Slap me with a wet fish

jennihen

Hi Polly
Had a bottle of wine tonight - celebbating shiny new debt free status BUT need to lose weight, stop smoking and stop drinking!!!

Can I join you?

Pollydaydream

Hi jennihen - how are you feeling this morning? Big congratulations on being debt-free -I think you're allowed a bit of a celebration.

I'm thinking about food and what I'm going to eat in the next month. If I'm going to be busy and trying to get through the month on a limited budget, I need to plan ahead.

Tried to meal plan, but my mind is just blank; had a look at the old style board and that's just blown my mind - there's so much info there, where do you start?

I'm going to think in terms of "snack type" meals for this month - something I can just pop in my bag and take to work or bung in the microwave when I get home. I'm going to start by making and freezing enough sandwiches for the month so that I won't have to think about it in the mornings. Can't really think of anything else at the moment.

Have a good day everyone.

Polly

Annie021063

Pollydaydream wrote: »

It’s been a while since I’ve been here – life (well, work and the gas board cutting through my phone line so no internet) got in the way.

It’s the end of another holiday and I’ve drunk too much, smoked too much and spent too much money. Reading back through this diary, I think I’m starting to see a pattern here – maybe I should just give up taking holidays:rolleyes:

Because I’ve had time, I’ve been mooching around the boards here and doing some thinking. I’ve seen people talking about doing 100 things in 1000 days. 1000 days from today takes me to a couple of weeks before I hit the big five oh :eek::eek::eek: (I can’t even bear to write the numbers – this is not where I thought I would be at this age).

I figure I’ve got two choices -

Option 1: give up trying to sort things out and sit here broke, alone and depressed until I smoke and drink myself into an early grave.

Option 2: sort things out.

The problem with Option 2 is that it’s hard work; the problem with Option 1 is that my mother would be seriously miffed.

Have to be honest, option 1 looks quite appealing sometimes, but on reflection (and after a good night’s sleep) I don’t think I’m quite ready to give up on the idea that there might be a well-balanced, happy life out there for me somewhere. So, option 2 it is (at least for 1000 days).

I think it’s going to take 100,000 things to do to sort my carp life out, so I’ll just paint the general picture.




In 1000 days from today I will

• be debtfree
• be living somewhere I am happy with
• be working somewhere I am happy with
• be addiction free
• be fit and healthy and looking good
• have a social life
• [STRIKE]have a bloke[/STRIKE] be in a mutally affectionate and supportive relationship with a member of the opposite sex

Nothing much to do there, then :rolleyes:
Here’s to day 1 :beer: (not sure this is appropriate given my tendency to overindulge, but old habits die hard!)
Polly

You know what Polly? The only person who can actually help you to achieve what you want from your life is.....YOU. I wish you luck with your challenges, see them as challenges and rejoice in even the smallest achievement.

Shoe_Gal

Good luck from me too

I find daily posting/chatting on here really helps - and it's hardly ever about money stuff :rolleyes:

Shoe_Gal

Good luck with this, it sounds like a good plan

A lot of what you're saying has echoes my life, the work stuff, the tirednes etc. If you really want self indulgent rambling have a read of my diary (2009 diary - a time to make changes) - you are not alone and I really think posting on here helps

Take care of you :A

hypno06

If you find detailed meal planning difficult or daunting, why not write the following list, which is much more flexible in the early days but still gives you a more structured plan than you may currently have......(this one is like my list, so you may have to change things if you are veggie etc)

Each week, when I do my shopping list, I ensure we have the wherewithall to make seven of the following meals for the coming week:

• Pasta meal (eg carbonara, macaroni cheese, smoked salmon tagliatelle)
• mince meal (eg shepherds pie, spag bol, meatballs, chili)
• something and chips (fishfingers and beans, usually!)
• Egg or beans on toast or soup (doesn't hurt to have something really basic once a week)
• Jacket potatos and fillings (tuna/cheese/beans/salad/leftover roast
• Roast dinner - need I say more, but save leftovers for other meals
• Sausage meal - sausage & mash, toad in the hole,
• rice dish - risotto, curry, kedgeree,
• pizza - no need to explain!
• Slowcooker meal - stew, curry, coq au vin, cassoulet
• storecupboard challenge - eat up and make wonderful meals with chickpeas and marmite!

Etc

So, Monday might be pasta night, tuesday night chips night, Wednesday sausage night, Thursday pizza, Friday Jacket spuds with cheese & beans, Saturday Egg on toast, Sunday Roast.....

There is enough on the list to fit in with the most manic of timetables - egg on toast is ideal for those days when you have to be in three places at once.....slowcooker meal ideal for using up leftovers out of the fridge, pasta can be dressed up or down for guest turning up unexpectedly, or as a quick meal in 10 mins....pizza always does the trick when you are tired and lacking motivation to cook......

From there, you will find yourself doing more detailed meal plans naturally, but to start with, be vague but work from the list and you will still see a big difference!

EssexHebridean

Good ideas from Hypno on the mealplanning there - I use a specific diary for writing down mealplans etc and find this works well for me. I work differently to many people though in that I don't tend to plan, and buy accordingly, I usualy buy pretty much the same items most weeks, plus I have a veg box delivered once a fortnight. I then plan my meals around what I have, and only occasionally buy something specific. (ie, I knew I was going to cook some scallops last night - some that I bought earlier in the year when we were on holiday, and froze - so I bought a pot of cream to do a cream sauce with those. The cream also went with crumble for pudding today,and the last bit of it will go into a curry sauce on Tuesday night, which will also use up the remains of todays roast). I have set ingredients that I always make sure I have which means I can cok the sort of meals we like, and then when something extra presents itself (this week it was courgettes, free when I bought potatoes) I will do a "Ready Steady Cook" and rejig the plan to suit.

Quick question on the smoking thing - how much does it cost you? Per week, per month, and per year. Might writing it down in black & white help I wonder? Knowledge is one thing, having the facts staring you, and everyone else, in the face, is another.....

Good luck!

macgirl

Hi Polly

Just read your thread and have to say you sound like a brilliant person with a great sense of humour.
I can identify with much of what you're saying ie: the over-tired / over-thinking merry-go-round (though I know there is not much "merriment" in it :rolleyes:) leading to a downward spiral.

I was just going to say "Change one Thing", then you said it yourself - as that is often all you need for life to take on a very different direction and change your perspective.

You have too much going for you to take Option 1 - so forget that.
I managed to nag my DH into submission on the smoking - so can offer my services if you like?! .
I know it's far from easy, so maybe don't start with that one.

For me, discovering I can make extra "free" money for minimal outlay has been a revelation. I don't know why, but it has had a positive knock-on effect on other areas of my life. I find myself thinking up new ways to make cash, where previously, my head would be swamped with "To Do" Lists and "Wants" that I'd just go to bed to escape.
Then nothing would get done and I'd be in a worse state with money, housework, weight, state of mind and so on. Now I feel like I'm gaining control - maybe you could give it a go....

As Shoe Gal says, definitely commit to coming on here everyday to vent your spleen or get slapped with a fish - I for one will tune in *subscribes*
See you tomorrow

Pollydaydream

Well, so much for coming here everyday to keep me focussed. I went into work last Monday and within an hour was hit with something "very urgent, has to be done today" - why didn't they mention it before, then :mad:

That was Monday gone and I spent the rest of the week playing catch-up, so no time to think about anything but work; totally shattered by Friday so spent most of Saturday doing nothing very much, then had too much to do on Sunday - am now still (or again?) totally shattered.

At the moment, work is something which I have to 'survive' which is a shame because it's the only job I've ever had which I truly loved. On a pro-active note, I did join some work-related forums, to see what's going on in other places (and try to get some survival tips!) Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be any better anywhere else. At least I know it's not just me and that's actually made me feel better.

Survival tip number 1 - keep out of the way as much as possible, so it lands in someone else's lap (that sounds completely selfish, but hey, this really is survival time - I'll help them out later when I've sorted things out).

On the smoking front, I've started taking Champix. I read so many horror stories on the net that I didn't take it for 3 days after I got it, but finally plucked up courage and it's been okay. I've just started taking the 1mg tablets twice a day, so maybe there will be more side-effects now, but I haven't had any yet. I've eaten something before taking the tablet and haven't had any nausea or upset stomach. On day 5 I started to notice the ciggies didn't really taste very nice, that there's no 'hit' like there is usually if you haven't smoked for a while; today I felt a bit sick after I'd had a ciggie a couple of hours after I took the tablet, so only smoked half (I usually drag every last drop of nicotine out of the things!). Overall, though I don't think that I'm smoking less yet and I haven't mentally commited myself to stopping (which you're supposed to do around day 14), but we'll see.

At the moment, a treat is going to bed knowing I've got enough time to get enough sleep and won't be waking up already tired, so I'm going to treat myself to that tonight

Night everyone.

Polly

macgirl

Hey Polly!
Good to see you back - Well Done giving up the fags! :T