Oh, that doesn't sound so bad - I thought the bit in Bridget Jones when she got assessed was hysterical, but I couldn't face it happening to me.

Hmmmm!!!! I'll have to make enquiries.....

I managed 8.5 miles today! There was only me and one other woman and she is already very fit and is only coming along for company on the walks, all the others cried off when it was a bit drizzly at the start. It was gorgeous - 5 mins after we set off the sun came out and we went on a very scenic walk across the Moors in an area where all the wild rhododendrons grow - I didn't realise they had a perfume but when you have got 12 ft high plants in full bloom on either side of you for mile after mile its surprising how much scent they have got. They are all shades from pale pink through to deep mauve - absolutely dazzling. I'm going to have 10 mins on that Ab roller thing (I really don't like it much but I have to show willing).

My motivation has left me - am working too hard. Not good for my health but I'm hoping in time it will be good for my pay packet. I know there is more to life but you need to prioritise everything and I have promised myself a couple of months of this over working and then it will ease out. I have a big presentation to do at work tomorrow to do some of the big wigs and all the change stuff I've been working on goes live on the internet tomorrow so hopfully then I can just get on with doing the job and forget all the imlementation hype.

I will find my motivation, I must have left it around here somewhere.

Carol, sometimes our timing goes a bit wrong, you will sort everything out soon i am sure. your motivating post about plannibg your diet a couple of weeks ago was excellent, hope you fine your personal motivation soon, look under the sofa, thts where we found everything here !

Kevin bungs everything on the side table in the kitchen.... I bet Carol's motivation is there..... must go and have a look!

Well.... its is raining cats and dogs today.... somehow I can't picture me or my lovely ladies walking for more than a mile or two and I will probably have to do it on my own with only George for company! Its at times like this I wish I belonged to the gym! Nevermind, I'll jog on the rebounder for a while to make up the difference and have another go at that bloomin' ab roller. Does anyone else have one of these? If you have, does it leave you feeling like you've got an upset tummy?

Ohhh! I've finally got the date for our top to toe, no holds barred fostering medical - next Friday at 2.30. We have to allow 45mins to an hour for EACH of us!

Well, if everyone is busy looking for carols motivation, can they have a look for mine as well - mine has also gone totally awol!!! Largely due to an overload at work the same as carol and all i can think about at the moment are the work related problems that i have.

Every week i promise myself i will get back into it and every week i fail miserably which leaves me feeling a failure. I have been playing around with the same 1/2 stone for the whole of this year and for some reason cant get passed it.

Tracy

I don't have an abdominal roller but I have used one. I do abdominal crunches at home (like sit ups but you don't go all the way up) and they tend to leave me feeling like I have an upset tummy the next day, so I can sympathise Sarah.

Thanks for that, Phoebe, I'm glad its not just me that feels yuckie afterwards!

Sorry, Carol, I didn't manage to find your motivation - and your's wasn't there either, Tracy! Sounds like you and Carol have got the same problem... I can't really suggest much except to say that when I used to have those problems I always found that scheduling some time on my own used to help me clear my thoughts and actually helped me work better in the long run. I used to go swimming - not really for the health benefits but because it was the only way I could find time alone so that nobody was talking to me/expecting things of me. I used to go at the crack of dawn and just swim and think until I had got my brain clear. It WAS a luxury and it certainly took some major planning and organisation - but I always felt it was worth it.... having that time away from work and home so that I could reflect quietly on the problems of the day, formulate strategies... and, of course, I always felt that I had had a little time to myself to think about me and what I wanted from life.

afternoon everyone finally got my bearings again after doing nightshift .......sarah i dont know if it was here or somewhere else you posted about your group of ladies and weighing in and such that is such a brilliant way of socialising with neighbours, but you said you wanted to try more vidoes why dont you suggest that you and each of the ladies buy one video each and rotate them.........saves money and youll get plenty variety

WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT??? Well done, Kim, that's a BRILLIANT idea! Its a whole heap better than the idea that one of my lovely ladies suggested yesterday, which was for me to sort of lead/teach an exercise class on rainy days (rather than walking) - the only thing like that which I do at the moment is power yoga and I think they would have all been a bit disappointed - and, of course, the danger there is that I'm not a teacher so someone could have done themselves some harm. I like your idea much better. I'll suggest it on the weigh in on Monday.

How are you doing with your walking? Still doing 6 miles on alternative days?

I think I might have overdone things yesterday - I got woken up with cramp in my calf muscle in the middle of the night and it was agony - I've never had that before!

Well - Carol and Tracy - I think I might have found your motivation - I know that I have found a lot more of mine.... We got ourselves a mini digital camera yesterday (finally) and Kevin got a bit snap happy - YUCK! WHAT a nasty shock - it takes 400 shots and does sort of rapid fire sequences and because I soon got bored of posing I stopped sucking my tummy in and being careful to stand slightly sideways on, so Kevin got pictures of the 'real' me - what a mess - I look podgy, pregnant, ill and tired, my hair needs something radical done to it and I think I'm going to start wearing makeup every day!!!! Definitely motivating... I've put one of them up as the wallpaper on my desktop.

The digital camera sounds dangerous - am going to hunt out that tape measure again today that always gives me a shock and hopefully a kick start. We were supposed to be going out for somethign to eat tonight, but with the boys being away last night not sure I want to farm then out again so maybe I will get back to it today or tomorrow instead of 'enjoying' my work free weekend and getting back to it on Monday.

Was going to go for a walk as I can't sleep but it is pouring so maybe I'll find something else to do instead.

I keep on meaning to ask you, Carol, did you manage to get that Geri Halliwell yoga video eventually? (It was you who bought it on eBay, wasn't it??)

If it was you, is it any good? I'm reading her autobiography at the moment - what a horrendously big-headed little madam she is!

I finally got the Geri Vid. Is very good she is very fit and I'm not . I've done it a few times but I do it very badly - it wil take a lot of practice to get it even near right.

She comes across as really arrogant in the vid too.

good to see you back here Sarah, i hope doris is behaving herself these days, we don't want you going awol again, !!
I went for my 45 minute swim this morning then walked into town for my haircut, can't say the walk was healthy beside all the traffic but I am trying. I went into town and tried on lots of clothes, I bought a nice top for £8.25 in a sale, it was a size 16 so i was very pleased. Why are we so size conscious? I know it is great to get a smaller size but one shops size 16 is another shops size 14 or 18! madness really that tape measure is a really good tool me thinks!!
I have walked home from town too so I think I have finished for today!!

had to go and buy a new tape measure to get my scary measurements recorded for postperity on my PC. Old one had been stretched while being used as a tow rope, a rescue winch from a helicopter, a lasso and an essential part of action mans survival kit for when he lands behind enemy lines

new one will be hidden out of reach - trying to pluck up the courage to measure is a scary thought

i only have measurements from about 17st 10lb wish I had started earlier!! i can't find my tape measure either Carol???? Never thought of looking amongst toys, you can bet it will be there!!
Digital cameras are brilliant dieting aid, along with camcorders. saw myself on video at school last week, I still have a LOT of weight to lose, oh yes, OMG it was not pleasant to see,