Y U NO BLOG MORE?!

I haven’t posted in a while because I’d feel like a hypocrite. My weight-loss journey is, how do I put this, stuck in traffic. I’ve been at a standstill and I’m going in reverse. I’m working on trying to reign in my out-of-control eating habits again. I’ll post when I’ve had a break through, until then please check out my YouTube channel.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheRealRachNow

Thank you!

Slump.

When I first started this journey, I was determined, motivated and excited, but, as of late, I’m not so sure.

I’m not quitting or anything, I’ve just lost some of my drive.

I have a million excuses as to why, but, I’m the only person who can change it. I’ve been plateau-ing now for a while. I currently weigh 288lbs, the same weight I was on the 12th of March, over FOURTEEN WEEKS ago. I haven’t actually stayed at the same weight, but I’ve been fluctuating and hovering around it for long enough.

It seems to haunt me. I’m disappointed for not making as much progress as I first thought I would.

Although I haven’t been making much of an impact on the scales, I can see myself shaping up after joining the gym.

But,

I haven’t actually gone to the gym in almost three weeks. The first two, because I was too lazy but this week I’ve decided to focus on getting my eating habits back in check. I feel like I’ve lost control and I’m really struggling to get back on track. I’m not sure why exactly I’ve hit this slump, but, all I know is, I can’t carry on like this.

I worry that I’ll give up and put the 36lbs, I’ve lost, back on.

I’m going through a rough patch at the moment, hence the lack of posts. I’d feel like a hypocrite writing about weight-loss when I’m not actually losing weight myself.

I’m sure I’ll get over this, so bear with me. I will update next week and let you all know how my diet orientated week went.

Thank you for your patience, and thank you, as always, for reading,

Healthy Soup

This soup was really detrimental to my weight-loss at the start of my journey. I haven’t made it in a while but it definitely helped me stay fuller for longer and kept me away from snacking after seven p.m.

Ingredients:

• 2 large peppers, one red and one green.
• 3 carrots
• 1 tin of tomatoes (keep the tin)
• Half a potato
• 1 onion
• 2 tins of water (use the tin from the tomatoes)
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• Herbs: Basil, Oregano, Thyme and some ground Garlic. I don’t actually measure how much I use.

Method:

Chop up all the vegetables. Put all the ingredients into one big pot. Bring to the boil and leave it simmer for 25 minutes. Then blend it really well.

And there you go, healthy home-made soup.

This amount should make 6 servings. I put it into a large container and refrigerate it and put it in the microwave when I want it. One batch usually does me a for a week or so.

Let me know if you made it and what you thought of it or leave your own soup recipes.

Thanks for reading and good luck keeping healthy!

My Gym Programme.

This is the programme I was given. I don’t always follow it but I try to do as much of it as I can!

Warm-up: 

• Five to ten minutes, gradually increasing the heart rate. Moving all large muscle groups. (Exercise Bike)

Cardiovascular Phase: 

• 20 to 30 minutes on favourite machines. Such as the cross trainer/ bike or use the rowing machine later on in the work-out.
• 15 to 20 minutes on the treadmill. 4.5 to 6.6 kilometres per hour on a 2 to 4% gradient or the exercise bike for 15 minutes on level between 2 and 6.

Resistance Phase:

• Two sets of each exercise. Using a 60 second rest time in between each rep.
• Wall squat. Using an exercise ball to keep back straight. 12-15 reps.
• Wall press up. Again using an exercise ball. 12-15 reps.
• Lunges or Leg press. Body weight for lunges, 40 to 60 kgs for the leg press. 10-12 reps.
• Lat pull down. 14 to 21 kgs. 12-15 reps.
• Chest press. 15 to 20 kgs. 12-15 reps.
• Curl and press. Sitting on an exercise ball. Use a 4kg medicine ball. 12-15 reps.
• Leg curl. 10 to 15 kgs. 12-15 reps.

Other Exercises:

• Ab curls. 15 reps. 2 sets.
• Back extensions. 15 reps. 2 sets.

Cool down:

• Static stretch of each muscle group for 15 to 30 seconds.

 

And that’s that. I usually try to incorporate everything but for varying times and weights. I’ll speak about it in more detail in my Gym orientated video coming out June 4th.

Thank you for supporting,

 

What motivated me?

So I haven’t posted anything at all yet. Hmmm, where to start? Will we say, what motivated me? Yeah, that’ll do. Okay.

Right, let’s start at the beginning. I’ve been heavy as long as I can remember. I was even born a big baby, tipping the scales at 9lb 4oz. I had so many rolls of fat I was known as “The Michelin Baby” after the Michelin Tyres mascot (See the picture to the left). I was always the chubby one in primary school. Forever out of breath. Which was partially due to the chronic asthma that plagued my childhood. Which also affected my weight as the steroids I was on growing up made me pile on weight. It was a vicious circle really. My asthma has cleared up a lot now though, so I can’t use it as an excuse any more.

Moving on…

I was overweight when I started secondary school, if I had taken charge of my weight then, I wouldn’t be in this situation today, but there’s no use dwelling in the past and saying if only. The weight crept on over the 6 years of secondary school. I tried and failed to get it under control numerous times over those 6 years and then when I left for college, and then left college, the weight well and truly piled on. I ballooned to the biggest I’ve ever been. 324 pound. That’s a mammoth 23 stone 2 pound. Holy moly. That was at Christmas 2011 and that’s when I decided, enough was enough and that it was time to reclaim my life. (The picture to the right is me, at my heaviest.)

My motivation didn’t come from an insult hurled at me by people I knew, even though I’ve had my fair share of those. My own cousin asked me if I was pregnant once! But, that didn’t spur me on. I decided that I had to do this for myself. The only way it was going to work was if I did it for nobody else but me. I decided that 2012 would be my year. I am in charge of my destiny and I’m not letting my obesity dictate how I live my life any more, and with that on the 9th of January 2012, I started my journey to a healthier life.

I’ve been working on it for almost 4 months now, and I won’t lie, it’s been tough at times, but I have to stay on track because at this stage it really is do or diet, diet or die! I’ve started posting videos of my progress on YouTube, my channel is therealrachnow, just search it and it’ll come up in the results. So far since Christmas I’ve lost 33 pound, or 2 stone and 6 pound. I can feel the difference in my clothes. I’ve gone from UK Size 24 jeans to a Size 20 and I’m wearing clothes I haven’t worn for years.

I hit a road block lately where I put on weight again, but I’m working my ass off and I’m starting to lose it again. I’ve joined the gym. Something I was petrified of doing before. I’m feeling more confident. I’m going after what I really want in life and I’m going to go out there and say it… I’m a changed person. Although this is only the beginning and there’s a long road ahead of me, I know that this is my time and I will be successful. Just you wait and see!

Thank you for taking the time to read this, I rambled a bit, but I finally posted on this blog. I will post a lot more from now on. I’m not only promising you guys, I’m making a promise to myself!

And so it begins…

It’s time. Time to start changing for the better. Time to leave my old habits behind me. Time to retrain my brain. Time to learn how to live a healthy life. Time to feel better about myself. Time to prove to everybody that I can do this. The time is now!

Please support my journey by following this blog

and by subscribing to  http://www.youtube.com/user/TheRealRachNow?feature=watch

I will be posting regularly on a whole load of different things relating to my weight loss. From tips to help you stop snacking to healthy recipes.

Until next time, thank you for stopping by!