Monday's Moment of Wisdom - Pearl Number 23

"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." - Albert Einstein

I love this time of year, the weather starts to get a bit chilly but all the Autumn leaves go from green to orange and it's a good excuse to invest in some new cosy knits and update your wardrobe! What a great way to boost your mood and your feel good factor too!

September in Ontario

September is also a month of celebration in our house too, with LC's Birthday and mine all in one week and now the arrival of LC's latest cousin 3 days before her Birthday we really do have a lot to make merry for, the last couple of weeks have been a whirl wind of parties, cakes and presents!

So with all these things going on and positives changes I have been feeling a little aura of warm contentment around me, which has helped to boost my mood and give me a warm glow yet there is still a part of me that feels a little bit stuck in a rut, hmrp! Why is this? I hear you ask, well....

In the back of my mind I know I have some very important occasions coming up, these dates are looming fast and one in particular is going to be extra special and I want to look my most amazing and fabulous, well as much as I can anyway but I can't seem to get motivated. I have spent good part of my adult life on a diet and now more than ever I want to not only look good and feel great in my clothes but I want to be healthy too. especially as I am now entering in to the wrong side of my thirties!

I have struggled with my weight all my life and have never succeeded in losing weight really, I had a run in my late twenties when I smoked too much, drank too much and had lots of silly boyfriends who caused me no end of angst which all helped to keep my weight down but lets be honest that's not really the way to carry on now that I am supposedly a responsible parent and partner (lets not mention the awful champagne hangover I had the other week that lasted well past the weekend OK?).

So I often find myself looking in mirror thinking it will never happen and it's too hard to loose these extra pounds of flesh that are hanging around on my hips! So when one of my fabulous twitter companions Michelle at Mummy Rates It came up with the idea of Blogging Buddies I jumped at the chance of having a whole group of virtual pals giving me the support and push that I needed to get going on the weight lose but I have to admit I really struggled and the endless amount birthday cake in the house was not helping!

I got to the point where I felt I was letting myself down and not really trying hard enough, I wanted to give up as it all felt too difficult, I was miserable! But then in the middle of LC's second birthday party (yes I know two!) I got chatting to my friend who has recently announced she is pregnant again, she told me she had started doing the Weight Watchers Plan again lost half a stone and hey presto she is now with child! This got me thinking the only time I have manged to lose some significant weight was when we did it together last year so last Thursday I finally got my act together, planned my meals, went shopping for good healthy food and am now counting my 29 points a day!

Four days on I am feeling great AND the OH is also agreed to follow it with me, well sort of, he is basically going to put up with all my WW evening meals that I make for his own tea in the hope that he will shift a few pounds too! But this little bit of support from him is great and is helping me to stick to my goal!

I realise now that at my lowest, when i thought I would just continue to fail and had no motivation to over come the hurdles all I need was to reach out a share my woes with others who then gave me the inspiration and push I needed to keep going, I love a bit of people power! I am now very happy to share that I have lost 2lbs this week!

Being part of Blogging Buddies has also given me the opportunity to share with others, give support and encouragement and give it back too which has been invaluable and in the spirit of this I have two tips for my Blogging Buddies pals and anyone else wanting to get the feel good factor back gain.


Tip 1 - Drink, drink, drink, not not wine or gin but water! My weight drops faster and my skin has transformed from spotty teenager to glowing glamor! I read a good tip myself about adding lemon, cucumber and fresh mint to your water for an extra cleansing kick!

Tip 2 - Brush, brush, brush - your body that is! Also a good way to speed up inch loss around your wobbly bits and exfoliate dull dead skin, invest in a body brush, I have a lovely one from The Body Shop that I use before I jump in the shower, always brush towards the centre of your body!

Anyone else have any feel good tips they want to share?