taking responsibilty to get me where I want to be

efes_shareholder

Ok so I need to set myself some goals , I don't want to still be paying a mortgage at 70 so I'd like to get rid of the 0% finance stuff I have - I'm not paying interest but it still doesn't sit right that I still entertain credit.

I also need to get back in the gym , I've gained around a stone and a half since my mum died and menopause hit , and boy did menopause hit !!
I have what I refer to as my "menopot" , I was back in the gym but we hit a busy week and the routine goes , there is also ongoing road works on the journey to the gym which puts an extra hour on the whole effort and halts the motivation to go.
I've been walking to work on my weeks in the office , this is great as it means I get my 10k steps in but really it should be more and it is virtually zero on my weeks @ home. 

I have two holidays this year , both cheap and cheerful but both with other people and the thought of my bikini pics coming up on social media with my belly overhang and aging wobbly bits mortifies me.
I have just short of 3 months to tone up.
I've made real efforts with our diet which appear to be working but its not quite enough.

fantasyvsreality

Good to have you back, miss reading your posts. Same here with the Menopot. It depresses the hell out of me and sadly all attempts to get it gone have failed. I do think walking is a really good way to keep on top of things, especially as you can just fit it in to everyday life. I got a Fitbit for Christmas and it has really motivated me to push past the 10k steps most days. You can see when you are doing what are called "active zone" minutes, these are the ones that are good for your heart as it's when you are in the moderate zone for heart rate. So I find myself walking briskly or even jogging a bit with the dog, to gain more active zone minutes and hit the recommended target of 150 a week. I have seen a loss of 3 pounds doing this (since Christmas) and haven't had to change my eating habits. 

efes_shareholder

fantasyvsreality said:

Good to have you back, miss reading your posts. Same here with the Menopot. It depresses the hell out of me and sadly all attempts to get it gone have failed. I do think walking is a really good way to keep on top of things, especially as you can just fit it in to everyday life. I got a Fitbit for Christmas and it has really motivated me to push past the 10k steps most days. You can see when you are doing what are called "active zone" minutes, these are the ones that are good for your heart as it's when you are in the moderate zone for heart rate. So I find myself walking briskly or even jogging a bit with the dog, to gain more active zone minutes and hit the recommended target of 150 a week. I have seen a loss of 3 pounds doing this (since Christmas) and haven't had to change my eating habits. 

I have an apple watch ( gifted not purchased) and I found this really motivated me but then I got out of the habit of wearing it so i really need to get back in the routine of putting it on in the mornings.
thanks for the reminder as i intend to start wearing it again now

fantasyvsreality

@efes_shareholder I am so obsessed that I will walk back and forth across my small bungalow before bed just to hit my targets  I turned 51 last year, and suffered a bereavement around the same time as you. I then received some inheritance that meant I was able to buy my own place, so it's always nice to read your progress as we share a few life events. 

efes_shareholder

fantasyvsreality said:

@efes_shareholder I am so obsessed that I will walk back and forth across my small bungalow before bed just to hit my targets  I turned 51 last year, and suffered a bereavement around thup to e same time as you. I then received some inheritance that meant I was able to buy my own place, so it's always nice to read your progress as we share a few life events. 

oh yes we have lots in common it would seem , I have been known to walk around the house to get the steps up. The last couple of weeks though I've just felt so tired , I am blaming the weather , the sooner spring rolls round the better. 

I took myself up to bed @8.30 last night and i'm still shattered , I have every intention of restarting the gym tonight but its just so cold and bleak that once I am back in my house , I just dont want to go out again.

efes_shareholder

so we had a lovely valentines day , morrisons meal deal for £15 are the way forward - cheese heart , steak , dauphanoise potatoes , veg medley , salted caramel GU's and a bottle of white , you really can't go wrong @ that price.

I've had additional expense as my holiday flights were changed meaning we flew a day later and came back too late to go to work the next day so I've cancelled those and booked our local airport - works out another £80 per person but we get better value of our time away and we can uber to the airport and get the bus back so not so bad.

We have friends coming for dinner on sat so I have once again exploited morrisons first shop £16 discount , you get this if you spend £60. I needed a bit more then the £60 so I've placed two shops and stocked up on some cupboard staples which means I should only have to buy fresh fruit and veg for a while.

I say this but I always end up doing another shop !

I need to really do a stock take on the cupboards and start using up what we have !!!

efes_shareholder

good morning campers.

New mortgage deal is set to complete and I have drawn down all the cash to do so  , it does mean my mortgage increases by £170 a month but it also means I am actually paying the debt off - it hurts but it is still significantly cheaper then renting ( its actually comparable with NM's deal on 1 bed flat except we have 3 bed house) It hurts but it must be done and is just one of the punches of life we need to roll with.

I've tied in for 5 years , I wasnt sure what the right thing was to do there but since no one really knows I thought at least I have 60 payments of knowing excatly what they are. 

I havent cut the food bills as I intended , or done fewer shops - I don't like running out of anything so tend to make sure we always have stuff in .......................I probably need to run the cupboards down to the bare bones basically , I need to spring clean my sundries cupboard and work my way through spices , packets etc.

My stomach still plays up , I have more tests to do - its made me much more aware of ultra processed foods , I have been for a while but trying more and more to ommit them. We only use sour dough bread, we have switched from spread to butter , I dont use ready meals , snack pots , processed deli meats and have switched to jumbo oats for porridge. Trying to be as healthy as possible however it does come at a price. We are generally having sour dough toast with salmon , avocado and poached egg or porridge oats , yoghurt and fruit for breakfast , I dont usually eat lunch but maybe a slice of toast or a banana , dinners we generally have a meat dish of some sorts with plenty of vegetables. I try and use sweet potato rather then white if possible.  Last nights dinner was cooked in the ninja speedi , ( bought on sale , great device) Chicken Tagine , so chick thighs , onion , carrot , tinned tomatoes , apricots in cumin , coriander , cinnamon and chicken stock - as natural as possible and very tasty , think it was 290 calories a portion , its probably much cheaper though to just buy a ready meal in Iceland. 

I am also re attempting to get back in the gym , its a constant battle to re establish the habit - curse covid as I was nailing it when that hit but alas here I am once again trying to get back in to it. We were away this weekend and did manage to use the gym on site so thats an improvement and if i walk to work I can get my 10k a day steps in , it doesnt sound many steps but when your job is mainly chair based it is hard to acheive sometimes. 

efes_shareholder

so today the mortgage completed...................I'm significently poorer but now own 2/3's of my house.

My buildings insurance can be renewed and as i did the last in a panic I am saving £40 a month on the direct debit , I am also going to change my mobile from EE at £26 a month to a Sim only deal at £10 a month so although my mortgage payments are increasing by £170 I've managed to recoup a little with these two switches.

I did look in to life insurance but I already have one in place and there was no gain in switching really since I'm now older then what I was when I took it out.

My next goal is to get rid of the below 

£900 balance on 0% M&S card ( used to furnish the house when i moved in rather then my own money ) 
£280 on Very 0% ( I really have to stop using this facility , I don't know why I still do !!) 

The cost of escaping my current mortgage deal and the hangover off a large bill after xmas for xmas and the change to our flights means I am pretty much down to my bare bones this month , I'm hopeful I can get through the month without needing the EF however should I need it thats what its there for and I need to just dip my toe in.
I'm currently saving where I can in to a savings bucket linked to my nationwide which pays 8% with a max contribution of £200 a month , this month I wasn't sure I could i could spare it so moved from one bucket to the other.

I still haven't done the stock take on the cupboards , maybe that should be a saturday job as lets face it grocery shopping is ridiculous right now. 

I still have gift cards left from my birthday , I may use the next one to buy another dress as NM's daughter gets married in June and I will need something for that.

In other news we are finally getting back in the swing of things with the gym , tonight will be the 4th day in a row we have made it and we plan to go tomorrow and saturday too , sunday we have the football where the walk to the station and back is almost 8k in steps so we can afford to sacrifice the visit on that day. 

I have about 6 weeks until my first visit to Turkey and I would like to feel better about myself , even my sister who has always been scarily skinny is struggling with the menopause weight gain , i am just struggling full stop with the menopause , I never anticipated that it would be so difficult to navigate it 

fantasyvsreality

@efes_shareholder I agree on the menopause. I've always been fit and found it easy to use fitness and diet to keep on top of my weight. Now it's hopeless. My waist is 4 inches thicker and my anxiety and confidence awful. I choose not to take HRT and my face and belly is drooping with each day LOL. It's really tough. 

efes_shareholder

fantasyvsreality said:

@efes_shareholder I agree on the menopause. I've always been fit and found it easy to use fitness and diet to keep on top of my weight. Now it's hopeless. My waist is 4 inches thicker and my anxiety and confidence awful. I choose not to take HRT and my face and belly is drooping with each day LOL. It's really tough. 

its the menopot that I'm really suffering with - none of my jeans are fitting me ! I am not ready for a life of elasticed trousers however i did buy some "magic " trousers and they really are magic !!!