The weight gain was indeed not a ‘real’ weight gain and came straight back off and I picked up where I left off at Couch to 5k.

Today I completed week 6 day 3 – well I say completed, I didn’t follow it exactly to the letter. I was supposed to run for 25 minutes with no walking, but did 12.30 then walked for 1 minute and then ran for 14. I struggle so much to run without stopping at all – I feel like I can’t go on if I don’t just get that little break, and I don’t need long, just a minute or so and then I can run again – but at this stage I am apparently meant to be able to run for 25 minutes without stopping so that’s what I want to do!

Week 7 consists entirely of running 25 minutes each day so hopefully after 3 more attempts at it I will be able to master it. I am going to try run that little extra before taking a break each day.

A friend suggested Supplement News would be a good place to start looking so that is where I am headed right now.

I think my favourite TV chef is Jamie Oliver. I used to like Gordan Ramsay but like a lot of UK celebrities he sold out when he moved to America, I find his American versions of Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares cringe worthy. Jamie Oliver has been in the public eye for as long but still manages to remain the nice, friendly, family man, cheeky chappy who seems to have others best interests at heart. Now that he’s moved on to American TV I sure hope he doesn’t go the same way.

I was just watching a video of him preparing some BBQ food and looking outside my window wishing summer would hurry up and come, there’s nothing better than a BBQ in your back garden on a long summer night with your mates. It has been nicer the last few days but it’s hardly summer just yet and it’s back to being wet and miserable today, boo.

Of course now I am a health freak I will make sure there’s healthy options for myself and others who want to get or keep in shape for the summer season. Grilled veggies galore and lots of bottles of water

As I mentioned in my last post I did count my calories obsessively for about a week just to get an idea of what I was eating and making sure nothing had slipped – I checked the packages of everything, even the things I thought for sure I knew and I weighed everything also.

I am pleased to say there were no major surprises. The crab sticks that I thought were 12 calories each are actually 18 calories each but other than that everything was about what I had been counting it as – phew.

I now have a book containing all the ‘common’ calories in the foods I eat regularly so as long as I keep my portion sizes in control I am good to go

It’s a long time since I actually counted calories in my staple foods – assuming that I already just know them.

So over the next few days I am digging out the scales, reading the labels and making sure I know exactly what’s going into my body

It doesn’t matter how old you get, there’s nothing quite like having a home cooked meal prepared by your mother. It always instantly takes me back to growing up – it’s amazing how easily food evokes memories and emotions.

Yesterday we went to Chester Zoo and forgot to take the sandwiches we had prepared. There were no healthy options available and what was there was expensive, normally we’d bite the bullet and eat any way but money and calories were tight as we’d eaten out the night before so we had to go without.

My mother called me while we were there and she said to come round to hers when we got back and she’d make something for us. I was expecting a sandwich or bowl of soup but as soon as we walked in the door I was hit with the smell of one of my old favourites – chili with potato wedges – yum!

My mums hormel chili was always a favourite of mine growing up and I remember the adverts they used to run on the TV. I was just on their website and saw they offer loads of recipe ideas for how best to use Hormel and I am definitely going to try some of them out in the coming weeks. The “Blazing 8″ Chili looks delicious and really simple to prepare

I am aware I don’t eat enough fruit and often lack in vitamin C and B. I am also aware that I eat more than my daily share of carbohydrates most of the time.

I think what I have learned to accept though is that there really is no perfect diet that you can stick to at all times, you just have to find the perfect balance.

I was just looking on VitaDigest, a well known and respected company that was awarded INC5000 last year. They have a wide range of almost 15000 vitamins and supplements available and I do need to stock up on my vitamin B tablets again they also sell a lot of diet and weight loss products, I could probably benefit from the low carb chocolate and banana bars – they offer free shipping on orders over $100 but I don’t think I will need to spend quite that much.

I actually lost 2lbs.

This makes me very happy as I have not lost any wieght no matter what I have tried recently – however I am not getting too excited, my weight often fluctuates a lot and I will have to wait and see if it stays off over the next week when I return to my regular eating habits.

I will keep you updated.

Yesterday was day one of my plan and I consumed only 700 calories and burned 400.

Trust me, this is not something I am going to keep up past this week, I know that it is not recommended to eat so few calories. But I have tried every thing else I can think of to try and get the scales moving again and nothing has worked – ‘Crazy Low Cal’ is my last ditch attempt!

That means a lot of veg, salads, quorn, tofu and tuna and nothing but water to drink.

This is really no hardship for me, I actually love all of the above – especially tuna which is good for you, low in calories and delicious. It’s even been proved to be helpful for pregnant women in many ways, including fighting off depression. Usually women are encouraged to shy away from fish during pregnancy!

I already know many healthy tuna recipes but am always willing to learn more – remarkably out of all the amazing things you can do with tuna my favourite recipe is a simple tuna (low fat) mayo salad – it’s as easy as taking it out of the tin, mixing it in and enjoying.

I’ll update you on Wednesday to how it went.

It’s an online game or sorts where you grow your own food and follow it through several stages, from planting it to it being on the shelves for sale.

There is also a whole host of great information available, from great recipes for you to try out to what produce you can buy locally in your area.

A great addition as well is that for each person who signs up and takes part the Council will donate two pounds of flour, to Operation Homefront, an organisation that helps U.S. troops and their families who are in need. Of course it is totally free to sign up and take part so this is a great way for everyone to get involved and help out.

Great website