New meeting and new leader

Posted on May 21, 2013 by

Hope you all had an awesome weekend, I had a super busy fun weekend, one which involved far too much food!! especially sugar, I felt like I was dying Saturday night from all the sugar, so won’t be doing that again in a hurry!

I even got to ride on a proper school bus for the first time ever  – I know I am easily pleased!!

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As you will know  I started going back to weight watchers meetings 4 weeks ago, but wasn’t overly impressed with my leader or the meeting. She was not very motivating and the class hardly spoke, there were no rounds of applause for achievements and I would come away feeling deflated. Part of me wants to blame this on the fact I didn’t try very hard the last few weeks. I love getting positive recognition (who doesn’t?!), so when I got my charm last week it felt really unimportant as no-one clapped and I thought ‘what’s the point?’ I know I need to make this whole journey about me and doing it for me, but a little help along the way would be nice.

Anyway… yesterday morning I had a dentist appointment that I booked a few months ago, so I was unable to go to the Monday morning meeting, so I went online to see my other options, quitting did cross my mind, but luckily that thought passed quickly. The next available meeting was 9am on Tuesday, and I noticed the leader had a lot of meetings, so I guessed she must be good.

Went to the meeting today, and as soon as I walked in the door there was so much positive energy, the room was buzzing, during the meeting I counted 51 members, and a few more came in nearer the end. The leader was so energetic and inspiring and she was awesome at interacting with the members, and there were lots of rounds of applause too. I came away feeling so motivated, and I want to be the person who gets a round of applause from all those awesome people some time soon.

So the numbers….

Previous weigh in: 280

Today’s weigh in: 282

+/-: +2lbs

Total loss: 23lbs

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Four weeks of meetings and an overall gain of 1.6lbs is not acceptable! I KNOW I CAN DO THIS.

A gain of 2lb this week which I totally deserved. I left the meeting and went straight to the grocery store and stocked up on fruit and veg, and I am going to sit down and plan some amazing meals. The group is doing a 5k next week and I plan to join them and am super excited about it.

I had high hopes to be at 250lbs before Hawaii and Fitbloggin, which are in 4 and 5 weeks time, guess that won’t be the case, but I hope to be much closer then than I am now.

There is still a few hours left to enter my giveaway for the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred DVD.

Do you go to meetings? Hoe do you feel it affects your journey?

Have a great week

Sarah xxx

10 comments Posted in Uncategorized, Weekly Weigh In, weight watchers

Easiest choc chip cookie recipe ever

Posted on May 16, 2013 by

Thanks to Nikki over at Life after Swimming for this recipe. She posted it yesterday and I just had to try it.

Chocolate Chip Banana Cookies.

3 simple ingredients

2 ripe bananas

1 cup of oats

1/4 cup of chocolate chips

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Nikki used milk chocolate chips in hers, but I only had white. Heads up for my fellow British expats – these chips taste just like a bar of Milkybar :)

You basically mix everything together and put spoonfuls on a greased baking sheet and bake for 15 mins at 350. and ta da…..

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They tasted super good just out of the oven, just like a nice creamy bowl of banana oatmeal. I will definitely be making these again when I have some ripe bananas left to use.

What are your favorite type of cookies? Do you prefer white, milk or dark chocolate chips?

Have a great day – I’m off to a jewelry making class now

Sarah xxx

6 comments Posted in Recipes

What I Ate Wednesday #3

Posted on May 15, 2013 by


It’s that time of the week again – yes I nearly forgot it was Wednesday.
This is what I have been eating this week, nothing majorly exciting, but a nice variety I think.
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I went to a canning class and these were some of the yummy items that we got to try, all of which contain something that has been made and jarred at some point.
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These baked nut chips are SOOOO good, luckily I can’t find them in many stores or I’d be living off them!!
I made sweet potato nachos – they were super good, I am making them again for dinner tonight.
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Saw this in the store and thought I would try it, I was pleasantly surprised, it’s not as good as a regular mojito, but it tastes good. I also bought the pina colada flavor but haven’t tried that yet.
Our local Panera Bread has a drive thru – as demonstrated by Bluey! I had the ‘pick 2′, and chose a BBQ chicken salad which I ate before remembering to take the photo! and a half tuna salad sandwich, makes me remember how much I love tuna and should have it more often.
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We went out for ‘date night’ Saturday night to Flemings Steakhouse. I had the crab cakes which were OK, I’m sure they weren’t that salty last time. I then had the mini lamb chops with polenta fries, which was divine, then dessert was creme brulee, which was nice, but I was already full so didn’t enjoy it properly.
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Home made turkey burgers topped with sweet and sour pickled onions wrapped in lettuce.
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Met a friend for lunch yesterday and we went to Nordstrom, this is the Asian chicken salad – it was really good and tasted super fresh. We happened to walk by a Haagen Daas store on the way back to the car – it was rude not to buy anything!!
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So that was some of the highlights of my week, I really should focus on some more vegetables!!
How was your week? Have you tried any new foods this week?
Have a great week
Sarah xxx

8 comments Posted in What I Ate Wednesday

Weekly Weigh In and DVD Giveaway

Posted on May 13, 2013 by

Hope you all had an awesome weekend and those of you in the US had a great Mother’s Day, for me I celebrated Mothers Day back in March as my mum is in England and for some reason they celebrate it early there, which is strange as Fathers Day is on the same day there as it is here.

So how did I get on this week, I got lazy!!! I did my two 5ks this week and in case you missed it I got 3 – yes three PR’s during my virtual 5k on Saturday. I think the high of the PR’s went to my head and my brain decided it was OK for me to eat whatever I wanted for the rest of the weekend, and I did literally eat everything!!

So the numbers….

Previous weigh in: 279.6

Today’s weigh in: 280

+/-: +0.4lbs

Total loss: 25lbs

Some of you will say it was only a small gain, but that’s not the point, I have a LOT of weight to lose and I really need to stop messing around, I should easily be losing 2 – 3lbs a week at my weight, and I know the reason why I am not – its because I am not tracking, it’s simple. Just need to get my head around it.

On the plus side I did get a shiny new charm at my Weight Watchers meeting today. I’m still not overly impressed with my meeting, they are all very quiet, and no rounds of applause for anything!! I am going to stick with it till I go away (yes in 5 weeks time I will be in Hawaii!!) then I may consider changing to a different meeting time.

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I went via Target after my meeting as I had to return some items and I was stood browsing waiting in line and I spotted these

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I think for me key is planning, so I purchased 4 of them, as they were only $1, yes they have 40 sheets each but I like perfection. So this evening (or maybe this afternoon) I plan to sit down and plan out my meals for the week, that way I hope to impress you all with a nice big loss next week.

On to the item you have all come here for – the giveaway.

I purchased three Jillian Michaels DVD’s the other month and forgot I don’t own a DVD player, so have decided to give them away on my blog. The first two giveaways went well and Veronica and Amanda were the two lucky winners. Time for the third DVD giveaway – this is the one I was most excited to try Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred

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All entries must be via the Rafflecopter widget below and is open to US residents only (as I have to pay the postage).

Disclaimer: I was not compensated for this giveaway, I purchased the DVD’s myself and will be paying for shipping myself.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

18 comments Posted in Giveaway, Weekly Weigh In, weight watchers

Be Strong Virtual 5k and PR

Posted on May 11, 2013 by

This morning I ran my virtual Be Strong 5k as part of the Run Like a Girl series. It is three races over the course of the year, and once you complete all three you receive a fourth medal to make a super medal. I haven’t received my medal in the mail yet – so that will have to wait for a later post.

The 5k route I ran this morning was the same one as I did on Monday, yet today it was a lot hotter :(

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So, how was my run? I got 3 PRs – not one, not two, but three :)

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I took 45 secs off my previous fastest 5k from February 2013

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Took 29 secs off my fastest 1 mile time from January 2013

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and 6 secs off my fastest 1k time from March 2013.

So all in all a very good run – with an average pace of 16’09″ A great start to the weekend.

My next 5k is the Foxy Virtual 5k on June 2nd – I will run the same route – I plan to work on breaking that 50 minute mark next!!

How did you race go this weekend? Are you close to beating your previous PR?

Have a great day

Sarah xxx

4 comments Posted in 5k, Races

The weekend is upon us

Posted on May 10, 2013 by

Friday is here again, I can’t believe its already 630pm, today has flown by.

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Spent a lot of time in the garden this afternoon, I did some gardening (more to come on that in another post) and spent some time putting together something fun for the weekend. I purchased a badminton and volleyball set complete with net. We haven’t played badminton for a long time, we used to go weekly and play, so that will be fun to play out in our huge back garden this weekend. I can’t remember the last time I played volleyball, was probably when I was at school so around 20 years ago! Although we may not be playing this weekend as I broke the needle that was used to pump the ball :(

I plan to take the pups to a local dog event tomorrow, and I think hubby wants to go to see The Great Gatsby at some point – I’m not a huge Leonardo Di Caprio fan, but I may go along. I’m much more excited about going to see Fast and Furious 6 next weekend – you can’t say no to a bit of Vin Diesel and Paul Walker!!

I went to a canning class the other day – more about that in a later post, and have ordered all the supplies, so I hope to try that over the weekend.

I finally got round to updating my Races page – so go check it out. I have lots of upcoming races to keep me motivated, including a virtual 5k this weekend. I will either be running it tomorrow or Sunday morning, or late in the evening as I think it is going to be warm this weekend. Which reminds me I need to look into getting a new medal rack.

What have you got planned for this weekend? Are you racing? If so, good luck

Have a great weekend

Sarah xxx

2 comments Posted in Uncategorized

What I Ate Wednesday #2

Posted on May 8, 2013 by


A complete mix of meals this week, here are just a few that I remembered to photograph, complete with a super simple recipe.
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Breakfast this week consisted of either scrambled eggs on whole wheat toast, or my favorite – weetabix with almond milk.
 
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I finally got round to trying Vitacake this week, sadly I wasn’t impressed with them. Won’t be buying them again! Got fresh cherries and kettle corn at the farmers market and I treated myself to a Cadbury’s flake (English chocolate is the best!)
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Steak with garlic and herb couscous and we had our first BBQ of 2013.
Now the item I know you are all excited about – I made ice cream bread, yes that’s right bread made with ice cream!!
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It is super easy to make, 2 cups of ice cream (full fat any flavor) with 1.5 cups of self raising flour, then place in a loaf pan for 45 mins at 350 degrees and voila you have ice cream bread. I got the idea from my friend Sarah, she got the recipe from The Hungry Housewife.
What did you eat this week? Have you made any strange recipes? How did they turn out?
Have a great week
Sarah xxx

6 comments Posted in What I Ate Wednesday

Weekly Weigh In

Posted on May 6, 2013 by

I managed to resist and didn’t weigh myself at home once this week :) I was so tempted to this morning prior to going to the meeting, but I left the scales where they were in the back of the closet.

So, how did I get on this week. I didn’t track 100% as I was sick and I didn’t really exercise, and some of my food choices weren’t great, so I went into my meeting not really knowing what to expect, and knowing there was a good chance that I would have a gain.

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That wasn’t the case, I ended up with a small loss

Previous weigh in: 280.4

Today’s weigh in: 279.6

+/-: -0.8 lbs

Total loss: 25.4lbs

I was pleased with that, as I think maybe deep down I would have been a bit annoyed with a gain so early on in my restart.

This small loss motivated and I came home and got my trainers on and went out for a jog/walk. The route I took was part of the Contra Costa Canal Trail

I was a little worried about how safe this route would be as I didn’t know how many people use it and I am still new to the neighborhood, so I didn’t wear my headphones so I could be aware of my surroundings at all times. I passed about 15 cyclists/runners/walkers and all of them said hi to me which was super friendly and reassuring. The views were quite pleasant with the mountains in the distance, and it was completely flat which was also a plus.

There were lots of ducks on the trail and squirrels too

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As you can also see I bumped into Bambi, I had just crossed the street (the trail runs through lots of neighborhoods) and heard something in the bushes, turned around and there stood the deer staring at me. I took a quick photo and moved on, I was worried I would scare it and it may run into the road. Let’s just hope I don’t come across any mountain lions or coyotes on my run next time!

I did a total of 3.25 miles on 56:24 with an average pace of 17’20″ which I was surprised to see is only 1 minute slower than my fastest time. I found I was fine whilst I was out there and not coughing at all, but once I was home the coughing started again, so I will need to be careful I don’t overdo it too much this week.

Supposed to be doing the Rave Run in San Jose on Saturday, but have decided not to do it. I have been reading feedback on the run and it seems it is really badly organized and not even a full 5k, plus you don’t get a medal, and it’s at a stupid time of day too. We only paid $15 through living social, so I don’t mind losing that. Instead I will be doing a 5k on Sunday for my next virtual race which is the Be Strong virtual 5k which is part of the Run Like a Girl Series, there will be 3 races in total, and if you complete all 3 you get a 4th medal that combines them into a mega medal.

That reminds me I need to update my Races page, as I have lots more races I have signed up for and want to share all the details with you.

How has your Monday been? What did you get up to today?

Have  good one

Sarah xxx

 

4 comments Posted in weight watchers

Weekend Round Up

Posted on May 6, 2013 by

Hope you have all had a fun and relaxing weekend.

I am still sick :( but getting better.

I was due to go somewhere yesterday to see a friend (you know who you are – and sorry again I couldn’t make it), but I had to cancel as I was sick. I decided it would be good to go out and get some fresh air, so I took the pups to a local westie meetup in Hap Magee dog park in Danville, they had lots of fun playing with the other dogs.

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We spent an hour there and they were exhausted by the time we left. I spent most of the hour coughing lots, I kept my distance from people even though we were outside, but after a while the coughing annoyed me, as it probably did other people so we left and headed home.

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By the time we had driven home I felt dreadful and was coughing non stop and unable to get my breath, so I made the decision to head to the nearby Urgent Care clinic, I loved the fact I was able to arrive, register, be seen and leave all within 20 minutes on a Saturday afternoon – something that wouldn’t happen on the NHS!

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I got to wear the not so attractive mask whilst I was there as I was coughing so much. Turns out I have a bronchial infection, it is viral so there wasn’t really anything they could give me for it, but they did give me some codeine based cough syrup to help stop the coughing and an extra inhaler to help with my asthma. Yesterday I took the medicine and by the evening I was barely coughing, but today I am back coughing again, although nowhere near as much. He told me to drink lots of fluids and rest up. I’ve been resting all week and am eager to get out and about again. I did venture out to the local Farmers Market this morning with hubby, it was OK. Farmers markets here aren’t as good as the ones in the UK. It just seems to be a lot of the same stuff. We purchased some strawberries, cherries, bread, kettle corn and shared a cranberry scone and a cheeseburger zombie!

2013-05-05 15.48.03This afternoon we had our first BBQ in our new house and I think our first BBQ of 2013. My taste is slowly coming back so I was able to enjoy some food finally :)

Well done to FitnessMom and RenewedMe who ran in the Diva 5k and half marathon today that I had to cancel.

Weigh in day is tomorrow and I have still not stepped on the scales this week – that is a NSV in itself :) I am not sure if I will be getting a loss as I have not exercised at all and haven’t been tracking either as I have been sick. Whatever the number on the scales – tomorrow is a new week and I will be starting to track 100% again and slowly work on exercising without pushing myself too much. My back has been aching today and my sciatica has been bad too, and I think it’s because I have spent so much time in bed and on the sofa.

What did you get up to this weekend?

Have a great week

Sarah xxx

2 comments Posted in Weekend Round Up

18 months…

Posted on May 3, 2013 by

18 months that was the last time I was sick with a cold/flu. I remember exactly as my sister in law was visiting with her husband and daughter from England for Halloween and I was due to get my flu shot, but waited till they had left as I always get sick after it.

So I had the flu shot and as expected spent the next week sick :( Last year I decided not to have the flu shot, and thought I was lucky as everyone around me was sick and I wasn’t – all until last week. I used to volunteer a lot with preschool aged kids so that kept my immune system topped up, but I am no longer volunteering with kids, so after spending a few hours with a friends kids (one of whom had had a snotty nose – not that I’m pointing fingers!!), I woke up Saturday morning with a sore throat. Straight away I started on the cold/flu meds and seemed to feel OK as the day progressed and I even made it out to the movies in the evening. Sunday morning I woke up with an even sorer throat and all congested, but I kept up with the meds and made it through the day feeling OKish. Then Monday arrived and I felt super rough, snotty nose, coughing, congested, aching and if that wasn’t enough I woke up with pink eye on Tuesday morning too.

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This is what I am currently living off

I’ve spent most of this week on the sofa, which is annoying as I had great plans for exercising this week, especially as it’s my first week back on weight watchers. I’ve had to cancel numerous invitations and appointments this week. Today I feel the worst I have felt all week, but am hoping it is a sign that I am going to be getting better from here on in.  I am supposed to be running the Divas 5k this Sunday, but have decided not to as I am sick. All the coughing has made my asthma bad and just walking upstairs leaves me out of breath, so don’t think a 5k is going to help, which sucks as the medal (yes its all about the bling!) looks really good, and I was also hoping to meet fellow Sweat Pink Ambassador Lynda there too.

In other news I ventured out into the garden yesterday to get some fresh air, and went to kick what I thought was a stick and it wasn’t!!!

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I believe it is an alligator lizard, and yes it’s missing it’s tail. It looks very snake like which freaked me out a lot. I don’t like things like that. I will definitely be keeping the patio screen door closed from now on. I was telling the neighbor and she said she had never seen any lizards, just possums and racoons. Think I prefer the possums. I say that now….

I’ve been keeping myself entertained playing candy crush – I’m on level 201 now! and watching TV, which is good as I haven’t been boredom eating – so that’s a huge NSV for me. I have also not once stepped on the scales to see how I am doing. The scales are in the back of the closet out of the way so it helps not seeing them everyday. I just hope I am not disappointed when I step on the scales ‘blind’ at my meeting on Monday.

How do you cope when you are sick? Do you find it hard to rest and get frustrated you aren’t out exercising?

Have a great day

Sarah xxx

4 comments Posted in Uncategorized
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