What's my plan for the weekend you ask?

With only 35 days until the big day, you might well be wondering what my plan is for this weekend... It's a good plan. Its my Hen Weekend! OMFG I'm having a hen party! I'm so excited about it I keep wanting to do a little excited dance and squeal!

I don't really know what's happening for it.  I know that my mum and sister are travelling down to stay with me on Friday night.  One of my bridesmaids is also staying with us.  We are getting tans and other such girlie things done and I will be getting these caterpillars I call eyebrows groomed and HD'd to within an inch of their lives! I'll be loverly.

Then on Saturday we go into Dublin City Centre and check into a hotel and I wait to what happens.  It's not as hard as I thought it would be to be kept in the dark.  It's difficult, but not impossible.  Me being the control freak that I am, I thought I'd be foaming at the mouth and having panic attacks that I don't know anything but I'm actually surprisingly calm! Well, I say calm, but what I mean is "Rachel Calm"... I'd still like to accidentally stumble across all the details and know everything. But I am doing my best to keep my nose out of it and go with the "flow".  Going with the flow is a new concept to me.  Not entirely sure how I feel about it, but I'm giving it a bash!

My bridesmaids are amazing ladies and I know that whatever they've done for me is going to be great craic.  Sadly, one of my amazing ladies cannot make it back from the sand pit she calls home (abu dabi). Stupid sand pit. So we will have to celebrate without her, but thankfully she will make it back for the wedding. 

Excitement is building. I can't wait for it. My only issue is finding something to wear.  Once upon a time, when I had issues finding something to wear it was because most shops didnt' stock clothing to cover my cuddly frame.  Now, while there is still enough of me left to get a decent comfortable cuddle off, the problem I am having is that I don't like anything! The hunt continues this evening and if I don't find anything I could always throw on a wedding guna!!

There are only 35 days until the big day.  Can you believe it? I can't. 35 days. Just over a month.  There's 29 days until I finish work.  Basically my life is now broken down into countdowns.  Normally, I have one big countdown a year - Christmas.  Now, I've got four including Christmas. 

1. Finishing Work
2. Wedding Day
3. Honeymoon
4. Christmas

There's lots of little things to be sorted out. Like getting a chunk taken out of my engagement and wedding rings.  Pain in the ass right? But as I speak my engagement ring is swinging about my finger like a bangle, and when I put on wedding ring (for a practice, I need to get the tone of "I do" correct.  Cannot be too giggly or too sombre. Or at least that's what I tell himself. In actual fact I'm like a magpie. Anything shiny I'm on it like a car bonnet, so I keep taking a peek at it and doing my squeaky jig!)  This is wonderful news I know. It's the one thing I've been waiting for on my deflation quest - skinny bloody fingers.

I'm walking the ass of myself. I did 25k in 5 days last week and I'm getting my Jillian Michael's DVD on.  I'm moving up to week two this week and I'm pretty sure it's going to be AGONY!

So this is where we're at.  35 days to go, a finish work countdown and a hen party! It's busy business!!! I will update with news on hen party shenanigans!

The Weekly Verdict - Lost 14lb but got a Stone

Today is a very happy day. And it's been a loooooooooooooooooong time coming...


This little blue thing has made me the happiest lady in all of the land!

What, pray tell, is it? This is my stone to represent the 14lb that I have lost. And to think, I very nearly chickened out of going to WW tonight. And if I had, I wouldn't look like this...

When my lovely lovely leader Nicola told me that I was down 3lb, I was smiling. When she told me that meant I was getting my stone I did a jig, jumped up and down on the scales, let out a big scream and gave her a bear hug that could have cut off her air supply!

Last Monday I chickened out of going to my class because I hadn't had a very good week with my running and eating and tracking. I decided that if I went to my class and I was up it would discourage me so I would do my best this week and do well in my class tonight.  As it turned out, I didn't necessarily do as well as I could have. My lack of tracking really put me off. My over eating the wrong things put me off and I was just generally not feeling very confident in my efforts... Lets put it down to a lack of exercise hormones boosting my mood!

But last weeks exercise must have helped. And by last weeks exercise I am referring to the half marathon I did last Thursday evening.  I decided to run home from work.  And when I couldn't run any further I would walk the remainder. This is the walk I did:

That's right. Over 15k.  I ran for 9k and walked for 2k and then hobbled / wished I could crawl for the last 2k. I didn't quite make it all the way home.  I had to lie down on some grass about five minute walk from the house. I lay down. My legs seized. I couldn't go on. For two reasons:

1. Literally, my legs had seized and could not move any further. I thought I was going to go into a cramp
2. There's a really really big, fast and aggressive eh, Jack Russell, that lives on the road on the way to my house.  He chases you. He makes you run. He might bite you. I knew that if he chased me I couldn't run and he would eat me.

So I lay on the grass and waited for himself to come and get me. I was like a big red faced, fuzzy haired zombie rising from the earth and hobbling toward the car.  Himself was doubled over, roaring laughing at the state of me. I wanted to cry. He couldn't stop laughing at me.

While that walk clearly contributed to my wonderful weight loss, I shan't be doing it again in a hurry.  Think I may stick to building it up slowly rather than full on going for it and killing myself.

As a result of my half marathon I bruised my foot and have been hobbling around all weekend unable to really put much pressure on it so, in fact, it was counter-productive (that's my story and I am sticking to it!)... Back to the baby steps I have been taking and which have been serving me quite well!

In other news (equally as happy and exciting as my reaching a stone loss!); himself is a romantic little so and so I can tell you now! He instructed me to take a half day from work last Friday. I came home and I was instructed to get dolled up. He took me into town for a cheeky glass of wine of a Friday afternoon while the sun beamed down on us.  Then he took me for dinner on the MV Cill Airne on the quays and then, just when things couldn't get any more exciting he produced two tickets to see Nora Jones in the Grand Canal Theater (I know that's not the name but seriously, come on, how crap is the name The Bord Gais Energy Theater??). It was a lovely afternoon / evening!  

Here we are dining on the Liffey

All that was in aid of my birthday. There are only 13 days left of my twenties. It's actually happening. I am going to be 30. A real grown up. I'm handling it a lot better than I thought I would.  30 just seems so much older than I feel. But I'm OK with it because I'm going to be 30 and at the very least 1 stone lighter than I was on my 29th Birthday! Woop Woop..

Hmmm... what shall I reward myself with? I saw a beautiful french connection dress that I may just purchase for myself as a well done for loosing a stone / happy birthday to me / well done you did 15k in one go gift. (Completing 15k will be something I will not let go of. I will ALWAYS bring it up. Unless I do 16k, in which case it will replace what shall forever more be known as "The Great 15k Trot")

Whats the plan for the next stone?

There's 12 weeks until the 3 December. So I am signing myself up to loosing 1.5lb a week between now and then.  I have set up a running training programme on my iPhone and will get stuck into it and by the 3 December see what the outcome is!

Here's to this week being an equally big success!
 

20.2K, Wedding Dress Delight and Family Fun

It's been a busy week since I last wrote.  I missed weigh day because I was at home with my family celebrating my little sister / chief's birthday and also wedding dress shopping. 

To start off, I set myself a goal of running 30k this week. It was quite an ambitious goal and while I didn't achieve it, I wasn't too far off it as I managed to do a grand total of 20.2k in 7 days. It's just under 3k a day but it's waaaaaay more than I've ever managed in one week and I'm pretty darn happy with that. Next week I am going to aim to achieve 30k again by weigh day Monday and see how well I go.

I did go out trotting while in Donegal. It was lovely.  I was suffering from a bit too much of the vino / celebrations and decided that the best way to deal with it is to go out running. It's such a lovely place where my mam and dad live and the sun was shining. Every time my foot hit the ground my head busted and stars exploded in my eyes. That's how much I celebrated the night before. I got into my stride and carried on, quite happily, slowly being able to see things other than stars. Then I saw a dog. He had a stick or something in his mouth and I kind of slowed down (which was an amazing feat considering how "quick" i was going) in case I distracted him from chewing on his stick and he decided that it would be nicer to chew on me instead... My alarm was unwarranted as the dog really loved his stick and headed off on his sticky little way paying me no heed at all whatsoever.

My hangover accompanied me up another hill and decided that it was time to let me go on without it, much to my delight. Then I was taken by surprise. Sticky dog had a friend living near by. That friend had no stick to be distracted by. So it took off like a golden light down its garden barking and growling at me and chasing me up the road. It's one way to get me to speed up. It frightened the holy life out of me. The only thing I could think was I was going to be eaten before I even got to eat today!

Thankfully the dog was all mouth and no trousers and gave up on me.  I'd like to say it was my speed that out ran him, but I think it was more likely he sensed that I was absolutely no threat at all...

It wasn't my most pleasant start to the morning.

Lots of family fun was had but my Twinnie was busy working so we go no time together to pick on everyone in a twelve mile radius.  But that's OK cause he's going to get the weekend off the next time I'm up and we'll celebrate turning the big three oh in style.

Now, the bit I've been dying to talk most about! My wedding dress...

As you will know from previous posts / chats, I thought I had my wedding dress.  Then I realised that the "dressmaker" (and I use the term VERY loosely) was nothing but a cowboy /girl and had as much dressmaking ability as I did. So it was back to the drawing board and now I'm very happy about that.

I saw it on the Internet and thought it was lovely. When the lady started to put it on me I was shaking. I was so excited about it.  Before she even did it up for me I was squealing with delight. I had the biggest goofiest excited smile on my face when she pulled round the curtains for my mam and sister to see. I am super excited and really happy that it's sorted out and I have an amazing dress and I will once again be a ridey princess!

So happiness all weekend. Now i've to run the ass off myself this week to make up for all the celebrations over the weekend... here's some pics of the weekends happiness (not the dress of course!)

In 365 days I'll be.....

In exactly 365 days I will be completely deflated and dancing my first ever dance as Mrs McCarthy... I am so excited. I didn't think that I would be this excited with a year to go. I literally have butterflies in my stomach and every now and then I want to just squeak with delight.. imagine the state of me when there's no days to go!!! I'll be utterly unbearble!!! And, rather improtantnly, I'll need to change the name of my blog to 'Diary of a Deflated Mrs!!'

I woke up this morning and I was just smiling. Hopefully the next 365 days fly by in a whirl of exercise, healthy foods and MASSIVE losses (of the lb kind). I want people to look at me and say, "Jesus your fading away on us".. ideally the word "waif" will be thrown around willie nilly! I am not looking for much. I know that deep inside me there is a size 6 just waiting to get out and show off her boney bones in a healthy and toned manner that makes others envious.

At my waif like size six, I will not stand like a spaced out Moran having an internal argument with myself every time someone offers me a chocolate / biscuit / cake. I will automatically say, "No thank you, I enjoy crudites and hummus". Exercise will not be something I have to bribe myself into doing. I will leap from my bed at 5am and go for a run exclaiming "I just can't start my day without a run. If I don't go running my day is a mess"...

Clearly, in my mind, should I ever reach a size six, I will have no personality and be boring as hell... but the word waif will be used... a lot so maybe it's worth it.......

The Plan for Easter week

There's a HUGE bank holiday fast approaching me and I am working out a way of dealing with it. Staying to meeting today was a big help! Seeing what I could have for the "price" of one easter egg made me realise it's just not worth sinking into a chocolate induced coma!

Apparently the small Easter egg is 23 pro points, without the bars you get! Sure I could have a lovely big take away for that price! Or a crunchie, jellies, ice cream and McCoys flame grilled steak flavoured crisps!

Although when it comes to it, I'll probably have the egg! I do love my chocolate! (hence the need for deflation some might say).

So the plan is a simple one!

Eat 26 ProPoints a day
Earn 7 activity points per day
Save my 49 weekly points

That means at least half hour a day of moving my ass and eating LOADS of free foods!

I also have a massive motivation! My wonderful Bride to be (that isn't me) has set a date for ordering our bridesmaid dresses and I am excited! Yep! You heard me. I am actually excited to be trying on bridesmaid dresses! Not just because I'm expected to be excited! But because I can't wait to try them on!

Here's to losing 2lb this week!!

My feelings the day after 'Soul Crusher' day

I woke up this morning with a bit more of a positive head on me. All I can say is thank God for Lent because if it wasn't for Lent I would have went on the most unholy of binges you have ever seen. I was so tempted to buy one of every type of crisp, chocolate and fizzy jelly and sit on my bed and just keep going till I exploded. But, as I said, I have my Lenten Sacrifice to be thinking of, so no major damage done. And in hind sight, Himself would have been quite annoyed at the mess my exploded guts would have made.

Another reason for the positive little head on me is because after the disaster that was my weigh in, I had to go shopping for food for the week and I met a friend that I haven't seen in a number of weeks and she was more than complimentary about the weight I've lost. So that sort of helped. A lot. I'm not sure if you are aware of this, but I am an ego-maniac. Compliments and flattery will literally get you everywhere with me. I can absolutely be won over by comments like 'you look amaaaaaaaaazing today' or 'wow, those jeans are to die for on you' and 'you've such lovely hair'. Another one that works is 'your nails have gotten so long and strong'. I have a fickle heart really.

Today is a new day. I've decided to approach this week and my food the way I do everything. With unyielding control and obsessive organisation.

I've filled out my tracker for the week. I have literally put everything I am allowed to eat on that tracker and by jaysus nothing else will go in my mouth. It's all planned and there in black and white to see. No more than 26 ProPoints a day. If that soul crusher doesn't bend to my will next Monday, there will be hell to pay!

You know the saying, hell hath no fury like a weight watcher scorned!!!

Happy New Year

2011 ended perfectly!! It was spent with himself and our wonderful nephew (well, really he's himself's nephew I've just claimed him as mine cause he's brilliant!). We had loads of fun babysitting and playing with him. Waking up in 2012 to the words 'Choo Choo' was possibly one of the best starts!

So what does the new year bring? For me its the end of the holiday feasting, or at least it will be from tomorrow. It's back into running and even taking up Kettle Bells!

What's a kettle bell? Have a look below!

Image Courtesy of kettlebellexerciseshq.com



Kind of looks like Mickey Mouse (clearly that's from spending too long watching the Junior Channel with my lovely nephew)! Apparently this thing is going to tone me and help me loose weight. Isn't it exciting!! Now, considering I struggle with my little 1kg weights, I think that this is going to be a hilarious class for me. One that requires strength, coordination and balance... things I possess in abundance you might say. Actually, no, you wouldn't say that at all, but sure feck it we'll give it a bash and see how it goes!!!

New years resolutions? I don't want to say that I've made any, because to be fair, I always break them within a couple of days. But I do plan on continuing with the changes I have made.

1. Continue with WW and reach my goal weight by 31 December 2012
2. Continue with running and fitness
3. Complete the women's mini marathon in June 2012
4. Continue being a non-smoker!

It's not a lot, and I have been doing all of this since October (well, the training for the mini marathon is to begin). Need to trick myself into believing that these are not new years resolutions, as you know from reading my blog I am mildly rebellious and like to self sabotage.

I have big plans and goals and desires for 2012 and they ALL revolve around getting fit and healthy so I can stand on my best friends altar with pride and a skinny ass!!

Here's to 2012 being the year that I achieve my goals, don't self sabotage and have the time of my life planning the biggest day of our lives!

Happy 2012 to you all

xxx

My Christmas Plan

So I had my last weigh in of the year last night, and failed miserably! My goal of loosing 7lb by 31 December is edging nearer and nearer and I spent all last week self-destructing all over the place! But I'm in a new week now, the goal is still there waiting to be achieved so here's how I plan to do it.

Cook! On Sunday I spent the day cooking dinners for the week and portioning them up and freezing them. That's what I plan to do Sunday. I don't want any excuse for not eating correctly.

Soups. Lots of soups for lunches and snacks. I will make loads of soup for the coming weeks and drink it like its water to keep the hunger at bay! I'll use my soups as a hunger buster for going out for dinners etc (which will be a lot during the festive period).

Exercise. Lots and lots of exercise. I am aiming to do 1 hour a day. It can be broken down into 2 half hour sessions, but 1 hour a day. That's 7 hours a week. Need to do it if I am going to achieve my 7lb goal by 31 December.

Weigh day: I'm keeping up my weigh day. It'll be next Monday and I know that I will have lost that 1.5lb I gained and then some by next Monday!!!

Patients... Lots of patients. It's something I have come to realise I do not posses. In my head, I woke up one day overweight and in need of Weight Watchers. So logically, now that I have decided that I don't want to be overweight, I should just go to sleep tonight and wake up my ideal weight in the morning. My lack of patients is whats making me feel that way.

My WW Leader gave us a tool to help us through the next three weeks till weigh in. She told us to light a candle that represents something to keep us on our weight loss path, or bring us back to it should be wander of it.  I need a candle for patience, moving more and eating less. Sure  the house will be a fire hazard by the time I get to January!!!!