So after last weeks weigh in and loss of 3lb I had a visit to one of those Ice cream/waffle places with some friends and thought I would treat myself!
I did indulge in this caramel concoction which was worth every spoonful. This was on the Tuesday (the day after weigh in) so I thought that after this I would be strict on plan and hopefully it wouldn’t make much of an impact.
When i went to my Monday evening weigh in I was kind of nervous. I had been on plan ever since the ice cream and never really used up many of my daily sins that week. I was hoping for a 1-2lb loss if I am perfectly honest ( and I even turned down a take away on the Sunday evening as we had been out all day).
So, I completed my first week following the Slimming World plan, a fairly easy one to work out and follow in my opinion. I was able to be completely on plan all week as I wasn’t really anywhere or had any plans that would throw any major temptation in my way. I am a sociable drinker only so I don’t really sit every evening with a glass of wine ( although I can drink like a lush when I am out in company!). Therefore, for me the syns tallied on alcohol only matters if I go out. In that respect I found that I wasn’t using any where near my limit of syns per day so far.
My weigh in is on a Monday at 5.30pm although I think I my change to the Monday morning club that runs at 9.30 as I found that last night I didn’t end up eating until 8.30pm and took a migraine while I was at the meeting, so I do not want a repeat of that.
I have to say I was actually quite nervous when I was waiting to be weighed, although I knew I had been on plan but I still felt quite bloated ( although I don’t have a period I still have the joys of the bloating and pains) and so I was preparing myself to have stayed the same.
I have been unhappy with my weight for some time, probably for a good year or so and my clothing now all resembles everything loose and flowy (which doesn’t help to be honest!)
The weight has slowly crept on over a long period of time, little by little, until I have gone up a size or two in dress size and now even those are no longer fitting comfortably. Everything I buy is cover up, long, oversized with a vest top underneath to help hold things in. I am on the short side at only 5′ 2″ so any extra weight at all has nowhere to hide. I have felt uncomfortable, fat and self conscious for a while and hate squeezing into clothes that never fit properly. It’s not just the fact I have to go up a size its more the fact I have an awkward shape as I put all my weight on around my middle. This means when I go up a size to fit my middle I end up looking like I’m a kid waiting to grow into my new school uniform!
Ok so before all you teachers instantly take offence to that I will openly say I do not think secondary teachers are paid enough for what they have to deal with and I could not for all the money in the world even contemplate teaching teenagers!! I appreciate you all have several classes with probably 30 moody, whingy, bolshy annoying teens in every class driving you to complete distraction getting on your last nerve at times…………….. I repeat I COULD NOT DO THAT JOB.
That said, when it comes to your own child and you can see him being persecuted for being fidgety, talking, moving, getting distracted and distracting others. Now I am not a mother who sees her children as little angels, I am fully aware that my 15 year old son is ‘high maintenance’, loud, demanding and can drive me to total distraction on a daily basis, so I do appreciate how that could be a pain in the arse to deal with in a class of 30 kids. So when the said child does not change over the years, finds it hard to focus and is the king of ‘low level disruption’ but is generally a very likeable boy surely some alarm bells would be ringing from the school side of things?
Up until last year I had a real fear of using sewing machines which I definitely think stemmed from those Home Economics classes you may remember from school if you are of a certain age! I did have one many years ago but just didn’t have the confidence to use it properly and ended up packing it away in the loft where it subsequently got damaged and then I got rid of it.
Last year I took the plunge and booked myself on a 5 week basic sewing course to learn how to use a sewing machine. The course was great and I learned how to make a cushion cover, insert zips and made an apron too. During that course ( where used a Janome sewing machine) I managed to find a great sewing machine of my own. That way I didn’t have to panic if I broke anything as it then belonged to me. This in itself gave me more confidence when I was using it.
Now if you asked me this a few years ago my answer would have definitely have been yes, that would have been because I was then working as a qualified Driving Instructor as a job and obviously had a suitable car which had duel controls. In fact it was something I was really looking forward too. I no longer work as a driving instructor due to my long term illness and so I am now looking at it purely from a parent’s point of view.
Therefore,if you ask me that question today, the answer is a resounding NO! In fact, just today I have booked him to start his lessons with a reputable company and instructor. Many of you will think this is madness to throw all that money away on lessons even though I feel I could teach him no problem but I would only do so in a suitable car with duel controls, believe me I speak from experience that learner drivers try to kill you on a daily basis when they are only starting.
Today I started a 12 week course in dressmaking. This is something I have been wanted to do for ages since getting hooked on the Great British Sewing Bee. I started my sewing journey earlier this year with a basic 6 week course learning to use a sewing machine, basic hems etc and even went on to make some cushion covers and a tote bag!
I thoroughly enjoyed this course after years of being almost frightened of sewing after horrible memories from secondary school ( bet I’m not alone there!). I was desperate to get a close enough proper dressmaking course as I want to get patterns and make things for myself. I daily see people’s makes on IG and am very jealous and even bought the Dottie Frock pattern as most people said it was suitable for beginners. It probably is but I excitedly opened the pattern and then had instant confusion and folded everything back into the package! Sad but true. So I am hoping this course I started today will sort out any confusion I have that puts me off trying things.
I have been meaning to try one of these machines for ages especially for my youngest teens room as his carpet is in a pretty grim state, but it has ended up being a job I just procrastinated about rather than got on with.
So a few weeks ago I sent Rug Doctor a very cheeky tweet with a picture of my son’s excuse for a carpet to see if they would be up for a challenge! Unbelievably they responded immediately and emailed me with an offer to try one of their machines. So, I could procrastinate no more and it forced us into a complete clear out in my son’s room which was well overdue.
Disgusting I know!
So the Rug Doctor carpet cleaner was delivered to my house complete with all sorts of cleaning sprays and the detergent to get started immediately. The very next day my husband was off work he went straight to work with the machine, which had clear instructions on how to use it actually on the machine itself and seemed fairly self explanatory. We just started with a patch in the room to see if we could see a ‘before’ and ‘after’ shot which I think you will agree shows an unbelievable improvement literally within minutes.
I have not made ANY resolutions this year. I have NOT set any major goals to achieve either. My reason being that if I don’t do the things I have vowed to I would I feel like a failure and look back with disappointment.
This year a few things have popped into my head that I would like to make time for, but my life wont stop, or I wont feel like a failure if I don’t really get the chance to do them. I hope that makes sense.
We were invited to be one of the first to try a new exercise class soon to be launched in Jan 2015 aimed at 8-16 year olds in particular called ‘Active crew’. My 14 year old son decided he would give it a go to see what it was like.
We headed over to The Virgin Active Club in Acton were the launch was taking place and were lucky enough to grab a chat with the founder of ZUU Chimps, Nathan Helberg who was extremely lovely, chatty and enthusiastic about the exercises the kids were about to try. He explained how it was fun so kids didn’t realise that they were exercising and empowers them at the same time.
The class itself was broken down into several stages ranging from ‘animalistic’ style movements to coordination and agility style exercises that included the use of Sandbells and Fitlights with rest periods in between and a lot of high fiving along the way. Another element of the Active Crew is SAQ (Speed, Agility and Quickness) training, a programme that has actually been used by a variety of sports starts from Andy Murrey to the Manchester United Football Team.
At first my youngest thought the exercises were a bit weird considering they were called ‘gorilla’ and ‘bear’ and ‘iguana’ amongst others! But as the time went on and the high fiving continued he felt more relaxed within the group which is essentially one of the key characteristics of the class anyway.
