Rants and Raves #37

Happy Friday Eve! It’s so strange to me that this is my last Thursday at work… I only have five working days left. I finish next Wednesday then have Thursday and Friday off before starting at Wiggle on Monday. I’m not panicking… yet! Anyway, on to some good ol’ rants and raves.

Rant: Still not running. Dwelling on this is both boring and pointless. I’m cross-training at the gym (elliptical machine. Woo). Fingers crossed it won’t be long. It doesn’t feel like an injury that will put me out for weeks and weeks, but with me you never know. As I said though, ZERO regrets. So can’t complain really.

Rave: While I was on holiday my parents took Alfie to the groomers for me. I’d intended on doing this before (or after) I’d gone to Austria but my parents were taking their dogs so it made sense while they were looking after Alfie. They sent me a photo while I was away so I could see how dapper he looked.They kept his beard thankfully (he’d be practically naked otherwise). My parents upgraded his grooming from the standard one to the super duper pampering which, I’m not even joking, included a blueberry facial. I mean, what? Now I love Alfie, but would I get him a blueberry facial? No. I see Alfie as the Bear Grills of the dog world. He’s a basic pooch. But apparently he enjoyed it. Traitor.

Rant: Having said I see Alfie as a “Bear Grills dog” I might need to backtrack somewhat. When it comes to thunder and lightning he’s such a wuss. He freaks out. He trembles, whimpers, barks, paces… and I do try to be sympathetic and cuddle him but at 2am in the morning my sympathy can somewhat wane a little. I had to put the light on and some music to try and cover up the weather. Neither of which are any more conducive to a good night’s sleep. But it’s fine because Alfie has all day to sleep so don’t worry, his sleeping hours probably wasn’t affected. *Sighs*.

Rave: I’ve mentioned a few times that my dad has been steadily losing weight using Slimming World. My mum and him go every week and, bless him, he always texts me how it goes (how much they lost or gained).He started last September and he’s already lost three stone. That’s obviously quite a lot in under a year but his starting point was quite high. He didn’t make any crazy drastic cuts but just became more conscious about what he was eating and making better choices. He became aware he was eating far too much bread, having extra slices with main meals and as snacks, and he wasn’t eating as many vegetables.

So in reality his meals haven’t changed a great deal, just tweaked a bit, and beer, bread and chocolate kept in moderation. He’s done it in a very slow and sensible way. Losing a lot of weight quickly because you’ve made huge changes to your diet simply to reach a lofty weight-loss goal is never going to be sustainable. My dad still goes out to dinner, still has the odd pudding, he still drinks beer and he still enjoys his food without being hungry or changing his lifestyle in a radical way. Weight-loss and then keeping to that target weight can only happen if you see yourself doing it forever. There’s no point in trying to reach a certain goal and then reverting back to your old ways.

As you can imagine, I’m hugely proud of him. He says he did this because my mum and I were nagging him, but I know that this isn’t entirely true. We’ve nagged him for years. He did this on his own and for himself, and really that’s the best way to do it.

Rave: OK OK I’ve gone a bit marathon crazy with the ones I’ve already signed up to. The New Forest (10th September), Bournemouth (8th October) and Brighton (15th April). And a cheeky one to start 2018…I mean, let’s just quickly put the standard Anna Disclaimer in: who knows if I’ll make any of these marathons (see above Rant 1). But the intent is firmly there. A few people have said that this marathon is rather dull as it’s pretty much all on a boring bit of main road. That may be so, but it’s a “big” marathon that attracts a lot of elites and fanfare due to the prize money and I’ve never been to Dubai so for me it’s more about exploring a different country and being part of something quite exciting. Plus the flights are cheap and the lovely Lily will hopefully be able to show me her favourite avocado on toast haunts. (And there’s a Cheesecake Foactory…).

Rant: My neighbour having a full on rave at 1am. I was particularly tired that evening and not in the mood for his loud music and continuous opening and slamming of his front door. In a perhaps ill-judged move, I went out in my PJ’s and told him sternly to turn it down (#grandmastatus). To be fair to him, he looked very abashed and promptly quietened it all down (perhaps my crazy nighttime hair scared him?).

Rave: Spotted this adorable little fella on my way to grab a coffee in the local Costa.He was just plodding along down the path. I was a bit worried as there’s usually a cat which hangs out down this path but when I walked back down the path later at lunch the cat was just sat next to him without even glancing at him/her.

Rave: Bamboo Towels! I’ve recently been sent some luxury gym towels from The Towel ShopOne of my biggest pet peeves is people not wiping down equipment when at the gym. I mean, it is GROSS. I try not to think about the amount of dried sweat, dirt and bacteria on the equipment when I’m using it and will often over up a seat with a towel to help matters. This is actually really good timing to have been sent these towels as my current white one is looking a bit sorry for itself (and has bright yellow stains on it from where my BCAA’s in my water have dripped on it – making me wonder what it’s doing to my insides…).

Anyway, these towels are SO soft. Like unreal soft.  They’re made with bamboo fibres (ooh er!). They are also three times more absorbent than a standard towel and have anti-fungal properties (ideal for gym use!). They’re also eco-friendly and available in six different colours.I personally love the silver colour. I have a few different sizes – a couple of hand towels and a bigger one which I’ll be using as a bath towel. OMG so soft.

I washed them before using them (I don’t actually do this with clothes or anything – I know that might be a bit weird but I’m not that bothered). With towels I find you need to wash them first otherwise they don’t really “work” if you know what I mean. But after washing and tumble drying, they’re fantastic. Super absorbent. And I love using the smaller towels at the gym. It fits nicely into my gym bag!

Do you wash new clothes before wearing them?

Have you ever tried Slimming World or Weight Watchers?

How noisy are your neighbours?

**Full Disclaimer: I was sent the towels for free in exchange for a review on my blog. All opinions are my own honest ones.**