Weeks 3 (oops) and 4

Ok, so I opened blogger to add this week's weigh in and realised that it hadn't saved last week's post. Dammit! So it's going to have to be a double whammy. I'm back at work almost full time so I've been taking lunches and healthy snacks. It also means that I've not been in the house lurking around the fridge, which is also a good thing.

Last week I went for two nights out, including meals and so I thought I'd gain. I'm not exactly bothered if I do gain as I know losing weight is a gradual process and I don't want to get into the mindset of punishing myself for going out and enjoying myself. But, fortunately, all those healthy lunches and dinners paid off as I lost another 1.5 lbs taking me to 16st 7.5lbs and a total of 6lbs lost. Yay! (The Monkey wanted to get in on the photo action).

So that leads us to this week. We treated ourselves to a chippy tea one night and a bottle of wine on another but I stuck to my lovely low-syn breakfasts, lunches and (most) dinners. I was looking forward to weigh-in as I only had 1lb to go to get my half stone award. And I did it. I lost 2.5lbs! So now I've lost a total of 8.5lbs in four weeks. That brings my weight to 16st 5lbs. I'm really chuffed and the best part is I get a certificate and a shiny sticker for my book (spot the teacher...).  We're going to Spain in the middle of March and I'd love to be in the 15's by then...

Week 2 (and a half)

It's taken a while for me to post this as I've been back at work. What a shock to the system! I've also had to move my SW group from Friday morning to Tuesday night so it's been a week and a half since my last weigh-in. It's been a week of treats this week, what with having a family breakfast at Home Sweet Home and a champagne afternoon tea at Cloud23 for my Mum's birthday. I'm happy with my 1lb loss taking me to 16st 9lbs (that's 4.5lbs so far). I know this next week will be difficult as I have two belated Christmas parties to go to. I'm not going to beat myself up if I gain though. I'll just get back on it and carry on!

Not the most flattering of pictures!

After the First Week

Well. It's been a week since I started at Slimming World. It's been, on the whole, a very good week. I've cooked loads of scrummy meals (not much of a change there then) but I've really watched my snacking and the amount of wine I've drank (ahem). I have to say that I'm really impressed by the variety and amount of foods to eat. I really don't feel like I'm on a "diet" and I know that really sounds like a cliché but it's true!  I'm happy to say that I lost 3 1/2 lbs this week, taking me to 16st 10lbs.  I don't really want to set myself a target weight but I'm aiming to lose 2 1/2 lbs by next Friday. Here's the latest pic:

Positive Steps

I've started writing this post a dozen times.  I couldn't decide what to write or how to go about explaining my reasons for my decision so in the end I decided not to explain anything at all.  Today I went to a Slimming World meeting and I've decided to document my efforts on here as another motivational tool.  So here I am just before weigh-in:

It's the start of my lifestyle change and I weigh 16st 13.5lbs (but not for much longer).

Feeling More Like Me Again - Partners Salon, Manchester

I'm sure that new mums the world over will appreciate that those first few weeks (months?) can be difficult.  It's all about the baby and you have days where even getting out of your pyjamas is a chore.  Even with the most supportive of spouses I found myself feeling a little lost, especially having the Monkey to look after too.  Help was at hand though.  I was lucky enough to be invited to a bloggers event at Partners Hair Salon in House of Fraser, Manchester, with my sister over at OhSoGawjess. 

The salon, located on the 2nd floor, is part of a three-salon chain, the other two being in Knutsford and Poynton.  To get to the salon we had to walk down a really glam, sparkly corridor and I already started to feel more like Becky then Mummy!  After having our coats taken we were led to the backwash and the treatment was explained to us.  I was lucky enough to have Ray, the owner, taking care of my hair and, as he started washing it, he gave me advice about the type of shampoo and conditioner to use.  I have quite a lot of hair but it's very fine and straight.  Ray recommended using a salon-specific shampoo (i.e. not a shop-bought one) as it would clean my hair properly and not leave residue.  He also told be to use a leave-in conditioner just on the ends of my hair rather than an all-over one so that my hair wasn't weighed down.  Well thanks Ray, I took your advice and my hair is much easier to manage now.

After washing, my hair was treated to a Schwarzkopf Professional BC Micro Infusion Treatment.  According to the literature

 "this salon-exclusive treatment reconstructs deeply damaged and eroded hair immediately by filling the gaps in the cell-membrane complex with highest concentration of 10,000 ppm (parts per million) keratin elixir."

It's part of the BC Fibre Force range and it was left on my hair for 5 minutes before rinsing off.

Ray asked what sort of look I was going for.  To be honest anything that differed from the "aaargh, I have 5 minutes to leave the house with two kids" look would have been great but as it was the Tiny Dancer's christening in a few days time I asked for something that I could possibly, kind of, try to attempt at home that looked a little glam.  Yes I know, I stretched his talents to the limit but he definitely stood up to the plate and took on the challenge with gusto.

As Ray started rough-drying my hair to get most of the moisture out he explained that you should always dry your hair from the top down to let the cuticle lie flat, thus making your hair super shiny.  Yes, I've tried it myself.  Yes it works.  Thanks again Ray!

I could already see the difference that the treatment had on my hair.  It was much more manageable and dried really nicely.  Ray then added a spray called Blow and Go to help hold the style.  He separated the hair into rough sections, drying each one and then curling and pinning them.  The curls were all different sizes.  When he was finished he hairsprayed me and undid the pins, combing them out with his fingers.

OMG

I looked like the Little Mermaid!  I felt wonderful and I've never seen my hair look so shiny.  Both me and my sister were gutted that we weren't then going out afterwards to show off our new dos!  I'll definitely be returning to Partners, even if its just for a wash and blow dry.  At only £20 it's a more than affordable treat and anything that makes me feel more glam than grunge is totally worth it.

 

 

 

 

 

(By the way, Ray, I did try to copy this at home before the Christening but I think I needed more time/sleep and less children!)

Cakey Bakey

Having recently had an addition to the family I'm always conscious about the amount of time I spend with Monkey Joe.  I don't want him to feel left out and he's developing at such a rapid rate I don't want to miss out on anything either.  I know he's only one and a half but I thought it was high time that we did some baking.  We've made salt dough before and he made a glorious mess but I decided to bite the bullet and be brave.  So, without further ado, here's Monkey Joe's guide to baking buns!

First of all you need a bowl and a spoon (and an apron, that's important!)

Measure out 100g of butter or marg.  Put it into the bowl and mix well until soft.

Measure out 100g of sugar, add to the butter and cream together until light and fluffy.  Add one beaten egg and two capfuls of vanilla extract.  Mix together well.

Next, measure out 100g of self-raising flour and sift into the mixing bowl.

 

Obviously putting the sieve on your face helps...

Once you have mixed the flour into the butter-egg-sugar mixture you should put paper cases into a bun tray.

 

OI MONKEY!  WE NEED THAT MIXTURE!

 

 

Put dessertspoonfuls of the mixture into the paper cases.  It should make 12 but for some reason ours made 9... 

 



 

Place in the oven at 190C for about 10-15 minutes depending on your oven.  NOW you can  lick the bowl Monkey!

 

 

Take the cakes out of the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

When they're cool you can decorate them.  We used plain white icing and coloured sprinkles.

And TAH-DAH!  The finished article!  They tasted good and Monkey Joe hardly made any mess.  I'll try other things with him now, maybe gingerbread tree decorations.  He did spend the whole day running around shouting "CAKE!"  at everything though but has now learned how to say "delicious"...

The Things Kids Say...

Just a quickie, something that amused my tired little Mummy brain. Monkey Joe was building a climbing frame with the sofa cusions. He decides that adding Alice's bouncy chair to the top would be a great idea.  This is the conversation that followed:

Me: "That won't work you know"
Monkey: "Will work" (with his hands on his hips)
Me: "It won't work, I'm telling you"
Monkey: "Will work!"

Monkey proceeds to look at his creation from different angles. Hands go back on hips.

Monkey: "Weeeeeeell, MIGHT work".

Honestly I nearly fell off the sofa laughing. He was like a proper little builder.  He's such a vocal child that you forget that the cheeky little fella is only 18 months old! I mean, come on! How can you have a conversation like that with someone so tiny? He's a cracker!