Yet another week of not tracking, and feeling like I have over-indulged and gone way over my weekly points. It started on Saturday with a trip to a local fish & chip restaurant. Although I didn't do too bad with this - I ordered fish & chips but went for a small size piece of fish, then just ate the fish as opposed to the batter. I did clear the plate of chips though. Chip shop chips are just too good to refuse, especially from our area!
Another night I made a homemade shepherds pie, then another night I made a sausage and pasta bake (all non-weightwatchers ingredients). I've had the odd chocolate bar thrown in there as well.
I haven't tracked once this week, not even in my head, so as you can imagine, I was dreading the weigh-in, knowing I'd be faced with another 'You've put on such 'n' such'. I had already told her my excuses of why I would have gained etc, then she says 'You've lost 1 lb'.
Yep, 1 lb sounds like nothing. But for the week I've had, I'm mega happy with that. I have been doing intense exercise approx 4 nights out the last 7 days, so I think that would have helped a great deal.
When I lose it kinda motivates me for the following week. In an ideal world I would like to have lost another 1/2 stone by the time I go to Vegas, (which is 4 weeks today). I am gonna have to try mega hard to make that happen cos I haven't got the fastest metabolism but its nice knowing it is do-able.
However... I'm about to try out a new Indian restaurant any minute now, plus on Saturday I have my future sister-in-law's hen party, so we'll be drinking for more hours than I care to imagine, so I'm scared of next weeks weigh-in already!
I'm getting a bit obsessed with storage as of late. In fact I've just dedicated a whole folder to it on Pinterest. Check out my DIY board here.
I'm always on the look out for unusual yet fancy ways of storing things, even down to my cooking spices that have a home inside a cupboard that no one will ever see except me and my boyfriend. I don't care, as long as it looks organised/pretty, then I'm good.
For a long time I have been searching for the perfect way to display my perfumes. I was on the hunt for a mirrored tray for what seemed like a lifetime. I could find them on ebay but they had to be shipped from USA, which I didn't really fancy paying P&P for. However a few months ago I was browsing a local charity shop (BHF to be exact), and I hit pot luck. I don't normally go into charity shops so this was meant to be! A mirrored 2 tier cake stand.
Perfecto.
The rest is history.
Watch my video for a little flash of my perfume collection.
So I feel like I've completely fell off the dieting wagon just recently. I'm not just if I've mentioned in previous posts but ever since returning from our little weekend away in Manchester, I've found it really difficult to get back on track, and I don't know why. It's like I reached my half a stone mark and because of that, I'm subconsciously telling myself its ok now. But it really isn't. No way near. I'm still not tracking, I do try watch what I eat 90% of the time, but theres still 10% of me that thinks 'stuff it, I'm gonna eat this cake'.
For those of that you that follow my weigh-in posts, you'll know my weigh-in is on a Thursday night. Just before I stepped on the scales, I told my leader 'I'm 100% sure I've either put on or stayed the same'. And I was right. I had gained 0.5lb. Yep, not a great deal, but it wasn't nice seeing my weight loss calculation decrease after increasing every month. However, once again, I'd left my work ID badge on, so that would have contributed to a bit of a false weigh-in again.
I still haven't learnt my lesson. Straight after weigh-in, I stuffed my face with my first double cheeseburger from McDonalds in 7/8 weeks. It was scrumpalicious! Over the next few days I have stuffed my face with 3 Apple & Custard Danish pastries, and a huge handful of mini Time Out chocolate bars. Today for lunch I got invited to a fish & chip restaurant. Instead of saying no, I went. I did try and be a little good, by ordering a small portion of fish. When I received the fish I ate the fish but left the batter (which I was quite proud of!), but I did have a plate of chips too. So umph. I've done an hour of intense dancing tonight to make myself feel better. I do have time to pull it back by doing exercise, but Im finding myself saying that a lot these past few weeks, and before I know it, its Wednesday and I've done no exercise. I'm doing house work and possibly a spot of gardening tomorrow (weather dependent) so I'm going to get extra exercise in there.
If anyone has any inspiration when you hit a brick wall in dieting then please throw it my way!
Considering I'm a huge nail polish fan, it took me a while to purchase one of these magnetic nail polishes. However I was browsing round a random boots store in Manchester train station, killing time (as you do) when I decided to take the plunge and buy a bottle.
There were only 4 colours to pick from, and they were all autumnal colours, which was kinda disappointing, however I settled for Magnetic Blue' which is a lovely navy with a monochrome fleck once the magnetism magic has been done!
As you can see, there's not much 'magnetism' going on (even though I followed the instructions). I decided to chose the best finger that resembled the pattern (and it just happened to be my middle one!). I did get a few comments asking how I'd done it, but I wouldn't say I was too impressed with this. If they bought out a wider selection of colours then I might be a bit more tempted!
Have you tried any of the magnetic polishes? Did you get good results?
This GB was based on the recent Olympics and focused on products that are apparently 'well known' in certain countries. I have stopped reading people's opinions on GB until I've made my own mind up about it, just in case I was subconsciously basing my thoughts through other people's eyes. Trying to be fair n' all that!
I was kinda disappointed with this box. Even though it had 6 products, yet again, one of the products were one from GlossyBox's new 'brand'. However because I've known it since it originated as just a subscription box, the fact that they've extended into beauty products as well just.. doesn't seem right. I kinda get the impression the products are cheap n cheerful. Even though this months' GB lipstick stated it was worth £9.50, and it was nice and pigmented, I'd like to receive products of brands that I'm aware of, or have been around a while. Or maybe even new but not someone that I feel has just jumped on the band wagon and thought 'I know, we'll start creating make-up products as well to make more money' - I might be totally off the mark here, but thats what it feels like.
Anyway, without further ado, this was my box. I've noticed there's not many variations this month so you've probably seen all this before...
L-R - Broadway Impress Nails, GB Lipstick, DHC Deep Cleansing Oil, Lipcote, Alessandro Pro White Polish, Lombre Margarita (front).
Opinions -
Broadway Impress Nails - I've seen these on a few YT videos and was looking forward to trying a pair, however these are a plain burgendy brown colour with gold flecks, so a very autumnal colour, so I think I will be saving these for another few months yet. Although I've read bad write ups about these and how they come off so very easily. We shall see!
GB Lipstick - I've voiced most of my opinions above but for the record, this is a nice pigmented colour, but not the colour for me. Might pass this onto my mum.
DHC Deep Cleansing Oil - Another oil based make-up remover has been extremely popular on YT the past month or so, and although this isn't the same brand, I am looking forward to trying this out more because its practically the same thing. I've already tried it out twice and for the first few seconds my thoughts were pretty negative, however a few seconds later and my opinions changed instantly. This is so good! It feels strange taking a full face of foundation off but it really does work! I thought I'd apply a face wipe afterwards and still be left with a foundation full of muck, but I was wrong! Of course there was a litle dirt there but nothing compared to what I imagined. This would be great for people who were very little make-up. I think I'll be taking this to Vegas with me because I'll be trying to limit my make-up over there with the heat.
Lipcote - A fairly cheap product to include. Something I'd never tried before and something I definitely wont be buying, for 2 reasons. 1 - it stung my lips like a b!tch. 2 - It doesn't do what it 'says on the tin'. It's supposed to make your lipstick smudge-proof and for it to stay put. It really doesn't. Thats all I'm going to say on that matter.
Pro-White polish. Perfect for me cos I've got stained nails from all the times I've painted my nails without a base coat. I do see some effects on some nails but not others. The ultra violet colour is meant to counteract the yellowness on the nails, to make it appear whiter. This needs trialling a little more.
Eyeshadow Palette (just because it's not worth being called its real name!). Worth approximately £3.85 (and I think I read somewhere it is 'popular' in Spain). 1 - What a strange concoction of colours? How many people wear GREEN eyeshadow?! Not many! The palette looks cheap, and I haven't even bothered opening them to test the pigmentation. I have far too many eyeshadow palettes (I know this isn't GB's fault). If they were more appealing colours then I might have given this a chance.
If you do the maths, you'll realise half the products were disappointing for me. And because of this, I have subscribed to another box. I have kept my subscription with GB for one more month then I think it will be time to unsubscribe. I have been subscribed to them since the moment they were born in the UK in May 2011, but I think its now time to move on to new pastures (plus I like their box a little more, any guesses who?!)
Ever since my little stint away in Manchester a couple of weeks ago, it's completely thrown me off course and I've stopped tracking. I am still trying to be good but I find that I am more liable to lose if I track, that way I know if I've gone over my daily/weekly points allowance. It's now got to the stage were I'm not even adding them up in my head. My portions are still small but I am treating myself more and more as the days go on. I am still buying Weightwatchers cakes/biscuits, but I'm eating sometimes 3 at a time, instead of the usual 1.
My weigh in is on a Thursday evening so it's becoming routine to have a bit of a treat on the Friday/Saturday, simply because I know I've got all week to shift the weight. However this 'treat' day is slowly being extended and before I know it I'm still treating myself on Monday/Tuesday! Now this is a problem because I'm probably using all my weekly allowance up (my 'treat' points) within the first day, even though I've got 6 more days to go.
I feel I've hit a bit of a rock in regards to my weight loss anyway. Motivation is slowly starting to deteriorate. The guilt is still there, and I am doing exercise to try and grab some points back. So this weeks weight loss was a pleasant surprise when taking everything into consideration. I lost 0.5lb. That means I have now lost half a stone, and gained my silver 7. I would have liked to have lost it a bit quicker, but with 2 weeks of a weight loss of 0.5lb, I can't expect any more really, and I know I need to put more effort in if I want it shifting faster.
I aim to lose another 7lb in time for Vegas, which is in 6 weeks time. I best get my dancing shoes on! Although its my boyfriends birthday tomorrow, and I'm going to go buy a birthday cake now... hmmm... hopefully I can resist temptation!
Week 1 - 2.5lb loss
Week 2 - 2lb loss
Week 3 - 0.5lb loss
Week 4 - 1.5lb loss
Week 5 - 0.5lb loss
So for those that are unaware, I went for a night away in a swish hotel last weekend. With it being only one night, I was cheeky and used my boyfriends rucksack for the majority of my belongings. With this being the case, I had to pack lightly. I even did away with hair straighteners which kinda made me anxious but I got through it!
I thought I'd show you just how limited I can be when forced. As long as my essentials were included, anything else was a bonus...
L-R (Back row) Elizabeth Arden Skin Balancing Moisturiser. I received this in my most recent GB, and due to the size, I thought now is the best time to give this a whirl, otherwise I probably never will.
Mouthwash - this isn't actually what it says on the bottle, it's still mouthwash of course, but FYI it's Listerine inside that instead :-)
Batiste dry shampoo. Because I knew I wasn't taking hair straighteners, that meant I couldn't wash my hair or else I'd be going out like a fizz-hog the next day, so instead I did 2nd day hair and used this instead to freshen it up a little.
Dove anti-perspirant. If I'm completely honest this is something thats been sat in what I call my 'travel box' for ages. I used it for a weekend away a while back and it was still half full, but I was determined to use it up. Thing is, I'm not keen on the smell, it reminds me of cucumbers, which as a deoderant, I don't find pleasant! Thankfully I was able to use this up whilst I was there, and in the bin it went. So.Satisfying.
Como Shambhala body lotion. I'm in 2 minds with this, simply because of the smell, its quite herbal and spicey, something I'm not too keen on, however I've received 2 of these buggars from GB over my time with them so I need to start getting rid!
Estee Lauder Eye make-up remover. Although again, this isn't what it says on the bottle - it is eye make-up remover, but by Botanics, I just think its handy to save little bottles like this for occasions like these!
Ickle Bockles - this is a company that sent me a bunch of freebies over a year ago now, and this little cute thing is actually a fold up toothbrush.
Caudalie perfume/spritzer. I have loads of perfume samples, but this being the biggest, I decided to take this so I was sure that I wasn't going to run out. Again, another item from GB. This seems to be lasting me ages. Its now in my work handbag and I am forever getting complimented on it when sprayed at work. Perfect little handbag friend.
For products, I think I did pretty well! I could have taken shower gel and soap etc, but 99% of hotels have these things included now so I knew not to bother. In fact our hotel was pretty equipped with luxury products.
If you would like to see what's in my travel make up bag, and see just how light a girl can pack, watch this video!
Do you think you could pack as lightly as this for one night? Intriguied!
This week I'm gonna cut the crap cos' I've got a tendency to babble on a little in these posts..
Basically if you follow my blog, you'll know I was away last weekend. Although I didn't over indulge, I could have eaten better. Since arriving back home on Saturday night, I've really struggled to start tracking again.
It got to Tuesday and I started panicking, telling myself I've either stayed the same or put weight on. Did quite intense dancing exercises on Tues + Weds night to 'make up for it'.
Weighed in tonight, a little anxious, I will admit. I took all jewellery off (I had a pretty heavy bib metal necklace on!), I also remembered to remove my ID badge this time! And.... I had lost 1.5lbs. I am pretty happy with that considering I haven't been tracking. That happy that I even went down the beach tonight and treat myself to a nice whipped ice-cream, complete with a flake. Yum!
Week 1 - 2.5lb loss
Week 2 - 2lb loss
Week 3 - 0.5lb loss
Week 4 - 1.5lb loss
Total weight loss - 6.5lb.
It's steady, but it's coming off...I'm seeing that half a stone mark approaching verrrry fast!
A few months ago I was lucky enough to win a competition at a 5* golf & spa resort in Knutsford, Cheshire. I have a love for travelling and exploring, so was excited when I discovered that I won, especially knowing I'd be laying in 5* luxury!
I decided to book it for the weekend just gone. We had a lovely weekend exploring the grounds, relaxing and touching shoulders with the famous (well, almost, we walked past a few famous snooker players.. my claim to fame for the year!).
We headed into Manchester the next day to do a spot of shopping. I was even nice enough to let my boyfriend sample the new National Football Museum! Aren't I good?!
A Room with a View
Freebies!
Complimentary robe
The grounds of the hotel were absolutely gorgeous, perfect wedding scenery. Infact there was a wedding whilst we were there - the bridge & groom even used the golf cart to go into the golf range to have photos taken.
I think this has been the worst week since beginning WW. Although my motivation hasn't gone completely out the window, I had quite a few occasions were I did not feel one bit guilty about buying naughty foods. I've stuck to my daily/weekly points, probably using up almost all my weekly points too (which is a first). Over the week I treat myself to those GU fancy puddings in those glass jars.. they were on offer which was even more tempting. They came in at 8 points, but again, this was still within my daily allowance.
Yesterday at work it's got into a little bit of a ritual to stop off at Morrisons on our lunch break. I needed a birthday card for my dad so went in and there were packets of wine gums and midget gems on offer. I love a pack of wine gums occasionally, and yesterday was one of those days. I picked the pack up not even caring. I got half way through the pack (I'm talking bag, not tube!) then gave my work colleague a large handful because I started to worry about the points. After that there were roughly 7 wine gums left. I went on WW E-source and they came in at 17 points for the whole bag. Yikes! And I hadn't even had my tea yet! So the remainder I gave to another colleague before I ate them!
Today I was a little rushed when leaving work so never made dinner. Popped to Asda at dinner and got a healthy noodle chicken dinner, then craved chocolate so picked up a Yorkie bar at the tills. Tut tut. I haven't even calculated the points yet but the Yorkie bar is long gone.
Exercise wise it hasn't been great - I've done approx 2 hours of dancing on the wii over the week, which isn't a lot.
So tonights weigh in, after last week's blip with the new leader and her scales, I was a bit nervous. 3 people infront of me all put weight on. I noticed the leaders concern and confusion. I got on and had lost half a pound. However! I forgot to take my work ID badge off that was round my neck, which also carries a few keys, so thats fairly heavy, so I'm thinking if it wasn't for that it would have been at least a 1 lb loss. Well, I'm hoping anyway!
I'm away this weekend, so I'm gonna find it real hard to stay on track, but I'll try my best. Either that or I'll be doing heaps of exercise come next week!
Week 1 - 2.5lb loss
Week 2 - 2lb loss
Week 3 - 0.5lb loss
We've been in our house 13 months now, and I've been waiting very patiently to complete our conservatory, but we all know, money doesn't grow on trees overnight, so we've had to buy things bit by bit.
We've had the dining table about 6 months now, but our new couch only arrived last week, so a fresh new leather smell is still lingering in there.. mmm.
I've got a different colour scheme for every room in our house (need to keep my on my toes!). As you can see, I've gone for a purple/white scheme for the conservatory. I wanted to keep it fairly bright because of the type of room it is.. however I needed a pop of colour, because too much white can look a bit clinical and not very homely (in my opinion).
Although though you can't see it , in the bottom right hand corner is a small square white glossy table that has our TV on and a huge purple lamp.
This is my new love! We have a modern fabric corner sofa in our living room and although its really nice to look at, I personally find it quite uncomfy (apart from the cuddle chair!). However this is so comfy, it reclines both at the legs and the back, so its almost like being in a deck chair. When the sun in shining it's bliss, (although not so bliss when I'm trying to use my laptop as its so bright in there the screen becomes non-existant!).
I am now debating whether to get an individual chair to place on the corner of the rug that you can see in the first photo. My idea is to sort of cordon off the 'sitting area' from the dining section, to make it feel more cosy.. but I'm wondering if it might look a bit chair-overkill. Either that or create another problem by reducing the access to the patio doors. (Although the space is a little bigger than meets the eye in the photos). I was thinking of a funky chair, I've taken a liking to these ball chairs from Interior Addict. Change the red fabric to purple and bingo. I've seen these in clubs before and think they are a real focal point. Either that or invest in one of these funky bubble chairs, which I initially saw on Dragons Den aaaages ago. Although I don't think my conservatory roof would like a chain and a full grown adult hanging from it somehow!
Ahh, we can but dream!
