Weight loss this week and Slimming World spaghetti bolognaise

Hey guys!!

So this week was a hard week with a few things going on like my dog Vinnie having a fit and some struggles with my ME. 

Anyway I put on 1lb this week but i'm not worried about that, I got some bad foods out of my system and I am hitting it hard this week. 

I wanted to share with you one of my favorite recipes from Slimming World which is the "Best Ever Spaghetti Bolognaise". This is the only version I like at all, Paul struggled to get me to make it the first time and now its a firm favorite.

Ingredients

• Low calorie cooking spray
• 2 onions roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 500g lean beef mince (5% fat or less)
• 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 beef stock cube
• Dried spaghetti

Method

1. Spray a large frying pan with low calorie cooking spray and place over a medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic, season well and stir-fry for 7 minutes.
2. Add the beef, breaking it up with a spoon, and cook for three minutes until browned. Drain off any excess fat then add the chopped tomatoes and oregano, crumble in the stock cube and bring to the boil. Cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes
3. Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti according to the packet instructions. Drain.
4. Divide the spaghetti and bolognese sauce between four bowls or plates and serve with a crispy salad.

Give it a go, you won't regret it!!!

https://youtu.be/_CuaFkLSyaI

I'm back... Exciting News

Hello everyone!!!

So I know it has been such a long time since I last did a Blog but so much has happened and I really needed to focus on that. I have ME and I was struggling with my long commute followed by long working hours meaning I was really struggling to hold everything together and I was spread too thin and couldn't do anything. So my blogging and vlogging had to stop because I couldn't do it all.

I'm not going to have more time so I want to start it all up again and share my life with you all.

So we are still getting married this year in September.. so posts to come about that!!

I am still working my Full Time job but I am moving offices to be closer to home and have more of a life!!

I have recently launched my own Beauty/Make up business after falling in love with the products and trying them for a year to make sure they work! They do and they are amazing!

We are following slimming world and I have lost 2st 7 lbs so far and I am feeling so much better and healthier but again more on my slimming world journey later too.

I want this to be interactive, informative and fun so please comment and tell me your thoughts and what you would like to see me post about.

Take care

Grace xx

Weightloss re-start

Hey everyone, now all the Christmas food has gone its time to do my re-start.

My re-start consists of meals from scratch, walks with Vinnie and no junk food. Then we will buy a wii u and I will use that every day. I have an active job and I am on my feet for 8 hours a day constantly. 

The reason for this re-start is that I have never been happy with my weight but I couldn't afford to buy good food as healthy food is expensive. Now my wedding is on the horizon I want to loose it once and for all.

Take care x 

Weight loss this week : 7 lbs!!

Hey everyone, just a quick post on weight loss. Last week I got back on the weight loss band wagon and I lost 7lbs. I really cant believe it. 

When we are told breakfast is the most important meal of the day it is true. Eating breakfast was my first change. Somewhere I read that if you want to loose weight you have to kick start your metabolism, to do this you have to eat breakfast within 45 mins of waking up. 

The second thing I did was walking the dog for an hour twice a day, this little bit of walking is all calorie burning.

My next challenge is to drink 2ltrs of water a day, this should flush out toxins and replenish my body constantly. This will also  keep me fuller for longer and therefore eating less. My skin should see a change too, I will let you know how it goes.

Take Care x

Weightloss week2

So after last weeks 6 pound weight-loss I was not sure what to expect this week but 2lbs, I have had a couple of naughty days so I am happy with a loss, I will try and be 100% good this week and see what happens. We have decided to start only weighing and measuring once a month so next weight loss post will be 01/02/2013

Blog Day Theses Revised

Hi everyone,

I hope none objects but I have decided to change the day themes, the reason for this is that Paul and I are on a fertility journey. We will be progressing this after the wedding which is why i did not have a tab or mention it much before, however it is a very important part of our lives and I have lots of information to share and so I am going to open that part of my life up to you too. So the day themes will now be:-

Make-up Monday

True beauty Tuesday

Wedding Wednesdays

Trying to Conceive Thursdays

Fashion Friday

Weightloss and anything else on weekends 

Blog Day Themes

I love to be fair and symmetrical so I have been thinking about my blog posts. I feel as though I do not do an even amount of blogs for each of my main topics- so I am introducing Day Themes.

Make-up Monday

True beauty Tuesday

Wedding Wednesdays

Total Style Thursdays

Fat Free Fridays (Weight loss)

The weekends I will leave flexible and Blog about anything I want. What do you think?

Week 1 of diet weight loss

I am so pleased after only 1 week of my diet I have lost 6 pounds, I am over the moon! I would usually only loose 3 pound if I was lucky.It just proves if you don't eat enough it's just as bad as eating too much when it comes to weightloss.

New years resolutions

New year gives the opportunity to draw a line under the last year and start a fresh. Part of  my new year better me process is to make new years resolutions, as I see it new years resolutions are goals you set yourself after reviewing the past year in order to make the next year a better one. My new years resolutions are as follows:-

• To go out driving regularly with Paul and if finances permit my driving instructor and pass my driving test this year
• Loose weight and be able to feel comfortable and confident in shorts etc this summer
• Keep to my new skin care regime( which I will blog about tomorrow)
• Keep my new make-up routine ( which I will blog about on Thursday)
• Blog everyday!I have to look into how this can be done while I am in AMERICA!!!!
• Drink 8 glasses of water a day

 This year is a special year for me for two reasons. Firstly Paul and I have been together for 5 years and I can finally say we are getting married NEXT year!!!! Summer 2014 more on that later post. Secondly I have wanted to go to America since I was about 5 so I have waited 20 years and this year in June I am going to Florida for 3 weeks with my gorgeous fiancee and some close friends, excited is not the word!!

Blogmas Day 9- Fertility Friends

As you are aware from earlier posts I have PCOS, this does not mean I am infertile but as my Fiancee had to have a vasectomy for the health of his ex, it means we will have to have some sort of fertility treatment. We are not sure which path we want to take and so we have been looking around different clinics and doing research into procedures and what will be best for us.

Along the way I found a fab website called http://www.fertilityfriends.co.uk it has really helped me to talk to other couples in the same situation and to find hope. The site also has lots of information and guidance from professionals  If you have any fertility problems or struggles please check it out.

5 pounds lost-and how housework helps to loose weight

Sad as it is I am pleased to say this week I have lost 5 pounds, I have lost 1 or 2 pounds a week before I have not lost this much before. PCOS does make it really hard to loose weight but it is possible girls so keep it up. 

We all like a clean tidy house and I know I wouldn’t mind having the body of Kim Kardashian so why not combine these two.Cleaning the house burns calories thus a cleaner house and loose weight.Exactly how many calories are we burning while scrubbing? Here’s a approximate list of  how many calories we burn per cleaning activity per hour: 

·         Sweeping: 240

·         Packing/Unpacking: 220

·         Scrubbing floors on hands and knees: 325

·         Dusting and light activities ( wiping down kitchen, picking up clothes): 100

·         Cleaning in general (washing-up, doing laundry): 200

·         Cleaning hard work (vacuuming, hanging laundry, repetitive bending over): 260

·         Looking after Children: 205

·         Digging: 415

·         Raking lawn: 235

·         Mowing lawn: 325

·         Moving large household item: 400

·         Cooking: 150

·         Food shopping: 90

PCOS and weight loss

I have not mentioned it before but I have a condition called PCOS. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) it is very common, affecting 5–10% of women.
Polycystic ovaries are ovaries that contain many small cysts (about twice as many as in normal ovaries). These cysts are egg-containing follicles that have not developed properly due to hormone imbalances. Polycystic ovary syndrome is when a woman has other symptoms than just cysts on her ovaries.  

The symptoms I have are:

• irregular periods, or a complete lack of periods until the last two months when I have had two in a row
• unwanted facial or body hair …. sorry TMI, I should have shares in Gillette
• weight problems aka being overweight, rapid weight gain, difficulty losing weight -enough said
• depression and mood swings- ask Paul about this one lol

I find it very difficult to lose weight so every pound is an achievement to me. I have always had big legs and have not worn one pair of shorts in 25 years- so I am determined to loose enough weight to be confident enough to wear some on my holiday to Florida next year! I have lost 2 pounds this week which I am happy with as it is from walking 40mins a day as we are not going to the gym at the moment. I can’t decide if I should do weekly or monthly weigh-ins, the dilemma is that if I don’t lose anything or even put weight on week to week I could get despondent,which will mean I work less hard and will never loose any weight!

Gym on hold

Hi everyone,

I thought I should justify why I have not wrote a weight-loss post in a while. I have not put on here  previously about my Dads bad health but he has had to have an operation and we are staying at my mums and taking her in everyday, so we are not at home so the gym is on hold. Its a bit disappointing but we will have to have a fresh start once everything is back to normal.

START

So this is me, excuse  the PJ's, dog and Fiancée on the sofa behind me.  I am not overly please about putting a post of me in my start  position but it will be motivation to change.

I am using my fitness pal to track my calories and how many calories my gym sessions burn. I will be going to the gym 5-7 days a week to do cardio and the weight machines.

I am aiming to loose 2 pounds a week this sounds easy but II have  PCOS which makes it hard for me to loose weight. We  will be weighing once a month on the scales in the Gym so we can make it as accurate as possible.