Joining the Fun

Hi everyone!

Not quite sure that I need yet another blog to keep up with but how can I resist? I am joining the fun!!

I joined a gym a month or so ago and WW became my friend last week! I lost 2.2kg in the first week so it was very encouraging! Just another 29kg to go! yes my friends, you heard me right! I have a personal goal for Christmas so will let you know if I get there.

It's funny how so many women are always trying to lose weight! I haven't been in this "place" for a while (which is not to say I haven't needed to be). I am so looking forward to seeing some results!!

Hope you enjoy a temptation-free (or at least overcome) weekend! Thanks for letting me join the club :)

Confessing ahead of time...

I am going away on a women's retreat this weekend. I intend to enjoy myself & I will NOT be counting calories.
You can whip be back into shape next week!! LOL :D

Weigh-in Wednesday (Long dark hair, blue eyes)

I wish I had bright news to turn up the vibe of our cow girl group here....but I don't.

It is all too hard this week. I have eaten too much and exercised not enough. I feel blah about the whole thing.

So I am not going to "weigh-in" today. I refuse to believe today is Wednesday, there must be a day or two before that day has come around again.

I will get back to you when I am ready for Wednesday - that just isn't today!

The Worst Gift Ever (Givinya)

I like the term Cow Girls! I looked for some pictures of cowgirls on the internet, and wow there are so many risque cowgirls out there! But they're all skinny, so I guess that bodes well for all of us.

Hippomanic Jen visited me yesterday on her way through to her fortnight away. She kindly gave me some scales that were a freebie from somewhere. I got on them and set them up. In return, they gave me an obscene number. (What a great gift, thxvrymchJen!)

Congratulations me. One more BMI point higher and I'm "obese."

Now call me a crazy fatwoman, but really, yes I am a little heavy but "obese"?? Wow. I decided to get Sonny Ma-Jiminy to take a few pictures of me on my phone to get your opinion on whether I really deserve that.

Here was his first attempt:






And here was his second attempt:





Then with Mr de Elba at work and Smoochy Girl too young for domestic usefulness, I decided I'd try to take some pics of myself.



It's fine if you pull a silly face or plaster on a whacky smile. Now I don't think I or any of you deserve the term "obese". Do we?

So here's my problem with the beast we call "BMI." I know I'm a fair bit heavier than I should be. But "obese"? We don't have any hope. I think you can create your own "obesity epidemic" by re-classifying the term "obese".

Well enough of that. I am two or three kilos away from my heaviest ever. I have 10 kilos to lose before I am back in the acceptable weight range. I have 15 kilos to lose to get to a weight I used to enjoy, but it was pre-children and I'm not sure I'm supposed to judge my body by pre-kids standards.

So what do I do? Aim to lose 10 kilos, then re-evaluate my goals according to the body I have at the time? I think that I'll know by then whether losing more is reasonable, healthy or achievable.

But wow - 10 kilos. That's a whole Smoochy Girl. I am feeling a little overwhelmed.

Hello Cow Girls ... (Le)

Nice to be here.

Done the weigh in .... blah ... maybe wine and ice cream cake are not the way to go. One kg on from last week .... 11 to go off now.

The ice cream cake was from Darling Boy's birthday - it is gone now and we do not do ice cream as a matter of every day living.

The wine was a single glass to celebrate my removal from the workplace.

So now back to goals ....

1) walk each morning - 30 to 40 mins (done for today - yah)
2) 30 grams of protein at breakfast time to set my blood sugar levels to even keel for the morning
3) Italian street walk after dinner three nights a week with the boys - you know the relaxed check out the hood walk that happens in the old country ... love the concept.

Thanks for having me along for the ride girls .... my best to each of you - le

Weigh-in-Wednesday (Dee)

Having only just started here, I won't do any measurements. I have yet to go measure all my problem areas too, so there is no data anyway. I know what I weigh, but weight is not the issue for me really, fitness is.

Yesterday, I mowed the lawn. It took about an hour, so that was some good exercise and a chore done to boot. At the steep part of the yard, I decided to do it the "hard" way, by pushing the mower straight up and down, instead of the easy way, across the slope, to get a bit of benefit from the chore.

Now today, everything aches! Boy, I am really unfit.

We made healthy icypoles yesterday, SPC Fruit Salad in Summer Juice (tinned fruit) blended with Nemo Yoghurt and put into icypole cups. (Ok, you don't need to use Nemo Yoghurt, any will do.. hee hee...). They were delicious.

Weigh-In Wednesday (Femina)

I finally got batteries for my scales and weighed myself this morning. Hmmm. I'm about 5kg heavier than I thought I was, and only 9kg off my heaviest weight ever (ie, the weight that sent me scurrying off to Weight Watchers a few years ago). I haven't put in a huge effort this week, but I might try harder now that I know what I'm dealing with! :)

One of the big barriers for me - and probably for a lot of women - is emotional eating. If you've read my other blog you'll know I've been struggling with depression. I'm fine now (feeling great, actually) but the depression was triggered by trying to deal with some significant trauma that happened when I was younger. I have a truly awesome counsellor and things are going really well, but the healing process can be long and slow and there are plenty of ups and downs. And unfortunately a 'good' week from a healing/progress point of view often means a pretty hard week from an emotional point of view... and then I want chocolate! I'm far more aware now of what are my triggers and I've been careful to eliminate chocolate and other junk food from my house. Unfortunately they still sell it in shops - perhaps I need to make a poster saying "Do not sell chocolate to this woman" and give it to all the local milk bars...

My goals for this week are:

• Go to the gym at least twice
• Walk in my lunch break at least three days this week
• Make poster for milk bars (just kidding)

Hope you all have a good Skinny Cow week!

Weigh in Wednesday (swift Jan)

Start Weight: 87.6kg
Todays weight: 87.2kg
Loss: 400 grams

Ok So 400g is ok. It's almost 1/2 a kilo. Almost. I must admit I havn't really been trying hard this week and I have had a few blowouts. But a loss is a loss! And the slower I do it, the longer it will last. Right?!

See you when I get back

All the best for Weigh-In Wednesday. I'll see you when I get back in a fortnight. I hope there's some happy numbers for you all.

Avocado's are healthy.. but..

Hi everyone, I have bitten the (low-fat) bullet and joined in the fun.

Time to get fit, or as Jen said, become a yummy mummy... we'll see on that one....

I have done two sessions on the exercise bike, felt a bit better the second time around. Today I started with a healthy lunch of wholemeal water crackers, with avocado, tomato and a tiny bit of cheese ( I looove cheese..... I will miss you, full fat cheese) Hang on.. sugar is my problem... come back cheese!!!!!!!

The about an hour later I remembered why I don't eat avocado anymore.......

I Can't Believe I didn't have my Camera!!

I walked up to my parents' house yesterday as part of my little get-fit plan. It actually means I get two 25 minute walks with a break in the middle to talk.

On the way home I pass an old farm where a dairy farmer keeps all his dry cows and any calves and the herd were right up at the fence... And some of them were skinny... And still had their winter coats, so they were all fluffy and cute... And I had the LBD with me so they were all looking my way.

There was one perfectly positioned. Skinny pelvis presented towards me and looking around with big, dark eyes to check out where the dog was. My caption - "Does my butt look big in this?" Where was my camera? What a lost opportunity!

I shall have to start haunting that paddock and wait for the cows to come back up to the fence.

A horrible thought (Givinya)

I've just had a horrible thought.

I realise I'm not too sure how this weight-loss-support blog actually works. I mean, we're a little community now aren't we? So can you please tell me where the lost kilos go?

I'm a bit scared that our Operation Skinny Cow might be a closed universe, and all the kilos YOU ladies shed will somehow magically come flying over MY way and land on my tummy and thighs.

And I've got enough of my own.

My husband went shopping ... (Givinya)

And there was a special.



THIS HERE is one of my obstacles, people! I have walked past that special all week. I figure that I don't need them. If they grace my pantry, I'd only eat far too many and regret it.

So with the willpower I do possess, I left them at the supermarket every single visit. And here they are in my pantry!

Now watch me battle with the willpower I don't possess.

Jelly-legs (Femina)

I went to the gym last night after work but only stayed for 25 minutes because I wasn't in the right head space for it (which is a nice way of saying I couldn't be stuffed), so I was determined to go back this morning and do a GOOD workout.

My gym is good in that they write a workout program for you and they reassess it (and you/your goals) every six weeks, so the program changes often. I've just started a new program and it's hard. I had serious jelly-legs when I walked down the stairs after it! It felt so great though, because I decided before I started today that I would be reporting back to Operation Skinny Cow at the end... this motivated me to work hard and not give up when I wanted to! And the great thing about that is that I discovered I am actually a bit fitter than when I started at the gym a couple of months ago. I'm still pretty unfit and my muscles are like pudding - I have very little strength - but I've definitely improved.

Hmmm... there may be something in this accountability thing after all! I still don't know what I weigh because I haven't bought batteries for my scales yet so I'm not sure what I'll be reporting on Wednesday, but I feel pretty good anyway. :)

YYeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhaaarrrrrrrr!!!!!! (HJ)

OK. Trepidation over - the results are in!

How did the plan go?:
I excercised for at least 30 mins each day. Check.

I walked 5 times. Better than the four planned. Check.

I rowed 8 times (yes, I did it in the morning; then was watching TV in the evening and thought "Why not?" a couple of times). Much better than the four planned. Check.

My eating was pretty good, but we had a family birthday party and I probably snuck in a couple of extra chips and things above the dessert and cake that I had budgeted for. Close enough.

Results:
1.8 kilograms! I'm impressed! That equals 3.98 pounds (very, very close to 4 pounds, don't you think? - maybe I should round it off), which sounds even more impressive. What's more it was worth the work to achieve it.

And the measure-in had some mixed results, my favourites being 1.5 centimetres off my tummy circumference, and 1 off my waist. For some obscure reason an additional centimetre snuck onto the widest part of my thigh, but I can ignore that given all the other good news.

Where to from here?:
I miss my next measure-in by being away at church meetings from this coming Wednesday for a week. This will limit my excercise opportunities, and increase the potential for eating all sorts of yummy food.

The adjusted plan (for the next fortnight):
I will not put on any weight (I'm not going to expect to take any off, though).

I will do 30 mins exercise each day. Probably walking, and I shall make certain I have the opportunity to enjoy the beach - it would be harder walking. (See, enjoy the exercise - oh, look at the pretty water!)

I will row twice in each week. (Before I go and after I come back)

I will try to be reasonable in my eating. I will get reasonable-sized portions. I will carefully select which of the yummies are irresistable. I will go for the fruit if it is offered.

I don't know if I can keep it 2 naughties/2 desserts. Maybe I'll keep a list of all the yummy stuff I've said "No" to so that I can share my willpower with you all later. I can tell you that I am going to have Gelati at the little place that I love near my little bro's house, because it is a seasonal/locational treat that I don't get very often - and I'm not having the low fat option either, so there!

It's actually good to go into this with good results this week. It might help when my motivation wears thin - I don't want to undo all this hard work.

Trepidation (HJ)

noun 1. tremulous alarm or agitation; perturbation.

Wednesdays are not really a convenient weigh-in day for me because I often have to be out and about earlier than usual. Also, I started on a Saturday in the first place, so tomorrow is the end of my first real week of trying to eat better and exercising like mad.

I like to measure weekly. It's like a little surprise to see how I've been doing when there has been enough time for a difference to be apparent. Yes, I'm big on delayed gratification. I like the anticipation. And it can be such a boost to my mindset for the week ahead.

Unfortunately it's now after lunch on Friday and I've started to get a little tetchy that after all my hard work and will power I might not lose anything at all. No centimetres around. No kilograms.

I'm feeling great, but that's not really measurable. I dashed well ought to have been building muscle, but what if the kilos have gone up, given that muscles are heavy and I might not have lost any fat? What if my new-found muscles (and boy, did I find them this week!) cause me to be further around?

Whatever the outcome, I'll need to hold onto the fact that I am feeling good, sleeping better, and I'm certain these pants feel more comfortable than when I wore them last week.

The other thing is that it's going to be near impossible to hold in my elation or depression after my Saturday morning weigh & measure. Wednesday can seem a long way off.

Hello? Am I in the right room? (Givinya)

Hello, I'm Givinya and I want to give this a go too. I'm not sure how I'll go because I've never been able to control my weight before - to gain some when I'm skinny or to lose some when I'm un-skinny.

I have had two periods in my life when losing weight was easy. I was pregnant both times. Something happened to my metabolism and I started feeing amazing! I was putting on Baby and losing Fat, and after giving birth both times I've thought, "Great! Let's keep it this way!" But I haven't been able to manage that.

But I have come to the realisation that popping out a baby each time I am getting a little dumpy is probably not a realistic weight-loss strategy.

What do I weigh? I don't know. Honestly. I don't have a working set of scales. I've never really measured my, err, 'fatness' in kilograms, I've measured it in fat on the tum, being unable to fit into certain clothes and generally feeling lardy. Currently, I feel like Adrian Plass' description of one of his characters, Mrs Flushpool. As if my body is really a collection of black plastic bags half-filled with water.

How much do I want to lose? Enough to lose this amazing amount of fat that has settled itself across my tummy.

What on EARTH have I been eating? Honestly, I don't know. We eat pretty healthy meals here. We love fresh fruit and veggies, I am not afraid to go to extra effort to prepare something healthy instead of buying something quick and fattening, I don't have fast food very much, and my idea of a good takeaway meal is steamed rice with Thai stir-fry chicken with cashews.

Dammit, how on earth did my tummy get so lardy? My only suggestion is that I don't have a very good off-switch with my eating. I love good food, and over the years it's taken much more good food to make me feel 'full'. And when there's bad food in the house, well, I eat too much of that too.

How will I do it? I know that I will not be disciplined enough or clever enough to remember to count calories or points. I wish I could, but I can't remember to wear deodorant half the time. Calories/kilojoules/points? Don't hold your breath! But when you're walking past me on a non-deodorant day, feel free to hold your breath as long as you want.

'Weekday Vegetarian,' however, I could do! I love vegetarian meals: I love the way veggies taste and I love the way they make me feel. When I'm eating vegetarian, more often than not I lose my desire for bad food. I stop looking for things to snack on. I take real gastronomical pleasure in a great fresh salad with a splash of Greek dressing for lunch instead of a cheese sandwich ... no I'm not full, I'd better have another sandwich ... and a few more slices of cheese ...

So my family and I have been trying some great vegetarian recipes out on Monday-Thursday nights. On Friday after a very long day working, I bring home some Thai or Indian for our weekly treat (and that will include chicken - yum!) and on the weekend, we eat meat. It's been great, but I've felt the need to include meat in the kids' diets a little more often. I don't really want them missing out on their meat more than 2-3 days a week.

What won't I give up? The occasional Nestle Club Dark chocolate.

What are my obstacles? Eating too much is one of them. I can overcome this by drinking more water during the day so I'm not as empty, especially at meals. My dear dear husband is another - he likes to have a steady supply of foods I would like to keep only as occasional treats. I do my best to keep no bad food in the house, then he goes and stocks up on biscuits!

It is a measure of the success of my No Bad Food In The House policy that I often find myself looking through the fridge and the pantry saying, "If I only had a packet of chips here, I'd eat the lot!" Most of the time, no overeating happens, not because of my own willpower (I don't have any) but because there's nothing to eat except breakfast cereal, dinner ingredients and mountains of fresh fruit and veggies.

My last obstacle is simply that fitting exercise into my life is a total joke.

I'll leave you there. I take comfort in the recent studies that show you have a harder time losing weight if you don't sleep well. That's a free ticket to look after myself and demand 7 hours a night! Let me get into it right now ...

Goodbye to the little old man (Femina)

Fortunately for me it's a beautiful, warm, sunny day here today. This means that I actually wanted to eat the salad with tomato-and-onion-flavoured tuna that I made this morning for my lunch. That was a good thing, and it tasted good too.

Unfortunately, the beautiful, warm, sunny day also meant that when I walked down to the shops in my lunch break (for my daily exercise!) the smell of the sausage sizzle outside the supermarket was drifting tantalizingly over about three blocks. There's a little old man who sits outside the supermarket every single day with this sausage sizzle, selling them for some charity or other. They smell great. They taste great - I've been going there a couple of times a week. But today I entered and exited the shop by the other door so I wouldn't be tempted. Sigh. It's goodbye to the little old man.

Tonight I have home group (Bible study) and we take turns to bring dinner for everyone, so you never know what kind of food you'll get. I'm okay with that - even if it's something particularly fattening, I've eaten well for the rest of the day and I'll be careful not to go overboard with portion sizes. I want to develop better habits but I'm not going to go nuts and deprive myself of everything. I've tried that and it usually leads to a major chocolate blow-out! :)

So it looks like we're all surviving our first week. Yay for us!

It's a start (Swift Jan)

I wanted to go for a walk this morning but Swift Jim didn't wake me up. Well thats my excuse anyhow!! Heh!
I did do my quoto at the grocery shop though I think. I had a double trolley. The sort that you can sit 2 toddlers in. So between the two of my children there was already 35 kilos in the trolley before the groceries started piling in. I pushed that lug of a trolley around for a good hour. Filling it with reasonable food. Lots of fruit & vegies etc.
I also stopped in front of the freezer section to find those Skinny Cow Ice creams that LDHBE told us about yesterday. I havn't tried them yet, I will wait until tonight when Swift Jim is home & he can help me decide if they are any good or not.
Today is a better day. The scales can only go down now right?!

Encouragement (HJ)

I am having a good morning (except for the fact I promised myself I wouldn't blog until after 5pm, and I had a late start).

I wrote in my weigh-in that one of my goals is that I want to be more flexible, but how do you measure that?

I've always been a tummy sleeper. After I was born, the nurses handed me to my Mum saying something like, "You know that you're not supposed to sleep babies on their tummies because it increases the risk of Cot-death? This one won't sleep any other way, so you're going to have to risk it."

Unfortunately, I am not flexible and sleeping on my tummy means that I've got to do a neck contortion to be able to breathe. As I've gotten older, I've had to become a side sleeper because my neck isn't as flexible - yes, too much time sitting at computers and not enough exercise.

However, until recently I've still enjoyed short-term tummy dozes until I need to move my neck. There's something about lying on my tum that relaxes all across my lower back and pelvis. It feels good. It's super relaxing. I wish I could sleep on a physiotherapist's plinth because they have a hole for your face and you don't need to turn your head to breathe.

But recently it's been uncomfortable in that same lumbar/pelvic region. I've given up trying to tummy sleep for more than about 5 mins or everything freezes up on me.

This morning my Beloved said goodbye and went off to work, which is my signal to doze for about 10 minutes, then get up. I rolled onto my tummy and it felt sooo good. I woke up about an hour later (oops). Thank heavens I work for myself, or the boss would not have been impressed!

I have a light work day today, so I still rowed despite the fact it puts me behind on my starting time. I'm feeling stronger and more flexible across my lower back. It's not measurable, but it feels good.

So I'm blogging to encourage everyone else to stick with (or start, if you need a push) your exercise plan. I started my rowing slowly, 5 minutes a day, then working up to 8, then 10, then 15 etc. I was stiff in the shoulders - Oh who am I kidding! I was pretty much stiff all over in the morning after the first 4 or 5 (or 10) sessions (despite my stretching beforehand). I'm now able to do 30 minutes at a fair intensity. I'm no longer stiff. My breathing feels easy. I'm sleeping better (and I often have trouble sleeping). I can stretch further when I'm warming up. I feel stronger. The floor doesn't seem so far away when I have to pick things up. And I can do some tummy dozing again.

These are the things that kept me rowing this morning. Once I start I have to do 5 minutes, or I'd stop somewhere after one and a half. I have a similar slump between about 12-17 when I realise I've got so much longer to do. After 20 minutes I'm fine - it's all downhill from there.

I hope this does encourage, rather than just discourage because you've not been motivated about your exercise, or you've been having trouble fitting it in.

My mantra for rowing: slender, strong, poised, elegant! - Of course I don't look/feel any of these things at the time, it's the end goal I'm thinking about.

Skinny Cow

I would just like to point out that they have made a brand of ice creams just for us.

Skinny Cow

One of the girls at my work buys them. They are apparently quite good.

While I appreciate the effort they have gone to to support our cause.....because why else would they be named after our blog?

I think this is unhelpful.

Although if we have to eat ice cream now and again, these do look like the ones we should chose.

New links

Hi all,

I've added some links over to the side, with some useful information about weight loss in general, healthy weight ranges, a 'weight loss myths' quiz and nutrition info, as well as info about self-esteem and body image issues for men and women. Losing weight is usually a psychological battle as much as physical, so it's good to make sure we're taking care of ourselves in all ways.

Also, please check out the healthy weight range link, just to make sure your goal weight is a sensible and achievable one.

End of lecture.

Take care this week, and remember we're always here for encouragement and support, so don't feel like you have to wait a whole week to post if you need a boost!

Weigh-in Wednesday (Long dark hair, blue eyes)

Ok here goes...

I weighed in this morning. Actually I weigh myself ever morning. I have a ritual. I get up, I go to the bathroom and I weight myself, then I have a shower and reflect on my weight. Some days that is a dreadful way to start the day but other days it isn't too bad.

I have 6.6 kilograms left to lose to reach my goal weight.

BUT
It has been six years since I was at my goal weight. And generally when I try to get to it I get within 2-4 kilos of it then stop trying. And after I stop trying I start putting on weight again.

WHY?
My biggest problem is that I look fine. I am tall (for a lass) so I carry my weight well. That is a really bad thing because I carry most of my weight around my stomach which means it is surrounding my organs. This is the worst place to store fat.

So looking fine is not good enough. I need to look good. I need to look good for me. I need to look good for my husband. I need to look good for my friends and family and colleagues because they deserve to see me at my best!

I deserve to look and feel my best!!!!

OK after that rant - now I feel motivated :)

Food
So far today I have been eating well. I had fruit for breakfast, a salad sandwich for lunch and will have rice and veges for dinner.

Exercise






enough said - I am not going to have time until the weekend. I will go for a walk on Saturday and Sunday.

GOAL
My goal is to return to the weight I was when I got married.

My concerns

• That I will get to within a few kilograms of my goal weight and stop trying
• That my goal weight is not sustainable
• That my weight will yoyo my whole life and I will never feel like I am in control of it
  

Thanks
In advance I would like to thank you all for the support that you have and will give me in reaching my goal.

In case you didn't notice I am a glass half full type of gal.

We can do this ladies!!! Goal weight here we come!

Weigh-in Wednesday (Swift Jan)

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa :(

I weighed. It was incredibly depressing.
Last Monday I was 1 kilo off my heaviest weight. Today I am my heaviest weight ever!
I stepped on the scales.... it flashed between 84, 86, 87, 90, then settled on 87.6kg..... :(
Oh how dreadful!! I swore I would never go back to it.... here I am!!
So today, what have I done about it? I have had McD's for lunch & had 2, Yep 2 chocolate bars! :(
It is a depressing day for me. I know what I SHOULD be doing & yet I cant bring myself to do it.
I dont want to be fat forever. I used to be so thin.... It felt good to be thin.
*sigh*
Tomorrow I will move. I will walk in the morning & I will eat well.
This is likely to be an up & down journey for me. So please bare with me....

Goal:
To be able to wear fashionable clothes well. Ideally I'd like to weigh about 70kg. Thats a size 12-14. I would be happy with that. I understand that after having 2 children, being a size 8-10 again is near impossible. I am ok with that.

Weigh-In Wednesday (Hippomanic Jen); Or I refused a Mint Slice Bickie!

Well our first Weigh-in Wednesday is underway. Of course, none of us should have lost anything yet (being the first one), but we've got to start somewhere. I'm glad to see Femina's up and racing, first off the blocks as it were. Morning people, humppff!

My official weigh-in is actually Saturday, so my comments will be half a week behind. It also means that I can comment on how the week is shaping up. For example, at supper at Bible Study on Monday night I not only had no food, I REFUSED A MINT SLICE BICKIE (I'll eat Tim Tams and all the other choccy bickies because I enjoy them, but a Mint Slice is irresistable to me - well close to).

It also means that if I have a really naughty weekend I've got a whole week to make good before confronting the scales/tape. (he, he, he)

MY GOALS (are multiple):

1. I want to have more stamina, better balance, and greater flexibility. My physiotherapist once told me that I am heading for the back of an 80 year old. Hey, I'm just not flexible, OK. Never have been.

These are hard to measure. Lengthening walks, better muscle tone, less clumsy, able to touch my toes more easily?

2. I need to lose 16 kilos to get back to my 27 year old/wedding weight. Equivalent of 22 BMI if you're interested or understand that at all.

Because I always overplan things (I am a Planner by profession, after all!), I have broken this down into grades, each grade having a reward (massage/new clothes) and a 'Balance Month' to stay there and check on sustainability into the future.

Grade 1 = 4 kg (brings me back to where I got to on my last fitness kick in March this year)

Grade 2 = 4 kg (brings me back to a weight I've had trouble getting under in the last 3 years)

Grade 3 = 4 kg (because I wanted to go to a nice round number, but that would have broken down into 3 kg and 5 kg and 4 x 4 kg is much more neat)

Grade 4 = 4 kg (brings me to my goal)

3. I also want to get back into size 12/14 (I used to be on the brink) clothes, rather than nudging at 18. I have some favourite clothes that I'd like to wear again. This also means working on these:

How brave am I, posting a photo? It's a pretty bad photo - I don't know if you've ever tried to take a photo of your own profile. Not easy.

HOW?

Exercise:
I am going to aim for 30 minutes of exercise each day. I will be recording what I do in my dairy for bragging or confession purposes.

This will be made up of 30 minutes rowing at least 4 times a week, and a 30 minute walk with the LBD at least 4 times a week (but may be 6 or 7 times because of those little, brown, pleading eyes).

Anything more than this is BONUS exercise and I am to feel proud of myself for doing it, because I don't need to, I wanted to. This is all about mindset. I'm feeling good this morning because I've done my 30 minutes rowing. I feel good trotting up the stairs from hanging out some washing. I'm sitting straighter and can hold my abdominals to keep my balance.

I also want to get into the habit of including exercise into my days. I want to be able to ride my bike into town (last time I tried I was gasping for air, muscles screaming, and on the verge of one of my strange heart-racing episodes - yes, they have been checked out by my some medical tests - I'll live), or walk up to the hospital when I'm on Pastoral Care up there. Maybe a bit of gardening/landscaping.

Food:

I am going to try to eat a balance of the normal food I eat, but will cut back the size of my portions generally, and on desserts and naughty snacks. (2 a week of each). This allows me to choose and not pig out because I'm not allowed to have anything.

IMPEDIMENTS:

There are two looming problems with my plan. The first is that I'm off to a week of church meetings starting next Wednesday through to the following one. This means staying at someone else's home (limits food control); eating conference food (not only limits what's on offer, but they usually have yummy things); limited hours for exercise because I'll be sitting down in meetings.

I will have to be particularly enthusiastic to walk at lunchtimes or before or after (and I will be staying in someone else's home).

The other looming issue is that I'm now fairly certain that the spots on my tummy that I've been carrying on and off for nearly 10 years are allergy related. They clear up with antihistamines. They have always come and gone, but doctors had always prescribed anti-fungal treatments (that didn't work). It is possible that it's a food allergy. This means going on an elimination diet, then trying things. I'm planning it for after this time away. Starting with getting rid of the spots by limiting the 'usual suspects' allergy-wise. It might mean that I eat better overall. It might mean that I've got to eat worse some days (like heaps of chocolate one morning to see if I spot up - the sacrifice!).

Of course, there's the normal impediments.

I like food. Most foods. I am trying to enjoy what I eat without having to eat lots of it. It's a mindset thing. I will continue to eat full cream dairy because it's good for my calcium intake and I really don't like the alternatives.

I'm not a fan of exercise. I am going to try to change this mindset, too. At the moment I'm trying to concentrate on how I feel now (a couple of hours after rowing - toned, breathing easily, sitting straight) with how it actually feels to be rowing (out of breath, muscles complaining, just wanting to stop).

Sorry for the mammoth post - but you asked to hear my goals, and I just have to explain and rationalise everything!

Hippomanic Jen- hopefully less Hippo(potamus) and more horse-mad!

Weigh-In Wednesday (femina)

This hasn't started well - I went to weigh myself this morning and discovered that my electronic scales require new batteries. Hmmm... obviously haven't done this for a while. Not to worry; I'll fill that bit in later. In the meantime, here's my plan:

Big Goal: Lose 8 kilos (I think... I'll update after I work out what I weigh) and fit into size 12 clothes

This week's goals: Get back into the habit of going to the gym / Bring vegetables back into my life (!)

Exercise plan: Gym twice a week / three times if I'm particularly inspired

Reward for reaching Big Goal: Haven't decided this yet...

My weaknesses: BBQ chips, bacon, chocolate (3 or 4 times a week...)

You don't have to follow this pattern when making your Weigh-In Wednesday entry; this is just what works for me. My goal this week isn't weight-oriented - ie, I haven't said "I want to lose a kilo this week" - because my goal is to kick off the process by developing better habits and a different midset.

That's it from me. Happy Weigh-In Wednesday, everyone!

ps... When making your entry, it would be helpful to put your name (Blogger name, that is) in the title of the post AND in the labels - that way it's easy to track your own progress simply by clicking the label.

Tomorrow is the day!

Okay everyone, our first Weigh-In Wednesday is tomorrow. If you're on board with the idea, please add a post letting us all know your goal. It can be:

The amount you wish to lose (you don't have to share your starting weight)
The size clothes you want to wear (you don't have to share your current size)
A particular fitness goal (eg, run 5km without having a cardiac arrest....)
Another goal that you want to reach

Anything else you want to share will be a bonus... write as much or as little as you like.

See you all tomorrow!

Oh, and if you want to be able to add posts, not just comments, but you don't yet have access please e-mail me and swellen1970[at]gmail[dot]com and I'll send you an invitation.

How it All Began...

Last Saturday I wrote a post about recognising I needed to lose some weight, and get a fair bit fitter and healthier. I have a plan. Good start.

My idea was to be accountable. What stupid idiot thought that was a good idea?!

I got heaps more comments than usual (thanks Givinya) and it was surprising how many of my loyal readers were also contemplating the same depressing issue in their own lives. It's amazing how coming out of those winter clothes can give us all a shake-up.

So Givinya made a suggestion, I seconded it, and Femina made it actually happen.

Ta da!

So, if you'd like to join us, send Femina an email at swellen1970[at]gmail[dot]com and she can do some magic. The idea is that we can share as much or as little as we want of our journey towards strength, flexibility, cardio-vascular fitness, and that elusive dress size.

All I need to do now is to offend all the farmers in my local congregation by asking them if they have any skinny cows at the moment, and can I come and take a photo of one?

How popular am I going to be?

...Approximately ...Hang on, I don't have to do that here! Freedom! Yippee!

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