Week 35

 

Hello my little chicka dees!  Here we go then, back on track and a big fat 4lbs off since we last spoke.  No point in thinking of where I might have been.  Just time to reflect, regroup and roll forwards.  Whichever way you look at it, I am thirty six and a half a pound lighter since starting my weight loss in October and boy, am I thankful for that with our current heat wave.

So, Gloria and I have had a little cheek to cheek action over the last couple of weeks and I even took her swimming the other day for a bit of variety.  No, for goodness sake, not into the swimming pool, just to the cycle bay while I went for a swim.  I normally drive to the pool but thought it would do us both good if we went together and it did. Smashed the hill back from the pool with no problem at all.  The training for the LiDBA charity ride did me some good after all and it has made me realise that I really do need to complete another sporting challenge to help me with the weight loss.  Harrison’s daddy is doing an average man to Iron Man challenge and Brenchie (who was my LiDBA wing man) is cycling from London to Paris.  Well, clearly my boobs are too big to embark on any Iron ‘Man’ challenge and neither Gloria nor I can speak French so that one is out of the question also.  If you have any ideas which are clean and involve wearing all of my clothes then I would greatly appreciate your input. Just let me know and I shall add it to the bucket list. Any other suggestions and I shall name and shame you in the blog next week.  Ooh, talking of which it has been a while since we had a peek.

 

14lbs Treatment at Old Thorns Mum & Sister spa night away Completed with synchronised swimming.	21lbs Walk from Hayling Island to Emsworth 5 Miles (without oxygen) Completed!	28lbs 5 Mile Cycle Challenge Completed!	34lbs First Horse Riding Lesson Completed!	39lbs 25 mile LIDBA Bike Ride Sunday 9th June Completed!	42lbs Drop down the highest red slide at play zone Portsmouth Bra fitting completed.	48lbs Western Horse Riding Day in the New Forest
52lbs Top to toe beauty day.	60lbs Flight on Warbird at Goodwood (Have wanted to do this forever!)	62lbs Sporting Challenge?	65lbs Weekend in Barcelona	68lbs Family & Friends  Go-Karting session at Farnborough	70lbs  The Holiday Clothes Shopping Slimming World Magazine

 

I have taken out a couple of things and put in some fresh dangly carrots just to keep it fresh.  You will also notice ‘drop down the highest red slide at play zone’ with the need for a bra fitting underneath. Well, bra fitting completed courtesy of M&S Guildford and it really shouldn’t take them long to get over the experience.  Anyway, it was necessary, it really was. Ladies, if the time has arrived when your bust is suddenly playing pitty pat with your knees or resembling two tennis balls in socks and you have to have a fitting, then take my advice, take a friend who also needs a fitting.  Preferably one that is female, is patient and who comes with a wicked sense of humour.  In between the embarrassment of revealing yourself to a complete stranger (should be a female, if not a female then, you might be in the wrong place) and trying to hold your breath in to make your tummy look smaller in a state of half nakedness you realise there is no escape from looking at your topless reflection in a variety of mirrors while sharing a small space with a stranger. So just when you think your embarrassment is over and you have hastily adorned your clothing you then hear your 'so called' friend laughing from outside the cubicle declaring “Christ, even I didn’t think they were that big!” Well, that is that for another few pounds. 

Undeniably, one of the hardest times to lose weight, in my opinion, is during the summer holidays.  Asking my friends universally how they get through the weeks, we reveal one common denominator,alcohol.  Clearly this is going to present me with a challenge especially as I want to lose another 10lbs by the end of the 7 weeks.  Last year I remember I actually put on 9lbs.  Bad, bad habits with the only upside presenting itself at the last innings by confirming that I still housed the same number of children at the end of the holidays that I started with.  Not quite sure how this works for my teaching friends and family.  Do you start drinking at the beginning of the holidays with the euphoria and knowledge that you have a whole 6 weeks plus before you discipline other people’s children again?  Does it then escalate as you get towards September, looking at the inset days as a last ditch attempt to let your hair down or save your liver? I did think about not drinking any alcohol for the whole of the holidays but then realised it might put me in a catatonic state and/or therapy.

So in amongst all of the difficult stuff that we have experienced as a family over the last few weeks, I want to share something lovely with you.  Whilst bobbing around on the Solent last week, we had the most beautiful seal spotting experience.  Just off Hayling Island, a seal family made up of 6 large adults who were basking on a mud flat with two playful pups rolling and swimming in the shallows chasing the fish. Simply magical.  Is it me or do all seals really look like podgy, beautiful Labradors with oversized whiskers and flippers?

Here we go again then….thirty six and a half a pound of temperamental fat gone…..thirty three and a half a pound of fat to go. Sx

 

Week 34

Well, there is no denying that the last couple of weeks have been difficult.  Following the sudden death of my friend which I have already shared with you, exactly a week later we lost, after a very quick illness and diagnosis, a very special member of our family. A beautiful uncle.  Two funeral services on two consecutive Wednesdays and the hardest part of it all was seeing all those that I love so much in pain and tears.  Cancer.  Bloody cancer.

I wish I was the type of person to drop half of my bodyweight in stressful and upsetting situations but actually I am the complete opposite.  I decided to book two weeks ‘holiday’ time with my Slimming World Consultant in a bid to try and hold on to a bit of control.  The last thing I needed was to stand on the scales and see a weight gain - it wouldn’t have taken much for me to shove the scan bran where the sun don’t shine.

So, yesterday morning (as scheduled) I bit the bullet and I returned to class. 2.5lbs on.  A minor miracle if you ask me considering I nearly drowned on more than one occasion in a bath of Shiraz and mini cheddars.

Of course I am really disappointed. The first weigh in after Pete died and I put on 3lb and now I have another gain of 2.5lbs.  I was so close to the 3 stone weight loss marker and now I am closer to 2.5 stones.

You know something? When I started my weight loss journey I never viewed it as one of those perfect race scenarios where I could weather all storms and still lose weight at a rate of 2lbs a week and write the perfect diet book, I just wanted to share my real ups and downs and have a bit of fun along the way with a bucket list.  So, as much as I have taken a few steps backwards and believe me it is a bitter pill to swallow, this is real life.  It is time to stop, change gear and get moving forwards again.

Next week, my little chicka dees,  is time to visit the bucket list again and get some more positivity and fun back in the mix. For now though, this is really  going to hurt as I am under the half-way point again but so be it, the deed is done……thirty three and a half a pound of fat lost..... thirty six and a half a pound and counting. Sx