Another Wednesday

And it's weigh in day again ...

It's not entirely surprising, if you read the last 7 days food diaries, that I haven't lost anything this week.

On the up side, I haven't gained either!


(The boring bit)
Percentage of starting weight lost this week - 0.0%
Total of starting weight now lost - 3.0%
And of target weight loss - 9.8%

Current weight is 111.8kg ... which is 17st 8, or 246lbs

Days 22 to 25 - I must blog more often, I must blog more often ...

Day 22 started well ... started that is ... the end wasn't so good *blushes*

The rest of the week - well, the second shake disappeared, but only because I had some very nice bread, ham, and some cut&come again salad leaves to enjoy.  And I seemed to develop a sweet tooth for a few evenings.

Day 22
Breakfast -   MR Shake
Morning Snack -   
Lunch -   MR Shake
Afternoon Snack -   40g salted pretzels, go ahead choc orange thins
Tea -   
Evening snack - 14 choc fingers (half pack), 2 mini choc filled croissants, handful mini choc chip weetabix as snack, 1 dairylea strip cheese


Day 23
Breakfast -   MR Shake
Morning Snack -   50g dried fruit mix
Lunch -   2 slices Danish loaf, 1 slice leerdammer, 2 slices ham, salad leaves
Afternoon Snack -   
Tea -  2 fishcakes, potato scallops, baked beans.  Glass of dandelion & burdock.  Vanilla cheesecake topped with pomegranate seeds 
Evening snack -


Day 24
Breakfast -   MR Shake
Morning Snack -   
Lunch -   2 slices Danish loaf, 1 slice leerdammer, 2 slices ham, salad leaves
Afternoon Snack -   
Tea -   mashed potato, baked beans, corned beef, grated cheese, salad leaves.  Glass fresh apple & elderflower juice. 2 Kipling Viennese whirls
Evening snack - half a dozen cream-filled biscuits


Day 25
Breakfast -   MR Shake
Morning Snack -   
Lunch -   2 slices Danish loaf, 1 slice leerdammer, 2 slices ham, salad leaves
Afternoon Snack -   
Tea -   3 slices takeaway pizza, half a small portion chips with cheese, half a can diet coke
Evening snack - 2 breakfast biscuits (half a pack).  Half a can diet coke

Days 19, 20 and ... ummm ... yeah, well ... 21

Days 19 and 20 were bad health days.  I slept through both lunchtimes, and ended up ordering in for tea both nights because I couldn't cook (but didn't enjoy the food, hence half servings) - which explains, but doesn't excuse, the lack of good intake.  Of course, that then affected yesterday, Day 21, where hunger, stress and foul weather combined to make it a stuff-my-face day  *sighs*  back to the drawing board.


Day 19
Breakfast -  MR Shake
Morning Snack -   
Lunch -   
Afternoon Snack -  Go Ahead Choc Orange Thins 
Tea -  Half a bacon cheeseburger, portion of fries
Evening snack -


Day 20
Breakfast -  MR Shake
Morning Snack -   
Lunch -   
Afternoon Snack -   
Tea -  Half portion HM pasta with meatballs and tom sauce.  HM ice cream strawberry milkshake.
Evening snack -


Day 21
Breakfast -  MR Shake
Morning Snack -   
Lunch -  2 slices of bloomer loaf with 2 slices smoked ham and 2 slices Leerdammer cheese.  400g can of Ambrosia Rice Pudding with sultanas and nutmeg. 
Afternoon Snack - Flapjack  
Tea - 2 slices bloomer loaf with 2 slices smoked ham and philadelphia cheese 
Evening snack - remains of yesterdays tomato pasta.  Muller corner yogurt.  Flapjack.  Half can Coke.

Weigh in Wednesday

So, it's the day I stand on the scales in my PJs.  The result isn't as spectacular as last week, but I knew that the first week or so on meal replacement shakes is big weight loss, then it levels.

This weeks result is ...

Another 2lb lost!

Woohoo!

And when I look at what I've eaten this week, it's not been that healthy, and I've done very little exercise or got out the house much even, so I reckon it's reasonably respectable.

My aim now is to improve my meal content, more veg and fruit, less carbs and processed stuff.  Exercise is going to have to be as and when I'm able, so I can't rely on that.


On the exercise front, I've been using the pedometer I mentioned for a little while now.  All the guides say to aim for 10,000 steps a day.  On house days, I'm lucky to hit 1000-1500, but yesterday, when I had to go out on a longer journey (see my main blog post, Frightening Fibro Fog), I amassed almost 3000 on top of that (final reading 4316) ... I'm paying for it today, and couldn't do it again for a while, but at least I now know my limits.


(The boring bit)
Percentage of starting weight lost this week - 0.8%
Total of starting weight now lost - 3.0%
And of target weight loss - 9.8%

New weight is 111.8kg ... which is 17st 8, or 246lbs

Days 16-18

I didn't realise I hadn't posted these yet, so, here goes.

Day 16 (Sunday) was another BBQ trial day - this time a recipe I've been wanting to try out for over a quarter of a century.  Yep, that's right.  Way back in the stone age, otherwise known as the 1980s, barbequeing was just getting started here in the UK, and that venerable institution of children's programming, the BBCs Blue Peter, did a piece about it in their cooking section.  I still remember it now - take a banana, still in its skin, cut a deep slit in it, stuff said slit with chocolate buttons, wrap in foil, chuck on barbie.  We happened to have some mini fudge pieces as well, so they went in, and just enough ice cream in the freezer for a smallish scoop each ... very nice it all was too.

Day 18 was a little heavy on the evening meal, but I saw the chicken, yorkies, and dessert, reduced earlier that day, and I made the cardinal mistake of shopping when hungry, so into the basket they went.


Day 16
Breakfast -  MR Shake
Morning Snack -   
Lunch -  MR Shake 
Afternoon Snack -   
Tea - 2 small fishcakes, half a dozen potato shapes, 2 sml spoons baked beans.  Glass of dandelion & burdock.  BBQ ChocFudge Banana with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.   
Evening snack - 


Day 17
Breakfast -  MR Shake
Morning Snack -  mini chocolate croissant 
Lunch -  MR Shake 
Afternoon Snack -   
Tea -  6" square piece of thin crust home made ham pizza, two small hotdogs. 1.5 glasses of apple juice.  
Evening snack - individual bakewell tart.



Day 18
Breakfast -  MR Shake
Morning Snack -   
Lunch -  MR Shake 
Afternoon Snack -   
Tea - Roast chicken breast with stuffing, mashed potato, 2 small yorkshire puddings, peas, carrots, gravy.  Glass D&B.  Small pot After Eight chocolate pudding   
Evening snack - remains of roast chicken (4-5 small slices) and a mini chocolate croissant.

Days 14 and 15 ... 2 weeks in

I'm making a concerted effort to get back to 2 shakes a day, though yet again, I've had a day of agonising stomach pains ... I'm beginning to think it's the rhubarb rather than the milk, as I only seem to get it when I have that flavour with any regularity, and this time I'd also had the crumble previously - which is a shame as it's my favourite, but 'thems the breaks'.

It's very rare we have ice cream from the van, but we were just making it home after a very long docs trip as it pulled up outside our house, it was Friday, and I thought the kids deserved a treat.  I did forgo the super-sugary syrup - yay me! *lol*

I watched a film with the kids yesterday, which is traditionally when we open a packet of biscuits ... I left the chocolate ones to them, but my willpower wasn't good enough to not eat any at all.  *sigh*

The s'mores were a bit of an adaptation ... I've never seen Graham Crackers over here, but I did have some chocolate topped rich tea biscuits, some marshmallows coming up on date, and wanted an excuse to try lighting a bbq for my first time ever.  They were nice, very moreish ... good job I only had the one, along with another three toasted marshmallows.


Day 14
Breakfast -  MR Shake
Morning Snack -  Go Ahead Chocolate Orange Thins 
Lunch -  MR Shake 
Afternoon Snack -  Ice cream cone with flake (from van)
Tea -   Mashed potato, 1.5 thin slices of corned beef, handful grated cheese.
Evening snack - 


Day 15
Breakfast -  MR Shake
Morning Snack -   
Lunch -  MR Shake
Afternoon Snack -   half dozen plain biscuits
Tea -   Mashed potato, chargrilled chicken, baked beans, handful grated cheese.
Evening snack - S'mores and toasted marshmallows

Days 12 and 13

On Wednesday (day 12) I got taken out to lunch by my dad.  The all day breakfast was actually the lightest thing on the menu - everything else was very carb or sauce heavy, hence the (very nice, albeit not great for the diet) meal.  It also meant that at teatime, I wasn't hungry, hence the slightly large snack in the evening (another leftovers use-up).

Yesterday was a leftovers and short date day - the fish pie was the end of the delivery we had a few days back, and the rhubarb was on its last legs.

Plus side - I'm not snacking so much ... and yesterday I was told that I looked like I was losing weight, so it's noticeable to others, if not to me, already  :D  Time for a concerted effort to get back to 2 shakes a day, methinks.

And, the pedometer arrived yesterday - I have it on now - will see what results it shows up.


Day 12
Breakfast -  MR Shake
Morning Snack -   
Lunch -  2 fried eggs, 2 sausages, 1 rasher bacon, small serving baked beans, small servings chips.  Large glass pepsi. 
Afternoon Snack -   
Tea -  Pack of Nutrigrain Breakfast Biscuits, a small pot of low fat apricot yogurt.  small carton of apple, strawberry and cranberry juice. 
Evening snack - 2 sausages, small portion mashed potato, small portion baked beans


Day 13
Breakfast -  MR Shake
Morning Snack -   
Lunch -  Fish pie - Cod and salmon in parsley sauce under mashed potato.  Banana 
Afternoon Snack -   500ml lemon water
Tea -   Rhubarb crumble with single scoop of vanilla ice cream
Evening snack - remains of rhubarb crumble

My children keep stealing my healthy snacks!

I'm not sure if it's good or bad.

On the plus side, it means they're eating better ... and they do seem to want to join in with my health kick thing, even to the point where, as I said the other day, they're using the Wii Fit more than me so far.

On the downside - it's three bottomless pits against one attempting-to-be nibbler, so the week or two supply I buy for myself is gone in a matter of days.

Like Old Mother Hubbard, my cupboard is regularly bare.



As an aside, it's a good job that right now, most of my nibbles are coming from a UK online seller called Approved Food, so it's pretty darned cheap.

If you're in the UK, take a look - they're a short date/end of line/rebrands/factory seconds seller ... it's primarily food and drink, but they have some household goods, cleaning materials and even giftware too.  It's a bit of a pot luck, in that their stock is reliant on what is around at the time, but you do tend to see the same brands/types turning up reasonably regularly, both healthy and not-so  (look out for the Fabulous Bakin Boys lucky dip boxes ... imperfects, where cupcake icing is lopsided, or the muffins maybe didn't get enough choc chips, or factory trials of new recipes).

It's Working!!!

Start of day 12, and I thought to myself, maybe I should check my weight.  With all the glitches the past few days, and the distinct lack of exercise (only made it out of the house once since all this started, and only had that one very short Wii Fit session), I really didn't expect to see much of any change.

Imagine my surprise then when I stood on the scale and looked down.  I had to get off, check the scale and get back on again before I could believe it.  5.5lb!  I've lost, since I weighed myself last, one week ago, 5.5lb!

That's almost 2.2% of my starting weight.  And 7.2% of my target weight loss!

Woohoo!

So, my new weight is 112.5kg ... which is 17st 10, or 248lbs

Day 11 ... mmm, bacon ...

Lunch was leftovers, and we know now what I'm like with leftovers *sigh*  But, it was barely a half child portion ... probably 12 pieces of pasta if that.  Tea was, well, it was ordered in, but this takeaway isn't your normal deep fried everything place, they do loads of gorgeous traditional home cooking.  My only problem with them is that because it is so nice, you often find yourself eating the whole thing, which is a very generous portion.  This particular chicken breast is the largest I've ever had, larger than when ordering this meal from anywhere else, and it had more bacon than before too ... so much, that I almost left some.  I comfort myself with the fact that there were only about 5 (large) wedges, so it was a low carb meal if nothing else.  And I didn't snack in the day.


Breakfast -  MR Shake
Morning Snack -   
Lunch -  Cheese Tortellini with cheese sauce.  banana
Afternoon Snack -   
Tea -  Hunters Chicken with potato wedges.  Can diet Citrus Coke
Evening snack - half a pack (approx 10-15g) Fruit Bowl yogurt coated strawberry flakes

Days 9 and 10

These were glitch days.  Days where I didn't want to think about making food, where all I was really able to do was 'slug'.  (see my main blog for health explanations)


Day 9 started out well.  I realised that because of the shakes, I wasn't drinking as much water as before, which might explain my stomach issues the other day, so I started out with a sports bottle of water.  It worked, I felt a bit 'lighter' as the morning progressed, and so it was part of the reason this was the day the Wii Fit got started.  I haven't been back to it though sadly.

Day 10 was dead before it started.  The very moderate 10 minutes of exercise I did on the Wii the day before, along with some unexpected walking that morning, really didn't help, it seems.  If I'm in a flare, which by this point I was, one of the things that suffers is that I physically can't make proper food.  This is when the snacks, the cake, and anything else with a quick boost, start getting over-used.  My one good spot for yesterday though, was that whilst I ordered takeaway for the kids for tea, I didn't have any myself.


Day 9
Pre-breakfast - 350ml water
Breakfast -  MR Shake
Morning Snack -  A sweet Graze punnet
Lunch -  MR Shake
Afternoon Snack -  
Tea -  Toasted cheese bagel, with Philadelphia cheese and smoked ham.  Slice of Lemon Drizzle cake
Evening snack - Go ahead Strawberry crispy bar.  Glass Apple Juice


Day 10
Breakfast -  MR Shake
Morning Snack -  Approx 50g mixed fruit and nuts
Lunch -  Chicken Supreme with rice (microwave meal)
Afternoon Snack -  Way too much cake and biscuits - a wagon wheel, probably about 10 Fingerella slices, and 3 Gingernut slices
Tea -  
Evening snack - 2 slices Danish bread, 3 thin slices smoked ham, 2 slices Leerdammer cheese.  Glass squash

Wii fit ... or Wii-ll I keep up?

About two Christmases ago, I bought myself Wii Fit Plus with a balance board.  It's sat gathering dust ever since, due to a combination of health, motivation, and trying to keep the living room floor clear of kids detritus.

Yesterday, the planets aligned, so to speak, and so we stuck some batteries in it, sync'd it up, and had a go.  I have to say, even standing still on the board for the initial centre of gravity tests and weighing and measuring did get to my legs, so I didn't do quite as much activity as I'd intended, but I still had a go.  The hipshake game where you have to, as my 10 year old puts is, add up with your bum, was good, and I almost matched my football mad 8 year olds football heading score, before I had to collapse again.  My legs are aching this morning, but I'm looking forward to giving them another try later today if I can (see my main blog for details of my health issues for more insight).

The kids, younger two at least, were already on the board before breakfast this morning, so the bug has really caught them, which is promising.  Hopefully we can do this as a family ... though my youngests' competitive streak may get a bit much for me *chuckles*

My tech mad 10 year old though, has also been investigating what else he can do with the board, and noticed the new(ish) Wii Fit U software, which has a kind of pedometer add on, so that you can record your activity away from the board too.  Sounds good, but as it's currently out of our price range right now, I went onto Amazon instead and bought us all regular pedometers.  It'll be interesting to see what our step counts are ... I'm going to lay odds the youngest will have the highest, as he never stops moving.  The other two will be about even, and hopefully not too bad, whereas I'll be somewhere at the bottom.

Day 8 ... one week down

I caught sight of myself in the mirror this morning while getting dressed ... something I generally try not to do.  I was surprised to see that, whilst obviously weight isn't dropping visibly yet, my stomach didn't look quite as wobbly.  There was even a tiny bit of waistline indenting.  Most likely all from fluid loss, but still ... Yay me!

As to yesterday's diary ... Saturday breakfasts are the 'family' breakfast ... the first of the week where I can guarantee having time to sit with the kids, rather than be running around sorting out lunches, gym kits etc, and so they're a bit of a treat.  This week moreso, in that the kids made pain au chocolat from one of those twist and pop cans ... sure the calories were probably high, but they were very tasty, and sometimes you just do things for your kids.  Normally such things would be followed by cereal, which I didn't today, so there's one upside.

The snack was the remains of one of the kids breakfasts nibbled on rather than throwing away when I started the washing up.

And the homemade chocolate sauce at teatime is basically melted chocolate buttons ... probably the equivalent of about 10 solid ones.


Breakfast - A homemade Pain au Chocolat, glass of semi skimmed milk
Morning Snack - Glass of apple juice.  4 small spoons of Frosted Shreddies
Lunch - shake
Afternoon Snack - Glass of apple juice
Tea - Baked herby chicken with carrots and peas.  200-250ml vanilla icecream with 2 tsps homemade chocolate sauce and 3 wafer flutes.  Glass apple juice
Evening snack - 

Note, I didn't snack last night ... I thought about it, and stopped myself  :D

(check my What Was That Snack You Had? blog if you're not sure what some of the things I mention are)

Day 7 ... oops

So yesterday was going well until the evening ... after years of really having to budget hard to afford food, I have this innate inability to leave leftovers to go to waste ... and there was half a portion of homemade macaroni cheese sitting in the fridge on its last legs, no space in the freezer, and I was peckish.  I also have this strange inner trigger that says pasta with cheese should be followed by dessert (pasta with any other sauce I'm fine, just the cheese ones *shrugs*).  So ... that's my explanation for last night .. and suffice to say, I did try to fight it ... hopefully next time I'll win.

Breakfast - shake
Morning Snack - Go Ahead Chocolate Orange Thins
Lunch - shake
Afternoon Snack - one sweet Graze punnet
Tea - Fusilli pasta with homemade tomato sauce.  Glass of Blackcurrant Crush
Evening snack - Homemade Macaroni cheese.  Wagon Wheel biscuit


(check my What Was That Snack You Had? blog if you're not sure what some of the things I mention are)

What was that snack you had?

Having typed my first 6 days diary, I realised there will be some products etc not recognised by everyone ... especially those outside the UK ... so I'll add some info here.

The story so far is ...

Go Ahead Strawberry Crispy Slices

These come in individual serving packs, with three biscuits in each.  A slightly glazed pastry outer, with dried fruit inside.  The Go Ahead range is designed for the healthy eating/diet conscious.  Each slice apparently has 50 calories, so a pack is 150.

Graze punnets

Graze is a mail order snacks company - you tell them what kind of things you like from their very long list, and they ship out a box with four punnets in, at whatever schedule you wish.  They're maybe a little pricey if you look at it by weight value only, but the variety is worth it, especially as there's always a freebie introductory offer.  All the snacks are pretty healthy, being mainly dried fruits, nuts and crackers, with the occasional chocolate button or such ... think trail mix type foods.  I just weighed the two punnets I currently have unopened, and they come in at around 50g each, which I'd say is pretty average.

https://www.graze.com

(this picture isn't mine by the way - I found it through Google when I was trying to find something showing the scale/size of punnet - it came from here ... http://skinny-wish.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/graze-day-top-tip-get-your-first-graze.html ... a blog I may well start reading)


Go Ahead Chocolate Orange Thins

Like the Crispy Slices, but with a thin layer of milk chocolate on the top.  because of this, you only get two biscuits, not three, in a pack (73 calories per biscuit).  these are very moreish, but I'm already fighting my kids for them, so not much chance of me overdoing them  *chuckles*

Wagon Wheels 

Two biscuits, squished together with a layer of marshmallow, then totally coated in chocolate.  As the name suggest, they're big - about 3.5" in diameter - and a bit of a nostalgia trip if I'm honest.  

Frosted Shreddies

Like it says on the box  *chuckles*

Herby Chicken

Not a snack, but thought I'd mention it ... there's no nasties, all natural ingredients, and very tasty too.

Wafer Flutes

The brand and flavour changes depending on the local Pound Shop stocks, but this is what I mean when I mention them.

Fingerella Cakes

As the name suggests, they're about finger sized, and sadly very moreish.  They also come in fruit and chocolate chip varieties. 

Ginger Nut Slices

Gingernut biscuit base, bit like the bottom of a cheesecake, with a chocolate layer on top.

Fruit Bowl Yogurt Coated Fruit Flakes

Not quite flakes, more like small reformed lumps of fruit, about the size of small raisins.  If I'm honest, they're only one step away from confectionery, but nice all the same.

Nutrigrain Breakfast Biscuits

Very moreish ... crunchy, with a good strong chocolate flavour .. perfect for nibbling at on the move, or if you're a dunker, they'd go well with your morning tea/coffee.

Metcalfe's Skinny Topcorn - Chocolate Crackle

Fruit Nut and Seed mix

Sometimes I make my own mixes, sometimes I use pre-packed ... this is one of the prepacked ones.

The first 6 days ...

Day 1

There was a small glitch here ... I was childless and bored, and there was Easter chocolate still around, but on the whole, I don't think I did too bad.

Breakfast - shake
Morning Snack - 100g organic chocolate with butterscotch chips
Lunch - shake
Tea - jacket potato, cheese and ham, with a glass of ginger ale

Day 2

Breakfast - shake
Morning Snack -
Lunch - shake
Afternoon Snack - one savoury Graze punnet
Tea - an individual, ready made, Quorn Shepherd's Pie, with steamed peas


Day 3

Breakfast - shake
Morning Snack -
Lunch - shake
Afternoon Snack - one sweet Graze punnet
Tea - half a 10" pizza (cheese, tomato, ham and chicken), a generous slice of chocolate birthday cake, 330ml can of Fanta


Day 4

Breakfast - shake
Morning Snack -
Lunch - shake
Afternoon Snack - one sweet Graze punnet
Tea - Cod poached in milk, mashed potato, steamed peas, carrots, sweetcorn and green beans.  Glass of pure apple juice.
Evening snack - 40g of yogurt coated raisins, choc coated raisins and flaked toasted almonds


Day 5

Pre-Breakfast - Glass of weak squash
Breakfast - shake
Morning Snack - one savoury Graze punnet
Lunch - shake
Afternoon Snack -
Tea - Toad in the hole, mashed potato, mixed veg (peas, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower), gravy.  Glass of squash.


Day 6

Breakfast - 40g (recommended serving) of Bitesize Shredded Wheat with just enough semi skimmed milk to cover (eaten over an hour)
Morning Snack - Glass of Cranberry and Raspberry juice drink
Lunch - A wholemeal bap with two thin slices of Bavarian ham and two slices of Leerdammer cheese
Afternoon Snack - Glass of Cranberry and Raspberry juice drink.  Go Ahead Strawberry Thins bar
Tea - 6 breaded chicken nuggets, same of potato shapes, third of a tin baked beans, glass of Cranberry and Raspberry juice drink.  One and a quarter Chocolate chip cookies


So yes, day 6 was a no-shake day, but I'm not a big milk drinker, so all the extra milk this week set my stomach into rather nasty pains ... the one day of solid food does seem to have solved it though, I'm glad to report.  And I know it wasn't a healthy day, for tea at least, but I didn't have the energy to cook a proper meal, or two meals, so it was either another bap/cereal, or eat what the kids had (was a treat for them too).  The cookies were just my sweet tooth rebelling  *chuckles*

A Diary ...

This is ... well, it's going to be a warts and all progress tracker ... that way I can't hide.  If anyone's reading this, and thinking of following me on all the ups and downs ... welcome ... and I'd maybe suggest not having instant email notifications, as there may be a lot of one-liners going on.

I'm on day 7 of a meal replacement shake diet, with a few tweaks.  I'm unable to be physically active, so my losses won't be as fast or as amazing as other dieters out there, but hopefully this will be the start of a slow but sure reduction in my mass.

As a record ...
I'm 39 years old.
I'm 5'10.5"
I'm 18stone 1.5lb (253.5lbs, or 115kg, as of 2 days ago)
That puts my BMI at approximately 35 (according to the calculator here, which is the one I always use ...    http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/tools/bmi_calculator/bmi.shtml).

Now, I know BMI isn't an accurate measure ... I know, because my family really, truly, do have big bones in their genes - my 5'5(ish) great grandmother, in her 80s, was nothing but skin and bones, and yet still came up 'heavy', to the surprise of many a paramedic and carer who tried to lift her.  Most of my physical attributes come from her.  But, to get back on track, I'm going to use it as a guide, purely because it's a figure so many understand.

Working on BMI as the guide, the (approximate) ideal weight for my height is a maximum of 12stone9lbs (a BMI of 24.8, the largest still in the 'normal' range) ... that means I need to lose a third of my weight ... *looks down, shrugs*  yeah, I could agree with that.

Here goes nothing ...