This week's star freecycle find for me was a Lateral Thigh Trainer also known as LTT. This has a stepper action but it really does tone the thighs, everyone in the family likes having a go on it. It counts the number of steps you take and gives you the time it took so you can beat your score. Also it tells you how many calories have been burned during activity.
I did 100 steps on it today and burned up 14 calories in the process. I hope to have another go on it tomorrow. I didn't want to overdo it or else I would get muscle ache. I had already walked about a mile and a half during my shopping trips today. That's quite enough exercise for me at the moment. I just need to move as much as I can, every day.
Monday, 9 August 2010
Son's 13th Birthday
My oldest Son became a teenager on Saturday! For his birthday he wanted a pair of work boots like his Dad's, I got him a black pair. His Dad found just the gift for him, a mountain skateboard which is a large skateboard only it is all terrain and has huge wheels and pneumatic tyres! First my Son had to build it, putting on all the parts of the wheels and filling the tyres with air. We all had a lot of fun riding down the grassy hill on it, I captured the memory on the home video camera.
I haven't used our video camera for a few years now, my Husband was considering purchasing a new one as the model is a bit outdated now but it is a good one and it still works. So in the end we just dusted it off and my Husband bought new rechargable batteries for it. The children will love watching it all when they are a bit older.
Both sets of Grandparents gave him money as gifts and it is now already in his bank account. For his cake I purchased a cake topper Bendos skateboarding figure with a large black skateboard just like his new one! He now has it as an ornament for his bedroom as a reminder, the yummy chocolate cake has already been eaten.
I haven't used our video camera for a few years now, my Husband was considering purchasing a new one as the model is a bit outdated now but it is a good one and it still works. So in the end we just dusted it off and my Husband bought new rechargable batteries for it. The children will love watching it all when they are a bit older.
Both sets of Grandparents gave him money as gifts and it is now already in his bank account. For his cake I purchased a cake topper Bendos skateboarding figure with a large black skateboard just like his new one! He now has it as an ornament for his bedroom as a reminder, the yummy chocolate cake has already been eaten.
Saturweigh
Saturday is Saturweigh for me. On Saturday 10th July I set myself the challenge of losing 21 pounds in 21 weeks, ending on Saturday 4th December. My starting weight was 12 stone, the last weigh in was 11:13. Todays reading was 11:12! I am so pleased that I have now lost another pound. The total of 2 pounds in 4 weeks.
We had our Son's 13th birthday party on Saturday too! Social celebrations involving food happen regularly for our family so I just have to manage it by trying to eat a bit less than I want to. More exercise is essential when I eat more too. Friday night I walked 3 miles as part of our date night and Sunday I walked about 2 miles on a family walk on Dartmoor. Today I walked about a mile and a half as I walked around town in the morning and city in the afternoon shopping. Here's hoping for a good week of less eating and more exercise, all will be revealed next Saturweigh.
We had our Son's 13th birthday party on Saturday too! Social celebrations involving food happen regularly for our family so I just have to manage it by trying to eat a bit less than I want to. More exercise is essential when I eat more too. Friday night I walked 3 miles as part of our date night and Sunday I walked about 2 miles on a family walk on Dartmoor. Today I walked about a mile and a half as I walked around town in the morning and city in the afternoon shopping. Here's hoping for a good week of less eating and more exercise, all will be revealed next Saturweigh.
Active Date Night
Last Friday night's date night was the most active one we have had since my foot operation! I was feeling rather ambitious and suggested that we go for a walk together... a 3 mile walk!! We drove just a few miles then got out, parked in the layby and walked a mile and a half to the next town. There we walked around the park, watched a bit of a bowling match. It was good to see several younger members playing on the teams, as it always used to be portrayed as a game for Seniors. We saw a lot of flowers, especially roses and also a sweet little bird looking out of its nest up inside the roof of the bandstand. After we had been around the park we walked the mile and a half back to the car and went home to eat.
Dinner was much appreciated after this walk, the microwave soon heated the Lamb Moussaka for my Husband which he had with the chips I had cooked earlier when giving the children their dinner. He also had a small ice cream bar covered in crunchy chocolate for afters. I just had a jacket potato with cheese and a full salad for my dinner as I had my weigh in the next morning!
Tonight's date cost a little diesel for driving about 5 miles in total, plus a bit of shoe leather - lol. The food was all in house apart from the Lamb Moussaka which was bought deliberately for £1.69 (reduced from £2.40). Still a very low cost date compared to the ones we used to have. I wonder what we could do next week? Any ideas please do comment!
Dinner was much appreciated after this walk, the microwave soon heated the Lamb Moussaka for my Husband which he had with the chips I had cooked earlier when giving the children their dinner. He also had a small ice cream bar covered in crunchy chocolate for afters. I just had a jacket potato with cheese and a full salad for my dinner as I had my weigh in the next morning!
Tonight's date cost a little diesel for driving about 5 miles in total, plus a bit of shoe leather - lol. The food was all in house apart from the Lamb Moussaka which was bought deliberately for £1.69 (reduced from £2.40). Still a very low cost date compared to the ones we used to have. I wonder what we could do next week? Any ideas please do comment!
July Accounts for Food = Healthy
Now that August is here I decided to sit down with my July accounts and worked out how much we had spent on food during the month. I separated alcohol from these accounts as it isn't food, isn't an essential and is only consumed by my Husband and I on date nights. The outcome after adding up all these figures was that we had saved £110 this month compared to what we spent during the past six months! This gives us the figure of £1.64 per person per day, instead of £2 which it was before. I found this result very encouraging and want to keep going with this frugal experiment!
Admittedly we have been living out of the pantry and freezer a bit more but still had to purchase fresh items such as fruit, salad items, fruit, bread and milk which actually are a huge chunk of our grocery bill. Other things I have been doing to help are to eat less myself which also works towards my weight loss challenge and cutting down meat and fish portion sizes for the whole family. Our family like many other westerners tend to overeat on meat and fish, when it is healthier to fill up on vegetables instead, and I am now trying to introduce better eating habits for the good of us all. Also I am trying to buy my British meat when it is on special offer. If you shop around there are many local meaty bargains to be found.
Already I have receipts piling up waiting for the August food total, I am excited about adding it all up and am hoping that the result will be at least as good as this month's savings!
Admittedly we have been living out of the pantry and freezer a bit more but still had to purchase fresh items such as fruit, salad items, fruit, bread and milk which actually are a huge chunk of our grocery bill. Other things I have been doing to help are to eat less myself which also works towards my weight loss challenge and cutting down meat and fish portion sizes for the whole family. Our family like many other westerners tend to overeat on meat and fish, when it is healthier to fill up on vegetables instead, and I am now trying to introduce better eating habits for the good of us all. Also I am trying to buy my British meat when it is on special offer. If you shop around there are many local meaty bargains to be found.
Already I have receipts piling up waiting for the August food total, I am excited about adding it all up and am hoping that the result will be at least as good as this month's savings!
Thursday, 5 August 2010
Benefits From Online Grocery Shopping
Grocery shopping online has been a reality for us nearly five years now. I was pregnant with my youngest at the time and had abnormal bleeding problems which concerned me about pushing heavy supermarket trolleys around loaded with the week's food and household necessities for a large family. For me at that time, online grocery shopping really was an answer to prayer! Now I have a choice of online grocery providers so can compare deals on a weekly basis, also we have a new superstore opened in our nearest town, so the choice expands! Unfortunately that wasn't the only thing that expanded, all those 'bargains' coming into the house are now showing on my waistline and my bank account.
When I sat down to see how much I was spending each month it was a scary amount, although further investigation showed that I was only actually spending £2 per person each day. So we were actually getting a more varied diet at a good price thanks to all the regular 'buy one get one free' deals. Lately we have become more money conscious after losing a part of our regular income which meant that we have been regularly spending from our emergency savings fund to pay for monthly necessities. There are a couple of large bills coming up which will just about clear the rest of our savings fund, so it is essential to see where we can save in order to keep a good quality of life for our large family. Since the beginning of July I have kept a good eye on my grocery spending and am deliberately spending a little less on a weekly basis which I believe will make a big difference over the next six months if I can keep it up, God willing.
One of the good things about my weekly online grocery shop is not just that they can deliver my full trolley load for less than it cost me to drive to the store and back! They also pack it well so that nothing gets squashed or broken. I can still remember that time when I dropped a jar of jam in the carpark...and the occasional smashed egg, definately the squashed bread or cakes under the weight of all the other carrier bags full of shopping fighting for space in the boot. Not to mention the occasional messes, split sugar bags leaving a sugary trail, or dusty flour on my black car seats. It takes time to clean up these messes.
At first I just compared the cost of fuel to the cost of delivery but recently I have realised that I wasn't taking wear and tear of the car into the equasion. Together with saving time driving to the store and back, not being tempted by all the other 'bargains' that weren't in my budget plan and not having to get baby sitting or the stress of taking all the children shopping with me, online grocery shopping is a real blessing!
When I sat down to see how much I was spending each month it was a scary amount, although further investigation showed that I was only actually spending £2 per person each day. So we were actually getting a more varied diet at a good price thanks to all the regular 'buy one get one free' deals. Lately we have become more money conscious after losing a part of our regular income which meant that we have been regularly spending from our emergency savings fund to pay for monthly necessities. There are a couple of large bills coming up which will just about clear the rest of our savings fund, so it is essential to see where we can save in order to keep a good quality of life for our large family. Since the beginning of July I have kept a good eye on my grocery spending and am deliberately spending a little less on a weekly basis which I believe will make a big difference over the next six months if I can keep it up, God willing.
One of the good things about my weekly online grocery shop is not just that they can deliver my full trolley load for less than it cost me to drive to the store and back! They also pack it well so that nothing gets squashed or broken. I can still remember that time when I dropped a jar of jam in the carpark...and the occasional smashed egg, definately the squashed bread or cakes under the weight of all the other carrier bags full of shopping fighting for space in the boot. Not to mention the occasional messes, split sugar bags leaving a sugary trail, or dusty flour on my black car seats. It takes time to clean up these messes.
At first I just compared the cost of fuel to the cost of delivery but recently I have realised that I wasn't taking wear and tear of the car into the equasion. Together with saving time driving to the store and back, not being tempted by all the other 'bargains' that weren't in my budget plan and not having to get baby sitting or the stress of taking all the children shopping with me, online grocery shopping is a real blessing!
Monday, 2 August 2010
New Toys from Freecycle
This week's freecycle was really exciting for the children! The little ones came home with a hopper ball (also known as space hopper or kangaroo hopper), a jumping ball which is basically a ball with a sphere around it to jump on, a small skateboard, a bow and arrow for the boys and an air slammer game for the older children.
It has been fun to watch the little ones enjoy their active toys while the air slammer has this interesting buzzing sound, not annoying yet... Our older Son found a portable tool kit packed in a pouch with a pocket knife, torch and various other items that I won't even try to guess their uses! (It's definately a boy/man's thing).
It has been fun to watch the little ones enjoy their active toys while the air slammer has this interesting buzzing sound, not annoying yet... Our older Son found a portable tool kit packed in a pouch with a pocket knife, torch and various other items that I won't even try to guess their uses! (It's definately a boy/man's thing).
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