Weight gain: The Good, the bad and the plan

I'm not happy about writing this post at all. In fact, to be honest, I'd rather avoid it, but I'm making myself.

Here's what has happened. I have put on SEVEN pounds since I last tracked my weight properly 3 weeks ago.

On 3rd September I weighed 133.8lbs
Today I weigh 140.8lbs

7lbs - that's quite some going in 3 weeks!


Okay, that's the 'bad' bit out of the way.

The good bits to be taken out of this are:

I know exactly why it's happened. Plus, I'm 'only' 2lbs above my goal weight.

The strange thing is, I can 'feel' this extra weight more so than I did the extra 50lbs. Weird eh? It's a bit hard to explain, but I am more aware of this extra 7lbs, even if I put on 2 or 3lbs I can feel that too.

So what happened?

I've had a crazy busy 3 weeks. They have been filled with really great and interesting things, but I have been totally out of my routine. For most of that time I've been out and about, even going abroad for 4 days. I've had to eat out a LOT, and to be quite frank, I haven't had the choices of food I would like available, and there have been occasions where the only option wasn't a good option, but I had to eat something.

Whilst being so busy I have also missed meals and let myself get to the point of being really hungry, and reached for a quick fix that would boost my energy fast. Or I've eaten too much at certain meal times, not knowing when I'd get a chance to eat again.

I've written before about portion sizes and what I am eating to lose weight. Suffice to say, it's no surprise that although I have tried, I haven't been able to do that in the last few weeks, and I realise that eating out on a regular basis is hard! There simply aren't the perfect choices available.

And I've been missing out on these!! It's been 3 weeks since I have shopped for my fruit and veg haul. If there's a 'secret' to my weight loss success, it's these beauties. LOTS of them. I'm pleased to say I'm all stocked up again!

So, what's the plan?

Simply to get back into a bit more of routine again. The last 3 weeks were probably the busiest I've had this year, and were an exceptional period. I'll see this weight gain as a blip and move on and get back to goal. Or just under. I feel quite happy at around the 135lb mark.

Also, I haven't had much time to fit in much exercise recently, I usually fit in a bit of exercising such as hula hooping, biking, stepping, or bounding. Today I put on my running shoes for the first time in a long time. I've missed it! I stopped when I got a leg injury and my running got pushed to one side. Today I went for a gentle 2 mile walk/run and actually did better than I thought. As with a lot of things, taking the first step can be the most daunting, but once you do it, momentum follows.

2 mile walk/run route

I might have more blips along the way. After all, if I want to keep the 50lbs off for the rest of my life, I'm going to have to work at it, but I enjoy feeling better and looking slimmer too much to undo all my hard work!

And now I'm off to make a mega veggie and chicken curry! Low fat of course ;)

Palma Live! The photos, the tweets, the videos!

Sponsored by

@bmibaby_com

@turismebalears

@horizonte24

Wow! What a weekend in Palma!

This was a trip with a twist - the itinerary was set by my and bmibaby's friends and followers! A real social media collaboration. Just my cup of tea!

It was only a 2.5 hour flight from Birmingham Airport, and we managed to fit a lot in during our weekend. The sun was shining the whole weekend and it was fabulous to explore the coastal city with it's mix of old town cobbled streets with a sparkling beach so close too!

I'll let all the videos, photos and tweets speak for themselves - they paint a really great picture of my 3 nights away with my Mum @createdineire 

If you can't see the videos, you can view them over on twitvid.com :) 

Exploring the narrow streets (aka getting lost!) suggested by Benjamin Handbury on Facebook


As suggested by Julie Pettifor on Facebook

My Mum - getting carried away with the bling at Birmingham Airport's duty free shops

Trying on Prada sunglasses at Birmingham Airport!

Groovy Baby! Boarding the bmibaby flight to Palma

In the park  with Monumento a Jaime I el Conquistador  as suggested by Julie Pettifor

The Gran Hotel - suggested by @turismebalears

The Gothic La Seu cathedral suggested by Aiden Gill and Benjamin Handbury

The Basilica de Sant Francesc suggested by @sineadymcg

My last morning of sunshine before coming home

Bed Jumping in the Bloggers Room at Horizonte Hotel - it's tradition! :D 

Here's a little (big! ha) round up of my #palmalive tweets from the weekend on Storify.

Thank you to everyone who made Palma suggestions! And many thanks to bmibaby, Turisme Baleares and Horizonte Hotel! :)

Say hello on twitter! @karenstrunks.

This weekend - Palma Live!

Sponsored by

@bmibaby_com

@turismebalears

@horizonte24

This weekend me and my lovely Mum, Margaret aka @createdineire, will be donning our sun hat and shades and heading for sunnier climes in Palma!


My Mum @createdineire

We  are flying with bmibaby and we shall be arriving at the Horizonte Hotel on Friday evening and check out on Monday.

What shall we do in between? It's over to you! We are putting ourselves in your hands!

Leave a comment on bmibaby's Facebook page or their blog, tweet me, of leave me a comment here. I'm making a note of all recommendations!

The hotel have made their own suggestion!

Bed jumping?! OK. It's on the list. My mum can't wait :D (video)

Do you Gowalla? 

I'm going to be updating my Gowalla passport as I go along, so come and join me! 

Of course (of course!) I'll be tweeting too, and you can follow the hash tag for the weekend #palmalive 

Once again I'm putting myself (and my Mum!) in your hands and inviting you to be my virtual travel companions! Have you been to Palma? What do you recommend? Have you always wanted to go? Where would you like to see? I'll do my best to fit it all in! :)

My Wateraid Coastalong walk. 6.2miles done!

I had a fantastic day in Cardiff Bay when I joined nearly one hundred other walkers for Wateraid's Coast Along event.

I completed 6.2miles, only got a couple of blisters and slightly achy legs and met some amazing people!

Thank you to everyone who donated and supported me with tweets along the way!

If you would still like to donate something toward Wateraid and the work they do, here's the linky :)

I wanted to share some of the highlights of the day with you! I've packed all my tweets into a Storify story. (below)

There's a video too! Meet just a few of the people that were walking and why they walk for Wateraid.

Nearly 100 walkers at Cardiff Bay! Raring to go :)

It was a real family day out

Our 6.2 mile route

With Sam and Steve from Wateraid

Say hello on twitter! @karenstrunks