Unhappy

I need somewhere to have a rant and this seems as good a place as any.

It is Ten Tors weekend - husband is away from Thursday to Sunday and I usually have a great time eating healthy food, going to the gym and just relishing a few days of having the bed to myself.

Somehow this year hasn't been like that. I have felt compelled to check the regular team updates on the Ten Tors website, I have hardly been out of the house and I have felt all weekend as though I should be with him and not here on my own.

He has just phoned me to tell me that all their teams are safely home with no fall-outs. So they all get a medal and a certificate - the whole team has to finish to be awarded a certificate - and it is one per team of 6.

Rod was also presented with a medal - for long service. He was in tears on the phone as he knew nothing about it. Why oh why didn't one of the other leaders tell me? I knew I should have driven to Okehampton this morning. He will have had hugs and kisses from all sorts of people but not from his wife.

I feel alone and left out and I don't like that feeling.

End of March update

I have been unwell again. My new plan started well and seemed to be producing results but then I was felled again by the cold that is just going around and around the office. This time last week I was on Sudafed and unable to move anywhere without a box of tissues.

Feeling a lot better now. OU studying is going well although I am still waiting on the result for my first essay.

I am away over Easter at Mum's and am taking it easy on the exercise until I get back from there. In fact I have pretty much decided that I just need to keep things ticking over now rather than trying to achieve the impossible.

At my age I am never going to be able to lift the weight needed to get the body of a 30 year old (nor have the time to spend on it). So I shall do what I need to do to get fit and healthy but forget about (fingers crossed) trying to be really lean and really *fit*.

No pics this post which makes it dull and boring to look at. Sorry to my few followers.

I hope you have a Happy Easter and the weather is kind to us all. xx

Mid March Update

Where does the time go?

Two weeks ago I decided to make a new start and just try to rein in my bad habits.

I've had a couple of good weeks and lost 3lbs.

My study time before work seems to be more effective than after a long, hard day and the gym isn't as busy as I thought it would be at 6pm. So all in all it is going well.

Hubby has been cooking our evening meals more often recently and serving mine on a smaller plate or bowl so he is looking after me too. Love you xx


I thought you might like to see my summery tray that brightens up breakfast time. This is a bowl of porridge made with half and half oats and Sainsburys Free From Rice and Buckwheat Flakes and unsweetened soya milk. Topped with Be Good To Yourself Greek Yogurt, a small banana and a drizzle of maple syrup. Delicious.




This was yesterday's breakfast in progress - a pancake made with 2 eggs, a packet of Aldi's instant oat cereal, loads of cinnamon and some blueberries. Don't you love the pancake slice? We bought it for £1 in Poole Pottery of all places. I topped the pancake with Clearspring Apricot and Apple puree. It kept me full all morning.





And how about this for a cool idea? Pitta Pizza Marinara. Wholemeal pitta breads spread with red pesto then topped with mashed sardines and grated cheddar. Pop under the grill until the cheese melts and starts to brown. These were absolutely delicious and will be on the menu again soon.




And now for something completely different :0)



Hubby has been busy this week building a dry stone wall at home. He added another couple of rows roadside after I took this and it is finished now. Looks fabulous and he managed to save all of the snowdrops and tiny sprouts of daffodils. He has been saving stone since we moved in - in 1991.





And after all that typing and uploading of photos it's time for tea. Mine's a redbush in my little teapot. This always puts me in mind of The Mad Hatter's Tea Party for some reason.





Thanks to my followers for looking in and for any comments. I hope to report more positive news again soon.

oops

Day 4 of new routine and I hit the stop button instead of the snooze button! OOPS!!! But I was tired so I am not too cross. I can't lie in bed after I wake up so it was a necessary snooze :-)

Yesterday was good - I made it to the gym and studied in the morning and lunchtime.

But I broke a tooth (on a flapjack!) and will miss my lunch break today as I have an emergency dental appointment. No doubt my wallet will be a lot lighter by this evening.

Busy day ahead but I think the food will be OK as it is usually soup or a smoothie after a filling.

New Routine

I started yesterday with a good study session before I showered. And I went to the gym after work. It wasn't too busy although the free weights area was full of beefcakes. I may have to rethink my weights routine if I can't get in there.

I was easy on myself and did 15 minutes on the treadmill and 15 minutes on the bike. Then I spent 20 minutes in the sauna. That was lovely after a hard day at work. Very relaxing. Came home to a simple supper of crumpets and peanut butter (I am certainly being gentle with myself!). Felt very relaxed and ready for an early night.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Another month gone

Well February seems to have disappeared without me achieving very much. To be fair I have had a horrid cold and felt below par for about 3 weeks. That finally seems to have passed, thankfully.

My weight is still a major issue and I have been overeating this week too.

SO:-

I am going to make some major changes to my routine as I think a good shake up is what is needed.

My new plan is to get up early (6am) and study for an hour or two before work.
I will go to the gym after work 3 times a week. I prefer early morning exercise but I also prefer early morning study! I used to belong to a gym that didn't open early so spent several years going straight from work and getting homme after 8pm.

I am also hoping that exercising in the evening will mean I eat less for supper, sleep better and therefore lose weight and feel healthier.

My husband is in agreement and will feed himself on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (he already does this on Friday as he goes to Scouts and has to leave before 6).

I hope that my end of March post will have something positive to report. If not I shall close this blog as it is not fulfilling its purpose of motivating and inspiring me.

Thank you to those of you who read it. I appreciate your comments.

Poorly

I am off sick today - felt awful first thing this morning - couldn't speak and my balance was all over the place. I didn't feel safe to drive so I stayed at home.

Luckily I have decided to go to Taunton by train tomorrow as I don't think my head will be up to the drive - and certainly not the return journey after 5 hours of history tutorial :-)

A lazy day today and hopefully a good night's sleep and I should feel better tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Cold!

The weather has taken a turn towards the chilly side again and I seem to have caught my boss's cold. I am hoping it won't hang around as I have an OU tutorial on Saturday and certainly need to be clear headed for that.

Looks as though I shall miss the gym tomorrow though. I can't seem to get into a proper routine - and that is what I need.

Trainer Day

Tuesday is early start day. I have to be in the gym for 6:30. Mark is rarely on time but as it doesn't open until 6:30 I have to run upstairs to get rid of my bag and sort myself out. We usually run overtime and I do get my full hour.

Today I was weighed and my body fat measured. 103kgs and some horrendous body fat figure which is double the recommended levels for women. I've got some work to do to reduce that!

I have been hungry and tired today and have hoovered up the things I no longer want in my diet. So although my eating has not been as I would want I have rid myself of temptation. Onwards and downwards :)

It's my birthday today

I have had a lovely day today. I opened my lovely presents in bed with a cup of tea. Then we had breakfast and headed off for the beach at Perranporth.

Rod flew his kite while I paddled wearing my new purple wellies and we had a carvery lunch in the beach bar.

http://www.the-wateringhole.co.uk/






Another walk on the beach after lunch watching the rollers.




Rod found a length of washed up rope and made a heart out of it. He is such a softy :)





Tomorrow I start my real push to lose weight and get fit. I am doing well with my gym visits but I am tired and hungry. I think that the gym routine is the most important focus and I will work on cutting back on calories when my routine is more established.

Weekly sessions with Mark my PT are going well.

I am making some interesting meals and eating healthy food again. My body thanks me for it.

Here are pics of a few of the recent offerings.


Breakfast of chopped apple, grapes and natural yogurt with vanilla whey protein.











M&S Fuller Longer noodles with chicken and edamame - lovely range but too expensive for every day. I bought this on the £1 introductory offer.






Another breakfast - soda bread from the Farmers' Market with mixed berry jam and Sainsburys Be Good To Yourself Greek Yogurt.

If I buy the white soda bread it's like having a cream tea for breakfast :)




I have several recipes for tortillas that include cooked pasta instead of potatoes and I have wanted to make one for ages.

So I cooked too much fresh tagliatelle with a plan to make a tortilla the next night. This is it in the pan, cooking. Onions, red peppers, asparagus (also leftover from the previous night) and slices of quorn sausage that I browned before adding the veggies to soften before adding the pasta and egg mix.





And this is it cooked and served with a small mixed salad of leaves, tomatoes, cucumber and beetroot.

It was delicious.




What a long post - I need to update a couple of times a week at least but life is busy. New OU course starts for real this week and 4 or 5 gym trips a week alongside a full time job means I am a busy lady. Long may it continue.

I've been nagged!

I ask people to follow my blog and then I stop posting.

Being snowed in for 3 days was fun for 1 day. Then I got twitchy and wanted to go to the gym, to work, to the shops. Anywhere but stay at home.

We had some lovely meals using the slow cooker, gave food parcels to neighbours from my well stocked store cupboards and had some lovely walks in the fields. But it was still like being in a prison. Cars abandoned all over the place and the police asking us not to move our vehicles. Crazy situation.

Back into a good routine now of 4 days a week at the gym and healthy eating. Portion sizes are too big but that is being worked on too. My trainer is working with me on progressive workouts to keep me challenged. OU starts soon to exercise the brain cell. I am feeling happier than I have for a long long time.

I tried an M&S Fuller Longer meal for lunch today. It was delicious and healthy. But I wouldn't pay full price for it for a lunch :-( Photo to follow.

I have stopped gaining weight and started to lose. Long may it continue.

Thanks for the nag Pam x

Early Start

I was up at 5:45 and out of the house by 5 past 6. Very cold and icy start and I left as soon as the car had deiced. I slid around one bend but other than that I made it to the gym in one piece.

I had a good session with my trainer, Mark, and he said that he could tell my attitude had changed.

Determination stayed with me throughout the day and I ended up banking a hundred or so calories.

A good day but it is getting colder and colder and there is heavy snow forecast.

Back to Work :-(

Oh it was cold this morning. And the office hadn't been heated since 31st December.
We decamped to the local café and had caffé mocha and porridge with honey for breakfast and let the office warm up for an hour.

Lunch was leek, turnip and bacon soup that I made yesterday followed by a lemon curd yogurt.

Supper was bolognese sauce served with shredded cabbage rather than spaghetti as I am back on my healthy eating and trying to have a few carb free evening meals.

Still bitterly cold and I have a session with my trainer booked for 6:30 tomorrow morning. I just hope I can get the car off the drive and down the hill.

Snow!!

We had planned on meeting our friends at Stourhead for lunch and a walk but overnight snow put a stop to that. We haven't seen their 2 sons in 2 years now.

We cleaned the house, Rod put wooden shelves in the cabinet he bought so that I can use it as a book cupboard and clear the last of the pile on the window sill.

Rod cooked ham egg and beans for lunch and then he made a turkey curry for supper. I had a Snickers bar and I really ate it t get rid of it. I should have put it in the fridge and saved it for a day when I really fancied some chocolate.

The snow melted by mid afternoon but the temperature plummeted again and the world started to freeze over again.

Happy New Year

What a cold start to the year. Sis-in-law and her fiancé and their daughter popped in for a couple of hours on their home to Surrey from Cornwall.

We had boiled bacon, fried eggs and home made potato wedges for lunch. Followed by the boozy Christmas Pudding that Rod was given by his friend. I had Ginger Clementines. Not a bad start to the New Year although the icy weather meant no walk.

I have started this year 20lbs heavier than I started 2009. The only way is down.

Last Post Of 2009

I haven't posted as often as I meant to and I hope that will change next year.

I have a few challenges and targets but I am not, repeat not, setting myself up for failure this year.

I know what I would like to achieve and I shall do my best to make sure they happen.

They include passing my OU course with a good grade in October; losing as much of my excess weight as possible before a planned holiday in June; cleaning up my diet; and applying as much determination and discipline to my health and fitness as I do to my studies.

I also hope to get a few followers to my blog as I think some feedback and encouragement would be a good motivator.

Happy New Year my unknown followers.

The end of another week

I have had a mixed week this week. Somehow the scales are showng a 3lb weight gain. I've not been an angel but I don't deserve that :-(

My new slow cooker has been busy earning its keep this week; casseroles, stews, and today a large pot of bolognaise sauce is simmering away. That will be the base for a Cottage Pie for supper with parsnip and potato mash on top. The rest will be frozen for quick suppers next year when I start studying again.

Lunchtime soup today was Curried Parsnip & Apple - to use up the glut of parsnips that were taking over my fridge.











One tasty supper this week was Salmon on Mushroom Risotto. Very filling and tasty.

Exam Results Today -and other news

The day started badly with my trainer not turning up for our new time slot of 0630 on Tuesdays. He was contrite when he realised his mistake.

Rod was in hospital today for an op on his ear. Thankfully when I picked him up he felt well and the newly fitted grommet had stopped the drumming in his left ear that he has suffered since April.

But the best news of the day is my OU exam result. I achieved 76% in my exam and 75% overall for the course. That gives me a Grade 2 pass. With any other institution that would be a First but with OU it's a 2nd! And there was me thinking that if I did pass I would scrape though with just over 40%.

It has given me more confidence in myself so I have enrolled for the compulsory course for a History degree. Let's hope I don't live to regret that decision.

Sunday Again

I can't get into the habit of logging on every day - then boooooom a whole week has passed and I haven't posted anything.

This week has been pretty good.

I have seen my trainer twice and enjoyed two good sessions. On Friday we spent an hour doing a circuit of boxing, crunches and hill walking with dumbbells - I can't run due to a back problem.

My meals have been mainly healthy and nutritious and I have maintained my weight for the third week in a row. So hopefully I have stopped the weekly gaining that had been part of my life for several months.

If I can maintain until the New Year I shall be happy as there is quite a lot going on over the next couple of weeks.

I've used my slow cooker and made a couple of very tasty meals - veg casserole to go with roast lamb last Sunday and my Chicken with Lemon & Honey. That worked well which was a relief as it only takes about 20-25 minutes in the oven.










I've got a venison casserole simmering away for us to have when we get back from an early Christmas Concert tonight. I'll make some mash when we get in so we should be eating within 25 minutes of walking through the door. Yum Yum.

I shall try to post more often and keep a diary of my gym routines and my meals - that was the whole idea of starting a blog - so I could look back and see what I had done and eaten.

Sunday, Sunny Sunday

What a wet week!!

I have lost that real 'go for it' feeling that I had last weekend and ate way way too much yesterday (Saturday).

I have made a few positive changes this week though and saw my personal trainer, Mark, on Friday for the first time since March. He worked me hard for about an hour and a quarter and I felt a pleasant ache yesterday.

Foodwise I have made some healthy and nutritious meals. My diet is about 80% healthy. I want to change that to 95% healthy.

Pics of some of last week's meals to follow.










Lamb with sweet potato and spinach













Sideways view of oats and ginger clementines










I made too much of this mushroom soup and got fed up of it.

My plan to buy a new freezer and make stews and soups ofr my lunch has failed. The freezer is far too big for the kitchen and will be returned.

Today I am going to make a vegetable stew in my new slow cooker (£10 from Tesco) and have that with roast lamb tonight. The left overs will be for lunch tomorrow.

Another trainer session tomorrow morning will make sure I get back into the gym. Looking forward to it.