Finally making progress.....

I had a really good session with Eric at the gym today. It started well with my weekly weigh-in. I think I've mentioned before that I am struggling to lose weight at the moment and was beginning to despair that it would ever come off. My fitness levels were rising, my body fat was reducing, but that weight was staying where it was! (Nicely toned, I grant you, but still weight!)

Well, a couple of weeks back, I decided that I was going to see if I could do something to get some of it shifted. I knew it would have to be purely down to diet as the gym was closed for some structural work for the week and my children were also off school for some of it for their mid-term break. (Although we did manage to get out for a 2+ hours walk in the glorious winter sunshine on one of the days.)

What did I do? I kept a food diary, where I listed absolutely everything that passed my lips (I actually do this most of the time) and I really restricted my eating. I had my usual breakfast of blueberries, oats, ground flax seed, pumpkin seed and sunflower seed, with a bit of soya milk (soya beans & water only) to moisten it, then a Weight Watchers soup for lunch, with 3 Multigrain Ryvita, hummous, lean ham and a tomato, a piece of fruit for a snack in the afternoon, then an early dinner of a Weight Watchers Meal plus extra vegetables. I drank at least 1.5 litres of water a day as well as my favourite Redbush tea. And finally the weight started coming off. The next time Eric weighed me, I had lost 3.5 lbs. And what was different this time? Not the eating, but the fact that I didn't buy any wine for myself for the weekend. I had some sips of my husband's beer and that was that.

So I tried it for another week. Not so restrictive on my eating, but certainly quite careful - but again only sips of beer, no full drinks of my own. And this morning, I had lost another 2 lbs! Yippee!

So, as you can imagine, I was very happy when Eric started me doing some rowing (1km), then work on the fitness ball for a while before doing a treadmill session when I had to do 4 minutes very fast walking, 1 minute relaxed, 4 minutes fast etc repeated. It's definitely worth all the effort!

The snow is supposed to finally on its way - we'll see! We had a bit this evening, but it seems to have stopped now. I hope I wake up to a white valley, although I have to travel to Inverness for a course tomorrow, so hoping for snow might not be the most sensible of wishes! Oh well, when was I ever sensible?

Hearts and Flowers - NOT!

You can't escape the fact that today is Valentine's Day. Although I've stayed at home with my poorly daughter, it has been on the radio, the internet and in practically every e-mail I have received. I am sure it's all over the TV channels too.

I am one of those who abhor the fact that it has become so commercial, and because of that, tend to view the whole thing with some cynicism. I am also married to someone who feels the same, so if flowers or a card were delivered to the house I would be wondering who they were from - or did my parents send them? I remember once at home in Zambia my two sisters and I each received an anonymous card which had been left on the stoep (verandah) by person or person's unknown. I have no idea whether my parents were involved, but we discounted them at the time, as that was the first and only time it happened. Who knows? And if our secret admirer/admirers ever read this, thank you for giving us a little thrill. I think it was the fact that we never knew who had written them which made it so special. Any Valentine's cards I received after that weren't so exciting, because I knew who they were from. Sad that!

Into adulthood and the cards dried up. I didn't miss them. I have come to the conclusion I would rather have someone be kind and considerate to me and treat me well than have them waste money on a card and over-priced flowers.

But if the florist's van pulled up outside my house on this or any other day, I surely would not turn it away! Happy Valentine's Day!