Getting used to this blogging lark........

So, I thought I'd better blog again....it's hard getting a balance - don't want to bore you all rigid updating all the time but too little and there's no point in having a blog...

Anyway, it's Wednesday morning and the sun is shining...woohoo....always easier to be cheerful when the weather is nice.... I'm off out for a bike ride in a bit - I do wish that I lived closer to countryside sometimes. It's lovely being able to access necessities easily but riding a bike in a city isn't always pleasant..maybe I'll make it to the seafront...

I'm still holding fast to the diet, cutting down on portion size has worked like a charm so far. I get hungry but it's not as bad as I thought it would be, and not having chocolate in the house is obviously a good plan....I even managed to walk round a supermarket without having the urge to buy chocolate - for me, this is practically unheard of...I'm well aware that this won't last (probably) and that at some point I'll have cravings, I'm just hoping that I will be able to handle it and that, if I do 'fall off the wagon' chocolate-wise, I don't beat myself up too much/give up totally.

Yesterday I had the pleasure (???) of visiting the nurse at my doctor's surgery.....just for a routine check up...but of course it meant having blood pressure and (gulp) weight measurements taken...blood pressure was slightly up and weirdly, when I said to the nurse that I was dieting and exercising and thought that would help, she wasn't sure...I thought that BP was affected by weight/fitness but maybe she was just distracted by the gazillion codes she had to enter in the form she was completing - seriously, apparently 'yes', 'no', 'sometimes' and specific numbers aren't good enough for the government anymore, oh no - codes like #6KL54 (probably relating to the number of times a day I pick my nose - (for the record 0) - or something like that) have to be entered instead....why? Then she made me get on the scales...oh dear...that was not fun...and no, I'm not revealing the dreadful number, suffice it to say that I was suitable ashamed... However, it has given me a target to work towards.

I'm not planning on weighing myself regularly. I don't want to get up/down over weight loss, especially as muscle weighs more than fat. Water loss can also have an impact. At the moment I shall go by clothes - i.e. belt tightening, fitting into certain items of clothing etc. I'm also utilising the 'hug test' - this is where A hugs me (around the waist) and we note the amount of crossover with his hands/arms. I prefer this and A loves it too. It's tangible for him, and it makes him realise that I'm serious about it. I will weigh myself, but it's likely to be when I feel as though there is a difference.

I've got 2 months until the Race for Life and although I'm already feeling a difference, i.e. walking faster, not hurting as much, I know I've got a way to go. Any suggestions about how best to build up to this will be gratefully received. Thank you to J who has already messaged me with ideas...much appreciated... I wish I weren't quite so fussy re food, but I fear that salad and I will never get on...sadly....at least I like sprouts.. ;-)

Right, guess I'd better stop waffling on and crack on with Uni work - time to cycle to the library and get more books about nineteenth-century prostitution... The cats are sunning themselves, and much as I'd like to join them, work calls....

Enjoy your day...I shall be back