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Hi Everyone - well today has been better with only a few minor naughties and a trip to the Gym. Much better on the food front and 40 minutes of rowing and cycling. What a relief. Plenty of water too. Just need to resist the remaining chocolate.
MITM you sound like you've been having quite a tough time - how do you cope with so much family? I've had enough with just Mum and Dad. It must cost a fortune to feed that many people - even if you have a big garden and can grow a lot of your own.
Yes I did get my ride in on New Years Day - although it was quite a windy one.
Hope to go again on Saturday but the forecast is looking pretty rubbish.
talk soon
PB xx0 -
Hello all. MITM, I can not imagine having to have so many guests and for so long. I completely understand the turning to comfort food. And add in the 2 days without power- overwhelming. I'm sure Saturday can not come soon enough though I'm sure your daughter leaving again will be emotional. Loved the quotation and how you used it. Can you let us know what book you are reading? I'm quite immersed in a Canadian novel called Road Ends by Mary Lawson. (Interestingly, Lawson writes about northern Canada but for many years has lived in Devon) It received excellent reviews and I had enjoyed a previous novel by her called Crow Lake. The only thing is her stories take place in Northern Ontario where winters are always hard and the weather factors into the lives of the characters often. So it is not much imaginative escape for me at the moment as I am quite hunkered down because of the weather. Today, again some snow and bitter cold (-14C with a wind chill factor of -26C) and the same is predicted for tomorrow. I went out today only a short distance to the bank and the roads were quite dreadful, snow over ice so I did a bit a slipping around and decided not to go any further afield as I had hoped. It is so cold that I don't let Nellie out for long.
My brother and his eldest daughter dropped in for a visit en route to a DIY store; he is quite an intrepid driver and loves the cold. His daughter takes after him. Yesterday she drove back from Ann Ardor, Michigan by herself (4 hours, normally 2 1/2) from a hockey game she took in with a friend there.
I managed 2 1/2 miles and another Nordic track session today so fairly pleased. I suppose I have the time to do more since I am housebound but somehow the weather outdoors seems to affect me even indoors!
P.B. glad you have had a better day and got your ride in.0 -
Well done Bracken on keeping up the exercise - I see from the news that you are probably buried under yet more snow! It doesn't look so good. We are suffering from wind and rain but not too bad and at least its not so cold! Am spending my day tidying up doing some washing and applying for a new job which has come up. Will let you know how it goes!
Take care all in this vile weather (although I guess some of us are probably just hot!).
PB0 -
Hello Crackers,
I am off on my long-awaited holiday tomorrow so will probably be absent for a while but will be with you in spirit.
BM I know you asked if I was stopping in Singapore. The answer is no, we decided to fly direct in the end with no stopovers other than the refuelling stop in Dubai. Sadly no opportunity to meet for a coffee or wine!
MITM - I hope you survived the last few days without too many extra calories and that you aren't missing your daughter too much.
PB - good luck with the job application. In my view, life is too short to spend it being unhappy in your work. As the others said, make a change and it sounds like you have grabbed the bull by the horns, so well done. Saffy felt the same way as you last year and got herself a new job. She's much happier in her work now.
Bracken - I'm so sorry to hear about all the additional snow you've had - stay positive, it will go eventually.
I've been on a spa day with my husband today and have had a lovely manicure with gel overlays, a pedicure and some waxing so
I am all spruced up for my holiday. I got some good exercise in using both the gym and pool and some lovely chilling time with a good book. I packed on Friday so apart from a few bits and pieces in my hand luggage I'm ready to go and nice and relaxed. I love this circle of friends so I hope to be in touch while I'm away, technology permitting!
Be good while I'm away Crackers and get ready to start "Ripping" when I get back in Feb
xx0 -
Hello all and LMV, if you read this whilst away you will see I just missed wishing you a great holiday before you left. I'll be thinking of you basking in sunny climes.
Life here really is being dictated by the weather. Today all local schools were closed because of stormy weather yesterday and today. Just when I think we must have had it as cold as it can get here (after all my part of Canada and even Ontario is supposed to be in the more moderate part) an even colder day is called for tomorrow; -19C with a wind chill factor at more than -35C!
I was fortunate to get out on the best day we have had recently, only about -3C/-8C on Saturday when two of my sisters and self went to Toronto to see the musical, "Once". We all really loved it. The production featured the stars from the Broadway production which won 8 Tony Awards, including best musical. I have checked and seen that there has been a production in the West End. I only stumbled upon it recently when I came across the 2006 indie film on which the musical is based at my local library. We took the train to Toronto, a two hour plus trip, which is quite convenient as many of the main Toronto theatres are close to the train station, and of course, the train takes away from the worry of driving in this uncertain weather. My brother kindly took Nellie on Friday night as we were leaving quite early on Saturday morning. However, because of the weather Nellie is still at my brother's. I spoke to him today and she is fine but my house seems very quiet without her.
Being housebound by the weather, I am trying to do a certain amount of cleaning and organizing beyond the everyday tasks. Today it was a refrigerator overhaul and some kitchen cupboards before settling into the novel I'm reading. My exercise is all indoors too. Today I did 3 miles on the treadmill but no Nordic track. I'm still somewhat tired from the weekend as we got back from Toronto quite late and one sister and I ended up staying over at the other sister's. We sat up really late, for me (2.a.m.) chatting. I can never sleep in and a late night always takes me a couple of days to catch up. Maybe that is why I generally like to keep to more regular hours.
P.B., good luck with your application for a new position. Regards all.0 -
Good Morning Bracken. We receive very little in the way of weather reports from overseas here, and now one of our only 2 British channels has been stopped with no warning or reason (or reduction in payment) we have even less. So I am almost constantly on the internet watching all the crazy weather reports. I'm glad you ventured out to the musical, it sounds as though you have lovely family connections nearby. I only have 1 brother and unfortunately due to his very difficult wife we have little or no contact any more. I still send my nieces and he and his wife cards, but never receive any, not even Christmas cards from them which I find really sad. Sorry...I digress! I wanted to say how difficult the weather must be making all routine daily activities for you, and can totally understand missing Nellie. My little apartment seems "hollow" without Harry here, even if it just for a few hours when he is having a trim at the local dog salon.
I am starting over this week and trying to gradually ease myself back into a routine. I usually rush headlong into things and then hhave an injury or illness, so this time I am taking it slowly
I have put on 6lbs over Christmas which I am disappointed about, I seemed to be doing really well and then, Bam! 6lbs. Although in my rather poor defence I am now using new scales so just hope they are weighing over as I see very little difference iif any in my clothes.
I am off to give Harry his second walk now, I hate to say it but if I don't go soon it will be too hot. I am home to the UK in 5 weeks and just cannot wait to get off the plane in the UK and breathe my first lung full of fresh air since August!
Bracken, you and Nellie are in my thoughts. please keep warm and safe. x x
PB, good on you for applying for a new job. Never forget your worth! x x
MITM, hope you are doing Ok, I know how hard it is to adjust to being just the two of you again x x
LMV hope you had a good journey, weird to think of another cracker in my little part of the world! lol x
Take care all, love BM x x0 -
Hello all Crackers wherever in the world you may be.
B.M., I am here with yet more weather news today. Because of the extreme cold and wind (-26C plus the wind pushing it into the high -30Cs) schools were closed again today, even the nearby university and community college. However, my intrepid brother brought Nellie back this afternoon. I have really been missing her so was so glad to see her though in all honesty had he kept her another night I would not have minded since I am not looking forward to taking her out to toilet later. Tomorrow promises some mild relief with temps of only -12C which now sounds almost balmy! Nellie is quite exhausted, I think, from several days of playing with my brother's dog, Sirius and quite promptly fell asleep. I have spent another day entirely indoors. I had a nice call and chat from the barn owner letting me know that my horse is doing fine. I finished one book I was reading (Behind the Beautiful Forevers, a Pulitzer prize winner, non-fiction, about the lives of the people in a large slum near the Mumbai airport- of course, there is much sad/depressing in it but there is much more about the resilience of people living in such difficult conditions and it is very enlightening to read about how life works in such a place) and am well into the novel I started, Road Ends. I had difficulty getting started on the treadmill today but have managed 3 miles.BM, do not despair. We are all in some manner in the same boat. I did not weigh myself until last Sunday after getting back on track for almost a week and was between 3-4 pounds up from Christmas. You have been doing so well and you will surely be able to manage to get back on track too. I also think that changing scales may also account for some of the difference- no two scales weight the same and your clothes are also a good indicator. By the way, I also understand family difficulties- there is a lot in my family as there are nine siblings. Fortunately, some relate well but I too have a sister-in-law who has alienated a brother from his family over a long period. Such a shame though when you are only two- somehow it seems worse.0 -
Good evening Crackers!
Well so much for only gaining 2lbs over the Christmas period - some hope!! Well the daughter (sob!) and parents (thank goodness!) returned to England on Saturday. Fortunately when we left for the airport at 6.30am it hadn't yet started snowing - however after dropping them off by the time my friend and I got back to our village in the afternoon, it was so deep I had to walk up to my house from the lower half of the village!
Sunday I decided to be brave and face the music. Seeing the scales register a different stone is very sobering! I have hit my personal 1/2 stone marker which when I took off my very tight cord trousers the day before and had seen the imprinted seams down my legs, I suspected might be the case. And when I recorded my measurements that was when it became very black and white - I'm bigger than when I started the shred. Still I have only myself to blame as I ate an awful amount of chocolate!
I got back out immediately my 'ultimate diet log' and I'm logging once again. Haven't done that since November so when I filled in my graph - 6 gained pounds looks horrible!! And then when I looked at my records it began to sink in the last time I weighed this heavy was February and it took 2 long months, to shift the pounds. Well in less than 5 weeks I'm off to England so I've got my work cut out but I too am easing myself slowly this first week back into the routine.
Be good Crackers!0 -
Glad we've heard from you MITM and will commiserate over your weight gain. Of course, we can blame no one but ourselves but circumstances often seem to conspire to make things more difficult than we would wish. As much as it was lovely to have your daughter and parents home for Christmas, it surely was a stressful time, especially knowing your daughter would be leaving again.
I too had stopped using my log (I was surprised to realize it was Dec.7 the last entry!) and have gone back to it. I never do well I realize if I am not logging in some fashion. The journal is really well set up and once you get back into the swing of things it really isn't hard to log either. I feel as if I'm starting rather slowly, not plunging in, but am being quite consistent with exercise. Today I did 2 miles on the treadmill; however, I missed doing the treadmill yesterday. Still I've done 3 days out of 4 this week and will soldier on.0 -
BRACKEN- glad to hear I'm not logging alone! And it obviously does work as I've managed to shift 2lbs of chocolate flab by sticking to my allowance. This weekend for a complete change will be treat free since I've had more than my fair share over the last 2 weeks.... and I don't want it to take me another 2 months to lose these Christmas pounds.
Have a good weekend Crackers!0 -
Hello Crackers
11th January 2013 - the day I decided to change my life. Have I been successful? Well I started out at well over 15 stone. Size 22 (20 in Canada) and I felt fat, ugly, tired, sad and sorry for myself. Couldn't do much exercise - although I did like a walk and certainly wouldn't consider climbing aboard a horse - although in my dreams I considered it. The high point of the year was when I lost just over 2 stone at the end of June - suddenly I felt fit, sleek, attractive, energetic, happy and pleased with myself.
In the last year I have started riding again, completed a 22 mile channel swim challenge (and raised £1000 for charity) bought a size 16 (14 in Canada) pencil skirt, done a lot of dancing and enjoyed a lot exercise. I've eaten really well and until the beginning of December I was doing really well on food and drink. I had a photo shoot in March/April and was stunned by the results. What a transformation and that was at the weight I'm probably at about now! When I lost the other 10lbs I was even more happy with myself.
OK so December has been a bit of a blip and I've spent the days since New Year finishing off all sorts of sugary stuff and still drinking wine. But the last bottle is finished, I just finished the last tin of biscuits and there are no more goodies lying around at home. I've been taking my food into the office and although I've still succumbed to the chocs and biscuits on Thursday I resisted the temptation to take a cheese sandwich and bag of crisps left over from the education meeting and ate the fruit, nuts and seeds that I had taken in to eat instead. I've shredded this week - with my new weights which was actually quite a shock how much I hurt after that - so I need to get my body used to that again.
TODAY, I'm going to weigh myself and fess up to exactly how much weight I have put on since the 1st December and I feel strong and determined to start doing things properly again. One small change is I've gone back to cows milk - didn't really feel goats milk was making that much difference. Today I'm going to celebrate that I changed my life. Today I'm going to celebrate that I proved to myself that losing weight is a state of mind - not a diet. Today I'm going to promise myself to lose another 2 stone (28lbs) by June. I CAN do this - I did it last year.
OK - self indulgence over. The biggest thank you of all (and there are many who have helped me) is for the Crackers - what an amazing, supportive, inspiring and fabulous bunch you are! It is amazing that I feel so close to a group of people who I have never actually met. This is what social media really should be about! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!
Much Love
PB xxxx0 -
PB, you have been very courageous in taking stock and so openly and you have shown us what a lot of change can happen in a year. Wow! You have really changed your lifestyle, not just your weight and I'm sure that will inspire you to make the further changes you want to make. I know you are inspiring me, not only by your many successes but also by your struggles. I feel very fortunate too to have you as one of my Cracker friends and am really looking forward to the shared experiences of our Cracker group over the next months.
It is so true that the group can be an inspiration. Today I actually did a bit of Jillian. Yes, it was only one circuit on the 30 Shred tape but it was quite hard as I haven't been doing that for awhile and the reason I did it was because MITM wondered if I was going to try it again. I also did 2 miles on the treadmill and did my food journal logging, also knowing that MITM is doing hers. All this perhaps helped keep my sanity, or at least a positive frame of mind because I was again housebound; this time not because of the weather but because my vehicle which went to the repair shop yesterday was not fixed today as promised and so I couldn't get about and do some things I wanted to do.
Regards all.0 -
Good Evening Crackers!
An exhausting but productive weekend.
At least when I'm working my fingers are fully occupied so there's no time or opportunity for grazing. In fact this weekend was the first in a long, long time when I successfully managed to last without any 'treats'! Sunday we had an hours break for a spot of fresh air ha! The husband dragged me up the hill where I nordic walk with the daughter, only there's now heaps of snow covering the track, so every single step as you sunk down into the snow was such an effort, wearing heavy snow boots to lift and heave the foot and leg back out and onwards and upwards. The calories I must have burnt! The view at the very top was worth it (but I could hardly breath by that stage) and it was stunning weather not a cloud in the sky but ooh I felt so unfit!
However today I did another session with Jillian and felt brilliant afterwards and tonight I salsacised with Rosemary as this jelly belly has got to go.
PB - I loved the spill and your new promise to yourself!
BRACKEN/PB - I second you both, the Crackers community keeps me on my toes and since joining this circle, I've never completely lost control, which I was forever doing when dieting alone, as the support here is tremendous and there is always one of us doing well, so inspiration is just around the next corner whenever the going gets tough.
Be good Crackers!!0 -
Hi all, quick post as I have to go shopping, am almost out of cottage cheese, and being vegetarian that almost constitutes a crisis in our house! I have been unable to shred this week due to the most ridiculous injury. I wore new trainers on Monday morning and it wasn't until almost midway in the walk they started to rub. Stupid I know, not to break them in around the apartment but they seemed so comfy. Anyhow I had to take them off when we were almost home, they rubbed my heel until it bled and with my blood problem it seemed to never to stop! It is healing now, but slowly. I have however found a pair of sandals that the back strap is higher than my "wound" so I have upped my walks a bit until I can get my trainers back on. If it's not right by the weekend I may try the yoga which you can do barefoot.
Bracken, hope you and Nellie are doing Ok x
LMV. Not too sure which part of OZ you are in but hope you are having a whale of a time! x
MITM, you probably don't want to hear it, but I really envy you your snow! lol x
PB. Any news on the job application? x
Saffy. Good for you for getting straight back into running. Fab weight loss too x
New8, hope all is well with you and Daisy x
Wishing you all a fab rest of the week. BM x x
Hope everyone is well and keeping warm/cool (depending where you are!)
Have a good one. BM x x0 -
Hi All
Interview on Monday (all day)... Watch this space.
PB0 -
Ooooh PB! Well done, will have my fingers firmly crossed for you on Monday x x0
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and after today I know I'm doing the right thing - having said that have drunk most of a bottle of wine and a tiramisu - spent the first half of the evening blubbing now feeling much better although I will regret the excesses in the morning.
PB xxx0 -
Oh PB - don't waste another calorie on your ungrateful colleagues and instead get working on your interview techniques. That job has got your name written all over it! I'll be keeping my fingers and toes crossed for you on Monday.
BM - what bad luck with your injury! But 10/10 for sheer effort and increasing your steps.
BRACKEN - long time no see! Don't know what the weather is like in your corner of the world but I hope you've got electricity. I have heard we have more snow on the way this weekend - can't wait!
Well so, so day - husband's birthday and I couldn't avoid a few extra calories but I did fit in a walk and I hope to salsacise before heading for my bed.
Try and be good Crackers!0 -
What a difference an hour can make - one distressing, unsuccessful Skype (England's end!) then endless texts from one homesick daughter and I've stuffed down a bowl of ice-cream from sheer frustration!! So PB I know how you feel!!!
Have come to my senses again but not before finishing the bowl when I saw my first Cadburys crème egg advert!! I am now going to salsacise!!0 -
Hello all. I do feel good to be here after a few days absence, days which were somewhat difficult. It started with another family meeting about my mother's property which has not yet been resolved. I won't go into it but suffice to say there is considerable conflict about this in my large family and of course, it ends up that other issues and grievances are brought up. I wish I were one of those who can just let things like this roll off my back. Instead I carry the feelings around, sleep poorly and then eat badly. (yes, MITM, ice-cream too) It was compounded by picking up or reengaging another cold of some type so I've had difficulty exercising which only makes things worse. However, yesterday and today I once again got my eating in check and did some exercise. Yesterday I did 2 miles on the treadmill and today I did 2 1/4 miles and did the Nordic track. But I do frustrate myself because I know that one day of poor eating can't usually be made up with one day of good eating because it is so much easier to eat far too many calories but there is a limit to how many calories can be cut back or exercised off in a day. Anyway, I have taken heart from MITM's comment about cutting short the time between a lapse and a regrouping. That is true for me too so there is some comfort in that. I do think of one diet book I read (can't remember whose) which talked about having a lapse, a relapse, or a collapse. MITM, sounds like you have just had a lapse. I'm not sure where the boundaries are but at least I am not in the dreaded collapse!
BM, sorry to hear about your foot problem. Hope you heal soon but you are clearly working around it well.
PB, fingers will be crossed here for you with the job interview. Good for you taking action but understandably a stressful time.
Saffy, you are apparently doing well from BM's comments so that is good to hear. New82, you are in my thoughts too.We have had a lot of news re heat in Australia and players and members of the public being made ill by the heat so I do wonder how LMV is getting on.
The weather here is still cold and it snowed a little the past two days but it less cold than it was (-3C) but we have these ongoing strong winds. Next week all week temps will be back to the -14C range. Can I wait for it? When my sister and I were driving on the weekend, I was amazed to see a great blue heron in the roadside ditch searching in a bit of melted snow. I can't imagine what it could find to eat there. I find it distressing to see any animal in difficulty. I don't know why that bird would not have gone south. Herons are so beautiful but I really wished I had not seen it.
Must leave off. I see Nellie in the back yard and she should come in now. I'm pleased though that she seems to enjoy being out and plays a lot with a volleyball in the snow and also plays with bits of fallen branches. Regards.0
