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Healthy Living/MFC October 2011
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Message 1.Â
Posted by Fire-Pig - proud to wave the protest banner (U12231213) on Saturday, 1st October 2011
Welcome to the all new October Healthy Living thread. This is for all who want to help themselves towards a healthier lifestyle by eating better, or by exercising more or both. You will find a very warm welcome here - where you can talk about all the stresses of trying to live more healthily - whether those are food temptations, family or work tensions.
As we strive to be welcoming to all, we do have just one rule, we ask you not to reveal actual weights or size, your problem size could be someone else's target size. We do however welcome reports of actual losses, and commiserate over actual gains.
MFC is one of the Village Hall's oldest Clubs, I gather it has a long pedigree. It has no doubt seen many changes over the years, we are now trying a new one - having a monthly thread rather than a weekly one. This is an experiment, so please comment. We have a thread where you can sign up to open the door and pull up the chairs - at the moment there are volunteers for November and December but if you think you are the one to inspire us for the New Year then please sign up at
If you want inspiration over recipes the place to look is Katy's Cookbook at
If you want inspiration over exercise the place to look is GEm's CyberGym at
So with a pinch and a punch for the first of the month, October starts and for me the start of two months chocolate free, I know I can do it with the help of my MFC friends - make this the month you make the change in your life that you want to make. As one of our members signs off WCDI - We can do it - together we are stronger.
In the long standing MFC phrase KOKO - Keep on Keeping On
F-P -
Message 2
Posted by LostInML (U13646691) on Saturday, 1st October 2011
Thanks for explaining WCDI - I meant to ask about that and forgot!
Thanks for opening the new monthly thread, FIre-Pig, and best wishes for your chocolate -free month. I am proof that it can be done and after a while, you really don't miss it.
Good for you at refusing snacks, Rebekah. Hope you have a good day full of fluids and no tempting extras! -
Message 3
Posted by anagramladysin (U14258840) on Saturday, 1st October 2011
*
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Message 4
Posted by Miftrefs Laura in Lothian bufily ftitching (U2587870) on Saturday, 1st October 2011
My odd grasshopper mind looked at the acronym for We Can Do It - WCDI - and I thought of WD40 oil, and then I read f-p's comment after it that together we are stronger and that in turn made me think of 3-in-1 oil...
Am I just having an oily day?!
It is the first of October, start of a new month and after a lovely evening over at My Young Man's, I'm home and feeling remarkably chipper and raring to go. My Inner Housekeeper is unleashed! Tidying, cleaning and general doses of Ö÷²¥´óÐã, Making Nice!
I hope to have a houseful of guests next Fri-Sun for a historical re-enactment weekend at my local Castle, woohoo, and I am happily planning proper big meals for us all. Stews I can leave in the oven on 'slow cooker' setting while we're out all day and just turn up on getting home. Cold meat, pressed meat, pickled vegetables and fruit, all fairly 1640s but also highly edible I hope!
So I'm planning rather more than I have done.
I also feel, start of the new month, shift into autumnal weather and the food that goes with it... all that, I think, may bring on a bit of food diary posting to make me think more and be properly aware of what I eat, when I eat and above all in my case how much of it I eat!!
right, that kitchen floor won't clean itself!
KOKO all! -
Message 5
Posted by Fire-Pig - proud to wave the protest banner (U12231213) on Saturday, 1st October 2011
Well I have nearly completed my first day of being stronger! Snacks eaten NONE! Times tempted to eat snacks - several! Cheese or other stuff nibbled while making supper NONE, times tempted to nibble- just one.
Thanks for the Eye of Mustard on me all day!
KOKO one and all
F-P -
Message 6
Posted by boo decker (U10848648) on Saturday, 1st October 2011
Hello all, happy October!
Today has not been hugely successful! Pinga had a birthday party to attend so breakfast was a cereal bar!
I drank a diet coke and had a couple of sausages from the buffet then had a baguette brie and ham sarnie (about 3 inches of baguette) and a packet of quavers (why? They are vile!)
I nibbled one chip while getting the kids' tea (Saturday they have chips) and am now waiting for OH to finish cooking the steak for tonight.
I will be drinking red wine with it!
I am getting better at putting my fork down between mouthfuls, I really do eat less that way!
I have not drunk enough water today. Bah! Must do better tomorrow. I am doing a car boot sale tomorrow and there are no loos so can't drink too much H2O until I get home around noonish!
KOKO one and all!
(Laura... it makes me think of WD40 as well!)
Cup of tea -
Message 7
Posted by Bubbly (U14667393) on Sunday, 2nd October 2011
Woo Hooo !!
Dukan diet is certainly showing results for us, son has lost 11lbs and I've lost 7, daughter is insisting she hasn't lost anything but when we were trying on clothes the other day I deliberately chose a size smaller than she would normally wear and they all fitted her! My son has asked me to make soup for him to take to work and he has stopped taking his rucksack everywhere with him (this was usually full of the worst sort of junk food).
My daughter roasted a gammon joint for us yesterday and after removing as much fat as possible we demolished it in about 10 minutes! Didn't feel hungry for hours after eating what was actually only enough meat to cover a side plate. Looking forward to some lovely fresh veg with our chicken today, still get the odd hankering for a slice of bread but otherwise haven't really missed any carbs at all and I'm not finding it hard to resist the 'goodie' cupboard at work. I even managed to help make shortbread at work and resist tasting the results.
KOKO
Bubbly x -
Message 8
Posted by Miftrefs Laura in Lothian bufily ftitching (U2587870) on Sunday, 2nd October 2011
Excellent! What brilliant news
I wonder if the reason your daughter insists she hasn't lost anything but smaller clothes fit her is that old confusing thing of fat weighing less than muscle? So a Size X made up with loads of fat might weigh the same as a Size X-1 made up of less fat but more muscle.
I'm about to have breakfast, which I'd been skipping (naughty!) - my elderly recently-deaf cat spends the nights in my big room downstairs and in the mornings when she's let into the rest of the house she has a habit of going straight to the stairs and yowling incredibly loudly to let the entire neighbourhood know she is now up and about, so if I'm up and downstairs earlier than 8 on weekdays or 9 on weekends, I give her her breakfast in my big room and the two of us sit here quietly til the Aged Ps are awake, otherwise they are roused from their slumbers by the feline version of the Baying Of A Gigantic Hound, Mr Holmes!
So once it's 9am or the Aged Ps arise, I'm getting myself breakfast and I'm really peckish already!
Multigrain bread, butter and homemade jam, with a big mug of cordial and boiling water - I don't do hot drinks usually but after our Indian Summer we now very definitely have autumn outside - steady persistent rain, grey light and a general feeling of wanting to wear woolliness but it isn't quite chilly enough yet! I'm compromising by knitting a pink sparkly lacy shawl for my niece for Xmas...
I'm also wittering on and rambling on, because I really want breakfast and my tummy is rumbling, but the difficulties of trying to get past Kez to go and get breakfast and then get back in past her are too much to try. She'll sit quietly if I'm with her, or if nobody's got up yet - but once I'm downstairs, if I don't stay with her she sets up a caterwauling like you've never heard
laura -
Message 9
Posted by Bubbly (U14667393) on Sunday, 2nd October 2011
Poor cat (and you!) it must be very frightening to suddenly lose your hearing and not understand why.
Laura, I know you have been providing a lot of support on the Candle thread and you said you could answer any questions about P.Ms - I would like to pick your brains about my sister's p.m. and inquest but it would be selfish to hijack the other thread. Is there any way of contacting you off board?
Re daughter, I don't know what to think about her insistence that she has lost weight, she isn't doing any more exercise than usual so I can't see how she could be converting fat to muscle, I thiink she prefers to play down any suggestion that she's losing weight until she can match either me or her brother. Thankfully her Oxford application is almost completed, just waiting for her tutor to sign her personal statement and then it's up to the college to finalise it all and send it off. Very hairy couple of weeks but we are over the worst and ex OH is settling back at home although he doesn't seem to be keen on being alone, so I am making sure I am not around all the time.
Beautiful morning again, going to a local stately home for brunch in their garden centre and then a walk along the beach with the dog - bliss .....
Bubbly x -
Message 10
Posted by Miftrefs Laura in Lothian bufily ftitching (U2587870) on Sunday, 2nd October 2011
That's better now! Cat unleashed, aged Ps breakfasting and I have breakfasted, yum!
bubbly, I'd be very happy to go into email discussion.
is Peet's ML, and if you go to the list of usernames, I'm a very unimaginative 'Laura in Lothian' - it gives you an option to contact a user, which won't give you my email address but will give me your email address, if I've remembered it rightly - then I email you back and we both have each other's!
Your day out sounds lovely as long as I remember to read the start of the sentence, "beautiful morning again" because here we've got heavy steady rain and grey chill light! It's casserole-weather, I tell you... get the Remoska ready, get the Le Creuset dusted off, bring out your big pans...!
laura -
Message 11
Posted by Bubbly (U14667393) on Sunday, 2nd October 2011
Thanks Laura, I will do it later.
Bubbly -
Message 12
Posted by Miftrefs Laura in Lothian bufily ftitching (U2587870) on Sunday, 2nd October 2011
bubbly,
Or, simpler but much more public, there's the 'Danse Macabre' thread which was set up for discussion of all the things to do with death and skeletons and so on and so forth, in a generalised and completely inclusive way!
Either one is fine, I'm just pleased if I can help at all to explain stuff.
laura -
Message 13
Posted by Dukan1 (U14971564) on Sunday, 2nd October 2011
Morning All,
nearly noon I know but I've been doing my Flo Nightingale impression again and got back in the middle of the night hence sleepy head this am.
Diet going OK....need to spruce up a bit. The 'emergency' was false alarm which is good, but like the boy who cried wolf, OH's parents are less likely to be taken seriously when they hollar next time. Why me anyway? Oh never mind.
Have been strictish..long journeys mean fizzy drinks and crisps but back on the straight and narrow today. Taking long walk with beast and trying to up my steps to 10k.
Laura, WD40 indeed, which we could have a squirt of that and cure all our 'squeaks'. A magic potion, that's the answer. A prize for the best, chosen by panel of knowledgeable witches. All volunteers who wish to serve on the panel apply to the main office. Btw..if you get finished with your floor in double quick time I could, only if you are interested of course, put some seriously grubby floors your way. Return post?
F-P tanks for opening thread, I find this place a biiiiiiiiiiig help, keeps me grounded and much less likely to go ' to hell with it' than previously. Good luck with the no choc/no snacks. Difficult at first but come in here and we'll give you some of our best encouragement. Laura will have oiled it so it slips down a treat!
Bubbles, good results for you and yours, and given your recent upset.
Well done. Your children must be so proud of you having had such a tough time and still being there for them and leading from the front. Bravo, remember the oily encouragement if your in need.
boo...a party is a party is a party...I'm having steak tonight and following your lead will be having a glass of something red....after the trip I've had I need it. Good tip about fork down I'm trying to chew more thoroughly as well.
I'd better do something about brunch....the hungry are stirring.
Hoping October is good for us all and lets keep encouraging each other.
WCDI
D1 -
Message 14
Posted by Fire-Pig - proud to wave the protest banner (U12231213) on Sunday, 2nd October 2011
I do like the convolutions this thread makes!
I have had another good day, and am glowing that after church, for the first time ever, I said No to my friend's wonderful chocolate biscuit crunch, I think that's what she calls it. I have never dared ask for the recipe, it is just too more-ish! I decided that No chocolate meant no chocolate of any kind, so it had to be that. I have been basking in self congratulations ever since!
Bubbles, Laura is incredibly helpful and wise at times like this, I remember that both when my nephew and, later, my son's former partner committed suicide. She can explain things using words you can understand. I hope she can do that for you.
Today OH made supper - I didn't finish work until 6.30 and it was lovely to have the meal ready for me, and for once he had prepared strawberries as a pud as well. Normally he forgets that we eat a two course meal and so we end up with ice cream or yogurt.
KOKO one and all, WCDI - together we are stronger!
F-P -
Message 15
Posted by Bubbly (U14667393) on Monday, 3rd October 2011
Laura,
Went to the paranormal whatever and found your name but can't see how to contact you as there isn't an 'e-mail' option displayed alongside your name.
Bubbly -
Message 16
Posted by Miftrefs Laura in Lothian bufily ftitching (U2587870) on Monday, 3rd October 2011
Oops, nor there wasn't! There is now, though...
laura -
Message 17
Posted by anagramladysin (U14258840) on Monday, 3rd October 2011
Here's another question that has me thinking and I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Various people I know wear tight clothes. One is my 17 year old ward who is constantly in trouble at school because of it. She is a size 10 and with all the beauty of youth but frankly dresses like a ** (didn't count the asterisks there but you can guess). No taste; no style. She won't wear trousers, though her legs are nothing to write home about. Her skirts are shorter than her jackets.
But another one is a year or two older than me [ and believe me, I'm old .....]. She also believes that tight clothes are attractive / sexy / cont p 94. Even if they show every bulge, every thickness, every regrettable sign of aging.
Me, I'd rather buy and wear something a size larger than I already am so that it skims my shape and makes me streamlined. OK -- maybe streamlined like an orca whale. But at least I am not advertising my bulges to all and sundry.
17-year-old ward is trying to persuade me to dye my hair ( going white gracefully -- I look like a natural blonde at present ) and wear tighter clothes. I loathe feeling constricted when I move. Plus ......... who am I trying to please??????
Any thoughts welcome. -
Message 18
Posted by Bubbly (U14667393) on Tuesday, 4th October 2011
Laura,
Am I being particularly dim, are you Laura no. 32 on the list of members? If so they haven't put an e-mail link on there yet. It may well be that I am looking in the wrong place as I'm very scatterbrained at the moment, don't know if it's the menopause or the medication but I am constantly misplacing things, forgetting my pin number (very embarassing at busy checkouts) or doing daft things like pouring hot water into the coffee jar instead of the cup!
Bubbly -
Message 19
Posted by Miftrefs Laura in Lothian bufily ftitching (U2587870) on Tuesday, 4th October 2011
You have too many Lauras!
I'm No.301 at the top of this page and there's definitely an email link next to me. Have another go!
Laura (one of the many...) -
Message 20
Posted by Fire-Pig - proud to wave the protest banner (U12231213) on Tuesday, 4th October 2011
Ana - you dress to please yourself, while conforming to the norms of the society you are moving in. By that I mean if you are working where a bikini is not considered suitable clothing then you should be more covered! I do agree with you about tight clothing, I wanted to wear a particular skirt last week but it was tight over my tummy so didn't wear it. Yet at the lunch I was attending there were many there with very obvious bulges above and below bra straps etc. I looked smugly down at my Bravissimo clad boobs and thanked MFC for pointing me in that direction!
Yesterday was my first day off since I started being stricter (all of three days ago!) this morning I hopped onto the scales and nearly had a fit - 2 lbs had disappeared! I'll keep this lark up a bit longer! I started a rushed embroidery commission yesterday so nearly all my hours not at work are taken up by sitting stitching - definitely no chance to snack.
Bubbles, if you have not made contact with Laura yet, I think there is only one Fire-Pig in Peet's, and I will be glad forward anything to her.
F-P -
Message 21
Posted by Bubbly (U14667393) on Tuesday, 4th October 2011
Thanks Fire-Pig, I have tried again! Agree with you ref dressing to please yourself. I am often horrified by the amount of surplus flesh on show nowadays, I often wonder if it is a good thing .. that younger women now dress as they please, they are so confident that they don't care if it is unattractive or is it just self delusion and they don't realise how bad they look. Then there is the trend for looking like what my mother would have called shameless husseys .. my daughter 17, has a friend who is stunningly beautiful but looks like she is a'working girl' despite that fact that she actually comes from a deeply religious family. When they went on holiday to Portugal to stay with family friends the girl was taken aside and asked to dress more modestly as she kept appearing at breakfast in the most scanty of nighties and the men in the family couldn't eat for trying not to look at her ! She is well aware of the messages she might be sending but doesn't care, she gets a lot of stick from her peers but says she likes the way she looks.
Bubbly x -
Message 22
Posted by Miftrefs Laura in Lothian bufily ftitching (U2587870) on Tuesday, 4th October 2011
Thanks, f-p, but we now have contact! Well done, bubbly, and (not for the first time) thanks to Peet's ML!
laura -
Message 23
Posted by LostInML (U13646691) on Tuesday, 4th October 2011
Ana, I would say dress how you want to and don't be unduly influenced by other people's attempts to make you look 'trendier'. I work amongst teenage girls who loathe having to wear a school uniform, but actually are secretly quite pleased by it at the same time, as it reduces the fashion element of school and allows them to get on with learning. Pupils (nearly always the girls) often complain we are too strict with them, but the lengths of skirts etc. are important; many who went on work experience last year came back and commented that workplace regulations are often just as strict and so they could finally understand the rules.
The modern attitude seems to be 'if you've got it, flaunt it' with the additional message 'flaunt it anyway.' I'm not comfortable with that attitude and never was, not even when I was younger. It's not necessarily about your size, either, though I admit I've never felt I had anything worth flaunting and would always feel very self-conscious. So if you feel more comfortable with flowing clothes and natural hair colour, why should you change? -
Message 24
Posted by Fire-Pig - proud to wave the protest banner (U12231213) on Tuesday, 4th October 2011
I am just back from my first ever Pilates class, I enjoyed it and will go again. She seems to a very caring and knowledgeable leader, who kept on checking that I was following. I haven't yet committed to buying anything specialised, but may well do so.
Lost - in one school where I taught, the Principal was adamant that we should keep the uniform, saying that the students needed to have something to kick against, and that we would have more graffiti in the loos and elsewhere if we did not have the uniform! I took a group to the Science Museum one day, all in conventional school uniform. Another school were there and their uniform was less obviously a school uniform - I think it was a cherry red sack like pinafore dress with a patterned blue blouse. The first one you saw, you thought "hmm, don't think much of her dress sense" it was only on seeing several that I realised it was a uniform! On our way back, our girls unanimously told me they had never been so grateful that their uniform was conventional! Nobody could mistake theirs - white shirts, brown skirts and striped ties - for poor dress sense!
KOKO one and all
F-P -
Message 25
Posted by anagramladysin (U14258840) on Tuesday, 4th October 2011
Thank you, folks, for your replies and support on this. It's nice to know I am not alone in feeling that tight ain't necessarily right. Mind you, if I ever did get down to a size zero, whatever that is, I'd be the first in skinny jeans, just to celebrate.
Woooo, Fire-Pig, not only no chocolate but Pilates as well. Well done!!
Oh, uniforms!! One HM we had wanted to see the girls in kilts. [ NB we are far, far away from Scotland ]. I took some photos of a be-kilted school we had come across in debating competitions. They looked, bless them, like ... um ... I am trying to find the words for this that won't get me modded or any sensibilities offended ... like a fancy dress party set up specially for a paedophile ring. The photos did the trick - no kilts.
I do feel sorry for teenage girls today, though. At least there used to be alternative styles. -
Message 26
Posted by LostInML (U13646691) on Wednesday, 5th October 2011
I think it's hard for teenage girls who /do/ want to dress modestly, because there's not a lot out there to choose from that isn't 'in your face', so to speak.
Ana, if you were a size zero, I'd be quite worried... not about skinny jeans but about your ongoing survival! -
Message 27
Posted by GEm (U4356909) on Wednesday, 5th October 2011
Blimey Ana you don't need to be a size zero to wear skinny jeans (that's a UK size 4). I'm a 6-8 depending on the cut and make and believe me the stars may have no problem getting clothes but I find myself all too often in the children's departments (not a good look for a lady kicking 50 in the butt).
I think the main problem with the tight clothes is that the "stars" are all shown wearing short tight stuff that shows off toned midriffs and bodies and the fashion shops which cater for the teens adopt this. Unfortunately an excess of junk food, too much time in front of the computer and TV and lack of exercise for many teens means that they don't exactly have the same body shapes as their idols. As a result you get handfuls of flab emphasised by the tight clothes.
When I was at school there was always one chunky kid in each class but the norm was skinny. Now I think the norm is more towards the heftier - so they feel comfortable wearing this sort of stuff because they all look the same so it's the "norm".
Buying properly tailored clothes is more expensive than buying the cheap tight fashion stuff and I suspect that for teens this is just impractical as they grow out of them too quickly and for some of the older ladies it's distorted body image combined with the trend for buying lots of cheap clothes rather than stuff that lasts.
Having said all that I have tight short stuff and skinny jeans as part of my wardrobe. But I do work VERY hard to keep my body in the sort of shape that makes them suitable.
I would hate to be a size zero - just think what it would do to your face. I am having to be very careful at the moment that I don't lose weight as a couple of pounds now shows on my face (and not in a good way) -
Message 28
Posted by Miftrefs Laura in Lothian bufily ftitching (U2587870) on Wednesday, 5th October 2011
I do feel sorry for teenage girls today, though. At least there used to be alternative styles.Â
I agree with this, and with Lost's comments, too.
When I was young, in the 1980s, there were tons of ways of "looking good" and only /some/ of them involved signals about being sexually available. You could look incredibly cool to your peer group in other ways if you preferred.
but now, imo, there seems to be a very narrow number of ways to look - you do have choice, of being an Emo or a Trendy or whatever, but within those narrow categories everything seems to be about the 'shop window' as it used to be called!
I learnt a lot about clothes in those 3 months in France - I arrived a typical British frump and I left, though I say so myself, a rather more stylish young woman a good decade younger!
It was partly because I had to take only 15kg of baggage for 3 months and that included a lot of books so I had to buy clothes on arrival and had very little money. So I sat in pavement cafes or on benches in town for hours, people-watching and trying to identify what it was that made me like one woman's appearance but not another.
Eventually I boiled it down to some essentials, and to this day if I go by those French Essentials I look distinctly better than if I slip back to British frumpiness!
It wasn't about looking sexy - which I found interesting, given the reputation of French Women for always looking so sexily attractive! It was about having put thought into it, only owning clothing which suited you, only buying clothes that went with what you already had.
I ended up with 3 or 4 "personas" and no matter how much I liked a garment, I wasn't allowed (by me) to buy it if it didn't fit one of my personas. One wore snug-fitting straight-leg black or blue jeans, sneakers, t-shirts or 3/4-sleeved t-shirt-tops, hair in ponytail or under a little cap. Another was very feminine in muted old-rose and moss-green and cream/ ivory and typically wore longer skirts with pretty sandals and old-rose toenail-varnish, pretty strappy camisoles (at first when broke, that was simply a cotton vest-top, 2 for 3 euros!) with a wrap-around cardigan which the French call "cache-coeur" - hold-your-heart! Isn't that lovely?
Another trick I learnt was that you can define your waistline without looking bulgy. So I might wear snug-fit jeans in Britain with my tops tucked in and a big bulge above the belt - in France I learnt instead to wear the same style of jeans with the top loose over the jeans and a belt over the top, or else maybe a shirt tied at the waist. It makes a difference, somehow.
I think Ana's description of her flowing clothes sounds lovely. Good for you, for taking thought and care about your own self.
I came back to Britain and nearly cried when I went out to a local shopping centre on a Saturday morning... saggy baggy greying tracksuit bottoms, Ugg boots slop-slopping along the ground, badly-fitted bras giving the quadruple-breasted look under over-sized grubby t-shirts, hair scragged back and four tons of make-up. Women my age, not only the teens. Just... how did we become a nation that cares so little about itself?
I used to think taking care about your appearance was vanity, but now I think it's simply caring for yourself and making sure you don't send a message that says "walk all over me, because I don't matter".
laura
(this morning: snug-fitting black jeans, black cotton socks, deep-pink walking-shoes; black 3/4-sleeve cotton top, crushed-raspberry jumper with short sleeves and a big cowl-neck, hair in low ponytail) -
Message 29
Posted by GEm (U4356909) on Wednesday, 5th October 2011
Laura
Couldn't agree more. -
Message 30
Posted by LostInML (U13646691) on Wednesday, 5th October 2011
Clothes can definitely enhance your appearance and make you /feel/ different as well as /look/ different. It can be hard to find things that suit /you/, though, if your /you/ isn't the same as the High Street /you/. And I think that many young people find it hard to find the style that suits them best at such young ages.
I'm still not sure I could analyse clothes in the way Laura did. Very interesting. I've always felt I could say if I liked a particular outfit but never why. -
Message 31
Posted by LoopyLobes (U14384399) on Wednesday, 5th October 2011
Gosh, I could never analyse clothes in such depth, Laura, but well done you! You've obviously hit on a formula that works very well for you.
I have lots of different looks and I am not a slave to what's currently in fashion, I have old favourites that come out from years ago and I team them with newer things. People tell me I have a great sense of style, which is always nice to hear (I was known as the "glamorous mum" in the playground apparently), but I always dress for comfort so to be stylish too is a bonus. If asked though, I doubt I could pin my "style" down because it changes by the day.
Weightwise I'm trundling along happily low-carbing still, with the odd wild weekend (a lot of birthdays just lately). I find that if I keep my eye on my weight and don't let it go up by more than a couple of pounds it's very easy to get it off again before it gets out of hand. I haven't been hungry since I started this, which is marvellous! -
Message 32
Posted by Fire-Pig - proud to wave the protest banner (U12231213) on Wednesday, 5th October 2011
Ana you commented
Woooo, Fire-Pig, not only no chocolate but Pilates as well. Well done!!Â
In the last thread I wrote My plans for October include, in no particular order:
1) No chocolate
2) No nibbling cheese while in the kitchen doing something else
3) Be more careful with portion size
4) Try to take more walks
5) Take up Pilates classesÂ
So Pilates was part of the Plan - with a capital P! So far it is number 4 that is going by the board - I am having to spend more time in the office than I would like. Today I spent the whole day doing data entry and training someone to do the other side of my job. He wasn't really ready to fly by himself but pressure from Boss to let him try meant I reached this compromise. It will continue tomorrow, I do not enjoy doing data entry but I did not succumb to any snacks!
Love the discussion on clothing - why is it that I love the slightly unconventional clothing of my friend C, and often think I would love to dress like that but always end up buying something more conventional?
F-P -
Message 33
Posted by anagramladysin (U14258840) on Wednesday, 5th October 2011
I have a few of these -- would love to go the whole way -- do you know her things? -
Message 34
Posted by LostInML (U13646691) on Thursday, 6th October 2011
Never seen them before... they look lovely.
Clothes are another area that make me feel inadequate. Some women seem to be born with style and others acquire it... I just seem to trundle on, hoping for the best and never being quite sure how I look or even how I /want/ to look! I agree with Laura that it's not simply vanity to want to look good, but I never seem to have the time or energy to care that much... and then feel guilty that I don't. (Guilt is my default setting, remember. It's what I feel when I don't know what to feel!)
Food... h'mm... not that good a week. I left my lunch at home and succumbed to a bacon, brie & cranberry panini on Tuesday. It was delicious, a reminder of why I love cheese & bread so much... -
Message 35
Posted by Fire-Pig - proud to wave the protest banner (U12231213) on Thursday, 6th October 2011
Ana, I have admired them before when you have posted links. Back in the 80s I confidently wore Clothkits dresses that I had made, and dressed the Piglets in their stuff - anyone remember their lovely printed fabrics? The prints made for the designs, it was just cut and sew, very easy to do. Now I don't like my lower legs because of venal congestion - but if I wore some of those thick tights I could wear skirts ..... Hmmm Yes I AM worth it! Watch this space! My default setting has become trousers, with either a plain top and zingy necklace - I have quite a collection, or a patterned blouse. Some of my cardigans are quite interesting.
Healthy Living is so much more than Healthy eating it is feeling good in oneself - not so guilty all the time Lost! You are worth it, remember Laura's wise words to you. You are an inspiration to us the way you have taken to exercise. I think you said that your GP is also very pleased with your blood tests - you have taken yourself in hand - would you like to come and have a chat with my OH? I despair over him at times. He just buys larger and larger clothes, and gets more and more weary when the PIglets and I can all see that he needs to take himself in hand. I do my best with healthy meals but then find packets of crisps hidden in cupboards etc.
Anyway this won't get today's data entry done, nor today's training session. I don't like having to do both at the same tome. I have given notice that September's data may not be all processed in time for the October Management Meeting - I am not a super Fire-PIg just a worker pig!
KOKO one and all, WCDI!
F-P -
Message 36
Posted by Miftrefs Laura in Lothian bufily ftitching (U2587870) on Thursday, 6th October 2011
I have a few of theseÂ
Oh good grief, Ana! If you wear Gudrunsjoden and similar styles, then we can just stop all discussion of whether your clothes suit you and simply sit gazing in admiration! She really *really* designs for actual living women, real ones rather than 14-year-old boys. And on top of the shape and cut, the textures and materials and colours and patterning are so exquisite.
The only time in my life I ever walked up to someone and asked about her clothes was a woman when we were standing near the doors on a tube train as it drew into a stop - I couldn't not-ask, as her clothes were just so incredibly gorgeous!
Lost, that's why I ended up working out my clothing-personas, because I am utterly hopeless with clothes unless I have thought about it - I am very capable of taking several items, each fine in itself but totally wrong together!
I'll try and explain a bit more what went on behind the scenes, and see if it helps you.
It was a case of working out how *I* feel. Because I wear my clothes from inside, so what matters to me is how they feel to me, and that's how come I can put together an ensemble that looks truly dreadful to others and makes me look awful too. Also, I can't bear the thought of having "an outfit" hung up all together and when you wear that skirt you also - always - wear that top, those tights, those shoes, that cardigan, the whole lot together. I wanted flexibility to suit how I felt each day.
So I kind of went by texture.
The Jeans and Sneakers Me, for example, was the non-iron person, the active practical doing-stuff, getting-things-done person, and so the clothes were comfy and moveable-in and needed minimum care. Colours were denim-blue and all the blues that go with that, and even some plain white cotton tops, as well as strong basic colours like black and red.
The English Rose Me was defined mostly by colour, because actually quite a lot of her clothes were practical too. Soft moss-green, olive-green, faded khaki, with muted old-rose, shell-pink, ivory and cream. A bit Edwardian. The actual clothes varied from olive-green jeans through a practical knee-length A-line skirt to a floaty long cream skirt, with tops varying from simple vest-tops, long-sleeved tops, lacy camisoles, ribbon-trimmed cardigans in that hold-your-heart style. And the footwear varied too, from brown leather knee-boots to strappy rose-satin sandals.
So I could wake up and think, right, busy day today with lots of clearing stuff/ hiking up a hill/ meeting pal for lunch and go for Jeans and Sneakers Me - but that still gave me tons of leeway and choice, the crucial thing being that all of the items went together, and I could just grab anything I thought of as belonging to her (like a shared wardrobe between you and your sister, you just think of things as belonging to one or other persona) and be confident it would work.
Or I could wake up and think, ahhh a slow day today, ambling over to meet friend for lunch, do a bit of housework, maybe a stroll up the hill*... so I go for the English Rose.
You can't go for too many of them, though - I had four originally: Jeans and Sneakers, English Rose, Rock Chick (lots of black, lots of slinkiness, really only for evenings out) and The Country Lady (lots of olive-green and brown leather, the horsy rural outdoorsy version of the English Rose really, with less pink!)
*notice, it's the same day but it's how I think of it. Perception changes everything for me!
the single biggest thing alongside the Personas, for me, is that every single thing I owned *fitted* properly and was the right type for my body shape. I became an expert trier-on, after years of being a mumbling apologetic grabber of the nearest probable size and just squeeze into a too-tight or wear a too-loose shapeless one....
So I had a few pairs of jeans, but they were the right sort for me. I had t-shirts and 3/4-sleeve tops and they were the appropriate size. My undies fitted so I didn't have big dents or odd bulges even though I still had plenty of spare flesh.
Does that help? What about thinking to come up with one persona and seeing what you can come up with for her? I don't think it's like many websites claim - "you're an 'Autumn' person and must only ever wear these colours" or "if you're a pear-shape you must never wear these clothes".
I think it's more about just gathering a number of items that work together and make you feel good, which you like (I don't care how flattering side-zip flat-fronted trousers may be, you will never ever get me to buy a pair because I loathe them!) and which suit you.
Then the trickiest part - get rid of everything else.
It means, if you don't own any rubbish, you can't inadvertently wear rubbish. You do the hard work at the very beginning, and then there's no work involved for years!
My room was full of impulse-buys or those even-wore things that you know will look awful but you buy in desperate hope that somehow you'll change so it looks good. I had to be quite ruthless in what I kept!
laura -
Message 37
Posted by LostInML (U13646691) on Thursday, 6th October 2011
Have just got rid of a lot of clothes that (thankfully) no longer fit, so this conversation is quite useful. I suppose I do have some idea... I tend to buy clothes that will go with what I already have (pragmatism to the fore), on a colour scheme idea. I tend to like the same kind of colours... not all the time, but in different kinds of outfits. Mm. Better to think about this stuff than food!
Fire-Pig... I wish I could really help your OH, but it has to come from within. That's the key issue. You can pay lip service to this for years (I did), but you have to actually decide to do something about it yourself before change is effected... -
Message 38
Posted by Fire-Pig - proud to wave the protest banner (U12231213) on Thursday, 6th October 2011
Thanks Lost - I KNOW that OH has to decide for himself, and I am not badgering him, just wishing he would do something. The silly thing is that twice before he has really taken himself in hand and made a huge difference which lasted in both cases for a couple of years then he lapsed back into his old ways!
I think it may have been Prue who has previously raved about Gudrun wotsit's clothes. I haven't seen her lately is she well?
I was very glad that I had taken a curry out of the freezer for supper tonight. Today was bad at the office - the training does NOT mesh with doing data entry - I told Boss that today, and was asked to do my best. I was very tired by the time I left (6pm), if the curry had not been sitting on the side I may well have succumbed to nibbling cheese while thinking what to cook - and the nibbles might have grown into chunks .....
Another early night tonight, I think!
F-P -
Message 39
Posted by anagramladysin (U14258840) on Thursday, 6th October 2011
"Tell Laura I love her ......."
I do really like your philosophy of clothes and am pleased to have sparked a discussion that seems to have rung some bells.
I also like Hampstead Bazaar's things (sure they must have a website somewhere...).
Want to point out that I *never* buy things full price but keep an eye on the sales and often get items at half price or less. And since there's no "fashion" element involved, pieces last years and years. I am not exaggerating. My favourite dress is 30 years old (and oh I wish I could get into it, but one day soon I shall).
Me, I can't wear wool, or nylon, or viscose etc etc contd p94, so shopping has to be careful. Cotton, silk, linen and alpaca only ..... mind you my best friend has an allergy to metals and can only wear platinum and 23 carat gold ha ha.
Meanwhile I have done something *really difficult* today and it has *worked* brilliantly and I am *so* happy but as a result have come home (late) and had pasta with gorgonzola and pecan nuts for supper which (on a low-carb diet) is not very clever. But mmmmm I did enjoy it.
Away for a few days now, but ~~~~~ to all and koko
xx ana -
Message 40
Posted by Bubbly (U14667393) on Thursday, 6th October 2011
Dear Fire-pig,
I can sympathise with you re OH's refusal to admit he has a problem, in my case it is my son - he would eat a healthy meal with us and then I would find food wrappers in his bedroom bin, packets of mini pork pies, tubs of icecream .. the list was endless. I finally twigged that he was taking a small rucksack to his part-time job at Sainsbugs and bringing home snacks to be eaten when he was in his room. In the end I had to be really brutal and tell him he was fat, coupled with the fact that his father had just had a heart attack I think this was the shock he needed to address his weight problem.
I think the problem started when my marriage was breaking up, he turned to food as a source of comfort and he just got into the habit of over-eating, Now we are on the Dukan diet he seems to be much more in control and is thrilled by the amount of weight he has lost and the fact that other people have noticed.
On the topic of clothes, I buy a lot of mine in charity shops, this week I found 2 Per Una tops, a leather jacket and a beautiful silk jacket all for £18, when I'm bored with them I will recycle them and buy another new wardrobe.
Dyed my hair red, joined a singles club and decided to sell my house .... changes on the horizon!
Bubbly xx -
Message 41
Posted by Fire-Pig - proud to wave the protest banner (U12231213) on Friday, 7th October 2011
Wow Bubbles Dyed my hair red, joined a singles club and decided to sell my house .... changes on the horizon!Â
Does all this vitality come from the new diet?
I've had a ner day, but on the good side I have not succumbed to anything more than one jelly baby! This morning it was as if the fog had returned in my brain, and I was feeling very sorry for myself. I have calmed myself with some embroidery and am now feeling as if the fog has lifted.
I will start looking in charity shops for some nice different clothing to suit my persona. I did have my colours done in the late 80s, which did lead me to wearing some colours I had never worn before - and feeling very comfortable in them, it was an interesting experience. I now have two sets of mix and match* smart clothes one lot based on turquoises the other on coral and coffee.
*Not sold as mix and match.
I was supposed to be going to a craft show tomorrow but cried off when I realised I wasn't really feeling up to driving 2 hours each way on the busy A55. Instead I will finish the current embroidery and mount it, might even think about the latest ironing mountain, but not until the embroidery is done!
F-P -
Message 42
Posted by Bubbly (U14667393) on Saturday, 8th October 2011
Dear Fire-Pig,
I don't think it's all down to the diet but I think it certainly helps. Having been depressed for a long time I think I had lost enjoyment in food and cooking and now I'm better I am more aware of what I'm eating and I have to be more inventive because even though we are now on the 'Cruise' phase of the Dukan diet it's still quite restricted and requires some thought and planning in order to have tasty meals.
I don't think carbs agree with me, I don't miss them and I don't feel so sluggish (mentally and physically), so they are now an occasional treat rather than part of our staple diet. I'm looking forward to eating fruit again and have found myself lingering over the displays in the local market but I have nearly reached my target, another 3lbs and I'll be able to have some.
As for the hair, singles club and the house sale - again I think that as the depression lifts I'm starting to look forward rather than back at the past, the club isn't a dating agency but just a way of making new friends. The majority of people in my current social circle are all either married or in partnerships and as all of the women work they don't always have the time to go out for a girlie afternoon shopping or a trip to the theatre. It would be great to go out for a meal or for a walk without feeling like the odd one out. We went along to the meeting on Thursday at a local pub and had a really good time and they have all sorts of events coming up - golf, a Murder Mystery evening, discos and walks so there are plenty of things to do and I'd feel comfortable going along on my own if my only single friend didn't want to go. If I meet someone that's a bonus but I've been separated for 11 years and am happy to stay that way for the time being. Some of my friends have tried computer dating but that's not for me, I've got friends who have met their partners that way but I've also seen them have horrible dates where they couldn't wait to get away from the person who bore no resemblance to the picture or profile they presented on the website!
Charity shops are great, I've got a whole new winter wardrobe at a fraction of the original cost and because it's so cheap I don't feel I have to hang on to things if I get bored with them. I'm also planning a clothes swap night with some friends, we clear out our wardrobes, take them along on the night and then have a swap session, anything left over goes to the charity shop and it's a great excuse to consume some vino too!
KOKO
Bubbly xx -
Message 43
Posted by Fire-Pig - proud to wave the protest banner (U12231213) on Saturday, 8th October 2011
Can you see your friend Fire-Pig dancing a jig?
I weighed myself this morning after the first seven days of October and being more strict with myself and the scales tell me I have lost 3 lbs! Woo-hoo! I KNOW full well that it won't continue at that rate but it's a great start. If I can average 1lb a week until the end of November that would be 11lbs or so in total and a significant change.
I came downstairs with a grin on my face and for once OH was up before me, so I told him about the 3 lbs and gave his paunch a friendly tap and said "How about it?" He says he'll try. We wait to see whether he does. Due to our current lifestyle we usually only share our evening meal so I don't see what else he eats during the day.
The fog has lifted in the brain - did you feel like that Bubbly with the depression? I thought it was a thing of the past but ... not yet completely in the past.
I would find it very hard going without any fruit. I had to do it when I lived in the Sahel - for part of the year anyway, then we went for a few months with just scrappy bananas and pawpaw. I found it very hard then and for some time after that didn't eat bananas at all! Now I love fruit and possibly eat too much of it.
That Singles Club sounds great, and all good ideas for fun and friendship.
F-P -
Message 44
Posted by boo decker (U10848648) on Sunday, 9th October 2011
Morning folks.
Laura, I love your take on clothes and may have to adapt it to myself, I have a wardrobe full of lovely clothes but seem to wear the same things over and over again..... big baggy stuff that covers everything but does me no favours. Even the shoes I wear are worn for the brutal reason that I cannot get down to do up my lovely boots.
That brutal realisation came to me yesterday.... my fitflop clogs have started to make my knees hurt, the leather has stretched and is letting my feet force them into a silly shape and my lovely red felt clogs now have a hole in. I have no other shoes but I do have boots. I cannot afford to buy any more shoes.
I need to sort this out, I really do. I don't understand waht is wrong with me. I know I have a serious weight problem, I'm not just holding onto a few pounds. I am doing my health no favours, I have no energy, I look awful and yet, and yet......
Its all a mystery to me! Maybe it stems from the fact that i believed I was overweight in my youth when I really wasn't. In my mind I was the size I am now then. Maybe I just have the will power of a weak and wishywashy thing with no will power. Maybe I am deluded.
I neeed to do this for me, not for anyone else, depsite the fact that OH loves me for who I am he would love a happier, more confident wife but I cannot do it for him. I have to do it for me.
I have some goals:
1. To be able to wear one of my fab evening dresses to OH's posh Christmas 'do'.
2. To ditch the baggy in favour of the stuff that is 'me'
I have signed up for the Three Land Challenge for Walk the Walk... marathon distance walks in LOndon, Edinburgh and Iceland. Training begins today!
I shall be back tonight to post my food diary and my training plan for the week.
KOKO one and all. -
Message 45
Posted by Miftrefs Laura in Lothian bufily ftitching (U2587870) on Monday, 10th October 2011
boo, walking really worked for me when I actually did it...
and in fact I spent the last two days, from 10 til 4, pretty much walking the whole time, in very uneven cobbles, with not a yard of level ground involved: the inside paths of the hilliest castle known! I can feel it MASSIVELY in my hips, and in my lower abdomen muscles, so I'm going to try to use it as a starting-point to keep myself more active.
I had a houseful of friends staying, 7 of us in all, and I spent thursday and Friday cooking so it only needed heating up. Porridge followed by bacon and egg each morning, and a hot meal at 6ish. Friday was baked potatoes with a small topside of beef and three breast-quarters of chicken, roasted, followed by 16th-century biscuits. Saturday was a stew of venison, beef, red wine and onion, with bread, followed by homemade, still-hot popcorn. Sunday was a soup of cabbage, onion, potato and sausage.
No snacks, no nibbles - although I fell head-first into the oldest trap in the book last night when faced with all the cleaning up: chocolate In industrial quantities ((( (that's me looking sad with many double-chins!)
KOKO everyone!
laura -
Message 46
Posted by Fire-Pig - proud to wave the protest banner (U12231213) on Monday, 10th October 2011
Laura love, don't berate yourself over the chocolate. What is eaten, is eaten and is now in the past. For me the only sure way to avoid chocolate is not to have it in the house! I can go for a long time without eating it, but if it is hiding in a cupboard it will sing its siren song when I am feeling low. One of the main things I have learned from MFC, is that one slip up is not the end of the world. It is possible to get back on the waggon, join the team or whatever metaphor you like.
My embroidery is finished and was presented today to much acclaim, probably 15 - 20 hours of stitching. It is nice to be appreciated. I have conquered Mount Ironmore, which has been accumulating while I worked on the embroidery - it was a rush commission.
Food had stayed more or less good - I did succumb to a flapjack yesterday to have with some Paracetomol as I wanted something to eat with it. Other than that, I have stuck to my eating plan for October pretty well.
KOKO one and all
F-P -
Message 47
Posted by LoopyLobes (U14384399) on Tuesday, 11th October 2011
That's so right, F P, if there's chocolate in this house it *will* be eaten! I'm fine until I have that first taste (of anything carby), then I can't stop. So much easier to avoid starting - it's not like I actually miss carbs, but one carb leads to another just as if I were an addict.
How's everyone getting on? -
Message 48
Posted by Dukan1 (U14971564) on Tuesday, 11th October 2011
Afternoon All,
I've been disconnected....really....moved office and it took a week + to reconnect!!!!!!!! Ö÷²¥´óÐã phone line bu**ered at same time, can you believe it. Very high winds/rain did something to our line and trees had to be lopped and...and....condt p94.....Bt..pah
Diet going a little more slowly..plateau reached so am thinking of a day or two on phase one again. I'm pleased with progress so far though.
Will catch up later and read all your news. I hope all well with everyone.
WCDI
D1 -
Message 49
Posted by Fire-Pig - proud to wave the protest banner (U12231213) on Tuesday, 11th October 2011
Poor you D1, although I am not a 20 something always glued to my smart phone, I like to feel connected to the world!
Don't get impatient with the diet, you cannot continue at the same rate of loss, you body is probably still catching up with all the changes.
My October continues well, I had my second Pilates class today, and am very disappointed that I cannot make next week's class. The teacher assures me it is an excellent workout for all those with osteoporosis, so it can only do me good!
KOKO one and all
F-P -
Message 50
Posted by Miftrefs Laura in Lothian bufily ftitching (U2587870) on Wednesday, 12th October 2011
And walking is the very best of all exercises for those with osteoporosis! It must be weight-bearing, so swimming or cycling or riding don't affect your bone density at all, but walking or tai chi or pilates will do.
supplements can be useful - not only calcium, but magnesium, zinc and Vit.D too. And a good wide-ranging food intake as well!
But walking is virtually a secret weapon against the advance of osteoporosis! Pilates will help with good posture, which makes the walking more effective, ditto tai chi.
laura
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