[Lyman]

The last couple weeks have been a bit of an eye-opener. Apparantly I deal with (don't want to be emo so I'll emphasise minor) blues through a complete loss of appetite. In the spirit of every cloud having its silver lining it's been a kind of blessing in disguise as, now the initial 'ah crap' funk has worn off, my weight loss has been given the shot in the arm it needed. And while I no longer need to remind myself to eat at mealtimes, I'm eating far less and doing more active things to keep my mind occupied. Since my last post I've gone down 6lbs, which is a little bit too much for that period of time - but then again it may be my body getting used to the change after being somewhat lackadaisical for the last few months. So something good can come out of a rubbish situation.
A great boon to me since I posted last is this website. It's a variation on Google Earth where you can plot routes and it tells you how long the distances are. It also has the option of telling you how many calories are burned (although I think this is assuming it's a jogging route rather than a walking one).

So for example, on days when I have to go into uni I clock in about 3.3 miles walking to and from campus.

On my days off when I go into town it comes to just under 5 miles, which was a bit of a surprise. I'd figured it was closer to 4.
So to step it up I just need to devise alternate routes. Plus you can store them as saved URLs for reference.
I did a quick search for 'Google' on here and didn't find this site mentioned, so thought I'd share.

Do you have any other stress relievers or hobbies you get involved in during these tougher times?

Thankfully my MA work takes up a lot of time and is easy to get lost in. I also do some freelance design & music production work which is another mind-occupier. Of course all of these involve me sitting on my arse in front of a screen so really the most vital occupation of my time is getting out in the daylight and keeping myself on the move.
My social life has taken a bit of a knock with all of this, although that's equally down to it being the last few weeks of the academic year and most of the people I know in this town are pretty much holed up doing their own work. So I decided to take a couple vacations from Bristol and visit some other places I used to live and catch up. It was especially nice to stroll around Southampton again, I kinda wish I'd been more active back when I lived there. It's an ideal walkabout town.
Once again thank you for your thoughts and encouragement. Although I'd resolved to post more, this thing went down, and frankly the last couple weeks would've involved some very adolescent whinging had I posted. Now I've brushed myself off I'll make more of an effort.

Personal life changes have an impact on me too. I find that it helps to get support from people instead of food, so I pick up the phone and call friends, family, sometimes type out a blog, etc.

You're absolutely right there. My father is especially helpful when I call as he's not only gone through a similar weight loss endeavour, but we're so identically wired that it's essentially like having a conversation with myself in the future. Also a couple of well-intentioned friends at school have sensed something was up and been supportive without wanting to nose in. Important things to be grateful for.

I too enjoy a good drink every here and there, what do you prefer? I am a scotch woman myself (I know not many of those around)!

I'm a Jack Daniels man, which I guess is the coca cola of whiskies, still it's absolutely divine. When I'm feeling especially indulgent I'm partial to Sheridan's, which is this sickly sweet coffee/cream liqueur. Probably about 800 calories a sip but good Lord it's nice.