Hello September!

Category: Weight Watchers

03
Sep
2018

Hello September!

Although I’ve not been in school for quite some time, September for me still feels like the start of a new year and a chance to embrace new (or old) goals and to get stuff done! Holidays have come to an end, there are less and less social functions to attend and getting back into a routine actually feels good. This month has already started with a huge positive…

Post-holiday happiness
I write this post after a two week vacation in Italy, which was absolutely amazing and I was able to witness two of my best friends get married. I’m well and truly still in a happy holiday bubble, but instead of having post-holiday blues (which may still come), I feel rejuvenated and excited for the rest of the year. Towards the final days of my holiday I was delighted to see a little feature in Weight Watchers magazine of me and my daughter.

Weight Watchers
The article is all about how Weight Watchers encouraged me to get back into exercise after having my daughter. Seeing the feature made me feel so proud of the many healthy habits I’ve adopted since being a Weight Watchers member. The holiday I’ve just taken was a huge example of how different I am compared to trips away pre-Weight Watchers.

A healthier me
Over the course of two weeks I went for several jogs, walked lots, swam, went to the gym and enjoyed plenty of healthy food choices with a few treats thrown in (aka wine and ice cream). A younger me would of binged on unhealthy food just because I was away and would of left all gym clothes at home. That same person would of returned home a stone heavier and feeling terribly guilty about all the indulgences. Then I would of fall into a downward spiral of feeling horrible about my weight and myself.

For some this may sound crazy and a bit dramatic, but this has been a previous consequence of many holidays. I know a lot of people who are able to go away, eat what they like, come home happy and not give a damn about any fluctuations in weight – so please don’t take this as me saying you’re doing anything wrong. It’s just for me that ‘letting go’ approach on holiday meant eating everything and anything and then feeling rubbish about myself after.

“Fruit salad mummy?”
I’m also incredibly proud of daughter who appears in the magazine article. She is such a confident little thing and was both hilarious and well behaved during the photoshoot. It’s for her that I also want to continue eating well and exercising regularly – I want to be a healthy mum that can play without getting out of breath within seconds and to set a good example of how to eat well. On holiday when we were talking about the day ahead she would often ask if I was going to eat a fruit salad again for breakfast. It may sound silly, but hearing her recognise me eating something healthy made me feel great.

Support
I’m so thankful for Weight Watchers for encouraging all of the healthy habits mentioned above. Joining the programme has deepened my interest in nutrition, has encouraged me to try new sports and in turn has led me to meet whole host of fantastic people who continue to support me as I work towards my health goals.

Never sporty
I was never a sporty kid at school and if you told me then that I would one day enjoy running, spinning, long walks and would even have one-on-one personal training sessions, I would of burst out laughing. Weight Watchers taught me the importance of exercise and gave me the confidence to try new things and discover activities that I could keep up long-term. I am also so thankful for the several PT’s I’ve been in recent contact with, who have helped me embrace lifting weights and have giving me extra guidance on what to eat for good health and effective weight loss.

A negative outlook
I have to admit, that until I saw the final Weight Watchers article mentioned and had a little September inspired overview of how far I’ve come, I was feeling less positive about myself and weight. Whilst I’ve lost a lot of post-baby weight and am proud of all the healthy decisions I made on holiday, I’ve been feeling frustrated that I’m not at my goal weight. I got there last March and somehow it’s crept up a bit. However, with this new month and feeling inspired I would like to announce that I will draw a line under that, and do my best to get to that goal, but ultimately to continue to work on leading a healthier life for the rest of my life.

Thank you for reading this mind dump,
Chloe xx

01
Sep
2018

Weight Watchers helped me rediscover exercise

Categories: Fitness, Weight Watchers

I’ve recently had the pleasure to feature in a photo shoot with my daughter Eleri for WeightWatchers magazine! I’m delighted to share a few photos from the day and how WeightWatchers continues to help me lead a healthier and fitter lifestyle.

Chloe: Weight Watchers helped me rediscover exercise

Keep an eye out the next issue of the WeightWatchers magazine to see me, my little girl and to read my story.

02
May
2018

I’m in the Weight Watchers magazine!

Categories: Fitness, Weight Watchers

If you follow me on Instagram, twitter or Facebook you would have seen some very chuffed posts this week about my appearance in the June issue of the Weight Watchers magazine. I am absolutely thrilled to be featured and I still can’t get over the fact that I’m actually in the magazine.

If you’ve not seen those posts here’s what it’s all about… last year I took part in an event called #WW5Kmyway. The idea was to complete a 5k in any style you wanted. Be it walking, running, swimming, dancing, whatever! My lovely Weight Watchers Coach teamed up with a fellow Weight Watchers group and together we walked 5k on a very hot summer’s day. The event really gave me the fitness boost I needed.

Pick up a copy of the Weight Watchers magazine asap to find out more about the event and my full story; plus here’s how to get involved with this year’s #WW5kmyway.

Chloe x

26
Feb
2018

Weight Watchers for beginners

Categories: Weight Loss, Weight Watchers

For anyone wondering about joining Weight Watchers, I’ve put together a little overview of what Weight Watchers is like – everything beginners to Weight Watchers may want to know.

I’ve been a member for quite some time now and the plan helped me lose 50lbs for my wedding back in 2013 and another 50lbs after having my first baby (forget eating for two, I was eating for 10 at the time!). If it can work for me, it can definitely work for you!

What is Weight Watchers like?
It can take a few days to get used to, but once you understand how the plan works it’s straight forward to follow, plus there is an amazing app included which makes it all really simple. You can eat anything you like, but you get more from the plan when you pick healthy foods. Plus, you’ll receive loads of great information and advice on what’s best to eat for weight loss.

What is Weight Watchers Flex?
If you join Weight Watchers today, you’ll be following their new ‘Flex’ plan – it includes more foods than ever before with a SmartPoints value of 0. There’s also more flexiblily with when and how you use your daily SmartPoints values.

What is Weight Watchers No Count?
There are two ways to follow Weight Watchers, counting (every food as a SmartPoints value which you deduct from your tailored daily and weekly points allowance) or no count. To follow no count you eat foods from a set list, which includes things like chicken, wholegrain pasta and fat free greek yogurt. If you fancy chocolate, or booze you then have to deduct their points value from your weekly allowance (which you still get with no count).

What’s a Weight Watchers meeting like?
A really friendly, informal place to talk about your weight loss. There’s a Weight Watchers Coach waiting to chat about your weight loss and to weigh you – no one else sees or knows your weight. This happens first and then there’s some time to pick up some weight loss friendly treats, gadgets or cookbooks, if they take your fancy, from the pop up shop. Last part of the meeting is where a Weight Watchers coach focusses on a particular aspect of the plan and weight loss tips, this is also a time for you and other members – if you wish – to talk about your weight loss so far, anything that you struggle with, or anything that you find helpful.

What kind of food can you eat on Weight Watchers?
Anything! The personalised allowance you’re given helps with portion control, but you can use it to eat anything you like. However, you’ll get the most out of your allowance by opting for foods best for good health and weight loss, such as lean meat, fish, eggs, fat free dairy, wholegrain pasta and rice, fruit and vegetables.

Top tips for Weight Watchers beginners

Download the Weight Watchers app – it makes it really easy to follow the plan.
Opt for lean meat, fish, eggs, fat free plain dairy alongside plenty of fruit and veg – lots of these foods have a 0 SmartPoints value and will help you make the most out of your Weight Watchers allowance.
Plan your meals in advance if you can – this helps you stay on track.
Don’t deny yourself anything, have what you enjoy just work out the SmartPoints value of it first. If it’s high in SmartPoints just have a little bit of it or seek out an alternative.
Attend your Weight Watchers meeting every week or if you’re an online member, weigh yourself just once a week at the same time.

P.S This is not a promotion – I am not being paid to write this – but for full disclosure I did previously work for the company. But I really should get some commission for how much I talk about Weight Watchers 😉

I hope you found this useful and thanks for reading,
Chloe x

15
Nov
2017

The WW Flex Effect – 3 reasons why I love it

Categories: Baby & Me, Reviews, Weight Loss, Weight Watchers

Weight Watchers have announced some changes to their plan and if you’re already a member like me, you don’t have to look far to find a mixed bag of reactions to the announcement. I’m for one am over the moon to learn about the Weight Watchers Flex programme and here are 3 reasons why I already love the improved Weight Watchers plan and the flex effect!

1. More food, less guilt, healthier choices
The beauty of Weight Watchers is that you can eat anything you like, but with the expertise of Weight Watchers there is a wealth of material at your fingertips to help guide on what foods are best for healthy living and weight loss. The recent changes to the plan include a wider range of foods, mostly protein, that you no longer need to be count as part of your daily allowance. I love this because once again it will steer me towards foods that are healthy, will fill me up properly and (I hope) will stop me from overindulging on chocolate when I’m in one of those moods…

An example;
If I have 2 SmartPoints remaining at the end of the day and I’m hungry, I more often than not opt for a low calorie chocolate bar. I know this won’t fill me up but i’m a sugar addict (i’m working on that) and I think it will at least take the edge off my hunger and give me my sweet fix. Only problem is that one bar often leads to more (if I’m having an off day) and then I get myself in a vicious cycle, as I’m annoyed with myself for having eaten multiple chocolate bars then i’m like “well I’ve done it now so i’ll keep going”! However with more zero foods on the list, and foods that I tend to have around or i’m intrigued to try, I can now fill myself up on good things and i’m hoping this will help me to still enjoy a sweet treat but not go crazy on them as i’ll genuinely be full. I hope that makes some kind of sense!

2. Increase fuel for exercising
As my fitness improves and I’m exercising more, I’ve struggled to satisfy my post-workout hunger. I’ve read a lot about eating protein after working out (and in general) but I couldn’t quite get my numbers right when it came fitting in the extra protein into my Weight Watchers SmartPoints allowance; not that it couldn’t be done, I just needed the professionals (aka Weight Watchers) to spell it out for me!

3. Change can be good to get past a plateau
Completely my own doing, but I have been losing and gaining the same few pounds for last few months. I’m so excited to see if the Weight Watchers Flexible programme will help me get past those same pesky pounds and into the next stone down.

I’ll keep you posted!

23
Oct
2017

Why you’ve not seen how much I’ve lost lately

Categories: Baby & Me, Weight Loss, Weight Watchers

I’ve been a little quiet lately when it comes to sharing my weight loss stats and that’s because i’ve been slowly gaining weight (well losing and then gaining what I lost) – since I got to my weight loss goal in March. Whilst I feel slimmer in some ways and definitely fitter, that pesky number on the scales has been rising and we all know I’m a little bit obsessed with the scales. So, here’s what i’m struggling with and how I hope to turn it around. Plus, should I hide my scales?

My trouble zones

Evening snacking: When it’s dark and my daughter is in bed I seem to snack like there’s no tomorrow. It feels like it’s a bit of me time and for whatever reason, my hands and mouth seem to constantly want food in them! But, i’ve got a couple of strategies…

I used to snack on frozen grapes. Because they’re frozen they take longer to eat and being grapes you get that satisfaction of going back for more. Does that make any sense? I kind of got out of the habit of eating them, especially when it’s a little colder, but i’m bringing grapes back! Also, when colouring with my daughter the other day I found it surprising therapeutic and kept my snacking hands busy, so I may actually get some of those adult colouring books and pencils which I used to think were a bit gimmicky – you win, i’m buying you!

Events: I’m guilty of admitting defeat before an event has begun. “Oh I’ve got a party and I know i’m going to be terrible so i’m going to be a massive piggy”. Instead of creating a game plan and making healthy choices during said event, I don’t track (and I usually track everything I eat and drink) and get carried away with the old prosecco, which eventually leads to drunken munchies. My strategy for this one is…

I must plan ahead and track what I’m eating and drinking during the moment. So that I feel better about those occasions where I will eat and drink more (but could do it more sensibly), I could go for a buggy run before the event to hopefully balance out any extra indulgences.

Tiredness:
Like many people, I tend to eat more when I’m tired, I just need to go to bed earlier!

To weigh or not to weigh: that is the question
While all of this has been going on, I’ve had more compliments lately on looking slimmer (people probably just being nice, but I’m taken those compliments vey seriously haha) and my stomach does feel flatter. Being able to complete a 10k run in a decent time I hope is evidence too that my fitness levels are ok, so why do I care about the number on the scales? I don’t know. It’s been my marker of good health for so long, I guess it’s tricky to abandon them.

Sometimes I think ‘should I just hide the scales’, as they can really get me down if I put on weight on when I feel like I should of lost a few pounds. Plus, I do love my Weight Watchers group, so perhaps I should bin my home scales so that I only weigh once a week at my meeting (as opposed to several times a week). That said I’d really like some Fitbit scales for Christmas!

My plan of attack
So that’s where i’m struggling and this is my successful weight loss plan in a nutshell…

Eat frozen grapes during evening snack attack
Get my adult colouring on to distract my hands during evening snack attack
Plan and track what I’m eating during special occasions to prevent massive binge on booze or food
Go for a buggy run the day before or morning of a special event as a damage limitation strategy
Go to bed earlier when possible
Weigh only once a week at my Weight Watchers meeting
Start taking my measurements to see if I am losing inches
Ask for some Fitbit scales for Christmas

Thanks for reading this brain dump, I really appreciate it.
Chloe x

09
Oct
2017

5 reasons to feel motivated this Monday

Categories: Phil & Teds Sport Running Buggy, Weight Loss, Weight Watchers

Hello Monday! It’s October and as the days feel colder and the nights draw in closer, i’m determined to keep motivated with my healthy eating and exercise, so that I can feel my best in time for Christmas. After a pep talk with myself, I’ve come up with a few reasons to feel motivated this Monday and I would like to share them with you.

1. Christmas is just 10 weeks away. If you were to lose a healthy 2lbs a week, that could mean a weight loss of 20lbs (that’s over 1 stone) in time for Christmas!

2. Beyonce wasn’t built in a day 😉

3. I’ve loved running with my buggy and I don’t want the colder days to stop us from enjoying a good jog outside. So, i’ve dug out extra warm layers for us both, our running buggy rain cover (just in case we get caught out), and our gloves… winter fit kit complete!

4. I’ve already spotted a load of cool Christmas jumpers I’d like to stock up on, but this year I’d love to purchase one and not feel like the incredible hulk when I wear it – anyone know what I mean by this?

5, I’m guilty of overthinking this whole weight loss thing, I often have to remind myself to simply “trust the process and the results will follow”.

About the photo
This picture makes me laugh so much! I was maybe a bit dramatic crossing the finishing line of the 10k run I completed a few weeks back, but it really did mean the world to me. If you missed my post about it, here’s a little link to how I trained with my running buggy and run 10k.

01
Aug
2017

Pinch, punch, it’s the first of the month!

Categories: Baby & Me, Weight Watchers

Hello!

It’s the first of the month and it feels like a good time to reflect on my weight loss and my current fitness routine. So here’s what I’m thinking…

I’ve really enjoyed upping my exercise lately and for August I definitely want to continue with that. Running with my buggy is simply brilliant, trying new classes has been fun and being active more regularly throughout the week as made me feel stronger and has been an achievement in itself.

That said you can’t outrun a poor diet, and my food choices have been pretty pants lately. Although i’ve had a few good days (if you follow me on instragram you’ll recognise these days, as I get cocky and post all my healthy eats), I seem to fall off the wagon hard come the weekend – and by weekend I mean Thursday to Monday. A long weekend. So, I’m in need a month being stricter with myself when it comes to my food choices and (for all you Weight Watchers out there) I will be doing the blue dot challenge.*

Wish me luck!
Chloe x

P.S Photo includes my new food diary from Fox and Moon!

*If you follow Weight Watchers and track what you eat using the app, a ‘blue dot’ appears in your weight loss process chart if you’ve stayed within your allowance in a day. The idea of the blue dot challenge is to get as many of those dots as possible, which would mean you’ve stayed within your Weight Watchers allowance regularly.

07
Jul
2017

10 things you should know about my weight loss right now

Categories: Baby & Me, Weight Loss, Weight Watchers

So, I thought I’d share a little update about my weight loss journey.

Things you should know…

1. I’m “officially” 3lbs away from goal.
2. I say the above with quotes as I missed my Weight Watchers meeting this week – the scales at home (prior to leaving for the meeting) said I had gained 3lbs. That would make me 6lbs away from goal.
3. The above sent me into a slight rage as I couldn’t understand how that happened, then I got upset with myself. I soon calmed down but missed my meeting as a result.
4. I’m not proud of what happened above but I did stay on track that day; and even went out for a buggy run. So that anger made me quite productive!
5. My daughter likes bringing me the biscuit tin.
6. Today I ate a biscuit and I liked it.
7. Weekends seem to be my downfall these days when it comes to staying on track.
8. I’m hoping to break the above habit this weekend.
9. I really hope I lose some pounds this week coming.
10. Any tips for healthy weight loss are, as always, very welcomed! How do I get to goal?!

Use the comments box below or post on my Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

18
May
2017

The 80/20 weight loss method

Categories: Baby & Me, Weight Loss, Weight Watchers

In recent years I’ve heard the phrase ’80/20’ when it comes to healthy eating habits and weight loss. It’s all about being healthy for 80% of the time and I guess letting yourself off for the other 20%. I’ve struggled to come to terms with it, as surely any amount of time being unhealthy will just sabotage your weight loss efforts, won’t it? Here’s what happened when I followed the 80/20 approach to weight loss.

My weight loss following the 80/20 method
The week before last I vowed to embrace the 80/20 method and let myself indulge a little more at the weekend, but I was to eat well during the week and keep up my exercise. As usual, I got a little carried away once my ‘indulging’ time approached. I felt angry at myself for a moment and thought “why would I ‘waste’ being ‘good’ Monday to Friday, to simply gorge for a few days”. I was certain I’d hate the scales come my next weigh-in but I actually lost 1.5lbs.

Looking back on this week as a whole, my ‘bad’ days were really not that bad and I should probably spend more time reflecting on the bigger picture, to stop myself spiralling out of control*; which is what I feel like most of the time when I eat a little more than what I perceive to be a healthy amount for me (or if I have a treat food).

Less guilt, more food
One pleasant side effect of the 80/20 rule for me was the lack of guilt I felt when I did enjoy some more treats or have bigger serving size than usual. Allowing myself to be ‘off plan’ for 20% of the week felt quite liberating. Without the 80/20 mantra circling my mind, I would of beaten myself up about those extra treats until my next weigh-in. Life is too short to not enjoy the foods you love (ha, is that the piggy in me talking?) or to overly stress about it – strive for good health, everything in moderation and surely the rest will follow.

Skinny people eat chocolate, too
It has also occurred to me that there are plenty of slim people out there who drink wine and eat chocolate. This has been quite a revelation for me! It means one day I too could be slim and still enjoy that stuff, without putting on 7lbs every time someone invites me out to dinner, or if I fancy some Nutella (that stuff is so good!).

So here’s to the 80/20 rule and to being kinder on ourselves as we aim to lose weight and feel good about ourselves. It is ok to have a treat and to not stress about ‘unplanned’ treats either. There’s plenty of time to rectify any situation.

Chloe x

*Another confession
I started this post last week and as I finish it off to publish I’m very aware that I wasn’t able to go to my Weight Watchers meeting this week, and I’m pretty certain I’ve abused the whole 80/20 thing! Spiralling out of control food wise is exactly how I feel at this very moment (alongside being bloated); but this post has been good for me to re-read and I’ll approach being kinder to myself once more and get back on track.