It was weigh-in week this week, and no real surprise that I haven't lost anything. But a nice surprise was that I haven't gained anything either.
I have had an utterly miserable week, my mood's been at rock bottom and when I feel like that I can't stand being around people (with a couple of notable exceptions). I have also been experiencing nasty headaches and needless to say there has been a whole lot of comfort eating, no exercise and no self-discipline. I hate feeling like this, but I've been there a million times before and know that this feeling will only be temporary.
So I have decided yet again to make another fresh start, as time's getting on, chop chop, we're almost at the end of January!
Next update in 2 weeks.
Saturday, 26 January 2013
Monday, 21 January 2013
What's in a name?
In one of my many paradoxes and contradictions, I'm not in the maternal camp, yet I'm always pretty fascinated by the issue of baby names. Every year, lists of the most popular names for new babies are published, causing us to throw our hands up in the air in horror at the latest naming fashions, from chavvy horror to traditional to just quite frankly bonkers.
Today The Local (link) published the list of the most popular baby names in Sweden for 2012. What immediately strikes me is that many of the names in the list don't sound that "Swedish" at all - William is top of the boys' list, where you can also names like Elliot, Kevin, Julian, Colin, Levi, Eddie and - wait for it - Elton (!).
Meanwhile, Alice tops the girls list where there are more conventional Swedish girls' names alongside the likes of Nellie, Tyra, Alicia, Nova and Siri.
On the whole though, some sense has prevailed, unlike in my own country where there is a horrendous fashion for mis-spelling names to make them that bit more original. Why call your daughter Abigail when you can call her...oh...Abbiegayle? Abi-Gale? Abby-Gail? Sounds like an Abi-fail to me.
Or maybe you want to keep it brief. Why give your son a name when you can call him AJ? CJ? DJ? TJ? Tee-Jay? Tea-Jae? Tea-Bag? (right, that's enough!!)
And don't start me on that 2012 crop of Kayden, Jayden, Jaydyn, Cian, Kayleb, Kristofer, Maddisyn, Mirren, Murron, Summer, Storm, Rain, Willow....the list is endless. And I pity those poor schoolteachers having to differentiate between Jaden, Jayden and Jaydyn!
What the hell, maybe I'm just bitter and twisted because Laura is out of fashion :)))
Anyway I'll stop now and direct you to a really funny old website http://www.stupidkidnames.com/ which truly does what it says on the tin.
Today The Local (link) published the list of the most popular baby names in Sweden for 2012. What immediately strikes me is that many of the names in the list don't sound that "Swedish" at all - William is top of the boys' list, where you can also names like Elliot, Kevin, Julian, Colin, Levi, Eddie and - wait for it - Elton (!).
Meanwhile, Alice tops the girls list where there are more conventional Swedish girls' names alongside the likes of Nellie, Tyra, Alicia, Nova and Siri.
On the whole though, some sense has prevailed, unlike in my own country where there is a horrendous fashion for mis-spelling names to make them that bit more original. Why call your daughter Abigail when you can call her...oh...Abbiegayle? Abi-Gale? Abby-Gail? Sounds like an Abi-fail to me.
Or maybe you want to keep it brief. Why give your son a name when you can call him AJ? CJ? DJ? TJ? Tee-Jay? Tea-Jae? Tea-Bag? (right, that's enough!!)
And don't start me on that 2012 crop of Kayden, Jayden, Jaydyn, Cian, Kayleb, Kristofer, Maddisyn, Mirren, Murron, Summer, Storm, Rain, Willow....the list is endless. And I pity those poor schoolteachers having to differentiate between Jaden, Jayden and Jaydyn!
What the hell, maybe I'm just bitter and twisted because Laura is out of fashion :)))
Anyway I'll stop now and direct you to a really funny old website http://www.stupidkidnames.com/ which truly does what it says on the tin.
Sunday, 20 January 2013
Weight loss and fitness 2013: Part 1
Since my previous post when I announced that I was quitting dieting, I have honed my plan and set out my targets for the year ahead.
Initially I wasn't going to weigh myself but changed my mind and now the weigh-ins will take place fortnightly and I will measure on alternate weeks.
Almost three weeks in and things are going reasonably well, considering that I'm still polishing off the great post-Christmas mountain of sweets! I have lost 2lbs so far, but am particularly delighted that I've lost 4 inches from various places. That's probably thanks to the mini-stepper and the extra walking.
It's only the beginning and there is a long long way to go, I'm not expecting miracles overnight but I'm hoping for some big results by the time of my holiday in May. (I'm very excited about that: expect an announcement within the next four weeks or so, all being well). My plan will have three phases: between now and May, between May and September, and between September and Christmas.
January hasn't really been easy though. Stress, almost daily headaches and a nasty sinus infection so far. I've also been very tired, too tired to blog. Nice things have happened too, though, and on the whole I'm keeping the January blues at bay.
Fortnightly updates to follow....
Initially I wasn't going to weigh myself but changed my mind and now the weigh-ins will take place fortnightly and I will measure on alternate weeks.
Almost three weeks in and things are going reasonably well, considering that I'm still polishing off the great post-Christmas mountain of sweets! I have lost 2lbs so far, but am particularly delighted that I've lost 4 inches from various places. That's probably thanks to the mini-stepper and the extra walking.
It's only the beginning and there is a long long way to go, I'm not expecting miracles overnight but I'm hoping for some big results by the time of my holiday in May. (I'm very excited about that: expect an announcement within the next four weeks or so, all being well). My plan will have three phases: between now and May, between May and September, and between September and Christmas.
January hasn't really been easy though. Stress, almost daily headaches and a nasty sinus infection so far. I've also been very tired, too tired to blog. Nice things have happened too, though, and on the whole I'm keeping the January blues at bay.
Fortnightly updates to follow....
Tuesday, 1 January 2013
Well, hello 2013!
But firstly, we had the unfinished business of closing the story of 2012. As usual, the Hogmanay tradition of a meal with faithful travelling companion at our favourite local Cantonese restaurant, followed by a couple of Kopparbergs pear ciders at Wetherspoons.
The days of staying up all night after the bells are now long gone: these days, staying power is in very short supply so I retired very early to listen to Radio Five Live for a while and then it was lights out just after 1.00 am. Living life on the edge eh!!!
I finished work on Christmas Eve and have been on holiday since then: it's been a brilliant, relaxing time but all good things have to come to an end. Talking of which, the dismantling of the EuropeCrazy HQ Christmas tree (pictured above) ceremony also took place today. It's like the closing ceremony of the Olympics, only without the flag being lowered, or a speech from Seb Coe, or numerous rotten musical performances. (Although with regard to the latter, we did have a 'top tunes of 2012' show playing on one of the music channels: insert witty remark here...!)
Tomorrow is the last day of my Christmas and New Year leave and then it's back to work on Thursday :( I feel completely unwound, but no doubt that feeling will be short-lived once Thursday morning comes!
As ever, I got my hopes up for the sales but only Boots and Matalan delivered: I'm sorted for bath stuff, perfume and cut-price knitwear for the rest of the year :)
Over the past 6 months I lost my dieting-mojo and the weight-gain went out of control. As usual, the shops are full of fitness DVDs and the newspapers are full of the usual old 'new year, new you'-style rubbish. Yes I absolutely do need to lose weight and get fit, but this year however I'm flying solo on the dieting front and not following any official weight-loss plan: only the EuropeCrazy Frank Sinatra "I Did It My Way" diet and exercise plan between now and the end of April. No crash diets here folks: just a sustained period of healthy eating and sensible exercise, punctuated by the good things in life - this time of the year is dark and depressing enough without denying yourself some treats! I will only weigh myself on the last day of every month, so check back here on 31st January for a progress report.
So what's ahead in 2013? Well, it's an odd-numbered year so there's no Olympics and no summer football tournament to distract us: let's just hope that the weather is better this year so that there will be lots of exciting adventures to write about over the summer months. And then there's the small matter of our spring and summer holidays to plan :)))))
The days of staying up all night after the bells are now long gone: these days, staying power is in very short supply so I retired very early to listen to Radio Five Live for a while and then it was lights out just after 1.00 am. Living life on the edge eh!!!
I finished work on Christmas Eve and have been on holiday since then: it's been a brilliant, relaxing time but all good things have to come to an end. Talking of which, the dismantling of the EuropeCrazy HQ Christmas tree (pictured above) ceremony also took place today. It's like the closing ceremony of the Olympics, only without the flag being lowered, or a speech from Seb Coe, or numerous rotten musical performances. (Although with regard to the latter, we did have a 'top tunes of 2012' show playing on one of the music channels: insert witty remark here...!)
Tomorrow is the last day of my Christmas and New Year leave and then it's back to work on Thursday :( I feel completely unwound, but no doubt that feeling will be short-lived once Thursday morning comes!
As ever, I got my hopes up for the sales but only Boots and Matalan delivered: I'm sorted for bath stuff, perfume and cut-price knitwear for the rest of the year :)
Over the past 6 months I lost my dieting-mojo and the weight-gain went out of control. As usual, the shops are full of fitness DVDs and the newspapers are full of the usual old 'new year, new you'-style rubbish. Yes I absolutely do need to lose weight and get fit, but this year however I'm flying solo on the dieting front and not following any official weight-loss plan: only the EuropeCrazy Frank Sinatra "I Did It My Way" diet and exercise plan between now and the end of April. No crash diets here folks: just a sustained period of healthy eating and sensible exercise, punctuated by the good things in life - this time of the year is dark and depressing enough without denying yourself some treats! I will only weigh myself on the last day of every month, so check back here on 31st January for a progress report.
So what's ahead in 2013? Well, it's an odd-numbered year so there's no Olympics and no summer football tournament to distract us: let's just hope that the weather is better this year so that there will be lots of exciting adventures to write about over the summer months. And then there's the small matter of our spring and summer holidays to plan :)))))
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)