What on earth is Operation Skinny Cow?

Operation Skinny Cow was born after a few of us in Blogland decided it might be nice to lose some weight and/or get a bit fitter. We decided it would be even nicer if we encouraged each other along the way.

You can read about how it started in this post.

If you want to be part of the fun and add your own posts to this blog then send an e-mail to Emily Sue at reachingforgreen@gmail.com and she'll set you up as an author.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Weigh In Wednesday (Emily Sue)

Last week: 71.9
Today: 72.4
Difference: 500g gain

Yeah... I've started eating again. :)  I have, however, mostly just been eating normal meals and not a lot of snacky stuff so I think this is just bouncing back to 'normal' after the too-busy-to-eat thing. And it's 400g less than I was a fortnight ago so I'm still happy.

Hmmm... and exercise. Still haven't done any, apart from a half hour walk yesterday with a friend. This week - I swear!

Hard-Core (Manda)

I am officially going hard-core. No more wishy-washy, "I can eat this and this and this and maybe I'll still lose a little bit of weight" thoughts. No more gradually fitting into my pants less and less.

NO MORE!

Inspired by the success of Eizelby, I've decided not to "try" any more, but to actually do it! This means changing the way I think (I've found "I feel better if I don't snack much" and "I will feel better after this party if I have only had one dessert" to be working so far). It means eating more salads as meals, rather than something I only get to after two other courses. It means eating "3/4 serves" at dinner as the food is delicious and I tend to go overboard (and what I feel to be 3/4 is probably a real serve anyway).

Long term goal: get to 68 by September.
Short term goal: If I get to 73 before April 6, I get a massage.
Last week: 74
This week: 73.2!

I lost some weight for the first time in a while! Now to keep going.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Long time no being accounted for! (Eizelby)

Hello fellow aspiring cows! It sure has been awhile! The archives tell me that my last update was in July, which shames me. I’m sorry!

To refresh your memories of where I left off, I was about 2kg within sight of my goal weight. Since then I managed to get through summer camp season with maintained weight loss, and in December hit my goal weight of 65kg – which was very exciting! I then somehow lost another kilogram, and sat at 64kg for about a week before starting a slow, steady gain again.

However, despite a recent birthday binge and general disregard for healthy eating habits, the scales have been kind to me. I do suspect that this reflects loss of muscle due to a decrease in my regular walking, but it’s still somewhat encouraging.

So, where to now?
I’m currently sitting at 66kg – one kilo above my original goal weight. Having tasted 64kg for the first time in ages, I think with a bit of self discipline I can maintain that weight in a long-term capacity. That is my new goal!

How do I plan to achieve this?
Starting fulltime work and gaining a boyfriend in the past few months have culminated in me pretty much farewelling regular exercise, and saying hello to poor eating habits, such as drinking daily iced coffees and making pizza at midnight. No more I say!

To reach and maintain my goal weight, I will …
- join the dance studio which has branches both near my house and workplace
- get off my tram 3 stops early and walk the rest of the way EVERY TIME
- redevelop the magical habit of saying “no” to yummy things
- not eat after dinner – this does wonders for the waist and leaves me feeling great in the morning!

Goals and rewards
My goal is to lose 2kg, and to generally get a bit fitter than I currently am. My reward is feeling great, and a new pair of jeans.

Weigh In Wednesday... on Thursday (Emily Sue)

Last time: 72.8kg
Today: 71.9kg
Difference: 900g loss

I am ashamed to say this is almost entirely due to being busy/stressed and having neither the time nor the energy to eat very much at all... but you know what? When I see a number like 71.9 after seeing numbers in the 74s, I'm going to blog about it anyway!

Also, it's time for me to try running again to see how my ankle holds up. I've been a bit scared to try, to be honest, because it was pretty painful last time I tried and I'm afraid of injuring it again. However, I'm going to need to start again some time, and gently strengthen it... so feel free to nag me. :D

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Weigh-In Weds (Givinya)

So this morning I hopped on the scales ... wait that's not right.  That never works.

So this morning I put my contact lenses in and hopped on the scales (there's nothing sillier than having your weight plainly displayed in huge numbers but not be able to see them, then bending over to see them and bumping your naked ass on the edge of the vanity because you've chosen to weigh in before your shower "to give yourself an edge", har har har!) and the numbers were a huge surprise: 61.7kg.

1.7kgs to my goal weight!

Then I hopped off, went to the toilet and got back on again.

64.7kg.

Scientifically impossible, still encouraging, but NOT 1.7 kgs to my goal weight.

I then drank three sips of water and the scales read 65.7 kg.  So.  You know.  All I can really do is rule out the possibilites that I am over 80kg or under 50kg, that's the best I can tell you.

In terms of oscillating numbers, they've been hovering around the 65s and sometimes breaking into the 64s this week, with a few depressing days of 67s and 68s.  I've never really watched my weight before, but I assume that the ole one about retaining fluid must be correct if those (average) readings are correct.

But I'm not able to blame anything on the time of the month, cos that's not happening for me.  Which is a very good thing and must not be sniffed at.

Speaking of oscillating numbers, my blood pressure is high again, but I just got my (currently low) dose of medication increased so we're not worried.  I'm still reading labels and finding that if you stick to fruit and veges with some clever choices of bread and other foods, it's EASY to stick to a healthy number of mg of sodium a day.  If however you do something RADICAL like eat a rissole, well say goodbye to all your good work.  The western diet sets us up to fail, I tell ya!

Plan:
  • stop eating so much bread, woman!  What happened to the 2 slices of heavy grainy stuff a day?
  • stop cooking with cream and parmesan.  In particular, stop making this.
  • stop enjoying food.

Ha! Like that's ever going to happen!

Anyone want to come over to my place for a risotto party?

Weigh In Wednesday (Emily Sue)

I weighed myself this morning and I seem to weigh the same as last time. This means that the following things have not caught up with me yet:

1. The staff retreat where I ate:
     * Bacon and eggs
     * Filet mignon (which is wrapped in bacon)
     * Chips
     * Chocolate
     * Lemon meringue pie
     * A fantastic risotto
     * Jelly snakes
     * Ice cream (to which we added Maltesers, Smarties and pieces of chocolate)
     * Tim Tams
     * A huge BLT with chips on the side

2. Five days off work, where I ate such things as:
     * Banana cake
     * Choc chips (from the packet)
     * Dark chocolate brownies
     * McDonald's bacon & egg muffin and hash brown (okay, two hash browns)
     * Chocolate

I feel like a ticking time bomb... :)

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Coming to a screaming halt (HJ)

Or so I hope.

Got up the courage to weigh in this morning. Not good.

Really not good.

You know how I was unhappy to reach my heaviest ever?

It isn't anymore.

And you know how I was never going to be on this side of a certain round number ever again?

Well, let's just say that I'm one mouthful away from hitting the next round number up.

I need a plan. It probably involves exercise and better food choices.

So I had dessert at church tonight to celebrate.

I hope that wasn't the mouthful that will tip the scales the last remaining little bit.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Weight Loss is a health hazard (Rhubarb Whine)

I'm serious.

In an effort to remain thrifty and not spend money on clothes, I have kept the pants and shirts that are too big for me,  to wear around the house and make use of them. I've dropped 2 clothes sizes, so some of them are rathaer baggy.

Last night, in my elasticised bali pants, I caught my left toe in the hem of the right leg which trailed on the ground because the waistband kept slipping past my hips. This means my feet were tangled. I pitched forward head first into the laundry wall. I handed on my knees, and my husband, seeing my flight, lunged forward and grabbed me by the arm.

I now sport 2 very black and bruised knees, a bruised imprint of a hand on my inner left arm and a bump on my forehead right between the eyes.

I am *so* going shopping, thrifty can go and get knotted.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

I wonder... (HJ)

I was doing well on the weightloss thing, then Christmas intervened and I lost the plot.

I had put a weightloss ticker on my blog, but haven't updated it. It still shows that I've lost 6.0 kilos.

I wonder what would happen if I updated it to show that I've put on a couple of extra kilos from where I started?

Things to ponder.

*sigh*

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Inching Downwards (Rhubarb Whine)

It's been a whine while between updates, although I have begun to post several times with the best of intentions.

However.

It didn't happen.

Since the last update, I seem to have dropped yet another 5 kilograms. My sum total of loss is now 15 kilograms (ish) depending on whose scale you believe. I'll go with mine, it weighs lower than my GPs).

That puts me in the bracket of people who often look at themselves and say "I need to lose weight, I want to lose some weight", which is far better than the bracket I have left behind, which was "You need to lose some weight, I want YOU to lose some weight, your health is compromised".

I am happy with that.

I have reached my initial goal, which was the number issued for health reasons. My own number.

My next goal is only a few-ish kilos away, that's my pre-pregnancy weight.

Then I am aiming for the 'this is what I used to weigh' weight.
And a shopping trip.