Yes to Chocolate No to Wine...

 

Well, I finally did it... yes I measured myself. Not in terms of height, that aint ever going to change. I have been 5ft 2in since age 11. No, I measured my 'vital' but somewhat flabby statisitics. I have put on 2 inches on my waist, bust, tummy (but not hips- which makes my tummy of course look even more ridiculous). ACTION is required...

Three years ago, I lost two and half stone (35lbs?), following a low GI diet, and it has basically stayed off since then. I have completely changed my eating habits and have exercised regularly ever since. So what has changed? Thinking about this as I faced up to the fact that my bra has not shrunk, nor have my jeans, I looked back over the last 6 months. I got a dog and have been regularly walking him, but I have also moved into a lovely big barn, which although makes me fit doing the housework, it also has a lovely range cooker. I have been baking cake A LOT. I have been eating cake A LOT. Also I had an accident where my knee collapsed (OK, I was dancing on a 'Mum's night out, and my knee collapsed beneath me and I tore all my ligaments) so running is now out of my fitness regime. However, when I really think about where the hidden carbs have sneaked in, its in the consumption of wine on a daily basis.

Wine has become synonymous with middle class living. Alcoholics at University, heavy drinkers in our twenties, and then as children come along, wine, sofa and TV is seen as an acceptable end to a stressful day. A moment of feeling like we are the irresponsible adults we used to be. A little bit of 'me' time, a little spoiling, a little naughtiness. Now, as you know, I like a bit of naughtiness on occasion, but looking at my wine consumption in terms of health benefits and moderation. It is seriously slipping, especially as the nights draw in. So from Monday (I have two open bottles in fridge that will need to be consumed before then) I am saying 'No' to wine. I have worked out that my 2-3 glasses a day, which have crept up from my one glass a day 3 months ago are not only responsible for my weight gain, but at my age (2 weeks before my 41st birthday) are a serious issue to my health too. So 134 calories in 175 ml glass of wine, so that means I am consuming 400 calories sitting on the sofa (AHHHHHHHHH) that is more than a chocolate bar!! Do you know, writing that down has suddenly made me feel really ashamed and embarassed that I have let it get to that level.

Of course, you could replace the wine with spirits, a gin and tonic, using low-cal tonic is a 1/4 of the calories, but my issue with spirits is that is it is spectacularly easy to drink to excess, as your home made gin and tonic is probably 3 x the standard measure you get in a pub. So, I think its a no to alcohol on a regular basis. When I have done this before, I find it easy, feel better, sleep better and then think, "Why do I drink?" However, when I give up chocolate..well life is not worth facing. Considering I only eat 85% chocolate, and average aound 40g of the stuff a day (212 cal) I think its a better vice. Plus, all the health benefits of very pure chocolate, (magnisium, serotonin etc) its good for me!!

Christmas is 7 weeks away. I am going to try really hard between now and then. Allow one "drink day" a week (I have three birthdays -including my own between now and then) and perhaps only drink a gin or vodka mixed drink.

Will report back soon!!!

 

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Coffee, Liqueur Chocolates and Guilt?

It's that time of the morning, near 11 o'clock. My feet automatically hot foot it to the coffee machine. There is something comforting about being middle-aged and having these small rituals every day. When you complete the ritual, then all the world is at peace but sometimes, when work or activities interfere with that ritual, there is a feeling of something jarring, something not quite right. I have the same thing about listening to 'Women's hour on BBC Radio 4'. I love knowing that at 10 o'clock, I will be able to switch it on and get on with housework, or writing, or some such nonsense. When I miss it, or only start listening, at, say, 10.20 am, I feel cheated. Sad but true. Thank goodness for iplayer!! So this morning, to shake things up a bit and not get too complacent, I decided to live a little and have a liqueur chocolate with my coffee. There was an initial thought of 'liqueur chocolates are just for Christmas' but then I silenced this voice by saying to myself, "well at £1.19 for a packet of them, it can be Christmas every day". It was a Whiskey cream one, so by shoving that in my mouth and then a sip of coffee, it was like liqueur coffee heaven! It was naughty, but it was so very definitely nice. Sometimes, you have to force yourself to get out of the rut. The older you get, and the more comfortable the rut gets, the more difficult it is. In my book, I say that sex needs to be a two-way street. Comfortable with the status-quo is fine, but eventually, comfortable can become boring. One or the other starts looking for the 'treat' for the liqueur chocolate, something a little bit special, something perhaps like making love on a school night, and not just Sunday morning when the kids are downstairs watching TV..... I wont be having a liqueur chocolate every day... but Monday morning was certainly more special because of it.

 

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