Fantastic result

What does one do with over 4 weeks off?

Breakfast: Oats so Simple Golden Syrup Porridge Pot

Lunch: Morrisons salad with cooked chicken and 2 boiled eggs

Dinner: Pizza Express - Leggera Pandana

Snack: Bakewell Tart Nakd Bar

Today has been a really great day, despite my back continuing to hurt (which I will need to address really soon). I slept pretty well and came into work to find my lovely work colleague had purchased the biggest melon I’ve ever seen in MY LIFE. I suggested we strap it to our stomachs somehow, and walk around so we could find out what it was like to be pregnant, however apparently it weighed more than a standard human baby at full term so we decided to just admire it, instead. I also decided to take a photo and stick it on Facebook, proclaiming how amazing my friends melon was (I am that immature).

Following on from the email my Boss sent me yesterday, we had a really quick meeting to confirm my notice period and I suggested 6 weeks. He seemed really shocked by that as I think he assumed that I would accept 8 weeks. However as I said in my earlier post, I need the ‘end date’ on my P45 form to be before I join my new company, so I stated 6 was the maximum I’d be happy with. We went through a few things quickly and that was that – He confirmed in an email and…. I get to go on garden leave from next Friday! This is amazing news! This means I have over FOUR weeks off work that I’m paid for… I only lose out on 2 days salary between jobs before I start my new one. Wow and … wow.

What can I do with a month off? See friends, seem family, catch up with people – the prospects are endless and I am really happy with the result as I can distress, clear my mind of all the negativity that I’ve been dealing with for the last few months and really get myself sorted before I start work. I’m thinking I’d really like to go to the gym loads – Yoga, Pilates, spinning during the day. 

It’s. Just. Awesome.

At lunch time, my lovely work friend and I both decided that we had had enough of walking into town and buying the same things. Due to meeting my friend tonight and eating out, I was loathed to suggest we go to a restaurant at lunch time, so suggested we go to the local Morrisons – whilst this meant driving, it’s close enough that I can drive there in 5 minutes, so we had plenty of time to go and investigate alternative healthy options. I don’t know if it’s me, however I was quite disappointed with the range – You had a few ‘healthy’ sandwiches (egg and cress etc) but that seemed to be it. After walking around aimlessly for a few minutes, I decided to go for some boiled eggs, a salad and some chicken. Hardly ground breaking sadly! On the other hand, I did find that even Morissons stock the Bakewell Tart nakd bars, so grabbed another 6 of them to tide me over for the next couple of weeks :-)

I can’t say the salad was inspiring – It didn’t have any dressing, for a start and as I’m really looking for food I enjoy eating and look forward to shoving into my gob, I don’t think I’ll be having that combination again. However, as I’ve only got 7 working days left in the office, my lovely work friend and I are going to do a bit of a ‘Supermarket tour’ so on Friday (as I’m working from home tomorrow) we’re going to go to ASDA and see if we can fare a bit better. One good thing about Morrisons however – my friend found some vegan ‘Jus-Rol Ready to Bake cinnamon rolls’ so she was rather happy as apparently ‘That’s her weekend sorted’ (How she can remain so slim is beyond me!).

My friend found a vegan Thai curry at Morrisons, so we came back to the office and ate it in the kitchen - Once she had warmed her curry up in the microwave, my friend managed to trip and spill a lot of the curry - over the floor, over the table and unfortunately... Over me! I was wearing one of my new Phase eight jumpers in grey, so lovely dark red Thai sauce was VERY noticeable - cue me running to the sink and trying to sponge it out... I think it's gone, thankfully :-)

Despite the fact that I still don’t have much work to do, the afternoon managed to jog along tolerably and I managed to leave at 5:00pm and drive to meet my friend in Reading at 6:30pm. Dear God, the traffic was horrendous! I ended up being 35 minutes late, however my friend was over an hour late - As I waited for her, I decided to go and browse the clothes in 'House of Frasier' thinking 'I won't buy anything but may as well have a look. TWO items later.... :-) I'm really chuffed I found another two things that fit and look good - both designer brands and when I tried on the 'XL' it was too big - Honestly, that felt really, really good. 

My friend finally got to Reading (or to identify her my ‘Gastric bypass friend’) and is still doing incredibly well since her operation in December 2014 - she looks AMAZING. We decided on Pizza Express, after I suggested 3 options (Yo! Sushi, Wagamamas or Pizza Express) and she narrowed it down as she wasn’t keen on eating rice or noodles at the moment. Rather than have the superfood salad, I thought I'd have the Leggara Pandana which is a pizza under 500 calories that has Goat’s cheese, caramelised onions, spinach, red onions, tomato and garlic oil with a salad in the middle. 

We chatted for ages and when my Pizza came, I have to say I was slightly underwhelmed - it was rather burnt and wasn't overly nice. It was a real shame as I've not had pizza for ages and I was really looking forward to it. After dinner, we went for a drink and I decided to have a hot chocolate - I felt slightly guilty which suggests I still haven't conquered my issues with food. Why do I feel guilty for having a hot chocolate? My first one in over two months?

My friend asked me to sign her passport photos and deed poll documentation as she's changing her surname back to her maiden name after getting divorced. We were chatting about how we had changed over the last 7 years or so and it's crazy, really, really crazy. She's a lot more open with her feelings since talking to a counsellor and I believe I am, too - It's really nice to have friends who you can be honest with - I know it doesn't sound like it's much, but for me, it's something I've always struggled with... being open with my feelings to people.

Tomorrow, I'm working from home - This means I can have a lovely lie in and have a really chilled day. I'm even thinking of defrosting a kipper for breakfast and shaking it up a little bit! Woaaaaaaaaah Imogen, crazy stuff! :-)

Friends and Gastric Bypasses

I guess everyone is different and has to make their own choice about how to lose weight...

It's funny how you make friends - I met one of my really good friends on a womens forum called 'Handbag' about 6 years ago. She messaged me about the fact we both worked in I.T, we started exchanging emails and 6 years later, she is a big part of my life. We've seen each other change an awful lot - She's divorced her Husband, we've both got different jobs, we've been on holiday together and got drunk together... and we take the mick out of each other most days.

She also had a gastric bypass in December - It wasn't a short process, e.g. she didn't go to the Doctors and they said 'Sure, we'll schedule you in next week', she had to meet certain criteria, lose a certain % of body weight through healthy eating and also go to group counselling so she could address the actual issues that were causing her to put on weight - she did all of this and after a year or so, she actually underwent the operation. 

Since the Operation, she's lost over 5 stone and has gone from a size 26 to a size 18 and she looks amazing, she's still not at her goal weight, however she's been really strict about what she eats and I have to say, I admire her. I know a lot of people say 'It's a cop out, it's an easy way of losing weight', however seeing what she's been through, I don't know if that's really the case. 

One of the other things I really like about her is the fact that she isn't a 'bypass bore', she isn't obsessed with it, so doesn't talk constantly about what she can and can't eat, but accepts it's part of her life and is pretty flexible about where we go and what we do. 

Anyway, tonight I met her in Reading and it was great to catch up - she started a new job a few weeks ago and is having a tough time of it. She's also suffering from hair loss, which is apparently a common side affect of the gastric band - something I didn't know until she underwent the operation. We decided on Pizza Express and both had salads - I had the same as I had on Saturday, the Superfood salad with double chicken (more protein and actually fills me up!). We had a nice chat, mooched round the shops and I'm now sat in my 'cow onesie' all snug on the sofa. 

Another day healthy eating and my motivation remains high :-)

Staying focussed when eating out

So much of my life revolves around food

I love seeing my friends.

I love seeing my family.

Both of these usually involve food. Either a quick catch up in a coffee shop or a meal in the evening after work... even staying round someone else's house and eating dinner / breakfast.

All my friends and family are lovely and if I didn't want to meet them at a restaurant, I'm sure they'd be OK with it, however it's an enjoyable part of my life and it's something I don't want to change - Sure, I could meet them in a pub for a drink... or I could meet them at their house / my house for an evening, but in general, so much of my social life revolves around eating out. 

So rather than write the day off as 'failed' or politely decline to meet anyone in a restaurant, I try and plan ahead - As all the people I know are supportive, they don't mind going to a particular place due to its healthy options or the fact that I don't have a starter / pudding but only a main course.

One of my 'top 3' places to eat is Pizza Express (the other 2 being Wagamamas and any Japanese restaurant). As not only do they do Pizzas, they do salads and one of them is under 350 calories which is pretty good - it's also huge and actually really tasty. They recently changed the recipe and I can't say I like it as much as the old one, but hey... it's still nice and a really good choice if you're looking to stay focussed and continue to eat healthily.

I am not a big fan of avocado, so tend to ask them to cut it out but ask for 'double chicken', so there's a lot of protein which fills me up. 

I had a lovely time with my friend who I hadn't seen in nearly two months - looks like she's well on her way to divorcing her controlling and ever so slightly odd Husband. She knows first hand how stressful work can be as does a similar job to me, therefore was really good at listening to me pour my heart out and very supportive when I spoke of finding a new job. 

I think it's really important to talk to friends about worries and feelings - I spent years bottling things up and turning to food when I was stressed. I can't say I don't do that still, however I'm trying to be more open and share more stuff with people who genuinely mean it when they say 'Talk to me if you've got a problem'.

So all in all, a pretty good day in regards to eating healthy and staying in track, despite going out for dinner.