Weight Loss Journals - petecohen.tv

Hi - hope everyone's OK. Still having problems with internet- hence no blogs for the last few days. Have been really bad yesterday and today - I need to crack this emotional eating thing. Yesterday work very stressful and daughter away on her first overnight school trip - so in evening ate crisps, chocolate and crackers and cheese because I was missing my daughter, fed up, stressed etc. Today - day off from work, sun out, daughter back tonight - so bought chocolate cream eclairs because I was feeling happy!!!! Aaaghh! Back on track for tomorrow - have planned wholemeal toast for breakfast, chicken salad for lunch and steak stir fry for eve meal. Have been doing loads of exercise tho so hopefully that will offset all the junk. My friends who I walk with commented yesterday about how fast I'm walking - so really pleased about that as I hadn't noticed.
Does anyone know what a spirometry test for asthma is? I thought it was similar to a peak flow test but now I've got the paperwork thru it says 40 minute test, no food, alchohol, medicine beforehand plus an empty bladder??!! - so now I'm wondering what on earth they are going to do to me! LOL!

In the past whenever I've gone on a weight loss mission it has seemed like my mother has gone on a mission to do the opposite - unhealthy puddings, offering me chocolate etc. The same thing has been happening this time around as well.....until today. I tried to explain to my Mum last week how important it was to me to lose weight and how difficult I found it when she offered me 'unhealthy' food on a Sunday ... talked about the programme and also showed her some of the British Heart Foundation info I have. Today she did boiled and roast potatoes and gave me mainly boiled, did a fruit salad for pudding, cottage cheese to replace the coleslaw with salad at tea time. We still had cake but she had got some 'healthier' fruit cake as well as chocolate cake. Lets hope it continues!

Haven't blogged for ages - our internet keeps playing up so haven't been able to get on for days - hope everyone is OK. Work has been really stressful - office reorganisation in a couple of weeks so lots of planning to do. My team are feeling stressed so I have spent the week either in planning meetings with my managers or in team meetings trying to calm people down - all in all very little actual work done. Despite this I've been really good - at times I've craved sugar so much its been scary - but so far so good. I've walked every day and have been on the Wii Fit quite a few times this week as well. Have lost 2lbs since I last weighed myself - about 3 weeks ago - so I'm feeling pleased with that - particularly as I have had a lot of meals out and a LOT of chocolate over the Easter hols. Two people at work asked me if I'd lost weight so I feel the exercise and healthy eating must be paying off even if the scales aren't showing it. Hopefully will be able to blog again this week. Talk Talk have decided its our Norton Antivirus that is the problem, Norton say it must be Talk Talk or Microsoft. Went on to Microsoft support - by the time I'd got up to solution 8 I had lost the will to live and gave up!!! Hope everyone has a great weekend and hopefully will 'talk' to you again soon!

When I went shopping this morning I realised that I'd forgotten to get any meat out of the freezer last night so needed to get something for tea. M & S was packed, daughter was bouncing off the walls because despite my telling her just to have a little chocolate the little monkey had gone and eaten a whole Easter egg, I ended up getting really mithered and spotted that the meal deals were on so ended up buying one for an easy life. Initially was really annoyed with myself - why do I keep buying on impulse?!! - but have now decided to treat it as a wobble and get back on track. One unhealthy meal isn't the end of the world - I'll just give myself smaller portions. Have also been out for a longer walk than normal to try and offset the calories. Really craved chocolate this afternoon but decided I wouldn't give in to craving - used my Boots points to treat myself to some Nivea Happy Time Shower Gel and Body Lotion instead - smells gorgeous. Will get back on track tomorrow!

Everything I've eaten today seems to have been white and bland. The good thing is that it made me notice just how much colour is in real food -fruit, salad, veg.
Had a healthy breakfast -strawberries, mango and wholemeal toast but then it went a bit downhill. Went to a friends for lunch to see her adorable seven month old girl - had pannini's and chocolate shortbread. Trying to finish off some things in the freezer so had scampi, oven chips, baked beans and mushrooms. In the past I would have just eaten it and thought nothing of it but I just looked it and thought everything is white and unappetising - I really found myself craving something green - unheard of! Felt really lethargic so did 30 mins on my Wii Fit - felt much better afterwards.

Went to M&S this morning - got loads of healthy fruit, veg and salad, fresh meat and some different types of bread - not a ready meal or sweet treat in sight. Really proud of myself as the morning had not gone well!! Firstly, my daughter was in a mega strop because I wouldn't buy her some gold gladiator sandals with huge wedge heels (she's 7!) and secondly I'd had a makeover and looked like something out of a dodgy porn film - orange heavy foundation, so much eye make up everytime I blinked my lashes stuck together, bright pink clown blusher and dark lip liner plus loads of gloopy gloss. The really sad thing was that my husband loved my new look! LOL! This afternoon (after taking my make up off!) I did my salsacise DVD and then made home made cottage pie - dry fried the meat and did the mash with milk rather than butter.
Hope everyone is OK - luv Bizzib xx

Hope everyone had a good Easter. I had a really good day yesterday. Went for a long walk with hubby and daughter at a country park - went early in the morning because hubby wanted to watch the football later on. It was lovely - not many people about, beautiful countryside, sunshine - bliss. Have realised that the countryside/nature is what relaxes me - so need to try and do this more - because its a way of relaxing while also getting some exercise. Came home and listened to a couple of Pete's podcasts while doing the ironing - I really liked the idea of thinking more positively - i.e. of 'gaining' health, fitness, vitality rather than 'losing' weight. Then cleaned the car inside and out with my daughter - we got absolutely soaked in the process but it was good fun. Did a little bit of gardening and then spent a well deserved hour sitting in the sun in the garden reading my British Heart Foundation info.
I think I've pretty much turned the exercise part of the programme into habit now - I go for a walk everyday and I do some toning/stretching exercises in the evening. I now need to look at improving my diet - I've had a look thru my British Heart Foundation info and I'm going to use that in conjunction with Pete's programme to slowly make some changes. Fingers crossed!

Have been to a museum and country park with my husband and daughter today. We were there for about 5 hours so lots of walking. Took oatcakes and fruit to have in the car as snacks. Also looked at the menu online last night so that I could make a sensible choice in advance when I wasn't hungry. Came home and cooked the most delicious dinner - MandS Italian meatballs, spaghetti plus I did a big green salad with lots of olives and an extra virgin olive oil dressing - yum! The British Heart Foundation booklet on losing weight has come today so will have a look at that tomorrow. My daughter has already got 4 big Easter eggs and will no doubt get lots more tomorrow - I'm going to allow myself to have a little if I want it. Hope everyone has a brilliant Easter tomorrow x

Hi - hope everyone is OK.

Ups - have been doing really well with my exercise. Dusted off some old exercise DVDs, been using the Wii Fit, lots of walks with my daughter. Have done 30-60 mins aerobic exercise every day of the school hols so far plus have done 10 mins toning every day. Also feeling a lot more relaxed.

Downs - Food! Have eaten at least one meal out every day this week. Really find it hard to choose healthy when I can see unhealthy food. I have been better that I would have been in the past - e.g. had chilli instead of pasta in cheese sauce, filled plate up with veg, shared a cream cake rather than eating a whole one but still could have done better. The stupid thing is that after I've eaten my unhealthy meal I then mentally go through the menu and pick out the healthy option I should have eaten!

I have never looked forward to a break so much as this one. Really need to recharge the batteries and get my stress levels down and my energy levels up.
I've revamped my weekly to do list today. I decided to actually put times by the jobs that need doing and realised that I'm about 60-90 mins short every day. Hmmm - thats probably accounting for some of my stress levels. So - going to set my alarm a bit ealier each day, also prioritise exercise over housework. Have also set myself an hour a week me-time on a Sunday which will be sacrosanct no matter what other jobs I have to do. The sad news is that I'm probably only going to be able to blog a couple of times a week - but feel that its more important that I exercise and plan my meals than blog.
So achievements for today:-
Healthy food - no added sugar muesli for breakfast, fruit for snacks, salad for lunch and pasta for tea
Ordered a couple of books on weight loss from the BHF - going to share them with my Mum. This has two advantages - firstly she is overweight and has a heart condition so will improve her health if I can persuade her to follow it, secondly she is my biggest detractor when it comes to sticking to this programme - always trying to tempt me with unhealthy food so I need to get her on side.
Dusted off my Salsacise DVD and did that plus 10 mins of toning
Refused to get drawn into a mega bust up and strop between my daughter and husband even tho they were both as bad as each other and were driving me potty!
Decided that I will NOT allow my job to stress me out - I will do the best I can with the resources available to me. Will also keep my eye out for other vacancies where I work - if they come up fine, if they don't its not meant to be and I'll stay where I am.
Hope everyone else has had a good day in the lovely spring sunshine - Bizzib xx

Woke up this morning determined to make the most of my day off and to cherish every minute of time alone. Went shopping - supposed to be for food but spotted some tops and a pair of trousers while I was there. Got a bit depressed at the sight in the mirror but reminded myself that I'm doing something about it. Had a healthy lunch - M and S salad and foccaccia bread - had all the windows wide open so could appreciate the sunshine, flowers in the garden, bird song etc. Knew I wouldn't have any time to do proper exercise today so walked everywhere I could and put lots of effort into my chores. Had really nice haircut and my roots done (the bits of grey that have started poking thru seem to be getting frizzier and frizzier - I'm going to look like a poodle when I hit retirement age!). Walked out the hairdressers feeling human again. When I got home my Liz Earle goodies had arrived so going to try and fit in a bit of pampering tonight - decided to leave the rest of the housework and take Pete's advice to try and take things a bit easier. Hope you are all OK - luv bizzib xx

Hi - haven't had time to blog for a few days - work, home and my daughters social life are absolutely manic at the moment. Have kept going with the exercise - lunch time walks plus my Liz Earle book has a 10 min Power Blaster routine which I've been trying to fit in. Have been struggling with food tho - lacking time to stop and plan anything at the moment. I have a fortnight off from next week so really need to try and think the best way forward. May have to start getting up earlier to give myself ttime to exercise/plan/get jobs done etc. I feel like I've got myself into a bit of a vicious circle - too tired in the evenings to plan meals,exercise, do my jobs etc - all of which is leading to me overeating, craving sugar etc because I am so desperately tired - all of which isn't helping to give me the energy I need to start planning meals etc etc.
Afraid I've ran out of time to reply to peoples blogs - so hope everyone is OK.

Haven't blogged for a while - work and home have been manic.. One more week to go and then I get a fortnight off for Easter - yippee. Made carrot, onion and potato soup yesterday with my daughter - a minor miracle happened and not only did she eat it all but she asked if we can do some cooking every Saturday. Then went to M and S and got their Meal Deal but bought the healthy choices. Well OK pudding wasn't too healthy - jam sponge - but the rest was. Have struggled to fit in exercise other than my lunchtime walks but today went for a long walk in the countryside which was lovely in the spring sunshine. Hope everyone else has had a good weekend too.

Hi - haven't blogged for a few days. Weekend was manic and then my daughter was sick (everywhere!!!) for the last two days - well I did need to spring clean but wasn't intending to do in the middle of the night! - thankfully she's better now. I've finished my antibiotics too so feel like I'm back in the land of the living again.
Foodwise up and down - if its been less than 2-3 hrs since I had something to eat I'm having a drink first - really making me realise that I'm often thirsty not hungry. Haven't eaten very healthily tho - one meal out, parents over for mothers day plus a 50th birthday party. Did manage to stop when I was hungry tho so didn't blow it completely.
I'm getting really confused about whether you should or shouldn't eat carbs. All the leaflets on healthy eating that my Mum has from the British Heart Foundation say that you should base your main meals on healthy carbohydrates - brown rice, pasta, bread etc. But I keep reading that to lose weight you need to cut out carbohydrates because the body treats them in the same way as sugar - so now I'm really confused! If anyone can throw any light on this would be really grateful. Love Bizzib xx

My diary says that today is the first day of spring - wouldn't it be nice if the rest of spring could be as warm and sunny as today. Feeling better - chest infection is slowly getting better -but still very tired. Started off quite well food wise - healthy breakfast and lunch but then went a bit downhill. New office 'rules' were published - all my team fed up - someone bought cake at lunch time -only had a bit but annoyed with myself. Finished work at 4 - supposed to be doing the food shop but then got caught in massive traffic jam - everywhere gridlocked - took me three hours to get home - arrived starving - overate dinner plus had some fruit cake - simply because it was there. Oh well - I know Pete said to think of it as being a pilot being off course and having to make corrections but I seem to have ended up in Australia. Never mind tomorrow is another day. Wish me luck for tomorrow afternoon - not only have I got to fit in the food shopping I've also got to take my daughter to get some school shoes - (apparently she wants heels or she's not wearing them!!) always ends in tears - its just a question of whether its hers or mine!! Have a great weekend - Bizzib xxx