The wanderer returns with a plan, kind of.

Urgh, I've been away from this little space for a while, again. This is clearly not the best sign....

So, what's been happening Chez Linz? Well, I've been ill (you hear me, another cold leading to another bad chest and therefore no gym for over a week), I've been working crazy hours and I've been spending my weekends rushing about all over the place. 2 weeks ago we drove up to Liverpool to visit friends and then last weekend, my parents came to stay so we spent the weekend entertaining them. We did get to see this however, something we've been missing for a long while in the UK... a beautiful weekend.

So in summary, life has not been very relaxing.

This weekend will rectify all of that. We've spent the last of our wedding fund on 3 nights at the amazing Pennyhill Park hotel and we plan to do as little as possible other than relax in the spa and eat some lovely food. It's Matt's birthday on Monday, so I'm treating him to a meal at the 2 Michelin starred Latymer on Saturday night.

And then, we need to get down to business. It's 7 or so weeks until we fly to Thailand and I really need to lose at least a stone before that. I'm fatter than I've probably ever been (I'm not weighing myself) and I don't expect Thailand will be overly good for the waistline. So as of Monday, I commit to the following:

• Gym at least 3 times a week - no more excuses (unless on death bed again)
• No snacks unless it's fruit. 
• Drink more water than alcohol (seriously, cherry and apple cider is like crack to me at the moment)
• Limited Carbs (kind of like the Harcombe diet, but not as rigid) 

I need to try and do the above with the following already in the diary between now and 15th April when we go away:

• Weekend away with Matt & his birthday
• Dinner with some of the girls
• Dinner out with Matt (Groupon voucher due to expire)
• Dinner at a friends house with some of the other girls
• Weekend with yet more of the girls in Manchester
• Weekend visiting Matt's friends in Tavistock
• Weekend visiting my friends in Hull
• Lunch at the Square rescheduled from January
• Lunch with friends at various houses x 2
• Friends visiting from Scotland

I don't make life easy, do I? Maybe I need to get rid of some friends.... :) 

So wish me luck! This is me today, expect a slimmer version next week.... 

The sitcom of Mr. & Mrs. Jones

Since my last update, I have remained on my healthy eating and limited alcohol, I've even upped the exercise somewhat which has lead to much moaning about aching and the most ridiculous pulled muscles known to man.

We had a pretty lovely weekend, which in true Mr Linzerello style, we managed to turn into a total sit com. I've married an absolute clown :)

Lunch at Le Manoir was pretty special, we managed 6 courses, plus matching wines and therefore ended up in a slightly inebriated state by mid afternoon.

Top - Cornish Mackerel with apple, ginger honey and soy * Soft-fried hen’s egg, watercress purée and Jabugo ham, toasted hazelnuts 
Bottom - Quail, Butternut Squash, red wine and cinnamon * Flavours of Citrus

Unpictured - Spiced Cauliflower velouté with curry oil for starter and a cheese plate with figs... 

We'd booked ourselves into a local B&B, which was essentially the spare room of a woman's house in a lovely 17th Century Thatched cottage. This was the middle of the countryside, and being the ridiculous town's people we are, we really weren't prepared for the remnants of the snow, the muddy fields, the lack of street lighting or the vast number of dogs also sharing our property.

We decided on a trip to the local pub after we'd had lunch in the next village to the B&B. This saw us traipsing through mud in completely inadequate footwear (suede pixie boots anyone?) with a broken torch (which we'd borrowed) to guide us home. After several glasses of wine and several pints, my husband then deemed the various barking dogs (who'd been nothing but friendly earlier on) far too dangerous for us to enter the property.  We sat in the car for a while, we argued in the rain, we discussed at length the possibility we'd be savaged by these killer animals, before eventually deciding we'd have to brave it knowing our landlady was out in Oxford for the evening and unlikely to return any time soon (plus we'd both run out of battery on our phones - genius).

These killer dogs - aka Labradors, completely ignored us upon our entry into the cottage. I've never known such nonchalant animals. Lesson learnt, my husband's judgement is not to be trusted when he's encountered alcohol and we are not cut out for a life in the countryside.

In other news, I've been diagnosed with Adult Onset Asthma and am now on a steroid inhaler twice a day for the next 3 weeks. I find this fairly ridiculous, but according to the Doctor, asthma can be triggered as a result of a virus, and given I've had every virus known to man over the past 4 months, I guess it doesn't seem too far fetched. Let's hope this sorts me out, I've also a preventer inhaler which I'm to take before I go to the gym, so let's see if that stops the feeling of an elephant standing on my chest when I try to run!

Also the health front, this week saw me lose 7 pounds overnight thanks to a delightful vomiting and diarrhoea bug which we picked up from one of my friends nursery dwelling children. I'm going to start visiting anyone with a child, wearing one of those face masks and douse myself liberally in anti-bacterial gel before and after entry to their homes.

So, I've lost weight, despite a 6 course meal and lots of alcohol - clearly germs are the answer.

This weekend should be fairly good too, lunch with the girls tomorrow and a couple of trips to the gym. It's all about balance people.