Grotty

This was our working list for both no.1 & no.2 daughters... Anouk Audrey Betsy Blythe Bonnie Carrie Cassie Carys Cecily Cleo Coco Dora Edie Edith Ellen Elodie Eloise Evelyn Evie Florence Gracie Hattie Iris Ivy Lila Livia Lois Lola Lottie Luna Mabel Mae Maeve Mary Mathilda (Tilly) Olivia (Liv) Peg (Peggy) Phoebe Polly Poppy Rae Sadie Stella Sybil Sylvie Tabitha Vera Violet

The Crooked Well without a doubt. The owners run a Friday morning for babies and really show an interest. When we go for Sunday lunch they engage with our 2, bring over toys and books and make us all feel welcome. And thats not even starting on the amazing roasts (whole chickens carved at the table and dripping with juicy goodness)! Its on Grove Vale at the Camberwell end...

Kids who go to nursery develop strong immune systems. In the short term it means lots of bugs for them and you, but there's a benefit in the long term. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1821991.stm http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/news/archive/pressrelease/2002-05-07-nursery-attendance-may-reduce-the-risk-of-childhood-leukaemia Look at the Conclusion in this study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15298959

I'm into old-school names at the moment... Arthur Stanley/Stan Arnold/Arno Walter/Walt Alfred/Alfie Frank/Frankie My first choice for baby 2 was Arlo, but vetoed by husband so we were going for Otis on the day. But we had a girl (Mabel)

I've left this very last minute. We're going to a festival on Friday and I've completely forgotten to get headphones for my 9 month old. Don't suppose anyone has any I can borrow or knows of somewhere very local that sells them? Thanks

I broke even again but thrilled as I still wasn't counting this week and expected more gain. I ran to work yesterday so hoping I'll get in the habit of doing this a couple of times a week, and I'm back counting points. Hopefully, hopefully next week will see my first weight loss in over a month! 8lbs to go...

Mexican badminton player. Tequila!!

no more motivation, still eating rubbish but managed to break even this morning so feel like i've been given a second chance. Must try again! going back to work on Thursday so hoping to incorporate some exercise into my working week!

damn another 2lb gain. This isn't going very well...

Was at Franks Bar in Peckham last night and they were offering BBQ mackerel skewers - sadly we didn't hang around to order or see any, but sounds like a good way to do mackerel!

ugh put another 2lb on so last 3 weeks a total waste of time! Just made a massive pot of point free butternut squash soup to motivate me!

ugh pebbles hope you're doing ok - i've had my head in the sand too so fully empathise. I went on holiday to France and was amazing, even ran 4 times and came home to a 3lb loss feeling amazing, but 10 days have passed with a wedding & 2 big parties and a total lack of motivation. Last week I put on a lb but now jeans feeling tight again which is a bad sign. I managed to count last week and ended on a -84 (!!!!) but this week had used all extra weeklies by day 3 & haven't counted since - the first time really since starting. Need to snap out of this. Its just so frustrating, especially since losing has been so difficult recently so getting back on track seems like a bigger task now. so annoying...

Congratulations Pickle. It must feel incredible. Also from your posts i've always assumed you were a running pro. Its very motivating to hear you started at walking 4 months ago. I love running but have no motivation. Sounds like I need to find myself a running partner! eco79 - amazing week and what a good start. Keep at it x Pebbles - thats interesting about the measurements reducing but weight not so much. I've been feeling the same - not actually measuring etc but clothes feeling looser despite not getting lighter!

Me too me too! Early July sounds great x

Right having read more on the impressive Pickle/Pebbles running success i'm determined to go for a run today. espelli - welcome. Hope you get as much motivation from this thread as I have. Its slow but seems to work for a lot of people so definitely worth it. Good luck with the first week. crystal7 i used to finish off the kids food too until i started WW - having to track the points of EVERYTHING i ate made me realise just how many extra calories a day i was taking in on snacking alone. Now if i do finish off the meal, having used up vital points, i'm punished with fruit/salad for dinner so don't do it again for a while! Once you have reached your goal on WW there is a maintenance stage where you eat to maintain not lose i.e. more points allowed. You could always sign up to this just so you keep track of what you're eating? In terms of body shape i've been going through that same nightmare but sadly i think exercise is the only way to re-shape. I've been doing an amazing fat blast class on saturday mornings in ruskin park but sadly the teacher is emigrating to Berlin next month so i'm on the look out for something else.

it sounds like a lot but given I started when daughter was so little i'm sure that some of that would have come off anyway with post baby shedding..

eco79 - i think WW works when you eat your points. i.e. if 40 is your allowance you must eat 40 each day. My daughter is now 7 months. I started WW when she was 6 weeks old, maybe too early but I was feeling desperately huge and it was getting me down. Anyway, my first bit of exercise was just over a month ago. I have lost 31lbs in 5 months just on sticking to 40 points - i literally did no exercise. I ate 3 healthy meals and had something rubbish to eat every day (piece of cake, biscuit, chocolate etc) and lots and LOTS of fruit/salad in between. It didn't actually feel hard. I have now stopped breastfeeding and am only allowed 26 points and am really struggling with hunger and working out what i can eat that leaves me any points for dinner. Anyway, I digress. Basically eat your 40 points, obviously exercise is important and will speed up weight loss so exercise if you can but if you can't for the moment you should still be able to lose some weight. Hang in there. Its a slow process but definitely worth it. I looked in the mirror yesterday and for the first time in actually years and years I felt ok, almost pleased/proud with what i saw. Happy times xx

Well done Pickle! 1lb to go. Wow. That must feel great. Another great advert for the benefit of exercise. I'm managing once a week at the moment which definitely needs working on. I lost 1lb this week but felt rather annoyed as had an amazing week where despite dropping to 26 points I stuck to my points and only used a few weekly. Also felt slimmer and clothes felt baggier, so was really expecting a bigger drop. Anyway, have learnt that with WW this is part of the deal. Hopefully will see more next week.

have you tried the garden centre at Alexandra Palace - always seems to have what I want/need when I go. Worth a try...

yes Yes YES!!!!!!!!!!

best online plants i've received are from : www.duchyofcornwallnursery.co.uk www.thegardencentregroup.co.uk www.crocus.co.uk Guardian weekender article "Your plant's in the post" suggests: Otter Farm Shop - former River Cottage gardener Toby Buckland Nurseries - aka Gardeners World Higgledy Garden Shipton Bulbs - Welsh nursery

my standard snack if i'm starving now is a crumpet with peanut butter - healthy and filling according to WW - 3 points but does seem to keep me going. That with a massive glass of water and i'm ok for at least another hour ;-)

I made a pact with husband that once we were 100% certain we weren't going to have more I would "do" my boobs - just to get rid of the lengths of sag i'm left with. Sadly finances will never allow that, but a nice dream... I've been very rubbish at pelvic floor too - amusing class in the park the other week when we had to do star jumps and all the women there (recent mums) pee'd themselves. Ho hum...

I'm also happy to share out the boob. I've got plenty to spare having gone from 34D pre-babies to 38HH at the end of last pregnancy. yuk. Post breastfeeding they are now starting to resemble "old socks with a tennis ball hanging at the end" But I also have terrible muffin tops too which seem to become more and more accentuated with weight loss, so it looks like the weight is going to come off there last too. I've been doing an exercise class in Ruskin Park every saturday morning and when I voiced concern that muffin tops are never going to go/resigned to the fact body shape has changed forever, the instructor assured me from her experience weight can definitely go - you just need to do the right exercise. Her advice: 1) to get rid of middle bit you need to do exercise that work the "whole body core" - eg. sit-ups aren't going to do it. She makes us do different things each week that involve a lot of movements going from standing to squatting and sideways and back up again (in running form/jumping form/squatting form/bending etc etc... 2) make sure you do different exercise each time you work out - whether different types of exercise or working different muscle groups each time as muscles get bored/used to it so its less effective 3) you need to be doing exercise almost every other day for it to really work (I NEED TO WORK ON THIS ONE!)

Hope nursery goes okay with your son today Lochie. We've resorted to putting on Postman Pat to get through most of the potty times. We had no wees in potty at all yesterday but so far today we have only had one accident and she did a huge wee in the potty. Hooray. I'm thinking that only 2 wee's between 7.30 and 1 is not bad going! I put a nappy on for her afternoon nap and within 20 minutes she did a poo, which is normal for her. I guess thats not a bad thing. We can master wee's first and then move on to poo! Today is Day 2 and i was reading GF again - I never made it to Day 2 last time but wish I had read on as she says "A few of the children I have trained seem to have endless accidents the first couple of days, then suddenly it all falls into place by third day" - slightly contradictory to her initial message that no wee in the potty on day 1 = not ready. Anyway, very happy with one success today, hopeful the afternoon will produce more and things will progress over the rest of the week!