The Lovely Huw

Doggie politics kicking in both of them wanting to be co-pilot! Shelagh not impressed with Minty's boldness...see the resentful glare! Also quite hard to steer...

Ah, that's more like it - there's only one co-pilot on this boat....and it's not that upstart Minty!!

Nice sunny pub with flowers and fruity Pimms.....God it was good!

Those sailing boats took up a lot of room, we were nearly in the reeds trying not to get in their way.

Very chatty African Grey parrot in Upton. We used to have one in Nigeria when I was a kid so it took me back.

Glam Girl admitted in her blog recently that she couldn't do it on her own so she was going to have to give in and had signed up for Personal Training. She seemed to think it was a bad thing. I don't understand it.

I've been going to personal training with The Lovely Huw (TLH) for 2 and a half years now. Twice a week in his studio gym just a mile from home from 7am on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It is the most consistent I have ever been with any form of exercise and I've seen the biggest changes in my physique as well. It is definitely a "non-negotiable" in my life and I only miss for very good reasons (holidays, death...and...er, that's it). It's so embedded that all my colleagues know not to book me in for a meeting before 10am on Tuesday or Thursdays either.

TLH is a really nice guy. God knows what he makes of my early morning stream of consciousness chatter on every subject under the sun but he seems to enjoy it! I wouldn't have thought that I'm the chatty type at 7am but apparently I am! Although I chat about everything (I mean it - everything!!), it's particularly helpful to be able to talk about food and exercise. And those huge mirrors mean that I have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide on the weight front. I can see pretty quickly when I've gained and enjoy the thinness when I have dropped weight!

In terms of concrete, objective proof that it works....well, we do the weighing and measuring thing every now and then. Probably not as often or as systematically as I should to be honest but it is helpful to be able to look back and see exactly where I was over the last few years.

The week after I finished filming for the Sky show, I asked him to do a full set of weights and measurements to act as a fresh benchmark. My request followed on from what Steve Peters had recommended I do - have an external, objective base so that my chimp can't fool me into thinking that I'm doing okay if I'm actually straying.

Having taken skinfolds and measured etc TLH caluclated my 5 body fat at 29%. Apparently the normal/okay range is between 20 and 30% so, for a still largish lass, 29% is not too bad. We had a look back and found a previous measurement from last spring when I weighed almost exactly the same (within 1kg) but my fat % was 33%! So, I may have gained and then lost weight over the last year but I have definitely reduced the percentage of me which is fat!

I can see the change in my clothes too. I know roughly when I weighed this much over my life - it's not difficult - last spring; around the time of my wedding in 1994 and when I was at Law School in 1991/2. Looking back at photos of me from those dates I know that I was wearing a bigger size in clothes. In 1991/2 and 1994 I was a size 18, maybe a 16 in some shops or styles. Last spring a size 16 and now a 14/16! And that size 14 is not just in the "generous" shops (we all know who they are). I mean a Dorothy Perkins size 14 on top and bottom! I still have to buy 16's if the style is tight on the legs and hips, say skinny jeans but everything else is fine in a 14.

So, that truism which gets trotted out to every dieter as an excuse for not losing weight, that "maybe you've gained muscle?", might be actually true??!

I'm thanking TLH anyway: without him pressing 12.5kg weights into my hands and ordering me to knock out those shoulder presses or get on with a few hundred split squats, I would NOT be wearing sleeveless tops (due to my - what was it Peridot called them - Bingo Wings of Doom??) and my bum would be even bigger in this!!!

1 lb!!

Warning - this post may contain scenes of geese! There was something so magical about hearing and feeling the flap of geese wings flying just overhead in the evenings as they headed into the fields to roost. Stunning birds. I like this chap below staring right at the camera....looks like something out of Babe!

I saw this lot set off so managed to get my camera out in time to capture the whole flight which went right over our heads.

They reminded me of a squadron of fighter jets or something, very powerful.

Now they're coming in to land, anchors on.

Well, as you might have guessed from the heading, I lost a single lb last week. I could have been all "1lb! 1 measly lb after all that effort!! Why do I bother?? This is all too hard...." etc etc But instead I'm going down the "I'm a lb lighter than I was last week and that means that, despite having a really nice week; going out to the pub every night bar Monday and Tuesday; enjoying life to the full and eating some delicious meals with D, I managed not to gain any weight and indeed, to drop a whole lb."

That's much nicer scenario.

Back around Christmas of last year, I realised that I had gained a fair bit of the weight I lost through LL and, despite a bit of self-denial around exactly how much I had gained, I accepted that. I realised that the situation was not terminal, I was still considerably lighter than I had been at my heaviest, but that I needed to really address the "why", "what" and "how" of my eating and exercising patterns rather than just deny myself proper food and force myself to exercise.

At that time, my goal was extremely modest. I wanted to weigh less at the end of 2009 than I did at the beginning. Preferably more than a stone less but less would do. If I did this through healthy eating and "normal" living, I would have gone a long way towards learning to maintain my weight and even lose a bit and I could see a stable slimm(ish) future for me.

At that time, I turned to Beck and made a fairly sustained effort at working out what I thought about food and exercise, why I ate too much and didn't exercise, and how I might change this. I began the laborious process of monitoring my eating habits and then re-learning new healthy ones and I was having some sucess. Then, as if my magic, but actually through the good offices of Mrs Lard, the TV show fell into my lap. Through the wonders of Sky Real Lives, a highly trained and totally focussed psychiatrist (Dr Steve Peters) peered into my psyche and explained myself to me. It was wonderful. Not only that, he provided loads of helpful suggestions as to how I might deal with me and my eating and my (lack of) exercising forever.

Through the period of the show I lost a stone and a half and I got much fitter.

Then, the filming stopped and I was back on my own. The moment of truth. Have I learned anything? Have any of the lessons sunk in? Well, yes. I am a different person. I think a lot more about what I'm doing. I am more accountable and recognise that actions have consequences. I happily say no to things because now I'm only saying no to food or drink, not to comfort and happiness. Food is not as complicated as it used to be. Yes, there are still residual feelings around food, associated with treats and comfort and love, but generally, I now KNOW that food is just food and saying no to something will not cause the sky to fall in.

So, losing a lb in a week and keeping up my exercise regime while enoying life and working away is a "good thing". I don't have a timetable for losing the rest of my weight, in fact I'm pretty happy with myself as I am, so I'm just going to carry on making good choices nearly all the time, exercising and staying healthy and hopefully at the end of the year, I'll look back and think "I aced that resolution"!

Maybe next year, my New Year's Resolution will have nothing to do with weight?? I suspect it will though but there is hope for the year after....

PS. I've just been told that the show is likely to air on 6 and 7th October on Sky Real Lives. So I won't be on holiday when it goes out after all!!

Resistance is futile...

Stunning Great Crested Grebe.

Me'n'Minty

The Windmill of cormorants. Don't know why but it was the only windmill we saw covered in them...a bit spooky really.

See, definitely cormorants...

It pains me to admit it but D caught this shot....gnashing of teeth....

And this one......

St Benet's Abbey, or rather the ruins thereof which were then turned intoa a windmill - they're very keen on windmills in Norfolk!

Yesterday I was moaning about all the temptation littering my office...whinge whinge whinge. Well today I have proved that resistance is NOT futile. When your head is in the right place, it's not even that difficult. That's not to say that it's not a killer sometimes but, at the moment, I'm feeling up the task of cheerfully refusing food which I don't want and don't need!!

I had my usual sensible breakfast and then drove to work. On arrival the team who sit next to me had already ordered Friday morning breakfast butties. They did offer to put in a late order for me but I declined. Then, when the sandwiches arrived, they found an extra one mistakenly added to the order. And what was it? Only my favourite, bacon and egg with tomato sauce!! Going free. Hot and perfectly cooked. I wavered, I thought about taking it or sharing it with a colleague and then smiled wryly at my chimp who was jumping up and down and grabbing for the sandwich and said "no thanks".

Then the bunch of gits started trying to persuade me....actually chanting and wheedling, saying they would have half, showing me how lovely the sandwiches are from that shop....going on and on about it. (As an aside, can you imagine anyone doing that sort of thing to a recovering alcoholic or drug addict in rehab or someone who had just given up smoking??? But it's okay if it's food and it surrounds us every day of our lives....sigh)

But no - I stood firm and actually felt good about it. I think the key was making the decision promptly and firmly. Not fannying around and thinking about it. No internal bargaining about I'll have this and then no lunch etc etc, just said no and stuck to it. It also helped that I'd posted last night about focussing on losing weight before our hols and then had stood on the scales this morning to see the exact same weight, yet again! So, blogging, accountability and decisiveness all help in the resistance armoury.

Since then I've been a diet ninja, brushing aside the assassin highkicks of sweets, biscuits, cake. I also gave myself no excuse to avoid exercise like I did last night. I had a hair appointment this evening after work and knew that I wouldn't want to ruin the "just done" look by sweating and showering afterwards so anticipated this excuse and planned to go to the gym at lunchtime. I might still have stumbled as I was in a meeting immediately before lunch which dragged on, but no. I made my excuses and rushed off to the gym for Body Attack. It was knackering! High impact, old-fashioned aerobics with intricate routines and lots of running and jumping. I loved it!! I was not so keen on the 15 minutes of abdominals but hopefully this torture will result in a flat, toned tum in a few weeks!!

Stopped for lunch in the cafe afterwards and was pleasantly surprised to see a decent selection of salads - this is Rotherham remember, the town that lettuce forgot - so picked a tuna/sweetcorn (no mayo) salad. Then had to turn ninja again when it arrived accompanied by a lovely fluffy white roll and butter. Die roll, die!!

I did, however, give in to a Club Orange biscuit after giving blood this afternoon!! Well, a girl can only be so good - having a choccie biccie is surely the law after giving blood!!!

Putting it in context, I know that one good day will not, on its own, melt the fat from my frame but it's a move in the right direction. It gives me faith that I can do it and still have fun. Have a great weekend everyone - and remember, food isn't everything!!

Checking in

A beautiful sunset at Ludham. Because we had to moor up early in order to get a good spot, there was plenty of time to go running or just sit out on the boat and enjoy the evening air. That evening was particularly heavenly.

This white throated duck with her brood (no idea of its proper name) and the swans patrolled the dyke seeking throwers of bread and then plagued them diligently. I was reminded of hawkers at traffic lights!

No idea what sort of bird of prey this is ( a red kite??) but I was thrilled to be able to catch it in flight! Easier said than done, believe me. Actually, I've just looked it up and still not sure but definitely not a Red Kite. Think it's either a Marsh Harrier or Rough Legged Buzzard. I may send the pics to the RSPB and ask them to identify.

Loadsa windmills; you have to guard against taking 200 shots of the same one from slightly different angles...but they are scenic.

Old Fishy-head as I took to calling her after a nasty session of rolling in a putrid, rotting dead fish in a ditch. I shampooed her vigorously with half a bottle of Radox but she still smells slightly of rotting fish if you sniff her head. Why do I keep doing it??

Our boat was the one on the far right with the fetching orange stripe. I think it would have been quite sporty if it hadn't been orange!

Me and Shelagh (I think) on a rare stint of driving the boat. D much happier driving and me much happier letting him and manning the camera instead! Still, you need some photographic evidence of your existence on holiday once in a while...

I am truly trying hard but there are so many temptations everywhere at the moment!! In our office everyone brings backs sweets, cakes or biscuits from their holidays so, this being prime holiday season, there are literally heaps of packs of sweets and other temptations littering every spare table within a 50 yard radius of my desk.

After a day yesterday when i found myself giving into temptation on a few occasions, I clamped down today only to be scuppered by the remains of D's curry when I got home this evening, late and hungry after my french class. Still, it wsn't a big portion and I didn't have the naan.....sigh....

I should do some exercise but I'm going to go to the pub instead. D is away for 3 weeks on Monday so togetherness is more important. I did go to training at 7am so it's not like I'm turning my back on it altogether.

I suppose what I'm saying is that I need to re-double my efforts. I've been exercising a lot and making mostly good choices and that has been enough to stay the same weight but, unless I really clamp down and re-focus, it will not translate into a loss and I want that loss. I want to prove that I can do it on my own and that I have changed my ways through this TV experience.

So - no wine tonight and no sweets tomorrow my girl!!

When will I grow up??

A few pics from our holiday(absolutely nothing to do with the post below!):

I loved all the traditional yachts. I'm sure there were more this year than when we were last on the Broads in 1992. It could be tricky to navigate past them though as they have right of way and when they're tacking wildly across backwards and forwards the river, timing can be tricky!


A lovely family of swans. the parents seemed so caring and solicitous. This mother carefully shepherded her massive family of 9 sygnets (the bigest clutch we saw) round several cruisers without mishap.

A Great Crested Grebe and its chick. It was a windy day so he or she was having a "bad crest day"!

D and his faithful co-pilot. Shelagh sat up on that bench next to him for hours.

The beautiful and very exclusive/expensive looking village of Irstead. I had a serious case of property envy here...

Minty didn't take her co-piloting duties very seriously and was too easily distracted by swallows, other boats or whatever I was doing. Tut tut.

Sometimes the sky-scapes were just gorgeous, even on a dullish day.

Hi again. When I'm in the process of re-asserting a routine, I find it helpful to post often. It keeps me thinking about what I'm doing; uses up time when I might otherwise be eating; and reminds me about all the benefits of getting and staying slim. So you'll have to put up with me a bit more than usual over the next week or so!!

I went shopping today during my lunch hour. I just wanted to find some intermediate summer/autumn clothes as I'm a bit short of jeans and t-shirt type gear, especially now that the football season is back upon us (bliss bliss bliss). I was swooshed back to my 1980's youth by a trip to Dotty P's. It's all skinny jeans in black and grey and rock chick print tops with pink, purple and royal blue accents!

But then I started to worry whether I'm too old for Dorothy Perkins? At 39 should I be acquiring discreetly expensive classics from Hobbs and Boden to go with my frosty, expensively highlighted hair and statement jewelry? Seeing as I have neither a frosty blonde bob nor expensive watch, I think I'll have to put off the fateful day when I sneak into the posh (old?!) bits of House of Fraser and buy some tailored wool trousers (possibly lined...) to go with an elegant cashmere sweater. Eeeek. That surely won't be me? But then surely I can't go around wearing punky rock chick printed t's with skinny jeans forever? It'll have to come one day.

Maybe I'll never be smart and grown up. Maybe I'll just morph from High Street teen/20's stuff straight into the country set outdoorsy stuff. Whatever happen I'll always have to find something acceptable to wear to the football; I can't see myself settling for a sensible anorak and no-name trainers! What a snob I am.

Anyway, my trip to Dotty P's reminded me how much fun I had losing weight the first time back in 2007. Then I was on Lighter Life and the lbs were dropping off me so fast that I'd go from size to size within 4 or 5 weeks. I only ever bought seasonal, cheap clothes as they wouldn't fit me in a few brief weeks' time. How confident I was then. I've acquired the habit now of buying cheap, disposable fashion and, slightly shame-facedly, I really like it. Today it was black skinny jeans, silver/grey (fake) snakeskin ballet pumps, 4 asymmetric or fitted long length t-shirts with a variety of prints or patterns. I feel young and flighty in this stuff; not staid and sensible.

I also thought that I looked quite slinky until I got back to work, checked out some rubbishy celeb website while eating my sushi and saw a picture of Anna Friel also wearing skinny black jeans. Yikes - her legs look like sticks!! Is that what we're supposed to look like in skinny jeans?? If so, I'm definitely not making the grade. Aaaah, who cares?! I like legs with some shape - I'm confident that there will NEVER be a gap between the tops of my thighs and I'm okay with that! I may have chunky knees but who's looking at my knees?

Maybe that's the answer - I'll wear trashy teenager clothes until they stop making me happy. Now, just off to hang up a poster of Daniel Craig and finish off the "Are we compatible?" multi-choice quiz in Jackie!!

Back from our mini hols!

Well, it's been just over 2 weeks since filming the show finished. It seems like a good time to check up on myself. How have got on without the weekly check-ins and training over at the velodrome? Have I gone a little crazy and piled a few lbs on? Have I dutifully continued with the programme and lost a couple?



None of the above. I'm exactly the same weight now as I was the morning of our big finale on 24 July.



I did go a little crazy in the few days afterwards - not surprising considering I was at a Stag do and hadn't had a proper drink for months - and gained a couple of lbs then but managed to rein in and lose those fairly quickly. Then last week we were on holiday on a boat in the Norfolk Broads. I feared the worst. 6 days of travelling, sailing, eating in pubs, just being on holiday. And that was followed by a wedding on Saturday. It could have all gone Pete Tong but, I'm pleased to report, it didn't.



I made mostly good choices. Eschewed cooked breakfasts with Diarmuid for fruit with yoghurt and granola. Ate hardly any bread, salads for lunch, no chocolate or biscuits. And I went running every day. Mostly in the morning with the dogs but once, when we were staying in a town, I still managed to make myself go out in the evening despite it being a hot and sunny day. I wasn't a saint: I drank a couple of beers most days and had wine with our evening meal; had a couple of icecreams (from an icecream boat on the river no less - how cool is that??); enjoyed fish and chips one night in Wroxham (we didn't fancy the restaurant options that night so just sat on the boat and soaked up the sunset with fish and chips and a bottle of Chablis - heaven!).

Proof of the floating ice cream van - very enterprising - it would have been rude not to!! That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!!

On our last evening we had a lovely 3 course meal and I really enjoyed dessert but I'd not had one any other evening. Also, we'd shared a starter most evenings too which is not like me! At the wedding I was less restrained but I did dance a lot and no snacking during the day.


So, all in all, I have proved to myself that I can keep control of my weight while enjoying life.




I could feel my chimp beginning to get the upper hand a little towards the end of the week. She started making demands and trying to persuade me that I "should" have something or other as "I was on holiday" etc. For example, when I went to a shop once by myself, she tried to talk me into buying a small bar of Green & Black chocolate. I even picked it up and checked out the calories - only 135kj. It wouldn't have done any harm really but it wasn't me deciding to eat it and I knew that, if I gave in then, it would be harder the next time so I put the bar back and headed back to the boat with just the milk and ice I'd planned to buy. There were other temptations too but I talked her out of it mostly.


The running on the sunny day was a triumph. Chimp had almost convinced me that I didn't need to go - that it was too hot, I'd had a beer at lunchtime, I'm on holiday etc etc but I managed to remind myself how much I'd enjoyed it the last 3 days and just got changed and headed out. I didn't take the dogs that day as I thought I might be running on roads. It was fantastic! It was a beautiful, hazy country evening. I saw a lane and a church stuck out in the middle of nowhere and headed up to it, working on the basis that there's usually a footpath leading from the village to the church and I struck lucky and found it. Ran across 4 fields back to the village and then found another path through the woods back to the boat. Simply gorgeous. I was out for an hour and felt so free, strong and healthy.

Above is the distant church I aimed for. And below the fields I ran across on my way back to the village. Being a Peak District girl, I'm not used to fields with actual crops planted; we just get grass and heather, so it reminded me of my Lincolnshire roots.

Don't know who planted this crop but it looks like it's been there for a while!! One of those boys' toys "projects" I suspect...



The wedding was fab. It was my friend Craig marrying Angela who I've only met a couple of times but who seems perfect for him. I was pleased I'd gone to the stag do as I'd met a few more people or otherwise it would only have been me and D, my football buddy Jim and Nicola. It was one of those excellent weddings where everything was relaxed and fun. We were staying in the village pub (which was pretty smart as they go) which was 5 minutes' walk from the church, which was 1 minute from the bride's parents where they were holding the reception (in a marquee in the field out back). Convenient or what? Beats schlepping round the countryside trying to find the reception and then calling taxis in the middle of the night!

Gorgeous sunshine and blue sky, good old friends, nice new friends, relaxed atmosphere, great band and free bar! what more can you ask for? I wore the Monsoon dress that I got excited about 3 weeks ago and it was a big sucess! Unfortunately I don't have any full length photos of it so you'll have to take my word for it (I'm gutted 'cos I think that's the best I've looked for ages). Still, you know when you feel great - that was me. On a high.

Above - Jim, me and D. Below - Nicola, Jim and me. As you can see, no detail of the dress - amateur camerawork - I should have been more specific with my instructions!!

And Craig and Angela for those among you who like to have a nosy at wedding dresses - I know I always do. She looked lovely - very slim!! See how I managed to get all the dress in, even under time pressure?!

Now I'm back to normal: work, exercise, nothing major planned socially for a few weeks. Now is the time to get my head down and actually lose a few lbs. I want to get that half stone off before Botswana in September.

1 August - time for end of Lainey's challenge results.

Well, I didn't quite make the stone as I have stayed stubbornly the same for the last week or so but this morning am 13 stone 1lb (have wavered up then down over the last few days but can't quite break that barrier!). So that is 11 lbs off which makes me very very happy.

My next challenge is to drop half a stone before we go on holiday in September. This is quite a generous target as the deadline is over a month away but we do have various social events (a weddings, parties and football excursions etc) and a few days on holiday in the Norfolk Broads during that time so I'm not going to push my luck.

The official challenge is for me to be 12 stone 7 or under by 11 September!

And then, looking into the distance there'll just be the last stone to drop. Wow, it all seems quite manageable now. The proof of this pudding will be in the not-eating and the hitting of that first target.

Wish me luck!!