The last couple of days have been a bit hectic but I am quite pleased to say that I have done my Nordic Track each day and yesterday I made a very strong effort with Jillian and have some soreness today to prove it. Thankfully I do not think it is serious. I also rode my horse yesterday and have walked at least 1 1/2 miles with Nellie both days. Today was fairly mild and I tried to get more leaf raking done but there is still more to do. I also had to do a thorough floor cleaning throughout in the morning so I think I got a reasonable amount of exercise in despite giving Jillian a pass today. I really felt I needed to rest some muscles. While I was at a local mall today on another task, I stopped into a couple of clothing stores and ended up buying a very nice blouse and cardigan sweater, both in a rich burgundy colour. The blouse is a small print, the burgundy is the background and the print features small black horses, well detailed, and of course something that would appeal to me- plus they were both significantly reduced in price so better yet.
P.B. ,you are doing so well with your swimming- very impressive. You are correct about the need for planning. I don't always have an exact plan for what I will eat for every meal but the closer to it I am the better. Also if I am hungry, I don't like to wait a long time for something to be prepared and cook- it is more likely then that I will snack or eat something totally bad for me. I do try to have on hand a number of things that I can prepare quickly if necessary. Prepared ahead soups are always good to have. Also I like to always have some boneless/skinless chicken breast cooked and frozen so that I can quickly defrost them in the microwave.
I like to put a piece of chicken into a fry pan with about 1/2 teaspoon of oil and grill it to add to a salad, perhaps a takeaway from the grocery store. I have become a big fan of poached egg whites (sometimes I use a whole egg too but I try not to eat too many) which I really love to have with a bit of strong grated cheese melted on top and ketchup. Sometimes I have even made porridge for lunch or dinner- I especially like it with some added dates or dried apricots.
MITM, thanks for reminding me about making response cards. I have not done new ones for awhile and would benefit from your advice here. Also must say how impressed I was with the number of steps you did each day while on holiday.
Must jump to the Shred site and report now. Regards.

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Have put the line in above to mark my fresh start. Apologies for not being in for so long. I tend to log in on my phone app, and cant get to the boards so easily, but I am going to make a big effort to get here more often.

So after a weekend of work, and a work friend telling me all about her joining slimming world and being focussed and finding it relatively easy, I have decided to take the plunge and go back to it. I have decided to join online this time, as the local meeting clashes with Zumba and Im not prepared to give up an hour of physical activity to get weighed and sit in a meeting. So I have WI this morning at 14st3lb, and have set an interim target of 13st (I know that still sounds like a lot of weight to carry, but I am naturally a heavy person). I have been refreshing myself on the plan and a few bits are coming back to me, so hopefully I should fall onto the plan ok. After focussing on the plan, it feels like I have been asleep and I have realised this morning that my eating habits have slipped and I am over eating on all the wrong things once again, and have been slipping into bad habits far to easily, so am tightening the reins. I will start eating breakfast again, drinking my water and eating fruit and veg before going for the chocolate bars and those scales will shift.

Weight issues aside, all is well here, busy as normal but good. Daisy has gone off to preschool today, so I am enjoying a couple of hours to myself after a busy weekend at work. We have children in need on Friday at the preschool which will be fun - the children will be coming in wearing spots, and having a teddy bears picnic. we will also be having a cake stall to raise money. The rest of the week is much of a normal week for us. Have you all started the Christmas shopping yet? I really should start to get some ideas together. I have got all of the ingredients in for my Christmas cake (not sure SW will approve of it though!!) and I am planning to get all my ingredients together for my Christmas puddings, which I will make on stir-up Sunday at the end of the month.

Hope everyone is keeping well, I have missed so many post that I think it would take me forever to catch up but would love it if you could all give me a summary of where you are at with healthy lifestyle and any quick updates on happenings.
Be back soon. x

Hello all and to New82, it is really good to have you posting again. I absolutely can appreciate how hard it is for those of you who are still working since I am retired and often find it challenging to post. We all know that the weeks leading up to Christmas can be difficult weight-wise but whatever you can manage will be better than not doing anything. It sounds as if you have been sticking with your Zumba exercise so that's a real plus. A few days of focused eating and I'm sure you'll feel good about what you are doing. Whatever you do, do not quit- even maintaining over this period could be a success. Good to hear that things are well with your daughter. I have made Christmas pudding in the past but probably not this year as our good family friend who was here from England recently brought us some puddings from Harrods- should be good. My mother, who passed away last October, always made a traditional dark Christmas cake, a very rich one, soaked with lots of brandy. I plan on making it some year but not this year. Instead, I will make a simnel cake such as I saw on the show, Edwardian Farm. I really liked the idea of making my own marzipan and how the recipe has the marzipan baked into the middle as well as on the top. My youngest sister and I have enjoyed that show and she thinks making the cake will be just fine for Christmas.
Remembrance Day today and a day that always resonates for me particularly as my father was in the Signal Corps during the war and my mother was a war bride. My mother and I often attended local services. Today because of the weather I stayed in and watched the ceremonies in Ottawa. I have thought I would like to be in Ottawa once for the day though the television does give you views that you would not be able to see in person. Now of course there are only WW2 vets, no WW1s, and their numbers are rapidly declining. To see some of these elderly veterans whose lives were so affected by war is very moving. Did I mention it was snowing in Ottawa? And it snowed here today! Tonight my lawn is covered with a wet, icy snow. It seems so early for it and often we do not get any snow until almost Christmas. This will melt quite quickly but I hope it is not a foreboding of a particularly harsh winter. Fortunately, it was not bitterly cold so Nellie and I walked 2 1/2 miles today.
B.M., what a saga your health issues are. I'm glad there was some good news at least but to imagine that you have had undiagnosed haemophilia must have been a terrible shock. Hopefully now your physician can help you manage your conditions better now that you have this new information. You have been doing so well despite everything and it is great you are forging ahead with diet and walking, make that extra walking. I'm going to hop over to the Words of Wisdom thread which I have been meaning to do. Regards all.

Morning Crackers!

Good to hear all your news and although for some of you the news is more worrying - at least it is information BM! And you can get the right medications to help you so worth all of the unpleasant tests so hopefully the future will be better for you.

Its the final push to Calais tonight. There is a handsome Frenchman holding a large piece of Brie and a glass of red wine and calling me that last 1.4 miles! Actually though like one or two others I am aware that I have been falling back into bad habits and in particular eating far too much sugar and bread and not enough fruit and veg.

Yesterday was a horrible day at work and I ended up drinking half a bottle of pinot grigio (it was already open) when I got home. Not good. Partners being absolutely vile. Not looking forward to going in this morning. Today should have been a 'close down' day when all the GPs and nurses go off to training in the afternoon and the out of hours team take over. However, because of the pressure on A&E yesterday its been cancelled and so I had to set up new rotas for tomorrow afternoon and organise an emergency clinic for the afternoon. What really troubles me is then we had Bruce Keogh on the tv this morning talking about reducing A&E services by concentrating services in smaller numbers of hospitals. this is so easy when you live in a big city and there is more than one hospital - but if you live somewhere in rural Suffolk it can take 30-45 minutes to get to ANY hospital. this of course led on to GPs should be open for when people want to go there - i.e. 12 hours a day 7 days a week. Has anybody really thought through how much that is going to cost??????? We'll have to employ a lot of extra staff and GPs and Nurses as well as the cost of keeping the building up and running all weekend - for about 6 patients who will claim that they can't take time off work to go to the GP and these are the people who do not plan or organise their days so they are also the ones who will turn up at 7.30pm on a Sunday evening and the staff will all have been sitting around doing nothing all day and getting paid for. The govt doesn't want to pay for this and so they are expecting GPs to do it on their current resources - its economic suicide and its not sustainable. On top of that the majority of GPs are over 50 - they are all having their pensions cut and they are just saying there is no point in carrying on. What is everyone going to do when there are no GPs to man the surgeries? Sorry about the rant but one feels so helpless and voiceless in the face of the propaganda that the govt is putting out aided by the BBC - there's a negative story every day on the news. The reality is, for us in our area that people don't over use the A&E for the wrong reasons. It happens in Ipswich but we are more convenient than going to A&E in Ipswich so every year we have to go through this painful process of discussing how we can decrease the numbers of A&E users and every year we go through the data and say that the majority of people are using A&E properly and there are about 5 per quarter who don't. Then we have to 'think of ways' to improve the situation. The big problem for me is people who claim they can't see the GP when what they actually mean is that they want to be able to walk in the same as they do at A&E and they appear not to mind having to wait 4 hours plus if they are there. we had one the other day - the hospital rang to say they had a patient who needed a GP but had told them they couldn't get an apt for 3 weeks. they had in fact seen a gp the day before and were simply lying for their own convenience. Whats needed is education of patients about how to use the services properly. If you are self-employed it should actually be easier because you can simply organise your day. But what is more important? your work or your health??? For me too many people have got their priorities completely wrong.

OK rant over (honestly). I need to get back to focusing on my diet.....

Lots of love to everyone!
PB

Thanks LMV - yes my week did get better - but not much and now I have a cold and sore throat to top it up...... Oh well at least I don't feel like eating much.
PB

Hi all,

A quick call in after a bad day! This morning weighed myself and 3lb had come off (official wi on Mon)! I was thrilled. Then it went a bit downwards with Children in need cake stalls, and me feeling like a lazy evening and fish and chip supper. I regret it now, and am determined for a good weekend after tonight!

Hi Yes JustGiving is the right side - they have the DEC appeal on there too. JustGiving is where my sponsorship site for the swim was - and yes I've finished it! I made it to Calais last Wednesday evening. Can't quite believe it. Unfortunately, I think I now need to get into the Gym to try and make a bit of a dent in the tummy muscles.

I had a 'date' yesterday afternoon! I met with a man called Tony who calls himself Silver Knight - he does a lot of mediaeval reenactments and keeps a suit of armour in his car. Not sure about the beard and the pony tail - but I'm trying to keep an open mind, after all, no one gets to our age without a bit of baggage.

We had a couple of drinks in a local pub and a chat - it was very nice. Can't remember when I last went on a date, but I was quite pleased with the way I looked - although he'd come straight from work so wasn't at his best!

Feeling fairly horrible with the cold at the moment and not sleeping too well - hopefully I'll be back to normal by tomorrow or at least on my way. I have a concert next Sunday night so really need to get my top G back.. Currently singing bottom G's very well.... I had a bit of an argument with the conductor a couple of weeks ago (long and dull story) but as a result he has offered me the solo in Stanford's Bluebird which we are singing in several concerts next year - I'd love to do a solo (really!) but I'm not sure this is the right one for me. Singing the word 'Blue' on an E without wobbling for several bars feels quite tricky and also I feel a bit bad that it was offered as a result of me throwing a tantrum. Its a tricky situation and I hate putting myself forward in this way. Also not sure how much of it is because of all the stress at work.

My ride on Harley has been cancelled as Ed is lame so currently 3x 3 legged horses and only one sound one. In addition, a bunch of 'bikers' has camped in the forest and are making an awful racket and nuisance of themselves and although Harley is pretty bomb proof it isn't likely to be very pleasant. Hopefully, I'll get back on board next weekend.

Am going to get showered and ready and go shopping this morning so hopefully will be setting up my week food wise. Really need to get back on track and stop snacking. That ball gown isn't going to fit if I'm not careful.. Then what will I do?

Well that's all for now - speak soon

PB

Hi all,

Thought I had better pop by. Thanks for all the well done messages - I am thrilled to have got all that weight off and am now determined to get more off next week! This evening has been spent sorting 'policies' for the preschool, so my mind has gone numb with all these strict policies, but this has kept my mind away from food. I couldnt make Zumba this evening as hubby was late home, but I am carrying over my class to Thursday evening, so I get my 2 nights in!

So the weekend has come and gone. I wasnt working this weekend, so Saturday done a bit of shopping - just an Asda and B&M shop, I had never been to B&M before but had heard they offered good value. It was ok, and you got a few bargains but I wouldnt rush back. Then I visited my Dad in the afternoon, enjoyed a curry which I had left in the slow cooker and lazed! Sunday was a stay at home and sort the house day!
Bracken - you know you mentioned the baked apple, well I saw in my SW book today that I can have that and a tbsp mincemeat as my 'healthy extra' so will be enjoying one of those soon!
PB - Well done on doing your swim! How did you find it? Was it a challenge?
LMV - Mamma Mia sounds like a night full of giggles, I really enjoy those tribute nights they have in the theatre. You also mentioned Strictly, which took me back to Saturday night and Daisy mimicking the dancing! Have to say I like watching saturday night tv, when im not working.
Anyway, im rather tired so off to bed - Daisy decided to get up at 4.30am this morning crying because she didnt know where I was and the Lion was going to get her??? and never really settled back down after that so we had an early morning. Hoping we dont get a repeat tomorrow!
Night all!