Tag Archives: planning

Shooting For The Tens

In the here & now, ,

tens

So I got to thinking, as I woke up and carved out in my head what today was going to look like, what score I’d give the day if I looked back and tried to put a number on how much I’d enjoyed it. And I can see how that might seem like a bit of a weird concept at first, but a random comment I overheard yesterday planted a seed of an idea in my head, which overnight has done its usual thing of turning nothing into something and setting a train of thought into motion.

The comment was made in response to someone dropping their carefully chosen cupcake on the floor during our office bake sale yesterday, which typically landed buttercream-side-down. I mean, of course it did…don’t they always, right? I head someone laugh, and then say Oh no, what does your joy look like today!

My first thought was what an odd thing to say – it’s not an expression I’ve heard before. My head immediately started demanding to know how the joy in my day was shaping up, but I was up to my eyes in bagging up cake and collecting money so I sort of forgot about it. However, in the way my mind often does, it busied itself developing the theme whilst I slept, and started demanding answers this morning as soon as I woke up.

Imagine if we had to put a number to how much we enjoy the stuff we fill our days with. Say maybe on a scale of 1-10, with the bottom of the scale being hating every minute of it, and ten being just about delirious with enjoyment. That led to me thinking about all the things I probably needed to do today, and I realised the list was quite short.

Saturdays tend to be the only day that I can completely call my own, so in the context of my week, today is it in terms of the best possible opportunity for squeezing in a few tens. I got to thinking about how many tens I’d have on my scoreboard from the stuff I needed to do today, and I seemed to have quite a lot of fingers left over when I’d finished counting. Bugger…I didn’t see that coming. If I can’t pepper my best day with tens that’s saying something about me isn’t it?

So, I decided I was going to make today all about the tens. The suggestion that this is a deliberate ploy to avoid any chore-related low scores is just a wicked rumour, and to be fair there aren’t too many chores that need doing. Well, apart from the mountain of fat clothes which need putting on eBay, the same mountain that I managed to ignore again last weekend and which continue to piss me off every time I walk past them. But apart from that I’m good.

My first ten of the day was a dirty great bacon sandwich, which was epic. And let’s face it, you’d probably expect a fair number of food-related high scores, right? This is me we’re talking about. However, I’ve also decided that I’m going to score a mood-boosting ten for effort by staying within points today, and so despite it being a bit points-expensive it was totally counted and totally worth it.

I’ve missed walking this week – my sore hamstring and pinched nerve have given me more than a couple of challenges, but I’m slowly feeling better and it’s a gorgeous day out there…as soon as I’ve put my last full stop on the page, me and the furry one are going to go out and have a bit of fresh air. It might be a bit slower than normal, and it might take a bit longer but I’ve had a touch of cabin fever over the last few days, so it’s time to motor. That’s going to be up there flirting with a ten.

Oh, and me and my boy took a walk down to our local bookmaker last night for a quick flutter on the Grand National, so the biggest ten of the day might come later, if I win. I’m not holding my breath, over the years I’ve discovered that my system of picking winners according to what colour the jockey is wearing or the name of the horse is more than a little bit flawed and I’ve never won a bean. It does make for a more exciting 20 minutes though, watching the race when you’ve had a little flutter.

Whatever you’re up to today, make it count… get out and chase those tens, they are yours for the taking 🙂

 

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The Pre-Carnage Turbo Charge

Diet update, In the here & now

tortoise vs hare race No animals were stressed or hurt during the production of this image

So I’ve been planning for the week this morning, you know, in a way that makes me feel smug, organised and like nothing is getting anything past this suit of armour I’m wearing – yes that suit of armour, the one stitched together from determination and willpower. It’s still a bit scratchy, but it fits better than it used to. When I say planning for the week, I suppose what I actually mean is planning for the month. I’ve gathered together all the hurdles I know about, and I’ve been busy fitting it all together like a kind of social jigsaw, if that makes sense.

This week, on the whole, my dance card is empty. Which, anti-social old bugger that I am, warms the cockles of my heart. There’s a couple of work-related noshing opportunities which I’ll need to be on guard against but nothing I can’t handle. The following two weeks on the other hand look a bit more thorny. Strewn with dieting obstacles which are going to take a bit of navigating. Without forward planning they could spell disaster with a capital Dee!

But it’s ok, I have a plan. And whilst it does involve a bit of creative points accounting, I’m in this for the long game, and I have to get used to shaping the food plan to fit me in a way which means I can achieve my goals, right? I know we’ve laughed together in a previous post about my nifty footwork when I need to bend the budget, but since I’m forward planning this time I’m cool with it. But I’m relying on you guys to holler if you think I’m wide of the mark.

So, in two weeks’ time I have a weekend away booked with several of my friends. We’re setting sail on a little pre-Christmas posh mini-cruise. We’ve booked afternoon tea with champagne on the Friday afternoon, and there’s a full five course dinner that evening. Saturday will involve the Christmas markets of Dublin together with the craic – aka lots of drinking – followed by a gala dinner back onboard the ship on Saturday night. Dieting carnage, but an annual event I wouldn’t miss for the world.

Then, the following weekend is Christmas. Talk about a bloody challenge. But you know what, we’ve got this. So here’s my plan.

This week, I am going for it BIG TIME – let’s call it the pre-carnage turbo charge. I’m going to ratchet up the movement and earn some activity bonus points but I’m not going to spend them. Just to manage your expectations, I’m not talking about anything drastic like a body pump class – I want to sweat a bit, not die on the spot – so it’ll probably mean extra walks with my four legged friend, but enough for me to feel like I’ve done more than I normally do. Pushed myself, you know?

I’m also going to stay well within my daily points allowance, and not touch the additional allowance we get on a weekly basis…I’m going to keep up the turbo charge from now until the day we set off on our weekend away. That’s eleven days of over-and-above effort, together with tight-fisted points budgeting, up ahead of time. Which means that I can spend more points than I would normally have at my disposal whilst I’m away because I’ve earned it before I went, right?

Then, on the Sunday we get home I go right back into turbo mode, and stay there until Christmas. Christmas day falls the following Friday, and over the Christmas weekend I start a new ‘points’ week so I’ll have enough for a few treats. So in theory, it should balance itself out and I should exit the holiday season a little bit skinnier than I entered it, with my place in the sweet spot unchallenged. Don’t forget I’ve got my eye on those size 22 duds by the new year…

What do you reckon posse? Good plan..?

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Let’s Do This!

Freeform thoughts,

lets-do-this-shit

One of the joys of writing this blog over the last few months has been the number of friends I’ve made, including lots from across the pond – it’s been a big holiday over there this week, and most of the Stateside blogs I check in with on my daily mooch around the blogosphere have referenced Thanksgiving in one way or another.

As my thoughts turn to the upcoming holiday season that we all share, I’ve been interested to see how different people have coped with what is an equally challenging holiday in terms of the food and drink temptations. All tips and tools welcome, right? I’ve read about cheat days where anything’s been allowed over the holiday. Some people carried on counting but with an extra allowance granted ahead of time, and then there were the hardcore ‘it’s like every other day and I’m not relaxing the rules’ people, who are made of very stern stuff!

So, as a general rule of thumb, do you fall into the ‘seek permission’ or ‘seek forgiveness’ camp? I’ve got to be honest and say that mostly I’ve been an ‘act on the spur of the moment and seek forgiveness later’ kind of girl, in most aspects of my life so that’s the approach I’m more familiar with. I’d go so far as to say in the past I’ve described routine or planning of any kind as anathema to me, given my incredibly low boredom threshold and hatred of feeling hemmed in by something I’ve signed up to in a moment of madness.

Mind you, this time, on this journey I’m doing all kinds of stuff that I’ve never done before…you know, like some really deep thinking, planning, making considered choices, poring over the route map ahead of time so I can avoid obstacles. Don’t get me wrong, those things have been in my kit-bag for donkey’s years, and I’ve applied them throughout my working life – they’ve even been centre stage of advice I’ve dispensed to other folk. Strangely, it appears they’ve been notable by their absence in regard to decisions I make about myself. Weirdo.

So I’m thinking maybe this time I decide up ahead of time exactly how it’s going to go, and then stick to the plan. I know, get me, I can’t quite believe it either. However…saying it, and doing it are two completely different things. I have to expect the odd ambush from the asshole in my mind who, if we were keeping a tally must be way ahead of me on aggregate.

Normally he manages to negotiate his own position way ahead of time – the conversation usually goes along the lines of why don’t you stop dieting for the holiday season and start again in the New Year? To which my response is usually well…I guess I could take my foot off a bit as long as I don’t go mad. He’ll nod in agreement at this, knowing that in the moment – in multiple moments across the holiday season – all he’ll have to do to make it a slam dunk is to whisper go on, it won’t hurt just this once and by the New Year I’ll be back to square one. Having agreed the dieting hiatus somewhere around mid-November it’s hardly surprising.

You know what keeps coming into my mind this time though..? I went to Las Vegas for five days, and lost a pound. I came home from the most amazing five days ever one pound lighter than when I went, and not once whilst I was away did I feel deprived, or as though I was missing out…I just planned how I was going to spend my budget.

Is it going to be easy..? No of course it isn’t. Is it going to be harder than some of the monumental battles I have fought in the last three months…? No. It’s not. I’m thinking about the double cheese and spring onion sandwich…the cheesy bugle…the chocolate-dipped sour cherries…the five day holiday in food mecca…I mean come on, I am a warrior!!

That’s what I’m going to be focusing on as I sashay into the holiday season…every single victory and that amazing feeling  I get when I’ve stared down the asshole in my mind and watched him slope off with his head bent and bloody after he’s lost a bit more of the battle ground.

Bring it on I say…come on December, let’s see what you’ve got 🙂

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Preparing to Negotiate.

Freeform thoughts, In the here & now,

LV

So I guess you could say that today marks the start of my countdown to holiday – exactly four weeks from now almost to the minute, five of my very best friends and I will be touching down thousands of miles away from home for a few days of girly time to celebrate my big birthday. The one that kicks off my next decade…you know, the decade where I’m going to be fifty and fabulous.  Fifty, fabulous and skinny. My friends and I have been exchanging giddy texts this afternoon along the lines of ‘Four weeks from today…’ and I’m grinning from ear to ear when I think about how much we are going to laugh.

Now, I have to hold my hands up and admit that I’m not really a big planner. I’m more of a ‘fly it as I’m building it’ kind of girl – in work I have to be uber organised which means that outside of work I lurk at the opposite end of the spectrum and I’m often caught with my pants down, metaphorically speaking.

I’m conscious that this holiday is my first milestone where the diet is concerned, and I’ve got a big red flag waiting in the wings to signal danger…I’m so happy that 5 weeks in it’s going so well, but it’s only the first in a long line of milestones, and I’m in this for the long game so it’s time to open negotiations with the asshole about what happens on holiday, and what happens when I get home. I need to have a plan.

He’s obviously been anticipating the conversation, and his opening gambit was to suggest that for the four days I’m away, I throw caution to the wind and eat everything that isn’t nailed down. Predictable, asshole. To be fair, it’s a strategy I’ve agreed to in the past, in fact I’m probably not exaggerating when I say I’ve been known to leap on it with indecent enthusiasm and sign on the dotted line without giving it a second thought. In the past, but not this time.

I’m not a big drinker – maybe because I’ve been on so many diets over the years where I’ve been mindful of restricting calories, or counting points, or adding up sins…whatever form the diet took, to me alcohol was a waste of whatever it was I was counting – but even when I’m not dieting, I can take it or leave it. If I’m with friends and we’re having a drink, you know I’ll have a drink, but between social occasions it doesn’t ever occur to me. Thing is, I suspect our little holiday will kind of be a four day social occasion…if you get my drift, wink wink. 

So lets examine the possible flash points.  The asshole is on my case, singing ‘Let it go’ …I’m likely to be flirting with tipsy for a good proportion of the holiday (my friends are wicked wicked people 🙂 ) and we’ll be loose in a city where there’s a buffet on every corner and mostly the drinks are free.

I think I need to work on my strategy before I return to the negotiating table.

 

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