The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed that I’ve not published a weight loss update since the last one back in February! I have to confess that what with a minor breakdown, Spanish coursework, a holiday, and just, well, life, I fell off the healthy eating wagon a bit! I put a few pounds back on but nothing too drastic (which is surprising given the amount of chocolate, takeaways and wine that have made it past my lips in the last few months).

Anyway, we’re going on holiday in a few weeks so we’re having a healthy month in the hope of shifting a few pounds before then. And then after our holidays I’ve got a few months before I’ll be back on stage for the first time in two years! I’m dancing in a production of Aida (The Musical) and I definitely need to be a bit thinner, and a lot fitter, if I’m not going to collapse on stage every night! I’m getting plenty of exercise at rehearsals at least so that should help.

There is another reason to get back to my pre-baby weight (or rather pre-honeymoon weight!) and that is by the winter we’ll probably be thinking about trying for another baby and I don’t want to start another pregnancy still carrying weight from the last one.

So anyway, here are the all important stats – I’ve included my starting stats but also those from my last update.

Weight: 12st 12lb (Feb: 12st 11lb) (Dec: 13st 8lb) – lost 10lb

Waist: 33.5 inches (Feb:33.5 inches) (Dec:37 inches) – lost 3.5 inches

Hips: 43 inches (Feb:43 inches) (Dec:45.5 inches) – lost 2.5 inches

Bust: 40 inches (Feb:40 inches) (Dec:42 inches) – lost 2 inch

I’m still not going ‘on a diet’ – just being mindful of what I eat (and drink) and of my portion sizes, and making sure I get plenty of exercise too. I’ll be back with another update before we go on holiday – all positive thoughts and encouragement welcome!

Another monthly update on my weight loss progress. After a fantastic start to the month when I did Exante Diet for a week and lost 6lbs things haven’t been going particularly well on the healthy eating and weight loss front. I know there aren’t any excuses but this miserable weather has really not been helping matters. I’m still planning our meals every week which is brilliant. It saves me having to think what to cook every night, and it has helped reduce our food shopping bills this month. However, I have had a bit of an unhealthy obsession with Malteaser Bunnies and have just been eating far too much chocolate. I need to refocus and get back on track next month. I was doing so well before Christmas, it would be stupid to let that go to waste now. So the plan for the next month – get back to tracking calories on My Fitness Pal and cut down on the chocolate!

So time for the stats: (Figures in brackets are my original starting weights and measurements):

Weight: 12st 11lb (13st 8lb) – lost 11lb

Waist: 33.5 inches (37 inches) – lost 3.5 inches

Hips: 43 inches (45.5 inches) – lost 2.5 inches

Bust: 40 inches (42 inches) – lost 2 inch

I’m not overly pleased with this but things are still moving in the right direction. So, to next month. Onwards and upwards!

This is just a quick update on my weight loss progress. What with Christmas and visiting family (and my mother-in-law-who-makes-all-the-cakes) I was expecting a bit of a disaster this month. Despite my best intentions not to go crazy over the festive period I managed to consume quite a lot of chocolate (and wine!) but actually it’s not looking too bad as far as the numbers go. Since last months update I managed to lose 2lbs, put 3lbs on over Christmas, and then lose 2lbs again in the last week – so if you’re following the maths that leaves me 1lb down overall. And I’m calling that a win!

So time for the stats: (Figures in brackets are my original starting weights and measurements):

Weight: 13st 2lb (13st 8lb) – lost 6lb

Waist: 34.5 inches (37 inches) – lost 2.5 inches

Hips: 43 inches (45.5 inches) – lost 2.5 inches

Bust: 40 inches (42 inches) – lost 2 inch

So far so good. Now although my long term goal is to improve my general eating habits without being on a diet I’ve been given the chance to try a meal replacement diet (Extante Diet) for a week which I’ll be doing next week and blogging about when I’m done. Hopefully it will just give me a bit of a post Christmas boost so I can then carry on with my sensible and balanced eating.

A month ago I decided it was time to start doing something about losing the 3 stone I put on while pregnant with Toby. After a four month experiment (i.e. just eating whatever I fancied) it turned out that it wasn’t going to disappear on its own!

So, how are things going? Very well I’d say! I’ve been using the My Fitness Pal app to monitor my calorie intake. It’s really easy to use – there is a massive database of any kind of food you could think of including branded and supermarket own brand products. You just search for what you need, or you can even scan the barcode if you’re using a smartphone, and add it to your daily diary. Only once was I not able to find the product I was looking for but then it’s easy to add the nutritional information yourself and that also makes it available for other people to search. You can also save a meal which is a really handy feature for me – we only have about a dozen evening meals that we eat regularly so once they have been entered the first time I can just copy the whole meal. You can also use the app to keep track of any exercise you do and the calories burned are added to your daily allowance.

So using the app I have kept track of what I have been eating and I have to say I really don’t feel like I’m on a diet – which was my aim all along. I have had plenty of treats this month – there’s been cake, chocolate and even a glass or two of wine!

And so to the moment you’ve all been waiting for…

Here’s the progress I’ve made (I’ve included my starting point in brackets):

Weight: 13st 3lb (13st 8lb) – lost 5lb

Waist: 35 inches (37 inches) – lost 2 inches

Hips: 44inches (45.5 inches) – lost 1.5 inches

Bust: 41 inches (42 inches) – lost 1 inch

I’m really happy with how I’ve done so far. But now I have Christmas to negotiate so we’ll have to wait and see what next month’s update looks like!

I’ve battled with my weight since my teens. I wrote about it quite a lot on my other blog in my pre-baby days.

My weight issues explained
Up the ladder
And down the snake
The pre-wedding plan

So essentially, before I met the Mr I lost 3 stone with Lighter Life. I then put some of it back on, lost some again in time for our wedding and then put more back on (with the help of a three week honeymoon in America!). And then I got pregnant…

For the first three months of pregnancy I felt sick constantly. I was only actually sick twice so I count myself as one of the lucky ones, but the only way to ease the nausea was to eat. And eat I did. Then the nausea went away but I kept eating. I loved my pregnant body. For the first time in a lot of years I was proud to show off my tummy. But for the first time in years I also ate whatever I wanted without feeling guilty about it. With the result I put on 3 stone over the course of my pregnancy (and I was already a stone over my ‘happy weight’ before I started!). As you can see from the picture I got pretty big – everyone was convinced I was going to have a massive baby but in the end he was only 6lb 10oz.

I lost a stone over night when I gave birth but that was 4 months ago and I still weigh the same now.

I think 4 months is long enough for my ‘I’ve just had a baby, I don’t need to lose weight yet’ rational so the time has come to start doing something about it. It’s time to shift the baby weight. I always say that my problem isn’t what I eat for my meals (apart from the not-so-occasional-lately take-away) but all the chocolate that I eat in between. Being on maternity leave has also seemed to include a lot more cake than before too!

So, here’s the plan. I need a bit of motivation so I’m going to post my progress here each month. I’m not going to go on any crazy diet (I’ve done enough of those in my time) and I’m not going to turn to an organised weight loss group (although I’ve done those before too). I’m just going to be sensible with what I eat and I’ve downloaded the free My Fitness Pal app to keep track of my daily calorie intake and any exercise I do.

So here’s my starting stats:

Weight: 13st 8lb (That actually makes me feel a bit sick to type)

Waist: 37 inches

Hips: 45.5 inches

Bust: 42 inches

Let the battle commence; it’s time to shift the baby weight – wish me luck!