La Dolce Vita (The Sweet Life) - on a tiny budget.

helensbiggestfan

wonderful Weekend. 

How was yours.  Mine was truly wonderful. 

 Yesterday I spent the afternoon with my son and his family, helping the children decorate their tree and today it was like waking up to Narnia. Snow makes everywhere look extra pretty and added to the magic of going to see Santa.  So lovely to see it all through a child's eyes and see their little faces all bright and glowing with excitement.  Then lunch in the cafe.  A good time was had by all.  

Shattered now, so I am all cosied up with my electric sofa throw.  Time to watch a film and have a nice easy dinner.  

Perfick!!!!!   

skogar

This really stood out to me from your post:

"I have a wardrobe full of clothes which I can't really wear at the moment. I am really restricted with what fits me but I refuse to buy larger clothes so I'm just going to have to make do until I lose some weight"

I wonder if this is also a reason that you are feeling a bit frumpy. It is always tempting to wait until you have lost weight before buying new clothes but sometimes life gets in the way and it doesn't happen as quicky as you thought it might. Definitely true for me. I have to admit that I have decided to buy a limited number of new clothes in my current size as not only was I limited by what fitted but also by the fact that most of my current wardrobe was so delapidated that it didn't look good. Perhaps a couple of nice but inexpensive outfits in your current size or a very minimal capsule wardrobe approach might help here - perhaps a couple of pairs of trousers, a few tops and a couple of warmer pieces would mean that you have something to wear which looks a bit nicer when you want to / have an event where you might want to look a bit smarter.

If you've decided that you are definitely not buying more clothes until you loose weight is it worth having a look through your wardrobe and working out what is in there that you could look good in and either getting rid of (if really delapidated) or packing away the nice things you have in a smaller size, or sending to the charity shop the thing you bought that seemed like a good idea at the time but never really worked and didn't get worn so it is easier to find the things that you can wear now. When I did this I was really surprised how much I got rid of. Perhaps looking at the items on there own would give you some ideas about outfits you could put together or you might identify a couple of cheaper pieces that you could add in to give you a few more options.

Accessories - so do you have some nice accessories that you could use to glam up the less interesting outfits you are wearing at the moment - perhaps a nice scarf, shoes, handbag, jewelry etc.

If none of that works - could you pretend that you have decided to participate in some sort of challenge which is the actual reason that you are not buying new clothes and is nothing to do with the waiting to loose weight thing. (Yes at this point you will have realised I am completely bonkers :-D). All sorts of things from the not buying anything new type challenges to putting together different outfits with a limited number of clothes. (something like the 333 challenge, perhaps the 100 day dress one might be taking things a bit to extremes :-D )

Massive commiserations on the poor haircut. I am not someone in the least interested in my hair but I remember once spending twice what I usually paid for a hair cut and it being done so badly it looked absolutely dreadful - so bad I had to cut a piece myself which was a completely different length. I was absolutely gutted. So perhaps in your case the recent poor haircut was an experiment to see if it was worth spending the money on that more expensive haircut and as you have tried both and definitely can tell the difference perhaps you have the excuse you need to go back to the more expensive one. ;-)

Sending a big hug and I'm sure that if I met you in person I would think that you look lovely. :-)

MrsPorridge

Regarding weight.  I had a turning point in September - I weighed my heaviest (more then when I was preganant ) and knew I had to take action as I have gained almost a stone every year for the past 6 years!  I joined Slimming World in September and have now lost a stone.  But more than that I have forced myself to go to and stay at the meetings and have met some wonderful people who have helped spur me on.  I am finding the "diet" so easy and it really is healthy eating.

skogar

Mrs Porridge - great progress on the weight loss / healthy eating. :-)

helensbiggestfan

Magic Mondays. 

Good Morning Lovely Ladies. 

It is the greyest wettest morning here so not quite sure where I can add some magic today but I'll dig deep and find some somehow.  😂.   I have to stay in and wait for Seven Trent to fit a new water meter so I will look for something productive to do.  

Skogar.  What a lovely positive post from you.  Thank you.  You have made some excellent suggestions as to how I can give myself a little boost.  Whilst I am confined to barracks it is a good opportunity to go through my wardrobe. - see if I can "shop from my wardrobe".  And, I am going into the city on Wednesday to meet my sister for lunch.  There is a large Primarni just opposite the restaurant so I might just pop in and see if I can pick up a couple of bits to tide me over until I have lost some weight.  I think you're right - a couple of pieces just to help me pad things out a bit.  At least something nice to wear for Christmas.  It needn't break the bank. 

 Accessory wise I'm pretty much ok.  Maybe a couple of scarves. I have plenty of jewellery, bags, gloves etc.  Yesterday I wore a long navy cashmere coat. I do find navy drains me a bit (and black makes me look like a corpse). So I  accessorised if with a red pashmina and red leather gloves.  Very festive for seeing Santa. 😂.   My son and grandsons wore Christmas jumpers and I noticed most of the parents and grandparents were wearing festive gear as well as the little ones.  

Yes I will definitely be going back to my previous hairdresser.  He's worth every penny.  😁.  

Well done on the weight loss Mrs P.  That's a cracking start.  I bet you feel better already.  And you're  right it's all about healthy eating for the long term isn't it. 

  I have managed to stick to my not adding sugar to beveridges.  They seem to be tasting less "bitter" already so hopefully my taste buds are changing and I wont backslide.  I am lucky in that I am not a habitual cake/pudding person and I dislike sugary fizzy drinks so with a bit of luck reducing additional sugar shouldn't be too much of an issue.  The withdrawal headache has cleared and I feel fine, so far no cravings.  

The next thing I want to tackle is to reduce my caffeine intake but first I need to find a nice caffeine free coffee.  Any suggestions???  I'll probably try in the New Year.  One thing at a time.  

I have bought myself a copy of Dr Michael Mosleys "Just One Thing".  He advocates making small changes and taking it one step at a time....mind I draw the line at cold showers or cold water swimming.  Not for me. 😂

Have a lovely day.......look for some magic.  💕

Wednesday2000

That sounds lovely with the tree and the snow!  

It is a horrible and dark day here too. I have ordered some lined leggings from Amazon that are meant to be very warm and I am going to batch cook some soup as I thought I should start with the healthy eating before xmas as I am just delaying the inevitable!

I don't know about caffeine free coffee at all, sorry. What about herbal tea? But then some are quite rank! Lol.

basketcase

I've read this from beginning to end.  What an inspiring lot you are!  I've delurked to add my two pennorth on coffee.

Do you mean instant or ground coffee.  I think it depends on your water - whether it's soft or hard.

Douw Egbert's decaf used to be really good, but I tend to use Taylor's ground mostly.  Not that I drink much coffee these days.  Egbert's is better if you buy from a Dutch source.  I was told that the stuff they export is better by a Dutchman.  I didn't believe him, but he was actually IMNSHO right...

helensbiggestfan

Thanks basket case,  

filter coffee all the way. Lol.  I'm a bit of a coffee snob.  Ha ha. 

Yes I thought about Taylor's.  I always used to like their Italian blend.  Then I tried ALDIs Columbian and got on well with that.  I'm not sure if Aldis do any decaf versions.  Will check them out.    I looked on Amazon and noticed they sell Taylor's, a lot cheaper than the supermarket but they only seem to sell in bulk. I don't want to buy 6 packs and then find I dont like it......  I need to trial some first.  

Water is quite hard here and I think it has a twang. I do use a filter and that helps the water quality.   I don't think it softens the water but it improves the taste,  

I do sound like a right fussy madam don't I.  😂🤣

Wednesday. I was only talking to my sister about fleece lined jeans/trousers.  We are both going  to look out for  some.  I do have thermal leggings and thermal tights. They do make a difference.  

Floss

Helen, I'm currently wearing Primark fleecy-lined leggings, they are very comfy, warm & quite high waisted. I would say to go for your size on the label as they do stretch.

ladybird1106

Primary are selling fleece lined leggings. My youngest says they keep their legs really warm. 
Love 🐞