I had my wedding reception last night. My husband and I, plus 40 guests of friends and family, went for a curry and drinks. Frankly, the only way to do a wedding! The meal was excellent and I certainly wasn't worrying about points as I was around so many people that I loved and was on such a high.
It was slightly odd being around so many people that I knew from so many different walks of life, but I enjoyed it even if it was incredibly overwhelming. It was a shame that so many people had come from so far away, yet I was only able to talk to everyone individually for less than 15 minutes. I am so glad that Steve and I went for understated - there is no way I could have handled organising a 100 people+ wedding with reception, meal, and ceremony.
My best friend had written a speech, but she wasn't able to read it in the end as everything got a bit disorganised. I wish she had had a chance to read it, but she had a copy of it with her so she gave me and Steve the speech to read ourselves. Steve got a little bit emotional when he read it and I don't blame him: it was really touching. I'm not sure that I told Kim how much the speech meant to me yesterday, so hopefully she will read this and know.
We got a crazy number of presents and vouchers, which was just awesome. We finally have an excuse to buy some new pots, pans, plates, etc; the stuff normal adults have already.
We finally got the official wedding photos back. We are going to use this one on the thank you cards:
Well, thankfully I have lost 1.5lbs since Monday, so only 2 more and I will be back to pre-holiday weight. I dread to think how much I would have put on and kept on if it hadn't been for weight watchers. I was looking at my weight ticker thinking, '5lbs is all I have to show for 6 weeks of dieting'. 5lbs is frankly shit, but at least I am losing rather than gaining, which I would have been doing otherwise. Fingers crossed the weight loss will start to speed up soon. As soon as I have reached 14lbs off I will start to feel the benefits more and become more motivated.
Since getting back from holiday I am noticing that staying within my points is easier. I think it's because I'm happy and content with nothing to worry about. If only life was always like this. Things have been going very well for me recently. Obviously I got married only last week, but I also passed my practical motorcycle test yesterday - 5 minor faults and a faultless U-Turn (a total fluke given that I kept messing up in practice). It was my second test and luckily my bike had received a full-service before hand so it was running smoother than I've ever known it to. I'm so happy I don't have to panic about the cost and hassle of a re-test. My current motorcycle is a Suzuki Marauder GZ125.
I will be selling the motorcycle on Ebay at some point, just because I need a bigger motorcycle; I can now ride a motorcycle up to 33bhp. I will be sorry to see it go...
Well, the wedding was amazing as I hoped it would be; I am so glad we decided to get married abroad. Las Vegas was wonderful - great sights, food, and alcohol!
Of course all this has lead to an inevitable gain of 3.5lbs in a week. The speed at which weight can be gained is really rather sickening. I thought I had only gained 2.5lbs earlier, but I just did some maths and looks like it really is a quartre of a stone gain.
I am glad I didn't do my points on holiday though. I'm only getting the one honeymoon after all. I am back on the points now though and I am finding it quite easy (good news) - it is almost a relief to be eating normally again!
I've looked at some of the photos from the wedding and I actually look quite good. I've done some canny cropping to ensure I don't look too fat in the pictures, because I don't want to look back at the pictures years from now and just think, "God, I was FAT". I want to remember how good it felt and feel proud when I look at the photos. So I'm lying to my future self more than the present Me.
I will be sent the official wedding photos in a few days so hopefully they will look good. These will be the first pictures I see where Me and my new husband actually appear in photographs together!
I bought the wedding ring whilst I was out in Las Vegas. I chose an oyster at a place called 'Pearl Factory' and found a blue pearl, which is apparently quite rare. I chose a sterling silver ring setting for it with special leaf detail around the pearl which stands for love, honour, and respect. I love the sentiment and the ring is truely personal to me.
I lost the final 2.5lbs! This makes my total weight loss 7lbs in 5 weeks. We are going to town today to buy the waist coat - in your face Steve! I need to make sure that I don't put all of this weight back on in Vegas.
I went out last night to celebrate the end of term and a few too many drinks and then, I am ashamed to admit it, had a curry! My best mate was right - alcohol hinders weight loss, not just because of the points, but because it stops you making sensible decisions about food. Luckily, I wasn't so drunk that I started to buy peanuts and salt and vinigar crisps in the pub - always my weakness - meaning I managed to only (!) go over by 13 points. However, this is not good news and not what I needed prior to going away to the world's leader in portion sizes. I must endeavour not to eat anything bigger than my face.
Well, I weighed myself when I got back from work and I've lost 2lbs! Yay! So fingers crossed, with a big poo and a light dinner tonight, I will have lost 2.5lb by tomorrow morning.I tried on my 'New Look' boyfriend jeans that I bought a few months ago (they never did fit) and they finally do up! Frankly, I think this is the first time I have bought something thinking I would slim into it and actually done so. I am a size 18 again and can shop in 'normal' shops.
Tonight I'm making the Weight Watchers Spagetti Carbonara recipe for 8.5 points. I have a few points left and want to be full-up for the evening, so pasta is perfect. Since starting the diet I have started cooking a lot more and I am far more likely to go out to fetch ingredients now than pick up a take-away. My best friend gave me a few tips on speeding up my weight loss and he best piece of advise was 'ditch the take-aways'; even though take-aways can be pointed, you can never be sure of the exact portion size or ingredients. I wonder if this has contributed to the 2lb loss. I have also completely avoided alcohol this week. I did try drinking 8 glasses of water a day, but the mere thought of it drives me to dispair.
I am so proud of myself for what I have achieved so far. Since starting weight watchers I have lost at least 6.5lbs and before that I lost about 7lbs using the Nintendo DS 'Health Coach'. I eventually bored of the game, but it suited its purpose and kick started my weight loss. I would certainly recommend it for losing a few lbs but the system is too general and the 'points' to vague to use long term.
I peaked a look on the old scales when I got home from work and it's showing a loss of 1.5lbs so far. I'm thinking of sneaky ways to lose an extra 1lb by Friday but it doesn't look likely. I've been trying to cut down on those dirty carbs and I have stayed away from alcohol and take-aways. I also played 40 minutes of squash on Monday; fingers crossed this will have made a difference.
I've started going through the wardrobe to find clothes for Las Vegas; I tried on some of my summer clothes from last year and they were actually loose! This was really reassuring as it means I am now lighter than I was a year ago; last summer I could only wear my shorts with the button undone and now they are too big. I figure I must have lost a dress size. I went up to a size 20 for six months or so and now I am back to a comfortable size 18 (in New Look, Dorethy Perkins, and Debenhams sizes anyway).
