The Key to Weightloss....

Ive discovered the key to weight loss - its so simple really, and in some ways im sorry to have to say this, but the key to weight loss - the best way of melting away those lbs - is, unfortunately, diet and exercise. Sigh - anti climatic i know, but also very very true. This past week ive exercised my tushie off - every day i danced on my wii, and then following my blog post i WALKED the 2 miles into town (i know, walked!) it was up 3/4 of the way, and it was a walk i used to take regularly when i was a gym bunny (when i was made redundant i had to quit...bad times) and to be honest, at parts i found it tough - but i felt SO good knowing id done it! I then walked around tesco, and then went to a wedding on  the night - and can i say, i, me, MEL got up and danced. I never get up and dance at weddings etc, i cant really say why - its something im not sure of - self conscious i guess, but yep - i got up and danced and i was hot, and worked up a bit of a sweat along with everyone else. :)

So when, i stepped onto the scales on saturday morning, i'll be honest, i was feeling optimistic - but there was no way in hell i was expecting to lose 10lbs!!!!! so unfortunately, i can now say its true - exercising helps you lose weight - sorry to report that guys and girls ;)  however, who ever said exercise is good for you lied, judging by the aches and pains in muscles, exercise is the opposite of good for you! lol. This week im going back to work (sigh) but im still gonna im to go on my wii every night after work, im even looking into buying this ;

i know its meant to be scary hard, but in 20 min intervals i think i can handle scary hard? any reviews would be luvverly. thinking it may break up the monotony of just doing rhe same just dance game every night after work?

today ive set myself a challenge, i have the claire from steps work out dvd - the one with the army guys (swit swoooo) and ive never got more than 10 mins in - hardly good, but it is a toughie - and when ive tried it before ive never felt this motivated to feel the burn, soo - my challenge is to put that dvd on and do at least 30 mins!! i shall report on my progress on that one later this week.

so yeah, motivation wise - times are good my friends, times are good :)

                             peace out x

Hello new me!! :)

Well hello there avid blog readers. long time no...erm... soliloquy-esqe discourse on my part ;) truth is, last week went down the pan big time for me - you could say life got in the way - you could say i had somewhat of an emotional breakdown, you could say it was a lil from column a and a little from column b. To cut a long story short, i gained - and then in a way that turned out to be a positive as this week ive been a pointing AND exercising machine. Ive been on a weeks hol from work, and have made a real effort to burn off some extra calories by, well, moving :) ive tidied my room and ive played on my wii just dance game for at least 30 mins a day, and playing that ive given it my all and got a real sweat on each time, im also rather achey in the shoulder department.But - and ive never said i was normal - i love that pain. Because i know ive done something - thats why yoga etc never worked for me, because if im gonna exercise i better damn well feel it afterwards - its why i think id fair ok on The Biggest Loser, im some what of a masochist ;)

Life itself has turned somewhat dramatic of late, in july my parents went to mexico and my dad had a seizure, he had one 4 years ago and they found no explanation for it, just called it a grand mal seizure and life went on. Well this time they sent him for lots and lots of tests, measuring brain waves and what not, and he's been diagnosed with Epilepsy. Were currently waiting on the results to see if its photosensitive but we dont think it is, and he's gonna be medicated for life. So of course, were all making jokes about this - I know this sounds harsh, but Dads cracking jokes too - its kinda the way our family operates.

Next, and last (thankfully) on the dramatic incident hit list is this. My dad works as a security guard in a shopping centre (the same shopping centre that me and mum work in shops in - its a family affair,lol) and he is also the first aider. Yesterday a lady collapsed in the centre and dad was called to her, he did cpr till the ambulance arrived but they lost her :( :( its so so sad, and its shaken my dad up a whole lot (understandingly) rip that lady, im so so sorry :( and so so angry that people felt the need to STOP and WATCH and GATHER around my dad when he was trying to save your life. Seriously - it took another security guard to usher people on, strangers were stopping gawping and taking away this ladies dignity - sometimes people make me sick :( :(
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..

.............On a happier note, ive had a life break through with some thanks and recognition going to my diet buddy, Ang. I'll use her words for this, but it;s exactly right and i couldnt have put it better myself (looks like she lucked out ;) ) we were discussing reaching our breaking points and she said

'its like, how long long are we gonna continue letting life pass us by?'

and its true really - so from here on in and im gonna lose this bloody weight and grab life by both hands. my weight loss goal is simple, the shop i get my piercing done in, and buy my flesh tunnels and quirky accessories and so on - they sell clothes too, but only in smaller sizes. Im gonna get a t-shirt from there dammit, and im gonna look gooooooooooddddddd :) )

                                                                   peace out x

(p.s:- sorry for the distinct lack of pictures in this post - i wasnt really sure what to put,lol)

What can I say? I suck.

grrr, hello binge eating mel, this weeks been tough, im doing a dodgy shift at work and i dont get a break, so im going from 9:30am until about 5pm without food, so when i get home im starving and ive snuck over points every evening this week, and the sad thing is ive really been trying. and today im a eating machine, so i guess fresh start tomorrow? sigh.

this morning i got in the taxi to work (mum and mine shifts started at the same time and ) rrrrrriiiiiippppppppppppppppp!!! oh my word, super embarassment - and im talking from waistband to down, and i cant even blame my weight - they are looser now than they were, well they were looser - now they are in the bin, so i got out the taxi, tied my cardigan around my waist and told mum to tell work im sick - theres a tummy bug going round, and yes i feel awful but it was necessary - 15 minutes later i was on the bus into town, then i had to get an eco bus to the retail park and to evans and i bought 2 pairs of trousers (one in a size smaller than i am) as they were two for £25, then eco bus back into town, and then bus home - so i couldnt have worked, it took me 2.5 hours to go and get some blooming work trousers, thus - im not happy -  but it could have been worse, they could have gone in work - oh my god, id have cried :( so i treated myself to the red hat i saw 3 weeks a go and talked myself out of buying but havent been able to stop thinking about since :)

erm... comme ci comme ca times i guess??

                                                                 

                                                                      peace out x

Weigh in Week Four, Aches and Pains and The Start of a New Challenge.

ok, so first things first, lets start from the very beginning as its a very good place to start and all that jazz ( ;) ), this week i lost 6lbs, happy? you bet ya! motivated? yessums. so really, times are good :) i knows i had a shaky start to the week but i made a good attempt at pulling it back and it seems it worked - good times;

i feel i should apologise at this point, briefly, as they won't be any photos of me aka the mel on this blog post, im exhausted today, and i cant be bothered putting make up on and trust me, without make up - well, its a sight that would make small children cry and animals flee from their habitat ;) so yeah, no facial photos of melly pops in this post, i'll let you decide whether thats a good or a bad thing :)

I think it's fair to say that this week had marked the arrival of autumn for most people, the weathers strange here, warm and sunny one minute then warm and pounding it down with rain the next, not the best - i actually love autumn and winter, i love coming home from work in the dark and all the houses looking warm and inviting (even on the council estate on which i live, mental note - dont think 'shameless' at this point, its no where near that bad ), getting home,  putting on the pj's and slippers, and snuggling down with a cuppa and listening to the elements do their worst outside. I seriously LOVE the cold. Im not normal, ive accepted that and moved on - and if you follow my blog i can only assume you've accepted my mental-ness and embraced it, a virtual hug goes out to ya'll. anyway - i digress (as per usual), as much as i love the cold weather and the rain and the wind, the rain causes me a few wee problems now im getting older (23!!!!) my dodgy leg seriously dislikes rain and damp and cold, i feel a wee back story is required here...

for those that dont know, when i was 12 i was involved in a road traffic accident, i say i was involved - basically a black (london-esque, not racism ;) ) taxi plowed me down and i went for a lil trip through the sky (12 feet forward, 10 feet in the air) - i'd got off the school bus, crossed the road and the taxi came speeding round and down i went (technically, i went up then down ;) ) - before anyone asks, my parents did try to get me compensation but my only adult witness took a bribe from the company, how nice - i feel no resentment for the shrew faced bitch witch from hell, honestly. So yeah, i went for a ride through the air and my shoes flew off somewhere and i landed and luckily landed at an angle that didnt mean broken back/neck - however i did bonce across the gravel a wee bit and got a fair few gravel burns in the process - i remember it all too, the flying, the landing, the pain, the embarrassment - yes i was embarrassed, go figure. anyway, i snapped my right shin - well the taxi bumper did that, but i was whisked away to hospital for an operation which included gravel removal and bone manipulation, the manipulation didnt work so i had my leg plated;

bad quality pic i know, its a photo of a photo... but its a pink cast :)

hello gnarly scar;

its ok now really, coz its faded lots, but its still a good 9 inches long and right smack in the centre of my shin, sexy. i missed half of year 7, and then half of year 9 (while i was having the plate removed), and the dent in my leg is wear the break was and wear the bumper hit my leg :( its left me with a whole lot of emotional problems, i had night terrors for a very long time - and it all contributed to the diagnosis of my bipolar when i was 14, and physical problems a plenty - not least the fact my dodgy (right leg) is weak as hell, which makes wearing heels a pain, i cant wear big ones coz my ankles weaker than average and cant take it, and i also have arthritis in that leg, as well as what i like to call my floating knee cap, basically every now and then, when i twist funny (last time i did it i was in the act of sitting down on a table,hmm) my knee dislocates itself and then pops back in - swearing a plenty ensues :)

so yeah, my poor leg is adapting to the cold weather again now so im walking like a pensioner - bad times - but there you go, if you ever hear me whinging on about my leg - thats the back story :)

ive also decided to set myself a lil challenge, in 7.5 weeks i shall be going to see mr john bishop live in southport, and im excited muchly -

so, in 7 weeks im gonna try and lose a stone and half (21lbs), this is 3lb a week loss which is bit high i know, but theres no point setting a challenge thats gonna be easy right, check out the ticker thing at the top of the page for progress. wish me luck.

ooooh and excitement, i has a new mobile telephone arriving tomorrow;

pretty phone :)

mels getting a new toy :) :) so you knows what i'll be doing tomorrow night - playing, and trying to work out how to use it,lmao

                                                              peace x

what a boring week :o|

today i went to work ultra prepared, i was down for an 11-6 shift, and i even stopped in the freezer shop on the way to work and bought myself a ww beef hotpot ready meal (3.5 points) as i get so bored of eating butties, so there i was with my lunch all ready prepped and..... they sent me home at 3pm! lol, dont get my wrong im not complaining, but i guarantee if i hadnt been so organised then they wouldnt have sent me home - ladies and gentlemen i believe this would be known as the law of sod ;) anyway, i came home and ate my beef hotpot here, on the most disgusting plate we own, this is a solitary plate from the 70's i think, lol, i shant show mum this picture, i imagine i'll be told off for showing one of out more hideous plates off ;)

bad lighting, sorry.

work has been disgustingly boring this week (and i still have tomorrow to get through) we have a new store opening near by and the staff are training are in the store i work in, lovely as they all are it does mean our staff levels have more than doubled yet we still have the same work load, meaning less to do - which sounds great but in reality is boring as hell. :( thankfully, today was their last day as they need to merchandise their store from now on, we've also lost a staff member to that store, so hopefully the manager will replace her speedily.

diet wise, ive been super good - so im hoping for a good result tomorrow despite being completely sucky at the beginning of the week - keep everything crossed for me my dear readers?

ooohhhhh and i just HAVE to show you this, lets be honest - its no secret i like to stand out from the crowd,and this will help - but for the record, i would never usually wear one of each colour - this is just as a demonstration ;)

so? what do you think? any preferences? know whats extra awesome, they are uv so will look fricking awesome when im out on the town, know whats cooler? they are from the shop next door to where i work and because these are uv they should have been £20 but the lady gave them me for £15 and bogof, ooohhh yeeaaahhhhhh....


and before i forget, at work yesterday a very nice lady said id lost lots of weight since she saw me last - not entirely sure thats true, but hey - how nice,and incase you were wondering lack of twister lip ring? ive taken it out because we have loads of upper management visits in our store i the next few weeks so i decided to play it safe - how boooorrriiinggg!!!

              peace out x

My tip for weight loss.....

change from a lip stud to to a lip twister bar! (not the best of pictures i grant you)

yes, it looks fricking awesome and is very much 'rock' but i cant drink without a straw (i can drink from bottles, just not glasses) without dribbling (oooof, super sexy) and i need to think of a whole new way to eat... lol

Pledge

not the best of photos, but you get the gist. the diet starts again (in earnest) today, and i CAN and WILL do this.

also, the down side of writing in coloured pencil is that my hand writing looks like that of a 5 year old. my bad ;)

                   peace x

Weigh in Week Three - Uck.

oh uck, weigh in was a fricking disaster this week :( as demonstrated by the concerned face above. Whilst i fully appreciate it was a struggle, and i was less than angelic at the end of the week (but not THAT bad) i have to say, i totally did not deserve to gain 5lbs!! i mean seriously, what the hell?? i know i retain water like a god damn sponge 1 week a month but seriously, you gotta be joking - 5-fricking-lbs!!! to say im pissed is a slight understatement, im actually pretty seriously gutted.

this of course flicked the binge switch into the on position. i went out for an indian last night, and while i was going to be semi sensible up until yesterday morning, when i got there i just didnt care. i wish i could say i regretted my decision, but frankly it was far too yummy for me to regret anything, i also drank far too much wine, ate my indian and snarfed down chocolate like a machine, hardly helpful under the circumstances. so over all, last week and yesterday only 1 word can sum me up;

(probably best not to ask how long it took me to colour in my lil signage) Infact i'd go further and describe myself as an epic fail. you heard me right, EPIC!

Regardless of this, im making an effort to get back on track today, despite feeling a distinct lack of mojo and a rather over whelming feeling of blahness.

Its not so me that i dont want to diet, i enjoy fruit, i enjoy eating healthily - i just hate thinking about food. oh how i yearn to be able to just go into the kitchen and fix myself a snack without having to break it all down in my mind into kcals, saturated fat and, in turn, points. But doing that clearly got me to the stage im at so im back to being a pointing machine, besides which, mums awesome hotpot is for tea :) im home alone today so just need to work out what to have for breakfast (yes, i still havent eaten :o\ ) and lunch and im good to go. im gonna incorporate fruit in there for sure, we have some awesome plums and nectarines in the house, my absolute fave :)

This week theres been some pretty awesome articles in the paper about food, specifically american food (i buy the star, its 20p and i can read it in my limited breaks at work,lol)

The NYC Chippy

i urge you to read this one, its one of my goals to travel to NYC (as well as Vegas,Rome,Paris - ive been there, on stop over - saw the eiffel tower from a distance and a lovely hotel room,lol - Australia, Prague - the lists endless) and when i do, im totally going here :)

This one didnt make my mouth water as much;

Monster Food!

i adore bacon, i adore blt's - but even this one would over face me. Its quite shocking - do you think you'd get them for free if you finished them all? Irritatingly they never produce articles like this in the UK. I was at a cafe the other week with a monster breakfast, it was £15 but if you finished it was free, it like 6 x sausages, 10 x bacon, 3 x eggs, 3 x slices of black pudding, 1 x tin of beans, mushrooms, tomatoes and 6 x slices of fried bread. Similarly, we were at a restaurant a few back where a steak was advertised on a similar premise, but i forget the weight - someone bought it on a table near us and im pretty sure they'd just brought the fella who bought it a cow - he didnt finish it ;)

I also have a new book recommendation, even though i know no one pays attention to these, i feel the need to consistently and constantly recommend books im reading, so heres my new one, fallen by lauren kate.

Fallen

ive taken a break from my latest house of night obsession (read the first 2, got the 3rd upstairs ready) and am reading this, its really good, and is about a fallen angel, ive even posted a link to play.com so you can read what its about, and pur-chase it :) but it really is rather awesome - its also another series of book (oh heck, too many books too lil time) but luckily enough the next books not out yet. enjoy. also, if anyone, on the off chance, does read any books recommend can you please let me know, and let me know what you think? im such a book nerd and look talking books :)

                                                 
                                                       Peace x

The Binge Switch

So, both me and my diet buddy are having a tough time of things this week, so i figured id post a blog about something i seem to struggle with, my somewhat infamous binge switch.

Of course i can only talk for myself here, but sometimes i feel like i have a switch in my brain, and when it gets flicked on i just eat everything in sight, this week im struggling - im feeling very down in the dumps and am seriously struggling not to binge on a daily basis, im due on (too much info, sorry) so have some pretty serious cravings for sweets and carbs which are, quite frankly, a bitch to control. im also feeling really rather teary due to the tmi reason mentioned above (i know, me teary? hard to comprehend it isnt it) and im also exhausted, i worked on bank holiday monday and as i wasnt needed on the till i worked as shop floor crew for the day and it absolutely killed me - far too much lifting and carrying, my poor shoulders and arms still feel like ive been through a pretty damn hardcore gym workout, working as till staff my legs are sore by the end of the day, but jeeezeee - come back leg pain all forgiven. :(

anyway i digress, ive been wondering lately why i (and surely i CANT be the only out there?) who has this strange switch on moment, which means i'll stop being in the struggling zone and head straight over to the all out binge zone. as a rule, my train of thought will go;

'man, im hungry - but i shouldnt eat that'
'but then, will one lil thing like that hurt in the grand scheme of things?'

** chomp chomp chomp chew chew **

'well, now ive done that i may as well have more'
'.....and more'
'..........and much much more'
'know what, ive ruined it for today - ill have today off and get back on it tomorrow'

this is not healthy, not healthy at all. Im also an emotional eater, so if im feeling low the switch is usually switched on when i think 'arrr fuck it', like on sunday evening, when i was more skint than an extremely broke person after spending his last penny on the most poorest day of their life and this ending up epicly poor, and also due in work on monday, and i got a text of one of my mates asking if i was heading out (helllooo, bank holiday sunday, recovery monday ;) ) and i couldnt go - and then;

'fuck it'

*** ping, the binge lights on ***

and i had some of the demon cake, a krispy kreme donut, a boost, some crisps and houmous, cheese and crackers and wine. oh heck.

also worth noting, the binge switch is more likely to flick towards on if its already been on that week, so this week im struggling to stay motivated as i cant see me losing weight after a) the binge and b) im suffering severely from big bloated balloon belly, ahh god dammit, ill be honest, im struggling and i feel massive :( this makes me feel;

but im trying very hard to at least sts this week, eeep wish me luck.

to satisfy my sweet craving im working in pointable treats to my diet, such as m and s count on us chocolate mousses, and kit kats - 2.5 points of yummyness.

im also suffering from pretty immense irratableness - and im fast learning a) why idiots shouldnt use facebook and b) i have a lot of them on my facebook friends list, now - ill be honest here, i know i may offend people - especially on facebook, im agnostic with atheistic tendencies and im pretty much, well - opinionated and me. i accept i may offend people, and as long as they do that quietly im fine with that, they'll get over it. but my god, do not try and block me - fail - and then write a status saying you've blocked me because you didnt agree with my opinions, i swear to god - there must be a pretty severe lack of psychiatrists judging by the amount of people with severe issues i have on my facebook.

anyway, id appreciate any feedback on my whole binge switch theory?

                                                  peace out x