Shopping, yurts and puppies

It’s been one of those weekends, when anything can happen, and most of it does!

One thing I forgot to do, when I posted my slightly gloomy weigh in on Friday, was take my measurements and see how I’m doing on that side of things.  I got round to doing it on Saturday, and I was most surprised to see that my hips and waist were lower than anything I’ve previously recorded.  I can’t remember if I last did my measurements last week or the week before, but it just goes to prove that the scale is never the whole story!  Half an inch of my hips and nearly an inch of my waist put a smile back on my face.

Friday was a great day food-wise, as I waltzed into the end of the day with 3.5 points banked.  It was also a busy day, as I frantically baked birthday cakes for Jon’s celebrations yesterday.  One coconut cake and one chocolate cake later, and I had to rush back over to hospital to make visiting hours to see my grandma, and then back home to ice them before bed.  My grandma’s ok, but (and, oh the irony here) she’s in hospital because she’s basically not eating enough to sustain herself because (so unfair) her appetite has really dwindled away to nothing.  Unfortunately, I don’t think she’s really grasped this, and she thinks she’ll be out of hospital in the next couple of days, but realistically it’s looking like it might well be weeks, because she’s really not eating much more now she’s in hospital, and not walking every day is actually making her wobblier on her feet than before.  *Sigh*. Old age is cruel.

I was up early yesterday for a day-trip into Birmingham with Nia and Bec to hit the shops.  Unfortunately, they hit my wallet hard in return!  More nice stuff for work, and for the first time ever I’ve been able to buy fitted stuff from Zara and have it fit – wooohooo!  Mind you, I find it a little offensive that whilst I’m a Medium or Large in most shops these days, I’m a freaking XL in Zara, and even they come up small!  I just have to remember not to take it personally – those clothes are exactly the same size as my Mediums, etc, it’s just that they’re badged up differently.  I’ve definitely noticed my style getting more adventurous as I get smaller though – tucked in tops have now started featuring in my wardrobe and there’s a lot more feminine, girly work clothing appearing these days – my new colleagues had better appreciate all the effort I go to! lol

Last night was Jon’s party out at the yurts.  After driving a winding country lane, followed by over a mile of narrower private drive, we arrived at the bottom of a field in the pitch black with no clue where we were going to get there, and looking like pack-ponies with all our sleeping bags, spare clothes and food and drink.  After some wandering round like a herd of lost sheep (the real sheep were looking at us in a mighty puzzled fashion), we were rescued by a local and fellow party-attendee in a handy 4x4 who ferried us to the site.  Good job really, as it turned out to be a good half a mile of unlit and not very obvious farm track away across 2 fields and through a couple of gates!

It was a lovely evening with a BBQ flaming outside, wood-burning stove heating the main hut, and awesome tunes provided by the not-inconsiderable skills of Mix Master Moss (aka our friend Chris when he’s not behind the decks).  There was much hilarity, drinking games, chin-wagging with long-unseen friends, weeing in fields (strangely enough yurts don’t come with modern plumbing – just another experience to add to the list!), trying to figure out how I was so drunk, when I don’t remember more than 3 drinks, and finally stumbling to bed in the fabulous Moroccan painted beds that were handily arranged around the smaller huts. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eating-wise I was over on points yesterday, but yet again, I’m pleased with my decisions.  We had Yo! Sushi again for lunch, and for a second time (in a week!) I made good choices and stopped when I was full.  I tried eel yakitori which was one of the special dishes, and it was amazing, and I had pumpkin fritters which were sodding lovely!  Vegetarian and fish dishes are low in points, so that was a winning combo, and I took a WW’s snack in my bag, for while we were wandering round in town which turned out to be a good idea, as well as a bottle of water.  When it came time to head to the supermarket to shop for my BBQ food, I kept my head screwed on.  Chicken breast instead of burgers or sausages, and I chucked in my cajun spice jar from home so I could just season them on the grill.  A pack of light cheese slices.  A small pot of couscous with roasted veg, and a potato salad, and I realised that would be more than enough, especially with birthday cake circling too.  I ended up swapping one of my chicken rolls with a friend for a small homemade burger, but for virtually the same points.  A small slice of coconut cake, and my drinks rounded it off.

The potato salad never even got touched.  Actually that turned out to be a good thing, because I had some for tea tonight and when I pointed it, it turned out to 11 points for the little box.  Yikes!!!  I could happily have demolished that in one sitting, but armed with the knowledge I had half, and put the rest in the fridge, to be portioned out over the next couple of days.

This morning was a little slow to get started as we were a bit fuzzy-headed.  I had a bizarre scavenged breakfast of a small amount of shortbread and a jam doughnut, as most of us forgot to put any kind of breakfast food in, and then there was the slow process of tidying up the site, packing the 4x4 with the BBQ and generators, etc, and walking all our gear back to the cars.  I was feeling a bit sluggish after that breakfast, so I jumped at the suggestion of going for a walk by the river in the sun and then going to meet a 7 week old Labrador puppy when my old friend Ben suggested it.  An hour of deliciously warm sunshine, and feeding the swans, and then rolling round on the floor with the cutest puppy you’ve ever seen was a great hangover antidote!

Meet Finlay:

In short – it’s been an awesome weekend, which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed.  I’ve got a points deficit of 18 to start this week. Tomorrow I start work (gaaaaaaah!), so I’ve already planned my food.  I’m just about to go and prep it now, before I go have a shower, and fall into bed to read for a bit and then an early night.

Wish me luck for tomorrow!