WEIGH IN 4...

Ah yes.. the 'sure I'll track it when I get home...' mentality kicked in this week (even though I use the app on my phone!!!) .. I celebrated two birthdays.. neither of them mine might I add.. and a bottle of champers to ring in Australia day... and isn't everything after champagne zero points!?!? Yes... Miss Doll is up 2lbs and they were earned to be fair.. I had the flu last week and missed boxing and couldn't muster up the energy to get to the pool.... however... I saw it coming and I enjoyed myself ... the pics are proof! So clean slate and back driving the wagon.. still down half a stone for the month of January... everyone is doing AMAZINGLY well.. you'll put me to shame the lot of you!!! Well done and keep up the good work...

Doll x

PS: if I've missed out your weigh in please let me know... there's lots of comment and tweets to get through so I have my dizzy moments.. xxx

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Love you!!!

Sometimes things hold us up.. and when losing weight it can only take the slightest thing to derail us.. Its tough.. and its too easy to give up... but when you look at it we're really giving up on ourselves... its like we don't know how to love ourselves enough..

You've got to give things up to move forwards..

Give up making excuses! Make a decision and stick with it.. I'm going to kick boxing to night.. the rain, work, family, friends are NOT an excuse not to go.. the world shall continue to turns while I'm there for an hour!

Stop overlooking the positive things in your life.. everyones readily available to forget all the good stuff they've got.. so your bum is bigger than your friends.. but aren't you there for each other when its needed.. you're never going to be happy if you are happy with what you've already got.. and lets face it .. mosts of us are pretty lucky compared to some people in this world..

This goes with my theory of living life in the moment now... Sometimes we're SO busy trying to 'run a marathon' .. 'lose four stone' ... that we miss out on the little victories and life is made up of the little things.. you won't run a marathon today but pat of the back for signing up for a 5k!

QUIT going on about PAST failures... yes you lost ALL the weight before.. your past doesn't equal your future! All that matters is what you do right now! Its like my leader says.. YES you had a bad meal.. but you eat 21 meals a week.. why should one of them ruin your goals?!?! Its in the past.. you ate it.. you enjoyed it.. not come back to the here and now!

GIVE UP trying to be always right! If you don't admit sometimes you got it wrong.. you'll never learn from life.. you can't blame everyone else for your mistakes.. sometimes you gotta put the paw up and fess up!

STOP running from problems that should be fixed... Face them.. fix them... communicate, appreciate, forgive and LOVE the people in our life who deserve it!

Don't CHOOSE to do nothing.. everyday is a new day for you to choose how to live your life... you can only decide how you are going to live right now! so choose wisely.. don't choose NOTHING!

It can be too easy to give up on yourself.. but ask someone close to you what they really think of you (not as easy as you think!) and you'll be pleasantly surprised! You are funny, kind, generous, thoughtful, tall, short, curvy, sexy, sassy, a mum, a sister, a work pal who is loved and people would never give up on you, they want you to love you too.. so go on .. love you too...

Doll x

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WEIGH IN 3

Weigh in time! Miss Doll despite having the flu this week.. or maybe because of it is down 4!! This explains me needing to buy a new swimming cozzie!!

Some great losses in already! Stay focused now.. remember come the summer time you'll regret that you didn't put the effort in!

Tangent -  I tried the breakfast biscuits and whilst they were nice to eat they certainly didn't fill me up as my porridge or smoothie normally would.. so yes they're handy for emergencies i.e.: the car, handbag etc.. but not as a regular breakfast!

Doll x

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How I stay on TRACK... part 2..

Part two of why its so important to track! 

How I stay on TRACK!

@quinlivan

In my last post, I mentioned how I use an app on my phone to track what I am
eating when I am eating it. It is the only way I can stay on track. At work when I
am having breakfast, I track my porridge as I have my phone on me. When I grab
a coffee, I track it. When I grab a yogurt from the fridge or a Weight Watchers
snack bar from the press… I track it.

My method for tracking is using an App called My Score Plus on the iPhone. 

It’s available here: 

https://itunes.apple.com/ie/app/points-calculator-plus-tracker/
id409395695?mt=8 

and while it is a bit pricy at €3.59 but it is well worth it and here’s why:


•   Daily Tracker

•   Food Calculator for calculating the ProPoints in any food

•   Bonus Calculator for Exercise

•   A Favorites Food Log that allows you to create a list of your commonly
     tracked foods for quick one tap tracking!

•   It doesn’t require 3G/WiFi – so you can track anywhere

•   Supports Imperial (lbs), Metric (kg) and Stone units

•   Various user settings such as setting what day your week starts and
     whether you display your points as a badge over the App logo.


When I am in a supermarket looking at a product, I can work out the points there
and then before putting it in my basket. When I was doing Weight Watchers
before I was using the paper slider to work out the points in a product – you
would rarely check multiple types of the same product, take wraps for example,
they can range from 3 to 8 points - now you can make an informed choice while
you are standing at the supermarket shelf.

If I am going out for dinner, I can have a quick look at my Remaining Weekly
Balance to see if I can splash out and have dessert. This app really has changed
my Weight Watchers experience this time around – it’s the constant reminder
(like my bank balance) of how much I have spent already.

I checked online and don’t think there is an Android version of this app which is
disappointing for anyone with a Samsung Galaxy or HTC. Does anyone have any
good recommendations? If so, leave a comment on this post so others can see
what you are using to track.

Before I go into the My Score Plus app, I also just want to give a shout out to
other free tracking methods people have told me they find extremely useful. A
friend of mine opens a blank email first thing in the morning and writes in what
she has when at work. She emails it to herself as she shuts down the work PC
for the evening so she can accurately track on her Green Tracker when she gets
home.


Another friend of mine uses a slimline notebook she carries around in her bag
while two of my male friends have their green tracker in the inside pocket of
their jacket that they can use when they get a moment alone. The important
point to note here is: Of all my friends which have successfully lost & kept the
weight off, tracking is the one common thread in their success. Some friends
have taken up exercise while others are just dieting sans exercise.

Tracking is so important… but often the thing we forget to do! If you own an
iPhone, I would highly recommend getting this app.

The Tracker shows the points you have used, remaining, earned and your weekly
remaining balance across the top. You can simply track food you eat using the +
button in the top right hand corner.

The Favourites Tab allows you to save foods you use often. Using the Add Button,
you can add something you have pointed using the Calculator on the first tab.
The app sorts these alphabetically so you can quickly find that chocolate bar or
breakfast cereal you have often. The Database contains hundreds of pre pointed
foods, so if you don’t have the nutritional information to hand, this can be a
lifesaver.

Hope this helps you as much as it is helping me. (By the way, I didn’t make this

app, I don’t know who developed it nor am I making money by promoting it – I
just wanted to share it with you all).

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WEEK 2 weigh in!

Week 2! Only 8 weeks left!!! We really won't feel it till summer is here although the weather is awful out there! So here's some tips I've to exercise when the weather is crap!

If you have steps in your house USE them! I know a girl in one of the classes I go to who brings her laundry upstairs one piece at a time! She can't afford a gym.. has a baby that she really doesn't want to leave so she drops each piece up and sweats it out! 

Another woman I know is a soap addict... and on a Monday she watchers, Coronation Street.. then Eastenders... then Corrie again... and then something else.. I can't remember what.. but for every add break she does 'step ups' on the yellow pages! Her husband thinks she's mad but she really goes for it! Again.. its free and you still get to see your telly! 

My favourite is to just get so mad at myself for slacking off that I storm out of the house and then 10 mins later I HAVE to turn around and come home! 20 mins walking .. and I always feel good after it! 

When you're boiling the kettle do squats... or chest presses against the wall! Don't stand idle! You can be working muscles waiting for your cuppa .. and if it hurts a little you'll be less likely to dunk a biccy into it! 

So heads down while the weather is crap and we're all too broke to go out and play! By the time we're ready to head out we'll all be at least one size smaller!

Doll x

PS: if I've missed you out .. shout out!!! 

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Granolas & Breakfast biscuits...

Some of the new 'healthy' breakfast things on the market! Don't be fooled! The Kelloggs Nutrigrain Biscuits are a great idea if you're not a breakfast type.. you can eat them on the go and you will get your metabolism going! I'm not sure how far into the day they'll get you before you get the munchies but at 5 PP for a pack, if you really can't face porridge or fruit or toast... they'll get you into the breakfast habit! The granolas are high and most people have them with yogurt so you have to all for that from your points... 

Great start to the challenge too! The chart is looking very impressive! Stick with it.. summers coming! 
Doll x

Kelloggs Crunchy Nut Oat Granola

Mixed Fruit

100g - 13 PP 45g serving - 8 PP

Kelloggs Crunchy Nut Oat Granola

Chocolate Chunk and Hazelnuts

100g - 14 PP 45g serving - 8 PP

Jordans Crunchy Oat Granola

Raisin & Almond

100g - 11 PP 45g serving - 6 PP

Kelkin Oat Granola

 Fruit & Nut 

100g - 12 PP

Kelkin Oat Granola

Multiseed

100g - 13 PP

Kelkin Oat Granola

 Triple Berry

100g - 11 PP

Kelkin Oat Granola

Tropical

100g - 12 PP

Kelloggs NutriGrain Breakfast Biscuite

 Cereal & Milk

100g - 11 PP, 44g serv (4 biscuits) 5 PP, Per biscuits - 1 PP

Kelloggs NutriGrain Breakfast Biscuite

 Oats and Honey

100g - 12 PP, 44g serv (4 biscuits) 5 PP, Per biscuits - 1 PP

Kelloggs NutriGrain Breakfast Biscuite

Fruit & Fibre

100g - 11 PP, 44g serv (4 biscuits) 5 PP, Per biscuits - 1 PP

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WEEK 1 WEIGH IN!

AAAaaaaaaandddd we're off! Miss Doll is - 4lbs so a nice kick off to the year... mind you I was SOOooo good since New Years and I prob put on about 4 over the jollies...

Here's the board as it stands.. 10 weeks.. 10 stars to collect.. keeping it old school and a running total for everyone.. Commit to this for the next 10 weeks... just see the goal as 10 weeks... never mind summer.. holidays.. next Christmas.. just 10 weeks.. and if you can do this for just 10 weeks and be down a dress/pant size for Paddies day...  by the time summer gets here you'll be closer to 2 dress sizes!! The bikinis and flip flops and the dreaded summer wardrobe will be taunting us by then so lets be ahead of it while its still freezing out there.. if you put the effort in now.. you'll be 10 lbs lighter.. so don't look at final goals.. look at being -1lb next week.. that's the healthy way.. any more is a bonus!


Slight tangent - last week I received an email from someone who regularly follows the posts and challenges but never participates... I learned after my little melt down before Christmas there are many who pop by and are getting something out of it but I had no idea! It was such a nice change from the usual spam and nonsense... I only set this blog up to be accountable and to have somewhere to put all the foods I eat in one spot so when I got to SuperValu I wouldn't be there all night with my calculator! LOL So, for those skulking about.. ... I know you're there and I'm posting a 'blank' version of the challenge to print out for your fridges so you can do it along with us at home.. we'll never know! (although secretly we will!)

I know I have more to add to the list so Friday will have more names but here's the starter! Post your losses below and lets have everyone down at least 1 pound next week... 

All those asking about the APP in Mr. Qs post... He will be doing a full post about it in the coming weeks! Watch this space as they say! 

And for gods sake TRACK like the man says.. it works!

Doll x

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Why is it so hard to track?

First guest blog post of 2013 from Mr. Q....

Why is it so hard to Track?

by @quinlivan

We’ve all been there – we’ve all heard of the success Tracking has brought people in losing weight. Be it in class listening to a gold member or talking to a fellow WWer, it does seem the key to successful weight-loss comes with tracking everything that you are eating.

When someone gets a Silver 7 in class, they have to share a tip on how they achieved that 7lb loss. I reckon if you surveyed all the leaders across all classes, they would tell you members say ‘Track – Track – Track’ comes back 8 times out of 10. If I am to be honest with myself, my problem with tracking is that I have always only tracked in the evenings when I get home from work (if I feel I have had a good day) or I conveniently forget to track at all.

What I want you to compare tracking to shopping with limited finances – Suppose you are down to your last €100 - Do you continue to use your laser card for each item you see & want until it is declined? Probably not! Do you look around, see what is available (and at what cost) and then decide where you will spend your last €100? I know that’s what I do!

As it’s January and the December pay packet has been well eaten into over the Christmas period, I’m sure you can relate to the panic one feels when they calculate that it is another two weeks to pay-day and I have little money left in my account.

Tracking your WW points is the EXACT same as watching the balance on your dwindling bank account – you have a small number of points, make them last! We’ve all been in the situation where we’ve closed one eye and wince while the shop attendant swipes our credit card but if you compare spending money in your current account with tracking – it is not possible to go below the balance of your current account! Adopt the same approach with your daily allowance, using your weekly 49 points as your overdraft facility.

Apply the same rules to your daily Weight Watcher points. You have to be realistic about tracking - I don’t think anyone carries their tracker around in their back pocket and fills in everything they have when they have it. I’ve never seen anyone in a café write down their latte, scone & jam on a green tracker. I have never been on a night out with someone who kept going to their wallet/purse/post-it to write down everything they were drinking so they can accurately point their night-out.

Your laser card will tell you when you have used up all your money! Why can’t tracking be the same…

My solution to overcome this tracking nightmare has been really easy – an App. When I started WW back in August, I was tracking the traditional way (on the green sheets) but I found myself getting lazy or leaving stuff out. I’ve also found myself on a Sunday evening trying to fill in my tracker for Friday night, Saturday and Sunday – what use is that? If you have already overspent, there is nothing you can do about it now!

I downloaded an app called ‘My Score Plus’ which I have purposely put in the bottom right corner of my phone. The app can be set to either show you how many points you have used today or how many points you have remaining. It couldn’t be simpler! Seen as I carry my phone around with me at all times, I always know what my point situation is like. As soon as I have a coffee at work, I track it there and then. If I am in a shop being tempted by the massive selection of chocolate bars looking up at my beside the till, I glance at my phone and see if I have enough points that I can spend today on the treat.

It really couldn’t be easier. Having some form of an immediate reminder of the points you have already spent/remaining has often helped guide the decisions I make about food for me. You know one of those evenings you are wrecked out and can’t face making dinner & you think “mmm… maybe I’ll get a takeaway?” – one look at your phone (which you ironically need to phone in your order) will tell you if you can afford it.

Another advantage of the App is that it has a database of foods built-in – so you can search on the go. At the bar? You can track every glass of wine as quick as you would check a text message. You literally have no excuse for not tracking… and not being honest with yourself and your point-spending.

So, if you are to make one new years resolution this year – my advice would be to Track! It’s not easy BUT it seems to be one of the keys to successful weight-loss! There are tools out there to help make it easier - Even the most basic phone will have some notes type application that you can at least type in WHAT you have WHEN you have it. Then track it as soon as you get back home.

Happy New Year – Happy New You!

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Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!! 2013!!! This year is going to be FAB! I just know it! Looking at where I was this time last year.. its been a tough road but SOOOO worth it! Getting all dolled up over the holidays and peoples reactions to it was the best feeling ever! SO... lets get going.. 


Drop a size... 

This challenge is getting down a number.. and not on the scales.. in your clothes ... I'm all about the Non scale victories... and the scales can some weeks dictate how we feel... so this challenge whilst we'll be weighing in to be accountable is all about your body toning and changing and clothes getting looser ever though the scales says you've stayed the same!! 

I don't officially weigh in until next thursday and I'm actually gonna miss class, as I'm off to see the Queen... well WW HQ in London are doing a 'mini launch' of new stuff happening so I'll be back with loads of gossip and tips hopefully! But I'll weigh in somewhere... 

It's that time of year.. the dark evenings are getting shorter… the Christmas fun is over and easter eggs are in Tesco already! I kid you not! People are already thinking about summer holidays  … weddings.. family dos.. training for the mini marathon.. big birthdays…  dresses hanging on the door in anticipation!!! Those summer days when you just want to throw on a pretty dress and a pair of wedges and feel happy! No ones saying you've got to look like Kate Moss... but wouldn't it be nice to just be happy in yourself without all the drama! Lads, wouldn't it be nice to grab a short sleeved short and not feel shite about your moobs?!?! or get into a cool pair of jeans and feel good about yourself... Starting now when you don't have to reveal all means that we can be ahead of the game once summer gets here.. and its coming.. there's no hiding!

I have such a dress… a very close friend is getting married in May and it doesn't fit! No where near.. so I need you guys more than ever!!!! Let the ass-kicking commence! (can I also add I've got the most AMAZING pair of shoes to go with it... sigh..)

Goal for May!

This challenge is lose 10lbs! 10lbs is one dress size or trouser size for the boys! AND... its 10 weeks to St. Patricks day... so everyone can be down at least one whole size by then… and just remember the next challenge will be the summer one and that's baring skin people, wouldn't it be nice to have at least one size gone before all that drama arrives!!!! 

So take the next 10 weeks and be down 1 lb each week, that's all you need to lose.. 1 lb.. if you lose more all the better but the healthy way to lose it is 1 - 2 lbs a week... and you'll be one whole size smaller by the time Easter even hits the radar!  

Need incentive… get out the skinny jeans… that shirt that's just tooooo tight… the dress that won't zip up… those pants that really aren't flattering.. and take a good look in the mirror! Feel the tightness.. feel uncomfortable.. remember how much you want it! Take a mental picture.. hell, take a real pic for yourself and put it on your phone so everytime you look at it that image is staring you out! and say out loud.. THIS WILL FIT ME! I CAN DO IT!

Add your name in a comment below or tweet me that you're in and comment each Thursdays post or DM me your loss and a new chart with all the losses will be posted on Friday! Simples! 2013 is gonna be the best yet!!!! 

Doll x

PS: All of the dresses bar mine and the rockabilly red one are from http://www.modcloth.com sooooooo pretty! 

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