Teetering on the brink

EatingBeans

Weight: 206lbs - slightly up on yesterday - not a surprise given yesterday. Serving as a reminder to go back to counting calories and I have done so with my breakfast. 👍 Today’s meeting finishes at lunchtime so I will not be buying lunch today and will eat when I get home instead. Hoping for another NSD today, with the exception of parking at work which is not optional. 🤞

EatingBeans

Second day in the office done. Apart from parking (while i have no choice over), no spending target achieved! 🎉 I was starving hungry but resisted the urge to buy anything whilst I was out and just grabbed a small portion of chilli when I got back. 

Tomorrow is a full day out at uni open days. We are going in the little car and dd2 will be paying for the petrol. I am just going to keep her company. 

Only other real news to report is the key fob has stopped unlocking the van again. No idea why and it is beginning to frustrate me now! I have another spare battery to try so I will swop it over and see if that fixes the problem. If it does, and the old battery (new just a couple of days ago) still doesn’t work then I need to figure out what is draining it so fast. 🤷‍♀️

Oh and the building the barrier along the garden fence has become rather more urgent as little dog decided to jump over it into next doors this evening. Thankfully the little dachshund and grandson were not in the garden at the time but now she has done it once she will no doubt do it again. So long as noone tries to actually grab her I think she will do no more than bark at people but that’s not the point. I need to find a way to contain her (and without spending any money!). 😞 A job to ponder tomorrow. I am off to bed now for an early night as we have to leave at 7am tomorrow. It is going to be a long one!

honeybee1234

Hope the University Open days go well today @EatingBeans. Is this for clearing or for next September?

I do feel for you with your job situation. I was in a similar situation years ago, and whilst some people can shake it off and carry on, I found it really difficult. That feeling of your interview being a formality and someone else being lined up for the roles can really get to you when you've worked hard, put a lot of work into interviewing and thought you were appreciated and it rocks the everyday (not in a good way!) and for me, spelt the death knell for the love of my job.

For me it got worse as the project I was working on folded, but the one my colleague was promoted to didn't, so I and others were made redundant whilst they were secure in their role. I know you said you work at a university, would it be feasible to apply elsewhere, are you at that point or are you rather just contemplating what to do atm? 

EatingBeans

Hi @honeybee1234

Thanks for the support. I am sorry to hear about your job situation - being made redundant is bad enough at the best of times but I can only imagine what it must have felt like for the person who got the job over you to be secure at the same time. Sounds like an awful situation. I hope you found somewhere better. 

For me, being rejected for the fourth time is possibly easier than the first or second time. It bothers me most because I really need the money but honestly it wasn’t a surprise. I really thought this time would be it for me and if I didn’t get it I would defo leave but oddly I don’t feel like that. My reasons for staying still outweigh my reasons for leaving so I am going nowhere. Taking the week off after finding out was a real blessing - something I will remember and plan for in future I am sure. In a weird way a conversation I had with a colleague on Friday really helped me tbh. She was explaining how she was looking for another job because she really couldn’t stand it any more and she’s hated it for the three years we’ve both been in the job. Suddenly I realised I don’t feel that way. I did, especially for the first 12months but for all the frustrations of my current position, I really don’t hate it. There are a few people I really cannot stand but on the whole it is not so bad. I have most definitely had worse jobs! And, after the many conversations had last week following up from the interview last week I also think I will apply again when the role next comes up. 😱 They have managed to convince me that it really was a close decision and they have recognised that current processes put me at a disadvantage in terms of point scoring, so they are looking at current processes to try and ensure it doesn’t happen again. I’ll only know if they actually stick to their word if I hang around to find out.

Uni open days are all looking at uni’s ahead of apply for next year. Today was looking at York. I am so glad we went as dd1 had been really keen on it and had started to think it might be her first choice - she was very disappointed. Personally, I loved the campus (very green, lots of benches to sit outside and a very pretty lake in the middle), but it WAS a bit tired in places and I expected more from a uni requiring at least AAB. The nail in the coffin was speaking to the course lead. dd1 asked if the course was BPS accredited and she didn’t even know what BPS stood for! Now, whilst I’ll forgive the average Jo from not knowing that BPS stands for the British Psychological Society, the course lead should absolutely know if they have any hope of supporting their student into a career that requires it. Even if the course wasn’t accredited and it would have required a top up course, she should at the very least be able to explain that! So, York is officially off the list. 

The plan is to visit Nottingham next Saturday, followed by Manchester and Warwick on the same day in early October and finally Sussex as a back up towards the end of October. I think it is really between Manchester and Nottingham but we will see. 

Sadly today has not been a NSD. 😞 We both got very tired and hungry from all the driving and a McDs was purchased. dd1 drove there and I drove back. I really struggled and needed to stop for fresh air and coffee (despite it being 3pm), as I was just so tired. Poor dd1 came home and had to leave again for work within an hour! Thankfully, she at least got a quick nap on the way back so I am hoping she feels better than I do. As it is, I am regretting telling dd2 that Saturday will be our Olio night as I am about ready for bed rather than driving around collecting food. But, dd2 is keeping me on the straight and narrow and is insisting be have another go this week and see what we can get. 🤞 for something yummy. 

ellenvan

Hopefully Olio will produce something lovely or at least useful.
That sounds a busy day visiting campus/ uni. But really shows how useful to visit in person. Next week bring goodies with you if possible to remove the cravings for takeaway.
Glad to hear your daughter is trying to keep you going to Olio collection's. It shows a valuable lesson is being learnt.

EatingBeans

Thanks @ellenvan
You are totally right, I should have been more prepared food wise. I did take some biscuits and a kit kat (free from work), to keep me going, and I had already had breakfast, but dd1 wanted to get herself a McDs and my willpower disappeared as soon as we were driving up to the drive through. 😕 I will plan better next time and ask dd1 to ensure she has eaten before we go next time (and take a proper packed lunch for me just in case!).

Olio produced another feast this evening…!

dd2 was a little disappointed sadly. She REALLY wanted a cake but it went to someone else, and pancakes that were down for us to collect were missing from the bag when we got home. We did end up with a few extras that we didn’t even request, (I am looking at you bags of salad leaves and massive baguettes! 🤦‍♀️), but honestly I really can’t complain. Freezer and fridge now full again, it is going to be another challenge of how to use as much as possible before it spoils. 

oceanspirit

Delurking to say that salad leaves make very good soup.  I just boil up onions and garlic with sweet potato and veg stock - when potato is cooked add salad leaves and allow to wilt.  Remove from heat and blend.  I usually serve with a drizzle of flax or olive oil.  If you don't have sweet potato then a tin of cannelini beans also works well.  One of our favourite soups is celery and cannelini bean.  Low calorie, very filling and cheap.  I freeze them in single portions so they are a good stand by or lunch option.

ellenvan

That's an excellent haul from Olio.
I know it's random, but so money saving.
Also of course you are saving that food from being wasted.
When you get that much it's got to be an incentive to keep using Olio.
Thanks to the above poster for the soup, salad leaves tip, never thought of salad leaves and soup. We have use it up soup with soft tomatoes planned for later so will add some slightly wilted salad leaves and try it out.

SuzeQStan

Amazing Olio haul EB 👏🏻 - have recently got back into Olio.  Food collections near you are clearly brilliant -

food collections near me never seem to be up to much but the free item section has stood us in good stead with enough wood to fill 4x huge firewood stores, curtains & liners for a draughty door, almost as new 🦈 steam mop, garden magazines, pallets to build a compost bin and more.

its a great place to declutter as well if you need to get rid of stuff. Things that go well on there include empty jars (for the jam makers) cardboard boxes (for the home movers), clothes, books/mags, broken crockery (for mosaicists), partly used cleaning chemicals, paint, broken garden tools, redundant wires chargers, surplus to requirement garden plants after division.

Most stuff that would normally end up In landfill can find a new home on Olio.

EatingBeans

Yes, if this level of collection keeps up then I am officially an Olio convert. It certainly helps that I am not particularly fussy when it comes to putting meals together (unlike the dds). This morning I had tuna and sweetcorn on a baguette for breakfast. 😬

One thing that I have realised is that it is also quite easy to save a bit on dog/guinea pig food by using Olio. I tend to get donated extra veg all the time and the dogs love a random handful of fresh stuff alongside their slightly reduced amount of kibble. Anything that can be frozen I try to freeze for us but there is always some stuff left over and fresh stuff has to be good for them - in fact it is actually a necessity for guinea pigs. This morning the dogs had cooked chicken slices, carrot, broccoli, courgette and a couple of slices of bread. Lunchtime they had melon. The guineas get a bag of veg at a time and they pick out what they want. What they don’t eat gets added to the compost pile anyway. 

That said, I am beginning to wonder if Olioing should become a mid week affair as we have so much food that needs using up on the Sunday that having a Sunday roast on top just seems like overkill! I guess it is trial and error. 🤔

Sadly, I was so tired this morning that I completely forgot to do my weigh in before I started my day. It always skews the figures a little but to me, weighing in late is better than not weighing in at all. 

So, average for the week is 205.0lbs, up 0.2lbs from last week. Ordinarily I might feel a little disheartened but when I compare my starting weight of 206.4lbs, to today’s weight of 204.3lbs, that is almost exactly 2lbs so I am ok with it. It has been a busy few days and sticking to the diet has been particularly challenging but I definitely think I have done better than if I wasn’t trying at all so I just have to keep going. 💪 It should be easier again next week as I am back to wfh. 🎉