Now or never

enthusiasticsaver

The debt is coming down nicely. Tough to watch your diet in January when it is cold and wet and miserable anyway so well done with persisting with SW. I am aiming for no biscuits/cake/chocolate/crisps in January but as staying with my mum and she is a feeder I am not doing well with this challenge. 

joedenise

@Its_time - have you got a slow cooker?  If so you can make stews, curries chilli etc which are SW friendly and can make these really cheaply if you pack them with vegetables and beans.  All of which you can make all year but are particularly warming at this time of year.

A couple of days ago a made a huge pot of sausage cassoulet in my biggest dutch oven as no way would it fit in the SC.  I added plenty of haricot beans from the freezer which I'd cooked and frozen ages ago from dried; plenty of veg including half a swede, a couple of small turnips and several carrots plus a piece of gammon, a thick slice of pork (which came off the pork joint before cooking) plus a couple of spicy sausages.  In the end it made 8 portions at a total cost of less than £1 a portion (and the bonus of only being 1 syn per portion - 4 syns for each spicy sausage).

Well done on the lb loss - it's great when you're not expecting it and so motivating to carry on.

Its_time

@enthusiasticsaver Yes I know exactly what you mean, I only have to mention to my Mum I am dieting and instantly she offers me chocolate! It's like some sort of evolutionary thing she immediately perceives I am starving

@joedenise I do have a slow cooker, I cooked a gammon in it today.  I love soups and casseroles, DH doesn't so much though, he is a meat person and lots of it.  Yours sounds delicious and doesn't break the bank either.  Thank you I am going for it this week now, if I can lose a 1lb not really trying who knows what this week will bring

DD and me have had the best day in The Sanctuary, we've worked flat out and achieved loads. The last hour we spent doing paperwork so even that is getting sorted.  I have been brave tonight and contacted some of my customers who have been on hold for a bit, it stresses me out so much!  I have to do it though if I want this business to succeed.  I have a fear of doing it wrong, it's like the world is ending and I am a total failure, logically I am aware that it is just a matter of putting it right but my anxiety shoots through the roof and I can't think clearly.  I have to face my fears.

I've mucked out again today at breakneck speed and also been on my treadmill, not for long about 10 minutes but that is 10 minutes longer than yesterday.

I am getting incredibly excited about mine and DH's break away the end of March, I want it to be perfect whilst doing nothing   Just a lovely rest and some peace and quiet.

Its_time

I am finding it really hard to keep up with reading all the pages I have book marked.  I love reading them but by the time I sit down in the evening I am too shattered to go online.
Made an overpayment to the debt on Sunday of £350, I wont update my totals until the end of the month but am really hoping to be under the £24,000 this month.  
The Sanctuary is going well, I gave it a huge clean on the weekend and my head feels a bit cleaner with it.  Each day I have gone in and started and finished  a piece of work and put it away, then started another rather than flit from one to another.  We've had a few opportunities to quote which is always good, fingers crossed they come back and have the work done.  
On the weekend I spent all day Saturday doing my business accounts and my tax return.  All done!  Finally!  I was delighted to see that since I really started working hard around October the business has since started to make a profit, before that it was always breaking even but looking at it as a business and ensuring the quotes cover the costs etc. has really made a difference, obvious really but I was so snowed under I didn't look at the figures much.  I have asked an accountant to take over my tax return next year as well as the accounts as if it carrys on like this I will need a professional head to look at it.  Don't get me wrong it is still a small business but it is too much for me to take on, one less thing to worry about.
DH cleaned the living room top to bottom, pulled all the furniture out so Sunday evening felt lovely sat down with a cuppa, thank you darling!
Diet is doing ok......ish......well actually it is going ok, as long as I keep losing 1lb a week that will be fine, usually I go at it like a bull at a gate but doing it this way seems as though I may be able to do it long term as I am quite comfortable.
Pup is doing ok she is absolutely gorgeous!

joedenise

A lb a week is a good steady weight loss.  If it comes off slowly it's less likely to pile back on.

Its_time

@joedenise hmmm that's interesting because each time us lost 2 stone before I've done it very quickly and each time it has just flown back on the minute I stop dieting.  Hopefully this this the loss will be sustainable 😊, my whole life is about slowing down, quality not quantity.

Chrystal

Don't see it as a 'diet', rather a sustainable way of healthy eating.  Over a longer period of time it becomes habit and you will reap the benefits. 

ferreroreeses

Great plan, hope it all goes well, best of luck!

joedenise

@Chrystal - you are so right.  SW is a healthy way of eating for the rest of your life rather than a "diet".  I've been following it for over 10 years now and have only gone out of my target range 3 times (I'm currently out of range following a 2 week all inclusive holiday plus 2 weeks away in the motorhome, Christmas and New Year!).  However I am now well and truly on my way back to my target range with a 2lb loss this week.  Only 5lb more to go to get to the top end again!

Its_time

Oooooo friends!  Hello! 
@Chrystal I am really hoping that will be the case, hoping a habit forms so it becomes second nature and it just comes easier.  I am trying to be much healthier this time round I am taking vitamins as well.
@ferreroreeses Thank you very much, I hope so too.
@joedenise that's fab weight loss.  That is where I get unstuck usually, once I am down to where I want to be, that's it then it all goes back on, this time it really needs to be a change of way of eating permanently.

Well that was nice! Thanks for stopping by everyone