Two posts in two days. That hasn't happened for a while!

Yesterday was a good day. I stuck to my food plan and did manage to go out for a run in the evening. My short, fast run consisted of 1.01 miles and took me 9m 56s. To say I am chuffed to bits at being able to run a mile in under 10 minutes is something of an understatement.

I think it is going to take me a fair bit of effort and determination to get back on my journey but for now my main focus is trying to make sure I get back to eating properly rather than grazing all day long. Grazing all day would probably be fine if I were eating sensible things but when it is mostly cakes and chocolate that I am grazing on that's not so good!

Today has been a good day too. Mostly. I did eat an un-necessary and un-planned chocolate bar at lunchtime but it was a 15g bar of good quality, dark chocolate so I will go easy on myself there.

One thing that I have noticed since I started this journey is how much of a good impact it has had on my children. They have always been healthy and active but are now even stronger, healthier and fitter than ever before. For that I give myself an A+.

So my legs need time to recover

I liked finding that I could run 5k non stop in August. I liked it so much I have done it several times since. Not every day but because I have done other things on most of those in between days I haven't really given my legs a chance to recover. Last night they decided that if I was going to ignore them then they were going to shout louder.

I took part in a local 5k race. It's a regular thing and husband talked me into it. It is very hilly and as a result I found I couldn't run the whole thing. I tried, oh boy did I try, to keep making them start running again but just over 4k in I had to walk for a bit. I kept starting running again but it didn't last and that last 1k was walk/run the whole time. I did make myself run up the last hill though.

This morning my legs ache. I knew they would. My last three runs have been tough going. I have had to force my legs to carry on. Husband (he who never rests) has told me he would suggest I take a week off running. I can do other things; gently cycling, swimming and core/upper body workouts but rest the legs is the general message.

My first thought was genuinely "No running for a week! That's a long, scary time". But I know from the way my legs feel that if I don't do this I will regret it. Then I actually chuckled at the thought of me being bothered about not being able to run for a week.

Watch this space because I expect my next run in a week to be damn good. Then I am going to start building my way up to 10k ready for May.

Weigh in

Weight - 11st 3lbs- No loss since last week making 19 1/2lbs loss total.

Body fat - 34% - 1% loss since last week/6% total loss

1/4in loss from chest

no loss on waist

1/2in loss on hips

13in total loss

 

So I didn't lose any weight this week and I was a very bad blogger. Time kind of melted away and something I was vaguely involved in kicked off and I became more involved equalling lots more time needed than I had. I did lose inches and fat though. That I am pleased about.

 

I haven't really given a lot of thought about my plans for the next week but I would like to shift the scales further down. I am going to set some time aside to dedicate purely to giving some thought to how I am going to achieve that.

 

I am running a 5k race FOR FUN tonight. I will be doing it with my husband while we abandon the children to the fate of the grandparents. A year ago the suggestion that I would do that would have had me rolling on the floor clutching my sides.

 

One thing I have continued to find time for is running. At the weekend I went out by myself and ran my furthest/longest run so far. It was only a little more than previous times but I was really pleased with myself because the whole time my legs were very heavy and I had to push to keep going. The idea of doing that made me feel very proud of myself.

 

This is a strange bitty post. I apologise for that but it kind of reflects how my thoughts are in my head right now. I have a lot going on and no real sense of order to it.

Weigh in

Weight - 11st 3lbs- A loss of 1/2lb since last week making 19 1/2lbs loss total.

Body fat - 35% - No change since last week/5% total loss

No change on chest/waist/hips

 

  I think I shall consider that a success given the hunger episode and the fact that TOM no longer seems to give me the losses I used to get with it. I don't know if it is eating properly or the exercise but what used to happen when TOM was here was that I could expect to drop a couple of pounds. Now that doesn't seem to happen anymore.

  

  I have allowed myself to be talked into doing a 5k cross country next week. I have now run just over 5k a few times since the race. I have beaten the hill that was causing me trouble at the end of my run route and yesterday I ran to and from Bookworm's lesson while she and Hyperboy cycled. I was pleased to find that if anything I could have done more, were it not for the fact that it would have meant leaving the children behind!

 

  I haven't quite managed to get completely back on track with eating right but I am making sure that what I am eating is far more balanced and within targets on myfitnesspal.

I ran it off

I decided to give something new a go to deal with the frustration last night. When husband got home I went out for an unplanned run. I had no idea if it would actually work but I felt like I needed to do something. I wasn't sure how it would go because I already did level 2 of 30 day shred (I still don't like that level but I can do it with something approaching ease now). After the first 1k of my normal route I decided to come back a different way and that way is all up hill. I ran the first 1.5k at just under 10min/mile pace. I was rather pleased with that as it didn't feel hard to do it. It was only a very short run of just under 2k but it was enough.When I got back I was in a much better mood. Running had helped.

I don't know if it was the exercise itself, the fact that I was concentrating on the running or that I was really pleased with how much of the up hill bit I managed to run. Do you know what though? I don't care. I am now the sort of person who runs, not just for exercise, but also for relaxation and fun. I have mocked my husband (mostly through lack of understanding, partly through that being the kind of relationship we have) for years about his love of exercise. Now I think I am beginning to understand and feel a little bit bad about the mocking.

This morning I have muscle aches in my butt and upper legs. I am recognising that feeling now as my body getting stronger. I used to hate that feeling. When I hated it before it was way back when I would work out maybe once a week for maybe 3 weeks. Now I have worked out no less than 4 times a week for 4 months. Most days I don't get that ache anymore and when I do it passes quickly.

Hello

I think this blog post needs to start with a hello because I kind of feel like I have turned a corner when it comes to 'getting there this time'. I have spent weeks now talking about how I am not really feeling it and can't quite get my head into the right place. Well today is a new day and it feels different. How much of that is down to having some much needed time for myself last week I don't know but I would guess a LOT.

Bookworm and Hyperboy spent a whole week with my parents. Husband and I got some evenings and 1 1/2 days to ourselves (he had to work the rest of the time). When he went off to collect them, spending a couple of days with my family (I am glad they get on so well), I spent an evening and morning with my friend who has been abroad for a couple of years. After that I got a whole afternoon, night and morning All To Myself. Do you know how often that happens when you home educate? Hardly ever. Yes I missed my children and husband but man it felt so good  to just be by myself.

So what did I do with my time? Well, yes I ate chocolate, and way too much of it. I am going to be completely honest here and say that the reason I hardly blogged last week was because I knew that was what I was going to do. If I blogged I would have to be honest that I knew it was going to happen. Go figure! Hang on though, before you stop following me. Guess what I did on my Sunday morning. clue - In the past having that time to myself has always, without exception, meant watching rubbish, wasting time on the Internet, stuffing myself silly and generally being a lazy glutton.

I went for a run.

That's right, I CHOSE AND WANTED to go for a run. I was so glad I did. I set out on my 5.12k route. The one that I had never completed because the first half of the last km is uphill. Yesterday I ran the whole thing. Every last metre. I was so hyped up when I got home that I felt like I could do more. I didn't because I had the calling of a quiet house. I stopped on a high and had a very long bubble bath. With no one coming in to use the loo or arguing or wanting to know how long till lunch. Bliss.

The damage I did last week with copious amounts of chocolate, cake, ice-cream (spot the recurring sugar theme here) and anything else I fancied was limited a bit (thank goodness) by the fact that husband and I took the chance to spend some of the child free time running and mountain biking. Yes I lost my mountain biking virginity. 1 1/2 hours of non stop cycling. Dirt tracks, mud, woodland, tree roots and branches will all make cycling on the road seem a breeze from now on. It was scary, muddy, fun and a damn good workout. It poured with rain for a lot of the time too so were were soaked as well as muddy.



I am informed this is known as 'mountain bikers ankle'.

 The runs were tough. We did hills in the woods one day. OH MY GOODNESS! Man that was hard. The last hill was very steep. I didn't think I could run all the way up. When I reached the point where my legs refused to move I decided I wasn't going to walk the rest. I stopped for 20 seconds and then ran the rest. Despite all the exercise I still managed to gain 2 1/2lbs in the last 1 1/2weeks. I am not considering that official though. My weigh in day is Wednesday and I hope to have lost some of that by then with careful eating and letting my body release some of the junk!

I have gone off on a tangent here. I sat down with the intention of blogging about how I have planned this week and how I feel a renewed enthusiasm for getting where I want to be! My last blog post was all about how I was going to handle the reasons I had been struggling. I have done what I said and planned every meal and snack for the next week. I am also going to track in myfitnesspal all food and exercise. I haven't taken direct comparison photos. In the end I didn't need to. Husband took a picture of me on a day out in London and I took one look at it and could see where every pound and inch had gone from.

You will have to trust me when I say that the size isn't the only difference between the two pictures. In the first one I look so unhappy. In the second one I am grinning like a Cheshire cat.

In the first one - 12st 11.5lbs (179.5lbs), chest, 45in, waist 41in, and  hips 46in. (3 1/2lbs heavier than when I started this blog.) 

In the new one-  11st 3lbs (157lbs), chest 41.75in, waist 34.75in and hips 40.5in.

Picture and numbers to remind me how far I have come! Thanks to Chris for making me give serious thought to adding photos. That woman is AWESOME!

As for today. Well the first thing I did was exercise. I no longer feel like I need to build up to it. I can get up and kick butt without needing to psych myself up. I am so proud of myself for not letting the last few weeks lead to a big gain in weight or a big decrease in activity. I have maintained for a few weeks now but the fire in my belly is burning strong again. This is far longer than I intended so I will force myself to stop rambling.

My first ever 5k race.

I was in a vile mood from Friday afternoon until we got to the park for the 5k. My poor husband bore the brunt of it and I am ashamed to say I snapped at lots of stupid little things that I would normally not even notice. I was extremely nervous and just wanted the whole thing over and done with.

Saturday morning came and I managed a home made cinnamon and raisin bagel (see how little my husband deserves snapping at. He makes me home made bagels!) and that was it other than plenty of water. I was able to do little more than get myself ready which meant that getting Bookworm and Hyperboy ready for the day was down to my husband. They were going to do the 1 mile fun run. Bookworm, as her name suggests loves reading and doesn't run if she can help it. Hyperboy is the complete opposite and will run as often as he can. Much excitement was coming from them at the prospect of their 'first ever race'.

We were walking to the race because it's only a mile from home. When we got their I headed straight for the loos (to be repeated several times before the 5k started!). After getting registered, and meeting up with my mother in law, the children did the warm up with a chap from the local gym and it was time for them to get started. We had already chatted with Bookworm (8) about how if Hyperboy (4) decided to run ahead then Daddy would have to go with him. She is old enough and sensible enough to follow the marshall's instructions and ask them for help if she needs it. Once they started I noticed the queue for the toilets was building up so I went to wait there. While I was waiting the first fun runner was on their way back round then to my genuine shock I spotted husband and Hyperboy on their way. My 4 year old son was going to have finished the mile in less than 10 minutes. He was also in the first 10 back and in front of a lot of older children. I guess the nickname is appropriate. He ran the last bit to the finish line on his own while husband waited for Bookworm. Once they were both finished (and I had finally made it to the loo!). I went over to find them after the finish. It turned out that Bookworm had run the whole thing and Hyperboy had only walked for 20 seconds. I was brimming with pride that my Bookworm daughter had run the full thing and Hyperboy had done so well on his 4 year old legs.

Then it was my turn. I was still very nervous and opted to join in the organised warm up to distract me. Then to the start line. I had borrowed husband's stopwatch so I could time myself and get an idea of how I was doing. I started it as I crossed the start line and didn't look at it again until the 1k marker. 21s, um either a new world record or I had knocked the button. Knowing it was the latter I started it again. I had seen my little support team about 200 metres in.
About 1 1/2k I started to feel it was getting easier. Then I saw husband which boosted me. At 2k I checked the watch again and knew I was doing slightly quicker than I had planned. I slowed down a little, I wanted to get to the finish running. The route was two loops so it was past the finish line then carry on. Not long after that I heard the PA system announcing the first finisher in 16m something!!!!
There was no 3k marker (or I didn't notice it) so the next marker was a long time coming. By the time I got to 4k I was starting to struggle. I was really having to push to keep running. Not long after that husband appeared and cheered me on and asked how it was going. I managed to say bad and gestured for him to run along side me. I needed a boost and that helped distract me just enough for a hundred metres or so and get my focus back. When I came round the last corner and headed for the finish line a marshall said "You are doing well ladies" then "go on, push hard and you can catch her". As there was no one in front of me I knew she was talking to the woman behind me. Competitiveness kicked in and I thought "No she bl***y well can't" so I pushed it to stay ahead. It worked and I crossed the line ahead of her. After getting home and checking out the photos husband took it turned out there was actually a group of 7 people behind me. There was also a great shot that my mother in law got that showed the woman right behind me pushing really hard but with me in front grinning because I had just finished. So I got my medal and my children rushed over and hugged me. Husband came and asked if I knew what time I'd done. I told him about the watch problems and he said he knew because he'd stood next to the timing man at the end.

I had finished my first 5k in 31m 50s.

I was amazed. Not only had I run 5k for the first time ever, I had run for longer than I ever have. Thinking back to when I first set myself a time target I had beat that first target (it got lower as I got better at running in the build up) I had beat my initial target by 13m 10s.

I was buzzing for the rest of the day. We had a quick lunch when we got home then a delicious roast dinner later. Followed by a well deserved piece of chocolate cake in the evening. Today my legs are tired but not aching as such. I plan to give them a day off then I am aiming to get back into 30DS most days and running a couple of days a week. Now I have to start building up towards 10k for next May. It's also back on the journey to meeting my goal. I did the 5k at 20lbs down from my starting weight. I plan to lose at least that again before the 10k.

48 hours from now

I will have, one way or another, come to the end of my first 5k. I am a little nervous. I am only at the stage of "I think I can run that far". I guess all will be clear by the end of the weekend. I really want to run the whole 5k.

Whatever happens I am proud of myself for having made a start on running and been brave enough to sign up to a 5k when I was still only running for a couple of minutes. I am saying this now because if it doesn't go as well as I hope I will need to remember that.

Weigh in

Weight - 11st 2 1/2lbs- A loss of 1lb since last week making 20lbs loss total.

Body fat - 35% - No change since last week/5% total loss

No change on chest/waist

1/2in lost from my hips making 4 1/4in total loss

 

I should be feeling very cheerful and excited this morning. My weigh in today takes me to 20lbs lost. That makes me the same as I was when I was 21. For some reason though, that I have yet to put my finger on I just feel flat. The calendar tells me I might possibly have TOM soon. At least I would if my body knew how to do anything to a routine, as it is that could be this week, it could be next week, it could be a fortnight from now.

 

Anyway, good things. I am continuing to lose weight and inches. I have continued to run. I have had a slightly tight hamstring but nothing that a good massage won't cure (hopefully). I am counting down the days to my first 5k race (notice I said first 5k race, I am already thinking about doing some more before the 10k I have booked next May). I still haven't quite managed to run 5k in my training runs but I am now up to 28 minutes of running and have covered 4.48km before needing to walk. I will be going out for my last training run tonight. Obviously that has been a cue for some of the hottest weather we've had for a few weeks and so far the forecast for the day of the race is thunderstorms!!!!!!

 

I have noticed a sudden increase in my activity levels over the last week. Our garden needs some serious attention. It has been getting it from me (with a little help from my husband at the weekend). Things have been tidied, moved, thrown out, retrieved from the undergrowth AND most spectacularly of all we have finally put up the climbing frame we bought the children 2 years ago. Having the energy to do things like that is very nice. It is also very rewarding to see the result of it. Our garden has been very neglected over the last couple of years due to a triathloning (!) husband and a lazy, dis-inclined me.

 

I am noticing my clothes getting looser again. Some of the ones that are getting looser are UK14's. This is heading into strange territory for me now. I am starting to look at myself in the mirror and quite liking what I see. Yes a lot of areas are still nowhere near how I would like them but dressed I have felt that I am no longer looking just plain old fat. I have a few pairs of jeans that I really need to get rid of. They are ones that are still in really good condition because I bought them between starting this journey and now. I am hoping to sell them on eBay. Even a little bit of money for them will help towards getting me something else that fits nicely. I have noticed that the days I am most complacent about what/how I eat are the days when the clothes I am wearing are the loosest. I would like to be able to just give them away to someone who is a little bit further back on the path than I am but I also know that I need to replace them and that takes money.

 

I plan to spend some time catching up on blanket squares this week. After I run tonight I plan to give my legs a rest from exercise for a few days ready for the 5k. I will probably be back here before the 5k but if not I will definitely be back to post about how it goes.

 

Happy Wednesday everybody.

 

 

 

Weigh in

Weight - 11st 3 1/2lbs- A loss of 1/2lb since last week making 19lbs loss total.

Body fat - 35% - No change since last week/5% total loss

No change on chest/hips

1/4in lost from my waist making 4 1/4in total loss.

 

I wasn't expecting to lose anything (weight or inches) this week so to see losses on weight and waist was great. I am so close to weighing less than my husband. Crazy goal but for such a long time now (about 12 years) I have weighed more than him. Anything up to 4 1/2 stone more. He is 6 inches taller than me so it shows. So no matter how crazy that is my next goal. To weigh less than my husband. His weight varies depending on how much triathlon training he is doing. At the moment he is in a not training much state which means he is at the upper end of his normal weight. In another 4lbs I will be less than him (unless he starts full on training again before then in which case I am frying all his food and making him eat cake after every meal!). The lower end for him is about 10st 7lbs. Once I have got to less than his current weight I will be aiming for that as my goal before moving on to the next one. 

 

I ran last night. I was going to swim but while Bookworm had her lesson I took Hyperboy swimming. I really didn't want to have to get back in my wet costume after getting dressed to hand children over to my husband to take home so decided to head straight home then run. I covered just over 4km in 26m 15s. I felt so good about that. It was 2 minutes faster than the same distance last week. The last part of my run is a long incline and my legs just won't do that at the end yet. I covered the whole 5.12k route from home to home in just over 33m with only 4 minutes of walking. Go me.

 

I have 1 1/2 weeks to go until the 5k I have entered.When I entered it I had an aim in my head of completing it. Once I realised I was definitely going to be able to do that I decided that I would be happy with being able to finish it in 45 minutes. As I realised that was going to be easily do-able I decided that I am aiming for running the whole thing. While I haven't quite covered that distance yet I really feel that I can and if I can do it in under 35 minutes I will be over the moon. I find it much easier to keep on running when I have someone to follow. Last night if you were running round my local park with your other half you may well have had a heavy breathing, red-faced woman following you for about 1k. I'm not a scary stalker person, I was just using you ahead of me as my focus so I could keep going.

 

Food is still a bit up and down at the moment. I start each day with the intention to eat right but I am finding it hard to keep away from chocolate and cakes. The only reason I am still losing is because of the exercise. I know that I will get back to the state of having the eating going right but for now I have set my weight loss goal on myfitnesspal at maintaining. I may not be able to stick at the losing goals right now but there is no way I am reversing back up the road away from what I have achieved so far. The place I have reached for now is too damn nice to throw it all away. 

My poor legs.

I had a good idea this morning. After dropping Hyperboy off at playgroup I said to Bookworm "Do you fancy a bike ride?". "Ooh yes". So she got her bike out and herself ready and I got my running things on. We set off and the plan was my 5 (ish)k route. Cross the road and while she cycled I started to run. I carried on running for 28 minutes. Take that Michelle of a month ago who was bitching about not being able to run for 3 minutes. After 28 minutes we reached the point where the journey home starts to go uphill so I walked from there.

How amazing did I feel when we got home? Pretty darn good. At that point I knew I had run for 28 minutes but I didn't know what distance I had covered. So I got on to womensrunninguk which is where I have been tracking my running progress and plotted the part of the journey I had covered. 4.12k. 4.12k. I was amazed. So close to 5k. Close enough that if I had a finish line ahead I feel like I could force myself to carry on running (barring illness/injury/natural disasters).

A little while later I had another realisation. My longest run until this morning had been 23 minutes. I had added 5 minutes to that this morning. I know you could have done the maths but I like saying it. :oD

Fast forward to now, 8 hours later and my legs are very tired. My left hip is a bit sore but not too bad. I went out this morning hoping to do a couple of 10 minute blocks. I did 30DS level 1 yesterday and I really kicked butt so the body was already tired.

Yah boo sucks to the weight I have lost, the times I went out running and was struggling a few months ago. I am a runner.

Weigh in

It's been a strange week. My head is still all over the place and I have been trying to take things one step at a time. Instead of thinking about the whole week I have just focused on the right here/right now. I haven't been able to get out and exercise as much as I would like because Bookworm has kindly shared a cough that she brought back from our camping holiday. Most of my eating has been ok but I am not making the best choices all the time. I'm not going to pressure myself about it but I am making sure I am aware of it. If I am making choices with food that aren't so good I am making sure that I am fully aware of them.

Today seems like the first time in a while that I have been able to do a proper weigh in on the 'right' day.

Weight - 11st 4lbs- A loss of 1 1/2lbs since last week making 18 1/2lbs loss total.

Body fat - 35% - A gain of 1% making 5% loss total. (Fine with that because 2 weeks ago it was 36%).

1/2in lost from my chest.

1/2in lost from my waist.

It's time for other measurements too so; 

Left bicep - 12 2/8in -no loss over 4 weeks/1in total.

Left thigh - 22in - loss of 6/8in over 4 weeks/2 7/8in total.

Left calf - 15in - loss of  2/8in over 4 weeks/6/8in total

 

I would like a bit more toning to be happening so I am going to start doing 30DS more often. My body is more used to running now so on the days when I am not running I will 30DS.

 

On the subject of running this week on the journey home from dropping Bookworm off husband and Hyperboy came too. Husband set off at a heck of a pace with Hyperboy on his bicycle. I kept up and was kind of pushed along. When I got home I was puffing and panting and was completely spent. Initially I felt awful but had a light bulb moment this morning. Yes I had felt awful straight after but damn, I ran for 9 minutes straight covering almost a mile, recovered  within 15 minutes and felt later like I could go out again. 3 months ago if I ran for 1 minute I felt worse, took ages to recover and didn't feel like I could go out again for a couple of days. So I guess I can consider that a NSV.

 

The weight I have lost now means I have lost 10% of what I started at. Actually make that 10% plus 1/2lb. :oD. I am still having to remind myself that the stones part of my weight is 11. I have lost count of the number of times I have gone to put 12. It is strange to me to think that I will soon be having to remember to put 10 something! It is a big thing to me that I am actually knowing that I will be reaching that point. In the past I have 'hoped' to make the kind of progress I have (and will) so far this time. I haven't ever really known that I would achieve it though. Even though I am not completely focused on it at the moment I do 100% know that I AM going to achieve it.

Start as you mean to go on

That is how my day began. I came here and offloaded before having my planned breakfast. I followed that up with level 1 of 30DS. It wasn't in my plan for the day but I have kind of missed Jillian. I am still amazed at how much easier it is to do now than when I first tried it nearly 4 months ago. I huffed and puffed my way through level 1, not able to do it all and for the things I could do I had to work at the 'easy' level. Now I can put lots of effort in, not feel like I am huffing and puffing and do most of it at the 'hard' level. I know I am the one that has put the hard work into getting to this stage but Jillian Michaels definitely deserves some of the credit. In the unlikely event that I ever meet her I will let her know just how grateful I am.

The day has gone fine with food. I stuck to my planned meals/snacks and found it useful that we were out and busy for the afternoon because it meant there was no temptation to stray from it.

After dropping Bookworm off at Brownies I set off on my route home. I go the long way home and have been using it as a measure of progress with running. Tonight, for the first time, I ran the whole thing. The last time I did it I took 10m 55s and had to walk some. Tonight it took 9m 46s. No land speed records but I am very pleased with myself. I had initially planned that once I could do the whole thing running I would start adding some in but for now I am going to stick with the same distance and add some more once it feels more comfortable. I was huffing and puffing and very red in the face when I got home. I didn't care though. I had run the whole thing. About half of it is up hill too so another big plus there.

I am peckish now and in a moment I shall have a look at myfitnesspal to work out what to eat. I do still have some calories leftover from today so I will be able to have something without going over the target on there.

Going well

So far this is looking to be a good week for me. I have managed to do 2 levels of 30 day shred back to back. I attempted a (very) little bit of running. I am eating well. I have had a night out with my husband. More smaller clothes are fitting. My brothers first baby has arrived. All in all I am feeling really good.

So doing level 2 and then level 1 of 30DS. Now that went well. I was really surprised at how well in fact. It felt easier than back on that first day that I did level 1. After that I could barely move. After 2+1 I was sweating like a pig but I didn't have too much trouble with anything.

Food - I have been using myfitnesspal to log my food and exercise. So far that is working really well for me.I have found it a great motivator for exercise because to see the calories I have burnt doing it works well for me. On the food side of things it does make me really accountable and makes me think about what I am eating.

A night out with my husband is always a good thing. It was looking a bit shaky there for a moment when on the day we discovered that the person who said they would baby sit had forgotten they were meant to be doing it. Luckily a friend was able to step in at the last minute so we still got to go.

I have pulled another pair of jeans out of the cupboard today which 5 weeks ago I could just about do up if I did the laying down, breathing in, rolling around thing. Today they fit really nicely.

New baby - Well that is always guaranteed to put a smile on my face but when it is my brothers first baby. Well let's just say that I couldn't be any more excited if it was my own baby. I can't wait to meet him. We don't live close by so I am waiting patiently for the OK to go and visit while they settle in to their new life.

Tonight I will be going swimming. Proper swimming for the first time in a while. I started going last year on a twice weekly basis and it was going really well. I got up to being able to do 1000 metres and then got lazy and stopped going. It is going to be the first day I haven't done 30DS since starting it.

And on top of all that it is a lovely sunny day here. I hope the sun is shining on you. Have a lovely day.