Changes

As the Summer holidays start to come to an end, I start thinking about the new school year. As much as I love being off and now even more so with Charlie around, I do get a little bit excited about the new school year. It's always a time to start again, especially if I've had a bad class the previous school year, or a tricky student to deal with. It means a new timetable, new classes and a new routine. It also means new stationery! And I've bought myself a new lunchbox and a few new bits of work clothes to see me through the winter. It's always a time where I try to change things, to sort the house out, to sort my wardrobe out etc so that I am ready for a new school year. 6 weeks off seems like a long time, but actually it's gone so fast and I still have lots of sorting out to cram in in the last two weeks. Starting today, with my wardrobe. I seem to have developed an obsession with jeans, I now have 7 pairs and I just don't need 7 pairs of jeans!

As the new year starts, I also feel it's time for a change in me. With it being the holidays I have let diet slip, eating what I like and drinking a bit too much wine. But I'm not happy with my weight again. Before I had Charlie I had rocketed to a size 16 and after I had him, I lost lots of weight without even trying, probably due to breastfeeding nearly 20 hours a day for the first few weeks! I felt better, my clothes looked better and I was down to a size 14 again. Now, I am not saying that big is wrong, but I don't feel happy with having to squeeze myself into my skinny jeans again. I want them to fit comfortably again. I'm still a 14, but only just and I don't want to have that ugly roll of skin hanging over my jeans.

So it's time to get back on track and pay more attention to what I am putting into my mouth. This means less sweets and chocolate and less wine. Being away on holiday meant I drank wine nearly every night for two weeks! So I intend to ensure I only have wine Friday's and Saturday's and then maybe either Thursday or Sunday, but only if I want it. I am far too influenced by instagram pictures of gin and wine and need to be more aware of what's good for me. I want to be a size 14 comfortably. I'm not unrealistic and I know that I don't have time to do proper exercise, but I will walk where I can rather than drive. At school, I often have big lunches as I get them free, but I am going to change that and take salads or soups when it gets colder or make my own, rather than having two big meals a day. I'm going to make more use of my slow cooker, so that at the end of a busy day I don't resort to ordering chinese. And I am going to ensure that this is more of a lifestyle change, rather than something I do for a few weeks and get bored.

I should also explain my three week absence here. It's simply that I have been away and have just found it difficult to get back into writing. But I've got lots of things planned, including a a little treat that I was sent from Avril at School Gate Style!