Weight Loss Journals - petecohen.tv

Set a Chinese New Year's resolution to stop drinking alcohol for good. Will see how that pans out. Don't know how I'll handle social occasions as I always used drink as a crutch and don't know how to have fun without it.I want to be able to have confidence without any aides. Hoping to start a family this year so it's kind of in preparation for that.

Snow's almost gone now so my plan is to start jogging again this weekend. Not ran since Christmas which is almost 2 months!! Not very good, but the snow's been the main reason. I hope I don't have to start again from square 1, but am still fit enough to jog 10kms perhaps taking more time to do it.

Also going to start doing push-ups and sit-ups regularly which I did start but didn't keep going.

The symptoms I had before which I am presuming was IBS have disappeared thank goodness. So I feel pretty good for this time of year as I have been known to take a bit of a dip in mood at the very end of winter.

All in all, I feel good.

Only had 2 days at work last week and felt really sick those days. I think I may have Irritable Bowel Syndrome. The only good thing about the way I have been feeling is that I am not wanting to eat as much as usual and what I eat has been healthy. Basically haven't done any exercise since Monday's dance class, but tomorrow I have a Lindy Hop party to go to and then my dance class is the night after. So I hope that stirs me into exercising again. Have been pretty active recently though.

Overdid it with the house cleaning on Monday, in particular cleaning the floors, where I was bent over on hands and knees for a long time. Then skidded off my bike on the way to dance class, so did dance class in a bit of a stiff state. Needless to say I ended up with a sore lower back on Tuesday and as a result had 2 days off work. It's still sore but I will go into work tomorrow as I can just see the workload piling up and up. This has taught me to listen to my body when it tells me that I need to take it easier on myself and rest. The 2 days I have been off work I have been very healthy with amounts of food I am eating and types of food I am eating. I had been wanting to get going with doing 100 sit-ups and 100 push-ups each day, but the back has put the brakes on that plan for now. Have just got back from a 1/2hr walk and going to try a cycle now as I need to go to the bank.

Skyped with my dad last night and he said I looked a bit fatter around the face which I didn't really like hearing, but I am going to use his remark in a positive way to push myself into being more conscientious in my day to day activities and eating habits.

Made 2 delicious chocolate cakes for boyfriend's birthday over the last 2 weeks and ate a lot of them both myself. That and not doing as much exercise as I should have done is the downside. I bought the complete dvd boxset of 'Friends' so every night after I get home from work I get glued to the box for hours. I get obsessive with dvd series and they take over my life especially in the winter time. The upside is that I have been eating really healthily and drinking fresh homemade veg and fruit drinks over the same period so I feel really good these days. I have made a pledge that this year is going to be my best year so far starting from now. I am really happy that I went to my 2 last dance classes as those lessons are one of the best things in my life and it gets me down when I skip lessons which is a bad pattern of mine which I have had since childhood and I want to get out of that habit of quitting. I think I need to allocate regular days/nights to specific types of exercise each week the same way as with the dance classes so that I don't need to think what and when I am going to do, but it just becomes automatic. I also want to blog more often, but that's enough for now.

Since my last blog I've spent a week over Christmas in Portugal with family, had New Year back at home and then a week at the beginning of January in Scotland visiting family and friends. I took note of my weight on 3rd December and it was at 67,1kg then on 1st January it was 64.1kg, so I was very happy about the start to my year. In Portugal I ran 3 times on a running machine between 5-6 miles each time and the food I ate was very nutritious, although I overdid it on homemade banana cake. In Scotland I did no exercise at all apart from a lot of walking around and travelling to and fro. This was due to catching a cold on the 1st day of that trip, which I have only just got rid of. Since then I've come back home to normal life again, already into my 2nd week back at work, so last week was exercise-free too although I suppose I should count the 50 minute-a-day cycling to and from work 4 times a week. I weighed myself again and the scales had gone up to 64.9kg, but I am back on track as I am now motivated to get fit again and keep the momentum going. I started last night by rejoining my dance class and tonight I did 100 sit-ups. And now that the snow has gone I can start jogging again. My water intake has been on the whole pretty good. I do however want to start making fresh fruit drinks and smoothies again on a regular basis.

Missed dance class last week (Monday 7th Dec) as I was sick. Ran 10kms the day after, then made and drank a freshly juiced orange, cucumber and spirulina drink. Made a delicious banana cake on Thursday which I have been eating, with the help of others, aswell as too many Kettle Chips over a few days. Once a week I have been buying and eating a box of fresh chopped mixed fruit containing kiwi, melon, pineapple, grapes and strawberries and really enjoying eating that to eating my usual banana, apple and orange combo. The last 2 days I have made banana smoothies. Mixed walnuts in todays smoothy which was a nice addition. Yesterday I listened to Pete's podcast interview with nurse Jane DeVille Almond and found her home-hitting truths made me sit up and pay attention. I like her line "If you don't care, why should anyone else care!?!" Firm, but fair. Then I watched all 5 episodes of Fat Chance on the PeteCohen TV website and was again moved by how losing weight is possible with the right attitude, effort, dedication, support and encouragement.

Very proud of myself today as I ran my personal best which was 10 kms in 50 mins. Woohoo. Last Monday I ran half that distance kind of got lost and because of the break in my running due to not knowing where I was going I ended up losing the momentum of the run and walked back home. That took me 2 hours and was very tiring,

Yesterday I made fresh juice with oranges, a lime, an apple and spirulina powder. Maybe that was what gave me the energy for my performance today.

Recently I switched the multi-vitamins I take daily from regular drug-store variety to ones I ordered online from a company called Nature's Own. I liked the sound of their vitamins because instead of extracting the specific vitamin they include other ingredients which would also be present in the food source of the vitamin. Their motto is "Food State is as close to food as possible". Here's their website for anyone interested:

https://www.natures-own.co.uk/

Lastly, I have saved 10 Euros in my healthy investments for the future metre stick, yay

I forgot to say that in my morning muesli I also add a tsp of crushed linseeds, tsp of pumpkin seeds, tsp of sesame seeds. All good things for veggie/vegans.

I also started buying my bread from the health food shop.

Just read "Eight Ways to Keep Your Blood Sugar Lower":

http://www.losethattyre.co.uk/eight-ways-to-keep-your-blood-sugar-lower/

which was recommended by Pete and number 8. says that avocados are great:

8. Eat avocados this fruit has a lot of fats that alter your insulin resistance, and will lower your blood sugar. Not only that avocados also helps to lower your cholesterol levels as well namely LDL cholesterol. So you double the bang for your buck.

So please refer to my recipe blog on 30 October 2009 “Avocado, Coconut & Apple Dessert with Provamel 'Lime and Lemon Balm' Soya Yoghurt”.

Totalled up about an hour of speedy cycling on my Mobiky (folding bike : good for taking on trains) as I rushed to catch my morning train to work, then rushed home after work, fed the guinea pigs and rushed straight back out again to meet a friend. I was sweating all day long with all that rushing around. But I am very happy that even before my 3-day plan of exercise I started working out, albeit indirectly.

Well that's now 16 days with no proper exercise. Was gonna do a run on Monday there but I was still knackered from my birthday party on the Saturday which took up a lot of my time before and after which is why I haven't had much time to blog either. Also had a sore stomach all day today, maybe also the after effects of the party.

Some good points:

1) In the last 6 weeks I switched from eating Branflakes Fruit n Fibre for breakfast to eating organic muesli containing oats, wheat and barley flakes, raisins, sunflower seeds, hazel, almond and cashew nuts.

2) I had a delicious smoothy in that time called Banana Heaven:
2 bananas
4 dates
1 tsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp honey (I used pancake syrup instead)
1 tsp tahini
5 tbs (75ml) natural yoghurt
10 tbs (150ml) pineapple juice

This smoothy is good for your energy, skin, immunity and digestion.

3) I have been eating a portion of my Avocado, Coconut & Apple Dessert every day since Sunday cos of left-overs.

4) My house is clean and tidy and I got lots of nice birthday presents.

5) I have decided to have a month where I don't drink any alcohol from 24th November - 24th December.

6) My exercise plan is to jog on Saturday (21st Nov) morning, go to my dance class party on Sunday, jog on Monday and go to my dance class in the evening.

On Monday 2nd November I ran 10.6 kms in 1hour 15 mins but since then have not done any real exercise. Have been active enough, but a bit of a piggy sometimes, though I cut myself some slack as it was my time of the month and it made me more tired this month than usual This is why I didn't run last Monday and also didn't go to my dance class.

Last night I particpated in the Art of Happiness online workshop with Pete and found it very inspiring. Pete's friendly honesty and open-hearted way of tallking to people is what helps others dig into their own minds and life history to see what it is that needs repaired or worked on. It really feels empowering to do these online workshops as you get a more personal connection with the man himself and because of this the whole programme affects you on a more personal level. People know the common sense principles of life and how to live it, but the more we think about and communicate these principles with others the more ingrained in our consciousness they become and hopefully eventually they just become 2nd nature. Thanks to Pete and all who were in the workshop last night! Be happy! Smile and the world smiles with you :)

The last 2 days I made smoothies.

Recipe:
1 banana
1/4 pineapple
1 tsp powder spirulina
5 tbs (75ml) natural yoghurt
6 tbs (90ml) pineapple juice

This smoothie boosts your energy and aids digestion.

Recipe from "Easy Vegan Cooking" by Leah Leneman

Sugar-Free.

2 dessert apples
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Juice of 1/2 orange
55g/2oz/1/4 cup creamed coconut
55g/2oz/1/3 cup stoned (pitted) dates
30g/1oz/3tbs walnut pieces
1 avocado

1. Peel and chop the apples. Place in a liquidiser with lemon and orange juice.

2. Grate the coconut. Chop the dates. Add both to the liquidiser together with the walnuts.

3. Peel and chop the avocado. Add to the liquidiser and blend thoroughly.

Serve alongside Provamel's Organic Soya Yofu 'Lime and Lemon Balm' Soya Yoghurt for the best taste sensation!

3 days ago on Monday I ran 8.8 kms in 1hour and I plan to up the distance to10.6 kms next Monday if all goes well. That same day I went to my dance class in the evening. My week is pretty unbalanced in that way as I seem to do a whole lot in a small period (sometimes in 1 day) and then no real exercise the rest of the week. I do a lot of activity and moving around , but no proper exercise. I want to take up using my exercise bike again. At the moment it just lies there unused. Also want to watch and practise the Pete Cohen tv's 5 minute workout which I said I would do before but haven't yet.

Had a delicious and highly nutritious meal with my friend 2 nights ago. The dessert I made was amazing aswell as being sugar-free. You can't beat that! I will put the recipe on the blog for everyone soon.

So that's the end of my 21 day programme second time round. I have set my goal to slowly, but steadily increase my jogging distance and I hope to continue working at bettering my tools.