Off to a good start

 Two good things to report today. 

In terms of my weight, I am already below where I was before both Christmas, New Year and the two holidays I had in December interrupted my progress. When away from home or celebrating, you lose a lot of control of what and how you eat. But I am now losing weight fast again. In fact, I have now lost my first stone since 1 November. I am slightly behind my schedule, but not much.

For those who work in kilos, one stone is 6.35 kg (or 6,35 kg if your language uses that system). For metric fans, one stone is divided into 14 pounds, and one pound is divided into 16 ounces. Simple, right? I am trying to lose 50 pounds overall (22.68 kg). I chose 50 pounds (50 lb), as by luck it is exactly the weight between what I was on 1 November and my optimum weight. I'm sick of being overweight both because of how it makes me look and how it makes me feel - putting my shoes and legwear on isn't so easy with a big tummy.

For information, I am using the Slimming World healthy eating plan which has worked for me when needed. I'm also doing Dry January with no alcohol. Booze is the biggest fattener of all, especially wine.

Let's see what I lose over the rest of the month. I hope to make it one and a half stone (21 lb) by the end of January and then I'll be almost half way.

The other piece of good news is that one of the trans groups I have recently joined via Facebook, Crossdresser Italia, is setting up as a proper national association based in Naples. A bit far from my home but a good choice as Naples has a very long history of trans and third gender culture going back to who knows when. Pre-Roman times, probably. The current very right-wing government gets much of its support in that locality but a solid trans base in the same place should assist in keeping a sometimes anti-trans political slant sweet.

Weather watch

The weather is very mixed here at the moment: nice warm days where you can sit outdoors in the sunshine, followed by cold, wet, windy days. However, the lemons and oranges are ripening nicely and one of the ornamental orange trees outside the front door is very laden this year. I love the cheerful colour. 

 

I am sending a hug to my friends in northern Europe, such as in the British Midlands, who are coping with flooding, or in Scandinavia who are dealing with exceptionally cold temperatures. I hope that things will return to normal very fast.

Sue x