Tis nearly over! 2012 that is.

30^th December 2012

Walls are what make a house but it’s the people inside it that make it a home.

 

Mmm do I blog about the end of the year and how much I’ve achieved, done etc or do I look at the future and the idea of resolutions.  NAH!  Everyone’s doing that and if you buy any magazine or newspaper this weekend, it will be full of ideas on how to ‘become the person you’ve always wanted to be’, or ‘how to lose the holiday weight’ blah blah blah!

Nope I don’t wait for January 1^st to do things or improve myself; I try to do that on a daily basis.  The same way as I don’t wait all year for a holiday to enjoy myself and relax, I make time to do that as often as possible. 

One thing I did realise on holiday last week was learning to appreciate the normal, everyday things; it’s about making those things enjoyable; that’s what can make an ordinary life perfect.   It’s not about the holidays and the meals out or the trips to the theatre (although they are very nice), it’s not about striving for more, it’s about the cups of tea and giggles over the kitchen table (oh how I wish my house was big enough for a kitchen table), it’s about curling up together on the settee after a long day.  It’s forgiving and forgetting and making allowances, it’s about tolerating each other because your house is full of love.  Trust, truth and honesty in a safe place you call home whoever you share that space with.  That for me is what life’s all about, I’ve lost the desire to go places and do things, don’t get me wrong when I do them, I enjoy but I don’t feel that I have to be doing, I’m happy just to be.  As long as I’m in the company of those I love it really doesn’t matter where we are.

So what are some of the normal every day things we have to do whether we want to or not?  Eating – no problems there ;-)

Shopping – some people hate it, I love it, I spent a good hour wandering round Sainsbury’s yesterday after a week of abstinence!  As I walk round I think up meal ideas and use that time to plan my week.

Washing – mmm you can’t beat a nice bubble bath can you?

And of course cooking is something really that should be done daily, so why not make it something you enjoy and something that’s going to give you good health rather than make you feel sluggish and yuk?  I’m not the best cook in the world but I know the flavours I like, over the years using Weight Watcher guidelines and cookbooks I’ve learned to not just cook but to adapt other recipes to suit my food plan.  For example yesterday I was looking for recipes containing cheese because I have a copious amount left; I found a recipe for Tartiflette!  No I’d never heard of it either, apparently it’s a French dish from the Haute Savoie region of France. It is made with potatoes, reblochon cheese, lardons and onions.  Of course I haven’t got reblochon cheese but I have got brie so that’ll do, I also haven’t got lardons but I have ham or a little bit of chorizo left, I looked at a few different recipes to get the gist and I’ll experiment today, replacing double cream for maybe a low fat soft cheese mixed with skimmed milk sauces.  Should work I reckon.

So yeah, other than going back to eating well, I’ll not be making New Year Resolutions, I may be setting myself weekly goals though, so last week was to finally finish reading a book I started in October, I’ve done it and enjoyed it so much I will be reading more from now one.  My goal this week is to go look through my cupboards and make a meal plan ready to use up all the contents, I’ve been and bought some fruit and vegetables but I don’t want to be buying anything else till I have to.  Also restart tracking, the holidays over!

The quote at the beginning of this blog made me also realise “My meetings may be made by Weight Watchers, but the success is made by you!”  Let’s all agree to be as successful as we can be whilst enjoying the everydayness of it all, don’t wait till you get to your goal to do things, if you want a nice new hair cut or a fancy dress, have it now!  If you’ve always fancied visiting that one particular place book it, you’re weight shouldn’t be taken into consideration when it comes to enjoying your life.  By all means focus on healthy eating and losing weight to be healthier and happier but don’t wait until you lose your weight to be happy.

And lastly, don’t beat yourself up for overindulging this past week or so, it’s what most people do, it makes you human, try some positive self talk and self love, because beating yourself up SUCKS!

Here’s to a productive Sunday for me, there’s not much walking going to be done though if it doesn’t stop raining!