My DP that is, though the “dear” is a bit of a stretch at the moment.  He’s been in a pissy mood all day because his PC’s broken down again, which I can understand and I appreciate this adds to the money worries etc. but his attitude irritates the hell out of me.  Rather than be proactive he just sits and moans and wallows in self pity.  Which I can do as well, I know, but I have enough to deal with having an exam tomorrow and doing studying today, I don’t need to be holding him up as well!

He was meant to be going to Taekwondo tonight, which I said would help vent some frustration, produce endorphins etc. and make him feel better but he couldn’t be bothered. He has a testing at the end of the month so it’s his own damn fault if he doesn’t pass. I am trying to be patient as I realise one of us has to be the adult, hence the rant here, I am just fed up of the apathy.  He will need to grow up sometime, but apparently isn’t ready to take the plunge just yet.

Studying has taken a lot out of me today; a lot of facts and figures and given the general bad mood vibes in the house I haven’t been able to take over the living room to exercise (don’t get me started on the mess he’s got sprawled out in there!)  It’s a petty excuse I know, and I will need to make up for it to earn some more stars but today I’m just all out of enthusiasm.

Weight Today: 154lbs (-0.4lbs)

Breakfast: none

Lunch: 75g pasta with tomato, basil and crushed garlic sauce with a small amount of grated cheese

Afternoon snack: 10 small chocolate coins

Tea: spaghetti bolognaise with lean mince and tomato and oregano sauce

Water: 64oz

Exercise: none as yet

Too much carbs, not enough exercise.  It’ll get better.

Mango x

Today is a tough day, but we’re getting through it. I’m sure many of you will have, at some time, experienced the pinch when money gets tight.  We’re being pinched quite tightly today…  Our cat needs xrays that are going to cost around £150 (though maybe a few pounds less the vet says, because that helps) and we got news from our electricity company that they made a mistake on our bill.  Instead of being £120 in credit, we owe them £120.  Frustrating. Add that to the looming holiday, we’ve £250 to pay for the second plane ticket, I’ve got to renew my passport for £75 and we’re going to have to buy some stuff.  I’ve only 3 pairs of jeans and one skirt that fits me right now; not great attire for the south of France in July.

It all adds up, but I am surprised at my rallying attitude. I let myself have a little internal sulk for a while and wallow a bit in my misery, then shook it off and started looking at things objectively.  I realised I was glad the electricity company had been in touch, because it would have been a nasty shock down the line.  And the cat is our baby, we took on that responsibility and we’ve taken out pet insurance so while it wont cover his xrays it’ll cover anything else later down the line, for only £7 a month.  And while I could give up my holiday, I don’t want to. This has been a hard academic year and I need the time to unwind before things kick off again.  We’re going with my parents, aunt, uncle and cousin who’s the same age as us so it is a family holiday.  My mum can’t get refunds on our ticket and we’ve already paid off one.  When my student loan comes in on Thursday I can give her some and whittle away at the debt.

I’ve also started looking for a job working with at-risk adults, dementia care etc.  While this sounds altruistic it isn’t totally.  I want to help people, but it’s also valuable experience that builds my CV and will increase my chances of getting on to a Clinical Psychology course in the future.  It’s also a little extra money.

So in short, I’m surprised at myself in how quickly I have shaken it off and dealt with it.  There would have been times in the past where I just would have given up. Isn’t it amazing how resourceful the mind can be when you coax it?  Positive thinking - it’s the key!  I won’t be beaten down because I don’t want to be.  I’m going to try and apply the same attitude to my weight loss.

And the good news?  154lbs today - 1lb down, 29 to go! (And that wasn’t sarcasm!)

Mango x

Brace yourself girls, this is sent to be a long post!  It’s been such an up and down day I feel like I’ve lived out 72 hours rather than under 24!

As I said in my last post there was all that drama with the police and stupid criminals last night, which meant I didn’t sleep tremendously.  I was horribly anxious this morning and felt to sick to eat so I’m afraid I didn’t weigh-in this morning; I couldn’t face extra stress!  My exam this morning was a 3 hour paper on Biological Psychology, Performance and Perception and is the worst subject for me.  It wasn’t a good exam and I’m sure if I passed it’s only a C3 (C-) or a D.  However, it’s over now and I’m focusing for the next one - Social Psychology and Individual Differences on Thursday afternoon.  Exams will all be over in a week, which simultaneously feels like forever and not nearly enough time.  I’ll get there though! Study hard…

Food today hasn’t been brilliant.  After the exam I went for lunch with some classmates and ordered a burger and fries with a pint of Magner’s cider (it was that kind of shellshock).  I ate the chips - there were only 9 little totsy ones! - and after two bites of the burger I decided I didn’t like it enough to make it worth the calories. I had a quarter of my pint; it took enough time for me to drink that to take the edge from my anxiety.  I got a baguette from my favourite sandwich deli instead, along with a little treat.  It’s 9pm now and I’m only just starting to get tickles of hunger.  If I have anything it will probably be only a small bowl of pasta with pesto.  I LOVE pesto!!

Weight today: ???

Breakfast: none - too anxious!

Lunch: two bites of a bad burger, 9 small fries then wholemeal tuna mayo sweetcorn baguette and a caramel shortcake

Afternoon snack: one maryland cookie (small), sunmaid raisins

Tea: tbc

Water: 80oz!!

Exercise: 45 minute walk, 50 straight sit ups, 20 left side twists, 20 right side twists, 40 reps of 17.4lb weights

I am super pleased with myself about my water, 80z is easier when you have pint glasses and a little diluting juice :)  The exercise was good too.  I cycled between the weights and different types of sit ups to vary it a bit and my stomach has that delicious “worked hard” feeling.

But the best thing about today - I joined Eileen’s May Challenge and I am totally, uber excited about it!  Seriously, I never knew I could be so damn motivated about little pixel stars!!  I have four from 2 on plan food days and the accumulated exercise.  I am determined to get a GREEN star as soon as I can!  Thank you a hundred times Eileen for motivating me - good job!

And McCupcake - I’m glad you got something from the paper.  It just clicked with me when I was studying that it was so relevant to what we’re all doing here!

Take care all,

Mango x

Hi guys!

I experienced an unexpected turn of events last night that stopped me from blogging - let me put in my stats and I’ll fill you in!

Weight Today: 154.4lbs (-0.6lbs)

Breakfast: cornflakes with semiskimmed milk and sunmaid raisins

Lunch: 2 tuna mayo toasties with extra light mayo and wholemeal bread (made on the George Foreman so no added grease!)

Afternoon snack: one maryland cookie (small)

Tea: fajitas with lean chicken, peppers, sweetcorn, extra light salsa, cheddar and small tortilla wraps; healthy living chocolate mousse for dessert

Water: 48oz

Exercise: 30 minute walk, 20 reps of 17.6lb weights

Yeah so more exciting stuff!  While DP was making tea last night he was looking out across the gardens of our flats and the flats of the parallel road.  (For clarification, there’s two streets in parallel with flats on them, and the gardens are back to back, so we can see their gardens and they can see ours).  Three suspicious characters climbed over the fence into the garden opposite and DP switched off the kitchen light so they wouldn’t see him watching.  The moment the light was off they hopped over the wall into our garden, broke open the window of one of the ground floor flats (thankfully unoccupied) and DP called the police straight away.  Within 5 minutes they were here but it was too late - they’d already scarpered, but there were sniffer dogs, crime techs and undercover detectives! DP made a statement, but sadly, we don’t think they’ll catch the guys.  What drama to have before an exam!

Anyway, I need to do some more studying right now, but I’ll definitely write about today later!

Mango x

So, I *am* studying at the moment, but I came across a particular study and thought I’d share it with you guys.

Clare et al. (2008) investigated group identification and well-being in people with early stage dementia.  They had 7 participants, and the study was longitudinal, which means participants had “follow ups” over a course of two years.  The study was based on interviews with these participants.

The first interview took place at the onset of dementia and the second after participants had become active members of an internet based self-help and mutual support network.  Clare et al. (2008) found that participants had gained a sense of group identity, of mutual support and collective strength, self-respect and satisfaction with life.

Now I know this isn’t an online support network for dementia.  But it is an online support network where we, as people trying to lose weight and get in shape, can share our thoughts and worries, our failures and successes.  The most important word in that study?  ACTIVE.  Be an ACTIVE member, read blogs, comment on blogs - share your own experiences and support.  In doing so, you become a known member of the community but you also get the chance to see that everyone falls down sometimes, that you are not alone.

So I am going to try and be an active member of 3FC blogs.  I want to gain all the things the participants in Clare et al.’s study did, and I just wanted to share with you, in case you want to gain them too.

So I’ll write about today later, but I wanted to voice some of my thoughts about yesterday.

I’m glad I got out and about and we went for our walk.  It’s also fortunate that our street is a 45 degree angle from sea level so it’s a steep hill!  The weights were good too, but I want to try for more.  I want to fit in some sit ups today too.

Water was good too, I need to drink more today though as I feel a head cold coming on so I need to bombard myself with fluids.  Taken my vitamins so that might help.

With food, I ate quite a lot of carbs yesterday, and didn’t quite strike the balance between what I want and what’s good for me!  There was bread and rice in there so I need to be careful.  I’m glad I just had the tuna steak for lunch though.  I’d thought about making tuna mayo and sweetcorn toasties *num num* but decided against it since I had toast for breakfast.  Good thing too!

Ok, I’m away to study now… *boo*

Mango x

P.S. Km25 - I didn’t know it took only 90 (continuous) days to form a habit either!  A friend in her Senior year told me, she specialises in Food Psychology.  However, bad news is it only takes 5 days to break it again, then you have to start all over again!  But good luck with your 90 days

My brain is currently enforcing an embargo upon any study-related activities.  How irritating.  I have an exam on Tuesday and while reasonably well prepared I still need to refine my knowledge.  Partly it is my fault for cutting it far to close to the wire to start studying, but at least I have learned from my error for next year.  However, when I am sitting here thinking “I need to learn this” and my brain just wont compute it is annoying.  I don’t have time to take breaks, but apparently my body has run out of adrenaline and cortisol to produce to get me into gear.

The embargo doesn’t cover anything else though, so I am still feeling highly motivated!  DP is at work until 9.45pm, so I am making chilli con carne for tea and eating mine early.  Once he’s scarfed down his (because no matter what I tell him he simply refuses to eat slowly) we are going for our walk. Not sure where, just a wee wander probably.

I took my starting weight today - 155lbs. I hate the 150’s.  I’ve been in them for a year!  And normally around the 155 mark too so it seems tantalising close to the 140’s yet so far away.  I am going to work hard to break that barrier down soon!

Thank you inkheatmeg for your comment, well done you for sticking it out!  I am hoping my boyfriend will continue to muck in and do his bit, but I have learnt that it takes 90 days to establish a habit, so as long as we make it to that point I’ll have established that habit by then!

Weight Today: 155lbs

Breakfast: wholemeal toast with raspberry jam

Morning snack: mini Twirl bar (140kcal)

Lunch: tuna steak and a pear

Afternoon snack: two maryland cookies (small)

Tea: chilli con carne made with lean steak mince, chilli kindey beans, chilli sauce and brown rice; with a pinch of grated cheese on top

Water: 64oz

Exercise: 30 minute walk (up hills!) and 20 reps of 17.6lb weights

Hi there!

My favourite nickname is Mango, and thanks for visiting my blog!  I’ve been a lurker around the blogs for a long time.  Like many people, this isn’t my first time trying to lose weight and like many I have made a vow for this time to be different.  I sincerely hope it will be!

To help, my partner and I drew up an “agreement”.  Generally it says we both will make the following changes to our lifestyles, starting on Sunday the 3rd of May!

Food

We will eat fruit/vegetables every day.  We will also take vitamins every day to supplement our intake and keep ourselves healthy.  Fibre will be more heavily included in our diets and we will start making sure we have “me-sized” portions. Every food has it’s place, but we will try to eat sensibly and input what we need, not just what we want.

Exercise

Three times a week we will do at least 30 minutes of high intensity cardio.  In addition to this, we will have a 30-minute walk together every day.  Four times a week Mango will do at least 50 sit-ups/crunches and DB will practise Taekwondo patterns and stretches.

I’m only 20 (still plenty of time I know!) but I am tired of feeling inhibited by my weight.  I’m not hugely overweight but I feel hugely self-conscious.  I’m sure you know what I mean.  Trying to disguise the size of your stomach using your arms (which doesn’t work), living in black, overcompensating with humour and projected confidence.

I’d love to be healthy.  To not have handfuls of extra fat around my middle, my thighs and bum.  To love wearing a bikini!  I’d like to feel my body fulfilling it’s potential and feel strong.  I want to be beautiful - or at least to feel it!  In a couple of years I am pretty sure my partner and I will get around to getting married and I’d like to be beautiful for our wedding, for him.

Good luck to you all, and thanks for reading.

Mango x