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!