THE LAST ENTRY: Weigh-In Wednesday

Current Weight

10st 1lb

(Week #20 - Weekly Loss 0lb / Total Loss 2st)

The time has come for me to end this blog, but not my new healthier lifestyle. A week today I return to the wonderful world of gainful employment and with it my time will be restricted. I am making changes all over the place right now and I cannot commit to blogging at this time, certainly not to the extent I believe the level of dedication this site deserves.

This is not the end of The Real Slim Shandy. I'll be leaving the website online, I just won't be active on it. I won't be giving up my pursuit to be The Real Slim Shandy either. Far from it. Part of this difficult decision is based on making priorities and my better eating and regular exercise come before blogging about it.

The past five months (give or take) has been an incredible journey. I honestly wasn't sure where I was headed with all this when I started out 20 weeks ago, but there is no way I could have predicted not only my weight loss, newfound ability to cook or self imposed regular dedicated exercise. Above that though are the many comments, support and advice along the way. The encouragement, the camaraderie was something I really didn't expect and has been a beautiful surprise.

There is no way I can thank everyone individually who has been part of this site on any level but I want to take this moment to make it clear that what started out as a reason to keep pressure on myself, quickly turned into a warm, inviting, friendly place where I could remain just as honest without fear of prejudice or mockery. Where help was always available and understanding was the bottom line in every thing posted here, blog and comment. I am very proud of what I have achieved here, but I am even more proud of what we have achieved together.

I have a few more pounds to lose, but I'm confident I will get there. I take immense pride in the changes I've made thus far and I am going to do my very best for that not to go to waste... or should that be waist?! Yeah, none of us will miss those terrible puns of mine!

Thank you for being part of this truly amazing journey and if you have any desire to continue following my life then please check out my Twitter. 

Jase a.k.a. The Real Slim Shandy (one day - very soon!)

Be My Guest: Karen Cox

This Friday's Be My Guest blogger is Karen Cox from Lossiemouth, who I'm happy to say is a loyal reader of The Real Slim Shandy and also likes to chip in with some good comments too. Karen helps to run Boxer Welfare Scotland, a charity that specifies in rescuing and rehoming boxer dogs across Scotland. So how does a busy mother, wife, boxer owner and trustee for a charity cope with a healthy lifestyle? Here is her story:

Karen Cox

Ah the joys of dieting and weight loss, where do I start?!  As a woman of a “certain age” I am well aware of the struggles to maintain my weight, especially as Mother Nature is now very kindly making it harder for me!

As a teenager/young woman, I tried various diets, including The Cambridge Diet and Slimfast of course. Inevitably they never worked and my penchant for cashews and chocolate to see me through my London Underground trek home always won and consequently “shaped” me.   When I moved into my own home, I gained more weight. Probably due to the fact that I could cook and eat everything I liked, rather than what my Mum liked and so, by the time I had my first baby, I was already carrying a bit more weight than I would have liked to.  First baby grew and second baby came along and I grew some more!  Don’t get me wrong, I was never excessively overweight, but as I was normally a size 10, hitting the shops for size 16 jeans was not the highlight of my life!

Finally, the penny dropped after my 2nd baby and rather than dieting to lose my baby pounds, I started watching my fat intake, cut out all those things that were bad for me and generally changed my attitude towards eating. I lost all the weight I wanted to and for the first time in my life, really felt I had some control over my weight.

I have always maintained a low fat diet and healthy eating attitude since then, but when baby number 3 came along I found myself struggling to lose weight once again! I tried Slimming World as I just didn’t seem to able to get a handle on where I was going wrong, but I stuck to the green days and ate as much pasta as I wanted, so that didn’t work either. (Yes I know, I face palmed too!)

Two years ago I discovered the second secret to losing and maintaining my weight – portion control! I am unable to exercise and most of the time I am housebound, so I needed to stop eating as if I was going on a 5 mile walk!  Things seem to be levelling out now and I am once again in the position where I am happy with my weight and clothes size.  Yes, of course I would like to lose a couple pounds here and there, but if I don’t, it’s not the end of the world (well not quite!)

Don’t get me wrong, I am no saint. Ok granted I am on to a winner as I don’t like alcohol or fizzy drinks, but I do have a weakness for coconut macaroons! However, we do have a takeaway maybe once or twice a month and I never say no to chocolate! Plus there are movie nights which always involve a bag of Butterkist popcorn.  But it’s everything moderation.

I have loved following Jason’s experiences as he embarked on his new life habits and what I found most refreshing was that he’s a bloke!  Seriously, how many times is it just us women whining about how big our bums look, how we are going to lose x amount of pounds by so and so’s wedding or how we need to squeeze into that must have bikini?  Jason dealt with the whole thing with humility, humour and honesty, just how weight loss should be dealt with! It’s not rocket science after all!

A whole lot of sense talking right there! Thank you Karen but for the record, you'll never get me in a bikini - or a mankini come to think of it!! Please be sure to check out the Boxer Welfare Scotland charity website, and spread the word to anyone you know who might be interested. 

If you'd like to be a guest blogger here on The Real Slim Shandy then please check out the information on the Be My Guest page. Thanks.

Weigh-In Wednesday

Current Weight

10st 1lb

(Week #19 - Weekly Gain 1lb - Total Loss 2st)

It was always going to happen and I had a pretty good feeling it was going to happen this week. I have gained for the first time in nineteen weeks! I always thought I would lambast myself when this moment happened but the circumstances of this gain were inevitable.

This week I'm on "holiday" in many respects. I'm eating a bit more junk food and drinking fizzy juice now and again. I imagine next week's weigh-in won't be that pretty either. That's fine though, because I know how to fix it, I know I just need to go back to drinking water and eating my pasta and rice meals. This is not a problem at all for me. In fact, I'm looking forward to the challenge. It's like I've been knocked down, now it's time for me to get back up - but that won't be until next week, for this week I really am being a little piggy!!

Time Out

Since tweaking this blog to do less entries I've actually found myself thinking more about what I'm eating, not eating, and the exercise I am and am not doing. Funny really, as I thought it might go the other way. This week however, I have taken my foot off the gas, as they say. My parents are on holiday and in some respects so am I.

I won't have a "proper" holiday this year. I've not had one for around seventeen years, so it's not really a big loss to me. However it is nice to take some time out now and again. The past few days have been a little like that. I've not exactly munched a lot of junk but certainly in the case of today, I've not eaten as well as I should have. This is for a few reasons, but mainly that sense of not being involved in a routine.

Wednesday will be my time to step on the scales as per usual. I fully expect this week I will go up, which is disappointing to me in the sense that I appeared to be about to go under ten stone for the first time in a long time. I know though the reasons why that probably won't happen so I am quite confident in "fixing" them over the next few weeks. The important thing to remember is I am not in a race, this isn't some set amount of days plan, and it's certainly not a gimmick diet. I would be more annoyed if I was doing my healthy living thing and my weight went up. If it does go up on Wednesday then I already know the reasons why.

Finally for just now, if you haven't checked out last week's 'Be My Guest' blog entry then please do so. It really is a personal tale and albeit very different from my reasons for doing this, it did remind me of why I started this - and that of course was after my Father came through a heart attack. Everybody's got a story and that's why I want you to be part of this blog, there are details on how to Be My Guest here.

Be My Guest: Emma MacAulay

Every Friday on The Real Slim Shandy I invite someone special to write a blog for you and I. This week's guest blogger is very special. I was very fortunate to meet her through Twitter last year, she is someone who has appeared already on this blog with many comments and of course that excellent soup recipe! Like me, she lives in Inverness and she too has been on her own journey to live a healthier lifestyle. She is the very friendly and equally lovely Emma MacAulay:

Emma MacAulay
with her partner Keir

When Jason asked me to be a guest on his blog I happily agreed but at the same time I didn’t have a clue what I was going to talk about.  I guess I’ve been making the same changes in my life as Jason has with the healthy eating.  I started my “diet” at the end of January of this year and 7 months later I have lost almost 2 1/2 stone.

I have to say that it took me quite a while to actually realise that I needed to lose the weight, I’m not convinced I looked like I was carrying as much as I was but looking back on photos etc. and comments that I have been getting from people now, I know that my whole body shape has changed quite a lot.



I never used to have any major issues with my weight when I was younger; I was quite active and always taking part in some sort of team sport at school.  It was when I left school that I started to get a bit lazier!  I think the first time I became bothered with my weight was when my ex boyfriend pointed out to me that I needed to lose a few pounds! Yes, I know what you’re thinking – why did she stick around to listen to that?!  Well at the time I was in love and didn’t think of it as a bad thing.  It turns out that he actually always had an issue with my weight and this made me have an issue with my weight.  There is a comment that stuck out to me more than any....I had bought a swimming costume and I asked him if he thought it looked ok on, his reply was “well put it this way, it’ll look a lot better once you’ve lost a good bit of weight”.

This did upset me but it didn’t kick me into the diet thing, in fact probably pushed me further away from it.  Anyway, after being together for 6 years we broke up for various reasons. Yes, I lost a whole heap of weight, went out and partied for about 6 months and then met my wonderful current partner Keir.  I was looking my best when we met and I was full of confidence.  I guess they always say a sign of being happy and content in a relationship is putting on weight, that’s exactly what happened.  This time was different though, no one to tell me I needed to lose the pounds!

In January this year, Keir and I booked a holiday to Egypt for September, this was when I knew that I didn’t want to look like a beached whale lying by the pool in my bikini!  This time my attempt to lose weight was for me and only me.... this made me more determined than ever!  So I started up at Weight Watchers (WW) – I knew that if I was going to a weekly class and had to stand on those scales each week I didn’t want to be embarrassed by putting on weight.  I didn’t actually follow the WW diet as such – I know what healthy eating is and don’t need a book to tell me!

So September is on it’s way and I’m now really looking forward to lying by the pool in my bikini, I’ve worked hard for the loss I’ve had and I’m delighted. I feel much better for it and for the first time in a long time I can enjoy going shopping for some lovely summer clothes.  I don’t know what “switch went on” in my head but I’m so glad it did.  For anyone that is thinking about starting up some healthy eating, we all know the basics it’s just a matter of sticking with it, as soon as you start seeing some results it’ll just make you more determined.

I’ve rambled quite enough now and probably bored you stupid (well done if you made it to the end!)

A big well done to Jase and his efforts with his blogging the loss, an great inspiration to others. Keep up the good work.

Thank you Emma for being my guest and not only your kind words for me, but also a great insight to your personal motivation to lose weight and be healthy. Your holiday sounds like it will be something to remember for more reasons than one! You can follow Emma on Twitter, like I do!

If you'd like to be a guest blogger here on The Real Slim Shandy then please check out the information on the Be My Guest page. Thanks.

Weigh-In Wednesday

Current Weight

10st

(Week #18 - Weekly Loss 1lb / Total Loss 2st 1lb)

It is becoming a recurring theme for Weigh-In Wednesdays but you won't hear me complaining. In recent weeks it has all been a one pound loss. That is nothing bad. In fact, when you consider that between stepping on the scales I have consumed some alcohol and ate some crisps. These of course are treats, while regularly stuffing my face full of pasta, rice, chicken and turkey on a regular basis. Always tweaking it, always changing it so it never gets boring.

If everything goes to plan in the next seven days I should get under that ten stone mark. That will be another target smashed. Possibly even a reason to celebrate! It will also tell me that I do not much further to go. Then of course the next part of the journey begins. Balancing out a healthy lifestyle while attempting to keep some sort of continuous weight. I know it will go up and down, I just don't want it to do one or the other all the time! I will still weigh myself every week though, I just might have a few more treats.

I'm still getting out for walks, although it does feel like I've not been pushing myself as hard. I'm already slowing down. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing though. It gives me room to improve but also I'm at a point where I can take my foot off the pedal a little and I am clearly still losing weight. I would say the effort required is less now, but then it rarely felt like a lot was required, especially after the first few weeks of changes. 

Oh, and now I can go around saying I've officially lost over two stone... and that feels damn good!!

Less Is More

125 blog entries ago I declared 'There Is No Plan B' when I started this website. Since the 100th Blog, I have been thinking where else can I take this? What can I do next? How can I improve it? Last week, I introduced the Be My Guest blog, something I want to continue as the first one has been a tremendous success. The Weigh-In Wednesday blogs have always proved to be the most popular ones and they are an excellent way for me to record my weight. So I don't want to change that either.

I have realised I don't want to change anything too much. However I do feel change is needed. One thing The Real Slim Shandy cannot argue with is the sentiment that less is more. So I've decided not to blog daily anymore. Weekends have been a struggle for sometime now, and I've never been a fan of adding more than one blog a day, even if they are back-dated. It's not fair on you the reader, and it can become more of a chore for me.

The Real Slim Shandy will continue. The new version will have updated blogs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I think that will work well for me and hopefully for you too. Mondays will be a mixture of what has happened in the previous seven days along with what is to come. Wednesdays will continue to be Weigh-In ones and Friday's are the home of my guest blogger - for however long that feature will continue.

I hope you will embrace these changes and continue to visit this blog, read, comment and react. This place still keeps the pressure on me to do good, try hard and not let myself slip up too much when I have doubts about all this. I honestly believe I would have gave up a long time ago if it wasn't for the continued knowledge that I have to tell all here.

So... I'll see you Wednesday for the Weigh-In, then pop back on Friday for another special guest blogger.

Thanks for reading.