Week 18

Good lord I think I deserve a medal. 3lbs off this week and it was half term and not one member of my family has been put up for adoption or smothered.  A successful week all round me thinks.  Nothing different to the eating plan and yes it did involve more than one bottle of wine (sister’s fault).  And nothing different to the exercise regime really except to add in a couple of walks across the Windsor Great Park with Poppy the mad spaniel.  Also my fat burning army has started to deploy north.  Thank god for that one as I was beginning to look a little bit weird.

Now then, moving on to my bucket list;  I seem to be a little bit rubbish in executing my bucket plans as there always seem to be something else getting in the way.  Excuses I know. The walk from Emsworth to Hayling is now scheduled in for a couple of week’s time.  Gloria and I are working on the 5 mile cycle challenge although, to be honest, we haven't seen much of each other this week.  No, we haven't had a row or anything it’s just down to the cold and wet weather.  Yes, another excuse and we do both promise to try a little harder. Oh, and I know its a long way off but sister did not seem keen on swapping the synchronised swimming to pole dancing so it stays on the list. I might also introduce cheerleading just as another opportunity to display our extraordinary ability to co-ordinate. It’s not all about the size of your pom poms you know. Oh crikey... shopping trip for new leotards required with skirts to match... 

14lbs   Treatment at Old Thorns   Mum & Sister spa night away Booked!	21lbs   Walk from Hayling Island to Emsworth (without oxygen)	28lbs   5 Mile Cycle Challenge	34lbs   First Horse Riding Lesson	38lbs   London and the Theatre	42lbs   25 mile LIDBA Bike Ride (June 2013) raising money for www.harrisonsfund.com
50lbs   London and Afternoon Tea at Claridges.... with the girlies	52lbs   Drop down the highest red slide at play zone Portsmouth	60lbs   Flight on Warbird at Goodwood (Have wanted to do this forever!)	62lbs   Synchronised Swimming with Sister. Venue TBA  (suggest Maldives, Bahamas etc)	65lbs   Western Horse Riding Day in the New Forest	68lbs   Family & Friends Go-Karting session at Farnborough (Should be able to fit into a Kart by now).
					70lbs The  Holiday

 

This week is going to be a bit busier again and it might be bit more of a food challenge for me as we do our bit for international relations and welcome Paula, our Spanish exchange student into our home.  We are all very excited about her arrival although Jess is a little indignant at having to give up her room and suggested; “now that daddy has finished decorating and cleared out under the stairs, couldn’t she do a ‘Harry Potter’ instead?”  I just love her sense of humour.

So, my little chicka dees, rapturous applause please...thirty one and a half a pound lost..........thirty eight and a half a pound and counting Sx

Week 17

Smashed it!  2lbs off which takes me to 28½ pounds weight loss.  Another shiny sticker for my book and another certificate for the fridge.  Only 6½ pounds to go now to reach my half way point my little chicka dees.

Week 1	+ 70lbs
Week 2	-6
Week 3	-1½
Week 4	-3
Week 5	-1
Week 6	-3
Week 7	-2
Week 8	-1
Week 9	-2
Week 10	-2½
Week 11	+1
Week 12	-2
Week 13	-½
Week 14	-2½
Week 15	-1
Week 16	+½
Week 17	-2
To date	-28½

 

So, still plenty of socialising this week with minimal wine intake counteracted by lots of swimming and a new addition to our family called Gloria.  Gloria is my new bike.  She is of hybrid descent, white in colour, quite thick tyres and lots and lots gears (which I am not sure what to do with) and I love her.  How daft you may think that I should get so attached to a bike but Gloria and I will be quite intimate over the next few weeks while we get ready for the LIDBA bike challenge.  Seat to seat as they say.

Overly enthusiastic with the beautiful weather and great excitement with our new addition to the family, the girls and I headed out for my maiden mini excursion and ended up going through a ford twice, the muddiest track you have ever seen and almost across a field.  It was at this point that I realised Gloria didn’t have mud guards.  Muddy front and face not so bad but muddy, wet bottom looked really did look like I had a touch of the trots.  They (my children) may have laughed at me then but the great thing about being a mum is that there comes a time when it is deemed fitting to be an embarrassment to your siblings...and that came later in the day.  Meanwhile, if anybody can give me any advice on how to keep the mud from flicking in my eyes without wearing swimming goggles on our next outing, I would greatly appreciate it.... ok mud guards, maybe a basket...tassels on the handlebars...oh god we need a Gok Makeover!

So embarrassing your children; I had to pop over to our local carpet supplier to choose some new flooring as hubby has been decorating like a demon our hallway and landing area.  I thought it best for all concerned if I found another interest for the girls, so I sent them next door to the outdoor park to have some fun.  Twenty minutes later I went to the park to pick up the girls. Well, do you remember way back to my first blog when I got my bottom stuck in the chairoplanes at Chessington?  I now glanced around the play park and wondered whether I would fit into the swings.  Two stone gone from my southern hemisphere and I felt that it was worth the chance.  I glided my bottom in.  Not squeezed it, not painful, just comfortable.  And then I started swinging backwards and forwards...higher and higher....and I found myself squealing.  I went so high the chains loosened and then dropped.  It was an amazing stress reliever which I recommend to all although, I have to be honest, I couldn’t do it for too long as I found there was a fine line between great euphoria and feeling sick.  Anyway, you know when your wicked plan has worked when your children want to escort you from the park.

Getting back to the decorating; the trouble with glossing door frames and banisters when your wife and two children are in the house is that at least one, if not all, are going to touch the beautifully applied wet paintwork at some point. After chastising the children for 3 days in a row after having to wash their white glossed hands, it was my turn.   Under the influence of white wine and gloss paint at the end of a rather lovely relaxing evening, I found myself in the challenging position of having to climb the stairs to bed without touching the walls or banister for support.  I managed to get passed the half way point and then it was a case of grabbing the rail or falling down the stairs.  It was a fleeting touch and I probably would have got away with it if I hadn’t of gone straight to bed and woke up the next morning with a hand looking like a glove belonging to the black and white minstrels.

So my lovely bloggers and bloggettes, next week we revisit the bucket list and I am so sad to say that due to a limitation in venue, we may have to swap our synchronised swimming challenge to pole dancing lessons instead.  I am so sorry to disappoint you all but if you could just keep this to yourselves for a bit until I speak to my sister tomorrow after a bottle of Pinot Grigio I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

So my priority this week my little diet buddies is to stay focussed and not dance around the two stone mark.  I AM going to push forward towards the half way line of 35lbs.  However, I am also the first to appreciate that the half term school holidays are upon us.  If this means that alcohol intake is raised slightly then so be it.  Maybe a smaller weight loss in the right direction is better that than smothering ones children or husband.

Here we go then.....drum roll please....roller blades on....twenty eight and a half pounds of fat in the can....fortyoneandahalfpoundsandcounting. Sx

Week 16

My first commando weigh- in.  Complimented by a non under wired bra, no watch, no jewellery, no breakfast, two loo stops, thin socks, very light cheap leggings and a lightweight top. And the scales were very kind, only ½lb on and delighted.  That may sound a little bit like madness but actually after a wonderful weekend of celebrating hubbies Birthday with the family in Gloucester it could have been a lot more, and believe you me, it used to be

In 16 weeks I have only gained twice.  Once I gained a 1lb and now, this week I add to that a ½lb.  Probably if I had a third loo stop before my weigh in this morning it might have been a maintenance rather that a gain.  Anyway, my Birthday, Christmas, a week’s holiday abroad and now hubbies Birthday have all been across this period of time so, actually, I am still feeling very much in control.  I really want to storm that two stone barrier though, just to get through it, or over it, and on to the next marker.  That means I need to lose 1½ lb.  There are no big celebrations on the horizon this week so hopefully I will not need to resort to removing my nail varnish, plus all of my clothing for the scales to show in my favour at my weigh in next week.

So the great thing about getting together with a large family is the fact that you can always come away with a story or two or a mountain of ammunition, depending on which way you look at it.  Our weekend can be summarised thus; two asthma attacks, one of which attached itself to a chest infection and came with a complimentary visit to Gloucester Royal, one ripped dog ear, an introduction to a top shelf women’s magazine and a fairly new boyfriend (not mine) who despite covering several thousand miles, never actually made it for the celebrations.  So, asthma family members much better thanks to drugs and steam treatment, Beano not required to go to minor injuries for his ear despite splattered blood loss across the carpet and the kitchen, and Mr D with his amazing work ethic and still travelling around the country with every hope he will make it for the Easter family get together.  Maybe we should get his arm tattooed with a fedex barcode and then they could scan and forward him if he becomes too tired to drive. And as far as the top shelf magazine is concerned; Oh my goodness!  During a quiet moment I foraged for some easy reading and decided to scan through my very young niece’s (aged nearly 22) copy of cosmopolitan. Good lord, forget about ‘Fifty Shades’, it talks about everything, and I mean everything.  I started to read an article...if your man is short and fat or if your man is long and slim the best ways to make love are.... I thought they were talking generally about overall physiques not appendages!  For heavens sake, I was brought up with copies of Jackie magazine where they were even careful to describe how to kiss a boy and then how to sew a heart shaped cushion.  That was enough to feed our imaginary brains – I have to say though I caught on to the kissing bit pretty quickly although the sewing has always presented a challenge. I am also led to believe that one can subscribe to said magazine with Tesco Club Card Reward Points, so the kids might have to wait just a little bit longer for their Thorpe Park season tickets.

So not quite at the two stone milestone yet my chicka dees. 1½ lbs to go.  Twenty six and a half pounds lost already and forty three and a half a pound and counting Sx

Week 15

Zip- A- Dee -Doo -Dah, Zip- A- Dee -Ay...My, Oh My, Lost A Pound To-day!  Welcome to another week my little chicka dees.  Just, one more pound away from two stones now.  Can you believe it?  Shoes are easier to put on, steps are easier to climb and it is not such an effort to pick things up off the floor, (including myself).  All good and I am starting to get a few positive comments from people who haven't seen me for a while. 

So a busy week in the woodentops household including a birthday party for ten little people with a sleepover, plus my Grandad’s 92^nd Birthday (no sleepover) and another family dinner at our local pub.  Good lord, my little diet buddies, talk about dodging the bullets this week. It could have been a very messy weigh-in. I nominated myself as a non drinking driver to the away events and even though my mind and body were craving alcohol after the children’s party at home, I managed to abstain.  This, quite frankly, is more than can be said for Daddy who was downing his second beer as the last non sleepover child left the building.

So what else has been going on this week?  The rugby, oh yes yummy.  England off to a flying start chaps.  All that testosterone, massive thighs caked in mud and lovely short, shorts.  Real men, getting down and dirty and not flinching at the odd dislocation or occasional blood loss.  Hurrah for the Six Nations.  I say hurrah!  And in contrast, on the other side of the pond...... the Super Bowl boys were also in full flow, all dressed in shoulder pads and leggings with energy saving spotlight bulbs.

Did I mention that I have acquired a minibus license?  This is for the benefit of the school and not for organising party nights out in Guildford.  Although, saying that, I am CRB checked and licensed to carry small children which should put me in very good stead to carry all members of my friends and family.

Moving on to something completely different - Self -Service check-outs in supermarkets. Before we even discuss the complexity of scanning five items that are bar-coded, from the basket into the carrier bag without sustaining any interruptions or penalties, let us talk about ‘that’ female voice. It is, without question, the most irritating voice of all time and in need of a change. Replace her immediately with the voice of a four year old, a person on helium or a man with a soft Irish accent, anything!  That way when I have an ‘oonexpected oiytum in de baggage area, too be shure’ it wont whip me up into a supermarket frenzy.  I would really; really like to know what the record is for getting a clear run at the self service check-out.  How many items have you ever managed to scan and bag without having to rescan, enter manually, ask for assistance, remove or re-place the item in the baggage area, before an ever willing assistant comes bouncing to your aid?  Maybe, just maybe as an incentive, they should think about emulating the ‘Top Gear’ lap challenge but instead of timed laps do the highest number of groceries successfully bagged and paid for without interruption or assistance. 

So I have still not managed to mount my bike yet and rumour has it the snow is coming again so I may have to make a monumental effort to go to the gym and at least get on a bike so my bottom knows what it is.  I fear that my bike challenge in June is going to come around very soon indeed.  For goodness sake, stop the clock.  We are in February already.

So marching forwards my wonderful support system, twenty seven pounds weight loss to date, forty three pounds and counting. Sx