Crazy Cat Lady Chapter 2 - Groundhog Day

crazy_cat_lady

Oh no! I didn't go for any marking when I got home. I went for crochet and a cheeky glass of prosecco! Oops. Ah well. I thought I would have a little drink tonight as I fancied it and tomorrow is the only day that I haven't got to get up early. I don't need to be anywhere or doing anything until 3pm so recovery time if I muck up.
Pleased to report dh is much better at the moment. Seems reasonably upbeat for now - and I'll take that. I still think he'll have to go back to the doctor sooner or later, but I won't keep going on at him because it's a decision he needs to come to himself.
Had a lovely day with my friend but I am quite worried about her. She has a chronic condition anyway, and when it flares up then she struggles. She's a single mum and seems to have caught every bug and virus going around since New Year. At the moment she's had a sickness bug for close to 2 weeks. She rang me and told me not to come, but I was more bothered about trying to help her for a while rather than the threat of catching her bug. I think with her existing stuff then she suffers when she does get ill, but as I say she's a single mum with no family close by. I didn't do much, provided a listening ear, some adult company, food and took the kids out for an hour so she could nap. But she was very tearful most of the day, which is completely understandable, but I just want to fix everything for her and I can't... she needs a rest and she has a d I c k of an ex and an autistic child as well as an exceedingly bright and occasionally challenging second child. She's run down, ill, tired, skint, stressed and there's not too much I can do from here. I love her so much and hate seeing her like that
I popped to the shops on the way to hers to get a couple of bits and bobs, and 'fell' into Brantan0 who have gone further into administration and are now all closing down - boo hiss, they are my favourite shoe shop and I do like shoes... Anyway. I have been needing my summer shoes for a little while now so I went in 'for a look' and came out having spent most of the rest of my birthday money on 2 pairs of summer shoes for me and a new pair of footy boots for ds. Everything was a bargain but oh the guilt! :o:o
Then felt so guilty that I went straight to Mr T and spent the last tenner of my birthday cash on a couple of books I've been after for a while :rotfl: Spending is like an addiction for me - once I start I can't seem to stop myself - no wonder I ended up in so much debt. At least this was with cash I had to spend rather than on credit cards and the like though so small positives.
Whilst I was on spending I made the most of it and fuelled the car up in the feeble hope of bagging a nsd tomorrow. We shall see.
Also need to make some serious and real effort to lose a bit of weight. I'm bigger than I've ever been and I just never can be bothered looking after myself. I just like food too much. Did a little quiz online that matched me to my most suitable diet and got 5 2. I have never done that but the thought of totally starving myself 2 days a week seems mental to me. I need to do further research because if I don't make an effort then nothing is going to change...

Bobarella

Hi Cat

It must be so hard for your friend. Does she get any help at all with caring for her child? I thought that social services offered some help for carers? I'm no expert on that topic...

I'm glad your husband seems better again at the moment. It must be so hard sharing to help him but feeling shut out of the conversation due to the way medical appointments work.

I hope you find something that works for you on the health front too. You have done so well with your personal training. Will you replace the person you were using?

Bob

Eager_Elephant

Excellent spends with the birthday money - its so easy for birthday money to be swallowed up by the normal household budget.

Does your friend have a carers organisation near her? I know your family are involved in one but assume if she is 1 hour away she may be in a different area.

I have done 5:2 diet on a few occasions and it definitely works if you follow it. On my 2 days I drink coffee (with milk) all day and then have a small meal in the evening. Others would have a small lunch and small evening meal and drink black coffee, fruit teas or Bovril during the day. I did lose weight on it and it is easy to stick to, the first week is the worst while your body gets used to the fact it wont starve to death if you don't eat huge quantities!!

My sister and mum are just healthy eating and use My Fitness Pal to log their food, they have lost 3.5 and 2.5 stones. I think they aim for 1900 calories per day. Before they started they logged what they ate normally into MFP and they were eating in excess of 3000 calories a day.
I honestly never thought they would lose weight as they have always been large and didn't seem to worry about their weight. They have swapped chocolate biscuits for Mikado (4 for 44 calories) if they need a sweet treat and they eat PomBear crisps as they are just basically air!!

I have done MFP before and again it works if you stick to it - my problem is that I enter what I ate at night whereas really I should log it all for the day in the morning and then add snacks as I go because eating McCoys is 240 calories!!!

Do what is right for you - I love my food so MFP is better for me now although I would consider 5:2 again.

crazy_cat_lady

Morning :coffee: :hello:
Well 8am isn't particularly late but I feel ok this morning - just 2 glasses of prosecco last night so in theory I should be ok. In reality I don't drink any more so 2 glasses is a massive amount for me I've slept ok, and as I say, my first thing to do today is 3pm so I can slob about all morning.
I will mention to my friend about the carers in her area (you're right, we're 2 counties away from each other) and see if she will consider contacting them. We are a lot alike in terms of the way we think and behave. She keeps herself very busy and gets really run down - but doesn't have the option for a break in the way I do. Plus she has her health conditions to deal with...
I'm not going to replace my trainer Bob - it was an expensive luxury and I'm sure that I can put the money to better use to be honest. Plus I don't think that I can replace her - she is amazing. She's moving onto better things (as you know) and it's great that she's doing so well. Truth is though, that I really hate exercise. I have the kit and I've learned enough from her to do the basics when I feel like it.
I haven't looked into the 5 2 diet as yet but I will investigate today. My attitude to food has completely changed over the past few years. I'm not addicted to sugar any more and I don't have to have sweet treats - the comfort eating seems sorted. My main issues are my can't be bothered attitude with food so I go for things that are quick and easy rather than prepping, which means that I end up with high calorie stuff.
Right. Time for another cuppa and to make a start for the day :coffee:

SpekySquarehead

CCL - I can echo some of the benefits of the 5:2 diet. My mum has been on it and has lost a fair bit plus I agree with the science behind it all from my limited knowledge.

crazy_cat_lady

Evening all :hello: :coffee:
Last night's little prosecco fest has caught up with me and I have a headache and I'm well grumpy now. Think I'll be heading off to my basket very soon indeed and hoping I can sleep my horrible heartburn off...
I've borrowed the 5 2 diet book. I should have known that my mam would have a copy. I swear that she's tried every single diet that ever existed and has every book on everything. I popped over to collect it and have promptly put it down on the arm of the sofa and not picked it up again yet. This is behind a lot of my dieting failure - my constant issue of putting myself at the bottom of my priority list. Today's way more important stuff included hanging washing out, hoovering, cleaning surfaces, bleaching the toilet, a bit of crochet etc. You can see where my issues lie. I know that the housework will always need doing but I see that as the lesser of 2 evils between housework and food prep (ugh). Gawd, I'm such a neat and tidy little homemaker aren't I? I hate cooking, cleaning, gardening, decorating and I love my family, science, cats and crochet and my shabby, untidy little house with its second hand furniture and cat hair all over the place. I do feel a bit ashamed when I see my mam and sister's pristine houses though... Meh.
Also did 2 hours of tutoring today (kerching) - I need to make the most of that because it will be finishing in a couple of months - my tutee is due to sit his GCSE's this year. Good in terms of time but less good in terms of money. Good job I have a zillion exam marking contracts lined up this year Great for finances but less great in terms of time. I do love it though...
As mentioned - a little bit of crochet - I have 4 almost-finished blankets so am keen to get on with them and get them done and out of the way.
Right. Onwards. I have some important research to do on how ECG machines work and a bit of printing before I can look at this book.

SpekySquarehead

CCL - Is it physics you teach? I was listening to a podcast from Joe Rogan the other day and they were talking about space and the laws of physics and it was sooo interesting. I can understand why you can be so into it.

Bobarella

I bet your house is a lovely cosy place Cat. I had a friend who's house was like a Pinterest mood board for scandi chic & whilst I admired it and her dedication to style, I always felt very uncomfortable there.

crazy_cat_lady

I love my little house Bob. It's small, but big enough for 4 humans and 6 cats. Nothing matches, very little was bought new and there are blankets, throws and cat hair everywhere. I like being here, but I'm less keen on having guests here for fear of being judged (apart from my 2 best friends) - you may have noticed that 99% of the time I go to my mam rather than her coming to me because she always starts going on about the place needing to be decorated etc.
Speky - in England we're just science teachers. I know that if you teach in Scotland you only teach your specialism as a specific subject. My specialism is chemistry and that's where my real love of science lies, but I need to be able to teach all 3 sciences. Biology is my weakest but I am starting to get my head round it. Whereas physics is a real love/hate thing for me - I find some of it fascinating but some of it is just pure boredom, and some of it completely blows my mind. My tutee is an A* student so I find some of his physics and biology stuff hard and we 'work through' it together. Luckily I love science so don't mind researching, and if I can put things into a chemistry context (as you can with a lot of it) then I find it much easier to get my head round.
Today has been a nice day - caught up with bestie. I followed her to the garage while she dropped her car off for servicing and brought her home. We had a cuppa at hers and a good natter and catch up followed by a very late lunch out (with kids eat free vouchers). It's been lovely but not much else got done (no surprise there) - no housework or schoolwork other than learning about ECGs. Strangely enough though I've found the time over the past 2 days to watch the entire series 3 of Broadchurch
My washing mountain will escape out of the house if I don't do some soon though so I should think about sticking a load in before I go to bed. I have, of course, been the only person in the house to do any washing up or hoovering.
I've also found time to partially read the 5 2 book. I have decided on my fast days, which will be Saturday and either Monday or Tuesday (think Tuesday will be better) and I've figured I may as well start tomorrow. I get the gist of it. I've downloaded a calorie tracker and must make a conscious effort to actually track what I'm doing. Wish me luck because I am definitely going to need it...

crazy_cat_lady

So I think that my fast day has started ok. I haven't eaten anything since half 3 yesterday so it's already 17 hours since I had something to eat :rotfl: I'm just boiling some eggs so that I can have an egg salad for meal 1. I really want mushrooms for meal 2 so am probably going to have to go out and buy some later... I've chosen Saturday because I'm usually mad busy then - less so today but enough to be getting on with. We'll see. The book is really interesting because it seems to have a lot of scientific evidence to back up the health benefits. And whilst I am a huge blob - I'm far more concerned about dying young or getting diabetes than I am about being fat so health is good for me.
Today I've made arrangements to see bestie again for a couple of hours in between work and ds football. It's nice to see her a couple of days together before we both get back into work mode and being too busy for anything much. Think we're going to watch a film together at her place.
I also need to mark 4 more bits of work (that is really getting on my nerves now) - at least this is the last year for now that I'll have to deal with it. Plus tutoring this afternoon, which I do enjoy at least.
Have a good day all :coffee: