Saving Stuff for Best.

So as you can see from our chart my 2 pound a week plan hasn’t gotten off to the best of starts, I stayed the same (boo) and Lucy managed a loss of a pound and a half. Still I’m not feeling defeated, I can still achieve my target!

  The change in weather means that when taking Cyril for his daily walk, I’ve had to wrap up, there was a slightly dodgy moment when I decided to wear new trainers for such a venture and was hobbling around Newstead Abbey in a very unladylike fashion. It also means I’ve been able to dig out my dog walking hat! I had a conversation with my friend Michelle about this the other day and I think she thought that there was a special range of clothing designed solely for the purpose of dog walkers (there isn’t as far as I know, but maybe I could launch a Slinky fashion range and debut it at London fashion week next year, with our key pieces being hats for dog walkers?)

    It’s really just a hat that I liked and wanted to wear, it’s also practical at keeping my head warm when I’m out in the cold, but because I like to give things a sense of occasion my hat had to have a name and a purpose.

  I realised that it’s a bit of a Trinder thing to make a sense of occasion of things and this stems from my Mum. My Mum would always try and make things fun, so for example when we had to go to the orthodontist in Nottingham she would take us on the bus and let us sit upstairs (this is fun when you’re a child!) We would then get to have a wander round the shops, then have our gobs prodded and poked by Mr May and then she would take us for tea at Jessops, where we could pick anything we wanted (within reason!) It just meant that rather than seeing it as a trip to the Orthodontist, it became an outing with Mum, which was far more fun. When I had to have an operation on my ankle, my Mum made sure that waiting for me whilst I recovered was a pile of trashy magazines and a stack of DVD’s. As a family we always celebrate Thanksgiving, we know we’re not American, but any excuse for a Turkey dinner.

  My Mum also never saved anything for “best, she believed clothing and jewellery were for wearing otherwise it just sat in a cupboard and you never got to make the most of it. She did this because she once read an article about a woman who had treated herself to a Janet Reger nightdress and had promised herself that once she’d lost all her weight and felt more confident she would wear it. Sadly the woman died before she got the chance to wear it, this stuck with my Mum and as a result fancy handbags were used daily and she always wore an expensive watch my Dad bought her. Some of this was down to the fact that she thought if she used something daily my Dad would never realise how much she'd spent on something. She once passed off a Mulberry handbag as something she had bought from Marks and Spencers! My Dad now claims he knew the truth all along, but he didn't!

  It’s the Trinder way to try and turn even the dullest of events into an occasion and I know for a couple of ex-friends it got annoying as they couldn’t understand why we would bother. Well the reason is really simple, you’re a long time dead and if you are spending your Saturday night sat in watching the “X-Factor” then why not make it more exciting by getting everyone to wear matching pyjamas and pretend their a judge? Alright it might not be for everyone, but it beats sitting in glaring at your husband!

  We very much follow the principal that if you’ve got something horrible to do, plan something nice for when you’ve done it. It doesn’t have to be expensive for example today we had to input our expenses and chase invoices, so we decided that once we’d done it, we’d have a cup of tea and a flake. It’s amazing how much enjoyable it was knowing there was a flake the other side of it!

  For the last New Year’s Eve I had a really bad case of laryngitis and so me, Lucy, Laura and Laura’s children had a “Onsie New Year”, where we just hung out at my house watching films and wearing a onsie, it meant that despite being ill I got to spend time with my mates and yet I could legitimately wear my PJ’s without feeling bad.

  If you’re one of these people who always says “when I’m thinner / richer / happier etc. I will do XYZ” Then have a word with yourself, because you’re missing out on so much, wear that jumper you said you’d save for a special occasion, get your friends round and hold your own version of Come Dine With Me and just enjoy life!

  Oh PS, there's now a Slinky By Tuesday Facebook page www.facebook.com/slinkybytuesday and Twitter @slinkybytuesday

It's On Like Donkey Kong (Other computer games are available)

Whoever tells you that losing weight is easy, is (in my opinion) one of three things

1. An idiot
2. Someone who has never tried to lose weight
3. Trying to sell you something!

Losing weight isn’t easy it’s really bloody hard and staying focused and on track is the hardest thing of all. I get so upset by magazine articles who have some half naked celebrity on the front saying they've lost a stone in a week and then when you buy the magazine and read the article they've basically lived in a cave in the middle of nowhere for the week and only eaten mung beans (I don't even know what a mung bean is let alone have ever eaten one!) It's irresponsible and not a fair representative. 

  Then there's those people (and we all have friends like these) who say "I've never had a weight problem and if I think my clothes are getting a bit tight, I just cut back for a week" This statement is usually accompanied by them shoving a cream cake in their gob as you do your best not to hang off the other end of it as you know that even being in the vicinity of the cake means you've indadvertedly consumed the calories too.

  Then there's those who promise you the world and all you have to do is sign up for their amazing boot camp / diet / pills that will have you  a size 10 within the month. All it costs is 5 easy payments of £99.99 per month and the magic is yours. I must admit the picture of the lady in the cycling shorts and vest top stood sticking her tummy out as far as it can and looking sad compared to the lady (who always looks like her younger sister) in a bikini with abs of steal, a tight bum and weirdly bigger, faker looking boobs makes it tempting to sign up!

  But truth be told, they're all rubbish! The only way to lose weight is to stop stuffing your gob and move around a bit more than you probably do! 

It was back to the scales for me this morning to assess the holiday damage and in fairness it wasn’t too bad, I’d put on 2 pounds, which I can live with and most importantly do something about!

  The 30^th October will be mine and Lucy’s one year Weight Watchers anniversary and if I’m honest I’m probably not quite where I’d like to be, I think I’d seen myself being a few more stones lighter. BUT and this is the thing for me, I am lighter than I’ve been in a long time and the majority of the time (high days and holidays excluded) I’ve stuck to my slinky mission. In fact I try not to see it as a diet, but a way of life!

 I remember when I first started Weight Watchers, a girl I know started one of these ridiculous half a cucumber diets, where you have half a cucumber on a Tuesday, a grain of rice for your breakfast and only drink chilled water whilst humming "Papa Was a Rolling Stone". She looked me squarely in the eye as she nibbled on a bit of cucumber and said “this is a way of life baby” and I remember thinking there’s no way on this earth you’ll stick to that for longer than half an hour and sure enough she didn’t, pretty soon it was a case of the only way is Haribo!

  So although there have been some minor mishaps along the way, I believe that however long it takes me, I will eventually get there cos this is a diet that allows for the odd slip up and the fact we are human. I've lost 10% of my body weight and have a keyring and certificate to prove it and I'm in clothes I haven't worn for years and generally a dress (in some cases 2) less, so for me that's an achievement!

  That said Lucy and I have set ourselves the target of having lost another stone each by our Slinky anniversary, so for the next month we’ll be really going for it, there will be no mini treats. I’ve tried to be as realistic as possible with the target I’ve set myself. Essentially I need to lose 2 pounds a week and because I know me, I know that if I say I’ll go to the gym everyday that wont happen, so realistically I reckon I can fit in twice a week with my work and my Cyril walking schedule!

  So wish me luck and hopefully when I get on the scales next week, I’ll have chipped away a bit of that pesky next stone! Plus when I do reach that target, I'll get to treat myself to something pretty! Now what should I buy? I'm thinking maybe one of these  http://www.anniehaakdesigns.co.uk  my plan is to get one for each stone I lose, so I never lose sight of exactly what I've achieved and how far I've come! Plus she does amazing jewellery!

You're Beautiful - Slinky Fashion!

So after my week of naughtiness or a holiday as most people would call it, I have indeed been back on the straight and narrow. Tonight, I’ll find out exactly what damage I’ve done. I did have visions of stepping onto the scales and seeing my weight watchers leader collapse weeping  like an Italian widow at the funeral of her mafia boss husband, but I think I’ve managed to lose the majority of my holiday weight so her tears should be minimal.

  I noticed today as I got ready for work that for the first time in years, I put on a summer dress, nothing fancy, just a nice navy maxi dress, with a yellow scarf in my hair and some earrings. It dawned on me, that it’s been a while since I really cared about how I looked for work and spent most days hid away in a pair of black trousers and black top so as not to draw attention to myself. The irony now is that I make an effort to come to work and I work for myself and most days I just have Cyril (my dog) for company.

  I love fashion and even at my heaviest I always used to buy fashion magazines, normally because they had the promise of “lose 2 stones in 3 days with our brand new celebrity diet”, which we all know is nonsense! Despite headlines like that I’d flick to the fashion pages and wish I could fit in some of the clothes.  I always play a game called “would I wear that if I was thinner?” if the answer’s no, then I deem it really crap! I also have a habit of cutting out things that I really like and saving them in a file so I can draw inspiration from them at a later date or to remind me why I want to become slinky!

  Fashion pages in magazines make me smile, particularly when they do an article about how people with different figures can wear a certain outfit – boyish  / petit / curvy etc. A magazines definition of curvy is a size 12 / 14 (weird, I’m aiming to be what a magazine would deem “fat”!!)

  So I thought I’d do a piece on REAL curvy fashion. I think the first thing to acknowledge is: just because they make it in your size, doesn’t mean you have to wear it. I love Jennifer Aniston’s style, but with my large bottom, most of the clothes she wears are a no-no.

  The second thing to acknowledge is that whatever your size you have some amazing parts of your body! Stand in the mirror and work out what they are. For me, I have lovely eyes, nice hair and a fantastic pair of boobs, which someone once described (and I quote) as “the Real Madrid of tits” So until such a time I can wear what I want, I shall make the most of these good points.

Just because you’re curvy doesn’t mean you can’t be fashionable, you can embrace trends in lots of different ways. For example prints are in at the moment and you might not feel comfortable by wearing something printed, lets face it, there’s only really Kate Moss who could pull off a printed jumpsuit! But you can embrace the trend in other ways – a printed handbag or a scarf. Scarfs are my new favourite at the moment, I have loads of them in different patterns, they’re great for adding a splash of colour to an outfit, and in summer I wear them in my hair (I like to embrace my inner 60’s goddess!) This way you can still work a trend without drawing attention to a part of your body you don’t like.

  Accessories are also a clever way of , adding colour to an outfit or updating it. The beauty of accessories is that there are so many choices from the high street, supermarkets and also online! These are some of the websites I love for some amazing statement pieces . http://www.burstingpink.com  http://www.accessoriesonline.co.uk and http://www.hoochiemama.me

  I recommend buying some staple wardrobe pieces, that you feel good in and can adapt to any occasion. Don’t try and squeeze in items of clothing you used to be able to wear, you’ll only feel uncomfortable and self conscious, it’s better to wear a bigger size whilst you’re trying to lose weight, so that when you go out you feel good in yourself. ASOS do a great curvy range http://www.asos.com/Women/Curve-Inspire-Size/Cat/pgecategory.aspx?cid=9577&via=lhn

  I think ultimately if you can dress in a way that makes you feel good, that will reflect in your personality and how you carry yourself. If you feel good about yourself, you’re less likely to eat to cheer yourself up. 

As American fashion designer Rachel Roy said “If an outfit gets you one step closer to feeling good about yourself it’s worth every penny”