A Fresh Start

a_fresh_start

hiya tootoo, FamilyLife and LauraJo its lovely to 'meet' you and thanks for the advice / encouragement!

Today I am meal planning! I got an online grocery delivery from sainsbobs this morning (had a free delivery code, and a £10 off if you spend £50 so gave it a go) and I seem to have got lots of good, healthy food for £42 delivered! I reckon over a weeks worth of meals, but what I'm really impressed with is that there was no junk or additions added to the trolley, I have everything I need for the week, and no more! success!

Right, off to make my meal plan for the week

a_fresh_start

So I created a healthy balanced meal plan for packed lunches and dinners for the next week, only to fall down on the first night! 'Whats for supper' asked OH, so I told him what I'd planned to cook only to be informed that 'sound nice, but I don't fancy that' !!!!! What's the point?! Anyways I've rejiggled it, and he's getting what's put down in front of him tonight

I thought I was being clever and planned everything around our evenings (late home, gym, etc) and use by dates, but didn't account for 'fancying' something particular!

Took a trip to Costco this morning, and spent a small fortune, and that was with no alcohol. Though lots of stuff to stock up my stores and staples for reducing the need to keep nipping to the supermarkets.

a_fresh_start

Dilemma: should I eat the lovely Christmas sweeties tonight in preparation of being all super healthy and gymming it up for the next few weeks, or forgo them cos I'm getting weighed / assessed tomorrow evening....?

I've only managed to lose 1lb with my healthy eating (no snacking between meals) this week. At this rate it will take forever to lose over a stone! Impatient much?':rotfl: hopefully the trainer will give me the boot I need, though I can only afford to send him twice a week.

greent

Take the sweets into work and have someone else eat them?


I don't meal plan - it doesn't work in our house - my DH is terrible for going 'I don't fancy that'. I know we've got some easy meals if we need something quick (pasta/ fajitas/ steak and chips) but I'm at home so I have the time to think about it in the day if I fancy something which may take more time. I do say to him if there's something which needs using up which only he will eat and give him a timescale in which to eat it (eg: there's one portion of steak pie in the freezer - he has until the end of the month to finish it!)


I really like your signature - a good mantra to have! x

a_fresh_start

Greent, I would take the sweeties in (though not my hotel choco ones!) but I now work in a massive open plan office of over 150 people, although you're lucky if 20 people know your name! so bringing stuff in is a thankless, nameless task. I gave them to my nice next door neighbours instead!

Well, I went for my fitness assessment. Did ok, but his fancy analysis machine kicked out some numbers I can’t get out my head............. I’m 33.8% body fat! Its mind boggling that someone that is a size 12, within the upper but normal scale for BMI, can be a third fat!!
Anyways it will give me a good target – to get down to 25%!! Thinking about it logically, If I increase my muscle, then the fat will go down. I’m not too bothered about weight, so long as my size 10 jeans fit again!!!

I also have the metabolic rate of a 43yr old, so need to sort that out too! I actually found all the statistics and numbers really interesting (after the shock!)

I’ve now to keep a food diary for a week or two, so give the trainer an idea of what I eat and when. I also agreed to see him twice a week and do exercise myself 2-3 times too! Eeek a big commitment and at £25/session a big cost too, but it’s part of my ‘investing in myself’. If I’m more careful with my pennies (ie no vending machine snacks at 70p a go each afternoon), not only will I have more money to put towards these sessions, but be healthier too!! Although preparing fresh, healthy meals are expensive.

On the mortgage front, I made an overpayment of £387 Only £13 to find for January.:D:D:D I also decided to increase the standing order by £200. So every month I will try to find spare pennies to make up the remaining £200 to hit the magic OP number for my target!!

FamilyLife

We meal plan in our house. It's something I started doing when I was working part time and trying to lose weight at the same time. I couldn't go back now, even though it's husband that does most of the cooking. I plan and shop then tell him what to make He often says he can't be bothered so I make sure there's a good mix of easy meals and just a couple of more elaborate ones. I also only plan for 5 days, we can then eat something made from left overs or if we get invited to friends we can go without worrying that we have food that needs to be eaten (we've not had a freezer in the rented flat).

I also find the best way to get a really nice dinner cooked for me is to buy all the ingredients then invite his friends over for tea!

I'd give the meal planning a couple more weeks as I really find it limits your time in the supermarket and so are less likely to pick up non-essentials.

Wish I was a size 12. I'm a 16 with an 8 month baby bump Living in leggings at the moment!

FL xx

a_fresh_start

dont worry FamilyLife, I'll stick with the meal planning There will be something somewhere that will work for us. Tho a 5 day plan sounds good, gives a bit of flexibility. I'll give that a go next week

Sizes are just a number, as long as you are happy and healthy, who gives? Plus a 8month bump must be pretty massive! Hope you're not in a cold part of the country, I'd freeze if I had to wear leggings all the time! or hibernate

Unfortunately my OH doesnt/won't/can't cook. His mother spoiled him, and then he moved in with me. He actually looks proud when he cooks microwave porridge. :rotfl:bless.

a_fresh_start

Oooh January 20th already! Now into the fourth week of a very long 5 week January! Urgh!

So far in January I have-
· spent £232 on groceries (for 3 weeks eating!!!!)
· overpaid the mortgage by £1245.21 (yay!)
· Had 2 PT sessions! And signed up for 3 this week!
· Lost 1kg (yay!)

So clearly I need to focus the food spend, though I’m hoping its high due to me stocking up on a few essentials. The master plan is to eat from the cupboards and freezer this week, as we’re away for the weekend. Then I’m away on a week’s training course, so will leave OH to fend for himself ! That means that *hopefully* the food spend won’t be much more than £60 for the remainder of Jan, which means that I’ll have managed to meet my £60/week target

catshark88

Hi!

It sounds !!! though you are making all sorts of things happen this year!

Meal planning works brilliantly for cost cutting and it is a great way to keep to eating healthy stuff too. I try to batch cook a range of things and then freeze them, so the kids and DH get some suggestion of choice, but with the prep already done.

The couch to 5k is a brilliant tool. If you get really carried away, there is an extension app to 10k too. It's well known enough that I bet there would be people from your office having a go. Maybe you could buddy up with a colleague and save yourself some PT cash? Only a thought!

Good luck on your journey. :-)

t-rexcellent

Hi AFS,

I've just found your diary - good luck with your journey!

I've just started a diary too as I'm in a similar position to you - wanting to overpay as much as we can in 2014. January has been very long and grey so far (especially as we've enforced minimum spending on things we 'want' instead of 'need') but you need to have little treats along the way to remind you why you're slogging away!

Looking forward to seeing your progress - best of luck!