Frump to Fab 2017 - A Whole New World

lessonlearned

Indie. Sorry to hear about your friend. How sad for you.

A sad day indeed. As well as the Manchester tragedy my sons girlfriend is also struggling. Her father has terminal cancer and has been readmitted to hospital. It's not looking good. He's only 67.

You are right - we do need to make the most of every day we are given.

SFT. Yes I think that was what shocked me so much with the people on the cruise. Not only were they not aging well they were probably eating themselves into an early grave.

They were not just relaxing in a little bit of holiday indulgence, their size and bulk bore testimony to their daily habits, their walking aids witness to their lack of mobility.

I am no saint and I have weight issues myself but I am now firmly resolved to tackle it. I do not want to end up with mobility and or health issues if I can possibly avoid it.

I am on a mission. :rotfl:

Ellsbel

Agree with you about the shades, Maman:cool:
Lainey, sounds like you had a lovely trip:)
LL, I loved reading your post, there's nothing like spending a lot of time amongst lots of different people to inspire you into making changes, I find. I'd love to hear more about your cruise and the places you saw. So sorry about your son's gf's Father, and about your friend, Indie. I was very subdued yesterday too due to the news about the Manchester attack, so much so that I drank a couple of glasses of wine last night but for all the wrong reasons i.e: feeling sad and angry, rather than due to being out on a pleasant, sociable evening .
Very sad, and it does make you feel determined to live life to the fullest but at the same time I do sorry so for my loved ones when they're out and about.
Sunny and warm already here today. I need to do a bit of shopping and some ironing but I plan to enjoy the garden for a bit later, too.
Maman is the cocoa butter you use a gradual tan lotion? I have a Garnier one, but it really streaks and stains and I need something better for my milk bottle legs!!

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,

The sun is already shining here in London, what a lovely way to be awakened in the morning

Indie condolences on the death of your friend. LL, I am sorry that your son's girlfriend has to watch her Father dying of Cancer

Lainey T, I am glad that you had a good holiday. Did you enjoy the performance of 'Fracked'?

LL I have to agree with your sentiments about being fat, especially when you are seriously obese to the point that you are classified as morbidly obese. It seems to escape certain people's notice than when they are given that diagnosis, in simple terms, it means that they are slowly eating their selves to death!!!!! :eek:

Even though at 16 stones 3lbs I am obese myself, I can still have a 'fatist' attitude to people who are much larger than myself, which I know is hypocritical. I still have a real horror of being associated with really obese people, who when I stand in their vicinity make me feel as if I am of a 'normal' weight. Yet, I know that I should be no more than 13 stones 7lbs if I want to be healthy and continue to stay healthy long term. What really annoys me is when I am listening to 'morbidly obese' people trying to say that they do not eat very much. As if!!!!

My sister who is exactly 18 month's older than me, is morbidly obese. I have now become resigned to the fact that she will be dying an early death, as she is always gaining weight despite the fact that she now looks up to 20 years older than me. I tried for years to get her to accept that she was eating herself to an early grave, not to mention all the G.P's and consultants who have tried to get through to her, all to no avail. It is sad for me to admit it, but the truth is that I do not want to be hugged by her, as I really can not enjoy the feel of all her fat 'smothering' me. My sister met John Middleton last week and got a selfie taken with him. She could not wait to put the photo on Facebook. I was so shocked at the fact that she has gained even more weight, so now she literally has three chins which make her look as if she has a really short neck. Every time I see her in person I am appalled that she is happy to continue gaining weight each year.

I have a 'morbidly obese' friend who this year collapsed in her home and nearly died because of a blood clot. Yet, she still makes no effort to reduce her weight which is substantial as she wears at least size 32. My friend is only 51 yet she also looks so much older than me even though I am 4 years older than her. What really angers me though is that all 4 of my sister's children are obese. 3 of the 4 children my friend has are obese.

They both have health issues and serious mobility issues as a direct result of being 'morbidly obese' yet they will not take any action to try to reduce their weight.

They constantly remind me of why I have to be active and why I have to reduce my weight to a more healthy 13 stones 7lbs. I do not eat large meals, but I snack far too much and my snacks are not usually healthy snacks. I love fruit and enjoy eating vegetables, but my diet is not balanced enough. I am making changes though, I am not just ignoring my own eating habits.


Maman you are not in the same category because you would only eat one heaped plate of food and have the willpower and good sense to stop

lessonlearned

Ah Sugarbaby I do feel for you. It must be awful to feel so helpless and have to watch your sister and friend destroy themselves. Worse still to see the patterns continue down to the next generation.

You are very wise to monitor your weight and you have already made great progress. You are very active, your job and all that singing and dancing is bound to help.

Well I'm pleased to say that the holiday weight gain has already dropped off, so now I just need to get a grip and tackle the next three stones.

I have a hacking cough - I think it was the air conditioning in my cabin and the constant coughing is making my oesephagus very sore....it is very delicate and scarred because of all the years of acid reflux so coughing is very painful and eating and drinking can be uncomfortable.

I have gone back onto ranatadine and a bland diet so as not to exacerbate the problem - I really don't want to go back on to omeprazole because it is highly addictive and very difficult to wean yourself off again. Hey ho.

I have also discovered that although my blood sugar levels aren't too bad, my cholesterol is creeping up again.......so that 3 stones simply has to go. :rotfl:

A weight loss of 3 stones will bring me back to the top level of a healthy weight range for my height. I am ashamed to say that I am actually now technically obese and I'm not happy about that - not one bit.

A lovely day here again. I believe it is predicted to last til the weekend. I shall take this opportunity to wash everything in sight. Today it's winter wool lies, scarves etc.

maman

So sorry to hear about your friend indie. It doesn't seem that long ago that she was walking with you.:)

sugarbaby125 wrote: »

Maman you are not in the same category because you would only eat one heaped plate of food and have the willpower and good sense to stop

Thanks for that sugar. I think people would look and me and assume I'm one of the lucky ones that can eat anything and not put weight on. That's not true. I can eat a plateful of 'junk' as a treat then get back to 'normal' eating.


Sadly your sister and friend will only lose weight when they decide to for themselves. It's sad but true. Horrible to watch from the sidelines though.

lessonlearned wrote: »

You are very wise to monitor your weight and you have already made great progress. You are very active, your job and all that singing and dancing is bound to help.

Well I'm pleased to say that the holiday weight gain has already dropped off, so now I just need to get a grip and tackle the next three stones.

It's great that you've lost that small gain already LL. I find that when I've been eating out a lot I crave coming home to loads of veg. It won't be too bad with this coming holiday as there will be lots of salads, particularly tomatoes to die.


Exercise is good for so many reasons but I firmly believe it's changing your eating (and drinking:() habits that will keep the weight down. Personally it's what I eat rather than how much but I know some people favour portion control, low carb or whatever.


Losing weight has definitely helped my dancing. It feels great to be literally lighter on my feet.


I'm going into the city centre later for my optician's appointment. I'll take the ill fitting dress back to New Look and maybe have a browse. I'd really like some comfy but smart trousers, probably printed, as a change from jeans. I'm not planning to buy today just see what's around.


Warm and bright here too but I think the sun is struggling to come out because we're near the coast.:)

lessonlearned

Re the actual cruise and the ports of call.

Tallin, Helsinki and Copenhagen were my favourites. The Little Mermaid is exquisite. Tallin is like a fairytale village and Helsinki is charming. I found a Christmas shop in Helsinki and bought some Christmas decorations. :rotfl: there is also a very nice traditional department store which sold beautiful Scandinavian furniture and housewares.

The "Nordic" knitwear is wonderful. It's not all fairisle style patterns and reindeer, the plainer knitwear is really elegant. Wonderful subdued blues, navy, greys and heathery mixes and wonderfully soft fine wool.

I was very tempted to buy a bed throw but even if it was baby fine pure cashmere I thought 180 euros was a bit steep.

As I had been warned the Scandinavian countries have a very high cost of living and your money doesn't stretch far.

Now I know this is probably sacrilege to say this but I didn't like St Petersburg. I was very disappointed. I fully expected the suburbs and outskirts to be dismal and they were - miles of soviet style tower blocks where most of the people live. Only the extremely rich live in houses or with any patch of land or garden.

But I did find the centre of St Petersburg terribly soulless, in fact there was no real heart or centre. It just seemed endless, nothing but palaces, museums (300 of them) and embassies.

There was one main shopping area, called the Nevsky Prospekt which was new but made to look older so looked very fake, almost Disneyesque. It had one real department store and most of the shops catered for the very rich, designer shops, jewellers etc (the sort that keep the door locked and you have to knock for admittance).

There didn't appear to be many restaurants or nice coffee houses. They don't seem to be particularly fun loving. I do know that they have a reputation for being heavy drinkers but I couldn't see many trendy wine bars or fashionable watering holes. It all seemed rather dour and away from the main thoroughfares the streets were grim.

I didn't buy much in St. Petersberg - it was nearly all overpriced tourist tat, hideous garish babushka dolls, fake faberge eggs. I wanted to buy special Christmas decorations but they were outrageously expensive so I didn't bother. My best purchases were jokey fridge magnets featuring Putin. :rotfl:

I did enjoy the trip and it's good to seek their cultures but I've no real desire to visit St Petersburg again. I would still like to visit Norway and cruise round the fijords and maybe revisit Tallin and Helsinki.

But for now I'm just happy to be home sweet home.

LaineyT

Many condolences on your friend Indie.

Thank you for posting about your travels LL very interesting reading.

The play was smashing thank you Sugarbaby very funny and with Anne Reid & James Bolan the comic timing was spot on. We both agreed that we should make more effort to support our local theatre and will be going again.

It's a very warm day here so I am in cut off jeans and a sleeveless top, am a bit on edge as well as my little dog has gone into the vets to be spayed, I know it's for her own good but can't help but worry and hated walking away from her this morning. She is so my baby and my little shadow who follows me around every where
Snap Maman as I also picked up my prescription sunglasses today, now all sorted for the warm, sunny weather.

lessonlearned

Scorchio!!!!

This is better than being on holiday. I get my own comfy bed. . ��

indiepanda

Thanks for the condolences and kind words everyone.

Ellsbel, I know what you mean about indulging for the wrong reasons when upset, I ate a whole bag of milk chocolate coated brazil nuts on the bus on the way home on Tuesday which by my old binge standards isn't that bad, but still not good, and I didn't really enjoy them, was just trying to suffocate the feelings rather than let them out. We are terrible bottlers in our family, even my mum with her anxiety rarely cries.

Fortunately unlike the old days I haven't used the slip to completely fall off the wagon, back to more sensible choices yesterday. Still need to up my game to start losing again but I can get properly on it when I get back from my travels. I've stocked up on nuts and other healthier snacks anyway so will take a supply with me and at least I should be pretty active on my travels. Will limit the alcohol too, so many calories in it and it doesn't do wonders for my will power.

Wore another of my new dresses yesterday and got complements on it from one of the girls at work and my date - let's call him A. The other chap I had the first date with last week (let's call him D) contacted me saying he was thinking of me and was still feeling bad about not feeding me on my date and sort of asking how things were with A - I had put D off till meeting up till after I was back claiming I was too busy, which wasn't entirely true, was just wanting to see how third date went with A. Anyway, I let him down gently as I didn't think it was fair to keep him hanging on.

Then on date with A last night found out he had cancelled a first date he was meant to be going on after we met and although he didn't say this, I know he has disabled his dating profile and I have too now. Neither of us are the overly romantic types who believe in love at first sight, but I think we are both feeling like we've met someone who is on a similar wave length and wanting to see where this leads.

We had another nice evening, went to the park and walked a little then sat down with ice creams (well, an ice lolly in my case, not risking a dairy intolerance reaction on a date) and ended up lying down cuddling and snogging a bit like a pair of teenagers. I definitely don't have to worry he is like the real tennis player who hated any public displays of affection, and wasn't that fond of them in private either!

Went for a drink afterwards and came home early-ish as he was tired - had been working long days and was due to today as well for a big deadline. I think he's given himself a harder day today by leaving on time to meet me last night, but he wanted to see me before I went off on my travels. I would have totally understood if he cancelled under the circumstances, but was really glad he didn't.

One last day of work before I get away, am out tonight with friends for dinner - one of my friends is turning 40 and his boyfriend is taking him out for what he thinks is dinner for 2, and he will find 5 more of us at the restaurant. He didn't want a massive fuss, but hopefully something like this rather than a big party he will enjoy.

Still got to do most of my packing in the morning, but that's ok, I have a list put together and I won't leave till after rush hour so have time to get organised in the morning. I know everything I want to pack is clean and ironed so shouldn't take long. And as one of my ex's used to say, provided you have your credit card it's not the end of the world if you forget something. Not that I want to be too silly with money, but you can get overly stressed worrying about packing when the reality is unless you are going somewhere really isolated it's rarely a disaster.

Right, must get ready for work, have a good couple of weeks all, enjoy the sun x

maman

Have a great trip indie. I'm glad you put the chocolate brazils episode behind you. I think that's the trick to healthy eating/losing weight. We'll all leave the straight and narrow at some point but it's getting back ASAP that really matters.


Thanks for the detail on your cruise LL. Prague and Budapest were about as far as we've ever been in Eastern Europe so it was interesting to hear about other places. Did you meet any nice people? (other than the fatties!:rotfl:)


It's glorious here. We went for an hour's walk this morning and then sat in the sun drinking (tea:p) and chatting with friends. Later I'm off for a relaxing facial with Groupon.


I'm keeping up with pampering my nails. I'm doing cuticle oil and handcream at least once a day and some buffing too. The tube of oil (came with a manicure kit) is almost gone so I'll treat myself to the Body Shop nail pen. It's probably not the most mse way of buying almond oil but if it encourages me to care for my nails it's worth it.:)