Getting Fit and Losing weight week 1

 Hi Guys,

So I have decided that I need to lose some weight and get healthier. I am making it my aim over the coming months to shift some lb's and generally start living a healthier lifestyle. I want to be able to run around with my son for a long time to come and I am sick of feeling self conscious about the way I look. So enough is enough I am going to get fit and I thought that if I write about it in my blog, it might give me a sense of accountability so I stick with what I am doing.

I decided to start straight away so I packed a healthy picnic for me and my poppet and headed to the park. The park I headed to does have  a playground but it also has acres of fields so its great for walking.

I have found it really difficult to fit in exercise with working and looking after a toddler. I realised that this is a poor excuse, I just need to find activities that I can do with Alfie that get me moving too. So the park is the perfect place to run round with Alfie and poop him out too. I downloaded an app called Endomondo which tracks distance, calories etc and its really easy to use. The app automatically finds your location and then tracks your movement, I just put my phone in my pocket. You can also pick the activity that you are doing so I chose walking and you can also pause your activity which I did when we sat down for our picnic. The app is great and free to download. It automatically stores your results on the app and I think its fab.

In total we walked 4.40km which is about 2.7 miles and this was achieved by running around the park, exploring the woods and we followed one of the easy trails too but I was still shocked at how much distance we had travelled. I was really chuffed about this and thought that me and Alfie could do this everyday but we will go to different parks and do different activities but still doing the same amount of exercise.

On top of this, I also joined slimming world last night. I did it before and had really amazing results after having Alfie. I maintained my weight and even lost a bit more for our wedding but since the wedding, I have had a terrible diet and put all the weight back on. I really like how easy Slimming World is and how it doesn't restrict you from having the things you like. I would suggest having your own area or cupboard in the kitchen where you can store your food that's not to be consumed by the rest of the family and keeping a food diary so you can track all what you eat. The biggest thing I like about Slimming World is that you get weighed each week by someone else, I think this adds to the accountability as you do not want to gain weight or fall off the wagon when someone else is seeing the scales. Now don't get me wrong, you are only weighed by one person and your weight is never shared and if you do gain weight there is never any humiliation, the are really supportive but for me it helps keep me motivated.

This is my walking summary with Endomondo 

This is the pack from Slimming World with everything you need to start the diet.

So I am going to stick to my diet religiously this week and try and get an hour of moderate exercise every day by taking Alfie out and running around like crazy for a while. By doing it this way, it doesn't feel like exercise, it just feels like I'm having fun with my toddler.

I really want this to become a whole lifestyle change, I do not want to be a yo-yo dieter forever. I want to lose the weight and have a healthy diet and take regular exercise as part of everyday life.

I will be posting weekly updates on how I am getting on and if I have had any weight loss/gain and how I am feeling about the whole thing. I am feeling very motivated and pumped by this whole process but it is only week 1 so by this time next week I may be pulling my hair out.

Wish me luck guys
More photos below from our picnic in the park