Roller-coaster rides - again!

Well, I'm tired and cranky and emotional and really rather peed off with the whole thing. My eating habits have been abyssmal over the last week or two and my much-vaunted plans for exercise went right out the window once again.

Life has hit the fat lass with a welter of stress and she isn't standing up to it very well right now. Part of this has been family and health 'stuff', starting with long-standing worries about my Mum (most of which are not possible to resolve) and culminating in spending part of the early hours of last night at the local hospital with my lovely hubby, who was in substantial pain at the time. He's all sorted out now, sure, but I'm reeling from lack of sleep and, of course, from the worry.

The other thing adding to the stress is that three 'training courses' or similar (one of them work related so a very big deal) started in the space of a few days of eachother, each carrying a fair chunk of work to do 'in my own time'! My time, huh? When the hell is that supposed to be? It wasn't planned to happen this way but, after I'd committed to each individual course, the timing became a problem.

And then there's the whole work life balance thing. Balance? Don't make me laugh! It has been mad at work since the start of the year. I have a fairly complex project on at the moment which is not helped by (almost constant) interruptions. In particular, being interrupted to sort out an escalating verbal conflict between team members would not be my choice. Intervening between two supposedly grown men, both acting like spoiled brats when both were equally at fault, makes me soooo very sweet-natured. Well, it would, wouldn't it.

In summary, some days I've started off well but have overeaten later (comfort eating, I guess) to the point of discomfort - even if it was mostly 'healthy' food. Other days I seem to switch into 'get food away from me' mode, where the very thought of it makes me queasy. Understandably, this means my weight has been affected - going up the slope and down the slope, then up, then down. Subsequently, I find myself still somewhere in the region of the 60kg mark. Not where I was hoping to be.

Somebody stop this blasted roller-coaster. I'd really like to hop off now.

Going down?

OK fat lass, nice start - now keep up the good work!

A slowish start to 2011, so far, but into week two and I am at least moving in the right direction. Too early to start stringing up the bunting just yet, but...

Foodwise, things are doing pretty well. I really seem to have missed my healthier style eating, so lovely fresh fruit and veggies are being thoroughly enjoyed. Portion sizes are in fairly good shape, and those naughty temptations are (largely) a thing of the past. Even the fancy cheeses, which I normally crave and drool over, have lost some of their appeal, held up against a nice crisp Pink Lady apple.

Activity-wise, things are picking up slowly too - but that's a good thing. Knowing what has happened with me and my 'good intentions' in the past, I must always remember to take it one step at a time and not go exercise mad then find it's all too much.

The scales, bless 'em, are reflecting the sensible start and I just need to continue in this vein.

Let's hope this year brings some very welcome good news for us all, eh?

Back to working...

Yep, that's 'back to' in the employment sense and also in the weight loss sense. Happy New Year, folks.

Although the festive season wasn't particularly damaging and didn't add to my personal blubber collection this year (the scales are still fine, which is a real bonus and more than I deserve), I feel sort of run down and a bit out of condition and flabby.

To be fair, I didn't get the decent exercise I'd liked to have had during the holidays. I'm afraid all my plans for daily romantic walks in the snow with lovely hubby were somewhat trashed, what with him being ill. The walks I did have, or should that be slides and slithers, were not all that much fun (mostly shopping trips), even though they did keep me moving a bit. What between our place and my poor Mum's, lots of housework got done though, and every little does help.

Overslept a bit this morning (it was not a good night at all!) so a lovely bowl of porridge was right off the menu. A slice of seedy bread with low-fat Philly 'cheese' (OK, some packaged whitish stuff purporting to be cheese) had to do, rapidly washed down with a quick cuppa before dashing off to catch the bus. Made it. Phew!

My customary morning walk to work after the bus journey was nice (no, I didn't get to see the eclipse), but then it's been absolutely manic this morning so nothing at all at coffee break - not even a drink :-( That is going to have to change! 

Thankfully, a very welcome stop for lunch came at last, albeit working at my desk while it was munched. An Ainsley Harriott Szechuan Hot & Sour Cup Soup (pretty tasty for packaged stuff, warming and not at all bad at just 57 calories), a Pink Lady apple, which was gorgeous, and a small scraping of Greek yoghurt (that was the last smidgen in the pot). Shame I don't have time for a walk today but tomorrow... it's a sure thing.

I will probably have some pomelo mid-afternoon, then tonight will be home-made cauliflower soup and some bread and, probably, a bit of fruit.

It may sound funny but, after managing to avoid it over the holidays, it would be all too easy to start putting weight on right now. Several people have brought leftover Christmas treats in to share and it is tempting ('specially those delicious looking Belgian chocolates), but that isn't the way I want to start this new year.

No, I want to make a sensible start and get my motivation humming again. The rower will be my next add-in, then the abs work, and then...who knows, but it'll be something to move me forward!

A lovely Christmas prestent

Festivities over, back to real life. Well, I say that, but things haven't really been very 'festive' at all this year. My lovely hubby has been a poorly bunny since well before Christmas and it kind of took the 'cheery' edge off things. He still isn't very well now... but I'm sure (touching wood, crossing fingers and spitting in hat) he'll be back on his feet before too long. Probably just in time to go back to work :-(

Ah well, at least it's meant that I haven't had to do the festive buffet tightrope walk this year... choosing the healthiest, least sugary or fat-filled, smallest portions I can while conveying my total delight at the spread to a hostess with 'deep-fry-me' as the main method of cooking. Sounds both ungrateful and 'bah humbug', doesn't it. Sorry, but gets to me sometimes. It IS possible to provide healthy and tasty nibbles - honest!

Having said that, I have felt mopey with lovely hubby being ill, so have found myself unduly tempted by the tin of Quality Street chocolates on the dining table... and I don't even really like them. Ho hum.

OK, enough of the moaning - let's get to the good stuff.

Christmas eating has been pretty moderate, all in all, and I've actually managed to shed a pound, which is rather nice. More through disinterest than true commitment to weight loss, I'll admit, but I won't look this gift horse in the mouth!

And... wait for it. I've received a lovely Christmas present - in fact, it could not be better!

I had some blood tests done before Christmas (a long story but it follows on from the thyroid thing) and went for my results yesterday. My GP was pleased overall and things are OK. Large sighs of relief can be heard!

But, the really good news was that she was delighted with my cholesterol figures. She told me she'd be really pleased if the Total Cholesterol result of 3.8mmol/l showed up if I was taking statins, but to see that figure just through my decent diet and exercise was great. And, with an HDL reading of 1.7mmol/l the balance between HDL and LDL is good too. Woohoo!

Our health is SO important. Without good health everything in life is so much harder. Losing the weight (even if I'm not done yet), and getting fitter and learning to choose to eat healthy foods has been so good for me. Learning to make this a sustainable part of 'normal life' not thinking of any part of it as 'temporary' or a 'diet' has had so many benefits already, and now this. I am really so very, very pleased with this fabulous news I can't express the way it makes me feel!

It's spurring me on to stick with the changes I've made and make more changes for the better in 2011. Let's make it a fantastic year... together. What do you say?