Week 10 Results (Or, I have ground to a halt.....)u

Hmmmm

It's a big, fat Stay The Same.  I know that I have said to other people MANY times that this is fine but I'm disappointed nonetheless.

For most of last week I was sitting on a decent drop.  For 2 days I was down at 14.7.8, a mere 0.2 lb away from hitting my stone off.  But then the day of weigh in dawns and I'm back to 14.9.0.

Grrrr

I know why, of course.

Saturday night at the Golf Club Dinner was a massive night and I drank far too much.  However, Saturday night is not the only villain of the piece.  In reality, I would not have gone as mad had I not been working so hard and been so hacked off with it.  I felt guilty about spending all that time at my computer and determined not to take away fromRich's big night out so ended up staying out far too late. 

During the actual do, I was fairly restrained, drank but slowly and had a few shorts and non-alcoholic drinks in between the glasses of wine.  And danced like a mad woman.  If we had stayed 'til the end and then gone home, I doubt the downside would have been as bad.

But, we had taxi problems and it was chucking it down so we ended up taking a slightly early lift back to the village and going into the White Hart for a few (several) and just stayed and stayed and stayed....'til it was nearly light!!  Which then knocked us out for the whole of Sunday and causing no exercise on Sunday although I was pretty good on the food front.

While it's tempting to blame Saturday night for the whole STS debacle, I also have to look at what went on during the week.  I had intended to go for a run on Wednesday and work pressures knocked that off the agenda.  The same again on Thursday (as well as causing a mini carb-fest).  I did manage a run on Friday and Saturday but nothing on Sunday or Monday so, really, work has to take equal blame with the excesses of Saturday.

I'm pleased that, mini carbfest on Thursday aside, I have not turned to  food for comfort and have stuck determinedly to my cold showers, balck coffee and morning walk routine.  And, ultimately, I have NOT gained.

Must do better next week and, God, I hope next week is not as hard at work (but I think it might be).

Today, I've got my running gear in the office and am going to do my absolute best to get out for a run at lunchtime.  I think I'll avoid the canal side path though as it looks a bit flooded.....

Under pressure

I've learned over the last few days that, even when I'm feeling strong and in control, pressure and external factors can lead to straying.  And it comes out of the blue.

Yesterday was a manic day at work.  one of those days when you do not have time to go to the loo and emails are arriving at the speed of light.  The deal was going pretty badly from the Council's perspective and there's not much we could do about it.

Food wise it started well.  With nothing for breakfast until I grabbed my soup at 12.30.  So far, so good.

Then all afternoon sticking to green teas and water.  Working like mad and eventually leaving at 5 expecting to have to do an evening shift at home.  When I got home, I quickly whizzed up a reasonably good egg fried rice with loads of veggies and some chicken. 

But then, the stress and fatigue of concentrating really hard for a couple of days, just kicked in.  I had a small bowl of crunchy nuts cornflakes (serious carbs).  Why??  I haven't touched cereals for weeks, months! Then, at darts and dominoes I had 2 glasses of red wine and some of the freebie supper which was also badly carbtastic - half a slice of cheese and onion pie, a few chips and a sausage.

So, written down like that, it doesn't sound TOO bad but it has had an effect on the scales this morning and it was the fact that I was really craving the carbs that made it FEEL bad. 

Not only that but the work has made it impossible to do any exercise over the last few days.  I should have been golfing onWednesday but that was cancelled, then was too busy to go for a run in the afternoond despite the fact that I should have been on leave.  I took my kit into work hoping to go for a run yesterday but there was just no time so nothing yesterday either.

I did, however, manage to go for a snatched run this morning while waiting for some fresh amendments to arrive so all is not lost!

I suppose I must accept that sometimes real life takes over but I'm annoyed that it might jeopardise a drop this week, especially given our big night out at the Golf Club Dinner on Saturday night.  I will just have to do my best to mitigate the downside. 

Thinking about it, I suspect that getting too hungry during the day meant I was vulnerable to over-eating when I got home, tired and stressy.  Plan ahead!!

Sunny Sunday Walk Part 1

We've done this walk a couple of times before.  You park at the Cutthroat Bridge  layby off the A57 heading towards Sheffield and then strike off up onto Derwent Moor.  The last couple of times we've walked it have been icy and snowy but today it was glorious sunshine if a little chilly and somewhat muddy underfoot in places.

But well worth it for the views.

I loved the big, blue sky and open country.  Although there were loads of people about, you never felt crowded, just happy to be out.

It was so clear - usually this view towards Bamford Edge in the distance is hazy but on Sunday it was clear as a bell.

At the end of the moor section you hit the reservoirs and have a choice of routes.  We chose to walk along the low path below Derwent Edge overlooking the north section of Ladybower reservoir to our left.

It felt as though you could see for miles and miles, far further than usual.  This is looking back towards the omnipresent Win Hill.

Now we are descending to the footpath around the reservoirs.

I'll do the rest next time - I took 99 photos on this one walk and think even the edited selection of that lot would be too much for one post!!

So, what have we been up to?? 

Well, I mentioned a big day out to Nottingham over the weekend.  It was my birthday away trip and it was a good 'un - 4,300 Wednesday fans hit the city, the majority sporting some Portugueuse paraphernalia!!  How bizarre.  (Which reminds me, I must download my photos from Saturday.)

I'll explain - Wednesday have a very popular Portugueuse player called Jose Semedo.  He is not our best player but he has endeared himself to the fans with his work rate, honesty and sheer effort.  He is built like a brick, erm, wall and gives everything.  We have a great song for him  "Oh, oh oh he's magic, you know; you'll never get past Semedo" to the tune of the eighties(?) pop song Magic.  It goes on a bit but he absolutely loves it.

Anyway, before the Forest game, knowing it would be a sellout for us and despite Wednesday struggling in the league, various fans' forums decided to designate that match as "Jose Semedo Day".  It really took off.  Flags were purchased, faces painted (not blacked up - just Portugal flags!!) and 3000 Jose Semedo face masks were sourced and distributed free.  As a minor player from Portugal who had never really been a big hit at any other club he is bursting with pride, nearly crying on the various interviews when asked for his reaction to the "honour".  Sweet.

On the day, our flags had not arrived from Amazon (they arrived on Saturday morning after we had left typically!) but I found red long sleeved and green short sleeved t-shirts for the necessary effect.  I painted our cheeks with the Portugal flag (lipliner and green eyeliner!) and we joined the throng. 

It was amazing.  You would have thought that the Portugal national side was playing in Nottingham that day.  Flags, shirts, green and red balloons, masks everywhere.  A brilliant party.

It was, therefore, a bit of a shame we lost but the team played well and could have nicked it.  In fact it took our defender (not Semedo thankfully) to score their goal for them - that's how close it was!

So, that was Saturday and much fun it was too.

Sunday was a slightly hungover sunny walk as you've seen above and Monday was my lovely birthday. 

You might be wondering how my diet is faring in the face of all this activity??  And the answer is, not too bad. 

After the excesses of Saturday, I got straight back to it on Sunday and even on my birthday, although we had a curry, I only had 2 v small glasses of wine and stuck to the plan all day apart from the curry.

Tuesday brought another temptation in the form of a seminar in Leeds, travelling there on the train!!  Seminars and train travel are normally big triggers for me. But I was BRILLIANT!  I batted both aside, nothing but black coffee on the train and only green tea at the seminar despite the groaning table of bacon, sausage and egg sandwiches and gorgeous looking pastries.  I even managed to meet up with a pal in Leeds for lunch and still stick to the straight and narrow (it was only a short lunch break as she was at work and I had a train to catch).

This morning I should be golfing but the rain is siling down and we cancelled.  Unfortunately, I had already had breakfast in readiness for golf before we cancelled. (I put aside the 'no eating for 3 hours' rule when I'm playing golf as I found my concentration went to pot when I didn't eat!) It feels very weird having food in my stomach in the morning.  I don't like it.  It was only bacon and eggs (no toast) so in the great scheme of things will not have a detrimental effect but I still don't like the feeling.

Anyway, I'm going to do a bonus half day of work now and then we're off Christmas shopping to Meadowhall later.  I'll fit in a run or training at some point too, hopefully when the rain has eased off!!


So, this morning, when all the madness has come to an end, the scales have rewarded me with a 1 lb drop to 14.8.0.  Can I hold onto that for the rest of the week??  I hope so.  I like seeing new low numbers on the scales, it's very encouraging! I hope you're all doing well too peeps!

Happy Birthday to me!!

A birthday landing on a weigh-in day.....hmmmm....wouldn't have been my first pick.  Anyway, I gingerly stepped on the scales to see.....


A small drop.

Only 0.4 lb this week.   Taking me to 14.9.0.

I'm not surprised.  Several (okay, 5) pints and 3 glasses of red wine were taken during our day out to Nottingham on Saturday.  Not to mention the steak and kidney pie, chips and peas!

I got straight back on the waggon yesterday with a lovely long walk in the sunshine and decent eating choices but I knew those pints were lurking, waiting to steal the drop of 1.2lbs I'd been sitting on most of the week.  But, who cares?!  It was my birthday weekend and I still managed a drop, however small it may be.

I'm still heading in the right direction and there is no thought of giving up.

THAT is my birthday present from the scales.

I will have to make lots of these choices over the coming weeks as we have a big night out planned for every Saturday between now and Christmas.  This means that my mid-week choices and exercise are going to become even more important.  I must not slacken off as, although I don't really care how much, I do want to keep dropping all the way up to Christmas. 

Today we're going dancing and then me and Rich are going to an award winning curry house for a meal afterwards.  Who says romance is dead....??  Not me.

Fast forward

Don't you want to fast forward sometimes?  Jump into the visualised fantasies which run through one's head on a loop. 

Visualising myself slim and fit, imagining what clothes I will be able to fit into and what exercise I will be able easily to achieve is a useful tool.  (Think I got the knack while doing Paul McKenna "I Can Make You Thin!" - yet another dieting blast from the past.)  It helps me resist temptation and keeps me on the straight and narrow.

But, and there is usually a downside, it does promote frustration as I do not reach the much-desired fruits of my labours fast enough.  I want to be wearing those clothes NOW; want to be running those distances NOW. 

So I have to remind myself that while I'm dieting, I am also LIVING my life, day by day, not putting it on hold until I am slim.  That what is important is HOW I live, not what I weigh. 

I have committed to dropping weight so that's what I'm doing but that is irrelevant to the rest of my life which is about working hard; having fun; looking after Richard; looking after me and the dogs  and the rest of our families; doing good things and helping people.  Just living well.

Weight is not the be all and end all of my life any more (despite what it may sound like on my blog!) but I do have to remind myself of that fact from time to time.

I think the key is the acceptance that this, what I'm doing right now, is pretty much how I'm going to be living forever if I do not want to put any weight I drop back on.  I mean, I'm dropping weight so slowly that there is very little margin between shrinking and staying the same.  So, unless I continue eating and drinking pretty much the same as I do now and keep up the exercise, I will just regain every single lb, again. 

In the past, I have hidden from this realisation.  I have not admitted that I cannot drop the weight then somehow, miraculously, go back to eating and drinking whatever I fancy and still stay slim.  But, the truth is that now I DON'T MIND!!  This is huge.  I can visualise myself living like this forever quite happily.

It really is about the journey not the destination now.  So I'll just press play  and forget about fast forward shall I?

Staying put

I seem to be very "stable" these days. I dutifully step on each morning but the scales barely move day after day. I can't argue with my record of consistent but slow downward movement overall but I must admit that the daily grind is slightly less buoyant when there is little change. I suppose that, on the plus side, I am not experiencing those frustrating hops upwards either but that isn't much of a plus as I still fear them just as much and now, without the steady decreases of the past, do not have any wriggle room to cope with any hops which might appear.

In other words, I am disappointed not to see the scales shift downwards every other day as I used to.

What a spoilt brat.

I've been sticking to the plan fairly well, a little high on the carb counter but not bad at all and some exercise and lots of lovely fresh, home made meals bursting with veggies. It's all good. So why do I feel disappointed? Dunno, just greedy I suppose and needing to have faith that the scales will keep going downwards albeit slowly.

I think I'm in that middling phase where I feel thinner and my clothes are baggier but I haven't dropped quite enough to fit into the next size down. And, at the rate I'm dropping, it will be a few weeks until I can. So, instead, I'm seeking affirmation from the scales. Hence the impatience

As I said, what a spoilt brat.

So, positives?

Well, I've accessed my resistance muscle (a la Beck) and it is surprisingly strong. I seem to have changed quite a few habits for the better which for me is nigh on astonishing! Having taken the train to work a few times over the last 2 weeks, I find that I can avoid cappuccinos and other cakey temptations without difficulty. Snack table treats, milk and sweetener in tea or coffee and indeed most sweet things are a thing of the past. I'm better organised about food, exercise and timings etc and there is less resistance from Chimpetta to doing good things or not doing bad things. She is coming into line.

I will, therefore, mentally slap myself around the chops and get on with getting on, secure that it WILL show on the scales eventually provided I stick to it.

In other news, we're not now having the boozy night out on Friday which I'd planned for as pals can't make it so that removes one element of temptation. This means I only have to concentrate my efforts on ensuring that Saturday is fun but not ruinous. Without Friday night as well, I can be a bit more relaxed on Saturday although this depends to some extent on how kind the scales are to me before Saturday!!

Canals

 So, I finally made it out for a run at lunchtime from work (more below) so the pictures are ones I took of my running route a week or so ago.

We start at the office in the middle of town which is next to the new Rotherham United Football Stadium.  And a derelict listed factory building.  It used to a brass foundry called Guest & Chrimes and now is probably going to be demolished (listed or not) as not economically viable.  A shame I think.

The back view of the football stadium (the front is better!).

A cantilevered section of footpath over the canal.

 Ickles Lock.  Despite the fact that this stretch of the canal is in the middle of a hugely industrial zone with a massive scrap yard on one side, railways tracks, gas pipes, cranes, steel works (yes, there are some left!), it is still strangely attractive.  You get used to the smells and constant sound of machinery and vehicles.

And canal barges are always scenic.  Some were occupied, others more commercial.  Some had planted gardens in the canal bank next to their boats.

There is a LOT of litter, mostly beer cans and crisp packets.  I didn't even know Skol lager still existed!!

Then, at the end of the day I walked back to the station to catch the train home.  The station has just been renovated and my team carried out the Council's part of the programme.  I think it looks pretty good!

As I crept round the bedroom at 5.45am trying (unsuccessfully) to be silent so as not to disturb Richard, I suddenly remembered my bloggy pledge that I would go running either today or tomorrow. In order to do this I would have to retrieve running gear from round the house. Hmmm... I must admit that my chimp almost managed to talk me out of it on the basis that we were short of time and it would be noisy but I made her do it. I threw together almost everything I would need to go running and headed for work.

I won't go into the traumas of my journey to Rotherham by train....well, actually I WILL! I had to suffer it so why shouldn't you too?? I think that, if you manage the heroic feat of making the 6.35am train, you should be rewarded by a stress free and timely journey. Obviously, if you can't be bothered to get up until the 8.03 then you deserve to be packed in like a sardine and be late.... But the 6.35....that should be sacred.

As I was driving to Bamford to catch the train the thought fleetingly occured to me that it has been very reliable recently and perhaps I shouldn't push my luck. I was, after all, already in the car and could easily just keep driving. The traffic would be light and I'd be in Rotherham at my desk by 7.20. Did I listen to this little voice?? Of course not. I reminded myself how nice it is sitting and reading and sipping on my black coffee, that it's cheaper and more environmentally sound to take the train.

Then there were faulty signals on the way into Sheffield (no doubt caused by scumbags stealling cables) and we sat, and we sat, and we sat. I missed not one but 2 connections. Ran like crazy for the third and just caught it only to sit, and sit, and sit.... I eventually made it to my desk by 8.20, 2 hours after I'd set off. Most annoying. Next time I will listen to the little voice....and no doubt run into a traffic snarl up.....

Anyway, back to the good stuff. I now have my running kit with me at work. But, I had a series of meetings so it was doubtful whether I could go. Running is still teetering on the brink.

I had an early breakfast (post Muffingate I investigated my breakfast options and sadly the cafe does not do eggs so it was a bacon sandwich, will have to keep looking for a low carb breakfast...). Then into meetings. Then, miraculously, I was free at 12. I dived off down to find the mythical downstairs showers to change and, when I emerged from my cubicle, found 3 other women all just about to set off on a lunchtime run. It seems that I had hit upon a lunchtime running group. They were very friendly although I didn't know them at all so I joined up with them and we went out for a steady 35 minutes jog along the canal. They ran at a good pace for me, 1 was slightly faster than I normally go but there was a back marker for when I got tired!

So, hopefully I now have a regular running gig.

Trouble is, when I got back from my shower, by this time absolutely starving, I was dragged into an unexpected meeting before I could eat so didn't get to my delicious homemade leek and potato soup until 2.30!! I could eaten my arm by then but thought it might appear a little unprofessional!

All in all, not a bad day. I have a nice quiet evening planned in front of fire and telly and I can't wait. As for food, I MAY wrestle with the pheasant in the fridge. I was, in a flash of deranged optimism, planning on de-boning and stuffing it, which may well not happen...watch this space. If I don't post for a while, I may have given it a go and sliced off some of the more useful fingers....

Week 8 Results

So, time marches on and I have now had 59 consecutive cold showers*. Although I officially started the regime on Monday 17 September, I had already tried the cold shower and black coffee thing for a couple of mornings while I read the book.

I stepped on the scales this morning with the usual Monday morning dose of fear and trepidation. I was, therefore, well chuffed to see a modest drop of 1.2 lbs taking me to an 8 week total of 12.2 lbs. I am within touching distance of that first stone off which is an extremely important psychological milestone for me. It signals that I mean business and have achieved an objective level of success.  I am not quite there but nearly.....

Jeeez - just realised that 12.2 lbs spread over 59 cold showers equals a drop of 0.21 lb per cold shower!! That so does not seem worth it! (To employ a teenage intonation....apologies.)

But I am feeling (once again) very positive. I can see myself sticking to this regime, albeit with varying degrees of success, for a long time to come.

 

 

 

The weekend wasn't too bad once I came back from my parents (and I stopped eating sticky toffee pudding).  I played golf and went for a walk on Sunday and ate well too.  I even managed to resist nearly all treatlets after the pub quiz (we were victorious once again) too.

 

 

 

So, to be honest, I haven't got a lot to report -  I dropped a bit of blubber, had a good weekend, lot's of fun and no dramas, hmmm.

 

 

 

Must try harder to find things to write about.... 

The dreaded complacency

 Well, as ever when I have a confession of straying to make I shall try to distract you with some pretty pictures.  Is it working??  These were taken a few weeks ago on a brisk hill walk through the lovely village of Bradwell.  As I recall, I was meant to be going for a run but mistimed the eating and going out so didn't have time for a proper run so forced myself out for a very brisk, very hill walk as penance.  As I recall as well, it didn't stop me dropping weight that week.

I've just set off  here and heading down hill before hitting the big hill on the other side.

We turn off the road at the Hansel & Gretel house....

Up the steep hill with doggies forging ahead.

 

Cross the road and into the empty field.  The dogs are happy as they can have a good run around.

Lovely views.

Whoops, the field is NOT empty.  I heard some snuffling and these 2 beauties emerged from the undergrowth...gorgeous aren't they?

Minty was perturbed but they were perfectly friendly and seemed happy in the sunshine.

A pretty horse eyes us then decides we don't have any treats for him.

Now, I've hit the top of the hill - more lovely views.

After last week's static showing on the scales, I then had 2 consecutive days of good drops.  I got cocky and excited.  "I'm going to have a really good week this week!".  I started to plan for when I'd hit my stone off and how much I'd weigh at Christmas.  Thought I had it taped.  Blasted chimp saw her chance and came out to play. 

An extra glass of wine here, a muffin there, 2 extra glasses of wine somewhere else.  More carbs and less exercise.  Grrr.  Oh, and I forgot the 2 lots of sticky toffee pudding with cream over the weekend!!  2!!

The drops have been reversed and I'm back to the static level but feeling porkier than that so dreading the ramifications for tomorrow or Monday.  I'm going to be struggling to drop any weight for Monday morning that is for certain.

There is NO reason for this and I have categorically NOT given up on this diet.  I am still doing my cold showers, black coffees and POMs and I'm still committed to dropping weight.

Being committed is the key thing.  I know I want to do this and I know that having a nice time and eating and drinking a little bit too much is NOT what I want, not when it will stop me achieving my aim.  So, I need to change tack and re-commit to the plan, wholeheartedly.  And with my chimp.

By way of encouraging myself in the face of static returns, I took my measurements last weekend so I can see how much I have shrunk.  Objectively, that is.  The first lot of measurements were taken on 19 September and the second on 3 November:

Bust:    42'      40'
Chest:  36'      35'
Waist:  38'      36'
Hips:    46'      43.5'
Thigh   29'      28'
Knee    21.5'   21'
Calf:               17'

Apart from the calf which I forgot to measure first time round, I have shrunk all round.  Not bad!!

So - it's re-focussing and remembering what is important to me from NOW ON IN!!

Information is King!

Or, as Mrs L would say, Knowledge is Power!!

I have had this brought home to me quite firmly this morning. Let me explain.

When I work in the office I tend to be up pretty early (6.30am) so am ready for my first meal of the day (and starving) by mid-morning. Sometimes I'm able to postpone this until an early lunchtime but other days I have a breakfast and a late lunch. When I do the former, I'm somewhat constrained by the choices in the cafe downstairs (I barely have time and brainpower to bring lunch let alone starting on breakfast too!!). I have, therefore, got into the habit of having a delicious wholemeal carrot and seedy muffin. I have been feeling relatively virtuous because I do not have the chocolate or caramel or sweet fruity muffins but choose the more earthy/healthy version.

Well, today there was no carrot muffin out so I asked if they had any in the back which they did but this time in its package! This meant that I could check the dietary stats out. Yikes! 66g of carbs! The muffin I looked up at random came in more like 40g so I'd been wokring on something like that.

No wonder my progress has been slow when I make errors like that. I'm meant to be trying to keep my carbs under 140g per day. While I don't count slavishly, I have been trying to approximate.

Ah well, I know now so I can plan accordingly. For the record, by the time I'd spotted the dietary stats hidden deep in the folds of the packaging, I'd already opened the pack and was halfway through the muffin. I continued of course and enjoyed the muffin all the more for knowing how naughty it is!!

A bacon and egg sandwich would be better (and more filling) than the muffin. If I ask, they'd probably do me bacon and egg without toast anyway so that might be the answer for those days when I need to eat breakfast.

Tee hee.....

Try, try and try again

As you know, I've been re-reading my blog from the beginning recently (fairly slowly to be fair). I'm up to last Christmas now. What is striking me is how often I do the same thing over and over. For example, just before last Christmas, I 'fessed up that I weighed 14.7 stone, having dropped a bit more than that but having been derailed by illness and work travails. Provided that I stick to my current plan, I'll probably weigh a little less than that this Christmas. I'm already at 14.9.8 (see how I do decimal points now?!) so, if I continue on even at a slow rate, I should be lower than 14.7 in 6 weeks' time.

However, sometime over Christmas or in January of this year, I clearly lost my way quite significantly as by spring I was back up over 15 stone!! Where I stayed, wavering up and down all year until mid September when I randomly hit upon Venice Fulton's "6 Weeks to OMG!" plan and started dropping once again.

What is to say that I'm not going to do THAT again??

I suppose fore-warned is fore-armed and I am definitely on my guard. I am determined this time to push through and drop proper poundage to get back down to where I want to be long-term.

And, other than that, nothing. There is nothing to say that I won't be back lardy and striving in a few months' time. It is most frustrating.

But another thing which is striking from re-reading my blog is the fact that I DO learn (eventually) and I HAVE moved on. I know what suits me in terms of diet (low carb, high protein, no snacking). I don't find it too hard to get back to exercise and, when I do, it is not that difficult (case in point, I went for a run last night and was pleasantly surprised how easy and smooth it was to pound out a brisk 35 minutes). I know several tricks to managing my chimp, remaining accountable and getting myself back on the proverbial waggon.

Uppermost in what I have learned is that there is no SHAME in this dieting and exercising business. It is a set of skills to be learned and practised. I am not a better or worse person depending upon what my scales tell me each morning. I have NOT gone back to those dark days.

So maybe there is hope for me yet.

Week 7 Results

Well, despite my having a snippet of an idea about avoiding my weigh-in this morning using the excuse that I forgot due to getting up ridiculously early for the 6.30 train, I managed to talk my chimp into stepping on the scales. Hmmm They have remained stubbornly the same (to the decimal point) every single morning this week and today was no exception. So it is a STS for me. Neither good nor bad.

Before I start to talk myself into despondency, however, I note that the exact same thing happened to me in Week 2; static scales all week followed by a STS. Perhaps this is my body's pattern? I'll just have to stick it out for another 5 weeks to find out!!

I have not been bad although I can see some slightly worrying traits emerging:

On the worrying side is the fact that I have been light on exercise. One run, a few walks and dancing. Not much at all. My meals have been somewhat "hearty" as well although the actual meals have been healthy, I have eaten somewhat generous, autumnal portions.

On the good side, I've stuck broadly to the plan, still having my cold showers and black coffees and POM ("period of movement - or "walk" to you, me and the dogs) every morning. I've been very good about not snacking and, apart from a planned for departure for a couple of pints and a pie and chips on Saturday afternoon before the footie, booze and badness totally under control.

I've been to the cinema without any naughtiness, a train trip with no cappuccino or muffin purchased, 2 night's out with only one and two glasses of wine respectively and lots of healthy, homemade soups and stews.

The only reason for any worry at all really is that, historically, this is the danger zone for me. I need to guard against complacency and my chimp sneakily wheedling little extras here and there. This is what she does, lulls me into a false sense of security and then undermines me from the inside while pretending that we are shoulder to shoulder sticking to the plan!

So - it is Back To Basics for Lesley this week and MORE EXERCISE!

To this end, I need to plan better. (That said, I had planned to go to swimming before football on Saturday but my friend Kerry said she was coming out and, as she's having a very tough time with an ill mother and work issues, I couldn't desert her. Some things ARE more important than dieting and friends in strife definitely count as one of them.)

So, what am I planning to do differently (and better) this week?? Well, we are foregoing dancing for once tonight in favour of a bonfire and fireworks. I took the early train in to work this morning to make sure I was in by 7.30am which allows me to leave before 4pm. I know that, if I say I'll drive in early, time just extends and I find things to do at home or have another few minutes in bed and, before I know it, I'm driving in at my usual time. The discipline of catching the early train helps me focus. So, I now have time to get home, have a short, sharp run, shower, change and get out to the bonfire. And, now that I've written it down, I can't wriggle out (can we, Chimpetta??!). Yay!

I'm also contemplating using the early train ruse tomorrow as well so that I can fit in some exercise before we go to the football in the evening. I'll either do that or go for a run at lunchtime! Revolutionary stuff eh? By way of planning and also as my lunchtime POM, I went for a walk along the canal today. Usually I walk into town but it was a nice day and I didn't need to buy anything so the canal it was. I used to run along the canal path in my LL days and my walk reminded me that it is perfectly feasible to do so again. There is a shower in the office so why not? So, that is the plan. Will she stick to it??? Tune in tomorrow to find out......

Making hay while Wednesday wins away....

It was a gorgeous day last Saturday and for once a plan came together.  Rich and his Dad (Gordon) were off on an endless coach trip to the Sheffield Wednesday away game at Ipswich.  They left the house at 6am!!  Strangely I declined to join them (I may be mad but not THAT mad!).

That left a full day spare with a good weather forecast to boot. I asked Gordon's wife Carolyn if she'd like to come out for nice long walk with me and the dogs as I knew she was ducking out of a family party.  So that's what we did, a few chores first thing and then played hookey out on the hills and it was lovely.  We did a lot of chatting and bonding and the dogs did too, they can just about tolerate each other now....just about....

Stupidly though, I splashed mud on my camera lens at the very beginning and didn't notice for a while so several of my early photos have had to be cropped and I've lost a few good ones.  Grrr

Below is Minty in the sunshine but I had to chop out Shelagh and Wispa who looked equally winsome.

Carolyn but minus the lovely Stanage Edge behind her....

Here it is...

Meet Wispa.  Such a handsome boy but not very good at working out stiles.  He couldn't master this one despite the fact that Shelagh and Minty "helpfully" showed him the technique several times, Usually WHILE he was trying to do it!

 See, it's easy!!

Shelagh begrudgingly poses for a rare snap.

 Shall we play Minty - I really like you?!

 No. Sod off!

 I like this one of Carolyn and Wispa.

Why don't they like me??

We stopped at a coffe van which parks in the car park below Stanage Edge for a cappuccino (and both valiantly resisted all cakey temptation) but the dogs were mithering away at me so I banished them to a corner.  As you can see, they were NOT impressed!

The beautiful church at Hathersage.

This is in the grounds of Brookfield Manor where we went to that wedding a couple of weeks ago.  You can see the wedding venue in the background. The colours have really come on and it would have been lovely if we could have swapped the weather last Saturday for the dreadful day of the wedding! (Well, not lovely for me and Carolyn but much nicer for the bride and groom and all their guests!)