Monday Motivation - Treat Life Like A Jigsaw

It's Monday again but I've got up in a positive and happy mood this morning. I'm obsessed with the Hamilton soundtrack at the moment so I was thrilled to hear that it won 11 well deserved Tony awards last night. Plus I actually got six and a half hours sleep. I was aiming for seven but work got in the way again but I'll keep trying.

My motivation for this week is to look at the bigger picture and try to give everything in my life equal emphasis. Not easy but everything fits together, hence the title of this post, and if I don't get the balance right then things do not fit in properly.

So my aims this week are seven hours sleep per night, work on the recipes I have been devising and that I keep putting off completing, workout but think quality more than quantity and factor in a rest day here and there. 

I'm not saying that I will get all this immediately sorted out this week which is why I am calling them aims rather than plans. This is my motivational image for the week.

Hope you all have a good Monday and a great week. Be kind to yourself! Speak to you soon

Love Erica xxx

A measure of success

If you have read my blog before then you will be aware that I am a big fan of measuring my progress in a variety of ways and not just using the scales. I take my measurements once a month to see how they change and I just did it again a couple of days ago. These are the results.

7th June

Chest - 44 inches

Waist - 40.5 inches

Hips - 44 inches

Thigh - 23.5 inches

Calf - 16 inches

Upper arm - 13 inches

It's interesting that there are losses in different places but not overall this month. The differences in measurements are

Chest - 0 inches lost this month and 3 inches lost in total

Waist - half an inch lost this month and 6.5 inches lost in total

Hips - 1 inch lost this month and 5 inches lost in total

Thigh - 0 inches lost this month and 1.5 inches lost in total

Calf - no loss this month and 1 inch lost in total

Upper arm - half an inch lost this month and an inch lost in total.

If you are not seeing any dramatic losses on the scales for a little while then checking your body measurements can be a great motivator. Seeing the changes in your measurements actually written down really reinforces what you have achieved rather than just thinking that your clothes feel looser. Speak to you soon

Love Erica xxx

Is lack of sleep stopping my weight loss?

I never get enough sleep. My eldest daughter is 19 now so I can truthfully say that I have been tired for the best part of the last 19 years. Over the last month in particular, my workload has been crazy and I have ended up working until 1 or 2 in the morning every day. I am then up at 7am every day. I had never thought about how this could potentially damage my weight loss plans but I just read an article that has given me food for thought.

A lack of sleep will actually make you feel hungrier. There is a hormone called Leptin which sends signals to the brain to  say that you are full up and a lack of sleep reduces the production of Leptin. There is another hormone called Ghrelin which stimulates the appetite. A lack of sleep makes the body increase its production of Ghrelin. So simply by not getting enough sleep, you are putting your body in a state where you will find it incredibly difficult to keep to a healthy diet.

Another major impact of lack of sleep is how your body deals with cortisol and the levels of cortisol in your body. This can cause your body to store fat particularly around your abdomen and have a bad effect on your blood sugar levels. 

Research has shown that people who sleep less than seven hours per night are at a greatly increased risk of obesity and developing serious conditions such as diabetes.

I'm not sure how I am going to manage this but I clearly need to increase the amount of sleep that I am getting. I really had no idea that a lack of sleep could be having such a bad effect of my health. It has made me wonder if this could be one of the reasons why my weight loss has slowed down over the last month as my levels of sleep have definitely gone down in that period of time. 

It will be interesting to see if more sleep will help my weight loss. I'll keep you posted. Speak to you soon

Love Erica xxx

Wednesday Weigh In - Week 22 - Going Down

I lost 3/4 of a pound this week. Yay, it's a boost to see the scales going down again

This takes my total loss down to 25.5 pounds. It feels good to be back on track and working out. I didn't run this week after all but I did spend 2 hours walking yesterday so I figured that was quite good. My knee twinged a bit after that so maybe it was best I didn't run after all. I won't be working out today as my daughter is swimming in the London Youth ParaGames so I'll be cheering her on all day. I will try to fit in a workout tomorrow in between taking my cat to the vets. I'm desperate to do some cooking too but I haven't had the time. There just aren't enough hours in the day.

Maybe all this rushing around is helping with my weight anyway! Now I'm rushing off to the ParaGames. Speak to you soon

Love Erica xxx

Why I'm Turning to High Protein Snacks to Improve My Workouts

If you read my blog on a regular basis then you will know that I've been becoming more concerned with the quality of what I am eating as opposed to the quantity. It's very easy when you are on a long term weight loss journey to slip into a pattern of just repeating the same food because it's low fat or low calorie when there may be other choices that would be of more benefit to your body.

Now that I am following the SparkPeople App, I receive a daily nutritional breakdown of everything that I eat and I was very surprised to see that my protein intake is lower than they recommend. This probably explains why my energy levels have been quite low especially when I am exercising most days and it may even be a minor cause of why I have been picking up niggling little injuries lately.

I've been doing some research into how I can improve my protein consumption and how this will benefit me and my workout routine in particular. Protein is the main tool that the body uses to repair itself so this becomes even more important when you work out. Eating protein snacks will help strengthen your muscles and aid their growth. It will also help to reduce your hunger and regulate your blood sugar levels. A heavy workout routine and a lack of protein will result in you feeling constantly tired, you will take longer to recover from workout sessions and you may find yourself picking up more injuries.

There are a lot of websites giving information about the benefits of protein, personally I found www.nuts.com to be really useful. As well as selling a great range of snacks, they provide information, ideas and recipes. I was surprised to learn that how many complex proteins the body needs to function and that insulin is actually a protein. The information and advice given on their page about High Protein Snacks is really useful. I definitely want to try out their recipe ideas! I used to just think of meat or eggs when I thought about eating protein but there are so many more possibilities, I can't wait to get experimenting. By increasing my protein intake, particularly after workouts, I should increase my energy levels and make my workouts more effective. It should also help me to tone up more.

I am definitely a grazer in my daily eating pattern. I tend to prefer three smaller meals with a range of snacks spread out in between so the quality of my snacks is really important to my diet. I generally feel that this is another area I need to work on. The registered dietitian at Nuts.com highlights the healthiest snacks you can eat on their Healthy Snacks page and I found this really useful to read. They all contain protein or fibre, are low in saturated fat and have a maximum of 160 calories. Perfect choices really!

This graphic was also really helpful

The raw chocolate chip granola bites look particularly yummy!

I'm starting working out again from Monday now that my knee is on the mend and I'm definitely going to build more protein snacks into my diet especially for after my workouts. They will  help my muscles to recover and build plus they will make me feel fuller. The final deciding factor is that your body burns more calories to break down protein so, in a way, it will be like I'm continuing my workout. Definitely a win-win situation. 

I'll keep you posted how I get on with the protein snacks and will share some pictures of my favourites. Speak to you soon

Love Erica xxx

Monday Motivation - Get Back In The Game

Wow, just realised its four days since I wrote a post. It's unlike me to leave it so long but I really have been horrendously busy. Yesterday I had a four hour drive to take my daughter to an athletics meet and back. Sadly she didn't have a great race and picked up a niggling injury. We did have dinner out on the way home though which cheered her up. A great tip for anyone with a slight muscle pull is to do what I did for my daughter once we were home. I wrapped a bag of frozen peas in a tea towel and put it on her leg for an hour. It works wonders and this morning she feels fine. 

So today I'm feeling tired but at least I'm back in my normal routine as my daughter is back at school. My aim is just to get back on track this week with workouts. My knee feels ok so I'll try some gentle jogging. I also want to work on some new recipes so looks like I'm going to be busy! 

Here's a few images I've made to help motivate myself this week. 

Hope Monday is being kind to you! Have a great week. Speak to you soon

Love Erica xxx

Wednesday Weigh In - Week 21 - Teeny Tiny Gain Again

I have put on a quarter of a pound this week but I'm not surprised.

I haven't been able to exercise at all because of my knee which always has a huge impact on whether I lose weight or it. Also it's the school holidays so this has meant eating out a bit more in McDonalds and Wagamamas. I have tried to choose healthy options but I think it still has an impact. The final factor has been that my hormones are clearly all over the place this week; I feel bloated and yucky which usually means I'm retaining water. 

So although it's disappointing to gain weight, it really is the smallest amount and that's life! Things will turn up as obstacles and it won't always be easy. All you can do is regroup and keep going as the nex week will probably be different.

I do expect the next week to be better for me as my knee is clearly on the mend so I will start exercising from Monday when my daughter returns to school. I've also started working on giving my diet a complete overhaul but I had to wait for payday to go shopping and carry this out! Hopefully my hormones will settle down again next week too!

My advice is never get disheartened if you have a disappointing week. See it as just a bump in the road on your weight loss journey. Just get past it, gather yourself together and refocus. That's the philosophy I try to stick to. Speak to you soon

Love Erica xxx