Welcome friends to August’s Slimming Sunday, the
linky for all your weight loss, healthy eating, exercise and healthy living
posts. #SlimmingSunday goes live the first Sunday of each month and your hosts
are Emma at Life According to Mrs Shilts and me, Michelle at Mummy from the
Heart.
This is a small, friendly linky and we’re happy
to have you join in. We are not big on rules but please, if you link up visit
some fellow linkers and leave a bit of comment love to encourage them and I'm
sure they’ll do the same for you. I'll be over to visit, comment and tweet out
your posts.
So, come on and share - how has July been for
you? Share your highs and lows and let us know where you need support. I'll be
really happy to pray for you too if you'd like.
It's been a good month for me, it feels like I'm
in a time of change and I'm hopeful this is the start of my forever journey to
healthy living. I started taking Orlistat fat blocker tablets (prescribed by
the doctor) and I was a bit fearful of taking these as they can lead to quite
explosive results (if you get what I mean) but thankfully because I've been
making good decisions to eat well most of the time I have been fine and at my
first check-in at the doctors I had lost just over 3kg which I'm happy with.
I've also had a number of doctors appointments
in the last month to try and get some of my health ailments sorted and again I
feel as if progress is being made. I had an MRI scan on my foot and there was
no evidence of a Mortons neuroma which is what they thought, so on the one hand
that's great but on the other I'm no closer to having any answer as to what is
wrong with my foot and why I get so much pain. I'm praying that as I lose
weight the pressure on my foot will lessen and naturally help it.
I've been worrying about this post since the beginning of the week when I realised this weekend was the first weekend of the month and I'd suggested to Emma that would be a good time for our #SlimmingSunday linky to publish. We were doing it weekly but in truth hardly anyone was joining in and we wondered if people didn't want to write a post quite so regularly and thus have changed to become a monthly linky.
From now there will be a Slimming Sunday linky every first Sunday of the month and it will be over on Life According to Mrs Shilts and here with me too.
So you might wonder why this post has been playing on my mind, its not as if it is a difficult or controversial subject to write about but it's about me feeling bad, sad, guilty, ashamed, whatever it is that I'm feeling as I haven't lost any weight since I posted my last Slimming Sunday post and even worse than that I've not really done anything positive towards sorting myself out.
I'm not quite sure what's up right now but I'm obviously not in the right place to be really focusing on healthy eating and exercise in an effort to lose some of this weight. For one reason or another, or perhaps it is one excuse or another I've hardly been to my Monday night fit club, I haven't focused on my walking and my step count has dramatically reduced and I've been eating whatever I like.
A post shared by Michelle Pannell (@michelletwinmum) on
Morning friends, welcome to this weeks link-up for #SlimmingSunday.
I'm afraid it is a short and sweet one for me this week as time has just run away with me. My parents have come to stay for a week, which has been great but they have kept me so busy that I haven't had any time to devote to my blog. I suppose you could say that is a good thing, I've just been out there enjoying life and not closeted away indoors. This post has literally been written in 10 snatched minutes between the recycling and the summer fete.
Exercise wise I'd say it has been a good week as I worked hard at my Monday night Fit Club and then I have really upped my steps again, finishing on just over 84,000 steps for Monday - Friday, so that's an average of 16,800 steps a day. I had said I would do two early morning DVD workouts but that didn't happen. I suppose because I hadn't thought about my parents being here and not actually having any free time.
I did teat myself to some new exercise gear this week though as I saw my jogging bottoms were getting some holes, I then realised they are 20 years old - that will be why! I'm hoping to put these though their paces Monday night but I'll have to see as I hurt my knee yesterday. I stepped down some stairs and felt the crushing pain as if too much impact had gone through my knee. It is no fun having arthritic knees at age 43.
I weighed in at Fit Club last Monday and as I mentioned a few weeks ago I have decided to do it blind for a while, so I have no idea what the scales said and truthfully I don't expect they said anything too different to the week before. I haven't been consciously dieting but I have been being mindful of my foot, trying not to just eat for the sake of it and I've been good with my water intake too.
Next weekend I head off to Spain on holiday and that means it will be Emma (Mrs Shilts) hosting #SlimmingSunday alone for Sunday 28th May and 4th June as I won't be here, so you'll need to make sure you link up over there. I am enjoying keeping up with your journeys though so once I am back and the washing is done I'll be over to visit to see how you are getting on.
From Monday 5th June I am treating it as if I am back at Slimming World and following that diet plan to give myself a good kick up the bum and to get some weight loss going. I was going to say ready for the summer but actually it is just because it needs to happen.
Wishing you a fabulous week, Mich x
How to Join in Slimming Sunday is a weekly linky hosted by Mich at Mummy from the Heart and Emma at Life According to Mrs Shilts. The posts go live at 7am every Sunday morning and you are most welcome to join in with any slimming/ weight loss/ exercise/ healthy recipe type post. Join as little or as often as you like. No pressure! 1) Write or link up an existing post about diet/ slimming/ healthy eating/ exercise or anything related to these topics. By linking up you'll receive a weekly email reminder about Slimming Sunday, of course there will be an unsubscribe button on every email so you can opt out any time but lots of people have been asking me for a reminder.
2) Grab the badge or add a text link to either Emma or I (or both if you are feeling super generous)
3) Go share the love. Please comment on both Emma and my posts and also at least one other but it would be great if you feel you could comment on a few more. I'm sure you'll feel the love back if you do.
Emma and I will come and visit you too and tweet out your links. Feel free to tag us with #SlimmingSunday, @michelletwinmum and @mrsshilts and we'll give you an RT.
I can't wait to read your post. Have a fabulous week, Mich x
If you like what you have read and want to stay up-to-date then subscribe by email for free and receive blog posts directly to your in-box - just click the link Subscribe to Mummy From The Heart... by Emailor perhaps you like to keep all your blog reading in one place, if that is the case you can follow me on BlogLovin too!
Morning friends, How are you doing on this fine Sunday?
I'm doing well, it has been a good week. Again I couldn't tell you I have been massively focused on my food, so it hasn't been a dieting week as such but overall it has been a really good week and I am pleased with my progress.
I've shared a little about how my eating and food issues are tied up with so many other things and one of the things that keeps me fat is fear. I have a fear of being hungry, a fear of losing weight and having loads of saggy skin, a fear of being too confident in myself and a fear of facing some things that have gone on in my past that have led to me wearing this fat suit as protection. I don't expect you to understand but it has been my reality.
This week I have done a session from the marriage course with my husband and we had a really deep and open conversation, been out with a friend where we also shared deeply and then had lunch out with my husband and continued the conversation. All this honesty and talking has been good and as my husband said, 'you can't not lose weight just because you are fearful Michelle'.
I realised I have been living under a sprint of fear and that I don't want it to continue as God wants me to be free and not fearful. So I took a symbolic step and I drove down a one-car wide country lane. I've lived in the countryside for four years now and I never drive down them as I get scared but I approached the lane and knew I had to drive through it and show myself there is no need to fear any longer.
I also went to my Fit Club on Monday night and I loved it. It really tested me and boy did I ache for a couple of days after but I am even looking forward to my session again tomorrow. Then I also need to start exercising more often, once a week is a start but it is not enough. I've been great at upping my steps and moving more but again it is not enough as it doesn't raise my heart rate.
So this week I am going to get back to a habit I had some years back. I woke early and came downstairs and did about 20 or 30 minutes of a fabulous workout series I have, called Walk at Home by Leslie Sansone. I just love them as they are walk aerobics and can be as low or high impact as you like but they are simple and get your heart pumping.
Last weeks Targets -
I did OK. I got my sleep, which is important. I don't think I had as much water as 2 litres each day and I forgot to write a full meal plan! No wonder I didn't achieve that one, if I didn't do the meal plan. I'm not writing a meal plan this week as my parents are visiting and that will mean lots of unpredictability and meals out.
I think I hit my step target except one day and I say think as I had let my Fitbit run out of charge without realising and missed a day and a half of steps logging. It's amazing how much this annoyed me as my track record now doesn't look so good!
Targets this week -
7 hours sleep every night
2 litres of water per day
No chocolate all week
2 sessions of working out to my DVD as well as Fit Club
I'm looking forward to another good week ahead and I hope you are too. Wishing you all the best, Mich x
How to Join in Slimming Sunday is a weekly linky hosted by Mich at Mummy from the Heart and Emma at Life According to Mrs Shilts. The posts go live at 7am every Sunday morning and you are most welcome to join in with any slimming/ weight loss/ exercise/ healthy recipe type post. Join as little or as often as you like. No pressure! 1) Write or link up an existing post about diet/ slimming/ healthy eating/ exercise or anything related to these topics. By linking up you'll receive a weekly email reminder about Slimming Sunday, of course there will be an unsubscribe button on every email so you can opt out any time but lots of people have been asking me for a reminder.
2) Grab the badge or add a text link to either Emma or I (or both if you are feeling super generous)
3) Go share the love. Please comment on both Emma and my posts and also at least one other but it would be great if you feel you could comment on a few more. I'm sure you'll feel the love back if you do.
Emma and I will come and visit you too and tweet out your links. Feel free to tag us with #SlimmingSunday, @michelletwinmum and @mrsshilts and we'll give you an RT.
I can't wait to read your post. Have a fabulous week, Mich x
If you like what you have read and want to stay up-to-date then subscribe by email for free and receive blog posts directly to your in-box - just click the link Subscribe to Mummy From The Heart... by Emailor perhaps you like to keep all your blog reading in one place, if that is the case you can follow me on BlogLovin too!
I've been musing this question this last week - 'By being fat am I wasting my life or am I just choosing to enjoy life by eating the foods I fancy?'
If you've read my blog before you'll know that I have spent the majority of my life for the last 30 years as an overweight women, probably around 20 of those as a very overweight woman and much of that time I have been exceedingly unhappy about my size and weight. In recent months I've been doing a lot of what I call 'head work' in relation to some of the issues I have that send me to the food as my drug of choice.
Morning friends, how are you today? I hope you have fab plans for this bank holiday weekend.
As you read this I'm away in Portsmouth with my family. We have taken a trip to see the Historic Dockyard as I've heard so many good reports about the attractions there and I'm so happy to be spending some time with them.
Last week in my Slimming Sunday post I said how I had finally realised things need to change. I can't go on as I am, getting more and more unhealthy and suffering from numerous health ailments because of this. Because I have such a large amount of weight to loss I don't want to do a crash diet meal replacements or such as I know this isn't a healthy and sustainable way to live.
So this week has been about making a start and cutting down. I set myself four small steps to follow last week and they were to -
Sleep for 7 hours each night - as I write this post I have achieved this each night and I don't think it will be a problem for this to continue as I know how much being well rested helps me to resist all the foods I shouldn't be eating
Glass of water before each meal - I've been very aware of keeping my water consumption up and need to keep with this
3 meals and 3 snacks to ensure I do not get too hungry and reach for the wrong things. I've been really good with my meals, and haven't had as many snacks as I thought I might need
No cake. I forgot that on a Wednesday evening my husband and I are doing a Marriage course at the moment and at this they give us tea and cake. So I have had one piece but for me that is amazing, as I had turned into a cake most days kind of girl!
I love this picture. This was taken at BritMums in 2015 and I'm around the same size then as I am now
but we are lying down and it seems to be pretty flattering. This is how I'd like to see myself every day!
Morning friends, how are you this week?
I'm really loving reading the posts that you are linking up each week. It isn't easy starting a new linky to be honest and in this day and age everything seems to be judged on numbers and popularity and by traditional standards 2 - 6 people linking up to #SlimmingSunday in a week wouldn't necessarily be considered a linky success but I think it is a success.
You know why? Because you are helping me to stay focused on the goal. I seriously need to lose weight, not just for my vanity or my mental health but for my physical health too. I have so many aliments that are exasperated by my size and they will only get worse as I age but I don't seem to be taking them anywhere near as seriously as I should. By being accountable and having to report in here each week I have to stay focused and whilst I have not been perfect with my eating, I have been so much better than if I wasn't being accountable with anyone. The good news is that I am continuing to take tons of steps and having a good nights sleep.
Hello friends, welcome to #SlimmingSunday, the new Sunday linky hosted by me and Emma from Life According to Mrs Shilts. We'd love for you to link up any post that is diet/ healthy eating/ exercise related.
I've had a week off since I last posted as our family went away to Butlins in Minehead for a big Christian festival called Spring Harvest and we had the best time. I wasn't consciously dieting but I did make some really good food choices whilst we were there and enjoying the eat-all-you-can buffet breakfast and dinner. Thankfully I've got past the point where you have to stuff your face if you have paid for a buffet and I just go for one straight meal now. There was always jacket potatoes, salad and yummy roast meats available.
In the last week since we have been back home I wouldn't say I have been dieting but I also haven't been blowing out. I went and weighed in last Monday night at the fit club that I'm starting to attend and sadly it won't be on this Monday as it is a bank holiday. This does mean the kids can go back to school on Tuesday and I've got the week to get back to normal and focus on healthy eating before my next weigh in on 24th April. I'll let you know how I do.
The one thing I have been doing really well with over the last couple of weeks is my step count. Whilst we were on holiday I managed to clock up 123,314 steps, that was an increase of more than 30K steps from the week before and I am determined to keep it at this level as there is a lot of work to be done on my fitness level. Once the kids are back at school and normality resumes I've committed to a daily walk round the lake with the children after dinner most days and I'm even thinking of checking out the local gym again.
Oh and the other good thing has been my sleep. Of course I've been able to have a few lie-ins but I've consistently been getting over seven hours good sleep each night and I'm going to make sure this continues as I know I cope so much better with eating challenges when I am well rested.
So that's me right now. Not really dieting but being mindful of my food and making some good choices, whilst moving and sleeping more. I'll call it a win! But how about you, how are things going?
How to Join in Slimming Sunday is a weekly linky hosted by Mich at Mummy from the Heart and Emma at Life According to Mrs Shilts. The posts go live at 7am every Sunday morning and you are most welcome to join in with any slimming/ weight loss/ exercise/ healthy recipe type post. Join as little or as often as you like. No pressure! 1) Write or link up an existing post about diet/ slimming/ healthy eating/ exercise or anything related to these topics. By linking up you'll receive a weekly email reminder about Slimming Sunday, of course there will be an unsubscribe button on every email so you can opt out any time but lots of people have been asking me for a reminder.
2) Grab the badge or add a text link to either Emma or I (or both if you are feeling super generous)
3) Go share the love. Please comment on both Emma and my posts and also at least one other but it would be great if you feel you could comment on a few more. I'm sure you'll feel the love back if you do.
Emma and I will come and visit you too and tweet out your links. Feel free to tag us with #SlimmingSunday, @michelletwinmum and @mrsshilts and we'll give you an RT.
I can't wait to read your post. Have a fabulous week, Mich x
If you like what you have read and want to stay up-to-date then subscribe by email for free and receive blog posts directly to your in-box - just click the link Subscribe to Mummy From The Heart... by Emailor perhaps you like to keep all your blog reading in one place, if that is the case you can follow me on BlogLovin too!
I'm finding this verse very reassuring. Others may look at me and just see fat, God sees so much more!
Happy Sunday friends, how are you doing?
I do hope your slimming efforts are going well. Well, better than mine anyway. You may have read last week that I was in a quandary as to what to do - do I still stay with Slimming World and attend class each week or would something else work better for me? I wasn't sure but I knew I definitely need to stay focused on being more healthy and losing some weight.
So I've spent the week in thought and prayer, coming to the conclusion that I am going to step away from attending my Slimming World class at the moment as the timings don't really work for me but what I'll do instead is attend a weekly exercise class where I can also weigh-in.
I used to go to this class and I know the instructor and many of the people who attend and also (wonderfully) it is run in the grounds of my home, so you can't get much more convenient than that. I only stopped going as it is on the same night as the course I've been doing at church but that is now coming to an end and I pray the content of it and the personal exploration and reflection that I have been doing as a result of it will result in me being able to really get my teeth into this healthy eating lark and make some changes for life.
Clocking up some steps last weekend with all my family at National Trust, Petworth House
Morning friends,
How are you today? Well I hope. If you are a Mum
I wish you a very happy Mothers Day but remember it is just another day and if
it doesn't turn out as you hoped it doesn't mean that your kids love you any
less. There can be far too much pressure for perfection on days like this.
So on with the matter in hand - slimming! Or
perhaps in my case a lack of slimming, I'm really not sure, as for my sanity it
feels as if I'm better not stepping on the scales right now. As you know I
didn't make it to my Slimming World group last week and yesterday I was away in
London with my Mum (I still am) so I should have gone to the Tuesday afternoon
group but that would of meant running in getting weighed and running out before
the kids got home from their after school club and I found myself umming and
aching about whether I really need/want to go to a slimming group at the
moment. I'd have had to pay £10 for that quick weight in (two weeks fees) and I
felt as if I'd get nothing for it.
For sure, I know that I want and need to lose
weight but I think being accountable by this linky and through a Facebook group
I have with some slimming friends I actually get the support I need. I really
love the consultant at the Slimming World group I've been attending but all her
classes are so busy that you don't really get to have a conversation with her
and Saturday mornings just seem to fill up with kids activities and holidays. I
do really like the short talk that she does each week but it always seems to
start late as so many people arrive late to weigh in and then the image therapy
(or people sharing their tips / successes) doesn't really inspire me too much.
Maybe I've been around the Slimming circuit for too long and actually know most
of the tips, I just need to put them into action?
If you are on the Slimming World plan you'll know that it is all about the free food and syns. The average person can have between 5 - 15 syns a day but someone larger like me gets 20, although of course it is better to not have so many and then you can see great weight loss results.
I find that my real struggle time is the evening and as such, I always try to plan in a yummy treat for the evening and use my syns for it. I often don't want to use that many though as I need them throughout the day for things like my milk in tea, butter on my toast or ryvita, sauces, gravy or a little treat.
So here are 10 low syn treats that keep me motivated and wanting to lose weight but without feeling like I am missing out - 1. Quark and highlight with mini marshmallows (4 syns)
This is probably my favourite evening treat as it is sweet, creamy and filling. I use half a tub of fat-free quark and mix it with a highlight or Options chocolate powder sachet (1.5-2 syns it varies for which one you use, so check), it mixes really well and is like a chocolate cheesecake.
I also like to add 10g of mini marshmallows on the top for extra sweetness and indulgence. You can see you get around 30 mini marshmallows for the 10g (you get 25g for 4 syns, so I class these as 2 syns).
I also have a friend who likes to turn this into a cheesecake and she has a crushed light digestive biscuit (3 syns) at the bottom and instead of the marshmallows she has raspberries ad a drizzle of choc shot (1/2 for a level tsp). Add on the chocolate powder and that makes a 5.5 syn dessert.
2. Raspberry Jelly/ mouse (1/2 syn per dish)
With this one you make up some sugar free jelly (I used raspberry - 2 syns for whole packet, so all 4 desserts shown here), add in a pot of mullerlight (I used vanilla) and some fruit for speed and allow it to set. Bets eaten on the day it is made I find but it does take about 4 or 5 hours to set properly.
Variety is the spice of life they say and certainly keeping my food interesting helps me to say on plan
Happy Sunday friends,
I hope you are well and enjoying the weekend. Thanks so much to all those who joined in with mine and Mrs Shilts first Slimming Sunday last week, it was great to read your posts and I look forward to seeing you again today. Although no pressure, link up every week or just sporadically it is fine with us.
I'll jump straight in there and share my week -
What I've learnt this week
That being ill is a hindrance to weight loss as sadly I don't lose my appetite like many do but I do lose my motivation to prepare healthy food
That I find it even harder to concentrate on being healthy when I am tired. I'm not even tired because I feel poorly but because Miss M has been poorly and has been waking me each night
Successes for this week
Despite being ill I haven't thrown the towel in, I have still been conscious to eat well
I resisted the urge to have a KFC on Thursday on my way home and instead had an M&S balanced for you thai green curry (about 800 calories less)
Planning for food for the week is key to my successful weight loss
Welcome. It's so great to see you here for the first post in the #SlimmingSunday series. Emma at Life according to Mrs Shilts and I will be hosting this new linky each week and we'd love for you to join in.
Emma is a bit of a pro at Slimming World and has been following the plan for as long as I've known her (that must be at least 6 years or maybe more) and I highly recommend this great post if you are starting out on a Slimming World weight loss journey.
I am currently on Slimming World but I've tried out most diets and also Overeaters Anon for a few years as my weight is a lifelong battle and I've written about it quite extensively. As a Christian, I suffer with guilt for being this big (I need to lose around 8 stone) as I know I am abusing the body that God gave me and also I end up feeling bad that I turn to food for comfort rather than turning to God. So that's what I am doing right now, working on freeing myself from this guilt as that isn't God's plan for me.
I'm doing a 'Living Free' course at the moment, designed to help me live in the freedom that God gives me and I am making headway in learning that I am enough just as I am, I am loveable, I am unique, I am accepted and I am free to be who I was designed to be.
I started out well in January and lost half a stone but if I am really honest my food has been a struggle the last few weeks and I feel a bit of a fraud starting this linky but Emma and I have been planning it for a while and to be frank I think it is just what I need to get to motivated again. I'm not going to want to report in once a week to you all without some good news now, am I?
My FitBit has been dug out and I've been taking part in a few friendly challenges and moving much more. I really can't wait for the nicer weather to be here so I actually want to go out for very long walks. My step total for last week was 74,517 and I'm fine with that as it averaged over the 10K a day they recommend.
What I've learnt this week
I have to meal plan and stick to it, it is not enough to just hope!
That I must not buy foods that tempt me and have them in the house
Not to go off the grid. I need to keep chatting daily with my SW friends and logging my foods and taking pictures. Accountability really works.
Successes for this week
Moving more and being committed to wearing my FitBit even when my food hasn't been great
Spending lots of time with God and really working on loving and forgiving myself: Dumping the guilt!
Focus areas for the coming week
Drink a large glass of water before every meal (I've done this before and it helped curb me overeating)
Plan out my food for the week and stick to it. The online shop has already been ordered.
A strict week on plan, keeping a very close eye on my syns. Record everything super accurately
Results
This weeks result - 0.5 lbs, which is OK as I didn't really care for myself at all last week food wise
Weight loss to date in 2017 - 4.5 lbs
Starting BMI - 44.5 Current BMI - 43.6
Goals
Gain my half a stone award next Saturday (so that means losing 2.5 lbs)
2 stone loss by end of May for my Spain holiday
2.5 stone loss by 22nd July for my Bournemouth Holiday
3 stone loss by 15th August for my birthday
5 stone loss by the end of the year (that feels very exciting typing that!)
How to Join in
1) Write or link up an existing post about diet/ slimming/ healthy eating/ exercise or anything related to these topics
2) Grab the badge or add text link to either Emma or I (or both if you are feeling super generous)
3) Go share the love. Please comment on both Emma and My posts and also at least one other but it would be great if you feel you could comment on a few more.
Emma and I will come and visit you too and tweet out your links. Feel free to tag us in with @michelletwinmum and @mrsshilts and we'll give you an RT.
I can't wait to read your post. Have a fabulous week, Mich x
If you like what you have read and want to stay up-to-date then subscribe by email for free and receive blog posts directly to your in-box - just click the link Subscribe to Mummy From The Heart... by Emailor perhaps you like to keep all your blog reading in one place, if that is the case you can follow me on BlogLovin too!
