Sunday Summary 57

Gemma - Another 1.5 lbs off this week, great result at the scales for me. I'm a little worried because I can't attend class for two weeks. I have a conference this week and the venue we use for class will be closed for the Jubilee the week after. Going to try and weigh at home and do a little more exercise because I have time off. I will allow myself to indulge a little next weekend because all my friends are finishing their exams and want to party. A few dog walks and aquafit sessions will hopefully stop any major damage caused by cake and alcohol.

Sarah - I have kinda started Jenny Craig this week.  I say kinda as I haven't really been able to stick to it.  I have been suffering from terrible headaches which feel a bit like hangovers without any alcohol :(  The only way to ease the nausea is to eat which hasn't been too good for the waist line.  The headaches have also kept me from the gym so I am feeling like a hippo right now.  I am being forced to visit the docs this week so hopefully can get back on track very soon.

How are you coping with the glorious weather in the UK at the moment? It's way too warm to exercise, I just want to eat ice lollies!

Weight Watchers Product Review

I recently received a box full of Weight Watchers goodies to try out and review. I have been on the plan for over a year now so trying new things really helps to keep my diet interesting and varied.

There are a few things that I haven't tried yet like the part baked rolls, cupcake mix, nachos and cookies but here is what I thought of the rest of the Weight Watchers items:

I loved the carrot cakes but I only had one before my brother scoffed the lot! They are a great size to go with a cup of tea and are very sweet. I'm sure I will buy them again but I will have to hide them from the rest of my family, too good to share.
I loved the naan but at 4 ProPoints for half I probably wouldn't have it again, I prefer to bulk up my meals with zero point vegetables rather than carbohydrates.

This is one of the products that I had already tried and loved. I usually buy the small bottles to drink with friends before I go on a night out, they are a great size and means I can limit my portions. This was a full size bottle and I shared it with non Weight Wacher members and they enjoyed it too. It works out at 2 ProPoints per small glass, regular wine would be 3 so this is a good product to make your points go further.

I always stick to Quavers and French Fries as my crisps of choice because they are 2 ProPoints a pack but these made a great change. You don't get too many in a pack but they are crinkle cut crisps which are a normally a bit higher in points. Very nice, I will be taking some of these in my Jubilee picnic hamper next weekend.

The Italian red grape and pomegranate cordial has been a bit of a live saver in the hot weather this week, keeping my nice and hydrated. I've kept it in work and drank that instead of my normal tea and coffee. It's a great tasting product and drinking this instead of tea meant that I consumed less points because I cut out milk. All those cups of tea add up to lots of ProPoints!
Shouldn't really say this but the Sicilian lemonade was a great mixer to go with my vodka over the weekend. It has a great lemony taste and will be perfect to go with Pimms in the summer or drink alone if you're not a party animal like me ;) I have seen both of these products in Poundland so they wont break the bank.

I wasn't overly keen on the hot chocolate but I'm a big fan of Cadbury's Highlights and am reluctant to swap brands. It didn't have the same very sweet and rich taste that I'm used too but it was still nice.

The bagels were probably one of my favourite products that I tried out. They are only 4 ProPoints each which is much lower than the usual 6/7 ProPoints for a New York Bakery Co equivalent. I ate mine with some low fat cream cheese and smoked salmon for 6 ProPoints. They have a great expiry date so you don't need to eat them as soon as you buy them which is why I don't buy fresh ones that often. I think they are a great packed lunch product and worth a try.

Just wanted to say thanks to the very lovely Lucy at ShinyRed PR for sending me the Weight Watcher items.

Are you a fan of Weight Watchers products?

Sunday Summary 56

Gemma - 4lbs off this week!! Really makes up for the rubbish month I've had where weight loss is concerned. I went to Aquafit, wore my Zaggora hotpants and took the dog on some epic walks so I was relived to step on the scales and see that it had payed off. I have been less active this week but haven't been out at all which is rare for me. I'm going to try and fit in some more exercise before weigh in on Tuesday and I'm hoping to lose 1-2 lbs this week.

Zaggora Viva HotPants Giveaway

We are big fans of the original Zaggora HotPants here at Where Are My Knees? Sarah reviewed them here and Gemma has been trying them out the past two weeks and getting great weight loss and inch loss results.

Zaggora have now launched new Viva HotPants which are longer than the originals and come in a variety of colours.

Specially designed with Celu-Lite technology fabric lining, Hotpants use your natural body temperature to warm you up around the areas you care about (legs, bum, thighs).

Tested at the Chelsea School at Brighton University, HotPants are proven to use your body heat to increase energy expenditure before and after exercise by raising your core body temperature by up to 18%. Since your heating up, your body uses more energy which means its also burning more calories. Actually, calorie burn increases by 26% in the hour after exercise with Hotpants too.  As well all know, as you burn calories, you lose weight.

In the University laboratory tests, in just 30 minutes of exercise, women lost 4x more weight with HotPants than doing the same exercise in normal work out clothes.
For your chance to win one of three pairs of new Zaggora Viva HotPants, simply fill in the form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good Luck!

Stuffed butternut squash with Quorn

I could not believe that that recipe was only 4 pro points per serving. Lots of the things in the Members' favourites cookbook are tasty but lower in points than some of the recipes written by the people at Weight Watchers. Us members want as much tasty food for our daily budget as we can get! You can pick the cookbook up in class or from the Weight Watchers website.

Look at all of this...

4 points!!

Stuffed Butternut Squash with Quorn
Vegetarian
9 ProPoints per recipe
Serves 2

You will need:
1 butternut squash
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 garlic clove, crushed
calorie controlled cooking spray
1 onion, chopped
1 red pepper, de-seeded and chopped
1 courgette, chopped
100g Quorn mince
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
50g feta cheese
freshly ground pepper


1. Preheat the oven to 180 or 160 fan oven.

2. Cut the butternut squash in half length ways, scoop out the seeds. Put in a large roasting tin. Mix together the olive oil, chilli flakes, rosemary and garlic and brush over the top of the squash. Bake for about an hour until tender.

3. Meanwhile, make the filling, Spray a large non stick pan with cooking spray and cook the onion until softened. Add the pepper and courgette and continue to cook for 5 minutes.

4. Add the mince and chopped tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes. Once the squash is cooked, spoon the mix on to each half and crumble the feta cheese on top. Return to the oven and cook for ten minutes until the cheese is just starting to turn golden. Serve, garnished with parsley sprigs.

Sunday Summary 55

Gemma - Bit of a bank holiday disaster... I put 1lb on this week. I don't think I've had a gain since Christmas so this is not good news. Luckily it was only a small gain and I've been very strict this week to try and lose that 1lb and more. I went to aqua aerobics, swimming and managed to fit the shred in over the weekend. I hope all my efforts show up on the scales this week. I  would like to reach my -100 goal by August bank holiday but this means 25lbs in 15 weeks, quite a tall order. I shall try my best and try to make sure going to aqua aerobics is part of my weekly routine.

Sarah - I've had a little break from dieting (as those who follow my instagram will have seen... cake, cake & more cake!) This is for life and for me I need a break every now and then to refocus and stop me craving.  I have had my fill and am back on the Jenny Craig wagon as of tomorrow.  I am going to be doing it along side Weight Watchers, if I eat out or just fancy something different I will still be sticking to 29 points a day which works well for me.  I haven't been to the gym much recently as I have been suffering from almost daily headaches.  I am hoping these are now behind me and that I can make it a full 7 days next week. I am restarting my hotpants two weeks challenge too as I only managed two days before the headaches struck.  Wish me luck!

Summer is fast approaching, are you getting in shape for a wedding or holiday? How has your week been?

Guest Post by Caroline from All About the Girl

Hi, my name is Caroline and I have been reading Where are my Knees pretty much since it began.  I always read Sarah V's blog and discovered it through her.  I really enjoy reading blogs about health and weight loss and feel much more inspired by these than celebrity fad diets.  I can't write this without saying a big well done to Gemma, I think she is doing really well and it's great to read her progression, she is fantastic motivation too.

So back to me, I'm 26 and work in media, so as you can imagine I'm constantly surrounded by skinny minnies, and that's not just the girls I work with, I spend all day staring at posters of Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie.  At the moment, I am relatively happy with my weight (I say relatively, it will do!), but it tends to fluctuate, I'm probably about a stone lighter now than I was this time last year.  I hate my stomach and my legs (not that I can do much about those!!) and would like to get more toned up.  I wouldn't stay I'm constantly on a diet, but I always get the guilts after eating too much rubbish. 

Up until I was 18, my weight never bothered me.  No, I didn't think I was perfect and had areas I didn't like but generally I didn't have much to worry about...then I went to University.  I was put in catered halls, full cooked breakfasts on offer and three courses meals for dinner.  And these meals were carb overload, they'd serve you Lasagne AND chips or a potato???  Before I went to University I didn't eat particularly healthy (I didn't do vegetables) but in hindsight I didn't have a very large appetite.  I was blissfully unaware of my weight gain and blamed the washing machines and dryers for shrinking my clothes (true story!).  It was only when my parents came to collect me for the Summer holidays and my mum said she nearly walked past me because she didn't recognise me that I realised perhaps I'd piled on the pounds.  When I stepped on the scales at home I found I'd put on over 2 stone - eek.

At this point I was also having a lot of stomach related issues, I was diagnosed with IBS but I think perhaps this was due to bad diet and excessive drinking.  That Summer I lost 22lbs, I ate normally for the first half of the Summer then after speaking to a nutritionist I cut out wheat, sugar and tomatoes. As soon as I got back to Uni I was unable to keep up this level of control.  But, the plus side was I was now very aware that I could not just eat what I wanted, whenever I wanted.  Moving out of halls also meant I could prepare my own meals and not eat quite so much food, I didn't need three courses in the evening.  Since then my weight has stayed fairly stable, it goes up and down by about half a stone but generally it's ok.

This January I booked a holiday with friends (cue bikini fear) and so I joined my local swimming pool, since then I've lost about half a stone and have actually started to enjoy it! I would never utter the words enjoy and exercise in the same sentence previously. In fact, I never did any exercise, at all.  

I now try to go swimming 3 times a week, and it also means if I do have a big dinner coming up or I eat some rubbish I don't have to worry about it quite so much.  I know a lot of people get put off swimming because they may be embarrassed or scared but I would genuinely recommend it.  The first time I went I swam 15 lengths, last week I swam 50!!  And, there are often adults having swimming lessons in the pool, something I was very surprised to see. I'm even tempted to have my own lesson to improve my technique.   I wouldn't by any means say I'm a good swimmer, and I refuse to wear a cap, yep I am that vain! But, there are a lot of other girls there like me, some faster, some slower, but definitely no-one is judging anyone else.  

I'm still not at what I'd call my perfect weight, I'd like to lose another half a stone ideally.  I'd kill to have a washboard stomach, but unfortunately I think that is going to require a bit more effort than swimming three times a week.  Apparently Gwen Stefani used to do 500 sit ups a day, sigh!

I know Where are my Knees haven't featured any stories about swimming yet, so if you have any questions or would like to know anything more about me, then please feel free to send them my way and I'll do my best to answer them.  My favourite thing about swimming is, I never feel like a sweaty mess, the water keeps me nice and cool and I always come out feeling really energised.  I admit the smell of chlorine is a bit annoying, but I'll put up with that if it's going to help me be that bit more confident in a bikini this Summer!!

Sunday Summary 55

Sorry for missing the Sunday Summary last week got carried away drinking wine and watching The Voice...

Gemma - I lost 2 lbs last week and maintained this week so pretty mixed. After a great start to 2012 I have lost a lot of my motivation and can't seem to control myself at weekends and say no to cake in work. I think I have to be realistic and weigh up what means more to me. Do I want to have fun and not worry about my diet or see results? I have just reached my -75lbs milestone and want to get to -100 by the end of the year. I think that is a pretty realistic goal and will allow for a few slip ups for my birthday and festivals this summer. Have you lost your motivation? Got any tips for getting back on track?

Move More in May

Weight Watchers have done a report that investigates the nation’s activity habits and it has revealed that that a third of British adults admit to being lazy – I'm one of them.  Key factors which contribute to Brits leading such sedentary lifestyles include lack of time, long working hours and being too busy. But 33 per cent of people admit they simply can’t be bothered to do anything but relax in their spare time.

I have to admit that exercise simply has not featured in my weight loss plan at all. I have tried the 30 Day Shred about 3 times and given up after about 6 days, said I was going to join the gym and never did and even bought some exercise clothes which are still in the bags. I make time for blogging, socialising and relaxing. Spend hours watching box sets and going shopping on the weekends but never dedicate time to moving more.


If I'm ever going to get to goal weight I need to change my bad habits, find a form of exercise that I love and stick with it.

To sign up to make a move, you can visit http://weightwatchersmovemore.co.uk. You can also enable the Move More Twibbon, and join the conversation on the #MoveMore hashtag, and also be in with a chance to win a £100 spa day treat, to reward your hard work.

So what are you waiting for? MOVE MORE IN MAY!

I hereby pledge to finish the 30 Day Shred and try out a new form of exercise in May. (Please hold me to this!)