Week 19

Day 3 – off to Bristol for the hen party.  The weekend started badly with a bacon baguette for lunch then straight onto our first activity which was cocktail making - this was great fun but too many vodka shots and other alcohol!  Dinner was pasta and Eton Mess and then some more alcohol but I did go to bed relatively sober!  Maybe it was the chicken kebab I had on our way back to the hotel – I didn’t eat the pitta!

Day 4 – cooked breakfast in the hotel and a sandwich and crisps on the train to London – oh dear!  The dinner in London was wonderful – 5 courses but nothing over the top and I didn’t drink very much really.

Day 5 – another cooked breakfast and sandwich and crisps on the train though I did have a Boots Shaper sandwich and French Fries.

Day 6 – out for a meal with my cousin and his wife tonight.  I chose a warm chicken and bacon salad but it lots of dressing on it – oh yes and a bowl of chips which I shared with Dawn.  No pudding J

Day 7 – I’ve lost a pound J  Not sure how I managed it but at least the one I put on has gone.  This means that the two weeks I was worried about weren’t too bad as my weight actually stayed the same and I really enjoyed all the food and drink.  I’ve now got 2 weeks of being good before my Mother’s 90^th birthday weekend though I will be in charge and all the food will come out of the Weight Watchers recipes books.

Week 18

Day 1 – this is not a good start! All 9 people came onto the boat and I cooked chilli – that wasn’t the problem it was the wine and the trifle the killed it!!

Day 2 – out for lunch and dinner today. Sandwich, pizza and wine - not good!

Day 3 – out for lunch and dinner again – bacon sandwich for breakfast on the boat, sandwich for lunch and Greek food with more wine for dinner :-(

Day 4 – cooked breakfast in the hotel this morning, sandwich for lunch and, I’m afraid to say, we were out for dinner again though I only had 1 gin and tonic.

Day 5 – back on the straight and narrow today but I’m sure the last four days will show on weigh day :-(

Day 7 – I’ve only put on 1lb which I am surprised about! The problem is that the hen night is coming up on Saturday along with a dinner in London on Sunday so I doubt if I will lose anything next week either.
 

Week 17

Day 3 – we went to Southport today and took a picnic as I really wanted to have a cream tea! In fact we had an ice-cream AND a cream tea! I really enjoyed both of them!

Day 4 – an ice-cream again today but I was very good and only had one scoop!

Day 7 – being good has paid off as I have lost 3lbs! I have now lost just over 2½ stone (36 pounds) and am half-way to my goal of 5 stone. The wedding is in 7 weeks and I have 6 pounds to lose but there is a lot of socialising in the coming weeks so it might be a struggle. Socialising starts now as we are on our way to Liverpool for 5 days and it’s going to be hard as we will be a party of 9 people.
 

Week 16

Day 1 – We were in Lancaster today and had lunch out – it was only a sandwich but that was followed by a blow-out Chinese meal in the evening plus wine. Is there any hope for me?

Day 2 – We were joined this evening by my cousin who is staying for the weekend. To be on the safe side I cooked a chicken chasseur for tonight and a chilli for tomorrow. We did, however, have a bottle of sparkling wine between us.

Day 3 – Sue treated us to lunch out. We had just done 6 very hard locks and were exhausted and hungry. We all had a pork roll with a small portion of chips which I certainly didn’t find in the Pro Points calculator!

Day 6 – Blackpool today! We had lunch before we went out but you can’t go to the seaside and not have an ice-cream can you?? As it was Blackpool we also had to have fish and chips! We chose Harry Ramsdens and had an excellent meal. Not sure what it has done to my weight as its weigh day tomorrow!

Day 7 – 2lbs wow! I don’t deserve it really. I have no excuse for not being good in the coming week so I hope I can give a good report next week.

Week 15

Day 2 – Another BBQ and again we had low fat sausages and chicken kebabs though there were also beefburgers and ordinary sausages on offer. However I did drink quite a bit of wine after my two gins :-)

Day 3 – Out for a 40^th wedding anniversary lunch with my son’s future in-laws. I drove so only had a glass of bubbly for the toast. I don’t think I did too badly with the food and I didn’t eat again all day!

Day 5 – Back to the boat today. It was quite late by the time we had unpacked so we went out for a meal to the local pub. I probably overdid it but it was good!

Day 6 – Out for the day but I took a salad for my lunch and then devoured two scoops of Lake District ice cream – oh dear :-)

Day 7 – Well I stayed the same this week which isn’t surprising but still disappointing. I will have to try harder this week but we do have visitors this weekend.

Week 14

Day 3 – We are now at home for a week and I hope I can keep the regime up. I know I won’t be doing as much exercise but I will just have to be good.

Day 5 – We had a BBQ tonight and as everyone present is trying to lose weight for the wedding we had low fat sausages and lovely chicken kebabs which we made ourselves. We didn’t miss all the other meats that we would usually have cooked.

Day 6 – I spent the day sorting out my wardrobe and took 3 bags of too large clothes to the charity shop and I bag to the clothes bank. My wardrobe is looking very empty now!

Day 7 – 3 lbs! Once again I’m really pleased. This coming weekend is going to be hard though :-)

Week 13

Day 2 – I’ve been having real pizza longings :-( Today we went to the Trafford Centre in Manchester as we were passing. I didn’t want to buy anything but it was lunchtime so we had a Pizza Hut buffet. I’ve just tried to work out the points and it seems to be about 36 (I only get 32 a day now!). The sad part is that what I was really looking forward to was the crispy base of the pizza but it wasn’t that crispy – so I do feel a bit cheated.

Day 5 – I don’t feel as if I’ve had a good week. Yesterday I had a large ice cream and I’ve had another one today! I’ve also not been doing too well with my activity points. I’m not looking forward to weigh day.

Day 6 – I was able to walk for a mile early this morning though the towpath was pretty wet and muddy in places. Lucy phoned me at lunchtime as it is her weigh in day and she has lost 5lbs! She also lost 5lbs last week – I wish I knew how she does it!

Day 7 – 1lb! We went out for a meal last night and had three courses including breaded garlic mushrooms and ice cream. I feel that I don’t deserve to have lost anything this week. I have now lost 2 stone and had to throw away 7 pairs of trousers! My first goal was 1½ stone before September 4^th and 2 stone before my son’s wedding in mid November. I am now exceeding my expectations and not suffering for it! The big question is can I lose a stone before the wedding? I’m going to have a damn good try!!
 

Week 12

Day 1 – Right back on the straight and narrow now. No more visitors and no more holiday time!

Day 2 – The last of the trousers I brought with us have come out today and my Bon Marche size 20 jeans will be consigned to the clothes bin at some stage. Strangely enough I am now in M & S size 20 and Cotton Traders size 22. I felt very down today, I keep getting bouts of homesickness – I haven’t been home for 9 weeks now and still have another 2½ weeks before we head south again. Thank goodness for Richard though, he tries to boost me up – it doesn’t always work – but he does keep me from hitting the biscuit tin!

Day 3 – I spent a lot of time today downloading and printing off new WW recipes. I’m looking forward to trying some of them out. Richard has been asking for roasted vegetables so I had a go using cooking spray and it was a great success :-)

Day 5 – Having been so good so far this week, today I sinned – big time! We had had a tiring morning doing locks when we came across an old mill which has been converted into a themed shopping attraction and boasted a restaurant. The menu was pretty pathetic and I ended up having a chicken goujon wrap and chips though I didn’t eat all the chips. That would probably have been OK but then we stopped at a well known ice cream parlour. They had 40 different varieties to choose from and I managed to narrow it down to 3 L I have to admit that the ice cream was superb but I just hate to think how many points! Still I hadn’t touched my weekly points this week.

Day 7 – 4 lbs! I am amazed and so pleased. 1lb off a 2 stone loss now and I’m under 17 stone. For the last couple of days we have had lots of locks to do and yesterday I amassed 10 Activity Points. Just to let you know that Lucy is still doing well, though she did have a slight hiccup, but she has now lost 3 stone :-)
 

Week 11

Day 2 – Went out for a meal tonight and I’m afraid I went for it! Three courses plus chips though I actually couldn’t eat them all. I didn’t have wine though.

Day 3 – Holiday time is hard but I am being good. We are taking a picnic lunch out with us each day. I started with a WW sandwich but discovered that one piece of bread is 1 point but 2 pieces are 3 points!!! I’m now taking a plain salad, French Fries and some fruit. I do have an ice cream every afternoon though.

Day 5 - Another meal out but again no wine. I had three courses with some chips.

Day 6 – 3 pairs of cropped trousers were put into a clothes bin today – that’s 5 pairs in total now.

Day 7 – 1lb - I would have been quite happy to have stayed the same but we have done a lot of walking through the week (46 activity points), it just goes to show how good exercise is.
 

Week 10

Day 2 – Doing well though had a little bit of chocolate and some Maltesers as we played Scrabble.  Not drinking more than my one G & T each evening though.

Day 3 – Oh dear we went for a Thai meal with Penny and Jim and I drank far too much – I just hate the think what the points totalled up to!  However I really enjoyed the evening, the food and the wine so what the hell!  If I haven’t lost any weight this week I don’t mind though Week 11 is going to be hard too as we are “on holiday”.  I have set myself a target of losing 2 stone before we go home on September 4^th but that is not seeming very likely now.  My original target was 1½ stone in that time so I must be happy that anything over that is really an added bonus.

Day 7 – 2lbs!  I am really amazed though the Gargrave and Bank Newton locks on Sunday were really hard work so maybe that worked off some of Saturday night’s naughties!  We are now on holiday so let’s see how it goes.

Week 9

Day 1 – Right I need to get back on track after a week without a weight loss. I can do this – I know I can.

Day 5 & 6 – We spent two days in Leeds and not far from a Pizza Express but I was so good and, even though Richard said we could go, I said no I would leave a meal out until Penny and Jim were with us. I did have a naughty Dime Bar shake though but I also earned 10 activity points on the same day!

Day 7 – 2lbs this week which I am really pleased about. We now have Penny and Jim with us so I need to be self-disciplined and not go mad. I am going to cook WW dinners for them and no doubt go out one night. What I did discover is that sparkling wine (my favourite) is lower in points than ordinary white wine :-)

Week 8

Day 2 – I feel a bit low today and could well do without having to cook a meal tonight – oh how I would love a takeaway but, as it happens, we are not near enough to the town to buy a takeaway and get it back to the boat hot! I’m going to do Creamy Mushrooms instead which is a new recipe and I don’t think it’s too hard.

Day 3 – We went out for a Thai meal tonight. I wasn’t worried about the points in the food but the points in what the food was cooked in! Oh dear – I had a crispy banana for pudding, that can’t have been good for me.

Day 4 – It’s been a struggle today. I’ve been hungry and de-motivated. I could so easily give up – thank goodness I have gone public on my canal blog! We had lunch out in York – deep fried shared platter between us.

Days 5 & 6 – We are in York and have eaten lunch out both days – and had an ice cream each day. I am dreading weigh day tomorrow.

Day 7 –No weight loss this week but at least I didn’t put anything on. Of course I am disappointed that I haven’t lost anything but I guess I can’t do what I did and still lose weight!

Week 7

Day 2 – Richard went home today until Monday and I’m rather concerned that I might err! I have decided to have salads while he is away so walked up to Tesco to stock up. I also bought a small bar of chocolate and ate half of it during the evening as I didn’t have any potatoes – same amount of points! I’ll eat the other half tomorrow.

Day 4 – My friend Carol said that she would come round and keep me company tonight and bring a bottle of wine. She drinks red so I didn’t join her in that but managed to get a bottle of Banrock Station light wine and I had 2 glasses of that. It’s rather sweet but it was nice to be sociable.

Day 5 – Carol invited me round for a Sunday roast and I was rather worried but no problems! I didn’t have any lunch as the roast was scheduled for 3pm. She dished up a traditional Yorkshire roast with the veg and Yorkshire pudding covered in gravy and the meat on a separate dish. I ate most of my veg and the Yorkshire and a couple of pieces of beef. Carol had done new potatoes and not roast so I wasn’t too bothered about not eating them. During the evening I had jelly and strawberries with 18% cream and didn’t go over my points all day.

Day 7 – 3lbs this week! I’m not sure how I did it but I guess the salads probably helped and I managed to clock up 26 activity points too.

Week 6

Day 1 – After my 3lb weight loss I felt really good and when Richard suggested that we went out for dinner I decided to really enjoy it and had three courses with wine! I just hope that it doesn’t tell on weigh day! However I really enjoyed the food and savoured every morsel.

Day 2 – I was determined to walk off those calories from last night and jumped off the boat twice at bridges onto the towpath to do some walking. I was a bit disappointed to see that the sum total of miles was only 1.5 – I had hoped for at least 2 miles.

Day 5 – I am convinced that I won’t lose any weight this week – no idea why but I’m going to stick at it.

Day 7 – I have lost 2lbs this week :-) I reckon the walking has helped - must keep it up.

Week 5

Day 1 - This morning when I weighed myself I had only lost 1lb and am really disappointed. To add insult to injury Richard has lost 2lbs without even trying!!

So here I am writing this blog and trying to make myself feel better. I emailed Lucy and told her that I had only lost 1lb, she replied “and you still lost 1lb. How is that not good??? Would you have lost that pound if you hadn't decided to start WW” She is right and I must look forward and not give in to the little person in my brain who is saying one chocolate bar won’t hurt! I don’t need a chocolate bar or anything like that – I’ve got lots of WW biscuits on board and can always have one of those if it gets too bad.

Day 4 – Since I had my little rant I have been better and found it easier. Also we are now back on the canals and it much more interesting than the rivers. I am finding that I am using nearly all my points in the day but haven’t strayed over. I have a WW pedometer and since we have been on the canals I have tried to walk at least a mile each day.

I’ve decided to publish this after I have weighed in in future so I am happy to announce that this week I have lost 3lbs which I am thrilled about.

Weeks 1 to 4

Today is Wednesday 27th June and I’ve been following Weight Watchers for 4 weeks now and I’ve lost 10lbs. OK you may say that’s an average of 2.5lbs a week but today I can’t see it like that as last week I only lost 1lb and I’m pretty fed up about it which is why I’ve decided to write a blog so that I can look back at the weeks of the new regime. So let me go back to the beginning.

I have always been a yoyo dieter – mostly up rather than down - but have put weight on steadily over the past 8 years or so and not done anything about it. My son is getting married in November and as Mother of the Bride Groom I really don’t want to be as large as I am now – I really can’t go into a shop and look for an outfit on the size 22 rail. Size 20 didn’t seem too bad but this year it’s been 22 and it’s got to stop.

Someone I know very well and wishes to remain anonymous, I will call her Lucy, who started on Weight Watchers at the end of March and has lost 2 stone. She looks really good and you can see where the 2 stone has gone, if you know what I mean! She kept telling me how easy Weight Watchers is and that it’s a way of life not a diet.

Now a bit more about me and my life. I separated from my then husband in 1990 and as my two children were young I put my life on hold until they were older. Robert is now 31 and Victoria is 28 and they are the most wonderful children I could ever have asked for. When Robert got to about 16 I decided to reboot my life. I had had a few relationships but nothing serious and, in fact, most of them were really horrid to me in one way or another. In 2009 I met my now husband, Richard, and he fell in love with me for the person I am which was the most wonderful feeling though I struggled (in fact still do struggle) with that. We got married in May this year – a wonderful and memorable occasion. We have a great life – Richard retired in May 2010 when he was 60 and we then took off on our canal boat, Mary H, to cruise the canals of England and Wales. We now spend about 5 months of the year on Mary H and the rest of the time at home in Hampshire.

When Robert announced in May last year that he was going to ask his girlfriend, Laura, to marry him I knew that I was going to have to do something about my weight but, of course, I didn’t. When Lucy started on Weight Watchers and did so well I decided that I would give it a go but I wouldn’t start until the middle of June when we set off on our summer cruise. We had our wedding, then a family party to contend with. However on May 30th I was looking on the WW website and noticed that they had got a special offer on which expired on June 4th so I went for it! I started straight away and lost 6lbs in the first week (I had put on 6lbs on our Italian honeymoon!!)


Week 1

This week was easy. We seemed to live on salads with low point foods for dinner. I allow myself 150g of potatoes most evenings as Richard wants them - as long as I factor them into my daily points they are fine. I’ve been weighing my breakfast cereal each morning and been amazed at how little 50g is but in fact I don’t need any more and can go all morning on that. Lunch is usually a wrap with a slice of cold meat and salad with a packet of Walkers French Fries – I’ve got Richard eating that too. The weekend was the Diamond Jubilee weekend but I was determined to stick with WW. We had friends round for a BBQ on Saturday and I was very careful about what I had, 1 sausage and 1 spare rib. I made rhubarb tiramisu for pudding from the WW site and everyone thought it was really nice. Monday we went to the local Jubilee celebrations and I had one drink and a hog roast roll. Tuesday we went to a BBQ and again I was good – no nibbles and I opted to drive so only had one glass of wine.


Week 2

When I weighed myself today I had lost 6lbs and was really pleased.

This was a hard week as we went to Devon for a family party. My sister and brother-in-law were celebrating their Ruby wedding anniversary and my mother will be 90 in October so my sister had arranged a big family party. I was in charge of making cakes - I ask you what a rotten thing to have to do when on WW! I stuck to the regime for Thursday and Friday but I let myself go over the weekend but still being relatively careful and went back to the regime on Monday though I did have a large whippy ice cream when we were out in Dartmouth.


Week 3

I wouldn’t have been surprised if I had put on a couple of pounds last week but, in fact, I had lost 1lb!

This week saw us going up to Mary H to start our summer cruise. I thought that this was going to be easy from now on! On our drive up north we would usually have stopped at a Burger King for lunch but decided to be good and have an M & S salad each. When I checked on the points that evening the salad had had 14 points in it - I could have had a burger and fries for that! On the Saturday we went to see my cousin and had a BBQ – we were staying the night and I’m afraid that I did have a few glasses of wine. Tuesday we had lunch and dinner out! Lunch was a very boring salad – why can’t restaurants make salads more interesting? Dinner was at a Harvester and I had a steak with mushrooms and 2 lots of salad – only choosing the free point items! Richard and I shared a lovely chocolate dessert. Before we went away Lucy gave me two WW recipe books and a copy of the magazine and I’ve been busy cooking meals from those and really enjoying both the cooking and the eating!


Week 4

This morning I had lost 2lbs which I was very pleased about.

I was back on the straight and narrow until we went to Skegness on Saturday. I have never seen so many fish and chip shops in my life and when we looked for somewhere healthy to eat we couldn’t find anywhere so settled for fish and chips. I took the batter off my fish and was left with a rather pathetic half cooked piece of haddock which I ate with half of the portion of chips. We also had an ice cream. Monday we ate out and I had a steak and mushrooms which I’m sure were cooked in butter! I also had a very boring salad with it. Tuesday was a very hard day. I felt very low all day and just wanted to eat – we always have lots of fruit on board but that wasn’t enough. We were moored by a café that sold Walls ice cream and I couldn’t resist one – Richard chose a Magnum which I :-( I had a couple of WW biscuits with my afternoon tea but still wanted more but didn’t give in - I had plenty of weekly and activity points left but I was determined not to use them. I cooked a lovely trout risotto for dinner but still felt hungry and polished off more fruit.