Can't beat a chilled out weekend.

Monday 5th September 2022

Don't stress, do your best.

Well I've had a lovely chilled out weekend, after a smashing huddle Saturday morning, I got home to find all the washing up had been done and he'd also sorted and folded all the washing in the laundry basket, now that is true love for me, flowers are lovely but help with the mundane day to day tasks is just the best and much appreciated.  They went off to buy Aryn some new joggers, he's gone from S to M in 6 months, he's just shot up!  I nipped to see my sis whilst they had some father / son time, they even went to Wagamama's together :) 

We went and had an hour in the pub later on, then came home to chill which we continued to do for the next 24 hours.  The only disturbance of our peace was the noise from outside, half one in the morning a moped up and down the close, well I heard him stop outside our house so got up to see what was going on and I was just in time to see him run himself over with his moped, it made me chuckle so I had to get it off the cameras the next day, it's about a minute into the video.

Anyway, he rode off along the pavement (as you do!) and we finally got some sleep, we spent yesterday watching tele and relaxing, I cooked us a delicious lamb dinner if I do say so myself!  My sister had bought it for me months ago when it was half price and it's sat in her freezer waiting.  I cooked it low and slow, gas mark 3 for over 4 hours, there's lots of cloves of garlic in there, I'm talking 2 heads, but I don't peel them so they caramelised, I sat it on onions and added some beef broth, oh it really turned out well. 

He left around six to go back to work, I'm glad he did as if he'd gone this morning, he'd have had to drive at stupid o'clock in that storm, I'd rather he be in the motorhome safe and having a decent nights sleep.

I've been up since just after six, been to the baths and done 40 lengths - that's a kilometre - go me!  My shoulders are asking me why we did that right now though lol.  I've just eaten bacon, tomatoes and soda bread, so I'm satisfied.  I've got our meeting to plan and the kitchen to sort, oh and more washing - it's never ending ain't it!  I also want to give my bedroom a good clean/sort because I've lost the firestick app in there somewhere!  If I've got the energy, I also want to tackle the spare room, but that may have to wait, I'm all for an easy life these days.

I'm gonna be honest, I didn't track yesterday, I really didn't want to know how many calories was in my dinner, but I didn't go mad, back on it today though, I will get healthy!  

Here's to a good day, 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me x

Well that year flew by!

Saturday 3rd September 2022

Everything can change in a heartbeat.

I had a lovely day yesterday, I do like Fridays, started it with 32 lengths (1/2 mile) at the pool, no pain when I'm in the water which is just brilliant and it doesn't seem to be making it any worse when I get out thankfully.  I then had a couple of lazy hours watching morning tele, but soon realised I had a lot of research and paperwork to do, so got stuck into that, finding documents is time consuming for sure.

Oh food, I almost forgot :)  I enjoyed the garlic mushrooms on toast with halloumi so much I had it again, nom nom.

 

Then Aryn and I had a little bruschetta for lunch, didn't want to eat lots because I'd got dinner planned and I was really looking forward to it.

This got thumbs up all round from my lot, roasted crushed new potatoes with garlic and herbs on, I added garlic, chorizo, grated carrot and diced onions to my mince, then for me I just had oxo and bisto, it's quick, easy and tastes good enough for me!

 

Well what more can I ask for, a nice unrushed day, time spent in the kitchen, excellent food if I do say so myself and himself coming back, perfect!

Where has this past year gone, I can't believe a year ago today, he knocked my door after years of not seeing or speaking, just crazy but I'm so glad he did.

I wouldn't want to imagine my life without them now, he makes me smile and laugh everyday, even if it's mostly over the phone :) we make up for the distance at weekends by spending plenty of time together.  And as for Aryn, well he's like my sidekick, we share a love of food and food shopping, eating out, trying new things, watching trash tele and singing and dancing badly in the car.  No it's not perfect, there are things going on that we have little control over, I won't blog about but we're a unit and a strong one at that so we'll get through it all together.

Now what to eat today!  I've got the morning at work to look forward to, they're going shopping for school stuff and I've suggested they go for food so they have some father/son time, I'll grab something light then.  Later we can have those cod in batter that are in the fridge, onion rings and chips, nom nom, I could just eat a chip butty, need a loaf to do that, only have sundried soda bread which isn't quite right.

Bread makes for a cheap meal doesn't it, which is something we're all gonna need going forward, pasta is another option.  

Anyway, I'm starting to waffle but I need to get to work, so have a great day, if you're not in a great place right now, know things can change, heck look at me and the difference to 2 years ago!

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me x

One goal?

Friday 2nd September 2022
Focus on the good!

Mmm my goal for the end of the month is to continue with my tracking, even if I go over, it still helps, plus of course I'd love the side effect of that to be some weight loss!

A busy, good day yesterday, I still managed to eat healthy and really enjoyed all my meals;.  Starting with halloumi and garlic mushrooms on soda bread, really tasty and I added a handful of garnish.  I'm going to try and get into the habit of doing that as I really like leafy greens and they're good for all of us aren't they. 

lunch was a chicken salad with soda bread (too much bread maybe for one day but it's convenient).

Then for dinner I defrosted a cottage pie in microwave that should've been defrosted for 12 hours according to the pack, it tasted alright once microwaved.  I prefer to cook mine in oven but I was hungry.  I did add some cheese on top which made it nom nom.  I definitely need to make my own cottage pie from scratch now, I have plenty of mince in the freezer. 

We're focusing on the positives and the good in this household at the moment with everything, we have a lot going on, but on the subject of my 'diet' yes I had some wine but I also ate well which I'll take.  Yes I'm in pain but thankfully it doesn't hurt when I lie down as much, so I'm getting sleep.

I'm hoping the swimming will eventually help my pain rather than make it worse, I'm off there in a bit to do a few lengths, nothing too extreme, build up gradually once I know it's not going to make my pain worse.

Dark mornings already, shows we're heading towards Autumn, I will not hibernate this year, I will make myself get my backside to the baths at least 3 times a week.

Food today? MMm, Aryn picked up that cod in batter so it's probably going to be that, I fancy roasted crushed new potatoes with mine, there's some chips too they can have a mix maybe, maybe some bruschetta for lunch to use up some of that soda bread we have.  

I enjoyed that breakfast so much yesterday, I might have the same when I get back.

Right my teas finished, here's to getting my enthusiasm to get my swimming costume on!

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me x

Progress or Excuses?

Thursday 1st September 2022

A month from now you can either have a month of progress or a month of excuses why you didn't!

Well I went swimming yesterday, a little scared of doing more damage to my pain or not being able to swim because of the pain.  Thankfully I was able to swim, I took my time and took a rest when I needed too, managed 26 lengths, walked a little bit now and then but let's be realistic, a month ago I'd have been thrilled to do 6 lengths, let alone 26!  My pains still there but it's no worse than it was before I swam.

I went earlier than usual so when I came out, it was only half seven by the time I was in the car and I don't have to leave for work till half eight, so I decided to treat myself to breakfast.  I opted for Tim Hortons to give it a try and because it was cheaper than McDonalds, £3.49 for a breakfast meal, I had the grilled bagel breakfast sandwich with bacon (321 calories), I was actually surprised it tasted as good as it did, but it didn't look like this photo on their app lol, there wasn't that much bacon on it ;) as you can see!

 

It came with a hash brown (79 calories) and a coffee, which hit the spot.  I definitely want to buy some bagels now, hadn't had one for years, really enjoyed it for a change.  

I also really enjoyed our dinner, it set me back 725 calories, but it was delicious, Chorizo Mac & Cheese with peas, leeks & pancetta, part of a Tesco meal deal, Aryn helped by eating the cheesecakes that were the dessert!

These meal deals are now £12, the Tesco Club Card is definitely worth having for the offers they have.  This deal is a main, side, dessert and bottle wine or pop.

We nipped to the big Tesco yesterday afternoon and Aryn opted for the other £12 meal deal, 2 mains and 3 extras,can't find it online though, he picked up large cod in batter, there's 2 in the pack and he had 2, then for extras he choose onion rings, chunky chips and Indian snacks, they're quite large packs too.  Easily feed a family of four on a Friday night instead of going to the chippy.

I blooming love food I do and well good food, it don't get no better.  I've bought a spaghetti squash to try, I've seen recipes in the past but never been able to get my hands on one, I'll have to have a mooch online for a recipe.  Today's a busy day so I've found some mini pizza bases in the cupboard that were best before 3/8, I'm gonna see if they're okay and we'll eat them :) 

But right now I need to get my backside off this chair and get ready for work.  

Here's to a great day, making it a September to remember, I want to lose weight before Christmas and I have 16 more weigh ins to do it!

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me x

Grrr to the scales!

Wednesday 31st August 2022

Another day, another chance.

I gained a pound, this losing weight ain't easy, still 19lb lighter than I was but I wanted it to say 21lb, hey ho, onwards and upwards as they say.  I'm up this morning to go to the swimming baths, not sure how I'll get on because of my pain, but I'm gonna go and try, can't do no more.

I enjoyed a couple of tasty meals, must keep trying, not giving up!  Aryn enjoyed his smashed avocado on toast so much whilst we were away, he asked if we could have it at home.  It was 495 calories, but delicious, I added a little sweet chilli sauce to my diced tomatoes and a sprinkle of chilli flakes on the avocado.

 

This is what annoys me about fresh stuff, that one was inedible!  

I had a picky tea, that's the Heinz Houmouz, it's not bad, made with white beans rather than chick peas, 140 calories per 100g though.

 

Other than a busy day in huddles, I didn't get much done, apart from a bit of washing and drying, house is a big mess so that'll be my afternoon sorted!  I'm in need of some Umph this week, I'm not going to lie.

I've just give myself a push by tracking the rest of my day yesterday, I didn't want to do it but I'm quite surprised I actually ended within my allowance, so that's given me the push to behave today.

I need to remember losing weight should help my sciatica pain and remind myself eating well stops the heartburn and indigestion, so here's to a great day, I will enjoy the swimming pool even if I just walk about in the water!

How are you going to make sure you have a good day?

We handed out our first 100lb certificate to one of our Be Happy Owls yesterday, can you imagine how much of a difference that has made to her life so far, everyone of us that's losing any weight at all is improving our health a little bit at a time.  Here's to a better day x

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me x

Another month almost over!

Tuesday 30th August 2022

Today decide it will be a good day!

Thankfully the traffic gods were with us yesterday and we made excellent time getting home, I couldn't believe we didn't hit any traffic at all, we even drove straight off the M5 onto the M6 without any queueing - that never happens!  I was very thankful.  Aryn slept all the way, such good company lol, but at least I didn't have to make idle chit chat I guess, that can be proper random with a teenager for sure.

Overall we had a great weekend, having a kid with health problems adds a bit of a challenge but nothing we can't cope with, it's no fun being 13 at the best of times is it.  We still managed to have some fun times and make more memories.  The image of him dancing in the sea having so much fun will stay with me for a very, long time, such a shame we couldn't get him back in yesterday but that's how things go, one day at a time.

As for food, well don't even get me started on how blooming difficult it is to get poached eggs on toast!  When everyone finally decided what we were doing for breakfast, it was too late to get in the place I wanted to go, but we had to queue to be told that - grrr.  We ended up in a box standard cafe with no choice - cooked breakfast or not.  OH and of course it came with chips - WTH!  I impressed myself, didn't touch the chips, left a sausage and a slice of bacon, the thing I wanted to eat, the beans were damn cold.  What a waste of 600 calories, plus I asked for a coffee, it was like a cup of hot milk and I bet it was full fat - another 200 calories right there. Double GRRR, I don't mind wasting calories on really good food but not stuff I don't want.  

We made up for it with dinner, I had sea bass with pea and smoked pancetta veloute, broccoli and spring onion mash - it was so good and only 703 calories, worth every mouthful. 

When we got home, I realised we had no bread or eggs or much of anything in the kitchen and I was peckish, so found this in the cupboard and I have to say, I really liked it, not a lot of it for 393 calories, but I'd have it again, maybe steam some veg and stir it in with it for a quick meal, you can get those microwave small veg packs for one, that would work well, a little cooked chicken and you'd have a fast, tasty meal for under 500 calories on a lazy or busy day.

I've slept really well from about 9, only woke a couple of times, as much as I love going away in the Motorhome, it's nice not to have to climb over himself to get to the bathroom and there's nothing better than sitting on a proper porcelain toilet ;) in a proper full sized bathroom.  I'm not built for roughing it me!

It was a good reminder of how far he has to drive every week to get to work on a Monday and home on a Friday in busy traffic, no wander he's tired when he gets back.  

I made the mistake of stripping the bed and only half making it, leaving the quilt cover for him to do, well he rang me just before midnight saying he couldn't find the buttons, I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact he'd been drinking with a work mate since I'd spoken to him 4 hours earlier when we got home lol, I'm sure he'll be able to find the opening this morning ;) 

Right I better get ready for my work day, looking forward to some female company, I love my boys, I do but you can't beat a girly chat, especially when you're talking food and calories, a walk along the sea front and the pier does not earn enough calories to eat a full English breakfast with chips, but he suggested it did yesterday.

No clue what the scales are going to say but whatever they do say, I shall continue to do my best.  Aryn enjoyed his avocado smash so much, he's asked if we can have it at home and I fancied it too, so that might be lunch today if I can get sour dough and avocado, not low in calories but delicious and it'll be our main meal.

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx

Loving life!

Monday 29th August 2022

It's a good week to have a good week.

Bank Holiday Monday and we're drinking a mug of tea in the motorhome, I'm thinking we'll have bacon sandwiches for breakfast, it's not easy to stay on track when you're away.  We ate out Saturday morning, I swapped a full English for scrambled egg and smoked salmon on toast but when it came the toast was covered in butter, I never even thought to say, no butter.  Don't get me wrong it was delicious but easily 600 calories. 

It also kept me going till teatime when we had some kebab style stuff from Tesco cooked on the George, another 500 calories, then later I had a gammon cob another 480 calories.  So yeah I've tracked everything but nowhere near stayed on track, it could've been a lot, lot worse though if I'd indulged.

We went swimming in the sea Saturday, that was lovely and lots of fun, then yesterday we went to watch motor racing, I wasn't expecting to enjoy it if I'm honest but has himself does everything we want to do, I thought we'd let him pick something for a change.  Turns out it's alright, we saw a few crashes, one car ended up on it's side!  W also almost saw 2 women fighting in the spectators, not sure what was going on there but it was funny.

We've not decided what we're up to today, Aryn's not been 100% so we'll see how he feels.  Driving back later, dreading what's likely to be horrendous traffic and not sure what time to leave for the best if I'm honest.  It'll have been worth it though for the weekend we've enjoyed.

Here's to enjoying the Bank Holiday Monday and trying to limit the damage! 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me x

Temptation everywhere ain't there!

Saturday 27th August 2022

Here's to surviving the weekend!

I survived yesterday better than I thought I would, we ended up eating out at lunchtime and there wasn't any calories on anything or any healthy options so I had a pie, thinking pukka pies are about 500 but thankfully the pastry was hard so I left it all.

  

The starter was black pudding balls - very nice.

I'd had a bit of toast for breakfast and I had a couple more slices of this bread for tea later and that was all I ate, oh a handful of black olives too.

My obligatory wine outside the motorhome whilst setting in and a nice first night away.  We're down in Worthing, going to go sit on the beach today, I had a drive down yesterday to check it out, pebble beach but looks nice.

It was a hell of a drive, lucky with traffic, only got caught up twice, 20 minutes each time, but I don't mind driving so the 3.5/4 hours went quick enough, especially after we'd stopped for lunch.

After himself arrived first, I realised why usually I do the booking and turn up first because yes there is still a great deal of prejudice in the world of caravans and motorhomes against the Irish accent, erm they're not all travellers!  But it appears they are treated that way a great deal of the time - sad really.  Thankfully I was only 5 minutes behind him, I could prove our membership and where we lived!  Mmm!  She was only doing her job apparently and ticking all the boxes - yeah okay.

Lovely quiet site though except for the kid next door who's obviously learning to play her trumpet - yeah lol, you gotta love musical instruments, thankfully it was only for an hour.

Now to survive another food day, we have pizzas and curry in the fridge, so we might get away without eating out but we shall see, I'm not stealing their pleasure to get a weight loss.

Oh Aryn got weighed and measured yesterday, he's 5ft 8in and 9 stone, although I will check him on our scales when we get back as those doctors scales are always a bit out, but 5 8 omg, he's growing like crazy, I was looking at photos from his birthday last November and he looks so young and small and now well, he towers above me and eats me out of house and home as they say!

Right I'm off to enjoy my day, hope you do the same. 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me

I love food I do....

Friday 26th August 2022

Your best is good enough!

I really enjoyed all my meals yesterday, that's the first time I've said that this week!  Breakfast was 2 eggs scrambled on a piece of toast with a grilled tomato, 243 calories including the mug of tea.  I reminded myself I'm not the Ark, Everything doesn't need to go in two by two, hence the one slice.

Aryn chose lunch and it was lovely, 487 calories for crispy batter fish fingers, frozen chips and garden peas, you've gotta have ketchup and vinegar on that.

I finally got my cheese pizza, Aryn had the same, it's just shy of 700 for the whole thing but I gave him one of my slices because he inhaled his and I was satisfied, don't get me wrong I could've eaten the other slice but not doing so mean't I'd got enough calories for a glass of wine.  Plus we have pizza for the weekend too, so it's not like I won't get to eat it again soon.

I'm still in more pain than usual with my sciatica, so I'm going to skip swimming this morning, don't want to make it worse and I've got an awful lot of driving to do this weekend, don't want to be in agony doing that.  Gutted because I'm enjoying the swimming, but I'll get back to it next week for sure.

I've got a lot to do this morning too, Aryn has to go have a blood test to check his iron levels again.  He's gonna be thrilled when I wake him up at half 8, because I could here him still playing those damn computer games at 1am this morning - grrrr.  

I will survive the Bank Holiday weekend!  I shared these recipes yesterday in our Facebook group Kebab recipes | Nutracheck they look delicious, Nutracheck really is a great app, it makes tracking so much easier and compared to others it's not only really cheap - it's accurate.

Right that's me, I'm getting my washing done, forced myself to do washing up last night, might need to get a high stool for doing that if this pain doesn't ease up, mom had one of them, wished I'd kept it lol.

Have a fab Friday.

Mwah, luv ya 

love me 

Day 32.... I'm in pain!

Thursday 25th August 2022

Be kind to yourself.

Oh man can I just say Sciatica Sucks and mine which lingers constantly has flared up seriously!  I went swimming yesterday morning, did my 40 lengths, got out feeling good.  I then nipped to the shops to get the makings of a curry, couldn't get a beef bone but it appears to have worked out okay without it.  

I went to work and within the next hour my sciatica started to flare up really bad and as the day went on it got worse.  I had to sit down to chop the onions for the curry, cooking was painful, then I picked up a big pack of pasta out the cupboard to find my spices and the bag split and it went all over the floor.  Well we all know I'm not really, very dramatic much, so I screamed in frustration, then started crying as I picked it all up in horrible pain.  

On a positive, at least my cars an automatic these days because I wouldn't be able to drive a manual this morning.  I've also managed to sleep because thankfully it wasn't painful when I went to bed and didn't hurt when I was lying down, the wine helped to dull the pain too, not gonna lie!

Foodwise, I tried this because it only took 3 minutes to cook, I only ate half, found it quite filling but to be honest, I hadn't got much of an appetite and it wasn't delicious but it would've probably been nice in a bit of a sauce.   It's vegan and gluten free, so if you're either, it's definitely worth a try.

I also had a bit of chicken and later, enjoyed a crisp sandwich, but even the crisps didn't taste as good as I expected them too, so maybe my taste buds were off yesterday.

I went to bed at 7 and it wasn't long before I was asleep either, woke a couple of times but slept till 5 this morning so I'm feeling well rested thankfully, I've just had a lovely mug of tea too.

I haven't even thought about food for today yet, probably something out the freezer, or something on toast.  I didn't get anything done yesterday afternoon either, my pain preoccupied me so I watched tele once I'd got the curry on to cook, that's for the weekend.

Whilst shopping yesterday I bought their cheapest loaf of brown bread 36p, it's alright, still think I preferred the Lidl cheapest one but I'd have to have them both at same time to compare properly. 

 I'm just not spending well over £1 for a loaf anymore when everything else has gone up too, bloody ridiculous the price of food right now.  I was going to treat myself to lamb chops, they've gone from £5 to £6.20, not paying it, especially as I could eat the whole tray, even though it should be shared of course.

Anyway that's my food price whinge for today, I might have egg on toast for breakfast, fill me up to stop me being tempted, that's a good start to the day isn't it, add a tomato for one of my five a day - sorted.  What you gonna have?  Here's to starting my Day 32 of tracking honestly even when the days aren't amazing!

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx

Why ain't it easy?

Wednesday 24th August 2022

It doesn't work unless you do!

Well I got myself a maintain, not gonna lie I wanted a loss but I'd pushed the bar to far and I hadn't done it as good as previous weeks. Still got 20lb gone and I'd love another stone for Christmas which is 17 more weigh ins after this week - eek.

Now the last few days I've just not known what I fancied to eat and I've not really enjoyed my meals so yesterday I thought I'd have cheese on toast as it's got lots of flavour and well it's delicious.

Oh it was amazing, those cherry tomatoes were about to walk out the fridge so I fried them and added just a pinch of sugar which made all the difference, well the difference between me wanting to eat them and not wanting to eat them.  509 calories and just amazing.

For dinner I had fish in batter, leftover new potatoes that had been in the fridge for days, I spray lighted them and roasted them with the fish and pepper, it was again delicious and very filling, 300g of potatoes is a very, large portion, but I was hungry and trying to get my appetite back under control.

I used all my calories again yesterday, finished on track thankfully, need a few good days as it's a Bank Holiday weekend.  I've been tracking over a month now, 31 days today to be correct, not done that for a very long time, so I may not have lost weight this week but I am 6lb down in those 31 days and I've been swimming 11 times, 3 times a week since joining Bentley baths.

I've been away since ten past four, thankfully I had an early night, a very early one actually as he messaged me just before 9 and I didn't hear it so must have been asleep.  Gonna go swimming this morning and burn a few extra calories, I need to be more active once I get home after work though, I'm a lazy little so and so sometimes, there's nothing I like more than sitting on my ass watching tele and when Aryn comes to sit with me, I like that he's getting out of his bedroom and off that damn pc.

I've defrosted some cooked chicken for today, think I'm going to do it with rice, we've also got lots of noodles to use up so we can have them at some point. 

Now when I got weighed yesterday I was feeling a little defeatist, my brain went immediately to oh this is so hard, I'm going to fail this weekend cos I'm away, blah blah blah, within a couple of hours and after doing our weekly chat which was very relevant for me, I'd done a complete u-turn and realised I can survive the weekend.  When I get where we're going I'll go to the supermarket, there's a Tesco within a mile, a Sainsbury's less than 5 mile, I'll buy food for the weekend and not only will that help my weight loss plans, it'll help our finances because eating out isn't cheap is it!

I got the Co-op pizza and beer deal yesterday, 2 pizza and 4 bottles of beer for a fiver, got two lots, Aryn can have a pizza today too, then I'll take the 3 with us and the beer and that's one meal sorted.  I'll buy some salad to add a bit of healthy to it.  Now to decide what to buy for our other meals!  

Right let's get on with the day, go get the washing up done out the way - boringhell that's what housework is, but it has to be done don't it, as does tracking and cutting back on calories if you want to lose weight.  

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me x

Cheap fish pie anyone?

Tuesday 23rd August 2022

Believe in yourself.

Weigh day, I'm not sure today, I've not had the best week, but I've still tracked and this is what it looked like;

  

As you can see I went over my calories 3 days but balanced it up a little with my swimming, we shall see!  

Yesterday I just couldn't decide what I wanted to eat so ended up just eating food that didn't really float my boat.  We did however try the Lidl's fish pie 89p and 357 calories.  I wished I'd had a Young's Admiral pie as a comparison, but as cheap fish pies go, it wasn't bad, it had the same amount of % of fish in it according to the ingredients, slightly more mash, oh and if you look a little further on the box, guess who it's made by.....Young's Seafood in exactly the same place as the Admiral pie!

I often buy an Admirals pie when it' on offer for £1, this saves waiting for the offer.  Aryn only gave it a 5/10 but I've turned him into a food snob if the truth be told and apparently Fish Pie was the one meal his grandad used to make from scratch so there's a big bit of competition there.

In my swimming world, I swam 40 lengths yesterday in my hour, that's 1km, I was really chuffed.  I even moved over into the medium speed lanes from the slow lane and felt I had the right to be there.  I'm definitely gaining confidence in the water, not 100%, still doubt myself a little but remind myself there's the floating dividers to grab if needed and very aware lifeguards.  I know it's mostly in my head but I'm getting there. 

I went to bed early last night to stop me eating, I need to think about what I actually want to eat, because I struggled yesterday.  I did resist temptation though, Aryn wanted something nice and I said then you need to go over the Co-op because I'm not going for you (I want him to get out more and not rely on me all the time) eventually he did and asked if I wanted crisps I declined even though I've fancied a packet of ready salted for a few days, thankfully he came back with sweet stuff which I find easier to resist.  He also came back with a tale, whilst he'd been in there some lad in a covid mask had jumped off his bike, run in, grabbed packets of mince and run off with the shop assistant shouting after him.  You couldn't make it up could ya, that never happened where he lived!

Right, I need another cuppa and I should decide what we're gonna eat.  Egg, beans and chips maybe, or something with rice, see my brain just doesn't know what it fancies...

Wish me luck, 

Luv ya 

Love me 

Life sure ain't simple is it...

Monday 22nd August 2022

Draw a line, start again!

It was an OOPS kind of day yesterday again, so not the best weekend all round but it's all good, I'm ready to get back on it, oh and I have tracked it all even though I didn't want to!   Could I have stayed on track, absolutely, but I was trying to cheer a teenage boy up who hasn't been well this week, so my weight loss wasn't my priority.  We had pizza pockets and ice cream, so not the end of the world but it all adds up calorie wise.

Then I was worried himself wouldn't make it down the motorway with his car problems that he's taking to his mechanic, that was a sit and worry for 3 hours, but he made it thankfully.  I'd got the breakdown numbers at the ready, just in case.

I'd got them steak from Lidl's for lunch and I was having lamb but they said the steak tasted funny and wouldn't eat it, now I did buy it at 30% off but I put it straight in the freezer :( I gave him the majority of my lamb because I wasn't that hungry and I threw my chips away so I saved a few calories there.

I pulled a muscle in my calf Friday swimming, it seems a lot better today so I'll go swimming and see, if it feels like it's not okay, I'll just walk in the pool, it's still moving and I want to make going 3 times a week a habit.  

No meals planned as yet, but I might have a fish pie to try, they're only 89p from Lidl's and were recommended.  Need to save some cash again to pay for the damage I did to his car!  Oops!

I had a few glasses of red and an early night as I was shattered, this being a stepmom and worrying about the kid is tiring, I'm a problem solver ain't I, a communicator, unlike 13 year olds - deep sigh.  I want to make everything better but it's not that easy, I wouldn't want to be a teenager again, I remember mine was hard enough so I do understand, I had health issues as does he and it just makes teenage life even more difficult than it already is.  

Here's to having a much better food day, hoping he feels a little better today and spending some time together watching daft tele.  We enjoyed 'Rim of the World' yesterday, easy watching comedy.  

Let's have a great week because it's Bank Holiday next Monday and I'm away the weekend, need to plan how I'll handle that! 

Mwah, luv ya

Love me x

I didn''t survive yesterday!

Sunday 21st August 2022

Things don't always go to plan! It's okay....

So yesterday didn't go to plan at all, we had a great morning huddle as always, but then the paddle boarding never happened, damn car issues so we didn't make it and his car now needs sorting, thankfully it isn't because I crashed it, it's something to do with the exhaust - deep sigh...

Despite that happening we had a lovely rest of the day, on the way back from taking the car we nipped in The Castle, I've never been in there and have to say I will go back, it's a lovely pub, I couldn't drink cos I was driving but I was okay with that, saved me a few calories.

We went over the local when we got back and I opted for white wine spritzer to try and slow me down, I had 3 which cost me 558 calories - OUCH!  I need to rethink that, can't drink gin & tonic, it lowers my mood I reckon, could try vodka I guess or whisky cos three of them would only set me back 156 or 168 so a heck of a difference!  We did have a lovely few hours on our own though, catching up and chatting. 

I've fancied chippy all week so that's what we had for tea, pie was 503 calories and a handful of chips another 424 so as you've probably worked out, I went over on my day because I did have a sausage sandwich when I got back from huddle on morning as they'd had maccy's and I was hungry.  -485 over the day but it's all good, I'm moving more and eating less than I was before so it's all good.  We're going to have the leftover chips later, I've took steaks out the freezer, bought them reduced in Lidl's last week.

I'm sat in bed starving but trying to resist lol.  I bought Co-op bread the other day not realising it's 105 calories a slice, the Lidl one I bought was only 75 calories and I preferred it, won't make that mistake again.

I might try and go back to sleep for an hour or put something on tele to watch, I don't want to get up yet.  I never lie in bed, so I'm gonna try..

Enjoy your day whatever you have planned, I'm gonna be lazy.

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx

He didn't kill me!

Saturday 20th August 2022

Stop living in the past...

This swimming lark isn't getting any easier yet!  I did my 32 lengths (half mile) yesterday in 50 minutes, but my shoulders ache afterwards.  I did manage to get the kitchen clean and do some washing but I wasn't hoovering, I asked Aryn to do it but he appeared to forget, but he'll remember when he wants some money for something!

Foodwise, I got home and enjoyed scrambled eggs and beans on toast, it cost me 600 calories with my mug of tea though.  I did have 3 eggs though.

I didn't eat again till tea time though so it did it's job, then I had what I've been wanting all week, sausage and mash, it was delicious, 668 calories but worth it.

 

I'd struggled to decide which sausages to buy when I was standing in front of the counter in Sainsbury's so much choice!  I opted for these as I wanted just plain sausage and they were on offer, they also have the Aldi price match.  

They were just what I wanted, the only thing on that plate that wasn't good was the green beans, now they were Sainsbury's frozen but they weren't very nice, especially compared to the ones I had from Farm Foods a couple of weeks ago. 

I ate an extra sneaky sausage as a snack so my day ended on 1487, guess who didn't drink on a Friday night!  We actually had a lovely night watching a movie, eating our dinner and going to bed early.  

He didn't use the 'you crashed my car' too much against me, only in jest.  I watched him as he pulled on the drive, sit looking at the damage, then getting out and examining it.  I walked away into the kitchen dreading it, and he just walked in and shouted, 'Hi honey, I'm home', then started laughing and gave me a cuddle.  I did good there didn't I.

It's been almost a year and I've hit one of his cars twice (front and back) and his other once at the back, I also put the wrong fuel in the cheap one he bought as a runaround - we don't have that anymore, it never really recovered.  I mean, he's got his work cut out here ain't he!

I did buy him a pack of custard doughnuts though and made him his tea, so we're quits now I reckon - lol NOT!

Looking forward to my day, the huddle this morning

then we're off to try stand up paddle boarding, I think we'll probably spend more time in the water but hopefully it should be fun.  We've had a summer of trying different things, its worked out cheaper than days out to be honest and we haven't had to travel too far from home to do it, there's so much on our doorstep.  We're going to Chase Water to do this today, Cable | Pier 52 so I'll let you know what it's like!

Let's enjoy the weekend shall we.  I've not planned anything meal wise, well actually I have, I fancy chippy tea, pie and chips maybe, we'll see what they fancy.  There's some sausages left in fridge, I could have a sarnie for breakfast I guess if I want to spend 400 calories. 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me x