Down with Spanx!

[Spanx]

Honey! How lovely to see you - and even better, even less of you. You are doing sooooo well! I must confess, I did pop into the Sunday Weighers thread, but didn't spot anyone I 'knew', so I slunk out again...

What are your top tips for staying motivated? I'm determined to do it (again!) this time, but fear I will find it more difficult, with my new living arrangements and foodie boyfriend!

Still, I had another good day yesterday, so it's all going well so far.

Weds: GREEN
Brekkie: Mullerlight, 35g F'n'F (HEB), blueberries and strawberries
Lunch: Baked potato, beans, BBq sauce (1 syn)
Snack: Banana
Dinner: Chicken (HEB), leek and mushroom risotto - syn-free plus 1 HEA

Syns for day: 1
Syns week so far: 17.5

 

[Spanx]

Went to a new group tonight - walked in and felt right at home, as there were picture of Ellebear on the consultant's 'success' board! Felt good to get back to a group, so I bought a 12 week countdown to keep me on the straight and narrow!

Weighed in at 13, 13.5, which is 1lb less than my home scales said on Monday morning (in PJs!), so I must have lost something this week already, as I weighed in last night fully-clothed. Good news - and more than enough to keep me going over the weekend!

The groups are all promoting EE, so I'm going to give it a go. Not sure how I'll get on with only one HEA, it might be that I will end up switching back to Green.

Thursday: GREEN
Brekkie: F'n'F (HEB), blueberries, strawberries, mullerlight
Lunch: Baked potato, beans, BBQ sauce (1 syn), sprinkle of cheese (half HEA)
Snack: banana
Dinner: Leftover risotto (1.5 HEA), courgettes, cherry toms and leeks, half a baked potato (starving as late eating because of group!)
Late night snacking: 3 fingers of KitKat (8.5 syns)

Syns for day: 9.5
Week so far: 27

So, as I'm now WI on Thursdays, I will start a new 'week' tomorrow on EE - wish me luck!

 

[Spanx]

Well, first day on EE - and I did miss my 2XHEAs, but then I realised I couldn't have had the tea I was craving to put cheese on if I'd been doing green... Swings and roundabouts I suppose!

Spent an hour of so going through my new 2013 books and realised there were some changes, especially that there are now more cereals to have, so that was well worth it, although I do love my crunchy bran!

Off for a long walk with the dogs this afternoon, in the sleety rain that we are having here today - thermals at the ready!

Friday: EE
Brekkie: F'n'F (HEB), mullerlight, strawberries, blueberries
Lunch: Baked potato, beans, cheese (HEA), bbq sauce (1 syn), apple
Dinner: 'Bolognaise-style pasta' - extra lean mince, ham, mushrooms, leeks, cherry toms, passata, garlic, basil, worcs sauce, balsamic, chilli and lots of pepper with penne pasta - lovely!
Snacks: Small glass of wine (4 syns), mullerlight greek-style lemon (0.5 syns), 1x quality street (2.5 syns)

Syns today: 8

 

[Spanx]

Another good day. Made a weetabix cake to take on the dog walk, it went down reasonably well, although it took ages to cook, so I ended up having to slice it and pop it back in the oven, which meant the crusts were a bit black! Had a great 1 hour walk with the dogs around a reservoir - we walk with a dog group, so spent the time chatting away and you don't know how far you've walked - bonus!

I went from missing my 2HEAs to struggling to fit one in - doh!

Saturday: EE
Brunch: Bacon, poached egg, beans, mushrooms, beefsteak tomato, brown sauce (1 syn)
Snack: Apple, slice weetabix cake (4 syns)
Dinner: Syn free chicken potato, spinach and mushroom curry with boiled rice
Treats: Small glass red wine (4 syns), mullerlight lemon greek-style yoghurt (0.5 syns), Alpen light (HEB)

Syns today: 9.5
Week so far: 17.5

 

[Spanx]

Well, after saying that I'd miss my 2HEAs on EE, I've now had a couple of days where I'm stuggling to have one! I suppose it's because my meals have been very different to what I used to trough on green - partly due to the variety on offer and partly due to the change in the household now the OH has moved in. Not too worried about it though, as I usually have a yoghurt, so I'm still getting the calcium.

We've got snow today - although we've having horrid cold rainy sleet at the moment. I'll still have to take the dogs out in it though

Sunday: EE
Brunch: 35g F'n'F (HEB), blueberries, strawberries, mullerlight, banana
Snacks: Grapes
Dinner: Chicken thighs, frylite roasties, broccoli, cabbage, leeks, peas, gravy (3 syns)
Snack: Dime bar (7.5 syns, but soooo worth it!)

Syns today: 10.5
Week so far: 28

 

[valerie11]

Hi Hun found u will pop in & check to see how ur doing, I am also mostly following EE I would usually do red just for the extra h/e s if I don't lose anything when I weigh tomorrow will do red & green in the future
Good luck xx

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins

 

[Spanx]

Hi Val, How are you finding EE? I was a green girl all the way, but actually I'm quite enjoying it and I think it probably fits better with the rest of the household. Not got my first official WI until Thursday night, which I'm not expecting to be a big 'first week' loss, as I'd already been doing SW for four days by the time I went to group and weighed in 1.5lbs lighter than I had on the Monday morning (and that was in the evening and fully clothed, as opposed to in the morning in PJs). Still, on my scales at home, I seem to have lost half a stone since that Monday - whoop!

Another good day yesterday, although I ate absolutely loads - think it was the cold weather, or at least that's my excuse!

Monday: EE
Brekkie: 35g Fruit'n'Fibre (HEB), mullerlight, redcurrants, raspberries, blackberries
Snack: Banana
Lunch: Pasta, ex lean mince with sauce made with cherry tomatoes, courgettes, leeks, chilli, herbs and passata
Snack: Apple
Dinner: As lunch (made loads!) with Parmesan (HEA)
Snack: Mullerlight greek style (0.5 syns) and kitKat (5.5 syns)

Syns today: 6
Week so far: 34

 

[valerie11]

Hi Hun I lost 2lb this week which I am happy with really wasn't sure if I would lose anything with the amount I'm eating, am enjoying EE now that I've got into it was hard to get used to after so many years of doing red days its a more normal way of eating as well. Hope u have a good day xx

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins

 

[Spanx]

Hi Hun I lost 2lb this week which I am happy with really wasn't sure if I would lose anything with the amount I'm eating, am enjoying EE now that I've got into it was hard to get used to after so many years of doing red days its a more normal way of eating as well. Hope u have a good day xx

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins

That's fab Val - well done! I'm enjoying EE too, although it does feel a bit strange - eating a lot more meat, which fits in better with my OH and son. I used to do mainly veggie green days, with lots of rice and pasta, so it will be interesting to see whether upping the protein ups the weight loss!

 

[Spanx]

Good job my willpower held up today - I had one of those days where nothing went to plan, due to work, but I managed to stay on track, even if I didn't eat properly!

Tuesday: EE
Brekkie: 35g F'n'F (HEB), mullerlight, mixed berries, banana
Dinner: Small bowl of pasta bolognaise with courgettes, leeks, cherry tomatoes
Snack: Apple, KitKat (5.5 syns)
Supper: (at 11pm, oops!) Chicken, bacon, leek and mushroom pie (2 syns = part HEA for parmesan in mash) - this is the recipe from the 2013 calendar and it's lush, although I didn't like it with tarragon, so left it out this time and just put lots of black pepper in instead... Didn't have enough superfree in it though, and as it was so late I couldn't be bothered to cook some veg, so I just had some fresh pineapple for pudding!

Syns for day: 7.5
Week so far: 41.5

 

[valerie11]

Hi i thought I would pop in & see how ur doing is it fri u weigh? I am really enjoying EE now I've got my head around it did miss the extra hex to begin with but use my syns for extra milk and will use syns for bread if I want it hope u have a good day tomorrow xx

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins

 

[Spanx]

Hi by thought I would pop in & see how ur doing is it fri u weigh? I am really enjoying EE now I've got my head around it did miss the extra hex to begin with but use my syns for extra milk and will use syns for bread if I want it hope u have a good day tomorrow xx

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins

Hi Val, thanks! My first official WI (ie at group) is tonight. Should be on for at least 3lbs loss, according to my scales and adjusting for morning in pjs/evening in clothes!! Wish me luck. That doesn't sound a lot for a first week loss, but from my unofficial start four days before, I appear to have lost 7lbs, so very happy!

Have to say, I'm enjoying EE too. It's cheese for me though, as I don't have milk at all - really miss cheese! I've worked out though that I used to rely on 2HEAs of cheese because I rarely ate meat doing green days, so now that I can have meat, I'm cooking meals that don't need cheese...

Hope you are having a good day x

 

[Spanx]

Well, Wednesday didn't quite go as planned - but wasn't too bad.

I knew I would be severely tempted, as I was going out for a curry with friends and then on to book club, which normally means wine and nibbles. Managed to avoid lots of temptation, but not all...!

Wednesday: EE
Brekkie: 35g F'n'F, pineapple, mullerlight
Lunch: Chicken pie leftovers, cabbage, broccoli (1 syn)
Dinner: Stir fry chicken and mushrooms (3 syns for oil?), chicken dhansak (6.5 syns), boiled rice, scoop ice cream (5 syns)
Snacks: Mints (3 syns)

Syns for day: 18.5
Syns for week: 60

 

[HLBGirlie]

Hi!
just been reading your opening thread and it made me giggle because most of them is exactly how i feel! ive looked at your photos and you ahve done amazing well! keep up the fantastic work! if you have any hints or tips youd like to share please do! lol well done on the race for life as well that is my aim to that in june =] xxx

 

[valerie11]

Hi Val, thanks! My first official WI (ie at group) is tonight. Should be on for at least 3lbs loss, according to my scales and adjusting for morning in pjs/evening in clothes!! Wish me luck. That doesn't sound a lot for a first week loss, but from my unofficial start four days before, I appear to have lost 7lbs, so very happy!

Have to say, I'm enjoying EE too. It's cheese for me though, as I don't have milk at all - really miss cheese! I've worked out though that I used to rely on 2HEAs of cheese because I rarely ate meat doing green days, so now that I can have meat, I'm cooking meals that don't need cheese...

Hope you are having a good day x

hi hun good luck got everything crossed x why don't u use the hea for ur cheese? & use ur syns im having j pot with cheese tomorrow will use my hea & syn the rest im not going to go with out anything lol xx

 

[Spanx]

Hi!
just been reading your opening thread and it made me giggle because most of them is exactly how i feel! ive looked at your photos and you ahve done amazing well! keep up the fantastic work! if you have any hints or tips youd like to share please do! lol well done on the race for life as well that is my aim to that in june =] xxx

Thanks HLBGirlie - looks like you're doing a great job too! I think my only tips are try to vary what you eat, so you don't get bored (especially if, like me, you know it's going to be a long-haul!), set small targets along the way and reward yourself (but not with food! For me it was new undies...) when you get there and see the bigger picture when you have weeks that don't go so well...

I did Couch25K when I 'trained' for my race for life - downloaded a free NHs podcast. Starts you off slowly and puts some structure around the training - I'd really recommend it - not that I got to week 10 (the final week!), as I discovered I hated running, but that's why I'm so proud of my result.

Good luck for your journey x

hi hun good luck got everything crossed x why don't u use the hea for ur cheese? & use ur syns im having j pot with cheese tomorrow will use my hea & syn the rest im not going to go with out anything lol xx

Thanks Val - I'll report back later, so you know that you can uncross everything and not cut your circulation off!

I have been having lots of parmesan - lots of cheesy taste and 30g goes a long way!

 

[HLBGirlie]

Ive been told about the couch to 5k and was suppose to start it monday but then the snow hit an di was unable to do it round my local park so i am gonna try again on monday but again the snow is suppose to hit us then too grrr i will get round to doing it !!! does it generally help though... i am panicking because after week one i find i can not run for longer than 60 seconds... im really not very good when it comes to exercise xxx

 

[Spanx]

Ive been told about the couch to 5k and was suppose to start it monday but then the snow hit an di was unable to do it round my local park so i am gonna try again on monday but again the snow is suppose to hit us then too grrr i will get round to doing it !!! does it generally help though... i am panicking because after week one i find i can not run for longer than 60 seconds... im really not very good when it comes to exercise xxx

Yes, it really does. I think from memory, that week 1 starts with just 30 seconds or jogging, in between 1 min 30 of walking, so don't panic! Builds up slowly to running for 30 minutes (although, as I said, I didn't get that far!) I ended up running about half my race for life and power-walking the other half - but I was really pleased with that after years of inactivity... You'll be absolutely fine!

 

[HLBGirlie]

Yes, it really does. I think from memory, that week 1 starts with just 30 seconds or jogging, in between 1 min 30 of walking, so don't panic! Builds up slowly to running for 30 minutes (although, as I said, I didn't get that far!) I ended up running about half my race for life and power-walking the other half - but I was really pleased with that after years of inactivity... You'll be absolutely fine!

That doesn't sound that bad then. I'll have to keep you updated and let you know how I get on!!! Lol x

 

[Spanx]

Woohoo! 5.5lbs off!