One of them there "sort my life out" threads

[SteviebunsBottrittrundle]

I'm looking for one of the threads for general S&B self-improvement threads, a bit like the princess ones there used to be.

For the record I'm planning to cut out alcohol completely for a while. I have a social thing tomorrow where I'll probably have a glass of wine or two but after that will cut out. Also doing as much yoga as I can to tone up a bit (finding inner leave along the way would be lovely too).

Does anyone know if there are any threads like this running atm?

[SteviebunsBottrittrundle]

Morning!

As planned, I had my couple of s last night and am now going booze free for a while. Do I look better already ?

My plan to eat more fruit and veg has been good, but probably need to work on the water drinking and yoga this weekend. Will do my Tara Lee dvd tomorrow and just a bit of ashtanga on my own today.

[Oh2beatsea]

Can I jump aboard please?
I don't drink or smoke and I manage plenty of fluids and fruit each day.
The bits I need to start / work on are:

• reduce reduce carb intake (even the granary stuff)
  
• ensure I have plenty of veg or salad each day
  
• up my protein intake
  
• start exercising for 30 mins daily - walking or yoga or swimming
  
• try to be more polished - defrizz my hair, wear foundation / make up daily
  Sounds easy when you write it down ; ))

[SteviebunsBottrittrundle]

Hi oh2! Yes, please join us. I like your list. I also could do with reducing carb intake and making an effort to look a bit more polished.

Today ended up being a bit of a dieting disaster for me . I got a bit carried away with a bowl of crisps we'd put out for visitors. I don't want to know how many I ate. Also, not one piece of fruit or veg passed my lips until tea time! Yikes! Monday's a good day for a fresh start though, so it's totally fine yes?

[Oh2beatsea]

Thanks Stevie......I'm sure crisps don't count on a Sunday 😉
I went to a family party today and have eaten far too much rubbish beige food (sandwiches, quiche and cheesecake).
Monday is always a good start......so full of hope on a Monday!!
What a fab thread you've started - thank you!!!

[teaandcake789]

Oh yes I've had a bad weekend with the food too. Family bbq with inlaws yesterday followed by Sunday lunch with the parents today. And i haven't done my 10000 steps since Wednesday! Oops.
However I did treat myself to a manicure and pedicure so all is

[jelly10]

Can I join? Just back from holiday where I ate whatever I liked whenever I wanted to and now feel very wobbly and bleurgh. I like the idea of yoga at home, can't get to my normal class over the summer holidays but don't want to go 6 weeks without doing any. Will check out the YouTube suggestions.
I generally do ok in fruit and veg as I have a green smoothie every morning (though missed them on holiday) - it's not eating junk the rest of the day that's my challenge...

[Ememem84]

Jumping onboard too.

I generally take good care of me but have slipped recently. Need to get back on it.

I want to:

-drink more water
-less caffeine (no proper tea after 4pm)

• skincare routine (cleanse time moisturise every day)
  
• cut down the booze - we are off on holiday next week but will limit to one glass of wine a day. I sleep terribly when I've been drinking... After holidays cut it right back
  
• Increase exercise aim for at least 40 minutes every day (most likely walking at lunchtime)
  
• more veggies.
  

There are probably more things but I'll come back and update later

[SteviebunsBottrittrundle]

Morning all!

Welcome jelly and emem .

I love seeing everyone's lists! Definitely need to do some of the same things.

Well, I've got off to a better start today (so far - I know, it's not even half eight yet, so we shall see how the rest of the day pans out). Had a nice breakfast of , some plain boiled eggs and some fruit. Am feeling irrationally smug about not attacking the rich teas with my ! It's the small victories!

Plan for today is a walk with DD and then yoga during her nap, lots more water, homemade lentil soup with lots of veggies in it at lunchtime and maybe a Niçoise salad for tea. Trying to steer clear of junk food during the week and also cutting way down on bread, which I tend to overeat.

[SteviebunsBottrittrundle]

Also emem, I'm just the same with alcohol! It totally ruins my sleep if I have more than one or two drinks. I am cutting it out for a while but after that would like to do maybe no alcohol at all in the week and then one or two at weekends.

[Ememem84]

Ok. So breakfast was special k and yoghurt. Lunch was peoper cucumber noodle salad with a soft boiled egg.

Dinner leftover spag Bol turned into chilli with wraps and salad.

Have drunk 2.5 litres of water today but also had about eleventy million cups of tea.

Hm.

[SteviebunsBottrittrundle]

That sounds good emem!

Hope everybody else has had nice days, whatever they've been doing.

I'm now toying with the idea of doing 5:2. I loved it last time and I did lose some weight, despite eating loads on non-fasting days. Hmmmm ponder ponder. Might give a fast day a go tomorrow and then Thursday to see how I get on.

[jelly10]

Managed to resist the biscuits and sweets at work yesterday, major achievement for me, hurrah!! Salad for lunch and jacket potato for tea. Plus Zumba! All slightly spoilt by 2 pieces of toast after Zumba but overall a good day

I switched to decaf tea a while ago, try to avoid caffeine altogether so could that be an option for the tea lovers?

[jelly10]

Stevie I'm really interested in the 5:2. Did it work last time? Were you really hungry??

[SteviebunsBottrittrundle]

jelly, sounds like you had a good day too. I love Zumba!

I found the first week of 5:2 quite tough last time and ended up eating about 750 cals a day instead of 500. It got easier though as time went on. Will let you know how today goes!

[Ememem84]

Lovely day today. But bad food wise. Had 2 wines with dinner. Oopsy.

But more water tomorrow.

[SteviebunsBottrittrundle]

Aw sounds fun emem!

So 5:2 was OK yesterday but not great. If I'd just gone to fecking bed early as if planned I would have been great but I got caught up watching erm... First Wives Club on tv and then DH brought in crisps which seem to always be my downfall! I ate a fair few of them and then realised I was behaving like a starved wildebeest and just went and got some oatcakes and cheese and a glass of wine. Hmmm definitely NOT 5:2 friendly, but altogether a lowish calorie day so that's good. Will persevere with a lowish calorie day today and an actual another fast day tomorrow.

[SteviebunsBottrittrundle]

Morning! By my standards, I had a good day yesterday .

I went swimming and also had eyebrows and eyelashes tinted and also my tache and chin waxed (don't I sound delicious). I was also fairly good with fast day. In my head I look magically more toned though I'm sure I look exactly the same . Hoping for a good day diet-wise today and some yoga.

[Inarightpickleandchutney]

Hello, can I join please?
I am incredibly lethargic and listless which I know is down to diet and not drinking enough water I'd say.
Any suggestions on food??
I don't smoke but drink probably twice a week, sleep is rubbish probably because I haven't the energy to get out and about, do you see the pattern?!
I'd love to be able to spring up in the morning.
I can scrub up quite okay if I put the effort it, I just don't... I'm annoying myself because I know I'd feel great if I could make some changes I'm just not really sure where to start...

[SteviebunsBottrittrundle]

Hi inarightpickle! Yes, of course, please join us.

I am a bit of a shambles myself so not sure how reliable any of my dietary advice might be... but i definitely feel a little less lethargic since cutting down a bit on carbs. I don't drink enough water either and think that would help with lethargy too.

[Inarightpickleandchutney]

I've googled a bit and found conflicting advice so I'm hoping to get some personal experience. Most of what we eat is carb tastic. My daughter does a lot of swimming and could eat more pasta than me! I just make one meal for us rather than faffing with different dinners.
Might think about doing a few batches for DD and see about some other meals for me.
What do you eat if it's not carbs?!
I know I sound ridiculous but genuinely not sure what to do!

[SteviebunsBottrittrundle]

inaright, I've got a cook book which I really like called Low Carb Gourmet. It's great if you are thinking of going properly low carb. I am definitely not properly low carb, though I think minnielatte is?

A bit like you, I meal plan and cook for my DH and DD who really like carbs and certainly do not need to lose any weight or anything. I did try very low carb (boot camp style) before and just found it quite expensive. I don't think we could afford for us all to follow a low carb diet as it seems to be mainly meat. DH hates eggs which doesn't help and DD isn't too keen on them either. DH isn't great with very fatty cuts of meat either which made things tricky and quite expensive. So, I'm just cutting down on them instead. I ate a lot of sweet things before and have been trying to cut this out. Also bread and crisps are my downfall so I'm trying to steer clear of those now too. I'm not a big fan of pasta anyway as it makes me a bit bloated, so am avoiding that. DD and DH love it though so I do make things like bolognese but I just have broccoli instead of pasta. I know that sounds utterly joyless but I actually quite like it - honest!

I think we'll keep eating rice as I don't tend to overeat it (especially brown rice) and it doesn't make me bloat. We also use lots of pulses which I like for bulking things out. Last night I made a lentil, veg and bacon stew thing with tomatoes. It was really low calorie for me (on fast day) but filling for DD, which was good.

Soups and curries are great too and can be made low carb quite easily. I make a butternut and thyme soup sometimes which is fairly low carb and also this curry which is also low(ish) carb:

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2220652/cardamom-butter-chicken

[Inarightpickleandchutney]

Thanks Steve! We are going for a short break next week so I'm hoping that might help energy levels too. I'm planning on trying to swim a bit (been years!) and not drink at all apart from water obvs for a few days so maybe that will improve sleep and therefore the energy levels!

[SteviebunsBottrittrundle]

Oh lovely! Hope you have a great time.

Yes, I really think even a small amount of alcohol ruins my sleep. Annoyingly though, I seem to wake up in the morning more tired if I haven't had any alcohol for a while. I don't wake up in the night though which I seem to do if I've had a glass of wine. I sleep like a log, but just feel groggy the next day. Hope this stage passes soon and I feel better instead of worse. I did slip up the other night so I'm not really giving it a fair go.

[JemimaMuddledUp]

Can I join? Came onto S&B to see if there was a princessing type thread running.

Just got back from a camping holiday and after a week of living in scruffy shorts I am ready to look a bit more put together again!

Yesterday I had my hair cut and coloured and my eyebrows shaped. At home I did a (cheap Superdrug) overnight peel treatment. Have just hot cloth cleansed it off and applied lots of serum and moisturiser. It seems to have got rid of my post sunburn peeling skin.

Need to do something about my legs if I am going to wear a dress to work on Tuesday - they are covered in insect bites and bruises!

About to have breakfast - berries, Greek yoghurt and muesli. Have lost 2 stone this year so am mostly aiming to maintain now. Trying to eat healthily but will be sneaking in the odd glass of wine...