The Moans

August 7, 2017August 8, 2017 ~ lorz83 ~ Leave a comment

So perhaps there is something to say for endorphins – I’ve always pooh poohed the concept that there is such a thing as happy hormones, but having been totally and utterly shit for pretty much a whole year with regards to gym visits my moody miserable bitchy hormones (I simple call them The Moans) have been spiralling out of control and have taken me to a whole never level of Mizzog. So I think those little ‘Dolphins’ (dolphins always seem so happy don’t they) aka endorphins have in the past helped counter balance ‘The Moans’. So I 100% need to get my lardy Kim, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian combined sized arse back in the gym – I need some happy in my life and I’m certain my on again off again love, Gym can help me; so tonight I have got back on the wagon (or bike in this case) to start my quest to find some happiness (mission love me recommences for the hundredth time!)

So the reason for the lack of posts is plain and simple there’s been No Gym, some Gin (thanks to Craft Gin Club and my birthday) and No Games what so ever have been played (certainly no scrabble!!).

Although I’ve had the odd burst of gym enthusiasm over the past year, my visits have dwindled so much that I’m shocked every time I do manage to walk through the door and my card allows me through the barrier. I’m very much back to square one! Fitness levels are non existent right now, I managed 20.5km on the bike tonight in 65 minutes – Pathetic! And following my recent trips (oh yeah they’ve happened in the time since my last post, along with my birthday and my sisters) evidence of everything I’ve eaten and drunk over the past few months has taken residence on my stomach! Joy!

My holiday in Barcelona was lush – Had the best time. It was relatively lazy, I’m really not sure how Mum and I managed to get some much of the touristy bits done last time we went, but because we had seen so much already we just enjoyed the city and the gorgeous Spanish sun. Race day on the Sunday was particularly hot especially being sat on a stand with no cover what so ever; my freckles definitely got topped up! We spent a day at the beach, I managed to have a little swim in the sea, and just enjoyed some much needed R&R. Following on from our last visit where I took my Mum to Uma (an alternative restaurant, think Heston wacky) I booked us into a more suitable restaurant this time around – Accès (www.acces-bcn.com/en) it was amazing! Staff were a delight and the food was outstanding; my Mum actually said that it’s the best meal she’s ever had. Throughout the holiday I also enjoyed numerous gin and tonics and sangria – It would have been too rude not to – Me gusta gin y tónicos y sangría.

Me and Sissy also spent a lovely weekend in Edinburgh (pre birthday girlie getaway). We flew up from Southampton on a little noddy plane (terrifying). Checked into the hotel and then had a little look around before heading back to the room to get ready for dinner. We had booked into Forage and Chatter (www.forageandchatter.com) and had the most amazing steak, it was delicious, so yummy. It would appear that Forage and Chatter is the place to go as Justin Trudeau visited a few days later whilst staying in the city. My sister then found an absolute hidden gem of a bar called Panda & Sons (www.pandaandsons.com) Such a cool place, from the outside it looks like a barber shop, you walk downstairs and through the bookcase door into the bar. Table service so no pushing and queuing, cocktails delivered right to you – Amazing! We spent the next day exploring the Castle and the sights and then as we were in Scotland thought it was only fitting to try some Whiskey, so we went on the Whiskey Experience (which following on from the Bananaman cocktail my sister had had in Panda the night before we weren’t so sure how much of a good idea this was). All went well and we both found whiskeys that we like – It will obviously never be my tipple of choice, no spirit can replace my love for gin.

Although I’ve been feeling completely low and out of sorts of late, I have shared some really lovely fun family days with my Mum and Sister namely at stately homes and palaces. On my birthday we spent the day at Blenheim Palace and then a few weeks later we took a day off work and visited Hampton Court. Our family days have had a rather regal grand theme to them. Last Monday was my sisters birthday, she wanted to visit The Tate Modern so that’s exactly what we did. I was very sceptical about this, however I found myself appreciating some (you can’t appreciate all of it, a yellow Perspex triangle stuck on the wall and varying filled levels of Coca-Cola bottles are not art in my opinion, but what do I know?!?) We ended our visit with a scrummy afternoon tea at The Swan at The Globe (www.swanlondon.co.uk/afternoon-tea) complete with a Love Potion cocktail (I’m still awaiting the effects however)

To summarise, I’ve not been to the gym (and my tummy proves this) I have enjoyed some rather scrummy food (gin and sangria) in Barcelona, Edinburgh, Newbury (www.lussokitchen.co.uk = Best gelato and http://www.arigatodining.co.uk) and London (again my overindulgence is clearly visible).

This time last year I was shattered and instead of turning a negative into a positive I’ve allowed this feeling to make me feel shit. Well enough’s enough and I need to take control again and to quote the gorgeous Bradley Simmonds I need to “Get it done”

So watch this space
L x

Butterflies be gone!

April 14, 2017 ~ lorz83 ~ Leave a comment

Do you ever write a message in a card or send a text and mean the complete opposite of what you’ve written? When you wish someone lots of happiness but actually want to say ‘I want you to be as miserable as you’ve made me feel’. I’ve done this a few times over the past few weeks, just call me Little Miss Passive Aggressive.

What’s that saying, “Play with fire and you’ll get burnt” I certainly feel scolded right now, completely my fault, actually no, not completely my fault; I played the game, I lost and it sucks. What sucks even more are butterflies I can’t seem to kill off in my tummy that make me feel sick far more often than I’d like to even admit to. The game is over butterflies, so take your giddy stomach churning feelings and bugger off!

So I’ve completely written off April, I don’t even think the Easter bunny delivering chocolate eggs will cheer me up or get me out off this awful mood. I have been hitting the gym lots hoping that the endorphins will work their magic although they don’t appear to have had much effect as yet but it is only the 14th of the month. I’m annoyed with myself for falling of the gym waggon last Summer and for my poor effort at the start of the year (granted I had a poxy cold) I was really hoping to ‘love me’ in 2017 but almost a third of the year down and I’m nowhere close. Hence I’m now desperately trying to get my revenge body by becoming a bit of a gym bunny again – I was waiting outside this morning for the gym to open, aiming to make Good Friday a Great Friday. I ran (I’m not runner though, think Phoebe Friends), then I went on the bike (think Bridget Jones) followed by a visit to some of the arm weight machines (back boobs & bingo wings – Done)

Since my last post my Sister treated our Mum (and me) to the most delicious meal at John Campbell’s The Woodspeen (www.thewoodspeen.com) for Mother’s Day. I had the Scallops with pigs cheeks to start followed by Fillet of beef and then it would appear our waiter had me sussed and knew before taking our desert order that I would choose the ‘Pina Colada’ Coconut parfait, macadamia crumble and pineapple & lemongrass sorbet (just listing the food is making my mouth salivate!) We went to The Woodspeen on the Saturday evening so on the Sunday, Mother’s Day aka Betty’s Day we laid on a champagne afternoon tea (I successfully made scones for the first time) It was a weekend full of eating and drinking, which is another reason why I need to up my game at the gym (plus colleagues appear to be sabotaging my weight loss by baking flipping cakes that I can’t refuse sampling!)

Spring sprung last weekend (although it appears to have vanished for the time being) and it was lovely to wear one of my summer dresses and get my lily white legs out in the sun (honestly my legs are like Casper the Ghost – when people sunbathe next to me they get the best tan because I reflect the sun!) I spent the weekend in my sisters back garden topping up my freckles, watching the planes fly overhead wondering where they were jetting off to wishing I was on board. My holiday is about 8 weeks away, I can’t wait! I’m going back to Barcelona, so I’ll be testing my Spanish skills; Me llamo Laura, mi número es cero siete nueve cinco……..taking in the stunning sights, dipping my toes in the Balearic Sea and hitting the shops! I love shopping and shopping in Barcelona is fab, with Spanish brands like Zara and Mango on almost every street the experience seems far more stress free than here. Since losing some weight I enjoy shopping even more as I can find clothes that fit me in the majority of outlets, it also gives me the opportunity to try different styles. I’ve also been trying different make-up and changing my look a little there too. One of my besties sells Younique make-up products (www.youniqueproducts.com/mrsbeckythompson/products/landing) so my current go to eye shadows are from the Younique Addiction palette No3, I use ‘Smitten’ as my base, topped with ‘Flippant’ and ‘Cheeky’ to create a subtle yet sassy smokey look. The 3D Fiber Lashes+ mascara is amazing too (although I do have to be a little careful if I’m wearing my contact lenses) The lip exfoliator is brilliant for a silky smooth kissable pout and my sister swears by the Behold setting powder.

I’ve had quite a few G&Ts over the past month, my hairdresser said that perhaps that’s why I’m in such a mopey mood as it can make you depressed!?! Nope I think gin is my saviour and I’d be far more miserable without it, so thank goodness I received my second gin delivery of the year from Craft Gin Club.

So I’ve made it through half of April as a Mardy Moany Mizzog, only another 16 days to go! My aim is to have as many dates with good old gym as possible in the hope that I can improve my mood (I think the chances of that happening are slim to none, but the hope is there)

I hope you all have amazing Easter breaks.

L x

Tea and I’m Toast

March 30, 2016April 17, 2016 ~ lorz83 ~ Leave a comment

So the Easter bunny has now been and gone and although I didn’t actually receive any eggs I have consumed the odd Malteaser Bunny or two I’m feeling rather mahoosive. The lack of dates with Gym probably hasn’t helped matters. I caught a hideous cold last week and so over the bank holiday weekend I felt pretty grotty. I had PT last Monday and I honestly lost count of the number of times I told Phil I couldn’t do one of the tasks he set me; I’m shocked he didn’t clout me around the head with a nearby kettlebell in truth. My legs were feeling dead throughout Tuesday but I still detoured to the gym for my evenings bike session – Jeez was that tough. Seriously had I been on an actual bike I would have fallen off it because I was pedalling soooo slowly. The plan was to go for a lunch time walk on Wednesday, but when I woke up my legs felt like lead and moving was such a challenge the walk was replaced with a trip to the pub (sadly no gin, just a diet coke). As Wednesday progressed so did the poxy cold someone had so kindly decided to share with me. I’d booked Thursday off work to extend the Easter break and had intended to go to the gym and spend a good few hours there – No, that did not happen as I woke up feeling like death! Friday and Saturday I pretty much felt the same so again there were no dates with gym.

For an Easter Sunday treat my sister treated Mum and I to afternoon tea at The Vineyard (one of my absolute favourite places) We had full afternoon tea with matching Lalani teas – So we had three different teas to complement the three courses, sandwiches, scones and cakes. It was all very delicious and naughty and again is another factor to me having a fat week.

This weeks PT has been moved to Friday as Phil went away for the long weekend. I had planned to go and do my own workout but then I woke up and saw Joe Wicks, The Bodycoach, was doing a Live HIIT workout on Facebook at 9:30am so I decided I’d give that a go instead of my solo gym visit. So around 9am I changed into my gym clothes, turned my laptop on and along with 18,000 others around the world jump up and down around my living room working up a sweat. Although it was hard going at times, Joe does make it fun and I stuck with it for the whole workout (which lasted around 35 mins including warm-up, workout and stretches) I’ll definitely do more of his workouts especially if he does them at weekends, when I really can’t be arsed going to the gym.

Ooh so I’ve booked another holiday – Eek!! Betty aka Mum and I will be jetting off to Valencia in November for the last MotoGP race of the season and some last minute winter sun. So i’ve not got Florence and Valencia to look forward to and although my Italian hollibobs is only 12 weeks away I do still feel like I need to fly to warmer sunnier climes before June (perhaps I can get a last minute deal in April?!?)

I’ve been having a little fun playing on good old Tinder (yes yes that tragic comical dating app) Being single is tough, I feel like the search for eligible men is a full time job. Where are they all? Where are all the ‘normal’ decent, tall, dark, handsome, available* (key word, I am often attracted to those currently attached, which isn’t ideal) My sister / dating competitor shared some of the tragic, pass the sick bowl chat-up lines she’s been subjected to recently, I thought i’d share them with you for a giggle.

“I hear you’re good at algebra, could you replace my X without asking Y” and “Wow – Your name should be Google because you’ve got everything i’ve been searching for”

Do you see and appreciate what us single girls have to deal with? Honestly its stressful – thank goodness for gin and wine that’s all I can say.

Ok well that’s be done for tonight I think – Providing Phil doesn’t kill me off Friday I shall try and write another piece over the weekend.

Until then sweet dreams.

L x