Slow Sunday today for me

26th June 2016

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.

Well I made it through yesterday, my members always lift me and to have one of them bring me a packet of throat sweets was just lovely, it's those little kind gestures that mean the most (thank you Margaret, you really are a BeYOUtiful soul xx).  I spent the afternoon with my colleagues at our area meeting, bless them too for waiting on me and fetching me a cuppa, I felt like a grumpy bum, but trying not to be! 

I night nursed up and went to bed early, I'm glad to say the sore throat is just part of a banging head cold, real good one but still a head cold/virus thing rather than tonsillitis, so a couple of days of rest and paracetamol should do me the world of good.  Think I'll be doing my food shop online and chilling with my mom as much as possible, the bit of paperwork I have to do won't take long and everything else can wait.

Despite how I feel this morning, I've had a lovely week of meetings, we've talked about having that emergency backup when you're not 100% in the zone, almost a first aid food kit to help you survive the storm. 

Sometimes we get tied up in 'stuff' and forget our focus, I used the blue sky example to explain how our mind is when we're all in the zone and feeling great;

Imagine a bright blue sky stretching off into the distance, feels good doesn't it.  This is a perfect metaphor for the mind, a blank canvas on which thoughts, feelings and experiences appear.  Okay, so maybe they're are just a few clouds but they tend not to bother us or distract us too much especially if they're the cute, little fluffy variety.  This is how the mind appears when it's calm - bright, serene & happy.  

But life isn't always easy, sometimes they're are a lot more clouds in the sky.  Sometimes they might be the dark stormy variety, occasionally you might even begin to think that a hurricane is on the way.  It gets to the point where it's hard to think of anything else.

In fact sometimes we get so obsessed by the clouds that we forget about the blue sky altogether.  BUT IT's STILL THERE!

Every time you're in a plane and you're flying through the clouds, there it is right?  Without fail - Blue sky.

It's easy to forget that what we're looking for.... Is already here and that's why we need reminding.

This is why I now meditate, as it helps to remind me whatever chatter is going on in my mind, whatever problems I'm tackling in my life, that blue sky is still there, I just have to get back to it.  After all I've survived every bad day I've ever had in my life so far!

What causes those clouds, well we came up with lots of things; stress, anxiety, low mood, illness, financial problems, arguments, work, relationship issues, kids, pain, sleep deprivation, loss , can anyone think of any others?

Now I'm not going to make anyone meditate, I would recommend you give it a go though, just because we have the ability to think all the time, doesn't mean we should.  This is where meditation helps, it works on calming our mind, stopping us from over thinking, even 10 minutes a day works you know.  We are not what we think, thoughts come and go and we do have the ability to change those thoughts.

Anyway back to the clouds and our First Aid food kit, that emergency plan.   I really wish I had one in place for today, as I don't feel great and I'm not going to want to be cooking, I'm certainly not all ra ra ra and on track. 

 NO ONE IS ON TRACK AND IN THE ZONE 100% OF THE TIME. So we need a plan for such times don't we?  I'm actually going to use some of my rest time today to put one together, I know that will do me more good than some of the things I could do today!  I could've easily have thought sod it last night when I left that area meeting, I passed many a KFC, McDonalds, Chippy, Pizza place, Chinese and Indian Takeaway, you can imagine the conversations I had with myself on that 14 mile drive home, I even indicated to turn into Lidls, to get a jam doughnut then changed my mind, I wouldn't have tasted it anyway with how bunged up I was.  Instead I came home and guess what, I had started my first aid food kit, I have Weight Watchers ready meals in the freezer - woo hoo, sorted.  They'll get me through today too.  My freezer once it's been emptied is actually going to be filled back up with Weight Watcher meals, frozen veg and lean meat and fish.  They will be my emergency backup plan, I think I'll freeze a few slices of bread too, not an entire loaf. 

So how else can we deal with life and our weight loss journey when we aren't on it 100%, what are our coping mechanisms, what things can we put in place to help us at these times so we don't undo all the good work we've done?

Ready meals are top of my list, the Weight Watchers beef hotpot and WW Cumberland sausages were delicious, they most certainly have improved the recipes and ingredients of these products.

What else?

I need support, I need my friends, but you have to make sure to let them know how you feel and ask them to help you, getting support and asking for help when you need it is key.  My leader really helped to get me back on track Friday with just a few words, they hit the mark.  We were talking about our reasons and someone said health, I replied, "But I don't feel ill" and she said, "How do you know, the way we feel is normal to us, how do we know it's the best we can feel"  Then went on to say, "it's like when you first put glasses on. You didn't know you couldn't see before you put them on and you can suddenly see better than before!"  How true is that, I feel 'okay', I don't feel 'amazing', I want to feel amazing again!

If you're struggling because you're tired, it might be as simple as sleeping, if you can't make sure you're drinking plenty of water, and if you need it, get some caffeine down your neck!   

When you are in the zone, why not do a bit of batch cooking and freezing. 

Always make sure you have a bowl of fruit in the house, cupboards full of healthy foods, the No Count list is a great shopping list.

We also need to keep a positive attitude, remembering to look for the smile positive moments, I know this isn't always easy but there is always a smile moment if you look.  I was in such a rush last week, walked in the post office to a massive queue and groaned, then a little old lady walked passed me coughed and farted - proper chuckled and realised it' s just a queue, I can spare half hour if needed, it'll make me stop and smile at my thoughts.

We all need to be taking time out for ourselves, even a few minutes here and there, never forget we only get one life, don't spend it constantly 'doing' for others, working, rushing. 

I also asked members what was their go to meal, I'm going to be making a list of go to meals and sticking it in my kitchen to remind me when I'm rushing. 

I can do this and so can you, I'm not going to use today as an excuse to go off track because I'm poorly, there are oranges in the kitchen, I'm going to have me some vitamin C.

I've rambled this morning sorry!  Here's to a lovely calm Sunday. Take care of you. xx

Oh hello paracetamol!

25th June 2016

We will always tend to fulfil our own expectations of ourselves.

Up at 4am feeling rough, tonsil touching and a blocked nose, it's all good, I'll drug up, drink tea and get through today, then re-cooperate tomorrow and Monday!  Next time one of you wants to give me something though, I'd prefer flowers to the lurgy :)

Yesterday was ugly on Facebook, so I decided to do something silly, I'd told one of my members to give her head a wobble and get back on track and to help, I made a daft video to show her how. https://www.facebook.com/bevww/videos/10154056690045862/ I then suggested anyone else who needs to give their head a wobble and get back on track, should do the same. 

I was interesting to see how many didn't want to post their videos on their own time lines for whatever reason, but I know for some it was because they were concerned about what others would think.  It reminded me of when I used to live in a world where I cared about what people thought of me, I hated to look silly or stupid and was constantly aware of my looks, I'm so relieved to say I don't live there anymore, I've got to a place where I'm okay to look silly, I'm okay with whatever someone else thinks and it's a much nicer place where I am now.  Embrace your inner silly, it's liberating and I have to say, literally giving your head a wobble really does make you smile.  If you have a go and like it, film in and tag me :)

Well the paracetamol and tea is helping, my tonsils don't feel like they're actually touching anymore, let's hope this curbs my appetite and helps me get back on track!  Always a positive, if only you look!

Yesterday I felt okay right up until the moment I finished my meeting last night, I could feel that scratchy throat starting, the moment I see white flecks, I'll be off to the docs, I've always had problems with tonsillitis so hoping that it's just a bad throat.

Earlier in the day I went to get weighed - it wasn't pretty!  The last couple of weeks of tracking badly and not paying attention because of distractions has finally caught up on me.  I went for lunch with my bestie, we ended up in Wetherspoons and check this out;

 Oh yeah you can now order from your table using an app!  Of course we did because we wanted to play and see how it worked, it was quick, our drinks came over immediately and our lunch less than ten minutes later!  I had a chicken, bacon and avocado salad, 17sp, I could've had so much more for 17sp at home but hey ho, I wanted to spend time with my mate and have a giggle, which we did.  Having said that, avocado is high in Smart Points wherever you eat it!

So I'm thinking I'll start today with a shower to help clear my sinuses, I'll make sure I have a water bottle with me constantly and keep topping up on Paracetamol to keep my temperature down, early night and a day of rest tomorrow.  I'll be home about 6ish, so I can relax then.

I hope you're feeling better than me, whatever you've got planned today, let's make it a good one, I'm looking forward to seeing the smiles on all my members faces today.

Smile, look for the good and have a great day.

Last night I went crackers!

24th June 2016

First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.  Epictetus

The sky is blue and suns shining this morning, that's my favourite kind of day to wake up to, especially when I've had a lie in, mom woke at the same time so I've skipped my meditation this morning and gone straight to a mug of tea ;) I'll meditate later, it'll get fit in, might even get to do it outside in the sunshine if the rain stays away.

So last night once again proved if it's there at some point I will eat it!  There was a box of crackers and some cheese left from our family buffet on Sunday that my brother didn't take and mom and I sat and demolished them!  Oops!  There will not be any weight lost in our house this week, that means I'll be drawing a line today, the freezer is being emptied a bit at a time, the fridge is empty, I'm not going shopping until Sunday when I have time to stop and think about what I'm buying and do a bit of planning. 

I need to regroup, mom being in hospital was a setback but she's okay again now (well.... as okay as she'll ever be, she's never right ;) is she!) and we both need to get back to eating healthy, getting those portion sizes under control and getting the balance back.  I'm actually looking forward to it, I love the healthy, delicious foods I eat and I've not really been enjoying some of  the stuff I've been having this week, it's just been food.   My favourite has been sausage, mashed potato and gravy.  As nice as the bread roll was from M&S for 6sp, Dave was right when he asked 'but was it worth it' and the truth was nah, not really, I've had equally good rolls for less, plus the enjoyment is so fleeting, it's not worth gaining weight for really is it!

I've heard the referendum results on the radio this morning, I don't want to chat about that, there's enough of it going on without me, but the passion of people is something else, they seem to care much more about what's going to happen to their country as a whole than they do about their own personal health and wellbeing!  Where's the logic in that?  It doesn't matter whether we're in or out of the EU, if we're gonna keel over with a heart attack or a stroke because we don't live well. 

So In a referendum on your own health and happiness would you be voting IN for good health habits, weight loss & making changes or OUT for bad habits, continuing to overeat and slowly gaining?

I know where my vote lies there, I may possibly be one of the worst Weight Watchers in the world, but I'm still one, my weight loss ability might suck a little but I'm still healthy, I still focus on the good stuff 80% of the time, maybe 75% at times. 

Change begins at home, it begins with that person you see in the mirror every morning, be the change you want to see in the world.  My blog on Sunday about Gavison and other indigestion remedies seems to have hit home with a lot of you from the feedback I've had.  We can hide behind baggy clothes, excuses and rennies as much as we want but unless we make changes nothing will change.

We are a very compassionate, generous nation, look at the amount of money we raise for charity, whenever something devastating happens in other countries, we raise millions, let's start being compassionate towards ourselves, let's come to our own rescue, start taking care of you because you're important too!

Healthy and happy, don't spend today dwelling on the past, or bickering about something that's done, move forward, smile and focus on the healthy & happy.

What would Bev do?

23rd June 2016

You are always free to change your mind and choose a different future, or a different past.

Well good morning, how's your world?  Mines pretty damn peachy, I've just done my 20 minutes meditation, got a little sidetracked after about 10 minutes, but still carried on.  I'm looking forward to another great day at work, ain't I lucky that I enjoy going to work, it's just a great way to live.

Last night was a very good meeting, the lovely Paul achieved his goal, four stone lost and I'm sure you'll agree he's looking fantastic.  Pauls been a walking advertisement for Weight Watchers over the last couple of years and he's introduced lots of his pals to the group, we now have a great group with a good percentage of them chaps and I have to say those chaps are doing incredibly well which makes me really smile. 

Look at the difference;

It's a pleasure to have members like Paul, it really is. 

I was super proud of another member last night, she's been struggling to put herself first, always does what's best for everyone else at the expense of her own health and needs.  Not last night, at the scales she told me she was ready to prioritise herself,  she needed her meeting and when the family had assumed she would just weigh and go home, she realised that wasn't going to help her with her weight loss this coming week so instead of agreeing to not stay, go home and make their tea, she said, "I stood there and thought, what would Bev do?"  Well how proud was I, because she was absolutely correct, Bev would've said, "No, I'm not just weighing, I'm having me an hour at my meeting and I'll see you later!"  Well done that woman I say!

I do have to say, "What would Bev do?" could get you in a lot of trouble and it did make me smile all night, I love the idea of people thinking it as they're in a dilemma, cos Bev can do some pretty stupid things ;-)

So today's a truly important day, we all get to vote in the referendum, this time tomorrow we'll have the decision and either way life will continue.  Just think if you were voting in a referendum on your health and happiness, would you be in or out?  Silly question?  Well not really, because unfortunately not everyone is doing something about improving their health and happiness, they're just existing.  So if you are one of those that is working on taking care of you, be proud of yourself, you don't have to be 'on it' all the time, it's all about that 80/20 mix remember, you can do this, take care of you and when you get to your goal, I'll do a lovely 'then / now' image for you too!

Have a great day BeYOUtiful. xx

Ooo nearly forgot today's challenge....

Mmm, let me think, okay how about you write down your why.  Why do you want to lose weight?  Be personal and specific, for example 'I want to lower my blood pressure, I want to get back into my jeans, I want more energy for chasing the kids, I don't want to hid from the camera on my next holiday.  Yeah that's today's challenge.  If you know your reasons, you're more likely to achieve them.