WEEK 3 - a loss! Yes you heard it right!

Yippee - cart wheels, hugs and all happy things. This weeks weigh in showed a loss of 2 pounds!

I put it down to the 4 sessions of wii fit i did rather then the hugely impressive diet i followed. HOWEVER i did point for the majority of days, so i shouldn't write that off completely. I had a good week but a naughty weekend. I had family over and cooked a lovely roast, which in itself was not too bad, but the home-made apple crumble, cheesecake and custard afterwards would not win any WW awards...oops!

I feel like this week has proved to me that exercise really is the key to my personal weight loss. Whenever I have tried to lose just with diet alone I have always failed, but throw in a consistent exercise regime and it comes off. The problem is I am not one of the worlds natural exercisers! I haven't experienced the rush of a good workout and wanted more. I normally start off hating the session, don't enjoy during and thank God it's all over afterwards. This doesn't sound like something I can keep up does it! I will keep on trying though. I have just ordered Davina's exercise DVD to give me some variety. I do feel better about exercising at home. I hate spending loads of money on gyms and equipment... less time wasted and opportunity for excuses at home!

I have felt really down this week. I don't know why? change of seasons? not sure. Shouldn't be as I normally love this time of year! Hubby and I are putting lots of effort into trying for baby 2 at the moment, so maybe i'm just nervous of getting a negative result this month. We have been trying for a few months without 'thinking' about it. However baby 1 was only conceived after over a year trying and after I started to put serious effort in (taking temperatures etc). I think it's one of those things that is dwelling in the back of my mind, souring everything, but not ready to jump out and be dealt with.

Oh well, the start of a brand new week. Fingers crossed its a goodun.

Finally autumn has arrived!

I may be one of the few people in England who is saying this right now, but i am so pleased the cooler weather is back! OK i know it hasn't been the best summer, but this really is my most favourite season of all. I love the change of colours, getting out the winter jumpers and all the community activities. At this time of year i always wish i lived in America.. i so envy the way they celebrate Halloween! I am lucky that i have a couple of Friends who are willing to celebrate it but we are definitely in the minority in the area i live in. Any reason to decorate your house, bake special treats, get dressed up and be involved with your neighbours is great i reckon. However this will be our first Halloween in our new house, so maybe this year will be different... can't wait to find out.

Plus of course there is the food. I LOVE winter warmers... stew, casseroles, bangers and mash, big roasts... anything that is stodgy and filling and makes you want to cuddle up on the sofa and sleep it off! Herein lies my down fall! It's not necessarily whats in them. I do know some fantastic recipes for low fat stews etc, its more about what i have with them (big chunks of white loaf) and the amount i consume (1 bowl is NEVER enough!). This time last year i had just lost 3 and 1/2 stone was feeling really good about myself and it was the start of my slippery slope back to fatdom.

What will i do differently this year? well for a start, i am not going to feed the 5 thousand as i normally cook for at every meal. I am going to think about portion control from the beginning and cook enough for a small portion for me, larger for hubby and a couple of freezer portions for little one... NO MORE THEN IS NEEDED! This will be a huge challenge for me! Plus I'm going to point the whole dish so i can be more accurate when i portion it out. This i have never done before, preferring the guesstimate that is always at least half what the dish probably is. Lets see how i can keep it up.

I have been spending way too long exploring the world of weight loss blogs this week. It is amazing to me how many there are (really naive i know!). Some are hugely inspiring but some really show you how quickly the enthusiasm can run out. I hope that this blog will be a success story and not a flash in the pan. Fingers crossed xx

WEEK 2...and the stale mate continues...

So i weighed in again and i stayed the same. I know, i know... i seem to be missing the point of weight LOSS! I would like to say i don't understand why etc etc. In some ways that is true. I have exercised more, i have been eating really well and doing a lot more home cooking. I haven't had the bars of chocolate and pizzas that i craved. However the scale never lies does it. I know i could have been better this week. I haven't been conscious of portion control, i haven't pointed my meals, i haven't made sure i was eating consistently as for a couple of days i was just so busy i skipped meals. So i know what i could do better. It's so annoying when you only have yourself to blame!

However even though the end result wasn't great, i am a bit proud of myself this week. I stuck to exercising 3 times a week, i used all of my veg box and made some gorgeous new recipes. I have been practising having a more positive mental attitude and enjoying the little things in life. I've even caught myself singing along to the radio! I hope this change of attitude will help me have a great week next week. As I'm sure lots of people will empathise with, it's so hard to pull yourself up when you are depressed. It has been all about me taking one step forward and 5 steps back lately.

So here's what I'm going to focus on next week...

Continuing to keep up the exercise, pointing all my meals, and using the WW website for new recipes.

baby steps people, baby steps!

I am also considering changing jobs. I love my job but find it very isolating as i work from home and do not have the necessary emotional support from my office to deal with the issues i see every day. This definitely has an impact on all other areas of my life. I'm thinking of just getting a carer job for evenings and weekends. It would mean i see more of my baby girl but probably less of my husband. Plus i wouldn't be able to see my parents as frequently, as we have to visit them at weekends. However if I'm successful in getting pregnant, this is the route i would have to take anyway to bring in some money, as i couldn't afford childcare for 2 children (nor would i want to put them into child care!) So maybe sooner rather then later... watch this space.

Please pray for me to enable me to continue the good work i am putting in and to take it to the next level and get some serious results. I hope you all had a good week too :)

Its the night before the weigh in and I'm scared! My daughter had her 2nd birthday this week and we had a party for her on Saturday. My Mum baked lots of cup cakes and a big '2' cake and i baked about the same amount, plus all the party food! There is lots left over so I'm giving it to hubby to take to work tomorrow - away from my hands! However this weekend has not been good because of all the temptations in my way :(

Exercise wise i have been a bit rubbish as well! Next week the plan is to get up earlier on my work days and get my daughter to her child minder on time (doesn't usually happen!). That will give me 30 minutes 3 times a week to get some exercise in. That's my goal.

I have tried a few recipes from my new organic cookbook from Riverford. We visited the farm in Devon and had a slap up lunch there, when we had our Devon camping holiday at the start of the month. It was amazing so i literally brought the book! I tried Beetroot haters soup (although hubby and I do love beetroot!) and Apple, potato and cheese casserole and had some beautiful pork sausages with it. Very low points and delicious :)

http://www.riverford.co.uk/visit/riverford/index.php?PHPSESSID=7764b17682215514f970d1f869876df0

I have also reactivated my Able and Cole veg box deliveries to inspire me. Lets hope the weigh in is ok and next week will definitely be better!

Fat versus me

Well this is my first post on the blog and i guess by rights it should be about why i am blogging in the first place. Certainly as i have been adverse to people who have 'put themselves out there' in the past.

I guess the principle reason is i need motivation! Hence the title 'Challenge Jojo'.
I have been trying to lose weight for too many of my tender years (only 31 of them so far!). I lost a little to be able to conceive my daughter. I lost alot when i realised the pregnancy weight wasn't shifting by itself. Both through Weightwatchers. Guess what happened next? Yes i have now found i am in the process of putting it all back on again. Of the 3 stone i managed to lose i have put back on 2, which is hugely disappointing. So i went back to weightwatchers at the being of August 2009 with the honest intention of doing better. Its now September 2009 and i am 1.5 pounds heavier then when i started back! I can't get my head into it this time. I can't focus on the methods and doing what i know (and really everybody does don't they?) needs to be done. .. eat less, move more!

So as a last ditch attempt to enable myself to focus on whats needed, i am starting a blog about my weight loss journey. I have no idea how many blogs like this are out there... probably loads! But then this isn't really about me sharing my inner thoughts with as many strangers as possible. Its about me getting down on the computer screen what is happening to me week by week. The highs and lows and everything i am putting into losing this disgusting fat. So that when i am confused or downhearted, i can look back and remember better times. I can remind myself what works and figure out what doesn't. Its in a blog form because i have been inspired by an old school friend who's blog i follow regularly. She is an amazing person and wonderful mum and i love hearing about how her projects are going. Who knows, maybe somebody out there will be inspired to join with me in getting healthy?

Soon I'm going to try and work out how to put a continuous graph up to show my weight loss week by week, and hopefully will update at least on a weekly basis what I've been doing. But lets start with a goal, and make it a simple one... BY SEPTEMBER 2010 I WANT TO WEIGH 10 STONE 7 POUNDS. That is 3 stone of wobbly fat to banish. Wish me luck!