2014 for me, it's been about love & laughter, oh and lunch of course!

31st December 2014

Every accomplishment starts with a decision to try

Well I'm completely out of sync, I have to check my calendar to work out what day it is, I'm going to bed at really early hours and waking up in the middle of the night, it's lovely not to be on the clock, I woke at 3.30am this morning when mom went to the bathroom, so I lay in bed reading, then fell back to sleep.  I've got to admit we've had some awesome Christmas breaks in some very beautiful places but I'm enjoying this years for those things you miss when you go away like your own bed and not having to pack and drive miles before you can relax, it's a week today since I broke up and it's been wonderful, a real relaxing break, I've done what I fancied when I fancied and only IF I fancied. 

I did the hovering and tidying I said I would do yesterday, it didn't take too long, then we spent the rest of the day watching all the stand up dvds mom had received for Christmas, we enjoyed Lee Mack (he does a fantastic bit of Irish names) and Jack Whitehall (so natural and witty and likeable) but our favourite and the best by far was Sarah Millican, home bird live, that is hilarious, 98 minutes of none stop laughter, she really is a funny woman.  I can't say the same for the Miranda live show, we turned it off after about 15 minutes, I don't think I've ever done that before with a stand up dvd. 

In case you'd forgotten it's the last day of 2014, I guess we should be reflecting on our year, mmm that's where Facebook comes in really handy for me, anyone who knows me really well knows my memory is horrendous, my mom may have dementia but I have the worst memory in the world which is why I take photos and post statuses, it's so I can look back and read and enjoy things that have happened in my life.  One photo works better than reading an entire diary entry, 

this photo for example reminds me of an hilarious afternoon when Lynne and I walked along the canal (we were being healthy) to drink lager and spend a fortune on lunch, before venturing in the local Sainsbury's for a bottle of lemoncello then walking back along the canal ever so slightly tipsy ;), a wonderful few hours away from reality and so many giggles.

Now to you this one is just a pudding photo, but to me it was a meal out with my mates where two of them sat and ate bread and butter pudding whilst I drank water because I was in the zone and I wanted wine later, I'm sure they ordered it because it's my favourite pudding and it was the meal when the chap told AnnMarie the pudding was huge and she wasn't impressed with his description of huge, it was the day I cried with laughter and I can't actually remember why, but we had so much laughter.  It was also the day the pub tried to serve us three courses in record speed time but we still stayed 3 hours!  You can't rush laughter and ladies that are lunching!

I have so many lovely photos of mom, I like this one of us messing about, we'd found feather dusters - they'd never been used UNsurprisingly!

The photo that proves I don't hate kids, we spent a whole afternoon entertaining loads of them at a teddy bears picnic and his crying makes me laugh every time I see it (that doesn't mean I hate kids, it means I find them crying funny!), I remember taking his brother to see Spiderman and him barely talking to me, a few months on and I can't shut the kid up! 

I have so many photos of AnnMarie with her head in her hands, and none of the reasons are her children, everything has had 4pp in this year when we've eaten out!

The day the crazy old lady stole a sign in a storm - I'm saying no more on that subject!

We did so many events to promote Weight Watchers, Bloxwich carnival being one of them, so many photos but this one took some effort - how many Weight Watchers does it take to put a brolly up!

And this one shows taking down a gazebo is not easy!

As for this one, I thought her sister had been a challenge in my meetings but this darling - even I get scared at times!  The night she put her fists up in the boxing position to take on the girl who'd just snatched something off her was, well....

It as the year I decided to have all my hair cut off and go disgracefully grey!

It was also the year mom came home with many a find, this four leaf clover being one of the nicer things!

It was also the year my members helped me raise lots of money for charity and Julie dropped my Manchester tart she'd so lovingly baked for me, I laughed, I know I shouldn't but it was the first time I'd heard her swear.

A year I had a lot of fun and laughter doing the simple things in life like gardening, reading, eating, drinking, the first time I'd ever done hanging baskets in my garden!

Still had fun with my bestie, this was taken the day we painted pots!  That turned out to be a very expensive day, young Jen - very savvy!  I've had many a fun day with that young lady whilst her mom went to work.

My 10th year of being a leader and I celebrated so much weight loss in my meetings and members getting to goal including Julie who followed me from a meeting I left to another.  I'm blessed to know so many amazing people, I really am.  Too many awesome Weight Watcher related photos to post, from successful members to the flowers and cake I received for my 10th year, memories galore from a job I adore - ooo that rhymes!

It was the year I thought I might lose one of those amazing people, but I didn't because she's a fighter!  Instead we all got together, took part in Race for Life and raised lots of money for cancer research. 

This was the day my dog reminded me it was all going to be okay, whatever life throws at us, we can handle...

Remembering the brilliant day I got to escape to Harry Potter world, fabulous day that was.

Not forgetting the day I met up with a mate I hadn't seen for a few years, we enjoyed the incredible Poppies in London and we explored the city and of course ate a delicious lunch. 

And remembering all of all those day's I didn't feel the need to escape to anywhere because I'm exactly where I want to be.

I'm very fortunate to have a job I love and I life I want, here's to making 2015 another year where that's true.  There were some scary months last year but I don't take photos of those memories they're best not remembered too often, you can't change the conditions life throws at you but you can change your reactions to them.

I'm all for remembering the good, forgetting the past and accepting what I can't change.  I'm also ready to have a fantastic 2015, lots of love and laughter in the healthiest and happiest way possible.

Happy New Year BeYOUtiful.

Getting my tidy on...

30th December 2014

If more of us valued home above gold, it would be a merrier world. Thorin -The Hobbit

Thoroughly enjoyed sitting in the cinema yesterday for 3 hours forgetting about reality, that truly is the magic of the cinema, when you watch a film there, it's all about the screen, at home you find yourself distracted.  I really should make more effort to go to the cinema in 2015, and I think we've already picked our first movie, 'big hero 6', it looks very good, oh and kids will love it too.

Mom and I watched Top Gear on the night, I've never watched it before and I won't lie I only wanted to watch it initially because I'd heard they'd got into trouble, yet we loved it, not the violence at the end the rest of it, their banter with each other is wonderful and it was such a shame that it did end on a nasty note.  I will however be looking to watch their other specials that they've done because we both enjoyed it.

So today, now I know I've said this before and not stuck to my word but I've been planning this all day yesterday and I AM going to do it.  What you ask - housework!  It's got to be done, my office, bedroom and the living room all desperately need a hoovering and my office and bedroom need tidying, they're in a right state, I reckon that will consume the large part of my day and I'm prepared for it. I just can't work in this disarray any longer, and if I'm saying that I has to be bad!  It's ok if I'm staring at the screen but as soon as I turn round, my heart sinks.   So with my energy reserves restored, I'm ready and willing to go to war with the mess.  Go to war!  Been watching too much hobbit fighting I think.

I've even got food planned, I'm defrosting a spatchcook chicken (bought it reduced before Christmas), we're going to have chicken and rice with vegetables, then the leftover chicken will be used on a jacket potato possibly with some curry sauce.  I've just gone through what I've got left in the freezer and now I can make meals from that for the rest of the week, think I can get away without shopping at all and if I do need to it'll only be for basics.

Yes I'm all re-energised and ready to get tidy, healthy and even lose a few pounds, all I needed was a rest and I still have the rest of the week to do that, so one day of housework won't kill me.  I need to finish my rocking chair too, I started that project in the summer and it's just been left, I will finish it this week.

Oh other good stuff from yesterday, AnnMarie (my member from Bloxwich) made the daily Mirror http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/weight-loss-wonders-wanted-see-4885006 and my besties member Annette (Cannock) made the Express & Star http://www.expressandstar.com/editors-picks/2014/12/29/weight-loss-is-sweet-tale-for-family/ It's great to see a members weight loss being celebrated and if you read AnnMaries, her son's name is Vinny not Binny, you've got to love a typo!

Right all these promises need upholding so I'm off to start, it's too early for hoovering but I can start with sorting stuff quietly, sshhh moms still asleep ;) I think I'll find an audio book and put my earphones in to help me along!

Have a great day BeYOUtiful.  Only two days left of 2014, let's make them great ones.

Cold this morning ain't it!

29th December 2014

...and so she closed one chapter and moved onto the next and smiled as she thought - this isn't the end of my story....

It's 5.24am and I'm sat at my computer in my pj's with my Christmas jumper on and my moms santa hat, the hates back to front so his knitted beard is keeping my neck warm, it's a very attractive look as you can imagine, but I'm warm and snug, don't like to put the heating on too early in case it wakes mom up.  I've had an amazing night's sleep, after a few nights where I've been awake at stupid o'clock, yesterday I started to feel tired and when I looked it was only about 5pm, so I fell asleep in my chair about 6, then decided to go to bed around 7 and I've slept for almost ten hours - result!  My body is truly rested, as is my mind from having 4 days of chilling out, now to start doing stuff. 

Today we're off to see the Hobbit, at last the final one, I remember being gutted when we went to see the first one because I didn't know it wasn't a complete film, then being frustrated at the end of the second one because I didn't know it was a trilogy - I really should do my homework on these movies.  Although I'm not as bad as Lynne, she keeps asking where Dobbie is, wrong film!  She did it when we went to Harry Potter world too, asked in the queue if she'd get to see Gollum!  As you've gathered, she isn't an avid fan and just comes to keep me company and escape her kids for a day ;)

Tomorrow I plan to finish my book, 'Reconstructing Amelia' it's called, I do struggle with my attention span when reading a book so I have to be chilled out and in a room with no distractions, the bath is a great place to read!  I've already got my next book lined up so I need to get on with the reading because I want to read that before I go back to work.

So yesterday I had my bacon and mushrooms on a bit of crusty tiger bread then decided the bread wasn't all that so I threw the rest to the birds, they must have agreed because it's still on the path!  The important thing here though is that I was okay with throwing it away, that then motivated me to go through my fridge, freezer and cupboards and have a sort out, all those out of date jars - gone, that leftover meal I froze because in truth I didn't really like the first meal - gone, I'm not keeping food I know I'll never eat and that cheese that I'm not really a fan off but feel I should eat it because it's food and nobody likes waste - gone!  As my bestie said, I'm not on the bread line so I don't need to keep any of it.  My kitchen is now ready to resume the healthy and happy that is Weight Watchers.  I still have that box of chocolates Waitrose gave us for being late, I thought mom and I could share them New Years Eve as we won't be raving it up at a party anywhere.

For dinner we had faggots, mash, carrots and peas, even though I'm not tracking this week, I still ProPointed it and it was 13pp, not a bad price for a convenient delicious meal.  I've defrosted a couple of tuna steaks today for tea and I don't intend on doing any shopping till I've used some of the stuff we already have, my freezer needs a good clearout and that'll be happening this weekend once we've consumed some of the food in there. 

I think it's really important to stop and work out why you're struggling with your eating when you are, it's not just about food, for me I'd already established the stress from mom being ill last year had contributed but also over the last month or so, sheer tiredness, I was shattered and when I'm tired I go and look for my mattress in my fridge!  So one change I will be making in 2015 is to make sure I get that rest I need, that shut off time, that none work related space where I chill out and do things like sit in bath for an hour with a book, or go to bed at 7pm because that's when I fancy sleeping.  There is no right or wrong way to live your life as long as you're living the life you want.  I quite like mine, I really do!

So it's not even 6am, so I'm going to grab another mug of tea and settle down with my book for an hour before mom wakes up.  Have a great day BeYOUtiful, remember to live your life your way. 

Stop stressing about the scales...

28th December 2014

You'll turn out ordinary if you're not careful.  Ann Brashares

Mushrooms!  I have an abundance of mushrooms in my fridge, I've still not got that online ordering perfected so today I will mostly be finding something to do with them!  That's sounds like a very stressful day doesn't it, nope it isn't and I have no plans to do anything stressful for the rest of this year.  Without dwelling because I don't like to do that, this time last year everything turned horrid my mom was ill all day and ended up in hospital in the early hours of the morning on the 29th, the following days were dreadful, all very stressful driving from one side of Wales to another and not knowing if I'd be able to get her home any time soon.  Thankfully she's changing her diet and she's much better these days, it's the main reason we haven't had a houseful of junk in the house this Christmas, food is not worth those after effects!

Well just as a reminder the universe sent me a bit of a shock last night as we were going to bed, poor Alfie fell down the stairs from top to bottom, he seems ok, if not a little shocked, so I'll see how he is today and if need be, I'll take him to vets for a check up.  I don't know who was more surprised him or mom, she watched it happen.  See things can happen in the blink of an eye and that's why you must enjoy every moment, forgive loved ones and embrace life, because you just never know.

The best line I read on Facebook yesterday was "It's all fun and games until your jeans don't fit!"  Now this is possibly the truest statement ever but what we mustn't do is panic.  I've noticed everyone starts to panic, suddenly they realise they've been enjoying the over-indulging just a little bit too much and they try to lose a stone in a day!  It doesn't work, unfortunately you can't burn it off as quickly as you can consume it, it's not that simple.  You can only get back to healthy and accept that it'll come off in its own time as you continue to eat well. 

So how do we stick with it, how do we stay motivated?  It's different for each of us, I've realised for me personally, if I don't plan on eating it, I can't have it in the house.  My resist temptation buttons broke, if it's there - I eat it, does that make me weak and lacking willpower, erm regarding food yeah it does, or you could say it makes me strong to realise and admit it.  I can't resist certain foods at this time so we're not going to have them in the house, unfortunately that includes bread so once there's space in the freezer, I shall buy a loaf for mom to freeze for her to make toast and we won't have any fresh bread for me to pick at, just until I've broke that habit again.  I might even resort to shopping every few days once all the existing foods gone, maybe if I take away all the choice, I'll find it easier to get back on track properly.  2014 has probably been the hardest year for me from a weight control point of view, I've found it difficult and I know that started because I was worried about mom what happened 12 months ago today continued for months afterwards with hospital stays, planned operations, blood transfusions, it was just a really worrying time for us both and I stopped thinking about what I was eating.

So I know everyone says it but 2015 is going to be different, yes things happened, yes our lives are different, so we've adjusted and now to tweak it so I get my waist back! ;-)

Well mushroom recipes you'd want to cook aren't easy to find!  So after everything I've just said, I've decided to have mushrooms on tiger bread, I bought me a loaf to have over Christmas and it's one of those part baked which we haven't had yet, so that's my breakfast today, bacon and mushroom with crusty bread.  See if you dissect that, it's not a bad meal, everything in moderation. The entire loaf according to the nutritional information is 24pp, it's 360g, I'm not planning on eating it all!  Mushrooms are zero, so that'll balance out the bacon ;-)

I'm not stressing over weight loss this week, I'm enjoying my first holiday of 2014, I didn't enjoy 2014's new year, I plan on enjoying 2015's new year, by enjoying I don't mean overeating/overdrinking, I mean having a relaxed week where I'm not worrying about what the scales might say on my first weigh in of next year.  I'm 45 in January, I've been watching my weight on and off since I was 18, I'm not worried, I know when I set my mind to it, I can lose weight.  I'm happy in the knowledge I already lead a healthy lifestyle with a happy dose of excess.  For me, it's all about balance and self-love, because if you love something, you generally take care of it, so this week I'm chilling and spoiling me a little then next week, I'll be restricting the bread intake because I care about myself enough to want to take care of myself.

That's my take on it all anyway, so I'm off to make my mom breakfast in bed, to read my book and generally relax, oh and of course have bacon and mushrooms on a crusty bit of bread mmm.  Happy days!

 Sometimes the most urgent and vital thing you can possibly do is take a complete rest.