Today was weigh in day and it sucked. Do I sound disgruntled enough? I was SO FED UP to stand on the scales and be told I'd gained 400g! I honestly have not been exactly on my daily points, I have gone over, but certainly not over the weekly points allowance. I was in a filthy mood, especially since last week had shown a gain as well.

I felt better when I realised that last week I'd only gained 100g, not 300g like I'd thought.

This week's gain is probably due to the fact that I haven't been getting enough sleep (which can affect weight loss) and the fact that I am "enjoying" that special time of the month and I'm bloated like a whale (TMI!) I have had a few treats this week (sushi, carrot cake, French bread) but really not enough to result in almost a pound of weight gain.

This week I am going to blog my food journal and really work hard at staying on or below my daily points and not using any weekly points. So boring, but apparently necessary for me.

What I wore to church on Sunday.







Dress: Tesco (on sale)
Cardigan: eBay (I think)
Shoes: Tesco
Ring: eBay
Garnet necklace: gift from my in-laws
Ball stud earrings: Matalan
Nail polish: dollar store

Sunday was weigh-in day and I didn't really expect it to go well. Although I'd been pretty well behaved all week we had gone out to dinner with friends (which NEVER happens) and I'd had some yummy food that wasn't too bad ... and followed it up with a slice of cheesecake, which was pretty bad.

Then, while running errands with Grant, we passed a burger chain that we wanted to try so I had a burger there. It was delicious, and I did opt for the smallest one, but it still put me over my points.

So when I stood on my digital scales on Sunday morning and saw that I'd lost around 4kg I knew there was something not quite right! I got off them, reset them and tried again, only to be told I'd gained weight. The next few times I stood on them they told me something different each time.

I went to the other bathroom to try the glass digital scales there but they produce a slightly different result than my usual ones so I still didn't know if I'd gained or lost.

I went back to my bathroom with both scales and eventually got a consistent reading from my usual scales - I'd gained 100g. That was pretty much expected.

Then I worked out that the glass scales weigh 1.1kg more than my usual ones, so I'll just weigh on them from now on and subtract 1.1kg from what they say to see how much I've lost each week.

(My goal weight is not about the number on the scale, it's about how I feel and look and fit my clothes, but I do want to keep track of my actual loss each week rather than suddenly have a non-existent 1.1kg "gain" just because I switched scales.)

I am a bit frustrated that I seem to take two steps forward and one step back but at the same time I feel like life happens and so long as I just keep plodding along I'll get there eventually.

I can feel and see the changes in my body, which is encouraging. This week I found myself exclaiming to Grant, "I'm so happy my boobs are finally getting smaller!"

He gave me a, "What's wrong with this picture?" kind of look, lol! (But let me tell ya, F-cup boobs are not all they are cracked up to be.)

My hair loss feels like it's increased but I have such thick hair it's not really a worry. It happened last time I lost weight too and I know it will eventually slow to normal rates.

I tried on a dress that I've been looking forward to wearing and it fits! So exciting.

A little while ago we went to the hot springs with friends and while I wasn't exactly uber confident parading around in my bathing suit, at least I wasn't mortified. I'm looking forward to buying a cute suit in summer.

So, goal for this week is drink plenty of water, track everything I eat, and don't go over my daily points. So far so good.

Just a little shopping and lunch with Grant (we didn't actually buy anything in the end). I was cold and wanted comfortable clothes so I decided to wear boots and leggings. When deciding what to wear on top that was long enough to cover my bum and thighs I decided to try on this summer dress and see if it fitted me yet - hooray, it does! I wore it over a long sleeved black t-shirt with a flowy cardigan on top and it was super comfy and warm.







Cardigan: Matalan
Long sleeved t-shirt: Tesco
Dress: eBay (Dorothy Perkins)
Leggings: Matalan
Boots: Clarks outlet store at Boundary Mill
Necklace: chain from Etsy, little initial tags from eBay and stamped by me
Spike bracelet: eBay
Chain bracelet: eBay
Black bow ring: eBay

Why I prefer to wear makeup.

I've talked a little bit on this blog about learning things to do with clothing, outfits, makeup and losing weight so I thought I'd do a post sharing where I've learned things from - and what exactly I've learned.

TV shows
I watched a lot of How to Look Good Naked and 10 Years Younger and learned about using belts, magic knickers (Spanx) for smoothing my midsection when wearing dresses, and accessorising.

Blogs
What I Wore Today got me started on my colourful shoes kick. I don't follow her blog anymore but while I did I learned about layering items of clothing to put together different outfits, I learned to look at everything when out shopping, including strapless or sleeveless items that I'd normally not wear (layer a cardigan over or a top underneath).
T Minus T Plus has some great inspiration outfits - and unlike most fashion blogs, she is not stick thin, proving that you can look stylish and put together even if you're plus-sized.
What I Wore is great for dipping in and out of. I love her individual style.
Dailylook is very current and teaches me about the latest trends. (Plus each item featured is available for purchase at a discounted price, if you're looking to buy.)
This post, this post and this post taught me all about how to find the most flattering fit of jeans. Seriously, you have to check these posts out - they are so informative and funny too!
Other fashion blogs I follow are:
After Style Comes Fashion
Cotton & Curls
Freckles in April
How Not to Dress Like a Mom
J's Everyday Fashion
La Vie Petite
Lilly's Style
Merrick's Art
Pink Margarite Pearl
What She Wore 365
Welcome to the gOOd life

Books
The Trinny and Susannah books are awesome for learning about what suits my figure and why, and what is appropriate for which occasion. Here are some I found particularly helpful:
Body Shape Bible
What Not To Wear for Every Occasion
What Not to Wear
What You Wear Can Change Your Life

YouTube
I learned how to do makeup properly by watching tutorials on YouTube. Some of the channels I found particularly helpful are:
amarixe
glamourista16
lisaeldridgedotcom
MakeupByTiffanyD
RachhLoves

Pinterest
Aaah, Pinterest. What did I do before Pinterest? Such a source of inspiration of all kinds. Here are some of my Project Jen related boards where you can see the things I've pinned (they link back to the original source):
Clothing and jewellery craft projects
Fashion
Jewellery
Makeup
Nails
Shoes

Shopping with a friend
Honestly, the best way that I learned what does and does not suit my body was when I had an event to go to and I had to find an outfit for it and went intensively shopping and tried everything on.

It was after I'd lost weight and had to replace my entire wardrobe, so I literally had nothing to wear for the occasion. Grant aws receiving a commendation and I was going to the ceremony. I took my extremely stylish friend Rachel with me and hit an outlet mall and then moved onto regular stores and just tried on everything that caught my eye.

It was kind of depressing. There I was, with this cute new figure, and I felt ugly and lumpy and gross because 95% of what I tried on didn't work. BUT I learned very quickly what did and didn't work and why. Now I can glance at an item on the rack and know if it's even worth trying on. Some things just straight up are never going to look good on me (hello, bias cut anything) so I don't waste time trying them.

I hope some of these resources are helpful to you! Let me know if you have a resource that you'd like to share, or if you check any of these out and they help.

I didn't know what to expect on the scales this morning. I felt like I'd lost this week but on the other hand I hadn't really expected to. Let's just say there was a bit of comfort eating this week as I've been a bit stressed.

So I was thrilled to find I'd lost 1kg! That's a little over 2lb.

That puts my total loss so far at 12.2kg (26.9lb / 1 stone 12.9lb) and I still have 7.8kg (17lb / 1 stone 3lb) to go to my goal weight, which is in the middle of my healthy BMI.

BUT I only need to lose another 2.3kg (5lb) to reach a healthy BMI, which is awesome.

I tried this recipe today and it was delicious so I thought I'd share it. The recipe is for home-made veggie burgers. The whole recipe is 16 ProPoints / Points Plus so either make
- 4 burgers = 4pp each
- 5 or 6 burgers = 3pp each
- 8 burgers = 2pp each
depending on how thick you like your burgers.

I also think you could really change up the flavours with curry powder, chilli sauce, whatever takes your fancy.

Here's the recipe:

1 tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 large or 2 small carrots
about 1 cup kale or spinach
5-6 basil leaves (I used dried)
2 tbsp parmesan cheese
4 tbsp rolled oats
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste

Put the carrot, kale, and basil into a food processor and pulse it a little first, and then added the rest of the ingredients and blend thoroughly. Form into patties and fry on a hot pan spritzed with a little oil.

I had one 4pp patty on a slice of toast with a skim of mayo for lunch (5pp total) and it was delicious. I think a patty on its own would make a nice snack, or you could go all the way and put it on a burger bun and load up with tomato, pickles, onion, lettuce, etc.

Sunday was my weigh-in day again and I lost 300g. I would have liked to have lost more as I was very well behaved last week but a loss is a loss and I'll take it!

This week has started with bad eating - out and about for 2 days straight, which makes it harder to eat right - but I'm really trying to get back on track and have a better loss this coming Sunday. We'll see how it goes...

What I wore to church.





Skirt: thrifted
White cardigan: Sainsbury's
Polka dot skirt: thrifted
Raspberry blazer: thrifted
Black shoes: thrifted
Necklace: can't remember
Black tights: can't remember

So today was weigh-in day and I was dreading standing on the scales. After last week's fabulous loss, I've had a really bad eating week. There was a lot going on this week. On Tuesday Grant and I were running errands and we got sushi for lunch. Then we went out to dinner as a family to celebrate one year in NZ, plus we got ice cream for dessert. On Wednesday I had a really stressful day, resigned from my job, had a newborn session ... all on top of a really bad night's sleep. By dinner time I was just fed up and we just got pizza. Then last night Paul (neighbour and Grant's BFF) had a birthday party. We only went for a short while but had some delicious naughty food while we were there. Oh, and I baked his two cakes so we had cake at home too, with milk chocolate ganache on.

All that to lead up to this morning's weigh-in, which showed a 1kg gain. I am sad but totally expected and deserved it.

This week I am really going to try hard to track, to stay relaxed and calm and on top of things even though I have so much to do and the kids are on school holiday. Friday and Saturday are my last two shifts and then I am done working for Hannahs and will actually get my weekends back, hooray!

I know that things don't always go according to plan but that I can still make healthy choices rather than just giving in and eating badly. I am going to try hard this week.