Nice to be Home

It’s been really nice to get back into an ‘at home’ routine. Yesterday we did shopping and stocked up the fridge and cupboards, today has been lazy!

At Sainsbury’s yesterday I finally saw my first piece of ‘Art Everywhere’.

Strange seeing this in a car park! The best was on the other side – Holbein and Hocking’s! 🙂

Cracking!

Today I got up late – I’m sure sleeping is helping with the healing. I am eating a little more each day, so that is great news. On the up! I weigh myself each week and have been a wee bit despondent during chemo as I managed to pile on an average of 2 pounds a week! Now I know why they do radiotherapy second – you lose a pile of weight because you can’t eat! Last week I lost 3 pounds, this week I lost a further 3.75 pounds. I’m close to my pre-treatment weight now!

Today I ventured out for a walk – slowly! 🙂

I met Jiminy Cricket –

Bit weird isn’t he! And we scared some sheep!

They ran like crazy just because we looked at them from the lane!

I watched the F1 Grand Prix and then rounded off the day by making a beef stew (with red wine) and dumplings. Yummy stuff! I ate a whole dumpling and some meat and four bits of carrot – mega eating for me!

Looking forward to a whole week at home now.

Have a marvellous Monday!

 

Feet Ache!

Happy July! I wonder if summer will come soon?

This morning I got on the scales for my weekly weight in. I got off very quickly. I have yet again gained weight – that is a constant upward movement since February. I have put on over a stone since my leg operation – this is not what I need – things have to change.

It is quite easy – eat less, move more.

So today I have tried to stay on my feet, cleaning and polishing this morning followed by vegetable soup for lunch. After that, a two and a half hour walk and cooking roast beef and all the trimmings for dinner. All Paleo for me, hubby had Yorkshire Puddings!

I really enjoyed our walk today – I started out with a t shirt, jumper and wind proof jacket on, but was soon down to just a t shirt!

This tree is precariously growing on the edge of a quarry!

Wild strawberries! And no – we didn’t eat any! They looked just too pretty to eat!

I can’t resist the Cow Parsley shot!

So my goal of eating less and moving more has been met today. The key thing is keeping it going! Have you seen the Nike+ Fuelbands? Oooo how I want one of those! They have been available in the States for a while, but the only place you can buy them in the UK is London! How annoying is that! They aren’t even available on line yet! Want! I am hoping they will be made available nation-wide soon – I can’t go on drooling! 🙂

Office tomorrow – I have tuna and lettuce, a banana, an apple and a small pot of cashew nut butter packed and ready to go. If I get out for a walk at lunch that will be ideal.

Have a good Monday!

 

Curious!

Things have gone a bit wappy haven’t they? The Italians beat the Germans at football, Nadal lost a tennis match in week one of Wimbledon, rain of epic proportions and hailstones the size of golf balls have fallen – in June! Huge wild fires in America look so scary, strange events in deed.

I have no answer for it – just saying really!

Today I have worked at home – so lots done – nicely! I have tried to cut down my eating today as I have put on 4lbs in as many weeks recently. I have done alright so far, but it’s not evening yet and that is my downfall. I had tuna and salad for lunch and lamb curry for dinner – both nice – all Paleo.

We went for a walk before dinner as we saw some blue bits in the sky! Good job we went when we did because it’s raining again now!

Quite an atmospheric day for pictures! Love the hedgerows at this time of year – they are crammed full of all sorts!

I have some weights to lift tonight then I am sitting and chilling. Looking forward to a lie in and some super shopping tomorrow!

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

Happy Day

Yesterday I ate my way through absolutely loads of nuts, plus a banana, almond butter, hard boiled egg, chicken, salad, steak and more nuts. I went to bed feeling that I had eaten way too much.

I get up this morning and I weight 2lbs less than I did yesterday morning! What is that all about then? Maybe all that protein was good for me. Maybe that is what I need to be doing? What ever the reason, it made me happy! 🙂

I worked at home today so I was able to snap hubby in his makeshift studio!

He’s happy too!

Lunch was tuna and salad – a whole tin all to myself with some chopped red onion – yummy! More work, then a short walk as thunder storms were threatening!

Nice to see the crops growing well with all the rain.

Dinner has been ‘Pigs in Blankets’ – that’s sausages wrapped in bacon! I oven cooked them while we were out walking, and ate them with cabbage and carrots and gravy. Lovely – all Paleo too!

I have a few special nuts left for nibbles later, but I really must cut down! My problem last night was that I opened a bag of Sainsbury’s Macadamia and Cashew nuts with black pepper! Boy are they addictive! I had to put them in a cupboard to stop me eating the whole bag!

Tomorrow I am back at the hospital to see the Consultant about the leg – I wonder what he will have to say when I tell him it is no better. I really hope he has some answers, or at least a plan to find out what is happening. I’ll let you know!

Thursday is very nearly Friday – have a good one!

 

Jubilee Weekend

Rain again – but can you believe it’s Tuesday already?! Love Bank Holidays, love even more two of them!

I have enjoyed the celebrations on the television, and watched the concert last night too. I was amazed at how many ‘famous’ names can’t sing! Elton John was awful, and many others – he was not alone, but the spectacle was amazing. The best bit was the light show on the Palace – particularly the images that accompanied Madness and ‘Our House’ – amazing!

The rain today meant we have been indoors today, I have done various bits of office work and accounts – nothing earth shattering. Occasionally I looked out of the conservatory only to see more rain.

The good news is that my eating has been marvellous! All Paleo again, and I am starting to feel a bit more normal. I have lost 2 lbs over the last few days – a sign that things are settling down. Today’s food has been tuna and lettuce for lunch, a few nuts and sultanas mid afternoon, and salmon salad for dinner.

The nut rationing is going well – I am a bit more in control now. All is good.

Back to work tomorrow, not looking forward to that – but needs must and all that! At least it will be half way through the week!

Have a great Wednesday!

 

Time for a Sit-down

Weigh day!

Weight last week – 150lbs
Weight today – 147.75lbs

Total loss – 2.25lbs

Go me! 🙂 Actually, I should write – Go Paleo eating! It is suiting me very well, I not only feel so much better, I lost a whole load of weight too. What is not to love?

Until today hubby has scorned my refusal to eat bread, cereals, potatoes etc – he actually accused me of being “stupid”. After weighing this morning he asked how it worked – what I had cut out etc! 🙂 I have given him my books, he can make up his own mind.

Today has been non-stop. This morning I did some tidying in the garden – looking pretty:

This little chap was getting a bit overgrown!

He’s much happier now!

Hubby fixed the log store roof:

It had started to rot away, so he fixed another layer of wood on top to protect it.

We paused for lunch – I had a 3 egg omelette and salad, then did all the prep for dinner – slow roast lamb today.

Hubby finished that roof then we did our Sunday long walk – 7.58 miles in just about 2.5 hours.

Shorts and t-shirt weather today!

Dinner was lamb with cabbage, carrots and parsnips – hubby had roast potatoes too – we were both starving!

Time to sit down now, my legs are really sore from all those hills today. Tomorrow it’s back to the office, but it is just a 4 day week for me as we are on holiday Friday! So looking forward to it!

Hope you had a great weekend too!

 

See For Ever

What a view! This is taken from Ashriegney looking towards Exmoor – 4 miles into our 7 mile walk. Home is in the village on the hill to the right.

Lovely day in every way possible! The sun has shone all day, so we started with climbing that scaffolding again and giving the chimney another coat of white paint. That took us until lunch – when my trip into Paleo-land started.

Lunch was 2 poached eggs – hubby had his on toast – followed by an apple. Fine so far!

Then we took off on our mega walk.

I know nothing about orchids – but found this one:

Very pretty and delicate, and all alone – it was the only one we saw!

What a lovely day for walking – nice bit of sun and a nice breeze. I wore Capri trousers and a running t shirt and was very comfortable. Three hours later we got home and I started dinner. Tonight we had roast lamb stuffed with rosemary and garlic, parsnips, carrots and cabbage. Hubby had roast potatoes, but I didn’t miss them, we had loads!

My leg seems worse today, the uphill sections were very painful, but I am pushing on in the hope it will get better.

Tomorrow it is back to work, but happily I am working from home. So far the Paleo diet is fine – I’m full but not bloated, satisfied and happy. Now I have to avoid the sweets and peanuts! This is not going to be easy!

It is necessary though, this week I hit 150lbs – that’s 10lbs I have gained since my leg operation. Action is needed!

Have a great Monday!

 

Weekly Weigh In – SSD8

Weight last week – 146lbs
Weight Today – 146.5lbs

Weekly Gain 0.5lbs

Oh dear! I was hoping that I could at least have stayed the same, but it was not to be. Why? Easy – peanuts and cheese biscuits. My evening grazing habit is stopping me losing weight – I thought I could get away with it – but obviously not! Tonight I must at least cut down on the grazing, and if at all possible, try to get to the end of the evening without having had a single peanut or mini cheddar biscuit. It will be hard, but it is the only way!

I started my day by sitting on the sofa and watching the London Marathon whilst sipping coffee. I felt bad, but so inspired by all those people running all that way so quickly! The elite athletes are just amazing, but equally there were thousands who did an amazing job today – you all have my utmost respect. I would love to be able to do that one day.

Lunch was back to the tomato soup/bread roll combo as I managed to buy two cheese and onion rolls at Sainsbury’s yesterday. They are even better when dunked in tomato soup! This afternoon I have pottered, done dinner, pottered a bit more. It has poured with rain most of the day “heavy showers” they said, and I think it has been a perfect description of what we got. No chance of a nice long walk today, it would have been wet and miserable, so I have yet to leave the house.

Dinner was roast beef, broccoli, carrots, cabbage. Hubby also had roast potatoes and yorkshire puddings! Annoyingly he lost half a pound this week! Testament, I suppose, to just how many peanuts and cheese biscuits I manage to get through in a week!

Tomorrow – work, but at home, so a nice start to the week. I hope you all have a great Monday!

 

Sunshine!

Another lovely day today – we have been very lucky with the weather recently – that is unless you live in the South East where there is already a shortage and a hose pipe ban. I don’t mind a bit of rain, but it is nice to have the sunshine to be able to get out and walk/jiggle.

Today we got up really late – like 10am late! No idea why we both slept in, but we did and it felt nice. That meant that by the time I had had my statutory two cups of coffee, showered and dressed it was nearly 11am! Lazy cow! 🙂

I did a bit of work this morning, and then we had lunch – I am back on the salads, with a little cheddar today. I think I did better with salads for lunch, and as I seem to be putting weight back on, it’s time to go back to what I know works for me. After lunch I pottered in the garden. We have a few raised beds and I was able to perch on the wall and remove a few weeds with a trowel and generally tidy the area. I wanted to get a grip of the herb bed as the mint is already popping up all over the place! I love mint, but it does need keeping in check. Happily both the rhubarb plants are showing through too – can’t wait until it’s time to pick and eat it! It looks a lot better now, and I am happy that I was actually able to do something useful for once.

Later this afternoon, hubby and I went out for a walk/jiggle again. Just around the block today (2.25 miles) as he has been trying to get some work done to make up for our late start! It was lovely out – T shirt weather, which is amazing for this time of year. I did a bit of jiggling, but it is sore, wobbly and painful down the front of my shin for some reason, but still no reoccurrence of the muscle swelling and foot going to sleep, so as far as I am concerned, all is well.

For dinner I made a sausage and butter bean casserole with some chopped tomatoes and mustard. I served it with a pile of sweetheart cabbage and some sprouts – both steamed. Just lovely and very welcome!

Tomorrow I am back at the doctors as it will be 4 weeks since the operation – I’m hoping he will tell me all is well and give me some hope of getting the feeling back in my lower leg some time soon!

Have a fantastic Friday folks!

 

Sunday Run

Hello! Welcome to my 500th Blog Post!

Wow – who would have thought I could have that much to write about!

Sunday’s are for lazing about aren’t they? Yup – that’s what I did most of the day. I must admit that I didn’t struggle out of bed until nearly 10am and then downed paracetamol for breakfast. My head is still banging and my face swollen – ho hum. I may be back on the phone to the dentist in the morning. So, this morning was spent playing on the computer, reading blogs and articles and drinking coffee.

Lunch was soup and bread again – but a bit less today as I got on the scales today and have gained half a pound from last week. Not terribly surprising considering the amount of chocolate I consumed on Friday! I need to do better this week – better choices need to be made!

Well, another day, another run! Today we were going to venture a bit further, but it was very cold and very windy, so stuck to the 3.5 mile circuit we did yesterday. Interestingly my head banged to the footfall and the tooth throbbed in time too, but by the time we had finished the head felt better but the face was even more swollen! Today’s route was a down hill start – which is always easier on my leg, but the climb up that follows is a killer! I walked most of the way up the hill, but I did run some of the uphill bits today. The lane was very muddy, but, despite the wind, the sun shone all the way. It wasn’t until we came back down the hill into the village that we were actually running into the wind and I thought my face would freeze! It spurred me on to a quicker jog though, just to get home to my warm house and hot shower!

Dinner was roast organic beef with carrots, cabbage and sprouts – hubby had Yorkshire Puddings too! To say it was welcome is a bit of an understatement.

I have managed to stay within my calorie range, and done my run and half an hour of strength training again. I really need to get down on the floor and do some more core work – I am sure it would help my running.

Monday tomorrow – that’s sad. Back to work, although I am working at home, so I can ease my way into the day. I will be on the phone to the hospital about my leg operation as I haven’t heard anything as yet, as well as the dentist if this swelling isn’t any better tomorrow. I feel like I am gradually falling apart! 🙂

Have a great Monday folks!