Tortoise weight loss continues

 I've lost count of how many weeks I have now been back on track but I started again in earnest from the end of November last year which is roughly 38 weeks (if I've counted correctly on the calendar!)

My weight loss as it stands is 35.7lbs - so actually just under 1 lb per week so that is quite a good weight loss to be honest!

I am still away at least 2 nights per week and so have to be really on the ball with planning my meals which to be honest I think has helped tremendously with my weight loss. I plan my snacks as well as my food and when I am away, I am on some days struggling to actually manage to eat enough of my points to get a blue dot!

I am actually away for almost 2 weeks in a row at the beginning of September as my work buddy is on holiday so I have to work 5 days those weeks. Planning will be the key for those weeks, especially as my landlady does not have a big fridge and I will struggle to get things stored. We have a fruit and veg shop outside the main entrance to the hospital and there is a Tesco Express, Sainsbury's Local and a Morrisons all at the top of the road where I can catch my bus from so I think that I will look at daily buying (not ideal) and buy food on my way home each night. Chicken salads may well become frequent! I have however planned at some point to have something from the chippy as I have been craving this for so long! I can't remember the last time I had something from the chippy and a work colleague has recommended a fish and chip shop which I pass on my way home so I think I will stop off there one night and buy something to eat on the way and then walk the rest of the way home - earn some fit points as I go as it's about a 30 minute walk from there to my lodgings!

Exercise is something that I am severely lacking in doing and every post I have done probably talks about me planning to do more. One day I will get there but for now I am happy to hit my 5000 steps in a day. Need to think about putting it up to maybe 5500 and seeing how I go (probably said that as well to be honest!)

I am, as they say, in the zone at the moment and fingers crossed it will continue. If I can carry on at this rate then I will hit at least 3 stone if not nearly 4 by the time the end of November comes along and that is a good amount to have lost in one year. It will be however, only halfway for me in my weight loss journey and I will need to have the momentum to carry it on. I am however the lowest weight I have been for well over 10 years now so I am happy. 

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

So, I have used this photo before but I think it's still relevant today and will always be relevant for my weight loss journey!

I am now 36 weeks into this attempt at loosing weight and I have so far lost 30.5lbs and am now the lightest I have been in at least 10 years!

I have dropped 2 dress sizes on my trousers and definitely feel much better. 

I do however need to up my exercise - I say that a lot but don't seem to get my arse in gear to do it!

I am still doing virtual WW classes as our area has not yet opened any express checkins and to be honest they do fit better with my life at the moment. Working away gives me the opportunity to join in all sorts of late meetings as my County doesn't do any at the moment. My regular coach has just announced that she has decided to leave WW at the end of next week which is a shame as she is an excellent coach. So I will need to look for a new meeting on a Wednesday morning once things have settled down. 

My landlady has just dumped on me that she will be self-isolating the week after next and so I won't be able to stay there which has caused a small problem as I need to stay for 4 nights that week. She has also said that due to a family issue she may have to have her cousin 2 nights a week due to a family issue and that I would not be able to stay there at all if that happens. I have managed to find an AirBnB room for the week after next which is just slightly more expensive than normal, but it is also someone who I was chatting to prior to lockdown to see if I could have a regular stay there. She is willing to talk it through a bit more when I stay, so fingers crossed it will work ok. It is closer to both hospitals so that will make things a bit easier and if I do have stay more nights than normal, the hospital shuttle is only a short walk away and I could actually catch that instead of taking my car in each day. So I have a trial there the week after next and hopefully will be there full time from then.

So, after 13 weeks, it's all change. When I am unstable, I tend to eat my emotions, so the coming weeks will be a challenge but then again when isn't a weight loss journey challenge?

Let's try and keep on track and just keep going forward at a slow speed!

Back again

So am a further 2 weeks down the line

Food is being planned and tracked - both for when I am away and for when I am at home

Still no further on with accommodation

We have written our operation policies for the new service and are waiting for the Matron to give us feedback but the Trust is planning on opening most services by the 1st July so we need to be up and running by then!

Haven't done a happy mile :(

Lost 2.6lbs then put 1.3lbs on - very frustrating but am on course to loose another 2.6lbs this week which gives me a total loss of 4lbs if I am good today :) which is over half way to my mini goal of 7lbs before September

Haven't tried any new meals but am still clearing out the freezer at the moment so once there is room then I can look again!

Have been doing at least 3 Zoom meetings each week!

So feeling fairly pleased with myself - need to fit in the happy miles and hopefully that will help with the weight loss!

Surviving!

So as we are about to enter week 9 of lockdown I thought I would jot down a few thoughts!

Weight loss wise - I have gained and lost the same 4 lbs over that period and have been extremely frustrated by it all. Fluid retention is playing a large part in this and with this in mind I have chosen to change my weigh-in day to a Monday morning - I can guarantee that I am at home on that day and I will have usually spent a good part of the weekend with my feet up! I have also dug out my many slimming cook books and have been trying new recipes each week - have enjoyed them and also have a large amount of pre-cooked meals in the freezer now as well! The freezer is well stocked with meat as well and to be honest could do with emptying out and defrosting so that will be the mission over the coming weeks while trying to come up with some diet-friendly meals!

Work wise - I have now completed 6 weeks in the new job. The team have been so welcoming and they are all really nice. The lead consultant has plans to utilise my skills from the old job but as I have told her that aspect needs to be business cased and added to the job description - I have learnt from before! The matron has lots of ideas - they may not make me popular with my work colleagues but we will see if they are workable first! The job, however, has changed considerably from what was advertised! Because of COVID-19, the site I was due to work at has been shut to all but COVID-19 cases and emergency surgery. The Trust has been working at 40% occupancy as a whole and our service was withdrawn. We are now in the "new norm" phase and we have been asked to review our service and make improvements. The consultants have decided not to provide any regular medical cover at the other site and so this will alter how our role can be developed. So we have been given a blank page and told to go for it with blue sky thinking. So we did! We have proposed to offer a nurse-led in reach service on all 4 sites and not just the one site. This would work side by side with the liaison SpR and would be on offer 5 days a week, 9 - 4. We want to create better links and visibility with our maternity and cancer sites and so want to factor in a weekly visit to those sites so that they can access us more easily. So now we have to write all of the SOPs for the new service and work with the SpR who is leading on the review of the medical model to see how this will work. They go live on the 1st June, we won't be live at that point but we hope to be not far behind. I have also been tasked with arranging VTE prevention training for the entire Trust - that is going to be fun. I have also been asked to look at the progress that has been made with switching our AES supplier to a new one which has come to a halt because of COVID-19.

Accommodation wise - I was fortunate that a chance chat with a neighbour has set me up temporarily with a room for the nights that I need to stay up there which won't break the bank. The landlady is lovely. The room is great. I am able to leave things in the fridge and the freezer and I can switch my nights as needed. The house though is south of the city. This is fine while there is no traffic and while I am based at the current site but once things start to return to normal and I am expected to be working at the other site the commute time would be around about 40 minutes. For that journey time, I might as well be staying at home and travelling up and back every day! So I am currently trying to sort out another room for July onwards providing the person I am messaging is no longer self-isolating! This bit of my job is causing me some stress as I like to have things sorted in my head which then gives me the reassurance that I need to be able to concentrate on the main job!

Food wise - I am managing to have a fairly good diet while I am away. The patients and staff though are terrible at having so many cakes and treats donated/brought in that I am finding it very difficult to resist! I have ordered sweet things from WW to keep at work and to have each day which is working so far. A NSV on Thursday was almost buying a packet of chocolate biscuits to take with me to my lodgings and actually ending up buying some prepared carrots and some reduced fat red pepper hummus - this worked out as 4SP for half a tub rather than 4SP per biscuit and the entire packet being eaten. The landlady is vegetarian and although she is happy for me to bring meat into the house, I do feel guilty about doing this! I had a goat's cheese salad the first couple of weeks I stayed there, a chicken salad the third week and then this week Ive had baked beans on sourdough toast. All have been lovely to eat. I need to think about other things though that I can eat - it needs to be quick and simple as I don't get home until gone 7 and all I want to do is eat, shower and bed!

WW wise - I have embraced the Zoom meetings and try and get to at least one per week. Someone who I was in a what's app group with told me that her Monday meetings are a late start so I sneak in at 7 and am made to feel welcome by the lead coach each time. When I am off in the week I also try and join a meeting around lunchtime as well so I am doing at least 2 meetings a week which is good!

So my plan going forward is:

• Mini goal of 7 lbs off by September
• Happy mile every week
• Sort out a permanent room
• Keep trying new meals
• Plan and track
• Zoom at least once a week
• Design a gold-star service for the 4 sites at our Trust

Let's see how it all pans out 

Fail to prepare - prepare to fail!

So today (well officially yesterday to be honest) marks the new path in my career. 

I am starting in my new Trust 80 miles from home after gaining a promotion and had everything planned out! 

Then COVID hit and things have gone a bit astray! 

I am still going to my new Trust but have no idea if I will be working in my allocated department or out on the wards (that bit actually scares me quite a bit to be honest ☹️). 

However, prior to all this, my plan was to stay away from home 2 nights a week but to actually only do my hours over 4 days instead of 5 to help cut down on travelling. 

Because these are induction weeks and Easter falls in the middle of them I am doing 4 short days each week which means 2 nights away on the trot. 

I have a room in a house for both weeks but haven’t organised anything else after that yet as I have no idea what my shifts will be - worse case scenario is travel up and back each day. 

So, food prepped and ready to take with me - more or less the same food each day but it sure looks a lot! I really want to continue well with my weight loss journey - I am currently 22 lbs down and want to be at least another 1 lb down this week but I can't weigh in until Friday this week. 

Treats are in there and I still have points left over each day in case of emergencies of which I am sure there will be many! 🤣 

Wish me luck 🤞🏻💚

Still loosing and trying to shop for essentials!

So in these strange times I have managed to keep on losing weight. I had a massive loss of 5lbs about 5 weeks ago and then the following week I had regained 4lbs of that and at that point I went a bit off track - I'm good at doing that when I hit a bump in the road!

I then had a few stay the same and then last week managed a 4lb loss - however, because the meetings are now cancelled, I weighed in the morning and so didn't have the fluid retention that I usually have by the time of my weigh-in in the evenings!.

I have weighed again this week and I have lost a further 2lbs  - still morning weigh-ins and I am on annual leave this week as well, so lots of sitting with my feet up! So I am at 20.5lbs loss in total at the moment!

I am a nurse in the NHS and so am entitled to the early morning shopping to get the essentials in this current health climate so this morning I was up early and and off to our local Sainsbury's. I got there just after 07:30am and there were 2 queues - one for NHS to shop now and another one for the older and vulnerable shoppers who would be allowed in at 8am. The queue was fairly long and so took some time for me to reach the entrance to the store which was about 08:05am.

After the show of appreciation last night with the clapping on the streets for the NHS workers I was shocked at how rude the older shoppers were about having to queue in line and that it was past 8 am and that they should be able to jump the queue of other elderly people who were already queuing halfway round the card park. The staff at the Sainsbury's that I was at were amazing - they kept reminding the shouting shoppers that they should maintain a 2m distance and not be in their face shouting at them. They explained that because they were encouraging social distancing they were only allowing so many people into the store and that the NHS line was still being allowed in. To be honest these people should be shocked at their behaviour.

I was also shocked at the number of couples that had arrived to shop - we are being encouraged to stay in our homes and only leave for essential journeys - why does it take 2 people from the same household to do the shopping? This population is one of the highest risk for COVID and should be isolating as much as possible!

I just hope that things improve over the next few days - staff on the front line are not just the NHS - its all of the emergency services and essential services and no one should be spoken to in the way they were today. The older generation constantly say that the younger generation are rude - well there's our role models obviously! Don't get me wrong, I felt guilty being in the NHS line but the behaviour today was unacceptable  - where's the British spirit - keep calm and carry on!

My meals aren't planned but we have food to last us over the coming days and we have a corner shop where we have been able to get some things from. I'm hoping that the weight loss will continue - I haven't really done many steps over this week so need to look at doing some more happy miles  and maybe look at some others as well - there are many many short exercises popping up to help with all the social isolation that is going on!

Stay safe out there and please be polite to everyone  - it's not difficult!

Finally - 1 stone and a little bit more!

So I managed to get my first stone at WW last week - I needed 1/2 a pound to get there and I actually lost 5!

I put it down to hubby being away most of the week and I was able to have meals that I wanted to, which were fairly low pointed and I spent a lot of my time with my feet up helping to reduce the amount of fluid retention.

I'm please I reached that first stone as it was my Coach's last night at our meeting - she is having to reduce the number of Studios that she runs due to health reasons. At the moment she has only reduced them by two, but I think that come the summer she will be reducing even more.

She is an excellent coach and I will miss her - I have attended her meetings on and off for a number of years and I find her inspirational - not that you would think it considering the weight I am!

With the new job looming I need to think about where and when I will weigh-in each week - if I am working a 4-day week then I will look to weigh here at home but if it is a 5-day week then I will maybe think about somewhere up there. You never know, maybe one of the staff benefits will be a WW meeting somewhere on site at a reasonable time - will ask if this is part of their wellbeing for the staff at induction!

I am just under my cumulative target for the year for my 1000 miles but have walked 30 miles more this month than last and need to keep that up!

I've used this picture before but to put it into context for my knees that's 74 lb less pressure going through my bad knee and that is something I need to keep working on - the less weight on my knee the better!