Where Did That Weekend Go?

Last time I looked it was Friday evening and now it is Sunday evening!!

It's been a great weekend but gone so fast.                                                                                           

My Two J's came for a crafting day on Saturday, we were supposed  to  finish of their

Mother's Day gifts but it looks like we will need

a couple of after school sessions. We are part way there
but still some work to do before assembling them.  But we
had loads of fun and lots of giggles and laughter, the best tonic in the world. If I could bottle it, I would be richer than 
The Coca Cola Company. 

Here are a couple of pictures of the girls work space's, not too messy really.  You should see it when I am working on a project....

Today was Ralph's day, he is on his short weekend so as he had to cope with the girls and myself yesterday. I said he could choose what we do today. He suggested Cheshire Oak's Outlet Village....  Yes my husband wanted to go shopping...I love this man!!

We had a very nice time, three hours wondering around the shops, stopping for coffee at Starbucks, have missed that since Borders closed. We bought a few bit's and pieces and I got an early birthday present. I have been looking for a new handbag that would do me for work and for weekends and I found it today.

I saw it, picked it up, stroked it, looked at the price and put it back. My husband asked why, I said it was too expensive and he looked at the price tag and said "I will buy it for you". There then followed a five minute conversation about I have never spent that much on a handbag and had no intention of now or of letting him either.  Guess who won?

I have never had a handbag that came in it's own bag.

It is the beautiful red colour in the blurred photo, the other two look brown, but the light in the bedroom was not very bright when Ralph

 took the other two photo's. After I got twitch about my blurred  photos.  I think my camera is dying.

                                                      

I am not the type of person who talks about money anf the cost of thingsbut I will just say the most expensive bag I have ever bought myself was £39.00.  This bag was more than three times that.  I am still in shock and not sure I can use it for work, but if I don't it defeats the reasons for buying it in the first place.

Ralph has just looked over my shoulder as I am typing and said "It is for everyday use and I am worth it"....I love that man:o)

   

My eating has left a lot to be desired this weekend, but all will be well from tomorrow morning. I'm at the gym every morning starting tomorrow at 8:30 when I have my second session with Lee.  Then it will be 7:30 until Friday.  Friday is a rest day as that is when we are having a family get together for Conor. I have all my meals planned and I am positive I will have a good weight loss this week.

Mood = Great

Food = Will be Better

Today I am Grateful for:

The priveledge of enjoying my hobbies and sharing with my grandchildren.

The knowledge that I have family and very dear friends I can count on.

The generosity of heart and mind and wallet of my darling husband.

                                                                                   

Good Day..... Bad Day..... Good Food...... Bad Food......

It started off a good day, the gym at 6:45am!!
20 minutes treadmill, 20 minutes bike.
Back home, shower, breakfast, work.
Busy morning, remembering to drink water.
Lunchtime, back home, put a wash on,
grab some ham, a pear and a banana.
Oh and a yogurt too.

Back to work for PLT...
Practice Learning Time...
The boss bought cakes:o(
Half half of a chocolate eclair,
Angela had the other.

Back home, get changed, put another wash on.
Check emails and blogs, have a cup of tea.
Put a wash in drier, but another wash on.
Get a text from Clair "Your Tea is Ready!"
"Oop's I'll be there in Five" I text back.
I'm late so drive instead of walk.
I knock on the door "You are Grounded"
I am told, "Sorry" I say...The children laugh.
I am sat down to Pasta and Pizza...
Oh well, can't say no thank you,
this family are on a tight budget
and we don't waste food.
so I enjoyed the pasta and a very small
slice of pizza along with the happy banter of children
around the table.

After the meal, a cup of tea and a white chocolate cookie appear
as I sat on the big sofa that threatens to swallow you.
"You are trying to sabotage me" I say.
"No, I'm not" she says with a mischevious smile.
"You can  to relax tonight"

Because this is the first time I have had a meal
at her house for over 16 months, I did relax and
enjoyed every moment and every morsel.

Good Day Bad Day Good Food Bad Food
Back on track tomorrow....

Mood = Happy
Food  = Happy

Today I am grateful for:

Forgiveness
Reconciliation
Family Hugs

Weigh In Wednesday

Lost the two pound I gained last week...Totally Delighted Thank You Very Much!!!

I must admit I have been an angel with my food this week, so I really do know what I must do to get to target. Hopefully attending the gym every other day will help too.  I have tried to drink the water today, it is sooooooooooo hard!!  I felt like I was drowning ar lunch time. I have had over two litres so by bed time I should have done the three. But If I am up all night piddling I am going to scream!!

I have had a lovely evening with my daughter Clair and two of her children Ollie and Jaz.  They came for tea and we had great fun.  I am so happy things are getting back to normal with Clair and myself.

Mood = Very Happy
Food = Very Delicious

Today I am Grateful for:

Good healthy food on the table and the grandchildren loving it!!
Fun times with grandchildren.
Peace and quiet when grandchildren go home;o)

New Passport Has Arrived and the Gym Was..........

My new passport arrived tonight, so now we can start planning our holidays YIPPPPEEEEEEEEE....
Ralph is on the net as I type looking at Tuscany :o)

Went to the gym tonight and was met by my Personal Trainer  Lee, he was very nice and very apologetic about yesterday. I had a 45 minute consultation with him discussing where I am now and what goals I wish to set. He was quite impressed with my knowledge about food and calories (Didn't tell him I could write the book..lol)

What he did say was I am very dehydrated and I have got to try to drink MORE THAN 3 LITRES of water a day...Heaven Help Me!!  I have been counting my cups of tea and he says no, because the caffeine in the tea caused dehydration.  Has advised me to drink Green Tea, which I have tried and didn't like.

We discussed my back and, I know that strengthing them will help my back. So he is going to design a programme for me and I have a further  appointment with him on Monday morning at 8:30 to start to put it into action.  He got me to set four goals tonight:

1. To attended the gym at least three times a week..
2. To drink 3 litres of water a day.
3. To eat more protein
4. to eat MORE snacks

Yes eat more snacks, I couldn't beleive it, I don't snack in the afternoon, but he advised a snack in the afternoon and at supper..the supper on to me mainly protein. So I need to revise my eating habits. He said small healthy snacks will keep the metabolism burning.  Like keeping a fire ticking over, throwing a small log on every couple of hours.  So I will give it a go.  He also said as you get older the metabolism slows down, so you don't get the big weigh losses you get as a younger person..I  think I already knew that, losing weight like a tortoise...

He then showed me three machines he wanted me to start with tonight, the treadmill, the bike and the cross trainer. I told him I hated the cross trainer, he said I will learn to love it...We shall see..

I then did: 20 minutes on the treadmill, 20 minutes on the bike and 10 minutes on the dreaded cross trainer. all on the Cardio setting. That was very doable and I reckon I can do twice as much comfortably. So the plan is gym Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday this week, the Monday, Wednesday Friday, Sunday the following week.

Husband now looking at Kefalonia....Where next....

Mood = Positive
Food = Being Re-thought.


Today I am Grateful for:

The confidence that took me to the gym on my own!!
The laughter between mother and daughter.
My new passport;o)

Back InThe Groove But Not In The Gym

Yet again I am saying I am back on track, I'm in the groove, I've got my head back on, this is it.....

I have had a very good day with my food, the gym let me down, I had a message on my voice mail to ring the gym at lunchtime. They wanted me to come in earlier, 4pm, I told them I was working until 4:30, so they asked again, could I come in at 4pm?  No I am working...Oh can you come tomorrow at 5:30 then?...So tomorrow it is, I am not impressed neither is Ralph...

We have had a fun night on the Wii though so I have hasd some exercise but not what was planned.

Food = Good...1215 calories
Mood = Good

Today I am thankful for:

Great Craich
The joy of the written word
The love of God.

Snow Sunday

Where does it all come from? I got up at 6:30am to get my final bit's a pieces ready for my trip to see Bezzy Mate and Sam and all the other lovley girls at Sam's Crop. Only to find about 4 inches of SNOW had fallen over night. So guess who is going NOWHERE? Wouldn't mind but had baked an apple cake and a lemon and ricotta cake for the girls...Temptation is now in the kitchen, but soon to be dispatched elsewhere.

So what to do today? I am not happy to do scrapbooking here as I take over the living room and kitchen and Ralph tries not to get frustrated with it but I know he does. So my little trolly and bags of stuff can stay put for the moment.  Ralph is doing homework for his college course, he would rather be walking in Anglesey but lets not go over that shall we?

What I did do this morning was get measured, haven't done that in a long while. But I thought if I am starting the gym tomorrow I would like some baseline number's to work with.  I was very pleasantly surprised to find I had lost another six inches. From bust (Hubby not impressed) waist, hips and tum.  That has given me a bit of a boost.

From tomorrow I will be updating my food blog with every morsel that I eat, also will record  all exercise and activity, in an effort to get this body and mind of mine back in the groove.

Great Advice THANK YOU

Thank you, Julia, Vraz60, Sunny, Friend of the Bear and Dawne, for great advice and encouragement.
I was asking for advice with tongue in cheek, knowing I would get the advice given.  I know it is an impossiblity to reach the 60 x 60 target now.  I now want to lose three stone by my birthday, that is 42 pounds and I have lost  34.5 of them so I think it is very doable.

I got an early birthday present form Ralph today, he has paid for a new gym membership for me and I go for my induction on Monday at 5:30pm.  I was a member of the gym over the way from us last year and was enjoying it until my back seized up in October. Now my back is behaving..shhshhh I was talking about stepping up my exercise this morning and my darling man suggested the gym near where I work. He said he would pay as part of my birthday present and within an hour I was all signed up:o)

It is a great set up with a huge Cardio gym, a separate Ladies Gym, a full floor of weight's and resistance machines and a dance/workout studio. They do Zumba and  I have been wanting to try that for ages, I met a very dear friend there while being shown round the facilities.  She was doing Body Combat and Cardio Pump one hour of each...She is very fit and certainly doesn't look 55.

So I will be stepping up the exercise, I will not be cutting my calories but I will be looking at how I am using them. I have a month of celebrations starting Thursday and will be out every weekend for meals with different groups of friends.  So I am going to have to be VERY GOOD during the week..lol

Again thank you for great advice and cheeky comments...Yes Dawnie..Yours...lol

Time Is Marching On!!!!!!!

First of all can I thank everyone for the very kind supportive comments about my feelings  for Conor and his planned army career.  They meant more to me than you will ever know, I got my husband to read them and he was very touched by the kindness and understanding. Conor went yesterday to swear his
Oath of Alligence and will be entering the army on Sunday March 7th. May God watch over him and every other serviceman serving their country.

Today is four weeks to my 60th and I am in place of not disappointment but a sad bittersweet place. I realised several weeks ago I would not  lose my 60 x 60 and was quite accepting of the fact. Now I am annoyed with myself, I should have been more committed, should have tried harder. I have still got 25.5lb's left to lose.

Now if I was CRAZY enough to think there was still a very slim chance I could still do it, what would YOUR advice be?

Step up the excercise?  (Go for it like the Biggst :Loser)
Cut the calories?           (Drop the calories to 1200 daily)

What would you do?