Frump to Fab - Summer Solstice Sizzler

dannie

Hello everybody, thanks for the previous posts. The post regarding Mary Beard made me review what to achieve regarding this thread. I had considered improving my dress sense and colouring my hair but need to be sure that these are for the right reasons.

As you know, I've been unwell; now into the second week. Consequently, my type of "fabbing" has involved further home decluttering and hence hoping that this task will remove anything negative to my well being and also simplify life. Being sedentary has also meant less outdoor means to feel "fab" which can lead to overeating and so "unfab". It has therefore been a challenge to persevere with uplifting indoor tasks. However, today I managed a trip through the park by bicycle which was nice and a sign that my back is nearly healed.

Good Luck with your day etc.

podperson

Hi all,

LL - how rude and unprofessional of the OT :mad: I hope you put a complaint in!

Sparkles - hope you're feeling a bit better, I've just rid of a bad cold that just seemed to linger on for weeks, very frustrating. If it's mainly the cough that's staying, like I had, might be worth going to your GP as it might have gone into your chest and need some antibiotics to shift it.

Lizzie - glad you're going through with the volunteering, if you need character rather then work references I'm sure we'll all volunteer

Faithless - welcome :jI was just the same, kept thinking I would wait to buy new clothes for when I lost weight but in the meantime was looking a complete scruff in old, tatty clothes that often didn't fit properly. And then it can become a bit of a vicious circle as they can make you feel frumpy, fed-up and decreases your motivation for doing things to lose weight! I will try and buy a few items now, places like asda and matalan or charity shops are great for getting a few bits to update the wardrobe without breaking the bank. I also try and stop keeping clothes 'for best' - I had drawers full of tops that I wouldn't wear as I classed them as 'going out' tops etc. or for 'somewhere nice' but then I would hardly ever go out so they were just gathering dust! Now I will make more of an effort to get them out, and you can dress them down, eg wear a dressier top with jeans and some simple accessories. Anyway, sounds like you've made a good start already and congrats on the engagement - definately some good motivation there

LW - glad the physio seemed to help a little, hope the exercises start to make a difference, bit odd about the lump - I would have been a bit paranoid and asking her what it might be!

dannie - while I might have an off day now and then (I guess like everyone) I must admit most of the time I'm not too bothered what other people think of how I look. I do find though that I feel more confident and positive in myself when I think I look nice, so that's more what I'm striving for. I would like to be able to look in the mirror and like what I see - at the moment I don't dislike it as much as I used to but still have a way to go Hope you feel better soon x

Anyway, not the best day yesterday. Work has been rather quiet lately and they have been struggling a bit for business. Got an email round yesterday saying 2 people are going to be leaving and they are going to be reducing wages for the rest of us. Am not too impressed, am on such a tight budget as it - have already had rent increase, electric increase, phone increase and tax credits decrease in the last few months so am stretched to the limit and can't afford to be losing any more I think am going to have to start looking elsewhere - I know I said I wanted to leave but was hoping to be able to hang on a bit longer to the point where I would have built up my own things enough to be able to just concentrate on those. Part of me does say that maybe I should just try it, I can think of lots of other money things to do if I had more time, but then they aren't going to build up overnight and I have to pay the bills in the meantime

lessonlearned

Good afternoon everyone:)

Just a quickie - need to get the dinner on....

Went for physic and she also gave me acupuncture again - it's really helping. Came home and slept and slept and slept.....so nothing very much done

LW - glad the physic went ok. Re the lumps - I've got one in my lower back, the right hand side - which is where most of my back problems seem to stem from (not from the lump itself but from the right hand side).

Apparently lt is a muscle which had become very badly knotted and fibrous. They told me it wasn't linked to cancer or anything nasty, that it was perfectly harmless but that it would likely remain. Perhaps yours is something similar.

pp - I am so sorry to hear of your work woes, a pay cut is all you need right now. I understand what you are saying about going it alone - there are regular bills to be paid and a regular basic salary can be a nice safety net, even if doesn't cover everything.

In my OH's case we had no real choice - he was made redundant so we thought it through and decided to bite the bullet and go self employed. Best thing that could have happened to us but I can appreciate that it is a very scary prospect, I know OH had a few sleepless nights at the time.

Perhaps just hang on for now, try and build up some of those income streams and maybe keep half an eye open to see if you can get a better job until your various enterprises start paying off.
If they "let you go" would there be a redundancy package for you.

Welcome Faithless

Congratualtions on the engagement. :T

What many of us have done is rather than waiting until we reached our goal weight we just treated ourselves to a few bits and bobs.

There are plenty of cheaper high street stores and supermarkets selling affordable clothing and of course I cannot recommend charity shops, car boots etc highly enough.

Dannie The trick to all this is to make sure that you are doing this for the right reasons. If you do it Just for You. then it will be fun and a pleasure, if you do it because you are trying to please someone else or because you feel under pressure to conform then it will just become a chore.

Getting your head in the right place is where it all starts.

Good to hear you are feeling a little better and yes I definitely agree that spending time on your home and surroundings to make them nice and comfortable is time and effort well spent.

Went to B & M stores - I love that shop. Bought a cheeky little canvas picture for the kitchen £5 and a couple of fleece throws for my sitting room 2 for £3-99.:T

Ready to order my artwork now - maybe tomorrow.

DS2 not too well - off work today - so will spend some time with him this evening and do some jewellery whilst I watch TV. I am changing the fasteners on all my necklaces to magnetic clasps so I shall finish those.

Bye for now

WelshWoofer

Evening all! Hope we're all well?

Pod - bad news about the job - hope it works out for you. x
LL and LW - good to hear your aches and pains are a tiny bit better.
And hello Faithless!

Well its day 5 and still fag free:j
Its actually easier than I thought it was going to be - I am giving myself a week of eating whatever I want to help with the smoking denial (2 bans at the same time are just not doable) and then from next weekend my eating will be better again. The meals aren't too bad its the picky eating in between to distract myself from smoking (subconsciously) that will do real damage if I don't nip it in the bud - but one battle at a time;)

And as an aside, I've decided that my next treat purchase will be a couple of multipacks of new knickers - mine have seen better days, good job no-one else sees them:rotfl:M&S here I come! Or has anyone else bought cotton knickers from anywhere else and been pleased with them - just normal run of the mill everyday cotton pants (packs of 5)??

fedupandskint

WW - Well done for sticking at it and keep going then it becomes a new habit to be tobacco free and also M+S for me are the winners for undies!

As for me I feel really really run down. Wish I was bouncing around as usual. Off work to try and recover and get over this buddy virus. I know its nowhere near as bad as other people's health issues but it has knocked me down bigstyle from where I was 4 weeks ago to now. Still no improvement today and hoping to turn the corner tomorrow or Friday and get back to normal sometime soon - hoping so!

LameWolf

Yay!!! Go WW:T:T:T

Sparkles, honey, never mind "not as bad as other peoples health issues", it's making you feel rough, so I really hope it clears up soon. :oHave a virtual (((HUG))).

podperson wrote: »

LW - glad the physio seemed to help a little, hope the exercises start to make a difference, bit odd about the lump - I would have been a bit paranoid and asking her what it might be!

Lol I'm not entirely sure I want to know!!:rotfl:

lessonlearned wrote: »

LW - glad the physic went ok. Re the lumps - I've got one in my lower back, the right hand side - which is where most of my back problems seem to stem from (not from the lump itself but from the right hand side).

Apparently lt is a muscle which had become very badly knotted and fibrous. They told me it wasn't linked to cancer or anything nasty, that it was perfectly harmless but that it would likely remain. Perhaps yours is something similar.

Most likely - certainly, the PT didn't seem worried.:o The other one has been there for what seems like an age; it's slightly to the right, about 2" lower than my collar-bone (I think - I'm not very well up on human anatomy). Ten pounds to a dog biscuit it's all to do with the same thing, because I think I noticed the one at the front (as just described) about the time the trouble with the shoulder started.:o

I've done some gentle yoga (PT said it was OK to continue with this) and my Brain Training; just waiting for Mr LW to call to say he's leaving work, now. We've got the 2nd half of the Shepherd Spy I made yesterday for dins, with blackberry and apple crumble to follow.;)

We went and saw "Dark Shadows" at the cinema yesterday evening - it was good entertainment, considering it only cost us a total of £5.80; but I don't think I'd bother getting it on DVD, not something I'd sit and watch more than once.;)

ETA That was Mr LW on the phone - he's on his way home now, so he'll be here in about an hour.:T

Sezzagirl

Evening all

Thanks for all the nice comments about the Pupster! His name is Gibbs and he's a mini schnauzer so he's going to need a lot of fabbing himself!

WW Well done for keeping quitting. I've never done it myself but one day at a time seems to be the answer

LW Mr Sezza has a lump on his shoulder near the collar bone that a physio looked at and it was some sort of fluid build up. Hope it works out for you

I saw someone the other day who made me think it might be you. A lady in a pretty, long , tasselly skirt, in a motor chair walking a dog! Made me think of you anyway

Fedup, I really think the weather is still dragging everyone down but we've had a day of sunshine here and it make everything seem better somehow!

I hope that people are managing to battle all the dragons facing them at the moment:j

Sezza xxx

Sezzagirl

Although I have realised that the photo I put up is about 5 weeks old - I think from the day we brought him home so I''' have to find a more recent one!

LameWolf

Mawnin' all *yawn*

Gods, what a rotten night! No idea why, but I had a horrible night's sleep (or lack thereof, to be more accurate) and I feel really ropy today.:(
I don't know what to do now; I have lavender incense in the bedroom, a hot milky drink, valerian, and still I can't sleep at night and can't stay awake in the morning. I've tried warm baths at night, but they have the opposite effect, they tend to wake me up; probably because getting dry afterwards is such a faff. Shame the morning bath doesn't seem to work thus!:D

OK, I'll stop whingeing now; but I know I can voice my frustration here.;)

Sezza miniature Schnauzers have huge personalities - one of my regular guests, Sidny, is one; he's very elderly now, and diabetic (Mr LW has to give him 2 insulin injections each day while he's here). Whenever it's time for him to go home, he plants his little bottom firmly on the carpet and refuses to budge!:rotfl: If you're interested, here he is last Yule when he last stayed, in his little winter coat.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/LameWolf/DSC03054.jpg

We have Mr LW's pal coming over this evening - I checked and we do have some cider in the fridge!:rotfl: So I shall attempt presentable later on; I have on a full-length t-shirt dress with a wolf and an Indian woman on the front, and my silver and white cardi (knitted myself from wool that was given to me) so I just need to apply a little war-paint later.

We're due to have pizza for dins, so I must put the bread machine on in a minute, or we won't have a base for it!:rotfl:

Have a good *checks calendar* Thursday, everyone.:o

podperson

Morning all,

LL - I would love to be able to just go for it but unfortunately am well aware that what I have coming in at the moment from other areas is very much dribs and drabs, while part of me says that I could increase this if I had more free time to spend on it then realistically this would probably take a while. It's hard to know what to do, I really didn't want to have to go through the hassle of job hunting, learning a new role, having new bosses etc when I won't want to stop there for long anyway, but I know I'm going to struggle if I stop here with a pay cut. I'm thinking of possibly asking them if I can reduce my hours so I can work on the freelance stuff in the meantime - but again will need to start getting money in quickly to cover the bills. It's times like this when I really wish OH worked, it would be nice not to feel soley responsible of us financially

ww - doing great on the non-smoking :T am sure the picking at food can be worked on next week, one thing at once!

LW - I'm thinking of going to see Dark Shadows when I can squeeze it in, love Johnny Depp and Tim Burton, and while I don't think it seems like it'll be one of their best looks watchable at least Re the lack of sleep, do you struggle to go off or is waking up constantly. I know I'm really bad with actually getting to sleep, I can't seem to switch my brain off so will just lie there for hours with random cack swirling round my head. the only thing that seems to work for me is having something on in the background, usually the tv, as a bit of a distraction. OH will laugh at me cause it can't be anything too exciting or interesting as then I'll want to stay awake to watch it They have Big Bang on e4 lateish at the moment, which I like as it's listenable to but I'm seen them before so aren't dying to know what happens :rotfl:

Anyway, not much to report today, was photo editing until late again last night so bit tired today. Have a photo shoot with a band after work though so need to perk up a bit before then The other wedding couple for the one in August emailed me as well last night, was thinking they had decided not to bother as they said they would get back to me by last weekend but they are going ahead with it so that's two booked in now