Loving #WomanKind

27th December 2015

She stood in the storm and when the wind did not blow her way, she adjusted her sails

I spent yesterday doing nothing - it was fabulous!  I plan to do pretty much the same today, we all need time to recharge, to do things we enjoy.  Don't get me wrong I didn't sit and stare into space all day, although I did start the day with 20 minutes meditation, I just spent the day 'being' rather than doing.  Not having to think, 'what have I got to do next' is lovely, I know after a week, I'll have had enough of that but for now I'm still enjoying it. 

We had our turkey dinner yesterday thanks to my brother, he bought it round for us and it was delicious, today I'm thinking I'm going to focus on the 'No Count' food list from the new Smart Plan, I fancy bubble and squeak with the leftovers, cabbage, sprouts, carrots, potatoes, perfect way to use them up and a great way to get me back to focusing on the healthy.  I still don't intend to be 100% good as I'm on my holiday and I have no intention of tracking as such until the 2nd of January, however my twiglets are finished, so are the pringles and to be honest that's all the rubbish stuff I bought, moms got her stash but I can resist that and the freezer is full so I have no need to go shopping and be tempted by the 'reduced' Christmassy crap!

Yeah I'm on holiday and I want streaky bacon in my bubble and squeak and a fried egg on top, mmm nice!  Come this time next week, the tracker will be out on the side in the kitchen and any signs of bacon will be in the form of lean back!

I absolutely love this video, I ask you to watch it, it's about what makes a strong relationship?  It's powerful to watch, so watch now before reading on;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C91z5VfybSY&sns=fb  

It's been my mission for a very long time to encourage my members to love and appreciate themselves as much as they do others, to realise their own BeYOUtiful and I just love that Weight Watchers are making it a big part of the SMART plan now

This page makes for interesting reading;

https://www.weightwatchers.com/uk/womankind

It says that 82% of women feel that the relationships they have with themselves could be stronger!  85% would like to be kinder to themselves, 88% wouldn't criticise others the way they criticise themselves and 89% of women compliment other people in ways they would never compliment themselves!  Isn't that sad, so please make 2016 the year you change, start bigging yourself up, stop criticising yourself and be kinder to yourself, look in the mirror everyday and pay yourself a compliment. 

It's nice to be nice, so be nice to yourself as well as others.  I've just read that womankind page and I love it, on it, it states " Finding the right group of people – either online or in real life – is a way of being kind to ourselves."  This is so true and I've proved it, I only surround myself with people that lift me, I've removed myself from angry people where possible, I like my calm world.  It also says “The best way to feel good about yourself is to ‘find your thing’ and do it.  Well I definitely found my thing when I became a Weight Watcher leader, it isn't just a job, it's a passion, it's why even though I'm having a week off from my meetings, I'm not totally disengaged from my members. 

So bubble and squeak, that can be breakfast right?  Then we can have it for dinner too, I may end up a little windy but hey, we're not going anywhere today so it's all good :)

Here's to a super Sunday. xx

A lovely day was had!

26th December 2015

It's not what's under the Christmas tree that matters, it's who's around it.

What a lovely day it was, I was overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness of the gifts we received, but better than the gifts was spending an entire day with my mom and not having to go anywhere or think about anything, then to get visited by family, yeah it was a perfect day.

Hopefully everyone else had a lovely day too, I've already seen some of you are raring to get back on track, which means you really overindulged, I wonder how many went to bed with heartburn last night!

I really enjoyed my tbone steak with my roast carrots & parsnips and sprouts, not forgetting the obligatory fried egg, mmm really tasty, apart from a sausage sarnie for breakfast that was the only 'food' I ate yesterday, I did eat my thorntons truffles I was bought and twiglets but that was me from a food point of view.  There was alcohol of course, a couple of champagne glasses of my gold fleck G&T, then a few of red.  My family helped me drink the rest of the baileys and salted caramel crème liqueur so I don't have to think about them again for another year! 

And bless my big brother, he bought me a Christmas dinner, so I'll be having that today nom nom, might not even wait till lunchtime! 

Just sitting her realising I've got 7 days off, it feels a little weird if I'm honest, it's been 12 months since the last time, I might actually attempt to read a book today, but then again I might just sit and watch tele, I've still got Doctor Who to view, that'll be my highlight today. 

I want to have a clear up too, the kitchen looks like a bombs been dropped, the living room still has presents strewn everywhere - it's fab, so that'll be first I think so mom gets up to a tidy house for a change ;) yes she's still snoozing, not bad for someone who struggles to sleep!

Proper chilled I am and the fact I don't have anything to write proves that! 

So Happy Boxing Day everyone, enjoy your day. xx

Merry Christmas Everyone!

25th December 2015

Don't get your tinsel in a tangle!

Happy Christmas everyone, I got the best Christmas gift, an early night and a lie in - BOOM, now that's a result, I'm completely refreshed and recharged, just made us both a cuppa and moms chilling in bed, I'm sat at my pc listening to Radio 2, which I think is going to have to change stations as I can't be listening to durgy kind of tunes this morning, I don't care if it is a religious day, there are better carols to play!

What does Christmas mean to you, I absolutely love the excitement that the children feel but most of all I love that people tend to be kinder to each other at this time of year, more courteous on the roads, not so much the supermarkets I hear!  I stayed away from then!  Dr Seuss in the Grinch had it summed up;

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,
stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” 

There's more to Christmas than opening pressies and stuffing ourselves silly, and these films like Grinch and Christmas Carol have been getting that message across to us for years, goodwill to all, that's the spirit of Christmas.  Hopefully that side of Christmas will continue to be handed down from one generation to another and not just the 'presents' part of it!

Having said that I had an awesome gift yesterday, I love it when someone just "knows" you and being handed a tbone steak from one of my besties proved that yesterday, is that not just the best, that's my Christmas dinner now, it'll go perfectly with moms egg and chips request. 

We're going to open our gifts, my members have spoilt me this year, I have a feeling I might be opening a lot of alcoholic beverages though! 

What am I looking forward to today?  Mmm, no paperwork to do, Doctor Who - I love it and giggling at silliness with my mom, oh and not forgetting my tbone steak and my besties, I may not be able to spend Christmas day with everyone I love but thanks to the internet, the power of Facebook and the telephone I'll be able to stay in touch. 

I'll be able to do that on my happy new phone if I can ever back up my old one (pc keeps shutting down half way through!) and now I can't activate the new one as the writing is that small on the sim card, I think it's now locked me out as I've tried to many times and told me to call 202, I can't do that on Christmas day, but I can live without my new phone till the weekend, WOW I think I'm finally growing up! 

Merry Christmas BeYOUtiful, hope you have an incredibly, wonderful day - I'm about too. xx

It's only, very, nearly Christmas!

24th December 2015

Understanding your worth.  Value your life.  Appreciate your belssings.

Allow yourself to be a beginner - I love this idea and I'm going to embrace it in January and treat the Smart Points plan as if I were a new member, tracking, planning the lot and I'm looking forward to it, but first Christmas. 

If you haven't updated your Weight Watchers app in the last few days, do so now, there's a new 'connect' section and it's fab, bit like instagram but without the hassle of another app and I can follow my members and they can follow me back, so if you haven't already, follow me 'blongsden'.

Christmas Eve, just one more morning of work and I get a week off work, I'm looking forward to some downtime, to focusing on myself and of course spending time with my mom, she's still got the lurgy but not as bad as some have had it so hopefully she'll recover soon.

Early start this morning, I'm weighing members from half seven so they can then go to work or shop or whatever it is we all do on Christmas Eve, I've woke up feeling all festive but I guess I better get cracking! 

Another incredible night at the scales last night, ended the year on a high, Margaret reached her goal, 61lb lost - fabulous, what a Christmas present.  Paul got his 50lb certificate which made all of us pleased, it's eluded him for a while now.  It was just incredible listening to everyone's success at the scales this year as we chatted and it has been all week, look at the success already since Smart Points launched two weeks ago;

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153617957520862.1073741916.595730861&type=1&l=8febadcf9f

Okay short and sweet, I'm feeling truly blessed this morning, a conversation I had with my helper (Julie) last night made me realise how long we've known each other and how used to each other we are, another friend I love that Weight Watchers has provided me with, gotta love the company for that! 

Happy & Healthy Christmas BeYOUtiful, enjoy yourself, I'm going to!

Here's to enjoying a Happy & Healthy Christmas BeYOUtiful

23rd December 2015

Old ways won't open new doors.

There's no greater sense of satisfaction than seeing that member achieve that goal they've set themselves, well maybe a little more when they honestly didn't think they were going to do it because they'd gone out a couple of times and stuck to the 80/20 rule, instead of aiming for perfection.   That's what happened last night, Nikita usually gets weighed on a Saturday but came early because of Christmas and because she was only 1lb off her 75lb certificate, weighing night instead of morning could've affected the scales, eating out at Cosmo and having pizza also could've taken its toll but instead when she stood on, it was a 2lb loss! BOOM!  Her look of disbelief was lovely, so well deserved and a incredible journey so far.  31 weeks in and it's been a steady consistent weight loss after the initial big losses in the first month.   Can't tell you how pleased I am for her as I can see how much it means to her, it's also landed her a new job with a bigger pay packet, something she tells me she wouldn't have had the confidence to do before!  If you haven't already read it, she recommends the SMILE book out of the pack as a good read, I do too by the way, let's make 2016 we all start loving ourselves for who we are, not how much we weigh.

Other's hit the Christmas goals yesterday too, it was great to be a part of that, I loved listening to their highlights and smile moments of the year and hearing what their Christmas plans are.

I'm going to have to brave a supermarket, I need bread!  Might tackle Asda this morning on my way to my meeting maybe or when I come out.  I've got a poorly mom in bed, she's got the lurgy, she sounds dreadful!

My Christmas control plan is we can't eat what isn't here, so I'm not going to fill my house full of all the junk that is mostly responsible for the weight gain, then I can only do so much damage.  I've just read that one of my members had eaten a packet of honey roasted peanuts, ouch, and I know I would do exactly the same thing myself if they were in the house, all those nibbly things are irresistible to me, the pork crunch I bought from poundland  because they were only 2sp a packet, yeah well there's 6 packets so that's actually 12sp!  I can live without.

I'm looking forward to having a couple of days with hours to spare where I can stand in the kitchen and create something delicious, I fancy the pork and apricot burgers out of the new Smart cookbook, mmm the sticky sausage open sarnie looks damn fine too!  IN this months magazine the breakfast hash looks tasty, mmm I might have to have smoked haddock for Christmas brekkie, page 45 of mag smoked salmon on rosti, I'll have a bit of that!  Oh yes, bring on the good stuff, that way I don't need all those nibbles that we eat and don't even remember eating, that cost us trillions of smart points and really, aren't worth it because you only taste the first mouthful and the last!

3 meetings today, looking forward to hearing more about their triumphs and smiles of 2015.  Here's to enjoying a Happy & Healthy Christmas BeYOUtiful. xx