Frugal Frump to Fab - 2015

sweetcheeks33

Hello all,

Back out of hiding and trying to catch up on news.

Shandy clover ,

**hugs** I agree with others, try and take care of you during all of this like maman suggests with a bath or snooze. Sometimes even a flick through a magazine and a hot tea is therapy. I hope your mum heals and recovers well on all fronts.. Family's can be very difficult at times and put undue pressure. Your mum has been very brave and the journey has begun.
hospital food a disgrace Especially when you consider feeding our bodies health would encourage recovery... It's all about renting spaces to the highest bidder which is sad.

LL I'm glad you feel settled and waiting for something you love- the correct house will appear when you least expect it. I' m sure ds2 loves havng you around especially with mums cooking every night:)

Rose I hope you are feelings better and the bath helped you feel more like yourself. I like ve London and your day sounded great fun.

Chanie I have done some of my Christmas shopping too. Hopefully to take the stress off but we will see how that works out.

I have a UTI and on antibiotics so feel a bit sticky on then as well as sore , rundown and wanting to hide under the duvet. no time off work tho, the have a week off at the beginning of November so just need to hold on a bit longer. Heading down to Manchester for 4 days with oh so quite excited.

I do try to catch on news usually before falling asleep. At the moment I think I'm just tired of being tired. Only back from two weeks holiday 4 weeks and it already feels like forever ago. We still have a considerabl amount of a loan to pay off from the flat that we sold and I'm still working two jobs. I'm averaging about 1 or 2 days off a month at the moment. I'm too tired to go to the gym and the circle of easy food & missing lunch during the day. It's one of those I know what I need to do but not enough energy to do it!!!

On that note off to try and get some sleep..

chanie

Rosewood hope you are feeling better.

Shandy sorry to hear about your Mum.

I've had some nice compliments on my make up recently, which is nice. I'm eyeing up some cashmere for this winter too, so lots to look forward to.

Rose_Wood

Evening Everyone.

Thanks for all the good wishes. I am feeling more or less better now. I'm still not eating properly but I don't feel ill. At least it's been good for weight loss - more from not eating rather than being sick I think.

Sorry to hear about your Mum Shandy. I hope you do manage to make time to keep yourself as healthy as possible. Sweetcheeks, I hope you too are on the mend.

I had a day out shopping with a friend today. Mainly for her to do her Christmas shopping as she is going to visit family abroad for a month in November but I got a few bits and pieces. A couple of bits towards my Mother's Christmas present and a new pair of boots for the winter. They are a bit shorter than normal ankle boots and have a small heel so I am hoping they might also look ok with thick tights and a short dress. They are from Cotton Traders and as it was an Outlet Village only cost £20.

I wore my size 8 dark blue jeans today with a raspberry pink top. It's a top I haven't worn for a bit as it clings but having lost a few more pounds this week I thought I could get away with it. The only trouble is it is now a bit big on the shoulders so I might have to put a couple of tiny darts in the back. I wore a vest t-shirt underneath for modesty as the V neck came a bit low down. I teamed it with my current black ankle boots which are looking a bit shabby, silver jewellery and a fitted creamy beige cotton jacket.

I found I could pull down my size 10 jeans without unfastening them the other day so am hoping the weigh in tonight will be pleasing. LL have you read the latest Primal Blueprint guide to weight loss as it has several ideas as to why weight loss might hit a plateau and how to jump start it again. I am doing my best to keep off the pounds I have lost through being ill and use it to start off losing a bit more again. The scales hovered on 9st 7lb this morning so only just over another half a stone to go (and looking at my signature back to where I'd got to in May). It was a good incentive being able to wear this top today. I might go through my wardrobe again and take out anything that is a bit big so I don't lapse. The weather has turned so cold I need to sort and take out all my summer tops and cropped trousers anyhow.

I have Metafit tonight so have just had a bowl of soup tonight as I don't want a full stomach when I go but as it isn't till half past eight I can't not eat something. When I get back I shall have something else to eat and then watch the Bake Off Final, which will record whilst I'm out. I shall have to enjoy virtual cake rather than real cake though!!

Rose

Ellsbel

Glad you're feeling better, *Rose*. Hope you feel better soon too, *sweetcheeks*
*shandy* - I'm so sorry about your Mum - that's really tough for you.
Nothing much to report here - feeling miserable and thoroughly unfab if I'm honest, but hopefully I'll pick myself up soon.
Have a good evening everyone x

sweetcheeks33

Thank you Rose & Ellsbel , today I was sent home from work with a migraine after being sick- I was driven home by colleagues first thing this morning. Slept most of the day after medication. I still have sore head but the excruciating pain from this morning is gone.

Think I need to re think working arrangement in the long term- I have been doing this for last few years.

Ellsbel I know what you mean about feeling throughly unfab. Everything seems like hard work. However got no to try a few small steps such as adding green smoothies back in to diet and add more fruit & veg to try help boost energy levels a bit..

shandyclover

Thank you ladies for all the encouragement - my mum went home today and I have just got back from visiting her. She is tired and quite frail still but very happy to be home and I think though it may take awhile she is at least on the road to recovery, it's such a relief and could've been so much worse. I bought her 3 sets of cheap t-shirty material pajamas, the type that could pass for lounge wear as that's really all she is going to be able to manage to wear for at least 6 weeks. A friend has lent her a wheelchair so she is mobile at least in her home. I was reading a bit about alcohol dependency being basically an attempt to self medicate and deal with stress, and that we all have our own little 'addictions' we turn to in an effort to cope, some just have much worse consequences. Much to my shame I ate an entire bag of mint humbugs the 24 hours mum first went into hospital, I seemed to have absolutely no will power to stop myself! I have noticed in stressful situations I crave sugar though I am not usually such a sweet tooth. I have managed to get back on the 5:2 plan though, went to the gym to a bodypump class last night, and managed a nice bath and face mask tonight - whew!

Hospital food is appalling. I sat in the cafe watched drawn, stressed relatives and exhausted NHS staff downing coffee, sugary drinks, crisps and chocolate. Even what was offered to the patients could be improved: sugar-laden yogurt instead of natural, squash instead of real juice. At work today I threw out an entire pallet of grapes, nothing wrong with them other than their sell by date while preservative laden food can legally sit on the shelf for months - oh the irony! I wish Jamie Oliver could step in and do for hospitals what he did for school dinners - it would be fascinating to see if there would be an eventual overall effect.

Sweetcheeks I hope you get some time to rest and recover. UTI's are the most horrible, incapacitating things. I lived in Asia and I have had a few exotic, tropical diseases and thought I had seen it all till I got my first UTI a few years ago! 2014 I had one every other month, basically whenever I got a bit tired or run down. I was not happy being on anti-biotics so often. I know we are not supposed to give medical advice but in the end I took a course of homeopathic remedy with the blessing of my GP and it seemed to sort it out for good.

lessonlearned

Hello lovely ladies

Sorry I have been awol but our lovely little stray cat was injured llast night andwe have been back and forth to the vets,. He has a broken pelvis and will be having surgery tomorrow.

Rose, Sweetcheeks - hope you feel better soon.

Shandy - hope you mum continues to improve, I suspect it will be a slow road back to full recovery.

Hospital food is a disgrace - didn't the chef James Martin try an iniative like Jamie did with the schools. I seem to recall he had so much opposition.

When you think that good nutrition is a key factor in the healing process. Every time I have had A relative stay in hospital I have ended up taking food in. Once when my dad was in for an op for an aorta repair he just couldnt swallow what they offered him.....toast of all things. The weight was just dropping off him, he was starving. I took him soups in a flask, yoghurts, creamy rice puddings,, anything that had some nutritious value and high calories.

What were they thinking.

I feel sorry for the staff, working long shifts they need good food to keep them gojng and the cafes and restaurants are dire.

My husband was in hospital for 4 months at one stage. I would spend around six hours a day at his bedside. I soon learned to take my own food in and when he was able to swallow I took extra rations in for him too.

Would you believe that at one point I had a stand up row with them because they hadnt even set up a drip. How do they expect someone who can't swallow to get fluids...

shandy I will take a look at that info about plateauing - thanks for that, although I noticed yesferday that I had lost a 1lb so it looks like being just a little bit stricter has paid off.

I guess I just have to just keep a close eye on things. I did indulge in a soecial treat today though - cheese on toast.

.It felt so decadent. :rotfl: I really savoured every mouthful.

sweetcheeks33

Facial tonight while the football was on ( if only we had held on for another 30 seconds or so) a cleanse scrub then second cleanse massage with oil & moisturiser. No mask as too tired but a little pick me up none th l ss- hopefully pep my skin up again.

Hope everyone is well, trying to remember it's fab Friday tomorrow

Ellsbel

Hi all. Hope everyone's ok.
I weighed myself this morning for the first time in ages and I've not lost an ounce since deciding that not weighing myself might be better for my weightloss
Back to weekly weigh ins for me then!
I indulged in one of Maman's favourite activities yesterday - a spot of people watching on the train I love observing the way people dress and how they approach the start of the day. You rarely see women in business type suits anymore - it's all varying degrees of smart casual and some pull it off effortlessly.
I'm still feeling as though I look really old, and whilst I think losing weight might improve things I'm also a bit worried about it having an even worse effect on my face, which I'm not that happy with lately as it is!
I'm seriously considering CACI treatments, but it's very very expensive!
Maybe I'm just getting a little self-obsessed ...
Usual Saturday chores and grocery shop today but might pop out for Sunday lunch tomorrow.
Have a fab weekend everyone X

lessonlearned

Good mOrning ladies

Just a quickie

What a week......

On Tuesday evening our darling little cat got hit by a car. Straight to the emergency vets.

He had an operation on Thursday to repair his broken pelvis, two pins are holding it together. He's home and has to be kept in a cage for at least six weeks so it the bones can heal and knit together. He doesn't like bejng in the cage at all.

poor little sausage.

The vet says that although it was a complicated break the operation itself was a success and is hopeful of a good recovery. Poor little chap is still on morphine, pain relief and antibiotics.

Fingers crossed.

Will keep you posted.

DS2 has to go to work this weekend so I am on nursing duties so won't be going anywhere.

Have a good weekend.