Friday 31 July 2009

Sanity returning...

My wonderful bloggies. I seriously thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your encouragement and ass whupping! I am standing outside Aldi feeling amazing, having done a proper grocery shop and will shortly have a kitchen stocked with yummy but more importantly healthy foodstuffs to ease me back onto the road of healthy living! Plus, with Rich away in BC for 3 weeks, it's all food I like! Wahoop!!!


I'm off to decide what to eat for dinner!

Tomorrow- GYM!


A bientot.... Xxxx
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Update!

Ello bloggies! Omg I miss you! Life is sometimes simpler in blogland!!

So, I've been moving for an entire week ( we've done it all ourselves to save money) and ohmygiddygawd we will NEVER do that again. Ever. Never. Amen sister friend!

Moving is stressful....

Moving means I would rather sort shoes/pans/groceries/clothes/dvd's/shelving units/kitchens/bathrooms/living rooms/cd's/wardrobes/plants etc etc instead of gymming it like a good little girl.......

Moving means I think about food at 10pm, can't be arsed to cook, and even if I could be arsed, there's nowt to cook anyways, so we have a let's-go-the-chippy moment, or let's-go-the-pub-for-dinner, or let's-get-a-takeaway.....

So essentially, what I am saying is see you in 30lbs time (at the rate I am going)


OHMYGOD I hate myself.


REALLY struggling (and without my usual humour........)

Love me xoxo
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Saturday 25 July 2009

Quick Update!!

Hey there beautifuls! Just letting you know that I'm currently being driven insane with trying to move house this weekend and for the duration of the coming week. Moving is utter PANTS: The chaotic pandemonium, the heavy boxes, the wondering where to put things, the realising that I own a ridiculous amount of shoes, clothes and wine glasses, the lifting, the dropping of one's coffee table on one's toe, the seemingly endless traipsing up and down the stairs, the seemingly endless "To Do" lists and the overwhelming realisation that I made THE most erroneous of errors by having a training session yesterday morning which focused on Lats and Lunges. Dear GOD!!!!!! I feel like I've been bloody well run over!! This has meant that I have been as much use as a chocolate teapot in the lifting of boxes department today and was thus relegates to the position of 'kitchen sorter-outer' because lifting knives and forks and woks and glasses was pretty much my limit today. Damn you Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness! Damn you personal trainer!! (have texted him to tell him he's officially off my Christmas Card list!) I hope it'll be better tomorrow (it's couch and bed moving day tomorrow- bugger!!)

So,this is a blog from my trusty B-Berry. My pc is currently half in our old flat, half in the new (loooonnnnng story) and thus je suis sans internet for the forseeable. Allegedly, British Telecom will have my 'normal service up and running within 2 to 3 working days'....or so the woman in Bangalore informed me.....frankly, I'm not holding my breath......


So, try not to miss me too much. I expect I'll be back in a week! Pics of new gaff to follow.....wish me luck!!


Lovety love

Lxxxxxxx
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Thursday 23 July 2009

This much I know to be true......

Rather than bang on and on incessantly (yet oh-so hilariously) about what a crappy week I have had eating/exercise-wise, I have chosen instead to cling to the truth...

Truth - When I don't exercise, I miss it. This proves that my attitude has changed. Rather than go and workout from feelings borne of obligation and fear and the pursuit of unattainable perfections, I now go simply because I love it, it makes me feel good, it relaxes me and I feel 'whole' - plus the added benefits of de-flabbing.

Truth - When I eat a mountain of processed crapola, I feel it in my body almost immediately. My mood shifts, I am tired, I am lethargic, my digestion no funciona, I feel flabbier. This proves an attitudinal change also, because I never ever used to pay attention to how food made me feel in the sense of being wholly in the moment present in my body. Now I know I chose to eat properly and healthily because it's good and nice to feel 'clean'. processed stuff makes me feel poop.

Truth - It's no longer a big deal to get through 3 litres of water a day. When I don't have any water, or enough water, I miss it, I am parched, and the only thing that will satisfy my craving is water. I never used to drink water, preferring juice or diet coke to quench my thirst. This proves a lifestyle change to me. My choices are different.


So, friends, although I am looking at a gain this week, I am clinging to my truths in the knowledge that is no quick fix lose another 20lbs phase. These choices I make are for life and whilst I may have strayed off the path on this journey momentarily (seriously, moving house is a total b*tch!) I will be back, I can be back and most importantly of all, I want to be back.

What about you guys? What are your truths you cling to in times like these?

BigFatLove xoxo

PS Kathleen!! THANK YOU for tagging me for a Blog award - OMG I am BUZZING!!! Only thing is, I don't know how to make those link thingies to carry it on!!! Someone email me HELLLLLLLLLLP!!!!!

Tuesday 21 July 2009

My very own QUESTION DAY!!!!

Here it is peeps!

"If you could eat ANYTHING at all, right this very instant, and the calories/fat etc had absolutely no bearing on your bod whatsoever, WHAT WOULD IT BE?!!....."

Just wondering.........

Get commenting people!!!

Love me xoxo
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Monday 20 July 2009

Confessions of an Eat-A-Holic.....

Well hello comrades. Monday again. Where DOES the time go? Seriously. So, weekend update:

Friday night I battled with myself all the journey home about going to the gym or not, and I am pleased to say that good Lizzie won out. I did a MEGA workout (ran 6k, cycled, rowed, full core and then full weights) and then hobbled home where I lay on the couch for the rest of the evening watching TV delights such as Big Brother (Ohmygoodness…..what IS going on with the world?) and good ol’ Wossy. I made what I like to call random dinner. There is literally NO FOOD in my house on account of having been away last weekend and so busy this week that I haven’t had time to shop! I baked a sweet potato and ate it with cottage cheese and corn on the cob and a piece of salmon that I steamed in chillies and coriander. I also had a glass of champagne because no meal is complete without alcohol. Even breakfast. I am KIDDING.

Saturday morning I woke after a good sleep thinking it must be about 7am, glanced at the clock, NINE FIFTY AM!!!!!!!!!!! YIIKES!!!! Our Saturday am ww meeting starts at 10 and I am usually there by 9:30am. OOPS! Sure enough I had missed calls and BBM’s from Rachel wondering where I was! I literally threw on some clothes and hightailed it up to the meeting (I clerk at it you see so there was no one to take payments if I wasn’t there!!). I weighed in and - miracle of miracles – have stayed the same this week, which is amaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing when you consider the heavy weekend of eating and drinking we had @ Wakestock plus my usual doofus trick of not being able to get back into it AT ALL when I got back, and not even starting to exercise until Thursday last week. So all in all I’m pretty pleased. No, not pleased…relieved. Yes, that’s what I mean. Got my act together today though, planning tracking and exercising is my mission for the week. I have no social commitments, no fun planned to take me off track so it should be ok. Here's hoping it doesn't all come back to bite me on the ass (literally!) at next week's weigh in!!

So now I know I stayed the same, it’s confession time……… *shame*

Drum roll please…….on Monday afternoon ast week, as we were driving back from Abersoch……we stopped at Maccies…….AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It gets worse. I had, not one, but TWO freakin’ cheeseburgers. TWO! Plus large fries. Plus an oreo McFlurry. GOOD GRIEF ELIZABETH WTF ARE YOU DOOOOOOOOOING!!??!!

(It was bloody gorgeous though!)


The gluttony did not stop there – no siree Bob……for dinner we had………wait for it………

A CHIPPY TEA!!!! Large chips, fish and mushy peas – we halved it, but STILL!!!!!
I may as well have just scoffed a tub of lard and been done with it!

Now that I am back to normal and have my healthy head screwed back on, I look at what I have just typed and cannot believe that I have written it!!! I cannot believe that I ate that!!!

(Oh yeah AND an entire packet of bloomin’ Jaffacakes in 2 afternoons)

What’s WRONG with me?????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Heinous eating habits.

So anyways, back to Saturday:

During the afternoon I met my friend Kate in Liverpool to do some SERIOUS shopping! Sadly it was for her, not for me. She hasn’t bought any new clothes for about 5 years. (I know – nutter!) and so wanted to go and get a whole new wardrobe. In a day. Her husband suggested she ask me to go along and act as her stylist!!!!! WAHOOP! Obviously I JUMPED at the chance. We had SUCH fun (and spent a ridiculous amount of money (credit crunch? What credit crunch?!) . Eating wise I was completely crap on Saturday because of sleeping in too late and rushing around like a mad thing so I had coffee an apple and a glass of wine the whole day. Stupid I know. Saturday night I was heading out to Liverpool with some wonderful girlies for dinner at Gusto and cocktails at Pan American. While I was getting ready I had to have a piece of toast with laughing Cow on it!! For dinner I had mussels in garlic and white wine sauce and then lemon sole with olive tapenade and tomato ratatouille. The sole was ok – too many bones for a fillet! But the mussels were TO DIE FOR and there were loads – I should have asked for that as a mains course. Ah well. And best of al, my face didn’t swell up! RESULT! We had 2 bottles of wine at dinner (there were 4 of us and we were yakking for 3.5 hours so that was pretty good going I thought) and lots of water and then headed to a bar for some cocktails. I had a classic Mojito and then a Manhattan…..over the course of another 2 hours chatting though so I was fine!

Sunday I was a bit rubbish again – toast for breakfast and then I got annoyed at myself and went and did some food shopping for the week ahead. I am trying not to go crazy as Rich is away for most of this month and with moving and everything being so higgledy piggledy I don’t want to shell out for a food bill and then have it go to waste!

Sunday afternoon we went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and instead of crap I had a subway! In the cinema! How funny! I had a 6” ham salad on wholewheat with lite mayo and all the salad, plus a latte so it totally felt like a treat as Rich was chowing down on a bucket of popcorn the size of a small child.

Then I got into tidying and cleaning and packing when I got in so skipped dinner altogether and then friends ‘popped in’ - for 3 hours, so out came the Magners and Organic crisps. Excellent healthy dinner there NOT…….

So. This week I AM ON IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This week is all about getting a final report that I have to do submitted to my manager, and then I am OFF FOR A WEEK!!! It’s the week before Rich goes off to Canada for 3 weeks sans moi (Boooo!)and also the week that we’re moving (YAY)! Even though it’ll be hard work and not really a holiday I’m still really looking forward to it. I find it so difficult to focus on work AND moving at the same time.

Today’s eats:

B – 1x Weetabix with skim milk plus English Breakfast Tea (1 point for cereal and 2 for milk allowance for the day)

L – Salad: beetroot, radicchio, rocket, lettuce (bored of spinach) peppers, tomatoes, sugar snap peas, onion plus low fat coleslaw, coriander and chillies. (1point)

Snacks – Blue organic chips 50g (2points), 1x ww bar (1.5), grapes and ww yoghurt (1.5) and I also had a latte (2)

So that’s 11 in total thus far. I only get 20 a day and have no exercise points built up from the weekend so I have got to be bang on today with points. I will probably have steamed salmon again for dinner and veggies of some description.

I am going to drink ZERO alcohol this week in an effort to give my poor system a break and also cut out salt more – I am aware my long time love for all things crisps has returned with a vengeance and I need to STOP IT RIGHT NOW before I turn into a packet of crisps.







So there you have it me dears – the good, the bad and the ugly……..I’m off to drink another litre of water (that makes 3 for today!)

Catch you later

Liz xoxo

Friday 17 July 2009

"Special as in, 'Stop eating the paste' special?!"

I have now fully recovered from my tantrum yesterday - thanks for your HILARIOUS comments, actually made me laugh my head off and suddenly all was right with the world again. Thank Heaven for blogland - it does strike me as a bit bonkers that a bunch of people whom I have never met 'get' me more fully in terms of this whole healthy lifestyle pursuit vibe, than my actual real world pals - too funny! But I am GLAD you do understand!!! I think I'd have gone insane(er) without y'all so BIGFATLOVE to all my bloggers out there!

Now, allow me to recap (and give you some idea as to why I have titled this post as such...)

I did indeed go to the gymnasium hier soir. Straight from work like a good little girl I trotted off and for some reason halfway there realised that ERROR OF ERRORS I had forgotten a towel. I had my little hand towel with which to cover the display on the treadmill/wipe off the sweat mid-workout BUT I did not have a proper towel to use for my shower, post-workout. OOPS! I have no clue why this bobbed into my head at said point, but it sure did! Never mind, thought I, my gym is in a posh hotel, I am certain I can borrow a towel. You see friends, ordinarily I would have just walked home all sweaty and showered there (I live about 5 mins walk from said hotel), but tonight I was meeting 3 of my gal pals for dinner at the restaurant in the hotel where my gym is conveniently located...the idea being to run off inevitable calories prior to consumption. So I needed to have a proper shower.

I got down to reception and swiped my card in, headed to the desk and gave the chap behind it my most winning smile and asked could I borrow a towel. He handed me one and said 'That'll be £3.00, please.'

'Say what now?!' gasped I

'There's a charge for the towels'

'Are you KIDDING ME?' I spluttered

'No' replied the jackass behind the desk

'So let me get this straight, I pay a fortune every month to attend this gym, I direct out of town guests to stay here when they visit, I have held baby showers for friends here, I have booked you for things for work, I have organised a retirement bash here, I am eating later on in your freaking restaurant and I drink in your pub regularly and you are STILL going to charge me £3.00 for a bloody TOWEL!!!!!!!!!???????'

'Yes'

'Well that is frankly the most insane thing I have ever heard. I refuse to pay for a towel and I shall be writing to the manager.'

At this point I flounced off, tried to exit stage right with dignity but unfortunately my mahoosive gym bag got stuck in the bloody door so I wasn't quite as dignified as I might have been.....oops.


Still, how STUPID is that?! Ooh they are going to get a piece of my mind, let me tell you!

So, still chunnering away to myself about the injustices of giant corporate conglomerates and power to the people yadda yadda yadda, I got changed and realised - horror of horrors - that I had the HAIRIEST pits you ever did see!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAHAHAHA Sorry if this is tmi (believe me, it gets worse) but I hadn't shaved them all week because the weather's gone crap again so I'm all about long sleeved suits for work, plus I haven't even had a chance to blinkin' well unpack my bag from the weekend yet so all my stuff is in there and I couldn't be arsed to get out the shower and get it and get back in again, plus I was late already for work so that just added to one very special needs day. So there I was, hairy as you like, AND to make matters worse I had the gym top on that's flipping well SLEEVELESS!!! OH HONESTLY!!!!!!!! Did I give up, get changed and go home, sacking it off? No I did not. I marched my ass to that treadmill, covered up the display with aforementioned microscopic towel and made sure my arms were firmly clamped to my sides. Because I was still seething about Towelgate I managed to run for 30 minutes without even batting a bloody eyelid. Memo to me: anger makes you run GOOD! I hopped off the treadmill, onto the bike for a 20 minute Hill Climb, watched the news, drank some water and then moved on into the big gym for weights and whatnot. Hang on a minute! WEIGHTS! Aw….CRAP that involves lifting one's arms! ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh bugger!!!!!

So, to buy myself some time, not least because the weights section of the gym was filled with total bloomin’ hotties (and some not so hotties, but equally as proficient in the weight lifting dept), the floor was packed and I didn’t wish to scare the living daylights out of anyone with the pits of hairiness, I did some crunches (200, fronts obliques and lowers)and planks and pec flys (because there was no one else at the mats!), waited till a space cleared and got through my usual sets with minimal interruption - apart from a rather orange, wrinkly elderly woman in a leotard (and little else – YIKES!) who insisted on doing random yoga stretches in the weights section right near my head as I groaned through my dumb bell chest presses (3 sets of 20 thank you very much, with 5’s no less!). I told her to ‘bugger off’ under my breath but because I was listening to Britney rather loudly in my ears, I must have said it a little more loudly than I had intended to, as aforementioned orange woman did indeed bugger off, much to my delight!

By this time it was 7pm and I was meeting the girlies at 7:30pm so I headed to the changing room and got ready for my shower. It was around about then that I realised I had not brought any shampoo…or conditioner….or shower gel…..


So, to add to my towel-less state, I was pretty useless in the taking-a-shower department.

Nonetheless, I soldiered on. I stripped off to sports bra and running leggings, exchanged my trainers for flip flops and took my minute teeny tiny hand towel to the shower along with a change of under wear and a pair of black American Apparel leggings.

I showered using the shower gel from the dispensers cleverly placed in each cubicle, and (oh yes I did) washed my hair with it! OH THE SHAAAAAAAME!

Once clean, yet still hairy hahaha, I dried off as best I could with mini-towel (still sweaty from workout) and put on underwear and leggings and waltzed out of the shower like that to get dressed!!!! This was a big NSV for me, in a really random way, because I DO NOT DO NAKED CHANGING ROOM-NESS. Pas du tout. But needs must and I went with it!!

But the story is not over there friends, no siree bob.

It was around about his time that I realised I had forgotten my super-duper, Clinique anti-ageing, firming, magical turn-back-time Harry Potter stylee face cream. And I didn’t have any moisturiser either so I had to out on make up dry skinned. Which was nice. Not.

THEN I realised that I didn’t have a comb, and by this point was almost delirious with laughter (as I had just read Annabel’s and Jen’s comments on yesterday’s post on my BlackBerry) and couldn’t believe how SPECIAL I was being. I just finished getting ready and went for dinner: 2 small glasses of white, grilled salmon, baked potato and salad, no dressing. Spud was huge, I only ate half. We had a lovely lovely time - Lots of girly goss including 2 of them yakking on and on about the glories of childbirth and being pregnant (no THANK YOU!), and how ‘advanced’ their respective kids are for their ages (doesn’t EVERY parent think that?!) Seriously, I can only hear the word ‘dilate’ so much until that salmon is coming right back up again…….I love them, I really do but MY GOD girls change the bloody record! You still have brains! You still have other interests and opinions on current affairs!!! Express them! I love hearing about your little people I really, truly do but please oh please let it not be the sole topic of conversation or I shall die of boredom.

Ahem.

So that, my lovelies, was my oh-so spesh day. I hope you enjoyed it.

Know what though? A few months ago I’d have let the fact that I wasn’t perfectly prepared for my workout completely be the reason for jibbing it off and going home. Instead, I made do and did the bloody workout. And that, oh hotties of blogland, is one HELLUVA NSV!!!!! Silver lining, and all that jazz…..


Happy weekend dudes, see you next week

Love Lizzie aka BigFatPie xoxo

Thursday 16 July 2009

ohhhhhh SERIOUSLY!!!?????

Oh friends! Do you ever feel just overwhelmed by it all? Sorry if this piggy backs onto Mizfit’s latest guest post on Jen and Annabel’s blogs (which I cannot see because I am at work and the bloomin’ firewall won’t let me!) but I was all set to ramble on about my fabulous weekend: bands I saw, food I ate, mud I was knee deep in etc etc but as I have caught up on all your lovely blogs and read around subjects and whatnot this week, I find my head spinning with a sort of INFORMATION OVERLOAD and many, many questions pinging around in my head! I’m a bit tired and cranky this week and too stressed about moving house and Rich going away for 3 weeks and work and a whole host of other bobbins and then to top that I have SUCKED at following the plan this week and have now not seen the inside of the gym for a blinkin’ week. I did run Friday, Saturday & Sunday though but have not lifted a single weight and as such now have fully formed Bingo Wings. I’m not kidding. I can feel my muscles deteriorating as I type! So then this panicky feeling sets in where I think ‘Holy crapola (Gawd, I LOVE saying that – thanks Jen!) I need to get in the gym and stay there until I am a size zero, and I’ll go and train every day and do 3 sets of cardio and full core and full weights and then I worry that I have overtrained but I was a dancer once upon a time and there is NO SUCH CONCEPT in the world of classical ballet! I figure that if I set myself the target of working out every day then I might go 5 times out of 7.So then I think about what I am eating, am I drinking enough water? Am I eating too much meat? Too much fish? Will I go insane with mercury poisoning? Do I need vitamin supplements? Do I need to get involved with those Green Monster thingies? Should I panic about carcenogenic chemicals? Do I get 5 portions of fresh fruit and veg a day? Do I drink too much alcohol? Do I eat too many carbs? Do I eat too much processed stuff? Is organic REALLY organic since there aren’t any laws controlling what we can call organic or not? And then the gym: how do I fit it all in? I want to do my weights as I really do love them! I am woman hear me rrrroooooooaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrr! Running has become a focus and a passion for me as I get stronger and quicker and able to run for longer and not to keel over and die, but then I feel I am losing my flexibility so I’d like to do a Pilates class and a Yoga class each week but this means I am spending from 5pm until 8pm in the gym and therefore not seeing my long suffering husband, not catching up with friends, not seeing the babies that have been born while I’ve been in the bloody gym, not seeing my amazing parents or sibs, or having the time to eat anything or relax or get my head round issues I am counselling people about.

And all of this combines to make me go ‘SOD IT’ and become lax in my routine and approach. I want to curl up in a ball and wake up when I am thin and healthy…hahaha how pathetic!

So this week had essentially been a write off. Still can’t get that balance! I am reminding myself of a petulant child stamping my feet and acting defiant. ER HELLO! Snap out of it!!!

So today I have been BANG ON PLAN and am just off to the gym now for a rigourous and sweaty workout.

AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Thursday 9 July 2009

I *heart* running


Good morning! Here I am again blathering on about health and diet and exercise and what not! Thank you all so so much for your comments about my 5k run, it really meant a lot! And you will be pleased to know that last night on the treadmill I BEAT MY PERSONAL BEST! Well, distance-wise at any rate!

Since Monday had been so rubbish with a measly (for me) 2.68k, I was determined last night to run 5k. After all, I’d run it only a few days ago, I surely must be able to do it again!!!

So on that treadmill I got, set it for 40mins (to be on the safe if a little optimistic side!), set it to 9.1kph and found the fast playlist on my trusty ipod (Hairspray soundtrack, High School Musical, Scouting for Girls, Pink, Girls Aloud – I know, clearly I need help), walked for 1 minute to get ready and launched into a run. I threw my towel over the display on the treadmill and forbade myself from looking at the analogue clock on the wall. I purposefully chose the treadmill nearest the back of the cardio suite so I couldn’t make out the time on Sky news channel and one behind a man who had that long distance look in his eye. I find it helps me to run behind someone because I get so freaking competitive (“I am not stopping running until you do” etc etc) and the treadmill nearest the wall so you only have to deal with a neighbour on one side of you (the only down side is that there’s a bloody great big mirror on my left side so if I glance that way all I can see is my big fat body wobbling all over the show – memo to me engage core when running! YUCK!)

Anyways, where was I? Ah yes, the run. Well. I was running along at a steady pace, experimenting with pace and gait, you know how when you’re tired or have a little stitch you can slow your pace by narrowing your gait until you’re through it and then pick it up again? That’s why my fast playlist is helpful because each song has a quick beat I can run to and all I have to do is focus on putting a foot down on each beat (and not tripping over!). And then I caught myself off guard wondering how long I’d been going for. My hand inched toward the towel to sneak a peek at the display……I quickly snatched it back……and then I glanced at the bloody clock on the wall! DAMMIT! Since I hadn’t clocked what time I’d started though, this was fairly futile. I then glanced at the guy in front and to the right of me doing a fast walk, his display read 20 minutes and I fathomed that I had got on the treadmill ten minutes after him which meant I had done ten minutes which meant a lonnnnnnng way to go so I resolved not to look at his dial until it read 30 which would mean I had done 20 minutes. Eventually it got there and I couldn’t stand it any longer! I whipped my towel off the display and almost fell off the freaking machine!! 31.50!!!!!! 31.50!!!!! I had been running for thirty one minutes and fifty seconds and thinking I’d only done 20!!! HOW COOL IS THAT!? (Or, conversely, HOW MUCH DOES MY MATHS AND ATTEMPT AT ESTIMATING TIME COMPLETELY SUCK!!!??) Hahahaha!!

The mad thing is, is that I reckon I could have carried on for the full forty minutes if I hadn’t looked at the display! Weird hey!? As it was I ran until 36 minutes which meant a total of 35mins non stop running, which is the longest time I have ever run in my life and made it to 5.10k, which is actually slower on the treadmill than when I ran in the Park on Sunday. Odd.

My recovery time is getting quicker and quicker which means I am getting fitter (right?!) and whereas in the olden days I would have had to go home and collapse, straight after my run I cycled on a hill climb for 20 minutes on level 7 (out of 12), and then rowed 2000m at damper level 10.

And THEN I completed the following:

120 crunches (front version) in sets of 20
2x20 left oblique curls
2x20 right oblique curls
3xPlank holding for 20 secs
3x20 pec fly (lying down) with 4kg weights

Then over to the weights bench (while the men look at me like ‘Er..what you doin’ love?’) and I did:

3x20 DB chest press with bench at 45 degree incline with 5kgs
3x20 seated raises with 4’s
4x20 tricep dips on bench
3x20 overhead raises with 4’s
3x15 bicep curls with 4’s
3x15 hammer curls with 4’s (and then wimped out to 3’s)
3x15 back press with 3’s
4x20 upright row with 4’s

Then I did :

3x15 standing tricep pull down on that rope thingy
4x15 pec deck machine with the weights on 15.

And then I walked home and had a rest!!

So I felt VERY proud of my accomplishments yesterday. I got everything done that I wanted to and after Wakestock I am going to start my new programme so I don’t get bored. It’s such a buzz though to know what I am doing with the weights – I never, ever thought I would like using them but I really do – it’s sooooooo cool to see definition in my arms and back and shoulders and abs, I LOVE IT!!

So, after a little rest when I got in, and while dinner was cooking (Jen, I don’t think a cheese slice on corn on the cob is a British thing, I just think it’s a ‘me’ thing! HAHA!) I remeasured my bod! I last did this on 21st June and iw as WELL SCARED in case there was no difference, but I figured I’ve lost weight (11lbs) since then so there’d better be a bloody difference!!!

So, ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, I give you my losses! (in inches)

Waist -2
Hips -2
Chest -2
Arm -1
Thigh -2 (R) and -1.5 (L)
Fattest part of stomach -4


WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAAAAAAY!!! It works! IT REALLY BLOODY WELL WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I am actually buzzing right now – yes it’s because I am thinner(and thus in my head more attractive – GAH!) but also it’s because my body can do more stuff now, it’s stronger and leaner and fitter and more compact and I like it a whole lot better and Lord knows I’ve put it through some drastic times.

After all that stress of the Depo and just not being able to lose weight and my poor body thinking it was in menopause and my mental health going a bit west and all that jazz, I FINALLY feel like I am winning the battle….Hallelujah!


Now if I can ONLY not throw the whole thing down the pan on this weekend away!!! Here’s hoping!

Have a gorgeous, wonderful, happy and healthy weekend little blog-a-log pals! Be kind to yourselves!

All sorts of love

Liz xxxxxx

Wednesday 8 July 2009

Food wot I eat innit

Hello lovely friends! How are we all doing this week then??
I'm doing ok I think - was REALLY crap at the gym on Monday night - but at elast I went, right? I only managed to run 2.68k before I had to walk, I couldn't breathe and my poor legs were screaming at me! I am not sure why this was, maybe because it was only the day after the 5k?! I'm not sure, but I also did some rowing and a full core/weights programme.
My eating's been on plan and all pointed (well, from Sunday onwards - ha!) although I did have a beer on Monday evening and a glass of wine last night - but bonkers though it may sound, it is a pretty significant NSV for me to have been able to stop at one. I'm not saying I was an uncontrollable alky or anything, don't get me wrong, what I mean is remember the 'balance' thing from the other day? Well, being able just to have little glass of vino or a beer and still stay on plan is a BLOODY BIG DEAL! In previous tmes I'd have just sacked it off and indulged! So, YAY!
I didn't do any exercise yesterday which was a bit crap but I had to go and pick up my ebay purchased Hunter wellies for Wakestock this weekend and then I made the heinous error of turning on the MJ memorial thing. I thought it was a load of old bollocks.....and then his daughter broke down and all of a sudden I remembered that 3 young people have lost their daddy and then I didn't mind so much (apart from the fact that I feel, privately, the poor little thing may have been coached to say what she said. I don't doubt the words were hers, nor the depth of feeling behind them - but for such a showbiz, choreographed to the nth degree hoopla affair, it was almost too perfect...Kenny Ortega and AEG must have full on peed their pants at the 'spontaneity' of what Paris Jackson said.....God love her.) Anyway, I figress, by then it was too late to gym it so I watched the movie 'Happy-Go-Lucky' with Rich which was just a wonderful film!
So today I am focusing on eating clean, drinking water and getting this BigFatPie to the gym for a hardcore workout.....watch this space!
This week at WW we have been challenged to ‘Eat a Rainbow’, that is to say get more involved with Filling Foods as these are first and foremost HEALTHY, secondly they fill you up (Hence the name – duh!) and they make your points go further!!! Filling Foods are super-colourful, versatile and YUMMY! So for today’s post I thought I’d show you some of what I’ve been eating lately to tantalise your tastebuds!


Baked sweet potato, couscous cooked in veggie stock with peppers, onions and courgettes, sweetcorn and red pepper cottage cheese - 7.5 points












Last night's dinner: quite random yet bloody gorgeous :) - 1 cod fishcake, low fat colelsaw, corn on the cob, 1 cheese slice and a baked sweet potato - 8.5 points














A lunchtime-in-the-office salad: spinach, beetroot, pickled onions, red cabbage, sweetcorn, red pepper - 2 points














Another sweet potato plus couscous and cottage cheese - this must have been me using up the fresh ingredients!













Roasted vegetable ratatouille on a bed of couscous with a wholewheat pitta and sugar snap peas plus houmous - 6 points















Post-gym quickie dinner of couscous and veg, I prefer it to rice - 3.5 points
















The lunch from today that I have just eaten: baby corn, onion, spinach, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, carrott, red pepper, coleslaw - 2 points





And finally......


I have NO IDEA how THAT got on here :) I may or may not have eaten a JD Wetherspoon Gourmet Veggie Burger plus chips and opnion rings and freakin' CHEESE a couple of Sundays ago on a date night with my gorgeous husband! Look at the size of that thing! YIKES!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Happy 'HUMP' Day people (that sounds sooooooooooo wrongety-wrong-wrong!!)
BigFatLove
Lizzie xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Monday 6 July 2009

Weekend update!

Hey peeps!

So here we are again, another Monday! Quick weekend update.

I lost 3lbs again this week and have not been this weight since July 2007 so that is FABULOUS! I’m feeling really happy and energised and committed to seeing this through for LIFE!

I did not manage to track effectively this weekend. However, I did make healthy choices all weekend and really monitored how full I was feeling and my portion sizes (apart from a piece of Belgian chocolate cake at my parents’ last night) so I feel pretty good about the weekend, eating-wise. It's a step forward at least.....

Exercise-wise I feel A-freaking-MAZING! Wanna know why?

Because I did my first ever 5k run!!!!!! Yep indeedy friends! I ran the Race for Life in honour of Cancer Research UK in beautiful Birkenhead Park on Sunday morning. Rachel (Amazing WW guru and friend) and I ran together for it and crossed the finish line at 31.5minutes which we felt was a fabulous time!!!!! I think we’d have been quicker had we not had to weave in and out of all the other people on the course! But I’m so happy that I didn’t stop or walk once! All that treadmill running has taught me to regulate pace and control breathing and so I am one happy bunny today! WHAT a sense of achievement! Now I’m addicted – bring on the 10k in September!!

You know it’s funny, just as I feel like I’ve got into a routine with all this healthy pursuit malarkey, all of a sudden LIFE rears its ugly head! This weekend we are going away with another couple to Abersoch, North Wales for the Wakestock Festival 2009! We leave Thursday which means no gym from Thursday to Monday – YIKES! I’m getting fatter just thinking about it! So I am having to come up with some contingency plans as it also means I won’t be able to get weighed on Saturday either OR have my Friday session with PT! You know me, I’m a creature of habit and I like my routines so I feel all ‘kerbobbled’ in anticipation of that routine being broken.

So here are the contingency plans:

- Take running gear with me: Now I know I can do a 5k outside, what could be simpler than running around the gorgeous countryside?!
- Eat simply and in moderation this week so save a few points for not having as much control over the weekend in terms of food.
- Double up gym duty - maybe lunchtime swims again this week, to increase activity points and maximise chances of progress in the weight loss dept.
- Pay very close attention to alcohol. Julie – the friend I’m going with, is preggers so mercifully the alcohol issue won’t be as big a deal since I am not going to torment the poor girl by getting into the vino while she can’t! I’m going to make her strawberry bellinis that I made a few weeks ago for paella night (non alcoholic!)
- Food – we planned as much as we could at the weekend – Rich is on a health kick right now in preparation for his mountain climb in BC, Julie is up the duff but is a ww-er when not with child so she fully gets my eating vibes and Colin – the father to be can just bloomin well deal with it (he could stand to lose a few pounds haha!) We’re staying in caravans so we will be able to cook/grill so no relying on crappy festival food!
- WRITE IT DOWWWWWWWWWWWN!


And there you have it dudes! Right – must dash, I’ve got things to do!

Let’s ALL have a great week!


Love Lizzie xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thursday 2 July 2009

Random blathering....

Hello children how are we all today?

So, someone extremely wise commented a few days ago that maybe I am suffering from the ‘all or nothing’ syndrome.

The more I thought about it, the more I thought ‘Well bugger me, she’s absolutely right!’ (Thanks Bri !!)

Now I am fairly certain this was something I already knew about myself and have reflected on numerous times over the course of my life thus far but maybe I’d just….forgotten? Reading back through this blog you will see a pattern of ‘all or nothingness’ in terms of how I eat, when and how often I exercise and when/what I lose. Interesting huh? It tends to go in 4 week cycles (duh….is there a connection? Ya think?!) I’ll do amazing for 2 weeks, lose consecutively and quite a lot, then relax and not do so well, then stay the same or gain and the following week and eat myself into oblivion. As wonderful Jen over at Prior Fat Girl said yesterday, even if the whole monthly ‘stress n’ mess’ isn’t evident, the bloody hormones and mood swings still are! GAH!

Sooooo, what I need to keep a track of (as well as everything else I bloody track - I swear I am a psychologist’s dream!) is just that – the whole ‘fluctuation in motivatedness’ that I mentioned yesterday (Marisa! THANK YOU for your solidarity sister!). What I want to get to is a place of balance. A place where I am content with my weight and my body, a place where healthy eating and exercise are integral to my everyday, forevermore life – not just a means to an end. I think possibly that I still think in the old thought pattern of ‘when I am skinny’. When I was crazy restrictive with my diet back in the day, everything used to be ‘when I am skinny…’ and now looking back I WAS BLOODY SKINNY! But that’s not the point; the point is I was waiting for my life to BEGIN when I was happy with me or my perception of what I thought I would be. And truth be told, I am not there yet. But you know what? My life has begun! I’m almost 31 years old! I have a pretty amazing life to be honest, irrespective of what the freakin’ scale says every Saturday morning. What I want to be able to do is hold everything in perspective - a balanced perspective! It’s not too much to ask is it?!

This is why I like weightwatchers so much – whatever your opinion of its giant conglomerate corporate schmorporate bobbins is, the programme works, and if you allow it, it can educate you about food and how best to eat for optimum health and satisfaction for life, not just counting points in 100 calorie processed crap snacks in order to lose fast and in the short term! It gives you a balanced perspective. It's not the only thing out there by any means, but it's the one that I found, and it works for me.

So folks this is my current aim: BALANCE IN ALL THINGS!! We’ll see how we go!!

In other news, it’s OFFICIAL! I am a proper blogger!!! *gets all self important* the good people at POM Wonderful emailed me today and want to send me some juice type affair…….just like happens with all you lot! HOW COOL IS THAT!!!!! Of course, I did email right back and tell them that I live in the UK (sadly – why aren’t I North American!!?? HAHA!) and fresh juice possibly wouldn’t make it this far…….but still, it’s nice to be contacted!!!! I already emailed those Holey Donut people and told them to get their butts in gear and start shipping to the UK!!! Now all I need is the Pop Chips dudes on board and I’ll be all set…MWA HA HA HA HA!!!!

Eating’s been good the past 2 days….last night I baked a sweet potato and ate the whole thing with some couscous and sweet corn and red pepper cottage cheese which is sooooooooo low in calories and tastes gorgeous. And today I added red cabbage and pickled onion to my salad. Had an email to my BlackBerry from Rich to say that his salad was a bit soggy! Cheeky bugger! I obviously hadn’t drained the spinach properly after I washed it! Oops! (Make your own bloody lunch then sonny Jim is what I almost said to him!) so I have just been on ebay and bought a retro (orange – to match my Le Creuset stuff!) salad spinner! I remember hours of fun with that when we were kids back in the 80’s!So no more soggy salad stuff for me!

Things with PT are going well too – Just moved onto my 3rd programme, only gone through half of it though but will post about it when I’ve been through it all with him. I’ve lost 6lbs of fat and gained 4lbs of lean muscle in 2 weeks so it must be working a little bit! AND my Jillian Michaels dvd arrived – I cannot believe I forgot to post about his!! HAHAHA She is HILARIOUS!!!!!!!! I like her though, not too ‘cheerleadery’! My only problem is that I do such a complete routine at the gym that I don’t have time to do Jillian too (that’s the wrongest sentence I’ve actually ever written….) so maybe I’ll incorporate her into my routine, like maybe not go the gym one evening and do the dvd instead? What do you think? I also want to commit to and stick to one pilates or yoga class a week – ideally more but what with running, core and resistance training there just isn’t the time, and if I only did a pilates class one evening I’d panic that I hadn’t worked out enough! Am I being a dumbass? Can someone advise??!! I am naturally very flexible from all the ballet I’ve done but I definitely notice that the ‘use it or lose it’ principle applies. I used to watch tv sitting in the splits with my head on my front leg, just for shiggles and because the stretch is llluuuuuvvverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrllllyyy and now I definitely could NOT do that. So yeh, a bit more flexibility please.

We’re in the middle of a heatwave here in Blighty. It’s not really sunshiney, get a tan kind of a heatwave, at least not in the North West, more like that muggy, close heat where you can’t catch a breath! Anyways, my reason for telling you this is that I was like omg I am going to have to buy clothes for work because none of my summer stuff fits me anymore (yet) but before I did I decided to see how far I’ve got to go before I can wear my old which will be like new wardrobe – and lo and behold most of it FITS!!! Hallelujah chorus please!! Yep indeedy, today I am sporting a midnight blue and grey silk Vera Wang number (which is actually VERY 2005/6 Prada-esque) with high heeled wedges and no sleeves because I FINALLY am getting sexy arms with real, actual proper freaking muscles in! WAHOOP!!!! FULL ON NSV! Oh YES!

And on that note, dear blog-a-logs, I shall leave you and fit in another hour or so of work before heading to the gym. Seriously, though, thank you for all your comments and wise words and encouragements. I TOTALLY could not do this without blathering on about it to you all, so I am very grateful!

Have a wonderful Thursday evening/day depending on which time zone you live in!!!!

Heaps of love

ME! xxxx

Wednesday 1 July 2009

Phew and YAY!

Well friends you will be please to know that all your kind words, great advice and ass whupping worked like a charm and I have pulled it back.....not enough to lose this week I don't think but at least I have my sanity back.

I ate like a normal person yesterday (and by this I mean on plan), made it to the gym and didnt feel quite so large this morning so that's a bonus. Today I have hit my stride though and will be zooming off for a run in about 35 minutes (hurry UP clock!!). I am planning on a swift 3 miles, 2000m row, 15 min hill climb plus full core and weights and then and only then will I be allowed to hit the steam room......once I'm there I'll love it - it's just the 'being arsedness' that's my problem this week - last week however not so much? This is weird, this week by week fluctuation in motivatedness....anyone else get that? :)

So anyways, I just wanted to check in and say hello -sorry I've been a bit crap and not at all my usual hilarious and entertaining self of late - work is insanely busy right now for some bizarre reason, so I just don't get any tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime *whines*.

But before I go, I had a lovely surprise when I logged into my account just now........Ta Daaahhhh!!!! 53 freakin' followers!!! That's loads!! HOW EXCITED AM I!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In the words of the Cowardly Lion,

"Shucks, folks, I'm speechless....."

Happy health pursuits, comrades.

BFP xoxo