More 'after' photos

By popular demand here are some more pics of me taken 'after' the shrinking. Current total is sitting tantalisingly close to £3ooo!

THANK YOU

Finally back in the land of the living.
Last guests have just left.
I hope all who came last night had a good an evening as we did.
Thank you all for your support. You've made this challenge such a success.
Off to the bottle bank now :-0

Lovin' the press

Made it into the local rag again this week... If you ignore the embellishments it makes quite a nice read... Would be great if I can raise even more funds through the exposure. Hard copy comes out tomorrow.

Read article

Done and dusted - I'm off for a pizza

Quick post before I go to work - more later. This morning's weigh in was 11 stones 11lb which makes a total loss of 78.5lb. Feeling quite pleased. Looking forward to some food!!

Only hours to go!

On the home run now. Final weigh in tomorrow morning before I go to work. Tense, excited, nervous, hungry...

Still in shock

I'm still very shaken by the news of Thirza - such an unlikely and terrible tragedy. We were the same age - makes you think about how fragile life is, which I've been doing a lot anyway since Jes died.

Had a lovely pizza last night and as expected I can no longer eat anywhere near as much as I used to so the damage is probably minimal (I hope). In fact I could just manage half a medium and a few wedges, I used to wolf down at least half a party size plus chicken dippers and garlic bread. Ironically it costs no more to order the largest size - no wonder we used to order so much.

Am now on super good salad and fruit until Tuesday...

Deeply shocked

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article998055.ece

I used to work with Thirza at Lollipop. I am so shocked I just ordered a pizza. Not entirely sure of the link there but can barely think I am so deeply shocked and upset.

Home stretch

7 days to go, this really is the home stretch. Trying to be extra good to end on a high (or lower even) note.

I have had a lot of questions about making payment when I have finished. If you are coming to the party then you can bring your sponsorship with you. (I'll be contacting everyone individually with their total so don't worry if you have forgotten what your original pledge was).

If you are not coming or would rather pay in advance then you can pay through Justgiving. They will also reclaim tax via giftaid if you are a taxpayer (if you pay me I will claim giftaid for the total as I am also now a taxpayer so either way it'll get included). Or post me a cheque.

I'll be speaking to every sponsor by email or telephone next week so can answer further questions then - just thought I would post something here to answer the immediate questions.

What? Groin strain? You have to be kidding.

9 days to go and I have a grade II groin strain. No exercise until it is better. WHAT??

I guess it could be worse as we are still housebound with the chickenpox anyway. It's very very frustrating though, the week where I was going to exercise for England and I can barely walk. grr.

Housebound! Nooooooo.

Wee C has come home with Chickenpox. Which means we are housebound until she's better. Which means no exercise and boredom. Boredom = snacky head. No no no no nooooo.

The challenges just keep on coming. Only 12 days to go - I CAN do it.

Coming to the end now

Only 15 days to go.
I'm not going to post any more weight updates now until the finish on the 8th April.

Last week only saw a 1lb loss which is a little disappointing this close to the end however considering I spent Easter with my in-laws who were trying to 'fatten me up' it's not as bad as it first seems!

3 bags full of pain

In the middle of my lounge floor I have three very large sacks of Jes's belongings. We took them from the boat back in October as they are things that we may be able to sell or are bike stuff that we may be able to pass on to a good home.

Graham drove about with them in the boot of his car for three weeks, neither of us feeling able to deal with them. They then went into the garage for the winter.

They have now migrated to the lounge to be sorted out. So far they have been in here for 4 days. We keep moving them about carefully avoiding actually opening them.

I've never been so afraid of a few plastic bags before. I know that opening them is going to bring back memories and pain.

On the bright side, the thought of it has taken my appetite away totally.

Stonking

Another good week - hurrah. I was wondering if my lower levels of exercise last week would make a difference but I seem to have been OK. Of course this week is going to be a toughie with Easter Eggs and a trip to the in-laws on the horizon. Only 3 weeks to go is helping focus my thoughts though so hopefully I'll be strong.

Also helping my remain focused is my day at Pennyhill Park Spa at the end of the shrink - I have to be in a bathing suit all day - amazing how that polarises the thoughts!!

Happy St Patricks Day and Happy Birthday to Emma.

This bl**dy lurgy

Am getting really REALLY fed up with being ill. You'd think with all this healthy living I would have a stronger immune system but this last month I have bounced from one thing to the next - none of them serious but all uncomfortable and interfering with my ability to exercise. I have yet another cold and a head full of mucous - oh joy.

Back on track

Hurrah.
Definitely a better week.
I have now lost exactly 5 stones.
That is 70lb.
It feels incredible.
It's looking pretty good too.
I've realised my thoughts of trying to reach 80lb were a little ambitious - it is extremely unlikely that will happen now.
I'm still doing really well though.
Went to Bluewater yesterday and bought some new clothes. Amazing experience. I went into all these shops that I have never even noticed before - shops that only go up to a size 14!! I felt like a princess.

Looking up

After such a bad week I seem to have pulled myself back together and have been feeling much more focused and motivated the last four days. Unfortunately I have a stinking cold and a cracker of a headache so am struggling but struggling is better than giving in.

Not as bad as it could have been

I somehow didn't gain 5lb - I actually lost half a lb. Phew.
I now have to really pull myself together this week and try and get things back on track - if I carry on like last week I'll not even reach 70lb
I guess after such a good run - there was inevitably going to be a hiccough. Time to get serious. Only 5 weeks to go.

Help - failing fast

Things really have deteriorated. Yesterday saw us all having a blow out lunch in TGI Fridays. Despite choosing what looked like a good choice it came out deep fried and so was even worse than I expected. On the up-side I really could only manage just over half of it so the damage was limited and I had no space for dessert.

Today is mothers day. After a lovely lie-in, breakfast in bed, flowers from C and a stunning bracelet from G, I am still feeling totally unmotivated to eat well and exercise.

Complete lack of motivation.
An all time motivation low
Bah humbug

Struggling

I'm completely demoralised by last week's failure to lose anything. Because I worked so hard it feels even more unfair. Monday was my worst diet day yet - not so much in what I ate but my attitude. I've been trying all week to pull it back together but I still feel really bad about it all.

Not being helped by a case of wine appearing on the doorstep yesterday, of which significant sampling was made last night and now I have a rather poorly head :-(

I also got very upset about Jes last night, particularly about the failings of the health service to diagnose and then treat him. I understand it's the angry stage of grief.

So I'm not holding out much hope for this weeks weigh in. 80lb is definitely not going to happen but I might still make 70lb. I have to stop pushing myself unrealistically and focus on how well I have done. Little self-pep talk there.

another mystery

I wish I understood this.

Last week I cycled for 40 minutes four times, walked a fair bit and even manged to get out on my roller blades. I didn't cheat with my food - I ate very sensibly I thought - yet did I lose any weight? Nope. How gutting. Hopefully next week will be better.

Nicer than chocolate (and I'm still mad)

Up at 6.20 this morning for 40 minutes sweat and panting on the bike - I know now that I have truly changed - 6 months ago nothing in this world would have got me doing that - I am now enjoying it!!

I also made another amazing discovery today... dried bananas - I don't mean those crunchy banana chips you get in cereals and health food shops - I mean chewy dried bananas made by Urban Fresh Fruit. They are like nothing on earth I have ever tasted before. Bananary yes, but toffee like too - chewy and satisfying, sweet and silky. I could go on forever. They are quite high in (natural) sugar so I have to watch how many I eat (shame) but no nasties whatsoever - all that is in the bag is... bananas!!!

Off to the pub tonight - hurrah - can't remember the last time I went to the pub of an evening.

Truly insane - that's me

It's half term this week and last night I realised the only way I could guarantee getting in enough exercise would be to do my cycling before G went to work. So at 6.30 this morning I donned my trainers and set to 40 minutes punishment. I really did. NUTS.

The exercise is paying off though - 3lb down this week hurrah

Phew!!

Never have I been so sure that I was going to have a gain. But no. I am the same - exactly the same as last week - I cannot convey the relief!! All that cycling at the weekend paid off - phew.

Oh dear oh dear

I'm starting to get a bit anxious about Monday's weigh in. I have a nasty feeling that this might be the first weigh in where I have gained. I've had a rather wonderful week but a bit deadly diet wise. The trouble with having a birthday is all the associated celebrating...

Confused? Yup.

So I do almost no exercise and eat to my max allowance every day and bingo - 4lb - whoosh. gone. I really don't get it.

Am planning on a full week of exercise this week so I'll probably gain weight based on the current trend.

Weird.

A Dam No More

No longer am I a dam! and I don't give a damn. ho hoho.

When I pull the plug out ALL the water runs out of the bath now, not just the water between my hips and the plughole.

I feel this is a significant milestone ;-)

Very mixed feelings about tomorrow's weigh in as I have barely exercised this week owing to the thudding headache that was with me for much of the week. I did spend most of yesterday cutting down a tree and sawing it up so that must have been worth a few calories.

Next week is my birthday and I am being taken out for dinner so it's going to be another challenging week - but I am looking forward to wearing a new, slim fitting (hark at me) top when we go out.

Grotbags snotbags

I've got a cold and have had a headache for 3 days and feel generally rough. I've eaten loads this week - I don't mean I have gone mad and eaten everything bad, just that I haven't bothered to try and save any points. Exercise has been limited as I don't think pounding the pedals with a headache would be very wise.

Maybe we'll have some snow by the morning so I can burn some calories making snowmen with C.

Still not happy

Can't believe I only lost 1lb last week. Another lousy 1lb week. What is really frustrating is that I was even more careful last week than the week before. I managed 4 work outs on the bike last week and now that I have a heart rate monitor (thanks dad) I know I really am working hard and consistently. I was even better behaved with food and also spent part of Saturday chasing C around one of those kids soft play things with a massive slide (hard work but tremendous fun).

I'm not as down about it as last week but am still not very happy. I really don't know how what more I can do.

Flippin' wonderful

Another measly 1lb. I know it's better than nothing and I should be pleased but to be honest I am not. I worked really hard last week, I was brilliant with food, didn't eat any of my exercise points (and there were LOADS - I spent a lot of time on my exercise bike) and I didn't eat any of my saved points either. So I'll be honest and say that I am thoroughly disheartened and fed up that all that pain and denial achieved so little.

I know its sometimes like that but I am still fed up.

I am also fed up that I am still 40% fat. According to those who know more about this than I do I need to be 25% or less to be healthy. That's another 15% and as I can lose 6lb without it changing even 1% I still have a very long way to go.

So I deduce that although 11st 1lb will take me to a healthy BMI it is likely that I will need to drop considerably lower than that to get the fat % healthy. According to the charts 8st 12lb is also a healthy weight for me - which means I am not even halfway yet - I could have another 60lb to go.

People keep saying that I have a larger frame and shouldn't get too slim - but how do we know that? When did anyone last actually see my true frame? The last time I wasn't fat was when I was 20 and I was 9 stone 10lb and still had a flabby belly. So maybe I really do have to try for another 60lb to achieve 'good health'.

If you saw that show with Jamie Oliver on 4 last week - Eat To Save Your Life (available on 4OD until 15th February if you missed it) - they found that some of the slim people had more fat (and more than is healthy) than the fat ones because it was all stored around their organs - where it is really dangerous.

I am so fed up with spending an inordinate amount of time making meal plans, shopping for 'fresh ingredients', chopping sodding vegetables and 'dry frying' bloody onions. I worked out that I average about 2 hours a day in the kitchen cooking 'healthy and nutritious food'. That's a day a week - and half the time the adapted recipes are vile anyway.

I would really like to have a week where I don't have to spend all week actively thinking about, preparing and not eating enough bloody food.

Comedy tights

I don't wear tights very often any more. I don't wear skirts very often either which is probably why. Last night I discovered I can just get into my Inspiration Boots so today I put on a skirt so I could show them off...

Of course with a skirt goes tights. I have lots of pairs of tights left from when I worked in town. So I put some on, added the boots and off I went for the day.

Imagine Nora Batty in black knee length leather boots (actually, that's a bit of a scary thought). I've got the famous wrinkling but it's at my knees!!! utterly hilarious.

Smaller tights are now on my shopping list.

Another month bites the dust

And so to the end of month 5.

This month has been the hardest yet with Christmas parties, Christmas itself and New Year all packed into it. I'm pleased to say that while not as dramatic I did still manage to lose some weight - 8lb in total. I am hoping that this month will be a little easier but I fear that the easy pounds were several stones ago and I am going to have to fight for every lb from here in - I certainly did last month.

Current totals are: £27.13 per lb and £1,642.01 total. If anyone is getting anxious about final payment in April you are welcome to make an interim deposit via www.justgiving.com - think of it as sponsorship on HP!

I also have a couple of t-shirts left if you're interested - £9 & free shipping. Mail me for sizes if you are interested.

I've added some more pictures to the website (top right - give it a few secs to load) - a snazzy little slide show of Jes-pics from the last 20 odd years - if you have any others you would like included please email them to me.