Dressed for success

Sorry, I didn't really meant to leave yesterday's post as a dum dum DUUUUUUM type of cliffhanger. It was just getting a bit long and I had shit to do, people!

Aaaaanyhooo  - appointment number two...

We arrived and the lady who owns the shop let us in. It was just us and her, surrounded by a sea of ivory. I explained what I thought I was looking for but this time I added in the work 50's. Yes, somehow I thought I quite liked the idea of a 50's feel.


This particular shop deals in samples and other dresses which have been perhaps tried on and maybe even worn once and what they have in is what they have. This means they also have them on their website and when browsing this one caught my eye. It also means they prices are MUCH more reasonable.

Isn't it beautiful? The back is low as well which I loved. What I didn't love was the size. 8/10. Ouch. Even if I lost 4 stone I would never be that size. My bones ribs would kinda stop that.  It was this dress that I had mind though and based on that June, the wonderful owner, pulled out around six dresses she thought would be right for me.



The first one I tried on was beautiful. Satin, alabaster in colour and strapless - a very similar shape to the one above. As I'm not too sure about showing off a whole lotta arm, June popped on a shrug type thing. It was lace and you put it on front ways so that it does up at the back. It's fitted so it sits right in against the dress and looks like it is part of it. I really liked it but when I slipped the shrug off my shoulders so it was more like the ones in the pics I posted up the other day, I loved it. Loved. It. It was also the perfect fit and length.

I tried on the rest of the dresses but we just kept comparing them to the first one. Once I had tried them all on I went back to the beginning. I put on the first dress and asked my mum did she think it could be the one. "It's everything I hoped it would be", she said as she started to cry.

So we went for it! The dress is mine! We couldn't actually believe it happened. It's done - the dress is bought. I think we're both in shock still. We're going back in the New Year to get the bolero made exactly as I want it and in the lace I want. And then back again for fittings - cause of course it will need to be taken in 8 sizes. Ha!

I just love it so much. And even if I didn't lose another ounce, I could get married in it and feel amazing. Oh my god - I'm getting married. I know what I'll be wearing when I get married. 

Dress rehersal

So... guess what I bought on Saturday.... OH YEAH - my wedding dress!

It feels pretty amazing and totally weird to write that down. I'm getting married - it kinda reminded me what this whole jinkaboodle is about. I'm marrying the most amazing person I could hope to love.

But enough about love and all that mush - let's talk about the dress!

Well, even before we get to the shop, there was a problem. I was meeting my mum 2 hours away by train, at 10am for our first appointment. I made it to the train station by the skin of my teeth (I really must stop doing that) only to note the sodding train had been cancelled! The next one would mean I was over half an hour late. Oh no. Not cool. I booked this appointment weeks ago! After almost murdering the woman behind the till who informed me of my bad luck, I decided to drive despite having paid for a return ticket.

I jumped in the car and hit the road - for about half a mile before the engine light came on. As you can imagine I was most delighted by this situation and was almost in tears as I made my way back to the station with no option apart from turning up very late for my appointment. This  was all pre 8am. What a bloody morning.

Luckily for me, my mum got there in plenty of time and warned them I was running late and they said it wasn't a problem to let me stay on a bit longer. Phew!

Eventually I arrived and I was sat down in some very lovely surroundings and asked what I was looking for. "Something fitted on the top half, in at the waist but quite full in the skirt. I'm also not too sure about showing too much flesh on my arms and so strapless might not be right for me." We went over to look at the rail of dresses and oh lordy, that was some rail. Meters and meters long. But we only seemed to look at one small section and four dresses were taken from here - and I felt like I barely looked at the different options. They knew this was my very first appointment - a little more guidance/variation would have been better.

They started to put me in the dresses and I wasn't really sure what to think. Most of them were huge. I'm talking -kick my feet out in front of me to walk- huge. And netting, visible netting, a lot of that as well as very heavy lace. I'm definitely up for a bit of lace but the whole of each dress was covered in it. It was just too much and oh my god, the price! Out of these four the one that I liked the most was over £2,000 and that is before any of the accessories. Holy crap. I knew some of them were going to be expensive but to be hit with that price tag so quickly was not what I expected.

Mum and I left the shop not really knowing what to think apart from "this is going to be a long and expensive process." We had lunch and headed off to our next appointment.

Dress dreaming

As I have mentioned tomorrow is the day I go wedding dress shopping!

I'm putting aside all the negative thoughts and I am really looking forward to it. If nothing else it's a day out with my mum and we can laugh at all the horrific dresses we see!

I've done a little thinking about what I'd like and what I think would suit me. I'm pretty sure I don't want strapless but I would quite like to show off a little back so I reckon this sort of thing might do the trick....

Weigh in

I'm pretty pissed off. This week I managed to put weight on. A quarter of a pound.

What the actual flip is going on? I'm doing that thing where I think back over the past week. Where did I slip up? Did I actually kid myself on about how good I was being.

There were a few occasions when I let some things slip through (wine and baklava) but really - there was not much else. And on top of this, the exercise is the most I have done in a long, long time. I worked out 5 times in 7 days. The last time that happened must have been well over a year ago. And they were great workouts.

• Badminton singles x 2
• 5km run x 2
• Kettercise class

Because I didn't weigh myself when we got back from hols it feels like I've been putting in a bucket load of effort with zero return. Well, not true. There has been return  - the return of a quarter of a pound!

I'm doubly pissed off (yup, it keeps coming) because mum and I are going to look at wedding dresses on Saturday. I'm already feeling a bit anxious about it all. My plan was to do so knowing that I was making inroads to losing some weight and to focus on that positivity. Well, that's clearly not happening now.

Despite being totally scunnered with the whole thing, I know I've got to keep on keeping on. What choice do I have? BIG FAT ZERO. I'm FAR from happy about it but I simmered down, I've had a 100% day and I sweated myself close to death at spinning.

Oh arse of mine, you will not beat me. 

Week 1:   13 stone 11.75
Week 2:   13 stone 9.75  (- 2lbs)
Week 3:   13 stone 7.5    (- 2.25lbs)
Week 4:   13 stone 8.5    (+ 1lb)
Week 5:   13 stone 6.25  (- 2.25lbs)
Week 6:   13 stone 2.5    (- 3.75lbs)

Week 7:   13 stone 2.25  (- 0.25lbs)
Week 8:   13 stone 4.5    (-0.25lbs)
Week 9:   13 stone 4       (-0.5lbs)
Week 10: 13 stone 3.25  (-0.75lbs)
Week 11:  13 stone 2.5   (-0.75lbs)
Week 12:  13 stone 4      (+1.5lbs)
Week 13:  13 stone 2.5   (- 1.5lbs)
Week 14:  13 stone 2.5   (0)
Week 15:  13 stone 5.75 (+ 3.25)
Week 18:  13 stone 6lbs  (+0.25)

Get kettle on love

It's only Wednesday but already it feels like a lo o o o o o o ong week.

I think it's because I weighed myself on Thursday and have been pretty much* doing a cracking job every since and that includes 4 workouts - 2 runs, badminton and today was kettlercise. I know, what is that name all about?

The name might be crud but oooooh mamma! It's not even 12 hours since I did the class and I am having some serious problems going up and down the stairs. To explain what the class is.... you have a kettlebell and with said kettlebell you do a series of 37 different moves - each one a minute long. Think lunges, tricep dips, bicep curls, squats. I thought it wasn't going to be hard as mostly I (and the rest of the class) were using 4kg bells. Sometimes 6kg. Wrong. So wrong.

The music didn't stop. There were no breaks people! I have not sweated like that since I used to go to spin at Virgin in a tiny wee studio. There were rivers of sweat running down my shins. RIVERS! SHINS!

*okay, so I had a few chocs and tiny piece of baklava on Sunday.

Bakalving your work

It's not often I get one of these, a Saturday morning at home, on my own just pottering around - and writing a wee blog. Bloody lovely.

Despite eating some baklava last night (which I made for my book club night and I knew I was most certainly having a portion of) I am feeling very positive.

I played badminton for 40 mins on Thursday night and yesterday I ventured out for a run - the first for weeks - and got a wee 5k under my belt. I'm also planning some sort of exercise on Monday and Tuesday - so that will be four workouts before next weigh in.

I have my eyes set on a 2lb loss next week. I feel like will give me a bit of confidence for Saturday. What's happening on Saturday? Oh you know, just trying on some massive white dresses! You got it - mum and I are going wedding dress shopping. It's just two appointments and while I am dreading the whole thing, I'm anxious to get going and see what what's what.

Right, best be off. TB and I, along with his parents are going to my parent's for the dinner and are staying over. It's a bit of a wedding celebration/planning session.

I've got a whole other post of wedding planning and how I'm feeling about it all (and people criticising!) but in the meantime, let's just enjoy a picture of delicious, buttery, sugary, fatty baklava.

Weigh in

I wasn't really worrying too much abou this morning's weigh in.

I've been on holiday and so fully expected a gain. However, having been flipping amazing each and every one of the five days since I got home, I really hoped the damage wouldn't be too bad.

3.25lbs on. It's not THAT bad but I must confess, it's more than I expected it to be. Lord knows what it would have been if I had weighed myself on Saturday! Let's not even think about that.

So this is it. From now until the wedding day - it's hell for leather. I've actually found this week to be quite easy to get back into the swing of things. I've been hungry for sweet things but I've just distracted myself and got on with it.

I've also had every meal planned which has been key. Lunches have been tasty leftovers that I've got frozen in indivudual portions or some of my home made chicken broth. Evening meals have been...

• Pad Thai
• Roast chicken and veg
• Low fat chiken curry
• Salmon and veg
• Fritatta and sweet potato wedges
• Lamb tagine

I've snacked on fruit and in the evening after tea I've had a shape chocolate mousse thing. God, it sounds so simple and easy when written down like that! It just shows what a difference being organised makes.

Tonighth is my first night back into the exercise groove. TB and I are going to play badminton. That's always a really great workout and one I am actually looking forward to.

Week 1:   13 stone 11.75
Week 2:   13 stone 9.75  (- 2lbs)
Week 3:   13 stone 7.5    (- 2.25lbs)
Week 4:   13 stone 8.5    (+ 1lb)
Week 5:   13 stone 6.25  (- 2.25lbs)
Week 6:   13 stone 2.5    (- 3.75lbs)

Week 7:   13 stone 2.25  (- 0.25lbs)
Week 8:   13 stone 4.5    (-0.25lbs)
Week 9:   13 stone 4       (-0.5lbs)
Week 10: 13 stone 3.25  (-0.75lbs)
Week 11:  13 stone 2.5   (-0.75lbs)
Week 12:  13 stone 4      (+1.5lbs)
Week 13:  13 stone 2.5   (- 1.5lbs)
Week 14:  13 stone 2.5   (0)
Week 15:  13 stone 5.75 (+ 3.25)

Total: 8.5lbs

Good times died on Saturday

I have returned from my hols and I just don't know where the hell to start with a blog post.

There are so many areas I want to wax lyrical about but there just ain't the time and quite frankly, I've been so poop with my posts it's feeling pretty quiet around here so there might be the odd spam bot (hee hee  - BOT!) that is reading them! Whatevs - I shall blether on regardless and let's start with what's at the heart of this here blog, the big ole fatty fatterson issue.

I was on my game big time in the run up to the holiday and I weighed in the morning we flew out to Crete (which was lovely by the way). I had stayed the same which I was okay about. I lost 1.5lbs the week before that perhaps was a little generous so, okay.

I went on hols and oooooooooh weeeeee! Do I really need to spell it out for you? There was a lotta drinking, there was a lotta eating. I had a gooo-oood time. But those good time, my friend? They are over. They are done. No more. Good times = DEAD.

I got home at 4.30 in the flippin AM on Saturday and since then... oh lordy. It is game on! I might feel like utter poop thanks to the mother of all colds I caught while on hols, but I am a lean mean non-eating machine, or something like that. You get the gist, right... I am the picture of eating perfection. For once I even have planned all my meals for the whole week. Check me!

And because I am having a small moment of wedding excitement (amongst the mainly overwhelming feeling I have) did I ever show you my emmefffing bling?! That is also a kitten yawn in the background. Too much cute. TOO MUCH.

17th May 2014

227 days. It looks like we're going to be married in 227 days!

Waaaaaaahaaaaaaa! We just emailed the venue this morning and so it looks like it's all systems go!

And here is! This is where we are going to get married!

Well, we're actually going to get married at the side of the house on a lovely bit of lawn and then have the reception in the walled garden in a marquee. You can see the walled garden at the top of the picture. It's going to be amazing! So yes, there are many many issues that need overcome (wet weather back up/pathway to the garden/lighting in the garden) but we I know we can do it! 

Weigh in

So farking busy! Just time to say, I put on 1.5lbs the other week. Last weigh in, I had lost it again.

I was pretty chuffed with that as it's the biggest loss I've had in a long time. Maybe I didn't 'really' put it on in the first place. Who bloody well knows.

So I'm back to where I was - 13 stone 2.5lbs. But BUT I'm going on hols on Friday. I want to try and be good. I just have to talk myself into it.

Week 1:   13 stone 11.75
Week 2:   13 stone 9.75  (- 2lbs)
Week 3:   13 stone 7.5    (- 2.25lbs)
Week 4:   13 stone 8.5    (+ 1lb)
Week 5:   13 stone 6.25  (- 2.25lbs)
Week 6:   13 stone 2.5    (- 3.75lbs)

Week 7:   13 stone 2.25  (- 0.25lbs)
Week 8:   13 stone 4.5    (-0.25lbs)
Week 9:   13 stone 4       (-0.5lbs)
Week 10: 13 stone 3.25  (-0.75lbs)
Week 11:  13 stone 2.5    (-0.75lbs)
Week 12:  13 stone 4      (+1.5lbs)
Week 13:  13 stone 2.5   (- 1.5lbs)

Total: 11.75lbs

Wedding Dress Dread

I am having a minor panic about shopping for a wedding dress.

We're hoping to get married in May and so my mum and I were planning to start looking at dresses in January. By that time I plan to have lost good few pounds.

WRONG. I've been informed that I need to expect that it'll take at least 6 months if I get a dress made and so I need to start the search soon. Soon?! SOON!

How can I start the search soon when last week, I put ON a pound a half and since then I've been doing a shit hot impression of Miss Piggy. I can actually do a really good vocal Miss Piggy impression but in this instance I am talking about the volume of crap I have been shoving down my pie hole. Okay, I've not eaten that much but for the past five days I seem to have thrown caution to the wind and have eaten what I wanted - and more. People- I am putting on weight, not losing it!

I finally got it together and yesterday and managed a whole day of healthy eating and a 6km run (no walking at all). I feel a lot better with just one day under my belt but one day of keeping on track does not a wedding dress fitting make. Far bloody from it.

And there is more to panic me.This is real woe... I'm going on holiday to Crete for week in 10 days time. What a problem - going on holiday to relax and kick back. My life is just horrendous. But I don't want to come back from holiday bigger than I am now  - and then have to try on wedding dresses. I can't think of anything worse. Even writing about it on here is giving me the heebie jeebies.

Bien Venue

I won't lie, there are going to be quite a few wedding posts over the next eight months. Don't get me wrong I'm not going to talk about weddings exclusively - far from it - but it's gonna be a big part of my life over the next week while and this blog reflects what's going on in my life...

As I mentioned in my last post I've been feeling a bit wound up about the lack of suitable (for us!) wedding venues. The shortlist was getting shorter very quickly as we decided for whatever reason, they weren't right. And to make me panic even more, my friend who got engaged about six weeks before TB and I and is getting married in August (months later than we are planning to) has hers all booked and the even thinks she's seen the dress she wants! 

So I kept on trawling the internet and got a couple of recommendations from friends. Ffion, raised a good point about needing to get married somewhere with a roof but that's yet another fantastic thing about Scotland - you can get married anywhere. We're also planning a humanist ceremony so it's even more flexible.

My best friend, and bridesmaid, was visiting me last week and when looking for somewhere to go on a rainy day I found a gallery just a few miles from home. Hold the chuffing phone, this gallery is in an old house and it has grounds. Lots of grounds. And accommodation in the house - and in other cottages! TB and I went to view it yesterday and we think it could be.... the one!

I love it and it feels so us. Get this, it's even got a Victorian walled garden! I need to calm myself though. It's not a done deal. I'm waiting to get a price from them and confirmation of what dates they have in May next year. There is also a small issue that I'm not sure how to overcome.

This venue, by pure chance happens to be about 1 mile away from TB's parent's house. Apart from having it in their garden, you couldn't get any closer. This isn't a problem for me as we live just 15 minutes away and so it's ideal, really. But I know my mum isn't so cool about it.

Traditionally it's the Bride's parent's that invite people to the wedding. They are they hosts. My folk's are on holiday just now so I texted them about it. I specifically asked how they felt about the location. Mum's response avoided answering that question. I spoke to her on the phone last night and she said she thought it sounded fantastic and we should push on with getting prices and so on. I asked her again what she thought about the location and she said “you obviously know me better than I think you do.”  So it IS an issue. She’s not making a fuss but  she’s clearly not totally fine with it. We've looked at a lot of places and this is best one for us by far so we're not going to discount it but I want her to be happy with our choice.

PS) I cannot stop eating. What the crap am I playing at?