Impulses

Buying the Fulton book was an impulse and that is working out pretty well so far.  And it is causing big changes already. 

As reported in yesterday's post, I went for a walk yesterday morning (my first POM).  I was intending to walk round the fields for about 45 minutes and then back to do some chores.  But as I got going, walking through the cool, gloomy, grey morning, I felt as though I wanted to go further and tackle a hill.  I could see Mam Tor in the distance and then Lose Hill.  I could head up in that direction??  But then sense set in.  To tackle those, I'd either have to walk all day or go home and drive a few miles to the start.  I didn't fancy either of those options so I did the next best thing - I just kept on walking right to the top of Win Hill.  We walked solidly (on an empty stomach) for 3 hours and it was great!

Here is me partway up the hill with the summit up ahead.

The view left towards Mam Tor and the Great Ridge, maybe next weekend.

And right towards Bamford Edge, Hathersage, Carl Wark and Higger Tor.

Getting higher (and steeper) now looking towards Lose Hill.

Castleton nestling below Peveril Castle with Winnats Pass and Mam Tor to the right.

The village of Bradwell where we've just walked from (and still have to walk back to!).

Hurry up Mum!!

I can see the top!

Getting closer now.

The view back towards Hope Cross

It's all worth it once you hit the top - 360 degree views. Ladybower reservoir.

Shelagh takes them in.

The gentle green view towards Bamford.

Ladybower again but looking towards Sheffield.

Then the walk down the hill towards Hope.

Shelagh takes a little swim to cool off after all the exercise.

Then, irritatingly, on the way home, the sun comes out!  I could have done with the sunshine when I was at the top of the hill!

Day 1 dawns.  I'm discovering that, although I dread the idea of the cold shower, I actually enjoy it.  It is definitely getting easier to get in now too.  Afterwards I feel really zingy and exhilerated.  I've heard people extoling the virtues of cold baths or showers and now I see what they mean.  I'm slightly concerned (having checked out the Fulton forum) that I may not be getting the shower quite as cold as it needs to be but will work on this.

My early morning POM is great too (especially today in the glorious sunshine).  And strangely, I have not felt hungry during the mornings which I usually do after eating breakfast.

There is some way to go in organising what I'm going to eat and the timings as the plan is somewhat fiddley but I aim to work through it and fit into my life as best I can.  I'm doing the bit he says is the most important element of the plan though so the rest can come.

On the downside, I miss snacking as it was so much a part of my life to grab a piece of fruit or bar or something but I'm sure I will get used to only eating meals soon.  I also miss milk and sweeteners in my hot drinks but I'm getting to like black coffee and green tea surprisingly quickly.

So, what it comes down to is, will I stick to it??  And that depends on how well I fit it into my routines and how much success I see.  So, watch this space.

Flash in the pan??

Day -1 before the start of the big Fulton Plan has dawned and the question on everyones' lips is - did I wimp out of the cold shower having managed it (as an experiment) yesterday??

Answer - not at all.  In fact, here I am, freshly cold showered and, having finished my second ever mug of black unsweetened coffee, about to head out for my morning POM (period of movement). 

See, I'm getting into the swing of it already.  It seems that "people" (ie.the daft air-headed teenaged girls this book seems to be aimed at) are scared off by the thought of "exercise" so now I must think of it as "movement" instead.  Meh...

But, when I think about it, isn't this what I already do with my chimp??  When she is working against going to the gym or swimming or something arduous sounding, I rephrase it into a less threatening package and take her along with me instead of fighting her all the way (and losing).

Although the book is written in a somewhat fatuous "OMG I am so, like, happy to be, like, skinny, girlfriend!!" style, the theories behind the crappy exclamation mark littered prose (yes I know I use loads of exclamation marks!!) are pretty sound and chime with what I instinctively feel will work for me. 

Yes, there are gimmicky-looking strictures.  Cold showers, black coffee, skipping breakfast, POMs but all are scientifically justified and all working towards the same end of making sure your body burns calories or stores them short-term in muscles cells rather than loading them straight into fat cells there to rest happily in eternity.

Who knows?  I'm just pleased to be doing something after a hiatus.  (And also pleased that I'm doing it only a couple of lbs heavier than when I last stopped so not having done any serious damage - that's one cycle broken at least.)

Righto - off for me morning POM, come on doggies!!  (They are going to LOVE this plan - my days are full of POMs most of which will involve doggie walks!)

OMG, it's Venice Fulton!!

Some final summer pictures from an evening walk a couple of Saturdays ago.  Richard was out playing golf so I headed up Bradwell Edge with the dogs.  I always feel the need to make the most of sunshine at this time of year; to "bank" it against the winter to come.

This is the start of the steep hill above our house leading to Bradwell Edge.

Minty is considerably quicker up the hills than me so she has to wait for me!

The lovely village of Bradwell with the Lafarge cement works in the background.

When we got to the top of the Edge we found a couple of empty, mowed fields - perfect for swallow chasing. Trouble is, we were miles away from any trees or houses on moorland on top of a hill so no swallows!  The dogs ran around checking anyway and seemed to enjoy the freedom to feel the wind through their fur.

All that running makes girls feel a little thirsty.  Luckily there was a little pond in the corner of the field.

Which they made full use of.

As we hit the lane, I looked right and saw the Red Arrows doing a display over Chatsworth.  Chatsworth House is over 10 miles away so I was surprised to be able to see them flying. 

The view towards Bamford and Bamford Edge.

The omnipresent Win Hill

Then back down the hill to Bradwell, refreshed, revived and renewed.

So, hands up who has heard of Venice Fulton and Six Weeks to OMG??  Now, hands up anyone who has followed Venice Fulton's "Six Weeks to OMG"??  Or KNOWS anyone who has followed it???

Nope, didn't think so.  So many books bought, read but not really followed (through).  I can think of a few I've started on over the years.  I did follow Atkins for a couple or 3 months (lost 2 stone); lost half a stone doing Paul McKenna; half a stone on that You Can be Slim (Marissa somebody or other)and a stone or so on Becks (v fiddley with all thoese cards and notebooks).  I have read a few others but not felt the love so they're probably still sitting forgotten and abandoned on a bookshelf back at my old house.

That said, I have learned something from all of them and it is unarguable that I'm getting better at staying stable and not gaining (much). I have taken away snippets and techniques and hints and helpful strategies and some of the time I put some of them into practice.

As you know, I gave up (at the time temporarily) on Slimming World a couple of months ago because it wasn't happening for me and I wasn't "feeling it".  I didn't give up on trying to stay fit and healthy though and didn't go mad or anything.  I won't deny that I'm 2 or 3lbs heavier now but I suspect that was mostly as a result of a couple of weeks around the Olympics with our holiday in London and several big days out over the summer.  The exercise took a bit of a hit (too much golf, not enough running) but I never dropped it entirely and I'm getting back to it now.

So, over the last few weeks, I've been mulling around what I'm going to do next.  How I'm going to approach this.  I really want to lose at least a stone, probably 2.  But I wasn't quite ready to tackle it.  Too much going on in my life and work very hectic and teetering on the brink of being out of control.

I have managed to sort out the life and works issues (well, most of them) and feel back in control again after a dodgy few weeks of feeling disorganised and irritated by myself.  But, still no plan of attack.  What to do.  What to do.

And then, yesterday, I picked up a book I had bought  several weeks ago on Sheffield station. I don't even know why I bought it - Buy One, Get One Half Price perhaps??  Perhaps because it had the word "skinnier" in the title which struck me as different from the average diet book.  I read the other book and 2 pages precisely of the Fulton book and then left it on my bedside table.  It could have stayed there forever and eventually been moved onto a shelf but yesterday I randomly picked it up and read half of it in the bath!

Which is ironic once I got to cold baths bit!

I feel the need for a kickstart.  Something to do for a few weeks to drop some blubber and get me back into action (and slimmer trousers!).  To this end, I'm going to actually DO the Fulton plan for 6 weeks and then I'll let you know what I think. 

I have prepared a schedule with each day mapped out to monitor my progress (and my weight).  This is not like me.  Usually I MEAN to prepare a schedule but only get round to it every 5th time or so.  So this plan is truly blessed.

I haven't actually read all of the book yet so will finish it off tomorrow.  But I DID do the morning element of it this very morning - cold shower, black coffee and skipping breakfast an' all!  Sounds mental but who knows.  It seems to be generally a low-carb diet so that works for me.  There are alarming mentions of "no liquid carbs" which sounds innocuous until you realise that that writes off booze.  Not so simple after all!  Then again,  I've been cutting back over the last few weeks and I went back to sparkling water after a long break over lunch today so it's do-able!

I only did HALF the Fulton plan today though.  It was Rich's Dad's birthday lunch in a local pub so we had a lovely meal.  I stuck to water as I mentioned and picked a sensible main course (chicken supreme with goats cheese, spinach, new potatoes and roasted tomatoes) and then blew it on pecan pie with caramel icecream.  Mmmmm delicious. 

So, will I make it through the next 6 weeks?  Will I drop blubber??  Will I stick to it after my 6 weeks???  It's all go.

Enjoying the good times

This post is a couple of days out of date.  I held off posting it as I wanted to upload the photos to go with it but I'm struggling with uploading photos from my mobile onto my computer and now reluctantly must accept that it's not going to happen! I don't know why, it used to work but for no reason I can see, it no longer does. Harrumph!

Anyway, here's the post - imagine some sunny photos of garden fruits and flowers and one of me and my mum sitting out on the patio.

I went to my parents again on Tuesday evening and Wednesday. I'm trying to make it a regular thing, going over every couple of weeks for a day and a night. As our weekends are so busy it is difficult to find time to get over there frequently so midweek trips seem to be the answer. Dad has now got broadband set up so I can go over after work one day, stay over and then work from home there the following day before returning home in the evening. This way I can give Dad some company and conversation and also spend some time with Mum while not giving up precious weekend time with Richard or use up too much of my holidays.

Dad and I went to the pub together on Tuesday night after Mum had gone to bed. It was quiet until the Parish Council lot came in after their meeting. Then it was chaos - many glasses of wine (I was relatively restrained at 3!), scurrilous gossip and broad-ranging conversation. Dad loved it and so did I - a bonus on a Tuesday night for sure. We had to drag ourselves away to avoid going back to someone's house for a promised bottle of whisky!

I'm very glad we did though given that I had work to do the following day. Working from home there is pretty good. I can tap away on my laptop but also be there with Mum for breakfast, the odd coffee break and over lunch too. The dogs love it and it allows my father to go to the supermarket or carry out errands without worrying about what Mum is doing alone at home. She does occasionally wander off and has burnt out a kettle and set fire to a frying pan through simple dementia forgetfulness!

Some recent trips have been hard. Mum has developed an aversion to showering and changing her clothes. I don't know why - I suppose she thinks she showers frequently but has no concept of time. She doesn't understand why I'm suddenly bullying her to get in the shower and change her clothes and now she doesn't really know how clothes work. It's heart-breaking when you think about it so I try not to.

I always try to get her washed and into clean clothes when I'm visiting to help Dad out as she is much more stubborn with him than with me. Last trip I went about it the wrong way (it's a process of trial and error I've found) and the showering process was awful. She dug her feet in and pointblank refused and instead of backing off I pushed. Big mistake. I was in tears and Mum turned nasty. NOT a nice time although in between times she was her usual sweet self.

This time, she was much more cooperative and receptive and the whole thing was done and dusted in 30 minutes and with no pain on either side. Not only that but at lunchtime I persuaded her to go for a short walk with me down the lane in the glorious Lincolnshire sunshine. She walks very slowly and leans heavily on my arm but we shuffled along and looked at the flowers and the insects in the hedgerow and chatted about the birds and the bees (literally, not figuratively) and it was just lovely.

Then we had our lunch out on the patio and watched the birds in their beautiful garden and chatted about the sparrows, the planes flying over and the 2 flirting pigeons in the trees (repeatedly as she goes over the same points many, many times). Really, there was a small slice of heaven in that sunny garden.

I was truly on a roll. As well as sorting Mum out, I also collared my Dad and persuaded him finally to get round to telephoning some home care providers about regular visits to help him with Mum. He's had the information for weeks (months probably) but, for some reason has not made the call. Well, we all know about procrastination don't we?!! I think he didn't want to make it real. Or maybe didn't want to admit that he couldn't look after her himself? Either way, other peoples' demons are never as bad as one's own are they so I was able to go through the leaflets with him, select a couple that we liked the look of, start the telephone calls before he took over and made the appointments.

He looked lighter and happier afterwards. I know that feeling well - the feeling of relief at having accomplished something you've been avoiding for ages!

Obviously, as I was doing so well, something was bound to go wrong! I was travelling by train this time (without the dogs too) as my car is in the garage. Dad dropped me off at the station and my mobile must have slipped out of my pocket in the car. I realised it was missing as soon as I had bought my ticket so borrowed a phone and rang my number hoping that Dad would hear the phone ring in the car and turn round to bring it back to me. Trouble is, Dad did hear it but didn't connect the ringtone (a sort of musical noise) with a phone and thought the car radio had mysteriously turned itself on! So now I am without my phone until tomorrow when (hopefully) it will arrive in the post. 2 days without my phone - only a teenager could feel such a loss more keenly. I don't even know what the time is!

So, kharmic balance is restored but I'm happy. I am making sure that I appreciate having had a lovely time with my Mum, having helped my Dad and that we had a good chat and some fun in the pub too. I know there will be more difficult visits ahead, that Mum gets bored and frustrated and that Dad's life is not a bed of roses either but, as long as we appreciate the good times, we will get through.

Town Mouse/Country Mouse

I suppose after years and years of working in the field of physical regeneration and development, it will eventually start to become interesting!  I'm finding myself taking note of civic regeneration projects and admiring the good ones.  Not something I used to have much interest in as a confirmed country mouse.

I took the train into Sheffield a while back and was impressed by the station redevelopment of a few years ago.  It has really bedded into the townscape now and is well used and obviously well-loved too. 

I think Sheffield is much the better for having a station which is no longer dark, murky and unattractive.  This tells a much nicer story of the city to its visitors.  You are greeted by a sweeping wall of stainless steel with running water pouring down one side (the message being, it doesn't rain ALL the time??) .

Opposite the wall is a series of stone steps and more running water, great for sitting out on.

And a lovely fountain.  Actually the whole walking route from the city centre to the station is pretty good but I didn't start taking photos until I got to the station so can't show you that bit - another time.

But you know me - my true love is the countryside.  Later that evening I took the dogs out for a sunny evening walk in the big field at the end of our road.  Happy sunny cows littered our path, scratching themselves on stones and ignoring Minty's frenzied barks.

And here a random pic I found on my phone....what do you suppose the horse was buying in the shop??  Or maybe just sheltering from the rain?

 

 

No major progress on the dieting front but a couple more bouts of exercise.  I had a quiet weekend by recent standards.  Golf on Friday afternoon which we lost (narrowly).  It was a great match played in brilliant spirit and I was only a tiny bit annoyed  that my former pairs partner raised her game from not very good when she played WITH me last to excellent when she was playing AGAINST me!!  That said, we only lost on the 18th so no disgrace.

 

After the golf it was a dash into Sheffield for a 60th birthday party.  It should have been an excellent party but he'd put the band in the beer garden then not many people came outside cos it was chilly and the party became a bit divided.  I think one big room is always a better option to be fair.  So, I didn't drink more than a couple of glasses of wine and we came home early.  I'm sure the birthday boy had a good time though judging on the number of people there and that's the main thing.

 

Saturday - boring chores and feeling grumpy that Wednesday lost their 19 game unbeaten run.....booo!!  To avoid the feeling of doing nothing all day I took the dogs up Bradwell Edge for a couple of hours in the evening and we had a good walk.  Photos will follow.

 

Sunday - I forewent (is that a word?) golf to mow the lawn and cut the hedge at my old house.  Double boo!!  Luckily I had anticipated my likely grumpiness and asked Rich to come home early from his golf.  Which he did and we ended up having a lovely afternoon in the sunshine.  We went to the Chatsworth Country Fair but at 3pm they still wanted to charge us £20 each to get in which seemed a bit steep for the privilege of a couple of hours spending MORE money!  So instead we took the dogs for a long walk round Chatsworth park, along the river, up a massive hill, across the biggest park/field I've walked over and back through the estate village Edensor (pronounced Enser) to the House where we'd parked.

 

After a leisurely cream tea in Edensor we headed back to the car, then realised we were only 40 minutes away from the Red Arrows so decided to hang around for them. We sat out on a grassy bank opposite the house in the glorious sunshine mucking around with the dogs and chatting.  After a while the Red Arrows arrived and conducted an awesome display of aerobatics right over our heads.  it was amazing and lovely too.  Minty and Shelagh barked their little heads off but didn't seem overly concerned and it became, belatedly, a gorgeous weekend.  I haven't uploaded all my photos yet but this one is my favourite....awwww....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 



Exercise routines

The final instalment of our Olympic travels.  Below is Monday afternoon in the Riverbank Arena for the hockey.  We saw group matches between China and Japan and South Korea and Belgium.  The former was a thrilling contest.  Japan, bottom of the table, snatched a deserved victory against their bitter rivals China (3rd in the table) to ensure that China couldn't go through to the semis and Team GB then didn't need to beat the Netherlands to go through (which is a good thing as they lost later that night).  It was slightly surreal to hear a crowd of mostly Brits chanting "Nippon, Nippon, Nippon"!

It is a really fast and physical game.  My photos are rubbish though as we were sitting behind the screen (and I'm pleased we were given the speed of the ball).

The Olympic Park was pretty stunning. 

And we had a great time.

After the hockey we headed of to ExCel for the second round of boxing.  I was very impressed by the regeneration of East London.  Nothing like the development below existed when I lived in London in the early 1990's and now it looks as though it has always been there.

The atmosphere in the boxing was excellent.  It was not a huge arena so you had great views from all over and the crowds were very boisterous.  We saw 5 lots of quarter finals and were lucky enough to see 3 of Team GB's eventual boxing medal winners - Luke Campbell from Hull, Anthony Joshua from East London (both of whom got golds) and Anthony Ogogo who won a bronze. Of those, Anthony Joshua stood out as a star - I tipped him for the gold as soon as we saw him fight.  (He's the big chap in the bottom 2 pics.)

 

In other news, I'm taking baby steps to get back to my pre-summer exercise routine and am having some success. To date, 2 runs have been achieved and one thwarted by unavoidable late night working and torrential rain. I am thinking about running more, though and starting to plan when I can fit one in. Running is now back on my radar.

I realised how much I'm /my chimp is motivated by competition when I found it much easier to go out for a run after reading a facebook entry from a friend about her last run. She is getting back to fitness now that her twins are toddlers and her husband is working locally so more available for babysitting duties. To help her, she has a MapMyRun app which records her run, the route and time etc and then posts it to FB. It is a run I used to do all the time and her time was pretty good. I found myself thinking - I can do that and then, on Tuesday morning, I headed off to Bamford and did (most of) it! Actually, she is clearly fitter than me at the moment so I'm setting myself a medium-term target of getting back to those sort of times. I might even sign up to the app if it works! I'm probably never going to be as fast though as I have all the dog-based palaver to cope with; the leads on and off again, the chasing after them while they run round fields chasing low-flying swallows etc.

 

 

 

So, to keep up the momentum, today I'm going to go out for a short run at lunchtime with the dogs and then play golf this evening.  We're playing my final knockout competition.  It's the mixed and me and my partner Nigel are playing against my usual pairs partner Fran and her mixed partner, Lee.  A crunch match if ever I saw one!