Summer Solstice Sensation

lessonlearned

Hi Everyone

Glad you are feeling better Mrs W. You sound much calmer and more positive today. You are exploring some good ideas there and I'm sure that with your qualifications, skills and experience you will find plenty of doors open to you - maybe not immediately. Recessions don't last for ever, the economy will turn again.

Like everyone else trying to keep hold of the purse strings and yet eat well and healthily - stocked up with fruit and veg. Doing better so far with the budget - avoiding the big supermarkets, just using the markets, F/Foods and the like. Will need to buy meat by the end of next week so might just look out for some bargains and stock up when I see them, rather than waiting till the last minute then having to pay full price.:eek:

Busy day but don't seem to have achieved much. Bit drained after yesterdays physio.

Exercise 1.6kms on bike, multi gym, crunches and stretches
Treatment - nail tidy and polish

Bought a halter neck summer top from Cancer Research, reduced to £1 also three dressmaking patterns for £1. Hands up I admit I broke my no CS resolution but at £2 total that's still less than a cup of coffee, not so very bad.:o (four daily newspapers:rotfl:)

Going to try for an early night tonight.

G'night all x

lessonlearned

Hi Everyone

Feeling good today. WW weigh and I've lost 2lbs this week.:D

To the nice lady I met at WW who said she would catch up with me here, hello again and welcome to SSS.

We've both lost the same amount of weight - a total of 8lbs each so the race is on ...... Nah, just kidding - not into racing - will just "keep on trucking" until I get there.

We've had some good results here the last few weeks, nice and easy does it and we'll be fine.

Lingerie - v - undies

At the moment I'm afraid for me it's undies, rather uninspiring and functional. I do replace them regularly - I'm definitely not a dingy bra strap and tatty knickers kind of girl - too proud for that. However, what I really aspire to is some beautiful luxurious lingerie.

So ........my motivation is - when I've lost my two stones I will buy myself some posh lingerie.

I used to work with a lady who in a previous life had made lingerie for Harrods. She was a fantastic seamstress, made all the clothes for her family and her underwear was gorgeous.

Typing this whilst I had a break for lunch. Have been to Sainsbury's and did a bit of a stock up on meat. I was very good and stuck only to essentials - walked straight passed the clothes, DVD's, books and magazines and managed to keep my bill under £30:A

Anyway off to the library, then plant my rose bushes and I suppose I had better do some housework. Then exercise and dinner. In the spirit of trying new recipes - lamb kebabs tonight with cous-cous and salad.

Phew and there's another day gone.

Hope you are all well and keeping up the good work. How did you do at SW Maman?

Bye for now X

whitewing

Hello everyone. I slipped off the thread so I will catch up at the weekend. Looks like it is going at full pelt. I am slowly getting there. I have lost 1 stone so far but a lot, lot more to go. I am doing regular walks now and getting a nice 'outdoors' glow, so that it motivating me much more than the gym used to. Have got an iphone now so I can still check emails if I am out in the day on my walk. I still do the same amount of hours working from home but feel more accessible becaus of it and hence more likely to exercise which is good.

maman

Thanks for asking about SW, I lost 1lb today. At least it's in the right direction but I think it may have been more if I hadn't been to lunch with my friend yesterday. I won't describe the full menu but let's say a homemade chocolate mousse was involved:o. I've been back 100% on plan today (shines halo). Well done on your loss LL and you too Whitewing.

I like the idea of luxury lingerie. Before I lost weight I did treat myself to some very good bras (helped to make me look curvy rather than frumpy). I must say they were very expensive and fortunately they still fit, just. I think the next ones will be a back size smaller but not sure about the cup size. Funnily enough I noticed that the Duchess of Cornwall looked like she needed a good bra at the Royal Wedding.:p


As we're baring all:rotfl:I don't buy sets, as I prefer plain cotton pants but certainly not big knickers!! If I search hard I can still get the garter type ones that I like in M&S.

I've had a busy day today with 'work' so looking forward to weekend. Enjoy!

MrsWoolfe

Hello all!

well done on the 1lb Maman, it all counts and is moving you in the right direction!

Far more settled here- I've spoken to people already working within psychology/therapeutic work and feel that's the direction I'd like to take- have also found a conversion degree run in a uni near enough for me to commute to- it's a diploma which is accredited by the British Psychological Society and basically converts my business degree into a psychology degree/equivalent opening up a lot more doors for me. Although it's a full time course it's only 13hrs a week so I could still work part-time around it. The plan is to have a chat to the course co-ordinator about entry requirements- the website isn't too clear- and save up over the next year or so, with what we are saving at the moment we could have 10K or so to get us through the year I'm studying if I can get some part-time hours too we will have plenty to get by and won't be much worse off financially than now:D If things really go bad where I am, I will try and look for some contract work/temp work within Tax and still save up, but hopefully I can hold out for a year. Feel so much calmer now that I have a direction!

On the subject of lingerie - I love beautiful underwear, but struggle to find good bras at a reasonable price- up until recently I was a 38G, I also read recently that bra sizes change every 6 months or so - although at the moment mine seems to be changing every month! so I can't decide whether I want to invest in some really nice pieces or not...well I'm only half-way with the weight-loss another 2 stone to go before I need to decide on that one!

Have booked a proper holiday- as we can't take leave from Oct-April end up squashing in all my leave in May/June/July- our holiday year ends at the end of August so it's always a mad rush and there are 5 of us trying to fit our leave around each other... managed to get 10nights in Cyrpus B&B + flights and transfers for £600 each which I am quite pleased with, we also leave on my birthday yay! now have one week to get sorted/find my summer clothes ( still in boxes from the move) pack etc, so will be a busy week!

hope everyone has a good day...fingers crosses things are less fraught int he office today!

MrsWoolfe

lessonlearned

Hello Ladies and Lurkers

Welcome back Whitewing - great to hear from you and glad all is well. Well done on the weight loss and the walking - your work/life balance sounds better too. Look forward to you keeping in touch again.

Your ideas sound great Mrs W - really good to have a master plan - it can always be tweaked as required. Just keep focused and it will all come to fruition.

OH had a bit of wobble in his thirties - early mid-life crisis:rotfl:

We were desperately short of money and he was very stressed at work but couldn't afford to just up sticks because of family commitments. He was 34 at the time, so we made a plan on how to get debt free and for him to re-direct his career, the goal being to do this by the time he was 40. He managed it by 37. You'll get there. I'm sure that simply having clearly set your goals and starting your plan will make you feel better. Good news about the holiday - I'm sure you'll have a fab time. I really like Cyprus.

Well done on the 1lb Maman. Don't be disappointed - it's a good result, particularly when you are so near your target.:D

1lb per week is 3st 10lbs over a year. I think that when the weight comes off slowly and steadily it is more likely to stay off - I think it's more sustainable over the long term. I don't think quick fixes/crash diets work in the long run. I am hoping that by doing it slowly, eating healithily, exercising etc I will be developing good habits which will see me in good stead for life. I am aiming for a long and healthy one.;)

Today I got the results of my over 40's MOT, excellent - even the cholestrol is coming down. Apparently I'm in good nick:rotfl:

It's been a bit of a "me, me" day today. I went to the Chiropodist - she's sold another piece of my jewellery and is asking for more to sell:D

I am hoping that as my feet get a bit more comfortable I will be able to start walking soon. Although I am 5'7" I only have a slight frame and quite small bones - lugging an extra two or three stones around is just too much. Hopefully, losing weight will ease my joint pain, especially my feet, legs and knees.;)

Also booked a hair appointment for next week - definitely going for a chop - it's got enough length now to get rid of the final bits of colour. Then I can reassess it and decide how I want to go from there.

I've also been reassessing my workload. As mentioned, I've already given up Scope for a while so didn't go today.

I've decided that now I've got a grip on my spending again (doing really well this month). I am going to set some money aside to buy in extra help.

I have engaged a cleaner to start next week - perhaps not technically MSE I know - although the time I save can be spent on projects, diy, jewellery making & domestic goddess stuff. OH is looking forward to the baking:rotfl: I am sure it will be a big help - it should certainly take some of the pressure off.

I also lashed out today and treated the car to a good valeting. It's been untouched for months and I truly hate cleaning the car. £13 well spent.:D

Anyway ...... time to start preparing dinner, a big pot of chilli, some to eat and some to freeze. Then exercise and there's a huge pile of ironing glaring at me:o

Bye for now - have a fab weekend x
No special plans here - depends on the weather.

Carmen

Good evening ladies and lurkers,
Just a quickie to 'see' if all is well on the western front, and it seems to be,well done to you all for the positives:)
I managed to get to the hairdressers, it always looks too short when first cut but, after a week or so I am really pleased with it:)
Oooo errr Twinnie, you have a 'lady that does' good for you.
I would love to buy matching underwear but it is difficult to find in full support options. Just finding a good bra in a colour other than black, white or nude is hard enough.
Having a day at home tomorrow, catch up with chores that I left to enjoy the lovely weather.
Have a goodnight all.
Carmen xxx

maman

Oh, where to start you are such lovely chatty people!!!

On the bra question Carmen, I go to a quirky little shop in Salisbury that is fantastic at measuring and has all sorts of styles and colours. Unfortunately not cheap. On the other side of course nude, black and white make more sense when it comes to matching so maybe you're on the right lines.

LL, well done on getting someone what does! I've toyed with the idea so may times over the years. Most of my friends did it at one time or another but I always talked myself out of it. I think you've got just the right idea prioritising what you're going to do. I thnk I said some time ago that DH does our day-to-day cleaning (a bit OCD if you want my opinion:rotfl:) which is why I can focus on the feng shui! Oh and great news on the health MOT, I wish they offered that around my way.

MrsW, it sounds like you have a good plan for going forward. Sometimes the plan itself is enough to give you a lift, like an escape route. When (or if) you change course in the future, it's just good to know whre you want to go. Well done you:T

Good day here today. After breakfast DH asked if I'd like to go for a drive, bit of lunch etc etc My first thought was that I was going to have an easy day pottering about, meal planning, food shopping etc Then I thought 'Asda is open 24/7 what am I thinking of???' DH is very into genealogy and wanted to visit a little village near Oxford. We drove through beautiful countryside, walked round the village, light lunch in the pub. Asda??, no contest!

Have a good weekend all.

lessonlearned

Hello Everyone

Just woken up from a nice little nap.:o

Rather tired today so not much to report really. Very cold wind here so had to put my gardening plans on hold. Did three lots of washing and worked my way through the ironing pile so I have at least achieved something.

Like the sound of your little impromptu trip Maman - that's the beauty of being retired - the freedom to just do what you want when the mood takes you. The UK can be so pretty - there are some lovely villages and we "do" wonderful country pubs so well.

We used to be spontaneous before OH was ill. Now any outing has to be planned like a military campaign and quite often we just don't feel up to it.

At the risk of being rather whingey, I do sometimes feel that OH and I have been somewhat "cheated". We will now not be able to have the kind of retirement we had worked and planned for. I do get the odd pang of resentment I'm afraid. Still, it can't be helped and (most) of the time I'm fairly gracious.;)

Just a few stretches and crunches today, then dinner, Dr Who and then curl up with a book.

Just read a really nice book - the biography of Jeff Pearce - a self made clothing retailer - (won an award for Independent Retailer of the Year a few years ago). Literally a rags to riches story - dad an alcoholic ne'er do well and largely brought up by his mum.

They lived in the slums of Liverpool and she and the children eked out a living selling second hand clothing on the market, gathering wood to chop and sell, a bit of scrap metal dealing. Our hero, who was severely dyslexic and who couldn't read or write at all, was written off at school, learned how to trade from his mum and went on to build a small retailing empire, lost it all in the recession of the 90's and then built another one. Very moving and inspirational.

Just goes to show what motivation and determination to succeed can achieve.

If he can do that I can lose at least 2 stones;)

Bye for now x

MrsWoolfe

Hi Ladies!

Thanks for the words of support- I think you're right just having an idea of how I'm going to tackle moving away from Finance really helps. Now I sort of feel like I'm doing what I am now so that I can afford to do the course, which makes it easier I know I will move one from this so I can put up with the general grumble and rubbish I know it won't be forever.

Had a lovely day today,went up to see my mum as we are flying on my birthday I wouldn't get to see her on the day and she's off to see my family in Miami on 24th so it will be a month before we can see each other again- showed her this website- which I mentioned so many times but this time she was really interested and I've saved the site in her favourites for her- this site is right up her alley full of tips and hints!

Also had a friend's birthday BBQ yesterday was great fun- we all brought food/drink and there was so much food! was nice to see a lot of people I've not seen in ages and got a lot of compliments on how much weight I've lost in fact me Mum left me a message to say I was looking really well too:D:D and take it from me where my weight is conerned my Mum is my harshest critic...the "loving" nickname Michelin Man has been used in the past:eek:

LL I think you do very well to only have pangs, I can't imagine how it feels to have planned for and looked forward to that for so long and then have it taken away from you, generally you come across as being matter of fact about it all and cheerful, which to me shows what a strong person you really are...always easy to say but I think it's better for all of us to focus on the good things...I find it makes for a much happier life we can't always get what we want or even sometimes what we deserve, but we do what we can and trying to focus on the good things makes that easier...for me at least. I'll stop sermonising now...sorry:o

right lovely ladies, I'm off for now hope everyone has had good weekends.