Happy times!!!

So I'm a little late in updating my blog this week, sorry about that! 

Turns out this week has been crazy busy, but also full of great things.

• Lost 3.5lbs this week at weigh-in. If I lose 8lbs in 3 weeks and I get a refund (whoop)
  
• Decided if I get the refund, I'm probably going to spend the money on a weekend in Germany, just go off on my own :)
  
• I ran my first 5k since my knee injury on Monday, then again on Wednesday.
  
• I bought 2 dresses this week from ASOS. The same dress, one was bright red and one was navy. Anyone that knows me, knows I own a lot of navy dresses (ha) One was a size 16 (wishful thinking) and one was a size 18. Bearing in mind, I have been size 18+ for a couple of years now, occasionally fitting in 18s, but more often than not going for the loser size up. I sent the red one back (surprise surprise) without even trying it on, because the blue one fit nicely. I thought the navy one was the 18, which I was fine with (ASOS are always tight around the boob when I buy 18s, so I got over it). Read the return email today, and the red was the 18, and I KEPT THE NAVY ONE. SIZE 16. This is a big moment for me.
  
• Also bought a ladies skinny fit tee that fits. It's XXL, but I don't care, it fits!  

Life is getting pretty stressful at the min, but I'm not doing what I usually do (Turn to booze and takeaways and cry into a giant chocolate cake) but instead I'm trying my hardest to cope, and using exercise and being in control as my motivation for staying strong.

I have planned out what will happen after these 6 weeks. I know I'm not going to stop losing weight. I need to keep going, and I need to show myself that being healthy is going to improve so many aspects of my life. 

Thanks for reading.

I promise my next blog will be full of nice pictures and fun things. 

(tricep) dips & (kettle bell) swings

Tuesday is here once again! And my weigh in was... okayish. 

So This week I lost 3lbs, half of the 6 I lost last week. I'm a little surprised by this, because I did stick to the eating plan and exercise as much as I did in the first week, although I did a little less running and more walking, because of my knee. I found this amazing ibuprofen gel in Tesco for £1.99 or something and it really took the swelling down, so I'm looking forward to pushing myself again with the jogging this week.

Last week was very much a high, full of motivation, excited at all the fun I was having, and this week has very much been...Dippy. I'm still loving it, don't get me wrong, but at times I'm losing focus as to why I'm doing it.I'm not just 'losing weight' as my blog title would suggest, I'm getting healthy.

In the past, when doing Slimming world, calorie counting etc, I'd drop weight like BAM! But as soon as I stop I pile it back on (and eat more than I did in the first place) This time I'm not doing that at all. I'm learning all the time, I'm eating more protein than you can shake a stick at, and I feel better: In myself, my mind, and my pot belly (ha).

I'm going to set myself some goals for the next week. Last weeks goals were stop weighing myself (done) force feed myself cottage cheese (done- blurgh) and go easy on my knee (done-ish)

1. Stop eating late- eat before training, not at 9 o'clock. 

2. Increase my distance when jogging. 

3. Stop stressing out. 

This week I also had a lovely little boxercise training session- I loved it. Gave it my all, my lats still hurt 2 days later. 

Also pretty glad the January gym-goers are dwindling already:

Just how I like it!

1 Week in

Hi everyone! 

So I've now done a whole week of my '6 week transformation' and I'm loving it. I've stuck to the eating plan 100% (which means no sugar, no sweeteners, no crisps no fast fast food etc) and done a butt tonne of exercise. 

The results are in....

I lost..... 6lbs!!! :) 

Super happy with the weight loss, everyone in my group did really well. Even had a little go at Tabata in class today which was amazing, so much fun and soooooo hard. 

This next week I plan to do the same, stick to the eating plan, keep jogging, but mostly I'm going to keep an eye on my knee. I don't want to be the obesity case complaining all the time, but my knee is swelling up again, and instead of just post-exercise swelling, I have general-all-the-time swelling going on.

2 people told me I look good today. Obviously I don't look good-good, but I guess even 6lbs can make a difference. I'm also sleeping better, feeling healthier, and concentrating more.

PM Coffee

On Tues night I started my fitness classes for my ‘6 week transformation’. I really enjoyed it.

After getting weighed (I weighed the same as before Christmas, which is good) and after being told I had a whopping 48% body fat, we got down to it.

Exercises included:

Kettle bell squats
Mountain Climbers
Jumping Jacks
Push Ups
Sit Ups
Body weight pulls.

Every day I'm not training, I need to do 50 mins cardio, too. Lots of visits to the gym (still too scared to go running outside after falling on a cracked pavement back in December)

Before the session I had to drink unsweetened black coffee with no sugar, this is what I was most terrified about. Turns out black coffee is fine! And as it’s my only cup of the day I didn’t mind. I fell asleep pretty easily, so I’m hoping to keep going with it.

The food is going surprisingly well. It's so nice to not have to think at all about food! It's a loss less distracting, not having such conversations with myself while daydreaming:

"Hmm.. What should I have for tea?"

"Something healthy"

"But what do I fancy?"

"Screw it, let's get a Dominos"

Sticking to a list is great, I have the food in I need, I can make it in advance. I don't feel hungry, in fact I sometimes feel like I'm eating too much.

Will update next Tuesday when I have my week 1 weigh in. Eeeeep! 

Run Forest, run!

Today I paid my entry to the Great Women's 10k run. It takes place on 11th May in Glasgow, I'm already excited! Now I have a bigger excuse to get myself to the gym and start increasing my running distance. Hopefully getting 20lbs off in the next 6 weeks will also help this (ha).

NHS Choices Couch to 5K programme.

It's January. Was your resolution to lose weight/ get fit? This cleaver little programme is what kickstarted me last year, so I thought I'd share a little bit about it. 

Back in the day, I couldn't have imagined running for a bus. The C25K programme starts off with walking, and short jogging bouts, slowly increasing each week. Even the first session is difficult, but it's amazing how quickly your body adapts to the exercise, and each week you will feel your fitness improving. If you stick to it for the whole 9 weeks, by the end of it you will be able to run for 30 minutes non-stop, which should roughly equate to a whole 5k.

The podcasts are FREE, and once you get past the cheesy music, and the slight patronising 'Laura' saying 'Well done, you're doing great!' it really is a great help and a starting block for a schedule. 

Here's the link If you want to know more, or even download the podcasts. 

As I'm starting my 6 week transformation programme on Tuesday, doing 3 HIIT (High intensity interval training) sessions per week, it's likely going to cut into my running schedule. That being said, I'm hoping to start walking to work. 57 mins walk just seems like aaaaages, and I'm worried I will be late. 

Also: Every wondered what a spinach, yellow pepper, and mushroom omelette looks like? A little something like this. 

The journey begins...

It’s Friday! 

I finally hit the treadmill  yesterday, for the first time in about 4 weeks (since my knee injury). I made it to 5k, but I did have to keep slowing down because my fitness level has dropped. Christmas didn’t help either :P 

A few helpful tips for trying to shift some lbs....

• Eat food you like! Don’t force feed yourself leaves if you don’t like them. 
• Don’t feel bad if you fancy something sweet. Yesterday I had a quality street. 44 calories man, that’s less than an apple. 
• Don’t feel the need to not eat out. Have you ever tried a Nandos salad? Delicious! 
• Read labels- a pork pie looks delicious, but imagine how much food you can eat for that 800 calories.... 

Think about it this way… If you’re serious about losing weight and being healthy, there are some changes you will have to make for life. If you think of yourself as ‘on a diet’ and restrict yourself from eating anything tasty, you’re not going to lose weight and keep it off. 

My 6 week transformation plan starts on Tuesday. I just got the nutrition plan today and nearly fell over at the changes I'm going to have to make. More about the plan in my next blog post (hopefully Monday/ Tuesday). Let’s see if my plan works. Hope you have your fingers crossed for me. 

Do you like my peri peri chicken salad? It was delicious.  The couscous helped keep me full, too. 

Also- Just so you know... I'm 2 and a half stone lighter than I was on January 3rd 2013. 

Happy New Year!

Hello! Welcome to  my first ever blog. 

This is a little scary. *takes deep breath*

Where to begin? I'm Vicky, I'm 23 years old. I work full time in a customer service role, which I really enjoy. I like making excuses to shop, playing Call of Duty, running, and watching trashy German TV. I speak German, and would love to travel and see more of the world (and learn Spanish). This blog is going to be like a public diary for me and my weight loss journey, a way to track my own progress, and be a little more expressive. I guess you could say I'm not really sure I want people to read this (and I can't guarantee there'll ever be anything worth reading) But I feel like this is going to be a good year. Things are going to change for the better.   

One day in around 2012, I looked at myself, and realised that things had to change. I had to stop buying clothes which were too small for me, thinking that one day I'd get into them. I had to stop taking late night trips to Asda to buy cakes and chocolate, and I had to get back into exercising. 

One good thing is I can lose weight. I'm not your typical morbidly obese twenty something. I like exercise, I love fruit & veg. I'm just lazy, and very much a lovely of all things sugary. The yoyo dieting went on for some time, losing and gaining weight. 

In March of 2013 I went to visit some friends in St. Andrews. While there, we got onto the topic of losing weight, and my friend mentioned how she's been running for about a year, and loves it. She told me about the NHS Choices Couch 2 5K programme, a set of podcasts to teach you how to run 5k. 

I took the challenge on, and found that running is right up my street. I loved it! Every week I would do a little better, and even though it exhausted me, I could feel myself getting fitter, and I was so proud! That combined with healthy eating was my plan of attack. And guess what? It worked!


By October of 2013 I had lost 3 and a half stone. Whoop whoop, right? Sort of. 

Since then, I've sort of been a yo yo dieter. I am still around 2 and a half stone lighter than I was this time last year, but I should have done so much better. And now is the time to change! Again!

I'm starting a 6 week 'body transformation programme' whereby you follow a nutrition plan, and take part in 3 classes a week. After a running injury at the beginning of December, I haven't been running for around 4 weeks, however I hope to have a decent enough knee to start again tomorrow (wish me luck!)

I want to document this 6 week journey, but then also continue to keep track on how it's going. 

Finger's crossed that I'll be dropping by soon with some more updates. (and some pretty pictures)

Bye For now :)