Rivals!

When it comes to books, I find that some people are very snobby. “Have you read the latest by *insert name of obscure author here*, the composition of characters is just marvelous, the imagery just sublime and by the end of it it really made me question the whole question of where did squirrels come from”

  Ok that book might not exist, but you get my point, My favourite books are “Great Expectations” (it’s a really good story) any “Adrian Mole” (makes me laugh as much today as it did when I was 11 years old) and “Rivals” by Jilly Cooper!

My well worn, well read copy of "Rivals"

I didn't realise quite how well worn it was!

  Now before the book snobs turn their nose up and other people wonder what on earth this has to do with weight loss, this is it! I love “Rivals”, because it’s the tale of a group of people (Venturer) bidding against another group of people (Corinium) for the right to run their local TV station. The leader of Corinium is a dirty horrible scoundrel who cheats and lies to try and get his way. On the day the license is awarded, the leader of Venturer (Declan) is convinced that they haven’t got it and as he’s about to walk away, he’s called into a room and told that yes they’ve won it. He's also handed a sheet of paper, with the names of all the people who work for his rival, saying what a good bloke he is and how they’d rather work for him. He’s told that whenever he feels down he should look at this piece of paper.

  Alright, I’m probably not selling the book and I probably should have issued a spoiler alert, but today I was reminded of that piece of paper and the fact I have my own version.

 Today has been really tricky, with a few issues raising their work related head and I found myself really REALLY angry. The sort of anger that has enveloped me only twice in my life. Most people will refer to themselves as chilled and relaxed, but I really am. One of my best qualities (apart from my awesome sense of humour, beautiful eyes and cracking pair of boobs) is the fact I very rarely lose my temper and if I do get mildly annoyed, I forgive really quickly and move on. Today was not one of those days.

  I tried to employ every technique I could to cheer myself up, but not even singing “I’m in the Mood for Dancing” helped. So I headed off to the supermarket. I was an angry shopper, screaming children in trollies annoyed me, people wading through the packs of strawberries looking for the longest best before date drove me mad! I figured I may as well just fill my trolley with pizza, garlic bread and a vat of Ben and Jerrys and just head home.

  And then I remembered the weekend I’d just enjoyed. The weekend where one of my best friends made the journey from Weymouth to surprise me for the first of my 40^th birthday celebrations… 

the weekend where all my friends joined me for afternoon tea, prosecco and cake. 

The weekend where we stuck our heads in a Las Vegas showgirl cutout and laughed. 

The weekend where I spent a gloriously hot Sunday at Wollaton Park with my friends, godchildren and dogs. The weekend where all of my friends scribbled notes on polaroid pictures.

  This weekend and the memories it created were what was important. So my trolley remained pizza, garlic bread and ice cream free. I came home I made myself a prawn salad and prepared my overnight oats for the tomorrow.

  I know when I step on the scales tomorrow I’ll have put weight on, but it will be pounds created out of fun and laughter. Today it was back to normal and the love and fun I'd felt over the weekend was the thing I needed to prevent my anger from really screwing over my diet for all the wrong reasons!

Being Number 1

My first blog in a while…. I’ve had a really crazily busy few months, a new job and running my own business has meant that my working day now starts at 4.15am and finishes anywhere after 6pm. Now don’t get me wrong, because I run my own business, I will NEVER complain about being busy and am grateful for each and every one of my clients. However I got a huge wake up call the other day, when I realised out of all the things that were a priority in my day, I wasn’t one of them!

  I’ve spent the last four months accommodating everyone and anything. Just before I went on holiday, there was a moment when I honestly thought I was going to be really poorly. 

  Ironically a trip to Las Vegas, a city that NEVER stops and is pretty much 247 helped me slow down and take stock. 

As I got on the plane, I realised that they last time I’d picked up my Kindle was months ago and I was only a few pages into a book that I had been dying to read. Yet reading is one of my favourite things to do! As a child, I devoured book after book, getting the train to uni, I read anything I could get my hands on. These days I have a bookshelf full of books that have perfect spines. (I believe the sign of a true reader is one who has a bookshelf full of books with cracked spines and well-thumbed pages)

Some of my favourite, well read books!

  I wondered why on earth I wasn’t doing the things I enjoyed? In Las Vegas, we walked for miles, in and out of the different hotels, various tourist attractions, museums, bars, restaurants and we laughed…. we laughed a lot! They were those proper belly laughs that leave your face in a permanent state of happiness.

  BUT, there’s always a BUT isn’t there? It was whilst I was away, I became aware that one of my friends, had done something that really upset me. As I moaned to my sister over a glass of wine and a bowl of dubious looking nuts, I realised that the best thing to do was to mention it.

  I think I fall into the “old reliable” category with some people. I don;t hear the word "thank you" as much as I should, it's expected I can wave my magic wand and make stuff happen, or some friends don't realise that a text every now and again to see if I'm OK, would be nice.  I think some people see my generally positive outlook on life and they think it / I don't matter / wont mind!

Well all fat people are jolly, so even if it does make me sad, I wont be sad for long!

So I decided to say something, the response, was something along the lines of “sorry your upset, but we only invited 35 of our closest friends”.

  It was a bit of a wake up call, because I realised that over the last few months, I hadn’t even made my own top 35, so why should I make anyone else’s?

  I’d planned and cancelled gym trips, because someone needed something from me, I’d sacrificed time cooking and planning healthy meals and eaten toast because I was too tired to cook anything else and there’s certain family members who have forgotten what I look like!

  So I’ve decided its time to start putting myself first for a change, which is really why I’ve started writing the Slinky Blog again. Blogging helps me focus on getting fit and healthy and reminds me what I’m trying to achieve.