Thought of the week:
There’s a reason why the word diet has die in it!!

Diet:
Okay, I confess – I totally screwed up my diet last weekend!
After my night out at The Plough on Friday I was supposed to get back to eating healthy at the weekend but come Saturday there I was, sat on the sofa, watching Take Me Out, gorging on a Chinese takeaway! Fast forward to Sunday- I got out of bed, started eating, and never stopped! I don’t know how many calories I got through over those three days but it was A LOT!!
Needless to say, the guilt over my complete and utter piggyness made me make the decisions to:
1) cut a few more carbs out of the diet for the week,
2) say no to pancakes on Pancake day,
3) have only a small serving of mums dinner on Thursday and
4) scrap this weekend’s naughty meal.
Now, don’t be too surprised but I totally f**ked up numbers 2 and 3 which kind of buggered up number 1!
I can’t really be blamed for failing point 2 though as I’m pretty sure it’s against the law not to have pancakes on Pancake day?! And, I can’t really be blamed for failing point 3 either seeing as mum made one of my all-time favourite meals!
Okay, so it’s not illegal but Pancake day is (after Christmas, Easter and my birthday) my favourite day of the year and if I didn’t have pancakes on Pancake day I would never get to eat them! As for Thursday’s hiccup, mum had brought all the ingredients for the good, old gravy dinner of toad in the hole and seeing as I cooked it and I love my British gravy dinners, nothing would have stopped me eating a lot of it!
Needless to say the last 7 days have been a complete write off on the diet front and have now been added to the “try to pretend this never happened” bin!

Exercise:
I may not be brilliant at keeping my fingers out of the biscuit tin but I sure can drag my butt out of bed and pump some iron! And this week I cranked things up a notch!
I decided to reduce the number of sets I do but increase the number of reps per set- for anyone who doesn’t know, this results in some major muscle burn and fatigue! The lactic acid seriously burns but after feeling the need to make amends for the diet front, I wasn’t ready to stop there and finished off each session with a couple of heart pumping circuits.
Yep, the exercise has been a real killer this week but I’ve kept at it and I’m glad that this side of things seems to be going fantastically! My cr*p diet has left me feeling a bit bloated and pot-bellied but at the same time I feel a bit fitter and stronger due to the weight training.
I’m not 100% sure whether I’ve packed on some muscle but after getting “ I hate muscles on women” as a response from my sister when I flexed a bicep, I’m more inclined to say I may have rather than I haven’t!
I still need to start jogging or some other form of cardio but as I have no plans for a summer holiday this year, I have no plans in wearing a bikini this year, and therefore have no plans in rushing!

In other news:
Our newly decorate lounge looks amazing! It went from this.....

to this.....

Yep, we love our new look, more spacious livng room and I am very proud seeing as I did most of it! Who says girls can't DIY!

Thought of the week:
My knickers are so far up my arse I might as well be wearing a thong!

Diet:
I love my food (especially the high carb, high fat, high calorie stodgy stuff) and I love lots of it! Yep, when I eat I like proper portions, none of this “one leaf of lettuce and I’m a salad” crap! Of course, it’s due to my love of food and man-sized portions that I now have a pot belly that likes to roll over the top of my trousers at the same time as pushing my top over my belly button! Now, I could just buy bigger clothes but I’d need money for that, so I’ve been left with the only other option available- diet and exercise! Urgh!
Google will tell you that pastry, fried foods, sugar, alcohol, and every other food I love, needs to be cut out for fat loss which is why I always tend to fail… and which is why I’m so proud of myself right now…. because (with the exception of a Peanut Butter Kit Kat chunky) I’ve gone a whopping 10 days without any naughty food!
That’s a real achievement for me and it was easier than I thought! There were a couple of evenings where that pizza menu nearly crept out the pizza menu drawer, due to my laziness in not really wanting to cook rather than actually craving one, but I stayed strong, got my arse off the sofa and cooked my chicken and veg knowing that I would enjoy my naughty meal at the end of the week a lot more if I did!
Although I’m chuffed about going 10 days without any major slip ups, I know I need to keep it up if I’m ever going to lean up and that has never been easy! Things always seem crop up that seem to make it difficult for me to eat my “diet” foods- take this coming week for example:
Its Pancake Day is this Tuesday and my sister always makes up a big, yummy batch for us to enjoy after dinner, and then on Thursday it’s dinner at mums where I’ll eat whatever gorgeous meal I’m served. Trying to diet around plans like these is difficult as I don’t want to put people out and seem unappreciative of their generosity. Luckily, I think I have a solution! I’ll have a few pancakes on Tuesday as my dinner, I’ll have a “normal” portion of mums cooking on the Thursday and I’ll scrap my naughty meal for the week- basically, I’ll have two smaller treats rather than one huge blowout!

Exercise:
On the physical front, everything is going A-OK. Again, I don’t seem to be feeling the pain of ripped muscles but I’m hoping this is because I’m getting stronger and eating and resting well rather than not putting in enough effort! Seeing as each workout is still getting my heart rate up and my blood pumping i/m definitely hitting it intensely so hopefully I’ll start seeing some serious results soon.
It hasn’t been easy getting out of bed in the dark, cold mornings though. There has been a couple of times when I’ve been snuggled under my duvet wondering whether to opt for a lie in but determination has prevailed, and after downing a cup of hot green tea during my warm up, I’m soon wide awake and sweating!

In other news:
Last night I had an indulgent meal at The Plough in Fen Ditton as my naughty meal. After 10 days of strictness I felt I had earned the meal and was able to enjoy it without thinking about diets, calories or wobbly bits! It was also fab due to the voucher we had (bargain) and the great company of my sister! We get on really well (a good thing really seeing as we live together!) but add a bottle of wine, a gorgeous three course meal and lots of chit chat, and you have a giggly, girlie scene worthy of a Sex and The City episode!
Also in other news, today we have started our lounge makeover! Our handyman is currently showing me his builders bum as he gets to work on ripping out the old wooden fire place so he can replaced it with our rather sleek looking wall mounted one! Once done we need to redecorate the wall with pink wallpaper so we are being really, really nice to Dad! Hee hee!

Thought of the week:
I hate it when people whistle out of their nose! It’s soooo distracting!

Diet:
Well, the week didn’t start great as on Monday (the day straight after my naughty meal) I ordered a Dominos….. a big Dominos! So big that when I finished my stomach really, reeeeally hurt! Needless to say the discomfort has taken the appeal out of ordering anymore takeaways for a while and even if it didn’t, the bloated belly and wind I had to deal with the next day sure did! I mean it’s never ideal having to handle that on any day, let alone a work day. I spent most of my time squeezing your buttocks together trying to prevent any unwanted fragrances escaping my arse and floating around the office! And unfortunately I had it bad! So bad that there was more than one occasion where I “let rip” on the toilet and I swear I lifted a couple of inches off the seat!! (At this point I would like to state that it takes a very brave individual who, when they leave the toilet and meet the audience who clearly heard the windy shenanigans, walks passed smiling in an unassuming, “nothing happened, you heard wrong” kind of way. Luckily, I’m one of those individuals!)
Since then I have been eating the usual “good for you” foods with no slip ups and due to my early week failure, this weekend’s naughty meal is cancelled! I shall be making my own healthy, low carb version of spaghetti bolognese instead.

Exercise:
After the lack of sore, achy muscles from my kettlebell session I decided that I needed to “let rip” (in a completely different context to above!!) and up my game. So I ditched the circuits and supersets for the more hardcore approach of hammering one body part constantly for a period of time. This approach was immense and my body felt the tiredness and pain as I repeatedly hit the same exercise over and over. As the day passed I could feel the soreness emerging and by Tuesday night I was “feeling it” all over- in my arms, my legs, my back, my butt…. and I loved it! I was also “feeling it” in my stomach which I didn’t love so much due to the pain it caused when I had to push out a little of that Dominos induced wind!
But the pain never stopped me and the very next day I picked up the kettlebell again. Only this time, despite the already slightly sore muscles, I really wanted to feel the burn so I swung it HIIT style! I managed to last a whopping 5 minutes doing 20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest before having to move onto a bit of HIIT shadow boxing. Again I punched my way through 20 seconds of time before resting for 10 seconds and re-starting. 5 minutes later I grabbed my kettlebell for the second time and repeated! That workout lasted just 20 minutes in total and oh boy, there was no lack of soreness this time!

In other news:
I have another dish to add to my list of perfect culinary creations! My meatloaf…

As you can see it turned out fantastically and tasted just as good! There was some left over which I heated up and served with some brussels and carrots later on in the week– it really does make a quick, hassel free, yummy weekday dinner!
Last weekend we were lucky enough to have some reward for this horribly cold weather…. Snow! And lots of it! Thankfully, despite a few scary moments, I was still able to drive to my parents for nans birthday roast dinner! The snow really made for a great weekend, especially for Bertie who had never seen the white stuff before! Since then we have had even more snow which I feel gives me enough reason to wear my Santa socks despite it being mid-February!
Finally, this Friday coming will be getting our new, sleek looking fireplace installed. I have the day booked off work (you know, just in case the handyman needs my help!) and in the evening my sister and I will play taxi to my parents as we drop them off to see the Johann Strauss orchestra before we head to The Plough in Fen Ditton for dinner. This meal will be my naughty meal for the week and I’m very, very excited about it as I haven't eaten out i ages!

Thought of the week:
February already... oooh, pancake day this month!

Diet:
In my opinion the key factor to losing fat and keeping it off is patience… and unfortunately I don’t have a lot of it. Personally when I put in the effort I want to see results straight away even though I know it doesn’t work like that! So after a week or so, despite feeling generally “better” in myself, I do find myself feeling disheartened by the fact my pot belly is still there and end up reaching for the telephone to give Dominos my usual order. And this week has been no different….
After last week’s decision to be super-duper strict, 24/7, I knew that I would never be able to do it and therefore I decided that I would allow myself to have one meal a week where I could eat or drink whatever I wanted. This would hopefully keep me on track by having a treat to look forward to and work hard for. This new plan seemed to be working as day after day passed without any slip ups. I was feeling, fit, healthy, (and even slimmer!) but then Thursday hit! All of a sudden I felt fat and down in the dumps, BUT I kept on course and was pretty chuffed with myself! But then yesterday hit... in a big way... when at work... as I noticed how just fat and wobbly my thighs were when I was sitting on the toilet! I mean seriously! I’ve been squatting, lunging, stepping, butt clenching for the past for 3 weeks and they still look like that! They look exactly the same as when I did nothing but sit on my arse feeding it chips! Obviously this did not go down well so I wiped, pulled up my knickers, did up my trousers, sucked in my stomach and stomped back to my desk! It’s safe to say that every ounce of my will power was at work last night as I marginally managed to stick to my diet and downed just the one Carlsberg!
It’s now Saturday which means I only have to get through today before I get to indulge this week’s naughty meal – mum's roast lamb dinner! Surely I can do that? Right??

Exercise:
Due to all my naughtiness in the past few weeks I have made sure to keep up with my six weight sessions a week. Not only that but I have increased my workload by adding a few more reps to my sets. Even though I absolutely hate it at the time, I do love the buzz I feel afterwards and when I do slip up diet wise, I feel that a good, hard workout helps to counteract some of it!
To be honest, I also love the buckets of sweat and sore, achy muscles that comes with it- it makes me feel that I’ve really done some good work!
Talking of sore, achy muscles, I decided to switch things up a bit this week so on Wednesday I reached for the kettlebell! I did swing after swing after swing, and expected to “feel it” immensely the next day. I was rather disappointed when I didn’t! Maybe I’m just fitter than I thought? Or maybe (and most likely) I didn’t push myself hard enough?? Either way it was a nice change from my usual routine so I’ll definitely work that kettlebell again…. only more fiercely!

In other news:
Firstly, I want to congratulate my mum (who won’t be reading this as she doesn’t really do technology!) on her fantastic efforts and weight loss. We brought her a dress this Christmas which didn’t quite do up, but instead of returning it for a bigger size she used it as her incentive to cut out the chocolate and crisps. We visited her last weekend and guess what she was wearing when she opened the door….. yep, her Christmas present! And it fitted perfectly- well done mum!
On my quest to eat nice and healthily I have been doing some googling and looking for some yummy new recipes I could try. In my opinion, I make a great green thai chicken curry, beef stroganoff and chilli con carne, and tonight I’m hoping to add meatloaf to that list as I’ll be making and tasting my very first one! Of course, I don’t make the traditional style of the dishes as the amount of carbs are a no-go for me, but they certainly fill a hole and tickle my taste buds!
Finally, I promised my sister I wouldn’t tell anybody about this soooooo…
When out for a muddy walk last Sunday my sister unfortunately lost her purse with some money in it. If that wasn’t upsetting enough, she also got dog turd all over her fingers after picking up Berty’s rather runny poo!! Of course, I nearly wet myself laughing at this but my sister was less than pleased! Who said being a responsible dog owner was easy!

Thought of the week:
Another Tuesday, another Dominos….. and I wonder why I never get anywhere!

Diet:
Well my idea of eating well all week and letting go at the weekend seems to be a brilliant plan as, knowing I can be a little bad at the weekend means I’m able to stick to my chicken and veg dinners on these cold, dark week nights. But this week did not go well… not well at all!
After a rather long, slightly stressful day at work on Tuesday my dinner quickly turned into a can of Carlsberg and a Domino’s takeaway! That meal turned out to be the first step onto a slippery slope as Wednesday and Thursday soon fell at the wayside!
I think it’s clear that my “eat well in the week, treat myself at the weekend” plan may not be the brilliant idea I first thought it was! So I have now made a decision! A very important decision! And that decision is…. to get strict! Yep, it’s now all or nothing so starting yesterday I’m eating healthy (apart from very, very special occasions!) - even at weekends!

Exercise:
I never weigh myself and very rarely reach for the tape measure- it’s all about how I feel and how much flab is hanging over the top of trousers! So, considering I’m feeling a lot more energetic, and generally just “better”, I would say the six workout sessions a week are starting to make some small impact mentally. However, physically there is still way too much belly rolling over the top button on my work trousers! (Of course this is probably due to my poor… very poor diet, and pizza ordering!)
Currently all my workouts are resistance based and I’m feeling much stronger because of it, but I can have the odd “I’m feeling bulky” moment so cardio is definitely needed! With that said, I’m in no major rush to start my jogging as I do enjoy, and tend to stick to my running a lot more in the warmer, lighter mornings of spring and summer!

Other news:
Me and my sister are currently planning our new look lounge and we have purchased a rather sleek looking wall mounted fire to replace the original wood mantle and electric coal one. We are now scrutinising wall paper and wondering just where we can install a plug socket for the fire seeing as we don’t want the wire showing! Wall paper wise, we’re thinking bright so lots of hot pink, apple green and antigua blue samples are taped to our currently dark purple feature wall. As for the plug dilemma- we have no idea!

Remember me? Well if not, don’t worry, as you can get a rather detailed introduction to me and my life by reading the below, older posts. But for those who can’t be bothered to read it and want to know just who I am then here’s a quick intro….

My name is Pickle (well, that’s my nickname!) and since the beginning of time I have struggled to lose my ever expanding pot belly due to my love of sitting on my butt, drinking alcohol and eating Domino’s pizza… with all the sides!
Last year I decided enough was enough and set up this blog to help me once and for all stay on the straight and narrow and lose my belly for my 25th birthday and holiday to Ibiza. My thinking was that if I had to tell people how much I actually eat and how often I slip up, I’m bound to not do it as I don’t want everyone knowing!
At first this worked pretty well as I ate healthy foods, worked out and shed a good stone of weight. But me being me couldn’t keep it up and I ended up eating anything and everything in sight to the point I eventually gave up and even stopped blogging.
I’m now back to my original (if not heavier) weight and feel I should once again give my will power and determination the benefit of the doubt and try this blogging/healthy lifestyle thing again! So, without further a-do, here’s my first blog post:

Thought of the week:
I’ve dieted and exercised for a full week now…. Why isn’t my belly flat yet!

Diet:
After a good two months of eating whatever I like (generally cr*p) over the Christmas/New Year period, I now find myself in the very familiar situation of feeling a bit too podgy for my liking…. and my jeans!
So, for the last two weeks I’ve being trying to get back on track with the whole healthy eating thing. Week one didn’t go overly well seeing as I ordered a Domino’s pizza on the Tuesday, a Chinese feast on the Saturday and then stuffed my face with a chip butty on Sunday!
However, this week I’ve been gold as gold and stuck to my healthy eating because of one reason…. I decided that if I do well in the week then I can relax over the weekend. Yep, be good in the week and be a little naughty at the weekend- after all, I am just getting into the swing of things so baby steps at time people!
So tonight I’ll be enjoying a fish and chip dinner (don’t worry – it’s not from the chippy!) and tomorrow I’ll be stuffing my face with my mums first roast dinner since Christmas! Mmm mmmmm!

Exercise:
Not only did I spent pretty much the whole of November and December eating high calorie, high fat junk foods, I also sat on my big, lazy butt with my only exercise being my many walks to the fridge and back. This wasn’t totally due to my piggyness as I was suffering from a very severe case of shin splints which have taken a whopping 8 odd weeks of rest to heal.
Still, my shin are better now and as I’m trying to eat healthy I have picked up the weights and done a good few reps…. Especially this week!
I haven’t started jogging again yet as the weather is still a little cold for me (I have my reasons- I’m a Raynaud’s sufferer!) but fingers crossed I keep the workouts up and increase my fitness so when my first run does appear I’ll feel a little less suicidal afterwards!

Other news:
From Saturday the 14th January 2012 we officially became a four man household after my sister rehomed the lovely Berty (a rescue dog from the animal shelter I work at). Berty is a lovely Collie X who seems to like nothing more than licking my face as I lay on the floor doing my weighted bench lifts! Still, he’s a good boy and has settled in well with me, my sister and Dotty, her 2 and a half year old Jack Russell.
Also, my sister turns the ripe old age of 30 this December and my present to her…. a week of eating, drinking and gambling in Las Vegas! So, for the next gazillion months I’ll be saving, saving, saving to make sure she gets the best Vegas experience ever!!

Until next time….

Week Three

Thought of the week: (When on the home stretch of Tuesdays run)
Wow I could keep running for hours! Must be that tub of Ben & Jerrys I ate last night!

Diet:
After the all out binging I did last weekend I seem to have hit somewhat of a stumbling block in the fact that I cant stop eating "crap!" The truth is, all the calorie counting and meal planning I have done over the last year or so has exhausted me to the point where, mainly due to lack of results, I cant be arsed and dont want to do it anymore.
So this week I decided to have a "semi-rest" from it all by eating healthily while at work but having whatever I fancy for dinner. I know this will not give me my lean and toned stomach but I just havent been in dieting frame of mind!
But Monday the 1st of August just round the corner now so i'm thinking new week, new month, new start! So starting tomorrow, my plan is to try to be a little stricter with dinner which means keeping a small amount of carbs on the menu but passing on the desserts!

The naughty bit:
Well... Monday was turkey drummers, chips, bread, peas and a tub of Ben & Jerrys. Tuesday was a burger, jacket potato, beans, cheese and a jam roly poly with custard. Wednesday wasnt too bad until I snuggled on the sofa with a tub of ice cream watching Step Up 3. Thursday was mums toad in the hole and an apple crumble with custard! Friday was, you've guessed it, Dominos pizza with lots of sides and desserts. Last night was chicken burgers, chips and a toffee and pecan roulard at mums, and tonight is corned beef hash and baken beans! (Wowza... lots of cals there!)

Exercise:
Its official- I'm king of the hill! Okay, more like queen of the hill but the bottom line is: I finally made it to the very top of the steep hill and all the way back home without stopping and more importantly, dying!
I can't begin to tell you how good it feels to actually be back at the top of my running. Its really feels great and my goal is to now try and run even further... but first I need to find a nice way to add more miles to my route.
Circuit wise I'm back on top form there too! I'm now doing an extra circuit (so 5 instead of the 4!) and am managing to add 15 minutes of interval cardio to the end! Again i'm absolultely chuffed that i'm back on it with the exercise... I feel it makes up for my disasterous diet a little!

The painful bit:
My thighs! Yep the hill running, squats, lunges and reverse lunges have left me and my thighs feeling a little tight and sore!

In other news:
The "Come Dine With Me" three course meal that I did for my family last Sunday was a roaring success! We had warm cheese, crusty bread and caramelised red onion to start, pan fried duck with green beans and daulphinoise potatoes for the main and mini frangipan tarts with ice cream to finish. The whole family seemed impressed with my culinery skills and they especially loved my dessert! Even my mum (who is not a dessert fan- crazy I know!) is still ranting and raving about my tarts and homemade shortcrust pastry!
To be honest I've been doing a lot of cooking this week and have even whipped up a couple of healthy dinner dishes - Green Thai Chicken Curry and a Beef Stroganoff! Both were very yummy and a hit with me and my sister so they will definitely be on the new "stricter dinners" menu!
On Thursday I went to the birthday party of Dotty, my lovable niece, who turned 2 years old. To celebrate we had a hearty meal and gave Dotty some pressies - I gave her a chew toy, set of balls and 2 very big meaty biscuits! What? Oh, I see! No, Dotty isnt a baby! She's my sisters adorable black and white, short legged, short haired Jack Russell puppy... waaaaay cuter then any baby!

<< Awwww, Dotty!

(See, waaaaay cuter than any baby!)

So there you have it! My week of "semi-rest" and naughty dinners! Now as August approaches I must try to pass on the desserts, forget that Dominos exists and finally lose my podge!