Friday 11th November 2011 – Day 13 – The one where I spend a lot of time in Clacton

Friday 11^th November 2011 

Breakfast:
X1 Hobnob Medley Bar: 5PP

Dinner:

X2 Bread Rolls:  11PP
X1 Tbs Sour Cream & Chive Dip:  4
X1 Kettle Chips:  7PP

Snacks:

X10 Almonds:  4PP
X1 Small Semi-Skimmed Hot Chocolate: 6PP
X2 Slices of Crunchy Peanut Butter on Toast: 10PP
X1 WeightWatchers Chocolate & Vanilla Biscuit:  2PP

Points used today: 49

Weekly Points used: Yeah, not any of those left, I am in to the BP’s
Activity Points Earned: 8

Challenges:

Today was a snack day.  I have been in Clacton most of the day, no time for lunch and freezing weather (when I say freezing its not actually freezing it was a bit cold and windy).  Therefore hot chocolate was required whilst waiting for the train, it was lovely, and I was very cold.  I possibly could of spent 6PP on something more filling, but I don’t care, I was freaking cold.

Mmmm Hot Chocolate

Feeling better today, I think my long and busy days are doing me in a bit.  I know I don’t have it bad by the standards of many, but 50 Hour weeks are currently killing me.  Trying to pack too much in.  The weekend is there for me to relax and that is my plan.

Achievements:

Massive will power not to pig out on pizza, still not the best day but I still have BP’s left (5!).  So although not the best couple of days Sunday should be OK.

Also I have remembered to actually write on here, was sooo tempted to just to go to bed, but in the words of the legend that is Roy Castle ‘Dedications what you need’.

Tomorrow:

Mmmm not sure what to do tomorrow, I quite like the idea of a DVD day.  Grapes, DVD’s, fizzy pop and pajamas.  That’ll probably not happen, but wishful thinking.

Verdict:  Chilly!

PS.  An emotional day today, Armistice day.  I hope everyone took a moment of their day to remember those who have fought for their countries and never returned.

Wednesday 9th November 2011 – Day 11 – The one where I work my butt off

Wednesday 9^th November 2011

Brunch:
X1 Cranberry and Oat Cookie: 2PP
X1 M&S Prawn & Mayo Sandwich:  11PP

Dinner:

M&S Count on Us Chilli con Carne:  10PP
X1 Tesco Garlic Bread Slice:  3PP
X1 Portion Pineapple:  0PP
X2 Figs:  0PP
X1 WeightWatchers Chocolate & Vanilla Biscuit: 2PP

Snacks:

X10 Cashew Nuts:  2PP
50g Mango Dried:  4PP
X1 Bottle Lucozade Sport Hydro:  1PP
X1 Cadburys Scream Egg:  6PP

Points used today:  40

Weekly Points used:  8
Activity Points Earned:  20!  8 from my Pedometer, and 12 from Zumba (40xHigh=10, 10xMed=1, 10xLow=1)
 

Challenges:

The snacking monster reared its head today again, didn’t do too badly dried fruit and nuts, but I did accidentally eat a Scream egg.  It fell in… whole…  Over all my chocolate in take is well down on usual levels and I am hoping it will stay that way for a while at least.  I am going to try the ‘Green & Blacks’ method having of smaller quantities of higher quality chocolate…It didn’t work last time mainly because it was the TOTM and the cravings were obscene.

I didn’t let my Scream Egg lapse lead me down the path of a chocolate binge ad chose the healthier options for the rest of the day.

Achievements:  

Seriously 20 BP’s… It feels so good to see that number.  I know WW recommend earning 7 BP’s per day but Zumba is really high intensity and that is how the points fall.

Tomorrow:

Busy day and late night, a combination that often results in mindless snacking especially when I am at college

Verdict:  Exhausted

Saturday 5th November - Day 7 - The one where I am a bit annoyed and wish I was heading to the fireworks

Saturday 5th November
Breakfast:
x1 Portion Weetabix Minis Honey and Nut:  4PP
X1 Serving Skimmed Milk:  1PP

Lunch:
x1 Hula Hoops Salt an Vinegar:  4PP

Dinner:
x1 Portions rapes: 0PP
x1 Millionaires Shortbread Dessert: 12PP
x1 Tesco Finest Chicken Tikka Masala & Rice:  22PP
x1 Bottle Coke Zero: 0PP
x2 Packets Revels:  9PP

Snacks:
x1 WeightWatchers Rich Toffee Bar:  2PP
x12 Almonds:  4PP
x1 WeightWatchers Chocolate & Vanilla Biscuit: 2PP

Points used: 58PP
Weekly Points used: Nill - But all of the BP's have gone and then some
Points Earned: 5PP Hell Yeah!

Challenges:

Not having a good day, I have had period pains and Chocolate cravings.  Considering I shouldn't be having a period at all it's all a bit irritating (as well as mildly worrying).  I have eaten allot of chocolate and have felt grumpy as well as bloated.

What didn't help was my visit to the 'Health Trainer'.  After a rather unsatisfying visit to the nurse a couple of weeks ago where she proceeded to patronise me about my weight, she suggested that I visit one of the free health trainers that are provided by the NHS. 

I had not intended to go, however after a day or two to reassess I decided that I would book an appointment.  Quite frankly it was the biggest waste of my Saturday morning.  Although the 'girl' whom I spoke to was pleasant, it was incredibly obvious from the very beginning that what ever she was going to offer me was not going to help.  In fact I think I was better informed about the process of weight loss than she was.

Hannah was about 20, 'Not Medically Trained', an 'Unpaid voulenteer', a student, and from looking at her (this may be my bias here) has never had a weight issue in her life.  I was so irritated when I had left, its not fair to take it out on her, but the whole experience was pointless.  I exercise, I generally follow a healthy diet with a combination of protein, carbs, dairy, fat etc.  I keep a food diary (tracking), I reflect on each week (and now each day), I have a supportive group of like minded friends, I set SMART objectives (I teach people how to write them for f*$k sake).  Other than being reassured that I am 5'4" not 5'3"1/2 I didn't get any thing from the hour long session other than the regret that I had gone and the wish that I had stayed in bed for a lie in.

And this was in the week that a study completed by Birmingham university found that commercial weight loss groups (including WeightWatchers) were found to be more effective than NHS programmes.  From what I have seen from Colchester's offering I am not surprised in the least.

Achievements:
Still with the pedometer, I have managed the whole week.  For the whole week I have have earned 37 points.  That is pretty damned good, even without Zumba.

Tomorrow:
Duh Duh Daaaa, its weigh in day tomorrow!  Hopefully I hope that my Revels binge hasn't done too much damage, after my sneaky peek at my weight today I am hoping for good things.

Sunday is also a day where I can go a bit nuts with the mentality of 'I've weighed in so sod it'.  However I want to get out of the cycle of binging on a Sunday and using all of my weeklies. Got shopping to do, so that is my focus, not buying cakes!

Verdict:  Mmmmm could be worse

Thursday 3rd November 2011 - Day 5 - The One when I am feeling sorry for myself

Thursday 3rd November

Breakfast:
Nuffink: 0PP

Lunch:
X1 Tuna, Mayo & Red Onion Door Step Sandwich: 12PP
X1 Walkers Squares: 3PP
X10 Cashew Nuts: 10PP
X1 Rich Toffee Bar: 2PP

Dinner:
X1 McDonalds Medium Fries: 9PP
X3 Chicken Selects: 11PP
X1 Sprite Zero: 0PP
Approx. 1/2 Tbs Sour Cream Dip: 1PP
X2 Tesco Egg Custard Tarts: 13PP

Snacks:
X1 Packet Fruit Pastilles: 6PP
X3 Squares Green & Blacks Mint Chocolate

Points Used today: 62
Weekly Points Used: All of em
Bonus Points Earned: 11 - Hell yeah!

Challenges:
Oh wow... Epic fail for me today, most of the morning I tucked in to sweets wasting the points I had for the day.

Once college was finished I came home to find Stephens boyfriend cooking using most of the pans and almost every work surface. Feeling hungry and a bit irritated I got changed coat on and umbrella in hand I headed out in to the rain to get some dinner.

As soon as I had closed the front door I knew it was a mistake as the only place I could think of going on my own was McDonalds. It's one of the shit parts of being on your own. I then spent the next hour wandering around Colchester Town Centre in the rain feeling sorry for myself and trying to resist McDonalds.

I failed to resist, and felt like a montage sequence in a crap rom-com.

I would like to think that it's just the side effects from the new pill I have been put on (not liking it) as it causes mood swings. Just cried at the Banardos Advert.

Achievements:
Well at least I earned 11PP! I am not in negatives (yet)!

Tomorrow:
I hope it's better than today!
Should be ok, fingers crossed.

Verdict:
Feeling grumpy, and now a bit bloated. Hoping I haven't crapped up the whole week.

Wednesday 2nd November 2011 - Day 4 - The one where I meet LOTS of teenagers

Wednesday 2nd November 2011

Breakfast:
x1 Ski Yogurt: 2PP
x1 WeightWatchers Really Nutty Bar: 2PP

Lunch:
x1 WeightWatchers BBQ Snacks: 2PP
x1 Apple: 0PP

Dinner:
x2 Petit Pain: 11PP
x1 Tbs Sour Cream & Chive Dip: 2PP
x1 Walkers Cheese & Onion Crisps: 5PP
Melon Chunks & Grapes
x1 Edeame Beans: 2PP

Snacks:
x1 Cadbury Screme Egg:  5PP
x4 Mini Flap Jack Bites:  8PP

Points Used today: 51
Weekly Points Used: 19
Bonus Points Earned: 5 - On my feet all afternoon, cream crackered 

Challenges: Pretty much all evening...too busy during the day to worry about eating.  As it hit 6 I was starving and ended up eating 4 mini flapjacks.  Not too bad really but I could have done with the extra points as I have just has a bit of a chocolate binge... Green and Blacks... Niiice.

Achievements:
It could have been sooo much worse, I've got another creme egg lurking in the back of the cupboard... but it is staying there!

Tomorrow:
Too tired to care

Verdict: Could be better could be worse...

Hormones (Originally Posted 26th April 2011 on Facebook)

I am indulging in a much deserved week off, I had been planning to make sure that my week off began with a lovely healthy breakfast, followed by a morning of activity followed by a pot of tea watching an old movie.

However with rising on Monday morning very early, I popped out to pick up some breakfast goodies. Gone went my need for exotic fruits, granola and honey in came chocolate croissants and a chocolate bar.

Despite my (halfhearted) attempts my urge for chocolate this week has been insatiable; I could quite happily polish off more if I had any less self control.

I was thinking about why good intentions went out of the window, and why my body wasn’t playing ball, then it dawned on me it coming up to that time of the month, and my hormones are all over the place.

This got me to thinking, how much are monthly cravings down to hormones and how much is it down to mood? I have looked at a number of articles trying to make sense of TOTM cravings and actually I couldn’t find anything too scientific, just options’. Theories include iron deficiency, vitamin and mineral deficiency, mood enhancers, comfort eating, energy boosters.

Taking these theories in to consideration I have been thinking about why do I have cravings at the TOTM?

1. Comfort: It is not going to come as a surprise that I comfort eat. At that time of the month I can suffer with monster mood swings (less so than when I was younger) and I do often feel really down. Chocolate fills that emotional hole when I am feeling sorry for myself and I am worried I will die alone never to be loved (I mean that semi seriously).

2. Energy: I often feel that I could sleep for England at the TOTM and I will often turn to sugary snacks when I am experiencing an energy slump. Jelly tots and skittles being particular favorites.

So what have I learnt from this and how can I get around these cravings? Well simply tracking and making allowances for my urges will be the first place to start. Actually jelly tots and skittles are not too heavy on points and can be slipped in to my daily points with a bit of forward planning.

Now the chocolate issue. This is a bit harder, as I have already switched my chocolate choices to the less point heavy, and when an urges reaches me I eat loads! Now the best way to look at this is that yes I have made smart choices, and if I was not on WW the damage would be much greater than if I was eating ‘proper’ chocolate bars, but that doesn’t really help me.

One of the things I have gleaned through my internet trawling is that Dark Chocolate can be quite good for you. Full of Iron, Zinc and anti oxidants. It also has the same mood altering affect that milk chocolate has. Dark chocolate also has a stronger flavor than milk, and I can only eat a fraction of the quantity that I may devour if it was milk chocolate. Dark chocolate though not perfect (it can contain a larger quantity of fat) I think should be the way to go and prevent a chocolate massacre.
So the 2 things I have learnt
1. Plan and track: Weightwatchers does not ban any food and you can eat what you like as long as you plan and track.

2. Quality not Quantity: Good quality Dark chocolate should hopefully quell my urge to eat chocolate but without the need to eat vast quantities.
Anyone else experience cravings? How do you deal with them?