Week 7 – Loosing weight and definitely feeling GREAT!

Week 7 Weight Loss: The weight continues to come off. I lost 0.7 kg’s in week 6 which took me to 10 stone 1 pound (start weight was 11 stone 4). I’m very excited because only another 2 pound to go and ill be able to see 9 stone something on the scales and I honestly cant tell you the last time I saw that!

Can’t believe I am now in the final week of the challenge. I’ve got a very busy week at work this week so it’s going to be a little more difficult to visit the gym for my favorite workout classes on the evenings but I have started to go swimming in the mornings before work and I love it! The fact that I am getting into my swimming costume in public is an achievement in itself!! I would never have done that 7 weeks ago and I actually feel quite good in my cossie now (big smile)

My energy levels continue to be fine. I have been mountain biking, doing body combat classes, playing netball, hiking and now swimming too, and through all of this I haven’t once felt as though I haven’t got enough fuel! Considering I have significantly reduced my carbohydrate intake over the challenge I have felt like I actually have more energy rather than the lethargic feeling I though I would get. I have been pushing myself during my workouts so they haven’t been easy but I feel safe to do so knowing I’m not going to pass out as a result.

Regarding the diet itself, I have continued to have 1 snack, spilt in half mid morning and mid afternoon and I still find this to be more than enough to keep my appetite happy along with a shake in the morning and a meal bar for lunch. I then have a healthy meal of around 80 grams of chicken or 120 grams of fish and plenty of green and white veg or a green salad with a little fat free dressing etc. I have been spicing up my chicken with all sorts of different spices and flavours to keep my meals interesting and I will have another 100 kal snack on an evening 1 hour before a workout if I feel I need it. All this, along with 2 litres of water a day and 3 cups of green tea and I feel great. Not hungry at all but actually very satisfied.

Happy to report the cravings are substantially subsided compared to the first 4 weeks of undertaking the diet. Of course I still get some but don’t we all want what we cant have!?!?!?!

Overall, I would say that I couldn’t do any more than I am doing at the moment and I am comfortably in the swing of things now. I don’t have to think about food that much at all as the diet is so easy to follow which is what I love about Celebrity Slim. I definitely recommend it and my only bit of advise is that you need to realise that its not a miracle cure, you do have to work hard and put the effort in to resist all temptation but if you do this you will definitely get the results you want and you will feel healthier slimmer and fitter as a result. I am a living, breathing walking example of this.

Next weigh in on the 26^th April is the final official challenge weigh in for the challenge before the final event on Friday 30^th so its full steam ahead. My plan now is just to keep up the good work, keep doing what I am doing and aim to shift 2 pound for the 26^th April to get to under 10 stone. I cant wait!!

Week 2 done and dusted and my weight continues to go down so I am very happy. If I’m totally honest I was hoping for a little more than a loss of 1kg this week because I stuck to the plan rigidly (which was once again quite tough throughout the week) and I also did more exercise but I wont let myself be disappointed because as long as its decreasing then the diet is working and that all I need to be concerned about. I have set myself a target for week 3 to loose 1.5kgs and now I have told you all I can’t let myself fail!!

What have I done differently this week?

I introduced the meal replacement bars into my diet this week. I had one for every lunch and I really like them and therefore really look forward to them. Being sweet they definitely help me control my sweet cravings which I am still having but I think that’s mainly due to the evil cake cut offs that surround me for most of the week!! The cravings were however not as bad as week 1 so that’s got to be a good thing. I opted not to have any of the soups because although I didn’t dislike them I much preferred having a shake because they are sweet so I went for all sweet products in week 2 and I have done that again for week 3. Gosh I really do have a sweet tooth don’t I!

Exercise Exercise Exercise….

I did a lot of walking this week. I walked to work on Thursday which was a brisk half an hour walk. This is definitely something I want to do more of as I really quite enjoyed it.  I went to the Brecon Beacons with my Dad and brother on Saturday and did a 5 hour mountain trek covering 11 miles up and down the mountain range which was fab! See the picture of me looking cold and wet high up in the mountains with my Celebrity Slim Mango Delight meal replacement bar that I took with me for my lunch. On Sunday I went to wave my brother off to his phase 2 Army Training at the train station and then walked back to my parent’s house which was a 7 mile walk. I also dusted off some old exercise DVDs and did two 1 hour sessions at home as I didn’t have time to go to the gym due to a busy week decorating cakes! 

I plan to keep the walking up as much as possible in week 3 and I want to try and put aside some time to do more gym classes and exercise DVDs to get my heart pumping a little faster and burn some more of my fat reserves!!

Andrea’s Tip of the Week!

Get some sugar free mouth freshener spray. It’s my magical craving zapper!! I use it when I have a craving and it’s been brilliant as it refreshes me and takes away the desire for something sweet.

Overall, another tough but successful week completed. My jeans that used to be too tight are now getting too big so with that in mind I will go into week 3 with a positive mental attitude and whenever I get the dreaded cravings I will think of loose jeans because believe me that is a really good feeling… and have Ill have another squirt of the magical sugar free craving zapper!

Week 1 – 1^st to 7^th March 2010

 Starting Weight 1^st March 2010: 71.7kg

Weigh in Result 8^th March 2010: 68.4kg

Total weight lost: 3.3kg

Phew! First week is over and done with and to be very honest I haven’t found it easy. My main struggle has been resisting the temptation to eat cake. Being a full time cake decorator I am surrounded by lots of cake cuts offs 24/7 and for the last 2 years I have been free to nibble on as much cake as I want, which is probably the main contributor to the weight I have put on. I honestly didn’t realise how much I was eating until doing this challenge and now I am really struggling to resist the temptation. I have however stayed strong and I haven’t had any cake at all but it’s been difficult. Thankfully the results were much better than I had expected and I lost 3.3kg (about 7 pound) so I am over the moon with that result! It’s just what I needed at the end of a very tough first week.  I knew I had lost some weight because I could fit into my black trousers for my brothers Army Pass Out Parade on Friday. I haven’t been able to wear them since last August so that put me in a brilliant mood for what was a wonderful day. See below a picture of me looking very proud with my brother on his special day…

Regarding the Celebrity Slim products, I have enjoyed every one of them which has really pleased me. I particularly enjoy the shakes because I have a really sweet tooth so they help to take away my sweet cravings for a while. I am looking forward to getting some meal replacement bars for week two so I can enjoy physically chewing something sweet that is allowed! I haven’t felt hungry at all, but I also haven’t felt full, a feeling I had got very used to due to the big portion sizes I was having for dinner. I have missed the ‘bursting out of my jeans’ feeling after my dinner but I understand that I was overeating and I now need to recondition my brain to be satisfied with smaller portion sizes. I have made sure I have consumed at least 4 pints of water every day, and more when I have played netball and I can do this without thinking too much about it now by drinking from a 2 litre bottle of water throughout the day until it’s all gone. See below a picture of my 2 litre bottle of water that sits at the back of my worktop at work every day and my big glass of water. I make sure I’ve finished the bottle before I leave for home at 5pm! Half the day has been spent on the toilet though!! Ill be having my wages docked at this rate!!

My friends and family have been brilliant. Everyone has been very supportive. My husband and I go to my parents every Sunday for dinner and my Mom has made sure she has cooked a dinner that I can have as part of the diet which I really appreciate. I went for an hours power walk with my cousin on Friday evening! Our usual get- together’s involve a lot of alcohol and chips on the way home from a night in the town so I cant thank Nicola enough for encouraging and supporting me and getting me out on the evening so I didn’t think about food or wine! Amelia who I work with at the cake shop is drinking 4 pints of water a day with me and is also not eating the cake to support and encourage me and she is actually loosing more weight than me in the process which is brilliant motivation for us both. See pictures below of me sulking at work due to not being allowed to eat the yummy cake left over’s and the other picture is Amelia who I work with also sulking because she cant eat the cake and holding up her big glass of water as proof of her valuable support to me!!! Thanks Mealz xxx……

My brother who is back at home for 10 days from army training took me for a walk in the nature reserve on Sunday evening with the dogs. My last effort of week one to burn some calories before the first weigh in!  I was worried he would be having me crawl through the mud and jump over fences army style but he took it easy on me! Thank you everyone xxx

I have to give massive thanks though to my husband Zach. He is one of these people who can eat whatever they want and not put any weight on at all but he has really made a massive effort to help me. He got rid of the toaster and won’t buy any bread at all whilst I’m doing this challenge. He knows the smell of freshly made toast would torture me! Zach has been cooking my meals for me so I haven’t had to think too much about what I can and can’t have and he is having the same meals as me on an evening so I can’t moan about the nice food he can have that I can’t! Wise move!! He has been wonderful. I can’t thank him enough.

So after a successful if not hard first week I have had a new burst of enthusiasm for the second week now I know the scales are going in the right direction.