This Week - W/E 22nd July 2023 - A Week of Ups and Downs

After an interesting start to the week, with our break in Norfolk and the burst pipe, things got a bit busier as the week went on.

On returning home, I was pleased to find that I hadn't put on any weight whilst away, despite not sticking to my calorie deficit. In fact, I'd lost a little more which was a nice surprise.

LB went off to her new job and on her return later that evening she seemed to have enjoyed it. Unluckily for her though, there was due to be an Underground strike on her second week in the job, which would make getting to work on time much more difficult for her. Luckily, it was later called off.

When I got back from Norfolk, I decided to apply for a job that I saw advertised, with a one of the big supermarkets and was fortunate enough to get an interview later in the week. It wasn't as local as I would have liked, but in order to establish exactly how far away the store was, on Wednesday, I decided to do the weekly shop at the Lidl on the same high street, to get a feel for the area, parking, etc. The store I'd applied to was a small one with limited parking, so I needed to see if there was anywhere nearby that I would be able to park should I be successful. I was able to deduce from the visit, that there was unrestricted parking very close to the store on residential streets, which was useful.

This was an interesting outing and was useful in lieu of my interview the next day. It took me about 30 minutes to drive there and 20 minutes to drive home, but this probably varies according to the time of day and the traffic on the roads. The nearby Lidl store I shopped at was very quiet and had items that I'd not seen in my usual Lidl for months. There were also quite a lot of orange stickered items as I wandered around.

I also visited a local shopping park on the way home, that had a Home Bargains. Quite a smart one too, compared to the one I usually visit, but it did seem to have a more limited range of goods in it.  It reassured me that it was worth attending the interview and just see what happens. 

I missed the last Soca Aerobics class, which was a pity, but I just didn't have time to get there and back, shop and then get to the class. I needed to shop though, as we had so little food in and we needed food for lunch.

Later in the afternoon, I walked up to our local library to return some books and collect a prescription.  This added quite a few steps to my count for the day. I also visited a local grocery store to get some popping corn. I just felt like making some homemade popcorn as a low calorie snack. I ate a cup of it once it was made. I added a small amount of salt and paprika to give it a bit of flavour. It probably amounted to about 100 calories which isn't bad.

Thursday, marked the end of the 6th week of trying to reduce calories to shed some weight. I've now lost 10 lbs and weigh less than I have done at anytime in the last few years, so hopefully things are going in the right direction. I'm looking forward to reducing my weight by a stone, as it will feel like a real milestone in my journey.

I headed off to Pilates on foot and enjoyed what was the last class until September. I will need to think of different ways to exercise now that many of the classes I've been attending have finished for the summer. I will go to one class that will still be on, do a gym session at least once a week, probably do some cycling and go back to my self-devised routine from Lockdown. I'll continue to keep walking as much as I can too.

After getting home and having lunch, it was time to get ready for my interview. I did a bit of research and printed off an updated CV before heading off.

The interview went okay. I couldn't really tell how I'd done. I just had to wait and see if I heard back. I was encouraged that the store footfall seemed relatively steady and not manic. A different pace from what I'd experienced in my previous job.

When I got home, we got some bad news later in the evening. A friend who we know through dog walking, and who had gone into hospital the day before, had deteriorated and we were told that she wasn't expected to live much longer. It was a shock. She'd had some health problems, but as far as we knew they weren't emminently life threatening.

Anyway, OH and I went to visit her at the hospital and she looked very ill. We were both upset all night and then found out on Friday morning that she'd passed away peacefully later that night. So sad. We went down to meet with her family on Friday morning and walk the dogs together. A very sad time for them. She will be missed greatly by many people locally. She was a lovely lady.

On Friday afternoon, I spent some time in the sewing room working on the new quilt and then I took myself off up to the high street to return the trousers I'd bought at Primark for LB last week. I walked there and back to get more steps in.

When I got back, I received an email telling me I'd not got the job I'd interviewed for. I was a bit disappointed, but two of the shifts were until 11pm at night, so maybe it's not such a bad thing.

On Saturday morning, I walked to the gym for the last gym session until September. It was good. I really enjoyed it. The rest of the day was spent chilling at home as it rained all afternoon. 

OH's cycle race in Central London was called off due to the rain, which was disappointing for him. I stayed home and emptied the ironing basket, put away some laundry and did more sewing. A very unexciting Saturday afternoon, but maybe this is a good thing after the events of the week.

It's been a very sad and strange week this week, not one of the best weeks, but such is life. I hope you've had a good one.