I realise I’ve not updated in ages on my weightloss attempts, and actually, I’m doing terribly. I tried really hard to eat well but in the last month tiredness and illness got the better of us all – and more often than not, food wasn’t as fresh as I’d have liked.

Add to that a week we’ve just had in North Yorkshire with far too many meals involving chips, and I’m stepping away from the scales for a few days – my clothes are telling me everything I need to know.

Having said that, I got the dress to fit! So I’m doing something right somewhere – I did read that travelling to a different time zone can play havoc with your weight as you eat more (I know I do) to compensate for the mealtimes you’re missing that you’re used to.

With illness I haven’t been swimming, though we did lots of walking around Yorkshire when we were there which has hopefully worked off some of the chips and fat! I’ve had the flu jab, so I’m going to see if that makes a difference to my overall resistance to being ill. Shaun has had it too and has been constantly unwell.

So let’s get back to each section I’m working on.

Swimming – could do better. I feel a lot better and ready to restart. Revisit – although I am thinking about doing cycling in the gym upstairs for the days I don’t feel like swimming – then I don’t need to wait before I eat.

Being Active – I am going to wear the Fitbug Orb again and start tracking again. We’ve definitely got an active life – most weekends are booked up now until the end of the year so I need to find ways which involve walking to get there where applicable rather than driving.

Getting Out – we do plenty of that.

Food – needs some work, although right now Shaun is dairy-free so our diet has been adjusted a little bit where we all eat. Sandwiches at work have been a bit hit and miss, and with being so tired and ill I haven’t used the Yumbox as much as I should. That is going to change next week. We’ve had lots of nice vegetable curries though!

Weight – I think the 12 stone 11 was a freak measurement as I’ve never hit it since (and I did try twice when it came up)  so we’ll revisit that at the end of this month.

The chips tasted good though. I’m now looking for good Air Fryer deals as I think that’s the way to go. Don’t deny myself, just make them healthier (and use other vegetables).

I’m overweight, probably borderline obese again since we got back from Australia where I ate to my heart’s content (and the seven hour time difference threw things a bit as well). I need to lose that weight, so I’ve been doing little things here and there to make a difference – while in the back of my mind knowing that one day I will fit into THE dress I bought out there (for approximately £5).

So here’s my plan:

Swimming – I keep clicking my back out, and I’ve had a stinky cold so I haven’t been as much as I should do. I intend to go back this week though and get kicking up and down the pool again. Because of the lack of swimming I’ve been trying to walk more and make sure I do a certain number of steps a day. The Fitbug hasn’t been used since I hurt my back, so I need to get back into that again.

Being Active – I like to think I’ve an active life, in fact I get told off sometimes that I never stop. Now school is back we’re into the regular routine, Rainbows (with me helping) on a Monday – this week I showed them how to skip… Tuesday is Football with my pilates class an hour afterwards. Wednesday H has swimming and it isn’t convenient to watch her without running over half of the gym to get a decent seat. Thursday and Friday I collapse…

Getting Out – on the weekend we’ve been trying to do trips and walks around a bit more. Last Saturday we went into Central London to visit the British Museum, and on Sunday after a party we had time to go to Nonsuch Park to finish H’s home learning for school.

Food – I’m one of those meal deal people a few times a week and it has to stop. On the other days I’ve been buying a sandwich from M&S, a low calorie one with vegetables, however, I’ve had it so much now that I’m at the point of feeling sick if I see it again, and I’m bored of egg. The low calorie sandwich options are not great out there. So I’m taking things in hand – and have bought myself a Yumbox Panino. Two or three days a week I’m taking my own lunch in, on the busiest days so I’ve had some food beforehand. After a couple of weeks the Yumbox will have paid for itself. I was mocked today for having one, then praised at the layout and how ingenious the silicone seal on the lid is, so that was good! Today’s lunch was a sandwich and some vegetables and hummous – something I’d have probably paid up to a fiver for before now. How silly is that? Add some fruit and it’s all good.

I’m also on the lookout for an air fryer, or one of the kind of fryers which uses no oil at all and makes chips from scratch in no time at all.

So that’s the plan so far. Every few days I get an urge to start running, but then my back gets a bit clicky so it’s put to one side – I’ll concentrate on the swimming for now I think!

I weighed myself this morning, and after coming in around 13 stone 4 when we got back, I’m now weighing 12 stone 11 – so something is working somewhere. I have to add, the difference moving around when your back doesn’t constantly hurts is a big one too.

So this is my September update – back in October. Maybe I’ll try get the dress on….