Diet Redux (Again)

It's no secret that I am, in fact, a big lad. However, after the last diet failed to hold my attention - or, rather, chocolate was able to redirect my attention - I have once again started in earnest to try and drop a few pounds/stones/kilos/tons.

The trip to Devon was effectively one long "Last Supper" and now we're home, I am starting once again. While the Slimming World diet was good, I struggled to cook everything from scratch over and over, and some days, it was all I could do to stand in the kitchen, let alone prepare a meal for when Kellie came home from work.

So, to that end, I've started out on the Slim Fast diet. Now, I am sure some of you will try telling me it's not a good diet and all sorts of other stuff, but don't worry... It's easy/lazy, and a light meal in the evening is not something that strikes me as difficult to manage.

Assuming I don't get bored or rice, pasta or salad ;)

I am not expecting miracles to start with, but figure with perseverance and the scales crying underfoot, the weight will soon start to come off.

I am once again massive, and really need to do something about it... Still, if anyone wants to hand me a few thousand quid, I'll just have the flab surgically removed!

So far so good, I should add - the shakes are a lot nicer than they used to be (I did the same diet a few years back, and lost quite a bit of weight) plus the meal bars and snack bars are actually very yummy...

Fingers crossed!!

Staying Positive

As is (or, at least, will be) usual for a Wednesday morning, I figured I would do a brief update on the diet. I was going to do it last night, but would have ended up throwing something out a window.

Last night, I lost weight, 2.5lb. Huzzah, Yippee, Woot and so forth.

However.

This last week, I have NOT stopped. I have been in and out the house, I have been eating fruit and salad. I have been on the go and sticking to the diet to the letter. I honestly expected about 4lb. That's not bragging, blowing my own trumpet or anything, I have worked HARD for it.

So, in the meeting last night, I was sat grinding my teeth.

Now, before you wade in and start telling me all sorts, I know 2.5lb is good. For most of the group, that's a LOT. Between the four of us going, we are seriously wiping the floor with everyone.

I just wanted more.

So that had my back up, and I was muttering and grumbling, and when it came to my turn to tell the leader how I felt about it, I let her know. I held back, but I let her know.

However.

Despite being a little, shall we say, hacked off, that wasn't what got my fires a-raging. No, the smouldering flames were stocked when a group of women sauntered in, faffed around, got weighed and then sat beside the four of us.

And unpacked a cooked dinner.

Yes folks, this group decided that sitting in a group of dieters, they would sit and eat. Pots, pans, boxes, plates, cutlery... I was shocked at first, then pissed off. How rude can you get?

And the icing on the cake was the fact they were then scoffing piles of ACTUAL CAKE!

I was really pissed off. THAT was the petrol that was thrown on my fire, so I properly had the hump last night.

I NEARLY considered getting loads of junk food and scoffing out, but decided no, I am better than that. So Kellie chopped up a load of veg, I hacked some chicken to death, and then gassed the house out with a Thai stir fry with chilli and lime noodles.

We then watched Horrible Histories on the telly. Yes, we watched a kids TV program.

This week, I am going to be extra careful. I'm cutting out sweeteners in my coffee, I am drinking more water, and am reducing my portion sizes... I will try "doing more" in the way of walking and what-not, but I risk doing too much and killing myself to the point I can't do any more. Vicious Circle :(

I am glad I lost weight. A loss is a loss, and 2.5lb is a good loss. I just hoped for more.

A La Diet

Well, I made it through the first week of the diet. Not that I was under any illusions as to doing so or not anyway... It's the same diet I did last time, I lost weight last time, I'm doing it correctly, so statistically, I can't not lose weight on it.

Last night was our first weigh in - and remember, last time, it was just me on my lonesome going to the groups. Kellie was doing it at home, and that was it - just the two of us. This time around, however, it is Kellie & Me, plus Kerry & James coming along as well. So I don't have to be quite so lonesome in the meetings.

The girls were pooping proverbial bricks, and all week James has been saying how he can't see how it can work and so on and so forth. Me, I was fine, I knew I'd lose weight.

So, we all got on the scales (one at a time, obviously) and low and behold - we all lost weight. Kellie lost 6lb, I lost 7.5lb, Kerry lost 4lb and James... Well, James the "I Don't See How It Can Possibly Work" man lost a massive 17.5lb.

In a week.

Now don't get me wrong, I KNEW he'd lose weight, and he's been keeping track on his blog of what he's been eating, and I KNEW the first week loss is always a good one, but 17lb?! I was thinking he'd do nine, maybe ten pounds, and I was ready with my "Told You So" banner, but with a seventeen pound loss, I forgot to unfurl it.

If ever you wanted proof that the Slimming World diet works, there you have it.

You also have to consider, Kellie, Kerry and James all work most of the week... Kellie and Kerry in the office, James out and about doing lots of driving. They don't get to do as much walking as I do.

ALSO consider that Day One of the diet, while me and James were chowing down on crackerbreads and extra light cheese, the girls were at the casino, drinking the bar dry, eating proper food and not using the "D" word whatsoever.

All in all, I am chuffed for the lot of us. I think with the others coming along I will do better this time around, plus if one of us decides they've had enough of it, there are three others to mock and pressure them back into it.

I kid, I kid. *ahem*

Here's to being skinny and losing all our weight! And thanks to everyone that has been cheering me and us on via Facebook & Twitter :D

Diet: Redux

I was going to keep this on the down-low, but decided I'd probably more inclined to do it properly with the world pestering me.

But tonight, we are returning to Slimming World, and tomorrow, the diet re-starts in earnest. After all the events of last August/September when the diet feel on it's proverbial fat arse, I couldn't get the re-motivation to do it again. So it fell by the wayside.

With the way I have been physically and mentally over the last few months, I've been keeping my spirits up by munching on nommy stuff. With all the aforementioned nasties, this has also reduced my physical activity... The drawback to these is that my weight previously lost has slowly crept back.

So tonight, we return to the realm of de-fattening ourselves. I need to do it, but am dreading getting back on the scales. I KNOW the weight is back, and that's going to piss me off and make me all fed up as I have no one to blame but myself.

I'm not going to blog about it all the time - achievements probably, but that's about it.

Watch this space.

Random 0dds & Ends

It occurs to me while chattering away on Twitter, that I have a few loose ends that I have never tied up, finalised, continued with or anything else...

I'm not sure why - I think I get posts done, keep things up to date, then end up needing a break from the world of Online and hide out in a book or something, then sort of... forget... where I left off the tale.

Not that they are particularly thrilling tales, and there is even a good chance that I HAVE in fact finished with the punch line, ended the tale of Mirth and/or Woe, but forgotten I have done so... Which means that you could be reading the same information twice.

Shocking, I know. That's what happens to the sleep deprived.

Which leads me nicely to Point #1:


The Not-So-New Sleeping Patterns
As you may recall, I am a proper insomniac. Not someone that has a rough night and cries to the world how they had SUCH bad insomnia the night before.

I am talking days, weeks, months, years of getting by on snatches (heh) of sleep here and there, so at the start of January, I started Sleep Restriction Therapy. Basically, I FORCED my body to stay away until ungodly hours, then got up before the crack of dawn even started to crack. After a week of sleeping for the allotted time, I was allowed to add an hour. Then after a week, add an hour, and so on.

When I started on Midnight-0600, my body decided to start going a bit wobbly. For the most part, it didn't mind too much having six hours of sleep, but every few nights, I would wake up in the early hours, and stay awake. So far, I have YET to manage seven straight days of 0000-0600 and staying asleep.

Don't get me wrong, I am MOSTLY sleeping straight through every single night which is amazing for me, but I think my body Circadian Rhythm is pretty much happy on six hours a night for most nights.

In order to test this theory out, the last fortnight I have been surprising my body with extra sleep. OK granted, I've been poorly and exhausted on and off, but none the less... A nap during the day, going to bed at, say, half ten in the evening, sleeping till 7am...

For the most part with the ODD exception, my body goes to sleep and stays asleep. Compared to someone that would go to bed EVERY night, doze off, wake up for a few hours, doze off for twenty minutes, then be awake for the rest of the day...

Sleep Restriction DEFINITELY works. I am still staying up till midnight on MOST nights, and still get up at 6am pretty much every morning, but I know if I want an extra hour or two here and there, I can - AND I sleep!


The Finaceé And Her Medical Woes
Kellie is a poorly girl, but is an improving poorly girl. Waaay back when, you may remember she was having weird stuff go on with her heart, then her Triglycerides level went past high, past stupidly high, hit the stratosphere of WTF High, and kept going. Case in point: a "Normal" person with a "High" triglyceride reading would be looking at 5 or even 6. Kellie was rocking a reading of 20.8.

The doctor even asked how she hadn't keeled over dead from a Heart Attack or Stroke.  Oops.

So they started her on meds, and every now and then, throw a battery of tests at her. She's had cardiac tests and Xrays and has a blood test every 4-6 weeks. The doctor started her on Statins which, as we are now learning, is a shitting horrible drug.

On the flip side, her levels have come waaay down, and now she's only... 8-9. Still in the realms of Stupidly High, but the doc has started her on a new stronger statin. The downside of this, is they are making her poorly - physically and mentally.

On top of this fun ride, Kellie also has problems with her Hands, Hips and Knees - pain that looks, sounds and reads like Arthritis, but no doctor has yet to say "It is Arthritis" and have only done a blood test to check for it.

She went to see the doctor last week, and he has given her another tablet to take which I THINK Is called Naproxin, maybe. It's sort of like a Super Ibuprofen. Downside? It will dissolve her stomach or something. So she has an additional tablet that will stop her insides melting. That one begins with an L. Oh here it is... Lansoprazole.

After one day, her hands hurt MUCH less. After a few days, only being busy made her hips and knees ache - ache, not hurt. So they are definitely a win.

However... This means that Kellie now takes enough tablets to choke a junkie. And more than me, which makes me chuckle no end.

She is, however, still having her funny heart turns, but we are pretty much convinced that is related to the high triglycerides in her body. One thing at a time. We're not happy with the statins (I say "we" but I mean "I") as they cause all sorts of nasty problems, but we're seeing how things go with her levels before we march back to the poor doctor and ask for new meds.


The Blinding of Yours Truly
Back last summer, my dear son tried to blind me, and if you read 0ddness back then, you may recall I was not a happy camper.. I spent ages trying to get a doctor to listen to me that there was something in my eye, then had to deal with needles, scraping the surface of the eye, drops, cream, fine pliers, rolled-back eyelids and eye-patches. 

Not to mention the hilarity of everyone on the planet that I have ever taken the piss out of.

Since then, and waiting the "allotted" time of 5-6 weeks, I started using my contact lenses again, but for some reason, the "poorly" eye wouldn't settle with the lenses. I kept trying and trying, to no avail. Eventually, I gave up and waited till I could see the optician for his take on it.

So, with my appointment booked, I strode in and told him what the buggery my son had done to me, so after a normal eye test, he focuses on the bad eye.

Now, considering the eye was injured at the end of August, and "sorted" a week later in September, and then given 5-6 weeks of "getting better" time with drops and cream, I was a little surprised and equally miffed to be told that it was still healing - healing slowly, no less - and that it could still be a couple of months.

However, this is a tale of MY life, which means there's always a punchline.

If it is not healed within the next two-three months, I will have to go and have bloody surgery on it... They will remove the damaged area, and allow THAT to heal back over. EYE SURGERY. Because of my own flesh and blood.

Should it come to surgery, that is exactly all they will find of him too - a little flesh and blood.


On Achieving Gainful Employment
As seems to be the punch line for me, things never ever seem to go according to plan. Back in August/September, I enrolled in a training program in order to get a Work From Home type job. I would have meant a company route calls to my phone, I do the Customer Service for them, and put in X many hours per week on a flexible basis.

I had to pay out of my own pocket with ZERO help from the government, for exams, courses, background checks, a new birth certificate (as clever-bollocks that I am, I lost mine) and everything else. I was quite happy I could not only do it, but do it well.

I was delayed a few weeks thanks to the Blinding Incident, which meant I missed getting onto the course I needed, which meant I had to wait for another with evening slots to appear. Despite assurances from various "high ups" involved, no such course appeared. Christmas sailed by, New Year came and went, but no evening course.

Since mid-February, I've not even had my emails returned asking what is going on, when will a space open up. Which means that plan - to get BACK to working, to earn actual MONEY - is very rapidly dying and soon to be buried. Unless someone there actually replies to me.

I am not, however, holding my breath. I am also trying my hardest to not get angry over it. We couldn't really afford the outgoings to get the introductory courses, exams (which I passed with 95%) and all the other crap, but instead considered that we would get it back once I was working... So, because of that, we are out of pocket by a fair amount.

Water under the bridge, maybe, but it still pisses me right off.


The Roast Breakfast
Do NOT be fooled into thinking I have forgotten about this.

Despite being called Mad, Mental, Crazy and similar, I will be cooking AND eating a full roast dinner for breakfast, probably during the Easter Break now. The weekend I was going to perform this miracle was the weekend everyone decided to be ill.

Including me.

So I sort of skipped it and didn't bother with it in the end. It was all Kellie could do to eat a single slice of toast, and the thought of food entering my body made me want to heave, so I figured it would only go to waste ;)

Watch this space.


On De-Fattising Myself
Yes, I was on a diet. Yes, I was doing very very well on said-diet and, Yes, I lost an awful lot of weight on said-diet.

But.

Again we meet our old friend The Blinding Incident. After being spiked in the fricking EYE, I couldn't go out as, to be honest, for the most part I could see precisely sod-all. Plus with a sore, angry eye, I didn't want to go out and "be seen" with a gross, watering eye that I could hardly see out of.

Secondly, around this time, there was a lot of gross brown stuff hitting the fan - I never really went into it, because the parties involved are petty and childish and would have used my personal site as ammo and stuff - which while I don't care what people throw at me, it would have been others upset.

Couple with trying to work through a course to get a job (*mutter grumble*) my free time dropped away like that door on a gibbet. I ran myself down, and found myself exhausted cooking the healthy dinners, and shopping all the time for healthy stuff.

Then, my Birthday Weekend rode around, and all attempts at being a good dieter went straight out the window. And I never went back outside to pick them up. After the birthday, we were still trying to get into the Back to School routine, then Xmas was coming, and one thing after another rolled up to greet us.

Looking back, 2011 was pretty damn shit. The last thing on my mind was dieting.

So yes, the diet is "on hold" at present, which means, I am not dieting, which means the weight is creeping back on. But, once I have been to see the specialist, once I can get things better arranged for me medically, then I will be restarting. And losing the weight.

And becoming a slimmer sexy beast ;)


So there you have it... Several loose ends, tied up neat and tidy-like. I am sure there are more, and I am sure people will remind me when they think about them. But until then, I disappear! 

On Getting Skinny (Ish)

As I may have mentioned at various points over the last two to three months, I am on a diet.  I am happy to report - aside from one minor hiccup a couple of weeks back with a one-pound weight gain - I have been steadily losing weight since starting at Slimming World.

Personally, I can't see the difference, not really.  Sure, my belts are on the tightest they will go, and sure, my trousers are still slipping down revealing some arse-cleavage for all behind me to witness, and I will confess that some of my tee-shirts feel a little airier than usual, but I digress.

I can't see my weight loss - I'm still a big fatty, and still have a long way to go.  But, others are starting to notice the weight slipping off, and people are actually saying "Wow, you're losing weight!" which is nice. Even Kellie has complained mentioned that I feel smaller when she snuggles up beside me in bed at night.

A couple of days ago, I saw someone out and about I've not seen for a while - she's an "older person" (OP) that works around the corner, and apparently, I've not been near her in a while.

OP: Wow, you've lost weight since I saw you last!
Me: Thank you! (Actually beaming as clearly, the weight is coming off)
OP: Not seen you for ages.
Me: I've been around, just busy, but been dieting for the last eleven weeks.
OP: Oh, right... I thought you might have had cancer or something...
Me: Er, no...

The conversation pretty much died at that point, and I went about my business.  I'm not entirely sure why she saw me as a fatty losing weight, therefore I MUST be dying.  I wasn't sure if I should be offended, angry or upset.  Yes, she noticed I lost weight, bargain.

But am I only capable of doing so by shuffling off this mortal coil?

When I told Kellie, she thought it was hilarious, but she too wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that my life being in danger is how I lose weight.

But at least she noticed, I suppose!

All Over The Place...

Warning: This post is long, moaning and whiny.

You may have noticed, that, aside from a couple of stroppy moaning posts, 0ddness has been fairly quiet for a goodly amount of time.  I DO have excuses, I am moody, angry, pissed off, sad, busy...

When I say "We've not stopped of late" I am so NOT over-exaggerating.  Everything has been a constant had graft for the last few weeks, and it was either a constant stream of pissed off or depressing blog posts, or to just step away from it and take a breath.

Things are STILL all over the place, but none the less...

The biggest shitter of the moment would be the loss of Arwen, the little cat I had gotten Kellie a couple of years back.  We were sat curled up on the sofa watching TV one night a few weeks back, when someone knocked on the door and asked if we owned a little black and white cat.  I knew what was next, and looked past her, and saw her lying in the road.

As Kellie put on on her status, she might not have been the full ticket - just search "Arwen" on here and find pictures of her being an idiot - but she was a wonderful cat, quite probably the most loving one I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.  She grew up on Canvey, and the road she lived on, the traffic stopped for her.  Long Riding is a busy road, and it was dark, and, well, I dreaded the day.

I KNOW there are those of you out there that are thinking to yourself "It's just a cat" and that might be true.  But she was brilliant and will be very missed.

Just a week before she died, we were talking about getting her a little friend, but weren't sure what we should do - obviously we didn't want to just "replace" Arwen, but the house just seemed strange without her running about doing cat-things.  A week later, I went out to look at a few litters of kittens, and through no fault of my own, returned with *cough*two*cough* kittens for Kellie...

We WERE going to call them Katrina & Gustav, after the hurricanes that hit the USA, but they just don't seem to be sticking...  So, currently, they remain nameless, but ARE very cute:

So, that is that section of the interesting things...

On a personal level, I am having lots of problems, thanks to both lack of sleep, and an abundance of pain.  I am constantly very tired, cranky, I feel sick, I have a near-constant headache, I've got a sore throat (I suspect I've got a cold kinda sorta trying to push its way out), my hands hurt, plus the tiredness is making me paranoid and worry over the most stupid of things.  I find myself questioning everything, but when I try to vocalise it, I just sound like a whiny little boy, so don't.  I do what I do best, put on a smile, suck it up and try to just get on with life and put a shiny façade on the outside.

Ideally, I need to get back to the GP and tell him that, while I didn't have too many issues on the Amytriptyline, they stopped doing anything after a couple of weeks.  No pain relief, no help sleeping, nothing.  So on Friday morning, I am going to phone Mr Doctor Man and get an appointment.  Jaysen & Tam are going back to their mum Thursday, Dom is going to his nan Thursday night, leaving Molly here.  Kellie has Friday off (hopefully, assuming her boss/friend in work is in with her broken wrist!) so I can pop out and not worry about bored kids being, well, bored.

On the work-front, Kellie has had some good news, which is something.  The place she currently works - which is owned by Kerrys dad - is having a jiggle... Kellie was there while Kerry was up the duff and then dealing with a newborn, but at the beginning of September, she is going back to work, meaning Kellies job would be over.  However... And bare with me on this... Christopher, one of the asbestos analysts, has taken a job elsewhere.  Kerry recently passed her asbestos-analysis-type-exam, and so she is going back to work but in Christophers place.  With the system they work on being overhauled, Kerrys job, which was full-time, is now going part time.  Kellie was saying a few weeks back that she loves the job, but isn't sure she loves full time work as she misses the kids... But now Kerrys job is part time, and Kerry is changing, that leaves her job open - which means Kellie can carry on what she is loving, flexible part time, with the people she loves working with.

Clear as mud?

In short, Kellie is staying in her job, with less hours (that we want, as I miss her too!) and doesn't have to go through the rigmarole of job hunting.

Flowing from current jobs to previous, Gimme Gizmo, you will be happy to hear, will see all their blog posts back, as I have found a new host thanks to James, hosted in Germany.  And you know what they do?  They PROTECT free speech AND their customer.  So as soon as the Domain is shifted away from Namesco - who do not support their customers - and to the new company in Germany, then all the original Gimme Gizmo/DRW posts will return to the world.

A boost to my ego/confidence today, however, came from my diet.  I know I have the diet blog, and I admit I have been lax in updating it of late thanks to how busy everything is... Last week, thanks to a combination of eating out, a take-away, and feeling poorl, I had my first weight gain since starting the diet.  Granted, it was only a pound, but it pissed me off, and made me work harder this week.

Perhaps I worked a little too hard maybe, as even with a pizza I NEEDED during the week, I managed to take off seven and a half pounds!!  Needless to say, the girls at Slimming World threatened to push me down the stairs (all in jest, I should add), but I was very chuffed.  Today, I reached my two-stone-lost goal, and have now officially lost 10% of my starting body weight.  In ten weeks.

Not too shabby.

Otherwise, there is all the stuff I am not posting on the blog.  Other stuff that is hitting the fan and just causing stress and stuff, that I am not posting so they can't throw stuff at us.  Not yet, anyway. Depriving them of ammunition, would be the best description.

The WORST part of this shit-storm, is the negative affect it is having on Kellie, and the fact that I am can do precisely nothing to help her.  I HATE feeling useless, I HATE not being able to do something to make it better, to fix it... So Kellie is having a shit time of late, and all I can do is hold her hand and be there for her.

I know that everything seems worse as I am so damn tired, and I am sure some of you are reading this thinking "Well, there are worse things..." but it's all just on top of me right now, so hopefully by blogging it out of my system, I'll be able to put things into perspective a little more and get my arse into gear.  Give it a while, and I will get my arse into gear and start blogging on a regular basis once again.

Weight Loss and Life!

I am happy to report another weight loss since starting Slimming World!  Yes, if you've not seen on my Facebook, or on the other blog, I lost another 3.5lbs this week, bringing me down to 18st 3.5lb.  My total loss in two weeks has been 9.5lbs, which I am quite happy with.

On top of this, I got an award for losing my first half a stone, and also got awarded the clubs Slimmer of the Week which I am really happy about!  Still, between Kellie, the group, and all my friends (real life and Facebook!) spurring me on, I think I've worked bloody hard for it.

Of course, the group leader wants me to aim for my first One Stone loss next week, which means I have to lose at LEAST 4.5lbs... Which is only one and a half more than last week I suppose... I didn't make any promises - I am NOT setting myself goals, as I'll only get pissed off when I fail to reach them - but I will be trying for it.

I collected my two new cooking books and my food directory today as well, so I've got a load of new recipes to try (one of which I am cooking right now), and my food directory so I can check on Syn values and suchlike as and when I need to.

I can't say whether or not I feel any different - I've had a VERY rough couple of days, being completely exhausted, and yesterday it was all I could do to get out of bed, let alone cook and plan a dinner.  BUT I still did a healthy dinner, even if it was just chicken and potato wedges with a salad.

In other news, the laptop is all back and better now, so hurrah for the little things! Turns out some wiring had come away in which I still say is a crappy design - the electrical joint is attached to the hinge of the screen, so moves every time you open or close it - I suppose time and use has just worn it out, but it's all better now!

Tomorrow is going to be a BIG DAY too, Kellie and myself are going out to see someone about something, so will post that tomorrow, maybe!

Other than that, all is good, including the weather. Was going to have a moan about something but can't be arsed at the moment, so will save that for another day!

EDIT: Oh yes, forgot to add - mention the Great Lentil Escapade in the class... Turns out, for four people, you should cook as it says, but as they are dried lentils, you only need...

150g maximum.

Yes, I used 500g.  Hence the Lentil Volcano.  If I ever see that Granny again, she's going to get a bag of lentils poured down her throat!!

And Another Week...

Time flies when you're having fun.  That's what they say.  It also seems to fly by when you're busy, when you've got loads to do, and when you want just TEN DAMN MINUTES to sit and chill out.

First off, Sunday was Fathers Day, and I was blasted awake by four kids at the crack of dawn... Well, I say crack but in actual fact, I was drugged up and it was 10am.  I barely had time to force my eyeballs open when cards, presents, balloon and THEM bouncing all over the bed.

Within minutes of managing to pry the gifts open, Kellie appeared with a plate of cooked breakfast.  Result! I was a bit worried, being Fathers Day and me being on a diet... However, Kellie did her homework, and the whole breakfast was lean or no fat, no fat used to cook it - so it was actually a healthy cooked breakfast.

And a coffee too!

I wasn't allowed to do anything all day, be it make a cuppa, put away clothes or crockery... Well and truly spoiled.  Plus, dinner was a massive roast, and Kellie had gotten me some lean sirloin steak, so I was in heaven.

I had a lovely day and it was wonderful having all four monkies charge around after me!  A very big thank you to the kids and of course, Kellie, for spoiling me, for my gifts and cards and everything.

In other news, I am now pretty much a week into the diet.  NO idea if I am losing weight or whatever, but I have to say, I am actually enjoying it.  I don't think I've ever eaten so much fruit and veg in my life.  It took me a few days to get to grips with it, but slowly but surely, we're getting there.

Last night, we took it to a completely new level, and decided we needed to do a BIG shop.  A lot of the recipes calls for various ingredients, but for most of them, I was missing one or two key ingredients, so most of them were off limits.  Last night, however, we decided to hell with it, and bought as many ingreidents as we could.  Then some more. Then general shopping. Then fruit and veg.

Long story short, we ended up with two trolleys of shopping. Yes, it cost a shed-load, BUT I can say, hand on heart and feeling very proud, not one item was a crafty sweetie, crisps, quick snacks or anything. We also got a new wok and kettle!

Two hours we were shopping. Then another 40 minutes to put it all away when we finally got it home. THEN I did dinner.  Normally, if we got in late, we'd pick up the phone and order Chinese, Pizza, Kebab, Curry - whatever.  But nope, we needed to eat, so I cooked.  Mixed vegetable stir fry, a splash of sweet and sour sauce, accompanied with chilli and lime noodles which were gorgeous.

Added to the diet, I am making myself walk, and pretty much everywhere I go is by foot now.  I've started using an Android App called CardioTrainer which was suggested by one of my friends overseas, Michelle. It lets me map my route, measures steps, speed, distance, climb... Very handy for me.

Downside... Despite trying to "push through it" I am completely drained today.  Granted, I've been busy cooking all day, but I am completely fragged, so aside from going to my second Slimming World meeting tomorrow morning, I am not planning on doing very much at all.

Which brings me on to my next subject of "Aw poor laptop" which is also fragged.  I may have mentioned a few months back, I ended up doing a repair on the part where the power lead plugs in, as some wires had come off.  Well, yesterday in a moment of stupidity, I caught my foot on the cable, and the noise told me that I had undone the work I did to repair it.

Oops.

To be honest, yesterday was a crappy day, I was bumping and farting all over the place, the laptop incident pissed me off, and it went downhill from there.  I'm really hurting, I was clumsy all day, the things I had to do didn't get done...

After a few calls, I've found someone that is going to collect, repair, and return the laptop for next to nothing, so thank goodness for that.  And if I get desperate, I've got the phone and the computer upstairs... HOPEFULLY it won't be in the repair shop for too long!

Otherwise, everything is going swimmingly.  I am soooo in my cooking bug.  I love to cook anyway, just not very confident with it, but I've got a couple of days of decent things to make.  Can't wait!

Fingers crossed for tomorrow and a weight loss.  Even a little bit is fine for me. Just going to take it a bit easy for a few days, plus Thursday, Kellie and myself and actually going out and playing Adults and not Parents.

A very big thank you to everyone that has been sending me positive stuff for my diet... I'm getting there with it, but being cheered on really helps!!  I've been updating my Diet Blog with various bits, food diary, a track of my exercise a couple of recipes to boot... 

And I'm DONE

NICE!

I've finally cracked, caved, and am sick to the back teeth of it.  Before, I didn't mind it so much, I could cope, I could deal, it was just "one of those things" and while I've tried to sort it before, I never really got anywhere.

So, to that end, I am DONE with being a big fat chunky lard-wobbler.  I've tried a couple of diets in the past, but various reasons had them knocked on the head.  Since being with Kellie, I've naturally dropped a shed of weight, but it's kinda levelled out now, and so to that end, since Monday just gone, I've been consciously attempting to diet.

And yesterday, I took the final double-footed dive and joined a local Slimming World group.

Now, me, never sure around people I don't know, never sure in places I've never been, decided to do this for myself.  Kellie would be with me too except she works, and evenings are obviously her time with the wee nippers, so it's me delving into places unknown.

I stepped in and the first thing I noticed was... Aaaaaall ladies.... Yeeeeeah...

OK, now it happens they are all a lot older than me, aside from one or two, but I was the only XY series of chromosomes in the room.  Go me.

I was made to feel really welcome - there were a couple of other newcomers to the group too, so it wasn't just me on my jack jones.  I joined, got weighed (Ouch...) and got all my info. Today is my first proper day on the Slimming World diet, and mostly I will be doing the "Extra Easy" diet, but will have "Original" days and "Green" days thrown in too.

My downfall is evening snacking... Generally, I would skip breakfast, miss lunch, then have a late dinner with Kellie, and then once the squids are in bed, we sit and nibble on "stuff" like crisps or chocolate.

And then go to bed.

Yes, I know, bad Dan. But that's stopping now.  We made sure that over the weekend we got rid of* any junk food kicking around in the cupboards and Monday, we bought a wheelbarrow of fruit and veg, plus a few other bits and bobs.

Thinking I was clever, I bought a few bits I assumed were good for me, but it turns out that large Shredded Wheat and Honey are actually things that I need to be really careful with.  Oops.

Yesterday we mostly did the diet, and I consciously made sure I wasn't eating crap, but taking into account the things I thought were good vs. whether or not they were actually good, it turns out yesterday was a crap food day too.  Technically.  It wasn't chocolate and snacks, just things I took for granted.  Like the shredded wheat, plus a little olive oil spread, white bread, and even a little bag of crisps with lunch.

I'll get over it.

However, for dinner last night, I followed one of the Slimming World recipes, and made us all a Chicken Curry with rice.  Holy crap was it nice.  Afterwards we had some more fruit, and last night, neither Kellie nor myself wanted to eat anything.  We were properly full up, and that hasn't happened for a while.  Even if we have a big dinner, we'll still nibble after 9pm.

Like I said, Kellie is doing the diet with me, just not going to the meetings.  I'm (even more) in charge of dinners and stuff, and just have to let her know the night before what her two "Healthy Options" are going to be for the following day.

I have to say, I am quite hopeful.  I've been through all the books, registered on the site and read through loads of stuff there, and even looked at lots of recipes that everyone in the house can eat.  Just need to plan forwards a bit more than anything, which this week is quite tough as we are really struggling as we are still waiting on our money to be sorted.  However, after phoning them last night and chasing them (again!) we'll be getting our money on Monday/Tuesday next week.

I've decided to keep a separate blog for our dieting.  Kellie may or may not join in there too, but I'm going to post all my weights and measures as additional motivation, as well as my food diaries so I can keep track of everything.  If you want a nosey, it's over at http://our-dieting-diary.blogspot.com and currently titled "Diet: Its just DIE but with a "T" " because I am unimaginative like that ;)

What I don't want is for people to say "Don't do that diet because...." otherwise I will end up questioning myself and if it really is worth me doing it and ultimately jacking it in.  I've tried Weight Watchers before, and I've tried Slim Fast, and I even tried going vegetarian for a bit. 

If you happen to have any easy-ish recipes for Slimming World, please share with me! I don't want stuff that takes six hours to prepare (unless five and half of those hours are "leave in the slow cooker") and ideally, I don't want stuff with expensive ingredients that will bankrupt us.

Oh, and on top of this, I am attempting to increase my physical activity.  THIS I think is going to be my hardest part.  I tend to walk most places anyway, but I run out of energy and have to deal with the pain afterwards.  This week, I've been more active, cycling Monday, walking Tuesday, walking a lot more Wednesday, but today, I can hardly move and am exhausted... Just got to attempt to find that happy medium I suppose.

Words of encouragement, advice, recipes and similar stuff is all most gratefully received :D



*By "Get Rid Of" I mean, I ate.