchers party in Tullamore along with 9 other fabulous ladies. The night was organised by a fantastic lady called Maura from the weight watchers group on Facebook that I live on. Unfortunately though Maura couldn't make it in the end :(
We had a gorgeous three course meal at the Tullamore Court Hotel. I had A Chicken & Mushroom Vol Au Vent for my starter followed by Stuffed Chicken Breast with Croquets (the most amazing ones i've ever tasted) and vegetables. Dessert was Forerro Rocher Cheesecake and it had clotted cream on the top! I also had a large glass of red with dinner and four Gin & Slim Tonics throughout the night. so you have probably guessed it by now but I was no point counting the night at all.

After out hair & Make - up was done

I went to the party with my good friend Amy O'Riordan,fellow weight watchers and fellow blogger - http://growingintherightdirection.blogspot.ie
We started out morning off in cork with some gorgeous vintage style hair and make up by the wonderfully talented Rosa - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rosa-Through-The-Looking-Glass/151043948262325
We then began out journey to Tullamore, both with gurgling hungry tummies, which we knew was the completely wrong way to show up to a dinner so we stopped and got a sandwich on the way. It took us longer to get the the hotel than we had anticipated so we checked in and had a rush to top up our lipstick and get out dresses on to make it down in time for the dinner.

All set for the night

Our fears and concernes about meeting up with people we had chatted to on Facebook but not actually met in person would be awkward were quickly washed away, we all sat down and imidiatley started chatting and the conversation flowed for the rest of the night. I think its safe to say that all of us had a great night :) I am looking forward tp the next meet up which will hopefully be in the near future!

All the Gals!

Today is weigh in day for me and I cannot predict at all how its going to go for me. Npt having tracked the night away leaves me in the dark a bit. I really want a STS which would set me up perfectly for my own Christmas Party at my house this coming weekend. But I fear that I might have a gain after the indulgent dinner at the weekend. If I do gain though I wont be annoyed with myself for indulging and not tracking, I went there planning to eat what I wanted and thats what I did. I am at goal, actually 1lb under so I know that any little gains will be swiftly dealt with because I plan on staying at goal for a very very long time!

This was a short and sweet entry and I will be back later to let you know how weigh in went.

A three week catch up

I have been AWOL from blogging for the past three weeks. A long weekend away has helped to contribute to that. I've had three weigh in's since my last post and it's been an up an down roller coaster over those three weeks.

Week one,Tuesday 29th November 2013 - up 3 lbs!
I definitely deserved the 3lbs gain. I was a very bad weight watcher that week, If I saw it I ate it. I didn't track a thing. I ate what I wanted and I wanted everything! At the time of the gain I blamed PMS but now I can look back with honesty and say that I had no control over food that week and I deserved that gain.

Week two, Tuesday 5th November 2013 - 4lbs!
I did not see the 4lb loss coming the next week though. That one knocked me for six! In the 35 weeks i have been doing Weight Watchers the only loss of that scale was back in week three, since then its been steady losses of 1 or 2 lbs. The 4lb loss brought me 1lb under my goal and I was delighted. My leader sue told me I would physically have my cold card the following week. I had gone over my weeklies and I didn't track the last two days of my week. I had done 2 hours of skate training on sunday which is really intense but not 4lbs intense. I was very happy and I felt like I could relax a little and go on my long weekend break with a little more room for indulgence.

A waterfall in killarney

Week three,  Tuesday 12th November 2013 - down 1lb!
Myself and William headed away to killarney after work thursday evening. We stopped and treated ourselves to a drive thru from Mac Donalds on the way. I felt in control and I ordered a regular cheeseburger - 8pp and regular fries - 9pp. I had plenty of points left for the day so I didn't feel guilty at all. We arrived at the hotel and checked into our room. The first thing I spotted was the giant Jacuzzi bath in the bathroom. I knew my plan for the night then. A glass of red wine and a long soak in the tub :) That set the tone for my weekend, I was in relaxing mode.

Red wine & a Jacuzzi bath...NICE!

I did indulge and yes i went over my weeklies a bit but i enjoyed every second of my break and i went to face the scales when I got back. I couldn't believe that I was down 1lb after all of my indulgence but something must have been working!

One of the many spectacular views we saw while exploring Killarney

So I am 2lbs under my goal but I have not had a good tracking week this week. I have been aware of what I am eating and I think I am ok but I haven't been writing anything down. I have been feeling awful, I have an ear infection for the 6th time this year. I have to go see the ENT next week and there is a possibility I have to change my hearing aid too, which is expensive. Although I didnt track I did not let myself get out of my roller derby training on sunday, I wasn't sure how my balance would fair with an ear infection but I had the best training this week, I managed to skate half the track on one foot! So I am definitely improving there.

For anyone interested in finding out a bit about roller derby and lives in the cork are, you should come along to The Cork City Fire Birds open skate day on Dec 1st. Follow this link for more information.
https://www.facebook.com/events/678984098798765/

Also I really hope you all enjoyed my first video blog and I will have a new one coming this week :)

Getting to Goal Part 2

Maintaining is tougher than i ever imagined it would be. As weight watchers we spend weeks/months and sometimes years going to weigh ins every week hoping for a loss, we never see ourselves actually reaching goal but always concentrating on the next weigh in. You think loosing the weight is the tough part, and of course its really hard, we all know that. we think everything will be just perfect and simple when we do reach goal and we wont have a care in the world. Goal is the when we become perfect, like we always wanted.

Except that is isn't! I'm not trying to disappoint you or put you on a downer, but goal is tough, maintaining is hard. The sense of freedom and the feeling that you want to eat everything just escalates and I can see why a lot of people end up slipping back to old habits and gaining weight again and it terrifies me! I do not want to end up back where I started or worse. Maybe the fear is a good thing, maybe the fear will help to keep me focused and on track.

This is what looking in the mirror is like, my mind has not caught up with my body yet!

I don't have the perfect body that I dreamed off. Yes I am the size 12 that I have always dreamed off and I love it but I still have areas that I am not too pleased with and I have come to realise that I will never be 100% satisfied with my body and I need to be ok with that. we are human and we are not perfect! I still feel like an over weight person so my frame of mind is not quiet matching the way I look yet. I suppose it takes time to adjust to a new thinner body when your so used to the old fat one. Seeing people that I haven't seen in a while is helping with that a bit. Peoples reactions are a fantastic confidence boost and clearly there is a noticeable difference in my size. 

Some of the new clothes that I have ordered arrived and they are a perfect fit and changing from wearing clothes that are too big to wearing ones that are just right is really helping me to adjust and feel good about myself :)

One of my new goal wardrobe outfits.

My parents came to visit me this weekend, I haven't seen them in a few weeks and although they had seen recent photos of me they were really taken aback by seeing me in person and they were very complimentary. I was chatting to my mam about wanting a deep fryer so I could make chips as a treat every now and again but that I was also concerned about the dangers of having one in the house. My mam said that I have done so well and I shouldn't let anything ruin it and if I really wanted chips as a treat I should just go out and buy some instead so I thought that was a much better idea.

My first week of maintaining went as it should and I had a STS at weigh in last tuesday. This week i have been feeling quiet relaxed and within reason i have been eating what i want so I hope that I can manage a STS this week too. If I don't then I guess it will kick me back into tip top weight watchers form again so it wont be a bad thing, though I do need to stay within 2 lbs so I can get my gold card but I am confident that I will :)

So as promised here are my top recipes for helping you to get to your goal.

1.French toast with syrup and bacon medallions - a good weekend breakfast/brunch

Serves 1.

2 slices of calorie controlled bread 3pp

1 egg - 2pp

a dash of skim milk - 1pp (take out of daily milk allowance)

2 tsp of syrup - 1pp

2 Supervalu healthy choice bacon medallions - 2pp

9pp per serving. 

whisk together the egg and milk and add salt and pepper.

cook the bacon medallions on the grill until done and getting crispy on the edges.

spray a frying pan with spray oil and heat to a medium high heat.

pout half of the egg mic onto a plate and dip both sides of one slice of bread in the egg and add to the pan, repeat with the other slice. Cook both sides of the bread for a couple of minutes.

top each slice with a bacon medallion and a tsp of syrup and enjoy :)

2.Beetroot and low fat feta salad.

serves 4.

1 bag of rocket or rocket and mixed leaves - 0pp

2/3 vacuum-packed (or fresh cooked) beetroots - 0pp

100g low fat feta - 4pp

1 tbls low fat salad dressing - 0pp (I use Kraft low fat honey and mustard)

diced peppers and red onion  - 0pp (optional)

1pp per serving.

Add the rocket leaves to a big salad bowl.

Roughly chop the beetroot and add to the rocket,

Add in the pepper and onion if using,

crumble over the feta cheese and toss.

Drizzle with the dressing and serve. (this dish goes really well with chicken wings or drumsticks)

3. Curried Carrot Soup.

serves 4

900g of carrots (peeled and chopped) - 0pp

1lrg onion (diced) - 0pp

2 tsp curry powder - 0pp

1 veg stock cube - 0pp

0pp per serving

fry the onion in the bottom of a saucepan with spray oil and the curry powder for 2 minutes.

Add the carrots and stock, bring to the boil and simmer until the carrots are tender.

Blitz the soup in a blender and serve. 

4. Spanish Chicken Involtini 

serves 2

8pp per serving

For this recipe click here 

5. Cream cheese pasta.

Serves 2

80g Dried Pasta

100g Garlic and Herb Philadelphia

2 Bacon Medallions Chopped - 2pp

1 onion diced - 0pp

Half a Punnet of Mushrooms Chopped.

1 Vegetable Stock Cube

Boil the pasta in water with the stock cube.

Fry the bacon, onion & mushroom in a pan with fry oil.

when the pasta is cooked drain the water leaving about 2 tblsp of the water, stir in the cream cheese and the bacon mix.

Serve and enjoy.

6. Orange and Ginger Cheesecake.

Serves 6.

6pp per serving

You can find the recipe by clicking here 

I hope you enjoy trying out some of these recipes along your journey, I know that I have :)

Getting To Goal Part 1

I weighed in last night Tuesday 15th October 2013, I will always remember that date now, because that is the date that I got to goal weight and became a weight watchers gold member!

Goal! 33lbs lighter.

I rushed to weigh in after work, I was desperately trying to get there before the talk started, I knew I was getting close to goal and I wanted to get weighed in straight away, but I didn't make it, so I sat through the class, a very good one at that, waiting to find out if I was any closer. I stepped onto the scales and when my leader, Sue, said you have done it, I didn't quiet take it in. you have got to goal! Sue said again. I have!? wow, I was elated. I cannot explain what those words felt like to hear, I was grinning and I actually felt much lighter! Now I just needed to know what to do to stay at goal and get that lovely gold card in three weeks time. Sue advised me to up my daily points by about 6 and see how I got on with that and she gave me the leaflet all about getting to goal. 6 more points a day, woo!

Me at the end of my first year of college, I had piled on the lbs!

On the way to the car I asked my friend, fellow weight watcher and blogger Amy if I treated myself to a Chinese takeaway would that be silly after getting to goal. She encouraged me to treat myself, after all I had 6 more points now and I had only eaten 12 that day. I drove to the Chinese and ordered my favourite dish with fried rice (which I haven't had since I joined weight watchers 31 weeks ago!)
On the way home in the car I was still on a high and I got to thinking about how I got to this point. How I used to think that I would never even be a thin person. I was destined to be over weight. Shopping for clothes would always end in stress and tears. I couldn't do it. I was the person that would fantasize about how amazing being thin would be but never did anything because it was too difficult. I wasn't much of a follow through person. I started to cry, I was so happy because now I was that person that followed through on something. I was a thin person. I actually did it. I got home I ate my Chinese, I could only manage half, which I thought was very funny!

Me at goal in my very first size 12 dress!

I couldn't wait to share the news, I was home alone because my boyfriend was working late. That was a bit sad, I needed someone to jump up and down with me. I called me mom, she was in the car with her friends and they all cheered and tried to beep the horn but they couldn't find it in their excitement. Then I called my sister, my fabulously thin and muscular, not one once of jiggle sister! She was delighted for me and very proud that I had done it. Caroline has been a great support to me, my whole life. No matter what it is I am trying to achieve, Caroline is spurring me on from the sidelines. During my weight loss journey the times when we were both home for a weekend or at the beach with my family and I was tempted to eat something that was too high in points Caroline would say you don't need to eat that, fruit is so much nicer than sweets, they are natures sweets! and I would then have the fruit :) we talked about maintenance and making sure I didn't let the weight creep back on and I told her that nothing was going to ruin this. Nothing I could eat is better than feeling like this, I feel amazing, I feel beautiful and sexy, I am proud of my body now.

My before picture. Me at my college graduate exhibition.

People have been asking me a lot over the last couple of weeks to share my secrets, my tips, my recipe for weight loss and my answer simply is weight watchers! I have not drank any shakes or starved myself or only eaten cabbage for a month. I have had a very enjoyable 31 weeks, I have eaten out on several occasions, I have had outings to the cinema countless times, I have had a few night out on the town, I have had trips to the beach and I even had a weeks sun holiday. I enjoyed all of it and I never felt deprived. There is no secret or miracle fix for weight loss! there is however a very well researched plan that works if you have the right attitude and a bit of dedication. That plan is called weight watchers. As you might be able to tell, I love weight watchers. I have had my leaders application ready for weeks now and I cannot wait to send it off!

The same dress now!

For those of you on weight watchers or thinking about weight watchers,  I am going to try and dish out some tips and advise. The first and most important thing I can say is that the frame of mind you are in is so important, the attitude you have to your weight loss is the thing that brings you to goal or drags you down. I joined weight watchers twice before and never got near goal because I gave up. so what changed this time around? My attitude, I wanted it so much this time that nothing was going to stop me. I knew there would be gains along the way but I wouldn't give up over a silly little gain!
Some of my tips may be a bit obvious but I'm going to give them anyway, they made such a difference to me.

My Top Tips

1. If you haven't already then switch over to low fat dairy. skimmed milk all the way! For the first couple of days it's not so great but if I was to have full fat milk now I would gag, its too creamy and coats my tongue, yuck!
2. spray oil is your new kitchen friend. When you are on a limited amount of points a day, who wants to spend them on oil for cooking? not me, I love the fry light olive oil and its 0pp for a few sprays.
3. Water water water, drink as much as you can, diet coke is no substitute, it's made with chemicals and is very addictive, not good for you, even if it doesn't make you fat. I save it for trips to the cinema or meals out.
4. Do some sort of activity, I was never an active person, I hated sports and I would have rather watched T.V than go for a walk. you can loose weight without exercise but it has so many health benefits you should do it and it tones! I'm still not an exercise freak but I do a bit. I like to go for walks, usually with a friend, on the weekends a bigger walk/hike in the woods and I also took up roller derby, the first sport that I have ever fallen in love with.
5. Invest in a measuring tape. Sometimes our victories do not happen on the scales, especially when we increase out exercise and build muscle, we might get a gain because muscle weighs more than fat but we will be loosing inches, Measure yourself and take note so you know how many inches you are loosing.
6. Eat chocolate! If your like me and your a self confessed chocoholic then going without will end in a disastrous binge. I have some chocolate everyday, usually a curly wurly (3pp) from the fridge because it lasts longer!
7. Do not, I repeat do not weigh yourself in between weigh ins at home. Your scales will probably differ slightly to the weight watchers ones and you weigh differently at different times which is why you weigh in the same time, same day every week at weight watchers. weighing in at home will give you unnecessary grief.
8. Try new food. as you loose weight your taste buds will change, food that you used to eat may become to greasy or sweet for you and you will find that you like things you thought you didn't. Invest in a weight watchers recipe book, I love the members favourite one and get experimenting! If your on a tight budget then get on google, lost of recipes to be found online.
9. Track! if it passes your lips it goes on the tracker, do not kid yourself with this one, eating a biscuit and thinking it doesn't matter enough to write down is fooling yourself. If by chance you do go over your points in a week, if you have written it down you will know what you have eaten for the gain you got. If you don't write it down you may think you have blown it and make it worse by saying ''oh it doesn't matter now I will eat what a want!''
10. Last but certainly not least, do not be embarrassed to be on weight watchers, be damn proud that you are working your but off for a fitter healthier body. Do not let other people bring you down with negative comments, your good friends and family will be supportive, if not they are jealous because your doing something they wish they would do.

I wanted to share my top recipes too but this post is a bit long now so I will make that a part 2 to this post.  lastly look forward to your goal, I promise that its worth all the hard work, its all you have dreamt of and more!

Whatever it is, its working and my new favourite recipe.

I tried very hard to be good the last week I got my large 3kg jar so that i could put a euro in it every time I came home from work and not grazed on sweets all day, day one and two went great, not a single sweet passed my lips and then day three came and oops, I was stuffing my face again, it continued like the next 3 days at work. then weigh in day came (Tuesday) and I was a bit annoyed with myself again and I just knew I was gonna be up, plus it was that time of the month and I am always a STS or up on those weeks.

Amy O'Riordan, my good friend, fellow weight watchers and blogger came up with this wonderful idea of having a group diary, each week one of us takes it and uses it as a tracker, a diary of our feelings or just to put recipes in. Then the following week the next person has it and can look back over the other entries for inspiration. I had the diary last week. It started off well but in the end it got a bit neglected and I didn't finish my weeks entry. this is what went down last week, a meal and a movie with friends - tracked fine. A surprise dinner out with Will - tracked but went over my weeklies by 7. Take away - way way over and sweets, crazy. so now you see why I was expecting to be up.

I barely made it to weigh in to pass the diary on, I was stock taking in work from 8:30 am and I didn't get out of work until nearly 7, I drove like a mad woman and made it just as the class was over and passed the diary on to a very enthusiastic girl ( who's name I cannot remember, sorry)
I weighed in and I was down...yes DOWN 1.5lbs! I am starting to sound a bit like the girl who cried wolf at this stage, this seems to be happening to me a lot. I was thrilled but the first thing i said to my leader Sue was ''now i'm not gonna be good because I know I can get away with it!' then I got home and I thought about it and I decided that even if I can get away with it, it's not a healthy habit and I need to break it. It's better for my health to eat well and not be eating so much sugar all the time. So thats my vow for this week, to stop eating so much sugar.

This week I want to share with you my new favourite recipe, Spanish Chicken Involtini from the weight watchers members favourite book. Its really tasty, it does not taste like a diet dinner, it tastes like something you might get out at a restaurant.

Spanish Chicken Involtini

Serves 2

16 pp per recipe                    8pp per serving

100g butternut squah, peeled, deseeded and cut into small cubes. (I like to use a whole squash and really bulk up the meal)
200g red pepper deseeded and diced ( i use 2 peppers of any colour)
1 tsp paprika
calorie controlled cooking spray
60g ready to eat chorizo
2 x 165g chicken breast
2 tblsp low fat cream cheese with sweet chili (I used the philadelphia with sweet chili, but you could use any cream cheese and mix in your own chili sauce)

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.
Place the squash and peppers in a large ovenproof dish, sprinkle with half the paprika, season and spray with cooking spray.
Bake for 20-30 minutes, until tender. remove from oven and mix in the chorizo. leave to cool.
meanwhile cut the chicken in half lengthways. Place each piece between two sheets of cling film and use a rolling pin to flatten the chicken into four long strips.
divide the cream cheese between the chicken strips, spreading in neatly over the top of each one. Top with the squash mixture. Roll each strip up tightly and secure with two cocktail sticks each.
spray an oven proof s=dish with the cooking spray and place the chicken and the remaining filling in the dish. Sprinkle over the remaining paprika.
Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through.

It should look a bit like this.

I had mine on its own, with the extra squash its loads. But my boyfriend likes his with sweet potato wedges, so if you have the extra points you could do that.

Williams plate with the wedges.

I am now 1.5lbs to goal and if i get there by halloween (which I should) then i will be delighted.
I think its safe to buy some new clothes now so i am going to town tomorrow to have a look around.
Will has made several comments about my underwear being too saggy on my bottom now so I think its time I bought some smaller ones for sure!

Also I will be setting up my own Please Pass The Skinny YouTube channel to go along with my blog soon, so keep an eye out for more information on that :)

Miracles do happen...

I had an absolute disaster of a week this week. No tracking and eating all round me, whatever I wanted it went in my mouth. I had planned to be good and save my weeklies for a dinner party on Saturday night, however, a take away on Friday and grazing sweeties through out the week at work meant that didn't work out. The dinner party itself was high in pps, Lasagna, Garlic bread and caesar salad, i know your thinking it could have been worse...it was...Malibu & coconut cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and a load of sweets while we played cards. So as you can imagine I was praying for a STS but expecting a gain of about 2 lbs after all that. I wasn't even nervous stepping onto the scales tonight, I had resigned myself to a gain and i was ready to move on and start a new week fresh, I even thought a gain would give me a kick to start behaving again, so you could say that I almost welcomed the gain.

The kick never came because the gain didn't show. I didn't even get a STS I actually managed to weigh in - 0.5lbs! A miracle if one ever happened! I am gob smacked and i almost cant believe it. Surely the scales are wrong? I definitely did not deserve to be down and I really deserved to be up! So whats the problem you ask? Well there isn't one really because the whole point of this journey is to lose weight, which i have. I am concerned now though that I wont be able to stop this bad behavior because I will now think that I can get away with not tracking and eating way more junk than I should. I MUST cop on and gain control, there are only so many miracle weigh ins one can get and surely I have used mine all up now?

This is how I felt when i say the minus on the scales.

I got to thinking about my college days, thats when all the weight piled on. I am now roughly the same size i was starting college, if not a couple of lbs lighter. How much food did I eat to gain 2 stone?
the answer is a LOT!!! An average day in my college life consisted of, Sausage rolls from the deli for breakfast, tea and biscuits for mid morning break probably followed by a chocolate bar of some kind. A roll and potato wedges from the deli for lunch and one or two chocolate bars and some crisps. Another chocolate bar a couple of hours later and a take away for dinner and more chocolate or sweets to eat on the couch for the rest of the evening. Add in two or three nights of drinking, each night a full bottle of wine and at least 4 vodkas. Now i am actually thinking to myself, you ONLY put on 2 stone! It should have been way more. So maybe I am just lucky that way, I can eat more and get away with not having a gain. I dunno if that makes any sense even?

Going back over my college lifestyle has given me a bit of a kick, I had forgotten what I used to be like, how much I ate and if I am not careful I will slowly get back to that, starting with not getting in control at work, i cannot keep grazing on sweets all day at work, even if i can get away with eating a little over my points, in the long term it wont work. I had an idea today that i could make a money jar and every time I come home from work and I haven't eaten sweets I put 1 euro in the jar, when its full, I treat myself to something and start again. I can of course eat sweets, but it must be worked into my dailies or my weeklies and i should enjoy them and not pop them in my mouth at work without even thinking.

I more than likely will have a gain next week, it will be that time of month and i usually have a gain at that time, But thats ok, I am now 3lbs away from goal and i look forward to getting there, before halloween would be nice :)

I got my 2nd stone!

Firstly,  I apologise for my lack of an update last week, I have been very tired with my new job. I weighed in last week -2lbs, I was anticipating a loss and i was delighted with that result.

This week was a bit different, I had mixed feelings about weigh in and I really expected to have a gain. I am feeling really run down and I probably have an ear infection (off to the doc in the morning) so I think this made me think I would have a gain. When you don't feel good you done expect good results.
Also I have to confess that I have been finding in tougher to resist sweets at work than I thought I would. To be totally honest I haven't actually been resisting at all! I dont really get the opportunity to take a lunch break, I usually have a cuppa soup while working and then just eat sweets though out the day. I know its not good, I know its a bad habit to get into, but you try working in a sweet shop and not eat any! I would give you a trophy if you managed it. I am a sweetaholic so its pretty impossible for me to resist. I did discover that double dips are only 2pp and they are so sweet and last for ages :)

Double Dip - Only 2pp

So you may be surprised to learn that I actually lost 1.5lbs tonight at weigh in and got my 2nd stone! The loss alone was a massive surprise to me, but I hadn't realised that I was that close to my 2nd stone so that was a big bonus. I changed my goal to 11st 7lbs so now I am only 3.5lbs away from goal. But who knows I may be changing it back to 11st.

Me in work surrounded by temptation!

My boyfriend, Will is away for the week and he has been so fantastic since i started my new job, he has had dinner ready for me when i get home at 6.45 everyday. I am so used to eating my dinner at 6pm that I am starving by the time i get home now. I knew with him being away that i would be in danger of getting take away on my way home because I wouldn't have the patience to wait to cook a dinner for myself.  So, i stocked up on weight watchers ready meals for the week. they are on offer for 2 euro in supervalu at the monent. I know that ready meals are not ideal and I normally would never eat them but its much better than take away. I am surprised by how nice they actually are, Yesterday I had the ocean pie which was ok and today I had the spaghetti Bolognese which was really yummy!

At the end of a hard day there is always cheesecake!

I weighed in on tuesday with a gain of 1lb. I was really disgusted with that yesterday, I had been good all week, I didn't go over my points. I just felt that a a gain was a bad omen for my first week in my new job, If I couldn't loose weight on a regular week how was I going to loose weight while working in a sweet shop! The only thing that I could put it down to was my period. But I hadn't had a gain any other time when I got my period! or had I? Turns out i did, I went back and checked my weigh in tracker. In fact, I have had a small gain or a STS like clockwork once every four weeks since I began weight watchers, I just never put 2 and 2 together before. So I felt much happier after I realised the pattern and that if I stay on track I will have a gain next week.

Orange & Ginger Nut Biscuit Cheesecake

So after accepting my gain for what it was all that was left to do was sort out my craving for something really naughty to cure those horrible cramps....mmm cheesecake! I went on the hunt for a weight watchers friendly cheesecake and i found this amazing recipe on the weight watchers ireland website. Not just your average lemon or strawberry cheesecake but a delicious orange and ginger nut biscuit cheesecake and I thought at 6pp a slice that was a bargain for cheesecake. This really hit the spot, I have not had any other treats through out the day so that I can have a slice in the evening without going into my weekly allowance. If you would like to make one for yourself you will find the recipe by clicking here 

Recipe from www.weightwatchers.ie

My first week in my new job is going well, I am coming home with ver sore feet so I am sure I must be taking a lot more steps than I had been. I am going to buy a pedometer next week and see just how many. If it is going to contribute to my weight loss I don't mind sore feet at the end of the day. besides its nothing a bit of cheesecake wont fix! My will power is still intact and very strong. Yes I am having some sweets but its only a couple and I am pointing them, I am not pretending I didn't eat them so thats all good :) I am not really having a lunch at work, just grabbing some fruit when I get the chance, I know thats not the best thing to do and I am going to try and get myself into a better routine. In class this week we talked about one thing we could do to help spur us on, so finding the time for a decent lunch while working could be mine although i also want to clear out my wardrobe and get rid of everything that doesn't fit, which is a lot. I will probably have to keep some things other wise I won't have much to wear. when I get to goal I will throw them all out and buy new stuff.

Yummy!

I left weigh in in a bad mood and that could have been detrimental for my next weigh in, but now I feel much more positive and i know I will have a loss next week. A good attitude really goes a long way when it comes to weight loss, so stay positive!

Life is good & feeling great

I weighed in on tuesday down 3 lbs! I was ecstatic, it pushed me into another stone bracket and brought me close to goal, I can see it now, that lovely gold card, it's waiting for me and I am coming to get it!
I am also considering changing my goal by half a stone to 11st 7lbs instead of 11st, i'm not sure yet but if I do then I am only 6lbs away from goal. That thought has made me realise how far I have come and how wonderful it feels and I had a thought...
How often do we stop to appreciate the good things we have going on in our lives? Not that often I bet! well not me anyway, I'm always pushing for the next thing, my next weigh in, next lb, next, next, next. Today I am stoping and taking a little moment to appreciate my life right now, because I have realised that its pretty great right now!

We need to stop and smell the roses

I've lost a ton of weight over the last 6 months, 25.5lbs in total. I feel fantastic, I'm less tired, more energetic and much, much happier in myself. I can walk (more like a jog) up my full set of 31 stairs without loosing my breath, most of my clothes are now far to loose. To top it all I got offered a job today! I had the interview yesterday and I felt so confident going into it and not one bit self conscious and the interview went really well. The job, which I am very excited about is in a sweet shop and starts on monday.

I will feel like this kid on my first day of work :)

Now, I won't lie, am a little concerned about how going back into full time employment and a change of routine will effect my weight loss, especially because its in a sweet shop and gosh do I LOVE sweets! But i am only a little bit concerned, i've come so far I cannot see it being ruined by anything, I know i will have to go to work prepared with packed lunch and I desperately need new clothes that are not hanging off me so i'm going to spend money on beautiful clothes and not sweets! Thats going to be my mantra and I will remind myself of how far I have come when I feel like giving in to temptation :)

I had a celebratory chinese take away tonight after I got the call about the job. I ended up only eating half because my stomach is not physically able for massive portions of food anymore. I had half a tub or boiled rice for 6pp and half a tub of shredded crispy chicken in a sweet chili sauce, which I pointed at 13 with the help of some lovely ladies from the Facebook page. I didn't cut the points in half for that even though I only ate half because I wanted to be safe. So i've had my treat and i've pointed it and I still have loads of weeklies left for the rest of the week.

also this week I baked some gorgeous banana muffins for only 2pp each!

2 pro point banana muffins.

I had some browning bananas and I was searching for something to do with them and I came across this recipe here - http://fatgirlslimmer.wordpress.com/2011/06/28/banana-muffins-2-weight-watchers-pro-points-each/

Ingredients

30g butter
60g honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 ripe bananas
150g plain flour
1 heaped teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
12 cup muffin pan lined with muffin cases
Chocolate chips for sprinkling on top
Melt the butter, honey and vanilla in the microwave. 
Mash the bananas in a bowl and pour over the honey butter vanilla mix and combine.
Mix the dry ingredients in another mixing bowl.
Mix the bananas mix into the dry ingredients until just combined(don’t overmix)
Divide the muffin mix equally amongst the muffin cases.
Top with chocolate chips
Bake for 25 minutes at 190 degrees

* I did not have chocolate chips so I made mine without them.

Back to loosing with some yummy food and good decisions

After a gain of 1.5lbs and then a stay the same, I am back on track with a good lose of 2lbs this week.
I made a few changes and reverted back to some old habits that I had let slip. I think perhaps I was getting a bit confident with my weight loss and wasn't being as careful as I was back in the beginning.

Some things that I changed were going back to meal planning, I used to always do this but I had let it slip and was improvising a lot, so I sat down and made a meal menu for the week and that really helped me to stay on track.
one of my dinner plans was to have fish, I would like to start having fish at least once a week. I found these lovely lightly crumbed sole in the freezer in Aldi. The crumb has roasted pepper and garlic going through it. They were delicious and one fillet worked out at 4pp.

Lightly crumbed pepper and garlic sole from Aldi with baby potatoes, carrots and broccoli 

This week in the meeting we discussed eating on days out, summer is coming to an end and we may have some last days out coming up. we chatted about whats acceptable on a day out, how many points we think is ok to use and things like that. we all agreed that that around 40 - 50 pp was not so bad, obviously only if you have the extra points from your weeklies.
I didn't really have a day out this week but I did have the afters on a wedding to attend last night so it was really a night out. I was going with my Boyfriend, my brother and his wife, who were spending the night with us. I cooked us a yummy chicken curry for 6pp a portion and we also got 2 bags of chips from the chipper to share and I had a good handful but pointed them at 14pp. I had cleverly volunteered to be designated driver so I wouldn't drink all my points or heaven forbid go over my points with wine.

before and after picture of me in the dress.

Last week I decided to try on one of my dresses to see if I could wear it to the wedding party. I had worn it to a wedding afters last december and it was so uncomfortably tight that I couldn't wait to take it off again. Now though its the perfect fit, I can eat and drink in it without feeling sick and the waistband digging into my tummy. I could dance the night away and not feel self conscious. I danced so much last night I must have earned a couple of activity points at least!
I forgot to take a decent picture of me wearing it last night, I had a whole 50s glam thing going on, softly cured hair, red lipstick, eye liner flicks, the whole lot and I really felt pretty. I do have some dodgy camera phone pictures.

Camera Phone Pic - Will and Myself.

Normally on these occasions when the finger food was produced I would have eaten my weight in cocktail sausages. Oh I love cocktail sausages! Last night though I allowed myself 2, a little taste to not feel deprived and that was enough to satisfy me. I also didn't resist having some wedding cake, it was chocolate biscuit, yum! the cake was sliced up into very small finger slices and I just had the one, so not too much damage done there. I hazard a guess at 6pp? there was also a candy buffet table at the wedding and I did eat a couple of jellies but I pointed them too. I was very proud of myself, I would tend to be one of those persons who would eat some jellies and the conveniently forget about it!

Camera Phone Pic - My Dad and Myself

so in total I used 23 of my weeklies, a few chips, a small bit of cake and few jellies, not bad I think. I am very pleased with myself anyway. I felt very in control and to top it all off I have never ever gotten so many compliments from people telling me how great I looked. I had people I didn't even know come over and say I looked beautiful, so I was going around with a big swelled head and a smile on my face. weight watchers is paying off big time! I am almost looking forward to next weeks weigh in because I know I have made the right choices and the party wont have effected my weigh in, or at least it shouldn't!

Motivation - It was lost but now it's found.

I weighed in this week with a stay the same. I was devastated, I really was expecting to be down. I tracked everything. I used all my weeklies but you are meant to be able to do that and I have done it countless times and lost weight, so it couldn't have been that. There are two things that I could put it down to, 1. the bank holiday disaster was still catching up on me and 2. I had a few drinks on saturday night so it might be alcohol, I haven't been drinking much alcohol since I started weight watchers.

Whatever it was I was in fowl form after weigh in and I got chipper chips and onion rings for my dinner after weigh in and then I ate half a packet of digestive biscuits with tea. Did that make me feel any better? well, no of course it didn't. It actually made me feel worse. A lot worse. I was way past feeling full, I felt really sick and disgusting. I was moaning to Will for the rest of the night about how sick I felt. I realised that I used to eat like that all the time and I wouldn't even feel sick. I thought to myself, 'you cant go back to that. you have got to pull it together!'

 Today I started pulling myself and my attitude back together. I made a 7 day menu plan and went to the supermarket and bought everything I needed. I measured my waist, thighs and arms so that I could track my measurements and my weight. I was delighted to discover that I have so far lost 4 inches from my waist since joining weight watchers. I went out for a skate today and did 6.5km, I am trying to prepare for a 17km wheelathon that I am doing on saturday which I should have started practicing for weeks ago. I also learned that derby practice is back on this weekend after a 6 week break at the end of the season. I cant wait to get back to derby training, it's really intense and will really help my weight loss.

Cork Charity Wheelathon - 17km

I made a yummy, filling dinner today for only 8pp. vegetable & bacon stir fry with rice.

serves 2

1 onion sliced
1 carrot sliced
less that a 1/4 of a head of white cabbage shredded
1/2 head of broccoli chopped
3 bacon medallions
4 tinned pineapple rings diced(in their own juice but drain the juice)

all stir fried in soy sauce and serve with 150 gram of cooked rice.

Veg & Bacon stir fry with rice

I also discovered a lovely treat today, well it's not a new treat, I have been eating marshmallows as a treat for a while, but I bought different ones today and was delighted when I pointed them. A 30g serving worked out at 3pp and when I weighed them out on my scales that was 11 marshmallows! they are the Aldi's twisted marshmallows.

I have now got renewed motivation and it's quiet exciting. I am looking forward to next weeks weigh in already. x

Bank Holiday Confessions

I have to confess now that I did not beat the bank holiday this time round. It did in fact beat me. I gained 1.5lbs when I weighed in on tuesday. I expected a gain and if you continue reading you might understand why.

Ballybunion

It started on friday when I got bad news. I got the letter that I have been waiting 8 weeks for. I did not get a place on the masters that I have been working towards for the last 4 years. I was devastated and I did bawl my eyes out for a solid 15 minutes after opening the letter. It has thrown everything up in the air for me and I really have to start from scratch and figure out what I am going to do, it's a scary feeling, not knowing. I ate about 200g of chocolate friday night and half a bag of marshmallows, I didn't care. I was allowing myself to have it. I was having a night off from weight watchers and I would get back on track saturday. But of course, I didn't! I focused on going to Ballybuinion and having a relaxing weekend with my family which I did, but I also failed to control or track my eating. I was still feeling sorry for myself and I am a natural comfort eater. saturday night we all ventured to the chipper I mentioned in my last post, I shared a burger and curry cheese chips with my sister so that wasn't as bad as it could have been.

My sister and me 

sunday consisted of a Cooked breakfast, a picnic on the beach with doughnuts, biscuits, chocolate and crisps. we went swimming and played ball games too but obviously ate more than that counteracted! Sunday night we had booked into a lovely restaurant and I went ahead and had 3 full courses and wine...oh and don't forget the gin and tonics! 

can you see now why I was up? 

wait! there is more... 

monday was another day at the beach with much more of the same followed by a home cooked meal of steak, garlic & cream potato gratin and roast veg and more wine. Then we all went for a stroll around Ballybuinion. yeah a stroll, I couldn't get away with calling it a walk, I probably didn't even burn one calorie. Oh then me and william stopped and had an ice cream sunday that had hot doughnuts in it!

William and me

I still failed to get back on track when we got home on tuesday, despite weighing in with a gain, I went and got a curry after the meeting and ate more doughnuts, Seriously what was going on with me and doughnuts this week, I don't know! I was quiet upset on tuesday, I thought I had gotten over not getting the masters but I really haven't yet. I will in time I know, just need to figure out my next step.

I am back on track now, even though it was a bit questionable at times today. there was a party in work and I ate sweets and biscuits and a burger and sausages. I was thinking screw it, I will pretend it never happened. When I got home though I decided I would be accountable and I wrote it all down and crossed out the points and I didn't have dinner. No, I am not starving myself, I stuffed myself in work and I wasn't hungry, so really eating dinner would have been pointless and waste more points. I will have some fruit if I get hungry. 

So now I really am back on track and I am going to stay that way. I will have a loss next week!

Over half way there

I weighed in this evening -1.5 lbs and I got my 3rd silver 7. I needed to loose a half to get the silver 7 and I would have been very happy with that. I am delighted with a 1.5 loss.
I have lost a total of 22lbs now and I have been doing weight watchers for 20 weeks. I am achieving a steady loss of about 1lb a week and I am more than halfway to gaol. I am not completely committed to a goal yet. I have a figure in my head and I will see how comfortable I am as I get closer to that number and decide then.

In this evenings class we talked about setting mini goals for ourselves and I can't think of one. I have reached all the goals I have set for now, so I am going to have to wrack my brains for the next one. Of course I can go with the next silver 7, but I want something different as a goal. I've got my 5%, my 10% and one stone. I am even fitting back into the clothes that I haven't worn in years. I do have one pair of jeans that I want to wear again. I haven't worn them since I was 17 though, so there is no hope of me fitting into them again until I reach my final goal. I need a short term goal...But what?

on another note, there is a bank holiday looming this weekend...bank holidays have been my down fall in weight watchers. this bank holiday is being spent in Ballybunion with my parents. Days on the beach with picnics, meals out and long chats into the night over wine...hhhhmmmm....not a great combination for weight loss. I am really hoping that this will be the bank holiday where I come to weigh in on tuesday and have a loss. I will happily take half a lb or even a quarter of one, if only weight watchers would recognise it. I need to beat the bank holiday! and what to do to beat it?....why plan of course!

Ballybunion Beach - A wonderful place for a swim

I will have to have a plan in place by saturday when we leave, i think packing a bag of weight watchers friendly snacks to take with me will be wise, oh and a couple of bottles of Aldis lime crush and pear & eldeflower crush, my new favourite drinks. I will undoubtably have wine over the weekend but maybe I can alternate it with those drinks and have less wine. Oh and I forgot to mention that my uncle owns a delicious chipper in Ballybunion...of course it would be rude not to have some! A treat I think, maybe just the once though....wish me luck!

A delicious dinner and a scrumptious dessert to curb those cravings!

I had a stay the same this week. I was so happy with that because I had one of those weeks where I could not stop myself from eating and I was expecting to be up. The problem now though is how do I reign it in and get back on track?

Today has gone well so I think I will be ok now. I followed some advice from the meeting this week and divided my points up so I knew exactly how many I was allowed for breakfast lunch and dinner. Mine is 6 for breakfast 8 for lunch and 10 - 12 for dinner and 5 for snacks.

I stayed well under that today, quiet by accident. I had 6 for breakfast, 6 for lunch and 8 for dinner followed by dessert for 5 and a snack for 2 pp. I still have 4 left for the rest of the evening.

For dinner today I decided to try something new. I looked through my members favourite book and decided on the caribbean chicken. Oh my gosh! it was delicious. I will definitely be adding it to my regular dinner list. For only 8pp you couldn't go wrong.

Caribbean Chicken - members favourite book

I haven't quiet managed to get rid of the sweet craving that had been plaguing me all last week yet, but i didn't want to give into it and gorge myself on a huge bar of chocolate. Instead I came up with a dessert that is simple to make and oh boy was it satisfying!

Its a kind of  a banoffee pie pudding or sunday. I crushed 2 of the weight watchers double chocolate biscuits and put them in the bottom of a wine glass and layered it with banana slices and topped it with 3 tblsp of butterscotch angel delight adding more banana slices on top and grating a small bit of dark chocolate over. It worked out at 5pp and it was well worth it. I would be happy to serve this up at a dinner party, nobody would have any idea that it was weight watchers friendly, it tastes very naughty!

I also discovered a quick fix for a chocolate/sweet craving that only uses 1pp. I have been microwaving my pink 'n' whites for a while now, just for a few seconds. The marshmallow goes warm and gooey, yummy! My friend amy told me to open the pink 'n' white before microwaving it and spreading a tiny but of nutella onto it and then closing it up and microwave it. Oh my gosh, it was a great quick fix after my lunch today when i was tempted to go to the shop for a giant bar of chocolate.

The pink 'n' whites with nutella and the butterscotch pudding may very well keep me on tack this week and and stop me from totally pigging out. hopefully I will see a loss next tuesday.