Sunday, February 27, 2005

feeling virtuous

Only used 1 point today (mmmm Skinny Cow ice-cream mmmmm), and hauled myself off the sofa on a cold wet night for late-night swimming session hurrah.

Other news: Pokemon is the new Thomas

today's numbers:
plan ~ No Count™; points used ~ 1 (points left for week ~ -5.5); exercise ~ swimming (25 mins); water ~ 500 ml; booze ~ 0; crisps ~ 0.

little angels

O is doing his best to win a Cutest Kid award this weekend. If he's not mooning over S (and planning to save up his newly-awarded pocket money to buy her Animal Hostipal toys for her birthday), he's presenting me with lego constructions he's made specially for me. I've been given all of these this morning:

Aww bless. Having kids is luverly and I refuse to think about anything anyone might say about what happens when they turn into teenagers. La La La I'm Not Listening La La La.

Saturday, February 26, 2005

bestotted

O's got a crush on an older woman - he adores S who's two classes above him. He wants to invite her round for tea. Bless. I meanwhile have been finding new tv shows to fall in love with.

My eating has gone good today. Not as much exercise as I expected tho - O has decided he doesn't want to go to Ninja Kids after all, so I didn't get my swim. Going to go for swim tomorrow evening, tho.

today's numbers:
plan ~ No Count™; points used ~ 0.5 (points left for week ~ -6.5); exercise ~ walking (20 mins); water ~ 0; booze ~ 0; crisps ~ 0;

why teh interweb is A Good Thing

Reason No. 4,954 - when your neighbour is playing his Star Trek videos so loud you can hear the dialogue in your bedroom at 1 in the morning, you can just drop him an email asking him to turn it down. And he does. Saves all that banging on the walls etc. Hurrah.

Friday, February 25, 2005

climb every mountain

R's dad is officially The World's Fittest Lollipop Man.

About 15 years ago, he had major heart surgery. Afterwards his surgeon told him he must start taking exercise. So he did, first of all walking round the lanes near his house, building up to longer walks, and then joining a local walking club. Age 69 he went abroad for the first time in his life, to go on the club's trip to Italian Alps. Last year he walked the Inca Trail.

We just heard that this summer, he's going up Kilimanjaro. The man's 73 years old. He has diabetes, a heart condition and poor circulation. He did not go abroad until he was nearly 70. He's going to walk up the highest mountain in Africa (and he will do it, I have no doubt). And here's me can't be @rsed to do 30 mins round the park a couple of mornings a week. Sigh.

D**t News ~ went out for meal tonight. I should not have had that ice-cream, I have now over-spent my discretionary points for the week. Feck.

today's numbers:
plan ~ No Count™; points used ~ 25 (points left for week ~ -7); exercise ~ 0; water ~ 500 ml; booze ~ half bottle red wine; crisps ~ 0;


it's an ill wind ...

All this healthy eating is making me distinctly anti-social. Jumping around seems to make it worse, so I get plenty of room to myself at belly dancing. I'm hoping it'll settle down as my body gets used to proper food.

science news: the mapping of the cat brain has been completed

Thursday, February 24, 2005

today reviewed

Pretty good day all round, I think. Accomplished quite a lot a work, plus resisted the temptations lurking in the average offie1 (crisps, cakes, chocs, biscuits). Went belly dancing this evening and earned bonus points hurrah (life on NoCount would be impossible without bonus points). Shattered now and off to bed.

I'm going to go back to posting a daily round up, it may help to keep me focussed.

today's numbers:
plan ~ No Count™; points used ~ 6 (points left for week ~ 18); exercise ~ belly dancing; water ~ 500 ml; booze ~ 0; crisps ~ 0;


1) correction: that should read 'office' not 'offie'. I have not been near any offies2 (worse luck).

2) offie = off licence = liqour store

weekly challenge

First weekly challenge of the year is, by popular demand, No Crisps For A Week. For the avoidance of doubt, 'crisps' includes all shaped or extruded salty snack foods, whether they be potato, wheat or corn based. Anything that comes from the Asda snack aisle is off limits, basically.

Right I'm off out to work at another office for the day. I've been there before and usually get my lunch from a marvellous baked potato man, who whips the melted butter into the potato before piling on the cheese. Mmmm. But today, I am going to have a potato with beans (no butter, no cheese) which is NoCount friendly hurrah.

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

why do I bother?

am I bothering, that is the question. Put on half a pound this week. I've been 'mostly' doing no count but mostly isn't enough. And now I feel cr@p for only losing 2.5 lb in 7 weeks, tho' I'm trying to remind myself that I am doing OK, because I have lost something and am keeping on working at it.

No point making excuses, just need to get on and do it right. I'm going to give NoCount another go for a week, and do it properly this time. (Remind me to blog another time about why I think No Count could be a good plan for me). I'll be able to get more exercise this coming week, too (I'll be allowed to go in the pool after my paper stitches come off).

I feel like I should have a Challenge for this week, too. But can't decide what ... could be no crisps? no booze? drink 1 l water a day? exercise 5 days out of 7? Any suggestions?

other news:
O was so excited at the teeny tiny bit of snow we had this morning, poor little chap was gutted it had all gone by the time he was let out of school. I've been getting started on my OU course, am enjoying it so far, had my first tutorial this week.

recipe of the day (courtesty of FatClub leader): A Chickpea Snack
Drain a can of chickpeas [garbanzos] (or soak and boil your own). Spread on a baking tray, spray with low calorie cooking oil spray stuff, then sprinkle some spices over the chickpeas (eg garam massala, mild chilli powder). Cook in a low (140oC) oven for about an hour, shaking occassionally, until the chickpeas are dried and getting crunchy. Cool and keep in air tight jar (add some salt if like).
free on No Count if eaten as part of a meal, otherwise 2 points per 100g start weight (eg if you start with a 400g tin of chickpeas, a quarter of the cooked chickpeas will have 2 points).

Sunday, February 20, 2005

obsession

Despite hospitalising myself making them, I am still addicted to NoCount smoothies and also to roasted veggies. I'm working away for the day tomorrow, I've made a roasted veg, chickpea & couscous salad thing and am going to make a flask of smoothy to take too.

I get like this about things, go thro phases of eating/doing something all the time then get bored and drop it. It's when I get bored of dieting I have to watch out.

Talking of obsessions, some people need to learn to 'just say no' to stalkers. No, actuallly, they need to learn to say 'feck off or I'm calling the police' to stalkers.

Saturday, February 19, 2005

being good

We'd been planning to eat at the local caff tonight (I've been saving my points up for it) but for some unknown reason it was shut. In a fit of lethargy we failed to think of anywhere else to go and so ended up in Pizza Hut. Where I was a good gurl. No starter, had a salad from the salad bar and didn't chose anything with mayo/dressing on, had thin based pizza, didn't have pudding. Actually I had (just) enough points for pudding but decided the ones they had were insufficiently tempting. O and R had starters and pudding (O adores the ice-cream factory thingy) while I sipped my diet coke. And I didn't even feel deprived (well not much).

So, I is feeling smug. I'd like to think I have finally cracked this dieting mularky, and being in the presence of temptation holds no fears for me. Grim reality tells me that this is bollox, of course. Just because the eating demons are awol tonight, doesn't mean they've gone for good. But one day, maybe, I will get to the point where food doesn't always haunt and stalk me (or me it).

I love Diet Girl's recent post, which kind of relates to this stuff.
I used to be really dedicated to my fat. I put so much effort into collecting it.

That really made me sit up and think. I do spend alot of time serving my fat. Going out and getting it special food, even. I need to give that kind of time and effort to Slim Me, not Fat Me.

One small thing to be thankful for, I have always taken my coffee as it comes, no milk no sugar. That was never a dieting choice, just how I like it. I am now so glad I never got the latte-frappucino bug (truth be told, I am a bit of a coffee snob - fave de jour Zapatista coffee as served at local caff). Imagine not being able to get your daily caffeine fix cos it's stuffed with calories. Ouch.

Friday, February 18, 2005

I :heart: the NHS

Tonight I had an unfortunate mishap with my beloved hand held blender, took a chunk out of my thumb and needed to go to casualty. Expecting, on past form, to have to wait around for several hours I packed my book and water bottle and got R to drop me off at the hospital. I was in and out in under half an hour!

They have a minor injuries unit now, run by nurse practioners. Instead of a nurse looking at your finger, then calling a doctor to look at it so the doctor can tell the nurse to put some steri-strips on it, someone finally worked out that you could maybe trust the nurses to just get on with the job. So yay for nurses and yay for the NHS. Boo for not being able to go swimming or aquarobicising for a week. Although yay for getting out of doing the washing up for the week.

I had the accident while making my new fave-food (fave-food in the sense of diet faves, not absolute faves) ie fruit smoothies. Skimmed milk, low fat yoghurt, banana, frozen soft fruits, all whizzed together. V delish and free on No Count wooo.

Was trying to save most of my points allowance for eating out tomorrow night, but decided I needed medicinal wine on the way back from the hospital. At least I walked back, 30 mins walking so that kind of makes up for not getting to swim tomorrow.

Thursday, February 17, 2005

fed up?

"what am I fed up of?" s/he1 asks?

Mainly I think I'm fed up of myself. I'm fed up I find it so hard to stick to eating and excercising right. I'm fed up that I feel the need to eat at the slightest stress or unpleasant emotions, and that I let myself give into that so much. I'm fed up that I don't feel like doing the work that's needed.

But, today I'm trying again. NoCounting today and going to belly dancing tonight. Just concentrating on today and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. We'll see ....

1) that you, Jude?

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

no surprises

Gained 2 lb this week. Fed up of it already, and it's only been 5 weeks. Going to read a bit of my course book in bed.

Hello to the person who came here searching for chandelier for a car. Good look with pimpin' your ride. Personally I'm torn between the chandelier
chandelier in car
and the neon waterfall light.
neon waterfall light in car
O wants the car pimped too, he was much impressed by all those in-car TVs he saw.

further adventures of geek-gurl

The DVD drive has to go in this weekend - I've received all my course materials from the OU and there's a DVD of computer activities. I think I'm going to get this NEC ND-3520 that's on special offer. Looks like I'll need some bits and bobs too (makes note to ask wo/man-in-shop) and a copy of nero 6.

Once that's done, next project is getting a laptop and setting up a wireless network at home. Probably this laptop and this router. Or probably some different ones altogether when I change my mind over and over again. Dell have some offers on at the mo.

Anyone who feels like chipping in their 2c worth of advice on laptops and/or networking, please do.

yuck

Weigh in day today and I know it's going to be bad, the only question is just how bad? What I ate at the weekend would probably have meant I stayed the same this week. But then on top of that I've missed 2 excercise classes this week, haven't done my walking and have stuffed myself with cr@p for the past couple of days.

I know I keep saying this but I need to get a handle on this stuff. I can feel the ill effects of the past week. Physically, I feel bloated and tired and I'm stiff when I get up in mornings. Mentally I feel agitated and irritable, and not a little disgusted with myself.

I'm planning on doing NoCount1 this week. Most of our usual main meals fit in with it. For me it's between meals that's where the bad stuff happens, tho. I don't know if doing NoCount will make this any easier to handle. Anyway I'll give it a go, perhaps the change will shake things up a bit.


1. NoCount is what WW UK call the Core plan

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

trade in?

Not so sure about R's new career, after reading about this research.
Sociologists ... have found that teaching young women makes male teachers less satisfied with their wives.

Am I going to get traded in for a younger model, then? No way Jose. Even if those youngsters could compete with me on looks, they're so far behind on brains and charm as to be not worth losing sleep over. Hah.

from the "I don't know why I don't listen to this more often" files ...

Spent the morning listening to Half Man Half Biscuit while tidying up. "Trumpton Riots/Back in the DHSS" remains a work of sublime genius. All together now - all I want for Christmas is a Dukla Prague away kit

Monday, February 14, 2005

Test post

I am doing 43 things.

edit: aha! now it's working. Trouble is now I have two identical blogs listed on 43things, only one with correct password, and I can't tell them apart. Anyone know how to remove a blog from 43things?

words of love

R and I had a game of scrabble last night, accompanied by rioja and pistachios. He won booo. Must re-read "Play Better Srabble"

grr

Grrr 1: why isn't posting from 43things direct to blog working?

Grrr 2: aquarobics was cancelled. And I didn't go to belly dancing last week cos I had an upset stomach on Thursday night. Piles of food and no exercise, how the Scale Gods are going to be laffing at me on Wednesday.

Bah.

didn't we have a lovely time

I did manage to drag myself away from in front of Trin's tv a couple of times (when "Pimp my Ride" wasn't on, of course) to see some of the sights of the south west.

We went to see wonder of the industrial world the Clifton Suspension Bridge, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. I'm not sure Trin believed us when we said we like bridges. Despite a surfeit of school trips to Iron Bridge, I still find a well made bridge a beautiful sight.

Also went to Weston, tho it was too cold and windy for the donkeys. O adored the amusement arcade at the end of the pier, he loved the Crazy House and the Ghost Train, he had a fantastic time apart from when he got lost 'cos mummy & daddy were obsessed with shovelling 2ps into the Penny Falls machines. I am so in trouble when he tells my mother that I lost him. Again.

We got proper candy floss (tho not onnastick owing to prevailing weather conditions) and O even saved some for Abby awe. He likes Abby, they were singing along to Busted together in the back of the fancy car with cd player. O thinks they should move up here, Trin and girls and cats. And their Busted cds and digital tv, natch.

My diet and exercise efforts were suspended over the weekend so I am expecing the worst when I get on the scales on Wednesday. Planning on doing NoCount™ to atone.

Pimp My Bike

Saturday, February 12, 2005

a chandelier in your car, that's classy

Pimp My Ride. I am in awe. I have to get digital tv so I can watch this every single day.

magic lantern show

like members of some remote tribe whose only previous encounter with western society was starring in a Bruce Parry documentary, O and I sit bewitched in awe and wonder before the spectacle of Trin's digital TV.

I fear we shall be unable to drag ourselves away from the lure of Pokemon/QVC/Discovery Channel on demand and the sights of Brizzul will remain a mystery to us.

Friday, February 11, 2005

making a start

Well I'm all registered for my course, just waiting for the course materials to arrive. I've seen the course calendar on-line (and entered all the key dates in my outlook and my filofax non-windows based outlook back-up system woo just call me organised) and I'm going to have some catching up to do. There's an essay due next week which obviously I'm not going to be able to do on time.

Can't wait to get my hands on those lovely new course books!

ask-a-techie

I am lucky to have a couple of uber-techie neighbours. Last night I got one of them to tell me if I should have my dvd drive as well as or instead of my existing cd drive (verdict: as well as) and begin to explain the mysteries of dvd burning (highly commended: dvd shrink)

I have some time next weekend pencilled in for getting this done cor.

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

about this week

well, this week has been OK. I haven't been eating as well as my 2.5 lb loss suggests. I think it was Ladies Things last week, both making me feel cr@p and making me eat cr@p. This week, I've had some bad days and some good, and I have been making a conscious effort to work harder during my exercise sessions.

Happy New Year


May Prosperity Be With You.

If we weren't going away this weekend, I'd take O to Chinatown to see the dragon.

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

book quiz

Copying off of Mr G again ...




You're A Prayer for Owen Meany!

by John Irving

Despite humble and perhaps literally small beginnings, you inspire
faith in almost everyone you know. You are an agent of higher powers, and you manifest this fact in mysterious and loud ways. A sense of destiny pervades your every waking moment, and you prepare with great detail for destiny fulfilled. When you speak, IT SOUNDS LIKE THIS!



Take the Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.


that's a book I haven't read but keep meaning to, so if it's me I'd better add it to my reading pile ...


Monday, February 07, 2005

left-pond latest

R's accepted the job. He'll be mainly in Manchester this year and the beginning of next, then from around August he'll be spend some time working in Buffalo.
map for the geographically challenged (like me)
It's right by Lake Erie & Niagara Falls cooo.

We don't know exactly how long he'll have to be there for, but it's too good an opportunity for him to miss so he's decided to take it. In around 18 months time, be prepared for plenty of moaning from me about single parenthood and having to have my mother come to stay to help me out with childcare when I'm working. While R's off having a good time.

Oh and did I mention he gets at least two trips to Brazil for conferences, too?

saturday boys and girls

But I never made the first team,
I just made the first team laugh
And she never came to the phone
She was always in the bath

In the end it took me a dictionary
To find out the meaning of unrequited
While she was giving herself for free
At a party to which I was never invited

Unrequited love can be a 'killer'
Flippin 'eck, nearly 20 years since I was a victim of unrequited love and that news story brought it all right back. Ah well. Now I get to spend my life with someone who requites my love and is worthy of it.

My love he speaks like silence,
Without ideals or violence,
he doesn't have to say he's faithful,
Yet he's true, like ice, like fire.
People carry roses,
Make promises by the hours,
My love he laughs like the flowers,
Valentines can't buy him.



(Yes I is having a blasts from the past singer-songwriter mp3 fest today. There may be some Michelle Shocked related posting later - I think I'm a housewife).

Saturday, February 05, 2005

misleading headline of the week

In the Times: Breast-fed babies put at risk of obesity

If you actually read the article, what it says is that babies who are given supplementary bottle feeds are at risk. So the headline should in fact be "Bottle Fed babies put at risk of obesity"

grrrrrrr.

gutted

according to Trin, Baby Race is back on Dick'n'Dom. My all time (well all time in the last 10 years) favourite Saturday morning kids' tv feature and I missed it cos my sprog insists on watching rubbish Ministry of Mayhem on the other side. Bah.

In between squabbling like with a 5 yr old over the remote, I half-listened to R telling me about his email from left-pond about the job. Still not quite sure how much time he'd have to spend in over there but most of the first year would be here in Manchester, with some of the second stateside. So we think he should take it, and if he needs to be there for long periods me & O can always visit. State of New York here we come, maybe.

Friday, February 04, 2005

Scary Lady



She terrifies me.

today's numbers ...

points allowance ~ 26 (25/1); points used ~ 28.5 (+2.5); exercise ~ bit of walking ; water ~ 0 [note to self: get water right tomorrow!]; booze ~ 2 glasses red wine

celebrating (but )

R's been offered another job! A 2 year post-doctoral research assistant post, starting when his current one finishes, and it's a perfect fit for his research interests. It's based in Manchester but (and this is the 'touch wood' bit) he will have to spend some or more time working the USA. Some would be OK but more might be a problem. He's asking for details so fingers crossed they won't want him to be there for extended periods, then he can accept it yay.

Also in good news, I finally got a place on the OU course I wanted. It's taken a while because of various admin difficulties (not the OU's fault) and the course actually started last week, by the time I get the books and stuff I'll have some catching up to do but that's OK. I'm just so relieved, for a while I thought I wasn't going to get it sorted in time and everything would be put back another whole year. And R has been brilliant supporting me with getting this organised.


Thursday, February 03, 2005

today

today has been better than yesterday, anyways. Mood a bit better and consequently eating a bit better. Tho I did eat two skinny cows in one sitting. And a quick 'hurrah' for Light Touch, now I can make omlettes without the block of butter haunting me, stalking me, making me eat it.

some numbers:
points allowance ~ 32.5 (25/7.5); points used ~ 28 (-4.5); exercise ~ belly dancing; water ~ 2 l; booze ~ 0



Wednesday, February 02, 2005

weigh in result

Gained a pound. No surprise there, as I have had 3 binges this week. I really have to get a handle on this, but I don't have the energy right now. At least I went to my WW meeting, I'm hoping keeping on going will give me some focus.

why do I do it?

and when will I learn not to respond to every unpleasant emotion by eating? Gah.

I don't think so

Survey sez "forget counting sheep, listen to jazz to drop off to sleep". As O would say - No Way, Jose! I am physically intolerant of jazz, it upsets me deeply. I'd rather have insomnia than jazz. Bad jazz bad bad bad. Ick.

Other news: I am hopefully going to be killing two of my 43things with one stone. Having been unable to find a gymanstics class locally for O, I think I'm going to take him to Ninja Kids (tae-kwondo lite for tots, apparantly) at the leisure centre on Saturday afternoons. Then I can swim while he ninjas. Yay.

ah

not doing so well with this one. Have just spent time setting 43things up so that posts go on my blog, too. It was important. Honestly.

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

a different set of numbers

2 years
24 months
104 weeks
731 days
17 531 hours
1 051 898 minutes

since I stopped smoking.

18 270 cigarettes not smoked.

£4 574 not spent on cigarettes.

9 weeks 12 hours of life saved.

Yay.

can't leave well enough alone

Now I've coloured my hair too. Nothing wild, just a semi-
permanent colour a little darker than my natural state, but it's a bit more interesting. My virtual model has had her hair done to match (sort of, hers is longer at the back than mine).

End of 'fascinating' hair updates, I promise. At least until I complete my search for the perfect product for my new 'do ...

lost a pound or two today

Well, I think I have. I had all my hair cut off. Hah.

I feel like me again now. I've had 'long' (long for me ie shoulder length) hair for a few years now, but I never felt quite like it was me. It is amazingly hard to convince hairdressers to cut all your hair off, they keep telling you that it's going to look really short. I suppose they have to guard against the unwary bursting in to tears in the chair at the shock, but short hair holds no fears for those of us who spent years going to the barber's for a no. 4 back'n'sides.

today's numbers ...

points allowance ~ 32.5 (25/7.5); points used ~ 31 (-1.5); exercise ~ aquarobics (45 min), walking (1 hr 15 - not all in one go); water ~ 1l; booze ~ 1 glass red wine