Reused to the power of 2

Now that we've got some sunshine in our lives I've been dipping into my growing collection of dresses.

A few years ago, as a chronic cankle sufferer, there was no way, no how, I would have worn a dress or a skirt that was anything other than floor length. However, thanks to running, lunging, cycling and generally a shit load of exercises, my legs are somewhat more shapely. Don't get me wrong, they are still big and boot buying will always be traumatic. But, in the main my legs are much better than they were and at least have some definition; less like two sausages trying to escape their skin.

Apologies for the quality of these pics. I'm going to have to find a better mirror or light - or something. Anything. This is a sleeveless dress I bought a couple of years ago from Tesco to take to NY with me. I really love the pattern and the frilly wing bits on the top part of it. And I'm sure there used to be a phone advert with a girl on a bus who had the very same one. Anyway, I am not joking when I tell you that this dress has shrunk.
 

It's definitely shorter and tighter around the middle. Until I lost a couple of stone there was no way I could wear it - even with leggings underneath.

I teamed it with a short sleeved bright yellow cardi for some beer garden lounging on Sunday. I also took my demin jacket as I always end up freezing once the sun goes down. I slung my new bag over my shoulder, hopped on my bike and off I went.

I love this demin jacket even though I would like it to be a little more fitted. It's just a bog standard one from Gap. I used to have it in a bigger size and a darker colour - which I ended up giving away to the charity shop as it just didn't fit any more. I got the one I am wearing now from my ex's sister. She was emigrating to Australia and was thinning out her wardrobe. She moved back a few years later - but she ain't getting the jacket back!

Budget Busting Extras

I'm on a strict budget these days but even when I'm not watching the pennies I'm a total tight arse when it comes to spending money on clothes and shoes.

For example, I really will only pay £15 for a pair of jeans. If they are £30 the shop assistant practially has to use a wrench to get my bank card out my hand. You can pretty much always find me in H&M, Primark and New Look. Sometimes Dotty P and from time to time, M&S.  Very occasionally Top Shop but to be honest, at almost 32 years old and not a size 10, I feel a bit out of place in that shop. And then there is the cost of their togs that just ain't worth it (mostly).

However, over the past few years I have gotten a couple of brilliant items from Tesco. The price is great, the fit is good (mainly) - and many of the shops are open 24 hours a day! The other day I hopped on my bike and popped off to Asda (for a lemon and some mustard seeds). The sun was shining, I was squinting. Without my trusty massively oversized shades I was practically a danger on the roads and so I nipped off to George at Asda to see what they had on offer. Well check out these sporty bad boys - and all for just £3.50.

I'm normally a fan of really dark shades, really big, dark shades, with little fuss but these are the perfect accessory for my old skool bike.  I've also been on the lookout for a new bag recently. I like one that's big enough to take all my crap but that I can also wear across my body as well as over one shoulder - again this is the bike chat coming through. I need to be able to sling my bag across my body and get my pedal on.  I love the colour of this bag, something light and fun for the lighter days, and it was only a fiver! That's right five of your pound sterling for this baby in Primark right now.

Outfit post: Office or play?

What a lovely weekend, in which my mum and dad came to dinner - and so did TB's!  All very grown up and civilised!

TB joked that there must be no tapping of glasses or looking like we were about to make an announcement. I told him that wouldn't be happening even if there was something to say as if there was anything to tell then I would be shouting about it from the minute I could - and not waiting for a dinner! Anyway - more chat on that later. This is just a quickie...

Here are some snaps of another outfit I rather enjoyed the other day, but I must apologise for the crapness of the pics. I took them at my folk's house in a rush.

I don't normally stand with my legs so far apart but I was just trying to not make my hips stick out so much! These are my go to black jeans. A great fit and the perfect length for a pair of pumps, I love em. Especially so cause they cost a tenner from Matalan! I love the colour of this coral top which actually has a lovely slash neck - and it was only £3.50 from Primark. Bargain central.

I wore this on a day when I had a couple of meetings and again a day later when I was meeting a fellow blogger for coffee and a friend for lunch. Smart enough for work (if you can wear jeans) and comfy enough for hanging with some peeps.

Jacket: £14.99 H&M
Jeans: £9.99 Matalan
Scarf: £2 Primark
Top: £3.50 Primark

Weigh in

What the frick? That's three weeks in a row. THREE WEEKS, people, that I have put on weight.

You might expect me to be tearing my hair out or at least chopping off a limb (a sure fire way to lose a pound or two) but I'm actually quite calm. I did only put on a quarter or a pound but that's not the point - the numbers are going the wrong way. I don't know if I'm calm because this whole situation is so ridiculous that I have gone to another place in my mind (I think that's called crazy town) or if it's simply because nothing surprises me when it comes to this losing weight malarkey.

I know I went a bit mental with the cakes at the weekend but I know how much I ate - and considering how much exercise I've done, I know that's not enough to justify what is going on. If I ever am in a place where I need to maintain (at this rate - NEVER going to happen) I would like to think I wouldn't have to knock my pan in five times a week at the gym. That's what I just did  - and I gained!

The only hope I have is that the numbers were skewed by my period which is on the cusp of arrival (welcome home TB who has gets home tomorrow after a week away) and I am feeling especially bloated and big boobed.

Bloating or no bloating, what am I going to do. Well, um - at the risk of repeating myself, I'm going to carry on trying. After weigh in this morning I went to the gym and then had fruit for breakfast. It's business as usual. I'm going to have a great week (NO CAKES even if they are instead of lunch or dinner) and carry on.

Starting Weight: 183 pounds
Current Weight: 179.5 pounds
Weight Loss This Week: plus 0.25lbs
Total 2012 Weight Loss: 3.75lbs


I've decided I'm not going to bang on about exercise and all that malarkey too much and make sure I'm blogging about the fun things in life too. It's a huge part of my life but I'm not about to let it take over. I've been inspired by the gorgeous Linzerello who has started a new blog about her outfits and rockin style (you can check it out here.) to make more of an effort. And without further ado - here we go.

 

I've been wearing this dress for a couple of years now. It's a Primark number and has a lovely scoop neck at the back too. It's a bit big now as it always falls off my shoulder but a cardi, or jacket fixes that. I just bought the jacket the other day. It's a touch too short for jeans without a longer layer underneath but perfect to smarten up a dress. I was just off to a meeting so popped it onto sharpen the whole thing up.

Dress: Primark (£16.99 I think)

Belt: Can't remember

Jacket: H&M (14.99)

Leggings: H&M (£3.99)

The good will out

I tried on my bridesmaid dress tonight.

It would seem the extra four pounds or so that I've been carrying around since my holiday (which was two months ago!) have settled around my tummy and hips. It's nothing to worry about and while I can see that my dress isn't sitting as perfectly as it was, isn't anything a pair of pull-you-in tights can't sort out.

However, I want to be able to breath out on the day of the wedding without worrying that I've got a pot belly going on (there ain't nowhere to hide in a size 14 Coast dress) and so until Saturday it's all systems go.

While I've been munching on too many of the wrong things I am doing a lot of the right things. I had a great gym workout on Saturday and tonight. I've a 6 mile cycle under my belt and I'm spinning tomorrow as well. That's four solid workouts this week.

I've had a really sterling day food wise and I intend for tomorrow to be the same. I am out for a sushi lunch and so I just need to avoid the soy sauce to there is no salty water retention issues during Wednesday's weigh in.

Regardless of what the scales say on Wednesday morning. I need to keep on going. Get back into the groove of planing my food and building my plans around my workouts. I'm off to TB's on Wednesday lunchtime and so I'd love to get up early and get a quick run under my belt. In fact - I just have to decide that's what I'm doing. That's the plan. End of discussion.

Eat me

Since my last post about my mega huge Spanish omlette type effort, I've made a slight modification.

While it's super healthy, three eggs is quite a lot and so I've reduced the number of eggs to two and I'm adding some of this bad boy.

There is quite a lot of the egg white mix in the carton and since it cost about £2.80 (or thereabouts, I can't quite remember now) and you've to use it within three days of opening I was a bit hesitant about buying it. But then... I had a brainwave. I froze it into individual portions by using an ice cube bag!I knew I was going to need some today for lunch so I popped three in a bowl this morning and by lunchtime they were defrosted and ready to go!

So how does it taste with one less yolk? Definitely not as flavoursome and I felt like I needed to add a touch more salt. However, I think it's a case of getting used to it and maybe adding more nutmeg or something else to give it more taste.

In other news I wanted to show you a dress I bought last April and only wore for the first time last week. I love the colour and the tiny dots on this number, but the way it ties at the back means that any tummy rolls are on show through the synthetic material and so I've not been confident about wearing it till now. 

Sorry about the mess in my room- and my hair. It's all over the shop. It's such an Alice and Wonderland dress - love it! It's so synthetic though that I think it'll be too hot for Croatia. Finally. how amazing is this ring! Top shop sale, I salute you.

Weigh in & trying on

Precursor - I wrote this yesterday but blogger was being a twat and wouldn't let me upload pics.

I think I could have knocked out 10 miles everyday last week and eaten nothing but lettuce leaves and I would still only have lost half a pound.

Yup, it's my low loss week and I lost half a pound. I'm a bit miffed as I really did try and buck the trend this week and thought I had done enough. I'm not sweating it though (will save that for circuits later) as my body seems to be in a pattern and if I get a 2lbs loss next week then I'll be more than happy. I can't get complacent though as I still need to work hard for it.

Forgetting about the scale for a moment I did some trying on of clothes. It's TB's birthday on Friday (he'll be 24 - yes, he's getting older! He's definitely getting older!) and we're going out for a nice meal and so it's time to ditch the jeans and opt something a bit fancier. Wait. What's that noise? Oh yes, someone's hit the panic button. Panic people! I have nothing 'fancy' to wear.

I haven't worked in an office for two years and my formal clothes, which can often be dressed up to become a bit more 'going out worthy', are pretty much non existent. I live in jeans and casual dresses with leggings. These are not fancy enough. And so I delved into the wardrobe.

First up- black trousers. I bought these size 18 suit trousers from Next about a year ago. They are good quality and are typical of my fat uniform - black, wide legged trousers teamed with a tighter top. Yes, they are deadly boring but if I had to inject a bit of life into an outfit with them, I could. I'm not going to have to though as they are falling off me. Far too big! I look like I'm on day release from the mental hospital in them. I can't bear to give them to the charity shop though. I've only worn them around 10 times! I did chuck out a pair of grey trousers I bought about 4 years ago and have work once as they are are just a bad fit.

Okay- what other options do I have. Ah yes, the black dress which is pretty short but it's quite flattering as it's flarey out from the waist number (the pic doesn't do it justice). It's got a nice square pattern to it and I love the sweetheart neckline. I remember I last wore this when I was going out with Moonraker (the night he told me he loved me in fact). I must have been around 5lbs heavier or so than I am now. I felt really self conscious about how short it was but he thought I looked good in it and I am feeling quite upbeat about my pins at the moment - so it's a definite possibility.

Right what else is in here. Oh yes, black shirt dress from Oasis, we meet again. I bought this bad boy (that's in dire need of an iron) in a fit of new year 'I am going to lose weight' enthusiasm about 4 or 5 years ago, even though it was far too tight. It's got a sexy police woman feel about it and boy, does it hug in all the right places - and also the wrong ones if you are trying to wedge your size 20 arse into a size 16. To that end, I have never worn it. I've tried it on lots, but I've never worn it. I pulled it on this morning and... oh my, it's feeling and looking pretty good. Pretty good indeed. I'm always going to struggle with a straight up and down dress since my top half is two sizes smaller than the bottom but hey, that's what belts are for, right?

And so TB better prepare to blown away when I rock up on Friday in heels and a cheeky black number. I hope he thinks all his birthday's will have come at once.

Starting Weight: 204.25 pounds
Current Weight: 184.5 pounds
Weight Loss This Week: 0.5 pounds
Total Weight Loss: 19.75 pounds

PS) Peridot, ha - you are correct I didn't rebuke the cooked breakfast. I meant to write rebuff! Although next time I will most definintely rebuke it too.