!!Warning! Slimmer Gone AWOL! Warning!!

Ah you found me...

I'm sorry I've been on the missing list. It has been a busy time for me and with Lent over there's SO much chocolate to catch up on.... :)

So what little morsel can I share with you today then?

Well I suppose I could confess my non-WW behaviour this week. I have had to consign this week's dieting to the flames as the stress/sweets levels have risen to high tide I'm afraid. 

I'm handing in the final paper of my degree this week and it has driven me to the biscuit barrell on more than one occasion. (oh btw Café Noir half a point each.... nice!) But this week is once again a sign of how my thinking rules my eating. 

I had to work last weekend, my dad was sick Sunday and Monday, I'm trying to write the conclusion for this paper that I now offcially cannot stand and Lent is over. I mean COME ON -- how is a girl my size supposed to fit all that in aswell. 

I have learned that I need to keep room in my brain for the subject of dieting. The nearer I got to my college dead line, the bigger it got on the horizon. Everything else started to get squeezed out (if you'll excuse the expression!). 

As someone who is used to not having enough space no matter where I am, you'd think that I'd have worked out the finite ability to concentrate on things. God gets squeezed out sometimes too. As a theology student I should remember not to forget Him. He should be on the horizon all the time. Not dieting, studies, work, chocolate... I am grateful to Him for His patience with me. 

Oh one more thing before I go... there was a sign on the door of my WW class last week. 

"In future could the WW class please use the large double doors at the back of the hall!"

"Go on", I thought, "rub it in why don't you!!!" 

It's my birthday and I'll eat if I want to...

Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday to me -eeeeeeee
Happy Birthday to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Did I mention it's my birthday. Yes I have reached another year. I am now 37 and can't believe I just tryped that!!

But there's double prizes today. It's my birthday (did i say?) and it's Thursday... weigh in day.

Now my Thursday regimen is probably the wrong thing to do but as I'm 2 1/2 lb away from 3 stone down I reckon I must be doing something right!

On Thursdays (after weigh in) I have what ever I want and I don't count the points.

I can hear the sharp intake of the breath, the muffled screams and the disapproving tutting of the 2.7 people who read this blog. (so you all must be very busy making noises) But that is my Thursday thing. And today woo hoo the ol birthday and all that, did I say...

You know the old adage.... Have breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper. Well i use a similar system to that on a weekly basis. Thursday I eat like a woman possessed, Fri, Sat and Sun I don't, Mon, Tues, Wed I hem it all in waitin' like a woman possessed for Thursday to come so I can eat like a woman possessed.

As you can see, the weight is reducing but the addiction to food is not waining. You see I am like an alcoholic. But I can't go cold turkey. (Actually I could go a cold turkey sandwich if you have one handy) I can't not eat anything... ever... so I have to wrestle with and try to tame my eating habits.

But not today.

cos today is Thursday

and today is my birthday.... did I mention?

Lá Fhéile Padraig... (oh great, I can break my Lenten fast today!)

Did you know that?

Did you know the unwritten rule about breaking your Lenten fast on St. Patrick's Day?

Well I did! (I mean I did know, not that I did break my fast.... not yet anyway!)

As a kid, Paddy's Day was great cos you got a day off AND you got to eat chocolate, which is usually what I gave up as a kid. 

Having parents who worked in a chocolate factory didn't help!!!

But to be honest I haven't been great this week anyway. I have eaten a lot! But don't worry -- I have plenty of great excuses, I mean reasons!

1. My back is killing me!

I am in a lot of pain this week with my back. I have osteoporosis (sp?) and it gives me trouble every so often. So obviously... I have to eat more. 

2. It's my mam's anniversary this week!

Yesterday marked the 4th anniversary of my mam's sad goodbye. I remember the days leading up to her death very well and I've been a bit gloomy. So obviously... I have to eat more.

3. I'm not sleeping very well. Probably to do with the reasons above. But I'm having all sorts of wacky dreams and waking in the middle of the night. So obviously... I have to eat more.

4. It's Paddy's Day. So obviously.... 

Can you see a pattern forming here???

It is so easy to get back in to my old way of thinking and acting. And my excuses are fairly reasonable (ok except for no. 4), but who could blame me if I ate all of the 12 iced buns in front of me. (I kid you not -- there are 12 iced buns in front of me...) But I won't. 

I'll eat my dinner. And maybe have a snack at supper time. 

I'll go to bed and get up tomorrow morning and start afresh. 

I've always loved Paddy's Day but it can play havoc with your Lenten fast... if you let it!

Is there any point in no-point soup?

I have recently started to make soup again. Now this might not sound like a drastic development but you must understand that I had a serious aversion to soup for many years.



My mammy, who has been gone almost four years now, used to make 0 point soup for me when I was on WW the first time. (This is my third time in case I never mentioned it!) I ate the soup every day for weeks and weeks. Mammy would make a huge pot of if and freeze portions of it in little suitable for freezer containers. Then the next day make another huge pot of it and... so on. I got to the stage where the sight of it made me feel suddenly full! But bless her, she just kept making it.

One time when I think she sussed I was getting a bit fed up, she asked me what my favourite veg was and she would make some soup for me. At the time it was mushrooms. So she bough a 4 stone bag of mushrooms and off she went....

We ended up with pot fuls of black soup!
It was black with little white flecks.
It went into the freezer for a few weeks and then down the sink.

I didn't want to look at soup for years after that. The thoughts of it made me gag!

But a couple work mates who are soup fans/fiends have restored my faith in soup (thanks DF and SM); and recently the 0 point soup is back on the menu.

And it's lovely... Let me share some of my recipes...

I've made carrot, parsnip and celery soup.
Parsnip, carrot and red onion
Carrott, red onion, parnisp and celery
Parsnip, celery, carrott, red onion and some extra carrot
And my favourite has to be carrot, extra carrot, parsnip, celery, red onion and extra parsnip


I can sense that I'm going to have to buy some suitable for freezer containers if I'm not careful.

But at least my soup isn't black with white flecks.

There's definitely NO POINT in black soup!!!

I feel like giving up...

Panic not of faithful blog readers (all 2.7 of you) I'm not throwing in the towel on the old WW.

It's Lent and time to think about what not to have for the next few weeks and therefore what I'll be thinking about for the next few weeks.

I did consider giving up Facebook for Lent. If you're looking for me you'll usually find me there. Playing Scrabble with my sister, my husband and numerous others. I also am very taken with the oul' Tetris which is my favourite ever computer gave. Never mind your Clara Loft and her Room Trader (is that a house makeover game?), Resident Divils and Sure that's a Grand Automobile, let's nick it. Give me a good game of Tetris any day.

In fact EVERY day.

Hence I didn't give up Facebook :)


I also considered giving up telly. But I don't watch that much of it these days. I'm doing a lot of studying lately and at the end of some evenings me and diddums usually watch one or two episodes of British comedies we love; Yes Prime Minister or Vicar of Dibley etc.
Those TV moments are essential for marital haromony; it wouldn't be right to give them up.

So I went for the old faithful and traditional deprivation. Chocolate.

I have a problem will power wise when I give up stuff for Lent. Even though I've been doing it all my life and as a kid I just knew it was important to do (tho' I didn't know why). Now when I get a craving or just fancy some choc I remember that it's to remind me, albeit in a very small way, of the sacrifice of Christ.

The big problem I have is I forget!!! I ordered hot choclate on Friday and had to swap with one of the girls I was with as she has ordered coffee. The on Friday evening I was babysitting and had a choclate digi with my coffee. An hour later I remembered I was off choc for Lent!!!!

Thankfully God knows me and my weaknesses, whether they be will power or crumbling brain power.

I'm hoping it will sharpen up my thoughts on food generally as the last few weeks have seen me veer slightly from my chartered course. It's a shame that WW isn't like AA. Maybe it is.

OK here goes....

Hi my name is Annmarie and I am a foodaholic!


I can hear your response you know.... "Oh Annmarie, just GIVE IT UP will you!?!"

Shoddy workmanship? Don't blame your tools!

The phrase user error or operator inaccuracy can be used about me -- a lot!

I have an ongoing argument with our I.T. guy in work. I say that the programme we use does not do all that we need it to do to look after our supporters properly; he says I just don't know how to use it properly... operator inaccuracy!

And if I go mad cos the printer's not printing or my guitar sounds awful, or my phone is acting up, I usually find that I haven't actually clicked 'print', the guitar is out of tune and my phone is on silent... user error!

I have all the tools I need to lose weight, to eat heallthily etc. I have trackers old and new, WW recipes, a points calculator, 3 sisters and numerous nieces and nephews that are also watching their weight, a supportive husband, and I even have a list of people who pray for me on a regular basis about this subject.

If WW was one of those collecters magazines with 12 weekly parts and a free something with each one to build up a compelete collection of... somethings, well I'd have the full set. The whole kit and kaboodle!!!

I mean holy laughing cow light! I should be 2 stone 5 pounds at this stage!!!

But... operator inaccuracy and user error, my old friends are always hanging around looking for a coffee and a chat (and a cream cake!)

And I'm afraid I have no answers to this mystery. Why, when I have all the tools I need I'm still not getting the job done?

And I can't even blame the instructions.

1. Eat less

2. Move more.

They're kind of 'IKEAesque' in their style aren't they. Just two sentences.

OK so diet instructions are easier to understand.

But they're just as hard to follow!!!

Sitting out the doldrums in patience and hope

The other day I spent ages writing a post to go some way to explaining my absence over the past couple of weeks and my computer crashed and the whole thing disappeared. arrgghhh

I'll try to remember what I said but sometimes I don't think about what I am going to write, I just pause, close my eyes and start typing what ever is in my head. Of course there is some editing required as you can imagine....

Anyway, it went something like this...




It seems as if the honeymoon is over with me and my WW tracker. I'm not diving into the handbag anymore to find the tracker and add that half a point from the sugar I put on my coffee -- before I even put it in. I'm not working our the points of anything that has a label on it. And even the new style tracker from WW is just annoying and a faff to fold.

Any ridiculous excuse not to fill it in really.

It was inevitableI suppose. Have you seen that add where the girl and guy are sitting on the sofa getting amorous and she goes off to slip into something more comfortable, but when she comes down stairs a lot of time has passed, she has wax strips on her lip and complains that he left windows open upstairs and now it's freezing. The strap line is something like, "Things can change in an instant."

I feel a bit like that now. I'm a bit bored with this dieting thing. I'm fed up eating pitta bread and houmous. I'm not sure where the excitement went. I can feel and see a difference, others can see it too. But the day to day 'execution' (good word) of the plan is tedious now.

Now I come to something that I didn't write the other day. It was pointed out to me last night. (Thanks JL). I have lost sight of the reason why I started. It has become about the WW programme and not about the call of God to address my issues with food. It should be about His desire that I take care of this temple that he dwells in so that I can serve him better. Not only that, but also so that I totally to rely on him and not food for my comfort and filling.

I have a card on my desk. It has little positive sayings on it. The purpose of it is to remind me to say positive and affirming things to my husband. (I got it at a marriage seminar I went to last week -- excellent... but I digress...) One of the sayings on it is "You can do it!" And I think that I need to say it to myself too. I can do it. I CAN DO IT! I think so; my hubby thinks so and God thinks so.

Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do everything through him who gives me strength"

So let's get back on tracker...

You knew there'd be a pun didn't you :)