Weight Loss Journals - petecohen.tv

Hi Everyone

It's Monday – I hope we all have a good week.

I had a terrible week last week – work was just so stressful and I worked very long hours and one day I ended up only having 3 hours sleep and getting up at 2am and working and still couldn't get it all done! Enough of work as it is too boring and depressing.

I managed to really do well with my diet and exercise despite work and did over 5 hours of exercise (cardio & resistance work) plus a couple of short walks during the week. I ate healthily and did not have any alcohol which was excellent under the circumstances but at the weekend I did have wine (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) which was naughty, not an excessive amount, but still failed my 'only have it one day' goal. Although my meals were healthy and low fat at the weekend I did end up having a few snacks and things which pushed my calories up, but no real damage done because of the exercise.

Where I am failing at the minute is not relaxing and I am finding myself very tense and stressed, I know this because when I get too stressed I grit my teeth and end up getting sensitivity and pain in my back teeth – so I am consciously trying not to get too 'worked-up'. I have had a natracalm and currently have a big mug of camomile tea. I must try to listen to the R&T track as much as I can as I did not do that last week.

We had a lovely evening on Saturday and went to see some friends – they cooked a delicious chicken and porcini mushroom risotto and we met their new puppy – who is just adorable and got me all broody wanting another puppy…………no chance my Husband will agree to that!

So far, so good for today. I started the day with an hour of circuit training, had porridge with banana and nectarine for breakfast, I am working from home today so have got some soup out of the freezer for lunch. For tea I bought some lovely trout fillets which I am going to spread with a bit of garlic & herb Philli light plus some chives and breadcrumbs, bake in the oven and serve with new potatoes and steamed carrots & broccoli. Definitely no wine today and I will do my best to relax and listen to the R&T CD and to try to go for a walk later - although the weather looks awful now with sleet, I am hoping it will improve by lunchtime.

Hope you all have a good day
Luv
Debs xx

Hi Everyone

I hope you are all doing well and enjoying a lovely Sunday.

I was in London last week and guess who I bumped into?…… Pete! It reminded me that I haven't been on and blogged for ages so I thought it was about time.

So what have I been up to? Weight-wise I put on weight during the summer and tried to shift it again, throughout September and October I only lost about 3 pounds, but then started to step up my exercise a little and virtually cut out the wine, this resulted in my losing 9 pounds in November/early December – it just goes to show what that extra bit of effort to cut down the alcohol really yielded results. I was so pleased because I was only 4 pounds away from my target weight.

Over the few weeks of Christmas I managed to put on around 7 pounds again, which I thought was 'just not fair' as I exercised virtually every day, we ate a lot less than previous years and certainly drank a lot less – so I was shocked to see I had put on more than usual – is there no justice?

Anyway I am never going back to those awful yo-yo dieting days (Pete taught me that) so it is back to eating extra healthily and making good food choices, cutting right back on alcohol, exercising etc. I have started to cut down my portion sizes (which did start to creep up) – but generally just be active and eat very healthy. I have lost 5 of the 7 pounds I put on at Christmas already and feeling pretty fit and good.

Today I had to have a small early breakfast before my exercise as I was hungry, I had a few rice crispies (I have not had them for years and just fancied them this week), I added ½ a banana and a few blueberries. Then I did 40mins of Strength training followed by 40mins of cardio work. Brunch was a small kipper fillet with a bit of wholemeal bread – haven't had kippers for ages and they were delicious.

I had to get a few chores out of the way – dog had to be washed, I had to be washed, visit to the consultant at the hospital with my Husband and then lunch – I was in M&S yesterday and I love their Chicken and Rice soup so we had some of that – that is the one soup I will buy because I usually make my own. I have had to do a bit of work, but now I am going to have a cup of tea and then do a bit of Wii Fit Plus, I really love the boxing and karate and it's surprising how many calories you can burn while still having fun. After that I am going to roast a chicken and we will have it with a few new potatoes and lots of healthy steamed vegetables – and no Wine!!!

Luv
Debs x

Hi Everyone

Long time no communication!!!!

I hope you are all doing great. I'm up and awake very early and thought I would finally get on to petecohen.tv and Facebook to see how everyone is doing.

I am doing great – busy, as ever, but feeling pretty good. I had a great Birthday last Thursday and my lovely Husband surprised me with tickets to see the Jersey Boys and we had a great day in London, dinner at Zilli Fish and then the show which was brilliant. We also had the Friday off work so had a lovely relaxing day, wondering around the Christmas displays at the garden centre – I love to do that each year and a delicious lunch out and then some very good red wine with some crispy duck pancakes for supper. On the Saturday we had further celebrations as it was also one of my Sisters Birthdays this week. So I ended up spreading out my birthday and being spoilt for about 4 days!!!

My 'best' achievement last week was not putting on weight during my birthday 'week' and in fact losing 2.5 lb, when usually I would put 2lb at least on. So those tools are well ingrained.

Work is pretty busy but I am managing to get in lots of exercise, squeezing it into my schedule wherever I can and I am staying pretty calm even though busy.

I did put on about 8lb over the summer, but am losing it quite well now and almost back to where I was in May. I do feel I am not as manic as I used to be 'pre petecohen.tv' and I am not 'dieting' as such, just being very healthy and cutting down on snacks and alcohol, plus the exercise of course which is resulting in becoming well toned as petecohen.tv made me realise the importance of resistance training as well as cardio. I am feeling more pleased with myself because I gave up my gym membership for the summer to save money and I have managed to keep focussed on my exercise and getting fitter and stronger from exercising at home on my own.

So today I have various chores to do and I am going to make some kipper fishcakes for lunch and tonight we are off to a friends house for a Halloween party – I have a great witches hat with a wide brim and feathers around. It is not really fancy dress but there is still the 'theme' so I will wear my hat and Robin is going to put his cape on for his entrance! I made him a fabulous Dracula cape a few years ago, it is huge with red satin on the inside and black on the outside with a big white stand up collar. I don't really like being out around this time of year because my dog gets upset with the trick or treaters and fireworks – I have some 'calming' drops from the Vet which I will give her before we leave so hopefully that will help.

Hope you are all doing great
Luv
Debs xxxx

Hi Everyone
I hope you are all feeling great at the start of a new week.

Well last week was pretty manic work-wise, but now I have finished my 2010 budget presentations and re-engineering costings I hope to be back to just a 'normal busy' this week!

I did lose 3lb last week – which I really did not deserve because I did not entirely. But on the other hand, I didn't feel that I deserved to put on 5lb the week before – so maybe that's evened things out.

I had a bit of an accident on Friday – while we were loading the food shopping in the boot I somehow jammed my hand on the boot trim and not only 'jarred' my wrist but ripped off the top 1/3 of my thumb nail on my right hand oooouuuuccccchhhhhh! I cannot believe that the few millimetres of raw skin where my nail used to be can be so sore and painful and being my right thumb is a complete nuisance. It throbbed for ages and bled so I stuck a plaster on it…….big mistake as when I went to change it Saturday the plaster had stuck…ouch again! We had friends coming for a BBQ and I had lots of cleaning and food preparations to do on Saturday but even getting a knife out of the drawer hurt my thumb, so my lovely Husband drove to the chemist and spoke to the Pharmacist and came home with some non-stick gauze and dressings – he expertly applied the items which gave my thumb some nice cushioning so I could get on (with the aid of the thumb of a disposable rubber clove tapped over it to keep it from getting mucky and wet). I really struggled to do some things, things that you don't even think of, either because of the soreness or the dressing – like, removing my contact lenses, I couldn't do up a necklace, writing, pushing the button on my car remote key, sounds stupid doesn't it? But my wrist also hurt which didn't help as I struggled to even lift a full kettle with my right hand. Oh well, I'm sure it will heal soon, but I won't need a manicure on that thumb for a while as I won't have a nail to file for quite some time!!!

Anyway whilst I was struggling through my preparations on Saturday morning my Husband's Cousin rang and invited us for Sunday lunch – very unexpected and welcome. It's weird because we have had 3 invites out for meals in the last week. We went years when none of our family of friends invited us round and it used to quite upset me. When people come round I like to make an effort to cook nice food and ensure everything looks nice and is prepared so I can relax with them etc and then someone said to me that they did not invite us round because they felt too intimidated to cook for me. How awful I never meant for that – cooking is my 'thing' and I never expect others to do what I do, I am happy if someone sticks a frozen pizza in the oven, I don't judge people by what they put on the table even though I set myself high standards. It's about spending time with people and having fun.

We had a nice time with our friends on Saturday night and they bought their new dog to visit so my little dog had a friend to chase and play with which was so lovely. We sat out in the gazebo in the garden till 11pm chatting etc. I made some guacamole and tomato salsa for nibbles with homemade corn nachos. Then for starter I did small pieces of ciabatta (char grilled earlier in the day) with mozzarella and roast tomatoes and basil on (plus parma ham for the non veggies) which my husband then heated in the BBQ. For main course I did teriyaki tuna steaks with wild and long grain rice, which I cooked with ginger in the water and served with sliced mange tout and spring onions in. My friends love a pudding so I made an apricot tarte tatin and served with clotted cream (I only had a small piece as I'm really not keen on very sweet things – but my friends are and they loved it).

Yesterday I had a nice lazy morning – very unusual for me. I had a lay in, then a lovely bacon sandwich. Then I just pottered about, downloading photos from the camera and editing etc before going out for lunch. Kathy had made us a lovely homemade cottage pie with lots of veg which was really good and a bit of cheesecake for pudding. Then we played Wii sports all afternoon before coming home at 7.30. I volunteered to drive so I would not drink all afternoon with the others, but did have a couple of small glasses when I got home (plus leftover guacamole and nachos).

I am hoping that I will have a nice quiet day working from home today. I listed to the R&T track at 5.30 this morning, I have done 40mins of step aerobics and had a strawberry smoothie for breakfast. I have veg crudities & hummus plus fruit if I get hungry through the day and I am going to have homemade Butternut squash soup for lunch. I hope to get out for a walk at lunchtime and then for tea I am going to make Mandie's Lemon chicken (which is delicious) with a couple of new potatoes and veg.

Hope to catch up with your blogs later and really sorry for my long and rambling blog.
Luv
Debs xx

Hi Guys
Hope you are all having a great Thursday – blimey it's Thursday already, where is this week going?

Yesterday I 'mostly' achieved what I set out to. I did exercise, I did eat slowly, drink lots of water and ate natural food (more or less!). I did have a couple of little snacks and I did not listen to the R&T as work just took over. All of a sudden it was 2pm and I was starving, so no time to make the soup, I just made a quick ham sandwich and then carried on working till 7pm – until my brain was just too tired to continue. That also meant I did not get out for the walk I wanted to. But while my salmon parcels were in the oven I made the soup I was going to make at lunchtime, so it is all ready for me for lunch today.

This morning I was awake at 5am so laid in bed and listened to the R&T track before getting up, doing a bit of work and then doing 40mins of Step Aerobics. I then made a strawberry, banana and apple juice smoothie for breakfast – so an excellent start for today. I have loads of work on so don't think I will get an opportunity to do some walking or more exercise as much as I would like to. I am going to have the Red Lentil and Spinach soup for lunch with oatcakes and for tea I have some turkey escalopes which I will griddle and serve with a stir fry of veg and noodles.

I'm feeling a bit stressed but will do my best to stay calm and get as much done as I possibly can……it's all I can do I guess. I must try to finish a bit earlier today as I need to plan my menus and prepare my shopping list for tomorrow's supermarket trip – we have friends coming for a bbq on Saturday so I need to decide what I am going to give them…….. have a few ideas, but I really need to see what the Fishmonger has (one of my friends is a vegetarian that eats fish) before I make a final decision so may have to go with a few different things on the list and decide while I am there when I see what is available (and not too expensive!!).

Take care
Debs xx

Hi Everyone

Well Monday went well as I achieved most of what I set out to – I did not get out for a walk as work just totally took over and I did not get to read all your blogs because I finished work late and then still had loads of camping stuff to put away, but apart from that all was OK for Monday.

Yesterday was awful….. First I only slept half the night – wide awake at 2.45 and just could not get back to sleep again. I tried listening to relaxation tapes but my mind just would not stop. So felt like a total zombie yesterday morning which was not a good start to the day.

I had to leave very early to go to our offices in Nottingham and so no time for exercise, I did plan to go for a walk at lunchtime but again work was just mad so no chance! I had a healthy breakfast of porridge with banana and peach and made a lovely salad to take for lunch with roast salmon flakes etc. I also cut up some carrot & cucumber sticks and took hummous and oatcakes plus an apple with me and had planned to have char grilled turkey fillet with stir fried veg for tea………..an excellent plan!!!

But then it went a bit pear shaped…………. My customer is being quite an arse at the moment, I know the reasons why as he is under an incredible amount of pressure to make some very unrealistic cost savings at the moment and if he doesn't achieve, well, he could be out of a job. So I totally understand why, but we have worked together for quite a while and I have even taken him out to Hong Kong for 3 trips so he knows me very well – therefore he should know that making unrealistic demands and bullying me will not achieve what he wants. To get anywhere we have to work together properly and not think he can get what he wants by shouting, expecting us to just drop all our prices and by the daily threats to take his business elsewhere. I know he does not want to take the business away from us and it would be a complete nightmare if he did try to as we produce around 85% of all their clothing labels & tickets – millions of £'s worth and hundred's of millions of items around the world. There are only a few companies than can do what we do and we are the biggest and the best, plus they already get excellent prices. Moving would be logistic hell for them so I know it is an empty threat, but it is very demotivating and depressing all the same. Sorry – feel a bit better now I have blogged that out a bit!!!!

By late afternoon yesterday I was just so fed, stressed and extremely tired that I ended up having a bag of crisps from the vending machine (my Colleague had one and it was right in front of me……so I gave in). I also had some sweets in the car, I was struggling so much to keep my eyes open. By the time I arrived home I really did not want the healthy meal I had planned and just needed comfort food. My lovely Husband cooked me some sausage, mash and beans and I did have a glass of wine……..and a flake. So I did not achieve my goals at all yesterday – but I will try not to dwell on it and move on!

So what have I got planned for today? I had a good start as I had a decent nights sleep (thanks to melatonin tablets), I 'made' myself do 45mins of Circuit training and glad I did it. I have just eaten peach and banana porridge for breakfast – I know I had the same thing yesterday, but it is my absolute favourite. I have loads of work to do today – lots of figures and spreadsheets so I am definitely going to try and get out for a break and a nice walk at lunchtime. I have planned to make some red lentil & spinach soup for lunch (plus some for the freezer), not made it before so not sure what it will be like. Then for tea I have some nice salmon fillets and will do my oriental salmon parcels with a bit of wholegrain rice, pak choi and sugar snap peas.

So a good start and a good plan for today. I must try hard not to let my customer get to me and I must try and listen to the R&T track at least once to keep me from getting too stressed.

I hope you all are feeling good and have a great day. I will try to get to your blogs later……….honest!
Take care
Luv
Debs xxx

Hi Everyone

Well I'm back from camping – not a successful week I have to say. First of all I thought I was not going to be able to go because the day before I was in bed with a high temperature and a horrible stomach bug – hardly eat a thing for 2 days. But my temperature dropped below 100 and although I still felt very sick I was no longer being 'physically' sick so decided to go for it.

So the week did not get off to a good start and then it rained very single day. What is it with our tent – every time it comes out of the loft it rains? We had one pleasant day, one 'OK' and the rest were all sun and showers. But every late afternoon and through the night it just rained and rained – I'm not talking of showers, but heavy and consistent rain. We had to bring the tent back soaking wet and have got to try and put it up in the garden today to get it dried out thoroughly, plus the ground sheets, windbreaks, parasol etc….. everything soaking wet. We have been camping for 10 years and although you expect an odd trip where you get some rain, the last 4 trips we have done (all in summer months) have been dreadful, usually we don't mind too much as I still get a chance to relax and we have usually had a lovely holiday in the Caribbean or similar so I have had 2 weeks of glorious sunshine – but this year no overseas holiday, so it made last week seem even worse.

Plus my old eating habits crept back in, don't know if it was because of getting totally fed up of the rain or what it was, but those old naughty habits came back….. mid morning pasty (although usually share in Hubby), biscuits with tea, fresh white bread from the Bakers for lunch each day along with ham, pate or pork and chicken pie etc, leftover white bread toasted with lots of butter & marmalade for breakfast, crisps, wine and the odd tart (well we did go to Bakewell). I did not exercise so much either as I was away – we did walk quite a lot though. So to weigh myself and find out I had put on 5lb's in one week, even with having the stomach bug left me shocked and very very disappointed with myself – I know I was a bit naughty but 5lb's? really? It just seems so unfair? . Add the 5lb to the weight that 'crept' on over the last couple of months and I am feeling bloated and horrible.

So it's Monday – feeling quite fed up, bad week off and the next holiday not till next year, have put on weight, feeling unhealthy, returning to a job I don't enjoy etc……… so what am I going to do about it? I am setting myself some goals and want to share them with you so that I stick to them.

1) get back to a healthy diet with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. I'm going to try to have lots of smoothies, soups and salads. Drink lots of water etc
2) Get to grips with the petecohen.tv programme again, I must confess I have not sticking to all the tools properly for a couple of months
3) I want to lose between 10 to 14 pounds – would like to have a kick start and lose around 2lb a week for the next few weeks
4) Cut back on the wine again, and try to only have a small amount at the weekends
5) Try not to let the job get me stressed and fed up – listen to the R&T track to help with relaxation
6) Get back into my exercise regime and get fitter again, plus get out in the fresh air for lots of walks and cycling
7) Plan next years holiday to give me something to look forward to. Spend as much time in the garden as possible enjoying the sun (when we have some that is) and have gatherings with family and friends in the gazebo for lovely bbq's to make the most of what is left of 'summer'.

I have made a good start today – did 40mins of Step Aerobics, then some abs, then 35 mins of Aerobics. I made a juicemaster Avocado Crush smoothie for breakfast (pineapple, lime and avocado – sounds yuk but is really lovely). I listened to the R&T track very early this morning. I plan to have another smoothie for lunch along with fruit for snacks and then tonight I am going to make a lovely Chicken & Vegetable broth from the left over roast chicken from yesterday and add veg and cannellini beans etc. I am also going to try and get out for a good brisk walk at lunchtime or late afternoon.

I hope you are all feeling great today and I will try to catch up with your blogs this evening.

Take care
Luv Debs xx

Hi Everyone

It's the weekend….yay! and I am now on holiday until the 20th …. Double yay!

I was up bright an early today – must say I am sleeping much better these days. I did 40mins of Step Aerobics and some Abs exercises before getting ready and then having my favourite peach & banana porridge for breakfast.

I made myself a wholemeal egg mayo sandwich and packed some grapes and water to take with me for my day of Magistrate duties in court. I took the Chair again today and had 2 half day trials. After the first I had a long pronouncement (which as you know makes me get very nervous) – but I did not get nervous and I was so pleased with myself, I really feel that I am getting better every time. I did mess up my pronouncement a bit on the 2nd trial – buy hey, I think the Defendant knew the words better than I did !!!!

So now I am home and going to have a relaxing evening with my Husband. I don't have the best and healthiest food for tea – Scampi, oven chips & peas. But not the worst choice either and I will only have a small portion. I will try to not have too much wine……….I did say try!!!

My goal for the next week is to do my best to stick to the petecohen.tv tools whilst away camping and not to put on any weight. Whenever we go camping I always relax too much and then eat and drink too much – especially lazy pub lunches with some cider.

So I have the weekend to get my chores done and packing done and then we are off on Monday morning.

Hope you are all OK
Luv
Debs x

Hi Everyone

I can't believe it's Wednesday already – where has the last week gone? We had a good weekend, my Stepson came to stay with us (he's 26 and lives in Huddersfield) so we invited various family and friends round over the weekend. He came down on Friday, I was working but my Husband had the day off and they went to play golf which was nice. I cooked lovely steaks for tea and we sat out in the garden all evening playing Yahzee – I left them at 10pm, and they stayed out in the garden playing cards till after 1am.

On Saturday we had friends coming round for a BBQ. I made us scrambled egg on wholemeal toast for breakfast and a prawn laksa for lunch. The BBQ was pretty healthy – Sardines with Tzatziki for starter, followed by spatched-cocked chickens (marinated in lemon & garlic etc) with new potatoes and a Greek salad. We did not have room for the pudding (I had made a cherry semi-freddo, which is still in the freezer). The only downside was that I had made 3 dips (guacamole, baba ganoush and blue cheese & pinenut) which we had with veg crudities, toasted fingers of wholemeal pitta bread and corn chips – I did eat too much of that in the afternoon. Drink wise? Well not too bad, everyone else started drinking at 3pm, but I had juiced up a watermelon and I had the juice diluted with a little water, drinking that stopped me having wine until the BBQ in the evening – everyone thought I had some fancy cocktail at first because my drink was such a lovely exotic colour. I did have about ¾ bottle of rose wine in the end, but it would have been more had it not been for the watermelon juice. We had a great time and played garden games all afternoon in the lovely warm sunshine.

On Sunday we had my Mother-in-Law plus my Husbands Cousin and his wife round for lunch. We sat out under the gazebo and while I was serving up the starters the rain came down quite heavily – but no fear! We shut the curtains on the gazebo and carried on – our old 'pop-up' gazebo would have leaked with that much rain, but our lovely new, more permanent, one did not let a single drop in. After the rain stopped we just unzipped the sides and carried on. For the meal I made: twice baked goat's cheese soufflés with an apple & walnut salad. For main I baked some salmon fillets and served with vegetables, new potatoes and some hollandaise and for dessert I made a naughty treacle tart, with clotted cream and raspberries (I only had a small piece). I have been wanting to try this recipe for ages – it was the one from the Great British menu, it's not the sort of think I would normally make (too sweet for me), but on the TV everyone kept saying how wonderful it was so I thought I would make it. Again we had a lovely day and played garden games, then came in at tea time and saw the 2nd half of the last set of the tennis. I did spoil things in the evening by having wine and some calzone, which was naughty.

Foodwise I did not do too badly at the weekend, but I did feel quite 'fat' and bloated on Monday. I weighed myself and had only put on ½ a pound, but it felt more – maybe it was more psychological because I had not exercised.

Yesterday I had a long day and had to leave early. I had peach and banana porridge for breakfast then gathered some fruit and a bit of malt loaf to take with me. I did not have time to make any lunch so I stopped enroute at a garage and got an M&S Tuna layer salad and a snack pack of Sushi. I was in Nottingham all morning – presenting my 2010 global budget to the Management Team. Apparently mine was the best presented and I got lots of praise which was nice. I ate my salad then had to drive further North to Mansfield to see a customer and finalise around £100k pa of new business which was excellent. On the drive home I ate the Sushi plus some grapes and cherries – I must confess to 6 Percy pigs though.

So onto today in this epic blog!!! Usually on a Wednesday I go and spend the day at my customers, but both my main contacts are away this week and as I am in Court on Friday and then off camping next week I have a lot to finish before tomorrow night. So I thought it best to work from home and crack on with everything. I did 45mins of circuit training this morning and then made a strawberry, banana and apple juice smoothie for breakfast. I had a small piece of malt loaf mid morning and then some of my homemade Pea and spinach soup for lunch with oatcakes. I plan to go for a nice brisk walk for about 50mins later before tea and will try to find time to listen to the R&T Track. For tea I have some nice Hake fillets which I will serve with steamed veg, new potatoes and some parsley sauce. I am feeling a little tired today, I did sleep OK though so not sure why – under my chin/jaw I have a really sore and tender spot and it is a bit swollen, I don't know what it is or whether I need to see a dentist or doctor, or if it has anything to do with why I'm feeling tired. I'll see how I feel tomorrow!

Anyway I had better get on with all this work. Hope you are all doing great
Luv
Debs x

Hi Everyone

What a great day I had on Saturday taking part in the carnival. It was great fun and I was so proud of all the girls in the Reunion Band, it has been over 20 year since we all played and marched together and they did fantastically. Lots of people turned out to see us on the route and there was a huge cheer when we marched into Market Square it was brilliant (and quite emotional) - so many people said we were the best band on the day. I marched and span my mace for the 4 mile carnival route in very hot weather – thought I was going to melt, especially as the start was at mid-day. We arrived at the park for the finish and marched around the area in front of the crowd before returning. It was really funny, as we were walking to the coach to take us back to band HQ one of the girls relatives was walking with us and turned to me and said 'the girl at the front with the mace was brilliant'….she did not realise it was me as we all looked the same in our outfits!!! We sang on the coach on the way back just like old times then had a short rest and before we marched around the drill area a few times and played a static routine (which I conducted), then marched of with an extra trip round the area, then back on again with the current A Band. I was exhausted at the end of the day but it was just so brilliant. Reading the comments on facebook and looking at the photos and video the next day left me feeling even more emotional.

I was feeling very achy on Sunday and still a bit on Monday so did not exercise. I must confess to eating a bit too much on Sunday, but have been pretty good since then. I have managed to eat slowly, eat natural food (mostly), only eat what I actually need and have had loads of water each day.

This morning (after a terrible night due to the heat and work in my head) I got up and did 40mins of step aerobics. Made banana and peach porridge for breakfast before getting ready to spend the day at my customers office. I just popped out for lunch and got a healthy sandwich from Sainsburys (to avoid the roast dinner in the canteen!!)…… boy is it hot out there in Watford!!

For tea I have got some chicken in marsala sauce from the freezer which I will have with new potatoes and steamed veg, then I need to do my shopping list (did dinner list last night) get a bit more ironing done whilst watching the tennis and that will be that for today.

Hope you are all doing great and not melting too much in the heat
Luv
Debs x

Hi Everyone

It's nearly the weekend – yay!

I slept much better last night – I took some melatonin and drew the curtains over the wooden blinds in the bedroom, I also turned the clock so I could not see it when I woke up. I did have a few wake-up's but then did not fully wake up till 7.20am ……. How late is that? I couldn't believe it.

I rushed out of bed and got dressed so that we could get the food shopping done. Back home for a quick shower, 2 ryvita's with cottage cheese and peach and then popped to the doctors. After that I got on with work, but had a little mid-am break and made a smoothie – I juiced up some fresh pineapple, then combined it with strawberries, banana and mango to make a lovely smoothie – such a pretty peachy colour and yummy. While the juicer was dirty I also made a juice with carrots, apples and a bit of lemon to have later.

So another day working from home, I can't believe it that's 3 days this week, I haven't done that for ages. Mind you I wish I was somewhere else now as there is a park adjacent to our house and all day yesterday so far all this morning they are chopping down trees – they are making hell of a racket with their saws and quite honestly it's getting on my nerves now!!!!

I am feeling very achy today so I am not going to exercise and give my body a rest as I have a very long day tomorrow. I am not sure if I will have a final practice with my mace as my wrist is hurting a bit and I don't want to 'push it' and then be in pain tomorrow. My Sister (who still lives in Warwick) rang last night to say that there is a big piece about the carnival and band reunion in the local paper and there is a photo of me from 1984 in it – I am conducting so have my back to the camera which is a shame, but my name is mentioned under the photo………….fame at last! The two local Warwick/Leamington papers are both going to do pieces about it next week too, so will probably be in the papers next week as well – during the height of the band I was regularly in the newspaper, but it's been a while.

I have not listened to Pete's R&T track yet as I did not wake up at 5am! But I will try and listen to it later. I am eating slowly very naturally now and I will drink loads of water. For lunch I am going to have a small jacket potato with cheese & coleslaw (plus bit of butter) and for tea I have got ameal out of the freezer, we don't usually buy ready meals………but M&S had their meal deal thing a while ago – it's a Tuscan Sausage pasta bake and it has tomatoes and lentils in, sounds really nice. As it is Friday I may also have a little glass (or 2) of red.

Anyway I had better get on with more work.
I hope you are all feeling great and the challenge is going well for you.
Luv
Debs xx

Hi Everyone

Well I was wide awake at 4am as usual this morning, this time my head was not full of work but I am just so excited about 're-living my youth' and marching with the band again. I went to band practice last night and so enjoyed myself – not only am I having great fun and meeting all the old band members again but I marched, conducted and spun my mace for 2 hours – I must have burned off loads of calories.

This morning I did 35mins of aerobics and then some abs exercise before having blueberry porridge for breakfast. I was supposed to be out at a meeting today but it was cancelled so a bonus day working from home.

I have had a couple of little snacks, but I had a nice wrap for lunch (bit of left over lamb and salad) and I have had loads of water. I have also listened to the R&T track today (at 5am)

I am now going to go out and have a bit more mace spinning practice while dinner is cooking – having cod mornay with new potatoes and steamed veg tonight. After tea I am going to plan meals for the next week, write the shopping list and then hopefully catch up with some of your blogs.

Hope you are enjoying the sunshine
Luv
Debs x

Hi Guys

I hope you are all doing brilliantly and I must apologise for not having time to read and put comments on your blogs lately.

Yesterday went well apart from being wide awake at 4am. I put on my headphones and listened to the R&T track twice, then dozed for an hour, had a drink of hot water and lemon juice before doing 45mins of circuit training.

I was working from home yesterday again which was great, only because my car was being serviced though, so I was confined to barracks. I made my favourite strawberry, banana and apple juice smoothie for breakfast. I was hungry mid am and had 2 ryvita with Philli and some cherries. For lunch I got some of my homemade watercress soup out of the freezer and had that with oatcakes.

I managed to stay calm and not get stressed, drank loads of water and ate slowly. For tea I cooked the ½ shoulder of lamb that we did not have on Sunday. I had it with jersey royals and steamed veg – and mint sauce of course. It was lovely, and NO wine! Did not practice with my mace yesterday as my wrist was hurting so I did not want to risk hurting it more before Saturday's carnival.

So what's in store today? I reached new ridiculous heights by waking up at 3am this morning, could not get back to sleep so after 45mins listened to the R&T track, still no joy, but at 5.45 when it was time to get up, I just wanted to sleep – don't you hate that. I 'dragged' myself out of bed and did 40 mins of step aerobics and some abs exercises then made a new smoothie I have never done before, delicious! It was banana, mango & pineapple with tropical fruit juice and some coconut powder – very exotic, I felt like I should have been sitting on a veranda in the Caribbean sipping it…….oh I wish! But I watched Pete's daily video instead whilst drinking it.

In a short while I am off to spend most of the day with my customer down in Watford. I am going to have lunch in their canteen because I will not have time to eat tea later – I will try to chose something healthy and have a small portion. I have to be back at 4.30 latest so that I can shower, change and get off to band practice. I am going to make a wholemeal chicken sandwich with me to eat on the way. Then it's the final practice in Warwick to prepare ourselves for the 'big day' on Saturday. I won't be home until about 10pm so a long day ahead.

Take care
Luv
Debs x

Hi Everyone

Sorry I have not been on to blog for a few days. I have had a mixed few days – not entirely been a 'little angel' but not a 'devil' either.

I was in court on Friday and did my first Trial sitting as the Chair, it all went very well but at the end my heart was pounding and I was very nervous as I had 3 pages to pronounce. I remembered the advice given to me by Pete and Mandie about 'breathing', talking slowly and taking pauses. My hands were shaking but only the other 2 JP's could see those and (apparently) no one noticed any sign of nerves in my voice. Pete advised me that when presenting smiling really helps with nerves – unfortunately I can't do that in court!!!!! Food wise Friday was pretty good – had blueberry porridge for breakfast, wholemeal chicken sandwich for lunch then meatballs and wholemeal pasta for tea. It was spoilt by 2 biscuits, some garlic bread and ½ bottle of wine though.

Saturday was busy with food shopping and housework. Made a lovely goats cheese and caramelised onion salad for lunch. We went to a friends for supper which was nice as they have moved to a new house that is closer to us so we had a good catch-up and a nose round the house. My friend did a pretty healthy supper – mushroom soup (I did not have the bread roll and butter), vegetarian chickpea curry with rice, raita and then a fairly healthy pudding of baked bananas with figs and walnuts – very nice actually. I ate slowly and did not overeat but again wine spoilt my good intentions!

Yesterday we spent most of the day either at the garden centre or working in the garden. I did not start the day off too well as I had a fried egg and bacon sandwich, but I must have burned loads of calories gardening plus practicing with my mace. We had wraps for lunch with beef, salad and onion mayo and then compounded my naughty breakfast naughtiness by having 2 mini muffins and a mini magnum in the afternoon. When it came to tea I made us a nice starter of baked figs with goats cheese & Parma ham – yummy (with sparkling rose – wine again, so naughty), but then we were not hungry and did not want our main course. But ended up eating no so healthy snacks later instead because we got hungry……… should have just had a small portion of main course instead – lesson learned.

So Monday and work….yuk! I got up early and did 40mins of Step Aerobics and abs exercises. I had a juicemaster smoothie for breakfast with veg and fruit in it then worked from home. At lunchtime I went for a 50 min powerwalk and then had lunch – ½ a wholemeal chicken sandwich and another juicemaster smoothie juice. I need to get finished at a decent time this evening as I want to do some more practice in the garden with my mace ready for the carnival on Saturday – it really gets my heart rate up so pretty good exercise, then I have an enormous pile of ironing to make a start on. For tea I have some lovely mackerel fillets which I am going to have with salad leaves, roasted veg couscous and coleslaw – no wine now until at least the weekend…..honest!

I hope you are all feeling great
Luv
Debs x

Hi Everyone

I really enjoyed being back with the band last night, what great fun – seeing everyone and marching. It felt so weird when I started conducting and when I picked up the mace it felt like some strange thing I had never held before. I forgot how heavy and tall the mace is (4.5ft). My arms are aching today – I won't need to be doing any extra arm exercises over the next few weeks, the spinning and conducting will take care of that.

When the band all lined up I was talking to 3 of the drummers and they told me they used to be really scared of me, I could not believe anyone would be scared of me, but then I guess they were only 10 at the time and I was twice their age and in a authoritive position (I was the drill & discipline officer as well as the Drum Major) – I suppose I did have to be strict and shout a lot as I had 120 girls to control………..I must have been so bossy LOL! I have a sore knee now as I did a short practice session in the garden before tea and whacked my knee – I am sure there will be a few more bruises before the carnival.

So Day 4 of our summer challenge. I was awake at 4.30 – this time thinking about band and not work. I listened to my relaxation tape twice and then fell back to sleep and did not get up till 8am…….unheard of. I watched Pete's daily video whilst eating my peach and banana porridge.

I worked from home today but made time to update my CV and get it sent off to several agencies. At lunchtime I went for a 50 minute power walk and then made a salad with the honey roast salmon flakes left from Tuesday's salad. I do have to confess to a bit of chocolate and a small bag of crisps.

I have had some homemade chilli con carne with wholegrain rice for tea and I am now relaxing and hope to catch up with your blogs. I have eaten slowly all day and have managed to stay calm and not get stressed out.

Hope you are all feeling great
Luv
Debs x