Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

sashanut

Hi all :j


Thanks for the info Prinzess - will check the site out. Also Vulpix, yes please I would be interested in your diet tips, although don't want to hijack the thread.

Have made it through the first day (don't laugh) & it could have been worse...had to keep busy & out of the kitchen so ventured into the room of doom & hoicked some rubbish outta there :j:j:jIn MMM spirit also found pair of shoes that I'd forgotten I had....and will be planting out a tray of lettuce a la Silvasavas tip as I also found a window box I can use, top tip!
Interesting to hear of your 5:2 experience VJsMum, just need to find recipes instead of using calorie counted ready meals (in my defence they were YS)

Lynplatinum

Hiya All

Silvasava - many thanks for the info re lettuce - wow !! What a crop you have there from one 'buy' of L!dil leaves!! I know what I m doing tomorrow morning!! Brilliant photo!!

Cheerfulness - so glad you are Ok - just busy :j Thanks for your input re £5 challenge Im setting myself (also to Viv)

Vulpix - not sure what set off time - but can adjust if it helps you at all

Had a bit of a Blue Funk today - motivation totally down plug hole - feeling fat frumpy and old

So trying not to eat too much or spend anything. Needed to find ways of getting my sh*t together, as they say, and making myself GET ON WITH IT!! Grrrrr ! I get so cross with myself when I have days like that - I really have NOTHING to complain about!! I am reasonably physically able (thank you NHS for looking after me so well when I broke my leg last year :A );I can manage on the money I have; I am slowly getting rid of debt; I have friends; good mates on here; roof over head etc etc!!

What do you guys do when you get a Blue Funk on to cheer yourself up?? (Mine used to be chocolate )
Nite all :cool:

cheerfulness4

Hope the 'blue funk'(never heard that one before ) has departed from you today, Lyn. Strangely I had pretty much the same feeling yesterday. In my case I wrote it up to my cold and my age.
They always advise in womens mags to pick up the phone and call a friend etc but I had one call me to ask if she could come found last night (brilliant:j ) but she arrived with a bag of delicious, chewy Morrisons bakery cookies. :eek:
So you are one up on me, Sashanut. I didn't make it safely through day one.

I'm so frustrated because I can't see your salad piccie, Silva. Every so often my tablet throws a strop and puts 'Q' mark where the photo should be. I'll pinch DS's ipad and have a look.
My first lot of cut and come again sowings were another gale calamity so I need to go again. At least the wild rocket here is providing plenty of leaves, as is the spinach. I tried eating the new leaves on the over wintered beetroot but they didn't taste as good as the summer ones.

I made my decision over my budget and we are uping it to £5 per day plus the 2 budgets of £15 until the end of next month. The week we are on holiday will be off budget altogether.
Now this seems like a fortune to us but the reality is that I spent over £19 in one shop at Aldi last week using £20 my dad gave me as a gift. I chose to spend it onsome foods like their wild salmon @ £3.55 (I think) for 5 pieces, other fish and meats, etc.
That was nearly an entire weeks money normally so its easy to see where the money goes. I definitely could not go 'budget-less' while I'm getting this weight loss part of my 'minimising' kicked off to a good start.
I would quickly just undo the good I've already achieved within the last 4 or so months.

Vulpix, I'd be interested like Sashanut to know how you lost your weight. Do tell when you fibd a moment.

Another lazy day for me today while this cold has a grip on me. I'll get the recipes updated on post one and I'll pop a link to Silvas Growing a Living Salad idea. (even though my stupid tablet won't let me see. )
I just love that idea. Mum did a similar thing with basil from a super'.

VJsmum

fuddle wrote: »

I'm itching to get to grips on my bedroom furniture. Is Annie Sloan chalk paint VJs?


I'd love to see pics VJs if you have any

Yes, annie Sloan chalk paint. It isn't cheap, but neither was the wardrobe, so i thought I would get the "right" stuff. I will upload some pics tonight /tomorrow when I have finished the chair and when I do the wardrobe and bookcases. The chair was my trial run.

Everyone says you don't need to prep the piece when using chalk paint - but I haven't tried the Orange pine - yet. I have some of that also. Beautifully made but rather unsightly now,

sashanut wrote: »

Interesting to hear of your 5:2 experience VJsMum, just need to find recipes instead of using calorie counted ready meals (in my defence they were YS)

I tend to stick to the same things - vegetable soups and curries. Occasionally we will have prawns with "courgetti" - I need to seek out some new ideas. There is a thread in the health board and a 5:2 recipe group on Facebook

camelot1001

VJsmum, I make my own chalk paint (AS far too expensive) and the only prep you need is to wash the furniture down with sugar soap and rinse it off. Once dry, off you go! Remember to put clear wax on after to 'seal' the paint.

Hard_Up_Hester

I hope you all enjoy your get together, I'd love to join you, but unfortunately I'll be working.
I'm another one who's struggling with a diet, though I'm tempted to push for a dietitian's appointment, as I really can't get to grips with the practice nurse's suggestions of 'No carbs, no fat, no sugar & no tea, no coffee & no alcohol. I could do with some suggestions about what I could eat & drink
Hugs Hester

vulpix

Haha Hester your practice nurse is a bit hard core.I don't know why you can't have tea and coffee.
I have always been well covered,suffering form an over active fork(love that).When I started to feel better after cancer treatment I realised that because I had not been going to work and my family did what I do to them and fed me to show love,I was massive.Massive for me at 5'2" 17stone 3lbs.
This is what I did/do to lose weight:-
To lose 1lb you need to eat 3,500 less calories in a week.
For the first week I wrote down EVERYTHING I ate.
The next week I cut down 3,500 calories off my normal diet.
Portion control was a big one for me,a portion is the size of your fist.Whatever the size of your fist is the size for you.
I weighed myself this morning and I am 12stone 6lbs
If you want to be exact and work out exactly how many calories you personally need per day look up Harris Benedict Equation.Once you have the figure x7 - 3,500 divide by 7 to have your new figure.
Jan thank you for all your trouble,I am useless as I am used to driving everywhere.And thank you Lyn for your kind offer but I am going to have to admit defeat with this.We still haven't had the bill for the boiler repair yet,estimate £400,I can't justify the money at the moment.If anyone is my way,near Buxton you are most welcome to visit.I can get a lift to Nottingham any Friday if anyone wants to meet up there too.
The surveyor is coming this morning so I had better be dressed when he gets here at 10.Vx

silvasava

Morning All - thanks for the nice comments on the Living Leaves- they'll grow a lot bigger! Cheerful - I always pot on my shop Basil too and that will last for ages too 'cos they always use tiny pots & it outgrows it very quickly.
Lyn - I've called them the 'Blue Meanies' they really come out of nowhere for no apparent reason but 'all things shall pass' is the way I manage to deal with it - virtual hug for you.
I started the 5:2 diet a couple of years ago - its really suited me. I save my meal for the evening and usually have a small tin of sardines on a round of toast topped with a slice of cheese & grilled. Its very filling and good for my bone density but the beauty is you can have what suits you when it suits you and you only need to be disciplined on two days!
Off to weed and feed the lawn & plant up some geraniums I got from Morey's with a voucher - they have some real bargains in my local one - cheaper than our garden centre who always charge top whack.
Have a good day all x

misstara

Morning all,

I'm away out to see my gran today and she said she would treat me to some lunch out so very much looking forward to that. Afterwards I'm going to have a wander round town to see if I can spot anything to spend my birthday vouchers/money on. Top of the list is some new bras, I don't have any decent ones at the moment, they are all falling apart.

I will definitely keep my eyes peeled for the living leaves. We tend to eat a lot of salads in the warmer months so it would be very handy.

vhalla1478

Good Morning, Everyone,

Sorry I didn't post anything last night but I was a bit grumpy, mostly tired; but funnily enough I'd had good news. My DB's 'Battle of Krumlov' is over apart from dotting the i's and crossing the t's, and I'm very relieved to say that whereas I thought he would be down because that is a long-standing part of his life that is finally over, he is in fact looking to the future and has said that it's a big weight off his shoulders. He's in Amsterdam on business today but I'm hoping he'll be over in the next few days if he doesn't have to immediately go back to work.

On vaguely the same subject I think that the best advice that I've heard when you're down in the dumps is from my grandmother who used to tell me to count your blessings, and Shirley Conran who wrote 'Superwoman' who expanded on that and said she listed everything she had to be thankful for, from her family to newly washed sheets! And my daughter, who, as she has ten children has no spare money, always says when I ask her, 'we've food on the table and a roof over our head, which is more than a lot of people have'. And I would add that she, her husband and children are among the most contented people I know.

On to 'minimising', aka as dieting. I agree with Cheerfulness, no one should force you into it, because if your mindset isn't ready for it, you'll lapse and not every diet suits everyone. If you do get tempted, go and try on the item you most want to wear and envisage what it would look like if you lost that weight. I think a lot of ladies get depressed over what they look like and then think, 'what the hell, I'm never going to lose that weight' and have a bar of chocolate to make them feel better. But apart from looking good, far more importantly, it's your health that counts; there are so many illnesses connected to overweight. Please don't think I'm lecturing - my size has yoyoed in the past from a size 10 to size 24, but now I'm a (fairly) reasonable size - I don't go by weight - you only have to look at yourself naked and that will tell you everything you need to know - if I put a few pounds on, I cut down on portions and carbohydrates for a few days, and also occupy myself so I don't think about food. I hope this helps.

vulpix, I'm not that far away from you - maybe we could meet up after I've recovered from Jan's Meet next month?

Will get back on track later and sort out a recipe.

Have a great day, the sun is shining!

Viv xx