stop trying so hard!

I haven’t written anything for a while.  I’ve been very busy enjoying a fun-filled Easter weekend, and then my Hen (and Paul’s Stag) party weekend, then bank holiday etc, etc. It is also now really not long until our wedding, so I have a lot to be getting on with.

Not least, actually getting on with losing some weight. I know it’s not mandatory to be the thinnest you’ve ever been on your wedding day, but I don’t want to look back and think ‘I wish I had made a bit more of an effort and had been a bit slimmer’. I have had well over a year to lose this weight slowly and healthily so it doesn’t creep back on. And I haven’t. Well, that’s not strictly true, because I have. I just keep putting back on whatever I lose. I work best under pressure and I think that now I have my deadline, I’ll have one final, desperate push to lose as much as I can in the remaining 6 weeks (oh holy flip!) until bridedom.

In the last year I have been on the following diets/fitness regimes:

Slimming World – My Mum has enjoyed great success with SW. On this, I did actually lose nearly a stone. It is essentially cutting out fat from your diet and ensuring you eat one third vegetables. The other benefit I think is that you go to a weekly meeting and get weighed. The group support is a huge help, but it is £5 a week on top of buying all your food.

Training for a 10k – This probably had something to do with my SW success as for a month or so I was running every other day. I ended up running the 10k in 1 hour 14 minutes, which is one of my prouder acheivements.

No carbs before, well… having some carbs – I tried this after the festive period and did quite well, in that I found it easy to stick to. Not sure how much weight I lost though. I went out for a coffee with some friends, ended up having cake, (then wine) and that was the end of that.

Diet Chef – There was a groupon deal which meant you could get a month’s worth of food for £95. They send you a breakfast, lunch, snack and evening meal for 28 days and you can choose (to certain extent) what meals you have. The portions are tiny and I think this is the only reason it works as a diet, as the food doesn't seem to be overly virtuous. I lost half a stone in a week the first week, but as with most diets I have tried, my motivation and the momentum of my weightloss slowed to a steady halt shortly after that.

For the past few weeks I haven't been on a diet. I've been out for meals and not berated myself afterwards about what I ate. I've had the odd glass of wine here and a sneaky half of lager there and not worried about it. I have eaten healthy meals, but if I've wanted a bowl of icecream after I've had one. I haven't punished myself in the gym, exercising so hard that I have to lie down on the floor of the changing room until I stop seeing stars.

Instead I have been doing the odd bit of exercise, if I have felt like it. If it's been a hot, sticky and stressful day in the office, I've gone for a relaxing swim. I've been for a Sunday morning run in the sunshine with my sister and then sat on the market cross with take out coffees. This week I went to Aquafit and have never laughed so much during an exercise class in my life.

I weighed myself the other day and I've lost half a stone. Without even really trying. I am never dieting again. I'll continue to eat lots of vegetables and drink plenty of water and not sit on my arse in front of the TV every moment I'm not at work. Seems to be working!

tribute

Last week we had some sad news. Our very brave friend Ally’s battle with cancer ended on 15^th January. She was such a strong but at the same time, fun and kind woman. She trained in childcare and we were her first family; my brother her first baby to look after. I met her again when I moved back to the area 6 years ago and have been in awe of her fantastic fundraising efforts. She truly was a wonderful person, and I’ll always remember her fondly. Her husband, parents, brother, sister-in-law and new nephew, and all her friends are in my thoughts. I’ll wear pink (her stipulation) with pride at her funeral on Friday.

As a tribute to her, I’m running the Muddy Boots 10k on 9^th February. Whilst the entry fee goes to St Wilfrids School , I am asking for sponsorship for Cancer Research. Please, if you can, sponsor me on Just Giving. I’d be so grateful for any money that can be raised to help bring a cure for this devastating disease nearer to fruition.

boxing festivities and update

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year one and all! Paul and I had a very busy festive time – in the end we had 25 guests on Christmas Eve and 10 for Christmas lunch. Paul did himself very proud with a stunning Beef Wellington, which was vastly enjoyed by all. There’s a reason I’m marrying a chef!

On Boxing Day we journeyed to the edge of the New Forest to see my Nan and the rest of my mother’s side of the family. The theme for this year’s Boxing Day buffet was ‘food from the movies’, and there were many fantastic entries.

‘Scone with the Wind’ (featuring sprout scones!)

‘Scone in 60 seconds’

Sensing a theme here? There were many scone-related dishes, but the deserved winner was my cousin Joe with ‘The Breakfast Club Sandwich’

(Photos taken by my Auntie Jenny)

Back home, and back to reality in the New Year. Henry is now safely tucked away in the garage out of the wind and rain. Paul and I have some time off towards the end of the month, during which we intend to get a good start working on him. We were very lucky to be given a lovely picnic basket and some fantastic camping chairs from my Mum and brother respectively. So watch this space!

christmas (and our camper) is coming!

So the famous Coca-Cola Christmas truck was in our local town yesterday. I didn't go and see it as I was at work, but many, many people reported on Facebook that they did. The pictures from later on looked quite festive, when the lights on the truck looked more like the famous advert. I have to say though, that the Coca-Cola advert (you know, the one that goes "Holidays are coming, holidays are coming" as small children point at a convoy of festively lit trucks winding through a snowy landscape) has never been much of a Christmassy thing for me. Now the John Lewis one and the Three dancing pony on the other hand....

Christmas is well on its way nevertheless, and I am really looking forward to it. I've completed most of my shopping and planning for meals. My Pinterest Christmas board has been under construction since September! We have about 15 coming over on Christmas Eve for cocktails and canapes, and so far 8 on Christmas day. Paul is cooking Beef Wellington, which will be a real treat.

Before all that though, the most exciting news is that Paul is going to collect our campervan on Friday. We found Henry on Ebay and he is a 1974 VW Bay T2 campervan, with an original Westfalia interior. He is MOT'd until March and only requires a bit of welding and tarting up. Tremendously excited!

Here he is (picture from Ebay listing):

I'll put more pictures up when he gets here. For now though, the dream becoming reality!

respecting our elders

The camper purchase has been shelved for now on the basis that, as it is now practically Autumn, the weather is just going to get worse and worse and we have nowhere sheltered to store an aging and vulnerable campervan. Better still, if we wait until spring to buy one, we can save more money to buy a nice one. That's if we don't win one from Rosie's Rainbow Fund who are raffling a gorgeous 1971 bay window van.

Speaking of charity and concern for the elderly and vulnerable during the winter months, I have entered the Leeds Abbey Dash, a 10k run taking place on 17th November 2013. I'm running for Age UK to raise money for older people in Leeds and around the UK, as I fear that rather than being respected and valued, the elderly are often one of the forgotten segments of our society.

As I am by no means even a beginner runner (I can run for about 12 minutes on a treadmill before I need a sit down), this could prove interesting, and therefore is surely worth a sponsor, if only for the entertainment of knowing that the more money raised the more I actually have to  do this. Seriously, please do sponsor me on my justgiving page. It is a fantastic cause, and one I really do feel quite strongly about.

how rusty is too rusty?

So, Paul and I have decided to purchase a VW T2 Bay Window Campervan. Paul travelled to Portugal, Spain, France and Amsterdam for three months in one several years ago and loved it. He has since regretted it's demise and, as we are getting married next year, we thought that a trip through Western Europe in a VW camper would be the most perfect honeymoon.

I have read a (little) bit online and have concluded that I would be perfectly capable of completely rebuilding the interior of the van myself, with perhaps some help from Paul. I have found step-by-step guides to treating and laying a floor, and building a fold-down bed (which I now know, in VW terms is called a rock'n'roll bed - a good name I think for what is essentially a sofabed!).

This just leaves all the rest to consider when we buy our van.  Paul is confident that he will be able to do a lot of the work himself (from a manual). So, do we go for an eye-wateringly priced vehicle that won't need too many parts replacing or too much welding back together, or go for a rust bucket that barely resembles a van, never mind a something we might live in for a significant length of time?

I have reasonably strong feelings about the colour of the paintwork, and both Paul and I are now certain that a complete re-spray going to be necessary. Consequently I resent the idea of spending money on a van that already has a decent paint job in the wrong colour.

In reality it seems the best option for us is going to be spending a smaller sum on a restoration project, and doing as much work ourselves as we can. So the adventure starts - we are now trawling Ebay, preloved and gumtree to find our perfect van. Watch this space for details of the grand purchase.