Never stop believing...

Hello Everyone :)

The holidays are coming woo :)

 

Anywho since I last wrote a few things have happened which have made me a very happy Weight Watcher :)

1.       I can finally say I weigh within the 11 stone bracket – how frickin’ awesome is that! Two years came and went with me trying to get back into the 12’s so now it is ‘bye bye 12’s I’ll hopefully never see you again’.

 

 

 

2.       My page on FB * Adventures of a Melting Diva * reached over 100 likes…well  129 now ;) I am very thankful for this as I started the page a little bit after the blog as I felt I could contribute and update it more and I am so happy that my ranting and raving is actually accepted ha :)

3.  I turned 23 AND I was a weight watchers pro on my birthday – no cake until the day after *My birthday was Thurs the 28^th, weigh in was the 29^th*

 

*we had no '23' candle so I was reliving my youth :P *

4.I had a major (to me) NSV when shopping yesterday. I need to explain first to show the relevance of the NSV to me - I am very odd (and yes I really do need to use that word) when it comes to many things such as what I wear. When I was larger *or obese whichever you prefer* I wasn't probably as odd and would have worn a few things that probably didn't help me but now that I've lost the weight I've gone really crazy into ensuring I don't wear anything that I perceive will make me look awful. In reality I am still in the mind set of being that obese girl, I don't see myself as me the slimmer size 12 Grainne and because of this I won't allow myself to get out of my comfort zone, something I am working on. Anyway the NSV involves boots - I only like boots when they firstly have a heel ( my mother would shoot me if she saw me in flat boots and I would too) and have to be just under the knee because well as I say to myself 'Grainne you have thunderous legs and would look horrific if you ever dared the *now in fashion* casual heeled ankle boot type things* but yesterday the pretty boots I wanted were not in my size and I had the outfit planned...anyway moving on I came across said ankle boots and said 'just try them on to prove how massive they make you look' to be totally taken back when I looked in the mirror and said 'OMG your legs looks slim....oh God you look great' and it involved looking in the mirror at different angles for around 10 minutes to be sure :P Then I had to buy them, I came home and was so excited to show my mother because like 'OMG this was a miracle'. I know sounds totally stupid and silly but was such a proud moment for me, as good as zipping up those size 12 jeans! I am finally near goal, I am finally getting happier with my appearance....Life is good :D

 

I’ve had a good couple of weeks, okay these last few pounds haven’t been coming off as quickly as I had hoped but I’m only 3.8lbs to goal now so I am getting there, slowly but surely. I’ve been training lots, doing lots of weights and my upper body strength has greatly improved :)

I was eagerly counting down to last Friday’s WI as I was hoping to get into the 11’s and I even sacrificed the god dam beautiful tasty cake my mum made me but I was determined! Then Thursday night comes along and well I suddenly begin to feel like a bloated hippo *ladies you know why* so anyway I nearly cried…wait….actually I think I did…the last time this happened I gained 2lbs at my WI AND it took TWO weeks to lose it so I just felt so deflated and said there was no way on this god given earth I was getting weighed on Friday morning.

 

I headed off for my personal training session with this mentality…until I saw the owners jeep outside and I just said ‘oh screw it I’ll get weighed he’ll get why I’m up’ so I went in and said my speech ‘I will be up probably a stone because I’m like a fat hippo but don’t you dare think it is because of food it is the OTHER thing’ lol he just smiled and I hopped on the scales…I somehow managed to be down 0.4lbs…I was like an excited child and then I declared ‘Oh god now I’m staying for the spinning class too’.

Moral of the rant – go to your WI even when you have a bad feeling. Turns out I must have had enough lost over the course of the week to cover the gain during TOTM and still come out with a loss, however small it was it was very significant to me.

 

While I have been literally working my ass off training I actually haven’t ran since Nov. 14^th, the day after my first 10km. Oh course I’ve been meaning to but you know the usual excuses ‘I’ve already trained today’, ‘Oh it is soo cold’ well yesterday as I was having my usual scroll through my reading list on here I noticed John Q’s new post :) He mentioned a challenge for December which was set up by AKW. The challenge is to run 30mins (or more) each day for the month of December.

I saw this and was so thankful for JQ’s blog, if there was a challenge I HAD to do it and could have no excuses. This was needed as I have my second 10km on December 26^th.

I ran my usual 4.45km route today and it felt AMAZING so good to be back out running however my legs were a little bit like ‘Grá what are you doing, stop GODDAMMIT STOP’ but there was no stopping!

I'm evening planning my Christmas dinner right now as I plan to track...I've a wedding on the 29th which I don't intend to track for :) *That is a lie I probably will end up trying to track that day - old habits die hard*

So here is to a successful and happy month ahead!

 

I'm soo excited about going to the Netherlands on the 9th to see my boyfriend. Things like this keep me motivated to work my ass off. I'm going to try and be as good as I can, food-wise when I'm over there. The last time I went I managed to loos 1lb but I was a saint so here is hoping again. I'll be missing my WI when I'm over so I actually only have two weigh in's left until Christmas. I would love to think I could get to goal by December 19th but if it happens it happens but I will get to goal in January 100% *fingers crossed I'll start 2014 maintaining though*.

 

Until next time,

Grá :)

 

 

Celebrate good time...COME ON

Hello everyone :)

Hope you’re all having a fantabulous week :)

Still feeling under the weather which is annoying as I literally feel like lounging on the couch all day BUT thankfully just because I want to doesn’t mean I am..I mentioned in my last post that I was going to treat myself to some personal training sessions in the run up to my trip to the Netherlands on Dec 9^th (cannot wait), so I started the Little Black dress plan which is based over 28 days (but I’m doing it in 21 days) I have a total of 12 30min personal training sessions and 5 fitness classes. I’m no stranger to personal training but only do it every now and again due to the expense of it!

Had my first session last Friday (15^th) and flying it as they’d say! I weighed in at 12st 1.4lbs (which was a relief as I felt that I may have been up since my last WW WI on the 8^th (12st 1.5lbs) but thankfully not. I decided that I’d try and follow the guys diet plan for the 3 weeks (I’m tweaking tho to suit my own needs as if I have to stick with it I need to enjoy my food).

 

It is the usual protein with every meal, carbs coming from veg, good fats from a few almonds etc etc..The diet does work as I’ve tried it before (lost 1^st in 4wks last nov…but then I stopped….wasn’t attending ww and gained 10lbs of that in 10 days so ya know). It is a great way to detox your body and also give junk a break…in saying that I cannot wait for the 3 weeks to be up so I can enjoy some porridge without feeling guilty (imagine ha).

 

Anyway so far so good, I’m breaking my ass with the training but typical, I started it 2 days before I had a social event (which is very rare with college these days). It was my dad’s 60^th birthday last Friday and we went out for a family meal on the Saturday…Oh boy I made great choices at the table so much so I think the waitress wanted to stab me with a fork *so how is that cooked…no butter/cream….have you alternative desert choices….etc* :P but I felt awful afterwards as I had some *quite a lot* of cake etc and oh some wagon wheels and oh some penguins…but I worked it out and I think the weeklies covered it! But woke up Sunday morning felt annoyed but got on with it, stood on my own scales on Monday and THANK JEEBUS it didn’t cause any gain, I was down about 0.5lb which is thanks to the crazy exercise and also the great eating on the other days :)

This picture is my newest 'before and after', sorry the before should be more zoomed in but couldn't figure it out lol!

17st 8lb -----> 12st 1.5lbs....so far :)

 

Sorry I think I’m really just ranting away so I’ll change the subject!

Headed off to Limerick today with my mum in search of shoes and accessories for a wedding I have on Dec 29^th but couldn’t find what I was looking for BUT….guess what happened….

 

Go on…GUESS…I dare ya… :P

I decided to grab a pair of size 12 jeans just to see if they would fit me *didn’t need jeans but needed to see* and SWEET JEEBUS they zipped and they fitted so much so I decided I had to buy them *I think I bought them just because they were a 12 :P*

 

Want to know what I did then…I went into two other shops and picked up size 12 jeans to try on just to make sure the first pair wasn’t wrong lol and woo they all fitted and zipped lol :)

The reason that this is such a big deal to me is because I have NEVER EVER fitted into size 12 jeans and like these were proper jeans not stretchy jegging stuff like OMFG.I have dresses and skirts in size 12 and skirts in a size 10 but like jeans NEVER wooo *Major NSV*. Anyway here is a pic from the fitting room *oh fellow weight watchers I was thinking of you guys and sharing my joy and also motivation*…also how cute is the jumper in the pic…I had to buy that also…and oh the shoes…think this will be my outfit for Christmas day lol!

 

Anyway yet again, another rant over..subject change time :P

I’ve found my next 10km challenge woo! The race is actually based in a little village only 4 miles from me and it is either a 7km or 10km route for December 26^th *The turkey buster fun run* excited about it already as I really do have the running bug lol plus it’ll be a great way to work off the delicious foods consumed on the 25^th :)

 

Have my WI with the personal training crowd AND weight watchers this Friday! Sounds silly but I am nervous about it, I think last weekend threw me abit with the eating as I hadn’t gone off the rails like that in a long time but I know it happens to the best of us! And I guess there is some pressure on me to hit a good number this week as the food plan and exercise really get you going and I’d love to get 2lbs off as it would get me into the 11st bracket but I think I need to stop thinking about it and just continue doing what I’m doing :)

Sorry for the really long rant but I had to share my size 12 joy lol!

Have a great week everyone AND remember....

 

Until next time,

Grá :)

Out with the old & in with the new...

Hello everyone :)

 

WOW it feels like forever since I last wrote a post!

 

October was a crazy busy month with college and just life in general!

Weight watcher wise – I’m now only 5.5lbs from goal yay :)

 

 

 

*Proud moment alert*

 

I received my 11^th silver seven :)

 

In my last post I mentioned that I was going to give filling & healthy a try, well I did and I have to admit I love it! Okay I’m not following it all the time; I’m interchanging between the two approaches

 

 

What Filling & Healthy has done for me:

I’ve stopped eating bread *the occasional WW wrap is consumed*, the reason I stopped was the bread I used was Slimsters and after ringing up WW I was told for now it was not considered F&H as it hasn’t been tested yet….sooo I decided if I could only have WW bread and/or nimbles I wouldn’t bother…pretty good going for someone who could have up to 8 slices in one day don’t you think ;)

• My consumption of sweet/savoury treats has dramatically decreased…Something about the fact you’d have to use your weeklies if you want anything that isn’t F&H makes the desire go away!

 

• I’m feeling good in general, the less treats the better I feel, healthier!

 

• My exercise has decreased in the last few weeks because I have been busy literally 24/7 but that is changing from next week onwards and I cannot wait…Back to business as the saying goes :)

 

Today (November 18^th) I ran my first 10km race! Three months ago I didn’t run…I exercised loads but I could not for the life of me run…Today I feel fantastic and sooooo proud of myself! I hadn’t ran in two weeks, I have sinusitis but I did it and I did not stop I kept going, and I think I could have kept going for another 5km! I completed it in 80minutes 40seconds….yes okay it might not be a super fantastic time but hey this is my second run and the first time I have ran a distance of 10km (previously my longest distance was 9.2km) so I am on cloud nine! Extremely proud of myself and this is only the beginning :)

 

As a well deserved treat I’m booking in for some personal training classes for the next 3 weeks, commencing Monday. It’s my 23^rd birthday on the 28^th so I think I’m due an early present! I would love to have my gold card by Christmas; it would mean the world to me. I joined weight watchers in May 2010, if I could begin 2014 as a gold member it be magical!

 

 

Looking forward to the next few weeks exercise wise…on the 4^th week I’m flying over to the Netherlands for 5 days to see my boyfriend so I would love to be a few lbs lighter by then, just so I can feel even better about myself (and oh so my boyfriend can remember how fabulous his girlfriend is :P)

 

 

Oh and I cannot forget December 7^th, the night a group of weight watchers are heading to Tullamore for a night for well deserved fun and drinks and god only knows what else…cannot wait…definitely an incentive to be a little slimmer by then :)

Also ladies we'll remember this on the 7th and regret it on the 8th ;)

 

and maybe this too...:P

 

I just said it was about time I make a little update on Diva’s journey!

I promise I won’t leave it sooo long again,

Until next time,

Grá :)

All about positivity...

Hello Everyone :)

Hope everyone had a great week and weekend :)

I lived up to my promise in my last post about reducing exercise for this week from my usual 6-7 days to five days...in actual fact I exercised for only 2 days…Why? *sexy pic alert :P )

I had a procedure on my toe last Monday and didn’t realize it would stop all my usual exercise for about 2 weeks…The first four days were horrific, I felt like I was turning into a big ball of jelly *no joke*.  I was trying to convince myself that I could be down at my weigh in on Friday because I had stuck to me dailies and weeklies despite no exercise.

Of course I was in fact down on Friday….1lb YAY….it was truly the boost I needed, I was over the moon and that positive energy has kept with me since then. No weigh in’s for three weeks due to teaching experience but I’m not worried…I am now 8lbs from goal and I can taste it so full steam ahead, I’d love the gold card by Christmas :)

Thanks to not exercising since Sunday last, I’ve allowed myself to fully rest up *even with the annoying niggle from my toe*. I’ve caught up on many things that I needed to do like STUDY, my favourite tv shows *thank you sky+* oh and also try on lots of my pretty dresses that I had during my 2 years period of remaining within the same weight…result…? They are all nearly too big for me now *a shame in one way as they are all beautiful* but WOO!

I’ve been following the weight watchers plan for so long BUT I never felt sure about F&H mainly for the whole ‘eat until you are satisfied not full’ thing because well I eat until I’m stuffed and ready to blow! 

Soooooo I decided to set myself a new challenge for the week (starting today Sunday) following the Filling & Healthy plan for a day or more.If I look over my trackers I notice that 85% of my food choices *apart from treats* fall under F&H which is fantastic as it means that I won’t be changing much at all.

So today, was my first F&H day! I didn’t wake up until early afternoon as I was exhausted after the week so my day started late. I put aside 100ml skimmed milk for the day (F&H or 1PP)My breakfast was porridge with stewed apples (all F&H or 3pp (30g oats). I then had a packet of blueberries & a packet (yes a packet) of plums. Because of my late start I didn’t technically have a lunch as I didn’t need or want one. My dinner consisted of 2 Gammon steak (F&H food or 4PP), a large plate of carrots & broccoli with 3tbsp of hot tomato salsa (0PP – 4tbsp onwards however has a PP value). I decided I would like something nice (treat) so I had a packet of velvet crunch (2PP taken from my weeklies) and to finish off my night I had another serving of porridge and apples (F&H or 3PP)! I am totally stuffed from the day but if I work out the pro points I used during the day it is quite low (13PP & my daily allowance for non F&H days is 30PP).

What did I notice/learn from today? I’ve always know I like treats during the day and a lot of the time half my dailies would go on such but I ate them largely as they were more convenient than making something like a quick tuna salad and so on. When I was faced with the choice of choosing a F&H snack or having a treat in which I would have to use my weeklies on, I chose the F&h snack. I am delighted I gave it a go today as this will allow me to cut back on unnecessary ‘junk’ food and fill up on slow energy realising filling foods which in turn will be better for many aspects such as body fat % and so on!

I’m really looking forward to the coming weeks. I will be unable to make a weigh in until October 25^th due to commitments so I plan to stick with F&H 90-100% of the time and hopefully I might get a nice boost towards goal. 8lbs we gotta go!!

Oh and this is my lunch (and break) for tomorrow. Everything apart from the crisps falls under F&H :)

It feels great have started my week on such a positive note! I really feel that I can get to goal by Christmas or hopefully a little before. In am excited about the future *cheesy or what*!

On that note I really felt I deserved to treat myself in Limerick yesterday after college ;)

Oh and during the week my personalised t-shirt from a new at-home based business in Cork ‘Stick it’ arrived!

How frickin’ cute is it! I chose the quote ‘It never gets easier you just get better’ as I have gotten better at some many things, jogging being the main choice! I’m already planning my next order! If anyone wants to look up the business (which is co-run by a current weight watcher member Amy O’ Riordan) search ‘Stick it’ on facebook.

I really hope the coming week will remain positive. I’m really busy with my post grad and voluntary teaching at the moment which is great as it means less time to think of food ;) And oh and 23 more days until I see my boyfriend YAY (and it has been almost 4 weeks since I saw him – I swear I’m not counting ;) :P ) So Gráinne girl it is time to get slimmer :D

I really hope everyone has been happy with their own journey with weight watchers over the last few weeks. It is soo easy to let one little thing throw you off but keep going, keep fighting. Hard work always pays off just sometimes it likes to take it’s time. Onwards and downwards guys & girls.

And remember.....

So make sure you do your best this week and you won't be disappointed with the result :)

Finally, I'm going to ask you guys for a little help :)

A close friend of mine, Miss Sarah Frances has made it into the final 30 of the RSVP magazine competition for Bloggers. She works so hard on her blog and her youtube channel and is very supportive to me when it comes to weight watchers.

All you need to do is follow this link http://www.rsvpmagazine.ie/rsvp-oasis-style-blogger-2013/ and find 'Sarah Frances' and scroll down to the bottom and click 'Like' or 'tweet' or vote! I would really appreciate it.

Until next time,

Gráinne :)

Obsession...

Hello everyone :)

Another week has come and gone! Countdown to the Big ‘C’ had well and truly began!

So my week was eh somewhat of a blur! After the 2lb gain last Thursday *Thank you Mother Nature* I was a little mmm…how do I say…OBSESSED!

Something has happened me in the past few weeks, I have become obsessed about getting to WW goal (and oddly enough the WW goal isn't even my own personal goal, that one is 10lbs lighter again) and I mean genuinely obsessed. And it isn’t healthy! Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not starving myself or anything like that quite the contrary, I’m using all my dailies & weeklies BUT I’m pushing myself exercise wise maybe a little too crazy….crazy enough for me not to have a day off to rest and recover!

I love exercise, I love doing something every day, I adore Zumba and you’ll always find me at the top of the class giving it my all (and all the jiggly bits flying left right and centre).

But this week was different. I had an extra day to exercise as I weighed in earlier than usual last week.So my week was consumed with: Spin/Core, 20-20-20, Zumba Masterclass, 5km jog, Zumba, CardioBells & Personal training session, Zumba, Spin/Core & Personal training session.

Some people may not think it is a lot *seriously I hope not though* but I think I need to take a step back and RELAX! I’m going to wear myself out especially as I’m voluntarily working in a Primary School as a substitute while completing my degree in Primary Teaching which includes sooo much study!

I need to prioritize a bit more. In today’s class we spoke about having more ‘me’ time and putting WW first. I personally think I need to do a little bit of the opposite and maybe put a few more things not ahead of WW so to speak but on level footing because my study should come first closely followed by my health and if I’m being honest my body is aching all week, my back is giving me lots of trouble. I need to cop on abit!

*this is what I need to learn to do*

So after the week of fun I had my weigh in this morning and I was down 1.5lb. Now in any given week if I was to be down 1.5lb I’d be over the moon but today, not so much! Yes yes silly Grá be happy with the loss! What I was hoping and praying for was a loss of 2.5lbs which would have cleared up ‘’that’’ gain and also given me an extra 0.5lb for this week! My leader Tracey completely understood me when I told her and I love how she didn’t chastise me over it!

I left my meeting with mixed emotions. On one hand I was delighted to be down and 9lbs from goal but on the other hand I was annoyed and felt that maybe I could have pushed myself more this week *I know crazy right as I don’t think I could push myself anymore*. 

I got in the car and had to pop to the doctors *problem with my foot* and I ended up having a kind of an argument with my boyfriend (who lives in the Netherlands) all over my inability to move on from the fact I had not lost 2lbs this week. I have a great boyfriend who is always there to offer support and motivation which he did especially well last week after the gain. But see Gráinne doesn’t like to be told things which are common sense like ‘it isn’t the end of the world you had a great loss this week’ I snap in defensive mode and get a little smart which of course I regret ten minutes later when it is a little too late! Anyway after this happened I got the mini wake up call I needed to get me to cop on a little bit more and also CHILLAX like ‘Gráinne for god sake you have 5st 3lbs lost! You’re 22, the world is at your feet, you ain’t no big fat ass girl no more, even at Zumba you probably look like you know what you’re doing’ *this would be along the lines of what I was telling myself, think I may have looked crazzzy if anyone saw me :P ).

So yeah this week I’m going to relax. I’m going to have two days with no exercise (this will be interesting as I’ll use my excuse ‘ah but I’m only going for a walk or a jog that isn’t really exercise *yeah it is but you know*) and I’m going to try and not stress about goal. The date in which I’d love to be at goal is over 2 months away if I don’t get it by then so what, it isn’t like the world is going to end or anything like that!

And more importantly I really don’t want to turn into sassy mouth Grá to my boyfriend again if the futures weigh in’s don’t go to plan! I’m building that bridge and getting over it!

Instead of trying to reach goal by a certain date I’m going to:

• Look forward to the 10km run in the dark I’m doing in November
• Look forward to the night in Tullamore with the girls from the Facebook unofficial weight watchers group
• Appreciate the fact that I look good in my clothes and even just standing in my underwear lol (in private don’t worry :P )

And who knows I may have a NSV like slipping into size 12 jeans soon enough :)

Goal will come in its own time and for now all I can do is enjoy my journey.

Today was a nice eye opener of a day and I went to my 20-20-20 class a little happier and more relaxed :)

*cheesy grin :D*

On a final note I now have a new favourite quote :)

Until next time,

Grá :)

P.S Have a great week :)

You look like a runner....

Hello everyone :)

Hope you are all having a great week so far :)

So what have I done this past week…?

Last Sunday I took part in the Evening Echo Women’s Mini Marathon in Cork. It was 4 miles and you could run, jog or walk it. When I started C25KM about 5 weeks back this was a mini goal that I had. I aimed to jog 80% of it and I did that so yay me :) I didn't care about the time I did it in or my pace once I kept going, the stitch in my side slowed me down for awhile but I got going again :) I haven’t had a chance to go for a jog since Sunday thanks to the weather so I've just been going to fitness classes but will try to get back to it maybe this Sunday.

And look at the really cute medal I got :)

Got to have a good catch up with some friends I hadn't seen in ages after the race. Niamh, is a good friend who I met when I worked in Cork and we hadn't seen each other since May and I just loved how when I saw her the first thing she said was ‘girl you look so skinny’ I was like yay. I'm not skinny but you know what she meant :)

Another little highlight was when we were getting ready to start the race we were trying to figure out if we were at the right place for starting etc and a woman just turned around and in the middle of talking to us she said ‘you look like a runner anyway’ I know it is something really small and maybe you’ll think it is silly but I had a silly smile on my face after that…me…look like a runner…LOL :)

A good jog followed by a yummy Subway Ham salad :D

Oh and this is a picture of me (in the pink) and my friend and a fellow weight watcher *who is at gold may I add and doesn't she look great* Teresa before the race began :)

The rest of my week has been fairly boring! Had to get back into study mode which is hard especially when you have to study at home and I find distractions all the time but I need to focus focus FOCUS :D Had a fun Zumba class on Monday and Wednesday, was fun to get back to dancing like crazy and just having fun!

Tuesday I had a personal training session (I got a really REALLY good cheap deal online for it) and I made myself go to a cardiobells class (30 mins spinning/30 mins kettlebells) before hand and I have to say it was just fantastic. I didn't want to go but after I finished everything I felt amazing :)

I had my weigh in today, a day earlier than usual, as I am teaching tomorrow (yay, I can’t wait). But…yesterday I got the feeling that I would have a gain, I felt bloated and just heavy. A reason for it just not food/drink related. So I prepared myself for it and kept positive. Had a gain of 2lbs!!! I was a little shocked as I wasn't expecting that much but I felt HUGE this morning!

While I was a little down afterwards I made myself remember how far I’ve come. The 2lb gain still means I’ve lost 5st 1.5lbs and I’m 10.5lbs from goal. It is a blip and I will have the 2lbs plus more please god down next week! Mother Nature just got to do her thanggggg for now :D

Soooo what have I learned this week?

I’ve learned to…

appreciate myself more.

be more confident in my own skin.

be happy with the results of whatever I do be it a jog or my WI results.

I spend soo much time being hard on myself even when I do so many positive things that I don’t give myself enough praise. I still look in the mirror and see someone who is bigger than what I actually am. I want to change how I see myself. I am no longer the ‘’big one in the room’’.

I am me….I am Gráinne….I am proud…. :D

And I think we all need to learn to love ourselves a little bit more. We need to celebrate every success, the small ones and the big ones :)

Now I must go and get ready for some spin/core time :)

Have a lovely weekend guys :)

Until next time,

Grá :)