Reasons to be Cheerful: It's October #R2BC

A change of month means a change of host (and badge!) so I have handed the reins back to Jo at Ojo's World. Please do pop over to her blog as she loves visitors! I can now chill for a month and enjoy the start of my favourite season... 

Here are my reasons this week:

1) Natural beauty

I am lucky to have inherited some gorgeous roses in the garden and seeing them still flowering makes me grin:

Go Sober in October and #Shredtober end week 3 with help from Zeo

Completed my third full week of being tee total and doing the 30 day shred. So how has it gone?

Still making use of my Cut Down on Alcohol slimpod to help my Go Sober campaign and not missing it! There have been times this week when my kids have pushed me to breaking point and I haven't cracked and opened a bottle of wine (I have one sitting on side in kitchen). I am looking forward to November the first though... Very pleased to have been part of a campaign that has raised over a million for Macmillan.

The nice people at Zeo drinks sent me 3 of their soft drinks to try out to help me stick to my sobriety. The parcel they were sent in was pretty amazing:

You can probably guess from the packaging that the drinks are made in Russia. Apparently the drinks are 100% natural and only contain the following ingredients:

Carbonated water: Naturally sourced, straight from the spring!

Sugar: ZEO contains low levels of sugar extracted from sugar beets.

Natural flavourings: All natural flavouring substances obtained from raw plant materials.

Natural colourings: Extracted, isolated and concentrated from natural sources (e.g. strawberry).

Citric acid: This is what makes lemons lemony. A natural preservative that is also used to add a sour taste to foods and drinks (lemon juice contains 3% citric acid).

Pectin: A natural thickening/gelling agent extracted from citrus peel.

Stevia: Made from the stevia leaf and used for over 500 years to sweeten food and drinks, this provides a sweet hit comparable with sugar but without the calorie count or leaving you with a sugar craving.

They come in 3 flavours:

• Crush - blood orange, lime, lemon and orange
• Zest - lime
• Burst - peaches and grapefruit

The drinks range from 45-59 calories per bottle which is a lot lower than most alcohol. I liked the gentle carbonation which gave you a tingle without too much fizz:

All the drinks were very refreshing and thirst quenching though the peach was a little too sweet to my taste. My daughter and I both decided that the Zest one was our favourite. Just a shame that I can't find a local stockist. They are available from WH Smith and Ocado at around £4 for a 4 pack which is a fair price.

Shredtober has now passed the third week of the 30 day shred! All 21 workouts done even though I missed a day due to Go Ape. Instead I did one level 2 and one level 3 workout on the same day - eek! My progress photos are looking good: 

Week 1

Loving the disappearing waistline but the sideways shots is good too:

Abs are much tighter and have to say my upper body coped better with Go Ape than it would have done! The scales have gone up this week - that could be disheartening if I couldn't see the changes

Only 8 workouts left for Shredtober and 9 more days to stay Sober the end is in sight!

Go Sober in October and Shredtober end week 2

Well the end of the second full week of being tee total and doing the 30 day shred. So how has it gone?

The Cut Down on Alcohol slimpod must be helping by Go Sober campaign as shock horror I am not missing it anywhere near as much! The fact that people have now boosted donations to £50 is a real inspiration though. I can't believe that I went through a full weekend of birthday celebrations including a ceilidh and a Sunday dinner without a drop of alcohol.. Let's see how week 3 goes!

As for Shredtober I have now completed a second full week of the 30 day shred! I got bored of level 2 and switched to level 3 a few days ago. You aren't really supposed to be able to until nearer the end of the programme! It was a killer to start with but after 3 sessions I am finding it less of a struggle..

Week 1

Definitely a better waistline but the sideways shots show it much better:

Abs are much tighter and my bottom looking perkier! The scales haven't shifted this week - may have something to do with too much cake on my birthday.... Just glad I can see that the hard work is paying off and half way through the challenges I am feeling so much fitter and healthier.

So here is hoping that as my 2 monthly challenges progress there will be less and less of me to show in photographs on here!

Go Sober and Shredtober end week 1

Well the end of the first full week of being tee total and doing the 30 day shred. So how has it gone?

First challenge on staying sober was ironically a charity fund raiser for breast cancer! I walked in the door and was offered pink cava... one of my favourite drinks. Despite friends saying but it's in aid of cancer too I stuck to my guns and drank J2O and lemonade instead! Was quite funny being one of few people in the room not under the influence of alcohol..

Over the rest of the weekend when I would normally have a drink e.g. watching Strictly I replaced my usual tipple with a bottle of Becks Blue:

Not quite the same but my son thought it was the real thing and told me off! We had to show him the label... So that is week one done and it wasn't too hard. 

Next weekend is my birthday so instead of going out for dinner we are going out for breakfast so no booze. Going to be very strange not having a glass of wine to celebrate! If you want to help me through then join the lovely people who have sponsored me already over at Go Sober.

To help me out the lovely people at Thinking Slimmer have sent me one of their Cut Down on Alcohol slimpod. I have added it to my bed time listening! Hopefully this will be great come November when I can drink again too..

As for Shredtober I have now completed a full week of the 30 day shred! I moved on up to the second level after a few days and have been getting to grips with plank jacks and walking press ups - eek. It does seem to be paying off getting a real hard workout every day. The scales haven't shifted much (1.5 pounds) as I'm swapping from fat to muscle (I dropped 1% on body fat) but I can see how my shape is changing:

Week 1

Week 2

I need to get a better way to take these shots other than balancing the mirror on the bed! 

It does go to prove that getting in shape is not just about the scales. Hopefully if I stick with it the weight will follow as well though as I am mostly eating a lot healthier than last month. Listening to my body and stopping when full and not eating after the children are in bed is certainly an improvement.

So here is hoping that as my 2 monthly challenges progress there will be less and less of me to show in photographs on here!

Charity Tuesday: Go Sober for October with Macmillan

When an e-mail popped up in my inbox challenging me to Go Sober for October in aid of Macmillan Cancer I immediately decided to sign up. It's such a great cause and this is what the official blurb says:

Proceeds from this event will go to Macmillan Cancer Support to help improve the lives of people affected by cancer.

One in three of us will get cancer and it’s the toughest thing most of us will ever face. And the feelings of isolation and loneliness that so many people experience make it even harder.

But you don’t have to go through it alone. The Macmillan team is with you every step of the way, from the nurses and therapists helping you through treatment to the campaigners improving cancer care.

The number of people with cancer is growing every day. Macmillan wants to reach and improve the lives of every one of those people. By taking part in Go Sober, you will help Macmillan in providing practical, medical and financial support and push for better cancer care.

For further information about Macmillan’s work and how to get involved visit their website at macmillan.org.uk

For cancer support every step of the way, visit the website or call the Macmillan Support Line free on 0808 808 00 00

It's great to have such an inspiration to ditch the booze for a month which I try to do once a year. This isn't the best month for me to attempt the challenge as its a) my birthday b) I am getting together with my high school friends and c) I am off on a short break to Butlins! Therefore I am going to need as much support as people can offer... 

So far only my 6 year old has sponsored me and he has given a whole month's pocket money! Please pop onto Go Sober and donate me the equivalent of a glass or bottle of wine to encourage me to keep going....  I am also in a team of Booze Free Bloggers giving each other the strength to survive a month stone cold sober so you can donate to us all together..

To take my mind off the sobriety and help tone up the wine belly I have joined with over 40 bloggers to do the 30 day shred from today. Here is hoping I can complete this one as last time I got flu after 10 days and quit... To encourage me I took a before photo:

Excuse the dodgy quality I had to balance the mirror on the far end of the bed! As you can see the summer holidays have not been good for my waistline... I need to get back into properly focussing on my Thinking Slimmer pods to eat consciously and record 3 positive things about my diet and fitness..

My Family Fitness Plan for 2013 - Get Fit Feel Epic #GFFE

This is my entry for the ‘Get Fit Feel Epic’ competition hosted by Kate on Thin Ice

It's always good to try and plan how to get fit rather than just rushing in willy nilly although every year I set out with good intentions and usually fail! This is because I don't stick to the plan... 

2012 was a partial success as even though my weight didn't drop significantly I feel in better shape. So how do I manage to do it better in 2013? I need a workable plan that I can stick to whatever life throws at me...

My Diet

To lose weight I know that I have to consume less calories than I burn off. Its not rocket science but I don't manage to keep my calorie intake down often enough to make a difference. At my Rosemary Conley classes we are given plenty of advice on how having a low calorie, low fat and low GI diet I just need to pay more attention!

January is always the month when I am most successful at losing weight. I am so enthusiastic and determined that I stick to my goals. Its easy to ditch the junk and the alcohol for a month to help maintain the required low calorie intake. This year I'm boosting my chances by using the Hairy Dieters recipe book to provide me with healthy yet enjoyable meals. As its only me eating them I've had to adjust quantities but so far everything has been delicious:

If this is dieting then I'm going to find it much more enjoyable than previously! Tracking my intake through My Fitness Pal makes it much easier to see what I am doing and whether I can have anything else to eat ;-) 

Getting my children on board will help a lot too. This is easier with my 9 year old as she is more adventurous than her little brother. He knows what he likes and getting him to eat new things is too much like hard work. Once they are at school things will be easier as they will be having school dinners so will need less feeding at home! I have told them that I'm not buying any more naughty treats this month. The last of the crisps have gone and they are slowly getting through their Christmas chocolates. If there isn't rubbish around then I can't be tempted. One problem is my daughter is eating all the fruit ingredients I got in for the recipes! Looks like I need to get even more next week...

Exercise

This is something I was starting to get right last autumn. I joined my local leisure centre gym and as I had to go twice a week to get my money's worth I made sure I got there! Having an individual exercise plan from one of the instructors was worth the small extra payment too. Things weren't quite as good when I took on an extra job and had very little child free time to do more than my 2 sessions. 

My other regular exercise is my weekly aerobics which is part of my Rosemary Conley class. Luckily my parents babysit once a week allowing me to go. I did a week of the 30 Day Shred and it was making a difference to my waistline and abs but life got in the way especially when my children keep covering the front room in toys! 

What I need to do is schedule in my exercise to make it more regular. I also need to make sure the front room is clear enough for me to be able to workout at home. There are plenty of DVDs and Wii games that I possess to help me get fitter and burn off the calories I just need to use them. Just hope I don't need to set my alarm for an earlier time in the morning to fit it in as I'm not a morning person... Even just making sure I'm more active when doing housework and going about my every day life will all help.

Getting exercise with the children is also going to be an important part of me getting fit too. We need to get out together walking, cycling or swimming. Let's just hope that the weather in 2013 is drier than 2012! 

Support

It is almost impossible to successfully lose weight without support. I'm gathering as much as possible both in real life and online. Going to my Rosemary Conley classes provide great motivation and group support. Some of us are also supporting each other in groups on Facebook. Sharing blogposts with other people and charting the highs and lows is also very useful. The My Fitness Pal community is also very supportive.

So here is hoping that a) my plan for 2013 is a good one and b) I can stick to it.... Watch this space to see how I go and if I win the FitBit activity tracker and a set of smartscales from Kate then it will help keep me on track to getting fit and feeling epic! This is part of Money Supermarket's “Get Fit, Feel Epic” campaign