Getting Myself Ready

[willows]

We , that's hubby, son and I are all off to a special wedding in August.

For most people its a walk in the park , but for someone like myself it's not.

The wedding is 70 miles away from our home, so I've had to book hotel rooms for the night before and the night of the event , so that I can rest before and afterwards.

Now having tried on the suit I wore last August for another special wedding we went to , I'm finding its a bit 'tight' tight to say the least!!!!!!

Hubby has just reminded me that I had a course of steroids earlier this year , which accounts for my weight gain.......................

So last Sunday , having weighed my son and nearly fallen down when I saw how much he weighed as well , both son and I started our ' fit for the wedding 'diet.

My son is 15 and 5 feet 11 inches tall and one and a half stone overweight !!!!!

Me I'm 5 feet 2 inches tall ( good things come in little packages ) and almost 2 stone overweight.

Having cleared it with my doctor first we are now off.............................................

Loads of fruit, veggies, wholemeal stuff, chicken, turkey etc, etc.

First weigh in this Sunday.................keep your fingers crossed .

Willows

[nadine]

forgive me for asking I am not familiar with your phrase of "stone" in reference to weight. I know you are form UK, just curious. Well good luck to both of you and hope you are able to have a great time at the wedding!

[willows]

Hello nadine, a stone is 14lbs in UK weights.

Son and I have just weighed in, and as expected the first week is always the best for loosing weight.

Son has not 'nibbled ' once anything he shouldn't have and stuck 100% to his diet and has now lost 4lb's.

I have been just as good and have now lost 5 lbs.

With 10 weeks to go until the big day we now hope to loose about 1-2 lb's a week each which will total up to 24 lbs for son and 25 lbs for myself .

I know we can do this together , he supports me, I support him.

So we are on our way now and this first loss will give son and I an incentive to shift more.

My doctor has said that loosing the rest of my weight will help my hips and other joints as I have arthritis in them .

So its out with the strawberries and low -fat yogurt again for us ................willows.

[nadine]

Willows-

Thanks for responding, I was meaning to look up the "stone" translation for weight.

Congrats on your great start as well, for both of you!!

I have much to lose myself, as I have never seen the current number my scale is tipping.

I also had myself some yogurt and fruit for lunch!!!

[nadine]

Willow-

I have been thinking and I have decided that I like really like the UK measurment system. Instead of saying I am 40 lbs. over weight. I can be 3 stones away from reaching my goal-give or take!!! Sounds so much better. Thanks for giving me my smile and humor for the day.

You are doing great--

[michiganjan]

Your stick-to-it-ness is admirable. Just reading your message makes me want to work harder to lose the extra pounds I' ve gained since my husband got sick and I stopped exercising regularly. Good for you!

[willows]

I try to look at it this way............................

I may not be able to control the way my body behaves ............................. but I can control the amount of food I 'shovel into it 'and keep my weight at an acceptable limit to reduce the amount of pain I get from the arthritis in the hips........................

This morning I had a bowl of bran flakes with sugar substitute and semi-skimmed milk, lunchtime its a tuna salad ( in brine or fresh not oil based) and a dessert of fresh pineapple & low fat yogurt.

Tonight son and I are having chicken breast ( no skin at all) with a huge plate full of carrots, cabbage, green beans, broccoli and mangetout plus a very light chicken gravy ( 2-3 tablespoons ) and that strawberry & raspberry sauce thingy I do...............plus loads of water!!!!!

My son takes a wholemeal sandwich to school ( low fat spread) made with very lean ham or chicken , a packet of crisps ( under 100 cals) and one of those health bars ( under 100 cals) plus a litre of low cal squash..........he eats the lot and is happy and not hungry.

Its hard sorting out his school lunch as you dont want to make him 'stand out from his peers' so his school diet is done 'carefully' to look just as the rest of his mates!!!

Son's happy and has remarked ............... clever mum here !!!!!

Next weigh in on Sunday so we will see if I can stick firmly to it.

As I have a goal ( wonderful cream chiffon suit with pale pink roses on embroidered with sequins and bugle beads and matching hat, shoes, bag ) and I have a wonderful weekend to look forward to..............so its up to me now..................and I am NOT going to let myself down. so there!!!!!

Willows...........in need of her afternoon rest now so bye, bye all XXXXXXX

[nadine]

Your meals sound wonderful!!! I know you are going to look fantastic in your outfit. Your son will also be setting a great example for his classmates as well.

[willows]

Thanks Nadine, it is pretty hard trying to come up with meals that are low fat , low calorie and interesting each day, especially with a teen age son to cook for .

Today for lunch I had some fresh carrot and coriander soup and burnt my tongue that will teach me to be in such a hurry , plus for dessert some wonderful fresh pineapple with raspberry sauce all dripping on...............yum, yum, Willows.

[Jacquie802]

I need to drop some pounds but it's hard when there is an ice cream shop right down the street...and that is my weakness.

[willows]

Ice-cream is something I love as well.........................

I discovered an easy answer for that , one of our local supermarkets that deal with only frozen foods make their own brand of mini ice -cream cones ( white chocolate & milk chocolate topped) they come in packs of 20 and are just 75 calories a cone.

So when I get the urge for something 'wicked' I have one of these, at 75 calories it will not brake the bank and I dont feel so hard done by or guilty

I also make up a low sugar whip with semi skimmed milk , I dont know what you call them in America but here its angel delight.

Make this up then freeze it in 4 potions and 'hey presto' low cal ice cream when you want it.

Son and I are still being good, its salmon today for supper; 1 large fillet ( bones & skin removed ) per person, squeeze on lemon juice and add black pepper. seal in foil and bake in hot oven 180-200 for about 20 mins.

Add to this; boiled new baby potatoes , green beans and carrots. ( no butter added)

I add a slice of lemon and a sprinkle of parsley to the fish .

Dessert is my strawberries with sauce again..............still hooked on this yum, yum.

Next weigh in Sunday morning, so keep fingers crossed that another few pounds have decided to vacate my person ..............preferably from my bottom or my thighs please !!!!!!!Willows.

[willows]

Well ...................the last few days have had my son at the doctors as he started coughing up blood in the shower !!!!

He's now on a drug to cut down the acid in his stomach and is to be seen my a specialist, I do hope this isn't the start of it all as it was about his age I started having problems and he has already bowel contractions and is on drugs.

I came of a drug for the sweats as it has been playing up ( basically I have become immune to it again) having weaned myself of it I then came down with the worst chronic pain I have ever had in my 35 years of this problems, on the scale of 1 to 10 it was off the scale !!!!!

It left me unable to walk , crying my eyes out and rolling around the bed...........so I've had morphine and other pain killers.

Son and I have still been good on our diets , I must admit son's 'pod' ( large stomach ) has flattened down something wonderful in the past 2 weeks.

Tomorrow morning is weigh in for us both..............if we have both lost a pound each it will make us happy , given the week we have both had, even 1/2 pound would even make us smile ............you know what they say 'every little helps'.............back tomorrow with the weight lost, but for now having been up about 3/4 hour I'm now off to bed again as I'm very tired still............may be an apple to munch in bed ? or a pear ? ...........................mmmmmm strawberries and sauce ............. yes thats whats needed to get me back on my feet ............willows.

[willows]

Well its fathers day here and my son and I have now given hubby his presents and a card , hubby's well happy as we managed to get him the DVD documentary on the DaVinci Code , a book about hit men and of course the normal supply of chocolate for hubby to scoff when he's reading !!!!

Between us we have now lost almost a stone in two weeks .

I have lost 2 lb's more making a running total of 7 lb's and Mike has now lost 2 lb's more making a running total of 6 lbs ................boy are we both chuffed !!!!!!!

Mike my son is so impressed , he hasn't felt at all hungry or missed all the rubbish he used to 'pig out on '

he used to go to college and buy lunch from the cafetiere which meant every day he would consume cans of sugar laden drink, sausage rolls , bags of full fat crisps, bars of chocolate and 'other' munchies.

Of course now its the mandatory packet lunch , which he helps prepare and so knows whats in it , a thick wholemeal sandwich filled with either lean ham, chicken or beef with low cal spread , low fat crisps and a low cal health bar , plus a bottle of a low cal squash that he makes up.

He has said that in me saying to him ;

' Look mike , your stomach is hanging over your trousers , and for a lad of your age its not at all healthy

or very attractive, especially to the girls '!!!!

and then making him stand in front of a full length mirror in his boxer shorts to see his profile 'woke him up ' slightly ( to say the least )

So he now has that incentive to stick to it and is getting very good at picking 'healthy stuff ' over fat, sugar or just calorie laden foods............he's actually eating fruit !!!!!!!!! bananas, apples, grapes and he's tried pears !!!!

So after a week of us both feeling rather 'yuck' we still managed to be good...........cant wait until August arrives now to be able to arrive at the wedding looking slim .

Willows....................

[willows]

Have just come back from a meeting with local doctor who has confirmed that I now have very high cholesterol again, I did manage to get it down last year , but its now well up again and so I'm starting on a cholesterol control drug tonight.

Also that pain in left side I had last weekend she thinks is a bit suspicious and is more like a warning of stroke, so I'm also on aspirin each day as well...............at this rate I wont have any space for food each day with the amount of drugs I take !!!!!

So for now I'm going to go veggie and stay of fat laden meats , just some nice fish, salmon I think ..............mmmmmm smoked salmon with lemon and black pepper , cucumber and brown bread , yep, I could go for that , right where's the nearest supermarket to my house.........

Willows ...............slowly falling to bits, if you find any of my parts please send by return post .XXXXXXX

[willows]

Took Mike my son for his blood test yesterday, he is not scared of this sort of thing as he has been having blood tests and other tests since he was about 5 years old, also he's had three operations in his 15 years of life so far as well, he doesnt have a fear of blood , in fact he loves watching those operation programmes on the TV and the more blood the merrier he is ...............like most 15 year olds I expect!!!

Having sat down and started to chat to the nurse ( who he knew) the nurse stuck the needle in...............son went first as white as a sheet, fell forwards and was out for the count................for all of 45 seconds or more.

When he came round he didn't know what, where or who we were and was trying to fight both the nurse and I who had hold of him to stop him falling to the floor, 35 minutes later having placed him on the nurses bed he looked more like himself again, but boy, Oh ! boy did he look ill, sweating , almost gray in colour and trying to vomit .

The nurse did get her blood in the end .

Today Mike was supposed to have a tetanus at college ( his booster shot ) but they have refused to give it to him on the grounds that if he 'has another turn ' it would scare the other college students , which makes sense. So I'm going to have to book that poor nurse again for this now.

Mike cannot understand why he's doing this, its not because he's dieting ( I checked and he's on more than enough calories a day) ...............alarm bells are starting to ring in my ears at the minute because I started getting strange 'happenings' at his age and we all know what that led to !!!!

Oh ! by the way my hubby has said as my heart is bradicardic am I now suffering from 'BOTS' ..............and started rolling around the settee...............men! dont you just love them

Willows.

[nadine]

Willows-

Well it sounds like you have had quite a week! I hope your son is now feeling better. You are both doing great on your weight loss. Congrats to sticking with it, despite the bad health days!

[willows]

Nadine, thanks for reply .

Mikes much better now, just waiting for his new consultant to call us in.

Mike had his college parents evening last night and hubby and I went to speak to all his tutors and his head of year.

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO proud of him , not ONE bad report, every tutor sang his praises of his hard work, appearance , capability ............ well just everything.

In fact his English tutor ( hubby and I were amazed at this ) was bursting with pride for him, apparently his going to take an A** ( highest exam level) which made me quiet tearful as she says his writing abilities are the best she has ever seen...............I'm a writer!!!!!! so look out world another one is the making

Given the fact that last winter Mike was off from late November 2005 to the begining off March 2006 with a run of ; first ear infection + flu then chest infection and on Christmas eve double pneumonia which took 7 lots of antibiotics to clear , and then when he went back to college it was one day on , one day off for another month as he was so weak.................... given all this ,he has excelled himself.

Anyhow , we had a treat last night after the college ( well treat for Mike ) we took him to Mc D's for burger , BUT mum here did look them all up for calorie content and he was allowed only a double cheeseburger + normal fries + diet drink ..............but he thought this was heaven !!!!

I'm going to try and make a low calorie Lasagna today .............I'll note the amounts and calories ( made for 4 people as Mikes mates coming over , again ) and if anyone wants a recipe , let me know .

I used to cook for some famous ( in UK) people when I was younger and ( blow my own trumpet here guys) was the youngest winner of the milk marketing board 'cook of the year' at aged 14............cooking's in my blood.................food in my mouth ........... SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I'm still being good.

Well bye for now next weigh in for us both ( mike minus his pod now !!!) this Sunday again.

So fingers crossed . Willows

[corina]

willows,

many compliments for you and mike. it must be very hard on both of you, having other health issues and then this "loosing the stones". you two are great!!!

oh and i LOVE the word BOTS, men can be soooo funny!!!! in my language (dutch) BOTS means CRASH: well, i think we all had a real crash being hit by POTS don't you think???!!!

keep up the good work loosing stones,

corina

[nadine]

Your posts are so entertaining Willow-

I am sure your son has picked up many of his mother's fine writing skills and hopefully some of your humor as well. Your outlook on life is wonderful, despite the many speed bumps in the road, so to speak.

Your son obviously is very goal oriented in trying to complete his studies. Hope you have another great weight loss week. You amaze me with your ability to be so creative with your recipes. I would love to see some that are maybe 10 mins or less to put together. Maybe that could be another section somewhere here on the website, for me I am lactose intolerant-so dairy is difficult. I have great difficulty getting energy to stand and prepare meals, so I have been doing crock pot meals a lot. I manage very simple meals other wise, even pasta requires a watchful eye. I am going to check into getting a stool as someone mentioned. I believe I have one in our barn. Just have to try and keep my balance-haha

[willows]

Thank you so much guys ...............I do have a somewhat 'crazy ' out look on life and that is why I think I'm still here, I try to never get down, let anything defeat me, pick myself up after a fall and smile ..........smile ..........smile............ Here that sounds like a line from a song out of one of those old time movies...........you know what will happen now dont you ????? I'll be singing that in my head all night

Cold sores that have decided to take up residence on my lower lips today ,along with their little friends mouth ulcers which are now on the inside of my lip and just to add insult to injury I've an abscess in my left ear !!!!!......................but thats not half as bad as when I had shingles up my nose..............ouch, ouch, ouch .......

Yes............I know I'm run down , its not the diet thing as I eat so much greenery I wonder I've not been mistaken for a tree by the local dogs and as for iron, I take tablets which like going in ............but dont like coming out , if you get my meaning

When I cook I use a hi-stool to sit on and hubby cuts and chops as best he can for me, also Mike helps to cook with me , so thats a great help , mind you we do have a lot of things like pressure cookers ,slow cookers , microwaves and such which makes it a lot easily.

Its just me going through a ' nasty month' again..............one day , one day ( look of hope in eyes here ) I just might have a good month

I'm slightly lactose intolerance, the slightly is to do with having just a 'little' bit to much' I can have about a cup of milk or a yogurt or about a large slice of cheese anymore and I look like quasi mo-do ( except for the hump back) eyes bulging...........face twice the size turning scarlet ........scratching myself all over with graphic urticaria lumps coming up making me look like I've also been attacked by a swarm of mad bee's ...............mmmmmmmm,lovely , but not the sort of thing you want to happen to often!!!!!

Did I tell you what Mike is amining to do after he leaves college and then uni ???? I dont think I did.

Well when he was just 4 years old he turned round and told me ' Mummmy I'm going to be a policeman when I'm older'...............and that has been his one aim in life , to join the UK police force and then go into the 'armed responce unit' !!!!!!!!!! I know he'll do it as he has his mum's determination in life..............I can, I must , I will.............Willows.

[willows]

Sorry we didn't get back t you all on Sunday , but those cold sores and mouth ulcers turned out to be a bit more than an annoyance to me ............... and I came down with the 'flu' feelings and was stuck in bed for 48 hours again watching Dvds.

Weighed in this morning and Mike and I have has lost just 1lb each this week ............so this week I am going to try and and aim for 2 lb's my this Sunday for us both, its still a running total of 7 lbs for Mike and 8 lbs for myself in three weeks .

Mikes suit is getting looser around the middle , which is what we were aiming for , and I haven't tried my suit on yet ( not until a week before ).

I bought a new medium sized suitcase this week for all our shoes , undies and other stuff, the suitcases we have in the loft are all emourmous for when we go on a long haul holiday , it would look really silly turning up for a weekend in a hotel with one of those.

I also bought each of us a suit cover ( full length plastic cover with zip in ) so I will not have the problem of creased wedding wear before hand.

I haven't heard from my step-daughter this week , but I'm sure she is also doing well on her diet and getting very excited ...........as we all are .

Will sort out a couple of 'easy cook' meals in the next three days and be back soon....................minus sores and ear problems I hope !!!!!!

Best wishes and have a good week .........Willows.

[willows]

What an eventful day ...........the tumour ( number 16 I think ) which has taken up residence in the right side of my left hands wrist joint ( try saying that after taking some diazepam ) has suddenly had a 'growth spurt'.

It was lazing quietly in that little indent bit between end of hand and start of arm , not annoying me , just 'there', all squishy and quiet like

Today however it has decided to make itself known , it must have got its hands on a nice supply of blood and had a jolly good feed as its grown from a little thing of just 2 cm X 2 cm to a nice visible 4 cm X 4 cm .

I have those black wrist supports on each side ..............you know the ones with the Velcro and metal support in the palm section, that make you look like some 'mad ninja granny ' and older people than yourself give you side ways looks and move away from you in case you suddenly leap in the air doing some crazy 'kung foo 'move demanding there old age pension and there zimmer frame

Well this extra lump is now pressing on a nerve and is making me do some very strange things.

Picking up my toothbrush this morning , my hand decided that instead of holding it reasonably tightly whilst I try to clean my teeth , my hand somehow went into a spasm and the toothbrush and contents pinged out of my hand , hit the shower wall and shot straight down the open loo , which I was stand beside !!!! needless to say I didn't retrieve it but got hubby to with a big rubber glove on.

Later on hubby and I went out to have a bit of exercise and a potter around some of the pretty shops, hubby after 10 mins said ' you look a bit pale dear ' .......whats new..........' lets get some coffee and a sit down' , so off we went and coffee and a biscuit ( not for me I might add ) was served , picked up coffee cup ..............splat .........although I was holding the cup the contents hit the table , hubby and myself.

The spilling of the coffee wasn't to bad and all was cleared up quickly, but what was silly was not being able to put the cup down on its saucer , a case of mind willing but hand will not obey.

I have noticed this before now , sometimes I take money out of my purse ( along with the moths) and go to give it to the shop assistant, only I can't seem to open my hand to release it , my local shops are used to me now and open my hand for me as I'm normally supporting myself with the other hand with my stick ...........no not a ninja fighting stick , a walking stick !!!!

So lets see what tomorrow brings ............yet another new toothbrush or may be something even more extreme????

Diets still going good , better this week than last I feel, this is probably owing to last weeks 'the time of the month' not that I have one as such becuase I'm on the jolly old HRT , but I do know somethings 'going on' as I get 'the munchies' and my boobs feel like they have been squeezed into a 'junior training bra which is made of steel ' and is six times to small .................

Well I'm off , I shall now endeavour to creak away from mother here ( thats our big online computer ) and stagger into the jolly old kitchen for a rummage ................. causeing havoc to all in my way no doubt, keep smiling , and stay away from open toilets then cleaning your teeth , especially if you have removable dentures .............................. Willows.

[willows]

I just dont believe it...................... men !!!!!

Here are son and I struggling to loose the weight , trying are hardest not to eat all the things that we are craving for like ; ice-cream, fridge cold chocolate and cheese on toast ................

And hubby's on this 'pick and nibble' diet without either of us knowing !!!!!

He got on the scales this morning and 'hey presto' he's lost 6 1/2 lbs in two weeks ..............totally unfair I call that he should be made to 'suffer' like we both are doing , be made to eat prunes and boiled cabbage

Mike ( son ) tried on his wedding suit again last night , boy, oh, boy can you notice a difference in the fit !!!! Next weigh in for us both is this Sunday morning again.

I've had some good news yesterday , I have tumors in some strange ( and interesting ) places, well one small one has grown just under my right eye brow and instead of being 'soft and squishy' has hardened off , saw a cosmetic surgeon a couple of weeks ago ( he deals with surgery on the eyes only ) and yesterday I got a letter saying that I'm going into hospital next Wednesday to have it removed !!!!

brilliant or what

It does mean I will be walking round with a patch on my eye for a week or so , which is a shame as I dont have a parrot to stick on my shoulder , wonder if the local zoo would loan me one for a week , I've got one of my hubby's old arm hooks and some pirate style clothing in the loft!!!!!

I can just see myself shuffling down to the village dressed like that , parrot squawking away on my shoulder

Well it would give the 'grockles' something to talk about .

Willows............................soon to be minus another unwanted 'critter'

[willows]

As we are going to attempt to go out to our local beach tomorrow morning for an hour or so Mike and I have weighed into today .

Mike has now lost a total of 9lb's in 4 weeks , he is SO pleased with himself for sticking to it , today a couple of his mates have come round to spend the day with him and they have said how Mike is very popular at college at the minute 'with the girls' becuase he can natter on about calories and 'good foods' vs 'bad foods' or as he puts it ' I'm cutting the fat to build a lean mean Mike machine ' ............boys

I am still running slow but I think it has to due with my bowels and the fact that I am struggling to get them 'moving' then when I do , I wish I hadn't as I then spend hours in the loo.

I to have lost a total of 9lbs' in 4 weeks .

Total left to 'get off ' before the 20th August for us both to look and feel good ( 7 weeks left)

Mike wants to loose another 12 lb's .............so he will weigh in at 11stone 7 lb's which for a person of his age ( 15 ) and height ( 5 feet 11 inches) and build ( med/lg) is right .

I want to loose another 14lb's ..................so I will weigh in at 10 stone 2lbs which for a person of my age ( 50+) height (5 feet 2 1/2 inches) and build ( ave) is exceptable .

However , I will carry on afterwards to get down lower as the less weight I carry the better, but to get into my wedding suit I have to be as near to 10 stone as I can .

For us both to achieve our goals we have to loose between 1-2 lbs a week , so keep your fingers crossed as the weeks are ticking by now .

Willows.................getting smaller every week ............and loving it

[corina]

willows,

we travle through devon when we visit my dad and his wife who live in a little village in cornwall. i soooooo love all the sweet fishing villages and the coves and of course the cottages and beautiful english gardens. i also like exeter and plymouth (love the bridge there). we sometimes travel via bristol (when we want to speed up) but my favourite route is via exeter and plymouth because of the surroundings.

complimetns to you and mike, because you two must have a very difficult time with this beautiful weather and you two not allowed to take an icecream!!!! keep up the good work!!!

corina