Chrismas is coming, the Debs is feeling fat

I need to work out how to do my current job, be a wife and a mummy, and get back on track with getting healthier. I was doing Slimming world for a while, and had some success at the beginning of the year, but that was before the world of work got in the way. I could go on a Saturday morning, or an evening session, but to be honest, I resent the time I could spend in bed! (and that goes for a Saturday or sometimes an evening, I have days I go to bed at 7pm when I feel a catch up is in order!)

I know that I need to eat more (read at least some)  vegetables, and a lot less sugar. And probably less potatoes and bread. But those are very much what we get a lot of from work, and what Menard is good at cooking!

For starters I'm working on good breakfasts. And good lunches. That are not only healthy, but also ones that I want to eat! And less toast and bagels and other bread products at work!
(I probably need to suck it up and go low carb and no sugar, but I'm also realistic that that will be a very hard thing to do)

I also need to work out whether I try very hard to actually get to the gym, or whether it's time to admit it's not fitting into my life at the moment, and work out what would fit.

Early Christmas Presents

My slow cooker, which I got when I was pregnant with Sophia, is giving up the ghost. It's been overheating somehow, which means it needs to be stood on the wooden chopping board, to protect the surface underneath, and it doesn't give us confidence to leave it alone cooking when we are out. (Basically it's regressed and turned into a reluctant small child?!)

So I'm been starting to look at other options to replace it, especially since my lovely Mummy offered to buy something for my Christmas present this year. I've looked at slow cookers, and I've looked at instant pot/pressure cooker type cookers, and I haven't been totally convinced about either. And then we went out too look for Christmas presents on Saturday and I spotted the air fryers. I'd thought about one of those too, but having looked up prices for the branded ones, I'd quickly moved that thought on!

However, what we spotted was a generic brand type air fryer, of a decent size, for an ok amount of money (and when it rang up £15 off at the till, that was even better!). I did some on the spot googling (gotta love phones these days!) and checked some of the things you could make in it, we saw it had a three year guarantee, and thought, hey, let's go for it. (And Menard said he'd get it for me for Christmas, so I'll have to come up with another idea for my mummy!)

And y'all, although we said we'd put it away for Christmas, the urge to make chips in it right away was too strong, so we pulled it out and go on with it. We made chips for lunch and they were pretty good. Then later we cooked some pork and veg (Carrots and potatoes) for us, and we did some fish fingers and potato croquettes for the kids (cooking bits and pieces sort of day). And we were impressed.

Today we've cooked a pork joint (rather than the tiny piece we had yesterday) and we were still impressed. I quickly cut up and cooked some roasted veg to go in the fridge and be taken for work lunches, and it cooked in under half an hour, and I can walk away and it stops itself. I didn't burn my veg because I'd walked away to do something else! That is a game changer right there!
And the timings. It's quicker than in the oven! And healthier - less fat.
Although, healthier... well, I have to go. I need to check if the chocolate  brownies are done yet...!!!

Time for me

Now both children are at school six + hours a day I have time! I will be job hunting soon, but for the moment Menard and I have agreed that it's important for me to focus on me.

The past year I've been focusing on my brain - I've had some CBT and been on a ten week course about self esteem which have helped a problem to with my mental state, helping me find techniques to deal with and work through anxiety and negative thought patterns. I'm by no means 'sorted' but I think it's helping my thinking and keeping me on a more even keel. But next it's time to concentrate on the physical again. I've put a lot of weight on since I moved to new town, and although I've had various pushed towards losing it, all of that has piled back on again. Tomorrow I'm going back to a weight  loss group with a friend and it's time to face the number on the scales again. I'm also trying to move more. Working at making the little man on my pedometer cheer more (when you hit 10,000 steps). And Menard and I are also looking into going swimming together now we have time without kids around!