Frugal Frump to Fab/Winter Solstice

lizzie157

Originally Posted by tru
No not yet. One of my guinea pigs has been ill, I knew she was getting worse because she wouldn't eat her favourite veg yesterday. I spent the afternoon fussing her and I'm glad I did, she died last night We'll bury her this morning.

So sorry to hear this we have kept Guinea pigs for a few years and its terrible when they die, hugs to you.

lizzie157

hi karen,

my cuticles are abit rubbish too. I have lovely strong nails which I could grow long if I wanted to but I prefer mid length.

Mrs W's tip about oils is great as they really help, I always try to wear gloves when washing up or doing any other job which is hard on the hands. I think its been said before but if you put handcream on before the gloves it helps a lot. If you can't get on with normal rubber gloves for some things ( I find even the smallest ones a bit clumsy as I'v got small hands) try using latex ones - about 10 in a pack from pound shop - not as strong but closer fitting - I use them for hair dying and cleaning g/pig out as my hands were becoming really dry.


To everyone else hope you're having a good day.

lessonlearned

Hi Everyone.

Hello Karen and welcome

Re the hands - echo what Mrs W has said, just a little TLC everyday. Keep the nails short for a while till they get stronger, trim and file into a nice oval shape.

A little vaseline rubbed in each night will help. Use a pale or nude varnish to "prettify" them - pale colours or nudes don't draw attention to them too much in the way that darker brighter colours do. Oh and always wear rubber gloves for washing up and dirty jobs.

Anyway - as I mentioned yesterday we're six weeks in.

Do you need some motivation?.

Ok - a quick recap and then I'm going to tell you all about the power of "P".

Oh Lord I hear you saying - what on earth is LL on about this time. All in good time O impatient ones.

Right let's recap. To do this - back to task 2 - you remember task 2 don't you.

Back to the mirror, full length if you've got one. How do you look - bright and shiny and sparkly. Of course you do. Because you are keeping up with the grooming aren't you.:rotfl::rotfl:

Or ..................are we looking a bit bag lady again. You know what to do;).

This morning I have defuzzed, a deep cleansing face pack, washed and styled my hair, long soak in the bath, and finished with a good slathering.

Right I'm off now to do some painting, cleaning and cooking - to get all hot and bothered and dirty again.

At least I started out clean and fragrant - don't forget the perfume:D

Back later with those "P's".

lessonlearned

TRU - Sorry to hear about the guinea pig, I wept buckets when our last hamster died, he was ancient (in hamster years) and was such a character.

Pets are part of the family so of course we mourn them when they go.

Dawning

Hi everyone, I've not been around for a while as I had a bit of a 'slump' - quite low mood, lots of stress, etc and as usual I let taking care of myself slide to the lowest priority.
Anyway, I'm back now, and I see I'm not the only one who's been feeling down lately. Hopefully we all feel much better soon.

TRU - sorry to hear about your guinea pig, it's horrible losing a pet.

LL- thanks for the gentle nudge about the mirror. It's very timely for me and reading it is what prompted me to post today!

Things haven't all been negative. I've been walking quite a bit more - still not doing my target of five days a week but I'm getting there. Still staying aware of what's in my wardrobe, thinking about putting outfits together instead of just grabbing a top and some trousers and the nearest pair of shoes! I've culled my jewellery collection big time too. I'm of an age where my style goal is what I call 'casual chic'. This is what I'd like to aim for, and I realised that a lot of the bits of jewellery I've collected over the past few years just don't fit with the image I've got in my head. So I got rid of lots of necklaces and bracelets, most of which I've never worn, to the charity shop last week.
On the minus side, I'm still feeling overwhelmed by money problems (lack of it, of course!), the state of my house, and some loneliness. I work from home and although it's wonderful not to have to stand on a freezing cold railway station platform at 6.30am on a January morning, it is very isolating when you work at home. Trying to boost my social life but finding it hard to do because of the money problems.

Hope everyone starts to feel better soon!

lessonlearned

Hi Dawning

So glad to have you back - was only thinking about you earlier and wondered if I should put out a "Hello Dawning, how ya doin' message out there). Spooky.

There's a few others too, Elanan, Harry'snan, Philsmum, PK etc - Oh you all know who you are and I really don't want to come over as a nag. Just hope you are all doing ok.

Re the money Dawning, well what can I say. My finances, whilst not perfect, are so much better than they were. Just hang in there gal, things will get better.

I know you work from home and I know that can make you feel isolated, can you join something cheap and cheerful. I'm thinking of joining the WI, in the autumn. Might be fun and shouldn't be expensive.

Just an idea - don't know how much energy you have:o - would a little second job help, extra money and to get you out meeting folk. I know finding jobs is very difficult, would you fancy a couple of hours in a charity shop.

Anyway, the power of "P"...............

lessonlearned

This is just something daft I dreamt up.

I was thinking about motivation and decided to come up with a few buzz words we could all remember. The funny thing is they all started with the letter "P". So the power of "P" - P is for ..............

Perfume

This is where we started. Wear it always and feel wonderful.

The Egyptians are credited with discovering how potent perfume can be - the high priestesses used it in all their religious ceremonies. Once the preserve of the rich now everyone can afford to smell gorgeous. My DS2 always wears a cologne by Jean Paul Gaultier - he smells so gorgeous I could gobble him up.

Posture

Another early one. Walk tall and proud, move with grace, you will appear confident and command respect. You will also strengthen your core muscles, improve your balance and protect your back. What's not to like and it costs nothing.

Positivity

Thanks to PP for this - ooh more "p's".

I am a glass half full person so being positive comes easily to me, so have never really had to work on this one. I realise that not everyone finds it so easy.

So try to focus on at least one positive thing each day, no matter how bleak things appear. As my dear old dad would say "Well, I woke up"

Sounds truly naff I know but when things are really awful try and count your blessings - you have a warm home, food on the table etc. Things could be worse. Think about those poor devils who suffered in the earthquakes etc. I'm sorry if that sounds preachy

Persistance

Just keep going. If you falter, draw a line and start again. Stay focussed, keep your eye on the prize. You'll get there.

Patience

You didn't become a frump overnight, so don't expect miracles. It will take a little time to put things right.

Perfectionism

No one has a perfect face/body/life. Don't be hard on yourself, you don't need all that pressure. You don't need to be perfect, good enough will do just fine.

Pleasure

Take time to find a little pleasure each day, a sunset, birdsong, flowers, a cup of coffee with friends, time with your loved ones. It's good for the soul.

Pampering

A warm bath, massage some body lotion into your skin, paint your nails, just for you. OK so it's a little indulgent - why not.

Procrastination

How many times have you said "When I've lost weight I will..........sort out my wardrobe/hair/life. Why wait, start now. Live in the present, fretting over past mistakes is a waste of time, so is worrying about the future. Today is what counts.

Back in a mo...............

maman

karen_is_trying wrote: »

Wow what an amazing forum this is slimming beauty and support for everything it seems can i join please , im a slimming world fanatic lost 4stone 8lb thus far my first goal is another 5st 6lb then go from there lol, im a busy mum of a 4 year old, wife of a 33 year old, older mum of ,y 23 and 21 year old and stepmum of 13 year old all boys which is a cleaning nightmare, also work fulltime and am a total mse fanatic trying to get back in control of spending so dont really have any me time at the mo and god do i need some,
....

Welcome Karen, it's good to have you on board and it sounds like you can teach us a few things about mse and time management!

I agree with all that's been said about your nails, especially keeping them short but nicely shaped until you deal with the flakiness. I like to paint mine with the 'pinky' part of a French manicure (not skilful enough to do the white tips yet) and then put a gloss/hardener over the top. The natural white tips still show through and I think it looks well groomed. If you have some time then soaking your hands in a bowl of warm, soapy water (like they do at beautician) before pushing cuticles back will ensure you sit down for a while:) Which part of the Principality are you from? I'm an exile.

Dawning wrote: »

Hi everyone, I've not been around for a while ....

Things haven't all been negative. I've been walking quite a bit more - still not doing my target of five days a week but I'm getting there. !

So glad you're back Dawning and :T on the walking. I've been dreadfully lazy but today I've made an effort. After a short walk yesterday today I was out for about two hours! My original target was to average about 30-45 mins a day and this week I'm going to do my best.

On the mse front: I'm finding like you that I've got lots of things to take to CSs (mostly clothes that are too big:D) and I'm loving browsing there and buying myself bits and pieces that are cheap. I went out to dinner the other evening in a £3 Jigsaw top from the CS (the small one some of you may remember;)) and I felt the bees knees! And what about lists to help you sort out your house. I sometimes walk around the house making lists of what needs doing in each room and then you get a great sense of achievement when something's ticked off. It doesn't need to be anything huge, tidy out a drawer or a cuboard or a bookshelf and you'll have even more stuff for the CS.:rotfl:

Back later, must get dinner going.

podperson

Hi all,

Thanks for the kind words regarding the in-laws. I think you're right, his mum is just extremely thoughtless. It gets frustrating though as she actually thinks she IS thoughtful because she'll do things like ring on birthdays - she doesn't realise that OH and gran would appreciate more just a call every few weeks or something. I find it a little hard to know how to help as my family is very different - I speak to my mum and dad about once a week. If we haven't spoken in a few weeks then I usually get a lecture from my mum that she's worried about me

Carmen - the sausages are really nice, get them from Asda. Am a veggie so that makes me eat a bit more healthily I think. Have just been a bit lazy lately with the 'stick something frozen in the oven' approach lol. Am impressed with you and OHs blitzing - I must get round to the bedroom, finally tackled the massive pile of washing yesterday.

Mrs W - office move sounds stressful but glad your new office space is looking all pretty

Tru - so sorry about your guinea pig our pets really are part of the family aren't they, at least she had you there and lots of fuss.

Welcome to Karen and Dizzydoll and :wave: to everyone else.

I find it quite interesting that a lot of us seem to be struggling a little at the moment. I know I've had problems the last few weeks, especially on the food side, which surprised me as I had been perhaps naively thinking that new habits were sinking in and I hadn't even been craving 'bad' things much. I have noticed though that I haven't slipped back as much as I would have done normally - I fancied some more sweet stuff this week so have had it and then stopped rather then before when I would have just thought that I'd dropped off the 'diet wagon' and therefore used it as an excuse to go nuts. Maybe it's something about the time of year or the weather affecting us? Anyway will try and make a bit more effort this week. Have actually just had a thought that because I've made less effort with my 'main meals' this week that might be related to be craving more sweets things and snacks. Slightly long-winded but I find things that this really interesting

lessonlearned

Remember "Beatty" in that old telephone add. Well here's a couple of "ologies" for you.

Psychology

Use it to your advantage. Remember the bit about NLP - how language can affect the way we think, act and feel. Visualise how you want to be. It's all about making the right choices.

Philosophy

I find this subject fascinating. Right from old Aristotle and his pal Plato through to Rab C Nesbitt and what I call the "String Vest School of Philosophy" - his take on working class life.

We all have our own versions - whether we know it or not. Modern "observation" comedy relies heavily on philosophy. I'm hugely enjoying John Bishop's Scouse take on life at the moment

My own philosophy tends towards the Ke Sara Sara school. Like the old Rolling Stones song "You can't always have what you want". I wish OH was fit and healthy but he isn't ................. Accept and be gracious.
OH is wonderful at this, he knows what's what but is determined to make the best of things.

Finally, the big one

Pride

Not the arrogant, boastful, I'm better than everyone, comes before a fall, is one of the seven deadly sins sort. No one likes a braggart. Just a quiet modest pride in ourselves and in our achievements.

Pride in one's appearance is not about vanity, it's about self-respect and dignity.

A very dear friend of mine suffered from Breast Cancer. Throughout the long gruelling treatments she always tried to maintain some semblance of her old glamourous attractive self. She said it was about self respect and dignity. I agree. She wore her dignity as a cloak to shield herself from the horrors of the illness.

It's the same with OH, I work hard to maintain his dignity for him, cutting his hair, shaving him, manicures, pedicures, taking care of his clothes. So many ill people in nursing homes and hospitals are sadly neglected.

Personal care and pride in one's appearance is by no means trivial.

Motivational talk over. Time to cook.