My big fat summer

Who'd have thought it? The summer of 2013 has been a surprising revelation.  More or less, since the end of May, the weather up here has been, on the whole, dry, warm and pleasant...and the last couple of weeks have given us continental temperatures which are more Greece than Glasgow.  Holiday clothing (and all the horrors that brings) has replaced the usual anoraks and umbrellas which symbolise the relentless rain and low temperatures which characterise our Scottish summer.  Usually, if we get a couple of dry days, that's our summer.

But having a few weeks of sunshine, dry weather and clear skies has completely changes our lives and given us a glimpse into what life could be like if we actually had proper, defined seasons.  People are smiling more, they're in a better mood, they're being nicer to each other.  We're all happier. 

For the first few months of this year I struggled, not just with my usual winter blues/SAD but also with stress and anxiety, and completely lost my confidence.   (One particular benefit of this nice summer has been the vast improvement in my mood and getting my confidence back, particularly at work, which has helped me through all the challenges presented by a heavy workload and staff shortages).

However, in the first half of the year, I turned to comfort/binge eating, gaining a stone over a short period, and my physical health plummeted.  Where I previously power-walked uphill to work, it became a struggle to even power-crawl.

You will know from previous posts that I did try to get the weight off, but these were only very short-lived with no commitment.  Over recent weeks, the realisation about what I've been doing to my body became very apparent, firstly going on holiday and then during the recent hot spell.  All those summer clothes hanging in the wardrobe, which can't be worn because they don't fit any more.  Going into fitting rooms and not recognising the person staring back at me.  How did I allow this to get so bad?  It has finally given me the motivation to do something about it.