Fit 'n Fab 4 Fifty

I wasn't an active kid,  I preferred to read or play computer games than run about or play sports.   At primary school I realised that I wasn't as fast or as good at PE as others so I tried to hide at the back and not get picked for teams so I didn't let anyone down.  I didn't have the confidence to join in and so the more I hung back the worse it got.  I didn't join any teams or play any sport that wasn't compulsory and even then I did my very best to get out of it.  I detested gym class and games, I was quite academic and so maybe I didn't like the fact I wasn't good at it.   Looking back I certainly wasn't the 'fat kid' that I thought I was then,  I was a little bigger than many of the other kids which was my comparison but I was tall and could never be described as petite anyway.  I ate very little fruit growing up,  little bit of frozen veg with dinner but I was a big fan of the 'crispy pancakes' and such like,   alwa...

Hello again,    It's been a fair while so I thought a re-introduction was necessary.  I started this blog about 2 years ago in an attempt to stick to a plan and lose weight / get fit as I approach my 50th birthday.  The actual blog never took off, instead I stuck to posting occasionally on @fitnfab4fifty Instagram   I do love a bit of insta and I have enjoyed finding lots of fitness related accounts to follow,  so much so that they are starting to show up on my original insta account now! I blogged for many years over at 'A Matter of Choice'   which was originally started around the time we moved to Cyprus, and continued with random posts over the years about anything that I fancied.  So I think I struggled a bit when it came to this as I didn't have to time or inclination to do it with the same level of commitment.  But there is so much I want to say around this as I find my way through,   in my first post here I said...

 One of the things I missed most when I first started Slimming World was my takeaways, Chinese was reasonably easy to adapt but McDonalds and KFC would something to be reserved for special occasions and 'off plan' days.   Eight years later though, and with a huge increase in information available online there are tons of 'fake away' recipes to choose from. After the success of my ' Big Mac in a bowl ' last year I decided to try the 'KFC style chicken' recipe I'd seen doing the rounds online. It was a huge hit with the whole family, and although not exactly the same as the very moist and fatty pieces of chicken on the bone that you get in a Bargain bucket, it was very similar to the popcorn chicken and the fillets - certainly fills a 'KFC need'. Ingredients 4 small chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces 3 tsp Chicken Bovril 2 eggs 2 slices wholemeal bread 1 tsp Onion powder 1 tsp Garlic powder 1 tsp mild chilli powder 1 tsp Paprika 2 tsp Mi...

This is a post I originally wrote in 2010 on my old blog,  I'm re-sharing here as it's important back story to FitnFab4Fifty  and nice to remind myself that I did it before so I can do it again.  I still say it was the best thing I ever did (other than getting married to my hubby and having our boys - but that's kinda obvious)  and it was.   Although I'm not anywhere close to the weight I got down to,  If I'd have never have done that I think I'd be a very different person now.  It was more than just the weight and how I looked, hard to explain but it did genuinely change my life.  Let me take you back to early 2006..... My Dad said to me one day "Guess what I'm doing tomorrow night? I looked at him blankly, he replied "Going to Slimming World"  Well to say I was surprised is an understatement,  1.My Dad is (and I'm sure he won't mind we saying so, although to be fair he is getting better!) the fussiest pe...

Happy New Year!  No prizes for guessing what's on my mind today.... Predictably now that Christmas and New Years have passed many people's thoughts turn to weight loss and health improvements as they get back to their routines and look the the year ahead.    Since starting this blog (and then mainly just posting on instagram ) I had lost 1/2 stone,  and then promptly put that back on again.   Although I'd not concentrated on the food for very long,  I did start rebounding most days from October to mid - December  (at which point I had a couple days off with various random aches and pains,  and was then distracted by all things shiny and Christmas)     I am yet to completely abandon all things chocolate and cheese but I have been out on some longer dog walks,  including fun in the snow up in the mountains with the family,   as well as starting again slowly on the rebounder with Jump&Jacked Beginner Friend...

I got on the scales today.   It's not been that long since I did that and the number hadn't gone up much at all but it had gone up.  It's not unexpected of course,   I'm not stupid, as well as my terrible eating habits lately I've had four meals out in a week and hardly a day without drinking.  But I gained a digit,  it has tipped over to the next stone bracket and I am now the same weight as my original SW starting weight.  It's also the same weight, in fact I think one pound heavier than I was when I got on the scales in hospital just before being induced with my eldest son. This means that right now I am the heaviest I have ever been. Shit. I've been up and down a lot over the years but I was so proud of losing 4 stone and then doing pretty well the other times I went back to group. The heaviest I have ever been.   This suddenly feels like a really big mountain to climb.  This must be the line in the sand, the sign that I'm going...