Goals

Taking On A New Challenge

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One of the activities that was on my list of things to try when I retired, was stand up paddle boarding. Unfortunately, due to the travel restrictions, not mixing in groups and all the other strange things that have happened over the last eighteen months, it was something that I never got round to doing.

However, last weekend I finally managed to go and give it a whirl, along with my husband and two friends. We had booked a beginners lesson with Lake District Paddle Boarding. The lesson was three hours long and we booked a private lesson for just the four of us as we did not want to be holding anyone back or being embarrassed by not being able to actually get on the boards.

I have to say that we had an excellent afternoon. When we first arrived on the edge of Ullswater, it was very murky, overcast, with a chilly breeze. Whilst we sat and ate our picnic, we were all shivering – I think from the cold rather than the sheer terror of what was to come. We were all convinced that we would be in the water within five minutes and frozen to the core.

We went to introduce ourselves to our instructor Joe, who was excellent. He reassured us that we would be able to get on the boards and was confident that we would be paddling across the lake by the end of the afternoon. We were slightly more doubtful! He also convinced us that the water wasn’t actually that cold and we would not be chilly if we fell in.

The first hurdle was to get into a wetsuit. This is no mean feat when you’re younger, but when you are over fifty, overweight and not particularly fit, it becomes a bit of a workout in itself. By the time I managed to shoe horn myself into the suit, I was definitely not chilly anymore. I was relieved that I had fitted into one, as I had nightmares about being stuck half in/half out of a wetsuit, witnessed by hoards of Lake District tourists.

Joe explained the basics at the side of the lake, whilst we watched and asked questions. He was really encouraging and patient with us. He made it sound very straight forward. He then got us all to get onto the boards, kneeling up and we set off into the water. They were much more stable than we had anticipated. After about ten minutes, the boys were already trying to stand up and doing a pretty good job of it. Us girls were a little less confident, but with lots of help and encouragement we were all actually standing on the boards and paddling, much to our amazement. It was quite hard work, requiring a considerable amount of concentration. The advice to look ahead to where you are going and to relax, really helped, but what you actually want to do is look down at the boars and cling on by clenching your toes.

After we had paddled up and down near the shore for a while, Joe then suggested that we paddle across to the island in the middle of the lake. Despite our initial reluctance, we were now all up for this and made our way across with a combination of standing and kneeling, depending on the choppiness of the water. I was mostly kneeling, as I still did not feel particularly confident. Once we had had a short rest on the island, we then crossed the lake into some of the more sheltered bay areas, where it was a little easier to stand up. I still needed a bit of help getting from kneeling to standing, but I managed to paddle standing up for a short while.

Joe showed us some further skills on the boards and also some tricks, which the more confident paddlers tried, some with more success than others. The boys both ended up in the water, mostly from showing off and being over confident. But we laughed so much! Once we had gone in and out of a few more of the little bays, it was time to make our way back across the lake to where we started. I don’t think any of us could believe how quickly three hours had passed by.

As we set back off, the steamer was approaching and Joe warned us that it would cause a few waves. The choice was to kneel down and be more stable in the waves, or stand up and try and balance. Needless to say the boys tried standing and riding the waves and ended up tipping off into the water.

We all managed to make it back safely and a little quicker than going out, as the wind was blowing us in the right direction. We had had a great time and were really impressed with the whole afternoon. We all had slightly achey legs and had definitely used muscles that we hadn’t used for a while.

I would definitely recommend this as an activity and would suggest booking a lesson to try it out with some instruction. I can also heartily recommend Lake District Paddle Boarding and particularly Joe, who was encouraging, amusing and very knowledgeable, nit only about paddle boarding but about Ullswater too. One of the other really nice things was that he took lots of photographs throughout the session, which he then sent us free of charge. The photos make us look much more confident and proficient than we were!

Stand Up Paddle board lessons in the English Lake District. (lakedistrictpaddleboarding.co.uk)

My Foodbank Challenge (4)

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Although I hate to admit it, I didn’t completely fulfil the foodbank challenge. I managed just over three weeks. Why did I give in? Well there were a number of reasons:

  1. I really found it hard to put together a full meal from some of the foods, as there wasn’t always things that went together. A lot of this was probably me being quite choosy about what I eat. This resulted in me snacking a lot on things throughout the day and never really eating a proper meal. I think this ended up with me eating more in a day than I normally would and consuming more calories.
  2. The lack of fresh foods was something that I am not really used to. I don’t eat much tinned or processed food generally, so this was a bit of a shock to my system. I found a lot of the food unappetising, but again probably me being quite fussy.
  3. There seemed to be far too many carbs and not enough protein. In the week that I had eggs or cheese, it was a little easier, but I normally eat lots of fish and vegetable protein as well as quite a few eggs. I ate far too much bread and quite often had unhealthy things on the bread, such as chocolate spread.
  4. There just wasn’t enough milk for me. Even on the weeks when I didn’t have cereal, I found that I was really short of milk. I found myself drinking more coffee too, sometimes instead of eating properly.

After the three weeks, I have now returned to eating what I would normally eat. I have loved cooking foods from scratch this week and have enjoyed eating lots of fresh vegetables and fish. I’m still not the healthiest eater in the world, but I have really appreciated much more variety and being able to buy the foods that i love.

I have also found that I gained weight. I think that this is down to the processed foods along with the snacking. I have heard in the past, people saying things like ” well they hardly look like their starving, they can obviously afford junk food”. I don’t think it’s quite as straight forward as that. The cheaper foods that people buy fill you up and will feed a family on a budget, but they are not necessarily the healthiest of choices. Fresh foods and meals cooked from scratch are so much healthier, but you have to be able to afford them, have somewhere to store them and have a little bit of cooking and nutritional knowledge to put a decent meal together. Unfortunately not everyone is able to do this. Don’t assume that someone has to look skinny to be hungry or malnourished.

People ask why the foodbank doesn’t provide more fresh foods. The main reason is around longevity and storage. There are some fresh foods available most weeks, as well as frozen meats and other frozen foods. On a week to week basis no one knows how many referrals there will be, how many emergencies, whether there will be single people or large families in need. The only way to provide food in these circumstances is to have a good stock of basic tinned, dried and long life foods to ensure that there is always enough to provide for people in need. This can then be boosted with any fresh foods that are available.

Another thing that has reared its head again this week, particularly on social media, are the comments around “well they can afford a TV/Laptop/ weed/cigarettes (etc), why should we be providing them with food?” There is no simple answer to this. Some people cannot manage money very well, some may not prioritise, some may be struggling all the time, some may just be struggling short term. None of us are perfect. Lots of us are lucky enough to afford the things that we like as well as the things that we need. Using the services of a foodbank is not a lifestyle choice. It is a necessity for some people. How it became a necessity is not really for me to judge.

It is a personal choice whether you choose to give to a food bank or not, just the same as it is to give to any charitable cause. I will continue to volunteer and help where I can. I hope that I am never in a position to need the foodbank, but no one knows what the future holds or what help we might need.

Whatever your views, just be kind, try not to judge others who need help and hope that others won’t judge if you ever need help.

Old friends, new musicals, old habits, new beginnings

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I can’t believe how many weeks have passed since we returned from our canal holiday. here’s just a little bit about what I’ve been doing since then.

Old Friends

After I returned from holiday, I had another week away from work. Luckily the weather was still really good and I had chance to spend some time with friends that I had not seen for a while. It was a lovely relaxing week. These are the kind of friends that you very rarely see, but each time you do, you just pick up from where you left off. Unfortunately as part of that week, it meant that I did eat and drink a lot more than I should have done.

New Musicals

On the Friday of that week  I went with my husband to see Titanic the Musical. This is one that I have never seen before. Everyone knows the true story of the sinking of the Titanic. The musical is based around a number of people who were known to be on the ill-fated voyage. This includes members of the crew and passengers from each class. The singing in the show was amazing. Despite the serious nature of the story, there are a few lighter moments, but it is a very moving show to watch. It’s obviously not the foot tapping, come out of the theatre singing your head off type of musical, but it is amazing and I would recommend it.

However I have to say that more and more I am finding my enjoyment of the theatre being spoiled by other theatre goers, who feel the need to scroll through their messages/Facebook/snap chat, whilst watching a show, or chat throughout without a thought for other people. I was also amazed that just after the interval in this particular show, a couple on the same row, began eating a full picnic. I kid you not! There were too cans of pop, sandwiches wrapped in tin foil, a big bag of Doritos, all being taken out of the noisiest carrier bag they could find! Please, please, please, if you are going to the theatre, have a little respect for the other audience members who may have come to watch the show!

Old Habits

Despite being really motivated to lose weight and keep fit last year, I find that I have slipped back into old habits and unhealthy eating again. On the Bank Holiday weekend we decided to go for a walk and I suggested walking up Ingleborough. We had a really good day and managed the walk, but I have to admit that carrying all that extra weight really took it’s toll. I had to give myself a really good telling off and vowed that I would not continue to eat in the way that I have done over the last few months

New Beginnings

Yes the new beginning meant that I re joined Slimming World. I tell myself all the time that I know what I should and shouldn’t eat, but I always struggle when I stop going to the group sessions and kid myself that I will stick to healthy eating, but I seem to drift off track and into old habits. Well at least I’ve made a start on the healthy eating. I’ve carried on exercising, over the last months, despite the bad eating, so at least my level of fitness has not been lost all together.

I’ll let you know how I get on

 

Diary of a Wimpy Woman

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This week I have been feeling a little bit sorry for myself as I have had cold, a sore throat and now a very annoying tickly cough. Normally I don’t bother about this kind of thing, but I think it gave me a reason (or an excuse depending on how you look at it) not to do the 10k run that I had signed up to. Basically I wimped out and talked myself out of doing it. I feel a bit annoyed with myself now, but at the time, I just couldn’t summon up the enthusiasm to do this.

Blood Brothers

On Saturday evening I went to see Blood Brothers at the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford with my husband and my friend (Funnily enough I wasn’t too ill for this!). I have seen this show quite a few times, but it never loses its appeal. I love the story and the songs are absolutely amazing. The acting and singing from this cast was brilliant and it never ceases to amaze me how the characters change from the first part to the incredible ending.

There are some superb characters within the show. My husband loves this show and always says that he would love to play the part of the narrator. I’d love to play Mrs Johnston. The only chance of this happening is in our own kitchen when we have the soundtrack on and we sing along. It doesn’t hurt to dream!

A nice winter break

So today my husband and I (I sound like the Queen!) have travelled with a couple of friends to Center Parcs at Whinfell  Forest, for a short break. It is quite cold, but its lovely to be out in the fresh air and away from the hustle and bustle of daily life. Today is the first day of the Christmas period for them, so there are lots of lovely twinkly lights and Christmassy things around. It’s a bit early for me, but it actually looks lovely and has a really nice feel to it.

 

A Worthwhile Week

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Crafts Completed

So I finally managed to complete some of the crafts that I started and I am fairly pleased with them. I have really enjoyed making some Christmassy things. I’ve done some sewing and also some Christmas decorations on slices of wood. I think that they look okay. I’m thinking of putting them on a Facebook page and trying to sell some of them, or even making them to order. I’ll let you know how it goes.

 

A Day At The Races

On Saturday I spent a great day at York races with a group of lovely ladies, to celebrate my friend’s 50th birthday. It was a nice sunny day, which meant that we could sit outside and enjoy the fresh air. Catching up with people that I used to work with and haven’t seen for quite a while was great. I had a few glasses of Pimms and lemonade and bet on a few of the races. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, so I did what most people do and picked either a name of a horse that I liked, or the colours of the jockey. Needless to say I didn’t come out on top. I managed to win a small amount of money back on the last day, but other than that I lost more than I won.

 

Practice 10k

On Friday my information arrived for The Abbey Dash. When I signed up for it, it seemed a long way away, but now it is only three weeks away! On Sunday I decided to bite the bullet and just have a go at running 10k. I managed to run most of it and it took me 1hour 33 minutes. At least I know that I can do it and make the finishing line. I am not so bothered about the time, but I’m not so worried about not finishing now. A bit more practice over the next couple of weeks and I’m optimistic that I should be able to complete the 10K in under 1 1/2 hours.

Bu the way my calves were really hurting today!

Treading Water

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Do you ever feel like you are treading water? Those times in your life when things are just kind of moving along, but you’re not really getting anywhere?

I seem to be at one of those points at the moment. The healthy eating has kind of come to a standstill and I’m reverting back to lots of old habits. A result of that is that the weight is slowly starting to creep back on.

I am still running and walking, but only once or twice a week rather than as regularly as I should be

There are lots of craft projects and things that need doing around the house, which I keep meaning to do, but don’t see to have got round to it.

There’s no reason really, so this week I’ve given myself a good talking to and am getting myself back on track. one of the main reasons for writing the blog in the first place was to make sure that I made every day count and that I would have something interesting to write about.

New Goals

So this week, I have some new goals to make sure that I pull up my socks and get things back on track.

I am going to book myself back into slimming world and tackle the weight that I have put back on and stop wasting time messing about losing the same bit of weight

I am going to finish at least one craft project this week and put a photograph on my blog (now I really have to do it!)

I am going to make sure that by the time I write my blog next week I will have run or walked on at least three

Inspiration

I saw this video on Facebook this weekend and I thought that it was very relevant, so I wanted to share it with you. Hopefully you will be able to see it if I’ve linked it properly

https://www.facebook.com/powerofpositivity/?ref=hovercard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time Flies

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I can’t believe that we are already on Wednesday and that I have not got round to writing my blog again this week. I also can’t believe that it is the middle of August already, where does the time go?

This week it will be my eldest daughter’s 21st birthday, the last milestone birthday of the year for us as a family. It has certainly been a year for milestone birthdays, with me being 50, my youngest being 18 and my eldest being 21. That certainly wasn’t planned in any way, but it has made for a very busy, exciting, if not slightly expensive year.

This week also sees the week, where my youngest daughter will receive her A Level results. She is not particularly concerned about this, as she does not wish to go to university and has already found herself a job, but I do feel for all those other students and parents out there, who are anxiously waiting to see what Thursday will bring.

Making Progress

Over the last couple of weeks I have felt really motivated to keep up with my running and also to keep on with the healthy eating. I certainly feel much better for it and feel that I am definitely making progress with my fitness.

On Tuesday I attended at my usual Slimming World class and it was the evening to award the “Woman of the Year”. The people who had been nominated talked about what had been the defining moment that brought them to lose weight and what a difference that it had made to their lives.

It was very inspiring to listen to their stories and very moving too. It certainly got me thinking about the difference losing a couple of stone and increasing my exercise has done for me. Interestingly, some of the women had no photos from when they started losing weight, which said a lot about the lack of confidence that you can have when you are overweight. I certainly felt that I didn’t want to appear on photos. I’m still not the most photogenic person , but don’t completely hate having my photo taken anymore.

Hopefully I’ll keep up the hard work and continue with the progress. I’ll let you know how I get on!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Eventful Week (1)

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On Monday my husband, youngest daughter and myself travelled to London for our eldest daughters graduation from The London College of Music at The University of West London. She has graduated with first in BA hons in Musical Theatre. Last week I mentioned how she had overcome the initial let downs and has worked hard and been so determined, that even though I may be biased I honestly believe that she deserves that achievement.

Proud parent moment

The graduation ceremony took place yesterday at Wembley Stadium, which in itself is a pretty impressive place. I’ve never been to a graduation ceremony before. Other than my sister in law, who I didn’t really know when she was a student, my eldest daughter is the first person in the family to go to university.

The ceremony ran like clockwork, from registering, collecting gowns, having photos taken to entering the Great Hall, it was obviously meticulously planned. The actual walking across the stage was a “blink and you might miss it” moment, but was still worth the wait.

Afterwards the graduates were allowed out onto the terrace to take photos, which was great. Then it was into central London with some friends and their families for a meal in the Coppa Restaurant next to St Paul’s Cathedral.

Afterwards the young people went off to party and us older folk went back to the hotel for a well earned rest.

It was a great day, marred very slightly by one of the mum’s not being very well at the end of the night, so I wish her a speedy recovery.

I want to thank everyone at the University, who has tutored, encouraged and inspired my daughter through the last three years. Particularly the group of friends who have been an inspiration, support and an endless source of entertainment for me.

I’d also like to wish them all the best of luck as they begin their new journey out in the big wide world. Continue to support each other as you’ve done over the last three years and you won’t go wrong.

Here’s  to the future, embrace it, whatever it may bring.

Just for me

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Run Forrest Run

I surprised myself this week by taking part in a running session at an athletics track. I had signed up on line with Tingely Runfit and it seemed like a really good idea at the time. I thought that it would be fun and a bit of a new challenge for me. On the night however it was absolutely pouring with rain. I briefly thought about cancelling, but felt that this was unfair to the lovely lady who had organised it.

So I turned up in the pouring rain, expecting to absolutely hate it. Bizarrely I found myself really enjoying it. Running the different distances around the track was different and allowed me to get a bit of speed up (and I do mean a bit!) without worrying about whether I would make it to the end of the run.

On Saturday I also got a personal best (43;08)at Oakwell Parkrun. This may still be really slow for most, but I was really pleased with my progress. On the back of that I’ve also signed up for the Abbey Dash, which is a 10k run in November. Hopefully this will spur me on to keep training and hopefully get round the 10k in a fairly reasonable time.

If anyone had ever said to me that I would be running because I enjoyed it rather than because I had to, I would never have believed them. now I do it just because I can.

 

Just Sing!

On Saturday night, I was honoured to be part of the Summer Harmonies concert as part of Batley Community Choir.  Also in the concert was Batley Parish School Singing Group and the Gawthorpe Brass ’85 Youth Band. The Town Hall was full and the concert went really well. The children sang beautifully and the band were excellent. I loved singing with the choir and the evening ended with the whole audience standing up and singing and dancing to “Walking on Sunshine”. It was great! The money raise will go to #more in common, the charity set up in memory of Jo Cox.

Being part of the choir has been a great experience, as it was one of the first things that I did just for me. I’m not involved in the organising, the planning and I don’t have to feel responsible for anyone else. It has been brilliant to go along and do something purely for pleasure, which has got me involved in other community activities along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Inspiring Weekend

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The beginning of the week started off as fairly average really. Not that I’m complaining, sometimes having an ordinary makes me perfectly happy. However, this weekend was something else.

Volunteering Warms The Heart

On Saturday, because there was a shortage of volunteers, I helped out at Parkrun for the first time rather than running. I have to say, it was really great to see it from a different aspect. All the runners were so friendly and were thanking the volunteers as they ran past. I know when I run, I struggle to speak at all, but always try and give a smile to the volunteers just to let them know they are appreciated. I really enjoyed volunteering and as the last person came past, I walked around the rest of the course and then walked across the park too, just to make sure I got my steps in for the day. I’m glad I volunteered, as without people volunteering, things like the Parkrun wouldn’t exist.

Saturday afternoon was our church Summer Fair. I had created some activities for the children to do and some games and challenges for the adults too, all on a teddy bear theme. I think that most people enjoyed them. One was a matching game, a bit like the game of pairs, but timed to see who could do it fastest. It never ceases to amaze me how competitive adults can be! There were some who had to just have another go when someone had beaten their time.

The main event of the afternoon was parachuting teddy bears off the church tower. They  were hauled up in a basket, attached to a parachute and then launched off the roof. The winner was the bear who landed nearest to the target. A few of the bears got near the target but there were quite a few that had to be bravely rescued from trees and from the church roof!

Run For Jo

On Sunday I took part in the Run for Jo at Oakwell Hall Country Park in Birstall. The day started with me singing with Batley Community Choir, as we opened the days celebrations in memory of Jo Cox. It was warm but quite drizzly, but we sang our hearts out on the little stage. Everyone was excited by the fact that Eddie Izzard was joining in the run and he gave a short speech before a warm up for the runners.

Luckily the rain dried up and the sun started to show its face, just before the runs started. The first run was 2.5k and there were people of all ages taking part, from really small toddlers, to grandparents. It was great to cheer them on at various places around the course.

The next run was 6.5k, which I had signed up for, but to be quite honest, a few minutes before it started I was having serious doubts about why I had! I don’t know why I do this. Whenever I have put my mind to something in the past I always manage to achieve it, so I need to stop convincing myself that I can’t.

The run was through the park, across fields, paths, through trees and bridges over streams. Interspersed along the way were singers, drummers, buskers and cheerleaders, along with the marshals, all willing everyone along and keeping us all going. There was even a climb over a style at one point, which allowed everyone to catch their breath whilst they waited. I managed to have enough energy on the way round to say thank you to the musicians and marshals.

The finish of the run was down hill and I managed to run all the way to the finish line hearing people cheering. It may have taken me 57 minutes, but what an amazing feeling!

After We had food, there was then a mascots race, where Ronnie the Rhino, The Fairtrade banana and various other mascots raced against each other.

It was an absolutely brilliant day, with people of all ages coming together to run together and to celebrate #more in common, remembering Jo Cox, whose vision for a better world has inspired so many people.

Long may it continue!