Background

I've been having a fascinating read of so many bloggers out there (a special shout out to age 40 plus ladies who live a 'normal' life otherwise), that I thought I'd like to join in this bloggersphere. 

I am drifting a bit in life, being a 41 year old lady with a proper, yet painfully dry career.  Earlier this month I had an interview for a role that I would have excelled at which matched my goals and lifestyle.

I've been lazy over the recent months, working at home (at said boring career) has made it a little too easy for wine o'clock to start precisely at 5.01 PM.  On slow days I've even been known to have a glass of wine at lunchtime.  I like to see the positive in everything, it means that there was a glass still in the bottle when I went to bed the prior night...

I was so excited at this new career prospect that I started to make some quick changes in anticipation of getting out the credit card and buying a new career wardrobe.  I've been working at home since 2010, so I've been making due with one suit and 2 sets of work shirts and trousers when I travel.  Fortunately business trips only usually run a week at a time for me, two weeks max. 

So I went back to my golden triumvirate of healthy living:  no alcohol, vegan, intense exercise.  To be fair, you wouldn't necessarily guess that I can pack away 2 bottles of wine for 7 nights in a row.  Or probably you would recognize the signs...

Basic stats, my starting point was a UK size 10, 58.5 kilos, 5 foot 5.  I go to the gym 4 times per week, despite said wine.  I've been eating more from a convenience level in recent weeks, frozen pizza and pringles have figured prominently on the menu. 

So I had a bottle of wine the night before starting (see, I was already cutting down, it wasn't two) and hit it hard at the gym the next day (Thursday), along with a strict diet regime tracked in my fitness pal.  I hit my 1200 calories and 1 hour at the gym. 

Friday I informed my long suffering other half that it would be a healthy evening, low carb vegan, no wine.

Saturday followed a similar pattern but included an hour at the gym.  On Sunday my OH was hosting his parents for a Sunday dinner, they are teetotalers.  OH was a tad annoying by getting out 'my' white wine (he usually drinks red as his preference) and then kept putting the cup next to my water glass.  I kept moving it to the other side and it kept gravitating back until I finally pointed out that it was going to get knocked over being so close to my water glass.

On Monday I clocked in at 57.3, so a 1.2 kilo loss.  On one hand, a little too much too quick, although having gone vegan in my 20's, I recall the weight just falling off me with no effort until it finally bottomed out at a certain point.
    
By Wednesday I reached the 56 kilo zone and was flying along in the subsequent interviews.

It went to 4 interviews and in the end they chose the other candidate. 

So I had a frozen pizza and two bottles of wine.  Rinse, repeat for another week.

In the three weeks while thinking I might have a new job and following my regime I felt physically great, was sleeping wonderfully and reaching new levels of fitness.  So this little online diary is my attempt to find and keep the momentum when right now I have no driver for it.