The Saturday Update

What a week.  Unfortunately, although it is early in my project, I have nothing to report this week.  Having been off work sick the last two days and signed off for at least one more, the diet has gone out of the window and I am not back at my place this weekend so I have no scales to check on progress.  Needless to say, as soon as I am healthy again, I will be giving it my all.  I'm feeling inspired by the fact I need to be eating healthy and generally doing more to keep myself in shape instead of letting myself get so run down.  Hopefully better news next week!

The Saturday Update

This week I have: Stayed the Same!

Weeks like this used to really upset me but considering that I have eaten out twice this week and used that 'failure' as an excuse to snack most other nights - it was a very pleasant surprise on the scales this morning!  It has also really motivated me to be better this week and shift a couple more pounds.  So I am sticking to my daily pedometer target and challenging myself to go for at least one jog this week.

Top food tip - if you are going to eat out, go Turkish or Greek - apparently not too bad on the waistline!

Getting back to Goal

Four years ago I joined Weightwatchers and in six months, I got to my ideal target weight.  I splashed out on new clothes and still love the holiday photos I took that year.

Unfortunately, in the three and a half years that have passed, things have crept back until at the start of 2011 I was at my biggest weight ever and starting to feel the effects.  So I have rejoined Weightwatchers online, invested in the pedometer and convinced my boyfriend to cook from Weightwatchers books.  Last week - the first of the pedometer challenge was excellent and I lost 3.5lb!  Weigh In is on a Saturday morning so I don't yet know for sure but I'm certain that this week will be nothing like.  I'll be lucky if I haven't put the whole 3.5 back on.  Two meals out certainly haven't helped but somehow, with this weather and stress at work, I'm not entirely motivated.  This is why I have decided to post my achievement every Saturday - starting tomorrow.  I'm not putting my actual weight on here - too much information but will let you know how I have done each week. 

Encouragement welcome!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Some of you are probably fed up of hearing about Valentine's Day, in previous years, I was also fed up on February 14th but believe me - it makes it all the better when you do find someone special to share it with. 

We went on our first date... Yep, after nearly five months, we realised that we hadn't actually been on a date where we met each other at the venue, so on Monday, we both made a special effort to go to our own flats in the afternoon to get ready and then meet at the restaurant where we first met in September for a nice meal.  I was surprised at how nervous I was and how special it made the whole evening, but it was really nice.  I've seen many people complaining at this time of year about why should one night be special - if you love someone, you should show it all the time, well of course, and we do that too.  Some friends were having special meals cooked by other halves or just spending time together watching a film...well, I'm pleased to say we still do that every day - long may it continue.

The Flat

This post is long overdue since a promised a few photos of the flat back in September but here it is at long last.  Hopefully a little bit of encouragement for some of you to get those flights booked and get over here.

My kitchen with its very own guard dog.

The bedroom

Office

Sofa bed for guests!

Living Room

I would have posted more piccies but I still haven't got to grips with landscape / portrait photo options on my laptop so possibly more to follow.

Sushi!

Last night was Sushi night.  As you can see from the picture we tried a nice sample of sushi bites and enjoyed them so much that Nico bought a sushi recipe book!

So that's one more ticked of the list of thirty and one more recipe to add to the repertoire!

Christmas

Christmas was more hectic than ever this year.  Well, December in general was really with the Christmas markets, visits from friends and family, the end of term and finally the long journey home but it was worth it!

We spent two weeks catching up with friends and family as well as trying to get around as many sights in England as possible - to show Nico the country's best side on his first visit there.  The first view was of course the white cliffs of Dover as we arrived on the ferry on the Wednesday afternoon following a stay over is Brussels, Belgium. 

Christmas was spent with family - seeing my beautiful niece on Christmas Eve, and all the family on Christmas and Boxing Day.  The following week we visited Whitby with Gran and the Lakes.

Following New Years at Hayley and Simon's we went to York with them.  Now we are back in Bremen following an even longer journey back.  We were lucky enough that the snow stopped on both sides of the Channel long enough for us to get back safely and started again as soon as we arrived back in Bremen.  Well, it started again in England.  Here there is still snow on the ground from before we left but it is holding up so far at 11 degrees!