Here we go...

Ok. Back to normal, back to work, back to the gym and back to blogging.

Not 100% back to normal, as this is where I am now blogging from...

Hey look, there's me in the mirror! ha.
Yup, we have a desk! ok, so the walls still need repairing & painting, and there is still stuff all over the place that needs sorting out. The chair could do with covering/reupholstering too. But the fact of the matter is. we have a desk. and seeing as 2 weeks ago you could barely get in this room because of all the junk, this is huge! :)

I am currently sat at the desk, sunlight is not streaming in through the windows, someone has just pulled up outside and honked their horn, and there is a birds nest just outside the window... goodness those baby birdies are noisy!  I am editing a few photos taken at my husbands birthday celebrations at the weekend (at a Mexican restaruant. Highly enjoyable) and finally getting to update this blog of mine.

As I mentioned before I am going to try and focus and give it a bit of an overhaul here. I just want to have a few regular posts each week, so you know when to pop back and have a read.
Fridays will still be my Weigh in result/meal plan day. Its good for me to plan my food, saves money and helps keep me on track (if the last 2 weeks of not planning are anything to go by this is completely neccisary!) on Tuesdays I will start to post recipes or fill you in on places we have eaten, it'll kinda coincide with my meal plans so new recipes I try I shall share on here, and you'll get to see if they were a sucess, or a complete failure! ;)
I'll also start to share some of the things I make (now I have a room to work in hoorah!) and some of the photos I take. I have lots lots more planned too, but for now these are the first steps.

All starting tomorrow with a nice and easy Olive & Herb flatbread recipe! :)

Happy Bank Holiday Monday everyone. xx

A few things & Resolution Update

1. I love the big windows at the gym, I like looking out and seeing the place 'wake up' in the morning.

2. I do not love the Magpies that perch on the trees outside the big windows, forcing me to salute and say 'Hello Mr Magpie' Thus making me look like a loony in the gym!

3. Malteaser Bunnies are my new most favourite chocolate in the world (Creme egg I still love you, but the bunnies have me hooked!)

4. I really cant decide what colour to paint the downstairs w/c. Smallest room in the house, toughest to make decisions on!

5. Also, is it odd to put a photo of everyone from our wedding up in the toilet?

6. Another Body Balance class tonight, I hurt so much last week I'm kinda dreading it, kinda looking forward to it.

...

I thought I'd also take a look at how am I doing on my Resolutions for 2011

#1: Take care of myself more.
Well so far I am 9lbs lighter. I am exercising at least 4 times a week. and generally I am taking more time for a bit of pampering. A new hairstyle is on the cards in the not too distant future! :)

#2: Get house decorated.
Now known as the home makeover. ;) living room is 99% finished. Downstairs w/c is well on the way to being done. as is our bedroom, and we have started on the garden... so slowly but surely we are getting there.

#3: Change our lifestyle.
Now this is the one I didn't feel ready to share too much about. And I'm still not ready to share too much more. but the first steps have been taken, they may be tentative baby steps, but it seems the journey has started. I should be able to share a little more on this matter soon. :) x

#4: Improve my blog and start up an online shop.
riiiight... well, I guess only you guys out there can really be the judge on if this little space of mine has improved in any way shape or form. I think it looks a little prettier! generally I think it'll just be a case of  trying different things, seeing what works and what doesn't etc. So long as I still enjoy it its all good. :)
The online shop... not got there yet. thats a plan for a little later in the year. If I try and do too much at once I'll turn into a complete stress head, so at the moment all energy is on the home makeover!

#5: Get a dog.
Yeah. I forgot this was even a goal/resolution to be honest. Obviously it has not happened yet. Obviously I would love love LOVE to have a little pooch. But its still not practical :(


Not bad for a couple of month into the year eh! :) yay me! xx

Motivation

Yesterday morning Darren and I set our alarms early, got up and ready and were at the gym for a work out at 6.30am when the place opens...


If you have passed some random person who happens to look like me, telling everyone within earshot that they were 'at the gym at 6.30 IN THE MORNING don't you know' I'd estimate that is 99.9% likely to have been me. If I could shout this from the rooftops I probably would. Why? Because I am incredibly sodding proud of myself.


I am not, by anyones stretch of the imagination, a morning person. I dont want to be spoken to, I dont want people getting in my way, I dont want to be up, out of my warm cosy bed, especially when its still dark outside. oh and its raining! (poor Darren. how he puts up with my tantrums is beyond me!)


I also struggle immensely with motivating myself. I know I *should* exercise. I know I *will* enjoy it once I am there. But getting myself there can sometimes be one hell of a chore.
However this week. I have been more motivated than I can ever remember being. Even years ago when I was at my healthiest. When I met Darren I was at the gym almost every evening. When I had to stop working out because of whiplash from a car accident, I fell into bad habits. And shifting those bad habits has been so tricky.
It IS easier to sit at home, curl up on the sofa and snack/order take out. Food definitely became a comforter and a way to relieve boredom.
So within the space of a year or so I put on around 3 stone. (42lbs roughly) and for the past 4 or 5 years I have been trying to shift it. I seem to be in a repeat pattern. Lose weight (normally around 1 stone) get lazy, put weight back on, lose weight, get lazy, put weight back on. and so on and so forth.


I don't want to be that person any more. I want to be healthy. I want to be able to do more things without getting red faced and out of breath. And of course I want to feel better about how I look. Shallow maybe, but who doesnt want to feel good about themselves??


Anyway. Yesterday at Lunch when I was catching up on my daily blog reads I came across Danielle at Sometimes Sweet's post about Motivation. (What perfect timing for me to read that post!!) If your struggling on the motivation front pop over and have a read. (her blog is generally just fab anyway, so pop over and have a read anyway!!)


I am hoping my new found motivation sticks around for some time to come, but when I am struggling I shall try and remind myself of how I feel now (bloody marvellous!) remind myself of Danielle's post, and the reasons why I am doing this (yellow dress, remember the yellow dress!) :) x

Goals and Resolutions for 2011

I dont normally make resolutions. Bu this year after I was thinking back at what happened in 2010. It started me thinking about the changes we want to make in 2011, and the things we want to acheive.

So here are my 5 main goals and resolutions for 2011.

#1 :    Take care of myself more
The obvious one of lose weight falls into this catergory. This year I am going to give Slimming World a go. I have tried following Weight Watcters on and off for a few years now, and the weight comes off a bit. then goes back on, then comes off, and I just think a change will do me good.
Keeping up with the gym. setting myself a goal of a  minimum of 3 times a week with this one. as soon as I am there I love it. its just getting my backside there that I can struggle with, but Darren is great at motivating me.
Then generally just treating myself a bit more. The odd massage and facial. generally just treat myself better.

#2 :    Get house decorated
Speaks for itself really. Since the changes in the housing market, and now knowing we shall be staying here for the forseeable future, we have started making our house a home. We did it up a bit when we first moved in but because originally it wasnt a long term plan to stay here we didnt really make it ours.
We have made a start, but in 2011 we'd really love to get the majority of it finished.
I'll share before, during and after pics on there throughout the whole process.

#3 :    Change our lifestyle
This is a hope... and at the moment I dont feel ready to share the details on this one. The first part of it is to have paid back money that we have borrowed (not including mortgage! unless anyone has a get rich quick scheme they would like to share with us!) But after thatI'm keeping my cards close to my chest. Hopefully we'll have the wheels in motion within the first half of the year at the latest. Sorry I cant share more right now, but I need to have some secrets right! ;)

#4 :    Improve my blog and start up an online shop
This has been a dream of mine for a while. I love art, photography, creating. and the time has come to make it an actual goal. I plan on signing up for this blog course online, learn more about how to make the most out of my blog, and more about the blogging community.
I want to get out and take more photos, and creating things people love is just the greatest feeling. I need to gain more confidence in myself and my work. But I want to do something I love and that makes me happy. And 2011 is the year that I am going to make it happen.

#5 :    Get a dog
Haha. random perhaps, but we both really really want fur-babies! and its an important part of the lives that we want to be living. At some point in the next year we want to have at least one addition to the Mann family/household.


They are resolutions/goals that consist of small things and big changes. But they are most importantly all achievable.I have my list saved on my phone for the days I start to wonder what I am doing, and why I am bothering.
Sure there will be ups and downs, if things were easy all the time you'd lose interest and get bored. The work makes the end product all the more worthwhile.

xx   Happy New Year   xx

What are your resolutions, goals and hopes for 2011?

fat.

Seriously. I need to sit down and have a little talk with myself.

Because I am *never* going to lose weight and feel good/healthy if I keep eating so much crap!

At the moment I would like to lose at least 31lbs. It was 28lbs, but you see, with all the fat laden, high calorific food I have been eating thats increased to 31lbs. Thats the opposite of what I want. and not only is it having the effect of every time I look in the mirror I am thinking 'urgh' I am generally feeling bloated and lethargic and horrid.

The truth is. Losing weight is hard work. really really hard work! Harder than quitting smoking by miles. When I quit smoking I just stopped. I woke up on the 1st of January 2006 and decided that was it. No more cigarettes for me. and there wasn't (Until on a hen night in September 2006, when at around 3am I shared a cigarette with the hen, it was discusting and I knew from that moment on I would never smoke again)

But, you cant just stop eating. you have to eat. and my problem is that I am really really greedy. I want it all, and I want it now. oops. Its the inner Verucca Salt again!
Also, I like just about everything. There are very few foods I actually dislike. and of course with the weather and feeling rotten my body just wants to store fat and I am craving fatty, greasy, carb heavy food.

But its never going to get any easier, so if I really want to do it, I need to man up and get on with it.

Take some time and smell the flowers

A few things got me thinking this morning.
1: Not the best arrival at work, I don't appreciate being moaned at/complained to/raised voices regarding something that I have had nothing to do with. 'Good morning Julia' that would be preferable. ;)
2: This post by the lovely Elsie. (So stylish its painful!) about following your dreams.

Basically, I just want to be happy. and although things may get me down and frustrate me at the moment, I just need to take some time occasionally to remember that I am on the path to be living/working my dreams. Those dreams may evolve over time, and I may get there sooner than expected, It may take longer than expected. but just relax, enjoy the journey. To get where you want will take some work, nothing is just going to fall into your lap, all wrapped up with a pretty bow and some glitter.
But relax, lots of people have been through the same and have survived, flourished even. And worrying/stressing over what you have no control over (at this particular time) or what has not even happened yet is not going to make things any easier.

Just take some time out, and smell the flowers! (this is a super old photo i took years ago in my parents garden. You can get lost for hours photographing flowers in their garden. I love it)


On a separate note, tonight will be my first venture to the gym since having a program written for me. Prepare for an 'I ache' post tomorrow. eek.

Happy Wednesday
Jules x

letting it all go

I woke up this morning feeling much much better than I have been the past few days.
It was nice to walk up and feel happier again.

Everyone is going to have down days, it is inevitable, especially when you get bad news, but I am not going to get dragged down by it. The tough times are there to make us stronger.


So this morning I have been thinking about my goals. Some are small, some are big. But I have not really set a time scale on any of them. Not properly (apart from these ones) perhaps this is something I need to do.

So my list.... in short.

*To Create a relaxing happy home - as soon as possible. realistically. This will be at least a year long project. By Xmas 2011 would be nice

*To be at my goal weight - as mentioned before, March/April is realistic.

*To have great clothes and hair - so shallow I know! hehe. I am booked in for a new hair cut and restyle the weekend I am back from hols, the clothes, well I'll need a load more when I get to goal. so that'll have to wait until then!

*To sell my photos drawings and paintings online - I am the only things standing in my own way here. I just need to stop messing and dreaming, and just do it! So I am setting a goal date of Jan 2011.

*To be a Mum - I can't really put a time limit on this, nature will kinda take over and have its own say in the matter. but by the time I am 35. please by the time I am 35! ;)

*To have doggies - I yearn for a dog, or two. Thankfully hubby does too. if things go as we would like, we could be doggy owners by June 2011! yay.

*to get my tattoos finished - an ongoing task, as soon as I have some done, I want more... not sure this 'goal' will ever be complete.


So some major, some minor. The main ones are to get our home just how we want it. and for me to try and make some sort of a living from the things I create/make.
and those are the ones we shall focus on fully, and wholeheartedly.

Happy Wednesday.
Jules x

ps. I fly to Malta tomorrow, ohh for some warm weather, bliss. See you when I get home. xx