Nikina70's Journal, 18 Feb 22

Not managing to stay within my calories at all. Valentine's Day was no help with hubby bringing home a decadent Caramel Chocolate Brownie for dessert, which we then had two days in a row. I also made a lovely dinner with our favourite Fry's Golden Crumbed Schnitzels and potato dauphinoise (made with oat cream and milk) and sauteed brussels sprouts. It was delicious, but not your typical Monday night.

But, this week was thankfully better stress-wise and I did tick off a huge thing on my to-do list that's been hanging over my head for a few months now. Glad it's done and of course was quite a bit easier than I'd built it up to be. Will try not to let it get to me and put it off for so long when it comes around again next year. Admin for my freelance business is still and probably always will be the biggest challenge for me. You'd think it would be a walk in the park after so long - Linkedin reminded me last week that I've been at it for 15 years. Craziness! I never thought I'd be able to support myself and be my own boss when I started, but hey, I'm still doing it and it still amazes me!

On Tuesday, after work and before dinner, I did:
45 Minute Upper Body Push & Pull Bootcamp Workout | CRUSH - Day 7

Really great workout and I felt it all day the next day.

Work was quite busy so I didn't get out at all Monday to Wednesday, but on Wednesday I did 3 sets of 10 each - squats, deadlifts and overhead presses with my 5kg weights when I was waiting for my computer to do something or after I stood up for anything (also trying to increase water in-take). Then yesterday I went out for a 45 minute walk at lunch time, which was lovely if a bit blustery and got back just before it bucketed with rain again.

Yesterday I also went to the second week of a Stitch & Bitch session at a local vegan cafe. Still trying to meet a few new people and this time was a bit more relaxed than the week before and I just sat and knitted and had a gingerbread chai tea and what seemed like a very healthy chocolate brownie with cacao nibs in it. I chatted easily with two very friendly woman for a couple of hours so I'm glad I went and will go again in a couple of weeks time. Next week we're going out bowling with a Meet-up group so that should be fun as well. And tonight is Canasta.

This morning I did:
30 Minute Power Legs Workout | POWER Program - Day 21

Also a great workout. I was pretty much done after 20 minutes, but glad I pushed through to the end. One week to the end of the month so my target of getting to 67kg by the 25th is no longer a possibility, but I'll just extend it to March. As I'm struggling to have any kind of decent calorie deficit again lately I'll just try to focus on not going over maintenance of about 1900 calories for the next week and then see if I can make the mental shift and lower to 1700 for March.

This morning there was the first sign of new life on a giant tree outside our kitchen window. What a lovely sight to see - Spring is on it's way - YAY!

Have a lovely weekend everyone! xxx

69.9 kg Lost so far: 16.1 kg.    Still to go: 4.9 kg.    Diet followed: Poorly.

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2590 kcal

Fat: 94.05g | Prot: 84.40g | Carbs: 264.98g.   Breakfast: Asda Shortbread Fingers, Asda Pitted Black Olives, Asda Free From Garlic & Herb Soft Cheese Alternative, Rowan Hill Seeded Flatbread, Tap Water. Lunch: Applied Nutrition Vegan-Pro Vanilla, Just Free Plain Soya Pot, Just Free Blueberry Soya Pot, Asia Specialities Sweet Chilli Sauce, New York Soup Co Corn Chowder, Pro Natur Only Oat Unsweetened, Aldi Baby Spinach. Dinner: Aldi Battered Onion Rings, Village Bakery Large Soft White Bap, Tomatoes, By Sainsbury's Sweet Chilli Sauce, Asda Smartprice Salad Cream, Aldi Curly Fries, Fry's Meat Free Chicken Style Nuggets. Snacks/Other: Sugar, Aldi Roasted Salted Peanuts, Tesco Rich Tea Finger Biscuits, Lemon Cake without Icing, Old Mout Cider Classic Apple, Marks & Spencer Turkish Delight, Tesco Easy Peeler Satsuma, Old Mout Cider Classic Apple, Nescafe Instant Coffee. more...

1865 kcal

Exercise: Stretching (yoga) - 5 minutes, Weight Training (moderate) - 25 minutes, Resting - 15 hours and 30 minutes, Sleeping - 8 hours. more...