Frugal Frump to Fabulous Winter Solstice to Spring Equinox

Rummer

Wow ladies, sounds like a whole load of fabbing has been going on

I have true to my word cleared all the junk out the house and have been eating well for the last few days, it is tough but I have resisted temptation

Exercise has also featured heavily and I made it to badminton and my dance class and loved both. Every day I have gone for a long, brisk walk and my Pilates and Vicky Pattinson DVDs are winging their way here as I type

As for general fabbing I treated myself to a body scrub and body butter and have been using them daily. Almost every day I have been wearing makeup and I have moisturising my hands and face every night. I have been trying to dress well and that has helped with my overall appearance too.

So I feel empowered and ready to embrace my new life :j

Rummer

WW I am looking forward to hearing how you have got on with your fruit purge

ScarlettMcCain

WW, a massive well done on the fruit diet and the haircut!! Mine is getting the chop two weeks on Saturday, can't wait, it's so dry and out of condition now. I've lost half a stone since Christmas - seems very slow at 1lb per week, but better that than nothing I suppose - will be interesting to see if the fruit detox helps you lose lb's/ inches/ generally makes you feel better.

I've started doing weights as well PQ, nothing impressive, but would be nice to have a bit of arm definition! My problem is that my OH is far better at weight training than me, but he's incapable of only going to the gym for an hour or so; every time we have to spend 2 1/2 hours there, which just isn't practical on a weeknight, especially when I have to get up early the next day to wash my hair! The upshot is that rather than compromising (ie: we'll do some weights but not all of them, and leave after 1 1/2 hours) we don't go at all, then I fit in a cardio session on my own later in the week. Must drag him back at some point, as I completely agree with Teacher that we do feel better for doing it - even sticking to my 30 Day Shred (I'm on day 4) has helped.

We would also love a home gym lesson but have no room for one! Shame, as I quite often see things advertised cheaply on Facebook or local ebay which would be great for it. I'd even be tripping over an ab cruncher if I got one, very frustrating as I did like mine but had to get rid of it.

Just to finish off - I completely agree with Maman and Kiwi about technology - can't manage to post on here at all via the iPhone, the crappy old laptop has to come out for me to do it!

Teacher2b

Morning!

I'm another one who struggles to post using iphone- laptop all the way! The keys are just too fiddly / small on phone screen!

Rummer that all sounds great! Well done you for making fabbing an important part of your new life and it sounds like you're feeling good for it too. Yay!

WW Let us know how the fruit diet went! You must be missing your man lots - not long till he's back now!

PQ That sounds like the dream night in! What takeaway did you have in the end?

Maddiemay Trouser/ Jean shopping can be a nightmare! I have to say I really like Dorothy PErkins for trousers/ jeans- they're a little bit higher cut in the waste than some other brands. Since losing a bit of weight I went into topshop and tried a size down from usual- they fitted but still looked awful, I'm convinced their clothes are designed to make anyone who is not 5ft 9 look terrible!


Another day waiting at home for deliveries today. House is tidier than it's been for a long time so I guess that just leaves school work to be done. Weather is looking a bit iffy so I don't mind getting cosy in front of daytime tv/ maybe put the fire on!

Mission today is to eat clean I've let the eating slip a bit recently after seeing results so have plateaued but in order to lose the last 3(ish) pounds I'm going to have a final push on the higher protein/ lower carbs/ less processed stuff. Going on school trip didn't help as the kids brought so much junk food which was continually being offered around!

How are we all? Nearly end of the working week for those of you not off.

lessonlearned

Hi Everyone

Lovely to catch up on all your news and gossip. I make myself a coffee and draw up a chair and catch up with you all - it's like a virtual coffee morning:D

I so agree with the mini rants about M&S - I think it's only the food halls which keeps them in business these days. The homeware stuff whilst ok is expensive but their clothes are dreadful, overpriced, poor quality, either frumpy or too fussy. Their store layouts are just a mess, it's like weaving your way around Paddy's market:rotfl:

I agree with Maman the likes of Sainsbugs and Asda are okish for cheap and cheerful or for a quick fix but they don't keep their good looks for long.

So where do we shop for classics that we want to keep for more than one season.

Answers on a postcard please.

Oddly enough quite by accident I stumbled on a garden centre that has a concession for Edinburgh Woollen Mill. Whilst EM don't do "funky" or high fashion they do some quite nice timeless classics. I like their knitwear and casual stuff. Can be a bit pricey compared with supermarkets and the high street but they seem to have plenty of sales/offers.

I used to be quite a fan of Country Casuals (CC) as they now call themselves but I do find them very expensive, so again it's sale time only for me.

Well - I had a naughty spend on beauty products yesterday.

I'm sick of wasting my money trialling different moisturisers so I lashed out and bought some Clinique….I also splurged on a DIY Glycolic Face Peel Kit. Boots No 7 £24-95 for 4 treatments so much cheaper than a salon. I'll let you know what I think.

I also bought something called Nanoblur - supposedly a wonder cream to disguise wrinkles etc. It purports to make you look 10 years younger in 40 seconds..:rotfl: If it delivers then it will be £19-99 well spent. If not then it's a total waste of money.

Now I know that I always prefer to use my own potions using natural ingredients. However science seems to be making all sorts of claims about the strides they are making in anti-aging products, so I thought I'd try a few of the new products on offer.

It's been a long winter and it's taken it's toll on my skin. I need a few cheats ………

I'm definitely with you all on the clean and health eating. I'm not sure how much weight I've lost but I do feel a bit trimmer (I can now wear skinnies…..) but for me it's the health benefits. I just feel so much better when I eat well.

The less bread, wheat based products, pasta etc the better, so it's as near to a Paleo diet as I can get. I'm not fanatical. I do still eat dairy, and I still enjoy the odd bit of cake when I meet friends for coffee etc.

The odd treat such as a piece of chocolate or glass of wine or gin and tonic shouldn't do too much harm.

A girl needs a few pleasures……

Have a great day.

Right - off to have a little pamper session, then a site meeting with conservation officer and builders later, then a nice dinner with DS1.

maddiemay

lessonlearned wrote: »

Hi Everyone

I so agree with the mini rants about M&S - I think it's only the food halls which keeps them in business these days. The homeware stuff whilst ok is expensive but their clothes are dreadful, overpriced, poor quality, either frumpy or too fussy. Their store layouts are just a mess, it's like weaving your way around Paddy's market:rotfl:

I agree with Maman the likes of Sainsbugs and Asda are okish for cheap and cheerful or for a quick fix but they don't keep their good looks for long.

So where do we shop for classics that we want to keep for more than one season.

Answers on a postcard please.

I used to be quite a fan of Country Casuals (CC) as they now call themselves but I do find them very expensive, so again it's sale time only for me.

Well - I had a naughty spend on beauty products yesterday.

I'm sick of wasting my money trialling different moisturisers so I lashed out and bought some Clinique….I also splurged on a DIY Glycolic Face Peel Kit. Boots No 7 £24-95 for 4 treatments so much cheaper than a salon. I'll let you know what I think.

I also bought something called Nanoblur - supposedly a wonder cream to disguise wrinkles etc. It purports to make you look 10 years younger in 40 seconds..:rotfl: If it delivers then it will be £19-99 well spent. If not then it's a total waste of money.

Now I know that I always prefer to use my own potions using natural ingredients. However science seems to be making all sorts of claims about the strides they are making in anti-aging products, so I thought I'd try a few of the new products on offer.

LL - I agree about the difficulty of finding suitable clothes, I find that I have to cherry pick from lots of different sources nowadays, I buy the occasional "best" t shirt or the like from CC, but my local branch seems to offer mainly mother of the bride or luncheon club type outfits. I often look in some of the shops aimed for the youngsters, two of my most complimented summer long sleeve cotton tops came from New Look and M&Co occasionally have a few gems.

I have the Nanoblur and it does sort of "soften the lines" and make me look a little more dewy, but for me the product that I would sell my body:rotfl::eek: to keep buying is the Indeed Labs Hydraluron, a pea sized amount applied to the face after serum, but before moisturiser plumps up my (64.3/4 year old) skin amazingly.

I am going to buy the No7 Face Peel kit as soon as they offer another of their £5 off vouchers, my local store doesn't stock it and you cannot use the vouchers on line, but I have enquired and they can order an item in and then I can pay for it on arrival and gain the discount:j

Teacher2b wrote: »

Morning!
Maddiemay Trouser/ Jean shopping can be a nightmare! I have to say I really like Dorothy PErkins for trousers/ jeans- they're a little bit higher cut in the waste than some other brands. Since losing a bit of weight I went into topshop and tried a size down from usual- they fitted but still looked awful, I'm convinced their clothes are designed to make anyone who is not 5ft 9 look terrible!

T2B - thanks for the tip about DottieP, I will check which town has a branch and head that way on my next little expediton.:

Kiwisaver_2

I have been shopping tonight and loaded up on fruit, veg and nuts for the coming week. For some reason I got in my head that I wanted something with ginger during my home health farm days, so bought a lump of that with the idea that I might blow the dust of my juicer and have a go with that next week with some apples or even some veggies (never tried that before), so will look around for some interesting recipe ideas.


I've started my fab Friday preparations already with a foot soak. a bit of a pedi and change of nail polish to Essie It's Genius. Now to have a bit of a think about what I might wear.

maman

maddiemay wrote: »

LL - I agree about the difficulty of finding suitable clothes, I find that I have to cherry pick from lots of different sources nowadays, I buy the occasional "best" t shirt or the like from CC, but my local branch seems to offer mainly mother of the bride or luncheon club type outfits.

I'm not even sure we have CC here any more. Totally agree about the 'mother of the bride' outfits, a bit too formal for me. I used to like Monsoon and even some bits in Laura Ashley but they've gone the way of Per Una IMO, too fussy.

Teacher2b wrote: »

I went into topshop and tried a size down from usual- they fitted but still looked awful, I'm convinced their clothes are designed to make anyone who is not 5ft 9 look terrible!

As I am 5ft 9 I must check them out!!:rotfl:

Rubyslippers77 wrote: »

I've lost half a stone since Christmas - seems very slow at 1lb per week, but better that than nothing I suppose

Keep plodding on ruby. It may seem slow but it is sustainable. I lost weight at an average of 1.5lbs a week and I've kept it off for 2.5 years.:D

WelshWoofer

Morning all! Have just driven 3 and a half hours home from Wales and am happy to be here - I love my family dearly but they seem to forget that I'm 42 not 4!

Fruit purge update - have just stripped off and weighed and have lost 4.5lbs (think it may be 5 but am erring on the side of caution for now). Very pleased with that as I feel loads less bloated and generally better in myself. The weeing was a bit of a pain but that was about the only drawback - I ate lots and wasn't hungry at all. It's given me the motivation to get back to healthy eating again as I don't want to put it back on again.
For those of you not sure what I'm on about - I ate only fruit for 3 days and drank at least 2 litres of water, I did have a few cans of diet coke too (not supposed to do this but hey ho!).

Today will be a combination of a nice long dog walk while the sun is shining, lots of school work and house cleaning. I need to consider what I'm eating today and tomorrow too as I want to eat more normally but not plunge back into lots of wheat and carbs (rice, pasta, potatoes etc).

On the fabbing front, I will have a good look through what I bought yesterday and decide whether anything needs taking back and isn't absolutely perfect, I refuse to waste money on things that will just sit in the wardrobe like I used to. I'll also dye my roots this evening and do my toe nails. Still aiming to be as fabulous as possible for Fling's return to show him what he's been missing :rotfl: To be fair he has texted about 10 times a day, emailed and kept in touch and sent some photos etc but its not the same as him being around.

lessonlearned wrote: »

I also bought something called Nanoblur - supposedly a wonder cream to disguise wrinkles etc. It purports to make you look 10 years younger in 40 seconds..:rotfl: If it delivers then it will be £19-99 well spent. If not then it's a total waste of money.

LL - let us know how you get on with this -sounds interesting and I'm a sucker for a miracle cream:o

Teacher2b

maman wrote: »

As I am 5ft 9 I must check them out!!:rotfl:

Haha! Get yourself down there pronto!! I am somewhat vertically challenged.

Ok the novelty of staying home waiting for deliveries has worn off. House is clean, have made a good start on the work (prefer to chip away at it a couple of hours per day rather than all in one go). Homemade soup on the hob, blueberry muffins in the oven. Still no sign of delivery! Dying to get to the gym/ fresh air.
First world problems or what!! :rotfl: