A BeYOUtiful manifesto

31st December 2016

There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind.  C.S. Lewis

It's 2.55am!  I've been awake since 2 at least I'll be ready for work this morning, it's all good.  I had an early night and I can always have another one tonight, I don't really do New Years Eve, I'm the one that gets woken up by the rabble and the fireworks at midnight.

If life was meant to be controlled, it would come with a remote - how true is that!  We can however do things to control certain things like our behaviour.  It's this time of year where we all start thinking about what those things will be, Dry January, no sugar for 12 weeks, joining the gym, different things for different people. 

I like the idea of writing a personal manifesto, what's one of those I hear you ask, well here's a definition found online;

A manifesto is a published verbal declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government.

So here's mine;

A BeYOUtiful Manifesto

I promise not to beat up on myself.  I promise to love myself.

I will remember my self-worth is not based on what I look like or how much I weigh,

That doesn't define me and is not who I am.

I will empower others, not judge them (or myself),

I'll be kind & keep my sense of humour.

I will remember that just because I've had a bad day,

it doesn't mean I have a bad life

and even on the worst days,

I will remember my needs are important too,

that I am BeYOUtiful and I am enough.

What would yours say?  You can steal mine if you like, I stole bits myself from another one I'd seen online - steal with pride I say, isn't that what Pinterest is all about!

What are the benefits of writing one?  It's a constant source of inspiration, something you can read quickly every day.  If can help to focus your mind, remind you of your life intentions even on a bad day. 

So many of us have the best of intentions at the beginning of January, it's following through that matters, no one can change overnight, it takes time and effort, one day at a time. 

I'm going to be handing out a booklet in my meetings today (and all next week) a Smart Start, it's all about saying YES to a flying start because good results in those early weeks of a weight loss programme are linked to better overall success.  I'm going to use that booklet myself, the first thing I need to decide is which approach I'm going to follow Count or No Count.  I'm thinking No Count today, I'm off for breakfast with my mate and I'm thinking, poached eggs, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, they're all on the No Count list, wonder if they have crumpets?  We shall see, if not Counting it is. 

I went shopping yesterday for fresh stuff, I have a bowl of salad in my fridge - hurrah!  Ham salad for tea it is then, see that's No Count too, yeah I do fancy a bit of No Count, to get my appetite back under control and of course my alcohol intake!

Right you've got to do it for it to work, so I'm ready to do it now, the only dangerous stuff left in the fridge is a bit of cheese, it's all good.

Here's to a super Saturday BeYOUtiful.  Happy New Year, enjoy your weekend, however you plan to spend it.

My years been full of wonderful moments...

30th December 2016

Slower...Slower...Concentrate on one thing, one thing!

Nearly the end of the year, it's been a very calm one for me really, looking through my Facebook photos it's been full of member success, food, sunrises and sunsets.   When I look a little harder though I see lots of giggle moments, quite a few memories that aren't there because we were just too busy enjoying the moment to record it with a photo or there wasn't anyone there to capture the moment for us.

Mom and me have had some wonderful days out this year, we've loved Weston Park the best I think because it's so close, easily accessible and beautiful grounds.  Just scrolling through the images for a few minutes are bringing back so many memories, the Dementia walk on Cannock Chase was a fantastic day and raised lots of money.  The not so big moments are making me smile, walking to the Tesco garage with my bestie and walking back in the rain, then there was the day we walked home through the fields from the pub, proper giggle worthy both of them. 

Just found one of mom eating an ice-cream in Bridgnorth, that was the day she used her dementia to get two ice-creams!  Then there's the ones of us in our HUGE glasses on the way back from poundland, that was a brilliant morning.  See life isn't only about the big moments, it's about making the most of the small ones.  I'm actually going to sort some of these photos out into a separate album, put them on a disk and get them printed, they can be 2016 memories that bring a smile to my face.  I must remember to take even more in 2017. 

At this time of year it's easy to get stuck in a misery rut, the whoop whoop of Christmas is done, the nights are dark, the days are cold, you're skint, you're bored, life sucks!  But really it doesn't, it's just winter and you're having post Christmas blues, it's a great time to look back over your year, get those photos out and off your phone, make plans for what you'll do in the year ahead. 

Were you happy to be in photos in 2016 or don't you like seeing yourself in a picture?  Remember people see you as you are every day, don't worry about what you see in the photo, when I look at photos of me and my loved ones all I see are the smiles, all I notice is the love and all I remember are the memories of that day, I never remember what I or anyone else weighed! 

I love the idea of an Ugly Photo Album, we all have those photos we say "Oh my god, no, I look awful, you can't put that one up!"  Every family needs one, we can't all be photogenic and even if we are, there's always moments of 'Oh dear', so why not put those photos all in one places so that you can all laugh and giggle at the awful photos that have been take over the years.  That would be a real giggle album!

If you're feeling a little flat after the holidays, sit and go through your photos, it's just really lifted me this morning.  I was feeling a bit flat the last few days and what lifted me was a chat to my bestie, I never realised how important she would become to me when I met her for the first time.  Who knew one day she would be my crazy rock, my go to on a bad day, my lager giggles girl, my talk myself out of a bad mood bird.  Yep who knew....

I'm still scrolling through my pics, whilst writing, I've just got to the day we drove to the beach because I hadn't seen the sea for a few years, it took us just over 2 hours and we were on the sand all of ten minutes when mom said "You don't like being here do you Alfie, you've had enough and want to go back to the car", it's a thing she does these days, talks to me through Alfie, rather than just saying 'this is rubbish, I've had enough" she uses Alfie :).  We did get chips before driving back though.

So next time you're feeling a little low, remind yourself it's a bad day, not a bad life and look back over those photos you're going to start taking if you don't already. I'm back as far as January 2016 on my timeline now and my mood is good, I'm ready for a mug of tea, I'm going to sort those pics that I want printing and I've got a nice day planned, got me a massage treat this afternoon that my brother and his wife treated me too, not my usual place she's enjoying her Christmas break like me.

Here's to a wonderful day, focusing on the good, focusing on the happy and healthy, enjoying what we have, being happy about nothing in particular, you up for that BeYOUtiful. xx

Put yourself in your diary!

29th December 2016

Health is not about the weight you lose, but about the life you gain.

What if you devoted this coming year to simply loving yourself?  What difference would it make if you made yourself a priority, put yourself up there at the top of your to do list?

Yesterday I had a messenger conversation with a lady who said she was going to make sure she made time for her meetings in 2017, I suggested she put them in her diary and told everyone she was working that night.  No one questions you when they ask you to do something for them if you respond, "Sorry I'm at work", whereas if you say "I can't I'm at Weight Watchers" they will say oh you can miss that this week!  They wouldn't suggest missing work at all, yet Weight Watchers is just as important, after all it's where you are actually working on yourself which is more important than working for someone else!  I know it doesn't pay the bills, but there will be no bills to pay if you aren't alive and with Weight Watchers and focusing on the healthy and happy, you have more chance of staying around longer to have those bills to pay! 

Brutal!  But truth!  According to the BBC News yesterday, 8 in every 10 people aged 40-60 in England are overweight, drink too much or get little exercise, the government body warns. 

I'd be one of them then!  At least I haven't given up on the healthy and happy, daily I consider my behaviour and think about my choices.

It's only a couple of days away from a new year, a great time to make those resolutions - who cares if they don't all last or if you're not quite as great at them as you'd hoped - it's all in the trying, if you don't try, you'll never succeed.  How about committing to doing your damn best to be the person you'd like to be?

On Tuesday I included a contract for you to sign, here it is again just in case you weren't ready then, you can sign it now and start Sunday. 

Contract

I ___________________ understand that I am attempting to improve myself each day.  I commit myself to my goals, and in turn, commit to rewarding myself appropriately when a goal has been accomplished.  These rewards will be neither edible or drinkable, however they will be enjoyed.  I, _________________, commit myself to this healthy and happy behaviour for the duration of this contract, ending________________.  I will remind myself to strive for progress not perfection.

Signature ________________

Date________________

You up for setting some goals and smashing the hell out of them?

Go to the mirror right now, look yourself in the eyes and read aloud the following;

Mirror, mirror on the wall,

I'll always get up after I fall.

And whether I run, walk or have to crawl,

I'll set my goals and achieve them all!

Yeah let's start off like we mean to carry on, it's okay not to be great this week, it's the calm before the storm.  I'm not being great this week, I'm not being ridiculous either.  The sausages were used up yesterday, sausage, egg, tomatoes and bread for brekkie and sausages, onion gravy, Yorkshire pudding, peas and carrots for dinner, followed by a very early night.  Today I'm thinking ham pie of some kind to get rid of a large chunk of the ham I have, I'm going to improvise on a recipe from the last WW cook book, it won't be as healthy but it will help make some space in the freezer and use up some of the food.

I did brill with my Fitbit goals yesterday, smashed them all, 12,560 steps, 16 floors, 5.35miles, 2,087 calories and 85 active minutes.  I walked Alfie twice because mom can hardly walk at all at the minute, then took myself for a walk once because he's a lazy ass dog who doesn't go very far these days. 

It was a glorious day yesterday, I do hope it is again today, I'll go for a good walk again then.  Right here's to starting my day, I'm thinking a good big mug of tea - nice.

If you've got your 2017 diary handy, go put WWW (Weight Watchers / Work) in there, make those meetings a priority BeYOUtiful.

Did you try to do too much too soon?

28th December 2016

You can't rush something you want to last forever.

Okay so hands up who woke up yesterday thinking right "game on", let's get our healthy back, first day of a fresh start?  Who then a few hours later opened the fridge or cupboard and thought "ooo nom nom, loads of goodies left!  I DID!  Not only am I not having to go out to work till Saturday but I have a fridge full of ham, sausages, cheese and buffet food - all with a short sell by date and no room in the freezer.  I did have a packet of snicker bites that were bought for me for Christmas too, only I ate half the packet - they're not all that, I've just thrown the other half in the bin.

My plan is to cook the sausages today and have them as a meal, same with the other food items, over this week, I won't be within my points I know but surely it's better to eat the treats I bought for Christmas as meals over the course of a week, than to binge like crazy Christmas day and Boxing day?   

I'm still doing some of the habits I said I'd work on to improve my health and take care of me, yesterday I managed a couple of pints of water, I went for two walks with the dog (just over 8000 steps - he's a slow Shih Tzu!), I ate breakfast, veggies, sat up the table, did some housework and meditated.  It's a start!

Today I intend to sort out my Weight Watcher stock and storage - that's a workout in itself, so much for a week off, I spent yesterday responding to members text messages ;)

Mom and I took time to smile too, we watched Bad Moms, really made us chuckle, we need more films like that to watch, because Light between Oceans which we watched afterwards made up cry!

I'm using this week as preparation for January, I'm resting, planning and sorting - a little bit of everything, I'm following the stuff I don't like doing with something I do like doing.  One step at a time, it's not like it's the first year I've ended having gained weight over Christmas, I'm sure as hell not going to get down about it.  Sadly I've noticed a lot of people are.

STOP!  You have fat, you're not fat - it isn't who you are, it doesn't define you - give yourself a break.  These few days after the high of Christmas can seem really flat and make folk feel low.  See them as the calm after the chaos, think about how you'd like the year ahead to pan out. 

12 months to make any changes you'd like to make - yeah I know there are things you can't change, hell I can't give my mom her memory back so should we just sit and rot in the living room together, or should we do what we can, when we can, with what we have? 

I can't go hiking mountains right now, but I can go for a good long walk locally and enjoy the sky and the fields, you can be sad standing on a sunny beach you know, it's not about the view, it's about what's going on in your mind.

I've decided my mind is going to focus on the good stuff, the fact I'm fortunate to have too much food in my house, to be able to choose whether to put it in the waste bin or my WAIST bin!  I'm lucky to still have my mom so many children out there young and old haven't.  I'm going to look forward to having a catch up with my bestie on Saturday when we have breakfast with the gift voucher I was lucky enough to receive for Christmas.  I'm going to try to thank the universe for the pile of ironing I have because I'm fortunate enough to be able to afford to buy so many clothes - okay that's pushing it a bit too far, I can't thank anyone for a pile of ironing, not unless they've ironed it for me!

I'm grateful to have the weight to lose - that sounds ridiculous doesn't it but it means I've had a bloody good time gaining it. 

However you've woken up feeling this morning, give your head a wobble, stop stressing about the scales - that doesn't help at all, go drink yourself a glass of water, commit to doing what you can today to focus on both healthy and happy because trust me, getting yourself all worked up, trying to ignore the goodies in the house, bickering with your loved ones because you need to shout at someone and looking in the mirror and doing it hasn't worked, none of that is taking you anywhere close to healthy and happy! 

Smile, love, laugh, move a little bit more, enjoy what you do choose to eat - now those things will help you, just a thought but I reckon that'll work BeYOUtiful, what do you think?