Weight Loss Journals - petecohen.tv

I've not been blogging for a few days because I've been a bit fed up. I had a small lump removed from under my arm last week which was fine but it has become infected and it's stopping me from exercising and also making me feel a bit yucky. I went to the doctor and I have some antibiotics to take so it should clear up quite quickly but it's very annoying as I can't lift my right arm very high. I have had to miss Body Pump and can't do my Wii Active challenge but I have still been walking.
However I've not given up totally! I have been doing this thing called the Lunch Box Diet where you make up a big lunch box in the morning with lots of nice fresh raw veggies, some protein and a dressing and you can graze from it all day - so you have breakfast, then have your lunchbox salad whenever you are hungry - even every half an hour or every hour but just enough to stop you being hungry, then you have a light dinner such as grilled fish, veggies and a few new potatoes. Yesterday I had in my box: Chinse leaves, beansprouts, carrots, broccoli, red pepper, fresh coriander, chicken, a few cashew nuts and a sachet of Honey and Mustard Dressing (those sachets are great as you can't overdo it!) I just picked at it all day and finished it around 5pm. By the time I realised I hadn't had any dinner it was time for bed! I have lost 4lb now and am under 9stone for the first time in years. I have now lost 20lb since I started with Pete's programme in January which I am so happy about.
Now I have blogged today, I feel far less fed up than I did!

I had a very productive weekend in that I decided to blitz my bedroom and turn it from a total tip to a beautiful boudoir. I went through my wardrobes and got rid of all clothes that are now too big and took three big bin bags to the charity shop (no rubbish though, in case Mary Portas is reading this!).
I also discovered a library's worth of books and magazines scattered around so I have sorted them out and removed all the nice recipes from the magazines and put them in a food file. I now have a clear dressing table, cupboards where I can actually take things out without everything falling on my head and a lovely clean and welcoming room to sleep soundly in and wake up refreshed in.
I also must have burned about 10K calories doing it all!

Day five of summer challenge and Day three of Wii Active Challenge. All these challenges seem to be paying off. My mind seems to be in the right zone at the moment - I'm eating healthier, eating slower and eating less! The Wii Active is also brilliant for me to get in 30-40 concentrated exercise daily which means I am upping my exercise even on days I can't get to a class or the gym. After Day 3 on the Wii Active I already feel my stamina has increased as I didn't feel ready to totally collapse at the end of it, just partially collapse!

For lunch I had fresh pineapple, mixed nuts and raisins. For dinner I had beef & noodle stir fry. I also watched the finale of Biggest Loser and was amazed at how well everyone had done but was open mouthed at Kevin who lost 9stone 4lb which was 40% of his body weight. It just shows what can be done when you are really determined (plus the viewing public are watching you and you can win #10K!)

Not a bad day all in all. I did Day 2 in my Wii Active challenge and my goodness, I haven't worked that hard in ... well, ever. At the end of the 40 minutes I was literally dripping in sweat, my hair was soaking wet! I really pushed myself and I can already feel my stamina is improving. I may be able to run at least part of the Race for Life after all!
I had prawn and noodle stir fry for lunch and was just going to have a light snack in the evening but ended up at Nandos with my son (long story). However I only had a quarter chicken and corn on the cob (with no butter) so I think that deserves a pat on the back as I used to have half a chicken, chips and corn on the cob dripping in butter.
A friend has lent me a book called the Lunchbox Diet where you make up a lunch box in the morning and snack from it whenever you are hungry - the pictures in the book are really mouthwatering and it is all very healthy so I might give that a go next week.

Yesterday was my first challenge day. I was going out with friends for an Italian meal but instead of getting there, reading the menu and changing my mind when I hear what others were eating, I went on the website of the restaurant and read the menu and chose what I was going to have in advance. I had gridded king prawns to start and chicken salad for main. I also asked for no dressing on the salad and just used balsamic vinegar to dress it. No dessert and herb tea to finish. I was driving so just drank mineral water. I really enjoyed it and felt great afterwards whereas my friends who had pizza or pasta followed by cheesecake or tiramisu and vast quantities of wine were saying how full and heavy they felt! Two people commented on how slowly I ate as well - result!
I went to do Day 2 of the Wii Active 30 day challenge and discovered I hadn't saved Day 1 so had to do it again. Wow, it really makes you work hard. I did 25 minutes and was dripping with sweat at the end which I don't usually do after a workout at the gym - I'm very impressed with it so far.

All went reasonably well on day one. I had forgotten I had an appointment for a mole to be removed yesterday afternoon and although it was a very minor surgical procedure the local anaesthetic really made me sleepy. I got home about 4pm, watched The Biggest Loser and didn't even have the energy to shout at my TV at how angry some of those in it make me by not taking advantage of the amazing opportunities they've been given!, then I went for a lie down and slept until 8.30. I was too tired to eat anything apart from a slice of toast. Back to bed at 10pm and I slept through until 6am. I feel fine this morning and am raring to go with Day 2 and do some exercise. I had intended to start my Wii Active 30 day challenge yesterday but it will start today instead.

Okay, day one of the long awaited Summer challenge has now arrived and I feel totally motivated and in the sorting my life out zone. I first started on the Pete Cohen journey in January 2009 and since then I have gone from 66 kilos to 60 kilos, my cholesterol level has gone from 6.7 to 5.4 and I just feel so much better about myself - how I feel, how I look, knowing what I can achieve.

However, I was starting to feel a bit stuck ina rut - some habits have been replaced permanently such as snacking on crisps and chocolate - but others were proving to be not quite so easy to replace on a long term basis such as rewarding myself with food based treats! So this Summer challenge has come as a great time.

I know I can do it as I have proved that to myself in the past so I don't have as many 'voices in my head' telling me it's all going to be a waste of time. I am prepared for my journey - all my meals are planned for the week and the supermarket delivery is due within the hour. I have listened to the motivation and the resistance to exercise videos and I'm raring to go. With all of you along to encourage and support me, how can I not succeed!?

Hello to everyone old and new - I'm back again and am going to join the summer challenge on 15th June. I'm feeling very motivated and excited and convinced I will reach my goal at the end of six weeks. I am also looking forward to hearing about all your journeys too.

On May 1st I wrote in my journal about having lost a stone but being stuck, on a plateau and although I was very, very happy at losing so much weight, I was getting a bit frustrrated at not being able to maintain it.
However I decided to do something positive about it. I have upped my exercise and started doing a Body Pump class and bought a mini trampoline in Tesco. I have also started having a home made juice for lunch each day - made with apples, carrots, celery, spinach, pineapple, lemon and ginger (absolutely gorgeous!) and just a light meal at night eg grilled chicken or fish plus stir fried veg. I am feeling full of energy and I just got weighed this morning and I've lost 5lb this week!
When I started out on Jan 2nd I was 10st 5lb (which is a lot when you are only 4ft 11ins!) and just nudging obese. Today I weigh 8st 12lb which is just nudging into the normal range! I feel fantastic so for those of you who have got to that inevitable 'wall' - I just want to say there is a way through it if you are patient and determined.

I started this journey in January full of enthusiasm and motivation. I did the 21 days twice and it really worked. I am now more than a stone lighter than I was at the start of January and that is fantastic but I reached a plateau a few weeks ago and I seem to be stuck there.
I have changed several habits for life now, I know they are for life because I do them automatically, no thought needed. I no longer enjoy or want to each chocolate and for a chocoholic that is quite a major step forward! I no longer have to have something sweet after a meal and if I do really crave sweetness I have fruit - I've discovered the joys of frozen seedless grapes!
I have gone down a dress size and I feel so much happier with my body BUT (there's always that big butt, er but) - I need to lose another stone. So I need to remotivate myself, redo the 21 days, make exercising more important and just give myself a kick up the backside to get going as well as a pat on the back for what I've already achieved.

I have been taking stock of where I am now as it is ten weeks since I started on this journey with the help of Pete and the programme. So what has happened in those ten weeks?

- I've lost 15lb which is more than halfway to the goal I've set myself.
- My BMI has dropped from 31 to 27 - I'm still in the overweight section of the charts but right down at the bottom rather than almost at the obese section - just a few more pounds lost and I'll be 'ideal'.
- I've gone from a tight size 14 to a 12 and am now wearing clothes from the 'thinner' end of the wardrobe.
- I have only had chocolate once since January 2nd and it was horrible and claggy which seems to have cured my 'addiction' which has now been replaced with a grape addiction (as in seedless rather than wine!). I can live with that.
- I am now walking much more - I aim for at least 10K steps on the pedometer a day and I'm doing my running training for Run For Life three times a week as well as flameco lessons. My stamina is noticeably improved.
- My cholesterol has gone down from 6.7 in Jan to 5.5 in early Feb and is probably even lower now - I am going to get it tested again after Easter. .
- People are noticing the weight loss or saying 'Oh you are looking well, have you been on holiday?' These sorts of comments are so much more motivating than the numbers on t he scale.
- I can actually look at myself in a full length mirror again and like what I see. OK I'm in my 50s, it's not and never will be perfect but I don't want perfection, I want to be comfortable in my own body and I'm getting there.
- I feel stronger mentally as well as physically and more able to cope with problems. My husband has been made redundant recently and normally I don't think I'd have been as positive in the way I'm coping with the uncertainty about the direction our lives will take in the next few months. I know now that I can set goals and achieve them and that I am up for a challenge.
- I am really proud of myself and that is such a wonderful feeling.

Yes, I am the special offer today - 10% off. I got weighed this morning and I have lost 14lb, yes, one entire stone since starting this programme at the beginning of January. That also is approximately 10% of my body weight which is amazing. My BMI is now 26 and another 10lb and I will no longer be overweight but 'ideal'. I am still motivated but best of all this really isn't hard work, I have made lots of new habits which I really wouldn't have believed was possible two months ago but choices I am making now are easy ones not fights as they have been on every previous weight loss plan I've ever done. No more rewards of chocolate as I don't want chocolate now but prefer a piece of fruit (was it me that just wrote that!). I truly believe that I have this sorted for life now as it is something that I am doing automatically and without thinking - it has become my lifestyle, my way of life.

I still have to get to that stage with the exercise - although I am exercising regularly I still have to argue with myself to do it but I know that will come if I persevere.

Well I might not be posting regularly but I'm still here. Things have been a bit fraught at home with my husband finding out he is going to be made redundant so not great times at the moment and in the past I would have dealt with it by turning to comfort eating and chocolate chocolate and more chocolate. However this time is different and I've dealt with it by exercise, exercise and more exercise. I have signed up to to the Race for Life and I intend to actually run it. I bought a fantastic book called Running Made Easy and it aims to get you from couch potatoto to runner in easy steps. Basically you walk for two minutes and run for one minute and then just keep increasing the number of times you do it, until eventually you are running for half an hour! Anyway I am doing that 4 times a week plus Flamenco and I've started playing tennis at the weekends. So now I am eating healthily, eating slowly, drinking lots of water and exercising regularly and it is working! I have now lost a total of 12lb since I started this at the beginning of January and I feel fantastic - much more energy. So although things may be difficult in the coming weeks and months, at least I am not going to let it jeopardise my new way of life. Can losing weight make you more optimistic about life because I'm sure that's what's happening!

I have been away for a week in the Lake District and forgot to stop the daily emails so I hope you don't all think I've given in because I haven't!
We spent a week in a big house with 8 adults and 9 children which was huge fun and very, very noisy. Sometimes I didn't get a choice of what I had to eat as we took it in turns to cook but I decided that sometimes you have to go with the flow and I ate more bread and pasta than I normally would but didn't have big helpings especially of the puddings (even the Cartmel Sticky Toffee Pudding!). Being in the Lakes I also got to exercise far more than usual with lots of long walks and even some jogging in training for my Race for Life in July and when I got home last night I got on the scales and have lost another pound - I was shocked as I thought I'd have put on a couple of pounds as I even had fish and chips one night.
Several people noticed I had lost weight and a few commented on what a slow eater I was!
I am now on Step 4 and feel I have adopted lots of new habits with what I eat. I have joined a gym, walk far more, am in training for the Race for Life and do Flamenco classes once a week so am exercising far more than before but I still feel I have to push myself, it's not coming naturally yet so that is my daily goal - to exercise without having to have an internal fight with myself about what I'd rather do instead.

The exercise thing is really starting to kick in. Yesterday I went to the gym in the morning for my induction and then again in the afternoon to do an hour and then an hour of Flamenco in the evening and I was bursting with energy when I got home at 8pm when usually I am nodding off on the sofa in front of the TV by that time!
I got weighed at the gym and on Jan 2nd I weighed 65K and yesterday I weighed 60.5K - 4.5K is an amazing amount in one month and I already look better, feel better and am still full of motivation.
This programme, or the way it can change your way of looking at things if you allow it to, is truly amazing. When I saw Eamonn Holmes on This Morning with Pete being so negative (Oh, it's easy for you to say but not easy to do. How long do I have to do this for anyway?) it made me irritated but also sad that he wasn't really doing it because he wanted to change his lifestyle but because he was being paid to do it for his job. I'll try not to be judgemental though - maybe he is dedicated but just decided to give Pete a hard time on TV!