A bit less podgy, a tad less unfit... progress!

OK, it may not be perfection but things are a whole lot better than they were. Phew! I was getting quite scared that I couldn't get things back under control and I would slip further along that awfully slippery path. Over the days, months and years since I finally got serious about wanting to lose weight, I've worked so darned hard to get to 'here' that I really didn't want to go back to 'there', if you know what I mean.

I still have a lot going on and I'm still pretty stressed (to the point of tears at times), but seem to have found a way to handle things without resorting to eating for England! Or at least, not wanting to pig out every moment of every day to hide the feelings under an over-full belly.

What I am eating is generally healthy stuff, and filling enough to keep me from wanting those naughty, tempting (and dangerous) nibbles. Stepping back and taking a deep breath every now and again helps, as does talking the scary things through with my lovely hubby. What probably helps as much, physically that is, is increasing the exercise though.

My mornings now have a time slot for rowing again, followed by the abs work, and walks as many times as I can fit them in during the day, even if they are just little ones. I feel better for it and I know that, given time, it will start to pay off.

As I said before, onwards, ever...

Growing fat!

OK, time to 'fess up about where I've been and what I've been up to. You may have guessed already that since I last stepped up and told you how things were, I let the stress get the better of me. For a time I started cultivating adipose tissue. Call it a new hobby if you like.

To be frank, it ain't that much fun as a pastime so it hasn't lasted long and I'm pretty well decided that I won't carry on with it. As far as enjoyment goes, it rates pretty low on the exicte-o-meter. Sure that chocolate bar tasted OK, but it wasn't fantastic. When I lost my head, and ate a juicy orange instead, the instant gratification was far superior. In fact, I'll do it again!

As to the exercise... well, not doing much felt OK for a few days but, hell, you know it really wore me out! I found I was tired every morning and getting tireder (is there such a word?) by the day. And I noticed the difference in other respects too.

Not to put too fine a point on it, my eating habits and sluggishness had a marked impact on my, er, morning habits. Yep, I'm talking constipation and I think that's as much as I'm happy to reveal.

A week or so later and normality has caught up with me. Never could run too fast, me!

So, I'm back to sensible eating (loving my morning porridge), drinking lots of lovely clear water and I'm back to moving my slightly expanded posterior. Some of that carefully cultivated corpulence has shuffled off from whence it came and I'm making marked efforts to shed the rest.

The overall damage could have been worse, I guess. I 'only' gained about six pounds. Only... as in nearly half a stone in a few short days, that is. Ouch! Thankfully, the waistband on my trousers is slackening off a bit and I'm no longer considering undoing those stitches I'd put in when they got too big for me. I still feel podgy and unfit, but at least I've faced up to where I was headed and made a start (yet again!) to get back on track.

Do you think I'll learn one day? (she says wistfully)... I do hope so. Right now, I think I must have goldfish blood in my ancestry as, with this rubbish memory, I cannot seem to remember past mistakes until it's all too late. Onwards, ever...