If you're good, you CAN have your cake and eat it too...sometimes!

 Olaaaaa!
 So I had a great week last week, here is a run down of the highs and lows!

Highs

• so last Tuesday I went to Nando's with one of my good friends Kirsty, she'd never been before and she loved it :) I was good and didn't have dessert either, go me! While we were in the Durham area we had a look around the shops, and I found the perfect dress for my birthday

it's so comfy and also has a drop-hem, which I love as I awlays struggle to find shorter dresses that leaves something to the imagination (ie my backside!). It also helps that it was a bargain at £25! I'm looking forward to toning up a bit more and hopefully by my birthday in a few weeks and feeling really good on the day :)

•  When I got home from Durham I was still so stuffed from Nando's but I knew as I was going to my first Aquajog class that I should eat something so I had a couple of Ryvita and low fat cream cheese. It also didn't help that I was really nervous for the class (I'm not a strong swimmer and I was aware that we'd be in the deep end of the pool so we wouldn't be touching the floor for the whole hour), so I felt a bit sick before going, but once I was there I LOVED it, it was so much fun! We wore a belt that helped us float with ease, and it really works you from head to toe; we did some cardio that also doubled up as toning due to the resistance of the water, and we also used some floats as weights for extra toning, it's definately something I want to keep up!
•  On Wednesday my free Graze box arrived, I was very impressed! I got The Herb Garden, Cranberry and Honey Nut Granola, Walnut Whip, and the Orange and Ginger Flapjack. Go to Graze.com to see for yourself what they're like, and if you want a freebie, enter 6PF69Z4, which will also get me £1 off for every time it's used, wining! I liked what I recieved as there was a wide range in terms of calorie and nutritional content, and you got a leaflet with all the nutritional information so you know exactly what you're getting! I especially loved the Herb Garden, which also turned out to be the least calorie-tastic.
• I have also discovered Linwoods milled flaxseed, sunflower, pumkin, sesame seeds and goji berries, and I am AMAZED! They are superfood and go with pretty much everything. The back of the pack tells you what they contain and gives you lots of yummy ideas for what to eat them with. I especially like it with salads, sandwhiches, soups, and sprinkled on top of fruit and yoghurt. You can find them in Asda next to the muesli. Honestly, try them, they're so tasty!
•  On Friday it was a special day for me and John, it was our 4 year anniversary, so I decided as I've been good lately, I was going to relax myself and have fun for the weekend. We went to our favourite italian restaraunt on the evening and I had potato skins and a thin crust pepperoni pizza, no dessert though! We then went to the cinema to see Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, it was good but ever so slightly disturbing! On the Saturday we got on the train and went to Newcastle for the day. When we arrived we went to Starbucks for a (skinny!) coffee, then we had some fun with the statues:

 after that we did a spot of shopping, I got a bargain tshirt for £5 from Triple S in the sales, and also some lovely bits from the Body Shop; I managed to get an eyeshadow for half price (£4), a hair butter for coloured hair which was £3, and their famous body scrub for a fiver, which is usually £12! After a toastie for lunch we checked out the new Urban Outfitters and all the other lovely shops til we could take no more of the crowds, then went to TGI Friday's for tea, where I thought 'sod it!' and we had a couple of their lovely cocktails and a cajun chicken ciabatta, it was lovely and I didn't feel guilty at all, we had a great day :)

• Yesterday I got home and finally got round to stripping my hair with the help of Mother Bear, I'm quite pleased with the results, but even after washing it with my beloved Aussie shampoo, I still can't get rid of the eggy smell, and I daren't dye over it just yet in case it just falls out, so this is what I look like at the minute

• my final highlight of the week is that curiosity got the better of me and I got weighed shortly after my last post, and I was mortified to discover I am 14 stone 3lbs, 4lbs away from the heaviest I have ever been, gutted! BUT in spite of my pigging out (had my first takeaway in 16 days last night), I got weighed today and I have lost 2lbs, yay! I'm not going to get weighed regularly,  I just wanted to know where I started from, and now I can continue counting inches lost as opposed to lbs!

Lowlights of my week included my DIY gel nails coming off less than 30 hours after I did them, won't be repurchasing those! I've been a bit tired and bloated this last week, not helped by the fact that mother nature has been in town too! I have also found out that my Glossybox won't be posted until the 27th of this month, which is a bit later than normal, so I hope it's good when it eventually arrives!

 My plans for this week are night shifts tonight, tomorrow, Friday and Saturday, which I am not looking forward to! But on the upside I will be going to aqua aerobics on Wednesday seeing as I can't do aqua jog. Also I'm going to Nando's with me Treacle on Thursday which I'm really looking forward to as I haven't seen her for ages, we've also booked up to see Ross Noble in November, yay!

 I've noticed that these posts are getting far too long for once a week, so I'm hoping to post more often when I can, as I doubt many readers will have gotten to this point now lol for those who did, thanks for reading!
 Have a great week! x

first week over!

 Hi all!
 I hope 2012 is treating you well so far, I have had a very good but busy week!
 On the 'being good' front, I managed to turn down dessert every day at work and stick to just 3 square meals, and sometimes a very small meal when I got home (bearing in mind I was eating breakfast at 6.30am, lunch at midday, tiny rubbish teas at 4pm, I'm usually hungry when I get home at 8.30pm so half a tin of soup does the trick). I also had a salad for tea once or twice at work and really enjoyed it, I was very shocked, and I was so full I had to leave some! I've managed with next to no snacking too and lots of water, and no pizza for 10 days!
 I've been speaking to my Dad and he's going to experiment with healthier versions of my favourite stuff, and I've also had some contact with a guy I know of who runs a bootcamp locally and as I don't have the time or money for his bootcamp he has e-mailed me a food and exercise plan which looks great, I'll be incorporating that into my efforts when I print it off and see how that works, I'll keep you updated :)
 Sadly I've not had time to exercise this last week due to doing 5 12 hour shifts, but I am starting a new class tomorrow called Aquajog at my local swimming pool, and I'm honestly terrified but I can't wait, it seems to really work you, I'll let you know how it goes! Despite not having had any time to exercise and not sticking to a strict diet as such this last week, I couldn't resist a cheeky measure of my waist when my Mam left her tape measure out...and...I've lost half an inch,  woohoo!

 Naturally I am quite chuffed at this progress, but there are some other things that have made me happy this week:

•  My lovely boyfriend has been working super hard this week, he works full time and is also studying for an A-Level in English Literature and he starts his exams this week, so I've barely seen him and missed him lots :( I finished work early on Saturday though so I went over to see him when I was done and although we didn't go out or anything it was nice to catch up with each other and have a cuddle on the couch with a film :) it's our 4 year aniversary on Friday and I'm really looking forward to it, we're going to have a night out then go road tripping on Saturday :)
•  I have a couple of guinea pigs and one of them has been very poorly, I sadly don't know what the outcome is going to be but he's been giving me some lovely cuddles lately, he's so cute <3
• I have REALLY enjoyed work this week, it's strange doing day shifts as I was on night shifts for so long, but I've been getting right back into it and I love it.
• It was my Grandma's birthday on Saturday so we had a little gathering at hers yesterday, nothing special but it was nice to see people and it gave me a good excuse to try out some new hair and make up products I bought a few weeks ago. I got the Lee Stafford Big Fat Healthy Hair Shampoo and Conditioner, which is brilliant to use if you're going to blowy dry your hair. I also used the Matt Fat Texturising Powder, and Umberto Gianini Backcomb in a Bottle, which were both quite difficult to use at first but it turns out perseverance is key here! I used 17 Wild Nude Cream Eyeshadow, and Rimmel Colour Mousse in 012 Mocha and was quite pleased with the results (primer is a must here!):

how huge does my arm look! I couldn't be bothered to straighten my hair after I dried it so I just stuck some Lee Stafford Matt Fat Hair Mustard on and worked with it, it's by far the most value for money hair product I have, I've had it for over a year and it's not even half gone, it's brilliant! I'm going to invest in some more of the Big Fat Healthy Hair Range tomorrow, it looks amazing!

•  I had a lovely lie in today and chilled out a bit. I did my nails with the Nailene Ultra Quick Brush on Gel Kit, I didn't use the tips as my nails are quite long lately, so I just applied the gel and applied Avon Nailwear Pro nail polish in Sequined Turquoise, I was quite happy with how they turned out:

 The picture isn't great, I'm still getting used to my new camera, which is coincidentally the same colour as my nails!

 I'm off to Nando's tomorrow with a good friend of mine who I haven't seen in far too long, and she's never been to Nando's before :O should be fun! I also got a code to get a free Graze box, which I'm expecting to be delivered on Wednesday, and my Glossybox should be here in the next few days too, lots to look forward to, so lots to look forward to next time, hopefully another half inch off my waist will be one of them!

Lets wipe the slate clean!!!

 Dear me I am a bad blogger!
 I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year!
 As you may be aware, I started a new job in September, and I've been working CRAZY hours, like 13 hour nights shifts, usually 3 or 4 a week, so as you can imagine, blogging has taken a hit on the priority list, as has eaten healthily, cos when it comes to eating on a night shift, you eat what helps you stay awake! I have actually been trying to be good, but looking back, I've eaten those foods that pretend to be good for you but actually aren't, step up Morissons salad boxes! You think you're being good but because it's self serve you end up with lots of naughty white pasta and potatoes, and not enough greens!
 And exercise? Nope! I've gone from swimming 3-5 times a week to once a month if I'm lucky cos if I'm not at work I'm asleep. But enough is enough, it's time for me to pull my finger out and be a bit more strict with myself!
 I'm making some changes though. I don't want the focus here to be about weight, so the scales are going. I probably weight upwards of 13 stone now, but it's about feeling good whether you're 6 stone or 26 stone, so sod weight! There'll also be no food and exercise diary as such. I will be making changes to my diet, eg. smaller portions, salad and veg with everything where possible, pizza once a fortnight MAXIMUM, less lucozade and cider, more water and exercise etc etc. Instead of the food and exercise diary, I will be focussing on what makes me feel good. Things such as healthy versions of my favourite treats, fun exercises, but also my favourite clothes and beauty products, as well as other things such as days out and other fun stuff...I'm gonna make it up as I go along and hopefully keep it up more this time! Although this isn't necessarily about losing weight, it IS about what makes me feel good, and at the minute what would make me feel really good is losing a few inches; so to that effect, on the first of every month (or there abouts) I will be taking my measurements. This (unfortunately) includes January, I have measured myself on the largest part of each area that I want to focus on, which are as follows (don't judge me please :p):

• Bust 43inches on the larger part and 40 on the smaller (though I fit into a 36 bra easily!)
• Waist 36
• Hips 44.25
• Left thigh 25.5, right thigh 26
• Left calf 17.5 and right calf 17
• upper left arm 12.5, right arm 12.5

If you want to know what these measurements look like, here is one of the lesser flattering photos of me from New Years Eve

this here is my motivation! I am a big girl but I don't think I ALWAYS look this bad, but I am aware that 'surprisingly good' photos happen too, it works both ways :) despite the hideousness, here I am having fun with my lovely manfriend:

we had a great time, just what we needed :)

 So, this week I'm working 12 hour shifts tomorrow, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but I will try on my days off to be super good, keep track of my progress and get back to you all with what's making me happy in 2012!