Of chooks, waistlines and Things to Do.

So the chickens are going well. I love my chookies. They are terribly cute, cautious and  scare easily. Divine. Poppy my groodle wants to eat them. Not pretty, so we’re planning a fox-and-dog-free chook run so that Poppy can hang out in the back yard again. Not fair to confine her to the front yard when the chookies barely use the back.

We’ve had the first few eggs. They’ve quite a pale yolk: more butter-coloured than orange. So I’ll be supplementing their feed with some appropriate food to give their yolks a colour lift. I ate some for the first time today. Scrambled, they were remarkably creamy. Much more so than the free range eggs I normally buy. And even better, one of the eggs was a double yolk. Win!

After I took my folks to the airport on Tuesday I realised my capacity to lose weight was in direct proportion to my care-factor. It’s never going to happen unless I get all serious about it again. Which I can do, I promise. Just not now. The weather is STILL too hot and I’m not really prepared to get out of bed before 9.00am. So I took me shopping and finally succumbed grumpily to the needs of my expanding waistline: I bought 3 pairs of size 12 trousers, and half a dozen t-shirts and tops. In QLD clothes deteriorate really fast because they’re always being washed. I looked at my own clothes: they looked tiredly at me and promptly sagged into grottiness and worse still: torn in parts. Plus, I only had about 3 pairs of sad old pants I could wear (2 pairs of WHITE pants, y’all, and 1 pair of 2-years old totally grotty navy pants that I wear EVERY SINGLE DAY when I’m not wearing the white ones), and it was beginning to get desperate. I’m not paring back my wardrobe to bare bones: I WEAR IT ALL.

Every so often I buy a bunch of t-shirts but 6 months later they’re always pretty woeful. Doesn’t matter which brand, either. They can be super-dooper expensive or quite cheap. They just lose shape and look old. On the plus side, I rarely throw out my t-shirts because I repurpose them either as pj tops, painting tops, or cleaning cloths. So there you have it. Instead of removing the fat from my body I’ve taken the easy way out. At least now I’m comfortable in my clothes again, and mildly stylish.

Things to do for the end of March and all April: finish off some book editing (tomorrow’s job), finish my book chapter (tomorrow as well), create a chook run, and go to the gym. Perhaps write some job applications too. I’m learning how to keep busy, and I’m starting to enjoy slowing down a bit. Perhaps I’ll write some fiction, as I promised myself so many moons ago. And I’ll definitely read a book. I’ve not read a single novel since I joined Goodreads. Unlike me. And I’m starting to think about being artsy-fartsy again. Perhaps I’ll join an art collective and do some arty-crafty things.

Happy Easter everyone. See you on the other side.

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Friday Filibuster: From little things big things grow. Some Australian protest songs.

From Little Things Big Things Grow is a song by my favourite muso and serial adulterer, Paul Kelly and his mate Kev Carmody. It’s about how one man’s actions can galvanise a nation into shame for its appalling treatment of indigenous Australians, and begin a “reconciliation” (given that we never had a conciliation in the first instance I’m not sure how we can be reconciling, but whatevs), a recognition of wrongdoing, where a People’s country can be returned to them in a gentle, yet powerful ceremony that is both as profound and as prosaic as pouring earth into a person’s waiting hands.

 

Given the current parlous state of Australia’s ethical and moral stance against refugees and asylum seekers I’m hoping that some small Australians, those ordinary people who work in hospitals and banks and schools and police stations and offices, will rise up and say to our two major parties (Liberal National Party and The Labor Party) that enough is enough. Stop treating these people as criminals. Be humane. Be mindful of international law. Follow that law. Actually, they are doing this, but the right wing goons, who are a small but self-important bunch, are holding the parties hostage. Here’s a song by our beautiful Missy Higgins called Oh Canada that evocatively illustrates the plight of refugees and asylum seekers everywhere.

 

 

Another great artist, Tim Minchin (composer of Matilda the Musical), has written an angry song about our Cardinal George Pell, who seems to have become strangely too ill to travel to Australia to answer a Royal Commission into the Catholic Church’s years of wanton cover up over a string of appalling paedophilic priests who ran rampant around Australia. Heads have rolled over this one but more will roll as more is uncovered.

 

Anyway. This post wasn’t going to be about protest songs. It was going to be about weight loss. Hah. Got you! So it’s just that I’ve started going to the gym every day, swimming. I swim for 30 minutes, or 14 laps of a 50 metre pool (yes, I know that’s super slow. I don’t care). I swim breaststroke, and today it took me a little while but I finally got into a beautiful Zen state, where time disappeared for a while. As I say to DH, it’s my daily meditation, swimming.

I’m back to calorie counting, but not too much – I’m not cutting out carbs and I’m being more circumspect about how I count those calories – in other words I’m not sweating the small stuff like I used to. I’ve also cut out snacking and most sweet foods. It seems to have worked: I’m already down 500 grams in 5 days. A nice start. Tomorrow I’m going to a proper gym class at 8am (yuck), followed by a swim to cool off.

So, from little things big things grow. A daily gym routine to get me out of the house, more thought about WHAT I eat, and the results show that little things can have a big impact. Go little me.

 

Weekend Coffee Share

If we were drinking coffee I’d be offering you a delicious ice coffee instead, with ice and milk and sugar. Because it’s frigging HOT here. Or better yet, how about a refreshing mint julep? Darn it, we’re out of soda.

In my pathetic middle-class desire to leave a smaller carbon footprint on the earth we’ve taken to using refillable soda bottles. Called Soda Stream, it has been available in Australia for what feels like forever. You have this contraption that looks like this:

(copyright SodaStream)

a bunch of spare plastic bottles and a large soda gas canister that fits in the back.

In fact, this is the exact version we have. It’s fun and cheap to use and when the gas canister is empty you can swap-and-go replacement cylinders at your local supermarket. That’s the plan, anyway. I’ll let you know how we get on…*

*much much later…

Huzzah, we found and bought replacement bottles! Fizzy water, welcome back. Is this cheaper than buying 1.25 litres of mineral water for .70c at Aldi? Not sure. What I do know is, we drink one heck of a lot when we have it. We’re probably spending about .50c per bottle, even though it suggests one gas canister will supply up to 60 litres, therefore costing us an imaginary .30c per litre.

IN OTHER NEWS.

I WENT TO THE GYM TODAY AND SWAM A LITTLE. Yes, I really really did. I feel virtuous in all sorts of ways. I’m gearing up to get back into the swing of consistent exercise and slightly less food. When I weighed myself  – at the gym, because I don’t own a set of human scales – I was pleasingly NO heavier than I have been at any time in the last 6 months. I’m just…squidgier. And as we all know, muscle is heavier than fat, so I can actually be heavier than I am now but a lot trimmer looking. And I’m sick of my face looking fat.

The plan is to lose about 2 kilos and assess the difficulty in reaching THAT milestone, then work at losing another 5. I need to get to the gym at least 5 times a week, and curtail my lolly and carbohydrate and alcohol intake. It’s not like I don’t have the time.

In family news, my stepson turned 18 last week. All of a sudden he’s an adult, although we all laughed hysterically when he said he wanted his mummy to drive him to uni for the first day (he doesn’t have a job, a car, or money yet). We celebrated his brithday at a brilliant Pan-Asian restaurant called PawPaw, in Woolloongabba, Brisbane. Food was AMAZING. He drank alcohol in front of us, but he’s no drinker – he’s not interested in getting wasted, even as he jokes about being 18 and drinking. We bought him a wrist watch – a proper one that looks like it came from a Mad Men set. Gorgeous. We’re also buying him a Barista course and an RSA (responsible serving of alcohol) course, so that he can actually work. He’s even talking about moving out of home at the end of the year. Bahahahahahaha. Anyway. It’s good to see him stretching his wings a bit.

In other news, my oldest child is throwing an engagement party for he and his girl, sometime in April. We’re travelling south to share in the day, but every day there’s more bills to pay and more frustrations to be had. We just can’t stretch our funds far enough. Dammit, I need a job.

I think that’s it for the coffee share. Although this should REALLY come under the banner of Monday murmurings.

I hope your weekend was a joy. Ours was lovely.

 

Weekend Coffee Share is hosted by Diana at Part-Time Monster.

 

 

Weekend Coffee Share

If we were having coffee I’d be inviting you to ignore the laptop and accoutrements I’ve set up on the kitchen table because it’s cooler in here than anywhere else in the house.

 

The air-conditioner is in this room too. When the day is hot and before the cooling breezes come through at about 4pm, the house is like an oven. So the dining room table is by far the best place to work. But it does mean my stuff is out, making a mess. It’s annoying for everyone!

If we were having coffee you’d notice I’m no longer grieving, depressed or angry. Last year was HARD. This year is a little better. I’ve pulled out my gym gear and am getting ready to hit the ground running. But not today. I WAS tempted by gym this morning because they have a fabulous outdoor pool that helps me get back into the swing of exercise, but the pool is closed for a swimming carnival, and I’m not tempted to go to the gym with a thousand screaming kidlets. Perhaps at 3pm when the kidlets go home.

Those who don’t know my previous posts won’t know of the crazy self-immolating time I had in 2012-2013 when I totally rocked an Australia size 8 (size 4 in US). I was a gym-and-diet junkie. I wasn’t uber-thin, but I was very, very strong, and my cuddle-layer was missing. I was super-healthy, super-fit, felt super-hot, could wear ANYTHING. It’s amazing when you are slim how clothes just work. I had a trainer, I worked out consistently and dieted my socks off. I looked great, felt about 25 again, looked 25 again for about a minute, and really enjoyed my svelte thighs and slim arms. I’m one of those people who put weight on their arms, so I get arm-chub, which is as close as I’m going to admit I have a body image problem.

This was not sustainable because I went off carbs and had to calorie count like a demon, but it showed me that I am capable of getting strong and fit and slim, through hard work and sustained healthy eating habits. I’m not the world’s worst eater by any stretch. I make my own muesli, I eat avocado and eggs on sourdough toast, and I don’t go overboard on takeaway food (last week notwithstanding, when for dinner I had Afghan takeaway Tuesday, Japanese Wednesday, Vietnamese Thursday, and several chicken wraps for lunch. This is an aberration while DH and I get used to my evening teaching again).

But it’s easy to be lazy and grab a pie from the freezer, because 25 minutes heating it is easier than spending 5 minutes preparing a fresh tuna salad. Go figure. And I love my red wine, so cutting down on my nightly alcoholic bevvie is almost impossible.

If we were having coffee, I’d be telling you that, once again, 2016 is the year of getting fit. I have the time, so no more excuses. My lovely community gym has a raft of excellent day classes starting at 9.30am, including HIIT, boxing fitness, TABATA, and if I go for a swim after it’s likely to give me that endorphin boost I love. My body loves being active but I have to work out quite hard to get results, and my muscles just ACHE. I hate this, even as I know exercise is good for me. But you know the REAL reason I’m having to get fit? I don’t fit into half my lovely lovely clothes anymore. I hate it when my waistband is too tight! And the other day my model-thin daughter (who can’t seem to put weight on no matter how hard she tries, where did THAT come from?) told me I looked OLD because I was wearing what I fancied was resort chic. I thought I looked like this:

When what I apparently looked like was this:

(This woman actually rocks her outfit, but I’m not quite there age-wise).

If we were having coffee you’d notice my new pair of glasses. They’re bifocals. They’re giving me a headache. They’re Ralph Lauren Polo glasses, navy on the outside, striped navy/white on the inside. I like them because I can SEE but I hate when I get headaches from glasses. Always happens with multi-focals.

So, how to fill my days. That’s the challenge this year.

What’s YOUR exercise regime? And do you rock the resort look, or do you, like me, just look frumpy?

Weekend Coffee Share is brought to you by Diana at Part-Time Monster. Add your voice to the conversation!

Bad sporty spice.

I’m referring to me, not the actual sporty spice girl. It has been a rotten week for my weight loss and health regime. Occasionally I get mildly ill with a small cold and I’ve worked out it’s much better if I just stay home and don’t do very much. So I did this. I managed to get through my teaching days this week but geez Louise it has been hard to maintain the rage when feeling under the weather.

I’ve not been to the gym since Saturday last week. I feel weak and schlumpy. On the plus side, I’ve lost 1.5 kilos since I started my regime. Clothes are fitting just that little bit better.

Despite my poor health I’ve religiously maintained my healthy eating habits, eating slightly under 1500 calories (6280 kj) per day. It’s getting easier to remember to bring an apple or nuts to work, or a low-sugar muesli bar. And I’ve only one week to go to the end of Feb Fast. Faint Huzzah me.

I’m looking forward to punching that boxing bag again. And swimming. And dropping those kilos off my person. Here’s a positive thought image for the day, which if bloody WordPress worked properly would sit UNDER my writing where I have tried many times to place it, not OVER it.

 

 

And the weight loss treadmill begins! (again)

Yep, you heard it. In the week since my last weigh in I’ve lost 800 grams. I COULD call this a kilo but then I couldn’t include the breakfast I’ve not yet eaten. So my diet and health kick is working well. And for those who actually care about what I do, here it is in sordid detail.

In October 2012 I had had enough. After a trip to Greece in June that year my weight ballooned out to the mid 70s and I was looking and feeling like a little old middle-aged lady. It was not pretty. I felt old and tired and unattractive. Something snapped, and I made decisions. I went on a year-long health jag. Throughout this time I joined a small PT club. I worked with a personal trainer once a week, went to three exercise classes a week (boxing, HIIT), swam a lot, did some yoga, went on a diet (high protein, low sugar and low GI carbs), and lost all the weight and more that I had put on during my marriage. I was strong, fit, healthy and slim. I felt fantastic and easily fit into size 8 clothes. I think my lowest weight at this time was about 61kgs – I have no idea because I stopped weighing myself.

After Xmas 2013 I eased off a little. Maybe a little too much. I noticed I couldn’t fit into my litmus test pants: a pair of size 8 red jeans. Never mind, I thought, I’ll just go to some more classes. I got more and more laid back about my diet, my exercise and my health regime. I had a PhD to finish, y’all! I got busy at work. I dropped my PT now as it was too expensive to keep up now that I wasn’t going to so many classes. I joined a different gym. Ever so gently, my clothes sizes moved up a notch. From size 8 to size 9, then size 10. Now I was eyeing off size 11 clothes and then, in October last year, I bought a size 12 dress. Dang it. But I was enjoying wine and the good life too much to spend much time at the gym.

Then I bought some easy wear pants and they were a size 10. Cool. I was still ok. And then Xmas 2014. Oh dear. Whoopsy-doo. All that lost weight began to creep on around my waist. Buttons began to pop. Tops began to look frumpy again.

So I made a decision to refocus my energies into getting that spare tyre removed, getting fit and healthy again, and not eating and drinking quite so exuberantly. I have a 10kg weight loss goal. Really, I just want to fit into my old size 8 clothes again.

This is what I’ve done.

A week ago I joined my gym’s latest “8 week body transformation”. Perfect timing. It gets me 8 PT sessions, a dedicated work out class, weigh-in and measurements, a food diary thingy and an end-of-the 8 week weigh-in and measurement. I have some spare time at the moment, so I’m trying to get to the gym at least 4 times a week. Mondays: Boxing class OR something in the AM such as Zumba plus a swim. Tuesday: PT. Wednesday is a day off. Thursday is the dedicated fitness class, a bit HIIT, with body weight exercises and running. Horrible but healthy. I don’t mind doing Burpees or Mountain Climbers or high knees, but I often feel faint during the class because I have low BP. Friday I took off but there IS a boxing class in the morning followed by yoga. Should go. Haven’t yet. Saturday could be a long one if I let it: HIIT at 8.30, Yoga at 10, plus a swim. Sunday Core X and swim.

That’s enough exercise to keep me busy and engaged, and plenty of exercise options. Although no dance. Result: I’m not as UNFIT as I thought I would be and my fitness level has gone back up quite quickly. Phew.

I also have an account with MyFitnessPal. This free app and account (I know, awesome, hey?!) is a log of all my activities and will also sync with my Apple Health, plus about 30 other health measure apps such as Fitbit (which has a terrible app, don’t use it). MyFitnessPal also allows me to connect with other members, it has an enormous food database, and logs my favourite foods too. I can log my exercise, food, calorie or KJ intake, weight loss and other things. It’s a near perfect app for me. So I calorie count and limit my food intake to 1500 calories per day. This is enough to lose weight when I add up all the exercise I do but it’s not enough to starve me. I’ve stopped drinking alcohol for FebFast and I’ve never really drunk sweet drinks. I’ve cut down on crap food too. And NO dessert any more (sadness).

So, there it is. A three pronged approach. Goal-setting group fitness classes plus PT, a calorie-counting diet, and an app that records my stuff and connects me to a wider community. I’ve done it before, I’ll do it again. Although I have to admit something. It is just as hard to maintain a healthy weight as it is to lose it. I hate feeling sore all the time and I hate not being able to eat Tim Tams. So that’s why I let my health drop a bit.

I have done this before, I will do this again.

The saga of the weight loss. Again.

Yesterday, the last day of January, I began my diet and exercise regime in earnest. Having slipped over the 70 kg mark again I thought it time to curtail my exuberant eating and drinking and visit the gym. I hate being forty-something if only for the difficulty of keeping my weight down. Otherwise I like being forty-something! Besides. All my clothes are getting very tight. I don’t have a set of scales so I can only go by what fits. Not much fits at the moment.

February Is a perfect time for me to go hard, plus do Feb Fast, because my teaching isn’t at full strength and I have good swathes of free time. Plus I’ve finished my PhD. So for those who care about such pettinesses, here is my regime to lose 10 kg (again).

I joined my gym’s fitness boot camp. 8 weeks long, it gives me 8 personal training sessions, a dedicated exercise class, food diary and measurement tracker. They measured my weight, height, arm, leg and torso sizes, bmi, skeletal weight, fat percentage and body age. This is always the hardest part. They took a photo (ugh) and did a fitness test. I’m fit but a bit fat. At 26.4% bmi I’m considered a bit overweight and my proportion of body fat is 39.6%. Too high! That’s drinking and crap eating and no exercise for you! Walking the dog does not cut it for my health regime.

I have entered all possible classes into my diary so for February I can attend a class every day. My gym also has a 50m outdoor Olympic-sized swimming pool, which in hot, humid weather like this is a perfect finish to my daily exercise: I breaststroke swim about 400-500 metres (8-10 laps) and it washes out the pain and heat from the class, and allows me to stretch.

One pt session a week plus a 1/boxing class; 2/ yoga; 3/ hiit circuit; 4/ body pump or Zumba. That plus a swim should do it! I’m terrible in the morning and prefer mid-morning classes, hence the odd mix of classes. There’s also a Thursday evening boot camp class which may kill me, but I’ll have a go!

I already belong to MyFitnessPal, which is a near-perfect app in which I can measure my diet, exercise, track my activity and weight loss, and record a range of health and fitness activities. Plus it has the added benefit of a community of like-minded souls all seeking health and svelte bodies. For those who care, my blood pressure is ridiculously low: last night it registered 93/57 (we have a portable home blood pressure monitor). I won’t die of fatness, but I may die through falling over.

I’ve cut out alcohol for February. But I’ve already given myself a head start by not drinking over the last 3 nights. Not too bad so far.

I record all my eating habits. I’m used to doing this from last time, and even though it’s hard at first, sticking to 1500 calories is pretty easy. I’ve no desire to eat less than this as I get too faint, and 1500 calories allows me 400 calories per meal plus snacks. A 400 cal meal size is a good portion and there’s wiggle room for sweet treats and a drink. Both of which I’ve cut out for the time being.

The above regime is similar to the successful one I did in 2013. The only problem I have with it is that I hate exercise. I feel sore for days and I hate getting sweaty. But it’s the only way. My body loves to move. Without a serious amount of exercise I can’t maintain a lower weight. So it’s yo-yo for me. At least I know and understand this though.

So if I do everything like I did in 2013 I should lose 4 kgs a month, dropping back to 2 kgs per month after 8 weeks. I’ll let you know how I get on. In the meantime, I have a gym class to attend. Adios, amigos!

Weight loss, maintenance and the pursuit of perfection

So, in 2007 I turn 37, get married, move to sunny, hot QLD and over 4 years the weight just stacks on. I join gyms, get a PT for a short while, but the willpower is not there and the PT is frankly not very good. Besides, I am happy, slightly overheated and disinclined to get sweatier than I already am. After 4 years, a  mostly finished PhD and no exercise, 40-something me is eyeing off size 14 clothes and lamenting the loss of my figure, thinking sadly that I’m probably destined for frumpy middle-agedom after years of being mostly slim and basically healthy.

Then in 2012 I have an epiphany, take time off from the PhD and decide to lose weight and get healthy. I join a private gym, get a PT, exercise 4 times a week, eat well for the first time in years, count calories and food intake and voila, underneath frumpy lady is not-frumpy lady. Weight falls off, muscle builds and tones, and I am back into a size 8 and lamenting that off-the-rack clothes don’t really work for smaller waists and larger thighs. (When one says larger thighs, they aren’t really all that large at all – just sayin’.)

Now, I am in maintenance mode. I struggle to get to the gym more than 2 times a week and that includes my PT session, I drink 2 glasses of wine a day, eat ice-creams and the occasional biscuit and have stopped counting calories and food intake. But the weight has stayed off, as far as I can tell. You see, I don’t weigh myself except when I’m at the gym, and even then, not very much. I don’t panic when I feel I am having a “fat” day – it’s just my hormonal cycle fluctuating as it should.

Even my PT can’t understand it – he asks what I am eating, what other exercise I am doing to keep so fit, and all I can say is “my body likes being like this”. And so it does. Last century, American psychologist William Sheldon came up with the notion of somatotyping, that suggests humans come in three basic body patterns or sizes (somatotypes): ectomorph (long and thin); mesomorphs (muscular, fit); and endomorphs (large, broad). It’s basically accepted to be quackery (you should read how he got his data! Research fraud!) now but hey, it works for this black duck. According to this pop psychology theory I am a mesomorph. I gain and lose weight easily, I develop muscle easily, and my body is compact and designed for powerful movement. I do mainly strength training because I HATE cardio, but I DO do a circuit class, mainly on the weekend, and sometimes I do boxing as well. Must get back into that on Thursday nights.

Thing is, I can feel my motivation slipping away every so slightly. Yesterday I was in a bit of a heap and took a doona day – I’ve been battling a throat infection for weeks and I just needed to lie down for a long time. I went to the gym in the morning, but I didn’t take the dog for a walk as I should have, and then I spent the day grazing, basically because my body is fighting off this thing. And I was hungry. Today I feel a heap better, but it’s raining and I’m not sure the dog will get her walk today, and I’m still tired and a bit achy. And I have work to do.

I was reading a long-lost blog by a fellow MyFitnessPal user who has been a great inspiration to me – essentially same age and weight, she has reported on her weight loss journey and taken progress pictures, and she looks amazing! Her actual weight has fluctuated a lot (about 15 lbs), and depending on what she has been doing – either strength training or cardio and calorie-controlled eating, she looks almost the same in all her shots. Actually, she looks hot in her strength training shots, heavier in weight but slimmer in size. I wasn’t aware that strength training can have such an awesome effect on one’s appearance, but it really does. But even this amazing, sensible woman has had her low months. She recently reported on her battles with depression and illness that have demotivated her. Old habits crept back in, exercise went down hill and she gained weight. And she stopped writing in her blog, which is why I couldn’t find it for months. But she’s back now. And I’m so glad – because one needs motivations like someone else’s blog to re-energise and refocus.

So, to perfection? Well, we all know that’s not possible. And I don’t want to be perfect. But I do want to be fitter, now. Healthier, and even stronger. Because all this helps me as I age. Here are some before and after shots for those who think that sort of thing’s important: (notice how I’m hiding my fat bits from the camera in the first shot!)

When the cat’s away the mice….study.

This week DH heads off to Europe for business and I follow him a couple of weeks later. I’ve been thinking about what I might potentially do while we’re apart, and it occurred to me that I don’t have to worry about spending time with my man because we can’t. This bodes well for my study timetable, I hope, even as I know I will miss him terribly.

So it will be interesting to see if I can finish my methods chapter in the next week,  or whether I’m kidding myself and his absence makes absolutely no difference to my study timetable. I’m thinking of this as a test scenario for when I’m in Yorkshire on our study retreat.

Certainly this weekend yawns enticingly ahead, mostly free of work commitments (1 glossary to complete today). I’ve no money to buy stuff with and no overriding need to do anything other than clean the floors, do my washing, go to yoga and walk the dog. No friends to see or people to meet. Nothing but drive my man to the airport in an hour. Mind you, I’ve already wasted half the morning playing Plants vs Zombies and reading the paper.

I will report on my findings next week, after I’ve been teaching for 37 hours as per usual.

*In the meantime, for all those interested in my weight loss regime, I’ve not lost much weight these last few weeks because I’ve been slack (or busy at work, whichever way you look at it), and haven’t been to the gym more than twice a week. I’ve been rather careless with my diet, too, and yesterday was VERY naughty, because it was my birthday celebration dinner. So this next 12 days or so will see me up the regime, attend more gym and eat better, in preparation for a fortnight of walking over windy hill and dale, eating heart warming stews and probably drinking rather too much ale/red wine/ whatever’s available at the ye olde British pub.