Wednesday 2 January 2019

Christmas and New Year and the old year.

Just wanting to put this down for my own failing memory.
Went to SW on Christmas Eve, lost a pound to hit my third and final revised target bang on.
My first target was 9st 13 as I never ever dreamed I’d be sub ten stone ever. Well I was. And I kept losing. And losing. So reset and then hit my target at 9st 7 meaning  rather satisfyingly I’d lost the same amount of weight as I weighed. Then came the tricky bit. Increasing my eating plan to maintain this weight. So I was then up and down nicely in my buffer until I missed a few weeks and was hovering about in my original target buffer. So I sat down and had a long chat with my SW leader. I reset my target for 9st 10. This is still having me way overweight for my height BUT I’m quite happy here in my size 8-12 clothes range and I can see my collar bones. And I know I said in a previous post about numbers being personal etc - I’m clearly ok with these numbers now which is why I choose to share it. My choice. Anyway. So I hit it on Christmas Eve. I am going tomorrow night to my friend’s launch night of her new group as a newly qualified consultant but won’t be getting weighed until my official group next Tuesday night. I’m not going to lie - I’ve eaten ALL the things this year after saying ‘I’ll have one next year’ last Christmas about Mince pies and cheeeese and Christmas cake and stollen etc etc. I’ve eaten so many biscuits and chocolates and I can feel the few pounds I think I’ve gained. Restarted my healthier lifestyle today with cereal and fruit for breakfast, homemade soup for lunch and spag Bol with that well known accompanying dish, steamed Savoy cabbage! I have also had a few chocolates but they are within my allowance of 15 syns which amounts to about 300 calories really. I love SW, it’s all about moderation and not feeling deprived. We have a new book with slight changes to food allowances etc all designed to protect my weight loss! The hardened cynic in me knows it’s a gargantuan money making machine and truthfull it doesn’t come close in tax kling my self diagnosed eating disorder - compulsive over eating is now actually the fourth major eating disorder - but it is very boring to talk about weight loss etc over and over so I shall leave it at that for now. But it is safe to say that I have surpassed and then some the GWL 2013!

Christmas decs
I changed it up this year. Purple and silver in the front
Red, gold, silver and naturals in the back. White light in the front. Warm in the back. Sparkly and magical in the front. Robinny and charming in the back. Bluebell never really bothered once she’d ‘helped’ me put every bauble on the tree and tried to play with a few of the purple shiny tennis balls!! I also entered the realms of the cluster LED light. Wow. Twinkly loveliness.
My Dad popped in on his way to my sisters. I’d seen my mum the day before. It was our turn for his Mum. Plus I invited his Dad and partner who is a vegetarian- but suddenly illness meant the nut roast that I spent £5 went in the freezer. Indeed when in Sainsrobbers a few days ago I spotted the afore mentioned nut roast marked down to 84p I bought two more!! Ate one to try it. Delicious!! Not worth a fiver but definitely worth 84p! The bronze turkey had a leg and a wing jacked off and the wing and the giblets were poached for Bluebell and Freddie’s dinners and the juice mademmy gravy lush! The roasts were perfect and the yorkshires rose magnificently. Miss 24 asked me about the starters - oh holy prawn cocktail - I’d TOTALLY FORGOTTEN to sort the starter. No one minded. Miss 24 made a giant chocolate eclair and a sticky toffee pudding - we had Xmas pudding and other stuff to choose from. We opted for eclair. Bless her hard work. It looked amazing and the cream and the chocolate was just right - sadly it was undercooked but we all had a good laugh about it and she wasn’t upset. Tea was very much if you can drag yourself to the fridge you can have it. I bloody loved the queen AND her piano. Then we watched The Greatest Showman. I bloody loved that too. The songs were amazing and it captivated me til the end. Presents were plentiful again and were very much appreciated by us all. New coats for me, Mr 21 and Miss 24. New wellies and walking boots. A few sillies. I got a box of Brussels sprouts teabags. I wrapped up a packet of pitta breads for Miss 24’s beau who had quipped he much prefers a kebab to Xmas dinner! And lots of tea towels for them too because I was shocked and disappointed and slightly disgusted that she only had two! The HG got a fancy pants pencil thingy for his new fancy pants iPad thingy. All of us thoroughly spoilt rotten.
Boxing Day was turkey, real chips, tinned peas and gravy as per our tradition. My dad came to join us and took his portion of jam roly poly and custard home because he was about to pop! Then since we have had those endless Sunday days, pleasing ourselves and enjoying every single second of not being at work. New Year’s Eve was spend with lovely old dear friends and I was ticked up in bed by 1.30am. I was actually appalled by the London Fireowrks. The first five mins, yes wow etc but 15 minutes - I could hear myself turning into my dad- they might as well set fire to my £10 notes !!
New Years Day was clear, bright, cold and sunny. A two and a half mile walk down the canal meant that I saw my very first kingfisher ever on there. There was quite the father of twitchers too. Truly beautiful it was. We walked the canal to
My friend’s house who was holding a first birthday party for her puppy Peggy. Bluebell ( who has been a little off kilter ) rallied and romped about and had fun.  She slept all night when we got back. I’m not sure if it’s post Christmas fatigue or her starting to stir into her first season. She’s 7 months old now.
Right a few photos and publish. I do want to share my hilarious nephew William’s plight with you too. Here are some screen shots of my sister and I’s WhatsApp thread.
Enjoy!




This still makes me laugh today! 
Some photos now to illustrate Christmas- there’s some of LMBF looking less than impressed with her Christmas jumper and some of her looking cute with the ever gorgeous Freddie. As always, photos do not do decorations justice. The Christmas present was the one I did for my friend and I was just so impressed with myself! And the tag that was bought years after the paper from a different shop matched perfectly!   
The book was one that I won in a giveaway! I never win anything!! The snowman chalkboard was a darling find in a sale. 




























That’s it for now. 
I’m off to watch Tom Kerridge.  
Lots of love from 
Rachel *might stick my before and after photo on the blog soon * Radiostar xxx 

15 comments:

  1. Perhaps it's also time to change your description of yourself.... after all, you're no longer so round and squishy after that amazing weight loss (well done on all your hard work there, btw!) :) x

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    1. I'd never even thought about that! In my head I'm still as round and as squishy so I will have a ponder thanks x

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  2. You are such an inspiration Rachel.
    I've eaten a few things I shouldn't have over the last week or so but I'll soon work that off and hopefully more besides.

    I'm glad you have had such a fabulous Christmas and New Year. I meant to e mail you on Christmas Eve but just got caught up in busyness....sorry about that.

    The Greatest Showman is just awesome isn't it? Who knew that Hugh Jackson could sing like that? It has just been nudged from the top of my list by Bohemian Rhapsody though.

    Here's wishing you and yours a very, very Happy New Year.
    Hugs-x-

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    1. I've yet to see the Queen one. I put TGS on again today as a backing track to me doing my jobs! Just love the songs!

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  3. Love the book, looks interesting, lovely photos Well done you on the weight loss, its great to read you have hit your targets.

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  4. Hi, Rachel, Happy New Year!
    It's absolutely brilliant to get a bit up to date with things - I miss your posts!
    What to say? The decorations are gorgeous, your descriptions of the festive season are so happy, I laughed out loud at the spider story. LMBF will appreciate her coat once the cold weather strikes.
    Most of all - you are a star. The weight loss is absolutely amazingly fantastic and you are my inspiration! I know my first target is too high and I'm thinking of lowering it but I find myself not sure what my ideal weight will actually be. It's good to know that there is that flexibility there in the system.

    What did you think of the Tom Kerridge programme?
    xx

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    1. I thought it incredibly unrealistic- these people had never seen a swede??? Really?? I'm so judged! But I did enjoy it. I likes Tom and loved seeing his family too!

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  5. It's lovely to read your catch up, Rachel. It sounds like you all enjoyed a great Christmas and I wish you and your family all the very best for this New Year.
    Thank you for your comment about the decoration. Naturally, it was vair expensive ;) https://www.theworks.co.uk/p/art-and-craft-sale/3d-wooden-glitter-decoration---assorted/5052089258068

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    1. Thanks Jules... I may have to invest in a piece of this art! X

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  6. So pleased to see a post from you (and just caught up on your earlier one). Congratulations on achieving your target, that is impressive. It's funny how everyone assumes that losing weight brings nothing but positive benefits - of course there are many, but readjusting to a completely different appearance isn't easy. Nor are all the 'oh, you look wonderful' comments,they're nice to hear but I always hear an implicit 'because you looked awful before'! I haven't lost anything like the amount you have lost, well done on sticking with it. Happy New Year and good luck with your continuing journey.

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  7. Amazing losing all the weight. BIG CONGRATS
    Always lovely to see a post from you as they always make me smile.

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  8. Thank you for the lovely blogpost about your festive season. Very, very well done on your weight loss and staying with SW to keep on track. Your puppy is growing fast and is not impressed with that jumper. Enjoy the rest of your break from work and Happy 2019 to you and yours. Catrionax

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  9. Congrats on the weight loss. Top job, lady 👏👏. Those pups in their Crimbo jumpers are hysterical. Lovely to get your update xx

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  10. Congratulations on your amazing weight loss. I didn't eat any chocolates or chocolate biscuits. I'm lactose intolerant and felt sad. Nut on the bright side I didnt gain any weight.

    Your decorations looked lovely. I like how you themed them.

    I saw my first kingfisher along Lancaster canal a couple of years ago. Some very nice houses down there too.

    Happy new year to you all
    Carolx

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Many thanks for taking the time to read my words and respond with your own thoughts. I always try to reply so make sure you pop back to see!