Hi, Yes pack arrived yesterday. Planned to spend some time going through it today but work got in the way - with Polly off sick needed to get in early and then it was a 8.00pm finish so a bit of a long one.

Hello all. Finally back again and my computer has been completely overhauled thanks to my friend. He says he will try to help me do scanning too so I'm gradually getting into the 21st century! It has been quite a few days away for me so I'm not sure if I've responded to everything I wanted to. I did do a read through a couple of days ago and then got distracted. In any case, I really want to make sure I have congratulated you, LMV on passing that Welsh exam, a real achievement. And, I have read more than once that learning another language or being bi-lingual has been shown to help protect the brain from old age dementia so there is a double benefit there. It's a shame you have to gear down your exercise program at the moment but the swimming should be a good compensation. MITM, you are certainly having a busy summer with visitors and I know from your accounts how hard you have been working on your gardens. You really are in a Catch 22 situation there - feeling compelled to have the gardens presentable for you father-in-law but in doing so taking away an activity that would keep him engaged! Sorry to hear that you need some investigations re your thyroid but it is good that you are being checked out. As LMV points out you do sound very healthy and have done a great job of keeping your weight within reasonable bounds. Congrats too to New82 on being offered a new job. It's great that you are really excited about the prospect. PB, I believe you posted that you may be getting back on a horse. I'll look forward to hearing about it.
Summer is moving along quickly here. Why does August seem to me to fly by whereas July unfolded quite leisurely. I'm sure it is linked to my many years of knowing that once August came I would soon be fully back into the hustle of school. I have even had some teaching dreams (nightmares!) recently. Will they ever go away? Nellie has recovered nicely from her spaying operation. And recently was the culprit in the Rabbit Incident- she turned up a nest of young rabbits in my back garden. I had no idea they were there but one morning as I was on the patio reading the paper I heard a noise and saw her with something in her mouth. She did drop it when I yelled at her but as I was looking at the dropped rabbit I realized she had something else in her mouth- another rabbit. This time she ran away and literally ate it on the run. It was quite dreadful though I know that is an instinctive thing for dogs to do. I was able to retrieve the first rabbit and found another. The mother was nowhere around so I phoned an animal rescue and was able to at least take the remaining two there, about a 1/2 hours drive away- plus I felt I should leave a donation as they are only able to run the rescue from donations. I have a lot of little jobs around home I could or should be doing but in this hot weather I have been doing considerable reading. A very good Canadian novel is February by Lisa Moore. It is based on a real and horrific tragedy, the sinking on the Ocean Ranger, an oil rig, off the coast of Newfoundland and centres around the wife of one of the men who died. Moore is a very stylish, often poetic writer. A different book I also enjoyed is Unsaid, a story based around the effort of some scientists to teach chimpanzees language, using American sign language. The style is straightforward but the plot is very good, and often there is sadly much truth in the story. I'm just finishing Wild, a memoir that has been on the New York Times top ten for many weeks. The writer, and she does write very well, walked the 1100 mile Pacific Crest Trail after her life went into a tailspin following the death of her 45 year old mother from cancer. I can't imagine doing that, let alone doing it by herself as she does. However, the book is a huge testament to the power of will and determination. It is often very raw, sometimes funny, and has left me in tears for she writes so powerfully of her mother and family. But it is also a book that makes you want to try a little harder - even if my trail is walking around my neighbourhood or local park.

PB, good to hear you have booked up for the riding. A 15-2 cob sounds like a great way to get back in the saddle. My two previous horses whom I loved dearly were both around the seventeen hand size. But my present horse is about 15-3 (I've never actually had him measured) and at first I thought he was so small and I wasn't sure he was right for me, especially since I was heavy. But he is cob like in that he is a thoroughbred/part percheron cross and has proven to be the perfect horse especially for my age. He has been so honest and forgiving that I know the reason I have been able to do as much jumping as I have has been because of his wonderful disposition; he will try anything I ask him to do. It sounds as if you are doing well, diet/exercise wise with steady progress. This summer has been rather up and down for me but I am trying to get more focused. At least I have consistently kept to some exercise but now I want to try to do my more intense routines more often. Today I managed a two mile walk and a 15 minute bike ride as well as some fairly active gardening. I'll do another short walk with Nellie before bedtime. I'm still in the midst of freezing a lot of fruit for winter. I found a place to pick blackcurrants and the crop was very bountiful. Now peaches are in and I've got some to do too. I used a last bag of black currants from last year this week to make a breakfast smoothie with raspberries, peaches, a tablespoon of orange juice, a 1/3 cup of milk, 1/3 cup of plain yoghurt and 1/3 cup of black currants. They really give a wonderful flavour to a smoothie I have discovered. Must off to my guilty pleasure now-Corrie!

Hello all. Yes, PB, I can sympathize with your struggles. I think for most of us summer is not a time of consistent regularity. Lots of celebratory gatherings and visitors and a general feeling of going with the flow. But it feels as if you are not doing too badly so I'd say just hang in as I am trying to do- putting together as many good eating days as possible, knowing there will be inevitable interruptions, but at least sticking to some kind of exercise. It seems to me that you have got a lot of swimming in and moreover have a firm plan in place for your Aspire swimming challenge, along with LMV, I believe. I did manage to get 3 miles of walking in yesterday and 2 1/2 today. However, today's eating was not as good as it has been for the past week plus though not totally a disaster. I'm planning on trying to focus better tomorrow again as the way I have been eating has certainly made me feel good recently and I have been managing my GERD well. Regards all.

Hello all. It seems as if a day of reckoning is coming to us and you, LMV, and I have been first. I too had not been on the scales for awhile and have been living in some kind of denial as if all the summer extras would somehow not count. It is diabolical how easily weight can come back on and I now find myself over 9 pounds from my best. I think some of it went on very quickly in the past week when I really started to notice snugness in clothing too. The shower in Hamilton topped it as it turned out to be a traditional Italian luncheon with a separate pasta dish that would have sufficed as a meal in itself- a very rich cheese and dried tomato dish, very delicious of course. The salad featured goat cheese and the main course had chicken, again with cheese and tomatoes and some kind of crust. Of course there was dessert and of course, lots of bread and wine. I don't know what it is about having meals like that for which you say it was so filling that you don't need to eat for the rest of the day but in fact, in the evening when I returned home I did eat again. It is as if one loses the usual sense of fullness. Of course, no one meal adds all that weight and I think some of my eating has been stress related too- family drama. I've got another meal out tonight with a brother and sisiter and families. But whatever the reason, the bottom line is I really dislike where I am at at the moment and will not be satisfied until I get a grip on this weight. I even took measurements today which did indeed confirm the truth!
The only positive through this is that I have been consistent with walking thanks to Nellie and I do absolutely know my endurance has improved. I have walked 2 miles today but may not get more in as we are back to 30C temps. I have gone and bought the companion exercise journal to my Ultimate Diet Log as I do like logging exercise and am making a goal to work on the Jillian videos and weights again. The nice thing about an exercise journal is that it is always positive- you do something active, you log it. The diet log (which I will continue) is a messier affair, with the poor days filled with unmeasured amounts of food that seem to shout back, "What were you thinking!"
LMV, your murder mystery dinner party sounds like a lot of fun. I'm familiar with doing that; it was surely a lot of work for you. It's lovely that you could be a Carnaby girl in a mini-dress so don't overlook the bolster it was to your self-assurance. You are right to focus on how far you have come. I am amazed at how you can make any progress considering the extraordinary amount of meal prep and entertaining you do. Your plan to maintain for the next week sounds like a good one considering you are also dealing with exercise restrictions. Enjoy your time with your friends. As we get back into a regular routine, we can all look forward to support from here. I know I am.

Afternoon Crackers!

I have not abandoned ship, it's just that I'm still out at sea hanging on for dear life to a rubber ring - life boat due 9th September - and then I will be back and feeling more buoyed up I hope!!

It's been a long, hot, (too hot), exhausting summer. My house has been full of demanding guests from start to finish... In fact I'm awaiting the latest to arrive as I tap but that's to be expected as naturally everyone wants to say goodbye to my daughter before she leaves for England on Monday. My emotions are in tatters, I've held it together all summer long, running around like a headless chicken but once the main packing was done and departed with my family, I had my first and only bout of tears; 'what have I agreed to?!' My daughter's future happiness... So I wiped my tears away and didn't let her see. I'm now calm again (too busy to think!) but I fear come the 9th when I return to Austria alone I might have my head in a bucket of icecream!!

Like everyone else with the arrival of summer, the diet went out of the window. With my husband doing the bulk of the cooking when we had 8 for dinner each night, it's been like a hotel and I've been the pastry chef (how's the job going NEW8?), chambermaid, waitress and washer upper... At least all the vegetables came from the garden; broad beans, mange tout, carrots, salad leaves, cabbage, cucumber, tomatoes, runner beans... and with all this wonderful weather I've got apricots, peaches, raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries which I'm now struggling to pick and freeze before I leave. Plus I've had to work non stop most evenings late into the night to ensure we've got enough schlipkrapfen whilst I'm gone.

So although I've done no exercise apart from a few much needed walks with the daughter to remain calm and running continuously between floors and the vegetable garden (sadly my family were not fit enough and what with the heat) I have somehow managed to maintain my target weight of 9.7 which I'm delighted with. However 2 stressfull weeks in England.... I'll just have to wait and see but I intend to walk lots.

Be good Crackers and keep supporting one another!

Hi all,

Thought I had better call in - the reality of summer has hit me tonight. I have been feeling a bit fed up the past few days, and although I have Zumba this evening, am feeling a bit down even tonight and have worked out that it I am down as my eating has been quite bad and motivation low. Basically I need a good kick into gear!!
I have been feeling really lazy with the cooking side, as hubby has been away and it seems such an effort to cook so eating not so good food. Can anyone inspire me with dishes???
I am not really all together sure how the scales lie at the moment, so I am going to WI tomorrow morning and make an effort to improve my eating and drinking.

Right, pushing grumbles aside. School is back on next week, and I have had a lovely few weeks with Daisy. At the weekend we took out National Trust membership, so I am keen to use this for lots of nice walks and days out. I had membership a few years back, but then wasnt using it enough, but I now feel that Daisy is getting to the ages where we can do more with her at some of the sites.
The new job is going well, and I am working with some lovely ladies - 80% of which were working at the restaurant 14 years ago when I was starter chef there at weekends! I am really enjoying the 'adult' time and earning some extra money! This weekend is a working weekend, so not a lot else is planned.

How is everyone else getting on with weight losses/gains over summer? How is the aspire training going ladies?
I will be on here a bit more again now summer hols are over, so hopefully you ladies can help me move the scales in the right direction! Must go and wiggle my hips now!

ps.... which Rosemarys do you use? Mine have arrived and I have the slim n salsa and shape up and salsa - havent looked at them yet as I cant decide which one to do (excuse!). The plan is to do these in between Zumba days!