Time certainly flies when you're planning a wedding, I didn't realise it had been so long since I had updated my blog!

Had my penultimate dress fitting on Wednesday and discovered I must be doing something right because the lady who sold me my dress weeks ago, commented that I'd lost weight as soon as I put it on.

Now I'll be honest, it isn't as a result of exercise because I've only been getting an hour twice a week, but I haven't been doing too badly on the food front, save for the Indian takeaway I had on Sat, and the box of chocs I shared with Stew last night.

Stew always jokes that we never have anything to eat in the house, we just have cupboards full of ingredients. It's true, but they are ingredients that he knows just as well as I do, can be used to whip up a freshly cooked feast, and after the sights I saw at the supermarket on Sunday, some people could do with following my lead.

I don't usually go supermarket shopping because I do it online and get it delievered, but on Sunday I was on the hunt for bubble vases and thought I'd call into Morrisons on the way back from visiting EVERY shop in town.
It was full of fat families with trollies full of utter rubbish. Don't get me wrong, I have always said that I have the odd frozen pizza or kiev in for emergencies, but these people live on the stuff.

It's the children I feel sorry for. There were these two little girls in particulalr who could have been no older than three and five, and they looked like beach balls. They were huge and I felt like rescuing them - feeding kids junk amounts to abuse in my eyes. Don't get me wrong, I know some kids have big bones and puppy fat, which can't be helped, but others are fat because they have never seen a piece of fruit or a vegetable in their little lives, and the thought of that turns my blood cold because their parents don't realise they are taking years of their children's lives every time they feed them a chip!

 

 

I found my wedding dress and it's a magic one! Well, it's not really, but the design of it sinches me in, in all the right places and miraculously makes me look like i've dropped a couple of dress sizes as soon as I put it on!
I absolutely love it, and it was mum burtsing into tears of pride the moment I came out of the dressing room that clinched it for me, because I had tried on a fair few before that, and there was only one other that came close to having such an affect.
I can't afford to put any weight on over the next few weeks, but I certainly won't be worried if I don't lose any because I am really happy with how it looks -  a bit more work on the old bingo wings wouldn't go a miss though!

Start weight 12: stone

Target weight: 10 stone

Current weight 11 stone 10


If the thought of having to wear a wedding dress isn't going to make me shift a few pounds then I don't know what is.
I got engaged at the weekend and my fiance and I have decided to tie the knot in Gretna Green, which means we could be married in the next couple of months.
But given that i've been working on my weight since January and would easily win an award for a great human yo yo impression if they were being given out, I am not expecting to walk down the aisle looking like a stick insect any time soon - and I really wouldn't want to.
I'm not one of those brides-to-be who starts panicking the moment the ring goes on their finger that they 'have a dress to fit into,' that is just not me.
But I have noticed since starting my flab-fighting mission that incentives are a good thing to have, and this is probably the extra one I need to get me back on track.
If I can re-lose a few pounds I'll be more than happy, and if I can't then i'll just have to get a dress that hides a few more lumps and bumps than I was hoping for.
The important thing is that I am only really hiding them from myself because Stew knows the naked truth and he loves it!

Start weight: 12 stone

Target weight: 10 stone

Current weight: 11 stone 10 


I actually think I will scream if one more person says to me 'how's the diet going?' I don't know how many times I have to say I am not on one!!!!!
Healthy eating is not a flippin diet - I hate the word, probably because I have come to associate it with attention seekers.
That might sound a little harsh, but I get so fed up of hearing skinny or 'normal-sized' people going around saying they are on a diet when they clearly do not need to be.
I can't deny I have tried one or two in my time - I think I even spent two weeks eating nothing but Special K a few years ago, but looking back I have no idea why.
If you deny yourself something, you only want it more. I like a good pizza like anyone else and I can enjoy one when I have one because they are not something I eat every night. It's the same with chocolate, I have it if I want (or NEED) it. There is nothing wrong with anything if you eat it in moderation - admittedly I did turn into the cookie monster when I had pmt last week and I ate three Greggs cookies in a day, which is clearly not going to do me any good.
I heard something absoultely ridiculous the other day though. Apparently, you have to watch how much fruit you eat now too because of how much natural sugar it has in it - a mango and two bananas are surely better for you than three giant cookies?
Bizarrely though, I only ever tend to get complimented on my weightloss when I have actually put a pound or two back on - it happened as recently as Sunday when Stew and I were out with friends - v strange!

 

 

Well my bulge battling has certainly paid off as far as my holiday is concerned, not only because I actually felt comfortable in my swimwear for once, but also because it helped me become a kayaking legend in Kefalonia!
This time last year I would probably have been able to manage about a mile in a canoe on the Ionian sea, but last week Stew and I managed 20!!!!!!!!!
OK, so we didn't exactly intend to go as far as we did - we kind of got carried away, but I am glad we did because we found a secret beach and had a gorgeous lunch on another in the next town.
There were plenty of other opportunities to exercise off all the gorgeous Greek food we enjoyed too, because the town centre was a 25 min walk away from our hotel and there was plenty of time for swimming both in the pool and in the sea.
Surprisingly it isn't the ice-cream or the gorgeous cakes that we've been craving since we got back - we both sat on the sofa on Sunday night and said we could murder a Greek salad! I threw some feta, onion, tomatoes, cucumber, olives, oil and vinegar together in a bowl, but somehow it just doesn't taste the same if you're not sat on a restaurant overlooking the sea :-(

Start weight: 12 stone

Target weight: 10 stone

Current weight: 11 stone 7

My computer room is slowly starting to turn into a gym. I've got weights, a thing for helping me do my sit ups and an exercise ball so far, all of which are put to good use.
I might not be so great at updating my blog but I am much better when it comes to my exercise, to the extent that a friend who spotted me walking in the rain recently actually thinks I am crazy.
He stopped and offered to give me a lift but I refused it because I was determined to do an hour and I had only been walking 20 minutes. I've developed will power I never thought I would have!
I am back on track with my weight, which I am pleased about and I am more aware than ever that 'a moment on the lips really is a lifetime on the hips' because the two pounds I put on were really hard to shift.
I let something really stupid upset me at the weekend though. I was out shopping with my mum who was determined to get me to wear a dress for a forthcoming night out because I never wear them.
I must have tried on hundreds and none of them looked or fitted right. But I don't get it. When I looked around I saw women of all shapes and sizes wearing lovely clothes and it made me feel like some kind of freak - if ever there was a candidate for a Gok makeover, I am definitely it - he really would have to work wonders.
I gave up on the dress idea figuring Gok was not about to suddenly appear and was made to feel a little better when the first pair of trousers and top I tried on were a perfect fit - and they were both in the sale so I got a whole outfit for £18 - bargain!   

Start weight: 12 stone

Target weight: 10 stone

Current weight: 11 stone 9

 

My fitness was put to the ultimate test on the way home from London at the weekend. The escalator on the underground was on the blink and my mum and I had to climb it with our heavy luggage.
This is no ordinary escalator - it's a neverending escalator - it literally goes on for miles. Singing climb every mountain (for some strange bizarre reason cos I HATE that musical) helped me get to the top and I was amazed to find I had lived to tell the tale because I hate the stair machine at the gym - it kills me.
I am still doing really well and I made up for the Easter egg glitch (see last entry) by giving the rest of my eggs away!
But I did (disappointingly) put on a couple of pounds over the Easter break because we went away and I ate more in a weekend than I would usually eat in a week! It wasn't all rubbish either, which is why I am a bit cross with the weight situation.
I have stepped things up a bit though because my holiday is looming - we go in a matter of weeks!
I have even put Stew's weights to use that have been gathering dust in the spare room - i use them most nights now, which I am quite proud of and I have got into the habit of doing sit ups straight after, which is good.
Well I don't want people coming to rescue me on the beach because they think I'm a stranded whale do I?!!!!!

Start weight: 12 stone

Target weight: 10 stone

Current weight: 11 stone 7

Forgive me Easter bunny for I have sinned - I have already tucked into an Easter egg! I am cross with myself because I never normally touch my easter eggs until Easter Sunday, no matter how loudly they seem to call to me from the mantle piece.
But the other night Stew and I were sat watching TV and fancied something nice to eat - the cupboards had no goodies to offer and we both clapped eyes on the Easter egg at the same time.
I suppose things could've been worse, it was only a little kit kat one and we shared it - we could easily have polished off the rolo one too, but we didn't.
Mum and dad have got me a mini eggs one, but I have told them to hang on to it for now just in case.
On a healthier note, I had a fantastic session at Total Fitness with my personal trainer Amy on Monday - it was just what I needed after a stressful day off - yes, I did say day off, most of which was spent at the post office and the bank doing very boring, but important jobs.
Walking home has become a much more pleasant experience too since the clocks went back on Saturday night, especially in the sunshine - it's glorious and I almost burst into a jog on Tuesday!
I absolutely love this time of year :-)