Abi's Couch to 5k

1/1/11 (couldn't resist)

2011-01-01T19:01:00.000Z

"It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feeling good"

Happy New Year People,

Now that's inspiration!

And the rain came tumbling down!

2010-06-01T15:56:00.001+01:00

After a couple of weeks of blazing hot weather I'm certainly not going to complain of the couple of days of rain, or am I? Nah, I won't or rather I'll just wait and see how long the rain lasts.

I've been running at 5.30am since the clocks changed and it's still so hot. I never thought I'd say this but I think I actually prefer winter running to now.

Talking about weather, I just got myself a snazzy pair of sports sunglasses they get the job done, keeping the sun out of my eye's without falling off my head but I feel a bit self conscious when I wear them, I've always associated sunglasses with very serious runners, you know the ones in their skins and other high tech gear that whizz past you (well me) with a superior smirk, I keep thinking I look like a wannabe serious runner but thats not enough to stop me wearing them especially as they have helped with ignoring the gawking men who can't seem to take their eyes away from my bosom, the only part of my body that was not affected by my weight loss, I'm going to have to do a post on my adventures with sports bras all I'm going to say for now to any busty runner out there is ENELL is your friend!

P.S there really is no explanation for why I haven't blogged in a while, sh*t happens.

Onwards

2009-11-19T14:59:00.001Z

Onwards from AKQA on Vimeo.

I so love her!!!

2009-07-18T20:52:00.005+01:00

Kimberlee Jay

Now if these don't motivate me, nothing will!

2009-05-31T18:51:00.003+01:00

and this looks like so much fun, lol

Go Lower Thoughts

2008-12-04T10:36:00.004Z

Shock and disbelief, I'm down 2lbs. 12lbs in all

So what do I think? I lost 12lbs in 28 days, I didn't feel as if I was on a diet most of the time, I liked most of the meals, it was very convenient just heat and eat. I also learnt quite a lot from the Go Lower forum and got regular supportive calls from very friendly Go Lower staff.

Although it doesn't seem like a diet, it is, I've come to realize that for me, losing weight is all about self control, I make a lot of bad choices with food if I could just start to make healthier choices and eat in moderation, I'll be fine. So I'm going to stop moaning and get on with my running and see if everything falls into place.

EDIT: I wrote this on the 4th of December but was in one of my avoid my blog moods which thankfully I'm finally over today (18th of January, lol) but a month on I haven't put on any more weight and have lost a few more!

Abi's Go Lower Day 28

2008-12-03T20:36:00.002Z

Breakfast: Nut clusters, berries and yoghurt
Lunch: Tex Mex Soup
Dinner: Mushroom Soup

Last day, I was so tempted to weigh myself today but I'll wait till tomorrow morning although I think I may have put on a pound or two, hopefully it wont be three or four!
Not sure if it was just the excitement of it being my final day but I felt really good today, I wasn't hungry no headaches just a regular day.

Abi's Go Lower Day 27

2008-12-02T21:35:00.002Z

Breakfast: Nut clusters, berries and yoghurt
Lunch: Mushroom Soup
Dinner: Chicken fricassee

Just one more day, I still have lots of Go Lower food pouches left so I'll probably keep going till I run out, but don't worry I'll stop blogging in detail about it once I'm done with the trial period.
Still hungry and its really taking a lot of will power not to cheat, I've also got a massive headache that wont quit!

Abi's Go Lower Day 26

2008-12-01T22:35:00.002Z

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs
Lunch:Green salad with grillled pork
Dinner: Nut bar

Another hunger driven day, but thankfully I didn't cheat was too tired to make anything for dinner so I just had a nut bar then went to bed

Abi's Go Lower Day 25

2008-11-30T21:34:00.002Z

Breakfast: Nut clusters, berries and yoghurt
Lunch: Tex Mex Soup
Dinner: Chicken curry

I was so hungry today, I had 2 nut bars, 2 boiled eggs and two pieces of chicken as snacks. I am so annoyed with myself, I'm not expecting any weight loss this week, what was I thinking yesterday?

Abi's Go lower Day 24

2008-11-29T21:01:00.004Z

Breakfast: Eggs, sausages and bacon
Lunch: 2 nut bars
Dinner:Pasta at Bella Italia
I think it all went belly up from breakfast. I thought since I'd be on my feet all day (Christmas Shopping) I should start with a heavy breakfast, but I just felt really tired and sluggish, I was starving by dinnertime and found myself in front of a Bella Italia, you may want to use your imagination for the rest, CARBFEST!!!!!!!

I think this is simply an issue with self control, there were healthier alternatives on the menu but I CHOSE the garlic bread and the pasta and then I gave myself a pat on the back for not having dessert! The annoying thing is I still felt hungry after the large bowl of pasta.

I'm not going to beat myself up about this, I'm just going to get on with it

Abi's Go lower Day 23

2008-11-28T22:22:00.001Z

Breakfast: berries with yoghurt
Lunch:Green salad with grillled chicken wings
Dinner:Steak and eggs

I didn't plan it but I ended my day without a Go lower meal, I think its my first,I was making the steak for the rest of the house and I just thought why not? I think I still kept to plan though the scales will tell at the end of the week. 5 more days!

Abi's Go lower Day 22

2008-11-27T20:16:00.001Z

3 pounds down, total of 10lbs so far, just two pounds to take me below 200 and then it'll be a success!

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs
Lunch: Tex mex Soup
Dinner:Chilli beef with brussel sprouts

I think cutting back my portions was the key to my loss this week, I at least one nut bar everyday but it doesn't seem to have affected my figures. I'm very pleased.

Abi's go lower Day 21

2008-11-26T16:16:00.005Z

Breakfast: nut clusters with berries and yoghurt
Lunch: Chicken and leek cream
Dinner: 2 nut bars

weigh in tomorrow, I think I've been really good this week, will see if changing things will have an impact on my loss this week.

Abi's Go lower Day 20

2008-11-25T21:15:00.001Z

Breakfast: 2 boiled eggs mashed with mayonnaise
Lunch: Green salad with chicken thigh
Dinner: tex mex soup

8 more days to go, feel a bit under the weather.

Abi's Go lower Day 19

2008-11-24T22:14:00.001Z

Breakfast:Nut clusters with milk
Lunch:Tex Mex Soup
Dinner: Chicken fricassee

I haven't had the nut clusters with milk in a while, I remember when I started it wouldn't fill me up, its more filling with berries and yoghurt but its not so bad with milk, maybe my stomach has shrunk!

Abi's Go lower Day 18

2008-11-23T21:35:00.001Z

Breakfast: in a rush, grabbed a raspberry nut bar
Lunch: chicken curry with cauliflower rice (yes, again)
Dinner: mushroom soup

I've definitely gone off the mushroom soup, I just tried one last time....... NOPE!
I found another recipe for cauliflower rice which I prefer, just fry with a little butter for about 3 minutes and its done, it tasted much better than when I used the microwave, more ricey.

I had another nut bar after the soup, I'm so sleepy and its soooooo cold today. I'm off to bed

Abi's Go Lower Day 17

2008-11-22T21:34:00.005Z

Breakfast: Nut clusters with berries and yoghurt
Lunch: Tex Mex Soup
Dinner: Pork Milanese with cauliflower rice

I finally tried the cauliflower rice, its not rice, but covered with a tasty sauce, it'll do, it had a rice like texture and I'm definitely going to be having it again. I had half a portion of both my meals, I never actually finish a pouch and since most of my new meals are higher in carbs I thought I'd try reducing the portion size I heat up and see if I'd got hungry, I didn't so from now on I'll just heat up about half and see how I do going forward.

Abi's Go lower Day 16

2008-11-21T21:29:00.003Z

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs
Lunch: Green salad (a quarter iceberg lettuce, cucumber, green pepper & mayonnaise) with a chicken drumstick (grilled)
Dinner: Chilli beef

I just realized I haven't had any of the Go Lower snacks in about 4 days, weird! I usually pop one in my bag everyday and I found 4 there today. I've also noticed that the nausea has gone, so good feelings all around.

Abi's Go lower Day 9 - 15

2008-11-20T12:36:00.003Z

I apologise for my absence, had a problem with my router which finally got sorted out today.

I'm down 2 pounds!

I wish I had measured myself at the start, my clothes are beginning to look better on me, and my stomach which is my major problem area isn't bulging as much

I alternated between the nut clusters and eggs for breakfast, I had Tex Mex soup everyday for lunch, I've gone off the mushroom soup and dinner was either the chilli beef, pork milanese or chicken curry.

I was told that when I changed my box around, I chose meals with higher carb contents (typical me) so I'm thinking that would account for the small loss this week, I know the Tex Mex is a big culprit so I'll reduce that and replace it on some days with a small green salad and a portion of protein and see what the next seven days will bring.

Overall at my halfway point I'm pretty happy with how its gone so far, mainly because it wasn't really hard to do, last night I made chicken curry with rice for my family and I was okay with not having any rice, long term I don't know, I think as the weight comes off and I eventually get to maintenance I should be able to slowly reintroduce more carbs just smaller portions.

I better stop counting my chickens before they hatch and concentrate on now!

Abi's Go Lower Day 8

2008-11-13T23:13:00.000Z

I'm down 5 pounds!

I'm pleased and very surprised. Surprised because it didn't feel like I was really trying, I wasn't hungry most of the time but I did have carb cravings that took quite a lot of will power to conquer especially last night when my sister was having pasta right in front of me aaaah just thinking about it again has got me salivating

Brekkie was nut clusters with berries and Greek yoghurt, very filling, I think I must have gone a bit overboard with the berries, I'm going to measure out 100g tomorrow then I'll be sure if I'm going overboard or not

Since I'm usually not very hungry at dinner time I thought I'd switch things over a bit and have dinner for lunch, as it's usually heavier so finally had the chicken curry I was a bit disappointed, CHICKEN curry? where's the chicken? little intsy bits, invisible to the naked eye!

Dinner was mushroom soup. I think I'm going off it. 8 days down, 20 more to go

Abis Go Lower Day 7 + New Box

2008-11-12T21:44:00.001Z

Since I'd tasted most of the food and decided on my firm favourites I asked to switch the meals I wasn't too crazy about for my favs

I received the new box today and it contained 12 yes 12 Tex mex soup [to replace 3 mushroom stroganoff, 7 pea and ham soup and 2 chicken and leek cream] for dinner I got 4 pork Milanese, 4 chicken curry and 3 chilli beef [replacing 4 chicken and leek cream 4 chicken chasseur and 3 beef bourguiginon] and 15 raspberry nut bar [to replace 15 ghastly smokey bacon crunch]

Didn't feel nauseous this morning so back to nut clusters
Tex Mex soup for lunch and dinner was supposed to be vegetarian chickenless pieces in a blue cheese sauce, Ha! I took one bite and had my sisters leftover mince and a piece of chicken.

Tomorrow is my weigh in day..................

NIKE + Paula Chasing 5k

2008-11-12T18:09:00.001Z

Need some extra motivation to run now its so cold?

To celebrate winning the New York marathon, Paula Radcliffe is holding a special 5k challenge with Nike+ on NikePlus.com. Paula clocked average 5Km splits of 16'50"

Throughout November Nike+ users can log as many 5k runs as they like on the Nike+ system, the challenge ends on the 1st of December and the top five men and top five women with the best times in the challenge will be invited to meet Paula at NikeTown in London, before having the chance to go on a 5k run with Paula in Regent's Park.

I absolutely adore Paula Radcliffe, and Regents park was the venue of my first race so I'm thinking this is a sign right? So I hopped on over to the challenge and so far the best female times are about 17'50" but that's not going to deter me from running with Paula who knows she just might decide to pick me so she can give me tips because I'm at the back of the pack!

Anyone with me?

There's more info on the Nike+ site

Abi's Go Lower Day 6

2008-11-11T23:43:00.002Z

Still nauseous in the morning and I had this really funny taste in my mouth I can't really describe it. I thought something spicy would help so I had a very spicy omelette, yummy, it also got rid of the nausea.

Didn't have lunch till about 4.30 and it was the Chicken and Leek Cream, it had a very homemade and rustic look and taste, very nice and filling, I can also have it for dinner.

I was still full from lunch at dinner time so I had a coconut bar, was really looking forward to having the chicken curry, I've always had curry with either rice or potatoes, but this time it'll be with riced cauliflower, I found a recipe for it here

I haven't run since I started, not good, I guess I just expected I'd be weak and tired but on the contrary I feel really strong so I'll be running tomorrow. I'm also looking forward to weighing myself I think I'll do it on the morning of day 8, I haven't noticed any difference in the way my clothes fit though.

Abi's Go Lower Day 5

2008-11-10T22:13:00.000Z

Finally got my berries and greek yoghurt so breakfast was a blast, a berry blast, I'm sure I had too many berries, it tasted soooooo good Hmmmmn. The way things are going I don't see myself alternating with a couple of eggs ...... was going to take a picture but I couldn't wait, I just had to tuck in, lol

I really had to force myself to eat half my lunch today, Mushroom Stroganoff, It was nice but I wasn't hungry at lunch time if it goes on like this I'll consider having lunch much later than 1.30pm. I did crave something sweet after lunch so I had my first treat, the Go Lower Chocolate Brazils, it definitely hit the spot. Its a pack of two chocolate coated nuts, the first time I saw it, I thought it was too small but after eating it I can't imagine having more than a pack.

I felt really nauseous at dinner time so I just had a raspberry nut bar.