Weight Loss Wednesday #18

This past month, what with the weather, I have been curtailed in my Nordic walking pursuits and this week I have been mainly being ill!!  So I think it is time to reassess what I want to get out of July and draw a line under the past month and move on!

I know I would feel much better before going off on holiday in August to hot places if I could shed another half stone (at least) and I know that I need to be eating the correct foods to achieve this.  In order to do this and keep eating sensibly I am going to PUBLISH my food diary each week during July - even now as I type I am wondering what I have let myself in for?  I think knowing I will be accountable and "judged" by others should help to keep me on the straight and narrow as sheer will power doesn't seem to be working at the moment!!

Joining in with Sim over at:

I'd love to know what things you're going to be doing during July to maintain or begin a healthier lifestyle so leave a comment below :)

Celebrate #16

Sorry I'm late to the party this week but I felt it was time to ...

This wonderful linky is hosted by the amazing Lexa Cain and everyone is welcome to join in.  Just click on the button above to be taken to her blog page and the linky list!

Despite some earth-shattering moments this week in Britain when 52% of the population decided we did not want to be part of Europe!!! I have striven to look for the more positive things that have happened in my life.

1 - had a great time with my parents-in-law visiting this week.  They tried out the train and it was a really good journey through St Pancras with National Rail assistance.  What a difference it makes being helped in and out of carriages as well as being taken to your next train when you find it difficult to walk long distances :)

2 - although it has been mostly raining this week the garden is blooming and my strawberries and raspberries are ripening and tasting delicious!

3- due to my in-laws visiting I got out and about showing them lots of places and discovering new ones for myself too - all very enjoyable as well as having a bit more down time to start a new knitting project as I wasn't running all my Nordic walking groups this week.

Here's to hoping everyone else has enjoyed their week and has been able to find those little things to celebrate even if sometimes the overall picture is a bit gloomy :)

Celebrate#15

My first Celebrate of June and I've had a lovely month so far. 

If you want to join in and add your sharing of what has given you to cause to celebrate this week just click this button and the wonderful Lexa Cain will add you to the list - it's that easy!

Plus this week Lexa has a special give-away as well as other freebies!

My reasons for celebrating have been:

1 - Meeting up with special friends which is always nice.  Having teacher friends restricts you to school holidays and normally they are swamped with work for the next term so it was really lovely to be given a whole day of her precious time!

2- Getting into that smaller pair of jeans - which has put a smile on my face and a wiggle in my backside all week!!

3- Having a very successful week of Nordic walking talks, taster sessions and a special one off for This Girl Can week.  It really worked out well and I met so many lovely people :)

I'd love to know how your week went so leave a comment below :)

Weight Loss Wednesday #17

Oh Dear - my scales tell me I have not lost any more weight this week - but then again when I think back to the amount of bread I have consumed I realise that I have not been trying hard enough to make correct choices.

On the plus side, I tried on the pair of jeans I was talking about last week and was able to put them on and in fact have been living in them pretty much all week so that shows that I have trimmed down in the waist, hip and thigh department!

I watched a fascinating programme this week from the BBC where a Cambridge scientist who works in genetics Dr Giles Yeo looked at possible reasons behind our obesity problem here in the UK. People who carry a particular gene are more likely to be heavier than those who do not have it and their cravings for certain food and taking larger quantities of it are to do with this.  However, knowing about it could influence their choices and help them tackle their weight issues and exercise is found to work really well for them.  Dr Yeo's analogy of being dealt a poor hand in poker but still being able to win the game by playing well resonated with me better than feeling doom and gloom of having your genetics stacked against you. Of course I don't know whether I have this particular gene but it certainly would make sense to me if I did and therefore maybe thinking about this could be helpful when making the correct choice this week in what I decide to eat!!

Joining in with Sim over at her weight loss linky

where despite half term she has had a very successful weight loss week.  Now I'm wondering whether I should try her shake and diet bar plan to really shift some of this excess weight?  But would I be able to survive on this type of diet for a week?

Let me know your thoughts on how best to lose weight - have you tried a new diet and found it really worked for you or did the poundage all creep back and more once you stopped?  You know I'd love to know so leave a comment below!

Weight Loss Wednesday #16

Linking up with Sim over at:

who is talking about incentives this week.

As you know, my incentive is to lose half a stone before being captured on film talking about my Nordic walking experiences in two weeks time.  Well my update is that I have lost a little more - now down to ___ 12 but this still means I need to be looking at a 2 1/2 lb loss for the next two weeks!! This week was slightly hampered by going to an absolutely marvelous 60th birthday party of one of our neighbours who also provided us with LOTS of left over party food including the most scrumptious cupcakes!!  The better news is I have lost another inch off my thighs this week - probably again due to five hourly sessions of exercise during the past seven days.  I noticed this difference when I came to zip up my waterproof jacket and discovered I could do it with ease!!

Sim talks about using clothes as an incentive for weight loss and I do have a pair of jeans that I hope to be getting in to before the end of June.  Another weight loss blogger, Mrs Teapot has also been vlogging and blogging about stashes of old clothes - which did make me think maybe I should sort out some of my old summer clothes (stored up in the attic) that I might want to try to fit back into this summer.  So my question this week is - do you have a piece of clothing you have kept that you would like to fit back into and what is its story?  Leave a comment below and I'll be sure to get back to you :)