What a weekend!

It's been a weekend of two halves, that's for sure. Saturday wasn't too bad and I was feeling super-positive and happy with my fundraising progress. I managed to send three cheques to Charlotte and Marcus yesterday - I won't spoil it and say how much for in case they are reading - but it was a nice amount! My lovely lovely hairdresser cut my hair yesterday and he waived the cutting fee if I passed the money on to Charlotte, which I did. That was supremely generous of him as it was quite a lot of money. Then my lovely husband told me to write a cheque from him for my slimathon too - add that to what we made on Friday at the coffee morning, a cheque from a client and a cheque from my mother in law and we did pretty well.

Then my two little girls came down with some horrid bug :-( My eldest has been ill since Thursday with a random temperature bug and she's extremely lethargic. Then my youngest decided to be sick all over me - the joys of being a mummy!! She's been in bed all day. We've had to cancel my eldest daughter's birthday dinner today. She was devastated but it was definitely for the best. Normally this sort of fiasco would have me reaching for the nearest bar of Cadbury's but I've been extremely good. Whilst my husband and daughter had pizza for tea, I had a healthy salad and jacket potato. I'm quite proud of my will power!

Ten more days to go so I need to keep up the good work.

My daughter the superstar

Today I held a 'Coffee for Charlotte' day at my house. It's not a very big house but the children and childminders and other friends really didn't seem to mind that they were all squished in - especially as we kept the tea and coffee coming and plied them with homemade cakes. Neither did they mind when my over-zealous three year old rattled a dinosaur money box in their faces the second they walked in the door - before giving them a chance to remove their coats! Anya was a master money-collector and we managed to raise £60. It's a drop in the ocean compared to what we need to raise but as the annoying Tesco advert says, every little helps!

I was so grateful to everyone who came and to those who couldn't make it who donated money anyway. Once again I am amazed by the generosity of people when I've already asked them to dig deep for my slimathon.

You will be pleased to know that cake did not pass my lips this morning - I was all baked out from making lemon drizzle, banana loaf, ginger and chocolate cakes that the mere thought made me feel ill. I was a little disappointed with weigh in this week as I stayed the same but it just means I need to work extra hard these next two weeks. I don't want to let anyone down with so much sponsorship riding on my weightloss.

(Almost) The half way mark

I haven't updated the blog for a while - I've not fallen off the wagon, just been waaaaaaaay too busy! Life is a little hectic to say the least right now - between work, being a mummy and studying, plus trying to keep on top of my housework!

I'm virtually at the half way point now - 14 days in and another 17 to go. So far so good. I'm 7 lbs down which is half of what I wanted to lose this month. I'm really pleased. People say I'm doing a good thing which is nice but this challenge has been about more than what I am doing. It's about the kindness of people. The recession has hit everyone in one form or another but I am constantly amazed at the generosity of people who have sponsored me, people who are following my progress and people coming up with new fundraising ideas. Some of the people sponsoring me have never even met me!! Friends have been passing on my emails to friends of theirs and I'm getting a positive response from them. It's times like these that reinstate my faith in humanity.

Charlotte called me yesterday to thank me for everything I was doing - I wanted to pass her thanks on to all of you who are supporting me either in monetary terms or in moral support. I certainly couldn't undertake this challenge without the support of my friends.

Another positive to come from this challenge is that my fitness levels are improving! I've been following a basic interval training jogging schedule and tonight I found my jog was a bit too easy! Which must mean I'm ready to crank it up a notch and try harder. I was pleasantly surprised, especially after I was treated to a rather yummy mother's day lunch today. I had a really lovely day with my husband and daughters and it's made me realise how blessed I am. I'm more motivated than ever to improve my fitness and health, not just for me but for them as well - and if I can help a brilliant cause while I'm at it then that's great too.

D-day

Well I decided to weigh in today, despite the fact I'm only part way through the week, because Thursday is my weigh-in day on Tesco diets. I expected a loss - after all I have cut out biscuits, sweets and all junk and I've gone back to exercising. What I didn't expect was to have lost FIVE POUNDS!!! Since Monday! I'm thrilled to bits and pleased with what I can achieve when I set my mind to it. So I'm just 9lbs off my target for the month which is fantastic. Embarrassingly it just goes to show just how much junk I've been eating for me to lose so much by cutting out the crap.

Since I'm in a good mood I'll also be brave and admit that my weight now is 11 stone 7lbs :-( - but it was a lot worse when I started my weightloss journey last year so I'm keeping positive :-)

I've also had over £200 in pledges for sponsorship so far which is fabulous!! Thanks to everyone who has sponsored me - for those who haven't it's not too late! ;-)

Day One in the Big Mother House

And it went pretty well if I do say so myself. After the initial 'GAH' moment when I stepped on the scales this morning I stuck to my healthy eating very well. I'm not brave enough right now to share my starting weight, suffice to say it wasn't pretty. But onwards and upwards, or rather downwards where the pounds are concerned! I enlisted the help of my little mindee today who came with me to buy fruit and healthy snacks before we went to the toy library - he thought it was funny that I told him to tell me off if he saw me eating anything 'naughty'! Work has kept me busy all day so I've not really had chance to think about eating the wrong things. The Tesco shop came this evening and I managed not to order anything I shouldn't eat - there are biscuits for the kids but I'm being good and they are still in the wrapper, untouched.

My other good news is that I went out and did some exercise today! Yep, for the first time in about six months and BOY did I feel it! I went out for a little interval training - 1 minute of light running and 1.5 minutes of walking and repeated 8 times and I did ok. I imagine I will walk like a cowboy who has lost his horse in the morning but I know the end result will be worth it.

This is it.

You will all know I was on a bit of a mission last year to lose some weight. I did really well, losing 34lbs, but somewhere along the line I lost my mojo a bit and the weight is creeping back on. Over the last few months I've been trying to climb back on the wagon but the motivation has been somewhat lacking. Until now.

http://www.recruiter.co.uk/recruiter-appeals-for-industry-support-after-wife-refused-cancer-treatment/1004438.article

This is my dear friend Charlotte. She's beautiful, caring and kind and she has a rare form of bone cancer which she's had on and off since she was 19 years old. We were at nursery school together, then first school, went to different middle schools and ended up at the same senior school. When she went to college and I stayed at school we lost touch but now thanks to the wonder of Facebook we have reconnected. When I met her last I couldn't believe this stunning, positive person was suffering from such a horrid disease. It's enough to make the strongest person curl up in a ball and want to cut off from the world. She assures me she has days like those but I was astounded at her positivity and I want to help her get the treatment she deserves.

So I have my motivation - all £40k of it. I am aiming to lose a stone in March and I'm asking for my friends to sponsor me to do so, so I can make a small donation to her treatment cost. No more Mrs Couch Potato eating potato chips. The chocolate has already been banned for Lent but so far the Haribo, hot cross buns, cookies, takeaways etc haven't been and they need to be. My friend deserves a body that's in full working order and I shouldn't abuse mine, stuffing it with junk 24/7.

Watch this space for updates - first weigh in is in the morning EEK!