Keeping up appearances.......

Honey_Bear

joeyjimbles wrote: »

Working from home, dog walking and generally just being 50

... plus a bit, here ...

are definitely not resulting in being fabulous.

You are of course, fabulous. Its just that occasionally we need a bit of spit and polish and those of us who work at home get out of the habit of it.

I am off on my annual jaunt to London with the girls late November and feel that drastic measures may be needed rather than my usual strategy of a haircut, eyebrow threading and a new lippy. Help!

This is one of my longer term challenges I set myself this year, so I feel your pain. The habit of only needing to be comfortable plus warm in winter and cool in summer has resulted in my being a real scruff bag.

However, three weeks is ample for an MSE total makeover, I would have thought. If you haven't got all the solutions immediately to hand I'd suggest the following as considerations for starting points.

Student night at a really, really good salon for a zingy new hairstyle, colour, whatever they think you need and you can manage the after effects of - important consideration, that.

Clothes-wise, a Gok Wan style makeover of your most comfortable smart outfit to pep it up, and you could post photos of what you've got that you like, feel good in, but doesn't quite cut the mustard as it is at the moment.

Ask for suggestions from people whose taste you trust. I started really looking at what friends wore, and realised that some of my friends dress really well and some don't. One of the things that makes an incredible difference is forward planning when buying clothes. My best dressed friend chose a colour palette years ago and only buys clothes in that range; darker enamel colours, so deep crimsons, darker bottle greens, and so on. Lovely. Doing it that way everything you buy goes together and you can mix and match very few pieces of clothing to make masses of different outfits.

Why not start your own thread either on the Debt Free Challenge Board or on the Old Style Board to see what other suggestions clever MSEers can come up with.

Honey_Bear

• No computer after 9.00pm. Tick, sort of. I've found a six part TV series that is part way through, so I caught up on the first three episodes last night. Watching TV on the computer doesn't count, does it?
• Five fruit and veg a day. Yesssssss. Back in the game.
  
• 15 minutes flying a day, sticking to the new schedule: Monday: Dusting/dewebbing; Tuesday: Kitchen; Wednesday: Floors; Thursday: Bath/shower room; Friday: Windows/Paintwork. Gleaming houses require no Flying. Yeah, right.
• Go flour-free. I was not good. I crave something sweet at about 4.00pm-ish and have been struggling with managing this every day for years. Yesterday I totally caved and ate six and a half Madelaine type things OH brought me back from Portugal weeks ago that were well past their use by date. Scrummy. So far no reaction.
  
• New for Suptember 2: Use the electric toothbrush at least once a day. I hate doing it, but it's so much more effective than the old fashioned one, so if I make it official I might stick to it. Not a tick. Bad HB. Not on a roll here.

:wave: Happy. Hope all is well with you.

Dolphin1

Honey_Bear wrote: »

I was not good. I crave something sweet at about 4.00pm-ish and have been struggling with managing this every day for years. Yesterday I totally caved and ate six and a half Madelaine type things OH brought me back from Portugal weeks ago that were well past their use by date. Scrummy. So far no reaction.

I might have said before but late afternoon is my weak time too and when I start looking for a 'treat'. I am giving in to temptation every afternoon at the moment and I'm not really sure how to break the habit again. I don't know whether it's the change in weather but I need to do something or I'll never lose any more weight and it is starting to get me down.

Honey_Bear

Dolphin, thank goodness it's not only me! The only thing that I can eat that satisfies the sugar cravings is dried fruit. If I'm organised enough I have dried apricots and dates easily at hand, but nothing else works and, to be honest, they do feel a bit like a penance. Plus which, it means they don't get eaten first thing in the morning for a blood sugar hit before the first dog walk because eating them twice wouldn't count for my five a day. I should be a virtuous person and just have an apple because I've got boxes and boxes of them but somehow it doesn't satisfy the cravings.

Honey_Bear

• No computer after 9.00pm. Tick.
• Five fruit and veg a day. Yesssssss. Back in the game.
  
• 15 minutes flying a day, sticking to the new schedule: Monday: Dusting/dewebbing; Tuesday: Kitchen; Wednesday: Floors; Thursday: Bath/shower room; Friday: Windows/Paintwork. Gleaming houses require no Flying. Yeah, right.
• Go flour-free. Whoops. Ate five Madelaines for pudding after a virtuous dinner, plus something else I shouldn't have eaten earlier. This target is really tough now.
  
• New for Suptember 2: Use the electric toothbrush at least once a day. I hate doing it, but it's so much more effective than the old fashioned one, so if I make it official I might stick to it. Not a tick. Bad HB. Not on a good roll here, in fact rather a bad one.

Now off to my final plastering class and hoping that it all comes together.

HappyNow

Honey_Bear wrote: »

OH is a bit like a hermit - he doesn't like coming out of his mancave Monday to Friday bewteen the time he goes in and 8.00pm. Yesterday he wanted my advice on buying a new litter tray

I'm pleased you are doing so well with his house-training. If he's going to be in the mancave all day then he certainly deserves a shiny new litter tray :rotfl:

HappyNow

Dolphin1 wrote: »

I am giving in to temptation every afternoon at the moment and I'm not really sure how to break the habit again. I don't know whether it's the change in weather but I need to do something or I'll never lose any more weight and it is starting to get me down.

Honey_Bear wrote: »

I crave something sweet at about 4.00pm-ish and have been struggling with managing this every day for years. Yesterday I totally caved and ate six and a half Madelaine type things OH brought me back from Portugal weeks ago that were well past their use by date. Scrummy.

joeyjimbles wrote: »

What is the opposite of 'letting yourself go'?
Whatever it is I think I need three weeks of the MSE version in the start of November. Help!

Hmmm.... Seems to me that certain people should get involved with 'No crap November'.

HappyNow

Last day of Suptember2 and I have been anything but Super! It's been a crappy old month, but no more excuses and I need to sort out the money, the eating and the appearance PDQ.
Anyone up for NocrapNovember? Not a problem if no-one can face it, I will still plough on with it so that I'm content and gorgeous by 1st December
Argh, here comes MrH..... back later

Dolphin1

HappyNow wrote: »

Anyone up for NocrapNovember?

Count me in! Need to get back on track.

Dolphin1

My November targets are...

1) Not to eat any of the following... butter, cake, sweets, biscuits, chocolate, ice cream, cream or desserts of any kind. (For obvious reasons.)

2) To meal plan at the end of the week for the following week. (I have got a bit slack with this and my grocery bill has increased again because of it.)

3) To do my back exercises once every day. (I'll exclude the exercise that irritated my back last time.)