http://www.pongcheese.co.uk/shop/

Placed an order for £60 worth of cheese to be delivered on Christmas Eve!!! We are planning a few cheese fests over the festive period…

I defy anyone to look at the site and not drool! 

Drool away!!!

Hello all! 

Thought I would drop in and give you all an update on my progress. I am now four days after surgery, a full abdominoplasty and breast reduction. 

I am in no pain I would describe what I have as just some mild discomfort. I am taking only regular paracetamol.

Tomorrow, I go for my dressings to be changed. This will be my first opportunity to see my new breasts!

I have now lost a total of 7 pounds since last Friday when I went in for the surgery. I guess there must still be some swelling and fluid retention however. 

My appetite has reduced since the surgery. This may be due to the anaesthetic or it may just be something else. I am ensuring that I am eating regularly, as I am still taking antibiotics. Dinner tonight was a quarter of a tomato and goats cheese quiche and some sliced tomatoes and cucumber followed by a bowlful of low fat yoghurt. I haven’t fancied anything sweet at all! Having said that I did in a slice of a fruit loaf with butter as my late night snack.

Hi there!

I am back. I had my breast reduction and abdominoplasty on Saturday morning first thing. After two nights in hospital I came home this morning. I am experiencing discomfort more than pain. Only using paracetamol to control the pain the moment. I will take codeine tonight to ensure I get a good nights sleep after two nights of regular waking up experiences whilst I had my observations done.

The surgeon has done a terrific job. He expected only to be able to perform a mini tummy tuck because he didn’t think I had enough skin to stretch down. He also warned me that he may not be able to relocate the button to a new position. In the event he was able to take away much more skin than he thought would be possible and he has also given me a new belly button in the right place! I now have a completely flat stomach. In fact I can see parts of my anatomy that I haven’t seen in 37 years!

As for the breasts, I can’t really see them at the moment as they are strapped up and supported, but one thing is for sure they are not size H any more. If they turn out to be as good as my tummy I will be more than happy with all of my results.

I had the surgery just two days ago and already I am 5 pounds lighter than I was then. There is probably some residual swelling I should imagine.

All in all definitely not an operation for the faint hearted – it was a big one. Four hours under anaesthetic which made me very sick afterwards. Now I have to take things very slowly for the next fortnight. No driving, no house work and mostly bed rest.

Just thought I would check in and let you all know that I survived it!

I have got to just under 11 stone, and I too feel a bit “stuck” bobbing up and down the same few pounds since the end of May, despite continuing to log, exercise…. and I am wondering whether this is just what I am meant to be?

Having said that, I am still obese and still weigh too much for my height, but my short height is due to my disability rather than genetics (both my sisters are about 5ft 10). I am now down to a size 16 from a size 24, and I know I could never be a size 10 or 12. A size 14 perhaps.

I have, after a lot of thought and deliberation, booked myself in for a breast reduction and a tummy tuck.

My boobs have always been large and they’ve just not got any smaller during my weight loss journey (3 stone) and remain as 38H’s. Given the length of my arms, they are “in the way” and of course must add quite a few pounds to my short frame! In the past people have asked me why I don’t get them reduced, but they’ve never really bothered me and as the rest of me was “big” they looked in proportion. Now they don’t. They just look far too large for my narrow shoulders.

My belly has reduced significantly, but I am left with a horrible “hanging flap” of skin which doesn’t seem to have much fat in it now! My muscle tone underneath, I am hoping, is good – I concentrate a lot in by 3 – 7 times a week 1 – 2 hour workout on my legs, bum and tum.

I know that surgery is a huge risk, but I can honestly say that I’m really excited now about getting rid of these “bits that won’t budge”. It’s certainly not for a lack of hard work or enthusiasm!

Over the weekend, I met a friend who has just had a breast uplift/implant. She was kind enough to show me how her boobs look 12 weeks after surgery, and I must say I was totally gob-smacked! The scarring had virtually vanished (she has been using bio oil daily on the scars) and the overall shape was really great. Like me, she also had one boob larger than the other, but the surgery has evened them up as well.

I most certainly am not looking at this as a way to lose weight (it would be a very expensive way to lose weight!)

I love the Weight Loss Resources website, the support it provides, the tools which enable me to monitor my food intake and weight loss.  I will most certainly continue with that side of things for the foreseeable future, whatever the outcome of the surgery.

Weird.

I am the same weight now as I was at the end of July. I went up a bit over the Summer (holidays, getting married, honeymoon….) but have more or less got back to my lowest weight since starting.

My measurements haven’t really altered since I last took them (May) but I am smaller! Definitely!

Went clothes shopping today and bought some size 16 tops and dresses, quite fitted with just a little stretch.

and….. THEY FIT!!!

I find this totally incredible because (1) I started off as a size 24 just 19 months ago… so I have dropped four dress sizes and (2) I have not been a size 16 since I was about…… 21???

I can only think it’s the continued exercise, so a great incentive to keep going….
 

So…. back to exercise and my treadmill…. walking…..

I’ve been swimming once a week for about 8 months now. I go and swim for an hour on my back (can’t swim on my front because of my short arms and arthritic neck). I wear swimming fins (shortened flippers) which help me move through the water but also provide greater resistance so my legs/ankles have to work harder to power me through the water. BUT I wanted something to help me with cardio vascular exercise.

So to recap, about two weeks ago, I borrowed my ex husbands treadmill with a view to being able to start exercising regularly. Bear in mind, I’ve not walked for 10 years (in the proper sense of the word). I know because of the weight loss that my fitness has already improved. I don’t feel as if I’m having a heart attack when I over exert myself now! My asthma seems to have vanished.

I planned to start by walking quarter of a mile. However, on my first attempt, I walked half a mile. I did this at a slow pace (1.7 mph) and I had to stop every five minutes. But I did it.

I have been visiting a personal trainer (one assessment and one session last Friday), because I recognize that I need to make sure I don’t overdo it. And I bought my HRM because I wanted to monitor any improvements in my fitness levels and ensure that I was giving my heart a really good work out.

Interesting results!  

My treadmill measures calories as I walk, based on distance and speed, etc.  It tells me after 15 minutes of walking at 1.7mph I have used 53 calories.

So I don my HRM.  It’s in two parts.  A chest strap that fits snugly around the lower chest under my bra.  A watch device (doesn’t need to be worn, just in the vicinity of the chest monitor so it picks up the heart beat) which records what the monitor is picking up (my heart rate).  You set your age and the heart rate you want to achieve (see the graph below, which shows heart rates based on age and the varying levels of exercise – from “light” to “hard”).

So I’ve been using the HRM to monitor my calorie burn during my 20 minutes walking (with two stops, not letting my HR return to less than 120bpm). It took me 29 minutes (20 mins walking, 9 mins resting), my average speed was 1.7mph. My average heart rate during the session was 140bpm, the highest it got to was 159bpm. My HRM tells me I burned 390 calories!  From this, I have to take away “background calories”.  Those are the calories you burn just by being alive (but not moving), so when you are “at rest”.  

So the Treadmill estimates my regular 20 minute walk would earn me 53 calories. However, my HRM tells me I earned 390 calories during the 29 minutes – which minus background calories leaves me with 281 calories. That’s over 200 calories more!!  When I am walking, my heart enters the “aerobic” level of working for about half the time, and works “moderately” for the remainder of the time.

Andy has tried the monitor.  Bearing in mind he is 9 years younger, fitter, lighter, etc. he walked for 30 minutes at 4mph (twice my speed) and his heart rate got to the “light” level only.  He hardly broke a sweat!

So – purpose of this post is to (1) encourage EVERYONE to try and do some form of exercise and (2) to encourage people to use HRM’s to give themselves a more accurate idea of just how hard – or not – they are working themselves.

I kind of thought I was burning a lot more than the treadmill or the weight loss website I am using were giving me, but I hadn’t realized that the difference would be quite so mammoth!!!

If anyone wants to ask me more, please do!  The HRM I purchased is a Polar FT2, about £38.00 from Amazon.

I’ve invented a new soup for all of us cauliflower lovers! Calling it “White Velvet Soup”.

It’s made with a lot of cauliflower, garlic, onion, tarragon, nutmeg, butterbeans, ground almond and almond milk. Just over 150 calories a serving (I’m making 10 servings with 2 heads of cauliflower – my lunches for a couple of days next week!)

I’m thinking that this would be perfect with either some crispy bacon sprinkled on top, or my other idea is a few slices of chorizo sausage fried with some cubes of bread (to the flavour oozes out of the meat) and sprinkled on top. The soup (without bacon, etc) is vegetarian – also dairy free (as using almond milk) but may contain traces of nuts!

White Velvet Soup

Preparation Time:          25 mins

Cooking Time:                  1 hr 15 mins

Serves:                               10

Calories per serving:       157.0

Ingredients

Cauliflower, Raw, Average                         –  830g

Beans, Butter, Canned, Drained                 –  1 Can/250g

Onions, Brown,                                          –  2 Onions/200g

Garlic, Raw, Average                                  –  2 Cloves/6g

Oil, Olive, Extra Virgin, Average                 –  2 Tbsps/30ml

Butter, Spreadable, Slightly Salted, Lurpak –  1½ Servings/15g

Almonds, Ground                                         –  85g

Almond, Milk, Alpro                                    –  500ml

Water, Mineral Or Tap                                –  2 pt 8 fl oz

Tarragon, Dried, Ground                             –  2 Tsps/4g

Nutmeg, Ground, Average                          –  1 Tsp/3g

Stock Cubes, Vegetable, Organic, Kallo   –  1 Cube/50ml

Method

(1) Put oil and Lurpak in a large pan and melt over a medium heat.

(2) Finely chop onion and add to pan. Stir for about 10 minutes until translucent – don’t allow to brown! Finely chop the garlic cloves and add to the onion. Continue to stir for 5 minutes more.

(3) Add the stock cube to the pan and about 2 and a half pints of boiling water. Stir. Break the cauliflower into florets and add to the pan. You can also use the stalk of the cauliflower (not the green leaves) but cut the stalk up into 1cm cubes before adding. Drain the tinned butterbeans and add.

(4) Cover and bring to the boil. Once it’s reached boiling point, lower the heat to a simmer and cover the pan. Cook for an hour, checking and stirring every 15 minutes.

(5) Add the almond milk, ground almonds, tarragon and nutmeg.

(6) Continue to simmer for 10 minutes.

(7) Finally, use a hand liquidiser to puree the soup mixture.