Right, have to pull my socks up and get back to it or I won't have lost any weight by the time it is my big 5-0 in July.
Took a healthy lunch with me today but had a slight mishap with a couple of biscuits, Someone had bought some and left them in a tin with the lid off right next to my desk!!!
Never mind it was a hiccup and nothing more.
Got home from work early and decided that I was going to do something tonight. Swimming was the name of the game. I asked Peter if he fancied going and he reluctantly, at first, said yes. So off we went.
It's never busy at this pool so there were three in my lane and two in Peter's lane. I did intervals starting with four lengths of breaststroke and then two each of just breatstroke arms, just breaststroke legs, just front crawl arms and just front crawl legs interspersed with 2 lengths of breaststroke between each different discipline.
66 lengths done and dusted for me in approx 45 minutes (clock has disappeared from the poolside so it was only a guess). Pleased with that.
Monday, 28 February 2011
Friday, 25 February 2011
Feeling Down
I know I have a lot to be thankful for. In particular I am extremely grateful for good health.
Basically we are short of money and normally I cope with this quite well. I'm not a spendthrift but it is nice to have a bit in your purse for when it is needed.
This week is half term so I took the week off to be with Isobel. I have no spare cash and the car uses fuel like there is no tomorrow. The weather's not been good and I have wasted the whole week just about.
This is so not like me. I usually find things to do that are free and am interminably jolly but I am feeling so down this week. I couldn't even be bothered to go out in the garden and do a bit of tidying.
The only thing I have done all week is go to the cinema yesterday. We went to see Yogi Bear which was good fun and not taxing for the brain at all. We then went to the Bombay Stores, which is a big Asian textile shopping place. I got three ready made Asian 'blouses' which are like bolero tops. I did not want them for clothing but loved the colours of the materials. They were 25p each! I also bought a bag of offcut materials for £1. Great for collages etc when I get around to it.
Isobel wanted to get some henna as we bought some in a kit aimed at children and she enjoyed using it. So we spent the princely sum of £3.74 altogether including the material. I now have a strange wiggly design all over the top of my right foot!
Right, just writing this has made me feel better and more positive. Okay I've wasted this week but I don't have to waste any more, do I? Sorry for being a misery.
I think I might set myself a challenge again, a bit like Janathon as I seem to work better if I have a target of some kind. It will either be a Marchathon or a Lent target of some kind. I did the Lent thing a couple of years ago although I am no longer religious it is a good six week target to Easter. I stopped eating anything sweet for the duration and did more exercise.
Basically we are short of money and normally I cope with this quite well. I'm not a spendthrift but it is nice to have a bit in your purse for when it is needed.
This week is half term so I took the week off to be with Isobel. I have no spare cash and the car uses fuel like there is no tomorrow. The weather's not been good and I have wasted the whole week just about.
This is so not like me. I usually find things to do that are free and am interminably jolly but I am feeling so down this week. I couldn't even be bothered to go out in the garden and do a bit of tidying.
The only thing I have done all week is go to the cinema yesterday. We went to see Yogi Bear which was good fun and not taxing for the brain at all. We then went to the Bombay Stores, which is a big Asian textile shopping place. I got three ready made Asian 'blouses' which are like bolero tops. I did not want them for clothing but loved the colours of the materials. They were 25p each! I also bought a bag of offcut materials for £1. Great for collages etc when I get around to it.
Isobel wanted to get some henna as we bought some in a kit aimed at children and she enjoyed using it. So we spent the princely sum of £3.74 altogether including the material. I now have a strange wiggly design all over the top of my right foot!
Right, just writing this has made me feel better and more positive. Okay I've wasted this week but I don't have to waste any more, do I? Sorry for being a misery.
I think I might set myself a challenge again, a bit like Janathon as I seem to work better if I have a target of some kind. It will either be a Marchathon or a Lent target of some kind. I did the Lent thing a couple of years ago although I am no longer religious it is a good six week target to Easter. I stopped eating anything sweet for the duration and did more exercise.
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Not much exercise going on. Part two
Last Sunday Isobel and I should have been on a Coach Ramble but after a hectic few days I had a bit of the runs so we rang and cancelled it. Good job too as the coach broke down and they had to walk up Sutton Bank twice!
We went to a table top sale instead. I love car boots, tabletop sales, jumble sales (you don't see many of them these days) etc. We were later than usual getting there but we got some bargains. I got a pair of black pull on boots with a heel, nearly new for £1. We found Isobel a black, wool type coat (very fashionable at the moment) for another £1. We got a henna skin decorating kit (aimed at kids) for 10p and little black cat ring holder for 20p to cheer up my friend. Oh and I also got her some Body Shop leg soothing gel for 20p (last of the big spenders, aren't I).
Three day working week this week so no aquafit on Wednesday. Thursday I was definitely going swimming and to circuits though. After some procrastinating I got myself down to the pool and was really looking forward to it but as I was about to get out of the car in the car park I realised my purse was at home. Bloody hell! I didn't have time to go home and come back again but I didn't feel like I could ask for credit either.
I did manage to get to circuits though without any mishaps.
Friday I did some weight training - in a way! I have been stockpiling loads of stuff that needed to go to the charity shop. The bin bags we had just weren't strong enough to carry the weight of this stuff hence the reason we bought bin bags in Amsterdam. Six full bags were carted from the corner of the room to the top of the stairs. From the top of the stairs to the bottom of the stairs. From there to the car. Driven to the charity shop and carried to the shop. Phew, that must count as cross training.
I was going to go canoeing tonight but last time I went I was completely ignored by the instructor so didn't feel inclined to go tonight. Besides which I have been fighting a cough for a week and a half and I think the cough is winning.
Yesterday I had got tickets for a screening of Dirty Dancing for free. Yes I have seen the film tons of times but I have never seen it on the big screen. This was for the launch of Race For Life so there was a presentation before hand and a little musical number from some dancers and singers. Ex Corrie star, Nikki Sanderson (Candice in the show) was there too.
Today we decided to go for a walk. Instead of doing the usual circular we thought we would take the dogs and go to the other house and surprise Peter (this is our fourth 'other house'). It wasn't a particularly nice day, it was grey and cold but at least we were out and about.
We left home, walked through the village, across the golf course, through a hamlet into the bottom of an estate. We then walked through the woods, down to the ponds, across an industrial estate and down the Spen Valley Greenway. We were a bit miffed because the road we wanted to get onto could only be reached by walking round a very long winding road around another industrial estate. Eventually we headed up through another village, across a main road, up another long road and onto the final main road. Not far to go now. I could feel a blister starting to build on the back of my foot.
About half a mile and we reached the house we were heading for but hang on, there was no van outside. Unbelievable but they had gone! We couldn't face walking home again so we rang Peter who agreed to come and meet us at Tesco. This was only a couple of streets away but we both needed a drink. Peter was bemused with us. The walk was 6.25 miles so we done good.
We went to a table top sale instead. I love car boots, tabletop sales, jumble sales (you don't see many of them these days) etc. We were later than usual getting there but we got some bargains. I got a pair of black pull on boots with a heel, nearly new for £1. We found Isobel a black, wool type coat (very fashionable at the moment) for another £1. We got a henna skin decorating kit (aimed at kids) for 10p and little black cat ring holder for 20p to cheer up my friend. Oh and I also got her some Body Shop leg soothing gel for 20p (last of the big spenders, aren't I).
Three day working week this week so no aquafit on Wednesday. Thursday I was definitely going swimming and to circuits though. After some procrastinating I got myself down to the pool and was really looking forward to it but as I was about to get out of the car in the car park I realised my purse was at home. Bloody hell! I didn't have time to go home and come back again but I didn't feel like I could ask for credit either.
I did manage to get to circuits though without any mishaps.
Friday I did some weight training - in a way! I have been stockpiling loads of stuff that needed to go to the charity shop. The bin bags we had just weren't strong enough to carry the weight of this stuff hence the reason we bought bin bags in Amsterdam. Six full bags were carted from the corner of the room to the top of the stairs. From the top of the stairs to the bottom of the stairs. From there to the car. Driven to the charity shop and carried to the shop. Phew, that must count as cross training.
I was going to go canoeing tonight but last time I went I was completely ignored by the instructor so didn't feel inclined to go tonight. Besides which I have been fighting a cough for a week and a half and I think the cough is winning.
Yesterday I had got tickets for a screening of Dirty Dancing for free. Yes I have seen the film tons of times but I have never seen it on the big screen. This was for the launch of Race For Life so there was a presentation before hand and a little musical number from some dancers and singers. Ex Corrie star, Nikki Sanderson (Candice in the show) was there too.
Today we decided to go for a walk. Instead of doing the usual circular we thought we would take the dogs and go to the other house and surprise Peter (this is our fourth 'other house'). It wasn't a particularly nice day, it was grey and cold but at least we were out and about.
We left home, walked through the village, across the golf course, through a hamlet into the bottom of an estate. We then walked through the woods, down to the ponds, across an industrial estate and down the Spen Valley Greenway. We were a bit miffed because the road we wanted to get onto could only be reached by walking round a very long winding road around another industrial estate. Eventually we headed up through another village, across a main road, up another long road and onto the final main road. Not far to go now. I could feel a blister starting to build on the back of my foot.
About half a mile and we reached the house we were heading for but hang on, there was no van outside. Unbelievable but they had gone! We couldn't face walking home again so we rang Peter who agreed to come and meet us at Tesco. This was only a couple of streets away but we both needed a drink. Peter was bemused with us. The walk was 6.25 miles so we done good.
Not much exercise going on.
These last couple of weeks have been a bit lax on the exercise front. Part laziness, part busy with other things.
A week last Monday I did a 3.25 mile run in the evening and quite enjoyed it apart from getting cramp in my right calf.
On the Wednesday I would normally have gone to aquafit if I wasn't working but I was on a mission to get a special cake for a special person who I 'know' through another forum. So I also had a nice afternoon trawling around the charity shops in Ilkley (that's a fairly upmarket town a few miles from where I live). Didn't get anything though as they had fairly upmarket prices as well.
On the Thursday I would normally go swimming and circuit training but Peter and I had a trip to Amsterdam booked as I won the trip with DFDS Seaways. We set off a bit later than planned and we nearly had a fit as we got to the check in desk about 2 minutes before it closed, phew! Unfortunately that meant we had nothing to eat before boarding the ferry and once you are on board you are a trapped person. You have to eat their food. 22 Euros for a burger and chips and a warm chicken sandwich and chips, ouch! That was the cheapest option we could find.
We bought some cokes and settled in the club area to listen to the band and I had a game of bingo too. One number from a full house, darn! The band were called The Energy Band and they were brilliant. The diminutive girl singer certainly was full of energy and she really could sing. They covered everything from The Beatles to Katy Perry.
Thank goodness we had paid for breakfasts both ways. When we got up we went down to the restaurant and we had a beanfeast. We filled up and literally didn't need anything else until 7pm that night.
Peter is struggling with his 2.5 slipped discs and cannot walk very far or very fast but he did his best. We visited a lot of shops on the way down to Dam Square in Amsterdam. I managed to find a bright red scarf which I had been hunting for to liven up a blue and white spotted top. We also got Isobel a pair of pink faux suede cowboy boots for 10 Euro, bargain! How many people do you know who go to visit a foreign capital and purchase bin bags? We did!
DFDS has several disadvantages over P & O for us. The former takes 2 hours to get to, the latter one hour. The former is a 16 hour sailing whereas the latter is a 9 hour trip and last but not least the time in Amsterdam with DFDS is only around 4.5 hours whereas P & O it's around 8 hours. So time went to quickly while we were there.
We did however find a couple of quirky places. One was a doorway with some interesting stonework above it and I didn't take a photo of it. Peter headed for the doorway despite not knowing where it lead to. The door was open and people were coming and going in dribs and drabs. We could see a nice tiled floor and some steps so we went down them. It opened into a square of houses with a church in the middle. Reading the info it was a place where devout catholic women who didn't want to take the vows and become nuns lived. They did good deeds and lived in this area which was an enclave in the middle of a protestant area. It was a serene area in the middle of the hustle and bustle of a capital city.
The other place was a restaurant but had originally been a photographic studio. The exterior was a beautiful mosaic in Art Nouveau styling.
Anyway the crossing going was like a mill pond and the return journey wasn't too bad at all.
Setting off from Ijmuiden
When we got back we went to visit my brother as he lives in Newcastle. He was at work but his girlfriend, Roberta was there. My younger brother Francis and his girlfriend and her daughter Erin were staying the weekend so when everyone arrived back there was only my eldest brother missing.
Speaking of whom, it was his birthday that night so once I got home Isobel and I went over to visit him. He was sat in the lounge of his sheltered accommodation alone eating Ritz crackers and drinking cider. For a change he wasn't drunk though and we had a nice chat. One of the other residents came in. She was in a wheelchair and told me she had the big C. Having said that she seemed to be a very positive person. We had a lot of laughs, listened to some music, I danced and she was good company.
A week last Monday I did a 3.25 mile run in the evening and quite enjoyed it apart from getting cramp in my right calf.
On the Wednesday I would normally have gone to aquafit if I wasn't working but I was on a mission to get a special cake for a special person who I 'know' through another forum. So I also had a nice afternoon trawling around the charity shops in Ilkley (that's a fairly upmarket town a few miles from where I live). Didn't get anything though as they had fairly upmarket prices as well.
On the Thursday I would normally go swimming and circuit training but Peter and I had a trip to Amsterdam booked as I won the trip with DFDS Seaways. We set off a bit later than planned and we nearly had a fit as we got to the check in desk about 2 minutes before it closed, phew! Unfortunately that meant we had nothing to eat before boarding the ferry and once you are on board you are a trapped person. You have to eat their food. 22 Euros for a burger and chips and a warm chicken sandwich and chips, ouch! That was the cheapest option we could find.
We bought some cokes and settled in the club area to listen to the band and I had a game of bingo too. One number from a full house, darn! The band were called The Energy Band and they were brilliant. The diminutive girl singer certainly was full of energy and she really could sing. They covered everything from The Beatles to Katy Perry.
Thank goodness we had paid for breakfasts both ways. When we got up we went down to the restaurant and we had a beanfeast. We filled up and literally didn't need anything else until 7pm that night.
Peter is struggling with his 2.5 slipped discs and cannot walk very far or very fast but he did his best. We visited a lot of shops on the way down to Dam Square in Amsterdam. I managed to find a bright red scarf which I had been hunting for to liven up a blue and white spotted top. We also got Isobel a pair of pink faux suede cowboy boots for 10 Euro, bargain! How many people do you know who go to visit a foreign capital and purchase bin bags? We did!
DFDS has several disadvantages over P & O for us. The former takes 2 hours to get to, the latter one hour. The former is a 16 hour sailing whereas the latter is a 9 hour trip and last but not least the time in Amsterdam with DFDS is only around 4.5 hours whereas P & O it's around 8 hours. So time went to quickly while we were there.
We did however find a couple of quirky places. One was a doorway with some interesting stonework above it and I didn't take a photo of it. Peter headed for the doorway despite not knowing where it lead to. The door was open and people were coming and going in dribs and drabs. We could see a nice tiled floor and some steps so we went down them. It opened into a square of houses with a church in the middle. Reading the info it was a place where devout catholic women who didn't want to take the vows and become nuns lived. They did good deeds and lived in this area which was an enclave in the middle of a protestant area. It was a serene area in the middle of the hustle and bustle of a capital city.
The other place was a restaurant but had originally been a photographic studio. The exterior was a beautiful mosaic in Art Nouveau styling.
Anyway the crossing going was like a mill pond and the return journey wasn't too bad at all.
Setting off from Ijmuiden
When we got back we went to visit my brother as he lives in Newcastle. He was at work but his girlfriend, Roberta was there. My younger brother Francis and his girlfriend and her daughter Erin were staying the weekend so when everyone arrived back there was only my eldest brother missing.
Speaking of whom, it was his birthday that night so once I got home Isobel and I went over to visit him. He was sat in the lounge of his sheltered accommodation alone eating Ritz crackers and drinking cider. For a change he wasn't drunk though and we had a nice chat. One of the other residents came in. She was in a wheelchair and told me she had the big C. Having said that she seemed to be a very positive person. We had a lot of laughs, listened to some music, I danced and she was good company.
Sunday, 6 February 2011
February Laziness
Well since Janathon has finished I have lost my motivation.
Wednesday was my sister in law's funeral and gosh that was hard. She was buried on a green field site. There was a vicar there who gave some shape to the service as purely humanist burials can be a little lost apparently. The casket was wicker with ivy woven around the edges and looked really nice. Her daughter had written a eulogy to her mum which was really touching and I read a poem. Then I cracked up.
Her estranged husband was supported by her sons and the guy she had lived with for the last year was to one side. As soon as the service was finished Mark (partner) made to leave as he had already been threatened and thumped by Paul (husband) on previous occasions. Paul went after him and the first we heard was a very loud bang as he thumped the car that Mark had come in. Then we heard a load of swearing and threats coming from Paul and he had to be dragged off - very dignified! Mark made his escape.
Some of us went back to my mother in law's house but Paul and the boys went to a pub. Sophie was torn between them but felt it was best to go with her brothers and dad. She was apologetic.
Anyway, I have been feeling very demotivated and have been eating a load of rubbish. Thursday I went to circuits and Friday I went canoeing but I haven't been running at all. I was planning on going Thursday or Friday morning but it was literally blowing a gale and raining like it was never going to stop again so I talked myself out of it. Why do I do that?
The bottom line is that I have put back on the weight that I had lost since New Year and I MUST try harder as my school reports used to always say.
Wednesday was my sister in law's funeral and gosh that was hard. She was buried on a green field site. There was a vicar there who gave some shape to the service as purely humanist burials can be a little lost apparently. The casket was wicker with ivy woven around the edges and looked really nice. Her daughter had written a eulogy to her mum which was really touching and I read a poem. Then I cracked up.
Her estranged husband was supported by her sons and the guy she had lived with for the last year was to one side. As soon as the service was finished Mark (partner) made to leave as he had already been threatened and thumped by Paul (husband) on previous occasions. Paul went after him and the first we heard was a very loud bang as he thumped the car that Mark had come in. Then we heard a load of swearing and threats coming from Paul and he had to be dragged off - very dignified! Mark made his escape.
Some of us went back to my mother in law's house but Paul and the boys went to a pub. Sophie was torn between them but felt it was best to go with her brothers and dad. She was apologetic.
Anyway, I have been feeling very demotivated and have been eating a load of rubbish. Thursday I went to circuits and Friday I went canoeing but I haven't been running at all. I was planning on going Thursday or Friday morning but it was literally blowing a gale and raining like it was never going to stop again so I talked myself out of it. Why do I do that?
The bottom line is that I have put back on the weight that I had lost since New Year and I MUST try harder as my school reports used to always say.
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