Two hearts set on two venues and hitting the two stone mark!

I have been a busy bee the last couple of weeks so while that means I have plenty to blog about, it also means I haven't had a chance to actually blog which is just unacceptable!

The last time I posted I was on my way to view our first potential wedding venue out of 7 that weekend. Unfortunately, almost two weeks later, we are still no further with our plans. In some ways it feels like we have gone backwards as we don't even have any options to look at anymore.

We fell in love with 2 particular venues which was all really exciting at the time as I was imagining myself walking down the aisle, having our photos taken and enjoying our wedding breakfast in these gorgeous buildings.... Until reality hit and we realised that we really can't afford a total of above £10,000 for a venue and food (unless we maybe don't bother with a wedding dress, suits and everything else a wedding involves). We even toyed with the idea of getting a loan for part of the wedding, but (luckily) we talked ourselves right back out of that one!

Although this realisation was quite a downer after being so happy with the venues we loved, we had a good talk about it and decided that as much as we want a 'wow' venue, even if we could stretch to the price, it's probably not worth it just for our guests' first impression. We would rather spend more on entertainment and those little extras we have in mind to make it a memorable night!

The other venues we visited that weekend weren't so expensive, but they were very 'meh' in comparison to the two we had our hearts set on. So it's back to the drawing board on that one! If anything, we have a better idea of what we both want and what we don't want, so hopefully we'll find something soon.

It is getting slightly irritating that we still haven't got anywhere for a venue as planning everything else has to wait! We also still haven't even told bridesmaids/best man/ushers that we want them in our wedding as I wanted to wait until we had a date and venue set in stone, although I might crack soon!

IN OTHER NEWS...

Despite a slight hiccup that weekend in Bognor (which included a lot of vodka & pizza, but we'll forget about that!) I am kicking ass at this weight loss/fitness thing at the moment - even if I say so myself! Last week after hitting the gym every day and sticking to my calorie allowance, I achieved a loss of 4lb which took me to the 2 stone mark!! I'm am really pleased with myself and it has given me even more of a motivational boost to keep working hard to lose the pounds!

Gym tonight & then chili cheese fries for dinner (before you raise your eyebrow - Quorn mince, plenty of tomato, homemade baked chips & just a sprinkle of low fat cheese!) I've already totted this up in My Fitness Pal and it's not all that bad... and I'll be working for it!

Another day, another hole

Earlier this morning, we thought it would be a great idea to drag ourselves out of our nice warm, deflated airbed and brave the freezing Bognor seafront for a short jog.

I am really no good at running so it was more a jog-walk scenario (that's interval training right!?) as the icy air grabbed hold of and squeezed my lungs.

After getting back and managing to breathe again, I do feel pretty good annnnd I've definitely gone down another belt hole! Nice :)

We're now on our way to view the first of 6 wedding venues we have booked to see over today & tomorrow... exciting!

Gizza Kiss!

It's my Friday today as I've booked the rest of this week off so we can go and look at some wedding venues! It's also my mini sister's 3rd birthday and a friend's birthday this weekend so I'm looking forward to some celebrations seeing lots of family & friends.

First, though, I'm looking forward to lie in as I'm still feeling shattered from the weekend and a busy few days (or weeks) at work!

On Saturday we had a friend's fancy dress party to go to in Bognor and as I was waiting for Friday's payday I had a frantic shopping trip on Saturday buying wigs & allsorts! I then had to grab Darren from work at 6 & head to Bognor where we met some friends and got dolled up:

Alcohol was consumed, karaoke was sung (badly) & I ended up being a fancy dress Hawaiian-hotdog-sheep-Kiss explosion:

The next morning we battled through headaches to go to our first wedding fayre at Goodwood Hotel... exciting stuff!

We got some great ideas, picked up some brochures & a glossy mag, looked at rings, cars, cakes & all sorts so I'd say it was a success :) I also received an email today from one of the ring companies there saying we won their draw to win £200 off wedding rings! Can't complain!

The rest of Sunday was spent seeing family & friends & talking about our wedding the whole time! Everyone seems so excited which is really nice.

We have about 5 or 6 places booked to view over the next few days, it's all very exciting! Maybe this time next week we'll have found our perfect venue, who knows!

Happy Monday

I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself this evening so I thought I'd share my good mood with the WHOLE WORLD... or at least my blog & Twitter followers.

After managing to drag myself to the gym for a pretty good calorie burning sesh even after having a crappy night's sleep and feeling fairly groggy all day, it was time for the weekly weighday ritual. And my scales brought good news!

This week I've shed another 4lbs which brings my running total to 21lbs - a stone and a half! I'm definitely feeling proud of myself and although there is still a long way to go, my goal is feeling more achievable.

Disclaimer: Okay this might not actually be me...

I've also noticed that my new jeans I bought after Christmas after dropping a size can no longer carry off their description 'skinnies', which - as nice as it is to be dropping sizes - is not going to do well for my bank balance!

J x

Calorie counting crazy

After falling off the healthy eating wagon slightly around the festive period, I was finding it tough to get back into the swing of things. Even before this I was struggling to get strongly over the 1 stone mark. When I got to 1 stone loss, I thought I was past the first big hurdle and that from then on it would start to get easier, but how wrong I was. For ages, I was hovering above and below the 14lb mark and it was getting frustrating!

This is how happy I'll be
when I hit my goal weight ;)

This is when I called in My Fitness Pal to whip me into shape.

I've dabbled with My Fitness Pal before but it didn't last long. This time I think we'll be BFFs as after two weeks of becoming a food-and-exercise recording, calorie-counting addict I've already shed some pounds and gone down a belt hole. That's an official measurement y'know.

I signed up under a new username to start afresh and entered all my details - current weight (which I later changed to my start weight at the very beginning of the 'lifestyle change' so I could keep a better note of my overall weight loss - see the badge on the right of this blog!), goal weight, how often I aim to workout, how active my day job is and some other bits and bobs. It then gave me a goal limit of 1200 calories a day... ouch?

But I've found 1200 calories a day actually really easy, especially on days when I manage to burn some 'serious cal' at the gym allowing room for a more calorific dinner if necessary.

I've definitely become slightly obsessed with tracking every single thing I eat or drink on the website - and the phone and iPad apps are amazing too - but I am definitely seeing this as a good thing! I've also noticed that the community on the forum there works really well for people to motivate each other.

So I'm pleased to say I'm well and truly back on the weight loss wagon and feeling good. Last week I lost a massive 5lbs - probably down to a shock to the system after slipping so badly, but I'm sure I can continue to push it in the right direction now.

It's weigh day tomorrow, so let's hope we see the number on that badge head up!

Who, what, where & when?

Since becoming a fiancée, I have become obsessed with all things wedding!

I've subscribed to loads of wedding blogs, bookmarked some great websites, become a complete Pinterest addict (which is a great site anyway but amazing for wedding inspiration!) and developed a stronger love for wedding-related TV.

It's all very exciting but it really makes you realise just HOW BLOODY MUCH there is to think about when planning a wedding!

Now, we don't want some massive celebrity-style wedding (has anyone seen Celebrity Wedding Planner? Jedward ♥), but we do want a fairly big deal - a  day to really celebrate love and the two of us and something for us and our guests to remember for years to come.

So we need to think about venue(s), a bridesmaids, groomsmen, registrars, colours, dresses, suits, food, guest list, invitations, favours, flowers, a cake, entertainment, and those added extras for our personal touch on the event.

Oh and then there's a honeymoon and all that comes with that.

And of course the all-important hen and stag parties (which I'm sure our friends are far more interested in)!

... and I know there's probably a LOT more that I'm forgetting, so if anyone could point me in the direction of a comprehensive wedding to-do list I would really appreciate it!

It can all be a bit overwhelming when thinking about all the boxes that'll need ticking, but before anything we need to figure out what we can afford and what date next year to settle on.

So, who, what, where & when?

Well I don't have the answers to any of these (other than the bride and groom 'who'... you'd hope anyway!) yet, but let's hope it falls into place.

Darren and I have four days off together at the beginning of February so the plan for that time is to attempt those awkward conversations with family members to find out exactly the extent of the financial help they have offered us (we need figures!), view some venues, attend a wedding fayre and decide on a date (or at least which month!)

Eek!

Here's to a year of sweating & saving!

2011 has (as every year, month, week or day does) had its ups and downs but looking back it really has been an amazing year with so many landmark moments - notably graduating, beginning my career, getting engaged, quitting smoking & making a dent in the weight loss target! I definitely didn't expect it to be such a big year at the beginning of 2011!

As the year drew to a close I was sad to see the back of it. I think this was mainly because so many exciting things happened last year and I was feeling as though there is nothing really exciting to look forward to in 2012... We're both just looking at a year of struggling to save a lot of pennies and lose a lot of weight ready for a 2013 wedding!

But once we can truly get stuck in with the wedding planning, I'm sure that will soon take over my home life and be exciting enough for me! Once things settle down a bit for us, it is time to work out realistically how much we can save and come up with a figure for our budget!

Anyway, now I really need to step away from the new toy and get myself to the gym! Happy weekend everyone :)