Wednesday 2 November 2011

Beep beep beep beep

That's me reversing in case you didn't get it.....

I'm slowly reversing the weight gains I've had over the last few weeks and reinstating the good habits I had been working on. I dropped 1.5lbs at last night's weigh-in and stayed to class. It's no biggie and that is a good thing. With that Daily Mail article in mind, I made sure to prepare a bread-free salad lunch yesterday day AND to make sure that I didn't get sidetracked by work and miss swimming. And I'm very pleased I went.

As I walked to the pool I reflected how long it has been since I last went and was amazed again how quickly the weeks can speed by. When I first dived in, the water felt fantastic - cool and silky and incredibly refreshing. "This is going to fly by" I thought. Wrongly as it turned out! After 20 or so lengths my chimp was really playing up. "This is tooooo hard" she whined. "We haven't been for sooo long, let's stop after our agreed minimum of 40 lengths..."

All through the 20's and 30's I wrestled with her. Thing is, I was loathe to revert to my minimum of 40 as it has been months since I've swum fewer than 50 lengths and to go backwards would feel like a retrograde step. At around 36 or 37 I'd had enough. "That's it! We're going to 50 and that is all there is to it!". I was firm and reassured her that the extra few minutes it would take would not hurt us and that the pool was emptying so the swimming was getting easier anyway. And strangely, she accepted it. My chimp just shut up and let me enjoy my last few lengths.

So much so, that when I hit 50 I was enjoying the peace and quiet and space to daydream so much that I carried on for another 6. It would have been more but the whistle went for the end of the lunchtime session! So - it just goes to show - I am occasionally in charge of my chimp.

Despite feeling positive, I'm not going to expect too much of myself in terms of weightloss over the next couple of months before Christmas. I'd like to lose half a stone and that is do-able but, in the scheme of things, as long as I'm still moving forward and more or less sticking to a plan, what does it matter whether I've hit a certain arbitrary weight by a certain arbitrary time?? One of the reasons for my low expectations is the recognition that we have a LOT coming up over the next few weeks. We have something planned for every weekend between now and the beginning of December having already been busy for the last few weekends. I've no idea why but it's always like this in the run up to Christmas.


Given all that socialising, meals out, away games etc, I'm not expecting rapid weightloss. As long as I can lose a little from time to time and not pile weight ON in the hectic weeks then that will be a bonus.


And, as I've mentioned before, being happy and enjoying life is far more important. I really am so happy with Rich at the moment I worry that I'm getting boring about it. I enjoy his company when we're doing things or when we're just watching the telly, enjoy his texts through the day, his thoughtful little questions, his remembering the little things about my day. And we have such a laugh together. I feel so lucky that I've found someone who is such a good "fit" with me, especially at this stage in my life. Every time I see him fussing the dogs; worrying about whether he'll have his lucky Wednesday shirt to wear for the big match (don't ask); loading the golf clubs into the boot; hunting round the house for sweets; or just looking down at me with mild fear and confusion etched on his face as we're about to set off into a tango or waltz, I feel happy and lucky at the same time. And my heart feels too small to hold it all sometimes.

So, that's good.

4 comments:

Claire said...

Awwwww..that's it exactly. I read a quote recently where someone said, of their wife, 'the best bit of any day is seeing her.' and that's how I feel about my hubbie. Looks like you feel that way too. Yay! xxx

Seren said...

That's so lovely! And I would say that Rich is equally lucky to have you.

Oooh, and congratulations on your loss and getting the better of your chimp. Now send some of that willpower over this way please, my elephant (chimp equivalent) is refusing to get out of holiday mode... :-)

Sx

Peridot said...

That's so sweet - I'm really pleased for you that you've found this happiness at last.

And do you speak out loud to your chimp as you're swimming? Because I'm guessing this would get you lots of room in the pool!

Px

Sarah said...

[Blogger might be lying to me - but just in case it's not, I'm repeating myself.]

As Claire said "awwww....". It is nice. It's good that you're happy - and you have to remember that yourself too. If you spend a long time not being happy, you can forget that there is another way to be. The way you are now is the way everyone should always be.

Sarah x