Friday 29 July 2016

The Things We Agree To When We're Drunk!


So far summer has been a bit of a wash-out, which is a huge disappointment to me because I spend the whole year looking forward to those few weeks of warm, sunny weather.  Thankfully though, I’ve booked myself a trip to Corfu in September so I do have a bit of sunshine coming my way.  I’m lucky enough to travel to Europe quite a bit with work; however this will be my first proper “beach holiday” in three years!

 

It has got me thinking though… the idea of being “beach-body-ready” ties my stomach up in knots.  I haven’t felt good in a swimsuit since…well actually, I don’t know if I’ve ever felt good in a swimsuit!  The last time I probably looked any good, would have been when I was too young to realise that looking good was necessary!

 


It’s one of the main reasons that I decided to join WW.  I know I’m not going to miraculously drop five stone in a couple of months; however I do think I’ll be able to lose enough to feel a little less wobbly in my one-piece.

 



At my first meeting, our leader Karen spoke to us about international cuisine, and challenged us to find ways to adapt some of our holiday favourites to make them SP friendly.  I thought about all the lovely salads and tapas that I generally eat when I’m abroad, and this week I’ve made sure that I’m building my recipes around a more Mediterranean theme.   Reduced fat humus and celery sticks are my go-to snack at the moment, (very unlike me - I usually only enjoy celery as a stirrer in Bloody Mary!) and for a real taste of summer, I’ve discovered my childhood favourite ice lolly (Jubblies) are only 1SP…which has made me deliriously happy. 

 

With summer however, comes the ritual BBQ, which we Brits like to enjoy regardless of the weather from June through to September.  Each year my friend’s husband has a birthday BBQ in July (‘cos, y’know…that’s when his birthday is!) and it’s pretty much standard for me to have far too much to drink, and embarrass myself somehow.  As two of his only childless acquaintances, my friend Corinne and I tend to rock up and hit the cocktails hard.  I’m pretty sure his friends with young families either judge us horrendously as some kind of “Eddie & Patsy” display of shocking morals, or they watch in amusement and look back with rose coloured spectacles on their single days.  I haven’t yet been able to work out which it is!

 

However this year, the BBQ took an unexpected turn, when after cocktail number six, someone floated the idea of running the Wolf Run in the Spring.  For those who don’t know what the Wolf Run is, it’s a 5 or 10km run and obstacle course, where super-doopa-fit-athlete types, try to get round a cold muddy torture race without dying.  Naturally this was an idea I was going to scoff at, given that I do no exercise, and sometimes struggle to haul my body out of bed, never mind around an assault course…only…I didn’t scoff.  Nope, cocktails one through six for some reason convinced me that this was an amazing idea…and so I agreed to do it. 

 

So now here I am, on my lunch break, downloading a “running for weight loss” app to coach me up to 10km, so that I don’t actually die trying to do this blummin’ race.  Alcohol has a lot to answer for…as does summer…and BBQ’s.  Still, maybe if I start training now, I might get a little closer to that beach body!

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