Second week weightloss update

No loss, but no gain either, result!

I had a few days away with a friend, she has three dogs, so we did a lot of walking,

which, naturally, enhanced the appetite, and we also did a lot of eating - so I'm delighted that the scales showed the same as last week.

Today I'm off to the wilds of Essex for a family reunion tomorrow, and as long as I don't overdo it too much, hopefully the scales will show a reduction next week.

Still slightly over 12 months to go to the wedding, so it's not time to start panicking yet.

Week Twenty Six, half a year in.

176

Oh dear!! Tesco entrance early on a Saturday morning.

177

My paintings have at last seen the light of day, having been boxed up for well over six months.

178

Well done Maisie. Not bad for a car that's 11.5 years old.

179

These geese were meandering slowly across the road and weren't going to budge until my passenger got out and shood them out of the way.

180

I spent a few days in Sussex with a very old friend (long standing rather than aged!) and her daughter Caitlin. These are Caitlin's slippers, don't you just love them?

181

We had a day out, spent the morning at Bodiam Castle . . .

182

. . . and the afternoon on a steam train to Tenterden from Bodiam Station. This wagon was parked alongside the station, I was attracted to the colour combination.

Weight and see, first update

This was the reading on the scales on 1st August

and this is today.

Yippee!!

See you next week.

Week twenty five

Going away for a few days, so this week's photos are a day early

169

One of my leaving presents. Rosie, my boss, knows I'm a jigsaw fan so she gave me this, I'll probably save it until Christmas, as 1000 pieces is really more than a one person job!

170

Tomatoes starting to ripen up

171

GD5 loves the feel of uncle GO's beard . . .

172

. . . and auntie EG's hair

173

Crocosmia, my favourite flower

174

Yay, more tomatoes ripening

175

Yes, I know what I said earlier about 1000 piece jigsaws, and this is why - it's taken me ages to complete.

I think it's going to get tedious . . .

. . . taking photos of everything I eat, and also I'm going away for a few days next week, so I'll post the photos I've already taken and from now on I'll just update occasionally when I feel like it, with a weekly weigh-in result.

So yesterday for breakfast I had

a bowl of wheat-free muesli with soya milk,

for snacks

an apple, a yogurt, some grapes and a small chunk from the thin end of this pack of cheese (Wensleydale and cranberry is my favourite cheese).

For lunch

a very green selection - fingers of cucumber, celery and green pepper dipped in guacamole (didn't eat all the fingers or all of the guacamole), and a "thin".

For tea

braised pork in onion gravy, with cauli, kale and a yorkie.
I also had half a pint of beer at lunchtime and a bottle of beer while watching our Lionesses get beaten in the Euros semi-finals.

This morning's breakfast was

poached egg on wheat-free bread, and a grilled tomato.

Watch out for my next weigh-in which will be on Monday morning.

Weight and see

Step count for yesterday 6519, target reached. Not sure target will be reached today, it's been raining all day long, which is not conducive to leaving the house unless you own a dog, which I don't. Walking round and round indoors for no good reason doesn't appeal to me, but if the rain clears and the evening is fine, I might just mosey out for a while.

Breakfast

One rasher of bacon, grilled, mushrooms cooked in olive oil, low sugar baked beans.

Snacks

Banana, apple, scone (well, they are in the freezer and have to be used up!!), with low fat spread, no jam.

Lunch

A bowl of vegetable casserole (made last night for tea and revamped this morning with the addition of some borlotti beans). The rest of this casserole is now destined for the freezer.

Tea

Salmon salad with baby potatoes.

I might try to step outside my comfort zone tomorrow and have something other than vegetable casserole or salad to eat.

Evening update : it's still raining, so it looks as if today's step count will be down, but not by much, so I can make it up over the next few days

In just over a year . . .

. . . from now, GO (no.3 son) and EG (his partner) are to be married. Which means that I have just over a year to shed the excess weight that I've been carrying around with me for the past few (too many) years, in order for me to feel comfortable in my role as Mother of the Groom.

I've tried shedding weight before, but with not a huge amount of success, so this time I'm going to ask for your help, I need to be accountable to YOU, my dear reader. I hope you will read my posts and offer me encouragement, I'll try not to get too boring about it all, I promise.

So, where do we start?

Well, here. This is today's reading on the scales, and for those of you who still deal in "old money" this is just under 11.5 stone. This time next year I would like to be 61kg (approx 9.5 stone). If you don't mind looking at food pics I would love you to follow my journey and offer me encouragement if I struggle. My aim is to shed approx 1 kg a month, and I'll do it by cutting out processed sugar, cutting down on volume of food eaten and alcohol drunk, and moving around a little bit more, I'll be aiming to do upwards of 6,500 steps per day (There are simply not enough hours in the day to aim for the recommended 10,000).

Are you with me?

Here are today's meals.

Breakfast

Scrambled bantam eggs on wheat-free toast

I'm a bit of a grazer if truth be known, so I need a few bits and pieces to nibble at between meals, these are what I've allowed myself today

A banana, a tangerine, some grapes and a natural yogurt.

Lunch

Grated cheese salad, standard mature cheddar but less than I would usually have.

Tea

I'm fixing a huge panful of vegetable casserole for tonight's tea, with several servings for the freezer as well.

It's 4.30pm and my step count so far is well on the way to target, as long as I don't sit down just yet. I'll be back tomorrow, will you?