Gloomy like the weather

Just another day of trying to be honest with myself about what's going in my gob. Which is harder than it sounds at the moment!

I'm feeling a little bit bereft today as my scales have decided they've run out of batteries again (or at least I hope that's what the problem is), so I officially have no idea what my weight was this morning. That's pretty scary for a confirmed daily-weigher like myself! I'd best get myself some new batteries pronto otherwise my weekly weigh in tomorrow is going to be a tad tricky!

Other than that I'm trying to decide if I can be bothered to remove my ass from the house tonight to attend a charity poker night, when what I'd really rather do is curl in bed early and read my book which I'm rather addicted to (the Sookie Stackhouse series which True Blood is based on).

I'm also hacked off because after my iPhone collapsed completely last week and I had to make thr trip to Bristol to get a replacement from the Apple store, the new one they've given me is proving faulty as well. So that means I'm prob going to have to make the trip to Bristol AGAIN to get it looked at - a 100 mile round trip. Grrrrrrr.

Decisions decisions.


-- Posted from my iPhone

Boring but steady

Not a bad day yesterday - I tracked everything and was only 1.5 points over at the end of the day. I had a day off the working out as I'm already on track for my aim of 4 sessions this week, so I went to the pub quiz instead.

A steady day - now if only I coul knock out a few more of these with a bit more consistency!


-- Posted from my iPhone

Playing in the sunshine

This gorgeous Spring weather we're having now, has definitely kicked my ass in to gear. Suddenly it's fun to get out and play in the sunshine again.

I spent a lot of last week, after getting back from Wales, being in a bit of an emotional funk, stewing over something I felt was unfair. The result of that was that whilst I jumped straight back on plan food-wise, the exercise portion wasn't happening.

Friday's weigh in had me 1/2 lb up on the previous week - not too bad for 4 days away and off plan.

Whilst I was being lazy on the couch last week and stewing, I did do one positive thing - I decided it was time I had something new and exciting to look forward to, so I looked up local biking clubs in my area. There weren't so many of them in Worcestershire, but there's one promising looking one just over the border in Gloucestershire. Their website looked fun and friendly, and specifically said they welcome riders of all abilities, and since I work over that way anyway, I dropped them an enquiry email ....

..... and a day or two later I got a very encouraging email from a lady called Janet, inviting me to a ride with them this coming Saturday!

This past weekend has rolled by in a blur of social stuff and sunshine. We had a birthday night out on Friday for my friend Alex, at a gorgeous local Indian place - very posh and a superb menu. Also - their food? NEVER oily or greasy which is great. Still, I was a fair whack over points by the end of the day, owing to a stressful day at work which threw my whole schedule out on my half day.

To make up for that, I decided to make the best of the weather and get some decent exercise in over the weekend.

After running some errands on Saturday, I slung on my walking trainers and stuck a few essentials in my pockets and went off to explore up the hill. 2 hours and a hilly 5 miles later I was content. It was sunny enough to be out in a vest top, and I walked a mixture of the busy main paths (kind of unavoidable if you want to head over the Beacon), and explored new smaller ones, saw some of the prettiest cows you'll ever see (I'll post a pic later - they were so cute!) and generally cleared my head.

After a quick shower and change, I took up a last minute invitation to go over to Jo and Lissa's for a BBQ - the first of the year! It was so chilled out just sitting on their terrace, food on the grill, chiminea merrily burning away providing some heat as it got cooler and admiring their garden. Owing to the earlier walk and not having eaten much during the day, plus driving and not drinking, I didn't have to worry too much about what I was eating either. We chatted about Costa Rica, and stuff we want to do out there and other plans for the summer .... lovely!

Sunday I organised to go down to Bristol to go cycling with Hannah, on what turned out to be another lovely day. We finally opted for a gentle stroll down the Bristol to Bath cycle path on the bikes, which is along the route of the old railway.

Initially, we thought we'd bike the 15 miles to Bath and catch the train back, but after a glorious stop for some sneaky cake by the river at Saltford (at The Jolly Sailor by the weir - highly recommend it!), we decided that the remaining 4 miles to Bath wasn't enough of a finale so instead we'd bike it back. 20 and a bit miles and happy :-) In fact I think it might have been Hannah's longest ride to date!

And now for the only part of the weekend I regret. For some reason I talked myself in to getting takeaway on the way home. I don't know why, as I didn't particularly want it - I think it was more that I'd decided there was nothing I wanted to eat in the fridge at home. Needless to say I felt sick afterwards.

And cursed myself for a fool roundly.

Yesterday, spurred on with my disappointment in myself, I jumped straight back to it, and along the way reminded myself how much yummy but healthy food you can eat for so little points. Sweet potato, marrow, tomato, and mushrooms all featured in my tea. Yum!!!

I was also planning another expedition outside last night, but ended up working an hour over (again!) in the office. By the time I was driving home I was in a royal sulk, but somehow I talked myself into kicking my ass out the door anyway.

Not enough time to go walking on the hills, and not really feeling like running, so I compromised .... I walked partway up the Beacon as fast as was comfortable, and then ran round a swoopy path and on back down by a different route! Totally a revelation and the best of both worlds. No hideous hills to run up in my deeply unfit state, but way more fun and much prettier than running on the road, and with the added bonus of running on an unstable surface to concentrate on - very good for my stability.

Not a long outing - 16 mins rapid walking up and a 22 min run back round but I felt good and returned satisfied. I'll definitely play with this format again :-)

-- Posted from my iPhone

Focus, brain, focus!!!!

Why, oh why, can I not stay focused for any length of time?

Come on, brain, keep your eye on the ball. It REALLY can't be this difficult.

Buffet lunch today and I let it throw me off track. Can't see me getting anything but another sodding gain this week. Especially as I have another dinner out tomorrow night.

Right, going to have to make the best of a bad job and at least try and make tomorrow right.


-- Posted from my iPhone

Damage report

First damage report after the weekend doesn't seem to be too bad - 2lbs up. I can live with that.

The weekend went a bit haywire after I last blogged, as I somehow inadvertantly caused an argument and big upset on Sunday night, without even realising it. I would say that it was a further case of my legendary foot-in-mouth, but it was more of a case of something I said being taken completely out of context and very misinterpreted.

I think it's mostly ironed out now, but unfortunately the person who did the misinterpretation is the girl one of my good friends, Sid, has just got together with (confusingly also called Sue, which was formed part of the misunderstanding) - since he stood silently by whilst she ranted at me in the small hours of Sunday, I think I can safely say he took her side over the whole thing - so I think I shall be keeping my nose out of next door for a little while to let everything settle. To be honest, I'm a little hurt that he's so besotted with her that I appear to have been temporarily dropped, but I guess that's the way life goes.

Today, is back to normal eating. After a long weekend away, I had a fridge full of fresh veg that was on the edge of being lost, and I also have a freezer full of stuff that needs to be whittled down, so I've concocted a sausage casserole for tea that helps solve both of those problems. And, mmmmmmmm, was it tastey. Plus, the added bonus that I now have three ready-made meals for the week - woohoo!

On a reckless note - since I enjoyed my bike ride so much at the weekend, I did a bit of research this evening, and dropped an impromptu enquiry email off to a local club. I'll have to wait and see if anything comes of that!

A masochistic kind of pleasure

Hey guys,

Just thought I'd jump online whilst I've got a quiet moment and check in and see what's what.

I'm staying in deepest, darkest Wales this weekend with a big bunch of friends, and for the most part I'm having a whale (Wales?? teehee) of a time.

Our beautiful converted church on the coast is quite quiet at the moment, as people are either still out walking and exploring, or are crashed on the couches upstairs sleeping and listening to the chilled music which I can just hear filtering down the stairs.

The place we're staying is gorgeous - seriously, I aspire to own somewhere like this when I'm grown-up (yeah, I know, god only knows when that will be), with all the bedrooms and bathrooms downstairs, and upstairs being the massive open-plan church - leaded, stained glass windows, open beams, still with the pulpit (now housing the DVD library) and big chunks of the old pews forming the kitchen island.

However, as I sit in my comfy chair in front of the thoughtfully provided Mac computer, my seat bones are complaining more than a little after my first foray out on the bike. The whole group, novices to nutters, turned out with mountain bikes at the ready yesterday, to explore the trails around nearby Machynllryh. Those wanting a gentle ride got sent off along the Mach 1 trail, whilst I somehow got bundled off with the 3 nutters to go test out the Climach-x trail.

With the other 3 all having ridden all Winter, plus just generally being light years ahead of me in terms of riding skills and general fitness, it was an interesting trip! As we span out of Machynlleth and along the back roads to the head of the trail, I was busy getting a technical re-cap from Katherine on technical climbing and descending, which believe you me, came in very handy later!

Starting up the trails away from the road and up into the forest, my legs weren't too shabby (thanks to my recent return to running I'd guess), but my heart was fit to burst out of my chest and take my lungs with it, which might have been a blissful relief to the rasping sensation in my throat as I attempted to get enough oxygen on board to both climb and think! Me thinks, not riding all Winter was a dumb idea!

After a brief stop for everyone to remove layers at the official start to the trail, we headed straight on up the next section of fire-road, and I slowly settled into a rhythm - slow being the operative word. I figured it would be better to let the big boys and girls race on ahead, and for me to arrive at the top of the first section, still conscious, vertical and breathing. I'm proud to say, that despite my ascent being snail-paced (several may well have passed me on the way up), it was at least continuous. First challenge accepted and completed. I was conflicted halfway up though, as a bunch of downhillers passed me on their bikes, grinning and getting towed up on ropes behind a Ford Escort - I couldn't decide whether it was entertaining or just cheating as I slogged my own way up. I returned their grins and kept spinning as I mulled it over.

On to the first sections of single-track and I'd forgotten how bloody narrow the trails are. And how much gorse stings. And the feeling of the first trickles of muddy water seeping down your socks and between your toes.

Bloody marvellous, it is! :o)

As the others patiently waited for me at appropriate points, I emerged from the descents grinning and adrenaline high, and all was going swimmingly until Tim had an almightly blow out on a slate strewn section of open moorland. A good half-inch gash in his tyre resulted in half an hour of faffing as we first tried re-sealing his tubeless tyres (too big a tear, and the latex couldn't hold) and then finding a spare inner to bolster it until a full repair could be done. By now throughly cold again, we wolfed down Haribo and set about re-warming up, with a handily placed muddy slog - sorry, climb. Yuck.

The rest of the ride was trouble-free, with the exception of me suddenly running completely out of energy on the penultimate section of single-track which had too much up-hill and not enough down-hill for my poor legs. After a quick walk though, and half a sandwich wolfed at a rest point, we headed up the last section of fire-road and into the mammoth final descent (longest in Wales, baby!!!).

Heading into that, and with Tim insisting he hang back behind me to check I was ok and that we pause before the tricky part, I was a bit nervous that my legs wouldn't get me through the final section, but as soon as we started swooping down the hill, it all went away. Adrenaline fired back up, I warmed up, my legs felt springy again, and there was inadvertent whooping as I fired down as fast as I dared.

Walking over the short black section in the middle (well, I would wouldn't I, as even 2 of the other 3 couldn't get over in one go, and the third commented it was the first time he'd ever managed it), and we hopped back on for round 2 of descent. Back down below the tree-line, and there were a few moment as I became more confident where I nearly over-cooked it and came completely unstuck (feet off the pedals-style, and Tim commenting afterwards that I "did well to stick that out"). Hanging off the back of the bike, sliding and slipping through the turns, soaking up the rollers and splattering muddy water everywhere, we emerged grinning at the bottom (and covered head to toe in mud).

After that, some flat-out descents back down the remaining fire-roads and a big gear to spin back along the roads to town. Quads just starting to spasm a bit by then, so just taking it easy and letting the lactic acid disperse, sipping water before full-blown cramp set in. All in all, a fab ride, and the shower afterwards never felt so good, as the water turned brown with all the mud sluicing off me!

Food-wise, there's been a lot of it this weekend, but I've tried to make some good decisions. Friday night, I went over some, as there was lasagne and garlic bread, and although I started with a small portion, I went back and had the other half. And then rather a lot of vodka, lime and lemonade to drink in the pub.

Last night and today have been better. We had pie last night, but I stopped when I was full and handed my plate to one of the boys to finish off. I also stayed off the booze, which I think helped. Today, we've mooched over to Barmouth to wander, whilst the 3 nutters have gone off to climb a rather snowy looking Cader Idris. I wasn't too tempted myself after yesterday's outing, and with the amount of cloud smouldering overhead.

Instead, we parked on our side of the estuary and strolled over the toll-bridge to Barmouth, and once there a food expedition was started upon. I can take or leave the whole cockles thing, so I left it. At the fish and chip shop I had fresh scampi and a cone of chips, but left the remaining chips once the scampi was done and handed it to one of the boys to finish for me. After that came the amazing Knickbockers - an emporium specializing in ice-cream sundaes - my personal downfall. I avoided a full-blown sundae in favour of picking three scoops of my own choice and a sauce ...... and where has the real Sue gone? because I didn't finish it all, and handed off to yet another of boys to deal with the leftovers. Yay me!!!!! Some nice strolling around town, and then a mooch back over the toll bridge to the car completed the outing.

It seems I don't mind not finishing, and just stopping when I'm full, if I've got someone else around who will polish it off and enjoy it! I definitely need a boyfriend! I know they say most people put on weight when they go into a relationship, but it seems like it might be the opposite for me! lol

Anyway, that's everything from me for the moment. I'm going to push off and chill with the others now.

A weekend in Wales

I haven't weighed in yet this morning, but despite pretty steady eating over the second half of the week and a not so bad weekend the scales had resolutely moved back up yesterday, so to be honest I'm not expecting great things. Frustrating as hell, but I need to stick with it.

I had an absolutely appalling day at work yesterday, rounding off the week from hell, but at least I didn't let it over-run in to my eating. Someone gave me a Cadbury Creme Egg as a little thankyou at lunchtime and it it was still on my desk at the end of the day. In fact, it's still in my handbag.

If I can just do the conscious eating (or not eating as the case may be) thing more often, that would be half my battle won, but I do wonder if that will ever become second nature?

I had healthy stir-fry when I finally got home, but having finished so late the last couple of nights I've missed several workouts which makes me grumpy. What I did get was some therapy time in the kitchen last night. I don't know why it is that I've found learning to bake so bloody enjoyable, but I find it highly relaxing to get in the kitchen, stick some music on and make a mess.

Maybe it's the making-something-out-of-nothingness of baking that calms me? Taking a load of disparate raw ingredients and watching it magically combine into something conpletely different? Well, I don't know, but it's nice to have found it! Hey, maybe it's the constant compliments I get on the results that does it for me? I am a total attention-whore after all!!! Whatever it is, it was time to learn how to bake cookies last night and oh. my. god. did they ever come out well!! I coudn't believe how those little round dollops of dough turned into big, wonderful soft cookies. Laced with chocolate chunks too! I had one and it was heaven, and the rest are in a big airtight box to take away with me today.

So, that brings us to the weekend, and it's going to be tough. I'm heading off today for 4 days in Wales with a big group of friends for Bridget's birthday. I really don't want to come back from this having put lbs back on, but that's going to require a lot of work to navigate it safely.

There's 10 of us staying in a beautiful converted church called the Writer's Retreat, somewhere wild and wooly in the middle of Wales. The plan was to climb Cader Idris tomorrow and go mountain biking on Sunday, but the current weather looks like it's going to put a stop on one or both of those. The thing is, I need that exercise to counteract all the cake and booze that's going to be flying round this weekend. I am going to have to be very careful what goes in my gob if I want to avoid further smack-downage at the scales.

Give me strength!!!!

*Edit - Phew!!!! The scales backed down, and I've stayed the same. I know how to pick my battles so I'll take that result. *

-- Posted from my iPhone