Reaching a goal can be hard. So hard. do you set your goals to high? Or is the motivation to get there, not there? I set myself a goal way way back a the start of the year. I never told anyone about it really. It hangs on the side of my media unit in the form of a little speech bubble post it note. It's silly if you think about it but not to me.
Anyway, i tried. Tried to reach that goal over the first 7 months of this year. It just wasn't happening. Not for the lack of trying. Plenty of things were getting in the way of this goal which should be simple to do but for me wasn't.
And then over the past 4 weeks things just fell into place. They literally fell off me. The weight that is. For that is what my goal was. To lose 1 stone this year. I like many other women, never seem to lose weight. I'd even decided spin classes were bulking my legs up and making me put on weight. But it was none of that. It was simply eating the wrong things and my sweet tooth.
But circumstances have dictated that for the past 4 or 5 weeks i've gone off sweet things. Or, even better, i've been able to stop eating until I feel sick. That and the stress and fuzzy tummy you get when you meet someone new have all contributed to my weight loss and I like it. Mum has already commented that i'm too thin, but you know what parents are like. They'd feed you till you burst. Me i'd say ideally i'd like another 6lbs off.
Why are we never happy with our weight ladies? Ah yes that's right, because the 'perfect' woman is blasted at us from all angles of the magazine pages. I don't know why I'm saying that because in all honesty i've not bought a woman's / fashion magazine for over a year, and the last one i did buy i observed that over half of it was adverts and stupid promotional stories. No real content.
So in short, i've kinda nearly reached my goal. I'm 8st 12lb and before the year (month) is out i intend to be around 8st 5lb. Oh and to help things along I started running again! 3km on Monday I ran! Big news for me. No knee trouble (touch wood), things are looking up.
Well can you? I think you can. FourSquare in case you didn't know is an app for iPhone and Android? that you can use to 'check-in' to places. Might seem like nothing but if you're following a few people then it turns into a game, sort of. I say sort of because i honestly believe it's not utilised properly here in the UK just now. You hardly hear of nor see any offers for people 'checking-in'. Here's what FourSquare say:... Foursquare is a location-based mobile platform that makes cities easier to use and more interesting to explore. By “checking in” via a smartphone app or SMS, users share their location with friends while collecting points and virtual badges. Foursquare guides real-world experiences by allowing users to bookmark information about venues that they want to visit and surfacing relevant suggestions about nearby venues.
There are pros and cons of being a FourSquare user. One of the biggest cons (drawbacks) being that people know exactly where you are at any given time. Well they do if you check into every single place you go and you broadcast it via a social network, Twitter, Facebook etc. I for one don't share my every move publicly, only to people I am 'friends' with on FourSquare, most of whom I've got to know over a period of time and therefore have passed the 'not a stalker' test with flying colours.
Anyway once you get over that quite big con the pros are pretty good. People check in to all manner of places and can leave tips, recommend food, heck they can even tell you the price of petrol at a petrol station (although you might not want to take it as word, the tip could be months old!). You check in, accumulate points, you can even earn nifty little badges and beat your friends that way. But there doesn't seem to be an end to this game nor a prize! Is there? Has anyone gotten a prize for being highest on their weekly leaderboard? You can become Mayor of places. Mayor of a pub, a cinema, a restaurant, your toilet! Some venues have prizes in the form of offers for the Mayor. That's pretty nifty i suppose.
I digress. Back to the point of this post. The question in the title. Can you cheat at FourSquare? I think you can and here's how. I've recently become 'friends' with a few more people on FourSquare and there are people who check in, earn points and rise up the board. All very normal. But there are people who don't appear to be checking in but yet are still rising up the board. I call these the sneaky undercover checker-inners. You see you can check in 'off the grid' which I think means you can check in, earn points and still climb up the leader board without anyone knowing where you are. Which for me kinda takes the whole point away from it. Doesn't it? I mean that's fine every now and again if you really don't want anyone to know where you are but still play the game. So, there are one or two sneaky peeps on my game that never appear to check in but rise up that leader board like am autumnal spider climbing up the curtains. But that's ok. I'm not competitive. No way. No siree... *plots revenge!* :)
Another way you can 'cheat' is (and i'd never really thought of doing this) is that you can almost just pass by the front door of a venue, not actually go in, and check in. I know! Crayzee eh! I hadn't thought of that. I don't think I would. No, I definitely wouldn't. This is where it may get a bit tricksy for a business giving FourSquare deals or offers for Mayors. You could in effect check into your local cafe, earn the Mayorship and get free coffee for life without ever having entered the establishment. I'm sure none the 'friends' i so carefully vetted on FourSqaure would ever think of doing that, would you? WOULD YOU?...
So the point of this post? nothing really. I just wanted to say a few things about FourSquare. It's funny, about a year ago people were totally against it. Totally knocking it. Hating on it something rotten. Hating the tweets that are pushed when you check in. And now these people are on it! Go figure. They probably hate the new Facebook. Me? I love it. I can't get enough of social networks. I love the connections made. The real friends i've made. The ones I talk to a lot more than my friends i've known since i was a kid. I love the tweets, status updates, new Instagram pictures, check ins, Mayorships gained and lost, being added to peoples Circles and the funky new timeline that easily shows me i joined Facebook in July 2007! Phew.
What a week! Feels like I've been on a whirlwind merry-go-round that i never want to get off but i have. And what i've been left with is a stuffy nose, a dry cough and a throat so tight it's taking all my effort to drink my tea. This week has been filled with fun, excitement, nerves, aching-gut worry, cinema, music, birthday, lunches, dinners, baby and the most excellent friends a girl can have. And mostly all thanks to Twitter, and me of course.
Tuesday saw a long overdue lunch and window shopping in Glasgow with gorgeous wonderful friend Nicola (@Lilacswizzle). I really have to thank her for the much need confidence boost and wise words I would never have thought of under the circumstances. I have so much to thank her for this week, you don't even know!
Later on Tuesday I ventured cross country from West to East to Edinburgh, where I was attending a preview screening of new movie Warrior, via RBS Film First. This time it would be a solo trip as cinema buddies were busy. Panic started to set in on the train when the battery indicator popped up like a looming message of doom... 20% battery left. Argh! how would i find my way without google maps?! How would I check in on FourSquare?! How could i review this movie afterwards and let the whole of Twitter now how it was?! But still i continued to refresh my timeline. The train was nearing the East and the signal is really fucking patchy isn't it. So all I had was the O2 O of doom and no 3G. Panic, panic. I sent out a desperate tweet: Edinburgh, where can i find a bite to eat and (more importantly) a plug to charge my phone?!! Refresh.... Refresh.... Switch off... No signal... BUZZ! a reply! "well @illegaljacks of course. Ask nicely and you might get to charge your phone :)" Yay. I immediately sent a tweet, asking nicely of course, and the reply was yes, it would be waiting. Phew, what a life saver. Safe in the knowledge that my phone would soon have juice in it, i settled back to enjoy the remainder of my journey with plenty in my thoughts. Well as much settling back as you can do on a Scotrail train seat without thinking about all the other heas that have touched that spot where yours is... yes this is what i think about?! *shudder*. I digress...
The train arrived and I made my way to Illegal Jacks. It was a lovely not-quite-autumn-but-getting-there evening, a bit windy but the sun was still shining and embracing me in his warmth. Wandering along the street it occured to me that I seemed to be heading in the complete opposite direction to the masses. Rush hour. There were suits, numerous. All shades of dark. Navy, Grey, Black, Charcoal. Suits. But what I did notice that stood out were the sensible women who'd opted for trainers and suits when running to catch the train. I mused how they must've had a pair of work shoes hidden under their desks like me. Just in case, you know...
Anyway I reached Illegal Jacks and ordered from the menu then sheepishly asked if there was a plug. I was pointed towards the window, sat myself down and plugged in. PHEW! It really is a disaster when your phone runs out of battery but all was now well. A few minutes later my very tasty cajun spiced chicken wings arrived. They were hot, hot hot and spicy hot. Lovely. I sat and recharged and watched the world go by out the window. I do love a good people watching session! I exchanged tweets were back and forth from various people and then what a lovely surprise that Kelly (@Macfack) had dropped by to see me. (She saw i was checked in on FourSquare). We had a wee chat then it as time for me to head to the movie. This was the purpose of my visit afterall. I unplugged, 73% battery should see me right.
I walked along to Cineworld, not too far really, and headed into the cinema. The screen wasn't ready yet so we waited about 10 minutes before being let in. I had a wee chance to think a little. I'm always thinking. I was wishing that i had a companion with me, it would've been nice. Sadly, not this time. They opened the screen and we filed in. I checked in - obviously and tweeted a few people. Then the ads came on and it was time for the film. Thank goodness there weren't any noisy popcorn eaters in my vicinity. It was bad enough on Sunday.
The film began. Warrior. I thought it was about boxing but it was in fact about cage fighting. It was shot nicely and leads were Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte and Joel Edgerton - who you may remember from that Australian programme that used to be on BBC2 years ago, The Secret Life of Us. I loved that show but they never showed it again here. Anyway, Warrior. It was good. It was kinda predictable towards the end but well shot, nicely acted and the emotion caught me a bit at the end. Loved it really. I'd recommend it. Here's the trailer...
Out of the cinema i was a little bit scared walking these strange streets at night. There were one or two people around but as soon as i got back to the train station i was fine. I was freezing cold but. Shivering. And there was still a half hour wait on my train, darn. I was kept company by a few lovely people on Twitter. It's so great for that eh. Soon enough the time passed and my train would arrive on 5 minutes but not on platform 4 like what was on the screen. It always gets moved at Haymarket to platform 2 at the last minute! Grrr very annoying. Anyway the train was warm and I enjoyed a little convo with a totally awesome person via DM. There was something I wanted/needed to tell them but somehow the right words didn't come out. It would have to wait.
Platform clock
I woke on Wednesday with a dry mouth and chesty cough. Bugger it. I was heading out tonight, again! and there was no time for petty ailments. But I smiled when I checked my phone and had a wondrous text. Lovely. headed to work for another busy day answering loads of emails from students and every other thing that needed doing. But i didn't care. For tonight was a surprise do for Lovely Ian, the Surf Punk (@surfpunkian). Today was his birthday!!
The Mayor's Birthday
He'd told me previously he didn't like surprises but i was sure he wouldn't mind this one organised by one of his friends. I left work early at 4 to catch the train and headed through again. Fast becoming a regular jaunt for me. I arrived at Illegal Jacks a little after 6 and a few people were there. He said he was surprised and didn't have an idea. Nice. And he was parading about with a FourSquare Mayor t-shirt, a present from someone. Cool. By such a coincidence, a lovely girl, Andie (@MissAKis) i've followed on Twitter for nearly 2 years was in town with her work and she would be in Illegal Jacks for dinner too. I couldn't wait to meet her and when i finally did she was chatty, bubbly, lovely and such a warm person and a totally brilliant raconteur. Loads of stories. LOADS. Great.
All too soon it was time for me to head to my train and so I said my goodbyes to Andie, she was recounting her days spent in and around Newcastle to the group, and had a little chat and said goodbye to the wonderful birthday boy. I think he had a good birthday...
Heading home i had a few things on my mind. I wanted to kick myself, for a good reason. I wanted to turn back the past few weeks and do a thing differently but you can't can you.
Thursday i woke and was feeling pretty rubbish to be honest. Tired. Knackered. Flu-y. Coughy. Still had work to go to, boo. But i was visiting Linda and baby Kai tonight for a good old gossip and dinner. It was a good night. We had cheesburgers and chips and tea and juice and sticky toffee pudding. A treat indeed. I filled her in on everything from work to me and my past few weeks of fun. All the while Kai snoozed, fed, played on his mat and farted loads. I mean loads. For a month old baby he was farting like an old man. haha so funny and so beautiful. I headed home about 8.30 for an early night but i had a sinking feeling in my gut. You know when you get that? Bleh. I was glad to get to bed that night.
Friday was work and then spin class. And full on flu symptoms. I couldn't even eat the packet of marshmallows i've had for about 2 weeks. What's wrong with me?! I must be sick.
So that dear readers was my full on non stop crazy exciting wondrous gut-achingly massive week. It was emotional...
