Monday weigh in

First of all I wanted to say thanks to everyone who messaged/commented and texted me after my last post, it's great to know I have you all supporting me on my journey.

So as I mentioned before, this past week I have not done any tracking and just focused on eating clean and smaller portions, and also not weighing daily. I did plan to workout this week, but never actually did :( So was very pleased when I got on the scales to see a small loss of 0.4lbs, it's not much but it's a loss and that's what counts. I'm going to adopt the same strategy this week and hope for a loss next Monday. I have my two 5ks this weekend so that is two definite workouts planned :)

I also have a giveaway planned for you all, which I will be posting about later on today, so watch out for another blog post from me.

Have a great week everyone xxx

Week 34

I'm a day late posting again due to it being a holiday here yesterday.

I think I had an OK week, wasn't as clean as I hoped to be - maybe 60% this week. On the plus side I have no been soda free for 36 days :) 

These are my stats from my fitness pal this past week

I only had one day this week I was over on calories, and my overall net calories was 541, although I did eat out Sunday night and the restaurant did have any nutritional information, so I would imagine that I was probably over that day also, as I had to guesstimate based on foods already in the database. I also ate a lot more fat this week and less carbs, what it doesn't tell you is the kind of carbs of fat, so not really sure how useful this is.

The result from this week was a loss of 2lbs (yay me!) taking my total loss to 20.4lbs (I can finally update my goals and rewards page). I am hoping to try and lose 2lbs this week also so I will officially be in the 260's - watch this space. I have 7 weeks before my sister and nieces come and I did set myself a goal to be 250lbs by then, which I don't think I will reach, unless I have some super super big losses, so depending on how it goes, I now have a trip to England planned on November 30th, so I may move my goal date to then, giving me 12 weeks to lose 21.8lbs - but we will see how it goes.

Dave and I had lots of fun yesterday making homemade candy - we made twix and crunchie - there will be a blog post to follow about that at some point.

Thanks for reading and have a great week everyone.

Week 33

Just realised I forgot to post my weekly update yesterday - my bad!

I would say I ate around 75% clean last week, Tuesday I ate far too much, as I decided to properly clean out my cupboards and anything that was unopened I donated to the food bank, but opened stuff I basically ended up eating!! So a lot of unhealthy stuff, but at least now the cupboards look good :)

I was 1577 under my goal, compared to being over by 307 the week before.

I also ate slightly less carbs this week based on the breakdown - so that must be a good thing, as I ended up losing 1.8lbs this week :) taking my total loss for 2012 to 18.4lbs and I am the lowest weight I have been this year and I think the lowest weight for a few years. I have a collection of weight watchers cards, so need to go through them to see what recorded weights I had over the year.

Hope everyone has a great week and Im hoping to hit the 20lb loss mark next week.

Week 31

Another great week, I'm definitely noticing the difference that comes with clean eating, I seem to have lots more energy and my eczema has got much better too. I would say this week I ate approximately 80% clean, which I think is a happy medium for me, although I do want to try and do a 100% clean week one week. I'm still drinking lots of water, and have drunk nothing else in the last two weeks :) I went out to dinner this week and didn't touch the sweet potato fries or fries with truffle oil, which is a big NSV for me, as normally I would be eating them all!!

This week I only managed to workout two days as I hurt my knee so have spent a few days resting, but am looking forward to getting back on track this week.

This is my calorie breakdown for the week, although Friday's isn't correct, as I had a bit of a binge Friday night, luckily it was only healthy stuff in the house, but still I never tracked it *slaps hand*

My breakdown of calories is pretty much the same as last week, what it doesn't show is the type of carbs or fat etc which would be interesting to see.

The result of this week is a loss of 2.2lbs, taking me to a total loss of 17.2lbs - which yes is great, but reading back through my tracking, I noticed that I was 1lb lighter than this in April of this year!! If only I had stuck with the plan back then! 

I've decided to set myself a target which is to try and reach 250lbs by October 25, when my sister in law and nieces come to visit from England and we go to Disneyland, this is a loss of 25lbs in 10 weeks, so 2.5lb a week, which I think if I work hard and keep up with the exercise and eating clean is doable. Plus this is in line with the Healthy Wage challenge too. Currently our team our 69th in the table, so we need to work hard to stand a chance of getting a prize.

I found my weight loss jars over the weekend and have updated them, still a long way to go, but the pebbles are moving :)

Thanks for reading and have a great week everyone xxx

Week 30

This week I tried something different, I attempted to eat clean and count calories. This really worked out for me, and as a result I lost 5.6lbs and my total loss is now at 15lbs :)

I would estimate that I ate about 80% clean this week, as I had a lot of food in the house already that wasnt super clean that needed to be eaten. I enjoyed trying some new recipes and cooking more than normal. One big difference I noticed was when I was out and I wanted to grab something on the go, there wasnt much clean food around, so instead I waited till I got home and ate - which is something I've always had trouble with, its always too easy to forget about the donut you ate on the way home from the grocery store, or the chips you grabbed at the gas station. This week the only thing I drank was water, and I found I didnt miss my iced tea or soda at all, my iced tea is sugar free (but it isnt very clean) and Ive decided I clearly don't need it. 

It is interesting to see a break down of the food I ate over the last week too.

I had a lot more protein than normal which is clearly a good thing, and I averaged just under 1500 calories a day this week. The fact I exercised a lot too, I'm sure was also a big help. I worked out everyday, and mixed up my exercise, I swam, did cardio and strength training at the gym, exercise bike at home, and walking. I also sold my fitbit (so no more step counting you will be glad to hear) and I bought a heart rate monitor. It was interesting to see the number of calories burned in each activity, as it came up a lot less than the estimated calories online, so this helps me when I want to eat something as I know how much effort I need to put in to burn the extra calories off.

Looking forward to another great week, its going to be busy, but I know I can do this.

Have a great week everyone

Sarah xxx

Week 28

Monday is here again :) Interesting fact for today, its 22 weeks until Christmas - there you go - time to start planning!!

So.... this week how did I get on, up until Saturday I did really well and tracked 100%. I used 26 of my weekly points, then Saturday I had friends over and I ate and drank without thinking about points *tut tut*, I had been weighing myself each morning and was ranging from between a 2lb and 3lb loss, this was not the case Sunday morning, or at my official weigh in this morning - I ended up staying the same, which is kind of OK, as I did go well over points on Saturday, but I'm also disappointed in myself. I seem to be stuck in a rut around the 280lbs mark again :(

Steps wise, last week was a poor week (again). I didn't even hit 60,000.

I think I'm getting a bit bored of the whole pointing thing, and maybe the steps thing too - well maybe not bored but not motivated.

So I have decided on two things to shake up things this week.

1, I'm going to attempt to try following the  Simply Filling technique this week, I just need to make sure I don't get carried away with portion sizes. I don't have much planned for this week, except an event on Sunday where I know there will be loads of yummy foods, so will need to work on that, and maybe eat before I go or take some fruit with me.

2, I haven't been to the gym for a few weeks *tut, tut* So I'm going to attempt to go at least 3 times for a 40 minute swim, plus on the days I don't go to the gym, Im going to either do 30 mins on my exercise bike at home, or a workout with my body bands. So I should be doing something each day. Along with my normal walking the dogs etc.

Another thing, I have signed up for another event - I know I must be crazy. Just hope my back holds out for all these events. The one I have signed up for that I am going to do with Lisa and Julia and team 'Anchorholics' is The Dirty Girl Mud Run in October in San Jose. It is a 5k course in the mud, with obstacles, some of the obstacles look scary but they do allow you to detour around any you think are too hard!!

 Have a great week everyone.

Week 26

Happy Monday everyone - not that there is much left of today!

My one target for this week was to attempt to beat my total step count from two weeks ago which was 77686. I failed :( my week started off well, but then slowed down as the week went on, and two days I never hit 10,000 steps, as a result my total steps for the week was 65,034, which was more than last week, but not the target I had planned for. I did climb a lot more floors this week, the reason being I have set myself a new rule, those of you who have been to my house will know it has lots and lots of steps. So I now park my car in the garage instead of out front and walk up the steps (i really should count how many there are!) each time, this includes with shopping, the other day it took me four trips to bring all my shopping in from the car - it felt good though.

Tracking wise, I tracked 100%, and used up 30 of my 49 weekly points - mainly when I went out for an Indian meal on Friday - which was so good (which reminds me I must go and write some yelp reviews). I didn't earn any activity points this week as other than walking I never did any extra exercise. The results from all my excellent tracking was a loss of 2.6lbs this week - which I was very pleased with and that now takes my total loss for this year to 10.6lbs.

This week I am taking part in two 5k runs (well I'll be walking!) with Marisol (@missmarisol) The first one is the Do Life run in San Francisco on Wednesday evening, and the second one is The Color Run in San Francisco on Saturday morning (bright and early) where we will get covered in color (and take lots of photos). So I will definitely be clocking up a few extra steps this week.

Have a great week everyone xxx

Summer Challenge Final Results

A big thank you to everyone who took part in the 8 week summer challenge :) You were all great at sending me your weekly weigh in's (most of the time!) so that made my job a lot easier, and I have enjoyed hosting it. I was hoping someone would step up to host the next 8 week challenge, but sadly no-one has.

*DRUM ROLL*

Firstly spot prize time :) This week the challenge was to walk/jog/run 5k and send me the results or post on twitter. I had three people complete this: Marisol N (@missmarisol), Alexis A (@divaonadiet) and Dacia L (@dacialee33)  Seeing as all three of you made the extra effort to do that this week, I am going to award you all a spot prize, so please send me your address so I can sort that out for you - and congratulations.

Not sure what happened this week, maybe it was the overindulging from 4th July, as between us we managed a gain of 9.2lbs this week which was 0.30%.  This takes our total 8 week loss to 119.3lbs so a big pat on the back to you all.

Do you think you did enough this week to be the overall winner? Our weekly winner for this week was Alexis A (@divaonadiet) who lost an awesome 2.03% this week :) This is the third time in the challenge that she was our weekly biggest loser. Well done :)

*EVEN BIGGER DRUM ROLL*

Our overall winner goes to someone who lost weight EVERY week in the challenge and as a result they lost a whopping 8.73% in the challenge - this title goes to Sarah G (@sarah1807) Congratulations to you, you have done really really well - keep up the good work. Please send me your address so I can send your prize to you.

I have one final spot prize to award and that goes to Becky M (@OMGBeckster), she stayed the same weight for two weeks but every other week she lost weight, so the only other person who didn't have a gain the entire challenge. Please send me your address also so I can send you your spot prize.

Thanks again everyone for participating, and remember just because the challenge is over the journey isn't, keep up the good work and good luck getting to your goals - you can do it

Sarah xxx

Summer Challenge Week 7 results

Just one more week left in the  challenge - an extra special good luck to everyone for the final week.

Someone suggested this week that we do a #losew8in8 virtual 5k challenge - thanks to @divaonadiet for that great suggestion. I think this would be a great idea for the final week.

All you need to do is run/jog/walk 5k this week and email/DM me proof of your time/distance. It's not a race so you don't have to be super fast, just at the pace that works best for you. There will be spot prizes awarded for this challenge - so that's an even better reason to take part.

We lost a total of 0.51% this week, which was an awesome 15.8lbs - so well done to everyone. That takes out total loss to 128.5lbs in the challenge so far - you guys rock :)

Our biggest loser title for this week goes to Alexis A (@divaonadiet) who lost an amazing 2.27% this week. Well done to you. Our overall biggest loser title remains with Sarah G (@sarah1807) who holds the title for the second week now and has lost an amazing 8.01%. Anything could happen in the final week.

Hope you all have a great week and a fantastic 4th of July - don't eat too many burgers and hot dogs :)

Week 24

Although last week was a restart, and this is kind of the start of week 2, I wanted to keep my stats correct, so last week was in fact week 24 since I started weight watchers online.

I set myself 3 goals for this week.

1. To go to three gym classes. I went to aqua aerobics on Monday which I enjoyed, until the evening :( Then I was in so much pain - previously I had been doing water running, which is a class in deep water so there is no impact, I never thought about this when I did the aqua aerobics class and was quite happily bouncing away for an hour, not good when you have two herniated discs :( So that was the end of that! I did then go for a swim later on in the week, I never made it to the gym a third time last week :( BUT I did run a 5k on my treadmill at home - so I think I deserve to say I kind of succeeded in that goal ;)

2. To walk 10,000 steps every day - the week started well and I achieved this Monday to Friday, then Saturday I didn't get out of bed till 12 noon, so struggled to make up the steps, and only did 6800 steps, BUT overall for this week I hit 70,000 steps - and averaged at over 10,000 steps each day. So I'm going to let myself have that one too :) Although looking at my fitbit stats I can see I still am sedentary a lot :( Need to work on that. Going to aim to beat my overall steps taken this week :)

3. To track everything I ate 100% - no grey areas here - i tracked 100% (forgot to tick off my healthy checks though - but that's not super relevant). I used 20 of my weekly points, and ate all my daily points except for one day. I tracked activity points for the days i went to the gym and did my 5k, but never used them.

So how did I fair on the scales after all my hard work this week?

I lost 5.2 lbs :) Taking my total loss to 11.4lbs this year.

I had a great week, wasn't as planned as I hoped to have been, but I did good. I even ate out once and had popcorn at the cinema. Here's to another great week (and hopefully great loss)

Summer Challenge Week 6 results

Two more weeks left of the challenge - how is everyone doing?

Sadly we lost two of our challengers this week, they both wished everyone well in the challenge and lots of luck. So for the rest of you this is a good thing as there is now only 15 people left in the challenge, plus I'm not eligible for the prize, so you have an even better chance of winning. Plus one of the people we lost this week, was in fact our overall biggest loser, so that is opening the field lots for you.

Last week I challenged you to all make a recipe that you hadn't made before and tweet about it using the #losew8in8 tag, I was a little disappointed that only 3 of you posted on twitter about this. The spot prize is going to go to Marisol N  (@missmarisol) as she posted a picture and the points value :) She made salmon, salsa and grilled asparagus. Marisol please DM me your address for your spot prize.

Down to this week's numbers. Between you there was a total loss of 10.6lbs which worked out at 0.34% and the running total is now a whopping 112.7lbs. So a big pat on the back to you all.

This week we have a new weekly biggest loser who lost 1.98% this week and that title goes to Sarah G (@Sarah1807) she also now jumps to the top and is our overall biggest loser with a whopping 7.25%. So double congratulations to you.

Two weeks left, just a reminder that I do need a photo of your final weigh in result (whether it be scales or a copy of your weight watchers log.  I know some of you have just been sending me numbers for the past few weeks which is fine, but it needs to be a photo for the final weigh in.

Challenge for this week - I'm going to open this up to you. I want someone (ideally today or tomorrow) to post on twitter a challenge for the group and make sure you use the #losew8in8 tag. One it has been tweeted I will be looking for updates as to how everyone is getting on with it. It can be food or exercise related.

Fresh start

I've been off track now for a fair few weeks, and as a result my weight has slowly been creeping back up. So I made a decision on Friday of last week that I would move my weigh in day to Monday and start a fresh from today :) I think having weigh in on a Monday will make me more accountable over the weekend.

So I faced the scales this morning and my current weight was 286lbs, so a small gain since Wednesday of last week. As you can see from the chart it's been a gradual creep back up, the lowest weight of this year was 274 which was the end of April - makes me wonder where I would be now if I had stayed on track! I guess it's not a complete disaster (well maybe a little one) as I do have a loss of 6.2lbs since I started following weight watchers in January.

I am setting myself a few goals.

1. To go to a minimum of 3 classes at the gym each week, yes that's right I signed back up. I had to cancel my previous membership when I moved, so am now a member of the YMCA in Berkeley. I started the week well and went to aqua aerobics this morning.

2. I want to make sure I hit at least 10,000 steps each day on my fitbit - I will be tweeting my daily progress when I go to bed each night - it's looking good so far today as I'm already on 9641 steps. 

3. I am going to track 100% and will aim to eat all my daily points and some of my weekly points, but won't be eating my activity points.

If all goes to plan I should be back here next week reporting a nice loss. Also all the extra exercise should help with my back issues, I'm still in a little bit of pain, but not too bad at the moment, so hope it will improve and I won't need another epidural injection or surgery.

Have a great week everyone

xxx

Summer Challenge week 5 results

I can't believe we are at week 5 already, only a few more weeks to go :( Would anyone be interested in hosting the next 8 week challenge? 

So how did you all get on this week with exercising when watching TV? Most of the time I forgot, but a few evenings I did do my physio exercises in front of the TV, which includes doing planks :) Does that count?

Challenge for this week - let's go with a food related challenge. I've been doing lots of planning this week and reading magazines, and have a list of all the recipes I want to try. So the challenge for this week will be to try a new recipe, and post the pics and link to the recipe on twitter using the #loswew8in8 hashtag - you can make a blog post and link to it or however you want to do it. I will even offer a spot prize for this challenge. 

Numbers time - and yes I gained again :( I'm starting a fresh tomorrow and moving my weigh in day to Monday, so hope to have a loss by the end of the challenge. This week's biggest loser title goes to Kipp (@scribble_nibble) who lost 1.41% - a special well done for you :) Lisa S (@LisascottLisa) remains the overall biggest loser with a whopping loss of 6.04%, there are three weeks left in the challenge and there a few of you who are not that far behind - so its still an open field.

Between us (or should I say you!) there was a total loss of 11.9lbs this week which was 0.34%. Well done, and since the challenge started the overall weight lost is 102.1lbs - I am so proud of you all.

Good luck for the week ahead and don't forget about those recipes.

Catch Up time

Hello :)

Yes I know other than my challenge blog posts (well done to all the participants) I've been AWOL - apologies.

Life has been busy, I moved house and have had lots of visitors staying. My mother in law has been here for the last two weeks and flew home today, so I will be resuming normal service again shortly :)

So what have I been upto...

We took my mother in law to South Lake Tahoe for her 60th birthday and had lots of fun, we got there on the Friday afternoon and it was 99 degrees, when we left on the Monday it was 55 degrees, heavy rain and there was snow showers expected. Such strange weather. We had the heat the whole weekend we were there, which made it even nicer, we went to a Renaissance fair which was awesome, although not sure Dave was too impressed, as I got them to arrest him for walking off and abandoning me (they have lots of people in character walking around the event acting things out) and they put him in jail and he ended up getting drenched in the water barrel - those of you who are my friends on Facebook can see the photos from the event.

The biggest news for the last few weeks, which I'm sure that most of you would have read on twitter on Facebook, was that Dave and I became permanent residents of the US. We now have our green cards, so you are stuck with us for at least the next 10 years :) and it also means I'm now allowed to go and get a job (which is a scary thought after not working for almost 3 years). Although first I have the fun job of going to the social security office to get issued with a social security number - for those of you in the US - you know what a mundane task this is (much like a trip to the DMV!!). 

As most of you will know I signed up to do the Susan G Komen 3 day, 60 mile walk this September, which I was really looking forward to and had just started the official training (until the day I fell off the treadmill!!). Well unfortunately I am longer going to be taking part :( For those of you who didnt know, I have two herniated discs in my lower spine, I recently had an epidural injection to help with the pain, which worked great, but the last few weeks I have been in some pain again :( I went to see my spine doctor last week and he has said that he thinks I will need a second epidural injection soon, but there is no guarantee it will work, and there is still a good chance I will need surgery on my spine/discs, which can have a long recovery period. I discussed the walk with him, and he advised me against doing it with my back in it's current condition, as he said it would put too much pressure on my discs and possibly do more damage :( So I am no longer taking part. A special thanks again to everyone who did donate to such a great cause. I am still planning to do the two 5k walks next month, which my doctor said shouldn't be an issue as long as I stretch plenty and take it easy. So I will be doing the Do Life walk on July10th and The Color Run on July 14th.

I'm still busy sending and receiving postcards through Postcrossing, I have sent a total of o 20 cards and have received 16 so far, I look forward to the mailman coming each day now in case he has a postcard for me :) It's interesting hearing from people all over the world. I plan to make some kind of collage out of them when I get 20. Not sure exactly what or how, but there will be photos.

Weight watchers - erm........ well...... I haven't pointed in weeks :( and as a result I have gained a total of 5lbs in the last three weeks, taking my total weight loss since the beginning of the year to a measly 6.8lbs. So I now have no excuse to get back on track, I have no more visitors planned until October, and nothing else planned that I can use as an excuse to not track. Plus I joined my local gym yesterday and plan to start swimming again and attending aqua aerobics classes. Feel free to harass me on twitter and Facebook, and any other ways to keep me on track - it will be much appreciated.

Oh and I booked tickets to see The Lion King in SF for my birthday in November :)

If you have made it to the end of my lengthy blog post - pat yourself on the back you deserve it :)

Summer Challenge Week 4 Results

Sorry for the delay in posting this week's results, I've been a bit busy.

It looks like we all had a much better week this week, and between us we lost 28.9lbs which was a total of 0.81%. Although I feel I must confess :( I am the only one in the challenge who has actually gained since starting! Life has been a bit crazy lately, and I'm hoping it will settle down next week and I can get fully focused and back on track.

So how did everyone get on with their exercise this week? Did you make a conscious effort to get out and exercise everyday this week? You must have been doing something right based on the numbers i got from you all this week.

A big well done to you all for having lost weight so far in the challenge. As I explained at the start of the challenge I was lucky enough to receive some coupons from PopChips to hand out to the winner of the challenge, but turns out the expiry date is the end of June which is before the challenge ends, so that's why I decided to do the half way prize. The biggest loser for week 4 goes to Terri E (@feritae) who lost an amazing 3.34% this week, I know she is been doing lots more exercise this week, so well done to you. The overall biggest loser after the first four weeks goes to Lisa S (@LisascottLisa) who has lost a whopping 6.04% so an extra well done to you - that is an awesome loss. Now unfortunately for Lisa she isn't eligible for the 4 week prize as she lives in the UK, so it will go to our second biggest loser over the four weeks who is Terri E (@feritae) who has lost a total of 5.14%. If you can either email or DM me on twitter with your address I will mail the coupons to you.

Since moving house I have hardly watched any TV, so I was wondering how much TV you guys all watch. I think the challenge this week is going to be TV related. When you next sit down to watch a TV program I want you to also do some form of exercise, maybe squats, push ups, arm exercises - anything that means you aren't just sitting there doing nothing.

Good luck for next week and I'm excited to find out how well everyone does next week.

Summer Challenge Week 3 results

I think there must have been something in the air this week, as we had a few gains between us. Maybe we all over indulged on our Memorial Day celebrations!

We are almost half way through the challenge, so how are you doing? Are you where you wanted to be? Are you going to do anything different for the rest of the challenge? Last week I asked you all to try something different, what did you try? I must confess I never tried anything new this week :(

So numbers time. We sadly lost one person from the challenge this week so are down to 17 participants, that gives you all a little bit of a better chance of winning now. Between us we lost 4.15lbs which was a total of  0.12%.  After three weeks a total loss of 61.3lbs - so well done to you all.

Do you think you made the title of biggest loser this week? The title goes to Alexis A (@divaonadiet) who lost 1.78% this week. Well done to you and our overall biggest loser title goes to Lisa S (@LisascottLisa) who has lost a total of 5.49% in the challenge.

Remember next week is week 4 and we have a prize for the halfway winner. It could still be you.

Let's focus on exercise this week. How many of you can go the whole day and not get out and do any exercise? It's surprisingly easy for the day to pass. So this week lets try our hardest to get out for at least 30 minutes exercise each day, whether it be a walk at lunchtime or first thing in the morning.

Good luck to everyone for the week ahead

Summer Challenge Week 2 results

The results are in for week 2. So how did you all get on with the fruit and veg challenge? I started the week well, then slowly my count decreased :(

I was thinking how I tend to eat the same thing all the time without much variety, so I was thinking the challenge for this week is. I want you to go out and try at least one new food - you never know it might be something you really love and it becomes a regular part of your food choices. I have signed up for a local fruit and veg delivery company, and I'll be honest a lot of the items on the list I had never heard of - so I'm excited to try new things when my delivery arrives on Tuesday.

Down to the numbers for this week, another great week. The group lost a total of 21.5lbs this week which was 0.56%. That's a total of 57.15lbs in two weeks. The person who lost the most this week was Lisa S (@LisascottLisa) who lost 2.55%, well done Lisa :) The overall loss also goes to Lisa who has lost a total of 5.36% in the two weeks. Can she keep it up for two more weeks to take the 4 week prize? There are a few people close behind her.

Well done to everyone this week and good luck for the week ahead. You can do it.

I'll be on vacation from Friday to Monday next week, and not sure if I will be taking my laptop, so I may not post results until Monday next week. Please still send me your weigh in results by midnight on the Saturday. I will always reply when I get them but if I don't have my laptop to hand I won't be able to send you your stats until I return.

Remember to use our #losew8in8 tag when posting on twitter.

Week 19

Finally the scales are heading back the other way - so I think the medication was to blame for my recent gains. I haven't tracked my food this week, but have been exercising lots. I weighed this morning and lost 4.4lbs this week - taking my total loss since the beginning of the year to 11.8lbs, still just under 7lbs away from my lowest weight this year, so hope to be back there very soon.

From today I am starting to track weight watchers points again :) I haven't done it in a long while and have been guesstimating, so need to re educate myself again.

Today is day 3 of my first week of my training plan for my walk in September. Monday was a rest day, although I did end up cleaning the house from top to bottom which took up a good part of the day, yesterday was a 3 mile walk, which I did walking around a local lake. Today is 30 mins cross training, so I plan to go on my exercise bike this afternoon for 30 mins. I am also walking up the huge set of steps near my house once a day, there are 152 steps in total, I've been walking up the middle part which is 75 steps. The top part is super steep, also the bottom part includes a steep slope before the steps, I did it once the other day and thought I was dying!! I'm sure it will get easier with practice.

I went to check out my local YMCA yesterday, it is nice, but I'm not sure I'm ready to go back just yet, so am going to let my membership expire at the end of the month, then maybe in a few months I will rejoin and start back at my water running classes. In the meantime I have lots of exercise equipment I can be using at home

My physio is going well and they are really pleased with my progress and I have a 30 minute strengthening program I do twice a day which is really helping.

I'm addicted to my fit bit at the moment, and love watching my progress and receiving my weekly stats. 

My daily steps target is 10,000 which I am going to keep for now, and my floors climbed is 10, but I'm going to change this to 15 as I am always walking up stairs. These are last week's stats.

Summer Challenge Week 1 results

Thank you to everyone for remembering to send me your weigh in results on time, makes it a lot easier for me to keep track of things.

We had some great losses this week - sadly I was not one of the people who had a loss though :(

So how did you get on with the water challenge? I drank lots of water this week, but must confess I didn't keep track of the exact amount, but think it would have been around 100oz. I know there are a few of you who have recently given up or are trying to give up soda - that is fantastic and good luck. It is something I have tried to do before and when I'm at home it is easy, but when I go out in the evenings as I don't often drink alcohol I find myself ordering diet coke - I guess diet is better than regular coke.

So down to the numbers, overall this week the whole group had a combined loss of 0.92% which is fantastic and a group loss of 35.65lbs. I know you are all waiting to hear who was our 'star loser' this week.......

That title goes to Terri E (@feritae) who lost 3.63% Congratulations on a fantastic loss and for being our first challenge winner. Although you are all winners for taking part in the challenge and the weight loss journey.

Something I need to work on is eating more fruit and veg, so the challenge for this week is to make sure you eat at least 5 portions of fruit or veg every day.

Good luck for week 2.

Don't forget our hashtag on twitter is #losew8in8 if you want to encourage your fellow challengers.

Catching up plus week 18

Life has been crazy here for the last few weeks. 

We moved house, then three days after moving in my sister and her husband came to visit, and then last weekend I was in Vegas - which was awesome (and very very hot!).

I'm finally getting a chance to sit down and chill out and start getting organized, and also planning for our next visitor (my mother in law) who arrives in 11 days and a trip to Tahoe :)

Last week's weigh in was a big surprise to me, as I wasn't expecting a huge gain, and wasn't sure why, I put it down to a few things, new medication, possibly eating more and scales on a new floor. The scales theory I kind of ruled out almost immediately as it showed the same weight on various places in the house. Last weekend I was in Vegas and I walked loads, I wore my fitbit the whole time and one day I walked 23,000 steps! I drank lots of water whilst there, and whilst I did eat unhealthy things I didn't eat loads. So I was surprised to have another gain this week of 3.8lbs, so a total of 10.8lbs in 2 weeks. I stopped my medication on Tuesday and weighed myself this morning and I am down 2.8lbs so far, so I'm thinking it must have been from the medication, plus I had really swollen ankles after returning from Vegas. So hopefully now the medication is out of my system the scales will be going the right way.

So onwards and upwards or should I say downwards as I don't plan on another gain. I have a plan of action too. I have been organizing my new gym/office room in our new house. 

 

 As you can see I have a treadmill, bike, exercise ball, jump rope, dumbells, stretch bands and a bodyblade. So lots of things to keep me busy, plus all the steps in my house! Plus near to my house there is a HUGE staircase, twice this week I have tackled part of it, each time I climbed 75 steps, the first time felt OK, but I was out of breath at the top, the second time seemed a lot harder. One day I hope to walk the full set, which I guess is probably around 160, haven't counted them yet.

It is also only 16 weeks until my 3 day, 60 mile walk, so think it is time to do some training, each week they send me an email with a training plan, so I have written it out on the board in my gym room and plan to mark off each day I complete it - I will be reporting back next week :) This should also give me weight loss a boost. I also need to work on my fundraising as I have to raise $2300 in order to be allowed to take part, I've raised $1,295 so far, so am over half way there :) Thanks to everyone who has donated already.

I am still pain free since my epidural injection (yay!), and restarted physiotherapy on Friday, I have been referred for 8 sessions and this week I am focusing on stretching as my muscles are very tight. They also put me on a traction machine, which was a very strange experience.

We are coming to the end of the first week of my summer challenge, so I will be posting about that tomorrow. The challenge for this week was to drink 100oz of water each day. I have been drinking loads but must confess I haven't been keeping track of the actual amount, but am hoping it has been 100oz, I must measure my cup sometime, it helps that we have a fridge with a water dispenser on the front, so every time I am in the kitchen I have a glass of water.

I am in the process of transferring my gym membership, I just need to go into the new location to activate it, which I plan on doing next week. Then I hope to get back to my water running classes as well. Maybe I should stop using the words hope and hopefully and be more positive!!

I mentioned a few weeks back about a website called Postcrossing, well I received my first postcard this week which came from Germany.

I have mailed a total of 11 now, so should be receiving more in the mail very soon. I have also this week discovered foodie penpals, which sounds like an awesome idea, where you send food packages to people each month, so am thinking of signing up for that also.

Well done if you made it to the end of my blog post. Have a great week xxx