Frump to Fab 2018 - Fabulous Dahhhhlings

sugarbaby125

Welcome SDW

Welcome back Clippy Girl. Well done on doing Race For Life Pretty Muddy yesterday.

lessonlearned

Good morning lovely ladies.

Wall to wall sunshine today, yippee....

Welcome back Clippy Girl. And well done on the race. That's impressive. It makes my 5k footsteps look pretty lame......:rotfl: Never mind I'm building up slowly. A few weeks ago I could hardly manage that.

My arthritis and fibro have been pretty bad this last couple of weeks but I am fighting back, experimenting with various self help measures. And gentle exercise is part of the programme. I also bought a hand held massager which I can use to reach my back and shoulders. It seems to help.

I am now back to daily yoga and walking, ok baby steps in both, but starting to feel a bit better. It's a struggle some days but I am not going to give in. I'm playing the long game, all part of the Year to Change My Life Plan.

I am also pleased because this morning I finally broke the 13 stone barrier. A nice little psychological boost.

I don't know if I mentioned it but I bought one of those battery operated cleansing brush things. I love it. I use the brush system twice a week. It also has some massage heads. I have started using these every day. I have to say I am really impressed. It makes self massage really easy and my skin is looking quite good for an old un. £12 from Aldi.

Speaking of old uns......Yesterday I saw a picture of Helen Mirren without make Up. Without being nasty (I love her) I look better than she does. :rotfl:

just goes to show the truth behind that little poem my aunt used to quote.

"A little but of powder, a little bit of paint
can make a thing seem, just what it ain't".

Going to make the most of the sunshine today. Bought some plants for the garden so a nice gentle day pottering about.

lessonlearned

A Year To Change My Life.

Hope you don't mind but I thought I would use our thread to keep a diary of my progress. I will state my goals and report back to you on whether or not I am meeting my targets.

If I fall off the wagon please give me a kick up the derrière. I really want to make some significant changes. I need to put my grief and loss firmly behind me now and move forward.

So briefly I have divided the plan into 6 main areas where I want to make improvements. My aim is to do at least one thing from each area each week.

1. Health and Wellbeing.

A lot of work is required here.

Lose weight, a minimum of 2 stones.
Improve strength and flexibility.
Control and reverse pre-diabetes
Dental work
Varicose veins

2. Skills

Learn to play an instrument
Improve language skills, Spanish and Italian
Dance
Calligraphy
Try some new art/craft/diy hobbies

3. Travel

The big one......overcome my aversion to flying. If I want to travel economically then I have to board a plane.

Travel more in the U.K
Go for a few mini breaks


4. Out and about

Basically get out more, make new friends and reconnect with old ones I have neglected. I have made a to do list for this. Local places I want to visit, people I want to see.

Join the National Trust, U3A and some kind of Meet Up Group.

5. Money/Work

Basically this will be a longer term goal but I can start to lay the foundations. I want to ensure a secure financial future. Either a part time job or set up a small business, which is my preferred option.

6. Lifelong learning and self improvement

Finish my course, pass my exams. Think about whether or not to go for Level 3. (A big commitment).
Read two books a month.
(And the languages of course)

Well I think that's enough to be going in with....:rotfl:

Sounds ambitious I know but if I break it down into easy steps, doing just a couple of things from each area every week or month then I should start to see some substantial change.

Time to get cracking.

Have a lovely day.

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,

LL I love all of your A Year To Change Your Life goals. They all seem very achievable.

My biggest goal for the rest of the year is to lose a significant amount of weight. I have started the long journey and will take each day as it comes.

I went to Karaoke last night. This Karaoke is a much bigger one than the one that I attend on Tuesday, so I do not feel compelled to sing as there is always a lot of other singers. I enjoyed myself dancing most of which had to be done sitting on a bar stool.

This pub is the one that Wayne goes to regularly, so once again he was being a bit of a nuisance. He does not want to accept that we will never be resuming our past relationship. I am going to post a letter to him today repeating why after all the many chances I gave him, I have come to the end of the line with him. If he will not accept just being friends when we run into each other in the pub, then we will just have to ignore each other.

I sent off my Appeal for my ESA claim on Saturday to get the ball rolling. I will have to get more written medical evidence from my various Doctors to support my Appeal.

I have to have x-rays on my my right ankle and my left knee on the 23rd May.

As my daughter is working part time, we are able to manage financially while my ESA is not being paid to me.

maman

Wow! That's some list for a year LL:T. I'm really pleased you posted it. I'm a huge procrastinator and really need to get on and do some of the things on your list or similar things.


One thing that does seem to have worked for me is taking glucosamine and cod liver oil supplements. I was worried about hurting my keens with so much dancing but they feel much stronger.:)


I looked up that photo of Helen Mirren. Personally I think the eye make up in the 'after' photo is too much as it's enhancing all the laughter lines (aka wrinkles;)) around her eyes. I suppose you'd need heavy make up like that for the Oscars though because of all the lights. Not a problem I have to think about!:D


I hope you get some success with your appeal sugarbaby but I suppose this is only the start of the process.:(


I really hope I'm getting to the end of my cold now. Still a lot of catarrh which makes me feel headachey particularly in the mornings. We had a good weekend but it was a case of pushing ourselves when neither DH or I felt 100%. We went out for lunch, to the theatre and a wine tasting and then stayed over with friends before going to football yesterday.


Tonight I'm going to my occasional art appreciation class. Tonight it's about Picasso. The talk is just on cubism which is a pity as he also did other paintings and some lovely ceramics.


I'll definitely get fabbed up as it gives me confidence. Although it's bright and mid teens in temperature I don't think the weather is full on summer clothes yet IYSWIM. It'll probably be some combination of black jeans with a jacket and light make up. It is hard at this time of the year.:)

misstara

Hello all, sorry haven't posted for ages but loving reading all your posts

I had a girls night out on Saturday so wore a beautiful grey flowery dress, leggings and black pumps. Debated going bare legged but decided that it wasn't quite warm enough. I properly dried and straightened my hair, painted my nails, put on make up and wore some new perfume that I got for my birthday.

Really need to make more of an effort day to day though as it really does make me feel better. Wore a nice top to work today and popped some mascara on

lessonlearned

Good Morning Lovely Ladies.

And another glorious day here. Wahoo.

And wahoo to Misstara for getting back to us. Well done for getting back on the fabbing wagon. You are so right, if we make just a little bit of effort it makes such a difference to how we feel.

Our bodies may be a result of what we eat but I don't think it's an exaggeration to say how we feel can be a reflection of how we dress, how we nourish our souls and the TLC we give ourselves.

Well another half pound down this morning.,.,..yaaay.

Took a couple of small steps towards my master plan yesterday.

1. Reduced the asking price on my house. After a brilliant start, I received two very low offers and viewings have now dried up. It's the price.

Everyone said how much they loved the house and I know for a fact it IS gorgeous. However the price is too ambitious, the street just can't stand it, there's always a ceiling price. I could stick it out but it could take months on end. Let's hope reducing kick starts some more interest. If not I'll just have to ride out the contract with the EA and maybe "rest" it for a while and try again next year.

2. I have started to investigate dental work in Spain. I don't want to go in blind so asked for DILs input. She lived in Barcelona and has relatives in Madrid. She has recommended a clinic that she has used in Barcelona and is going to speak to her family. DS1s best friend is a dentist so I am going to pick his brains.

In the meantime I will just have a temporary fix with my UK dentist. I know her and trust her but unfortunately I just cannot justify £2500 per tooth for each implant. I need a mouthful. .

I then had a brainwave.......:rotfl:

Whilst having dental work done in Spain, I could also attend language school. Ta da. Two birds killed with one stone. . When the time comes I could rent an apartment.

Other than that just plodding away on the weight loss/getting fitter. Managed 5k steps, and did 15 Mins of yoga, Epsom salt bath and used both the body massager and face massager. Gave myself a manicure. I can tell I'm not in full fine fettle because my nails are very weak and brittle. I have cut them short and have started feeding them twice a day.

The big thing I have decided is that I have to break the pain cycle so that I can increase my exercise so that I can decrease my pain......:rotfl: so I have restarted taking CBD oil. A bit of a last resort but hopefully only for a couple of weeks.

My hairdryer died so I have ordered a replacement together with some books.

So feeling quite positive, baby steps.

Today I am going to plant out my geraniums and some strawberry plants. Dig out my seeds and see what I have. I think it's safe now. Then on Friday maybe a trip to DS2s garden centre for tomato plants and a couple of fruit bushes. I want to grow more edible stuff this year. I will grow it in pots just in case the house does sell.

Other than that nothing exciting, more walking, more yoga and some college work.

Hope my diary of change isn't boring you all to death......

Have a lovely day.

humptydumptybits

There are a couple of dentists on here, they are really good about giving advice. They are usually on the health section and one is called Toothsmith but I can't think of the other one. If you ask on there I am sure they can give you some information.

seven-day-weekend

We didn't find the Spanish dentist much cheaper when we lived there. Maybe it is different in the metropolis.

lessonlearned

Thanks for your input re dentists.

The average cost of an implant in Spain seems to be around 1000 euros. Costs don't seem to have increased. They were quoting that 13 years ago. I was all set to start treatment but then my husband got sick, so it had to go on the back burner. I can't really put it off any longer, my teeth are starting to crumble. I don't think they can be patched up much more. HUngary and Poland are cheaper, India and Thailand even cheaper still.

Of course one has to be careful, hence my preference to go with a personal recommendation, rather than going in blind. I do have several Polish friends who can recommend good Clinic’s. . A friend married a Polish girl and they always go to the dentist in Poland when they visit family. Of course there's always the possibility of treatment in Belgium.

As I say I need to do my homework and weigh it all up. Belguim would be easy, wouldn't even have to fly. Eurostar to Brussels is quick and cheap.

When I went on my last cruise I ended up having emergency dental treatment in Tobago of all places. They were brilliant, couldn't fault them. And all for the princely sum of £20. A fellow passenger also ended up needIng emergency repairs to a bridge. He got his done in Barbados. Don't know how much he paid but he said they were fantastic. In the past I have also had emergency treatment in Germany. Again absolutely superb and once again considerably cheaper than the U.K.

Alas I don't have good teeth, despite all my best efforts. They look pretty enough but most of them are crowns, bridges and a lot of root canal work. Crowns dont last forever and they are coming to the end of their lifespan, so over the next few years I am going to need a lot of work done.

Change of plan today, went out to lunch with DIL. Spur of the moment. It was nice to eat outside and watch the world go by. She's doing well. Only 6 weeks now. Apparently babies in her family tend to come early so it might not even be that long. :rotfl: Her parents will be here first week in June. We are off to Mothercare on Saturday. Nursery is just about ready.

SUgarbaby.....I have been thinking about you. I know you love singing, is there anyway you could make it pay, especially as you live in London, maybe a club.

Cruise ships are always looking for good entertainers. I have seen you on the tv. I think you would be brilliant. You have a great repertoire and a wide range of music styles. As well as singing in the evening, most of them host quizzes in the day so right up your street. The entertainers also get to act as assistants on the shore excursions so get to visit lots of interesting places. You are a people person, glamourous and have a great personality. You'd be perfect.

Some good news. Reducing the price on the house seems to have kickstarted some new interest. Two viewings booked. Fingers crossed.