Feeling proud again, our kitchen refurb and spring is here

 Feeling proud part 2

I decided my new muscles should not just be the ones in my arms and legs so I invested in a sit up bench with the leg 'rungs' so your legs are hooked in place and a movable back (because of my spine problems I needed it to be capable of not going completely flat..... yet). 

It arrived the Sunday before last and after assembly I 'mounted' it and started doing sit ups. The first time I managed 16, the 2nd I did 17, the 3rd 20 my aim being to do two or 3 sets each day to build up my core muscles without the need for someone to help by holding my feet / legs. It felt like by just doing it woke up my abs and reminded them that in years gone by I used to be able to sit ups for fun. By last Friday I was doing 100 in each set.

My PT was staggered at how far I've come in a week, but not quite as staggered at I was that was able to stand straighter - especially when going up stairs to bed at night.

Apart from that life has been pretty much business as usual with the added bonus of us (mostly Gareth) refinishing the butchers block counters we have in the kitchen - they look like brand new counters now, the scratches and water marks are all gone, the really dark varnish they were finished with replaced by a clear wax/oil finish. They're significantly lighter than they previously were and the kitchen looks brand new now.

It's all come up so beautifully that whilst having a week off this week Gareth has the dining table in the garden and thats being done too. Our last part of the project for the kitchen is replacing the old navy blue gas range that was left by the previous owners with a lovely shiny stainless steel one with glass in the doors so we can actually see our food cooking rather than having to open it up and let the heat out.

Lastly - SPRING IS HERE - YAY

The sun is out, the patio doors are open letting in the fresh air (and wasps - I hate wasps) it's not freezing cold any more and I've already worn shorts once (not in public obviously 😂😂😂)

I'm generally feeling really bright and up beat, positive and hopeful that with being back on the Cambridge Diet, the PT work and my own extra effort with the sit ups that life is what I make it and I can help myself and mentally that's doing wonders for me.

Life is good here, I hope yours is good too

Much love xx

Feeling proud me, more back news and I'm turning 50 this week

 Things I'm proud of this week

• I pulled my weight with the work to get the rooms sorted before and after the rooms were redecorated 😎
• I also pulled my weight with the kitchen refurbishment work which went a little beyond the planned cupboard repainting and also included the tiles in not just the kitchen, the utility room and downstairs loo too 😎
• Weigh in last night confirmed I've lost 12lb's so I'm really hopeful that by this time next week I'll be reporting a stone or more loss (50th birthday permitting)

The house looks unrecognisable now, so light and bright, more modern and inviting with all of those little 'things' that my head would catalogue as I walked through a room as stuff on the to do list all completed. Such a massive boost for me mentally to look round and feel proud of our home and the effort we have put into it.

MS wise everything as usual remains incredibly dull and unchanged

Fitness wise the twice a week with the Physical Trainer this morning yielded the surprise result of me squawking 'I've got muscles' 😂😂😂 I was working through the usual resistance exercises and I happened to touch my left bicep - and felt something I haven't noted in a long while - a muscle, quite an impressive one without trying to do a 'gun show' pose, it was just there feeling nice and firm and there's a matching one in my right arm 😎

With weight loss and exercise I'm looking forward to seeing other bits of me return, collarbones and hip bones, cheekbones and maybe muscles in other places too.

Of course the exercise and weight loss are for me, I want to be slimmer and stronger for me. I also want it because these problems with my back - well they severely affect my right hip too and my next appointment with the spine guy is May 10th and I need to be in far better shape for that - if he says I need a new hip or something like that then unless I shift the chunk they'll just refuse to do it until I have dealt with the weight.

And finally .... 50 years old on Thursday (March 3rd)

.... when the heck did that happen ??? 

In my head that really doesn't make sense because I'm pretty sure I'm not 'that' old !!!

Somewhere in the Time Space Continum something has clearly malfunctioned. 

This is just a big mistake and Captain Kirk and the Star Ship Enterprise will be by any minute to straighten it all out and I'll be 35 again 

Clearly this 50 thing is making me delusional 😂😂

Until next time - take care of you xx