Feel like I’ve wasted most of January (on the diet front) to be honest.. 3 weeks in and only lost 3lb. I suppose it’s better than gaining so I should be pleased with that.

I’ve been reading some new blogs of late and am quite jealous how motivated and enthusiastic newbies to WW are about losing weight. All I keep thinking is…that used to be me. Why am I not like that anymore?

I need to stay motivated and having thought about what motivates me to keep going I’m going to write them down so I can achieve them!

1) I want to be a mummy, plain and simple. One way to achieve this is for me to be at my healthiest and so obviously losing weight is still top of my priorities.

2) I want to wear dresses like this…

My gorgeous friend Jen blogged about this dress recently (You can read her fab fashion inspired blog here) and I fell in love with it. I’ve also seen various other versions (did you see Lorraine Kelly in her dress for the National Television Awards…gorgeous!) and I want one.

For me to feel comfortable in such a dress, I need to lose more weight and be happy with having my pins and arms on show. Legs can be covered with thick black tights but my arms are not so easy to cover up!

Perhaps I’ll be slim enough to wear one for next Christmas!

3) I want to wear smaller sized clothes. I’m still wearing plus sized clothes and it’s cack! I want to be able to go in any clothes shop and pick up an item and for it to fit. Ideally I want to be 14-16 as I don’t think I’d look right any smaller but who knows until I get anywhere remotely close.

4) We have been invited to two weddings this year. One in May and another in August so I’ve got 4 months to make a difference. I’ll be needing a new outfit for the first wedding and hopefully a second outfit for the other. New clothes are definitely my inspiration.

5) I’ve got another hospital appointment in June. Another chance to show the Doctors that I can lose weight and keep it off.  And I guess, another chance to prove to people about how serious I am about wanting to start a family.

So I have plenty to achieve and to look forward to. I just need to remember these when I’m having a moment and reaching for the crap!  

Gained 0.5lb. Lucky escape or what?

I was expecting at least a 2lb gain so I’m taking the half and running with it! I know that my major chocolate pig out may catch up on me at some point but I’m going to try my hardest to banish it for good and get this weight shifting again. I am under no illusion that I need to more exercise and I will be working on that again. I want to lose this 11lb (in this stone bracket) by the beginning of March so have 6 weeks to make an effort and make a difference.

As I mentioned before it was our Leader Deb’s last meeting. It was an emotional evening but we gave her a good send off with flowers, a bottle of Baileys and a Debenhams giftcard. We also met our new leader Jim. He seems like a lovely man who has recent experience of losing 4 and a half stone. There’s always a massive amount of respect due to anyone who can lose over 4 stone but to lose it in 6 months too is incredible. He’s keeping the helpers on so that’s good news so will see how his meetings go in the next few weeks.

That’s it for now, I have a mad few days at work trying to cram in all my usual workload before I am off on Jury Service for the next couple of weeks (scared? yes!, nervous? yes!) it’s all fun and games here!

It’s Monday, it’s a fresh week and time to get my head back into the WW plan to start losing this 3 stone I’m carrying around!

So, here at the Shilts household this week, this is what we’re having for Dinner.

Monday:  Sausage, mushroom and parsley risotto (WW recipe)
Tuesday: Oven baked fish and chips with mushy peas (post weigh in!)
Wednesday: My all time favourite – Chilli meatballs
Thursday: Something pasta related as hubby is out so I’m eating solo
Friday: Chicken Korma and Rice (WW recipe)
Saturday: Pork steaks with potatoes and vegetables

For lunches, I’m trying to eat more filling foods so have cooked up a batch of ariboro rice with a stock cube, mixed veg and bacon medallions. Trying something new to see if it works to keep me fuller for longer.

Breakfast will be porridge or granola, yoghurt and fruit.

For more mouth watering ideas and to find out what other people are eating this week, head over to Mrs M’s blog and get inspired

This weekend has been awful diet wise. I’ve eaten crap foods I know I shouldn’t eat as they’re high in points but for some stupid reason I’ve still done it. Friday night, I had ate my WW pizza followed by half a bag of onion rings that hubby had bought for his lads night in. I then ate a slice of takeaway pizza just because it smelt amazing!

Saturday was going well but I didn’t plan my food intake properly and decided I’d eat the party food instead of eating before we went to fill me up.  I ate a good plateful of buffet food and a slice of black forest gateaux, luckily I washed it all down with diet coke as I don’t drink a lot of alcohol.

Today, we have been out for a good walk so that will have helped but I’ve eaten far too many ‘proper’ crisps (again left over from Poker night) so have asked told hubby to remove them from the house and take them to work. I’m like a child. If it’s there, i’ll eat it! Why can’t I just ignore it and eat the healthy stuff we have in. I’ve chomped my way through a bag of Funsize Cadbury’s chocs, I knew it was a bad idea when I suggested to buy them but I still did it. I really am my own worst enemy sometimes.

Well enough is enough, I’ve spent the last hour on Twitter and Facebook confessing my sins with my fabulous pals all giving me encouragement to get back at it, (thank you Paul, Lauren, Lorna & the ‘Bury WW ladies & gents) I’m going to get back on track tomorrow and have a good week!

I’ve been wanting to join in a quilt along (QAL) for a while but didn’t think I was good enough to give it a go. Well, I’ve been thinking, how on earth am I supposed to get any better if I don’t have a go! I am totally in awe of Katy over at I’m a Ginger Monkey with the fantastic quilts that she sews up and am totally amazed at how Justine at SewJustineSew fits in everything (work, kids, quilting, another bambino on the way) the woman is incredible! Anyway, I’ve been following their blogs and tweets for quite a while and they have inspired me to ‘think’ about joining in.

Well, I bit the bullet this evening and have decided to have a go. I’m going to take part in the Made in Cherry QAL.

It looks fantastic and there are 3 different sizes that I can decide upon. I think I’m going to sew a 60″ x 60″ quilt and use a gorgeous bundle of fabric by Riley Blake (The Quilted Fish – Delicious). I’ve bought some from Sew Me Happy, isn’t it gorgeous…

Source: Sew Me Happy

So I’m all set, I’m going to print off some plans tomorrow and then await the postman so hopefully I can make a start some time next weekend. I’m going to have to brush up on my cutting technique as there’s a bit of pressure to make sure all the squares are exactly the same size, don’t want to ruin it before I even start sewing. I’ve got the tools, I just need some patience, I’m just not very good at that last part!

I absolutely love these!
I am so chuffed with how they have turned out, I love the prints and am slightly obsessed by the colours.
I’ve got some fantastic ideas for some sort of arty picture to put some of the scraps to good use but have run out of time tonight so will attempt that over the weekend. No doubt i’ll be showing what I get up to later on.

I went to weigh in this evening and found out I’d only lost 0.5lb on the scales! I was totally unimpressed and disheartened by it. I’m wondering if I need to have a complete week with no weeklies and be uber strict with myself (no picking a cluster of granola and not pointing it!)

I’m falling out of love with the gym again because I’m feeling far too guilty about leaving the dog at home on his own after work. Hubby will be home tonight so I can go straight from work and do a work out. I’m going to have a word with myself and make a proper effort with going on a more regular basis.

Looking back over the last week, I haven’t enjoyed the exercise I’ve been doing. I tried to do a workout on the new Zumba fitness game for the wii but didn’t feel like I was actually doing anything. I think the old version is much better and should probably stick with that for the foreseeable. The same goes for my Zumba class on Monday night. I was taking part and dancing like everyone else but didn’t feel like I’d actually had a good work out. I usually drink a whole bottle of water at Zumba but hardly touched my bottle on Monday.

Time for change methinks. I need a new workout at the gym so I know exactly what I’m doing when I get there, I need a new routine for exercise (perhaps a new class, step or something similar so should look at what other classes the gym does included in my membership) I will still be going to my usual Zumba class and try harder next week to put more energy into it.

Next week marks our final WW class with our current leader Deb. It’ll be a sad one but I think it’s probably time for a shake up. Change is good, it marks time to reassess everything and make positive changes instead of getting stuck in a rut and slipping back into old habits. We’ve been told we have a new male leader called Jim. I’ve done a bit of research and I think one of my blog friends knows him so it will be interesting to see how he interacts with everyone who is so used to doing everything Debs way.

Enough misery from me, I’ve given myself a slap and I’m back at it. I’ve just had homemade carrot and lentil soup for lunch with a plain WW tortilla wrap and a packet of WW crisps and I’m on a mission to drink plenty of fluid.

Did you know? 6 dashes of semi-skimmed milk in your hot drinks throughout the day could equate to 4ProPoints being used. On that note, I’m off to put the kettle on

It appears I have my sewing mojo back. It helps that all my sewing stuff is now back downstairs again so I can see it every time I’m in the dining room and I’ve got so many ideas whirling round my head that I’m saving loads of ideas on my laptop for when I get chance to sit down and sew.

Looking back on 2011 I did very little sewing. I started my sunkissed quilt and then put it away again because I got so disheartened when my squares didn’t match up and that was it. So, as part of my entry into Resolved to Sew 2012 (where VeryBerry Handmade are giving away a ton of fabric loveliness) I’m pledging to get my sew on during 2012 and let you in on what kind of things I want to sew up this year.

First of all, I want to finish my bathroom storage buckets. I’ve bought some gorgeous Storeyboek fabric from the States and I’m going to make 4 or 5 of these little beauties…

I’m just waiting on some interfacing so I can stitch them all up and then they’ll be sitting pretty in my bathroom housing all the bits you don’t want other people to see!

I’m also going to complete my sunkissed quilt. It’s needs quilting and binding and i’m determined to get it complete this year. It’s so pretty and I love the designs on the fabric, very girly and just up my street.

I’m also on a mission to get through my stash of FQs that I have. During 201o I had a bit of a splurge on FQs (there’s a lot of dots and spots, owls and Cath Kidston) and although I did use up a lot of them for Christmas pressies I haven’t made much else since.

I would love to make a new pair of curtains for my dining room and make matching seat pads for our dining chairs. At the moment we have chocolate brown curtains but I really want to inject a lot more colour into my home this year. I’m thinking a flowery bright CK fabric but will have to save the pennies for these.

I also want to make a blind for my kitchen window. We still haven’t finished the kitchen so will try and get that finished off in the next few months. I’ve never made a blind but I’ve seen a few diy kits you can buy so might try it out. I’m thinking a red and white polka dot blind in the kitchen will look very pretty and will match my memo board that I made over Christmas.

This year I’d also like to get ahead and make some gifts for family and friends. I love handmade gifts and think they’re more special than a shop bought gift. I’m thinking little bags, purses and cushions, maybe one or two smaller lap quilts and maybe even start a larger quilt for my bedroom.

I’d also like to make myself a thread catcher. I saw one of these on J’s blog that I adored so I’d like to make one for myself and possibly one for my Mom (Mother’s Day pressie maybe?)

Not sure if this idea will feature in 2012 but I’d love to make some bits for a Nursery. Now I’m not saying in any way that there is news, sadly there isn’t but at some point over the next few years I’d love to make some handmade nursery decor. I’m thinking cot bumpers, mobiles, storage baskets, pretty handstitched pictures for the walls. Have a look here and tell me it’s not adorable? Cute eh!

So that’s pretty much what I’d like to do sewing wise this year. I have a lot to learn. My finishing technique is shocking and will certainly be asking my Mom to help me perfect it. But it’s all good fun and I’m enjoying it.

It’s that time of the month when we’re counting down until payday (hope it’s not just us!) and so we’re using up what we’ve got in the cupboards and the freezer to fill our tums. Hubby went for a cheap fresh food shop yesterday and came back with a couple of bargains (a bag of seasonal veg for 75p!) so that will compliment the meat we have in the freezer.

So, based on this here’s what’s for Dinner at our house..

Monday: Pork chops with garlic and dill, potatoes and vegetables
Tuesday: Low fat sausages and spring onion mash
Wednesday: Chilli meatballs
Thursday: Oven baked fish and chips with mushy peas (only get 7 oven chips for 6pp…ridiculous!)
Friday: WW Pepperoni pizza for me / Hubby has the lads round for poker & take away!
Saturday: Eating out at a family party

My lunches this week will consist of WW wraps (£1 from poundland) with ham and lettuce, crisps and fruit

For breakfast, I’m continuing my love affair with granola but since I ran out of the Sainsburys own brand stuff (which was delicious) hubby bought me some Jordan’s granola which is mighty pointy (30g = 4pp) so i’ll be using it sparingly with my yoghurt and fruit in the mornings.

I’m hoping to introduce more variety into our meals next week as I have a lovely new cookbook to use and hope to have a bit more time on my hands to get creative in the kitchen.

What are you eating this week? Head over to Mrs M’s blog for more foodie inspiration