Can't Weight...

I've been blogging (admittedly with long periods of absence every now and then) for about 8 years now. I must have blogged several times about being overweight or trying to lose weight. Well, here I go again...

Back in August, I had got so frustrated with being overweight and not having any nice clothes that would fit. Every Saturday I take Big J to his karate class, where I then sit and watch / chat with other parents for 2 hours. Yes, I know, 2 hours is a very long time to sit and talk, but if you know me, then you know that talking for 2 hours is no great challenge for me. However, I decided to download an app for my phone (it's called Map My Walk... guess what it does!) and go walking in the local area for 45 mins. I felt better for it, but it wasn't enough to shift any weight. Quite honestly, I look back now and think, "What the hell was I expecting? I was eating far more that I needed and one session of brisk walking for 45 mins every week is not enough to even sustain my weight let alone lose any.

I met a guy... No, no, no, it's not one of those kind of stories. I already have my own amazing guy (I will not crowbar him in here, he deserves a whole blog just for himself). I met a guy at karate. He told me his story of how he'd lost so much weight over the past 3 years and taken up running and cycling. I was inspired. Now, I am quite a stubborn person and will not always take other people's advice, especially if I am being told what to do... (again, this is another post entirely), but the more I listened, the more it made sense. He showed me an app on his phone called Couch to 5k. For those not familiar with it, it gets you off the couch and teaches you how to run 5k and, as the name suggests, it is for people who don't run at all, but usually sit around on the couch. Okay, this is beginning to sound like I liked it. I hated it! I started on the treadmill and was always watching the clock to see how long it was till I could get off. That's not the attitude I needed to be able to sustain it for the length of time I needed to lose the 8+ stone I had to get rid of.

The thing is, I was not a 'sit on the couch' kind of person, and I wasn't new to running either, so I decided to go back to what I knew best. The Nintendo Wii Fit. Out came the trampete (mini trampoline for running on the spot). As soon as i was back on there, I felt completely different. I enjoyed it, which meant that getting up a little earlier than usual was not so difficult. I would usually get up at 6.15 every day anyway, so getting up at 5.50 just meant that I had lost 25 mins sleep (hardly noticeable), had to hurry up getting ready for work (not that difficult), and had to make sure the children got themselves ready (they are 9 and 14 - it's not a lot to ask!).

So, since September I have been getting up at 5.50 am almost every day and doing 30 minutes running. The Wii Fit times me and records the distance I run. I know you could argue that the distance isn't accurate, after all, I am running on the spot, but it is consistent and so I have a benchmark. To start with I was running about 6k in 30 mins. Now, I run an average of 7.5k in that time.

I only set myself the goal of losing 1lb per week and have exceeded that. I now find it easier to listen to my body signals telling me that I am hungry or that I am full. My attitude towards food and exercise has changed completely. In the past I have found it hard to stay motivated, but I am kept motivated by the fact that I am steadily losing weight and enjoying the exercise as well as enjoying rediscovering my old wardrobe.

I have lost 2 stone (28 lb) since 4th September 2013. I aim to lose at least another 4 stone in 2014. I'm lucky to have amazing friends and family who, despite thinking I'm mad, give me the support and encouragement I need.

Zumba... What more need I say?

I have been saying for weeks I want to get into exercising again and try to lose some of the weight I have put on, but have really not been able to find the motivation. I have been so occupied with organising other things recently that I just haven't given this aspect of my life the time and attention it deserves. But I have just taken the first step to change that...

Today, is Zumba Day 1 and tomorrow will almost certainly be 'aching from Zumba Day 1', but will hopefully also be Zumba Day 2. I have not been brave enough to join a Zumba class, as I have no wish to show off my lack of co-ordination in public. Zumba Fitness for the wii, however, is a great compromise.

Having done no focused aerobic exercise for a couple of months, I was being a bit ambitious to select the 20 minute routine. This was not just like 20 mins on the wii fit+, which allows me to take a 30 second break between activities to at least get my breath and drink some water; this was practically 20 minutes of fast moving, non-stop 'Zumba'ing.

As always, though, I feel much better for starting and not just talking about it. I don't plan to 'Zumba' every day, but do plan to do between 30 - 60 mins of aerobic exercise every day. It had great effects last year, so I'm hoping it will this time. Any encouragement will be greatly appreciated!

Keep up!

Oh, Steve , you would be so proud of me. I did 50 mins' exercise this morning walking to school and back. I feel great for it...

Supernanny, you would not be so proud of me. As we left the house a few minutes later than I like to when we are walking, I felt like I was nagging Big J to keep up and telling him repeatedly that we didn't have time to stop. I also had frequent mini-rants about the children talking over each other or interrupting when I was talking, so it wasn't quite the quality time it could have been.

They did, however, get some fresh air and exercise though, which gives them a great start to their school day.

Here Wii Go...

I blogged last April about a new exercise regime to lose weight. What I don't think I did blog about, was that by July I had lost 2 stone 7 lb and had dropped 2 clothes sizes (not dress sizes - I almost never wear dresses!). Lots of people asked me how I was doing it, thinking that I must be spending £60 a week on some amazing 'lose 3 stone overnight' milkshake or maybe that I was going to the gym twice a day between teaching, planning, housework and school runs. In fact, I was simply taking good old Steve Miller's advice of exercising more and being more sensible with what I ate.

As I am sure any teachers reading this will appreciate, by July I was exhausted; work took over my life and I stopped going out for my walks and stopped doing the Wii fit+, both of which had had a huge positive impact on my weight, fitness and general health. My intention was to get back into routine during the summer, but the summer holidays came and went and then before I knew it, it was Christmas and I still hadn't started.

In all that time, I hadn't dared get on the scales, because I just didn't want to know that all that hard work I'd put in had been undone, but after finally making myself get on the scales this weekend, I realised I had gained 1 stone 9lb of what I had lost. That still puts me 12lb lighter than I was when I started, but having given away all the larger clothes that no longer fitted me I didn't want to put any more of that weight back on.

So, yesterday we walked to school. That's about 50 mins exercise for me as I also have to walk back after dropping them off. Today it was raining so we couldn't walk to school, but I did 30 minutes of aerobic exercise (step, boxing, hula-hooping) on the Wii Fit Plus instead. I feel great now I've started and it's not a chore, because I do actually enjoy doing it. I just need to make sure I stay as active as I can during the day, only eat at mealtimes and make time for the extra exercise sessions on the Wii Fit.

Feeling like a Loser

A horrible day's supply a few weeks ago at a school which should not remain nameless, but will because I'm the soul of discretion (!), during which I was called a 'fat witch' and was told by the same 'delightful' girl that I have a fat a**e and eat too many cakes, prompted me to not only decline more offers of supply work in that part of that school, but also to realize that I was sick of hearing the comments (some coming from no other than my own 5 year old son!) about my size or weight.

We'd been watching 'Fat Families' with Steve Miller on Sky 1 and although I would never consider myself to be in the same situation as most of the families features in the program, what Steve Miller said each week just seemed common sense. His basic advice to everyone was to "Eat less, move more".

So, I started on Sunday 14th March by going out for walk in the New Forest with the family. Since then I have just taken Steve's advice. I have cut down my portion sizes, stopped eating sweets, chocolates, crisps etc. reduced the amount of bread I eat and most importantly I have exercised every day for at least 30 minutes. I lost 5lb in the first week and 2lb the second week and 3lb so far this week. The best part is that it hasn't cost lots of money. I don't go to a gym. I just go out walking. I have tried to build it into the day, so instead of driving, I park the car and walk. The only thing I have bought is a pair of black trainers so that I can walk comfortably to work without looking silly in work clothes and white trainers!

Easter is going to be tough, but I am allowing myself an Easter egg and have made sure I have some healthy treats in, like fruit I don't usually buy and expensive fruit juices.

I don't feel like I'm missing out, but I do feel much better in myself for losing weight, being able to get into clothes that didn't fit before and am feeling so much healthier for all the exercise I'm doing.