Its been a couple of weeks since my last blogg, mainly because I have been so busy I haven' really had much time.
I celebrated my second wedding anniversary last week and my birthday and went up to Norfolk to stay with my mum for a couple of days.
I went out for a meal before my birthday with some friends and invited Nicky, afterall who better to keep you on track than your fitness instructor. So I very sensibly ordered the sea bass for my main, had just one boiled potato, none of the delicious looking cauliflower cheese on offer, just some broccoli and swede. I was feeling very pleased with myself, full of martyrdom and then Nicky - yes Nicky - asked for the dessert menu and I found myself perusing a page of mouthwatering delights such as which I hadn't seen in a long time, and there it was, my absolute favourite - Banoffee Pie! So what does one do in this situation? Well I pleaded with Nicky to take the menu away and I was not going to be tempted, but she insisted, I mean really insisted that I at least shared a dessert of
my choice with her. Well not wanting to appear ungrateful I duly obliged, and wow did it taste scrummy.
Therefore I had to work doubly hard at the gym and at the Rosemary Conley classes the following week to ensure that I worked it all off, I was very relieved to have 2lbs at my next weigh-in, so mission accomplished.
Having overcome that hurdle I then had to fend off the inherit determination of a Jewish mother to feed her children.
My mother is tiny, if people meet me or her for the first time the look on their faces says it all, they cannot believe we are vaguely related let alone mother and daughter and I am certain that phrases such as 'switched at birth' spring in to their heads.
But mum is very good and is one of my biggest supporters, but she enjoys fussing over me and checking I am not fading away due to lack of food. She cooked a beautiful roast dinner and then announced that the roast potatoes were cooked in goose fat, well how cruel is that, make them taste the nicest so I can have even less!
Cheers Mum.......
But I am back 'the wagon' now and lost another 1lb this week, so I have now lost 2 stone & 9lbs, which isn't too bad.

That's more like it, I lost 3lbs this week so I'm feeling good.
The most noticeable difference though is ny body shape. I can actually see a change in myself which is slightly weird and just a bit scary....
So I am still at the gym, did something REALLY stupid though, told my instructor that I didn't think the workout programme was hard enough as I wanted to be pushed more. Well what a ridiculous comment to make to a fitness instructor, it's just asking for trouble!
Well he did as requested and I can honestly say I have noticed the difference!!!!!!!! I must learn to engage my brain before opening my mouth.
Still it's all helping me achieve my goals and I attended five aerobic/salsa classes this week at the Rosemary Conley clubs, so I am sufficiently 'cream crackered' now.
Nicky and myself are arranging for people at the clubs to do the race for life in Swindon in June. It might be fun to go round as a group.
Obviously I have a personnal interest in raising money for cancer support and therefore any offers of sponsorship would be very welcome.

So things are right on track so far, and now the weather is improving it might be time to get the bike out and do some cycling, afterall, every little helps (-:

Well its been quite an eventful week with some ups and downs. The downs being last week I only lost a pound and this week I stayed the same. Nicky is certain it is because I am not eating enough, but I find it quite difficult to reach my calorie allowance each day. I am normally about 600 short. The trouble is that if the body thinks it is being starved it hangs on to the fat reserves, so I really am going try hard this week to have my correct calories.
On the good side I have been excercising hard and joined the Lime Kiln Leisure Centre on Monday. What a fantastic place, the facilities are far more than I expected and the staff are really helpful and friendly.
I signed up for the Kinetika Journey which gives an induction to the gym and 5 one to one sessions with an instructor who also designs a work out programme for you.
All this was included in the membership fee plus it entitles me to use the health suite, swimming pool, sports courts and equipment and all the excercise classes. So I had my induction Monday afternoon, then my first session on Tuesday which went fine, I was at Nicky's two salsa classes Tuesday evening and two more on Wednesday evening, I did an hour at the gym on Thursday and one salsa class Thursday night at Purton, and to finish for the week I did an hour at the gym today.I think I have probably earned a day off.
I upped my levels at the gym today as I did not feel I had been pushed enough on the previous visits which I suppose indicates how much my fitness and stamina has improved. I must admit to feeling absolutely cream crackered by the end of Wednesdays classes and my arms and legs felt like lead weights. Nicky said she was going to nickname me the 'class thermometer' as I get so hot and sweaty she begins to wonder if I am going to make it to the end.
So though I havn't lost very much weight recently I am feeling much fitter and toned and for the first time in years my waist is emerging, I thought I had lost it for ever so it is a lovely surprise to see it again!

I am beginning to dread weekends. I don't have any classes and the weather has been rubbish so I find myself mooching about the house.Boredom breeds bingeing so it is important to stay occupied.
Infact the main bulk of my excercise came from trudging to and from the fridge certain that there must be a slab of fat free cheese with only 10 calories per kilo that I had overlooked, or I would even settle for a 'lose weight when you eat me' bar of chocolate. Alas no such delights surfaced and so I went out and did some comfort shopping to help soothe my disappointment.
I feel it has been a 'sticky' week this week. I have been attending all my classes and working hard,I actually havn't over-indulged with any foods, to be honest my calorie intake has been far below my daily allowance, but I don't think I have lost weight,I think I may stay the same this week. It can happen that you get the odd week like that, it isn't anything to panic about provided it doesnt happen week on week. It may simply be bloatedness due to 'that' time of the month, it may even be caused by all the excercise,afterall muscle weighs more than fat or I may be wrong and done better than I think, all will be revealed at my weigh-in tomorrow.

BRING IT ON!!!!!!!! I did it, I lost 3lbs this week which has given me my two stone loss. I am chuffed as hell.So I have lost two stones in two months, not bad huh?
I have been doing the 'circuits' again this week and have attended 7 classes with Nicky, that's 7 bouts of excercises. Well, I did say to my husband Jeff that I wanted to increase my classes after Christmas but neither of us imagined it would be to this extent.
On Wednesday I didn't go to any classes but I did a Salsa work out at home, once I got over the 'I feel such a plum doing this' I quite enoyed it. I then had the brilliant idea that I would teach one of my dogs to Salsa so we could do a routine together. So I jiggled around in the kitchen with my collie Tag, trying to explain the moves to him, I am not sure he fully understood but he was very attentive and listened politely and appeared to at least enjoy the theory, or maybe it was the pieces of salami I was bribing him with that he kept him so focused, hmmmm!
Other club members have started to ask my advice on losing weight which is quite nice. I tell them to remember one important fact - if it is nice - it is fattening. My best suggestion for that boredom hunger is to eat pomegranates. They take hours to eat, hardly have any calories, you could starve to death eating them, plus the seeds keep pinging across the room so you have to keep getting up to retrieve them, which is more excercise. You can't go wrong with a pomegranate.
So I have a good week, all my efforts have been rewarded
and I am feeling really good. Now its time to focus on my 3rd stone.

A strange thing happened today - I actually felt physically different, I felt lighter and tauter. I felt a spring in my step and an energy I have never experienced before. My whole posture seemed improved and it really feels great.
I have had another week of attending most of Nicky's classes, cashiering and joining in with the excercise routines. It is great fun and I get to meet all the other members from different clubs and everyone has got a story to tell and a goal they want to achieve. Keeping focused on those goals is the most important part, whatever you are striving for. It is all too easy to give up when things get tough and we can always find excuses why we fail. This is why a club is so effective as you gain friendship and support from other people who can empathise with you.
I have set myself three targets, I want to lose enough weight in order to have reconstructive surgery, I want to achieve a fitness level which allows me to train as an instructor and lastly, how I would love to be able to wear a pair of wellies!
Those are my goals for the future, my immediate goal is to have lost 2lbs this week as that will give me a 2 stone weight loss, so here's hoping....