Thursday 28 May 2009

I Did It!!!

Had weigh in yesterday morning and I was absolutely delighted to discover that I have passed the next stone threshold - I am now x stone something for the first time in around 11/12 years! Absolutely blummin thrilled to bits and wanted to cry - in a fabulous way.

Then me and my darling second daughter were hit with a vomiting bug - so celebrations were short-lived :-( Please can I have some get well vibes as I've had to cancel work today and let down three families who were relying on me. The illness is good news for the diet as food is the last thing on my mind, but bad news for my business.

Wednesday 27 May 2009

Reasons to be cheerful

At the end of a verrrrry stressful day it can be very easy to say 'Sod it I quit!' and I've felt like saying that quite a few times today. But it's worth remembering the following:

  1. I used to hate my old job. Not just dislike it, HATE it and hate isn't a word I use lightly. I was fed up with being the one who got the coffee, the one who answered the phones and the one deemed too unintelligent to take a more active role in the company. Now I run my own business - who's stupid now?
  2. IF I decided to go back to work outside the home I would have to find childcare for my girls. I don't think it would be difficult - they have a team of surrogate aunties who I would happily leave them with - but it wouldn't be financially viable.
  3. Which brings me to point three - IF I didn't do this job I wouldn't be able to contribute to the bills, run our car or go away on holiday. Of which we are having three this year!
  4. Whilst I would love to be a stay at home mummy and devote my time to my children, this is the only way to get paid to do that. Whilst my time with my girls is diluted somewhat with the other kids here, at least I HAVE that time with my children which, when I worked in said foul job, I just didn't get and that hurt.
  5. After 11 years doing work I disliked and was over-qualified for I have started over in my 30's - which is some achievement in my book.
  6. Without my job I would have no friends! No really, it's true! Before I started this job my experience of 'friendship' was to be the laughing stock of a group of people, general doormat and to be abandoned in the darkest hour of my life. Now I have discovered what friendship is and that there are selfless people willing to put themselves out for others. Bit of a revelation at the grand old age of 33 and I wonder how I ever did without them!
And finally - after a crappy crap day the last of my kids was just leaving and he reached up and gave me a big squishy hug and a slobbery kiss and that has to be the best reason to be cheerful!

-

Monday 25 May 2009

Guess who's back?

I'm back by popular demand! (Well by popular I mean there were one or two people asking where I'd got to lol) I've decided to start completely from scratch with a whole new look - which actually is the topic of this blog - the New Me!!!!

Those who have been following me in cyber space in the past few months will know that I'm on a bit of a mission to shed a pound or two! Well so far it's been 31lbs and I cannot tell you the amount of blood, sweat and tears that has taken. Something snapped in me last year. I was sick of the wobble when I walked, of having joint pains in my knees, of having to shop in outsize stores that I went to the doctor (several times) for help. Each time I went a different doctor threw a different pill at me and said if I took it I would lose weight - but ONLY if I followed the instructions to the letter so my bottom didn't fall out, or some such disgusting side effect. Needless to say I wasn't even tempted to take them! But in my desperation and even with my lack of medical background I knew that a pill was not the answer. It may have been a short term solution but it wasn't going to deal with the REASON I was overweight. I asked to be referred for counselling as I knew in my heart there had to be something that made me eat 1500 calories in one sitting. There had to be something that made me trade my dinner for a bar of Fruit and Nut on a regular basis.

I had one appointment with a CPN at which I blubbed and snivelled as she asked me lots of leading questions and came to the conclusion that I was a Compulsive Eater. No, really. Tell me something I didn't know. It was my one and only appointment because, typically, they can only schedule appointments 9am - 5pm and they don't look too kindly on you bringing four children to the appointment with you. But it made me think about the possible reasons why I ate for England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland combined.

So I took the natural next step - spent the next two months stuffing myself silly and ignoring weekly emails from Tesco Diets promising a brand new me if I signed up. And then I had it - my epiphany. I have no idea what prompted it but I am eternally grateful that it came one Wednesday afternoon whilst my daughter and my charges were sleeping soundly in the next room. After 12 long long years of being overweight something snapped and I decided enough was enough. I'd had enough of Evans, enough of being the 'fat friend' and enough of being embarrassed to leave the house without my baggy shroud. So I took Tesco up on their offer and they have not disappointed me.

Though I don't think I can give Tesco all the credit. I am the one who has sacrificed my many favourite foods, I am the one who consciously decides to skip pudding or trade it for a healthier option and I am the one who has discovered a little thing called exercise. I am also the one who has traded her 18/20 tops and jeans for 12/14 fitted skirts and t-shirts and who, I hope, my husband will be proud to be seen with on our 10th wedding anniversary trip in a few weeks time. (I'm just hoping he's not too mad at the state of the credit card bill as I've had to spend quite a lot on new clothes as everything in my wardrobe is too big!)

I have a looooong way to go but now I am seeing the results I finally think I am in a place where I can say that I am determined to keep on losing weight and that I love the new me (well I love the new me's clothes anyway lol!). I was looking through my diaries the other day as I was always periodically recording my weight in an attempt to jolt myself into a diet. Imagine my glee when I discovered one from 2000 which had me at a whole stone heavier than I am now, nine years and two children later! I once scoffed at a Slimming World meeting when I heard the phrase 'Nothing tastes as good as slim feels' but now it's my mantra and I cannot wait to be slim!