Sooo... calorie counting went out the window this week! I haven't counted anything, I've eaten chocolate, I've just not even really thought about it! I've been on placement at school all week so I was staying at my sisters. It was harder to cook and calorie count there (though I could have, so it's no excuse!) and so I didn't. I went out for dinner one night and had a chicken burger and chips, major fail! Another night my sister made chicken and chorizo and bought fish shop chips to go with it. Last night I had pie, mash and gravy. So really a week of FAIL! But, at the same time, though I've not really eaten good things, I've not gone crazy with it all either. I've taken a tuna or chicken salad and fruit to school every day for lunch, which is pretty good. I failed at avoiding the birthday cakes on on of the days though!

So dreading it totally I jumped on the scales this morning, expecting to have gained ridiculous amounts and I haven't. I've not lost but I've not gained either. And interestingly, my body fat percentage has come down by 2lbs. I guess the walking to and from school and all the running around after kids has helped! So it's not been the best week, but it's not been the worst either but I have at least learnt from it.

• I've learnt that I CAN eat what I want and just have it in moderation (four fifths of my Baileys easter egg that still remain on my shelf after 3 days prove that!)
• I've learnt that I don't have to constantly worry about what I'm eating all of the time (though I can't just go crazy either!)
• I've learnt that when I'm at school it's important I take a break time snack of fruit or something otherwise those cakes or tin of biscuits becomes too tempting!
• And I've learnt that no matter what it is that I do, a good week or a bad week, this is a long term journey for me and there'll be ups and downs but the biggest part is picking myself back up and getting on with it.

Did 20 minutes of Pilates this morning. It's not a huge calorie buster but I think the fact that it'll still be good for me for a number of reasons:

• It's low impact so it won't (hopefully) aggravate my CFS and hopefully will help me build up my ability to do more exercise and give me more energy
• It should help me lose inches even if I don't lose pounds!
• It should improve my posture

So in itself, it won't have a huge impact on the scales but think it's definitely still worthwhile. I'm going to combine it with other exercise and hopefully, combined, it'll have a good impact on the scales and the measuring tape!

So, I think the plan will be 10 minutes of Pilates every day in the morning before breakfast. And then 2-3 times a week I'll do an extra 15-20 minutes of one of my other DVDs like the aerobics one or my dance one.

I'm definitely better off doing it in the morning before breakfast, that way I don't get distracted by my day! It's the 10 minute workout DVD, I should have no excuses for not fitting in 10 minutes! Even if I'm tired, because it's so low impact I should be alright with it and hopefully it won't impact my energy levels too much. The other workouts will be dependent on energy levels though, I'll do them if I can.

If I do that, that'll burn an extra 1200 calories a week, that's 0.34lbs a week, doesn't really seem like a great deal does it! But then, that's an extra 1.5lbs a month which means for every month I do that and lose extra, it'll be one less week of counting to lose rather than maintain. But to be honest, it's really not so much about the calories, it's about improving my fitness levels and feeling better about myself. I'm sure it's the kind of thing that'll have more impact on the measuring tape than the scales anyway.