#FitnessFriday Time for Action

Having had 2 weeks away on holiday after a very stressful half term my weight has been heading in the wrong direction! Not only that but I am slipping further and further behind in my 1,000 km running challenge:

So I need a multi pronged approach to getting back first of all to where I was 2 months ago on the weight front and then to keep up the momentum.

1) Diet

On holiday pretty much anything goes and portion sizes seem irrelevant! Now things are back to normal (if there is such a thing) I need to be more careful. I have started to drink herbal teas in the afternoon instead of caffeinated coffee:

I am making sure that my fruit and vegetable intake is increasing and that portions of protein and carbs are decreasing. Yesterday I even whipped up my own cupcakes so that they were a healthier naughty treat (although my son and his friend ate half of them straight off...):

Striking Mums 2015 - launch post

Kate has challenged us to kick off our Striking Mum's campaigns for 2015 with an introductory post. She has posed some questions for us to answer so here I go:


1. Look at an old photograph of yourself. How does it make you feel? What hopes and dreams did that person have? What things did they enjoy doing? What might this person say to you now?

I was looking at the photo album my mum and son made for me this Christmas with old photos showing my life so far. This set was me as a toddler:

I was so sweet and innocent, full of adventure and keen to learn about the world around me! My granny and I had such a fabulous relationship and I miss having her around. I would say to myself carry on wanting to know how things work and make the most of family whilst you have them. My younger self might ask where some of my adventurous spirit has gone as I am a lot more cautious now!

Charity Tuesday: Go Sober for October with Macmillan

When an e-mail popped up in my inbox challenging me to Go Sober for October in aid of Macmillan Cancer I immediately decided to sign up. It's such a great cause and this is what the official blurb says:

Proceeds from this event will go to Macmillan Cancer Support to help improve the lives of people affected by cancer.

One in three of us will get cancer and it’s the toughest thing most of us will ever face. And the feelings of isolation and loneliness that so many people experience make it even harder.

But you don’t have to go through it alone. The Macmillan team is with you every step of the way, from the nurses and therapists helping you through treatment to the campaigners improving cancer care.

The number of people with cancer is growing every day. Macmillan wants to reach and improve the lives of every one of those people. By taking part in Go Sober, you will help Macmillan in providing practical, medical and financial support and push for better cancer care.

For further information about Macmillan’s work and how to get involved visit their website at macmillan.org.uk

For cancer support every step of the way, visit the website or call the Macmillan Support Line free on 0808 808 00 00

It's great to have such an inspiration to ditch the booze for a month which I try to do once a year. This isn't the best month for me to attempt the challenge as its a) my birthday b) I am getting together with my high school friends and c) I am off on a short break to Butlins! Therefore I am going to need as much support as people can offer... 

So far only my 6 year old has sponsored me and he has given a whole month's pocket money! Please pop onto Go Sober and donate me the equivalent of a glass or bottle of wine to encourage me to keep going....  I am also in a team of Booze Free Bloggers giving each other the strength to survive a month stone cold sober so you can donate to us all together..

To take my mind off the sobriety and help tone up the wine belly I have joined with over 40 bloggers to do the 30 day shred from today. Here is hoping I can complete this one as last time I got flu after 10 days and quit... To encourage me I took a before photo:

Excuse the dodgy quality I had to balance the mirror on the far end of the bed! As you can see the summer holidays have not been good for my waistline... I need to get back into properly focussing on my Thinking Slimmer pods to eat consciously and record 3 positive things about my diet and fitness..

Weigh in Wednesday Week 11

 

After a gap due to missing my aerobics last week it's back to me in Lycra! This time it's a post workout selfie as my kids on strike again:

 

 

It's not been a brilliant week exercise wise as due to lack of time and an injury the only real workout I did was the Race for Life. Luckily all the picnics and refreshing glasses of cider must have been balanced out as I lost 1/2 pound over the fortnight. Not a huge amount but not bad considering!

So now I enter the danger zone - 6 weeks off work at home with the children. I nearly always gain weight over the break so its a good test of the thinking slimmer pods. Will I manage to eat sensibly and not pig out whilst enjoying time as a family...

There is going to be a bit of a pause in weigh posts as I'm shutting off the laptop and iPad for the first couple of weeks of the holidays! So you'll have to wait a while to see how I do...

 

Weigh in Wednesday 2

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This was the first week I've been able to listen to my pods for a whole week without interruption. I have also written down 3 positive things every day to keep myself motivated! This was this week's photograph taken by my daughter tonight:

I've had lots of compliments on my new shape recently and even I can see in this photo that face, shoulders and legs are looking so much better! The slimpods aim to get you to focus on your size not your weight and it is very motivational. I went shopping this weekend and bought a skirt and t-shirt a size smaller than my last clothes shop which was fabulous. I've also managed to get in and fasten up clothes that were too tight.

Even though I look and feel slimmer it was still great to have a 1/2 pound weight loss despite having had a bank holiday weekend of picnics, ice creams and some cold alcoholic beverages to keep me cool. Seeing the scales shift in the right direction is another positive boost.

I have managed 3 long running sessions this week. The first was Thursday when I ran back home after taking my son to school:

I was surprised that the route wasn't actually long enough so I had to add a loop on the end! Also pleased that I ran all the 10 minute runs without a problem.

On Monday my parents took the children geocaching so I could attempt to run back to Kendal from Sizergh Castle. At that point I discovered that a) I struggle to run in the heat and b) its a long steady climb up to Natland:

Create Maps or search from 80 million at MapMyRun

The route isn't quite accurate but MapMyRun not saving changes - it was actually more like 9k! So I admit that I did a fair amount of brisk walking but I did run a long way too (especially the nice downhill from Natland!). 

Yesterday despite the heat I again ran home from the school run. This time I added a loop around Staveley to save a loop at the home end. I really struggled as it was so hot and I've learned that I need to take on more water before setting off. I did manage a fair amount of running though:

Tomorrow I am going to try the run again but hopefully it will be a lot cooler so I can do all the running intervals! 

I have found that I am making some more sensible food choices listening to the pods i.e. a lot more fruit and veg but there is still some way to go. The downside of the running is that I am really hungry when I finish so I need to concentrate on drinking more water. So watch this space to see less of me ;-)

Get Fit Feel Epic week 5 #GFFE

Well it's the time of the week when I get to find out how my plan to Get Fit and Feel Epic is going...

I have to admit its not been the best week for me on the plan. It started off pretty well as I completed the 3rd week on the couch to 5k programme. This had me running up to 3 minute segments. I have to admit that I struggled with this last session and it felt hard going even though the previous ones felt ok! My diet was also a bit to pot and I struggled to stay below 1700 calories on most days.

My daughter did rustle me up this healthy breakfast:

 

Then I was struck down by the tummy bug and took to my bed all day Sunday.. So it took me until last night that I felt well enough to run. This time I was onto week 4 of the programme and nervous about how far I'd have to run. Bit of a shock to have a double helping of 3 minute run 90 second recovery followed by a 5 minute run! I amazed myself by managing it even though the last 5 minute run was very tough...

So with not a fabulous diet and not that much exercise I was a bit worried stepping up to the scales tonight. It was a relief to be told I had lost a pound! Just wonder what I could lose if I got my diet right... A week without weigh in as I'm away next Wednesday so here's hoping for a good result in a fortnight..

 

Reasons to be Cheerful: Letter P (#R2BC)

After all of us guest hosts this summer Michelle is back from her break and has offered us up the letter P! So how can I fit my reasons to be cheerful into P:
1) Perfect Neighbours 
I came back from church last Sunday to find that my lovely neighbour had mowed my front grass! Our lawns are only separated by a couple of low level shrubs so it is easy to just whizz across and do both. What a lovely surprise and I just hope I can get a chance to return the favour (if it ever stops raining!).
2) Pennies in my Pocket
This week I started doing a few extra hours at another local secondary school. This should make a big difference to my bank balance whilst I do this temporary work. No idea how long it will last but its great whilst it does.
3) Pounds off my Weight
All the effort seems much more worthwhile when the scales show a loss of 3.5 pounds! To help keep me on track I've started a Flab Fighters blog hop so we can all share our fitness journeys. It goes up on a Wednesday but stays open for a week.
4) Parcel of Pleasure

We received our first Toys R Us Toyologist parcel on Monday. I am not sure who was more excited myself or the children! We have a fun 4 weeks ahead to review what came in this parcel before we get the next one. I have reviewed some already on the Toys R Us Toybox and I will put a weekly review on here too.

Enough P's I think! Please go and visit the other blogs in the hop:

Reasons to be Cheerful XXXIV ( #R2BC )

I am feeling very positive at the moment so looking forward to sharing everyone else's R2BC this week!

1) Getting on my soap box

I had a chance to talk live on BBC Radio Cumbria about the impact of toxocarra on my daughter's life as part of a debate on dog fouling. Anything I can do to make people aware of the potential devastating impact of not clearing up after their dog is a good thing. There is more about this on yesterday's post.

2) The great Lake District countryside

It was a marvellous weekend to get out hiking up the fells. I wrote a long piece about Loughrigg on Saturday and being able to be out of doors enjoying the wonderful landscape and stunning views whilst hiking with the family is definitely a top reason to be cheerful.

OK I just can't resist re-using this one again!

I don't anyone could fail to get a smile on their face walking along the banks of Grasmere on a perfect winter's day.

3) Family

My granny has moved to Kendal from Appleby to she is now really close by and I can visit her much more easily. Hopefully my children will also have more time to get to know their last remaining great granny.

4) Me

I've been good again this week and lost another 2 lbs making a total of 7 lb this year and an overall 1 stone 10 lb since I started at Rosemary Conley. This time I am determined to stay focussed and continue losing weight steadily and not have the yo-yo effect I had last year! The carrot of a 2 stone certificate for losing the next 4 lbs is a great incentive to look forward to.

Please go and see the other lovely people on the linky:

Reasons to be Cheerful XXXIII ( #R2BC )

I love it when Thursday comes around and I can join in this hop! Especially when every entry this month gives me a chance to win something from the lovely Michelle ;-)

1) Slimmer of the Week

Yes I did agin and was joint Slimmer of the Week at my Rosemary Conley class! With a 5lb drop it's given me a great boost to losing weight this year. That's everything I gained at Christmas plus an extra 2lb gone so I am very happy. Makes giving up booze this month and having lots of detox juices etc worth while! In total my class lost over 7 stones between us this week which is amazing. Just hope I keep up the momentum for longer this year...

2) My children

My 5 year old continues to amaze me at how much he is learning this first year at school. He quite happily counted to 100 this week and is doing simple sums. Back in the pool for his first swimming lesson of the year and he actually managed to go on his back too.

This term my daughter seems to enthusiastic at school about things such as comparative fractions and French. Off her own bat she has joined in the school's lunch time Quest club which is like a primary school Christian Union. Hope this will help her feel even more settled.

3) Out and About

I went on a lovely (if muddy) little hike around Crook with my mum and her local Ramblers group. It was great being out in the fresh air with lots of new people to meet and chat with and enjoying wonderful and interesting sights. One of which was yesterday's Gallery photo but I also found this bit of agricultural history:

4) Getting Crafty

I am finding rediscovering/learning crafting talents such as sewing and PomPom making. Its so rewarding to see the results and its very therapeutic!

For more people's reasons please follow the linky:

Life Circle: Introductions

This is my second attempt at joining in at Kate's Life Circle as she has re-started for 2012. So time to re-introduce myself!


So I'm Becky and I am now 41 years old (where do all those years vanish!). I live with my 2 children, my daughter who is 8 and my son who is 5, in Kendal, Cumbria. We came up here 18 months ago after my now ex-husband left the country and I wanted to be nearer my family.


Despite graduating with a BA in Geography and an MA in Human Geography I spent 15 years working in IT. I only stopped 2 years ago when balancing a job and raising my children single handed became a bit too much. So I now have various little pots of self employment:

• I sell Usborne children's books as Becky's Books
• My blog earns me money for paid posts
• Kendal Family History Services is my genealogical business

I am trying to find another employed position but so far nothing has come up that I have either managed to get or that is suitable to fit in with the children.

For me LifeCircle is all about continuing me on my journey to be self sufficient again after divorce. I also need encouragement to ditch the excess weight and this time keep it off. So a bit of coaching to get my head in the right place is just what I need.

This is a linky so check out Kate's post to see everyone else.

Reasons to be Cheerful XXVII ( #R2BC )

I am pleased to be hosting this fabulous linky this week as Michelle continues her well earned break! It has really helped me to emphasise the positives in my life over the last few months. If you want to join in then please fill out the linky at the bottom.

Here are mine:

1) My car

It's back! There are still problems with it and looks like it will be goodbye to it soon but I am now independently mobile again. I have to thank so many people especially my parents for making lots of sacrifices to get the children and I to where we have needed to be for the last 2 weeks. My neighbour and a mum from school have also been so helpful. I was amazed at the number of people who offered me lifts and/or a loan car to get me through. Budget Tyres tried to work miracles for me and did things at cost/trade price to keep the final bill down. Just a shame the final fix would have been way too expensive...


this isn't a cheerful thing now as the intermittent fault happened way too often...

2) My daughter

On Saturday my daughter showed her business sense and made money for herself and charity painting nails at our church Advent fair. Not bad for an 8 year old and even the adults who had it done said she did a great job. Then we went on to help at a bridge tournament in memory of my granny and several people complimented myself and my mum on my daughter's behaviour and manners (so she can do it!).

3) My son

He is really coming on with his writing and reading at school which is great news. He is also very excited about being a sheep in the nativity! He may have a few wobbly moments but growing up fast.

4) Me

I have had quite a few unsolicited comments about how much slimmer I'm looking! Even my Job Centre adviser said I was looking like I'd lost weight ;-) So even if the scales aren't always going in the right direction I'm obviously doing something right!

5) Work

I have had some really good sales of books in the run up to Christmas and its always such a pleasure to see how many parents, grandparents and other relatives love to give Usborne books as presents. My final big event in the pre-Christmas push is the Staveley Winter Festival tomorrow. Here's hoping that I'll have even more reason to be cheerful after that!

Life Circle: Week 2 Planning Ahead

Kate has asked us to think about where we want our lives to move onto after our initial reflective posts. I am going to put some of my thoughts into this post.

5 Years On

That seems like a lifetime away when I think that my son is not yet quite 5 and so will be twice his current age and in Year 5 at school and his big sister in Year 8 at secondary school. I am not wishing my children's lives away but this will give me so much more freedom. This will enable me to have both a more active social life and time for a career.

I would hope to have got myself a decent job or made a success of my own business and moved well away from my reliance on benefits. This would hopefully mean that we could be living in a slightly larger home with more space for us .

By this stage I should have managed to maintain a new healthy weight and be keeping up my levels of fitness. If there was a significant other in my life by this time then it would be the icing on the cake.

1 Year On

This obviously has to be more realistic than the first set of goals! My son will be well established at school and I hope to be working at least 16 hours a week with a regular and steady income. This will have taken me on to tax credits instead of Income Support which is a confidence booster.

My home will finally be completely sorted after the re-shuffles and sorting out all the possessions we have! I would hope that my social life would have extended somewhat and that hopefully my participation in things like the Kendal Passion Play will have introduced me to lots of new people.

By then I should have got my weight down to a healthy slim 14 (I've tried size 12 and didn't like it!) with plenty of exercise for me and the children. 

Click on the logo up the top to find out what everyone else is hoping for.

New term, new....

Tomorrow is the first day of day of the new school term up here in Cumbria. After a long wet summer holiday my daughter will be heading into year 3 and my son starting in Reception. It will be a whole new experience for all of us.


New to Junior School


My daughter may find it a shock to the system moving to the more formal schooling of juniors. We are going to have to get use to the joys of proper homework so guess I need to start as I mean to go with ensuring she gets it done. This is her second year at this school so I hope it goes at lot smoother than last year. I hope that she learns to control her temper and emotions better so she can settle and make stronger friendships.


New to School


My son will be part time at big school for the first 2 weeks. The transition from nursery school to Reception is designed to make it as smooth as possible for the children. He is very excited about going and I'm sure he will be perfectly happy. I think its going to be harder for him to have to wait until the afternoon to go in wearing his new uniform (which I've spent too much time labelling!):

New mummy

I'm going to be on my own for most of the day 5 days a week from the end of the month. This opens to many opportunities for me:

• sorting out the house and getting a proper housework routine (FlyLady here I come!)
• expanding my existing Usborne book business
• getting going with the family history business
• finding a part time paid job to fit into school hours (not an easy thing to do)
• getting into shape with Rosemary Conley (school holidays not good for my weight!)

It will be interesting to see how it goes for all of us so watch this space....

Reasons to be Cheerful XIX (#R2BC)

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you'll know that some of this week has been incredible stressful but I'm still finding reasons to be cheerful: 
1) My weight
Went down a little bit this week which is good news after the week before! Just need to try and keep weight stable or going down a little bit and then really crack on in September once the kids back at school (why are school holidays so fattening?).
2) Days out
The weather up here had a little window of gorgeousness on Tuesday and I went to the Lakeland Maize Maze with my parents and the kids. The maze is in a stunning location:

There will be a full write up of our visit sometime soon!
3) Blogging
My blog is creeping back up the Tots 100 index so I'm obviously doing something right! I'm lucky to have a great relationship with some PRs and my children and I have been able to review some amazing products this summer. I started off blogging as a way of letting off steam about my life but it has now moved on to a small income stream and made me part of an amazing community.

Reasons to be Cheerful XVI (#R2BC)

Well after last week's stresses I really need to emphasise the positive and keep on smiling!
1) Academic success
I have had confirmation that I passed my Preparing To Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector certificate. This doesn't qualify me to actually teach but its an initial step giving me the confidence to look into doing a Certificate in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector in the Autumn. It also helps to give me confidence in teaching people to do family history for my Kendal Family History Services.
My son also really enjoyed his 2 taster sessions at his new primary school and I couldn't get him out of his new uniform! Think he is ready for it all so just hope its not too tiring when they start for real on September 7th after 7 weeks of no school...
2) Sorting out my benefits
The real human beings at Kendal Job centre have got me back on the system after the Carlisle office took me off last week. They have said that in future they will fax any documents for me to the DWP so that there is a record of them being sent as things "often' go missing! My MP Tim Farron has written to the Secretary of State to complain about the way I have been treated so I hope that this can stop it happening to people in more vulnerable positions than me.
3) Family fun
I had enough left from my lottery win to treat my kids to their first ever visit to the circus as Circus Vegas are in town this week. We took advantage of the first night cheap tickets and queued for an hour to guarantee ring side seats (a choice I would later regret!). It was a really good mix of things to make you gasp and to make you laugh. At times the looks on my kids' faces was priceless. Of course sitting on the front row we ended up being squirted by the clowns and I ended up with the comedy trampolinist almost on my lap! 

the amazing sword balancing lady - yes that is a dagger in her mouth balancing a sword!

4) My weight

Despite all the stress and still no exercise I actually lost 1/2 a pound this week. A micro step in the right direction and I just need to get myself re-motivated especially with the school holidays coming up..
5) Saying it with flowers
I looked after my parents' house whilst they were on holiday and my mum sent me some gorgeous flowers from Scilly to say thank you:

They have pride of place in my newly sorted kitchen (not completely finished but a whole lot better!) which is another reason I'm cheerful this week!

Fitness Friday: Week 14

OK I haven't posted for a bit as I knew it wasn't good! I have put on a couple of pounds over the last 2 weeks and need to revisit/re-kick by Rosemary Conley plan.

Diet

This really hasn't been good recently. I've gone back to eating the same sorts of things as the kids and not checking my portion sizes... Instead of filling up on vegetables I've had too much carbohydrate. Dashing around a lot after my kids means I need to be more organised as to meals and snacks. The Graze boxes are designed to fit in a pocket or handbag so I need to take them and not grab something from the kids' naughty box.

Exercise

I admit to having done nothing except some walking and my Rosemary Conley exercise classes each week. Yes I've been doing some vigorous house sorting but its not the same as a routine on the Wii or a fitness DVD. 

Plan for the week ahead

Diet

Looks like I need to start cooking myself different food from the kids again. Trying to get them to eat my healthier food leads to arguments and if I eat some of theirs its too high in fat! I have portion pots and I need to spend some time measuring what I am putting on my plate (smaller plate may be in order again too!).

Exercise

I need to get the kids to leave room for me to workout in the front room and try to get up early enough to workout before breakfast. Hopefully my body will have got the hang of the clock change  soon so I can get it out of bed when the alarm goes off!

To see how everyone else is doing please click on the logo at the top...

Fitness Friday - Week 10

Spring must definitely having a good effect on my motivation as when I stepped on the scales at class yesterday I had lost 2 lbs! This is now over 1.5 stone since I began in the Autumn with nearly a stone just since I signed up for Fitness Friday in January. I thought it would a good time to test the Inch Loss side of the Rosemary Conley plan. When I started I was given a magic measure and I dutifully measured all the key body parts and clipped the tags on. Today I remeasured and I have lost a total of 21 inches across my body with an amazing 5 from my waist alone. So what did I do this week:

Diet

The kids went back to school on Monday so it was an end to the non-stop snacking of the holidays. I was able to take my time to choose the healthy options and stick to my calorie allowance. If I have a large lunch I can compensate with a salad only tea.

Exercise

The Wii was turned back on at the weekend and I've done quite a few Tough Just Dance 2 sessions. I also finally got my eBay bargain My Personal Fitness Trainer out of its cellophane and set it up. After about 20 minutes of entering all my measurements it gave me my first targeted workout. So far I've done 2 upper body and 1 lower body workout. I have to admit that the morning after a 30 minute leg workout I found it hard walking upstairs... At my class I was back to the top level of exercise and it feels good to have a vigorous cardio routine.

Reasons to be Cheerful VI

Not sure if the signs of Spring and all the new life and blue skies but it's certainly easier to find 3 reasons to be cheerful for Michelle's blog hop! For her post click on the logo, for everyone else check out the blog hop at the end.

1) People are starting to comment more and more about how much slimmer I look! So I not only have the proof of the scales and the looser clothes but out of the mouths of other people. You'll have to wait until tomorrow to see how I did this week ;-)


2) Today I had confirmation of the dates I am going with my kids and mum for our prize 3 night break in Mallorca! We will be flying off in a couple of months time - I am going to gloss over the fact that we have to be at Leeds-Bradford airport in time to catch a 7 AM flight... Can't wait to have my children experience their first ever flight and first trip out of the country (I haven't done either since my honeymoon in 2002!)


3) As I said in my intro it really does feel like Spring is on its way which makes me feel all positive and full of beans! The snow drops and croci are almost being replaced by daffodils as you can see the plants getting ready to flower. Around us in Kendal there are increasing numbers of little lambs enjoying the sunshine. This week it has even been good enough to take the kids to the playground after school. It may not last but it really has given me a boost...


What is making you feel cheerful this week? Write a post then join in the blog hop:

Reasons to be Cheerful V

Think I have a lot more positive things to put in this one this week! Well done Michelle on giving us such a good reason to be positive.

So here we go:


1) The lovely Ian (from Appliances Online) gave me £15 of Amazon gift vouchers just because I commented on someone else's blogpost about receiving the vouchers from him! He calls himself the Hairy Godmother and I have had fun ordering some books for my 100 book challenge. By judicious shopping I have ordered 3 more historical fiction books which I hope will arrive on Monday! I have made it to 19 books already and look forward to getting past 20 with these. If you comment on this post you never know if the Hairy Godmother will bestow a gift on you too ;-)


2) Despite the fact I gained a tiny amount of weight this week I have another pair of jeans that can be taken off without undoing the button! The belt I was using to hold them up won't go tight enough to make a difference so I guess that's going into the next charity clothing collection. Just need to get enough money to buy some smaller trousers...


3) I have persuaded both Treasure Trails Cumbria and Michelle from Phoenix Cards to join me for my World Book Day sale in Staveley Institute on March 5th! So not only can children spend their World Book Day vouchers but their parents can have some retail therapy too. Hoping that this is the start of some great business relationships.


To see what else is happening check out the blog hop below and don't forget to comment for a possible visit from the Hairy Godmother!

Fitness Friday - Week 9

Not a good weigh in this week at Rosemary Conley yesterday with a little gain of 1/2 lb. I've obviously not been getting it right this week!

Diet

It's been half term I know that's not an excuse but being home with the kids for a week has played havoc with my eating! They are at the stage of constantly grazing and it is hard not to join in. When we have had days out with picnics or the odd meal in a cafe and I have no idea how many calories I have consumed. I said last week I would record my eating but it just hasn't happened...

Exercise

During my daily life I have been more active and we have been out walking around as a family. I did manage the top level of class at the Rosemary Conley meeting but nothing else that really got my pulse rate up.

Plans for next week