Back again

Sorry I haven’t posted recently. Last week was a bit of a write off in one way or another. I had Tuesday and Wednesday off work – generally felt pretty crappy and slept most of the two days. Then just to top it off I got an abscess on one of my teeth – still trying to work out exactly which one is causing the problem. So I’ve been on antibiotics and painkillers for that. It’s settled down again – no pain – and I’m due to see the dentist again next week – mind you I’m still not sure which one’s the problem child. Have been pretty good eating wise, pretty ordinary exercise wise and since I felt sorry for myself I’ve had a few medicinal drinks!! So nothing bad’s happened weight wise but nothing very good to report either. TOM turned up on Sunday after a 3 month break so it will be interesting to see if that makes any difference to the way I’ve been feeling. Have also just started taking Remifemin –one of my menopausal friends recommended it to me. It’s available over the counter in the chemists and is entirely herbal. I had to check with the chemist to make sure it wouldn’t interfere with the Thyroxin I take but he’s given me the all clear. So I’m popping pills left right and centre this week. Would be interested to hear if any of you have any thoughts on Remifemin? Thanks to everyone for their lovely comments about the photo of us going to the wedding – it does my ego no end of good to be told I look hot – especially when some of the comments come from bloggers half my age! This is my latest acquisition. I’m one of those people who like looking at photographs but Bloss doesn’t really share this interest. I used to have photos dotted all around the place but we did some major renovations to the house last year and I haven’t put them back as I must admit I do like the uncluttered look. But I did miss my photos so having been trying to find a compromise. Got this screen in Target last weekend and got the photo mounts from The Warehouse so have had a lovely time choosing what photos to put in and the end result fits in really well the rest of the décor. Just an aside - the top right photo is Bloss and I on our wedding day on the beach at Raratonga in the Cook Islands (3 years ago this month). We did a sneaky thing and eloped without telling a single soul and then came home and 'fessed up. And this is from Eumundi markets (we went there when we were down in Noosa)– I hadn’t seen them around here. It’s a piece of nicely polished timber with notches carved out on both sides into which you can slot terracotta pots – the lip of the pot sits in the groove, then you hang the whole thing from the ceiling. So I’ve filled them with petunia seedlings - should be quite pretty once they get going. Hope you’re all having a good week – I’ll update my sidebar when I do a proper weigh in tomorrow.

Fillysoficle

Let’s talk about the good things first – the wedding was brilliant – very relaxed, quite funny in bits and a great venue for the reception. The day started out bad for them – raining heavily – and it never rains in Queensland – or not usually enough! But it rained on Friday – all day. Half an hour before the wedding we got a call saying that instead of the ceremony being on the beach it would be on the boat – the guests were being taken for a sunset cruise between the ceremony and the reception. The boat was a top venue – kept everyone close together and more to the point – dry! The groom raised a huge laugh – the celebrant started the "Do you……?" at this point he was totally absorbed in his bride – eyes (and ears) for nothing else. So when the celebrant finished speaking there was a long pause then suddenly he came to and almost yelled “Oh I do”. Laughs all round. Here’s a picture of Bloss and I dressed up ready to head off to the wedding. Now the eating and drinking – won’t bore you with a blow by blow account – Thursday was at work most of the day so following plan, made some reasonable food choices when we stopped for tea on the drive then had a few wines when we got to our friends place. Friday daytime was reasonable, didn’t go wild at the wedding, restrained myself when the nibblies were being circulated and tried to opt for the better choices but did have a few drinks. Saturday was Ok till lunchtime and shared in a large bowl of fries and a couple of beers, then Thai for tea – good choices and some wine. Sunday reasonably good choices all day, and home for a point counted tea and a final couple of wines. So Monday morning hop on the scales and I’m up 2.3kgs!!!! Time was when that would have thrown me completely and I would have been in the depths of depression but I’m feeling quite philosophical (see alternative spelling above!!) and have been fully back on plan again since Monday. Might add that this morning I’m only up 1.2kgs, so hopefully tomorrow will be even better. I’m still feeling really strange – no TOM still but little cramps and dragging sensation, really achy legs and pelvis so think it’s just my body gearing up to become a Wise Woman – see the last paragraph on this page “the Magic of Menopause”. On the upside I don’t feel any heavier or bloated so I’ll just keep to the plan, give away the alcohol (maybe relent a little on the weekend) and keep up the walking. Find I have to push myself to get started walking because of the achy legs but once I’m going it feels great. So I guess it’s all about management – I love the feeling of watching the scales go down but I’ve got to be here for the long haul so if it hiccoughs along the way I’ve just got to stay with it and stay focussed. I’ve been full on since I got back so I've just had a quick squiz to catch up on how you all are – hopefully I’ll get a chance tonight to leave a few comments – that’s after I go into town and pick up our travel documents for our Penang trip. Now there’s an incentive to get my A into G!!! Now some special mentions until I get round to commenting to you individually – congratulations to Pauline on her miracle, belated happy birthday to Lainey, Julie – hope you're enjoying your time out, Suzy enjoy your last few days in your 40s, Anne, thinking of you as you work through your emotions, and LG – how’s the running solo? Have a great week everyone. Smile for the day " I'm not a complete idiot - some of my parts are missing!

Now the bloody wheels have fallen off!

No it’s not really that bad. I was really good up till Friday. I have to struggle with this mindset which says that on Friday after a big week at work I deserve a little drink. Ok so I lost the struggle and invited my friend S to call in after work and we had a few reds on the deck (with a couple of handfuls of nuts to aid the digestive process!) but otherwise food was OK. Saturday started well, breakfast then off to the hairdressers, then met S for lunch at the Yacht Club – made good choice of food, and had a mineral water. So far so good. On the way home stopped at B and H’s to see what they were up to that night. They already had a colleague coming round for tea but said if they could get another couple pieces of fish then we should join them. I said I’d pick up the fish and asked if I could bring sweets – no – that was organised. So I decided to take some nibblies and choccies to have with the coffee. This is where it all started to turn pear shaped. I bought the chocolates – some Celebrations and a few Lindt balls. There were too many to fit on the little platter I had, so of course I just ate the two that were surplus. Did you know that each of these Lindt balls are TWO POINTS!! (Didn’t find that out till Sunday and of all chocolates they’re my ones to die for!). Anyway most of you could probably write the rest of the story for me – ate a few pistachios pre dinner with a couple of beers, fried crumbed fish and baked potato, cheesecake with raspberries (my very favourite), a few wines (like almost a bottle) then coffee and another two or three (probably three) of the Lindt balls. Next day when I mentally reviewed the day I realised I’d gone over but it wasn’t till I actually sat down and added up my points for the day I found out just how bad it had been – 55.5 points!!!!! Holy hell that’s 3 days eating in one. Anyway I’m not actually stressing about it – accepted that I did it and away we go again! I’ve been spot on again since then. But I’m a bit off health wise at the moment. Lost all my energy over the weekend and so just didn’t feel like walking – but got going again last night. As I mentioned I’m peri-menopausal – some weeks there are absolutely no symptoms – others there’s heaps. Last week was one of the heaps – fluid retention big time, haven’t had TOM for 3 months but it feels like it’s eminent and having hot flashes several times a day and many times a night. Fortunately I don’t get the red face – just sort of glisten with perspiration all over! I’m one of those scale junkies – I weigh routinely every morning prior to getting in the shower – have done it for the last 35 years so don’t see me changing now. I’m a control freak and like to know where I’m at everyday – it’s sort of a barometer for me. Anyway the combination of Saturday’s banquet and booze and the fluid fluctuations meant that I shot up almost a kilo overnight and it has’t yet dropped back very much. However we’ll see what tomorrow brings – hopefully it’ll drop back just as quick as it came up. Off to the wedding in Noosa this weekend – really looking forward to the break. Driving down Thursday afternoon/evening. The wedding is on the beach on Friday afternoon then we’ll spend some time with our friends we’re staying with and drive back home on Sunday. Tonight I’m off to the beauticians – get all the bits waxed and I’m having a spray on tan – always makes you look glam and healthy. I’ll post this tomorrow when I’ll do my official weekly weigh and update everything. Hope everyone’s well and happy and has a great week. STOP PRESS Almost back to normal – only 100g up today. I’m not going to make rash promises about what I eat and drink over the coming weekend but I know I’m sufficiently focused (and pissed off with what happened this week) to make the best choices possible. Sound OK??

Foot off the pedal

Yep, I took my foot off the pedal a bit this week and the result …….up 200g. We had a long weekend here in Queensland so I partook of one or two wines over the weekend. Apart from that I didn’t do anything too naughty – however I do find that alcohol seems to play havoc with my fluid retention levels so hopefully now that I’m back on track again means that it’ll even up again pretty quickly and continue with the downhill trend. I’ve been walking lots though – find the incentive of trying to cover 10,00 steps a day (Walking with Attitude challenge) makes me keen to walk that bit further – as you’ll see from the side bar I’ve walked 49km this week – that’s total steps not just dedicated exercise. I do walk a fair bit at work as it’s a large site and I often have to crisscross all over it to attend meetings, catch up with my team etc. I also bought one of those mini tramps which were advertised in the Kmart catalogue for $29.95. It seems quite good – it comes with a complete workout you can do. However at this stage I’m just concentrating on jogging and getting my knees up. Even although I walk a fair bit I can feel it working different leg muscles. Don’t think I’ll ever have Elle legs but a bit of firming up can only be a good thing! And of course as you can see Josh thinks it’s fantastic! Did a bit of potting and planting on the weekend. My mum had sent us money for Christmas and I hadn’t yet spent it. I always like to try and buy something which I can look at and remember she bought us –the table and chairs on the deck were a present during a previous visit, the mini stereo from last Chirstmas etc. Anyway we wanted to buy some large glazed pots for the deck so used Mum’s money to get them and also some nice plants. Think it looks pretty good. Thanks to everyone for their supportive comments – have been pretty full on this week so while I’ve managed a couple of quick reads, I haven’t taken time to comment – will try to do better over the next few days. Have a fantastic week everyone