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Hello Crackers. I'm pleased to report that I lost 1.5 pounds last week; I'm quite satisfied with that as I did very little exercise because of my sore foot. However, I did stick well to my eating plan. Today was slightly milder and very sunny so I was able to walk with Nellie. I also did some steps on the treadmill and did ten minutes on the exercise bike. Am I the only one who feels this winter is going quickly? Here we are into the last week of January. My writing group meets on Thursday and I have spent quite a lot of time responding to others' pieces which they have e-mailed for commentary and editing; it seems to bring out the teacher in me again as I feel negligent if I am not thorough. I shall leave this short as I have some steamed cauliflower waiting to be pureed for soup and I want to get it in the freezer tonight. And, I'll confess to needing to make time for Coronation Street. Regards all.0
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Brilliant news Bracken! Well done and well deserved too xx
I love the sound of all the soups you make. Last week BBCgood food had a day with 40 of their favourite/healthiest soups, I meant to tell you on the day but they still have them all available to see. Well worth checking out.
Hope all the Crackers are well BM xx0 -
Hello Crackers,
Well done Bracken, that's a fantastic result and very well-deserved. It's very motivating to see how well we are all doing.
I am currently laid up with the sore throat and cold my husband was suffering from and which he has now generously shared with me. I wanted to pop in and let you know why I am a bit quiet at the moment. Hope to be back on top form shortly.
xx0 -
Oh Dear LMV, and you were on such a roll too. Hopefully because of your increased level of fitness you will be up and at 'em before too Long. Take good care of yourself, stay tucked up indoors. With the weather predicted you are in the best place! Xx (hope your Husband is suitably apologetic and running around looking after you! Lol X) xx0
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Hello Crackers. LMV, sorry to hear that you have come down with that cold your husband had but not unexpected I suppose. I'll second BM's comments especially about your husband running around and looking after you! BM, I'll check and see if I can access those soup recipes as it would not hurt to have more variety. With 40, surely I could find a couple that would suit me. LMV, I tried to access the diet program you mentioned, found a site but was disappointed to learn that it is not available at this time. The weather here has been very changeable, milder the past several days which have been good to walk Nellie. But last night we had a lot of rain and nearly all the snow which covered my back yard has disappeared and left some mud. Consequently, when I let Nellie out she needs a good scrub down before she comes in. So I have walked her more and she is easier to clean up afterwards so the upside is that I got over 8000 steps in today. I'm trying to get ready for my writing group meeting on Thursday and have another piece of writing to respond to today. This story is by a woman who is a lawyer and she is drawing on a court case she was familiar with and hopes to write a novel based on it. I have read it and it is quite fascinating as it is clear she is writing about something she really knows about.0
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Good Evening Crackers!
Well sadly the brownies and Nigella's chocolate tart have met up and decided to hang out on me for longer than I'd have desired! Nigella's tart was absolutely delicious but huge even for a chocoholic, so if I made it again I would half the ingredients and make it in a smaller tin because as you mentioned LMV it was very rich and a little went a long, long way. I gave my friend half to take home but that still left a large slab and although the husband happily guzzled most of it, I ate far too much which explains why I'm still wearing it one week on!
The scales (as I hop on without fail daily) I watched with bemusement go up and up and up over the week until they finally stopped and then stubbornly refused to budge downwards! I know my 3 pound gain is not (yet!) solid fat but I also know as does LMV just how much cream, chocolate and biscuits went into that very large tart! But it was a birthday treat for my friend and she was absolutely thrilled with it. However even if the scales are being beastly the good news my jeans are still loose so I have ordered the pair I tried on in the UK but those tart pounds will have to shift before I'll be able to wear them! And I know from experience like you said Bracken it will take twice as long to lose these pounds as it did to gain them....
For me concerning your comments on 'winter', it's not so much it's passing by quickly - it's just not winter as I know it. It's so mild. The snow after Christmas has completely gone, it's 10°c this week and the sun has melted what snow there was even on the mountain tops. My garden is actually ready for the Palm Sunday Procession as in, I have already cleared all the autumn/winter debris which is normally covered in snow at this time of year. We did have a couple of days last week when it was minus 10, so the last few bushes dropped their leaves and I'm now done! As I said it just doesn't feel right. However I shouldn't complain as we've had nothing but blue skies and sunshine for months.
LMV - rest up and conserve your energy. Hopefully the freezer is stocked up with lots of healthy meals you pre-prepared for when you were busy so the husband doesn't start unintentionally fattening you up!!
Be good Crackers!0 -
Hello Crackers,
After staying in bed most of yesterday, I have at least got up and dressed today. I weighed in and have lost 3.25lb this week - woo hoo. I haven't felt like eating much the last couple of days so I expect some of that might go back on when I start eating normally again, but probably not all of it, so I'm sure I have some genuine loss in that number.
The husband is extremely busy at the moment so is pretty much leaving me to my own devices. I made some broccoli soup as that was all I felt I could manage and I had a bowl of porridge with some fruit because I thought I should eat something and that was all I had yesterday apart from some throat sweets which I am sure are full of sugar.
I'm glad to hear that the winter is not too severe in Austria and Canada at the moment. You have really increased your steps Bracken which is fantastic. I hope your writing class goes well. It sounds like you are doing a lot to help your fellow classmates. What are you writing about?
Glad you enjoyed that chocolate tart MITM. It is extremely dark isn't it and the coffee in it adds extra depth I thought. I'm sure those lbs will shift over the next couple of weeks as you are working so hard. When something is as delicious as that tart was it's worth putting the lbs on I think. The ones I get cross about are the ones that come from mindless eating and drinking which I didn't really enjoy that much.
Which jeans have you ordered? I think I remember you getting some from Next in the past. Talking about fashion, I am still in touch with Andrea from time to time. Her husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer a few years back and they weren't very hopeful about his prognosis. However, a couple of months ago his check up showed he was clear of the cancer so she was overjoyed as you can imagine.
Well, that's enough from me. Be good all.
xx0 -
Hello Crackers - I've started the countdown now to removal of the cast. First milestone will be the end of the clexane injections which will be Sunday. i'm so looking forward to that I can't tell you. I'm absolutely certain I've put some weight on being fed by my mother who has been wonderful but has rather overfed me (and of course I take no responsibility for not being able to say no.....
In the meantime though my attempt to return to work was stymied by Health & Safety so I'm waiting for the cast to come off on 4th Feb First day back looks like being 9th Feb. when I have a meeting to go to.
I expect to be reliant on trains/taxis to get to and from since I'm unlikely to be able to manage the car in the first couple of weeks - but I do hope to let mum and dad go home weekend after this. Although I feel fine everyone keeps telling me I will be exhausted after travelling and work so we'll see.
Its lovely to hear how well you are all doing both in terms of diet and exercise (Nigella chocolate pie notwithstanding). Keep it up Crackers I'll be with you soon.
PB xx0 -
Evening Crackers!
My next shift is starting shortly but as I see no end in sight at present I must make the most of any opportunity to post.
LMV - fantastic loss this week, I'm sure it is down to your careful intake of calories over the whole week plus all your exercising, you deserve it. And I totally agree with you the brownies and the tart were worth every calorie! I want to celebrate friends and family birthdays, Christmas, Easter, Bank holidays etc. with delicious food (I'm already thinking about my own birthday cake for April!) but I have stopped thank goodness the mindless overeating when tired, bored, cross when I'd just over eat on anything I could get my hands on total wasted calories and end up feeling disappointed in myself.
My jeans arrived today they are from M&S Autograph; skinny, dark inky blue - ha! ha! NAVY! I was quite alarmed as I only ordered them on Monday and had hoped to have shifted at least one portion of tart beforehand - no such luck! And the scales are STILL refusing to budge!!! However I did try them on and even though I currently weigh the same as I did in the shop, ten days of Rosemary and I can see progress. I still need to lose the tart pounds before I feel confident enough to wear them out, I feel too self conscious at present as they fit like a glove but I made a good decision to purchase them and I know I will be very pleased with them when the scales stop misbehaving.
LMV I'm glad you mentioned Andrea as whenever I think about 'fashion' she instantly springs to mind, her passion and love of clothing. But I'm no Andrea - I'm a conservative, sensible (boring!) dresser, I do not like drawing any unwanted attention!! My bright pink coat (I don't know where I found the confidence to purchase such a colour!) is as bold as it gets. And I'm so pleased you've updated us on the good news about her husband.
PB - The days will soon pass by. Are you stocked up with your diet chef meals for when you are alone again and no longer being force fed?!!!!
Right I must prepare to work...
Be good Crackers!0 -
Hello Crackers. After the big melt and rain of yesterday, I awoke today to an overnight snowfall of several inches. This winter has been very changeable. However, the yard is once again covered in snow so it was better to put Nellie out and mild enough that we were able to walk in the afternoon as the roads were clear though not the sidewalks. So not as many steps as yesterday but still over my minimum goal plus ten good minutes on the bike- mindful of your comment too, MITM, so added motivation. At least I am far ahead of last week's exercise.
MITM, your ten days of Rosemary must be toning you up. I'm sure you will soon shed that tart. I think you have a terrific attitude about enjoying the important celebrations and you have really achieved something when you feel confidant about dealing with mindless eating.
PB, I can feel you are raring to get back into action with the removal of that cast but do hope you won't overdo it. I agree you may find yourself tired with the return to work. Will it be full time or can you ease back on a reduced time for some days?
LMV, congrats on another stellar weight loss. It may be in part from the days you did not eat much at all but I think the previous days of good diet and exercise helped. Plus, you have not put on weight which I sadly can confess to having done when laid up by a bad cold. Also, I too felt good to hear that Andrea's husband has done well. She and her husband have surely been through a great deal. You ask about my writing. I have written a little short story of 3000 words. I drew a little on the events when my mother's beloved dog developed hip dysplasia and had to be put down. I was the one who dealt with the vet and convinced him to come to my mother's house so Lady could die at home. Lady was a wonderful dog who came as a stray and almost seemed to be sent for my Mom as she was so perfect in behaviour. For my story I made the main characters a grandmother and her granddaughter of fifteen who loves her grandmother but is beginning to feel conflicted about having to spend so much time helping her. I had to make it more dramatic than it was in real life and create a series of conflicts along the way to the granddaughter gaining a sense of loss and maturity. My story had to end more dramatically and sadly than in real life in which I did sit with Lady as she died as many dogs do by euthanasia. One incident I used for my story however it rather funny to me because I based it on what really happened. One day at church, my mother's minister who was a lovely woman saw my mother was unhappy and asked her about it. When my mother said she was sad because of Lady's condition that could not be helped, the minister offered to come and say a prayer with my Mom and Lady. I was not there but when my Mom told me about it it was very moving. In my story, the granddaughter comes to the grandmother's when the minister is there to say the prayers and feels some resentment that the grandmother has brought someone else in to help her and guilt because she has not been around as much. What was funny was that when my instructor in the writing class read the story, she was very positive about it but did comment that the prayer episode was rather melodramatic. Well, I've certainly said a lot about this story but it has become very real to me through writing it.0 -
Just before I go to bed - Bracken your story sounds wonderful - I now want to read it in full!0
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Me too xx0
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LMV, absolutely brilliant weight loss! I am sure your weight won't increase much, if at all when you are eating properly again. I hope you will soon be feeling much better xx
Bracken, I too would love to read your story, it was so good of the vet to come to the house. I wish that could have happened to Max (my labrador) last November. My son said it was the worse journey ever, knowing it would be his last with Max. It would be lovely if all dogs and owners could be spared that. Please let us read it in its entirety.... Your weather sounds crazy! I have to admit I would love to wake up to snow. Although I am sure for you having to deal with it as you do it's not something you look forward too.
MITM, your jeans sound lovely. That was excellent delivery too! I wish M&S would deliver here. Which reminds me, I have had a full refund and apology off John Lewis, it was however a standard format letter so I didn't feel as if they were sorry at all. I haven't got around to watching the programme you recommended yet, but I want to soon. It has made me really wary regarding ordering online with them, which is such a shame. I am waiting to lose a few more pounds and ordering a pair of Jeans from Hobbs, I am being very brave (for me) and ordering straight leg ones. I have the same in the bootcut, but they are too tight on me at the moment. I always wear bootcut as I like to think they balance my hips out! So I am going to try the straight cut. I"m not sure when to order them as if they are here to soon I might well feel demoralised if they are way too tight, but if I wait a while they could have been fitting me and I wouldn't know! I know this all sounds a petty thing to ponder on, but with both my Father unwell and my daughter heavily pregnant I try t worry about the little things or I will certainly panic at the big things!
MITM, I was thinking of your Daughter this week on National Holocaust day. I know celebrate isn't the right word, but I was wondering was your Daughter attending memorials etc. It must have been a poignant and sad day for her and many people xx
PB, hopefully you cast will soon be a thing of your past! I too think it's a good idea to have a staggered return to work. The journey alone will exhaust you and add a lot of time onto your working day. Hope it all goes well for you xx
Lovely to have good news re Andrea's husband.
Can I just ask ladies, which book is the Nigella tart in? I had her new "healthier" book for Christmas so I am sure it won't be in that! I have most of her others but can't locate the tart recipe? Any advice would be appreciated xx
Wishing all a happy Thursday xx0 -
Salted chocolate tart pg 309 Simply Nigella - only for special occasions and if you are prepared to wear it for a while afterwards! xx0
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Hello Crackers,
PB, only 2 more days of injections! What a relief it will be when they are finished and then It will only be a matter of days before that cast comes off. This time next week it will be gone! I bet you can't wait for things to get back to normal. How were your lunch and evening out n Felixstowe?
MITM - great service from M&S. I had a quick look for the Autograph skinny jeans but couldn't see them. If they are the same as a grey pair I saw, I can see what you mean about them fitting like a glove. I am looking forward to the day when I am at target weight and can wear something similar. Still a long way to go though. A small victory for me today in that I put on a pair of jeans which I could hardly do up before Christmas and having done them up, couldn't breathe in which made them unwearable. Today there was room to spare in them. That encouraged me to try on a few more things and I'm back into my navy pencil skirt (you'd like that one MITM) and a couple of tops which were a little tight around the bust now hang nicely again. It's all very motivating.
Bracken - your story sounds marvellous so you must let us know what your group made of it and think about whether there is a way of sharing it with us, but obviously only if you want to. Maybe by email?
I'm sorry to hear you had more snow but hopefully it hadn't been as bad as the pictures we have been seeing of New York. They seem to have had a very heavy snowfall. The storm they had is reaching the UK now, but it has warmed up so we are being pelted with rain again. It started up north today and is working it's way down - the wind is getting up and the first drops of rain are falling.............
BM - I'm glad you have at least had an apology from John Lewis but it doesn't make up for the fact that don't have your crockery. I was really surprised that M&S don't deliver to Singapore as they do to Australia. I hope you get on OK with your straight leg jeans and resolve the dilemma of when to order them. Why don't you order two sizes, try them on and decide which pair to keep? Or is the return postage too expensive to do that? I don't worry about the size labels any more as they vary so much from store to store and also within store depending on where they are manufactured. In M&S now you pick up the same garment in the same size and one can sometimes fit better than the other even though they are supposed to be the same. I looked at the labels of an item and found one was made in Portugal and one in Italy which explained why one fitted and one didn't. How is your daughter getting on? Is it April that you are coming over to help her?
Well I am feeling a bit better today. My cold has come out so my head isn't as fuzzy. I managed to do my tax return and submit it with three days to spare. That's quite good for me, I'm usually searching for my user id and password on January 31st and risking a penalty charge for late filing. I think it's a throwback to when I worked in tax and doing your own return was a bit of a busman's holiday so always got left until the last minute. I swear every year that I will do it in a more timely manner - maybe this tax year I will.
So here's a nosy question. What has everyone been eating today? I started with porridge and strawberries for breakfast, had mushrooms, tomatoes and one vegetarian sausage for lunch and have made a chicken pie with some leftovers from a chicken roast we had last Sunday. It's not a full pie but a Hairy Dieter variety using two sheets of filo pastry which I have torn up and scrunched on the top. We'll have veg with that, probably broccoli and carrots, but no potatoes as the filo provides enough carbohydrate. I have a fruit salad in the fridge which I made with melon, pineapple, kiwi, lychees and lime juice so I will probably have a bowl of that later. As we are all doing so well at the moment I'm interested in hearing what everyone else is filling up on.
I have just finished our book group read ready for our meeting next week. This month the choice was The Sunrise by Victoria Hislop. Has anyone else read it or any of her other books such as The Island or The Return?
I hope everyone is doing well - go Crackers!
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Bracken I do envy your talent for writing and your confidence to share. Well done and keep at it. I'm afraid I'm resigned to eating too well until mum and dad go home. I've been eating out too in order to give mum a break. The fruit salad sounds lovely. The good news is mum is keen to feed me plenty of fruit and veg.
I've read Victoria hislop but not the sunrise. Will look out for it on my kindle.
It's bad enough how some delivery company's behave in this country without the worry of delivering abroad. Very frustrating not being able to get what you want safely delivered.
My friends who are touring Asia at the moment are finding it quite hard. They've been in Hanoi where it has been cold and damp with some snow. Not happy bunnies. I think they've found it quite a culture shock in Hanoi. Hope things improve. They have another 6 weeks to go but moving on to A short cruise now so a bit of luxury even if still cold
Well that's all for now.
Take care
PB xxxx
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Hello Crackers. This is a nice way to end a day that was somewhat disappointing in that the writing group meeting was cancelled because one person was ill but she also drove another with her and one person had already said she could not come. So with three of six left, it makes sense to reschedule for next week. Thank you all for the very kind and supportive words about wanting to read my story. I will try to figure out some way of sending it. One of my concerns about e-mail is that when I sent it to the group members for comments, somehow the format got discombobulated ( clearly my technical understanding of it is lacking). I know this because one person returned the story with her comments typed along the margins (there is a marking program that teachers use that does this) but some of the paragraphing had become erratic and there was even a couple of lines with numbers 1&2, prompting the reader to ask if I had intended to make a list. I found reading the story in that format very irritating so will have to ask my tech guy what went on before I can proceed. PB, in fact, I don't have a lot of confidence about sharing and feel quite nervous about reading my work in class. I am honoured to share my story with the Crackers but I will admit that my first thought was "What if they don't like it" or perhaps worse "What if they can't understand it?" because what seems clear to me has not communicated to others. One of my readers did suggest that she thought I needed to describe more at a couple of places and give more detail.
The problem is that I have edited and edited and revised to get it down to 3000 words because if one wanted to submit it to a contest that is about the maximum length, although more commonly contest are 2000-2500 words. To round out my focus on reading and writing today, I'll say that am not familiar with Victoria Hislop but will definitely look her up. I'll also mention a book I'm reading and enjoying by a Canadian author; it is Above All Things by Tannis Rideout. The story is a fictionalized account of the last tragic expedition to conquer Everest by George Mallory. The author has clearly done her research as well as using her imagination. I'm finding it entirely engrossing. Like many people, the notion of someone climbing Everest has always intrigued me. I previously read an excellent non-fiction account of the time a few years ago when many lives were lost in one very bad season. It is Into Thin Air by John Krakhauer. They make a nice pairing as the Mallory story is so much about the idealism of the climbers (there was even debate if it was ethical to use oxygen which was being introduced) whereas the recent events showed how commercialized doing the climb has become and how some people are virtually carried up the mountain to say they have done Everest.
I must leave off for now and have not even got to the interesting question of what we have ben eating recently. I had been thinking of that so thanks for asking, LMV. I hope I can weigh in on it tomorrow.
Regards.0 -
Hello all. It has been a miserable day here, very cold and more snow. I've been in all day but did try to get in some exercise which I've posted. I will answer the question posed by LMV yesterday about what we have been eating.
I'm still following my somewhat modified version of the 2, 2, 3 plan I mentioned earlier although I made some change yesterday which I will mention if time allows today and if not, tomorrow I hope. Today's eating was very much in line with what I have been doing for the past four weeks.
Breakfast: I had a breakfast which is the same as I have at least 4 days a week so very repetitious but I'm not tired of it.
I have oatmeal (I/3 cup dry) with 1 tablespoon of oatbran. ( as an aside I have started cooking it in my small rice steamer rather than the microwave and like it much more as it seems really creamy plus in the microwave I was always having to watch that it did not boil over) a teaspoon of almond butter on the oatmeal, 1/2 cup blueberries ( from freezer which I picked) and 1/4cup frozen cherries (local but not picked by me). Tea with skim milk. 1/4 cup plain 1% keifir.
Lunch. Carrot ginger soup. ( my soup has no sauteed onions/garlic as I can't eat them so no fat, vegetable stock I make with no fat, and a 1/3 cup skim milk) salmon sandwich (1 slice of bread, 2 teaspoons light mayo on the salmon) Tea. I fig
Snack. In the afternoon I had a piece of low fat cheese (31g.) (don't always have a snack but was hungry today.)
Dinner: I always have several different vegetables and most often steamed as today. I had carrots, yellow snap beans, zucchini, a piece of cauliflower, and red chard. ( Does anyone else like red chard? I only started eating it about a year ago because I associated it with green chard from childhood which I did not like. I like the red's peppery taste, very nice since there are many spices I can't eat) Cod baked with lemon juice (103g). ( I did not think about having fish twice today until I was looking at the thawed cod! Would not usually do so) 2 teaspoons of
pickle for the fish.
1 slice of bread (toasted!!- I have a whole grain bread which is higher protein and fibre) with 2 teaspoons of almond butter. ( as you can see, I really like almond butter and in fact, often have this as a 'dessert' instead of something sweet. I always want something that I classify as dessert with my tea for better or worse. Where I am pleased is that today I have had under 10g of added sugar which is a big deal since sugar is my biggest problem. I do not usually have a starch like rice or potato with my veg as I like having a piece of bread better. I'm not very good at
preparing more fancy or complicated meals though I think I should be trying to get more variety. My other go to 'dessert' is to have some Greek yoghurt with fruit or a teaspoon of maple syrup and a scattering of walnut pieces. I can make more complicated recipes but since I am alone I often do not bother. I do like making soups ahead to freeze and always cook chicken breast ahead, again to freeze so they are handy.0 -
Bracken, your soups always sound so lovely to me! Can I just ask what keifer is please? Like you I have walnuts and maple syrup on my natural yoghurt. I haven't tried almond butter, I am going to look out for it tomorrow when shopping. I do have 240mls of unsweetened almond milk every day though and really enjoy that. More like a dessert than a drink to me as I don't have a sweet tooth and that is about as sweet as I can tolerate. I drink gallons of water/herbal teas etc through the day here as it is so easy to dehydrate, and once you have the pounding headache it takes a lot of drinks to get rid of it! (I have started drinking coconut water, I love bananas but they don't agree with me, so I get my potassium from the juice, much easier!).
I have the same breakfast every day. I just find it easier and as I don't like eating too early I just eat it and get it quickly out of the way! I have natural yoghurt with frozen fruit (I defrost first) and a sprinkling of Bob Mills granola on top. I had an orange, fennel and zucchini salad with my Tofu for supper, I made a quick mustard dressing for it and it was quite good. Lunch is usually all different veg stir fried quickly. I love spicy food and add spices/chilli to almost everything I cook! I am a very repetitive cook for myself, but do mix it up for OH. I think it is good for us to talk a little about what we are eating as I am always on the lookout for new ideas. I am not a good cook, but like to "have a bash" at something new!
PB I wonder if your friends are coming here to Singapore on their cruise? The ships stop just across the water from us and they pass our condo on a daily basis. If they coming here they certainly won't be cold!
LMV, thank for the Nigella advice, that book must be the only one I don't have. I will have a gander on Amazon later!
MITM, Hope you are able to have a breather this weekend from your hectic schedule! Happy Salsa-ing if you are
I am happy to report I lost 1.8lbs this week. I am delighted as up to Wednesday it was hardly anything. I have now lost 9.9lbs. So very close to my first 10b goal. Hopefully next week I will break through that barrier....onto the next 10b then. I have just come home from the city and I bought myself 2 sets of workout/yoga clothes from M&S. Hopefully it will be a boost enough to start my walking DVD's and my Darcy Bussel pilates DVD. I would also like to start swimming again, but am so self conscious at the moment. Maybe after the next 10lbs! I couldn't help but laugh when I caught sight of the one set of workout pants in the mirror, from the back my bottom was so big I swear it should have its own zip code! I told OH and he said at least I could have a giggle about it, usually there are tears in the changing room with me! I honestly think I don't care as I am in such a good frame of mind and just know my bottom is not going to be this big for too much longer!
Well, its the weekend and I am allowing myself 2 glasses of wine with my supper. Who would have ever thought I would have this much discipline? Hope everyone has a great weekend.
Take care, BM xx0 -
Hi BM - my friends aren't visiting Singapore on this trip. their cruise is a river cruise (in fact this one is a short one and then there will be a longer river cruise from Ho Chi Min City later. they spent some time in Singapore on route to Australia a couple of years ago but Janette has been there several times and loves it. I stopped off on route to New Zealand many years ago and saw very little but liked what I did (I was only there over night and spent most of it asleep trying to avoid jet lag).
Enjoy your wine - I'm trying not to at the moment and i'm ashamed to say that I am having little control over my eating at the moment. Once M&D go home I should be able to get back to normal. I tend to have a different breakfast everyday - sometimes muesli, sometimes porridge, sometimes toast. Occasionally I'll have a boiled egg. This morning it was porridge (made with skim milk) and honey with golden linseed to add roughage.
I went singing last night as we are having a benefice service on Sunday and a scratch church choir has been got up. Its quite exciting learning a psalm and a mass in 75 mins.....
I couldn't get up into the choir stall last night, but I'm hoping to be able to do so on Sunday - I'll be with the bases though as no room on the soprano front row! We are also doing the Mozart Ave Verum (which of course is a standard for most choirs). I remember at a wedding a couple of years ago being asked to help out with the choir. We were singing the Ave Verum - unfortunately, the men somehow managed to pick up the other Ave Verum (which if I remember rightly is Haydn) and so sang the bass/tenor line of that which was interesting with our soprano/alto line on top!
I've started working on the Faure Requiem and Parry's Blest Pair of Sirens as well - but both are relatively straight forward. we've also been given a piece by whitaker called the Seals Lullaby which is interesting - there are versions on you tube so at least can hear what its supposed to sound like.
The church last night was very cold and it wasn't easy to sing sitting down in a wheel chair but I managed OK really just feeling a bit disconnected due to being sat a little distance from other sops.
In this part of the UK we are lucky that we rarely get too much snow and very little rain so we hve been spared the horrors of flood that have afflicted many other places. Having said that the wind blew all day and it was pretty unpleasant when I went outside feeling cold although 12.5 degrees. Still, as I say we were lucky - not even a power cut.
Well that's all for now as I have to go collect my car from the garage. Its just been MOT'd and has cost me all of £42.95 - I am so pleased as it cost quite a lot last year. The fact that I can't drive it at the moment is no big deal.
Take care Crackers - keep up the good work
PB xxxx0
