Just Stuff

[KarenMarie]

I am here in England, visiting my daughter and her fiance' for the holidays. I got here on the 13th of December and will get back to the USA on the 16th of January.

I think I have booked this trip for a bit too long for this time of year!

It is COLD!

I forgot how cold it got here. The wet, damp, ...down to the bone, insides rattling, teeth chattering, finger numbing, nose freezing... type cold. The windows on this 100+ year old house are still original and you can hear the wind whistle thru them.

There is no gym here. There is no meat here (the duaghter and fiance are veggies). The water in this town, York, tastes like metal. I am too cold to want to eat, drink or move most of the time. I feel like I am expanding my the second.

I go for minumum 3 hour brisk walks every other day. That is about the extent of my workouts. I am not eating until late in the day either. I am definately not getting my proper nutrition. I just cannot be bothered to move from the warm spot that it takes me ages to find... hahaha.

Tomorrow we are going to the town in which I lived for almost 8years. The house there is warmer, the weather looks to be getting warmer and I am hoping that I can swing this around.

If not... well, I ADORE my daughter, but there is no way that I can spend 5 weeks, freezing my arse off and be without my my b/f, my cats and my lifestyle.

But, the ppl are nice! and the tea is as awesome as I remember. And it is fantastic to spend time with my daughter.

Brrrr....

[Lady C]

Nice of you to drop in KM.

Hope to see another update after you return and warm your bones again!

Hi Karen,

I've been to England in December which included York. I know the feeling.

Enjoy the Brits. I had a good time there.

Merry Christmas!

[CF-OC_gal]

Enjoy the good parts and be thankful for NA for the rest. I guess that's why they call it a "charming" place. If they used real adjectives, no one would visit!

Super people those Brits!

Have a wonderful holiday season.

[yorkie85]

You're too cold to move?? A jog down South Bank/Fulford will warm you right up.

York's great. It's only got three nightclubs, but it's got four Subways. lol. I suppose it's all relative but it only really gets cold around February/March.

[KarenMarie]

Originally Posted by yorkie85

You're too cold to move?? A jog down South Bank/Fulford will warm you right up.

York's great. It's only got three nightclubs, but it's got four Subways. lol. I suppose it's all relative but it only really gets cold around February/March.

The only South Bank I know of in the UK is in Middlesbrough!

I believe where my daughter lives in on the border of Fulford. She is off Fulford Road near Fishergate and the River Ouse is approx 3 blocks away.

I used to live in Guisborough, Cleveland... near Stokesley. I have been to most places in the UK, as the ex hubby is a great one for day trips. One of my faves is Whitby. I went there one day last week and attempted the 199 steps. I was never able to do it before, in all the years I lived here. On this occasion, I went at a really nice quick pace, two stairs at a time and got 20 steps from the top before I got winded and needed to stop and catch my breath. My ex hubby was impressed.

I have gone back to eating more fruit and veg, less eating pasties and quick foods out of the house. I am also walking a lot faster in the same amount of time.

I was told that there are gyms in the area that have a daily rate... go in pay for the day... but the kids have never heard of it.

I have extended my trip for another two weeks, and will be home on the 29th, instead of today.

Hope everyone is well!!

[Rufiedodg]

Great job on the stairs KarenMarie!

Results like that are wonderful for motivation

Dan

[CF-OC_gal]

Sounds like you are having fun!

[KarenMarie]

Originally Posted by Rufiedodg

Great job on the stairs KarenMarie!

Results like that are wonderful for motivation

Dan

I guess it is all about persepctive, I suppose.

You say, "great job"... my ex hubby was surprised and impressed.

As for me... I was really disappointed. I wanted to keep the pace and reach the top without stopping. In fact, before we left Whitby for the day, I wanted to go back and try again. And for the rest of the weekend, I wanted to go back and do it. No one would go with me though, and I do not have my own car this trip.

I just want to get a good pace and go to the top, nonstop. I will have to find something in York to set as a goal. Nothing with 199 steps comes to mind, but there is a tower... well, I need to ask the kids (Kids... 22 and 24 years old ha!)



Brat.... Yes, I am having fun.

[Rufiedodg]

You sure as hell aren’t suffering from lack of motivation. That’s BIG!

With _it_ the sky’s the limit, without it and you’ll struggle forever.

Keep it up KarenMarie.

[KarenMarie]

Hi Everyone!!

I got home on the evening of Monday January 29th.

Vegetated, got over jet lag and the time change until Wednesday and then on Thursday, I tackled the mountain of mail, laundry and piles of general 'stuff' that the b/f had waiting for me. He is absolutely lost without me, bless him, and he was sooo glad to have me home after 7 weeks away that it was like I was coming home from WWII or something... the reception I got.

I have not been to the gym for a workout yet. I don't know what the deal is with that. I really don't. I WANT to and I know I NEED to... but I just kept putting it off and putting it off. Something inside me made me almost scared to go back, which is something that I cannot explain. Finally, today... I decided that the only way I was gonna do it was just to DO IT... so I decided that I would just stop in and show my face on the way to the supermarket. I brought the owners some British chocolate, so if that was the excuse I needed to get myself in the door (workout or not) I would do it. And that is exactly what I did. I went in, dropped off the choc and chatted for a few minutes. It has put my in the right frame of mind and I am ready to go back.

I did not work out today. Maybe I was just dreading having to start all over again. Maybe I was just ashamed of how poorly I have been eating and how little I had worked out over the 7 weeks. It took a lot for me to even go. I really wish I could explain how I feel, but I cannot even understand it myself, so I will never be able to explain. If anyone here has experienced this, please let me know.

In any case... TOMORROW is first day back at the gym for me. And I am ready for it.

A few other things....

1) when I went into the gym today I got on the scale. When I left for England, my last weight watchers weigh in was 12/06/06 and I was 204.6. The scale in the gym said the same thing for 12/08/06, the last day I went before my vacation. The scale today at the gym says 197.4 a loss of 7.2 pounds. I am not celebrating this however. I do not feel like it is a healthy weight loss. Yes, I did a LOT of walking while I was away. Miles at a time, paced along with my daughter… whose strolling pace is akin to my speed walking… but to be honest, I feel soft and jiggly and loose in my belly, hips, ass/thighs and upper arms. It was almost 8 weeks of no weight training at all! I need to work on that and tighten back up.


2) I have officially quit Weight Watchers. I was losing interest in it for quite some time, but the events that took place during my vacation sealed my decision. Even though is called Weight Watcher INTERNATIONAL, I was concerned about meetings and weigh ins while abroad. So, I asked at my meetings and they said I would be fine, but to call the phone number and ask. I did so, and spoke to someone who had no clue what I was asking and told me to ask in the UK. I posted a thread on the WW website, asking the same thing. I was assured that it would be fine to attend meetings and get weighed in. Once I got there, however, things were quite different. It took me ages to find a meeting in the area and once I did, they were closed for Christmas and New Years. By the time they re-opened, the little membership card I had was expired. Even though I have the monthly fee taken directly out of my bank account, I still need a card that they mail me monthly. This card was mailed to my USA address and did me no good while I was in the UK. The people in the UK meetings told me to call the WW UK hotline. I did so and they told me that they could not do anything for me and I needed to get in touch with WW in the USA. I emailed them. Got no response. I emailed again and again, no response. I posted on the website. Nothing. I emailed again. No reply. In the meanwhile, I had paid $40 for Dec and another $40 for Jan. Finally, on the 15th of Jan, I just decided to cancel. I emailed, got no reply. I emailed again on the 20th, no reply. I decided to just leave it until I got home. I got an emailed reply from them Friday, (Feb 2nd) that my account is now cancelled. I checked the thread I posted in December on the WW site and the only reply there was to tell me that even if I could not attend meetings, I should just use the website tools and find someplace else to get weighed… !!!! (if that is the case, what did I need them for?)

Anyway… my final opinion on WW is that it is a good program for those who need to follow it. I am much happier without it, not withstanding the above fiasco. It was not good for me to over analyze everything I ate and obsess with food. Since I quit, I find that my eating is actually BETTER. I am not afraid to eat, know what is good for me and what is not and what price I need to pay for the latter as well as the benefits to the former. I feel much more comfortable with my eating now. Plus, I have learned more about food here from LadyC in one day than in months of weight watchers.

3) I have decided to refocus my workouts, starting tomorrow. I will focus more on fat loss and cardio and less on muscle building. I think I was working a bit too hard, the weights too high and the reps too many. I was causing injury to my body as well as getting frustrated at the lack of results on the scale. My biceps and calves were getting kinda big and to me, unattractive and out of place with the layer of fat over them. And I was TIRED all the time. So tired that the gym was pretty much all I did on workout days, which were four days per week. So, I will make the change and see how it goes. If I don’t like it, I can always change it, as nothing is set in stone.

Anyway… that is about all from here for now.

Thanks for reading.

KarenMarie

[Rufiedodg]

Karenmarie,

After such a lay off, IMO, it is both hard and scary getting back to the gym. Loosing some of what you've worked so hard to gain can be depressing ( even though I think most of it is in your head). It is just normal stuff you're going through. After a couple sessions under your belt, you'll be back up and running just like before the layoff.

On a good note-- a loss of 7 pounds in 8 weeks is hardly a prescription for muscle loss. And is the perfect prescription for fat loss! You've lost less than 1 pound each week. I'm betting that most of the loss is fat, and hardly any of it muscle.

I think the walking and stair-climbing was a good mix in your effort to loose fat. Your feeling not as firm is probably all in your head.

Good idea taking it easy on the weights. Be particularly careful of the shoulder. You should have babied it much more than you did before the lay-off. I promise you that the layoff did your shoulder some much needed good! Now it will be much easier to take it easy on it since you've been away and aren't on such a roll.

Focus on what you've accomplished while away and build on it. Most of this game is mental. Get the mental thing accomplished and the physical will follow

Good luck KarenMarie.

I'm glad you are continuing your effort to get in shape!


Dan

I've taken several extended vacations to Europe over the years (none in the last 3 years - hope to change that this year), and have generally come back a few lbs. lighter even though I ate alot and really well while I was there. The constant walking and on-to-go mindset is apparently more than what my normal life home provides.

Lessons to be learned. Welcome back!

[Lady C]

Welcome back and Glad I could help.

Getting back to the gym won't be hard once you settle back into your regular routine.

Congrats on the fat loss.