Maria's Challenge - the results are in

So D-day arrived.

I was up for 7 am and out of the house by 8 to make weigh-in before 8:30. I was optimistic and I was right to beand most other weeks I would have been well chuffed. For me though,it was a bit of a good news sandwich, I lost 2.5lbs which is great, but I missed out on my 3 stone award by half a pound, but I'm back to where I was a month ago before I turned 50!

To put it in context, if I lost 2.5lbs a week between now and Christmas, I would lose 47.5 lbs which would be another apprx 3.5 stones (2.5 lb a week for a year is 9 stone!), that would make me extremely close to my target - a very good Christmas present!

The super good thing was I got Slimmer of the Week for the first time in this journey and won a big basket of goodies. Stacks of fruit and veg, all in good condition, even some pickings from someones garden, along with Mug Shot, tinned tomatoes, mushy peas and powdered gelatin. Everyone who weighs in should contribute to SotW by bringing in something free or low syn. As you can see I got a sticker for my book to mark the occasion.

It was taster week in group as it was the Woman of the Year award. It went to a lovely lady who has lost over 5 stone with Amelia's group, but over 11 stone in total, which is amazing. When I say I've lost nearly 3 stone people always say "well that's like carrying a child around with you all day you must feel better" but 11 stone that's like you were giving a grown adult a piggy back without realising - to lose that must feel like walking on air!

In group I tried a few things some Pea Sticks from Aldi which I wasn't fussed with, though I don't mind the Itsu ones. A ham roll - just ham spread with soft cheese and spinach and rolled up onto a cocktail stick like a canape, a really good snack idea, a fruit kebab made with a Mikado biscuit as the skewer - because it's coated in chocolate the stick doesn't go soggy - these would be a great cinema snack for me and finally some pulled pork made by one of the men in our group - it was barbecue flavour and completely delicious.

When I got home I had a fantastic breakfast (1 syn for 2 Linda McCartney sausages) cooked and ready for me as my reward for a good loss.

This evening though I was out for a meal at mum and dad's, a last minute arrangement as we don't have many days to see each other between now and the end of September due to holidays and conferences.

Mum cooked a roast dinner, roast lamb and the trimmings, it was fab and I treated myself to a Yorkshire pudding and a little gravy. For pudding we had a lovely crumble made from apples from our tree and a few blackberries with custard and ice cream.

We finished the evening off with a game of guess the age, who knew John Humphries was only 73, but that Debbie Harry is 72 and how is Cyndi Lauper 64!!

So, it's now time for my holiday with Lauren, our annual girls trip. My task this week is to have a good time but not ruin all the good work I've done this week/year. Weight is always easy to go on but hard to get off. I will keep you posted.