Had a good week really... Finished work last Tuesday - YES! No more work until 12th September. Hip Hip HOORAY. I am so glad I got through it though. Its always the same with the end of term... people farting around cancelling all over the shop and it just makes me want to say 'stuff it - see ya next year'. But I did it. I did all the lessons on the schedule that didn't cancel me, and I re-arranged the ones that did if it was possible and got my hands on as much cash as I humanly could. 6 weeks without work means the next few weeks are pretty lean unless we are really careful with our budget.
So, ITS OVER!!!
So, being completely DeMob happy, I have just chilled and relaxed and done nothing much. Apparently the word Chillax is the most annoying word in the world. Actually I think its pretty cool.
Weight wise, well I stayed the same this week. No change at all. I think I am pretty darn luck to be honest, because I really was a bit naughty. That said, I didn't probably eat too much over the top. One day I just had a family bag of malteasers. That's 900 cals... but that was all I had. I am sure that its calorie intake at the end of the day as opposed to what you eat. Obviously its not going to be a great source of nutrition to just eat chocolates, but one day ain't gonna hurt.
So this evening we are off camping for the weekend. We have a big convention to go to in Norwich which requires smart attire during the day, but then when we chillax (HA HA) at night, that will require more of a casual approach. We also have to have a 1km walk to the venue and back each morning and afternoon, so hopefully all the meals I have planned (on slimmingworld) will be good, and if I do succumb to a little naughtiness, then I will walk it off!!
So see you when I get back folks
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Thursday, 9 July 2009
Feeling the pull of the Dark Side
I'm writing to reassure myself again. Today I feel like I have blown it. I feel like its not worth carrying on with dieting today and should just give in to temptation and scoff whatever I fancy.
Why?
Because I have eaten about 35 Hot Tamales - about 11 syns, and therefore have blown today's syn value.
BUT I also have not had ANYTHING else. I know this is crazy but I have just been sitting all day working at the computer nibbling Hot Tamales and thinking how crap I feel and I haven't actually been hungry until right now.
I have probably ingested no more than 300 cals for the whole day so far so I should really get upset right?
The calorie thing and the slimmingworld thing are what mess me up. Because I have a band, slimmingworld has to be a little bit adjusted anyways, and when I do have random days like this I HAVE to remember that if I am only eating Sweets, but the calories are low, then I haven't busted the diet at all. If I was just a regular un-banded person then would have a problem because I would be eating sweets on top of the other stuff and then that would definitely mean I had messed up.
At the end of the day, If i eat less calories than I expend, it doesn't matter where those calories come from, just how many there are.
If I eat 1000 cals today and its made up of Hot Tamales and full fat rootbeer, and tomorrow I eat 1000 calories made up of meat, salad, egg, pasta etc... its STILL ONLY 1000 cals right?
Why?
Because I have eaten about 35 Hot Tamales - about 11 syns, and therefore have blown today's syn value.
BUT I also have not had ANYTHING else. I know this is crazy but I have just been sitting all day working at the computer nibbling Hot Tamales and thinking how crap I feel and I haven't actually been hungry until right now.
I have probably ingested no more than 300 cals for the whole day so far so I should really get upset right?
The calorie thing and the slimmingworld thing are what mess me up. Because I have a band, slimmingworld has to be a little bit adjusted anyways, and when I do have random days like this I HAVE to remember that if I am only eating Sweets, but the calories are low, then I haven't busted the diet at all. If I was just a regular un-banded person then would have a problem because I would be eating sweets on top of the other stuff and then that would definitely mean I had messed up.
At the end of the day, If i eat less calories than I expend, it doesn't matter where those calories come from, just how many there are.
If I eat 1000 cals today and its made up of Hot Tamales and full fat rootbeer, and tomorrow I eat 1000 calories made up of meat, salad, egg, pasta etc... its STILL ONLY 1000 cals right?
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
A pound's a pound
Well, this week it was just 1lb off. Bit disappointed with that, but not too bothered. I have had a lot of stuff that was junky this week due to the massive cooking marathon that started Friday and ended Sunday 3pm. I had some of the truffle mixture and some of the finished article, and I had some of the Red Hot Tamales and Big Red gum that mum & dad brought back with them from Oregon for me, also some other bits and bobs that I shouldn't have had really, so really I should be thanking the scales!
The Piano recital went really well. I dont have many photos because I was too busy 'presenting' it all, and the ones DH took are crap.
Anyway folk, just thought I would check in and tell you all's good in the hood.
Felix getting better, Recital went great and we raised over £600 for CLIC Sargent to help children with cancer doing the sponsored Practice-a-thon, The lap-band is being good, no drama's right now thank goodness and no swine flu in the area... yet.
The Piano recital went really well. I dont have many photos because I was too busy 'presenting' it all, and the ones DH took are crap.
Anyway folk, just thought I would check in and tell you all's good in the hood.
Felix getting better, Recital went great and we raised over £600 for CLIC Sargent to help children with cancer doing the sponsored Practice-a-thon, The lap-band is being good, no drama's right now thank goodness and no swine flu in the area... yet.
Travelling Buddy's DH plays Gymnopedie No.1. By Eric Satie.
Friday, 3 July 2009
Desert Canape's
Worked out what I am going to do for the desert canapes... I am going to make a kind of weird chocolate truffle. actually its probably more like a soft crunchy chocolate ball covered in chocolate vermicelli rather than a truffle, but it will do the job. I am not going to bother making different types, but the one will be fine I think. I will make one with digestive biscuits, butter and plain chocolate and the other with dessicated coconut and white chocolate and butter. I have to try this out first (what a shame) and see it it holds together and stuff, but I think they will be ok. I bought 100 petit four cases and I will pop them in those on platters. Should be nice.
I also bought some cocktail sausages and bacon to wrap them in, which I thought might be good too and also some chicken tikka pieces.
So I have catered for meat eaters, vegetarians and coeliacs but could have a problem if there is a vegan in the house! LOL.
I am going to cook the falafel today too and freeze them. I think that's the best thing for those. I can't make it all up on Sunday otherwise I will stink of cooking and be shattered too. All I really want to do on Sunday is fill the vol-au-vents and put the stuff on the blini's and the pitta and that be it. So I think even the sausages are going to have to be done on Saturday evening, along with baking the vol-au-vent cases. Ho hum.
All this talk of food is making me hungry! Mind you, one look at Felix in he corner of my eye turns me off again. I think he is really going to struggle without his eyes. I mean today we got all the paraphernalia ready for his morning nursing care:
I also bought some cocktail sausages and bacon to wrap them in, which I thought might be good too and also some chicken tikka pieces.
So I have catered for meat eaters, vegetarians and coeliacs but could have a problem if there is a vegan in the house! LOL.
I am going to cook the falafel today too and freeze them. I think that's the best thing for those. I can't make it all up on Sunday otherwise I will stink of cooking and be shattered too. All I really want to do on Sunday is fill the vol-au-vents and put the stuff on the blini's and the pitta and that be it. So I think even the sausages are going to have to be done on Saturday evening, along with baking the vol-au-vent cases. Ho hum.
All this talk of food is making me hungry! Mind you, one look at Felix in he corner of my eye turns me off again. I think he is really going to struggle without his eyes. I mean today we got all the paraphernalia ready for his morning nursing care:
- warm salt water and gauze for the eye
- Iodine and cotton buds for the leg pins & stomach tube wound
- 10mls water with 1 antibiotic for initial flush of tubing
- 50mls of liquid cat feed
- 20mls of water with 4kg dose metacam pain relief for second flush
- 2 puppy training pads for below the vet bedding for when he wee's
- Clean vet bed liner
None of this worries me too much, and once you have it all laid out and prepared it goes ok. I mean it only took about half an hour this morning to do all this stuff. But what worries me is the toilet situation. The cage is too small for a little tray proper, so the vet said get a little baking tray and put some stuff in it so he can feel it. The trouble is he can't SEE it, let alone feel it, so he just goes to the toilet where he is laying. This morning after feeding and bathing his wounds and doing all his bits and bobs he has to have a little walk for 5 minutes and he just squatted and went for a poo. He didn't find a corner, or scratch. He just squatted and did it on the floor. I have ceramic floors throughout my home so its not a problem at all, but there was no normal cat behavior like scratching to clear a space, or scratching afterwards to cover. Maybe this will improve when he feels better and knows that he is back to normal. I am just worried that its because he is blind and stuff.
But, hey. Its not my problem in reality. He is Sue's cat, but I am the one who is here all day. If he is in the cage its no biggy, I just clean him up but when he is out of there and back in the land of 6 other cats and 2 dogs... hmmmm interesting. What happens if he just craps where he likes. I am going to have to clear all that up man. I don't mind too much, but its a bit of an ask. I suppose we will just have to suck it and see.
Yesterday I was really positive and stuff, but today I am back in the 'was this the right choice' camp. There is a LOT of work and nursing to be done - so much so that after it all I guess I will be a qualified Veterinary Nurse! HA! I just wonder that after doing so much for him, spending thousands of pounds on him and stuff, that he won't be able to cope being blind. I dunno. I guess I have to read up about it. I think I am more worried about how the other animals will be with him, because Sue will get angry with me and my animals because they are harassing Felix, when in fact its her problem and my house.
Apart from all that malarkey, eating is going well. Yesterday was a good day again and I was well within my calorie count for the day. I had 3 squares of chocolate, 1 harvest crunch bar for a snack and dinner was watercress, rocket and romaine lettuce salad with spicy grilled chicken breast pieces and sugar snap peas in a lemon and thyme dressing. I also had a big bowl or strawberries with a vanilla mullerlite yoghurt on top - as opposed the double cream that DS and Sue had on theirs! DH hates strawberries so he just had a yoghurt. He is doing well on Slimfast and has lost just over 14 pounds now since we returned from the Czech Republic on June 1st.
I am itching to weigh myself, but I am not going to. Even if I do and I have lost weight, on Sunday we have the recital with all that other food, so I might be tempted to eat a little bit and I would be annoyed that I lost and then put on in the same week, so I am going to just wait it out and see what Monday brings. Its only 3 days after all.
Looks like the weather has changed here. Its got fresher thank goodness, but also got darker outside as I have been writing this and I think we might get a load of rain. With that, I am off to check the rain situation and get the washing in.
Thursday, 2 July 2009
Felix is home
We collected Felix from the vet today and he is chillin' in a nice big cage in my office. The other cats have come and had a sniff and amazingly he knew they were there. His Mum Mary sauntered right up to the cage and he got up and mewed! How do they know that their are others about, and who they are when she was silent and he is blind? Wow, their senses are strong. Anyway, he is settled and here is a picture of the poor little baby. 
I am off to tesco's now to get a few bits for the canapes I am serving at the recital.
here's the menu:
Smoked Salmon and cream cheese Blini's
Garlic and Herb Olive's and Cream Cheese Blini's
Vol-au-vents with Egg Mayonaise
Vol-au-vents with Cheese and Onion
Vol-au-vents with Prawns in cocktail sauce
Falafel balls
Toasted Pitta pieces with Cream Cheese and Spicy Tomato Salsa
Red and White wine and also a lot of fruit flavoured water.
I was thinking of serving strawberrys dipped in chocolate for a sweet, but its a hassle. I cant think of any other kind of sweet canape to make. Any ideas?
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
Ramblings - sorry bit boring
I was going to blog yesterday but our Internet router was playing up last night. I have no idea why, but seems to be fine this morning. Maybe it just needed a rest like I do!
Well, beginning of the month again and i would love to say 'yippee payday' but our overdraft was so huge that we are about £25 in credit after both of us have been paid and all the bills accounted for. That is what I call rubbish. Mind you we use one of those Tesco Clubcard Plus accounts for our shopping, which means in reality all our petrol and food are paid for already, but it still feels crap to only have £25 spare cash.
The reason we are so skint? We booked 2 weeks in Crete for the end of August. Yay! But it meant that all our hard earned savings are gaaawwwnnnnn! I don't really mind going without a little bit though seeing as we have something ace to look forward to. It would be a bit pants to have no cash and nothing to look forward to, which is the normal state of play around this house!
So yeah, we are booked 2 weeks all inclusive in Crete and I am counting the days! Also it gives me a real incentive to lose the flab, as when we went to Malta last June I was 15 stone 7. It would be nice to be well on the way to that figure if possible. I have 8 weeks to do it, so lets rock!
We have our annual Piano Recital on Sunday too, so that's something nice to look forward to. I chose my dress about a month ago and it fit snugly, but comfortably, so seeing as I have shed about 9 pounds since then, it should fit brilliantly now. I pick it up on Friday and then have to take it back on Tuesday. Cost £80 to hire it, and I have paid £40 already, so that helps out. I have already accounted in this months bills for the other £40 so I don't need to worry about that either.
On the 16th We are going to go to Norwich camping for the weekend. Paid the deposit for that and accounted for the other £75 to pay the balance there too, and that is a relief.
There was so much to take into account this month that I nearly forgot about paying for Norwich. That could have been a bit painful, so just at the last minute I remembered to add that onto the sum total.
This months bills were £2265. Horrendous I think. Ok, I did have a few bits and bobs on there that wont be there next month, but that's a lot of cash. When you think that a lot of people just getting married will have similar bills, that doesn't leave a lot of space for enjoying themselves and having fun does it. When you consider this amount its easy to see why people argue about money and stuff. I wonder what kind of people these days would be able to get married, buy a house and have this type of bill package and then have their wife give up work to start a family. I doubt that's possible for most people these days. There is no way on earth DH ever earned near that amount even when he had a good job, let alone now. There has to be the 2 of us working or it would be curtains.
Our bills per month, just for the hell of it are thus:
Cost to run 5 bedroom house, village location, East of England, nothing special:
Mortgage (aka millstone).......................... £946
Council Tax................................................. £127
Life Insurance for Me and DH................... £88
Water Rates .................................................. £35
TV Licence .................................................... £12
Mobile Phone Me ......................................... £22
Mobile Phone DH ......................................... £22
Gas and Electric ...........................................£148
Sky TV ............................................................£20
Cinema passes x3.......................................... £40
Gas/electric/white goods homecare plan ..£40
Buildings and Contents Insurance............... £22
Broadband Internet....................................... £13
Landline Phone.............................................. £40
Car Insurance for Me and DH..................... £64
Loan from my Mum to buy a car................ £50
Dog Insurance................................................ £10
DVD rental........................................................ £4
Games Rental................................................... £8
Musicians Union Membership...................... £12
Food and Petrol (minimum!)....................... £450
Total ..............................................................£2173
Now, apart from the 3 Unlimited Cinema passes and a dvd and games rental there isn't anything on this list that isn't run of the mill and kind of a necessity. Ok, I guess you could argue that if really necessary we didn't need Sky TV, but that's only £20.
You can see why people think 'stuff it! lets run up a credit card and live a bit'. Its unusual if we ever have any spare cash, and pretty horrifying when you consider the above does not include Clothes, shoes, haircuts, school dinners, trips, decorating stuff or general things needed for the house day to day, entertainment etc. How on earth do people cope if they smoke? 20 fags a day would be about £40 a week... OUCH!
Sheesh.
Would be good to compare this with other countries, as I expect that there could be some significant differences.
We don't own credit cards anymore, but boy they are tempting hey! So easy to max one out, but the rest of your life paying it back. I could easily go out tomorrow and spend a couple of thousand on stuff, but with no spare cash ever, it would take the rest of the century to pay it back.
Credit cards are a wicked temptation for people and its horrible. Its so easy to get so far out of your depth that you have to shove 2 straws up your nostrils just to keep breathing a bit. We've been there, and it wasn't pretty. Everything is fine until 'life' deals you a bad card. Ours was job loss and half pay in the new one. Gulp.
The only thing that saved us was getting a couple of lodgers and that is all. It would have been the streets mate! I am glad we have lodgers though. It makes life a little interesting.
Talking of lodgers, Felix - Sue's cat - is coming home tomorrow after his ordeals. He is blind, has one leg with pins and a bar attached to it and a broken jaw, but he is getting better by the day. We will be feeding him with a tube that goes into his tummy, and keeping him in a big cage in the office until he has recuperated fully. Hes not out of the woods completely, but he is on the mend. We saw him yesterday and he looked very well.
Eating wise, well things have been going well. Yesterday I didn't have much. I had a square of chocolate in the morning, some peanuts for lunch and a mashed potato, tomato, jalepeno, frankfurter and cheese concoction that is FAB on slimmingworld diet that I made up. Its just 4 syns.
4 chopped frankfurters - 4 syns
mashed potato - I use instant
chopped tinned tomato
chopped jalepeno's
grated cheese allowance (54g half fat)
Its brilliant. Great for the band as its soft, but great on slimmingworld too.
Today, I had a smoked trout flaked on green salad, and it was yummy. So a syn free day again so far. I am going to do a beef stirfry for tea, and then enjoy a couple of glasses of red whilst watching Big Brother. Yay.
Well, beginning of the month again and i would love to say 'yippee payday' but our overdraft was so huge that we are about £25 in credit after both of us have been paid and all the bills accounted for. That is what I call rubbish. Mind you we use one of those Tesco Clubcard Plus accounts for our shopping, which means in reality all our petrol and food are paid for already, but it still feels crap to only have £25 spare cash.
The reason we are so skint? We booked 2 weeks in Crete for the end of August. Yay! But it meant that all our hard earned savings are gaaawwwnnnnn! I don't really mind going without a little bit though seeing as we have something ace to look forward to. It would be a bit pants to have no cash and nothing to look forward to, which is the normal state of play around this house!
So yeah, we are booked 2 weeks all inclusive in Crete and I am counting the days! Also it gives me a real incentive to lose the flab, as when we went to Malta last June I was 15 stone 7. It would be nice to be well on the way to that figure if possible. I have 8 weeks to do it, so lets rock!
We have our annual Piano Recital on Sunday too, so that's something nice to look forward to. I chose my dress about a month ago and it fit snugly, but comfortably, so seeing as I have shed about 9 pounds since then, it should fit brilliantly now. I pick it up on Friday and then have to take it back on Tuesday. Cost £80 to hire it, and I have paid £40 already, so that helps out. I have already accounted in this months bills for the other £40 so I don't need to worry about that either.
On the 16th We are going to go to Norwich camping for the weekend. Paid the deposit for that and accounted for the other £75 to pay the balance there too, and that is a relief.
There was so much to take into account this month that I nearly forgot about paying for Norwich. That could have been a bit painful, so just at the last minute I remembered to add that onto the sum total.
This months bills were £2265. Horrendous I think. Ok, I did have a few bits and bobs on there that wont be there next month, but that's a lot of cash. When you think that a lot of people just getting married will have similar bills, that doesn't leave a lot of space for enjoying themselves and having fun does it. When you consider this amount its easy to see why people argue about money and stuff. I wonder what kind of people these days would be able to get married, buy a house and have this type of bill package and then have their wife give up work to start a family. I doubt that's possible for most people these days. There is no way on earth DH ever earned near that amount even when he had a good job, let alone now. There has to be the 2 of us working or it would be curtains.
Our bills per month, just for the hell of it are thus:
Cost to run 5 bedroom house, village location, East of England, nothing special:
Mortgage (aka millstone).......................... £946
Council Tax................................................. £127
Life Insurance for Me and DH................... £88
Water Rates .................................................. £35
TV Licence .................................................... £12
Mobile Phone Me ......................................... £22
Mobile Phone DH ......................................... £22
Gas and Electric ...........................................£148
Sky TV ............................................................£20
Cinema passes x3.......................................... £40
Gas/electric/white goods homecare plan ..£40
Buildings and Contents Insurance............... £22
Broadband Internet....................................... £13
Landline Phone.............................................. £40
Car Insurance for Me and DH..................... £64
Loan from my Mum to buy a car................ £50
Dog Insurance................................................ £10
DVD rental........................................................ £4
Games Rental................................................... £8
Musicians Union Membership...................... £12
Food and Petrol (minimum!)....................... £450
Total ..............................................................£2173
Now, apart from the 3 Unlimited Cinema passes and a dvd and games rental there isn't anything on this list that isn't run of the mill and kind of a necessity. Ok, I guess you could argue that if really necessary we didn't need Sky TV, but that's only £20.
You can see why people think 'stuff it! lets run up a credit card and live a bit'. Its unusual if we ever have any spare cash, and pretty horrifying when you consider the above does not include Clothes, shoes, haircuts, school dinners, trips, decorating stuff or general things needed for the house day to day, entertainment etc. How on earth do people cope if they smoke? 20 fags a day would be about £40 a week... OUCH!
Sheesh.
Would be good to compare this with other countries, as I expect that there could be some significant differences.
We don't own credit cards anymore, but boy they are tempting hey! So easy to max one out, but the rest of your life paying it back. I could easily go out tomorrow and spend a couple of thousand on stuff, but with no spare cash ever, it would take the rest of the century to pay it back.
Credit cards are a wicked temptation for people and its horrible. Its so easy to get so far out of your depth that you have to shove 2 straws up your nostrils just to keep breathing a bit. We've been there, and it wasn't pretty. Everything is fine until 'life' deals you a bad card. Ours was job loss and half pay in the new one. Gulp.
The only thing that saved us was getting a couple of lodgers and that is all. It would have been the streets mate! I am glad we have lodgers though. It makes life a little interesting.
Talking of lodgers, Felix - Sue's cat - is coming home tomorrow after his ordeals. He is blind, has one leg with pins and a bar attached to it and a broken jaw, but he is getting better by the day. We will be feeding him with a tube that goes into his tummy, and keeping him in a big cage in the office until he has recuperated fully. Hes not out of the woods completely, but he is on the mend. We saw him yesterday and he looked very well.
Eating wise, well things have been going well. Yesterday I didn't have much. I had a square of chocolate in the morning, some peanuts for lunch and a mashed potato, tomato, jalepeno, frankfurter and cheese concoction that is FAB on slimmingworld diet that I made up. Its just 4 syns.
4 chopped frankfurters - 4 syns
mashed potato - I use instant
chopped tinned tomato
chopped jalepeno's
grated cheese allowance (54g half fat)
Its brilliant. Great for the band as its soft, but great on slimmingworld too.
Today, I had a smoked trout flaked on green salad, and it was yummy. So a syn free day again so far. I am going to do a beef stirfry for tea, and then enjoy a couple of glasses of red whilst watching Big Brother. Yay.
Monday, 29 June 2009
2 Pounds Removed From Me Carcass
Weighbridge went well. Considering the chocolate-a-thon, and having the painters in too - 2 pounds off has me well chuffed.
I came home and celebrated with a nice smoked salmon salad and the omnibus edition of Neighbours. I'm now off to sun my sleeker self in the garden and have a splash in the pool. 28 and a half degrees here in Sunny Cambridgeshire :o)
I came home and celebrated with a nice smoked salmon salad and the omnibus edition of Neighbours. I'm now off to sun my sleeker self in the garden and have a splash in the pool. 28 and a half degrees here in Sunny Cambridgeshire :o)
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