I'm finding it bearable, apart from stupid heat headaches!!! But I don't feel majorly sweaty and ick like I did when we were in New York and I was more overweight, or when we were in Milan and it was the same temp. Perhaps it's because I'm not walking round!

Tesco man cometh last night! :D :D :D My fridge is full of raspberries, strawberries, pears, apples, bananas, stir fry veg, stir fries (got cooking last night!!) cooking apples, melon etc etc! I'm so proud of my healthy fridge! The only unhealthy stuff is a spinach and ricotta pizza (his) and cherry beer (also his!!), oh and I bought lots of kit kats and crisps (also his) apart from that, it's all good :D Bought a ton of meat, chicken, pork and salmon was on offer. I'm set for dinners for a few months!!!

I was going to "do something" with the raspberries, I'm not sure what, but we ate a whole punnet between us last night - they were yummy :T then this morning I had some for breakfast with splendered and blendered cottage cheese, and some strawberries, and I put some on DF's cereal! :T I doubt there'll be any left to do anything with by the time I have time to do it! :lol:

For those following skwigg's blog (skwigg.com) I've bought a DOOR GYM from e-bay! It's a pullup bar that's ingeniously designed so that you don't have to screw anything onto the door frame. It's held on by the force of you hanging on it and is very clever :yes: I'm going to start my very own pull-up quest! :lol: I might be able to do one by November! :rofl:

Woo Hoo!!!! Cool morning... yay! We haven't had any rain yet but apparently there are torrential showers predicted. Bummer - DH is taking a half day and we were going to take the doggies swimming in the North Sea!

Helen - size 22 down to size 10 is absolutely fantastic! Big Well Done!!

I'm nowhere near my ideal weight yet but, yes, I am a lot more comfortable with the heat this year than I have been for the past few years. Although I think it has been helped by having FINALLY stopped having the hot flushes I got as a result of the hysterectomy I had a few years ago. I can't work out whether the weight loss has helped with the hot flushes or whether its coincidental. Whatever.... I'm not complaining.

Nice meal last night... DH's new boss overheard our phone call talking about it and invited herself, her boss (the Area Manager) and their respective spouses along. Its the first time I've met the new boss and I'm NOT impressed. It was supposed to be a pleasant social occasion and she insisted on talking biz all evening! It was okay for me and the Area Manager's wife - we have met before and get on fine - but I did feel sorry for the boss's husband, he drank far too much and I got the feeling he was completely out of his comfort zone.

Well I survived last night in the Cobden Club for the preview of the Portobello Film Festival. I thought it would be sweaty and packed but it wasn't. I was sweaty but there was a fan on - whch made my eyes water. I enjoyed some of the films - especially "Nun Fight Club" - an animation about Ninja Nuns who celebrate afterwards with tea and scones laced with cocaine! Also an animation from Spain - a sort of Spaghetti Western (or should that be Paella western?). A nother funny one from Ireland (their Government did not stop the film grants like ours did so it is amazing how many Irish films there were) about transport problems.

A copuple of German ones were just bleak and depressing.

I had about 3 low carb low alc low taste beers (to be honest I always think beer tastes watery) they were very cold so I was happy about that (still made me sweat though - the back of my hair was wringing and when I got up to go loo the back of my skirt was wet!!!)

Nun Fight Club sounds ACE! :hyper:

I'm really having fun with my Tesco food! I should buy this much fruit and veg every week! :lol: My food ratios are really wierd - 50% protein! About 35% carbs and not very much fat! I had to add some almonds to up my fat ratio! :rofl: The funniest thing is I don't feel like I'm getting all that much protein, I've just planned to have a protein portion every meal :dunno: Maybe I usually have more bready carbs on a Thursday. We'll see what happens - I don't want to change anything because I'm so excited about all the lovely food I've got to eat! :T

Nun Fight Club sounds great! I get that problem with damp hair at the nape of my neck as well. Its gone all crinkly because I've been keeping it piled up on top with a clamp holding it in place.

Frus - I always have that amount of fruit and vegies and you get used to it very fast. I love having my stuff delivered by Tesco/Sainsbury - no getting tempted by the choccie bikkies or cheese counter.

I'm trying to come up with an eating plan which doesn't involve cottage cheese every day. Bleaughhh! (Sorry - I've had a cottage cheese overload.)

I'd really appreciate peoples' thoughts on this plan: Calories: average of 1850 (zigzagged). I'm thinking of starting off the day with a carb based meal (to get me through my walks/workouts) and eating 5 meals a day progressively increasing the protein and decreasing the amount of carbs ratio until my last meal of the day which would be all protein/no carbs. This would mean only protein and veg at dinner - hmmmm - might need fine tuning!! All my workouts are done in the mornings (except Monday when I have aerobics in the early afternoon). I do workout much better with pre-workout carb meal (thanks to Helen for educating me on carbing up before cardio - I have so much more energy now).

Well.... what do you think? Do you think its too restrictive?

Nope that sounds pretty perfect to me. I'm also trying to cut the carbs down before beddie bies - Tonight I'm having a pork medallion with some veg. How about your penultimate meal being a meat n 2 veg with hubbie, then your last meal is modified.

The only problem I have with getting in the fruit and veggies is that I don't often have time to go to the shop every day (or nearly) and I don't always have time to prepare them (cook a stir-fry) at night, so I guess that's some of the problem. I did enjoy the fruit for breakfast though, I'm going to be buying more raspberries especially as they are cheap and in season. :D I also balk at paying lots for stuff that grows. How expensive is it to plant something for heaven's sake! I could do it myself and that's why I don't want to pay lots!!! :rolleyes:

Have you thought about buying frozen fruit (and veg)? Keeps well, defrosts quickly and can often be fresher than 'fresh' produce. I buy a lot of frozen fruit - minimum of two bags of frozen blueberries and two bags of frozen mixed berries each week. They defrost quite quickly and you can add them frozen in to smoothies, sorbets, sauces, etc. You could also buy the fresh stuff, cook it, then freeze it so you can nuke it hot on days when you don't get much time.

I think its at dinner that I'm going to notice the biggest change. We have always had half a plate of salad/veg, with the rest of the plate equally made up of low GI carbs and low fat protein. I think I might just skip the dinner carbs but DH can continue having his. I'll have to think more about supper - I can't think of many purely protein snack meals that don't involve (bleugh) cottage cheese in some way.

I never could do ratios, so I just hope for the best! I had a lovely low carb meal last night, we had spaghetti squash with a chicken and tomato sauce. I have never seen spaghetti squash in the uk before, but they had them in Tesco on Sunday.

I'm going to start doing the internet shopping thing too. My plan is to do a massive shop at the beginning of the month, then just top up at our farmers market and local market.

Camping this weekend, woo hoo!

How about healthy living (or be good to yourself) bacon medalions Tesco did do them, and I know Sainsbury's do. With some dry fried eggs or scrambled egg whites or something?

How about that Syntrax nectar protein powder?

Frozen veggies - I'd never thought! I bet they're cheaper too! We don't have much freezer space but I'll grab a bag or two when we're out of stir fry stuff!

For a last meal I'd say you'll be ok with lean protein and just veg. How about a chicken salad?

Missed your post kykaree! I just fitday and see what happens! I never plan to be at 30% protein or whatever, I just try to make healthy choices and see what it comes out at! It is helpful for dinner, do I need protein? Can I swing an extra slice of bread today etc.

We were camping last weekend - was much fun! The weather will be good too! :D

I used to get my food delivered by Tescos but got sick of them picking 'fresh' things that were all just a day or two off sell by - rather than rummaging as I would do, for the freshest. So I stopped using it! As we'd have to eat a week's worth of fresh food for 7 people in 2 days flat, then be left with nothing and have to go shopping anyway.

I used to have a weekly organic box delivered from Abel & Cole which was lovely - but we have a small veg patch now and in summer we're getting almost self sufficient in salads at least, so it doesn't seem worth the money, for now. We have a couple of local organic farm shops we try to go to, too but they're not all that close, so usually it's Tescos.

I can't be doing with fitday. I found it just reinforced my preoccupation with food, so I have no idea of my ratios whatsoever, and hope I can rely on my body to tell me what it needs!!!

I'm all packed. One of the friends going camping with us is a ranger leader, and sent me a kit list. I felt like I was back in primary school!!! But at least I'm all packed! I hope the weather stays nice, but not too nice, don't want to boil in the tent!

omg... i woke up with pin n needles in my leflt leg... painful...happens quite a bit since my accident last summer... its only 4am grrr .. its soooo hot i am just trying to chill and haiving a pint (of sqush!!!)

Poor lou!

Horses for courses kykaree ;)

I have a sore cheek, like I'm getting an ulcer or something right up near my cheekbone, but I bet it's cos I got hit last night. I don't remember though :dunno: But I bet that's what it is! :dizzy: I really pushed myself quite hard last night - I'd had 4 cans of pepsi and dr pepper (sugar free!!!!) so I was like tigger on speed! :rofl: I did lots of skipping, and lots of press-ups and lots of hard sit ups and I got my brain in gear and just got on with it. "Ninjas don't quit!"

Anywho - I'm all stocked up on fruit, I just bought some more. Tesco didn't have any raspberries today so I got a kiwi to go in my Fromage Frais. Sarah - this is a good protein heavy snack that isn't CC!!! I've got a 200g pot of Tesco healthy living natural fromage frais, bung some splenda in to take the tartness off, then add fruit of your choice! :T

Scales were being kind this morning, I'm more determined to last the weekend this weekend. We're doing stuff and going places where I can control the food better than at other times! I'm taking our American student round London and she eats :censored: junk ALL THE TIME! I've already established myself as a bit of a fitness freak, gym 3 lunches this week and teaching kickboxing - I will have to keep up the image when I take her out to eat! :D I can't let the Ninja-Jen facade down! :D :D

Nice weather today - not sunny, not hot, not humid - in fact its just right!

Oh dear! On my walk I met some idiot people who were lost on the Moors. Apparently they had had a few too many glasses of booze last night and decided to go on a moonlight stroll. I know the Moors better than most people and I wouldn't even begin to think about doing that. When I found them they had been wandering around in circles for more than 6 hours and were completely confused, exhausted and very frightened - and not one of them had thought to use a mobile phone to call for help! D'oh!

I keep waking up with cramp in my calf muscles at night - I'm wondering if its the huge amount of water I'm drinking at the moment diluting the salts and minerals in my body.

I don't much like Tesco home delivery either, also because of the short-dated stuff. Sainsbury online seem to be better at selecting the longer dated stuff - their policy is if anything is short dated it is packed in the blue bags separately (along with the substitutes) and the customer is given the opportunity of rejecting it or sometimes I've been offered it at a reduced price. Sainsbury's problem is that they seem to have more substituted items than Tesco.

I get fresh veg delivered for the three days after delivery, for the rest of the week I use home grown or frozen - which is much fresher than using the local farm shop or greengrocers (who very much specialise in wrinkly apples and rubbery vegetables!)

The only veg I grow now is tomatoes, chillies, runner beans and packs of those mixed salad leaves but I do grow a lot of herbs. I can't wait for DH to retire so we can go back to having an allotment again. I used to LOVE our allotment - we only had it for a couple of years and had to give it up when we moved here - but the taste of the fruit and veg was wonderful and there was something very, very satisfying about eating something that you've grown yourself. We used to freeze loads of it which is why I've still got so many freezers!

Jen, Good idea about the fromage frais - I never thought of that. I shall put it on my next order - but I won't be having the kiwi fruit - yuck!

Picky ;) :lol:

Try anything! The raspberries were good in it yesterday! :T

(kickboxing news)

Oh, just got a phone call. Apparently the "boys" have decided that it's ok to invite the "girls" now. For :censored: sake!

I don't even know if I want to go any more. *HUFF*

@ *HUFF* - :lol3: :lol3: :lol3:

Will you bite the bullet and gracefully accept?????? Or tell them to :censored: off?

I hate those gritty little pip things in kiwi fruit - but I don't mind the little pip things in raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, etc. Maybe its green fruit I don't much like cos I can't remember the last time I ate a raw apple - but I use them for cooking.

Right - time to sit down and work out my entire menu for every meal of next week, calories and all! I know that when I do this I stick with it beautifully - its when I try being clever and do the calculations it in my head as I go along that it all goes tragically wrong!

I don't know - I'm kinda seeing what pregnant girl says. She has her car booked in on that day now.

I can't get hold of the other girlie to ask her. It might just be me, but I just don't know any more.

You gotta go!!!! On principle!!!

I think I'm gonna be having a "lost weekend" on the food and alcohol front this weekend. I drank more than I usually do when I was in Australia (um more than nothing!!!! :lol:) And I realise I quite miss it. This weekend my camping buddy has bought gin and vodka, so I'm gonna just relax. Running after 6 kids (not mine) and swimming and hiking should help!

I'm wearing a skirt today :shock: above the knees :shock: I have decided it's my most flattering length, despite my hatred of my calves.

:dancer: Hooray for skirts! :D

I'm in a little black dress which is tight :yikes: and shows off my legs :yikes: and my cleavage (perhaps a bit too much for the guys downstairs in the workshop! :lol: ) I'm still melting though, this is the coolest thing I own!

Poor Frus, those boys are :devil:

Helen, well done on the size 10 :carrot:

I'm back from my sister's graduation. We had a good time, although it was very hot :hot: and I ate VERY badly :ink: :cbg: There were cream teas, big restaurant meals, cooked breakfasts and strawberries and clotted cream in abundance :drool: . I just couldn't resist when everyone else was gobbling away at it all :rolleyes: Now I'll have to eat very sensibly over the next few days if I'm to be down come weigh-in day (monday). I did manage to get my runs in though. We got back at 9pm last night and I was moaning about how tired I was and thinking I wouldn't do my last run of the week, when my sister turfed me out of the house with my running shoes. Only problem was, I couldn't be bothered to put on shorts just to get them sweaty so I decided to run in the skirt I was already wearing. Oops, forgot about the thighs rubbing together problem :yikes:

Ooh Pachyderm do i know about the thigh problem! Have you any 'comfort shorts/magic knickers' you could have worn with the skirt?

Even worse than the thighs rubbing together is when you shower afterwards and the shower gel stings the rubbed area. AAAH!

OMG! That reminds me of one time when I was at Uni (when I was skinny) and I worked as a very poorly paid nursing assistant at a nursing home for the elderly in my holidays - my legs used to do exactly what your describing. The pain was unbelievable - I treated it with zinc & caster oil cream which helped a bit. (Yes, the same stuff you put on baby's botties.) I didn't last long at that job - some jobs just don't pay enough for the kind of stuff you have to do.... yuck! I do realise that someone has to do it and IMHO they should be paid an absolute fortune.

I've got on a mistake (a pair of white jeans which have been cut off to make fairly short shorts) and a pretty pink and white top. I forgot to get changed before I went swimming so the WHOLE WORLD has seen my day-go white legs!

I've rubbed vaseline on my inner thighs for now so I feel ok, but I don't think I'll be doing that again!

I have day-glo legs as well, but I put on THREE coats of fake tan before wearing skirts at my sister's parties. At least with white shorts your legs must look browner by contrast!

Nope - the shorts and the legs are pretty much the same colour! It looks a bit strange because the top half of me that isn't covered by a tank top (arms, face, top of chest, neck) is very brown and my hairs gone very pale blonde. I keep meaning to try out the instant tan on my legs again but I got a bit frightened off it by going streaky orange last time

I used to get that at school. Most times I'd wear tights to stop it happening, but then my tights would go into holes and then I'd get a horrible rash where the holes were. I think I was the only person who wore tights in the summer term :(

I exfoliate and moisturise my skin first, then apply a mixture of fake tan and moisturiser. I find that then I minimise the risk of streaks (although they can still happen) and I definately need more coats to see a good colour. I use the Elizabeth Arden stuff which was recommended by some magazine last year as the most natural (ie non-orange) colour. Having said that, I can only be bothered to do it for special occasions and normally just put up with the day-glo look.

I am now trying to tan my legs using the old fashioned method of lying in the sunshine for short periods of time, but I find that the browner top half just burns and the legs STAY WHITE! :dizzy:

I went to Turkey last year, my top half was a lovely shade of brown, my legs stayed white as white. I did self tan for my Christmas formal, but I don't normally bother. Everyone teases me for being a very pale Australian, but think of famous Aussies - Nicole Kidman, Naomi Watts, Cate Blanchett - none of them are known for being brown!

09 minutes til camping.

Sarah, you're absolutely right about you diluting the sodium in your body. You need to add a tad more salt to your cooking or to your food as you eat to stop the cramps. I was told this when we first got out here as I had calf cramps something wicked and went to the doctor with huge knots still in my calves all through the day.

I drink loads of water, a definite have to with temps at 115 like today is, and add salt, I actually use the less sodium good for you salt and touch wood, I don't have cramps at all....watch tonight, I'll have one now :)

So give that a try luvey and see if it helps, also, my Mother swears by crampex, she takes one when her legs feel tight and she doesn't get cramps at all. Hope this helps you.

I tan really easily, so at the moment people are asking where on earth I went to come back this colour! It definitely makes the thighs look thinner (and due to my increased bikini wearing the tan line seems to be much higher up this year :)

The gas people have :censored: me off today. While I was away they sent a letter saying they wanted to change the gas meter today. So I phoned and said there'd be no-one in during the day (ever) and did they work weekends. They said no, but they worked til 8 so could do after 6.

I dash home from work, get in at 5.59 and what do I find? A card saying they called at 12. I don't think there's any sense in which 12 is remotely near 6. I phone back and apparently when they say "after 6" on the phone, what they put on the computer is "afternoon". Again, debatable... Anyway, I've arranged another "after 6" appointment and they've noted on the computer that there won't be anyone in (also it's not a Friday which may have had something to do with their desire not to hang around!) so we'll see what happens.

I've made it to Tesco now so I have lots of nice food to tide me over for the next week or so. I really need to attack the garden tomorrow, I think I've got a 7 mile run tomorrow and 11 on Sunday, so fairly gentle (!) compared to before my holiday, I'm working back up, I think it's 18 miles next week.

:wave:

I have stupidly bad lying-in problems! I was awake at half 6!!! Gah! Slight pain since I was up till 11pm sewing kickboxing trousers for Lee!! He's had a HUGE rip in his crotch for WEEKS and I keep telling him to sew it up or get his wife to. His wife says to buy a new pair and he won't sew them, so I offered. Mug :coffee: ME? Anyway, he says don't sew them up with pink thread or anything!!! :devil: So I have sewn "SHENTIE" across the @rse in big red block caps, like those R&B chavvy trakky bums, with stuff like "hot stuff" and things on! :rofl:

I've done it to annoy him, but I think he'll actually like it! :lol3: It'll come off easily anyway - crap sewing on my part so it can be unpicked!

I'm contemplating having a nice after my 4.7 miles on the treadmill last night. I sweated so much my whole shirt was soaked - apart from my armpits! :cb: Hooray for Mitchum! I'll just have to bath in it next time! ;) :rofl: Thing is it's so hot and sticky it wouldn't be worth it! Might make me sleepy enough for a lie-in though!

DF should be home soon - he's been policing and is usually back by now, he must've arrested someone.

It's raining outside, but it's still :hot: no sun just sticky! Great :rolleyes:

oh and yesterday lunch I changed my brake pads on my bike. All by myself! I'm so proud! If there's one thing better than doing your own mechanic work, it's doing it in a little black dress and flip-flops! :rofl:

Woo Hoo!!! Well done!

Its just nice here - not too hot - hazy sunshine. Loads of bunnies, deer and other assorted wildlife out for the dogs to chase - when it gets too hot the wildlife all stays indoors.

D'oh! Do you ever have a mental lapse and forget a word that you use a lot? My dogs have got what their trainer called an imperitive command - it is 'still' - when I say 'still' the boys immediately turn in to doggy statutes until I give the release word - and today I needed to use the imperitive command but I couldn't remember what the blummin release word was!!!! D'oh! I could see George (stuck in mid-stride statue mode ) looking at me out of the corner of his eyes doing the doggy equivalent of raising his eyebrows and tutting - but no matter what I said they would NOT release until I finally remembered the right word. :dizzy: :dizzy: :dizzy:

Ooh! Nearly forgot - I mentioned it on the weigh in thread but, after all my worrying, things weren't too bad when I got on the scales this morning - only a 2lb gain. I really felt like it would be more. Anyway - new nutrition plan starts today with homemade blueberry smoothie mixed with oats for breakfast.

What well trained doggy statues ;)

Yes.... but I got the feeling they were having a good chuckle at me frantically struggling for the right word. Well, maybe not Fred - he's a serious dog - but George certainly was because when I finally did get them released he dropped his jaw (doggy laugh) and his eyes were sparkling.

Woo Hoo! I just went to change my sig to show my weight increase - only to find that I haven't actually gained any weight at all. My weight is still 13st 4lbs - the same as it was a month ago. For some reason I thought I was two pounds lighter than I was (probably because at 13st 2lbs my BMI goes down to less than 30 which is one of my targets).

I've just been to the gym and done 8k a bit faster than marathon pace on the treadmill. It was meant to be 7 miles, but I got bored and decided not to force myself to do it, the long runs are more important at this stage so I'll save myself for tomorrow. If I'm feeling good and the weather's nice I might add the 2 miles onto that and do 13 instead of 11.

I posted on the weigh in thread, but somehow I've managed to lose weight over the last two or three weeks since I last went to the gym. I have no idea how on the basis I was eating and drinking loads on holiday and haven't done nearly as much exercise as normal, but I definitely have (and today I'm wearing a dress that's definitely looser than it used to be).

I really must do some cleaning today, the weather isn't worthy of sitting outside at the moment but if it brightens up I might take my Spanish books and some wine and go and sit in the park to do work through them.

:bravo: Well done on your weight both Sarah and Helen! :cp:

You guys RAWK! :D

Thank you for saying I RAWK. RAWK ?????? Wassat mean?

I've just been experimenting again - making a baked lemon cheesecake this time - without the bottom crust bit. Just (bleugh) seived cottage cheese, eggs, f/f Greek yoghurt, lemons and 1tbs flour and splenda. 90 cals a portion. I hope it tastes the same as it smells. Yum!

Its just about sunny here now.

Just about to do an at home arms & back w/o - with the fan trained on me turned on high.

Ah Sarah that should taste great. I make the cheesecake (also with no base) from Rick Gallop's Low GI book - althought I like to grate in some lime and sprinkle with cinammon as it's a bit bland without. It's really nice and lasts us about 3 days. It's nice with rasps or straws on top, too! Well done Sarah and Helen on the weight front, too! My best friend's civil ceremony was at the start of the month and that - coupled with some major stresses - took me off track for the first time in a year. Daren't weigh myself til I've been back on track a week or two! Is annoying because I'd got down to my lowest weight in about 6 years, until I went nuts.

Ah well, I'm back now and hoping you lot can motivate me to keep going! I only had 2lbs left to lose now I bet it's at least half a stone! Brave Sarah getting on the scales afer being off track - I ain't going to til I've behaved myself a week or two. Last week was the first anniversary of my new way of eating and apart from this past 3 week blip, I'd stuck to it religiously, and had lost 40lb (nearly 3 stone).

Oh and Sarah getting that BMI into 'overweight' (I started out 'obese') was a big, big factor for me, psychologically - it kept me going for months after!

PhatPhoenix - you can do it! I'm sending lots of :dust: your way. You and I probably both need a regular :kickbutt: to keep us on track.

I wasn't brave - I was just getting very worried that I might go back to my old ways. My mind was playing tricks on me, when I looked in the mirror I thought I was convinced that I was bigger than I had been, even though my clothes were still okay and I was exercising better than usual (probably the extra calories helping).

I don't even really know why I lost the plot - I had always planned to take a rest week after I finished my BfL Challenge - NOT a rest month!

I hadn't thought about putting cinnamon on the cheesecake - nice idea!

:) Apart from the BMI targets, I've set myself a whole variety of interim goals and I get a great deal of satisfaction when I cross them off the list.