I really must take this more seriously!

Doubly inspired by Leanne's http://todaysstuff-leanne.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/wild-thing.html

and Michelle's http://foodyliscious.blogspot.co.uk/ I will start blogging more seriously and more often. I have 20 adoring followers that expect something from me every so often, but bearing in mind my last blog was about 10 weeks ago I'm not cutting the mustard at the moment.

The title of this blog though is actually referring to my weight loss - had a very cheeky gain this week at fat club and it was very well deserved! Up until last night I was determined to give class a miss due to a mysterious bout of 'flu' but I woke up this morning and thought to myself that if I didn't go today then I would certainly  be scoffing on a pasty by lunchtime.

I went and faced the music, and came away all revitalised and motivated etc and so far so good........

I am about the same weight as I was a year ago, and in all fairness, have still lost a lot but I am so easily lead! My most recent naughty week comprised of 3 meals out, 2 takeaways, one cream tea, lashings of wine and no willpower. The sad thing is that when i eat rubbish, I feel rubbish so I should really learn my lesson but don't!

It's also hard to be organised when your work is based around the tourist industry and the town is overrun by people walking very slowly up the middle of the road and our local Tescos ( one of the dearest in the UK ) stocks nothing very inspiring but with a little bit of preparation I can do it.

On another note, Mutley, our middle springer, fractured one front paw last week and has floating bone in the other. he was due to go back to the vets tomorrow and is under house arrest for at least another 5 weeks.
He had to go back today though, as whilst frollocking with Freddy ( baby springer ) he managed to rip his toenail off and is now wearing a bright pink bandage and my purse is £40 lighter.

I swear that he looks depressed - but not as depressed as I will look if I don't shed some of this weight next week.

dietdevil: Paws under the table.......

dietdevil: Paws under the table.......: Freddy the delicious new addition to our household has settled in well and truly! He has slept, eaten, wrestled, woofed ( once ) , licked , cuddled and been cuddled. Even the other 2 spaniels love him so fingers crossed, it's all good.

Diet wise - aw heck, fat club tomorrow and am expecting a gain. I am good til the dreaded Friday arrives and then it goes downhill. I was angelic yesterday and today too, but am afraid I am going to have to turn up tomorrow and take it on the chin(s).

Tomorrow's another week in fatclub land and I must must must try harder.....

dietdevil: I'm back!

dietdevil: I'm back!: I haven't blogged for nearly a year but am going to resurrect it in honour of my friend Leanne who has just started blogging. A quick upda...

I'm back!

I haven't blogged for nearly a year but am going to resurrect it in honour of my friend Leanne who has just started blogging.

A quick update of what's been going on since last July.....

I lost 4 stone - and have bounced ( literally ) between a loss of 3 and a half and four stone for 8 nonths now. I still want to lose more but with no Take That concert in the near future it's hard.

My eldest daughter left home and went to uni last Sept and I have survived!

Sadly our oldest dog died, but we now have 2 new ones......the latest of which arrived today.

Book group has gone from strength to strength and is now THE place to be the first Tuesday of every month. Lots of new friendships have been formed, gallons of wine has been drunk, heaps of nachos have been nibbled, oh, and we have also read books too!

Will try and blog regularly with any updates of my exciting life x

Is that your boob or your belly?

I have been blog free for a couple of weeks as I have for once in my life been speechless or in the case of blogging, wordless.

I have however, decided to blog today.........
I am tired and grumpy. Daughter number one was out last night in Penzance - and even though she is nearly 19, I never settle until she is home and safe , so it was 3 in the morning when I eventually got to sleep. I was then woken by the screech of seagulls at 7 so am not in the best of moods!

My weight loss seems to now have slowed down - I am ok with this - sort of - and sometimes need a kick up the bum to remind me that I HAVE done well and to not get disheartened. I had a mini rant at fat club on Tuesday as I had been good all week and had not lost so much as a gram and everyone agreed with me that life and diets can be unfair - but hey ho, onwards and downwards I hopefully go.

I have since my last blog done the following -

had all my hair chopped off - something I am glad I did and am very happy with the result

Become addicted to Ebay - something I have dabbled in before but am now a hardcore bargain hunter!

I have been out and about buying some new clothes, but as  anyone else that lives in Cornwall will verify, as lovely as our county is, we're not exactly spoilt for choice in terms of retail.
It was then that I decided to go looking on Ebay - my eldest daughter seems to nab good bargains all the time and I have already purchased a few bits and pieces.
A lovely new dress ariived yesterday so I dashed upstairs to try it on - now even though I have lost weight - my chest hasn't. The dress itself fitted in the body bit BUT it didn't in the boob department. I had to wedge it over my head and pull it down and contort myself into all sorts of strange positions and once it was on the fitted chest bit had actually squashed 'them' into all sorts of strange positions too. My youngest daughter ( not known for her tact and diplomacy ? walked in and witnessed the spectacle and prodded the mass of me that was sticking out and said ''Mum, is that your boobs or your belly''. Oh how we laughed! She then removed me from the dress, which once again, was like a military operation.
It is now hanging in my wardrobe and I will try it on again soon...............

On the culinary front - I have tried twice now to be really inventive and failed on both accounts.

Flop number one ( literally ) was my 'pavlova' - Egg whites are free on slimming world, as is sweetner . I calculated the quantities needed and threw it in the overn and waited............
It certainly had the look of a pavlova - but once it was out the oven it flopped - it flopped more than anything had flooped ever before and ended up in my bin.

Flop number two - I decided to make a lovely couscous cake on Friday night but had run out of mincemeat. ''Aha'' I thought, as I rummaged through the cupboard - ''prunes'' - surely some chopped prunes and a bit of mincemeat would be a worthy substitute?
WRONG - I am a fan of the prune - they are lovely with custard and are quite nice on their own but NOT in a cake! My friend Marina ( my egg lady ) has chickens and according to her Mum they eat anything - so guess what's on their menu this week? I only hope any future eggs don't have a prune taste to them.

Business is busier, but not manic yet - I am just about staying sane ,
Hattie's leaving to go to uni is fast approaching and I am not thinking about it,
I have been good again all week and have my fingers crossed for Tuesday,
I am having a couple of my fat club buddies round for dinner on Tuesday evening and am attempting a choclate cherry roulade which is just a posh version of a swiss roll  and a lasagne. These are 2 dishes that I know I can do well, so really nothing can go wrong can it? Read next week's blog to find out!

Planes, trains and automobiles...............oh, and lots of chippies!

Well everyone - I have been there and done that but I didn't get the t shirt....I think they're a rip off and I had already spent enough just getting there.

The Take That concert was 3 days ago and I am still coming down from the buzz of it all. They were brilliant , as were The Pet Shop Boys but I have to say that Mr Robbie Williams stole the show good and proper. I am so glad that I went and even gladder that I lost 3 stone 2 and a half pounds, but I must say it has all left me feeling very frazzled. I shall take you through a step by step guide of my expedition.

Firstly, as anyone that lives in Cornwall knows, as lovely as the county is, it's not the easiest place in the world to get out of. I decided to fly as a train would have taken far too long - even further than my journeys to Alnwick which would last 9 or 10 hours.

Hattie dropped me to Newquay Airport and I flew with Air Southwest which claims to be 'Cornwall's Number One Airline' - call me cynical but I wasn't aware that Cornwall had more than one airline unless of course Air St Buryan or Air Redruth have escaped my attention!

When I checked in I was told that the flight was delayed by 40 minutes which I could handle but then all of a sudden it was delayed by nearly 2 hours! There was a lot of 'kicking off' Cornish style - ''ere boy, wasson?'' etc but we finally took off and I placated myself with  a very cheeky early evening voddie and a bag of nuts. I was surely living the rock and roll dream after all.

On arrival in Glasgow I then needed to get a bus and a train and a taxi to take me to Nicola's sister's house which is near Dunblane. Beautiful scenery and very nice people and I have to say - very very clean public transport.

On arrival at Clare's I was met with a Mexican feast and lots of wine but Sliiming World is so ingrained within me now that I actually managed to have a normal amount of food and feel satsified.

Day Two - was THE BIG DAY - we caught the very clean train back into Glasgow and had a wee mooch roond. Growing up in Northumberland with a Scottish mother I visited Scotland quite a lot but hadn't been to this city for I reckon nearly 35 years. I had forgotten what a huge beautiful place it is - lots of high gothic buildings, lots of lovely shops and I have to say, I haven't seen so many chips shops in my entire life! I know no other city centres where a chippy would be nestled snugly in between Top Shop and New Look but hey ho, this is the country that invented the deep fried Mars Bar so I suppose anything goes.

We had dinner at Wagamama's - I am going to do a Jim Royle here - 'wagamama's my arse' -I hate noodles and the rice and chicken I had tasted just like, errrr, rice and chicken! Not someowhere I would wnat to go back to but as there aren't any within about 200 miles of where I live I think it's very unlikely I will return.

After dinner we headed to Hampden Park and had a good laugh at all the ridiculously drunk women with the Take That emblem etched on their faces. We were positively sensible! As you all know, I LOVE to have a drink but some of these were OTT.

On arrival it took us ages to find our entry gate and I am still chuckling at the security sysetm -

'Big burly security guard: - Have yee got anything in yer bag hen?

Take That fan : - No

Big burly security guard : - Och, in yer go then hen.

Once seated the excitement rose and we were most relieved to find that our seats were covered - it was pouring and not just a few drops, I'm talking torrential.

I have never seen so many drunk people in one place - some were hilarious  - ''hen, don't drink the white wine - it tastes like pish'' to the not so hilarious, ie, the woman in front of us that insisted on singing and dancing throughout the show even when there was no music. She had smuggled a bottle of white wine in and had obviously had a couple beforehand. We thought she was with the man next to her but it slowly dawned that she was infact on her own and was just being very friendly, ie, entwining herslef round people on either side to the point of doing 'jazz hands' in their faces! I seriously think that in between songs we watched her more than what was happening on the stage.

The whole show was fantastic and I wont reveal too much as a few friends are off next week - I can assure them all they will love it.....a never forget experience.

I came back to Cornwall the following day and as much I had enjoyed myself, I was glad to come back to our little corner of the world in the South West. It was months ago that this was planned and I had a goal and I succeeded - I may have more weight to lose, but going to it so much lighter felt nearly as good as I felt when Robbie sang 'Angels' to me.

I am going to continue to blog - it may not be about Take That anymore and I may not mention my diet so much but I am sure I will find something to moan / groan and laugh about.

I have a wedding in September that I would like to lose another stone for but it's silly season down here and there are several takeaways a stone's throw from my house ( but only one chippy ) so I need to keep my mind on this wedding and not on the delightful aromas that waft up my road.............and most definitely on deep fried chocolate!

Look Sam - I've blogged!

Apologies for the non blogging last week but as I explained in my previous post, it's busy busy busy and I'm afraid my energy and desire to blog was dampened somewhat by the arrival of hundreds of tourists to our lovely little town.

Last week I lost 3 pounds and this week I managed another half and GOT MY THREE STONE AWARD!  I am very proud of myself as , give or take a few pounds, that is what I wanted to lose before my Take That adventures which are now only 2 weeks away. I'm still no string bean but am no longer a turnip and will feel happier knowing that I wont be blocking out the view of the 4 people standing behind me at the show.

So now I've achieved my goal I need to try and keep this weight off. Anyone that struggles with their eating will vouch that it's not the losing it but maintaining it that is the tricky bit. I still have the wedding in September and would love to lose another stone but for now I am content.

We had one of our famous taster mornings at fat club on Tuesday which we all enjoy. Nobody, but nobody eats before weigh in, so you can imagine the spectacle of 20 or so dieters being let loose on a table of free food - I dont think any bones or teeth were broken in the stampede but the food was certainly different to what we all normally have for breakfast. I made beef and butternutsquash curry and got up at 6.45 am to do this. Consequently my house smelled like an Indian takeaway for the rest of the day but it was delicious! I also made the now legendary swiss roll and other delights on the table included chilli, cheesecake, quiche and viennesse fingers. As I said, it wasn't our traditional breakfast but we all enjoyed it . I was so full that I didn't actually eat for the rest of the day until dinner time when I had what we call in our house 'the can't be arsed meal' ie, pizza! I needed to eat and get out to book group so thats why speed was of the essence. Maybe it's my newly refined taste buds talking here but I have to say it was truly truly awful. The 3 large glasses of wine at book group made me forget about it though........

And speaking of book group - well -it certainly is an experience! We went to Ros's house for this month's gathering and she had provided some tasty  nibbles. Once we had discussed the book we had all read ( this normally takes about 20 minutes ) we then regressed into memories of party food from the 1970's. Egg sandwiches, sausage rolls, beef paste buns and potatoes wrapped in tin foil with cheese and pineapple on cocktail sticks and stuck in so it looks like a hedgehog. We all agreed that next time we would all bring a plate of some lovely retro munchies and as I have strategically planned book group for a Tuesday ( the day that doesn't count ) then I can guarantee that I will have a plateful! I dont know if it was a Northumbrian tradition but I do recall when I was a kid going to parties that we always used to have scones with butter and there would be a penny wrapped in tissue paper in the middle. I would appreciate it if any Alnwick people could confirm that this is true and not a figment of my imagination but I'm sure I'm right!
This would obviously violate health and safety regulations these days, but in the 1970's we liked to live on the edge. I'm not sure what my plate of food will consist of but if it's scones I will leave out the extras - we don't want  any choking before our 20 minute intellectual discussion! Choking with laughter is allowed but after lots of wine I doubt anyone will be capable of performing any Heimlich manoevres ( or however you spell it ) or kisses of life!

Hope everyone has a good week - and thank you to a certain young man in St Ives for nagging me to keep blogging. Sam, you can have my autgraph when I'm famous!