Fashion Fall Out

This week I have been bugged by the following fashion failures. . .

1) wearing flip flops to the office

2) visible underwear

3) wonder bras on old women

4) napalm strength Joop

5) thin white T-shirts over huge lace bras

6) Crocs (x10 if worn with socks)

7) wearing wellies to go to the supermarket when it isn't raining

8) Ugg Boots (x100 if summer)

9) pigtails on anyone over 10

10) visible tatoos on wedding pictures

The Power of Punctuation

Life's a Beach

We have been trying to get out to the coast all summer but, since this year seems to have been the wettest summer I can remember I have been more likely to reach for my wellies than my flip flops.

We braved the weather during my week of work to visit Whitworth Hall, a picturesque hotel with deer park and gardens near where I grew up. We were married there in the little church a stone's throw from the hotel, which is the same church my parents were married in back in 1970. We also had our reception in the hotel.

It pissed it down from the minute we got out of the car until the minute we left. We had to go to my parents house up the road, strip off and tumbledry our clothes while she made us a sandwich and a cuppa. And the highlight of my daughter's day? Hand feeding the deer? The fabulous countryside? The swans swimming regally on the man-made lake? Not likely.

Her favourite bit was the icecream she had in the car on the way home.

Our trip to the coast this week was a greater success. It didn't rain, in fact it was hot enough to raise a little sunburn on the back's of our necks. It was also windy enough to blow our sandcastle back in our faces but you can't have everything. Josie loved every minute, running into the sea before I could get my shoes off, laughing as daddy chased a wasp from our picnic spot (or was it the wasp chasing daddy?) and her favourite bit?

Yep, you guessed it, the icecream on the promendade before we came home.

Isn't it great being two . . .

My Diet Update

I know I have campained for the larger lady, complaining about fat girl shops and the small changing rooms but ultimately loosing weight has always been a lifelong goal for me. I was large as a kid, being a big baby and chubby toddler, and being surrounded by my mother's fabulous cooking and baking didn't help. I know people often blame society, their metabolism, their genetics or their glands but even I think that's a load of horseshit.

Your genetics can determine how tall you will grow, what colour eyes you have, what diseases you may be more susceptable to (like diabetes and certain cancers) but being overweight is directly linked to eating too much and doing too little. I know people may see that as an over simplification but I won't turn my nose up at uncomplicated answers.

I come from a long line of heavy set, big armed farmhouse type women. Their size was determined by the heavy, stodgy food that graced the table each evening and the fact that they could be called upon to drag a cow out of a ditch at 3am without a moments notice. A skinny, undernourished weakling afraid of breaking a nail wouldn't last long in our family.

I have inherited my mother's smile and her laughing eyes (that twinkle with merriment) my father's height and his crackly knees. Everything else is my own doing. My weight, if you hadn't noticed, is a big issue for me (excuse the bad pun) and taking responsibility for it has been the biggest and hardest decision I have ever had to make.

The fact is: weight means nothing, it is a number on a dial, same goes for dress sizes. How I feel is crucial now in by bid to change my eating and exercising habits forever. And I feel fantastic. So far I've lost nearly 50 lbs and gone down three dress sizes but the real measurement of my success is in how much energy I have.

My Khai Bo class stopped over the summer holidays and I found a Spinning class at my local leisure centre to trial for those six weeks. I loved it. I have never worked so hard, sweated so much or felt so buzzed from exercise before and this is the girl who hated PE at school (didn't we all - it's not real exercise is it?) and couldn't run for a bus never mind my life this time last year.

I'm now doing the spinning class, and running twice a week and will probably add the Khai Bo back in when it restarts in September. I have loads of energy for my little girl and can often be found throwing myself head first down the twirly slide at the park (to show her how it's done - of course) If that isn't slimming success, I don't know what is.