Mini target for tomorrow

I forgot to set a mini target for tomorrow.

I will go for a run first thing tomorrow and not have any biscuits ALL DAY!

Ahem....back again

Little things knock my off my stride so easily. I had a good week before Bruges but then swapped my phone and was temporarily blocked from Blogger. So that's another wasted week passed.

On the plus side, And I can usually find an upside, I've dropped the couple of lbs I gained scoffing chocolate and guzzling beer in Belgium so I'm right back where I started.

And on the downside that is a stone heavier than I was this time last year. Aaaaargh.

I WILL turn this around. I want to be a couple of stone lighter (obviously not before the end of the year sadly). I've looked through my photos and I look much nicer, lighter and fresher when I'm not carrying that extra lard.

I have to make the connection between making the right choices and succeeding,  not just doing it when it's easy and reverting to food and booze in between.
Just. Do. It. Woman.

Logistics

I was full of good intentions yesterday afternoon about exercising later in the evening but as it wore on, I suddenly developed a cold and cough.  You know how it can arrive out of the blue like a nasty tax demand?  Well arrive it did.  I was still full of good intentions as I drove home but these gradually weakened and ultimately disappeared by the time I slogged through the traffic and got home.  In order to say that I did "something", I knocked out a few crunches and press ups but these were a token effort and I'm well aware of that.

I do feel that I did the right thing to pamper myself a little though (and this is not just my chimp rationalising).  It was chucking it down last night so a run would have been very miserable.  Combine that with a cold/cough and the fact that I'm off for a long weekend abroad tomorrow, looking after myself was definitely in order.

Sadly the best laid plans of womankind do not always (ever??) come to pass.  Today was a bit of a logistical nightmare.

I was meant to be golfing in the morning and working from home in the afternoon and on Thursday morning before being picked up by my pal Jenny and heading for Hull and thence, Bruges with my old school pals.

Erm, not so much.  Golf was called off due to the course being waterlogged.  Excellent I thought, I can do an extra half day working.  I then discovered (after several tortuous phone calls to IT etc) that my work laptop has potentially been attacked by some deadly virus and IT has completely disabled it.  It will not be reactivated until I take it into the office (an hour's drive each way).

I just couldn't fit a visit to Rotherham in today as I was waiting for a delivery; had a lunchtime appointment which was followed by a conference call at 1-2pm.  I managed to find half a day's work I could do without any laptop access (pure luck to be honest) but I really do need to go into Rotherham tomorrow morning.  Bang goes my plan of a leisurely no-stress morning before being whisked off on holiday.

Hey ho - I will take the train into Rotherham tomorrow morning loaded down with laptop and weekend bag.  Hopefully IT will sort out my laptop in time to allow me to actually do some work before dashing to the station and off to Barnsley to meet up with Jenny.  Gotta be flexible Les, plans change....

Today (once I got my revised plans sorted out) was lovely though.  I managed to dodge the rain and take the dogs out for a brisk, scenic but muddy walk as well as fitting an hour or so of leaf raking and sweeping and general winter clearing up in the garden.

There are so many jobs to do in the garden but I can barely keep up with the general maintenance let alone revamping the beds; lopping the overgrown apple trees; re-felting the shed roof; building a small area of decking; herb beds; and a green house....eeeeek.  However, if I don't keep on top of the basic chores, I'll never get round to the bigger stuff. And not bad exercise either.

Now, I'm catching a quick Masterchef - The Professionals before going upstairs  to pack.  It's so weird how easy and casual foreign travel is these days.  I'm sure I used to be much more concerned before I went away and plan much more than you do these days.  I've been so busy I haven't even perused the internet to see what we're going to do when we get to Bruges!!  Any tips anyone??

PS.  The scales showed a small drop this morning.  Yay!!  I know Bruges is going to be hard but at least I'm on my way.

Today's mini target

Obviously to avoid sweets again but that seems more manageable having done one day. The main thing is to do some exercise.

I can't go running at lunchtime today as meetings don't allow the time so it must be after work. In the dark. Grrrr

Nonetheless, I pledge to either go for a run or do a home workout when I get in from work this evening. Hopefully this pledge will make the intention easier to stick to when push comes to shove and the sofa beckons!!

I'm doing better with food but still feeling fat so I hope I see some progress soon.

The timing of this new push is terrible as I'm off to Bruges on Thursday for a long weekend with my old school pals. I'll need to be strong to resist the worst excesses of beer and chocolate which are sure to be on offer!!

Back to the drawing board

It wasn't working with SW but it isn't working without. I KNOW how to drop lard but what has been missing is the commitment to actually DO it.

So this is yet another commitment. I'm going to do what works and make some sacrifices with a view to dropping 10lbs minimum before Christmas. I am going to blog more frequently; set myself mini targets each day; cold shower/black coffee/ waiting to eat; exercise daily; give up beer; and above all, act like I'm ON A DIET! Not just when it suits me but every day.

Today's mini target is no sweets. They are empty calories and reset my tastebuds to want more sugar.

I know I can do this and I HAVE to do it. The negative stuff about being overweight is beginning to affect my everyday life. I'm out of breath walking up hills or stairs. My feet hurt. I feel fat round the middle. My clothes are a size larger (18) and not terribly flattering. My energy levels have dropped.

All this can be turned around pretty quickly but I need to be a grown up about it not a whiney child.

Watch this space.

We went for a walk yesterday afternoon in the gorgeous sunshine. We walked up our local big hill and it was longer than it has ever been. I'm pleased we did it though as that walk was part of my waking up to getting this done.

Going to the Remembrance service at Bradwell church was another. I know I should have been concentrating on remembrance but there was a lot of hanging around and in the lulls all I could think about was my sore feet in only moderately heeled boots.

Then cooking a Sunday roast for us and Rich's mum. I found myself pouting internally when Rich gave me the slightly smaller portion of sticky toffee pudding. I should not have been having any FFS!!

Then finally at the quiz yesterday evening (a handy victory which should see us top of the league) I did not need the round of sandwiches and handful of crisps.

I'm fired up now so just need to keep this enthusiasm going beyond the first few days and lbs.

Weekend in That London

 So, we went down to London for the weekend.  Friday night was excellent, we met up with an old friend of mine from my trainee solicitor days back in 1991-1992.  We haven't met up for 6 years and it was a last minute call on Friday morning which set it up.  I love it when a (half-assed) plan comes together!!

Saturday morning dawned bright and beautiful.  Actually, that's a total lie - it was a bit misty but it quickly turned bright and beautiful.  We had planned to meet the Sheffield boys at London Bridge for a few beers before taking the train down to Charlton so we arrived at 11 (natch). After a pint though,I couldn't stay indoors any longer and decided to walk down the river to the Tower of London to see the poppies.  We had planned to see them on Sunday but it was giving rain so off I went.

Across London Bridge and past this interesting office building right on the river.

I love crossing the Thames.  Especially on a gorgeous, sunny day.  It was ridiculously warm for 1 November.  I was wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt and no coat and I was sweating by the time I reached the Tower!

The tide seemed to be running pretty fast.

Selfie time!!  (Seeing as I didn't have a photo-taker elf assistant!)

The Thames Walk path was rammed and very slow moving so I had plenty of time to take some summery pics (on 1 November!).

The crowds were intense.  The authorities had been pleading with people to stay away as it was so busy but I didn't have that option.  When I first arrived I felt that that the crowd would detract from the experience but as I inched closer to the rail the crowd got quieter and more hushed. It was very moving and thought provoking.  I didn't take many photos and just stood and soaked it up for a while.  Thought about all those poor young men (and a few women) heading off to God knows where to do God knows what. Hard to fathom what it must have been like for them.

Then it was a brisk march back across the river.  Me and my hair tried for another selfie!

The Shard (looking a bit like an alien spaceship) and Southwark Cathedral.

 

The pub we were meeting the lads in.  One of them, Sean, has always had the nickname "Mudlark" so he was very excited to be drinking in this, the only pub called The Mudlark in Britain.

Me and the 2 Richards. The other Richard is one of my muckers from the pub quiz team, also a staunch Wednesdayite.

After the pub it was off to the match and an unspectacular 1-1.  Our goal and the first half was good but the second half was dreadful so normal service resumed.  I was happy to get down to The Valley though.  Nice to see a new ground and a new part of London (to me anyway).  It's hard to imagine that the ground was once the largest football ground in England, bigger even than Wembley with a capacity of over 115,000.

As expected it was rainy on Sunday so we went to the British Museum with Natalie, it being on the way to St Pancras.  I haven't been for years and hadn't seen the Norman Foster courtyard.  What an awesome idea.  It has transformed  a rather dank courtyard into a stunning space.

We went to see the Elgin Marbles or the "Parthenon Sculptures" as they are known.  I had this image of a British Museum official being harangued by Greek officials saying "No, no Elgin Marbles here, you can check the inventory if you like but that really doesn't ring any bells.  Sorry old chap".

They were stunning and so alive.  I can see why we don't want to give them back.  They didn't photograph well though so sorry, you'll have to go and see them for yourselves.

On our walk from the Museum to St Pancras we walked through Bloomsbury Square Gardens.  We were striding along not really paying attention to the surroundings but my brain must have been taking something in as I suddenly stopped and went back to one park bench.  There I saw a plaque in memory of a friend of mine from Castleton.   I knew he was a teacher in London when he died but had no idea where or that there was a plaque to his memory.  How lovely to see it there in that beautiful garden adding another layer to his special but too short life.

And then on to the splendour of St Pancras.  What a building.  So good to see it scrubbed up too.

They were filming a period drama in front of the facade  but in between time hoodied youngsters nipped in through the main gates while the rest of us gawked and tried to spot any famous actors (unsucessfully).

A sabbatical from SW

I'm a total fool. For the third time I have tapped out a long post on my phone then pressed a single button and irretrievably lost the lot! It is enormously annoying and even more so as I should by know better!

Aaaargh!!

So here goes again - a less well crafted, more hurried and irritable version of what I typed a few minutes ago:

I seem to have given up on SW for the time being. To be fair, I hadn't really got going with it this time around. I restrict my food intake and up my exercise for 3, 4, sometimes 5 days each week then undo all the good work with unrestrained food or drink or both.

This has resulted in my weight staying pretty much the same. I don't see the point in paying a fiver to be weighed then staying for class to say the same stuff I said last week before going on to DO exactly the same as last week to the same effect, ie. no change. It's frustrating and makes me feel bad about myself.

If nothing changes, nothing changes.

That's not to say that I've given up. I still weigh myself daily, keep restricting the intake and keep persuading my chimp to exercise. This will have to do while I cast around for yet another key to unblock the impasse. It will come.

In my original post, I went on to chat about our weekend in London (we're on the train heading back north as I type). But I'm too tired and running out of juice and time so I'll finish for now (taking care NOT to lose this post) and will do a picture post of London pics another time.

Bye for now peeps!!