WWW's 10 year younger bootcamp, Oct 08, all welcome

[WideWebWitch]

Hello everyone, old and new.

This is about feeling better about yourself and looking and feeling better etc. But mainly we chat and laugh quite a lot, which has all got to help towards happiness etc.

The rules (anyone can join):

• Sunscreen at all times

• No or little booze. Wine or Champagne or whatever at the weekend is allowed if you want it

• Walking is important, a small amount every day if possible. 30 mins if you can

• Lots of water, aim for 2 litres a day

• Apply body cream as often as possible

• Use hand cream

• Go to bed early, by 10.30pm if pos

• Eat healthily

• Be happy

The idea is that we all feel happier, healthier and glow with the good food, sleep, exercise, water and lack of sun damage.

Some people are doing India and Neris's Idiot Proof Diet (Atkins, more or less), others are doing Slimy World, others are just being as healthy as possible.

Welcome everyone, have a good week.

marina, sorry you are having a bad time, and that the supplements aren't helping. Have you tried rescue remedy? I had a friend who totally swore by it - she used to slip it into her kids' cereal for a week or so before exams and said it really helped. Might be worth a shot, and it's natural. xxx

Today

chorizo and austrian smoked cheese in an attempt at continental type breakfast
salad of raw spinach, tuna, anchovies, tomatoes, cucumber and vinaigrette
port salut
brazil nuts
pork chop
green beans with garlic butter
ditto asparagus

lots of water
no wine

and MUST be in bed by 10.30 tonight, didn't sleep til 11 last night and feel it today, can't do it with 6am starts. BUT only 14 days more of commuting, hurrah! And have had good feedback from interview so am hopeful that I got it. If I did we're going to take the children off to a hotel for a few days over half term and I'm going to have half term off (but not 2 months, but tis ok!). fingers crossed!

All digits crossed for you www, how fab it would be if you got the job
I am wondering whether to give St John's Wort a try actually. Kalms are fine but I seem to be consuming the max daily amount at the mo.
I am still astonished at how rubbish the Solgar made me feel!
The world of preschool is a sadder, emptier place tonight, that's for sure. Enjoy your freedom ladies
I have a Big Message on call minder from SlimyWorld lady, according to dh. Possibly "You can run, but you can't hide". Oh dear

marina

Get Knitting

(have been speaking to psychologist about beneficial effects incl.poss serotonin enhancement, certainly repression of "ruminating thoughts" bet there's plenty of those around atm)

Sneaking on before I go to bed...

I have decided to abdicate all responsibility for the boys (where possible)whilst DH is off.

I have yet to tell him this .

Saggars, been out for a meal tonight with my friend who works at that school. Viva Espana, rofl.

Will catch up properly soon.

Ah, so this is where you all are.

I am panic juicing - the school hols are stopping me going to the gym and there have been some long weekends. Don't know how long I'll keep it up for but I'll try as long as possible.

Breakfast - Avocado/cucumber/apple/pineapple/ice/spirulina/greens/acidohpilus all mixed up into surprisingly tasty concoction.

Ditto morning tea.

I am officialy a) starving b) carb withdrawing

And I'm taking DD to a museum right next to ChinaTown [salivate]

WWW - I am at your family. How awful for you. Good luck with the job application.

Sorry you're having such a tough time Marina. I've read very positive things about St Johns Wort, although it can interact with other medicines so run it by the pharmacist if you're taking other medication.

Good morning all.
Glad you had a good evening Batters I agree, life is too short not to cherish friendships, especially when the collective chips are down
Have brought frugal lunch in to work and trying to make fresh start. That way I won't feel so when I finally square up to that answerphone message
Thanks all for concern. I think the worrying is worse when it is out of your hands IYSWIM - you are a powerless onlooker Just hoping all works out OK in the end.
Shorter walk than usual today but with lunch on hand can get out and walk at lunchtime. I'll be a blur, as ds says
Must keep up with water too, have been a bit lax on that front.
Bundy, the knitting porn was lovely thanks, and I am knitting, just not fast enough or with enough wool Gotta new motor yet?
We've also been told dd needs a fair bit of extra support on her maths. Her fab teacher is managing this without dd realising, but seeing her enthusiastically and capably doing simple sums in her head, and then being unable to write them down easily, or read the same sums from a page, is making me disproportionately sad for her. She tries so hard, her reading is great, her maths is truly dodgy just now . Ds did some sums with her last night, bless him.
And yes I know it is not bootcamp-specific but there is so much harshness and competitive belittling on the boards in general I'll park it here I think, so that I'm not told to get a life.
Am now thinking about paella and crispy duck thanks to certain posters!
Keep us posted re job www, we want to know the minute you hear

Hello all. Marina I sent you a stupidly long email last night - sorry about that, it wasn't meant to be QUITE such an epic. about dd's maths - but I'm sure she will catch up especially with some good 1:1. I know what you mean about being 'sad for them' - I was so sad when dd got her glasses, and I used to get really sad at ds1's swimming lessons because he just found it so hard, compared to the other children. Is it the translation of what's on the page to her head/vice-versa? Would that make it less of a 'maths' problem and more to do with the mechanics of writing the sums?

arfishy - that sounds RIDICULOUSLY healthy! I don't think I even knew the names of all those ingredients!

batters - about the kittens, but not about the smell...glad you had a good evening. There are not enough dodgy women down this way, though I'm hopefully meeting one next week for coffee (think red vegetables).

ureb - abdicating responsibility sounds lovely! Definitely do it!

www - fingers/toes crossed for job!

I meant to join this thread
i failed
I am going to try again. For I am a bit blue at the mo and could do with taking a bit more care of myself etc. and it's nice to see all you lovely posters here. I shall read along and try to join in properly and folloow the rules.

mumsnet can be horrid BUT I had a great 4 days last week in Melbourne, meeting up with Ghosty and Califrau and a loads of other lovely mumsnetters. All is not lost yet...

Marina I am sorry to hear things aren't great

Wow, so much going on here.

Batters and at the kittens.

WWW, really good luck with the job. The moving was getting my sister back into her flat; DS and I move in on Nov 8, and I am feeling stressed to the eyeballs about the whole thing (what if I forget sth? what if DS keeps Dsis and DBIL up all night? what if I can't manage on my own? what if DS can't bear nursery? etc etc aaaaaaaaaargh)

Marina, sorry things are stressful, and specifically sorry about third-party worry (the most ticklish kind)

and Pru, welcome back!

But most importantly, arfishy, rofl - ROFL - at panic juicing

I have mainly been eating beef stew (three days in a row!) and buying a winter coat, which I am little unsure about. Would post for appraisal, but it was from benetton, and their website is unmanageable. Gah.

OK, off to destress via the medium of lists. Oh, and am knitting like a woman possessed (esp after yesterday, when DS screamed from morning until he finally fell asleep around 7pm. Wow. If that turns out not to have been a one-off I will be offering him on the for sale boards within the week).

This is such a lovely supportive thread isn't it? You are all fab.

welcome back MrsJC, nice to see you. This thread is all about being kind to ourselves really so I hope it helps you.

L&S, ah, sympathy on moving, it is horrible isn't it? But iirc you have a PLAN for in a year or so time and you should just keep thinking about that. We should all post top moving tips for you shouldn't we? Mine is THROW out loads of stuff before you move and start packing now, even though it's a month away. Will you be putting stuff in storage? You could start that now if you felt up to it.

Batters, ah, now, you've stopped me feeling envious with one mention of cat shit! Marvellous! When I cried on my boss last week abotu my family/11+/etc she said (having previously been telling me I ought to get a kitten) "hmm, yes, I can see that a little kitten is JUST what you need in your life right now!" - meaning, Not. So dh is right, as usual! Glad dodgy woman was fun.

Marina, sympathy on the numbers with dd but she's too small to be worrying about that yet, surely? In my head she's your baybee, although she must be 4! Is there any way you can, in your head, leave it 'parked' here? When I was telling dh I was anxious about his parents moving nearer us he said "NO, you must stop worrying about that, it's AGES away, please, put it away until later and when it does come, I will do loads and so you mustn't worry. And so far, it's worked, I have managed not to. Obv ignore that if it's not going to work for you and I am stupendously lax on the getting involved with schoolwork front so feel free to consider me an ignoramous who doesn't know what she's on about! I was tihnking about your 'run but can't hide' message while I was on the train this morning and smiling.

Arfy, you are an inspiration as always. Resist the crispy duck, resist...

ureb, good on you, great delegation skills there!

Ts, I hope your week is good and not as stressful as you think. Must be Beety I think? Enjoy!

I was asleep by half ten so feel good today. Will let you all know immediately if I get the job!

When I was worrying constantly about stuff that I shouldn't really have been worrying about so constantly, I was told a very good tip - allow yourself some time each day to constructively worry - set aside 20 minutes after tea when you sit down and force yourself to think about the thing that is concerning you, and write it down. Then every time during the day/night when you worry, instead of telling yourself to stop worrying (which of course we never do) tell yourself to delay it.

Another thing that really helped me was this mood study It was touted around on Mumsnet a while ago,and I was taking part when my Nan died. It really helped me to be more positive and happier at a very horrid time, and only takes 5 minutes of your day.

I've been to the gym this morning before getting the kids up and have just done a very long dog walk with swinging arms. I'm loving walking even more since I downloaded loads of podcasts - Stephen Fry and the Radio 4 Friday night humour slot are particularly good.

After a series of ghastly 4am wakings, had a good sleep last night (with a bit of chemical help). Maybe knitting would stop my ruminations too?

Missed a couple of school walks because of early starts at work and can't walk puppy while she's ill - I'm missing the exercise and the soothing effect of the woods and country park.

Marina, talking of chemicals, will e-mail you.

Great plans for today - walking, water, home made soup, fruit, sun screen...

We'll see. And have to devise Victorian costume for tomorrow.

marina

dd2 is rubbish @ maths (not even on my radar actually), and am totally not worried

her reading ain't great either, but am told by her teacher she's well within what's expected for her age. and I want it to be fun rather than a chore - dd1 is loving homework atm esp geog/history, which is just as well as it's really ramped up in yr 4.
just had skinny latte, plus toast i brought in from home. will try to exercise restraint @ lunchtime but the rain makes me wanna eat

Good afternoon all...
Batters, I am snurkling about your DP being bundled out of the back door of the vets...Marina - Kalms made me feel seasick all day, and as if I would lose my balance at any moment.

www - my fingers are tightly crossed for your job.

Saggars - is there a follow-up appointment to find out about the MRI?

I imposed cast-iron discipline on myself yesterday - walked, had healthy lunch, healthy dinner and lights out at 10pm having (with lots of regret because I don't see my female friends / dodgy women enough either) declined an invitation from a dodgy woman. Anyway - it's working and I am beginning to feel less overwhelmed with tiredness.

Had one moment of panic yesterday when my mother rang to say that she was getting on a train this morning to come down and help. I couldn't stop myself yelping 'no!' before giving a more gracious response.

Batters - I will contact you re some Good Walking - we could pop up to lidl together

Just a quick check in - not feeling all that great today, so bootcamp has been a bit out of the window - feeling very stressy and headachey/sick/dizzy so I've probably got some bug or other.

Can I just share ds1's good achievement for today - he is in Y3, and a June birthday, so young for the year, but today he brought home his reading book, and said 'I have finished all the Y5 books now, so I can choose my own book from the reading corner'. He is finding literacy much easier than maths atm, but he has always been a creative type rather than logical, so I'm not surprised at that really.

Hope everyone else is having a good day. Www you are right about which 'dodgy woman' - hopefully next week which will be nice.

Good evening all,

What is it with maths nowadays, I'm sure they teach it in a more complicated way than when I was at school (circa the Ice Age).

I think its the absence of rote learning, which I feel is necessary for basic maths.

It is a subject that children can suddenly "get" though.

Have only 2 days left at work now until my notice runs out, that is tomorrow and next Tuesday. Have already left in my head so the days are long going through the motions. My work colleagues are being lovely though.

After 3 years of a break from PTA work, have allowed myself to be inveigled (sp?) into being class rep this year and have organised my first event, a Year 7 coffee morning. (Luckily another rep offered her house).

Am eating v. sensibly as we are going en famille to a spa in Brittany in December and I have already booked some treatments.

Oh no, I took lunch from the fridge today and instead of being my lovely crab and salmon it was dh's lunch. So

4 chipolatas
hula hoops
tuna mayo sandwich on wholemeal bread
then was still hungry so bought a chicken tikka sandwich
and about to have chicken
and may have some wine as am working at home tomorrow and well, because I want some, dammit, Janet.

(Looks down glasses at WWW and the wine) - as long as you don't think you'll regret it, then have one for me please.

Ah yes I remember the joys of scooping out cat poo from the litter tray with a dessert spoon...luckily sadly my dh is allergic to most breeds.

Did not go to gym as was too tired - ds going through a stage of waking up every night atm and I cannot get back to sleep. I have also been trying to explain Hamlet to my 7-year old dd (forgotton how gory it was) who has now expressed a desire to move on to Romeo & Juliet . She is not a child prodigy btw, she is reading simplified versions of them.

But I did buy some more hand cream today (yes I confess to wilfull neglect of my extremities). I am also on my pre-menstrual week and am already slightly bloated but only feeling modestly cross and not murderous. Does anyone have a successful solution for de-bloating (apart from foul-tasting herbal teas)?

boy you lot write a LOT

marina - sorry about your glumness. I don't really know what to suggest but can completely relate to your 'stuff that's not in my control' thing. Boy do I HATE that. There's something about that sort of situation that makes you feel so desperate. If only we could control the world (mwah ha ha). Have you tried fish oils?

www - your family sound eeeeeeeeeevil (sorry if harsh).

eemie, is it you with the house sale? what's happening now

is all odd with all the turmoil in the markets - funny, but it still doesn't look like there are less people in the shops or anything!

no real news other than that dd is upset because I can't come to her assembly this Friday (sigh) and I too woke up at 4am yesterday eemie (to have a bloody wee of all things) so spent all afternoon falling forwards on my desk with my eyes closed! arrghh

I think you lot are cyber 'dodgy women'

Blu - yes 3 weeks today Hope BoyBlu is doing OK. I'm liking to idea of constructive worrying Prufrock.

Did you get the goss ureb? And how's your health?

Moonshine - I am bloaty too. I just have to keep drinking. Water not wine sadly.

Worked hard at the gym today but I should really be in bed - have a 3 1/2 hour drive to Sunderland Uni tomorrow (and back obviously)

Well, DD and I went to the museum (which was v.good, we are annual members) and as they had no juice bar I had a rocket, beetroot, kumara, fetta and pinenut salad. Without the pine nuts and fetta. So that was filling not.

I then had to walk into the centre of chinatown to buy dd a rainbow waffle cone, running the gauntlet of crispy duck stands and chinese bakeries [sob]. I was firm in my resolve though.

When I got home I had a bowl of carrot, cucumber, celery, tomato and lettuce. Which was moderately satisfying. While DD had a bread and boysenberry jam frenzy [double sob]

Then for dinner I had a:

apple/carrot/celery/mixed greens/cucumber/alfalfa/broccoli/beetroot/courgette/lemon/ginger/ice juice.

I also force fed DP one, who looked like a cat being forced to take a pill.

They DO taste nice, she says, somewhat desperately.

Anyhow, as my 'harpooned at heathrow' problem isn't as serious as everybody elses, glad to see everybody sounding a bit perkier.

I have an i/v today. Luckily a phone one so don't have to bother about the fact that none of my interview clothes fit. It's great timing as it would be an immediate start and DD goes back to school next week, so exactly what I wanted. Except I read something in the very small print about having to work doing system critical changes on SATURDAY nights between 6pm and 6am. Every week.

So I'm spending the morning swotting up on buzzwords for short term memory and remembering key advice from my superb book 'Nice Girls don't get the Corner Office' - about women bypassing the glass ceiling in a male dominated business. Which isn't nearly as American as it sounds and the advice is very good.

[returns to Sun website rather unenthusiastically]

ok I am going to try
but I haven't quite got a handle on all of you yet so sorry if I'm not maanaging to acknowledge you

arfishy's food intake sounds terrifyingly healthy.

I have been trying to eat a lot more fruit and vegover the last few weeks and that is going reasonably oK. So task one of MY bootcamp is to tackle water drinking - I do not do enough and so I am going to focus on that for a bit.

walking tricky, although I must walk MILES up and down the house every day after teh children/mess etc. I walked myself silly in Melbourne last week though - gave myself the blisters of doom.

booze is sorted - barely drink now

bedtime is an ishoo - is usually 11/11.30 or later. will work on that

am hopeless with creams and sunscreen so wll work on that, esp as it's Spring here and the sun in NZ is FIERCE

And now the clocks have changed I want to try running in the evenings again. Also we are going to get a rescue cat/kitten soon hopefully.

Anyway, sorry lots of you seem to be having a rubbish time. it's odd to think of you all (except Arfishy) going into autumn. We have had a very long and nasty winter here this time round, I can't wait for Spring to kick in properly.

Noo Noo MrsJC, you need to know the background. I have stacked on heaps of weight due to excess wine and schnitzel consumption and am trying to lose it in a panicky way because I fly back to the UK in 8 weeks time (have been doing this a month).

Anyhoo, welcome to the thread! I think there's quite a high percentage of us on here. Bama (now chutneymary) is here too, and SuzyWong.

My top tip is my exfoliating glove - use it every morning in the shower and my winter scales are coming off nicely. I'm going to start using my moisturiser that gives my legs some colour soon too. And I must go for a pedicure.

I also highly recommend some reflexology or thai massage - I have a place near me that does a $10 for 10 minutes head neck and shoulder, and really helps when I've spent all day mumsnetting slaving over a hot computer. I think we're very lucky to have these so cheaply available, rather than the £60 candle and tinkly music specials you have to shell out for in the UK. Plus juice bars . I always get a carrot/ginger/celery in Boost. Makes your skin glow (well as long as you don't drink too much wine )

Your melbourne meet up sounded great .