Monday 17 July 2017

Quick helloo!

The jury is out on 5:2. As of this morning I appear to be back to where I started. Hmmmm....

This could be time of the month variations. It is more likely to be that my 2s are not "2" enough and my 5s are too "5".

Either way, I have not given up on it but I am reinstating calorie logging via the Fitbit to keep me honest.

I have to get to work now but wanted to put a marker down.

Have a great week everyone and I'll be checking in properly soon. Lxx

Thursday 6 July 2017

Nearly a week has passed, how did that happen?

My weigh in was mildly successful; I dropped another lb taking me down to 16.11 which is 3 lbs lower than my re-start.  This is good news as 5 days of not dieting was FUN! The long term success of 5:2 remains to be seen, however, as I'm struggling with the starve days and can feel my chimp start to push the boundaries.

I have done my 2 starve days for this week but neither of them has been anywhere near perfect.  On Monday I was pretty good foodwise and then ruined it with a pint of cider (there were extenuating circumstances which I'll get to).  Today has just been a little too much here and there - slightly too much ham salad,a couple of pieces of fruit, a couple of coffees, supper was again slightly more calorific than it should have been followed by a few strawberries and yoghurt afterwards. I have struggled to stick to the limits today big style.  So, it was a good diet day but it was not a starve day.

I do not have time this week to fit another starve day in so I will try to make up for the extras by doing another good diet day tomorrow rather than just a normal day.

So, back to Monday and the pint of cider.  I had been in the office and had been pretty good there (I do find it easier at work somehow).  I dashed home, grabbed a sensible supper and we headed back into Sheffield for the Green Day concert at Sheffield Arena.  Now, Green Day is not my big crush but Richard's.  I like their music but don't know it as well as he does.  I felt a bit low in energy and like I wasn't going to really enjoy the gig which would have been a shame as it had cost a packet.  I caved and had a pint of cider to get me going. And it worked - we had a great night and bopped the night away.  They certainly give good value for old rockers- came on at 8.30pm and didn't finish until 11!

Apart from Green Day, it has been a week of golf.  Sunday in the Mixed, Tuesday night playing a knock-out (which I won); Ist President's competition on Wednesday morning (I'm currently lying second with second round to come tomorrow); 2nd President's competition Friday afternoon; Woodroffe Arms Golf Day on Saturday morning; and a mixed competition on Sunday.

The President's is the big one so I'm pleased to have done well in round 1.  There are loads of women just behind me though so there will be no complacency tomorrow.  The leader is my foursomes partner, a tiny Thai woman called Kanchana.  She is quite a high handicapper but has been really coming good this summer and she had a STUNNING round of 7 under par so she is 5 shots ahead of me.  I'm so pleased for her but that doesn't mean I don't want to beat her!!  All to play for so wish me luck!

I have been over at Dad's since yesterday which has been lovely but hot.  (Perhaps that is why I pushed the boundaries on the starve day today?) The dogs love dad's garden - pootling around, in and out of the undergrowth and keeping the gardener company.  I had to stick inside at my desk (boooo) but it was nice to see them all enjoying themselves.

It was too hot at lunchtime to take the dogs out, especially as they had spent the entire morning outside and were looking tired.  So, instead, I took them out for a walk on the way home.  We drive through a lovely village in Nottinghamshire called Wellow and I have wanted to stop and have a closer look for a while now.  I checked out a walking route online and that is what we did.   It has lots of very handsome buildings, a wide village green overlooked by 2 nice looking pubs and equipped with an enormous maypole at the centre.  The village and is surrounded by the playing fields of a posh prep school and the thoroughbred studded fields of a very smart looking equestrian centre.



It was as splendid as I had expected but very dry compared to the Peak District.  We are used to having handy streams or reservoirs to dip in when we're out and about and this was pretty much water-less.  However, there was a fishing pond right at the end so I managed to find a quiet corner to let them in for a quick swim before heading home.  While they were swimming I was watching a stunning heron fishing from a nearly pier. What a master fisherman he was but I failed to catch any photos of him I'm afraid; I couldn't leave the dogs to get the right angle.

I was so hungry when I got home which I suppose might also explain the pushing of boundaries food wise.  I was also tired so have stayed in rather than go up to the pub for more dart-based humiliation!!  Saving myself for golf tomorrow perhaps....

Sunday 2 July 2017

First week of 5:2 is over

My second starve day was on Thursday which was a tough day for it.  I was working from home but had a packed programme of tasks to do.  I also made myself take the dogs out for a run!  I wasn't sure how running on a starve day would pan out but it was fine.  I managed the same, hilly-ish route I started with last Saturday but a bit longer and a bit faster.  4.8km at 9.4km per hour rather than 4.1km at 10.35 per km.  So that is progress eh?

I had a nail appointment immediately after work; then a meeting about raising funds for the village Memorial Hall; and then straight up to the pub for a darts tournament.  I had not intended to play as I'm absolutely rubbish at darts.  However, they only had 15 entrants and needed a 16th to make the knock-out work so I was in.  It was extra hilarious as, instead of being drawn against one of the blokes who would thrash me in no time and put me out of my misery, I was drawn against Carolyn (Rich's stepmum) who, although better than me, is not much cop either.

We persuaded everyone to only play one leg and eventually, after throw after throw nowhere near a double, we also gave upon finishing on a double.  We were being heckled by half the pub by this stage which just made us laugh and then throw ever wilder darts.  They were everywhere!  Carolyn finally hit a 3 and I was defeated.....phew!!

A busy starve day is good though as you don't have time to focus on being hungry so that is a tip for future weeks.

Since then I've been busy too.  I was working on Friday morning and had a scratch golf match against Rotherham Golf Club in the afternoon.  I was handed a golf lesson by a doughty older lady.  She was good!!  Still, I look forward to facing her at home in a couple of weeks time.  Straight from golf to a surprise 50th birthday party complete with gin & tonics and curry....mmmmm

This was the view from the pub at High Bradfield.


Saturday was a dental operation in the morning (the second part of my implants) followed by what was meant to be a quiet day pootling round the house not upsetting my stitches.  That plan didn't really work as our neighbours gave me a load of plants so I had a busy time planting them out.  We then went over to Bamford for a walk and ended up going far longer than planned. Good for the steps...but me and the dogs were knackered.

The pics are from the end of our walk at the lovely Bamford Mill.





Today has been lovely.  We had a mixed exchange golf match at a course near Stockport (Bramhall). It was a swanky sort of course situated in a very chintzy suburb full of houses which look relatively ordinary but cost a fortune because of where they are.  All very nice but very definitely not the sort of place I would like to live in.

The golf was fun, lovely weather and a very manicured parkland course.  At one point a fox appeared out of the rough to the side of us.  Only about 20/30 yards from us.  It stood and looked at us in the full sunlight then retreated into the trees and bushes alongside the fairway and trotted down just ahead of us.  It was magical.  Totally relaxed.  It didn't start to run until it hit the end of the trees and had to cover some open ground.  I've seen urban foxes often but there is something special about a seeing a beautiful wild creature in it's natural habitat.

So, on the dieting front I have not been particularly good nor especially bad, lots of activity but a few drinks and decent meals.  Tomorrow's weigh-in will tell how it worked.

I think I'm going to do a starve day tomorrow.  We have tickets to see Green Day at Sheffield Arena so if I drive that should distract me from my hunger and desire to eat! That will leave the second starve day on either Wednesday or Thursday both of which are problematical at I'll be over at dad's. I think that is going to be the trick - prioritising the starve days and not letting busy life take overand push them out. We'll see.