Frump to Fab 2026.

chanie

Wednesday - well done for going on two walks, despite the weather.  i remember about two years ago, going to Southend Adventure Island with my children and some other family members children and it was soooo windy, to the point we left early as we were all chilled to the bone and couldn’t enjoy ourselves.

Watty - good luck with your target.
Im not a fan of running. i prefer either going for a swim or going on the cross trainer.

helensbiggestfan

Good Morning Lovely Ladies 

Lots of interesting posts recently.  Sharing ideas and thoughts.  I love it.  

I too have been thinking a lot recently about changes I want/need to make.  For a while there I allowed myself to drift, and I have been floundering a bit.  It has been a bit like being becalmed in the doldrums but finally the mists are clearing and I am beginning to see how to move forward.  

I too have been thinking about getting a cleaner. I just need to wait until I am further along with the decluttering.  It's a work in progress.  Just about finished the kitchen.  

I fully intend to delegate quite a bit more in future. I shall be 75 this year - I think it's time to start smelling the roses.  The time has come to admit that I am no longer Wonder Woman. Lol.  A cleaner, help with diy and gardening etc. My handyman has been a godsend and I fully intend to utilise his services even more going forward.  

Watty. After years of procrastinating I invested heavily in dental treatment a couple of years ago. It took 18 months in total. It has been worth every penny, every hour in the dentists chair.  Go for it. My implants transformed my smile and gave me back my confidence.  

Like many of you my mission this year is to reclaim my health and wellbeing, increase my energy, revamp my wardrobe, and create a warm, welcoming home and a pretty garden. It feels like I have a huge mountain to climb but I'm breaking it down into easy stages.  Last week I had my hair cut, on Wednesday I am having a knee injection.  I am managing to do some simple stretches most days  but not nearly enough exercise.  I am hoping that the knee injection will improve my mobility and that I will be able to build more exercise into my daily routines.  As the weather improves I want to get out and about more but knee pain is holding me back.  

I try not to dwell on how much needs to be done but rather I try to enjoy the process.  And, rather than try and be all things to all people like I have been for most of my adult life, I have decided I need to start putting myself first more often. Not in a selfish "s*d you all" kind of way but rather as a means of improving my quality of life so I can remain strong and independent. 

Yesterday I came across something called the 1% rule.  Basically it says we should aim to improve by just 1% each day.  This could be applied to any goal. Health, finances, whatever.  The idea being, we use the compound effect to slowly build up to what we want to achieve.  Small, manageable steps done daily (with the odd day off allowed) so that we stay on course and avoid burn out.  

Onwards and upwards my friends. 💕

chanie

an added benefit of the 1% rule is if you stop, for whatever reason, when you start back up again, you want be starting at zero, as you will have the basics in place.
i really enjoyed going to the outdoor gym again, after not having been since before Christmas and i feel i’ve got my motivation back.

chanie

how is everyone doing?

My Mum kindly treated me to a course of laser hair removal.  i had it done a few years ago with great results, but could do with a top up.  The clinic i used to go to is quite far away, so last year, i tried a local clinic, but the results haven’t been as good, so im going back to the first clinic. 

Wednesday2000

Does laser hair removal hurt Chanie?

I went out last night to the theatre to see Paranormal Activity in Leicester Square. It is a play based on the horror film series. I am a big fan of the first film. It was quite scary! People in the audience were gasping in shock and laughing afterwards at their own reactions so it was a great atmosphere. I want to see it again so I just booked another night to see it while it is in London. If anyone on here goes do not read the reviews first as I deliberately didn't read any reviews beforehand.

I got my hair blow dried by my hairdresser the day before so I felt quite smart and I wore a black polo neck over my blue dress and my new gold earrings and new gold necklace. I really need to learn how to blow dry my hair myself as I'm sure there are so many YT tutorials.

I am meeting up with friends from school next month and I haven't seen one of them for 20 years and one for 30 years so I am going to plan my appearance quite carefully.😀

chanie

Wednesday - it depends on the laser. It can feel uncomfortable eg like very hot or like pinching, but it’s over quickly.

chanie

i’ve had a really busy few weeks at work and treated myself to another pair of boots from my favourite independent boutique. i didn’t need them, but i have them in another colour and as they are well made and suede, i thought i should grab them, as it’s increasingly difficult to find well made stuff (plus i got them for half price).

The boutique owner said business is suffering and she is having to review how much stock she buys going forward. she said the other business owners on the High Street are feeling it.

i do try and spread my money when shopping instead of defaulting to a big chains, but i should try and do more.

Watty1

am feeling brighter. It might be the anti depressants kicking in but suspect it has more to do with 'effort'

I've been showering and washing my hair regularly, I have got a cleaner and asked her to change the bedding a couple of weeks ago. I'm wondering if I should get her to do this every week?

I've been getting dressed into clean clothes after showering and have found a facial skin scrub in the cupboard which was nice to use. Ran out of perfume but had a small sample bottle of one that was nice so rather than go shopping (which I just could not face) I decided to go to a shop and just buy the one that was the sample.

Found shop after driving up and down the street a few times but could not find anywhere to park then anxiety got so bad I came home. That night I found an email from same store giving 20% off and as I had a £5 gift voucher I bought a bottle online. Am having a squirt of that most mornings.

Being clean, paying someone to clean the house, getting dressed into clean clothes and making "an effort" is helping my mental state. I even went out yesterday afternoon to celebrate a birthday. Lots of wins for me.

chanie

@watty1 what an inspiring post!! i’m so proud to read about your progress.

helensbiggestfan

Watty. What a lovely post. So pleased to hear that you are feeling better. You are making great progress. Give yourself a well deserved pat on the back. Anxiety is so difficult to deal with, especially if it is of uncertain origin, the kind you can't really pinpoint but it's just "there". Low lying, under the surface. I did read somewhere that the best antidote to anxiety is to take action but that can be difficult if you don't appear to have an obvious cause for anxiety which you can address. I think this is where self care comes in, the little things we do, the systems we put in place, the small positive steps we take. They all add up over time to improve our well being. The steps you have taken are really starting to pay off now. You are doing really well.

Now for myself…….my knee injection hasn't fully kicked in. I'm still hopeful. My consultant rang me yesterday to double check if it was working and he did confirm that it can take several weeks. It's only been two weeks so I just need to be patient. See how it goes. I have just bought an infra red gizmo which you can use on knees and shoulders. Tried it this morning. Again I think it needs several goes before you see any real improvement. Today was just a test run on the lowest setting to make sure I had no adverse reactions. So far so good.
I have also restarted my chiro treatments. Booked a course of 10 so I got a bit of discount.

No weight loss but I am eating healthily and my blood sugar levels are steadily improving. So all is good. Had my hair cut last week and I am trying extra hard with skin care with weekly facials. My skin is terribly dry, it really doesn't like central heating but then my old bones can't bear the cold so dry skin is the lesser of two evils. Lol.

Chanie. You are doing well to still be able to find independent clothes/shoe shops. They are as rare as hens teeth round here. I am going on a short holiday at Easter to the Peak District, hopefully I might be able to find some local independent shops then. I haven't really been up for buying clothes recently, just some underwear.

Not much news, the winter seems long but thankfully I think we are "over the hump" now.

Spring won't be long. 🤞