Monday weigh in (on a Bank Holiday!!)

I'm so behind with my photos that these are part 2 of my pics from the FIRST bank holiday weekend walk up Win Hill!

Here we're about half way up looking back down towards Bamford.

 Choices, choices, choices... Up the hill it is then.

 

Come on slow coaches, what's the hold up??

Looking towards Yorkshire Bridge and the Ladybower Reservoir.

Minty takes a break in the shade under a tree while scanning the horizon for swallows to chase.

Rich taking a break on the last steep climb with Minty.

Wait for meeee....

Shelagh at the top!

 

 

Richard (and loads of other people) at the top!

 



Me at the top!!

 

 

 

I'm pleased to be able to report that I dropped 2 lbs last week. I'm back down to 14.11 which is not great but is at least heading in the right direction - away from the dreaded 15s!!

I've been quite good at both cutting down on carbs and upping the exercise. Not perfect but much better. I have come to realise though that walking and golf do not really cut it for me. They are just what I do all the time so don't really help in terms of dropping weight. Obviously if I stopped walking and golfing I would gain but they don't do much for the reducing side of things.

So leading a relatively healthy lifestyle is good but, if I want to fit into the giant pile of nice clothes in 14s and skinny 16s, I need to do more and that means running, swimming and training.

The Bank Holiday weekend has been lovely.  Quiet night in on Friday (missed a good night in the pub apparently but we were tired).  Then I did a load of chores and sorting of rammel on Saturday morning while Rich was at work.  We've started the journey towards looking for a hosue to buy.  We've worked out how much we can comfortably borrow (and pay back - not the same thing at all - they'd lend you laods but God knows how you afford the repayments!) and now we're looking.  It's going to be tough on our budget I suspect; to find a house which ticks at least most of the boxes but that we can afford.

We looked at the first on on Saturday and both liked it.  A small barn conversion now a 2 bed cottage with pretty walled garden.  It's in pretty good nick but unfortunateloy totally overpriced by the seller (which would explain why it's been on the market for months).  Trouble is we know the seller as he is also our landlord! So we know that he is stubborn and doesn't really need to sell urgently so we we know he'll probably not accept our reasonable offer.....it's a tough life!!

We had Rich's dad, stepmum and niece over for supper on Saturday evening and watched the Champions League final afterwards which was a most pleasant evening.

Sunday I took the dogs for a good long leg stretch over the hill and took loads of great pics in the gorgeous sunshine.  Then a couple more house viewings (total duds both of them) and off to Rich's golf club for "Super Sunday"!.  Loads of people out for an afternoon session in the sunshine.  It was a proper old school afternoon drink with a good crowd and a nice early finish so no hangover.  Most satisfactory.

Today we had another good long, hilly walk and more pics.  The weather was not as good but the views were even better.  I had the forethought to put a couple of lamb shanks in the over before we set out so we've just stuffed our faces on those...heavenly. 

Next up is a concerted programme to get rid of STUFF!  We have so much stuff  - books and clothes and just STUFF and this even after I have been trying to get rid for months.  It's tricky as we don't know what sort of house we're going to end up in so we don't know what furniture we might need. But whatever house we buy, we do not want it to be crammed with stuff so I'm determined to streamline things before we move.  It's a constant battle but I feel quite motivated now.  Wish me luck.

Glass half full or glass half empty?

So, I can't avoid the awful truth any longer.  My weight is NOT going down, indeed it appears to be going up.  I weighed in at 14.13 on Monday morning so, instead of going down from 14.11 at my supposed restart  3 weeks ago, I'm going up.  Yay me!!


Not.


So, that's the glass half empty - I've got to face the fact that I've gained just over half a stone of the 16 lbs I'd lost.

Now for the glass half full - I'm still over half a stone lighter than I was when I started back in September.

There is, therefore, still time to turn this round before I'm back to where I started.  And I'm getting there.  I made actual progress this evening by......drumroll.......going for a run!!  Hooray!!  I haven't been running for several months.  Not since early March/February at the latest.  I had told myself I was going to go at lunchtime and packed my kit to take to work accordingly.  Then, as lunchtime approached, my chimp started up with all the excuses and the trying to persuade me that we could always go out later and I needed to stay and work etc etc.  I stayed strong and ignored her and grabbed my kit to going on the dot of 12, only to realise that I'd failed to pack my trainers!!

However, I DID not let myself be derailed.  I had an appointment with a mortgage adviser at 5-6pm and a house viewing at 6.15 (the house we're living in - the landlord is selling) but despite that I was changed and ready with the dogs as soon as the viewers arrived and off we went. 

I won't lie to you, it wasn't easy but it was a lot easier than I had built it up to be in my head.  I managed a good, hilly 40 minutes and although I was slow and steady rather than spritely, I didn't stop and wasn't in pain or anything.  Which is good 'cos now I'm not frightened about getting out again, soon.

The foundations are laid, I'm back on the trail again.  More frequent blogging is required to help keep me going too.

In other news, we've had lovely weekend.  We went over to Portal near Chester for a golfing break.  Gorgeous course, lovely spa hotel, nice meal and good trip all in all.  Richard is taking his Captain's away trip to the same place so he was scoping the place out.  Now we've got another lovely long weekend coming up - can't wait.  Hope the weather improves for all of us. 

A Bank Holiday walk Part 1

 Right, now the weather has reverted back to winter/spring, here's some pics from the unseasonally lovely Bank Holiday weekend.  Perhaps the only summer we'll see this year??  Hope not.

We walked over the hill from Bradwell to Shatton and then up Win Hill.  It was coolish and cloudy when we set off but got gradually warmer.  Here are some happy looking lambs chilling.  I love watching the lambs in the fields, they're such little characters and so perfectly formed like any baby creatures but also so accessible.

It got warm quickly and there wasn't a lot of water around on the first half of our walk so a muddy ditch had to suffice for drinking and tummy cooling purposes.  Rich and I managed to restrain ourselves however.

Spring flowers on a sunny bank in a pretty sunken lane.  Lift the spirits don't they?

And lush hinge and bracket fungi.  I've no idea if it's edible but wouldn't want to try anyway. it looked too happy on its tree.

A buzzard wheeling overhead.

The village of Bamford nestling into the hillside.

The dogs were adamant that we should turn left to go down to the river for a swim and a swallow chase (if they were lucky).  We wouldn't and they weren't impressed!

Bamford Edge looms at us from the other side of the valley.

The light was sparkling and the greens were spring fresh and glittering in the sunshine.  Heaven.

We had to head up hill though - we're going right to the top. I can't remember why he was flicking the V's at me.....

We're about halfway up here and you can see Bamford way behind me.

We had a busy Bank Holiday weekend.  Golf at Woodhall Spa on the Friday; the last match of the season back in Sheffield on Saturday (a day which involved several celebratory beers and a curry); a golf match on the Sunday and a good long walk on the Monday.  It all sounds very active and you might think it would have helped me drop a lb or so.

But there was a clue buried in the middle there as to why it did not!  The day out on the beers on Saturday to watch Sheffield Wednesday save themselves from a remote chance  of relegation followed by one of the most delicious curries I've ever had certainly scuppered any weight loss chances I might have had.  That said, there have been no gains......yet!

What a day Saturday was.  To be fair, a LOT would have had to go wrong for us to have been relegated but it was possible so obviously we were not totally relaxed.  Luckily our team finally put us out of our misery and scored an early goal and then another before half time to make sure we were never in danger. Then we could sit back and enjoy the ride and look forward to some beers, music and a nice afternoon/evening out with pals.  We went to the restaurant we tried for my birthday last November and it was even better than I remembered.  I chose a fish dish called Meeth Bangla which was heaven on a plate - rich salmon and aubergine in a spicy sauce.  Beautifully done.   

Tomorrow is my next official WI so I'll call in then with a proper update.

I'm playing lots of golf and doing lots of hilly walking but being a tad lazy on the aerobic exercise and haven't been training for a couple of weeks so that is going to change next week.  I finally (after nearly 2 months) feel ALMOST fully better from my Easter flu!  Tomorrow I'm working from home and I'm going to go to the outdoor swimming pool in Hathersage for a thrash up and down the pool.  That'll be a decent change from trying to make myself go running or to training!!  I'll post pictures if...WHEN....I make it to the pool!!

Right - Sunday dinner is cooking so I had better get on it.

New Wave

All the chatting about "getting back to it" is finally paying off.  I dug out my old Six Weeks to OMG schedule and actually started DOING it on Monday.  Not perfectly admittedly but DOING it again.  Getting on the scales first thing (which I've been doing a lot anyway); cold showering (which likewise I've never really stopped); black coffee'ing (ditto); POM'ing (a POM is a "period of movement" or, in other words, exercise which I have been doing less of); waiting at least 3 hours before eating etc etc

I've managed 3 days so far and have had mixed results.  I've been stellar in the mornings and at lunchtimes but have struggled to stick to it in the evenings.  It'll come.  I have grazed before eating or eaten a modest meal and then carried on to have toast and/or cereals.  Hmmm  

I suspect it has been made worse because I'm ill, AGAIN!  I thought I'd got better last week and truly was for 2 or 3 blissful days and then the cough started up again.  Last night it turned from hacking, dry, explosive cough into a stremaing head cold.  Sigh.  I suspect that if I was well, I would find it easier NOt to graze as I'd be out and about doing stuff, not welded to the sofa looking after myself.

Anyway, mini-target for tonight is not to have anything else to eat (apart from a cup of tea later). 

Weightwise, I started at 14.11 on Monday morning (Grrrrr) but am down to 14.9 now so back in the approximate zone and not too much damage done as long as I can really make this push stick.

What else is going on then?  I've not posted much recently as I've been reeling a bit under all the "stuff" going on.

The job thing I mentioned in my last post was somewhat annoying but I have reconciled myself to it.  It was a restructure of my department which everyone read one way, meaning  Iwould have a realistic shot at the team manager job.  Trouble is, senior management made a decision to move a litigator over from his half of hhte department into my half.  This had the knock-on effect of removing a senior job from a chap everyone thought would get it thus leaving him competing with me for the TM job.  Obviously he got it leaving me and another woman out in the cold.  To be fair to him, he's similarly cheesed off as he's been effectively demoted in favour of a litigator and the only reason we can see for the litigator's sidewise move was to allow his chum over in litigation to get the senior promotion.

Great for that chap.  Not so great over here where we're all blocked now.  And not so great below him in litigation where they now have to recruit with no budget.  Cock up anyone??

I asked for a meeting on Monday morning to say my piece and clear the air and have done so so now  I can put it to bed and stop raging about the unfairness of it all.  I'm going to retrench and concentrate on enjoying life and staying stressfree (and hopefully illness free as well) for a while.  I like my job and want to do it well but there is no point getting ill over it or worrying about it unduly, especially now I've not been promoted.....

On the house sale front, it is GREAT knowing that it's not my responsibility any more!  I drive past it most days and it is so nice to see it lived in again.  And to know that they are a nice family who will love it and look after it.  It was such a nice house it "deserves" some TLC.  And, even better, I don't have to mow the lawns or cut the hedges!!

Football?  Hmmm, least said about that the better.  We should have been safe from relegation after last Saturday's game but couldn't manage a draw which was all we needed.  What a bummer.  Now it goes down to the last match of the season against Middlesbrough.  It's not toooo bad as safety is at least in our hands.  If we get a win we're safe and a draw would probbaly see us through dependent upon other results.  It's going to be a nervy, horrible affair until we've scored enough goals to be safe.  Ha!  As if that's going to happen - last chance dance is where we're at.

Golf.  I'm loving it this season but not playing particularly well, not badly but not brilliantly.  I'm hoping that that is because I've not been well....hoping.....still, hoping....  We're playing at Woodhall Spa on Friday which is a great course and usually far too expensive but we get a good deal because Rich is captain of his course this year.  Yay!! I hope I can do it justice.

So, that's a quick update.  I'll be back soon to let you know how SWTOMG Mark 2 is getting on.  See you soon peeps.