Award

Slimming World Update – Week 67

30/10/2014 by MrsSavageAngel Leave a Comment

Hi there buddy – how are you?

I’m not too bad thanks. Bit of an up and down week, as per. Some great days, spent with great friends and playing with my boy, some stressful days and even some days feeling a bit pants (probably as a result of the stressful days – did you know high levels of stress raise the levels of hormones in your body and after extended periods of stress, if everything goes back to normal, it can take up to 6 months for your body to recover? No neither did I!) Had a couple of situations where I ate things I wouldn’t normally for reasons that really weren’t reasons at all. It’s been a while since I’ve felt obliged to eat anything so it was a bit of a weird one actually, but c’est la vie. Anyway meh, what’s done is done. 0.5lb on. Disappointing but still 6 stone 4lb off.

Despite that, last nights group was wonderful for several reasons. Firstly it was Halloween themed with spooky decorations and a spooktacular SW quiz. Who doesn’t love a quiz? Here’s my team busily checking out the syn value answers in their books! And all that diligence paid off, as we won! Go us!

Sara our consultant had an awesome witches hat on. I loved it so much I asked to borrow it – and she let me keep it. I’m going to two Halloween parties this weekend and had nothing to wear so this’ll come in very handy! Thank you Sara. As requested here is a pic, just for you!

Last night was also the nomination evening for Miss Slinky and Mr Sleek Award. Every year Slimming World run an in group award for those you think have embraced food optimising and made significant changes to their life because of it. I was nominated, along with several others in the group. It was so flattering to be nominated, but to be honest there isn’t one member who couldn’t have been. We have such a dedicated group and everyone deserves recognition for what they’ve overcome to reach the point where they decided to take the bull by the horns and, with SW’s help, change their lives. Everyone’s got their story and last night we were privileged enough to hear some of those. I was humbled time and again. So thank you. Everyone.

So looking forward, the coming week does actually pose a couple of challenges. Firstly I have the children’s Halloween party at my NCT buddy Kat’s house tomorrow. We had one for the children at ours in the first yerar of their lives, but didn’t bother last year. This year however we’re going have another crack at it. I’ve already made some chocolate pretzel pumpkins to take! I couldn’t even begin to syn them so I shan’t be having any (I’ll take some fruit for myself – had I thought about it more carefully I’d have made some actual pumpkin to take – but I got so swept up in the Pintrest of it all, you know how it goes!!)

Then I’ve got a Halloween themed fireworks party next door on Saturday. I’ve got a bit more time before that though, so I think I’ll go shopping on Saturday for a few bits to make some syn free, warming nibbles. So yeah not easy, but nothing I can’t come through smiling.

And I really want to be smiling next Wednesday, because you see I’ve set myself a sneaky little challenge. My good friend Helen is coming to visit next weekend. I haven’t seen her in nearly a year and she’s coming up for a proper girly weekend. We’re both massive Christmas fans, so I’ve got us tickets to the Spirit of Christmas Fair at Olympia. It’s going to be brilliant. But you see Helen’s one of my oldest friends, she’s known me since I was a teenager.

And I spent so long looking like this

I just want my oldest friends to replace the picture of me in their heads.

So what I really want for this week is to reach my 6.5 stone award by next week. Its 3lb away but I really, really want to reach it in time for her visit. It’s a big ask, in a week with two parties, but I just really want her to be proud of me. What do you reckon Hels? Can I do it?

I’ll let you know.

Have a super, spooky week people

Mmmwwaaahahahaaha

One Lovely Blog Award

17/10/2014 by MrsSavageAngel Leave a Comment

Guess what? I’ve only gone and been nominated as a One Lovely Blog! I know right?! How cool is that? I’ve seen others be nominated before and I’m so pleased to be included *blushes ever so slightly*. So what the dickens is it?

“The One Lovely Blog Award nominations are chosen by bloggers for newer or up-and-coming fellow bloggers. The goal is to help give recognition and to also help the new blogger reach more viewers. It also recognizes blogs that are considered to be “lovely” by the blogger who chose them. This award acknowledges bloggers who share their story or thoughts in a beautiful manner to connect with their viewers and followers. In order to “accept” the award the nominated blogger must follow several guidelines. These are:

Thank the person who nominated you for the award

Add the One Lovely Blog Award logo to your post and/or blog

Share 7 facts/or things about yourself

Nominate 15 bloggers you admire and inform nominees by commenting on their blog”

So without further ado, I hereby accept my One Lovely Blog award.

I’d like to say thank you so much to Chelsea over at Mom Outside the Norm for the nomination. It was completely unexpected and I was very touched, so THANK YOU CHELSEA!

Logo. Added. Boom! I’m on a roll here!

Oo the tricky bit. 7 facts about me. Hmm I did write a post a year ago with many interesting (hahahaha!) facts about me. So I guess I should think of some different ones. Hmmm let me see. OK how about this:

I really dislike my carrots being cut into rounds. I much prefer batons. I have no idea why this could possibly be the case!
I once bleached my dark brunette hair with an entire bottle of “Sun In” (pure peroxide bleach you probably can’t even buy any more). I loved it at the time. It then took two long years to grow it all out!
I don’t really like mice, but I frigging hate rats. Even your cute pet rat. I promise, holding it is not going to change my mind. I tried it. It didn’t work!
I had a Tamagotchi the first time round (’97). I called him Sydney and kept him alive for about 4 days. I killed the next one on purpose because he kept waking me up at night.
I once met Jamie Oliver on a flight to Dallas and we had a chat in the queue for Homeland Security. He was unbelievably sweet and asked why we were in the States and what we had planned. He was on his way to Albuquerque to film for Jamie’s America.
I’ve been to the top of Mount Sinai and have seen the dawn break over the desert. It so wasn’t worth it. Apart from the assent nearly killing me, the view was ruined by other people and a lack of respect. Although I guess at least I can say I did it.
I don’t read even a tiny bit as much as I used to. I have three books on the go. I have had since before I had Oscar. They are all factual and the titles are Hungry Monkey: A Food-Loving Father’s Quest to Raise an Adventurous Eater, Taste: The Story of Britain Through it’s Cooking and Freakonomics

There you go. Bet you didn’t know that!

And the final part, the 15 ‘lovely’ bloggers I admire and want to nominate. And they are (in no particular order):

The Pintrested Parent – Crafting, cooking & learning through inspiration with a side order of real life
Shannonagains – Californian in London, Mother to ‘Pumpkin’, writing about parenting
Story Time with John – Sharing the tales of his travels, trying to turn frowns upside down!
Story Shucker – a blog full of humorous and poignant observations
Losing 100lb Plus – struggles with being a mom and trying to lose weight
Mama and More – Life style and yoga through her eyes and more!
Infinity and IVF – One family’s journey through the IVF process
The Mother of All Autism Challenges – One mum’s quest to accept and adapt to caring for a child on the spectrum
The Girl in the Little Black Dress – 17 year old Natalie, eye for the detail in fashion and life way beyond her years
Ctl+Alt+Mum – Experiments in (Actual) Motherhood
The Plant Strong Vegan – Food, photography and life, the vegan way
Making Memories in the Chaos – A stay at home mum sharing life with her 3 bubbas
Small Time Mum – Blogging about motherhood; the madness and muddles it can bring
Misplaced Brit – Expat British Mama now living and raising her family in Sweden
Slimming World is the Answer – One girl’s journey to lose weight and start a family

Et voila! That’s a real mixture. Some obvious, some not so obvious, but all fab. I urge you to check them all out!

I’d would also like to thank the bloggers above for their time and energy. I know how hard it can be to keep dragging yourself to the PC, to keep writing, to keep sharing; but I’m so glad that you do. Thank you.

I can’t wait to see who you nominate!

Have a ‘lovely’ day

xxx

Slimming World Update – Week 54

01/08/2014 by MrsSavageAngel Leave a Comment

Yo!

What’s been happening this week people? Anything interesting?

I’ve been up to my eyeballs in paint, plaster and pieces of skirting board. The bedroom is finally plastered, painted and looking fab. We’ve still got to sort the floor and the wardrobes, but it’s already my new favourite room in the house. It’s so peaceful. And it’s mine. I didn’t realise how much it still felt like someone else’s home, until I walked into that room, freshly painted and felt ‘this is mine’. It was amazing! If you’re looking for a way to shake things up a bit in your life I highly recommend gutting and remodelling a room. I mean, it’s a pretty hardcore way of doing it, but it’s a really powerful way of bringing a freshness to your life.

10348439_754374977939274_3863516623835587866_n — I’m loving the green walls, the white woodwork and the wood of the original doors.

And I think that freshness rubbed off in my weight loss this week. It suddenly seemed so easy again, after being a bit of a slog for the past month or so. I ate some great meals and snacked on fruit. At no point did I feel deprived or unhappy or to be honest even that challenged. Suddenly I felt at peace with the process again. I can’t really explain it, but it was awesome. It was really useful to have that 2lb target in the forefront of my mind, particularly earlier in the week, and it made me realise I haven’t been setting such clear and realistic targets every week, which I used to. I think they really help me stay focussed. Well I assume they do, as last night I lost a whopping 6.5lb! Seriously. Yeah I know!! That has taken me back up to my 6 Stone and beyond. I’m not really sure how, but something just clicked again this week. I was so thrilled when I looked down at the scales. I was pretty sure I’d have a loss, but nothing could have prepared me for the biggest loss I’ve ever had in one week. So I have now lost 6 stone 4.5lb (88.5lb). It was a super night all round actually, because we also had a wonderful taster session, with some gorgeous delights and then found out our group is moving from our current location to the Shottermill Club. Closer to where I live. It literally couldn’t be any closer. Happy me.

As far as life as a loser goes, it’s been a mixed bag this week. I’ve noticed a couple of tiny but unexpected (although I have no idea why they’re unexpected!) downsides to losing large amounts of weight. In the past week I’ve noticed, that not only are my 35 years starting to show just that bit more prominently on my face (particularly round the corners of my mouth and across my forehead) but that I also, for the first time ever, have ‘bingo wings’! So the wrinkles, well yeah they were always going to catch up with me sooner or later. You can use all the cream in the world, but we’re ageing every day, there’s no getting away from that. I just never really saw them before, as I guess the fat under my skin was stretching them out! The bingo wings are a bit of a weird one really. You’d assume that I’ve always had flabby arms, but no. They were big, yes, but they were also fairly solid. Now they are suddenly much smaller, but not at all solid. One might even call them flappy. I only realised this week as I could feel them moving when I did. Such a peculiar sensation (to me). I assume some kind of toning exercises are in order, but which ones? Any tips? These aren’t really negatives, just things I hadn’t considered.

But then I’ve also had some wonderful things – which more than outweigh those above – happen this week. My buddy who lives in the states came to see us while she’s visiting. She hasn’t seen me in person since May 2013, just before I started SW and boy was she amazed by the difference. It’s really lovely when that happens. I also went out today, for the first time (that I consciously acknowledged anyway) wearing an entire outfit in a size 16. Jeans, t-shirt and even pants. I think I can properly say that’s the size I am now. And that feels tremendous. Five sizes down, who knows how many more?!

Yeah this one again. It's the last time I saw Lou. May 2013 — Yeah this one again. It’s the last time I saw Lou. May 2013

So as setting targets is clearly a good thing for me, when Sara asked if I could get my 6.5 Stone award by next week I rather rashly said “yes”. Hmm, what have I let myself in for? So this weeks target is 2.5lb, taking me to 6.5 Stone before my holibobs the week after. Eeeek!

Have a great week people

xxx

Slimming World Update – Week 53

25/07/2014 by MrsSavageAngel Leave a Comment

Alright?

What a week! What a crappy week. It’s been glorious weather, but I’ve had so many things go wrong and so many bits of bad news that, well, it’s just been crappy. Ever get that?

I guess it’s best not to dwell. The week’s nearly over and to be honest there have been some nice things in the week (like a fab trip to the Hen House and an invitation to a grown up lunch with a friend sans children!). It’s just been predominantly crappy, that’s all.

Which is why last night’s 0.5lb gain didn’t surprise me in the slightest. What else could it have been?

I’m not upset particularly. I know I could have done things better than I did this week. I was a bit sad though. I stayed to group last night and came out feeling OK, but like I wanted a bar of something (it’ll always be a bar of something with me, never a glass of something 😉 !) I haven’t done that, even on weigh in night, for bloody ages, but I phoned Ben and told him that’s what I was going to do. He said, if I was sure. So I went to the garage on my way home. I walked around saying to myself ‘you can have anything you like. Anything. Only not a massive bar, just a normal size bar. OK?’ So I kept looking and looking and then I saw the ice cream fridge and thought ‘oo maybe an ice cream?’ Then I remembered I had low syn (3.5) Funny Feet lollies in the freezer at home and just like that I left. Empty handed. I could have had anything I liked and I went with the express intention of buying ‘what I wanted’. Only something in me decided not to. And it was so easy too. It wasn’t a great big, stopping in my tracks battle, like I’ve had in the past. I just realised it wasn’t really want I wanted. So gain or no gain I ended up feeling pretty proud of myself last night. And I really enjoyed my Funny Foot!

Wall's Funny Feet. Ice Cream for 3.5 Syns! — Wall’s Funny Feet. Ice Cream for 3.5 Syns!

Looking ahead, I do sincerely want to get back to my 6 stone. I seem to take so much longer to get from one stone to the half, than from the half to the stone. Or at least it seems that way. Out of curiosity and to see if I was right, I took a look at the length of time its taken me to get all my awards. And do you know I was shocked. Each award seemed to take such a long time to receive and yes some took longer than others (my 4.5 and 5.5 stone ones for example) but none have taken ridiculously long to reach and some of the earlier ones no time at all!

Award	Date Received	Weeks taken to receive
1/2 Stone	6/8/13	3
1 Stone	27/8/13	3
11/2 Stone	10/9/13	2
2 Stone	1/10/13	3
21/2 Stone	22/10/13	3
3 Stone	19/11/13	4
31/2 Stone	3/12/13	2
4 Stone	23/12/13	3
41/2 Stone	20/2/14	8
5 Stone	18/3/14	4
51/2 Stone	20/5/14	9
6 Stone	26/6/14	5

I know it’s going to take longer the closer I get to the ‘end’, but in the last year I lost on average 1.75lb a week.

So (stern voice on) I need stop messing about. Just because I got my 6 stone award, doesn’t give me the right to get all billy big boots. Sort it out!

Right (resuming normal voice). This week I will lose 2lb and I want you to hold me accountable for that. Sara? Can you put that as a mini target in your notes please? I have bought tonnes of fruit this week and all stuff I love. Plums, Strawberries, Peaches, Satsumas, Cherries, Melon, Bananas, Jazz Apples and White flesh Nectarines. Nooooooooommmm! So snacking wont be a problem. I also need to remember to drink more water, particularly in this heat. Not for weight loss necessarily, but more for my health!! I’m terrible at remembering to drink – that’s what motherhood will do to you I guess!

Hope you have a great week (and hope mine is less crappy 😉 )!

Hugs

xxxxxx

Slimming World Update – Week 52 – One Year Special

18/07/2014 by MrsSavageAngel Leave a Comment

Hi there

I’ll start by telling you that at last night’s weigh in I lost 2.5lb which, despite not being all the weight I gained over the last two weeks, is a good enough start for me. It takes me back to 5 Stone 12.5lb.

But actually what I want to talk about today is not last night’s group, or even this weeks result.

You see this is a pretty special post for me, because last night’s weigh in marked the 1 year anniversary of my joining Slimming World and starting on this incredible journey I never believed I could make.

A year ago I was in a very different ‘place’. I weighed 6 stone more than I do now, had a very different relationship with food in general and my outlook on life was tired, sad and often on the negative side. I was so consumed with being a new mother and the associated challenges that come with that, that I’d almost ceased to exist as a person in my own right. I don’t think that’s wholly unusual in new mothers, but I was compensating for this lack of self worth by giving myself the one thing that I really didn’t need. High sugar, high fat food and lots of it. It’s sad to think I gained 2 stone after I had my son (and not, as someone assumed the other day, while I was pregnant), but I think I need to make it clear that I can’t blame my starting weight solely on motherhood. I have been obese my whole adult life. My weight’s fluctuated a bit, but except for a year or so I’ve been a size 22/24 all my adult life. The last time I wore the size 16’s I’m wearing now was in my late teens.

A couple of things happened to motivate me to change things in 2013. Firstly my son turned 1 in the April (I wore a size 24 dress to his party. It was pretty tight) and I realised I wouldn’t be able to the use the ‘new baby’ excuse for much longer. He wasn’t new any more!

Around the same time I also started keeping a gratitude journal via the Happier.com app, recording three happy moments a day. I did it daily and realised within a few months that all my happy moments were about Oscar and never about me. This got me thinking. So I started my blog to give me something of an outlet, with no intention of sharing it 😉 !

Then over the next few months I happened to see a couple of photos that shocked me rigid.

First there was this one.

At the time I told myself it was just an awful photo – that the boy was extremely wriggly and I was caught in an unflattering position, trying to keep hold of him. Now, I think it looks like I’m trying to hide behind by one year old son.

Then a couple of months later this was taken at Oscar’s toddler group summer picnic.

I was convinced this was going to be a great picture of the two of us and when I saw it I was heart broken. That dress is a size 26.

I knew something had to change, but funnily enough joining Slimming World wasn’t so much about losing weight at first. It was more about getting some space for me. So OK, so my reason for joining might sound odd to you, but it was hugely motivating at the time. I’m not sure if I had joined with the sole intention of losing lots of weight I would have succeeded in quite the same way. I went with no real expectation, putting no pressure on myself to ‘do well’.

But to my surprise, after a couple of weeks I did start to ‘do well’ and the boost it gave me was immeasurable. The ‘plan’ (I never call it the ‘plan’ – it makes it sound a bit cult like!) made me question how I thought about food. Don’t get me wrong, I knew what foods were nutritionally better for me than others, but this actually made me stop and think about the food I was eating, rather than blindly eating whatever I fancied. The group sessions, or Image Therapy as Slimming World rather grandly call them 😉 were also a revelation. I found, and still do find, talking about any issues I’ve had that week incredibly useful, but not only that it also gave me the space to be proud of my achievements, something I’d never done before. Accepting compliments is incredibly liberating. If you’ve not done it before, I highly recommend it.

The rest of the year you probably already know. It’s passed anyone’s expectations, probably because no one actually had any 🙂 . My SW achievements include:

Winning Slimmer of the Week 12 times
Winning Slimmer of the Month 3 times
Losing 10% of my body weight
Winning ‘Greatest Loser of the Year’ for Liphook 7.30 group
Losing 6 stone in just under one year

But the achievements I’ve seen every day have been just as incredible

Going from a size 26 to a 16 Dress (with a stop off in my gorgeous size 22 Monsoon dress)
Getting back into my pre-pregnancy size 22 jeans and quickly slimming out of them again
Walking everywhere. I’ve halved the time it takes me to get anywhere, meaning I keep arriving early to everything!
Buying my first ever pair of skinny jeans – and living in them!
Finally fitting into Fat Face and Joules and other brands that don’t even carry plus sizes.

But I guess my greatest achievement so far has been just to keep going. To finally understand that no one else is responsible for this journey. Only me.

It’s not always easy. I have hard times, same as everyone. I have set backs and disappointments. I have days where I just don’t want to care any more. Days when I’m sick and tired of thinking about food and whether the choices I’m making are the best ones. Weeks when I look at the scales and want to cry, be it a gain or a loss. But despite all that, I just keep going. Something in me wont let me not.

Because you see I’m not finished yet. I still have further to go than some people ever do, but I have lost more than I need to lose and that’s a great feeling.

Hey what am I saying, I haven’t lost this weight. It’s gone. I have no intention of finding it again!

So the coming year? Who knows. I still have no idea of what my final target weight will be, or even should be. It was so far away I couldn’t even think about it before. Perhaps this year I will. I have my next interim target (to lose 2 more stone, making a total of 8 stone) to reach and I’m happy enough with that for now. Scales aside, who knows? I’m looking forward to buying a new winter coat to replace my old size 24 one. I want to take up yoga or pilates. Little things really.

Most of all I want to keep this happy, confident feeling. I feel like I’m visible for the first time in so long, I don’t want to fade again.

See her? That’s Lisa that is.

Have a great week

xxxxx