Frump to Fab 2017 - A Whole New World

lessonlearned

Good morning lovely ladies....

Indie......it sounds like you have really turned a corner and a new life of true fabulousity is well in your grasp. The shopping trips sound wonderful. Isn't it great when you can go in the shops you like, knowing you can buy anything you want because they will have your size and the styles will flatter you.

I am loving your success stories. Keep them coming because they are spurring me on too.

Re your disenchantment with the NHS. I am in total agreement. My faith in them is shattered. Yes they do the acute stuff very well but the chronic illnesses seem to be beyond their scope.

As you know my husband contracted a supposedly very rare neurological illness which no one could really help us with and which ultimately claimed his life. Because of my fear That this could happen to my sons I have continued to read everything I can get my hands on, still researching and talking to anyone who has any knowledge that can help me.

I am convinced his problems began as an auto immune problem which was triggered by something in the gut, which then migrated to the brain. (He had suffered from bowel problems during the previous decade). All my research points to a link. There is a consultant in Sheffield who is working wonders in this field but we were never referred to him. I never found about him until my husbands illness became terminal and it was told late.

Had we had known earlier who knows I might still have a husband. It's hard to say but my faith in the NHS has been destroyed so now I am taking our family's health into my own hands.

The odd thing is when I was 16 our family doctor tried to steer me into a career path Into medicine but I was resistant, thinking it wasnt for me. He said I was a "natural healer" and that the way my brain worked I would be best suited to research.

Seems he was right.

My grandmother was a herbalist and I grew up learning about herbs and supplements and so have always been very open minded about complimentary medicines and interested in eastern medicines and healing philosophies. I feels that western medicine is far too reliant on "big pharma" and that so often drugs are not the answer. We need a more holistic approach.

I have been thinking about my long term future and have decided that I am going to go "back to school" and get some qualifications in complimentary therapies. I know this stuff but obviously I can't practise without the bits of paper.

I did think about going back to house sales and have been offered a couple of jobs but have decided it's not too late to retrain and have a new career. Money is not my driving force so I can choose exactly what I want to do. I can just work a couple of days a week from home. I can go at my own pace.

It's all part of my "Year to Change My Life " master plan. I aim to start studying this coming autumn.

I know it sounds a bit pompous and arrogant but I really feel that I want to use my skills and do something worthwhile in the field of healing.

lessonlearned

Re my sister.

Ladies I am not offended by your comments at all. You have all hit the nail on the head. Your assessments are correct.

You know what they say "the onlooker sees most of the game". I realise that. I have just been too close. However the scales have fallen from my eyes and I can now step back and take a cooler and. More rational approach. I was blinded by love for my sister but now I can see things for what they are. I still love her of course but at least I am no longer blindto her flaws.

Oddly enough an old boyfriend did once point out that he thought my sister and I were too close and that it would one day cause problems. I just laughed at what I though was such a ridiculous notion.

Turns out he was remarkably prescient.

Anyway I shall keep a healthy distance. She is a full grown woman now, not my cute little baby sister who needs protecting. I no longer have to be the "little mother"

I don't have to be Elsa to her Anna.:rotfl: I am finally free.

It's a lovely day here. Ds2 is off today, he's hurt his shoulder so because his job is so physical he needs to rest it. So just a nice gentle healing day soaking up the sun for both of us.

Btw. The year to change my life is going well.......no drastic transformations yet but just steady gentle progress.

April Ambitions ....to enjoy the sun when it's here, to continue with my swimming and walking. I have a friend coming to stay for a few days after Easter so that will be fun. Then on 8th may I'm off to the Baltic. :rotfl:

indiepanda

lessonlearned wrote: »

I have been thinking about my long term future and have decided that I am going to go "back to school" and get some qualifications in complimentary therapies. I know this stuff but obviously I can't practise without the bits of paper.

I did think about going back to house sales and have been offered a couple of jobs but have decided it's not too late to retrain and ha ea new career. Money is not my driving force so I can choose exactly what I want to do.

It's all part of my "Year to Change My Life " master plan. I aim to start studying this coming autumn.

I know it sounds a bit pompous and arrogant but I really feel that I want have to use my skills and do something worthwhile in the field of healing.

I don't think it sounds pompous and arrogant at all - I think we need more people who have an open mind in healthcare and want to do more than shove people full of pharmaceuticals.

If you don't already read it, I'd really suggest getting the magazine "What Doctors don't tell you" - it's got a lot of interesting articles about all sorts of things and if I ever get sick I will be looking through my back copies for ideas of alternative practioners to try not just going to my doctor.

My Oasis order arrived, the top is good but the "mid neutral" trousers are going back - I wouldn't call them neutral at all - kind of an odd dusty pink-ish shade, don't go with any of my autumnal coloured tops. So they can go back along with a pair of trousers my colour consultant suggested I try - a bit too snug (as in show the little cellulite I have and the colour is so bright I can't quite work out what to wear them with - I tend to go for bold colours above the waist and neutrals below, unless it's a dress of course.

Anyway, at least I can hit the shower now and not worry about the door bell going!

Ellsbel, don't worry I won't be rushing into any kind of surgery. You are talking to someone who took till her 30s to get her ears pierced and spent a good ten years debating before having laser eye surgery and then wished I had done it years earlier. If I have any kind of surgery any time soon it will be because the piercing in my right ear was a bit too low and it's stretched slightly and I've been told I would need to get it stitched and allow it to heal before having it re-pierced in the right place. And I've been thinking about getting it sorted out for years and only got round to enquiringly about fixing it this weekend.. probably be years before I actually get round to doing anything about it...

I wouldn't rule out having something done if it was making me miserable and I had tried doing everything else natural I could think of to address but it would take a LOT of thought.

savingfortomorrow

lessons learned It is great to go back and train to do something where your passion is. I agree that nutrition and balanced lifestyle (you know excerise, fun, laughter and less stress) make a great impact on health.

I have been watching a lot of ted talks about nutrition and health, all are from respected universities and have often medical professorships and have seen and draw the same conclusion as lessonslearned. I am sure that you might enjoy the talks as they are really informative and entertaining. They have been very motivating to change my diet.

lessonlearned

Ooh thanks for the reading and talk tips, Indie and SFT. I shall definitely delve into those.

Yesterday I did the kettlewell colour test. I wAs always deep autumn in the past but with my white hair the colours just didn't seem right anymore and I felt I was making mistakes.

As I was doing the test my son laughed and said "ha, bet you are winter frost.....". cheeky beggar. Actully I too thought it would say winter but turns out I'm now summer. Funnily enough it recommended colours that I had already started being drawn towards.

Last week I reviewed some photos of myself and I can definitely see which colours seem to suit me best and sure enough it's those in the summer palette. I shall buy a few new tops and fine knit sweaters in the recommended summer colours.

chanie

ll I'm interested in the needlework colour test. I'll have to look it up. I think I'm an autumn.

chanie

chanie wrote: »

ll I'm interested in the needlework colour test. I'll have to look it up. I think I'm an autumn.

I am an autumn!!!


I've always tended to steer towards the autumn colours anyway, but the quiz also identified colours that I hadn't considered, so its a good opportunity for me to expand the colours I wear.

lessonlearned

Chanie......the autumn colour range is so nice, lots of warm earthy tones. I love them, alas they no longer suit me.

Last night I watched a film with Helen Mirren, another "summer" type. My colouring is now very similar to hers so I tend to take a great interest in what she wears, which colours she chooses. She nearly always looks fabulous, she rarely seems to put a foot wrong.

Anyhoo.....in the film "Eye in the Sky" a great film btw, well worth watching, I was riveted to my chair the whole time - she played an army colonel and spent the whole film in army camouflage combat type gear and her hair wasn't very flattering either - all in keeping with her role. She looked so dowdy, not a bit like her normal glamorous self.

It just goes to show the difference that the right colours, nice clothes, careful make up and a good haircut can make.

indiepanda

On the way home from Bravissimo in shock. Apparently the 36D bras I got in M&S lately weren't quite the right size. I am a 32G!!!! I think this means I have been letting my shoulders take the strain rather than the back strap.

Got some incredibly unsexy but practical moulded bras for wearing under jersey. If I get myself a man I can go looking for something pretty but these will do in the meantime.

Had a hard job keeping my eyes open at work tonight, made the mistake of staying at Ceroc till the end and going for a drink after so got home rather late and then couldn't get to sleep and woke up before my alarm. I think this was partly due to the pain in my ankle caused by a dancing injury. It was very crowded and the teacher warned the men to be economical with their moves and avoid dancing their partners into other couples, but either my partner or a nearby couple's lead didn't partly enough attention and I got a good kick in the ankle as a result. Should really have run straight home and iced it but was enjoying the dancing otherwise and didn't want to make a fuss. Oh well, so long as the bruising has gone down enough that wearing my hiking boots won't be a pain over Easter.

Early night tonight, see if I can catch up on the sleep, and maybe give Ceroc a miss tomorrow. Am out the next two nights and am sufficiently tired a couple of early ones wouldn't hurt. Though I could just not stay for too much of the freestyle after class... is it possible I am addicted to Ceroc??

LL, interesting to hear you have changed season, I had read that you don't change season as you age but the colours within the season that suit you best might change. Had also read as an autumn I won't really suit going grey and need to keep some warmth in my hair, though will need to go for a lighter shade when I am grey underneath the dye. A while off yet though, I have enough grey I want to dye it but it's probably only about 5% grey and my mum didn't go fully grey until she was in her 70s so might be a while yet.

chanie

indie I've read online that M&$ are notoriously bad at bra fittings, so I'm not surprised Bravissimo measured you as a 32. My sister is a 30 and said it her bras fit so much better now.