This is silly!

I can't help it. I feel GUILTY for using two of my weekly allowance points! How silly is this?!

I know I can't save points any more, but even under the new system I was 6 PP under my allowance yesterday. I'm 2 PP over, so I lose two from my weekly bank of 49 points.

In the grand scheme of things, this is a tiny, infinitesimal amount! I think it's knowing that I've 'gone over' my points, something I rarely do. I never used to worry about it, though, because I'd have saved points from earlier in the week.

So really, it's the exact same thing, except I don't need to save a couple of points here and there, I have this big pot of them to dip into...this is going to take some wrapping my head around, I can tell you! I do NOT like feeling guilty. I know it's my problem, not something WW intends for us to do, and that people are still losing weight even with eating their full bank of 49 extra points, it just seems counter-intuitive to me.

I guess next time I fancy a few squares of chocolate I will just make sure I have 7 PPs left in my daily budget - unless I can get used to the idea of  spending them! Best make sure I don't spend any the week after next as the wedding is on the last day of my WW week and I rather think I will be needing every possible point for that!

Quite pleased!

I went over the last two days in my tracker and amended what I needed to amend. Had a shock when it looked like I was 14 points shy of my total on Saturday, but then realised that my usual wholemeal rolls had been junked by the tracker and had to be re-entered! So, on Saturday I used exactly 37 points (my current daily allowance) and 0 of my 49 extra points. Yesterday I was suffering the aftereffects of having some rather fermented haricot beans (they'd been in a Ziploc bag in the fridge for two days) in my lunch time soup. I also had beans on toast for dinner, so two lots of beans went through me like a dose of salts! That resulted in my not eating any of my usual evening snacks and so I finished the day 6 PPs under. I like what I can see of it so far. I just pointed my planned lunch and it only works out at ten points, which is pretty good and not too dissimilar to what it would have been under the old plan. If you're interested, I am planning on having a crusty wholemeal roll, 100 g of sliced roast beef, a quarter of a Hass avocado mashed onto the bread and a sliced tomato. I will make a bowl of coleslaw with ready-prepared coleslaw veggies and a tablespoon of low fat mayonnaise, a splash of vinegar, a splash of milk, celery seed and a dash of ground mustard. Quite looking forward to it! Oh, with regards to my earlier post, numpty here had failed to realise that the new site isn't working with Google Chrome right now. Argh! It didn't for ages, then it did again, but right now it doesn't. So back to using Firefox for the WW site and Chrome for the rest. Ho hum! Good luck to everyone on the new plan!

Woke up at Sparrowfart, full of excitement, and...

predictably enough, the Weight Watchers UK site is down. I suspect it must be taking a lot longer to update the programming than you might imagine. Mind you, it was only 4.45 am in the UK when I woke up!

I do have a functioning tracker, though. Okay, so it's the Discover Plan tracker that I've been using since May, but it is still working right now. Fingers crossed when I do decide what to eat today, it will still be working, but somehow I can't help but feel that WW will still manage to bugger even that up!

Trying to get a head start on the new plan!

I decided that, as I weigh in on a Saturday and start my new week then, and in the full knowledge that Saturday and Sunday's tracker would be converted over to the new plan upon launch of the changeover at 12:01 am tonight, I may as well try and abide by what I already know of the new plan and its concepts.

I've eaten lots of fruit and veggies (some will still have a ProPoints value, eg. a quarter of an avocado, sweetcorn, haricot beans.) Some will be free. I ate plenty of wholegrain bread rolls yesterday; the OH is not too well so I had two seeded wholemeal rolls for lunch with some sliced roast chicken, a quarter of an avocado and a sliced tomato, followed by a Quark with a teaspoon of cocoa powder and an orange.

For dinner, I had another two rolls with a tin of tuna mixed with a tablespoon of light mayonnaise, vinegar, celery salt and cayenne pepper. I had an apple and some pineapple after that. I snacked later on some Ritz snack mix and then a WW Smart Ones double chocolate cake dessert (1.5 and 3 points respectively on the current plan.)

I finished the day at 1.5 points under. 1.5 of those consumed points were fruit, so I reckon that in that case, I was technically 3 points under for the day. How this will translate I do not know. It may be that I will find I went over my points, depending on how the points values work out on changeover.

Today, so far I've had two bowls of soup (can of Campbell's 98% fat free chicken soup, 200 g haricot beans, can of sweetcorn, shredded carrot and cabbage, leek, onion and celeriac.) And an orange. I also had a coffee with some cocoa powder.

I have fifteen points left for the day, but I pointed the whole pan of soup which I may or may not eat in full; I will adjust the points accordingly if I do not.

I really don't know what dinner will be tonight. With the OH still feeling not too well, it's likely he won't really feel like food. I can usually tempt him with my spaghetti carbonara, so maybe I will try that. The bacon pieces are pretty lean, and I think leaner bacon will be reasonably low in ProPoints. It's mainly a high protein sauce, with the bacon, cheese and egg. The pasta I am not so clear about....

I really just want the new plan to start! I have a feeling that I may have been eating in quite a similar way some of the time to how the new plan will operate, so it might be that I don't see very much difference to my weight loss at all. It is exciting to read of the great losses some leaders and helpers and triallers of the new plan have had, though. I've seen people talk about losing 5 lbs, 7 lbs and one lady who had a sneak peek and reckons to have lost 12 lbs since last Tuesday! Some of these losses have been from people who are at goal already, too. That does seem very encouraging.

I would not be at all dismayed to weigh in this Saturday and find I weigh 16 stone 4.5 pounds, I can tell you!

I will be weighing in very early as I have an exam starting at 8.30 am and will be heading for Schwetzingen around 8 am so as to be in class in good time. I won't be able to eat a thing through nerves, and I probably won't drink much either although I will take a bottle of water in with me. I will weigh myself again when I get home around 2ish or so and see what the scales say then.

Let's just say I am very excited and very hopeful that I will have a couple or three really good weeks in the run up to the first wedding. I'd love to be within four stone of goal for February 19 next year when we have the second ceremony, too. If the new plan can help get me there, fantastic!

I'd like to wish you all good luck with the new plan. It is a shame it hasn't been launched this Sunday; I quite agree that it is inconvenient launching on a Monday morning when we're all going to be busy with work or family or (in my case) revision. But we just have to make the best of what we've been given, so...onwards and downwards, my lovelies!

Hello!

You know, I really ought to try and archive all the imported posts so it doesn't look as though I never shut up and blog the whole time...

I decided to import my blogs from the Weight Watchers UK web site (I follow the plan online) to here, on the off chance that I ever cancel my membership and lose access to the blog there. It really has helped to keep me focused and keep me on track.

I've never managed to diet successfully for any length of time before, and I think the blog and the community spirit on the community message boards is part of that success. I was going it alone until maybe six weeks ago, but I decided the time had come where putting something back in to the plan would be good. I felt ready to get involved with other people following the diet, something I can't do so easily at the moment as I live in Germany and my German isn't that great. Improving all the time, but not great. It's good to not only receive support and inspiration, but also to give it to others.

So, below (or archived somewhere, I dunno which yet) you will find my ramblings to date. Some are solely about Weight Watchers, others are rather more personal. Maybe I ought to moderate myself a little more closely as I'm going a little more public with the blog. I think I'll see how it goes.

I don't claim to be an expert, but I've been around long enough and experienced a fair few things - in life as well as in terms of dieting - to have learned a bit that might be helpful to others. I am gobby and opinionated, and sometimes I just need to get stuff out of my head and on to the page (or screen) to help to get my thoughts in order.

Inspirational?

06 November 2010

I had a bit of a freak out this morning. Well, early afternoon, but it was morning to me.

Someone described my weight loss as inspirational. Earlier in the week, I was described as a role model.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

I don't feel very inspirational, or much like a role model. I'm just plodding along, following the plan and doing my best. It's working for me because I just keep on keeping on. There's no art or mystery to it, that's what I do. I point everything before I eat it, I track everything, I try to be mindful of what I'm eating and make sure I have fruit and veg and low fat dairy products in there every day, along with some whole grains.

I love my food, I love cooking, and I love preparing a good meal. It's a delight to me that what I love to eat and cook fits in with the plan pretty well. I just have to take care with portion sizes and be mindful (that phrase again!) of the ingredients I use. If something is higher in points but adds punch or flavour to a dish, it's worth using a little of it as a kind of seasoning. Hence my spaghetti carbonara recipe that isn't terribly authentic. Bit of bacon, bit of cheese, an egg, onion fried in the bacon grease along with the bacon, bit of garlic, Italian seasoning. Mix into cooked pasta. Gorgeous, and a lot lighter (if you use only a little bacon and low-fat grated cheese and parmesan and omit the cream.)

I really have a hard time accepting compliments. Always have. I know well enough to say thank you when I receive one. My ex used to give me a hard time, because he said you should always repay a compliment in kind. Sometimes it can be hard to do that, or I forget. So compliments, apart from making me a little embarrassed, leave me feeling a bit flustered and uneasy. Although being a contrary soul, I do like to receive them!

Thank you very much to those of you who have been kind enough to compliment me. I really do appreciate it. I just feel a bit of a fraud, a bit unworthy. I'm just jogging along here finding my way as I go; if that helps other people, that is a real bonus. I have to say that I am finding this whole weight loss thing incredibly enriching and rewarding on a personal level. The support given and received on the boards is heart-warming, and to feel that you are not in this alone is so good.

I have a fantastically supportive OH who compliments me all the time and tells me how proud of me he is for losing weight. He's never given me a hard time about my size; he'd love me no matter what. He is delighted that I feel better in myself and have more confidence, and the change in my appearance and shape is very much appreciated by him (and by me.) His love and support has made all the difference to my life, in so many ways. It finally feels like an equal, adult relationship. I love that. And I love him.

Oh! The Berliner with my name on it

05 November 2010

The whole point of that last ramble was really to say that, as I have six bonus points saved, and had 18.5 points left for the day, I decided a small food-based treat was in order.

So I have bought and consumed a lovely Berliner. For those not in the know, this is a jammy doughnut. And I enjoyed every sticky, sugary, doughy mouthful. It was lush!

And I still have six bonus points, and 12 points left over for the day. We're having roast chicken for dinner, probably with roast potatoes or maybe mash, carrots, peas and sweetcorn. I am looking forward to that. No idea when the OH will be home. He may have forgotten I don't have school this week and gone round to see a friend who lives about a mile from where he works.

I also wanted to say that it is sometimes okay to let yourself have an indulgent treat that IS food. The plan fits in with your life, after all, you don't have to make your life fit around it. If I do have a food-based treat, I make sure I enjoy it and don't feel guilty for having it. And I only have one if I can fit it into my points for the day or week.

I think the new plan when it arrives will actually encourage us to do that; fit treats in to our week if we want them. I think I read somewhere, too, that you can still earn Activity Points and bank those, but you might have to use them on the day you earn them. We'll all know very soon, anyway!

Berliner with my name on it!

05 November 2010

What a shocking couple of days it's been. Not diet-wise, life-wise. All the uproar on the boards, the OH with a cob on for the last two mornings and not on good form yesterday evening either, the stress of trying to get the documents we need for the wedding scanned and then emailed, giving Barclays Bank a kick up the jacksie by letter, battling Ultimo's Miracle Bodyshaper....

I've said all I am going to about the OH and his little oddities; poor chap would probably be horrified I've said as much about him as I have! Good job he's never asked for a look at this blog. Eek! And I think my attitude towards the boards has been pretty much made clear. Or I hope it has, anyway!

We bought a fancy HP laser printer/scanner/copier/fax machine all in one thingy a few months ago, and haven't used it much for scanning. I discovered yesterday, while trying to scan a mere 16 pages of documents, that it likes to sulk after every two or three pages. 'Scanner not found'. 'Software update required'. 'Repopulate lists'. (I am not sure where Lists is, and to be honest I think it's a bit of a cheek to expect us two to repopulate it single-handedly.)

So, scanning 16 pages took me four hours or so. I kept forgetting what I was doing, I had to reboot the laptop so many times!

Then I had the fun of trying to email 73 mbs of document. Silly idea, thinking it would go as one big document. I tried. Several times. I even left it sending overnight, and it was still sending seven hours later!

In the end, I decided it was easiest by far just to email Louise in Denmark and tell her sorry ducky, you'll be getting five or six emails from me today with two or three pages of documents at a time! She emailed me after the first couple to let me know they were getting through and she would download and check them later. Still waiting to hear back from her, which is a bit of a worry, but Friday's are probably pretty busy days for weddings on the island of Aeroe. (I can't do a diphthong.)

Having done that, I set about tackling Barclays. I moved two years ago. My local branch told me when I went to change my address that I couldn't do that unless I went to the branch I'd opened the account with. Which turned out to be a lie, but at the time I did not know this! I was told to write to them, so I did. I've written four times, including twice sending a Change of Address form I printed off the website and providing copies of my passport and ID document.

There have been numerous phone calls made by me, chasing this up, to no avail. Today I rang them again and they have finally marked my account as 'gone away' for the moment, so no more papers will be sent to my old address. My new Connect card was sent to that address in September, but luckily there's been no attempt by anyone to use it. All the money that should be there, is still there.

Then I set about writing them a very nasty - but very polite - letter, setting out all that happened, what steps I had taken, who had tried to help me and when and what I expect them to do now. 1) Telephone me upon receipt of my letter. 2) Change my address immediately upon receipt, and write to me confirming same with copies of every statement they have sent to the old address since I moved. 3) Reimburse me for the time, distress and inconvenience of having no access to my account whatsoever since May due to my PINSentry card needed to bank online being broken and my address being still unchanged by them for the last two years. 4) Send me a new PINSentry card, immediately.

We shall see what they say when they get my letter. Which I did send by registered airmail!

Never upset a solicitor, whether practising or not. The solicitor, that is, not the person doing the upsetting! They should be grateful I was a family lawyer and not a commercial contracts lawyer, that's all I can tell you. Bwaaa-ha-ha-haaaaaaaaaa!

You know what?

04 November 2010

(No, not the You Know What!)

Life's too short to get annoyed and upset with all the posts about the *grits teeth* new ProPoints plan.

When it has come to the point that people are avoiding the boards - which are a source of support, inspiration and motivation for so many of us - it's time to draw that proverbial line and say 'No more'.

So, no more moaning. No more getting fed up with it. People are worried, upset, scared of change, annoyed with WW for not being more up-front with their existing customers about it enough, without me or anyone else being grumpy and irritable about it.

I'm not going anywhere. I shall go up to the attic and rescue the OH's Kevlar helmet and flak vest (useful when being sent downrange to Scary Places as he is from time to time) and put them on, and concentrate on being supportive and positive and refrain from commenting adversely (perhaps otherwise, too) on the new plan.

I have the wedding documents to scan and email to the lady in Denmark who's arranging everything, and tons of revision to do. So, I am going to crack on with that. I also want to make a big pot of bean and vegetable soup and get the slow cooker going with a hearty beef stew for tonight or tomorrow night's tea.

Have a good day, everyone, and here's to next week when we shall all know what's going on!

Nobody knows...

03 November 2010

As may be evident by now, I am fed up to the back teeth of all the fuss and bother over the new plan.

None of us knows exactly what it will entail or how it will work, apart from those members who are leaders or helpers and are trialling the new plan.

I think Weight Watchers has scored a massive own goal; you don't leave your customer base in the dark to panic and worry about the changes you're planning to your entire service. It is not good business ethics, or good sense. At best, it's impolite. At worst...well, I would prefer not to be banned from this site, so I shall keep that to myself!

To those of you who have felt the sharp edge of my tongue the last couple of days, my apologies. I am past the stage of being mildly irritated to the point where I am starting to get really angry.

I am undecided as to whether I should just disappear from the boards for a couple of weeks. I don't read most of the posts about the new plan, but it is hard to ignore the fact that all of the boards are full to bursting with posts about it. Heaven help my blood pressure right now!

You won't find any answers on the boards until the official launch on 7 or 8 November (WW can't even decide which date they're using it would seem!) So why keep asking the same questions ad nauseum?

Right. Rant over.

So, how can I be more positive?

03 November 2010

Once you've taken steps to deal with the negative thoughts and ideas that have held you back in the past and hampered your weight loss, there are things you can do that will help you along the road.

Be good to yourself

Not just a range of healthier foods from a well-known store! Self-indulgence is a very human thing. We all love to feel cosseted and pampered occasionally. If you've always rewarded yourself with food, think about substituting a massage, a long soak in the bath, a movie, a new book or something non-calorific as a treat. Have a hair cut, or a new colour. Buy some make-up! (Sorry, chaps...unless that's your bag!)

Accept that it's okay to indulge yourself, and that you are deserving of nice things. Everyone needs to have something that helps them to feel good. It could be anything at all, really. The choice is yours!

Accept failure, and own your mistakes; BUT don't beat yourself up over them

It is human to slip up. So you splurged? Big deal. It's one splurge. Look at the why, and take steps to mitigate against it happening again. Doesn't mean you're a bad person, or a failure. (Yes, I know, I already said that. It is worth saying again!)

One slip does not mean you are out of control. You allow yourself to lose control, whether you realise it or not. The choice is yours; only you can do this, it is no one else's responsibility but yours. Take stock, then move on.

Look for the good, and don't be discouraged by the bad

Scales stuck on one weight? Measure yourself! Use the weight tracker to record not just your weight but also your measurements. You will often see a difference in your vital statistics when the scales don't move for a couple of weeks. What I've discovered is that my body likes to catch up with itself. I will have a few weeks of steady losses with a couple of decent-sized drops, then gain as much as three and a half pounds. I haven't fallen off the wagon or cheated or failed to plan and track; I can have had a spot-on week and it still happen (and not just because it's that time of the month, either, I lost 4.5 pounds the last time!)

I can guarantee you that within two weeks, that gain will have gone.

Take a long-term view

Even more important when you have a lot of weight to lose (and I still have a long way to go.) Don't look at the weekly picture; look at the month-on-month changes. I keep an Excel spreadsheet of my weekly losses and my monthly measurements. This allows me to see all at once how I'm doing over the longer term. When I have a gain and feel discouraged, I look back and see that this happens every 7-8 weeks or so. That's how I know that that gain will very soon turn into a loss. It's no big deal; the weight is still coming off, my measurements are changing. It's just One of Those Things That Happens.

Remember, too, that eating well and exercising is not 'for right now'. It's for life. This is what you have to do; this is what most slim people do! (Okay, some people can gorge on rubbish, never exercise and still be 7 stone soaking wet - they are Not Normal!)

This is why you have to learn to enjoy eating well and being more active. Find an activity you really like, anything that gets your heart and lungs going. Dancing, running, swimming, cycling, walking, kayaking, rowing, rock-climbing, aerobics, spinning, Zumba...try them all and see what works for you.

Enjoy the journey!

(You knew I was going to have to say that at some point, right?) Make losing weight and becoming more healthy FUN! It's life, Jim, but not as you knew it. 'Nothing tastes as good as being slim(mer)'. If you're miserable, you are never going to stick to anything because it makes you feel miserable. Resent it, and you will fail. You have to learn to love the changes that you're making to lose weight and keep it off.

Negative thoughts, and what they can do for us

03 November 2010

Seems to be a common thread in other blogs I've nosed at on the Blogs page just now: "Why did I let myself get so big?"; "Why did I slide back into my old habits?"; "I can't do this!"; "I feel like I'll never get there, I just can't stick to the plan!", and so on.

Now, I'm no psychologist, but some things I've learned for myself, the hard way.

You have to believe in yourself!

Self-evident, you might say? But think about it: how often have you, or I, had a day where we've made bad choices or drunk too much or gone over our points? If you can't put up your hand to that, you are perfect beyond words! We are all human, which means we're flawed and imperfect. One bad day, or week, does not have to mean the end of things. Accept you messed up, draw a line under it and move on. It doesn't mean you are a failure, that you can't do this or that you are a bad person who is unworthy of being thin and having good things happen to you.

Rome wasn't built in a day!

The weight did not go on overnight; ergo, it will not come OFF overnight. (I do wish it would, believe me!) So, don't be downhearted if your progress isn't so fast as that of others, or not as fast as you want it to be. Every half-pound counts, and a STS is not a fail.

Change the habits of a lifetime!

If you look at this as a short-term fix, you are setting yourself up for a fall. You have to change your approach to food, change your approach to exercise, and accept that you will always have to pay close attention to keeping the healthy habits you've learned while losing weight. You became fat for a reason. Comfort eating, poor food choices, lack of exercise, depression, ill-health, whatever. We're here because we're fat, or were fat. You have to look at and understand why you became fat in the first place.I think my reasons have been laid out at least once (*cough*), so I won't reiterate them here. You will still be the same 'you' at goal unless you change your attitudes and hang on to the tools that got you to goal.

Point and track everything that passes your lips!

Obvious? Hmm. Yes, but...the temptation if you know or think you have gone over your points for the day or week is NOT to track for a day. Before you know it, that day has become a week, or a month. That way failure lies. It doesn't matter how 'bad' a day or so has been. Assess the damage, draw that line, 'fess up to it and move on. Let it go. What has been, will be. Only you can re-take control.

Enjoy the journey!

You are going to be so sick of me saying this! The plan is part of your life, not your reason for living. You have to fit it into your life, not fit your life around the plan. You can still eat out, drink a bottle of wine, eat chocolate and crisps and other things you've always thought of as 'naughty' or 'forbidden'. Nothing in isolation and in moderation is going to mean the end of your diet. Let go of the concept of 'good' and 'bad' foods; look at the points you have available, decide what you'd like to indulge in, and fit it into those points. No points? Get some exercise and earn a few! You have to still feel as though you can still have fun. You have to learn how to approach food so that it is no longer the enemy. A little of what you fancy does you good. Ditch the guilt and just enjoy! If my food doesn't taste good, I don't feel good. If I feel deprived, I will go off the rails.

Love yourself. Respect yourself!

You are worthy of love and respect, but first you have to love and respect yourself. Positive reinforcement exercise: stand in front of a mirror, look yourself in the eye, and repeat 'I am worthy of love and respect. I love and respect myself'. You will come to believe it. (Fake it till you make it, in other words.) Try it for a week and see how you feel!

An Illustration for you, Gentle Readers, as to how wretched others can make you feel

02 November 2010

While I'm in the mood for baring my soul (don't worry, I won't bare anything else!), I thought I'd share this little story about my reaction to getting lost in the Commissary on my first trip there with the OH.

I'd never visited the US, so all these aisles of strangely-packaged foods I'd never seen before in my life fascinated me. I was traipsing along with the OH when he walked down the snacks and cookies aisle. Oh, glory be! The colours! The names! The SIZE of the packages! No wonder many Americans are built like brick outhouses - your average pack of biscuits is four times the size of our long rolls of biscuits. That really makes portion control hard, trust me!

Anyway, I was standing there thinking: "Bloody Norah, how many different kinds of Oreo cookies are there, anyway?" or something similar, when I looked up and saw the OH and the trolley had disappeared. ARGH! PANIC!!!

I flew up the aisle, hurtled round the corner, found him standing there looking at me strangely. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to wander off, I'm really sorry!" OH looks at me as though I have two heads and am green with purple spots.

"What's the matter? What are you talking about? I'm not upset with you, if you want to look at stuff do it, just bring it to the trolley and I'll buy it for you. Have a look around!"

Later, he asked me why I'd reacted in that way. I explained that I'd spent five years living with a man who, in Asda, would say: "Will you stop wandering off! Pay attention, for crying out loud. No, put it back. You don't need it. You can't afford it. What the **** did you pick that rubbish up for? NO, you can't buy that. Put it down!"

That's why I was cringing in the Commissary. And that is why I will never, ever, let another person make me into a cringing, nervous wreck. I deserve better than that. I am better than that!

(The fact that it now drives the OH bonkers because he often doesn't hear me say I'm just going to aisle 7 to grab so-and-so is much, much different! He doesn't give me a hard time about it, apart from grumbling a little - he hates shopping, though!)

Dark Evenings, BMI Changes, Ramblings on the New Plan

02 November 2010

One of the things I really love about dark evenings is that it now makes sense to light some candles. So, the top of the TV unit has a three-candle candlebra with some big candles, all lit. Three stained glass tealight holders, lit. A green glass flower shaped tealight holder, candle lit. And a nice big scented candle popped into the glass holder from a previous candle which will look lovely once the taller candle burns down.

It looks very nice, very festive. I might even consider breaking out my snowflake lights (all fluffy with white feathers) and drape those over the top of the unit. Or would that be too clichéd and studenty?

Bought a gorgeous sofa throw in Edeka, the local supermarket, on Saturday. Finally got round to throwing it over the sofa. It's in reds and oranges, somewhat muted colours, roses on the ends and flower patterns and leaves in the middle. OH came in and noticed it right away, thought it was lovely. May see if they have any left and buy one to wrap up the recliner. Bit scuffed and scratched by cats these days!

Slowly but surely, the living area is starting to come together. We do really need to redecorate though, it hasn't been touched in thirteen years!

As far as the BMI goes, my starting BMI at 21 stone was 45. Today, at 17 stone 4, it is 37. Still obese, but that's a pretty good start, don't you think? I just reset my goal weight to 15 stone 8 lbs - that's 10% from where I am now. I will approach it in the usual fashion, nibble away at it half a stone at a time. I'd like to be down around there by mid-February for totally vain reasons (looking all right in a wedding dress, for example!) That's 4 stone and 1 lb above the Weight About Which I Shall Not Think!

I think the last time I weighed 17 stone 4 must have been around the end of 2002/beginning of 2003. I was working for Kelda Group's legal department and the new building on site had a gym in the basement. So I joined, and went most mornings before work. I loved that. When I have an ID card, I might look into using the gym on the base the OH works at. So long as the soldiers don't mind!

Looking forward to the new plan, still. Annoyed that lots of people are annoyed about all the leaks in the press when leaders and helpers are embargoed from saying anything at all until next week. Very shoddy treatment of the existing members. But hey, they're a business. Why should they care about existing customers while trying to attract new ones?

Ho hum.