Facing the Crunch

It's now six weeks since I decided to make the effort to lose weight. Well, I have to own up... I haven't achieved my goal of 60k from 66k in 6 weeks. That would be about 9 1/2 stone, which I was for many years. I aimed to lose 6 kilos (12.12 lbs. in English) but have stabilised at 64k, about 10 st. a loss of 2k, or 4.4 lbs.

What I have done is to eat as healthily as possible, given my nomadic lifestyle! I've happily eliminated dairy foods from my diet along with meat, most of the time, which I don't miss at all. I am feeling slimmer and my next goal is to lose another 2k by increasing my level of exercise, which has been sporadic. When I've achieved that, it's only another 2k to get to my ideal weight again. So instead of 6 weeks it may take up to 6 months, but it will happen.

As a lapsed vegetarian I'm very happy with the variety of fruits and veg we have available today and my appreciation of food encompasses cuisines from around the world. I've recently stocked up on Asian noodles, brown rice, seaweed, miso, tofu and tempeh; made from fermented soybeans, all very nutritious and delicious, so I'm enjoying my diet! My only problem is portion control, but I'm working on it!

It's so easy to put weight on, but the older and more sedentary we get, the harder it is to lose weight! The Secret of achieving anything is to have a Focus of Intent, but the important thing to remember is that simply 'wishing ' for something actually doesn't work. Nothing is likely to happen unless you work on it! In my opinion, WORK is the missing ingredient from The Secret (book and DVD), if you've been trying to get that to work! OK... more exercise then!

Cycling in the country

When I have time off, which isn't very much, I like to explore the countryside by foot or bike. I can't go more than a couple of miles from here without coming to a main road and I've done the circuit of lanes twice now on my bike, only about 6 miles. The farmers have been making the most of every fine day to get on with the haymaking leaving the shorn fields a wonderful colour.

In case you can't make it out, that's my reflection in a mirror on the road.

The first time I took a ride on a lovely sunny afternoon, I returned hot and sweaty from the exertion of coming back uphill and was shocked to be reprimanded by 'my lady'.

"What do you think you're doing, getting yourself into such a state?" she demanded. To which I replied, "It's called exercise! Gets your heart going you know?" "Well I don't think you should be doing such things at your age!" she insisted. "I hate cycling; had to ride my bike to school every day, in all weathers, I hate it!" Too bad. She's 90 years old and was brought up on a farm when life was hard, so maybe that attitude is understandable.

Maybe not for her the joys of a leisurely ride along leafy lanes to the singing of birds, making hardly a sound to disturb the wildlife, freewheeling down long hills with the wind in your hair and seeing how far you can get up the hill before getting off. Anyway, for me there's something very satisfying about getting further in less time in a most ecological way.

I love my bike! When I was young I would ride from Southport where I lived, on a Sunday, to stay with my grandparents in Manchester, (about 60 miles) and after a week's work there ride back on the Friday night; a shorter route (only 40 miles) that descended the long steep hill at Parbold down onto the Lancashire plain.

Please pardon me for bragging! I've cycled around North Wales and Shropshire and across Ireland from Dublin to the West coast in 3 weeks. That was some years ago, but I reckon I could do a lot more. Because I now live in a flat with no garage, my bike is now a folding model that lives in the boot of my car and I don't get it out often enough. Once I'm on my bike I'm free and could go anywhere. Maybe I could do a sponsored trip or something!

My sister Di when she visited me here and we took a walk down the lane. It was great that she could visit, as she lives only 30 odd miles from here and we had a lovely afternoon.

Thanks

Thanks to those few, mainly Catherine and Michael, who leave a comment! Especially thanks to Diep from Viet Nam who left a lovely message. Diep, I've returned the compliment and left a comment on your blog too. It means a lot to me to know there are people out there who may find my musings of interest. I also follow my sister Diane's blog at who2 blog- emotional health.

Having only recently joined Facebook, I'm really pleased to suddenly be in contact again with many people I'd not been in touch with for some time. I love this instant messaging and seeing pics of everyone's lives. I know some people are suspicious of these social networks and think that the secret services are watching what goes on there and I wouldn't be surprised if that's true! I hope they enjoy it too!

I'll probably write more about this part of the country before I leave, but for now it's time for bed.

Middle England

I'm staying in a part of rural England that seems almost untouched by time and takes me far back to childhood memories. There are few houses that are not old in this hamlet; it can hardly be called a village, except that it has a Church. There seems to be no village centre, no shop and no pub. Except for signposts and the Village Hall you wouldn't know it was a village at all. The houses are strung out along narrow lanes that meander from farm to farm, eventually coming round in a long loop.

I took a walk along the lane, when it had stopped pouring down with rain, coming eventually to the Church in the middle of a field! No road or proper track leads to it; you walk across a field to get to it! I walked back along a farm track, sometimes squelching through mud, under overhanging trees, with the pungent smells of animals, earth, grass and unnamed herbs and flowering plants that some would label 'weeds'.

A large part of my childhood was spent in such country surroundings; up and down the country, wherever my Dad was stationed by the RAF, my Mother and I would find somewhere to stay nearby. They both loved the country, having spent their courting years walking and cycling away from the city. I find it hard to resist a footpath sign or leafy lane and when I find myself marching along a path like a foot soldier, I'm minded of walks with Dad as I tried to keep up with him.

I remember the village pump being the only source of water, washing hanging over bushes to dry, great carthorses pulling carts and ploughs and gleaning in the cornfield with the village children, the whole village helping with the harvest. One difference now is the well groomed riding horses in the fields, an indication of the affluence of at least some of the inhabitants here.

Another roller-coaster week!

It's been great having Rich here and I've been taking advantage of every fine day to take walks with the family. Late one afternoon Julie and I took the track from her place up through bracken covered hills, fighting our way through undergrowth as the path narrowed and almost disappeared.

This is a view of where she lives; away from the madding crowd!

As always, when exploring a new route it can seem a long way, especially when pausing to take in and photograph the views, but actually it wasn't very far and we soon descended to a road, where Julie kept meeting people she knows. Although she's just moved here, she lived in this area many years ago while her daughter was very young.

It was such a lovely evening that we decided to continue along the little Tourist railway that runs along the lakeside and reached Llanberis as the sun was setting. The railway was originally built to transport huge quantities of slate from quarries on the hillside that are now picturesquly covered in trees and bracken, but only a hundred years ago or less was a scene of industrial hard labour.

We couldn't stop taking pictures as the setting sun lit up ancient Dolbadarn Castle nestled against the flanks of Snowden, hidden by cloud, as we approached Llanberis.

It was beginning to feel quite chilly and we were very glad to find a pub where we had a Pizza and Pint of Guinness before catching the last bus back to the village where Julie lives. I always feel grateful for being able to live in such a beautiful part of the world.

Goodbye to Mark

Yesterday I delivered Mark to the Railway Station at Chester to start his journey back to VietNam. Why he didn't get the train from here I think had to do with the extra cost, but anyway, he'd booked his ticket from Chester. As Annie just happened to be working there, we arranged to meet her so I could drive her back home.


After we'd had a meal in a Cafe, dropped Mark off at the Station and spent half an hour trying to find our way back to the motorway because we'd taken the wrong road, Annie was wishing she'd taken the train and got home much earlier! Anyway, I was very glad to have her with me, as we were driving into the setting sun, which was blinding me all the way home in spite of sunglasses.

Yesterday morning I was shocked to find I weighed 66k, the same as a week ago when I resolved to lose 1k a week for the next 6 weeks until I'm down to 60k. I knew I'd blown it over the weekend at Annie's, where we celebrated Julie's and Rich's Birthdays (even though Julie wasn't there), with wine and nibbles, nuts and crisps, which were delicious if not exactly the healthy diet I've been trying to maintain.

However, I was even more shocked this morning to find that I weigh 65k! It's a digital weighing maching, so very accurate. Something must be moving, maybe as a result of the walks I've been taking, as well as my focus on '60k in 6 weeks' mantra.

With more regular exercise and less food, something's gotta give!

Regeneration

A couple or more years ago, my old friend Gotami brought me a small African violet plant when she came to visit. It bloomed nicely on my windowsill for a while but eventually, due to my many absences, began to look past it's best. Last year I thought of binning it, but as it still showed evidence of life in tiny green shoots among the dried old leaves I decided to re-pot in fresh compost instead. A year later, (thanks to my daughter Annie for regularly watering all the plants while I was away), this is it; lush green leaves with the most beautiful velvet flowers.

The other change I made recently was to take it off the windowsill in my front room, which I only use when I have visitors, and bring it into my den, where it resides among my most inspirational books, CD's and DVD's, along with me on my laptop. None of us bloom if we're not fed and watered with regular human contact and I count myself well blessed with my family who I see very regularly.

Annie and her family live not far away, so I see them a lot, while Julie sometimes comes to stay the night, which usually involves a bottle of wine! Mark often takes me to the Cinema when he's here and last week we saw the new Sacha Baron Cohen's film 'Bruno', which was even more disgusting than 'Borat' and great fun! We also saw the new Harry Potter film, which fulfilled all expectations! I just love those films... and they're all British! I was so glad to accompany Mark to Leeds recently and catch up with his daughters, who I see rarely.

Today is Julie's Birthday and I hope to see her later. Rich should be on his way already; it's his and his twin brother's Birthday on Monday! Naturally I miss those who are not here; Damian (Happy Birthday to you) and his lovely family, who live in Australia, but was so glad to visit them earlier this year, a trip that I'd love to do again some time. I'm so grateful to be surrounded by so many of my children and grandchildren, not to mention Llawen, my gorgeous little great-g-daughter.

I do believe that the outer world reflects to us our own inner state and maybe my African Violet is reflecting the way I'm blooming; free of old stagnant attitudes and habitual restraints. Thank you Gotami for this reminder, not only of you and Gordon, but of the way we all need nurturing!