Inspire A Generation

So, weigh-in today - 3.5lb loss!

This is, for me, a great achievement because I feel back into it already! I've now lost 20.5lb and I'm just over a fifth through what I want to get achieved. And I feel fine! I got a bit worried when my weight per week was slowly getting lower and lower and last week's 1.5lb was really taking the piss. So I've altered some things in my diet, including..

• drinking far more tea and liquids in general
• experimenting with carbohydrates and introducing mug shots into my diet
• Introducing 'rocky road hi-fi light bars' into my diet
• taking yolks out of some of the eggs I have
• kept off the mozzarella healthy extra, weirdly!

The main thing for me now, is variety and to up my game with regards to exercise. Therefore I've downloaded a 'Couch to 5k' app, which is available for iPhone and Android. It builds up your core strength over an 8 week period and trains you gradually so that you walk less and run more - eventually you're expected to run for 5k, which is fantastic!

One tweak - I'm planning to have a go at that on my cross trainer (I'm still way too wimpy to run in public, I'm afraid. I want to do it but in the comfort of my own home. I can barely jog due to stumpy legs, let alone run!). I feel the cardio will still benefit me greatly so it's not really an issue, I'd hope. I'm also keeping up the swimming as much as I can, and power walk when taking the dog out.

So, how have I developed on my aims from last week..?

• Set myself rewards - Rewards are now positioned on the right of the blog. They've definitely spurred me on this week to lose more, and even moreso this week when I plan to begin a proper cross-training regime
• Do the 'extra easy' plan - Well....I tried it. I really had it in my mind to, but my mind is stuck on the original plan. Having said that, this was a choice in order to incorporate carbs into my diet, which I've managed to do with mug shots (see below). I just think that since shaking up my diet with Mug Shots has worked, there's not much point really in putting in extra easy just yet. 2 days I had rice and pasta, 2 days I've had mug shots, which I don't think is too bad, it's certainly better than last week.
• Swim More - yeah I've sucked at this this week, been once. For several reasons. If I keep up the cross training this week though, I *might* not have to go. We'll see. Last week swimming was pretty much a washout though (no pun intended)
• Revise a 7 day plan for both Original/Extra Easy plan - did this too! Cooked one of the recipes one night and it was..odd..but nice. Odd for the fact that I don't really eat red meat, and had a beef dish. Enjoyed making it very much though. I'd say it helped me to shake up the diet (phrase that I keep using that keeps irritating me, might be irritating you too, sorry) just because I followed the recipe to the letter which meant picking up new ingredients to play with. I think I really needed that, following on from last week
• Put together a BPM-based fitness playlist - yeah I've *begun* this but most music on my iPod is generally lively anyway so I'm getting away with it. But I've got to make it quite selective - I'm realising how many songs that pertain to love I have and/or songs that just make me feel rubbish! FAIL. Need to sort that out pronto.
• Research Slimming World Mug Shots - yeah I researched them...turns out that they're not actually SW but just normal packets you find in shops! Whoops! They're not the greatest food, but if I want a quick small meal, they're ideal. Probably won't stay on them as a regular thing BUT if I'm going off to teach in Spain, they'd be perfect for lunchtime.

Goals for next week

• 10/15 minute cross training sessions per day - I'm aiming for 4. Each day. I'll record it. Don't quite know if this will work out, we'll see. Or I'll hit it via the couch to 5k. Starting that tomorrow!!
• Sift through SW magazine
• ...and write down plan for week.
• Buy more mug shots
• Cut down on diet coke, drink more water - I'd cut down my diet coke by the last four days of last week, but it makes me feel uncomfortable if I have too much. Must avoid. Focus on tea/coffee/water instead, mainly tea.
• try and keep to walking the dog once a day for the rest of the week.

When I posted my earlier post today, I said I'd been obsessing over the food side and I needed a new challenge. I am a devoted wife to a feather duvet. So that challenge has to be to up my fitness PROPERLY now.

Yes, I'm too fat to run. Yes, my legs are too stumpy and chunky. Yes, my stamina is pathetically low and it is building very slowly at the rate of a mobility scooter to everyone else's cars.

These are not excuses, they are INCENTIVES.

Inspired now. A woman can get in a boat for the first time, and win an Olympic Gold 4 years later. I can do this, I will do this.

Watch this Helen-sized space. It WILL get smaller.

Thank you for reading Xxx