New Year, New Target ....

To be honest, when I joined up with Slimming World at the back end of June 2012 I really didn't expect to be starting the next year 3 stone lighter - I have such an appalling history of not sticking to diets that my expectations were very low. I set my first interim target to lose the weight put on since I had an operation in May 2010, plus a bit to take it to a nice tidy figure of 15st.0lbs. Yes, I really did put 3 stone on in about 18 months.

Now I'm just chasing that last elusive 3.5lbs to get to target, and then will start my new SW book with the new ambition - and no illusions about how difficult it will be to shift that weight. it's been there for over 20 years and probably reckons it can claim squatters rights by now!

So, back on plan after a (fairly good) Christmas and New Year, with some new aims and strategies ..

1 Move More! For various reasons I haven't done as much with Body Magic up till now, but assuming my back doesn't give out again that will change. (upcoming house move should help - and a new garden to create!) The new cozzie 3 sizes smaller than the last one I bought is a major incentive! (wasn't expecting it to fit - but it does!).

2 Portion control - my stacking tiffin tin is brilliant but came to the conclusion that it's probably designed more for 2 people and I really should cut down the quantities a bit, even if most of my lunch is Super Free salad. So treated myself to a posh new bento box, which still lets me organise all the bits & pieces and stops them migrating all round my work bag, but prevents over-indulgence.

3 Don't eat so damn fast - a habit from boarding school, which I know has a bad effect on my digestion and its efficiency. In the course of packing up some kitchen stuff I came across some chopstick sets, which might be extreme in the case of baked beans but I think will get used more!

4 Plan further ahead - I usually work out what I'm going to have about 2 or 3 days in advance but think a weekly plan would be better protection against too-tired-to-think-never-mind-dry-fry evenings. Think I'll try to set my Body Magic targets at the same time.

Very back on plan today, with porridge, frozen fruit and 0% yoghurt for breakfast, then HEA babybels, grapes, satsuma and banana through the morning and an egg, tomato, pepper and pasta salad (soy sauce for dressing) in the new bento. & supper will be a sort of oriental soup-y thing with chicken, chinese leaf, mushrooms, leeks (and spaghetti as I'm out of noodles). And plenty of chilli, as I find strong flavours are more filling!

Hey ho - onwards and upwards!

I may suffer for this today, as had a terrible night's sleep, then had to rush around to get ready for work so I could get out early and defrost the car. The main roads are OK but I live 2 miles down an untreated side road, which of course was an ice rink this morning -can't say I'm going to miss that part of rural living at all! So just an Activia for 'breakfast' but plenty of fruit to keep me going till lunch. Everything tastes peculiar at the moment as I've got blocked sinuses and an oncoming flu-y bug of some kind which I'm doing my best to ignore - there have been so many doing the rounds of the office in the last few months but I'm sure the healthy SW diet has helped me avoid the worst .... so far. Unfortunately it doesn't make me very enthusiastic for any form of exercise!
Today's strategy - lemon water. We don't have many coffee options here at work, and I don't really like it from a thermos so I'm returning to a previous habit of putting a large slice of lemon in my flask and then topping up with hot water during the day. Had forgotten i really quite like the taste, and I can keep hydrated syn- and money-free - result! But feeling quite bloated this morning (can always tell from the state of my feet) which is probably the payback from my moment of weakness on Saturday, when I caved in to exhaustion and depression (not weight related) and had fish and chips for supper. God it tasted good - but thoroughly enjoyed it as a one-off, don't feel any need to repeat the 40-odd syns. Have been very good this week so overall could probably afford the extra syns but think I need to do some vigorous hoovering tonight to make sure.

Hi there and well done on your journey so far. Your new strategies sound very sensible! It's never easy, especially when the weight's been around for years, but as you already know SW works! Think there is a boredom thing though, as I still look at adverts for 'new' diets and think 'ooh, I'll give that a go!' Never do though, as I know SW is best in the long-term and when you've got lots to lose, you need something that will work forever.

Saying that, I'm back after reaching target and then putting on 3st in a year - only myself to blame - but I'm determined it's coming straight back off again!

Good luck for those 3.5lbs and then onwards and downwards!

Hi Spanx, thanks for that. I was so b***y furious with myself when I put that 3st back on - I'd done so well (on a sort of FPlan-ish diet and a LOT of gym) to get my weight down by 6st for the op, but couldn't face doing an extreme low-fat diet again (my digestive system doesn't approve). then a colleague suggested we try SW and we were (I now realise) very lucky to find a great group with an inspirational leader. She takes a very foodie approach, which suits me, and when I found I could be on a diet and STILL EAT CHEESE .... well, it was a no-brainer. Think it's a case of the right place, time, and situation, but this is the first system I've tried where I don't have that 'I'm on a diet' (ie, it'll come to an end at some point) mindset but I feel more that I'm settling into a new way of life. Once I'd got my head round the syns and HE's, and altered my cooking habits, I found it quite easy to stick to more or less to plan - although I did think Jan was a good time to do a bit of revision and make sure I really was doing the right thing.

Unfortunately the driving conditions were so foul on Wednesday night (fog AND ice - no thanks) that I wasn't able to get to group this week. Looking forward to moving to town so I don't have the extra journey out into the sticks to get home! My check-up at the surgery made up for it, though, as my bp is now in the 'normal' range (1st time in over 5 years) and I've lost 2 stone since they last saw me in the autumn, so pats on back all round. Resisted the temptation to celebrate with something synful, though - did the promised hoovering (30 minutes = muck sweat even with the heating turned down) and must have walked about 5 miles trudging to and fro with armfuls of books over the last couple of evenings, not to mention all the trips up and down the stairs! It helps that the bug, or whatever it was that made me feel so ropey at the beginning of the week, seems to be clearing up. Clearing out another wardrobe (only one to go now) found an outfit I know I put away over 20 years ago because I was getting too fat for it - tried it on out of curiosity (and because wanted a change from all the trekking activity) and IT FITTED (in fact I'm wearing it now). No controlwear, either! Good way to finish the week.

That's great news about your BP - and the outfit - well done!

I know what you mean, I was furious with myself too. I can't believe how quickly my bad habits came back, even after 18 months of being on SW and enjoying it. This time I'm determined to make the changes stick!

Got it! (the 3.5lbs, I mean). Decided to go to a group close to work on Monday, rather than risk missing another week because of bad roads/weather on Wednesday, and got my (first) interim Target. Really made up for a depressing weekend and a bad day at work, was so chuffed (just remembered in time not to bounce up and down while still on the scales). That's 3st 4.5 in 7 months, and I thought it would take me at least a year! Next target is another 3st 7, and what I'd really really like is to get it by October (which will put me back at slightly under the weight I was when I joined this company 25 years ago - now that would be a good anniversary celebration). Failing that, I wonder if I could manage Bonfire Night - when my next exhibition gets off the ground .... (actually I'd be over the moon to get there by Xmas!).

Last week's strategy-in-action: portion control. New bento box (as mentioned in my OP) holds plenty in the bottom section, but not the huge amounts I could get into my tiffin box (even if most of it was usually Super) so that has to be an improvement. The top section has dividers so I can arrange my mini-cheeses/prunes/whatever without getting too many weird cross-flavourings going on (I cannot recommend garlic cheese and apricot, for instance). Just need to save up to get the matching little cutlery set as my travel spoon doesn't quite fit. Concentrating evening meals on minimising the meat intake while max-ing on Superfree, achieved mostly by doing sort of sloppy soups with plenty of chilli or spice flavours, which works pretty well for me in the current cold weather.

I wish I could have done more on the Body Magic but my damn back 'went' again on Saturday with shifting boxes and furniture, had no choice but to keep going on Sunday and strained it again on Monday shovelling snow from the drive (actually that probably counts as 15 mins, I'll put that down on the list!). So thoroughly p'd off with only being able to do about 5 minutes' activity before hobbling around again (not to mention not getting a decent night's sleep), but on the other hand ... 3.5 off! (now don't get smug, girl, FOCUS).

Oh dear - bit preoccupied at the moment (I seem to be doing the House Sale Diet as well at the moment). Being as good as possible but because a bit disorganised at the moment with trying to do key paperwork before I leave for work I've had the occasional sandwich for lunch. Fortunately the selection in the catering machines is uninspiring and does include some wholemeal options so I don't think it's doing too much damage. Might be slightly overdoing the superfree as I'm getting hungry in the afternoon, but that could be down to general nervous tension. Wrapped cod fillet in thin sliced bacon and cooked with SW chips and broccoli last night - v v good. Today is baked salmon with a general superfree salad - found my beansprouting jars in the packing-up process so have got a production line going - and a bit of pasta, with red wine vinegar as a dressing.

I managed some good Body Magic in the garden on Sunday and it did me a lot of good to get out into the fresh air again - until my back went again halfway through raking up leaves, of course.

STS at weigh=in last night, which was a bit disappointing as I thought I'd been very good over the week and the bento box is definitely reducing the portions (to the point where I'm getting quite hungry at the end of the afternoon). Oh well, will keep carrying on carrying on - have some far more serious things to worry about at the moment.

Tried a Mars Caramel yesterday as had a very low point mid-afternoon and have been so lo-syn this week I could afford the 10 syns. To be honest, although I thought it sounded wonderful it's really just a Mars bar with the fondant-y bit taken out so wasn't as exciting or as filling as I'd thought it would be. Memo to self: if you're going to bust out the syns as a pick-me-up, go for a proper champagne truffle rather than run-of-the-mill chocolate!

Tonight, am going to try Diet Coke chicken. Which I was disappointed to find does not involve sticking a can of coke up a whole chookie's excuse-me and roasting upright, which I've always been intrigued by. Apparently the Coke foams up inside the chicken and makes fantastic gravy. A friend who did it ruined her cooker when the can exploded and irrevocably welded chicken all over the oven - the recipe she was following omitted to mention you need to open the can first!

Well, real life interrupted me for most of February - lost the buyer on my house 2 days before completion date, and therefore also lost the house I was hoping to move to. Long saga, will not bore anyone any further with it. Move on. Just about managed to stay within sight of the plan, although there was some comfort eating and stressed-out drinking and didn't manage to get to group for 3 weeks. However just weighed in last night and got my 3½stone award, so feeling re-motivated and focused. At least that's something I CAN control!

Still here ...just! Got a bit stuck over the last month in spite of greatly increased activity - really went for my Bronze BM and am almost there with the Silver. Making a conscious effort to break my sedentary habits - in particular of sitting down with a cup of tea and the evening news as soon as I get home. Once I've stopped, I switch off and can't get going again. Spent 3 weeks at the same weight (that's 2 STS after getting to 14.7) but wasn't too concerned as boy was I keeping active and I noticed my waistline in particular was still shrinking. Then last night was down 3.5lbs which took me well past the 4st mark - oooooh I do love my sparkly stickers! and today am wearing new size 18 twouzies - OK they're stretchy but smart, they truly fit and .... get me! size 18!! first time in .... er, 23-24 years?

Er ... still here, still plugging away! Finding it v difficult to stick to the rules during the day at the moment, tending to sneak the odd KitKat in when I know I'm really NOT that starving. Probably because stressed out over house sale/purchase/solicitors/surveys/cash flow mullarkey going on at the moment, and not able to concentrate properly, so hopefully it'll be sorted in a couple of months time. I was doing really well on the body magic up to a couple of weeks ago, then sort of hit the buffers and couldn't get going at all. Several other people at work having same problem so could have been some sort of virus - just no getupandgo at all. Overdid the gardening in the sun on Saturday so flaked out again on Sunday (and today to some extent) which isn't helping! HOwever, must remember I'm now 4.5 stone down on when I joined SW a year ago, and a total of 7.5 stone below where I was at my heaviest (summer 2008); my BMI is coming down nicely and I'm wearing clothes that haven't seen the light of day for over 22 years! (which proves that if you hang onto bright florals long enough they WILL come back into fashion sooner or later!). Dusted off the bbq at the weekend too, so nuked a couple of chicken thighs marinaded in lemon juice for Sunday supper and have had a huge bowl of coleslaw (carrot, parsnip, beetroot, spring onion & chinese leaf) on the go which I've just polished off for lunch today. next up, chilled beetroot soup .... Onwards & Downwards!

Oh crikey, doesn't time fly! & no, I wasn't particularly enjoying myself for the last six months, but have got through it more or less in one piece, have finally sold the house, moved out - and that was a horror movie all on its own - and am in the process of signing up to rent for a bit while I sort myself out and find somewhere suitable to settle longer term.

The eating plan yo'yo'd all autumn, so although I did make it to my 5st spangly, I put a lot back on again, particularly in December when my routine was hopelessly disrupted by house sale requirements and I missed quite a lot of Group. Christmas itself did further damage when the main house moving upheaval had just taken place and I was staying with friends so not really in control of the menu. (quite funny, really - the husband and son both made a beeline for my modest little fruit bowl, because they're not used to having fruit readily available in the house so it probably had novelty value. I don't of course grudge it to them - I'm staying rent free, after all - but it was causing me problems on the catering front because I can't easily get to the shops from work so it wasn't helpful to find that my banana/mandarin/pear plans for the following day had disappeared overnight. So it feels rather childish, but I'm having to hide my fruit & veg stash in the car!).

But now we're past the Festive Phase, workdays and opening hours have returned to normal and I've taken control back over what I'm eating, so not fully on plan but as close as I can manage. Louize doesn't really approve of my microwave meals but they're calorie counted, and it means I can eat early in the evening which suits me better than 9pm. I've also had a cripplingly stinking cold (actually, I think this could well be called Flu) over the New Year and the cough drops have made everything taste so vile that even I have been off my food (so I must be really really ill). It's paying off - I put on 5lbs over the 3 weeks to New Year, but took off 4½ at WI yesterday. It was great to be back in my 'proper' 7.30 group, too, and I'll be able to get there more regularly once I'm based in Newmarket, which should happen in the first week in February.

Next on the agenda is to get more activity in - I'd just started swimming regularly when the damn 'lurgy took hold (I'm not risking a coughing fit in the middle of the pool) and I rejoined the National Trust last Sunday. There are several NT places in the area with lovely walks, so I'm planning to go at least once a week and blow off the cobwebs come hell or (more likely) high water. I do need to get some waterproof walking boots though, God knows where mine are. So plenty to look forward to - once I stop coughing!