HURRAYYYY.......MADE IT 10lbs in 30 Days

WOW...Its been an interesting month, lots of twists and turns, temptations every where I looked - my kitchen, the internet and the TV bombarded me with unfettered  images of fat and sugar laden 'goodies'.

Food shopping was torture! and I did succumb once and I bought some biscuits, but I made sure that they were wheat free, they tasted so good :)

I managed to drop all the weight I set out to lose - 10lbs of it and my scales will bear witness below. Thats 4.5kgs in todays currency

4th and Final Week 30th Nov.  197.8lbs (89.7kgs)

Its been a great journey and one that I will continue until I reach my goal weight of 176lbs/80kgs.  With my height my ideal weight should be almost 70kgs, but being a voluptuous black woman (who loves food, bar none), that will be difficult to sustain and the times that I have gone that low I have ended up looking emancipated and found it difficult to maintain.

Things that I have learnt:

• Eating less and more frequently is better than 3 square/round meals
• Exercise is more than treadmills and cross trainers - weights and plyometrics gave much better results than ever before - and I was a ex-gym rat who lost very little spinning and running 'my time' away in the gym with little to show for it!
• Reducing the white flour in my diet has helped reduce the bloated feeling I get in my stomach
• I feel more positive about the future and I have a avoided the 'doomed' January 1st rush,  for lifestyle changes

Anyway, I would like to thank you all for being on this journey with me, I know I did all the work, but your constant scrutiny and my weekly accountability post kept me from going off track.

3rd Week Results

Thanks to those who have supported me, in person and also to those who have been silent onlookers...

Slow and steady definitely wins the race. One week to go and I am now 198.8lbs, just a measly pound away from my goal of 197.8lbs! Hooray!

3rd Week 22nd Nov.  198.8lbs (90.17kgs)

Although, the rumblings of my tummy are getting louder and the aroma of chocolate cake is getting closer - my will power is stronger :) Nutrition has been the hardest to control, I missed breakfast twice last week, because I was in a rush, don't worry I am sure I made up for it later in the day.

I have stepped up my exercises now, for the last 4 days I have exercised everyday, using a variety of strength building and plyometrics exercises, you can click here for a video, which demonstrates how these exercises can help you build lean muscle and strength.

Tip: Not only does lean muscle burn fat faster, it also burns fat long after your workout. So turn your fat to lean muscle by doing more weight bearing exercises and plyometrics.  The cross-trainers and treadmills will take too long for you to see results and time as we know, is not the dieter's friend.  We want results fast, so if you want to see your weight melt away try something different.  Your nutrition is also the 'game-changer' here.  More lean meat, veggies and grains. I have given up fried foods, white flour products and sugar for this plan -  portion control is also very important. 

Yes - Its simple but its not easy - eat less move more!

One more week to go, before I wrap and with a Xmas Party next Saturday, there is no better incentive to start swinging my kettlebell to a leaner me..I will post my final results on Friday..

Any questions? Pop them here please...

2nd Week and I am still here!!

Hello Everyone,

I am at the end of the 2nd week now, and I Lost 2.2lbs this week, bringing my total loss to 6.8lbs just .2lbs shy of 1/2 a stone.

2nd Week 15th Nov. 201lbs (91.1kgs)

Hurray I am at the halfway mark.  My goal was 10lbs and I have lost 6.8lbs so I can do 3.2lbs in 15 days.

This week I added proper exercises to my routine.  I have been doing a lot of walking but to lose weight even - after a work-out.  Weight bearing exercises - where you carry weights are the best, they also protect against osteoporosis (broken bones in later life when we become fragile)

Previous week
I did start on the Kettle bells last week using an 8kg (17.6lbs)russian solid metal one and  this  video  The first session was a killer, I kept taking breaks after every swing of the bell and I spent more time on the sofa taking breaks than I did on the exercise programme, I must have hit the pause button after every frame!
At the end of the session where I struggled through 3 out of the 8 workouts, I was convinced that I had the wrong weight kettlebell and was going to buy a 5kg(11lbs), but my reluctance to spend more money coupled with a bit of procrastination meant it did not happen.

I gave myself a day's rest and went back, It was worse than the first time as I gave up after the first workout, this time I blamed it on my back. I started thinking of other exercises I could be doing and took a 2 day rest.

The third time it was much better I was able to do a whole workout of just under 4 minutes without a break, this inspired me to go further or dig deeper and in my last session I was able to do 5 workouts...So persistence does pay!

This Week
I shall be improving on the exercises and will aim to do six workouts out of the eight on the video in each of my exercise sessions and I want to break that 200lbs mark too.  My food has been hit or miss, I have had no temptations this week, but my eating has not been regular as sometimes I do not eat till late, so I want to balance that out so my body does not go into starvation mode - Then it will cling on to all the fat in my body and I do not want that!

Thats a wrap folks, remember any questions, just drop them into the comment box below, thank you very much for your support...

5lbs in 7 days:) - Week 1

Yippee, a week may be a long time in politics, in my life 7 days have proven to be more eventful!  I have dropped almost 5lbs, well 4.6lbs to be exact, please lets put that into perspective.  One pound is generally accepted as being equal to 3,500 calories, so that's 16,100 calories....not eaten or burned in a week.

While Obama was running the most important race of his life praying for the numbers to go up I was working very hard to keep the numbers down and guess what? Each of us had our victory.  I will not belittle his success - so please don't belittle mine.

The first few pounds are always the easiest to lose and with me being public property for at least 30 days, there was never going to be a greater motivation to stick to the plan than that.

Nov. 8th - 2nd Week - 203.2lbs (92.1kgs) 

Previous week.

I have been relatively good, a couple of temptations in form of my daughter's bakewell tart and a cinnamon stick-  I succumbed, but only to one each. I have replaced my sugar cravings with pomegranates and tangerines.  I have had rice, yams and wholemeal pitta bread.  This first week has been a bit tough.

 I have tried to keep as close as possible to the plan and I think I managed to pull it off, the one thing I have struggled with, is proper exercise - yes I have done the walks, but I need to start throwing that kettlebell around if I want to get arms like Michelle O's and thighs like Beyonce's

Next week.

I will start on the exercises - kettle bells for at least half an hour for 3 days.  I will be using this video  - Angie Miller's Kettlebell Bootcamp and an 8kg kettle bell in my sitting room - just pray I do not drop it......

Have a great week...and do let me know if you want to see any more pics.

Another step forward...Week one! Day 2

Thank you for staying with me on this journey of lifestyle change, though a  comment below would be nice.  I didn't get any questions so I guess you have none to ask.  This is a snap shot of things after the first day.  I have also got my weigh -in details at the end of this entry.

I had my very first taste of temptation  - the first day!  I got to my friend's house yesterday afternoon to be greeted by the aroma of freshly baked muffins - Could I resist? Well what would you do? She had made them specially for me so I did what any reasonably sane person would do and refused politely - Honestly, did you really believe that?  I had walked over a mile to get there - in pouring rain and my defences were down!  So I took one and then another and stopped. That was me being good. Very good.

Apart from that everything else went to plan. My meals for day one were:

Breakfast - Oatmeal with 2 tablespoons of yoghurt and mixed spice for
Lunch - Quinoa and salmon for
Dinner - Quinoa and salmon with mushrooms and tomatoes

Quinoa pronounced Kinwa, is a seed like crop, which is comparable to boiled rice and quite versatile, its a bit similar cous-cous only healthier.

and I drank copious amounts of herbal tea during the day.

I also got on the scales to weigh myself, I hadn't been on the scales for a long time and as any prolific dieter knows - you always weigh more than you think you do. I committed to the blog before my weigh in,  if it were the other way round I probably would have chickened out as the scales came up with digits that were way more than I could fathom.  I am actually too traumatised to mention the weight that I will let the picture do the talking - A picture speaks volumes, right!

Weight as at 1st November 2012 - 207.8lbs (94.25kgs)

For exercise yesterday, I walked and walked for over 2 miles, which is more than I normally walk so I am pleased with that.   Today I woke up with a headache and painful knees so the walking has left its mark and that means I could not exercise today.

For day two my meals were:

Breakfast - Oatmeal with yoghurt and cinnamon

Lunch - Beans with veggies

Mid evening snack - Butternut squash soup

Dinner - Chicken and salad

Herbal teas again..

Tomorrow (Saturday, day 3) I will be going bowling with some friends. See you on Sunday...enjoy the weekend!

One Big Step.....

Hello and welcome to my blog,

My very first blog and post! Thank you for coming with me on this journey - the first of many!

I have got a lot of to do lists that I have been carrying around for a while, some have been achieved and others are still work in progress. Of all the things on my list the one thing I will love to achieve is a great body - my body, looking greater.  I do not want a super model's body, just my body looking the best it can be.

So yes I know what to do, I have got the books on diets and weight loss, got the exercise gadgets - kettle bells, weights, various dvds, got the know how, but just lack the mojo and thought the final thing I need to make everything come together would be an audience to be 'accountable to' - You!

I plan to lose 10lbs in 30 days starting today.  To make it bit more fun.  My first entry will be in a FAQ style.  So here goes.

Why blog about your weight loss?  Your inspirations?

To make sure I hit my target and to help others who may want to kick start their weight loss. My inspiration - A recent visit to my doctor revealed my cholesterol level to be 4.6 a tad high and I am overweight.  I have been struggling to lose it behind closed doors so I thought sharing it with the world might help..

What will you be writing about and when?
My successes, struggles and experience of exercising. What it feels like to have a lifestyle change now - on the right side of forty . I will be writing updates every now and then, but the blog will be updated  properly every Wednesday and Sunday.  Weigh-ins will be on Sundays.

Will you be following any food plan?
I have a plan, but its not set in stone.  For the next 30 days I will be giving up just three main food groups -

1. Fried food
2. White flour products and 
3. Sugar 

and that covers quite a lot including bread, cakes, chocolates and pasta
There will be no carbs after 6pm and I will stick to smaller meals - so will have 4 meals a day.
I will keep a journal of my food which I will also share with you.

Is exercise part of the plan?
Of course! exercise will consist of kettle bells, plyometrics and walking and I will be talking my experience of each of these exercises, with videos so you can follow me if you want to.

If you want me to answer any questions please feel free to dump them in the comment box below.