Week three down and another 2lbs off. That’s 10 lbs in total in 3 weeks. But has it been worth it and do I think I’ll manage to keep it off? Well in short, yes! And here’s why.

I probably could have done better and goodness knows Amy (my PT) is extremely motivational and supportive. But. I know, I know, there’s always a ‘but’! And here it is, before I made the commitment to doing this I also made myself some promises:

• Although fitness is important, projects have to fit in around our (the family’s) lives not the other way around
• At this point in my life I’m a mum first and foremost; the kids come first
• If I’m hungry I must eat
• If I’m tired (as soon as is possible) I must sleep
• I can NOT do everything ALL the time
• If I fail it’s o.k.

The biggest change I have made is to commit to taking/making 30 minutes a day for myself. Where I can I have used this for exercise, but not always. Sometimes I’ve used it to be mindful of myself, to relax and to take care of myself. This may seem lazy and defeatist, but actually its been the best way to keep up my motivation and ward off cravings.

Cheats

I’ve never been big on fad diets or weight watcher groups and weigh ins. In fact I’ve actively avoided them my entire life! And in all honesty I wasn’t sure I’d be able to buy into counting calories. As I’m a real advocate of eating well. However, counting calories doesn’t have to be about ‘sins’ and killing yourself to be ‘allowed’ a Mars bar. I’ve used it as a tool to help me be conscious about how I’m fuelling myself and in turn burning that fuel. A real help in this process has been the use of Amy’s fitness app, which not only allows you to document your meals to physically see your own eating patterns/habbits, but also gives you the calorie content of whatever you are eating. Being the anarchist that I am I used this to try and legally beat the system! Here are my tips:

• If you take sugar, try to reduce the sugars you have in your tea and/or coffee.
  Tea with milk and 1 sugar = 40
  Without sugar = 23
  If you normally have 3 cups a day that’s a reduction of 51 calories a day!
• When snacking think about what you’re reaching for; an energy boost because you’re hungry or a cravings curber because you’re bored/feeling down/just in the mood for something yummy.
  2 Belvita breakfast biscuits have 112 calories!
  A Milky bar had 98.
  1 avocado on a slice of wholemeal bread is 408 calories!!!
  A Macdonalds hamburger with homemade salad (3 medium sized tomatoes, 9 leafs of lettuce) has only 334.
• Salads not always your friend, a bowl of mashed veg and potato with a knob of butter is often more satisfying, tastier and nutritious than a basic salad which once dress can be extremely calorific, even if (like me) you just use salt and olive oil!
  1 Tbsp butter =102
  1 Tbsp olive oil =119

Stretching & Massage

Part of my 30 minute ‘mum-me time’ has included trying to do this quick, 10 minute, beginners yoga session each day. It says to start the day but I’ve just squeezed it in where ever (normally nap time). It’s really helped to gently stretch out my muscles and strengthen my core, ready for working out.

And at the end of every day I’ve tried to get 5 minutes on my new Naipo foot massager.

I’d love to hear your tips, cheats and daily routines. Feel free to leave them in the comments below. Until then here’s my 3rd week’s stats.

MEASUREMENTS

Height: 5 foot 7 inches

Weight: 11 stone 2 pounds

Dress size: 14