New Week of Tracking, Day 4 (86.5)

New day, new set of tracking. Did better, I think. Had uni, then had India meeting. Stoked - can't wait to fly out. 12-13 weeks to go. Wow. Maybe I'll lose 12 kilos by then. I'd like that. Ate ok, binged on marshmallows, but when everyone went to oportos for dinner had a small burger and water to drink, no chips or chocolate mousse. If only I had avoided the ice-cream I would have actually stuck to these points. I'm just amazed a sandwich is 5 whole points. Maybe it wasn't that high in real life. I can only hope.

POINTS FOR TODAY

Breakfast (7.30am)
Vegemite toast = 1 point
Half a cup of skim milk = 0.5 points
Total points for breakfast = 1.5 points Today points for today = 1.5 points
Snack (11.15am)
Diet coke = 0 points
Total points for snack = 0 points Total points for today = 1.5 points

Snack (11.35am)
Fruit break bar from Uncle Tobys = 2 points
Half a cucumber = 0 points
Total points for snack = 0 points Total points for today = 3.5 points

Lunch (12.14pm)
Lamb and cheese sandwich = 5.0 points
Water = 0 points
Total points for lunch = 5.0 points Total points for today = 8.5 points

Snack (2.00pm)
Cup of tea = 0.5 points
Total points for snack = 0.5 points Total points for today = 9.0 points

Snack (3.12pm)
Pack of marshmallows = 6 points
Water = 0 points
Total points for snack = 6 points Total points for today = 15 points

Pre-Dinner (5.30pm)
Sushi roll (chicken) = 2.5 points
Points for pre-dinner = 2.5 points
Points for today = 17.5 points

Dinner (8.00pm)
Oportos norm single burger = 6.5 points
Water = 0 points
Total points for dinner = 6.5 points
Total points for today = 24.0 points

Dessert (9.20pm)
Single scoop of vanilla ice-cream = 4.5 points
Total points for dessert = 4.5 points
Total points for today = 28.5 points

I'm keep to get 12 kilos lighter by India - it's a new goal!

Tomorrow also starts "GWEA" - a way of focusing on a "goal weight for the end of April". Mine's 82.5kg by end of April. Wish me luck (and focus, determination and perseverance, and an ability to say no!"

xx

New Week of Tracking, Day 3 (H: 85.8)

The scales are starting to go down! Yay!

Today we have church (with muffins and 2 morning teas!), lunch perhaps with D's parents, then as far as I know a quiet day of study and time at home. Hopefully a day where I get a bit more control over what I plan to eat, and get some study done! :D

Awww, D just brought me a glass of cold water with lime! So sweet! Especially as I'm getting a flu and my throat hurts. Love love love.

POINTS FOR TODAY

Pre-Breakfast (9.05am)
Cold Water with Lime = 0 points
Total for pre-breakfast = 0 points
Total for today = 0 points

Breakfast (9.30am)
Apple = 1 point
Ski D'lite Berry Yoghurt = 3 points (!)
Watermelon and Apple = 1 point
Water = 0 points
Total for pre-breakfast = 5 points
Total for today = 5 points

Snack (10.30am)
One Sakata = 0 points
Coffee with Milk = 0.5 points
Water = 0 points
Total for snack = 0.5 points
Total for today = 5.5 points

Lunch (2.10pm)
Two pieces pizza hut garlic bread = 2.5 points
One Slice Hawaiian Pizza = 3.5 points
Three Slices Vegetarian Pizza no Cheese = 7.5 points
Total for lunch = 13.6 points
Total for today = 19 points

Dinner (7.30pm)
Red Wine and Two Spring Rolls at the Vietnamese Festival = 5 points
Vietnamese Dinner with D and my parents = unknown - rice paper roll, two serves rice, sizzling lamb, beancurd and vegies, and lemongrass & chilli prawns, with green tea. I'm guessing lots of points.
A scoop of ice-cream with ice-magic (study food, and I was already over so might as well have a small dessert) = 4.5 points
Total for dinner = too many points
Today for today = too many points!

Oh well, it was fun to go to the vietnamese festival, and to catch up with my parents, and it was nice of them to take us out for dinner too. Hopefully I walked some of it off! And hopefully tomorrow is a better day.

xx

New Week of Tracking, Day 2 (H: 86.3)

Ok it's Day 2 - today won't be a very easy day. It's a Saturday, and that brings with it Social Outings. Today I'm balancing a food tasting (for market research, it pays, but after yesterday I'm thinking of pulling out!) A farewell dinner at a pub for a friend going to Japan, a housewarming house party, and maybe spending the day with some friends to celebrate Earth Hour (although we'll have to leave before the actual Earth Hour cause we have dinner... but they have a fun idea - a day hanging out at their house (with pool!) with a candlelit backyard picnic for Earth Hour... so sweet!)

But, this is not unusual for me, I have to make WW and points fit in with my life. So today is my challenge to achieve that, within 21 points!

... D just woke up (it's about 9.30am now, which is a big sleep in for me) and said a quick good morning then 'why are you on the internet? I thought you'd be out running?' ... now, my first reaction was to feel a bit offended and righteous (why should I be running when he's sleeping? And I'm tracking points on here!) but now I feel a little bit chuffed - he expected me to be running. That means he's starting to see me as a runner... yes? At the very least, 2 months ago he'd never have said that to me in the morning, so there's gotta be some kind of a change going on!

Ok, Points Time (a bit smaller today):

POINTS FOR TODAY

Pre-Breakfast (9.10am)
A few leftover chips from last night (before I wrote this post! No more I swear! I've already thrown the rest in the bin!) = 2.0 points
Total for pre-breakfast = 2.0 points
Total for today = 2.0 points

Pre-Breakfast (10.00am)
Half a cup of skim milk = 0.5 points
Total for pre-breakfast = 0.5 points
Total for today = 2.5 points

Breakfast (11.10am)
3 Multigrain Corn Thins = 1 point
with 3/4 Medium Banana spread on top (yum!) = 1 point
Two Glasses of Water = 0 points
Total for breakfast = 2.0 points
Total for today = 4.5 points

Snack (11.50am)
Half an Apple = 0.5 points
Total for snack = 0.5 points
Total for today = 5.0 points

Lunch (11.10am)
Beef in vermicelli salad = 3 points
One Glass of Water = 0 points
Two Glasses of Soda Water with Diet Lime Cordial = 0 points
Six Jatz Biscuits = 2 points
Mini Easter Egg, Lindt 70% Cocoa = 1 point
Chocolate from Cadbury Easter Egg = 3 points
Total for lunch = 9.0 points
Total for today = 14.0 points

Snack (6.12pm)
Corn Thin with Peanut Butter = 1 points
Total for snack = 1.0 point
Today for today = 15.0 points

Dinner (8.30pm)
Vegetarian pub pizza (on pita bread), no cheese = 3.5 points
Three glasses of water = 0 points
Total for dinner = 3.5 points
Today for today = 18.5 points

After - Dinner at Party (10.30pm)
One Iced Cupcake = 3.0 points
One glass of water = 0 points
Total for after-dinner = 3.0 points
Today for today = 21.5 points

My Thoughts on the Day:
Much better - only 0.5 points over (not ideal, probably could have avoided the cupcake, and it could have been more than 3 points... the ones on etools vary between 2 and 4.5 points, so this is a happier medium). Considering we ate lunch out, dinner out, went to a party, and were in "weekend mode" I think we did quite well. Hopefully the results will show on the scales!

I love eating out with friends, and D & I are really trying to make time to see friends in more intimate situations (dinner with 1-3 others, not big meals for 20, or seeing each other at parties or big groups only) and so far I love it. I love having people over for a meal, I love going out to other houses or restaurants or cafes for meals, I love the chance to properly catch up and hang out, I love that we're getting to know our good friends a bit better. But it's hard with trying to lose weight - especially as the 'it's a special occassion / one off / treat / with friends" excuse becomes something that comes up 4 or more times in a weekend, let alone during the week! So I feel good that today I made some more healthy choices while out with friends - although I have more to learn (namely not taking food that is offered to me!).

2 things I've read, quotes etc, from today that have been in my mind (mostly from the ww boards or site):
>> losing weight is hard. being overweight is hard. choose your hard.
>> it's not the food or your mouth or the company that's to blame for your weight. It's your wrist. Stop your wrist picking up the wrong food, and you'll only eat the right food.

xx

New Week of Tracking, Day 1 (H: 86.4)

Ok, I'm on track, and that means this week is all about tracking. Hope this doesn't get too boring, especially as I'm going to write on this public blog what I eat. Hope it keeps me a bit accountable!!

Before that though, yesterday was fun. Finally I got some uni work done - I went in to uni and spent the day with a good friend M, which also involved eating lollies (2 killer pythons and some crazy peach lollies he brought back from Canada), and lots of facebooking. So not quite as much study as we'd planned, but it was a good dent and we're planning on doing it next week again :D Maybe with a swim thrown in!

After studying, at 6, we went to the Christian Public Meeting at our uni, which was really good - heaps more relaxed vibe going to a night one, and then out to dinner with friends, at the local pub. Yikes - pub food! But I had a diet coke and a vegie pizza - which is a pita bread pizza with some tomato sauce, stacks of fresh vegies, but then *duh dum, duh dum, jaws music* oodles of cheese! So next time - same order minus the cheese. It was yum though!

Earlier in the day was the WW WI, ouch... Put on 1.5kg, so, that's my kick up the bum to be on track this week. I just have to do it, no excuses. I'm quite excited actually - I'm looking forward to a loss next week (I hope I hope I hope!!) So please feel free to keep me accountable!! I will eat no more than my 21 points per day!

On that note...

POINTS FOR TODAY

Breakfast (7.45am)
Small bowl of nutrigrain (only cereal in the house!) = 1.5 points
Cup of skim milk (measured) = 1.5 points
Cup of tea (no extra milk - used left over from my cup) = 0 points
Total for breakfast = 3.0 points
Total for today = 3.0 points

Snack (9.40am)
Tub of Ski D'lite yoghurt = 1.5 points
Water = 0 points
Total for snack = 1.5 points
Total for today = 4.5 points

Lunch (12.00pm)
Roast lamb and salad sandwich = 4.5 points
Banana = 1.5 points
Water = 0 points
Total for lunch = 6 points
Total for today = 10.5 points

Snack (3.15pm)
Apple = 1 point
Total for snack = 1 point
Total for today = 11.5 points

Snack (5.15pm)
2 corn thins with vegimite = 0.5 points
Total for snack = 0.5 points
Total for today = 12.0 points

Snack (6.00pm)
2 corn thins, plain = 0.5 points
Total for snack = 0.5 points
Total for today = 13.0 points

Dinner (7.30pm)
Handful of Red Rock Deli chips = 4 points
Water = 0 points
Cup of coke = 2 points
Spaghetti = 1.5 points
with Bolognaise (made of mince, canned beans, lots of vegies, tomato) = 1.5 points
More Water = 0 points
Total for dinner = 9 points
Total for today = 21.0 points

Dessert (9.00pm)
Strawberries with cream = 16.5 points
(made with fresh strawberries soaked in contreau, then use the sauce to mix with cream and some strawberry puree, sprinkle chocolate on top - our lovely guests brought these in individual bowls, and so although I'd planned to stop at those 21 points, this sort of blew that out of the water... then when I used the recipie builder to estimate the damage...ouch!)
Total for dessert = 16.5 points
Total for today = 37.5 points

My Thoughts on the Day:
ouch that was a lot of points in one dessert! And hard to say no too. We had 2 good friends over for dinner, and they brought the chips, coke, and dessert. I'm not sure how to avoid this sort of situation where I feel like a) it's polite and b) it's part of being in the group to have a bit of what they bring (especially the desserts, which had clearly taken lots of time) - but with the dessert I had no control over serving sizes. Maybe I have to just say no, or not eat it all, and I should have just avoided the coke and chips, but one good thing is that I tracked them all - and now I know just how much I should get up and go do some exercise!! Yikes!

xx

WI Day Today!! (H: 86.7) (WI: 86.7)

Weigh in today!! I've decided it means today is a new start - a chance to go, be weighed, recommit and as part of that, have a week of points tracking. Core is great - I really like it, but I went off track in 2 ways.

1. I started being very lose with my definition of "core food" - somehow hot cross buns became just like wholegrain bread, diet icecream became the same as skim milk, and...

2. ...little things like chocolates, jaffas, cake slices, biscuits just "snuck in" - as a "healthy balance". Aiiiiiieee.

It's so easy when I'm out of my normal comfort zone and with other people eating a certain way, to just keep eating. Yikes! Therefore, today is a fresh start.

xx

After WI:
Gross, I put on 1.5kg this week. That's a lot of eating. But I'm refocussed and not giving up. And I bought a tracking journal - back to points for me!

And, in the grossest unfairness ever, after WI I had a really upset stomache, went to the bathroom and seriously must have lost like 2kg. And my first thought was "why couldn't this have happened an hour ago??" lol, hmm. Anyway, what's done is done and I'm on track for next week - bring it on!

xx

A pretty sucky day (H: 86.7)

Today was pretty sucky. Work was alright, I caught up with 2 good friends M and K who I hadn't seen for a while for lunch, but the work itself is a bit mind-numbing. But more D and I had a cranky morning and I just felt a bit blah all day.

WI tomorrow, and the only question is how much I'm going to gain.

x

Back home, and a little heavier (86.3)

I had an awesome long weekend - at first I thought I would be super good and lose weight as well, but then I thought I would just relax and enjoy it - choose to relax and enjoy it - and get back on track when I get home.

So, I relaxed, I enjoyed, and now it's time to 

get back on track!

So, what did I do? Well, I went away with the Christian group from my uni to hear some talks on ethics, which were awesome. Although I must say, we Christians have got the junk food thing bad... we had big breakfasts, desserts at lunch and dinner, morning and afternoon tea (biscuits, cakes, 

you name it) and of course, discussion group time had lollies, m&ms, chips, chocolates - yikes! Haha, considering the number of hot cross buns and easter eggs, I think my little gain was not too bad! :D Just as long as that's all it is - a little gain and now back on track, like a train to a destination - choo choo!

What else can I say? D bought me a great little easter lindt bunny

 (yum!) and I bought him an egg (which melted on the way up, lol, so he got an 'easter sculpture').  We went for a run together, and a swim one morning (I love swimming, so nice!). The talks were awesome and I learnt so much - esp about how to critically think about what is behind what ppl say  about certain views. Loved it!

And Monday night was our first dinner to meet the people we're going to India with!! I can't wait!!

Other news - today I started back at work. And I found myself craving the hot chocolates, the coffees, the food court food, the chocolate treats - so tomorrow the plan is to go prepared with stacks of carrots! 

D was sick today so he stayed home, but he was so nice, he did washing, grocery shopping AND cooked a roast for dinner! How lucky am I! 

Well, that's all for now - thank you for all the lovely comments! It was so nice to come back and see some comments on a post, I love reading other people's blogs and so far at least I feel so much more accountable knowing there are people reading :D

So, I'll leave you with a pic of me with some of the other great people from this weekend - I'm on the right in the black. There's a new photo on the RHS of me and D catching up on the study - my bum hardly fits on the chair!! A little reminder of how good it was to go away and learn, fellowship, and have fun, but also that I have some real weight to lose!

To Do:

* Take vegies and healthy food to work tomorrow

* Uni reading

* WI Thurs morning

* Finish unit one before meeting on Monday

* Confirm dinner with J&A Friday night

* Turn memos into thesis draft

* Library day for thesis

xx

A new day (H: 85.9)

Today is a new day: 

Yesterday may have been a mini-tragedy, but today is a new day.

Today is also the day we go to camp - we're going out to dinner tonight and then out until Monday lunch at camp, and dinner Monday night. That's 12 meals in a row I have almost no control over, and 1 were we eat out but I get to order. So the challenge - portion size!

Of course the other challenge right now - uni work!

I seem to only ever be able to do one thing really well at a time. So if I'm having some success with ww (which despite 2 boo-boos in the last 2 days I am), I seem to use a lot of time on ww boards, blogs, reading the material, going for walks... and my uni work suffers. So the challenge this week is perspective and balance, I'll let you know how I go.

xx

Another big sleep! (H:85.8)

Shin Splint ->>

I had another big sleep last night, it's weird being so tired.

We had a yum dinner last night. Tuesday dinner's are always a bit weird because I cook them, then we take them to bible study and heat them up to eat - cause we start driving down when D gets home from work. I could eat mine earlier, but I really like eating with him (even if we're on different sides of the room eating from tupperware!)

Anyway, I baked some potato, pumpkin and sweet potato with a little bit of olive oil, some chilli flakes, basil and oregano. With it we had chicken (one drumstick for me, 2 for D) that had been marinated and then cooked in the oven, and this yum vegie mix - basically stacks of fresh vegies (mushroom, zucchini, carrot, tomato), onion and garlic, and some red kidney beans, with a splash of soy sauce. It was really yum - a very garlic soy gourmet vegie thing. Today I'm going to cook up some pasta and we'll have the rest of the vegies (there's a whole bowl full left!) stirred through pasta - yum!

Time for a quick run, then to the library for "operation thesis"!!

xx

Ow! Ow! Ow!

I just did my run, and OW! My shins are so sore, and my ankle too. I couldn't finish the last run - not because I was tired (although I was) but because the jolting on my shins was so sore.

I posted for advice on the ww board, and have heard to drink more water, and that it's probably a shin splint and to rest. I tell you, whatever it is, it hurts.

Has this happened to anyone else? What do I do? I don't want to stop running, I'm only just getting into it!!

xx

UPDATE AT END OF DAY:

Eugh, I so could have had a better day than I had today. I had my run, but then I settled down to read blogs and the ww boards. "Just a quick read" before heading into uni... ha! I didn't even make it in to uni! I didn't even really make it off the couch!

I ate ok mostly - had my vegies with pasta, but boy did I blow it with a pizza. And I ordered the pizza knowing I shouldn't and that I had better options! Aaauuuuggghhhh... self sabotaging.

Then D came home, and he's gone to TKD now - it's a black belt training session so I couldn't even go with him. I feel like I've spent the whole day in a 2.5m x 2.5m box - which really - I have. Except for my run, thank goodness for that.

I didn't even really get through my uni readings. Hah - didn't "really" get through... I barely started! Seriously, I read like one or two pages.

1-2 pages!

Eugh! I feel so gross.

I don't get it! I have a great loss of 1.3kg, then I sabotage with 10 frankfurts! And then almost a whole pizza!

It's like a don't even want this, but I do. And now work days have changed and I'm changing meeting times again (now to Thursdays) I really need to take it seriously. But it's just one more bad day.

I watched so much TV today - some oprah, some movie, some all saints, some saints and sinners, some news, some deal or no deal, some friends, some neighbours, some biggest loser, some, I don't even know. I need to turn off the tv and do something productive with my days. I hope I'm not the only one who has these days.


xx

WI Day Today (H: 85.5) (WI: 85.3 = -1.3!!)

BEFORE WEIGH IN:

Oooh, I hope my home scales are accurate! That would be a 1kg loss, and I really could use that!!

I feel so nervous and bloated and heavy - especially with going to a new meeting! I just really really want a loss...

update: after going to the bathroom, scales were 85.1, but 85.8 with clothes and shoes on. When I take off the shoes they're 85.4. I really want to weigh with my shoes off! My other havaianas are 300g, these are 400g (they're B's thongs) - but then I don't want to be too legalistic either. And I know if I take my shoes off this time, I will tell myself I have to keep taking them off every time.

Oh, too hard.

xx

AFTER WEIGH IN:

What a loss!! With SHOES ON I stepped on those scales at WI and recorded a RECORD loss of 1.3kg!!

Now, I know it's in the morning, and I didn't eat breakfast, and I did my spitting thing, but that's an awesome loss!! I'm so fired up and ready to hit this week hard - wow! I messaged D and he sent me back a very sweet and funny message, and I messaged my mum too - good new like this should be scared!

Bye bye plateau, hello weight loss!

The only down side is I didn't eat until the meeting - so I drank a whole bottle of water (good), had a crispy cherry bar (1.5 points, not too bad) then went to m&ds to get my faithful brown havaianas and ate left over party food - namely 2 pieces of bread (not too bad) and 10 frankfurts. 10! Clearly not eating until after WI made me a bit too hungry!

In other news, NT, a good family friend was at the meeting today, which was a bit of a surprise and very nice. We went for a skim cap (I had skim tea) after the meeting and caught up. I just hope she's a bit discrete about me being on ww!! But even if she's not, surely it will be good motivation to keep going. Shazzywomble (who's blog I read and who's on the ww boards - and who's lost 50kg!) has said that it helps keep her accountable and keeps her from giving up.

Just saw on the ww planner exactly what I was fearing - they put cocktail frankfurts at 2 points a serve. If that's 2 points per frankfurt (which I think it is), that means I just ate 20 points - not to mention tomato sauce!

Sigh, well, there's nothing I can do about it now but keep moving forward.

All 1.3kg less of me!

xx

ps: in tangible results, my bmi has not gone from 30.2 to 29.5 - under 30! yay!

15 hours of sleep!! (H: 85.7)

I went to sleep yesterday a bit after 5pm, and woke up this morning at a few minutes to 8am. That's almost haven't had a sleep that long for ages - I was so tired.

This weekend we had my brother J's 21st birthday, and what an event it was! 180 people 15 hours sleep! I over to hang out, have dinner and celebrate. It was heaps of fun and we really enjoyed it, and it was a good change to put some funny memories (like the time he though hairspray was deodorant, lol) - it meant some late nights though - we left sat night at 2am, and the night before were up with D's parents and friend H making ricepaper rolls til after 12:30am! Through in an engagement party on Saturday daytime, setting up at church (from 9am!) on Sunday and a book club hosted at our place on Sunday at 1pm, we had a busy weekend!! Still, it was a lot of fun, and now I've had a long long sleep, I feel refreshed :D

But, in all the busyness, I just tried to eat ok-ish, and didn't fit in any runs, and probably blew the eating. Not a binge or anything like that, just lots of food all weekend. Still, for the weekend it was, it could have been worse! Yesterday the scales at home said 86.5 (noooooo!! back again!) but today they're on 85.7, and I'm hoping they'll go down some more soon! I don't know if anyone else has found this (or if it's too much info for this blog), but food just doesn't pass through me much on ww - even though I'm eating lots still, and I'm drinking heaps of water, lots of whole grains, fruits and vegies, dairy, even metamucil. Even with exercise. So we dropped into a chemist yesterday and hopefully will clear that up soon. Lol, D reckons the weight gain is just build up inside, accounting for the 200g a day or so build up! I hope he's right - that would mean a good loss if this stuff I got works! I'd like to know if I'm the only one experiencing this, but it's not the sort of thing you can just ask someone! So if anyone reads this and feels game to comment - I'm listenning.

In other news - I did a week 3 c25k run today! And it wasn't too hard!! I didn't quite get through the second (and last) 3 minute run, but the first one I really focused on my form and I think I did pretty well. By the end of the official run, I was out of the park and over the bridge - which is pretty good I think! I'd like to get around the corner by the end of the week. Then I did my cool down, warm up and started again! I thought I'd really flake during the 3rd 3 minute run, (ie the first 3min run after restarting) but then I just made myself go until my cool down starting place. Yay! So I'm feeling a bit back on track which is good.

Although I realised, cause I did the Robert Ullruy podcast first, then went to the christian podcast for starting a new, and there's something that makes me run slower about a track that sings "my pillow is deep, the blankets warm and my bed is soft... i can think of a hundred million reasons not to get up today"!! Lol, when running after half an hour of already doing running it makes the idea of stopping for a nap very tempting! haha

This week is about getting back on track - it won't be easy, there's an ETC meeting tonight, Bible Study tomorrow, ETC Thurs - Mon and India dinner on Monday night!! But it'll just have to be ok - I'm really really ready to lose some serious numbers, and I know I'm getting a bit fitter, I can feel it in my clothes and I saw it last week with the cm's going down.

Speaking of which, I have a question - I don't know whether to add photos to this blog. So far I've tried to keep it pretty anonymous, no pictures, real names, addresses, etc. But then I find it so encouraging when I see other people's blogs with pictures, and see them actually getting smaller. Any bloggers reading this who want to let me know how you deal with this tension between internet safety and photo posting, I'd love to hear what you think.

To Do:
* get into c&e readings
* c&e week 3 done
* c&e week 4 done
* cl week 3 done
* cl readings to week 4 done
* read ethics book (done!)
* Library day on Thesis - Wed with LC
* Library day on Thesis - Thurs with JD
* Go to WI Tues 10am (done!)

xx

Up again??! (H:85.5)

The scales are higher today again. I don't get it - I'm eating the same (or a bit less cause I'm scared of the scales effect!) and doing my exercise. But the scales are higher??

I put a post on the WW board about it, asking why it goes up over the weekend, and if it does for anyone else, and everyone was like "cut out alcohol" but I don't really drink! I had one glass of wine yesterday! I think I'm eating healthy::

B - vegemite toast, sml bread, sml spinach, 1/3 piece bacon; skim chai; lots of water
S - fresh pear
L - banana/skim milk/vanilla essence/ice frappe
S - fresh carrot, water
D - chicken drumstick cooked in marinade (by me at home, no oil), brown rice, steam vegies; glass of white wine, water
S - 1 prawn; apple juice (1/4 cup apple juice + water)

I really think that's not so unhealthy, I don't understand!

Maybe I need to go to the bathroom more!!

In other news, D's parents and friend HG came over last night to help make vietnamese rice paper rolls for J's 21st tonight - we made about 200!!! It took us til well after midnight, but it was really fun. They're such lovely in-laws, D's mum even bought heaps of the ingredients and they cooked and sliced the pork at home for us. I love learning how to cook traditional vietnamese food, and I tell you what, D's mum is a great teacher!

Exercise: I haven't gone for a run yet today. We woke up about 8am, and D's gone to TKD but I have a mountain of washing up after last night's extravaganza, and I feel like I don't really want to (aren't I a sook this morning...), cause it will be hard! I need to walk up to the chem's first, so maybe I can do that and then go running (then hit this washing up!)

I'm looking forward to J's party tonight - I can't believe there's 150ppl already rsvp'ed yes! My brother is a popular man. Although before that is K&J's engagement party over lunch. Big day!

To Do:
* finish speech and email to F & B (done!)
* washing up (done!)
* c25k run - week 3 run 1 (done! - took me til 17.3.08 but it's done!)
* take rolls, rice cooker, tupperware, sliced cucumber to m&ds (done! ~sorry I forgot the cucumber)
* engagement present for K&J (done!)

This always happens on Friday.. the scales start going up (H: 85.3)

Over the last 3 days my home scales have gone 84.7 > 84.9 > 85.3

Nooooooo

At this rate it will be back to 86.5 on Monday!!

To Do:
* Make a copy of m&d's wedding photo for frame
* Tidy unit for in-law visit (done - and it looks great!)

xx

Let's go running, let's go, woop woop! (H: 84.9)

Time for this morning's c25k run! I found a podcast with Christian Indie music on it (same format as Robert Ullruy's - tells you when to run and walk) so I might give it a go today. My challenge today is to NOT STOP during those 90 second runs - especially the last one!!

The rest of the day is for sitting at my desk and working hard! This is my study day, I'll let you know how I go.

Ooh, one thing I think I learnt though - I feel today like I can still feel last night's dinner in my belly. I think I should stop eating late at night. I know they say it's just calories in vs calories out and time of day doesn't really affect it, but I feel like it does - like (and I know this probably is totally scientifically wrong) the food isn't digesting while I sleep. Ew.

xx

I did it! Yay for me! I tried a different podcast today - a christian version of the c25k podcasts (ie a guy tells you when to run and when to walk, but over Christian music, you can download it here. It was a nice change from the techno beats of Ullruy's podcasts, but I didn't get nearly as far - I think because the music is more cruisy and laidback, I ran slower, and noticeable in the walks between the runs, I walked slower. But I still made it without stopping! And because I hadn't gone as far (I only got as far as my first c25k run, which is 6 runs ago now!) I did the whole of my track, rather than turning around halfway. I went further than I thought I would before the half hour ran out, and then in a moment of possible madness, decided to start again. So after the 5 minute cool down I restarted with a 5 minute warm up (so I had a good 10 minute rest inbetween) and fit in 2 more runs! Hopefully that will help for next week, when I'm supposed to do 3 minute runs!! (with 3 minute walks) - a big change from 90seconds! I've discovered that my total run is 4.51km by using mapmyrun.com, wow! So I should be able to run the whole way by the time I finish this course - and then some! Well, then 490m more to bring it to 5km, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it! Ooh, and another good thing is I got 4 bonus points! for my run.

I'm kind of looking forward to Saturday's run now!

Anyway, for the rest of the day I have to finish off all the to-do lists on this blog (and then some!) so I'm off to a shower then my desk. While running I thought of 2 little rewards for my thesis:

* finish bibliograph = call grandma and ask her to teach me to play golf
* finish 4,000 words (good words!) = call Nan and organise to do a day's study at her place (change of scenery and good company :D)

D's playing in corporate games, volleyball, tonight so I'm going to watch him at 6pm. So I have at least 7 solid hours available to me to study. Wish me luck!!

To Do:
* call grandma to arrange golf lesson
* cl readings for Friday
* buy ingredients for viet rolls (done!)
* withdraw from property subject (done!)
* collect photo for 3-frame (done!)
* NRMA survey
* Buy easter eggs for Sunday (done!)
* Transpose India dates to calendar (done!)
* make appointment for vaccination
* apply for visa!

xx

Nighttime Note: Well, after a mostly good day, I went and caught up with CC (soon to be CS!) for dinner and we had pumpkin risotto and wine! I only had a small small glass of wine, but watching the risotto get made was eye-openning - stacks of butter and cheese, cripes! Very delicious, but something to definitely not order off a restaurant menu...

I swam! (H: 84.7)

I had such a fun day today! I left here about 8am to go visit AP, and we went for a 'jalk' (part jog, mostly walk) around Maroubra, and had a good catch up at the same time. I really liked it, and after we had some diet jelly (yum, in 3 flavours!), slathered on the sunscreen, and then went for a swim!! It was just as nice as I'd imagined - although because of the break between the jalk and the swim the water was more 'brrr cold' getting in than 'aaahhh cold'. It wasn't particularly intense in terms of exercise, although we did 3 short runs (1 on sand!!) but we moved lots, and had a good chance to catch up and chat, and the best bit was I'm noticeably fitter than last time I went for a jalk with AP.

AP is actually one of my inspirations on this journey - she has lost something like 12 or 14 kgs using jenny craig (over several months) - but I think it's not so much the eating that impresses me (A. I can't afford to buy the jenny craig meals and B. I think learning the WW skills and implementing them as I go will hold me better in the long run) but the way she's exercising! I used to flat with AP when we started uni, and she was not big on exercising - even walking the dog. NOW, she runs almost every day, can run the whole length of maroubra beach (on sand!) and is keen to swim after. Wow!

The rest of my day I caught up with another friend EMP for coffee (well, a skim blueberry smoothie - totally worth the 4.5 points!) and we dropped in on a friend of hers called Rach, then I picked up D and we went down so he could train at TKD.
I have another little goal / idea - I'd like to be able to do tkd (it's like 10 points an hour!!), so we're thinking of D teaching the mixed Saturday morning classes and I'd participate. The only thing is I can't do 3 times a week, so it's hard to keep up with other ppl doing it. Oooh, but those exercise points!

I'm really liking the core plan so far - although I find I eat a lot less. Today I had:
B - egg on toast + water
S - diet jelly + vegemite toast + water
L - blueberry smoothie + water (although I would have eaten more if I could have)
S - water
D - brown rice with mince/spinach/carrot/soy sauce/lemongrass/chilli/hoisin sauce dish. yum! + water
... I just wasn't that hungry most of the day. And when I was hungry, I had no access to food!

At least my water intake is definitely up!

To Do:
* bib.li.o.gra.phy (done!!!)
* cl readings for Friday
* shopping for making ricepaper rolls on Fri night
* call about work days (left a message...)
* call about tutoring
* 8am: c25k run wk2 run3 (done!)

xx

I have a secret dream...

... I want to run a marathon.

Come on big bum, run!

I so don't feel that much like running right now. I mean, I want to feel the way I feel after a run, but I so don't want to actually do the run. I'm here, in my running clothes, socks and shoes on, blogging about how I don't feel like going running. After such a crappy result at WI yesterday, it seems a waste of time - futile. But I said I would, so I will.

In other news, I'm joining the Core Plan (where you don't count "points" for foods, you just eat off this big list of foods, til you're full, but not til you're over-full). Hope it helps!

xx

UH OH: It's almost 2 hours after that post and I'm still here, in my running gear, reading blogs and WW message boards, still haven't run. Hmmmm

YES! I DID IT! Finally, after 2 hours of procrastinating and telling myself it'd be futile I got off my ass and went for my run! I'm super-fair, and feel the sun very easily, so running at 10am rather than 8am was a good reminder of the benefits of just getting up and doing it early - it's harder when it's hotter!

It was a good and a bad run. I ran further than I had before (yay!), just by a metre or two, but I've realised I'm going about 30 or more metres further now than when I started (yay again!) and that will soon enough turn into kms if I just keep going at it. I also ran better - the first half was good, and I know I ran faster and with better form (even if I did walk a bit slower between runs cause I was more puffed!). That said, the last two runs were hard - I actually walked for a few steps in the 5th run (although I ran through a few seconds of the walk time to try and make up for it, lol), and actually didn't make the 6th run. I walked probably half of it, trying to run a few steps now and then. That makes me really unfit! But it's ok - I'll keep doing it. I'll go on Thursday, and maybe do this run again on Saturday if I still can't make it the whole way. But then again, with Dave behind me I did make it the whole way last time (although not with as good a form or as fast), so I will just have to push harder on Thursday and make it!

Every time I finish a run I think about how nice it would be to have a swim (probably cause I'm so hot and sweaty!). Tomorrow I'd like to do something about that - in fact, by the end of tomorrow I'll go for a swim. It's not even like I have the excuse of budget, cause I live in Sydney for goodness sake, and there's heaps of free beach pools! I think I'll actually message AP and ask if she wants to go with me tomorrow morning. Sounds like fun!

To Do:
* Call AP about swimming tomorrow (done!)
* c&e readings
* thesis bibliography (this is getting ridiculous)(done!)
* bring in the washing (done!)
* finish washing up (done - thanks D!)
* make the bed (done!)
* sort out the filing on our bedside tables
* c&e letter
* c&e tax advice
* buy bread and milk (done!)

xx

A pair of brown havaianas (-0.7, still)

That's all I lost today. Actually, I didn't really lose at all. I weighed exactly the same. The only thing I can say is that I wore my havaianas this week, that I'd taken off last week. So I guess I actually lost 300g.

After such a hard week of huffing and puffing and tracking, that sux.

So what did I do? I came home, ate two chocolates, a baileys with milk (skim, but only cause that's all we had), made buttered popcorn and was going to eat the whole batch but D came home. I was like "I weigh the same! Let's just go get KFC" but he was like "that's still good, you didn't put on weight and with all your exercise I bet it's muscle". Hmph. Amazingly he was even positive about staying the same.

The one good news? I lost average 2cm from my measurements. So maybe it is working?

Then again, someone else who started the same day as me got her bookmark for losing 5kg at today's meeting. It made my total loss of 0.7kg look pretty crappy..

BUT I'm not giving up - tomorrow I'm running again.

xx

I'm happy!

I've been having such a happy day! I think yesterday I felt gross cause I didn't exercise, but today has been a day of being chirpy & cheerful :D

We had a good morning - and D came with my on my run! Lol, he's so great, I was nervous about going with him (he's SO fit - 4th dan blackbelt in TKD, vs me, struggling through my first week of 60 second runs!). But he made it so much fun, even what he originally came out wearing with his joggers had me laughing so hard before we started. It was really fun to go out together and I made it! The last 90 second run was sooo hard, but gee I felt a sense of pride when I finished. And I'm actually looking forward to the next one!

Ooh, by the way, on the theme of exercise, I tried some pushups tonight (watching So You Think You Can Dance
with my legs on the couch and my arms on the floor and I did 10 (they're hard!). So I'm feeling really good.

I also got back on track with my eating, yay! Yesterday was such an intense eating day, with prayer breakfast, then LR's 21st for lunch, and CC's hens night for dinner (a lebanese feast!) so I'm glad today was better. Here's a quick timeline of my day:
8am wake up and get out of bed (already in my running top and trakkies, lol)
8:30am go for my first week 2 c25k run (and survive it!)
9:00am get back home, have a shower
10am church - IT was there again, which was kind of cool. It's encouraging seeing new people. Awesome talk on Exodus, heaps encouraging. And on the way down (and back) we sang super-loud to my new theme song (yes, I have a theme song!) - "Moving Forward" by Hoobastank. Awesome ^^

And I take, the first step of a million more.
And I'll make mistakes I've never made before.
But at least I'm moving forward, at least I'm moving forward.
At least I'm moving forward...

I wonder if, the journey will be,
Shorter as I hope, or much longer than it seems.
But either way, I've made up my mind.
I'm through feeling scared, I'm leaving that behind.

Sooo, Now it's time to gooo.

And I take, the first step of a million more.
And I'll make mistakes I've never made before.
But at least I'm moving forward, at least I'm moving forward.
At least I'm moving forward...

12pm went shopping, bought JS's 21st present (ipod) and negotiated the price down by 10%, at Myer!! While shopping we bought popcorn to snack on - air-popped of course.
1pm lunch with D's parents (pie, so many points! but with green tea and with fruit salad for dessert
4pm come home for a nap, mmm, I love my naps
8pm dinner - my healthy tuna/egg salad with lots of water (flavoured with orange pieces, yum!)
now filling in my blog (obviously) and watching transformers with D, he's like a kid in a candy store!

It might not sound like the most interesting day every, but I loved it and had so much fun :D Ooh, and I'm currently at 11,582 steps!! Go me! hehe

The only thing still to do is some serious uni work, but I'm kind of keen for WI tomorrow. Although I'm heavier after yesterday, I feel back on track and I'm feeling glad. In fact, I'm happy and feeling on track and really happy. *smile!*

To Do:
* that bibliography! (done!)
* finish CL reading (done!)
* c&e reading for this week
* c&e lecture (done!)
* c&e workshop (done!)

xx

I feel gross

Today started well - we woke up early (6:30! Alarm was going off since 6!) and went down to our church's prayer breakfast, which was good, and had weetbix, skim milk, little bit of yoghurt and fresh fruit. We left about 10:15 and headed home, but by the time we got home I felt gross. We went to L's 21st, which was lovely - she's so good for my brother, and it was so nicely set up - there was lots of fresh fruit and lunch was wraps and sandwiches, and dessert was lots (and I mean LOTS) of fresh fruit, which I ate lots of. Probably too much. My downfall was punch - she had these amazing punches (one passionfruit, one strawberry/mint, etc), and I had 3 glasses! It was so much fun though, and good to meet new people and catch up with some old friends, as well as meet L's family.

She had the most nicest speeches I've heard for a long time, and really creatively done. And she said the most lovely and articulate thank you speech. It was really nice to be a part of it.

However, feeling gross, we left by about 3pm, and came home and went to sleep. I only just woke up, 3 hours later, because some downstairs neighbour was planing Usher at about 1000 decibles, and arguing about a dog.

Tonight I my friend's CC's hens night, and I'm looking forward to it, but I've eated almost all my points (18.5 already today!) so I'm a bit nervous about blowing all my hard work (especially bc the scales went down a little further!) and I feel a bit gross and not really like eating at all, or dancing. Still, a hens night is a hens night and I want to be there.

Ooh, ooh, and last night was our 6 months of being married date night! We went to a vietnamese restaurant and had pho (9 points) and then to the lindt cafe where we shared a hot chocolate and the most expensive piece of cake ever ($11.50!!) But it was all in my points and SO much fun. And after we saw "Run Fatboy Run" at the movies - so funny! Totally inspired me to become a runner. Awesome.

So, that's all for me. I might actually try and go for a run, thinking of that movie. Just goes to show, it's better (for me at least) to go in the morning, so I actually go.

xx

The scales they are a-moving!

This morning, I stepped on those scales, the ones at home not the WW WI scales, and they were going down! ooh I'm so excited! They were hovering between 86-87 for the last few days, and this morning they were 85.4! Now, I know that's not actually my weight, because these are pretty non-exact scales I bought from woolworths for less than $20, and they always show me as less than the WW scales (or any other scales actually, but it's better than being shown as more!) BUT that doesn't matter cause it's not the numbers I'm excited about but the DIRECTION of the scales - DOWN!!

So, a couple of achievements since my last post:
* I made it to 10,000 steps! This was actually a bit harder yesterday, because despite going for my c25k jog (almost 5,000 steps) and a walk with the girls yesterday, I still ended up having to march on the spot in my loungeroom to get the last 600 steps (much to D's amusement!)
* I made healthy mcdonalds choices (I know, "is that even possible??" I hear you say) - you bet! I had a large diet coke (ok so not "healthy" but at least points-free) and their new apple pieces. go me!
* I saw my friends :D
* I made a start on my study, and noticed that I'm feeling less stressed out

So, they're just little steps, but every bit helps :D

Yesterday, after getting back from my run, having some breakfast and doing yesterday's blog, I called DJ and caught up with her. We went to Koorong to buy a present for L's 21st (a great book called "proclaiming the gospel" by John Dickson which I would totally recommend for all Christians to read), and had a good chat, then went to HW's place for lunch (a nutella sandwich - not the most healthy, but not the worst either) and the 3 of us went for a walk through the park. We hung out for a bit then when HW and B had to go food shopping DJ and I left and went to MR's place, to pick him up and go for maccas and a chocolate milkshake (danger danger!). Instead though, we went to a gelato place (lol I basically drove there instead) and I had a kid's scoop of lemon sorbet (2 points) and then we went to maccas where I had diet coke and apple slices (total = 0.5 points). Then after dropping DJ and MR home, I went grocery shopping (and I did good! fruit, vegies, wholegrain bread, WW bars, yoghurt for (my husband) D, normal bars for D and toothbrushes) and home to unpack and start to cook dinner. It was a good fulfilling day, and I got to see my 3 best friends! :D

All in all, a happy day.

Today I have a challenge though... I want to do set exercise again (4th day in a row!) but not walking, cause my feet are so sore! Maybe a swim (ideally) or something else for half an hour. I might try sit ups, push ups, squats, star jumps, lunges, around my unit, or a Denise Austin video. Hmm, I was about to write that I don't know what I could do - but there's a few options I guess! I fact, I might do the "Super Stomachs" video now. haha, we bought these OLD 80's exercise videos from a garage sale - I've only done one of them so far. They're pretty funny!

To do today:
* Go to CL lecture (done!)
* Go to CL workshop (done!)
* Reading for CL (done!)
* Denise Austin stomach DVD (done - ouch!)
* Start Thesis Bibliography!! (done!)
* Post mail (stamped, gotta send - done!)

xx

(ps: in some other exciting news - today is 6 months since D & I got married!)

xx

Running Champ! :D

Ok, so I'm not quite as fit as the girl in this pic just yet, BUT I've completed my 3rd c25k run (!!!) AND I went a bit further, a bit faster and a bit better than the last time. Especially, I didn't have to stop, even though it was a bit of a killer by the end. Yay!

More good news - doing today's run makes today my 3rd straight day of doing planned exercise (omg is it really me?) and I actually enjoy it. I mean, its not super-intense, just the two runs and an hour's walk over 3 days, but I was quite looking forward to getting out each time. I'm nervous though, next c25k run is level 2!! Which means 90 second runs instead of 60 seconds, and shorter breaks in between - eek!

In other news, we had my dad's birthday celebration last night and I was good! We had roast meat with vegies and a potato/sweet potato/pumpkin dish - so I filled half my plate with point-free vegies (yum!) and 3 slices of meat, and then added just the smallest amount of the potato thing - like one tbsp. And I chose diet softdrinks and water, passed on all but the smallest bit of wine (like, I had 1/4 of a small glass) and I was so full. We had brie with crackers and dip before dinner, so I watched how many I had and tracked them, and for dessert I filled up on fruit (even choosing the fresh, not dried fruit) and passed on the baklava. I had the smallest taste of cake, which was enough and treated myself to one ferrero rocher. And the best bit? I was still totally full. In fact, I was quite bloated. But I was under my points for the day!! And I didn't even have to go into my exercise points! That's my little achievement, to have done a celebration and stayed on track, yay!

AND just one more achievement, I walked over 11,000 steps yesterday! That makes for one very happy pedometre.

So, I still have a long way to go to 58kg, and this is just the beginning, and it's only Thursday and WI isn't til Monday, but I feel ontrack and I tell you what, it feels better than feeling out of control. And hopefully, I'll get my 500g loss come Monday, that would be a very nice bonus.

Other things to do today:
* hang out the washing (done!)
* buy L a 21st present (done!)
* call Miss D about a catch up (done!)
* finish CL readings (done!)
* thesis bibliography (gotta start that huh)(done!)

xx

Exerciser Extraordinaire

I am a little energiser exercise bunny! Ok, well not so little just yet, but I will be! After my 'jalk' (little bit of jog, lots of walk) yesterday using the c25k program - today is meant to be a day off. So, I walked with D up to the station, and then walked to our amazing park and kept on walking for just over an hour. Which, can I proudly say, is equal to 4 bonus points! yay me! It also took me to 7670 steps on my very happy pedometre, and all by 9am.

The c25k program is awesome, mostly because it comes with podcasts. D's very generous parents gave me an ipod nano that they got with a new computer, so I've loaded it up with the c25k podcasts and it's great to have some music and a person in your ear telling you what to do, when to run, when to go back to a brisk walk. AND I recently discovered the most amazing park near our place - with a golf course and a river and sports fields and tennis courts and little bridges - that I'd never known existed! So I can go out and it's a really nice feeling, there's shade on the bike/walk path, there's a river, there's no traffic. It really made my run yesterday and walk today feel like 'me time'.

Oooh, another little achievement, is that I stuck under my points yesterday! I'm allowed 21, and I only used 20! yay! And I also earned 2.5 bonus points which are sitting happily saved.

So, now to shower, make myself a yum banana smoothie (new discovery - a banana, cup of skim milk, handful of ice, vanilla essence and blend) for breakfast and settle down to some hard-core uni work.

This is the week I will look forward to WI

xx

Everyone else's blog has a picture...

so here's virtual me at starting weight! check out the RHS margin for virtual me @ 58kg :D

WI: my first gain (-0.7)

Well, weigh in (WI) was yesterday, and I put on 400g. But you know, 400g in the scheme of things is not un-recoverable. To be honest, I sneakily slipped off my shoes, and those little brown havianas are about 300g, so it was really 700g I put on, but I didn't want to face it. The only relief was that the person before me in the WI put on weight too - which sounds slack but the staff were saying it's common around week 4 to put on weight. They said they don't know why. But, looking over my past week, I have a few hunches.

• I stopped exercising. Pretty much at all.
• I skipped breakfast and then splurged through the day
• I stopped drinking all my water, then ate when I was thirsty, or worse, drank softdrinks (overweight people just don't have the calories to waste on liquids)
  
• I ate a lot, and didn't track it - I had ice-cream, cake, pastas, soft drinks, alcohol, hungry jacks, macdonalds (ha! it's amazing it was only 400g!)
• When I did track, I went past 30-40 points (instead of the 20 I'm meant to stick to!!)

So, now I know what to change at least!!

It was really stressful last night and today, and I snapped at D this morning. Badly. I just felt out of control again, and I didn't want to end up giving in to being out of control, or over-controlling either. Not easy.

Today, so far I've been good. I'm still within my points and I think I've done OK - toast with vegimite, skim chai, poached egg and toast, lamb with pasta, lots of water, sprite zero, sugarfree gum. I mean, it's not the best, but I avoided the butter, the fried egg, the full cream milk, the normal soft drink, the takeaway. So, fingers crossed it keeps going to the end of today!! Then, start again tomorrow.

It doesn't matter how small a loss is, as long as it's a loss. So, I gotta keep losing.

xx

My first post (-1.1)

Starting off! I've just read so many blogs from links on WW boards and browsing through links to those blogs and I think I could do it too. Mostly it's just so inspiring, people losing 30kg's or more, and being able to look back and see their journeys. Incredible.

Today is WI at WW, 3rd one so far. I started at 87.2kg, then was 86.6, then 86.1, so I'm hoping hoping hoping this week is a loss. I didn't track though, or really exercise, so I don't think it'll happen, but I hope.

And either way, I'm not giving up. If I've realised one thing, it's that this will only be successful if I stay at it. I want to be 58kgs. And the scary thing, is that is inside my 'healthy weight range'. Damn.

My hope, is that I get to 58kgs, then I can show my amazingly supportive husband 'D' this blog and he can see my journey through. If I get to that, D, I love you, and you have been so amazingly supportive thru these first 2 weeks. This is for you, and one day, if we're so blessed, for our little yoda :)

xx