Who knew, exercise works!

Today I did my fortnightly weigh in at Boots. I love the scales at Boots, the thrill of putting your hand over the screen so you don't see your weight (and neither do the nosey buggers stood waiting for the meds at the pharmacy) until it prints off and the consequential anguish or joy.

To my hormonal delight I discovered I had lost another pound, which means I am 3 pounds lighter than I was a month ago! Huzzahhhhhhhhh. I was so happy to be now only 0.1 over my BMI range that I bought a diet coke and looked for a flyte bar - but they didn't have one.

I still have quite a trek until I hit the body weight I want to be at, which isn't stupidly skinny or unrealistic but just right and still with a bit of chub for bloke to grab onto so I'm not getting too smug. BUT. I think there's been some kind of seismic change within. I'm no longer craving chocolate. I have an emergency bar of galaxy in the fridge which I'm saving for my next emotional crisis, which knowing me wont be long. I now eat fresh fruit and low fat yoghurt bars at work. I've also changed to fat free milk in my tea and coffee, but I have soya milk in my cereal due to the lactose connection to Crohn's. Also I have started loving the 0% fat new muller yoghurt's with a hint of chocolate in, spesh the black cherry one. They are a total bargain at 6 pots for 2 quid. Throw them together with some fresh fruit et voila - healthy ish kinda dessert/snack.

Tonight I also had another rugby sesh with the bloke spurred on by the fact that it may be paying off, but then I got all 'Monica' competitive when I couldn't catch the ball and it was like butter through my hot knife hands. I think the Weight Watchers group inside the community hall were privy to some bad language if they had their window open. I have a potty mouth that would shame John McEnroe at times. My mother in law would be shocked.

So exercise works apparently, throw into the mix stress at work and 0% fat yoghurt's and I might be onto a winning formula. Comfortable size 12, here I come.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

THE GOOD

* I'm feeling (touch wood) almost back to my normal self after the viral infection I had. I am almost 100% certain it wasn't a crohns flare up and I feel so relieved and moreso healthy! My skin is glowing and I have loads more energy. It is great feeling like me again. I kinda got scared back then. Thankyou intestine.

* Visit to meadowhall today. I spent some gift vouchers I had won so it really didn't cost that much! £30 of House of Fraser voucher - DKNY Be delicious perfume and £45 JJB sports vouchers - 2 rugby tops for thingy, a new rugby ball, 2 water bottles and a tee for kicking the ball. I had a skinny latte from Starbucks and felt very smug knowing I went for the fat free option. Then I treat myself to 4 bath bombs from Lush but I could literally buy everything in that shop. The customer service is always brilliant and the smell is heavenly.

* Did an hour rugby sesh with the new ball and worked up a proper sweat. The sun was shining and there was just us two on the field. It felt like a lovely August summers day after all the recent rain.

*Leeds won the Challenge cup game yesterday so are through to the final at Wembley. Go on lads!!!

* I'm up to date with competitions. GEEKALERT/any fellow obsessive compers know the panic feeling of being behind and the thought that you are potentially missing a competition you could have won nnnnnnargh!!! I appreciate the element of OCD to this but we all have our weird quirks!/GEEK ALERT

THE BAD

* The upcoming week is going to be really testing and I have a feeling of dread within! Tomorrow is my humira injection day which is good but it stings like mad. Tuesday I have a meeting to discover where I will be working soon, the ward I'm currently working on is closing at the end of this month so we are all being redeployed. I don't like change. Harumph. Wednesday thingy has a hospital appointment. Thursday I have a crap meeting at work. Friday I am at the dentists! MY MANTRA - TAKE IT ONE DAY AT A TIME!

THE UGLY

* The grey hair invasion currently taking place on my bonce. My mum went grey at 28. I feel too young for this! I know I shouldn't pull them out but I cant help it. Roll on my hairdressers appointment at the end of the month, I need colour applying pronto.

Anyone for ruggers?

Since meeting thingy I have gotten into/been dragged kicking and screaming into the world of rugby. Living in Barnsley I was used to football (It really isn't like watching Brazil anymore) so it was a whole new world. I had the preconception women at rugby matches would be a bit, and I hate stereotyping and being a complete ignoramus, but butch .. with pint glasses and man haircuts! So I was really surprised when I went and saw girly girls with designer clothes and, fair do's - pint glasses. The game really drew me in too. I'm still not fully up to grips with the rules but I have the basic gist and I bloody love it. I watched a bit of the Leeds v Derby footie match today and it seemed so soft and wet in comparison. Where are the beefy men who aren't afraid to tackle headfirst like its life or death?! MAN UP PANSIES.

Anyhow with this new rugby blood running through me, and thingy wanting to get fitter and back into rugby (he used to play alot) we bought us a rugby ball t'other day in town. Behind us is a big football/cricket field where we have started exercising with the ball. Doing drop kicks and passes and 'plays'. Yes it involves actual bodily movement that isn't from the sofa > fridge and back. At first I was an utter wench, I screamed when the ball came hurtling towards me, ran in the other direction and shouted at thingy for throwing it 'too hard'. Slowly I have got more confidence, I like the challenge of catching a fast ball. I want to kick it higher and longer. I get proud when thingy says good kick! Plus we have both noticed our fitness levels improving. We aren't potential London Olympic 2012 challengers just yet but the endorphin affect from getting ruddy cheeks and mud on my trainers is totally worth it! Exercise takes my mind off everything and while I'm feeling well (ish!) I relish it.

If you ever get chance watch a Rugby League match cough#leedsrhinos# cough. The atmosphere at live games isn't captured on t'box but you might enjoy it too.

The winner of my first ever giveaway is....

Me and bloke just did an official drawing. An overwhelming 70 of you took part (71 comments left but 1 was the same person adding their twitter username so 70 in actuality!).

Then with the help of random.org the following comment number was chosen as winner



which means the winner is :drumroll:



@Jenniwren12



Congratulations!!!

If you could DM me your address on twitter to @spritneybeers I will send out your prize (and maybe a few other goodie surprises too).

Thankyou everyone for taking part. I have really enjoyed doing it and will be doing more giveaways in the future. Keep an eye out on twitter and my blog for more updates!

Huzzah and happy friday evening to you all.

Man VS Mother Nature

MAN WINS!

Could the choir please break into a chorus of Hallelujah because we did it! The bush of hell, the leafy foilage of fury, the green shrubbery of satan, it has fallen!! All hail the blessed soil.

It has been an ongoing war for aprox 4 months. Since we moved in the bush has been the bain of our existence in the flat. It overtook the garden and made the flat look dishevelled. The landlord welcomed our plans to cull it (I think we deserve a rent discount personally) and so we set about it.

At first we were cocky. We thought mere spade and the power of the human hand would be enough to pull it out. We soon discovered this was no ordinary bush. Even when we cut all the branches off and pruned every single stem that had sprouted from the womb of the evilness. It resisted.

Cue. The chainsaw.

Bloke was on a mission. He was lain awake at night tossing and turning at the evil lurking outside. Father in law provided the tools, the rest was up to us mere mortals. It took 2 days. 2 long, trying, sweat and blashphemous days. Bloke had skin on hand worn away through the finest poundshop gardening glove. It got rough, I'm not gonna lie.

Forsooth today at aproximately 6.57pm, with a small audience of random passersby who had stopped to watch (bugger off!) the last stubborn, pigheaded, immovable root snapped. As I composed myself and tried to come down from my petrol fume induced high, the relief was palpable. We smiled, congratulated each other and looked at what was before us. Victory was sweet. Cups of tea all round and big toothy smiles! Gardening is the new nightclubbing.


PICTURES > (NB - blackberry camera does not do justice to the full scale of awe)


PSSST - COMPERS OUT THERE
THANKYOU SO MUCH FOR ENTERING THE SALLY HANSEN GIVEAWAY!!!!!! THRILLED WITH HOW MANY HAVE TOOK PART. WILL DRAW THE WINNER TOMORROW NIGHT.

The Fear

So the last 4 weeks ish my intestines have been an utter mong. I've been on humira injections and Mercaptopurine for the past 2 years after a nasty Crohn's flare that left me hospitalised on IV steroids. Things ever since I started on humira have been *touch coffee table* alot better. My tummy troubles have eased and I have been a happier bunny. The only downside is my immunity virtually disappeared. If there is anything floating around, I'll catch it. It's a certainty.

The symptoms in this recent episode of illness resembled those of a viral infection to begin with. I couldn't move my ass off the settee, whereas the week before I had been dragging bloke on 5 miles country walks. I was nauseous, flu like, aching and raging hot. My GP did bloods and the only thing that showed was anaemia. So he put it down to a virus rather than flare up of Crohns. The flu symptoms ebbed away but my tummy left aching, churning, bloated and heavy. I got scared.

I have the fear you see. I think you have to have a chronic illness of some form to experience the fear. You spend long periods of your life trying to overcome your disease, trying not let it take over and be in control. Thinking positive, eating healthier, being a feisty little madam! It takes its toll though. Maybe not the first flare up, or the second. But when your condition becomes harder to knock into touch. When the steroids don't work. The fear is overwhelming. Its tiring fighting all the time. So to get to the point when you are relatively fit and healthy and the mere thought you are going to end up back at point A. Well, it bites.

My mindset has been dominated by this fear, so I booked to see my consultant to see if it was a flare and what we could do. He knows me really well, I've had Crohns since being 16 and hes seen me through the bulk of it. He did a physical examination and spoke to me in length and quenched my worries (kinda, it never leaves me!). He said a recent antibiotic course, the iron tablets and virus had affected the scarring from previous flares in my intestine and that he didn't think it was a flare but to give it 6 weeks to calm down and if it hadn't have a colonoscopy.

So I'm thinking soothing thoughts. I'm drinking peppermint tea. I'm having probiotic yoghurts and drinks daily. Swallowing buscopan like sweets. Ive been learning rugby skills with bloke and laughing lots. I can't control this thing, but I can look after myself. The vicious circle of worrying is a fricker to break but I have to do this. Life's too beautiful to spend it with the fear!

I feel a tad better already!

Sunday Sally Hansen Giveaway!

Hope you are all having nice relaxing sundays. Im watching the Hungarian grand prix with some chocolate celebrations and full fat pepsi to try and revitalise and give me much needed energy. Unfortunately, I just feel like a bloated tired pig. Oink!

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to win these



Im not much of a girly girl and prefer to get any such girly stuff done at the beauticians where I can't make a bugger of it! So I decided to give them away to one lucky blog reader (any of you out there?!).

To have a bash at winning (and to inspire positivity and energy!) just leave a comment below telling me what is making you happy at the moment?.

Please leave your twitter username so I can contact the winner. The winner will be chosen by random.org at the end of the week so thats 06/08/10.

Hoping lots of you take part and I might make this a more regular thing!