Day 111: Taking Stock

I'm waiting in all day for deliveries. The best they could tell me was it will be sometime between 8am and 8pm for the laptop, and 9am and 7pm for the bedding! So to make good use of the enforced confinement at home I am taking stock.

That's taking stock quite literally in terms of the content of freezers, fridge and cupboards. I've already listed the contents of the freezers and once I've done the same for the rest of the food, I can start thinking about meal planning and bulk cooking. Previous attempts at weight loss were more successful when I cooked meals in bulk and froze my efforts as individual portions, so that's my way forward this time. What I'm not entirely sure of is the real reason why I've stopped doing it each time, so it's something I need to remain aware of as I embark on my third serious attempt at weight loss.

This time it'll also be supported by a sensible exercise regime, something I'd never really achieved before. In response to Lady Ella's comment on yesterday's post, I have been doing well on the exercise front by managing at least 30 minutes a day but it's no longer enough. I either need to change the type of exercise in some way or exercise for longer each day. I've already signed up to start the Nordic walking next year so that's being counted as an extra activity and I'm looking at a fortnightly exercise group as another thing to do. The biggest change will have to be with my daily 30 minute walk, looking to leave the house and find more physically challenging routes rather than my current, all on one level, walks. The positive thing is that I have already increased my fitness level enough to feel able to up my game on the exercise front whereas in the past just the thought of it would have been enough to make me give up before I'd even started!

I've been mentally listing the excuses I know I'll employ to avoid exercise/weight loss and deciding what I need to do to invalidate those excuses. I'm sure there are a few excuses but all I've come up with so far, and actually the most obvious ones, all relate to not having suitable clothes and shoes/boots to walk outdoors in poor weather conditions. Potentially expensive, but a necessary expense, so I'm tottering off to Bath next week to buy some decent walking shoes/boots. I can get 15% discount in Cotswold Outdoor and buying them now means that I'll be able to wear them in before I start the Nordic walking in January. The rest of the stuff (waterproof coat, trousers etc) will have to wait until the January sales but that just means I have a good excuse for clothes shopping to look forward to. There's always a positive if you look for it!

I'm back! You probably didn't realise but it's now about 90 minutes since I typed the previous paragraph. The lovely Gemma turned up to cut my hair, I've finished the list of foodstuff in the house, started a load of washing, and got a bit side-tracked and made a start on clearing out some 'unwanted/old/too small/too big' clothes. I'm still waiting for both deliveries! When I finish this I'll be making a pot of vegetable soup for lunch and then this afternoon will be devoted to finding more 'unwanted/unloved/it's really time I got rid of this/why did I buy this' stuff to take to the charity shop tomorrow. I also need to find something to photograph for my daily photo.

This is my new plant stand, or part of it at least. I couldn't get it all in without moving the table and chairs! The poinsettia is only there until I make room in the living room for it and I have no idea why there are two plates under the white pot of the peace lily - it obviously made sense at the time. I'm looking for a larger white pot with water reservoir to repot the peace lily if anyone has any idea where I can buy one, please.

To finish, and changing the subject completely, back in January I wrote this post about pay-it-forward. Two people were interested and added comments. I'm able to contact pixiemum and have emailed her today, but have no way of contacting Amber. So Amber, if you see this post, please will you email me with your contact details? You can email me from my profile but if you don't make contact I have no other way of paying-it-forward to you.