Weight Ticker

Monday 12 October 2009

OMG!!!!!!!!!!

Well, yes, again I've been away for a while, but this time for a very good reason!! I have a JOB!!!! I started last Monday (5th Oct) and it's great, the people are great and I'm managing the reseller community for the company throughout the UK and when that's done, the Middle East and Africa! It's a big job, but I'm really pleased that I got it!

Weightloss wise, I got on the scales this morning and I'm down to 13st 2lbs again, which I'm happy with! I think not sitting around all last week and spending 2 days on my feet and walking around a trade show helped!!

Hope you're all well and catch up soon!

Weeza
xxxx

Wednesday 30 September 2009

Weigh in.....

Well, not as bad as I thought! 1lb on... So, the motivation is back and meal plans are done! I even have the other half on WW full English breakfasts!! Only 4.5 points, 2 low fat sausages, a slice of bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes and egg. Delicious, feels naughty, but it's not! I've got a new DVD too, Pilates for Weight Loss. I've got as far as unwrapping it, but it's not actually made it into the DVD player yet! I bought one for David as well, Be Kind to Your Spine, same as me, unwrapped it but not in the DVD player yet!!

So, job hunt, looks like it's over! I got offered a job yesterday and there's another in the offing, with another company, but I'm waiting desperately to hear. They need to make a commitment to me, so that I can reject the other, but I'm not burning my bridges yet! Watch this space....

I'm off now to play more Mahjong on my laptop, whilst catching up with Desperate Housewives! Season Six will be starting soon and I need more answers!!!

Take it easy and I'll post any job updates as and when I hear.

Love
Weeza xxx

Sunday 27 September 2009

Let me explain my absence....

So, I'm a bad girl and didn't WI on Monday, I avoided it cos I knew that I'd been bad. I weighed myself yesterday and it's at 13st 3lbs, which is a 1lb gain... I made some apricot muffins last week, which were delicious, but contained buttermilk, a whole carton, which is never good! I ate too many of them as well... :-(

So, the resolve is to try REALLY hard next week. I wouldn't be surprised tomorrow, to see another 1lb, I haven't exercised for a week and finally had the motivation yesterday, but popped my back! It pops in and out occasionally and it's back in now, so I can do some exercise! Tomorrow I'm back at it with Maya and I've also bought a Pilates for weightloss DVD. I really do enjoy Pilates, but the DVD's I have require a wall, which isn't really practical in our house!

On the job front, lots of activities last week, 4 interviews and hopefully I'll hear tomorrow about one of them, Tuesday about another and I have a second interview on Wednesday. All good stuff, so hopefully I will be employed again soon!

Right, I'm off for now, we're going to take the dog for a walk and tonight is my friend James' boat launch. He's rowing solo across the Atlantic in a couple of months! Check out his site - www.atlanticadventurer.com.

Catch you all tomorrow!

Love Weeza xxxx

Monday 21 September 2009

Oops!!!

We'll talk about it tomorrow..... I haven't done my WI for today and I have a feeling that the scales aren't going to be kind.... It's all about the muffins.....

Love
Weeza xxxx

Monday 14 September 2009

WoW!!!!!

Well, got on the scales today for WI and was seriously expecting a STS, but got the flaming shock of my life!!! 2lbs OFFFFFFFFFFFF!! That takes me to 13st 2lbs (184lbs)! I'm so, so, so, so happy!! Gives me all the more motivation to work hard and get down to the 12's for next week!

I tried on a pair of jeans yesterday as well, that I haven't worn for ages and I bought when I was at my biggest (14st odd) and am very pleased to report that they are going to the charity shop! They were hanging off me and even with a belt, not a chance! All bunched up! The pictures on the fridge are helping too, I see them going in and out of the kitchen and when I go near the fridge, bread bin, biscuit box, etc.!

I'm totally over the moon this morning and am now off to do half an hour with Maya (My Fitness Coach on the Wii)...

Catch you all later in the week and those that also have a WI today, all the best, I know that you'll all do really well!

Love
Weeza xxx

Friday 11 September 2009

Now and then....

Been digging through some old photos and found some of me 10 years ago, when I met David.... This is what I'm aiming for!!!



Not been too bad this week, but not been great either!! Hoping to redeem myself with some extra exercise tomorrow and Sunday!!

See you Monday for WI day! Have a great weekend!

Weeza
xxxx

Wednesday 9 September 2009

Fitness Assessment Number 2

Morning all!! I've done my fitness assessment on the Fitness Coach on the Wii this morning! I must have miscalculated my weight on the last one (still not used to working only in pounds) and my weight was the same as before. But, I've lost an inch off my bicep, half an inch off my thighs and one inch off my hips!! I'll say that I'm happy with that ;-)

I'm trying much harder with keeping within my points and I'm back doing the Fitness Coach everyday now! I'm following the recommendations on there for days and times now as well, more likely to follow it! I get Saturday's off, so hopefully I can do some Pilates or yoga, maybe a very long walk with the dog! If I'm really good, I should see 2lbs off this week, which takes me 2lbs from the 12's (12 stones range).

I've had a battle with BT this morning as well. I received my final phone bill, as I've moved our line and calls to Sky, and it was £83.13! My usual bill is £12, so I was horrified! I called, got sent around the houses 3 times and then finally lost my rag with them and hung up. I found on their website that there's a live chat facility, so I used that and spoke to an advisor, who told me the same things that the 3 people that I spoke to on the phone. I explained that I never received the letter they said that I should have done, renewing my contract for another 12 months! (If you are with BT, beware that your contract is renewable every 12 months, unlike contract mobile phones, where you then go month by month, once the initial contract period ends). She "gave me the benefit of doubt" and said that they would refund the cancellation charge of £88.06 and I would receive a cheque credit of £4.93!! Woohoo!!! Louisa 1 - BT 0!!

So, I'm off for now, catch you all later in the week! Keep up the good work everyone!

Love, Weeza xxxx

Monday 7 September 2009

Another pound down!!

Morning all!! It's Monday and weigh in day!! I was expecting a STS this morning, how wonderfully surprised I was to see a pound off!! This means that I'm ONE STONE (14lbs) down from January!!!

I didn't touch the Wii from last Tuesday, I've been a little depressed and didn't feel much like it... Saturday I had a dog roll from the snack van at a auction that we went to, but I tried to be good later on. Yesterday I was REALLY good! We went to the RSPCA day yesterday and spent a good hour walking around. That kind of made me feel a little better about the fact that I'd done relatively little exercise during the week! Last night, I had a couple of Pimms and diet lemonade and woke up this morning full of energy, so got Maya out and did 30 minutes with her. Upper body today, but did 15 minutes of high intensity cardio first. I was panting and sweating, just as you're supposed to! I feel energised and ready to take on the world now, although I have a feeling that come tea time, I'll be unable to lift my arms! ;-)

I'm so pleased that even with very little effort last week, I lost 1lb, so I'm motivated more now to do more this week! I really, really, really want to be in the 12's, that would be a major achievement, as I haven't been in the 12's for over 2 years now! I'm beginning to like the fact that my clothes fit or are more loose now! I've refused to buy size 18 clothes, so the size 16's have been a little tight for some time!!

Right, I'm off now, have meal plans to work out for the rest of the week. We've got Steak and Mushroom Pie tonight (WW cook eat enjoy Cookbook, page 186). Very yummy and can't wait, it takes 2 hours to cook before you even put it in the oven!!!

Good luck this week everyone!

Weeza xxxx

Thursday 3 September 2009

Bad, bad, bad, bad girl!!!

I sometimes wonder what my level of commitment is to my weight loss and if I really understand the effort that I'm going to really need to put into it as well.... I have a weakness, it's not food, it's alcohol... I'm not an alcoholic (really, I'm not), but I do like a drink! I've swapped wine for vodka as it's not as calorific, as I can drink it with zero points mixers, like diet lemonade or flavoured water. It sounds terrible as I write it, that I've swapped wine for vodka, as vodka seems kind of hard-core, but not drinking wine has made an enormous difference to me. My skin for starters! Drinking wine made me really spotty and now, I'm virtually spot free! I need to have more alcohol free days, I know that, I will not succeed unless I do!

All this is because I drank too much last night and had a wobbly head for most of the day. I've been helping in the workshop and I kept dropping things and tripping over, all because I was a bit jaded. I've had a conversation with David about it tonight and we both agree, we drink too much. Oh, and I smoke too much as well... Time for a change me thinks....

So, Maya's been left on the shelf since Tuesday, we've been really busy and I was too knackered after we'd finished up in the workshop. She's coming back out tomorrow though, 30 minutes of sheer punishment from my animated babe!!!

Food wise, well, the plan is in the kitchen, and I do look at it to check. There's been a few adjustments but seems that all is going according to plan!!

Right, that's me for now. Hope everyone else is keeping up with the motivation and promises to themselves for the week!!

Love to all,
Weeza xxx

Tuesday 1 September 2009

Crow's Feet....

Is it just me, but I've noticed that as I'm losing weight, my crow's feet or should I say, laughter lines, are becoming more apparent... Does this mean that if I get the 3+ stone off that I need to get down to 10st 7lbs, I will be all wrinkly??? :-)

I think that with the invention of many anti-aging creams, this is the last of my worries! I won't be (hopefully) wrinkly anywhere else (although I have a feeling my boobs will be in a race to see which one can reach my belly button first)!!!

Been really busy today, the accounts for the business need to be prepared and completed before the end of the month and we've had 2 more bikes in today and there's another due in tomorrow evening! This is all good, I hope that it continues!! My bike didn't get put back together today, instead I've put the new front indicators on, checked the spark plugs, given the carbs a quick squirt and David's sorted the cam rattle (it was a sticky tensioner) and found that the clutch cable didn't just need oiling, it needed replacing!! It's nearly worn through as it was so dry!! One should arrive tomorrow morning, so we can put it all back together and I can actually ride the damn thing!!!

Food... Well, I was on the forum on WW today and there's sooooo much inspriration. In fact, I feel a bit of a fraud! My goal is 3 and three quarter stone from January's figure of 14st 4lbs. I want to get to 10st 7lbs, the weight I was happy at, 10 years ago. I've managed to piss about for 3 years and do nothing except put weight on, but some of these WW users have more than 5st to lose and are half way or over!! What more do I need as motivation, than these formerly "big" ladies (and lads), who have through sheer determination and a desire, lost so much weight, that I'm ashamed!!

Anyway, logging off for now! I'm back with Maya on the My Fitness Coach in the morning, we have a 30 minute session, which I'm sure will punish me!!! ;-)

Catch ya all laters!!

Love
Weeza xxxxx

Monday 31 August 2009

After all that....

Well, disappointed to report that today's weigh-in shows only one pound off :-( Never mind, I guess that I knew really, the early optimism of the 3lbs serves me right for getting on the scales mid-week!! I have drunk a lot of fruit juices, which I didn't (stupidly) realise that they are actually quite heavy on the points! So, back to it this morning, Maya (My Fitness Trainer on the Wii) has told me off as well, for being inconsistent with the workouts! Crikey, even the animated computer person's having a go!! ;-)

I'm sorting the meal plans out for the week later and I'll be very, very, very strict and will absolutely run EVERYTHING through the WW website before I eat it... or drink it!!

I'm off now to take the tank and airbox off the bike, really been putting it off, but after doing the oil and filter change myself, I think that checking the cam chain tensioner can't be that hard really, and David's there to help me! Then is the labourious task of putting all the fairings back on!

Off for now, will try to update tomorrow with my progress!! ;-)

Love
Weeza xxx

Thursday 27 August 2009

I'm very optimistic!!!

After a fairly appalling start to this week, where I'd gained a pound, I've put 100% more effort into it this week and a sneaky peek at the scales tells me there's 3 pounds (just over a kilo) come off!! I had my assessment on the Wii Personal Trainer today and I've lost 5lbs (about 2kgs) and 1in off my bicep, 3 off my waist, 4 off my hips and 2 off my thighs!! This is though, since the 19th of April when I first set it up, but still, I'm happy! The Trainer also said that I need to do 6 days out of 7, 3 lots of 30 mins and 3 lots of 15 mins, but I've made it 30 mins on all 6 days. Saturday's I get off! I'm making more of an effort to walk the dog with David now as well, trying to make sure that we're out for at least 30 mins.

Also, I did a meal plan for the entire week, which is printed out and in the kitchen. If I eat something, I either tick it off or cross it off and replace with something else if appropriate. This has made me think about what I'm doing a lot more as well. I'm aiming for 6lbs off this week, so I'm at 13st (182lbs/82.7kgs). That would mean that since I came back from Thailand in January, I would have lost 10% of my body weight!! My goal is still 10st 7lbs (147lbs/66.8kgs) and my official 10% goal is 12st (168lbs/76.4kgs). I'm aiming for 3lbs a week from here on, which if I actually achieve it, will mean I'm at goal weight for my birthday in November!!

I'm going to take a photo of me in the same clothes as the original photo in Bangkok, to see if there's a visible difference in the stone (14lbs/6.4kgs) that's come off since then. I'll post it as soon as it's done, I have to dig the clothes out first!! ;-)

Job front, nothing much has changed, I was rejected for the 2 second interviews that I went for, not enough experience in certain areas, but overall the feedback has been great. I've also decided not to go for the position with the AV company as it's really outside of my field.... The second interview is in Blackburn as well, which is a bloody long way!

Right, that's enough from me for now, back after next week's weigh-in and measure up!!

Love
Weeza xxxx

Tuesday 18 August 2009

Ouch!!!

I decided to cancel my gym membership, it's an unnecessary expense at the moment, what with being unemployed!! I bought My Fitness Coach for the Wii a while back and decided yesterday to do 15 minutes of Pilates and 30 minutes of the Fitness Coach, hard work, but felt great afterwards. On the other hand, today my stomach muscles, tops of my shoulders, lats and deltoids are killing me! Loving the fact that I can feel that I've exercised and have no excuse to not do it! I've set the Wii up with the days and times that I'll exercise and it works the program out for me! Great!

On the weigh in front, I stayed the same again this week, mostly due to laziness... I'm trying to be good or at least better this week, I'd like to see me back down closer to the 13st (182lb/82kg) mark come next Monday. That would mean a loss of about 5lbs, which is achievable at this weight. As long as I watch the Points and keep up the exercise...

On the job front, I've had 2 second interviews now and I've got 2 firsts lined up, one on Thursday and one on Wednesday next week. Both seconds went well, but the one closer to home this morning, I really panicked about and I don't think I've ever been that nervous at an interview!!! Sweaty palms, shaky, stuttering!! Not good, but they had made allowances for it and the parts that I really had great knowledge of, I flew on. The reason for the nervousness was that I had to prepare and present on the vendor that I would be looking after, with only information publically available on the internet... The interviewers asked a couple of questions that I really couldn't answer, as the information is not online, or if it is, you have to register for it as a partner. Anyway I should hear tomorrow or Thursday on the one from this morning and Monday for the other one on Friday. Fingers crossed on both of them!!

So, other than that, life is good. I'm going to be working on David's website this afternoon, needs some serious tweaking now that it's searchable on the internet, is on the van and the business cards and is in the Surrey Herald as we took out an ad. Had the first call from the ad already and we had a couple of lads come up to the workshop this afternoon after finding us on the internet! All good stuff!

Right, that's me for now, I'll update when I have more news... :-)

Take care all and enjoy the limited sunshine that we're having!!

Love
Weeza xxx

Tuesday 11 August 2009

Job Hunt Update


Well, again, lots has happened in the last couple of weeks! My weight's stayed the same(ish) - 13st 5lbs. I have a little more motivation now and today is the first day of my alcohol cut down. I've bought a new bike, which will help me get a little fitter, as rather than in a car, where you just sit and turn the wheel, I have to work with it! Picture to the right!!!

I'm still hunting for a job, had a few interviews, mostly excellent feedback, only been one that knocked me back and that's because other candidates had more experience for the role. I've got one interview lined up for next week and one second already booked in, waiting to hear on another second, that looked really promising, but is going cold quickly! I'm on the case!!

Other than that, I'm enjoying my time in between jobs, in what we've got of a summer, today looks like a great day to get out on my bike, the sun's shining right now and it's not too hot!

Hope everyone is well and see you soon!

Love
Weeza xxx

Friday 24 July 2009

I've been in Egypt, that's my excuse anyway!!!

It's true, I'm really pants at keeping this blog up to date and I have no real excuse, as I'm now unemployed!!! I left F5 on the 30th of June and I'm actively looking for a new job. There's stuff on the horizon, been to some really good interviews and I'm being put forward for a number of others via recruiters as well. Nothing solid yet, but then I've only been really working hard on it this week.

I was in Egypt last week, visiting my aunt and cousins, who have been in the Middle East for nearly 30 years now. I had an amazing time and best of all, as they are "locals", I got to see Egypt in a different light to perhaps the way the average tourist would! It was a whirlwind tour, but I've done a "little" diary below!!

I got to Heathrow after checking in online the night before, pre-booking my seat, for a good one that was out of the way (I like to be as alone as possible when I travel by myself). When I got to the bag drop for BMI, I was really pleased that I had done the online check-in, as the queue for normal check-in was huge! The agent took my passport and check-in details and said "Ah, you've pre-booked your seat as 37G?", which I said I had. I was about to launch into a tirade when she said that I'd been moved to 2H. However, before I could say anything, she said that I'd been bumped into business class as the flight was full!!!! I also had access to the business lounge, which I didn't go to, as there was only 45 minutes to boarding and I fancied a wander around. When we boarded, I was offered champagne, orange juice or water. As tempting as the champagne was, it was only 9:15am, perhaps a little early ;-). We were given menus to choose lunch from and informed that the chef would be round shortly after take off to take our orders! The seat were like first class and fully reclined into beds. In fact, from the experiences that I've heard from colleagues in the past, this was more like first class than business as BMI don't have a first class on their flights. After take off, the chef in his whites, came round and actually knelt in front of the passengers to take their order! There was a choice of starters and main courses, plus a selection of wines! A far cry from tin foil slop food and wine out of a carton that I've had before!! When I landed at Cairo airport, I got through to the immigration section quite quickly, but the signs aren't great to tell you that you need to buy a visa before you go to passport control... I eventually found it in the bank cubical. However, no Egyptian Pounds (LE), and it was 85LE for the visa. The one cash point didn't have any cash in it (?!) but eventually they gave me money through one of my credit cards and I entered Egypt! Suzanne and Natalie (aunt and cousin) had texted me to say that they were waiting in the arrivals hall for me. Grabbed my very small but quite heavy suitcase (full of Marmite, Branston Pickle, cayenne pepper and some herbal supplements for Suzanne) and met them in arrivals. This was quite an emotional meeting as I'm the first person to visit them out there from Suzanne's side of the family (she's my mum's sister), for over 20 years!!! They've been over to see us in the UK, but Hamdi's (Suzanne's husband) side of the family joked that she must be an orphan!! We left the airport and the heat hit me like a brick wall! I've been in hot countries before, but it was stinking hot and humid and I loved it!!! The airport is the other side of Cairo to where Amir (my other cousin) lives, so the journey took about an hour or so to cross Cairo. If you've ever been there, then you'll know how mad the traffic is, if you haven't, it's MENTAL!! There is only one rule, don't hit anyone!!

After we'd got to Maadi, where Amir lives, we dropped Suzanne at the Metro to get provisions, whilst Natalie and I went to Starbucks for a coffee. White chocolate mocha and it was heavenly! We picked Suzanne and the shopping up and then went to the flat, where we were met by Amir. I haven't seen Amir for 20 years, he was 9 when I last saw him (saw Suzanne in May and Natalie about 3 or 4 years ago). The flat in Cairo is an awful lot bigger than I'd imagined it and really nice. We then decided to go to Khan Khalili, which is one of the oldest souks in Egypt. It was a complete sensory overload, amazing smells, colours, people! You can buy all sorts of different trinkets, floor cushions, sheeshas, ceramics, fabrics, lighting, so much stuff!! We had a meal in a famous restuarant in Khan Khalili, I can't remember the name of it, sorry! I think I ate pigeon as well, and as I ate everything there and liked it, if there was pigeon, I liked it!! Afterwards we came out of the souk and sat outside Hussein Mosque in one of the cafes and had sheesha, or hubbly bubbly as it's also known. It's a first for me and I can say that I enjoyed it!! Apple flavour!! Amsterdam, Egyptian style almost!! Order it from the menu on the table...


The next day was a lazy get up as it's hot in Cairo at the moment, it's summer, so most things are best done either very early morn
ing, or late evening. We got to bed about 1:30-2am the night before, so a nice long lay in!! We'd decided to go to the Egyptian Museum to see the Tutankhamun exhibition as I didn't see it when it was in London. Quite eerie in the museum, there's quite a few mummies in there and the tomb/coffin of Tutankhamun looks like he could actually be in there! Maybe I've watched to many movies, eh? After that we got a taxi to the Sofitel El Gizerah, which is on the Nile. Five star hotel that's just been done up and it's amazing! Amir used to work in there, doing all the IT, but he's got his own business now. We sat on what's called the Smoking
Terrac
e and had coffee whilst waiting for Amir and it was cool and breezy, watching the boats and falukas going past. We went home and had some lunch and then went off to the pyramids horse riding. As I write this blog a week later, I have only just recovered!! I haven't ridden a horse in 8 years and I hurt like hell! The pace across the desert was mostly gallop and not used to riding in trainers, when I jammed my feet into the stirrups (I know I should have been heels down) to stop me from losing my stirrups, the tongue of my trainers got stuck in them! Anyway, I enjoyed it, but was a little bit nervous!! Next time I'll do it on a quad bike :) That evening was a quiet one, we went to an American burger place called Lucille's in Maadi and it was great! 131LE (approx £13) for a meal for the four of us!! We then went back and called it a night.

On the Thursday, we didn't plan to do much as Natalie and I were going to see Amir DJ at the Purple Club on the Imperial on the Nile and then drive up to Alexandria after, during the night. Amir went to work and the remaining three of us decided to find a second hand bookshop that Suzanne had been recommended to go to. Well, let's just say we got a little lost looking for Road 7.... And had a little bump in the car... Everyone was fine, it really was a little bump, but the guy who's car we hit was an American, working for Schlumberger one of F5 customers, and it was a brand new company car. He called later to say it was all ok, his insurance would pay for the damage!! Result!! We had a look around some of the shops and then went down to Starbucks for a coffee. Suzanne cooked an amazing risotto for dinner and then Natalie had a sleep as she was going to be doing the driving later and Amir went to Purple to set up with Shahir, the other half of Masters at Funk (http://www.mastersatfunk.com).
Suzanne and I watched Sweet Home Alabama and then Natalie and I went out at just before 12 to the boat. We got there about 12:30-1ish and it was just getting going. Amir and Shahir are really, really good, they worked the crowd, adjusted to the mood and it was rolling when we left about an hour or so later. Then we drove to Alex... It was about 2:30am when we set off and got there in around 2 hours. We took the Desert Road, but it was dark, so didn't see much of the desert! There's another road, the Agricultural Road, as well between Alex and Cairo. The house at Alex is on the 14th floor and what we'd call a maisonette, but oh so much grander!! There are photos on Facebook, too many to put on here!! You can see the Mediterranean from the terrace!!

The next morning, Natalie took me to Costa in her car, she's customised rag rugs for seat covers and they are
amazing, not sure if you can see them in the photo here... Amir arrived from Cairo and we went to Balbaa, which is a seafood place. As it was Friday afternoon, after prayer, it was packed, but we managed to get a table quite quickly. I've never seen so much seafood and fish on one table! The food was amazing! (Thank you Uncle Hamdi!!). Natalie met some of her friends at Carrefour, the big supermarket (yes, same ones as in France) and Suzanne and I did the shopping and then she took me to see the "little arab house" at King Marriott. Suzanne bought this land and the house sometime ago and has finally relented to Hamdi to have it knocked down and a villa built there. The plans show that it's going to be an amazing place. The photos just don't do it justice, but when it's up, it will look spectacular! It's an area that's going through heavy development at the moment and some of the villas that have already been finished are beautiful. Uncle Hamdi and Suzanne have other land there as well, which they are hoping to develop as well, which lots of villas to rent and sell. Then Suzanne took me to her local souk and I got my hair done in her salon, which is a far cry from Luiji and Carlo's, but they did a fantastic job and I've never been to such a friendly place. It was a really lovely experience and I felt like a princess with all the attention!! We also visited the butcher, the local "corner shop" and what I can only really describe as the yogurt shop!! We went back and I called David and then Natalie came home. We had a fairly early night, at just gone 1am...

The next day I was really excited about, we were going to the North Coast to Rowad. I went with Suzanne to her country club first though and met Lady Alison, Louise, Marlise and Samir, Suzanne's friends and then Natalie and Amir came to pick me up. It wasn't that far, but OMG!!!! The water is turquoise and the sand is white.
This is NOT how I remember the Med at all!! It was a brilliant afternoon, all hanging out on the sand and then Natalie cooked prawn creamy pasta for everyone, that is 17 people!! Vodka pineapple cocktails that didn't freeze the night before were put in a teapot and it was passed around for everyone to swig out of!! I will always have fantastic memories of this afternoon, great people, great food, good times!!! :) We then travelled back to Abu Talet and to the family house there, where I met Hamdi's family and I had such an amazing reception! These people had never met any of Suzanne's side of the family and welcomed me so warmly! I must admit that I didn't understand a lot of what was being said, but I know that it was all good!!!

The next day, Amir drove me back to Cairo and the airport and we got into the airport and my flight was delayed 2 hours... I'm not going to dwell on that, as the rest of the holiday was amazing and I can't wait to go back!! Missing them all already!!

Diet, crap, have an upset stomach now, had for 2 days, which I think is a bug, probably picked up at Tesco... More later, off to watch the Beach, as we're pining for Thailand right now!!! :)

Soon peeps, I'll be back soon!!! xxxxx


Monday 22 June 2009

Where do I start?!?!?!

Well, so much has happened in the last week I don't know where to begin!! So, firstly, I've resigned from my job. I've been with f5 for a little over 4 years, but I'm just not happy. After a lot of thinking and working out, I quit. I was put under consultation in February this year and I had a choice, redundancy or take a new role created in the Inside Sales team. I took the ISR role and in hindsight, I should have taken redundancy. I think that I took the new role out of love for the company that I was working for, not really thinking about the bigger picture. For the most part of the last 3 months, I've been bored and fed up. It's not me, I've never been one for sitting doing the same thing day after day after day, and I've proved it once and for all. I'm a problem solver and someone that thrives on working with others helping to work out deals. I found my niche at f5 as distribution sales manager and I've always felt that the new role was a step back. I've made the big jump and I'm leaving f5 on the 30th June, forever. Sad? A little, but very excited about new things ahead! I've got a couple of interviews lined up and there's some applications made, but nothing to go to and a little scary! I've got a bit of dosh put away, but it won't last forever!!

We went away in the caravan this weekend, with the dog, successfully! Stayed at East Fleet Farm in Chickerell, been a few times now and it's a great place. Peaceful and lots of walks. The idea was to go spearfishing, but an overcast Saturday morning, meant that plans weren't made in time for the sun that hit us in the afternoon! We had a walk around Portland and across the coast walk at Chickerell and took in some wonderful sea air! Love it down in that part of the world. We'll be going back soon!

I weighed in this morning, lost 2lbs from last week, now am 13st 4lbs, which is 2lbs under the weight that I started WeightWatchers in 2006! Three years and I've lost 2lbs (I'm conveniently forgetting the 10lbs that I've put on during that time as well!). The gym hasn't happened for a variety of reasons, mainly my back, but once I'm a "lady of leisure" I'll be able to go during the day or late mornings.

Bored you enough now, so signing off, catch you soon! xxxxx

Sunday 14 June 2009

Sausages.....

Most of you will know about my obsession with sausages, particularly those that I work with. When the snack truck used to come round in the morning, I would buy 2-3, sometimes 4 (if I was having a bad day), large sausages, like you get in a hot dog roll, only without the bread. Each of these amazingly tasty morsels were as greasy as hell and certainly not the low-fat variety, which was probably one of the early reasons for putting on weight. It was around the time that the snack truck arrived at the office, that I starting gaining weight. That and boozy lunches, eating the wrong foods with the wine and giving up any form of exercise! Anyway, back to the sausages. I found that Tesco do a low-fat sausage and they are actually very good, a plain pork version and more recently a Cumberland version. When I stopped being in the office full time and out on the road, I stopped eating so many sausages, and a treat now is the low fat ones. You can even fry them, as hardly any fat comes out, even if they are pricked all over. Imagine my delight, when I come home from work on Friday and David's bought a pack of Richmond sausages. Now these bad boys are so high in fat, they could probably clog your arteries in one sitting, but they taste like no other sausage! The ONLY way to cook them is in the George Foreman Lean Mean Fat Machine. You can see just how fatty they are, as when after they've cooked, the fat drip tray underneath is almost full of fat and juices. Before the days of the dog (who now consumes that fat with a frenzy), we let it solidify before scooping it out into the bin. Approximately 5 dessert spoons of fat for 8 sausages, which is disgusting! Still, even though they are Foreman'd, they are still incredibly high in fat. So, we had them on Friday and then guess what.... Another packet on Saturday morning! Jeez, not good! I'm now off sausages for the foreseeable future, as I need to wean myself back off them!

Other than that, the diet has been shocking! It's slipped badly, I've been hit and miss on the Alli, been better than usual with the booze though, which is good. However, after an amazing day of deals in the office on Friday, I bought 2 bottles of rose cava on the way home and as David doesn't really like it, I polished off one and a half myself!! A bit of a sore head the next morning, but nothing I couldn't handle!

On the exercise front, I've been wearing my pedometer religiously and maintaining the minimum 3800 steps or more. Today I've done 8438 steps, of which 1415 were aerobic (14 mins). I've rejoined Riverbourne gym, I've been once in the week since I joined, but I put my back out the day after I went and it's not been strong enough to go back. I went to yoga with Helen on Tuesday, first time in over 6 weeks, and my back was twinging a bit, so didn't risk the gym. However, going back tomorrow straight after work. I've also sorted out the menus for home for the week, so that I'm back on plan and I've got skimmed milk for the office again, as I'd started using semi-skimmed milk in the office. I've got salad stuff, pasta, rice and tuna in spring water, plus new potatoes as well for some substance to my salads!

Anyway, off for now, sorry it was a while again, I'll try to come back tomorrow night, to log if I've behaved and what the weigh in is!

Take care all
Weeza xxxx

Sunday 24 May 2009

Another bank holiday, but....

...it didn't rain today!! Yay!!


Sorry I've been away again for a couple of weeks, it's been a bit crazy... We were away last weekend at Dive Fest, down on the south coast of Cornwall,
about 5 minutes from Mevagissey. The event itself was fairly crap, the weather didn't help, it was windy and rained alot! We changed our minds the day before about staying in the van and decided as we still had it, that we'd take the caravan and boy are we pleased that we did! Most of the other people stayed in tents, one in a "tent" on top of his car, like a safari tent and got a big surprise when he climbed down the ladder out of it the first morning as he must have been about 70 years old! The star billed hog roast on the Saturday night was pathetic, 3 small slices of meat in an oversided bap, a small heap of salad and quite honestly, a teaspoon of pasta with pesto. There was one marquee with some trade stands in it, that took a grand 10 minutes max to go round (we did it 3 or 4 times, just to see if it was anymore interesting than the first time, it wasn't...) and we'd really looked forward to seeing Monty Halls who's been on the TV recently with his programme Beachcomber Cottage. He spent 8 months up in the Scottish Highlands living in an old crofter's cottage, and as he's a marine biologist, we were expecting his talk to be on diving around the UK, etc. There was a slideshow of sorts of diving that he'd done around the world at the beginning and then the next 45 minutes was all about his TV programme with the obligatory plug at the end for his book and DVD, utterly disappointing. After the shite hog roast, we went back to the caravan to cook something a bit more filling, watched a DVD (not Monty's may I add) and then went to bed. The tents all got battered with the wind and rain and on Saturday night, most of them must have been shitting themselves as the rain came down in full force! It woke us up at about 3am, the noise was incredible and the wind was rattling the caravan, sod being in a tent in that weather! Anyone that went to dive, couldn't, the chop on the sea was too bad. The diver's seemed to prefer to play cricket on the beach in their drysuits instead, which was odd...






On the Sunday we walked around Mevagissey for a few hours, as we'd both been there as
kids, got a pasty and ate it on the side of the harbour and had a cup of tea in a tea room when it looked like it would hammer down, which it didn't :-)





We then went back to the campsite to have a walk along the beach and had a wander around Pentawan, which funnily enough, was shut! Only the pub was open, which was tempting, but we decided to attempt to fly the kite that I'd bought. When we bought the kite, we'd decided that a 1.2m kite just wasn't going to be big enough, so we decided to go all out and get a 3m one, despite all advice to get a 1.8m for beginners. Pah, we thought! OH MY GOD!! Well, to start with, the whole thing got tangled in the wind and I decided it was crap and to throw it in the bin, but David being the incredibly patient man that he is with anything to do with knots, untangled the whole thing in the caravan and then we walked back down to the beach, got it set up and then up in the air for all of 3 minutes before it made a beeline for my head, crashing down onto the beach. After a few failed attempts at getting it back up in the air, I realised that I was trying to launch it upside down and when I turned it the right way up, the bloody thing took off and David had to dig his heels into the sand to stop it from dragging him up the beach!! Then there was a crack and a flap, flap, flap, the bloody lines on the left side had snapped and it crashed back to the beach again! He's going to fix it so that we can have another go, when we remember! It's currently in the garage where we regularly kick it as we trip over it...

So on the diet side, been relatively good, despite the weekend away, didn't lose anything that week, put on 2lbs, but this week I'm down 4lbs and currently weigh in at 13st 4lbs. The best bit? I am starting to be able to wear clothes that I've not been able to get into for 2 years and that feels REALLY good! Today I put on a pair of shorts that I wore in Thailand and they are way too big. Good! I dug out a pair of combats that I bought to go to Thailand year before last and they were on the tight side and now they are just right and I'm incredibly happy. It really motivates me to lose more and stay on track. I'm wearing my pedometer again and that encourages me to walk more, hit the minimum 3800 steps. The Sunday at the Dive Fest, I walked 11,390 steps, 7.75km! Today I've been walking around and putting up the tennis/badminton/volleyball net that we've got for the garden and Helen next door came round late this afternoon and we attempted volleyball, but the ball was too hard and not round (and I'm shite at it as well) and gossiped whilst "playing" badminton, which I'm marginally better at!

So, off for now, but won't leave it so long next time, I promise :) xxx

Monday 4 May 2009

That's better....

It's a bank holiday and guess what??? It's wet! Oh well, some things never change... However, what has changed, is my weight! Yes indeedy! I got back on the scales on Tuesday, which I know I shouldn't have, but I weighed 13st 7lbs! 3lbs less than the day before? Anyway, pleased to report that I've lost another pound on top of that, so I'm now officially under 13 and a half stone, 13st 6lbs to be precise! The Alli is working and so far so good with what they call the "diet related side effects"! As I've lost weight, my points on WeightWatchers have been reevaluated and I'm now on 21 points a day instead of 22. Not having to change much as last week I struggled on a couple of days to actually consume 21 points! Fingers crossed that the wine that I've drunk over the weekend hasn't upset anything too much... I still need to get back into exercising and the gym didn't come back to me, so I'll pop in there tomorrow lunch time.

Today's my Dad's birthday, grand old age of 65, officially pensionable! LOL! He doesn't look 65 and is still my Dad who I used to follow around the garden when I was a tot! We're having a BBQ and there's a May Day fete down in the park, so David, his Mum, his sister and her friend are down there at the moment and I'm waiting for my lot to turn up so that we can go down as well. It's bloody noisy down there but finishes at 4:30, so then we can put some music on!

Right, I'm off to finish of the last of the mountain of food that I've prepared and catch you all soon!

Weeza xxx

Monday 27 April 2009

Slight slip up....

Morning all! Happy Monday and all that! So, straight to the point, I was bad last week! Not bad in the sense that I went over my points allowance, but bad in the fact that I did no exercise and didn't drink enough water! This has lead to putting 2lbs back on! Disappointed? Yes. Surprised? No.

So, the week was going well, but I had a stomach upset on Tuesday, which meant that yoga was out of the question. Helen went and I stayed at home with my flatulence! The week didn't get any better, I totally lacked motivation and the only exercise I did all week, was a long walk on Saturday and gardening yesterday. The gardening was hard work, cutting back brambles in the garden, as they are taking over and it was scorching! I've also ended up with many scratches up my forearms, that look like I've been attacked by a cat... However, the garden looks a bit better, 4 square metres done, only about another 400 square metres to go.

I've resolved to be much better this week. I've contacted the local gym about membership, as it is literally on my way home, I have to drive past it! I'm also on a no alcohol week. I'm going to get out the Wii tonight when I get home & do 30 minutes of My Fitness Coach. Yoga tomorrow, but Wednesday is going to be a no exercise day, as I'm in London in the evening with work and Thursday I'm going for a drink with an old school friend. Having to drive is going stop me from drinking at least! From Friday, we have a month-long challenge at work, it's World Cycling Week, so I've signed up to cycle in at least 3 days a week. As I've said before, it's only 3 miles each way, so no excuses! Even if it's raining...

I've also started taking Alli, which despite the controversy, is ok. If you continue to eat too much fat, or more than 15g in any one meal, then there are nasty side-effects, but I've only done that once and it wasn't too bad. I've yet to see if they work, as I only started taking them on Friday afternoon. I'll let you know if they start working, well, we'll be able to see when I weigh in next week.

That's it for now, I'll try to blog later this week, to update if I've actually done the commit on the exercise!

Ciao, Weeza xx

Tuesday 21 April 2009

On top form!!

I am here! LOL! I've been busy with enjoying the weather :) Hasn't it been great in the UK? I weighed in yesterday and pleased to report that I've kept the 2lbs off, so the second successive week of weight loss, chuffed to pieces!

I've bought a new game for the Wii, My Fitness Coach, which is looking good as a training program. Oddly enough, the game is written by the guys in the building next door to where I work, you may know them if you're a gamer, they're called Ubisoft! I'm quite impressed with it so far, it asks for your height, weight and sex, the usual stuff, but then it goes a bit more indepth, you input your measurements for your chest, hips, thighs, waist and arms,then you have to take your resting heart rate, then do 2 minutes of star jumps (or jumping jacks as they call it), which I couldn't do, and then retake your heart rate and enter it in.
It measures your abilities with other exercises, such as the number of crunches you can do, the number of kneeling push ups and how far forward you can stretch. Then you say how often you plan on training, days of the week and the amount of time you're allocating each day. I've not done the training yet, I hurt too much from the assessment on Sunday to attempt it yesterday!

So, yoga tonight, really enjoying the yoga and from the beginning of May, I'm going to start doing some stuff at home as well. I need to be a little more confident with my posture during poses. At the moment the instructor corrects me if I'm not doing it right, so I don't hurt myself! The running hasn't happened, I'm not ready to release that kind of activity into the public yet! I'll stick with the indoors workouts for the moment!! Nick next door has lent me a copy of Davina's workout, which Patsy Palmer recommends, so I'm going to give that a whirl too!

Right, I'm off now, will check back in over the next couple of days, just to say how much I hurt really ;)

Love to you all
Weeza xxx

Thursday 16 April 2009

Hoping that this blog actually posts.....


I tried to post earlier today, however, for some stupid reason, the 10 minutes that I was told that blogger would be down, turned into over an hour, so I gave up!!

Firstly, I got the haircut and am really pleased with it. Photo here doesn't really do it justice, but gone are the roots, the white hairs and the matted mass at the back of my head!!

I sneakily stood on the scales today, which isn't good mid-week, but I had to see if the really healthy eating, no wine and exercise was paying off. I sometimes feel that my clothes feel a little looser, but when I get on the scales, I'm the same or more. However, today I got on and found that I'd actually lost 2lbs! This is going by the scales in the bathroom and not the WiiFit. I've been told that the WiiFit scales are unreliable if you're using them on a carpet, which I am! So, 2lbs I'm happy with, but far from becoming complacent, I shall be trying even harder! No exercise for the last couple of days, I needed a bit of a rest! My legs are killing me from running and yoga!

I've also signed up for twitter as they kept going on about it on Radio 1, so I thought that I'd give it a go! I have 3 followers so far, one I know and the other 2 are completely random, I haven't a clue who they are!! If you want to follow me on twitter, then it's www.twitter.com/louisamaskell.

We had a little house guest last night, Arnold, an 11 month old Visler, who's a miniture Munkee but is like a coiled spring! There was a bit of a scuffle over a bone made of hide, but other than that, it was relatively peaceful, provided we restrained Arnold from pestering Munkee all of the time!! Picture of them in a more quiet moment about 6 months ago, Arnold's a bit bigger now, but still a lot smaller than Munkee!!

I'm off for now, take care all and see you soon xxx

Monday 13 April 2009

Easter... No eggs!

Evening all! Well, for those of you that know me on Facebook, you'll know that I didn't end up going away this weekend. Long story, but the short version is that as soon as we went to pull away with the caravan hitched to the back of the car, the dog started to freak out. Got to the Fleet services on the M3 and decided that if we went any further, that the dog would have a heart attack from panting so much and hyperventilating! I made the decision that we should unhitch the caravan and David should take Mungo back to the house and then come and get me! As he had to go up to the Hook turn off and then all the way back down the M3 to home and then back again after settling the dog, it took about an hour and a half to come to get me... Thursday wasn't the warmest day and I was sat in the doorway of the caravan, reading my book (Slumdog Millionaire - see the film before you read the book!) and looking like I'd set up camp. One caravan, no car!! Got some rather odd looks to say the least!

Anyway, we've kept ourselves busy over the weekend regardless, catching up on some long overdue jobs! Plus, it means that I can go to yoga tomorrow as we're not away! Also long overdue is getting the Wii Fit back up and running. I did step yesterday and today I've done running, step and yoga. I tried one of the muscle workouts and OMG!!! It was agony!

The weigh in happened this morning and according to the bathroom scales, I'm the same, according to the Wii Fit scales I'm 13st 2lb. As I'm going to be using the Wii Fit more than anything else, I'm going with this figure. There's a difference of 10lbs, but at my next doctor's appointment, I'll note the correct weight in kilos and convert into stones and pounds.

Pleased to say that I didn't eat any Easter eggs, mainly because I don't really like chocolate!! HAHA! We went shopping today and only healthy meats and veg went into the trolley, no rubbish or processed foods. We had a great Thai meal tonight, all freshly cooked, Turkey Fried Noodles (the noodles are simply tossed in with everything else at the end) and stir fried mixed veg in black bean. All cooked from scratch, other than the black bean, which is in a jar from Wing Yip...

So, I'm off work for the next couple of days still, so looking forward to walking and running plus yoga tomorrow. Also getting some baking done so I have some muffins for work. Oh, and I'm getting a new haircut on Wednesday morning, which I'm very excited about, something of a COMPLETE change! ;-)

Laters Weeza xxx

Thursday 9 April 2009

Always read the label....

Well, a quick post, as I had a particularly bad experience yesterday with the diet...

I'd done so really well all day, muffin for breakfast, healthy prawn sandwich from Tesco for lunch, a couple of Special K snacks and very little caffeine. However, when I got home, the other half had bought some ready to eat meatballs and I popped one in my mouth and they were delicious. In retrospect, I should have read the label first, and worked out the points value. I had about 6 in total.

This morning, I go online and log my evening's food consumption only to be horrified that just one meatball was 4 points! That's the same points value as the prawn sandwich I had for lunch! Eating 6 meant that I'd exceeded my total day's allowance by 2 points! So, I didn't bank anything yesterday and I'm minus 23.5 points for the week so far.

Going away today, so I'm going to make sure that I do plenty of exercise with the dog and try to bank the maximum 8 points a day (4 from eating under my points allowance & 4 from exercise) until Sunday to get back the points! Should give me 32 additional points, plus a bit of room to manouvre!

So signing off for now, if the mobile broadband works down on the south coast I'll update the blog again. See's ya all! xxx

Tuesday 7 April 2009

Mortified....

Well, as yesterday the scales were missing from the bathroom, I weighed in this morning and was horrified to see that I'd gained 1.75lbs! Three quarters of a kilo! I shouldn't have been that surprised as last week wasn't my best, no real exercise and drank loads of wine. No alcohol last night and was relatively good all day yesterday with eating. Didn't manage to get to walk the dog but managed 10 minutes of step on the patio. However, as I had all the leftover stuff in the fridge, including a WW quiche at lunch, I managed to go over my points by 2.5 points, redeemed 1.5 points with the step on the patio, so -1 point for the start of the week!

I've got an hour and a half of yoga/pilates tonight, so that will give me 4 bonus points and I need to stick with the plan for food, I should be on for banking 7 points, taking my bank to 6 points... I'm also going to start the "walking to running" plan from WeightWatchers tomorrow night, if I don't start it now, I'll drag it out for ages! Should then be able to run for 30 minutes by the beginning of June.

Anyway, enough for now, back soon! xx

Monday 6 April 2009

First blog on blogger....


Hi there, so, this is my first blogger post, I've been sporadically blogging on myspace, but this seems to be the way forward :) If you want to see previous posts (cos I can't import it for some reason) click here - http://www.myspace.com/weezas_blog.

So, the objective is to lose weight, hence the name of the blog, LOL. You'll see from the picture above, that I'm bigger than I should be! The photo was taken in Thailand, when I was on hols for Christmas/New Year. When I came back, I weighed over 14 stone (196lbs or 90ish kgs). I've managed to drop to 13st 10lbs since I came back mid January. My ideal weight is around 10 and half stone (147lbs or 67kgs), so I have quite a bit to shift; 3st 3lbs (45lbs or 20.5kgs). I'm looking to do it for the August bank holiday weekend (last weekend of August), which is a good steady weight loss.

I'm following the WeightWatchers Discover Plan, which uses a points system, at my current weight I have a 22 point allowance for the day. I had two crumpets for breakfast, with nothing on them, which are 2.5 points. Things like lettuce have zero points and things like a chicken breast grilled without skin on is also 2.5 points, but a Big Mac is 9.5 points, so you kind of get the picture. It's based around the calorie and saturated fat content, which gives it a points value. The idea is to spread the points around 3 main meals and 3 snacks a day, plus drinking plenty of water and getting your 5 portions of fruit and veg a day. There's also a milk target, to promote healthy bones etc. Also it's geared towards filling foods, so that you feel fuller quicker and for longer and I've got to say that it actually works! I've also found out that drinking a bottle of rose wine is around 9 points and it's not really a good idea to cut out/down foods, so that you can have a bottle of wine in the evening, so totally abstination is the only way forward. I stopped drinking last night and the open bottle of wine in the fridge will be used for cooking!

My last part of the weight loss plan is to get more exercise, this is an area which I really let myself down in. I find it hard to get motivated. As the sun's come out in the recent weeks and over the last week or so, it's started to warm up, I'm feeling a little more active and have been out walking the dog with my other half. Once a day, but it's 20-30 minutes a day. I'm also starting yoga this week, with my next door neighbour and my job role has changed from April 1st, so I'm now office based, therefore I can cycle to work (3 miles each way). Also, Weightwatchers have a walking to running plan, so that over the course of 8 weeks, you build up to being able to run comfortably for 30 minutes and this is something that I really want to achieve, running has always been my nemesis!! Think Forrest Gump with splints, you'll get the general picture!

Monday's are my weigh-in day, but I couldn't this morning, as my other half had used the scales to weigh a package and they were still in the garage. I'll weigh myself tomorrow morning instead! I'm not expecting to have lost any weight, due to being bad last week, mostly with the wine :(

I'll check back in tomorrow so I can log my weight.

Take care, Weeza xxx