Operation Skinny Cow

What the? (HJ)

2012-02-15T12:37:00.001+11:00

I was doing up my belt and then rearranging the denim to not be too puckered.

But it still looked puckered.

Then I realised that I'd done it up to the FOURTH hole.

Wow.

Worth Weighing (HJ)

2012-02-11T11:31:00.003+11:00

I've been really seeing how much more fit I am than I was when I started to get back into the exercise at the end of last semester:

* I feel stronger in anything I do after I've rowed in the morning. I stand straighter can get up and down more easily and simply feel strong and more energetic.

* I sleep better (usually) if I've rowed in the morning.

* For some reason, I'm less likely to be beguiled by bad food choices (or at least major blowouts) if I've rowed that morning.

* During the week I got my 20 stair repetitions under 7 minutes. When I first got to 20 repetitions it was taking over 8 minutes. I decided that I needed to keep the exercise going for at least 7 minutes, so yesterday I switched to "how many times can I have started the stairs before the timer goes off at 7 minutes" The answer was 22. And I didn't die.

* My stroke rate at the rowing machine is getting better, too. I can quite easily sit on 38 strokes a minute for my "normal" rowing speed. My three minutes of fast rowing can get as high as 48 strokes per minute, but try as I might, I couldn't push it up to 50. Next week I'm going to increase the fast minutes to 4 minutes at a time, taking it out of my normal rowing speed time.

So all this exercise has been making a difference to how I feel. It has also started to make a difference to how my clothes are fitting, which is a relief. And this week, finally, the scales have registered a downward blip.

This morning I weighed in at 78.7kg, a drop of 1.4 kilos since before Christmas. That's a lot of work for 1.4 kg, because my weight since the last weigh-in has been ridiculously stable until Wednesday of this week.

I'm hoping that common report that muscle takes more keeping up than fat will start to kick in any time now. My body is welcome to eat as much of itself as it wants to.

I also had to laugh at some myth busting going on in the internet exercise world. Apparently, muscle doesn't weigh more than fat. A pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat. No Kidding!?! Of course, the same volume of muscle will weigh more than the same volume of fat. So, apparently the myth is wrong, because it typically doesn't include specific mention that we're speaking volumetrically. Would not logic dictate?... never mind.

No progress, LLL

2012-02-03T12:45:00.002+11:00

Hi All,

I have some excuses instead of progress. I had a birthday that was celebrated 3 times on 3 different days. One included cheesecake. The weather became doubtful, although we had very little rain, but it was an excuse not to walk. That led to the inevitable, I had an extremely bad leg cramp during one night and that led to no walking, for exercise. I had to get out my stick and take a stroll around the small block to try to get going again. However 2 days with the stick and yesterday I started the usual walk and managed to build up speed as I went and carried my stick all the way. So that is now back to normal.

So I am again around the dreaded 60kg I can't seem to get below it to stay, the scales today couldn't make up their mind so I am either .2 or .3 or .4. However I will keep going getting fit, my man today said he needs more resistance on the rower so I will try that too.

Maybe next week will show some better results.

Not an ounce of difference (HJ)

2012-02-03T11:11:00.002+11:00

Nup. Not one. None.

(not even having cut all my hair off!)

But on the other hand, I was doing up my belt yesterday and realised that I could easily do it up one hole tighter.

And despite the fact that I accidentally cooked too much quantity of vegetables last night (the pumpkin needed using up) and I was very full after dinner, I didn't even have to let it out.

Which is pretty good, because a large dinner three months ago would have had me undoing my belt entirely because there were no more holes to use. Now I'm on the third hole which must be about 5 cm difference.

And that makes it all worth it. :)

Oh, that's right, "I'm not losing weight, I'm trying to get fitter"...

Repeat after me... (HJ)

2012-01-28T17:11:00.003+11:00

I'm not trying to lose weight, I'm trying to get fit.

No, it's not working for me either.

I am getting fitter. I'm now at my desired number of minutes of exercise (although the ride my bike to morning prayer count is down for this week due to some beautiful inclement weather we've been having).

And I am not dying as I get up those stairs for the 20th time, although it seems close sometimes.

But I didn't want to fixate on losing weight (which wasn't happening anyway), so I decided to weigh in once a month because there might be a change.

Or not.

80.1kg. I think I was about 80.4 before Christmas.

So it's a pretty good thing that I'm feeling fitter, and not worrying about how much I weigh, isn't it?

Back in Control LLL

2012-01-19T12:40:00.003+11:00

Hi All,

Today I feel that I am back in control of things like exercise and diet. I went on a strict 6 day diet to get things going again, and that worked better than I expected which was good. I have been rowing and walking daily and feeling much better for it. Even yesterday when my body said 'no walk' my mind said 'yes walk' so off I went and felt much better for it.

My weight today is back to 59.6kg, so that is about where I left off so the Christmas weight is gone for good this time (I hope). So back on track and 3 kg to go. I suppose I should aim at 1 kg per month which is what was happening. However I had visitors this am and made some bickies that now have to be eaten. Well I did freeze them, so I hope they stay there.

Hopefully I will stay on track for some time now. It is too difficult to get back on track, much easier to stay there.

Onwards and downwards.

I am dumb (but fit!) HJ

2012-01-16T16:06:00.003+11:00

Monday. Turn up the exercise!

Now doing 18 times up & down the stairs, added the next two repetitions.

Didn't die.

That was good.

Added an extra single minute of fast time to rowing, making it up to 29 minutes total.

I wasn't dead even yet.

Rode my bike into a headwind to town, only to find that morning prayer wasn't on because all the Anglican clergy are at summer school this week. They had discussed it in my hearing at least twice last week and I failed to connect "Clergy Summer School next week" with "we'll all be away so there will be no morning prayer".

Of course, this means I didn't get my 30 minute sit down for the actual praying part of morning prayer.

So I rode home again, surprisingly against a headwind. Surprising, that is, until I realised that a south easterly wind will be against you for parts of both ways to and from town when town is to the north east of your residence.

I am getting stronger.

But maybe the oxygen deprivation from all this exercise is slowing my brain down.

Intermittently Intolerant (Manda)

2012-01-11T06:41:00.004+11:00

Ok, so it's been another couple of months.
I got better, but I still have a lingering intolerance (which may only have noticeable effects when I'm busy or stressed).

Being unable to eat much dairy - my favorite three foodgroups - is helping me curb my slightly silly eating habits. I'm using soymilk for breakfast, which gives me one good (but not excessive) dairy-inclusive dessert during the day, should the opportunity arise.

Meanwhile, I've learned that when I drink water (and noncaffeinated tea), I eat less. So I'm trying this mental thing where I have a glass of water before snacks or dessert. I tend to be satisfied with less of the food after a glass of water, so when I actually remember that I do this, it's working well! (Also, eating veggies helps).

69.5 kilos.
(Oh, by the way - as far as I can tell, that's the lightest I've weighed in on this blog. Hooray!)

I'm still around

2012-01-09T15:03:00.002+11:00

Hi All,

I am still around, getting rounder. Since holidays I haven't made much progress, actually over the holiday period I gained again. This past weekend we have been away celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary. So now all that is past, I am going to get going again. I need to lower carbs to start things working again, so today is the first day of being really good again. My exercise has been slack to non existent so that will improve too. So shortly I hope to be again celebrating 60 kg and then I will continue from where I left off some time back. I also need to improve my fitness level and that did start over the week end we walked a long long way.

So hopefully later in the week I can show some improvement. I have a long way to go.

This exercise might, just might, be making some difference (HJ)

2012-01-09T11:50:00.002+11:00

It's Monday. That's the day to up the challenge in the exercise.

So I'm now doing 16 times up and down the stairs. That's 256 individual steps each way (albeit changing between up and down every 16 repetitions). I've decided I'm going to make it to 20 times, then start pushing the time frame required, and maybe add some weight. 2 kg of flour in my back-pack?

I've also upped the rowing by adding 3 mins of as fast as I can: 2 mins fast, then normal 5 mins, then 1 min fast again. This leaves me with 28 mins total. I don't have time to look at more than 30 mins, so once I hit that I'll just have to increase the fast mins and/or resistance. I will only do the longer row (i.e. more than 20 mins) on days when I'm doing a short bike ride. It keeps it interesting to mix it up a bit.

I made 1050 repetitions this morning. That's impressive to me - into 4 figures!

Not riding my bike for a week between Christmas and New Year has really impacted on my bike-fitness. I'm struggling with the normal 2km, and haven't even considered the longer one last week. (Then again, it could be the heat. Or the fact that I'm doing extra other exercise in the mornings before I go, so I'm tired already before I start.)

I've also been walking the dog a few afternoons in the week. It isn't for fitness, more for fresh air and dog-time and mind-relaxing. It also gets my walking muscles going, so that although the pace I go is no-where near fast enough to keep up with my Mum* it will mean I actually can walk when we go overseas.

So I guess I'm doing stairs, at least 20 mins rowing, and 4 km on the bike about 4 mornings a week. It's got to be doing something, right?

*Yes. The same Mum as was attacked by a dog and hasn't yet regained pain-free mobility. The same Mum who is more than 20 years older than I am. Sad, isn't it?

A matter of timing (Emily Sue)

2012-01-09T10:40:00.000+11:00

Having spent weeks alternating between doing workout DVDs and walking on my treadmill, I have decided that I would rather walk outside while the weather is still nice. This is Melbourne, after all, and it's going to start getting cold a lot sooner than I would like. Might as well get outside while I still can.

I have mapped out a little 6km walk and have been doing that early every morning. "Early" means I usually start at about 5.50am. Never in my life would I have imagined I'd be doing such a thing. We're on daylight saving time here so the sun's not up some days and it's barely even light. I usually walk out my front door thinking, "Really? This is what I do now?" ;)

It's a walk with a few small hills - two are a short, sharp incline and two are a long, steady incline - and the rest is mostly flat. I usually do the walk in 70 minutes, meaning my average speed is (obviously) just under 6km/h. In the past few days I've been working on getting my time down - goal is to do the walk in 60 minutes or less, so I know my average speed is 6km/h or faster. Yesterday I managed to get it down to 67 minutes, which was the first time I'd been under 70 minutes. Yay! And today... today I did it in 63 minutes. How did I manage such a feat? Partly by walking faster, and partly by jogging bits of it.* Jogging. IN PUBLIC. (My route is mostly along main roads.) Believe me, this is NOT like me at all. I am not what you'd call a natural athlete, and certainly not a natural runner. I look awkward, I'm in constant danger of tripping over, everything wobbles all over the place and I start puffing and turn tomato-red in a matter of seconds. Which might be okay, except that I happen to have a very round face - so I'm not just red; I look like I ACTUALLY have a tomato for a head.

Kind of like this, only with less smiling and more grimacing.

So you see, I don't exercise in public. That's part of the reason I bought a treadmill, so I could turn red and work on my cardiac arrest in the privacy of my own home. And yet, there I was this morning. Huffing, puffing, wobbling and turning red while cars drove by. No one stopped to render medical assistance, so it's possible I didn't look as bad as I thought. And when I got home I felt great. My body is getting stronger and my attitude to helping it get stronger is changing too. That's a win, in my book.

* By "bits of it" I mean I jogged in 30-60 second bursts, 4-5 times. At my current fitness level that's roughly equivalent to a half-marathon.
.

Getting there (ES)

2012-01-04T11:45:00.002+11:00

I'm not sure how to measure what my success has been like lately. I'm mostly sticking to a good routine of getting up early to exercise, eating good food including loads of fruit (still loving those green smoothies for breakfast - check out this video) and lots of salad, because it's been too hot to cook much. I've had some not-so-great days with food and exercise but on balance I think I've mostly had good days.

So have I lost weight? Yes! And... no! My weight has been up and down so I'm not paying too much attention to it as an indicator of where I'm at. I'm trying to pay more attention to my body than to the scales. And my body tells me that the changes to my diet and exercise levels are doing me good. I have more energy and I feel stronger. I'm still a complete weakling, muscle-wise, but I'm finding many exercises are getting easier so something is definitely improving there.

The interesting thing about starting my day with the green smoothie is that my body now craves it. I feel more energised and alert, and when I start the day with the smoothie I find I tend to eat better all day, whereas on the days where I don't have it I am more likely to snack on things that aren't as healthy for me. Interesting and somewhat unexpected benefit. I suppose it's not surprising - I'm now having around 6 serves of fruit per day, compared with about 3 serves per week previously. Of course my body is enjoying the extra nutrients and fibre. I'd like to increase my serves of veges too... so I either need to wait for the weather to cool down, or expand my repertoire of raw vegetable dishes.

Calorie-wise I'm still tracking on My Fitness Pal. In truth I eat the same things most days so I could probably estimate, but at the moment I am still too likely to binge when I'm having a bad day. Tracking calories gives me some accountability, and is also helping me learn to allow for "bad" foods (eg, chocolate, takeaway) within my calorie limit. This is important for me because I struggle with disordered eating and my tendency is to see eating chocolate etc as a failure, and therefore decide I've blown it anyway so I might as well keep bingeing until I feel sick. Not helpful for my physical OR mental health. Being able to CHOOSE to eat less-than-ideal foods, on purpose and within my calories, is a big thing. I'm not particularly good at it yet, but never mind. The path to good mental health is a marathon, not a sprint.

So in summary - I'm not losing much weight but I'm getting healthier and stronger, and feeling good.
.

Exercise Conundrum (HJ)

2012-01-03T22:33:00.003+11:00

So I'm not trying to lose weight, really (although it would be nice). I want to get fit.

The problem being that if your goal is to lose a few kg it is easy to see if you're succeeding or not. If you want to get fitter, how do you really know if you're getting to your goal?

You see, as each thing you've been doing gets easier, the only way to get more fit is to do more. When your goal is to be able to work for some hours on an archaeological dig, or walk up Mt Nebo or whatever, how do you actually know if you're on track?

So all I can do is do more and more exercise and get fitter and fitter, but eventually you run out of time that is able to be devoted to exercise (which, let's face it isn't a whole lot of time because there's heaps of other things that I need to be doing - Biggest Loser this ain't).

So I really need to get some goals for precisely fit do I want to be?

Suggestions (not all at the same time, mind you):

30 mins rowing

30 mins bike ride

20 times up and down the steps.

The thing is, I'm well on the way to these goals. And the additional medium paced 20 min walk with the LBD doesn't really add all that much to my conditioning.

But does being able to do any of these really help me to shovel dirt, be on my hands and knees scraping away at stuff, or walking for miles around ancient sites?

I need to get me some goals. More hills in the bike ride? Up the resistance on the rowing machine? Carry stuff up and down the stairs?

PS. I've decided that I'm not going to weigh-in until the end of the month. There's been no change much since I recommenced this fitness kick a couple of months ago. I think I've lost about 1.2kg in about 3 months. So hopefully a month apart may make any difference a bit more noticeable. We'll see.

Enough? (HJ)

2011-12-22T16:31:00.005+11:00

I've been thinking yesterday and the day before that that I really need to add some challenges to my exercise routine. If I'm going to enjoy my time overseas, I need to be fit. And getting fit requires that the degree of difficulty is slowly increasing (time, or weight, etc).

So today...

Today I got up and did the steps 10 times, rather than the 8 that I have been doing. That's 160 steps up and 160 steps down. I WILL be able to get to obscure places overseas that require my body to cope with elevation.

Backed that up with 20mins rowing. Rowing is my core/arms exercise that also gets a little cardio-vascular on the side. It is my standard exercise that I really need to do to discharge my responsibility to myself to try to get/keep fit. I haven't rowed this week, so it was amazing that I managed it well, and I decided that with the extra steps and riding down to morning prayer I'd leave it at that. (Besides, Emily Sue said that 20 mins is her minimum and anything else is bonus. If it's good enough for Emily Sue...)

Then I decided that I'd cycle the long way down to morning prayer. I've been doing that a few times this week instead of rowing. It's about 20 mins instead of under 10. I should work out the distance.* About three blocks into the alternative route the chain fell off my bike, so I had to abort and head for the local Anglican church to be on time.

Then after prayer I thought, "Why the heck can't I do my extra circuit on the way HOME? After all, technically it's a holiday day for me today and I don't need to BE anywhere."

So I did.

On the way home I also did the few extra blocks to get to the little butcher that I patronise to pick up our Christmas ham. Thankfully it's pretty much flattish and downhill from there.

This afternoon I had to make the trip to Mum & Dad's, so being a lovely overcast, cool day I decided to take the bike. After coasting down the lovely hill from our place I had to start going back up the hill to their place and my legs decided that they weren't exactly fresh. I made it, though.

On the way back (which is mostly downhill until you have to go up our killer hill again) I think I nearly died. I think the pump that is my heart was really running out of juice.

I don't think I need to walk the dog this afternoon. Do you?

*The actual distance of my long, loopy way is 6.2km, the short way is 2km home again from there. Of course, the long, loopy way was selected primarily on the basis of the fact that because it follows the river most of the way it is pretty flat. I LIKE flat. But I would have done at least an extra 1 - 1.5 km in my aborted initial attempt and the detour to the butcher. It is not unreasonable to assume I did 10 km on the bike this morning, then another 4km this arvo.

Same same (ES)

2011-12-10T19:42:00.001+11:00

I've just had three weeks off work, which meant I had three weeks of no exercise and not caring what I ate. Add some stress to that, for various reasons, and there may have been some binge eating. Ahem. Moving right along...

I started back at work this week, and also started back on my early morning routine of exercise and a decent breakfast (and taking the time to pack a decent lunch). I've decided that when I exercise I'd like to do 20 minutes minimum, because having my heart rate up for that amount of time is about what I need to burn off adrenaline and keep my anxiety at a pretty good level. But anything after that is a bonus - so if I do 45 minutes one day and only 20 minutes the next day, that's totally fine. It's not that I did "only" 20 minutes on day 2; it's that I did an extra 25 minutes on day 1. This way of thinking has helped to stop those conversations with myself. You know the ones... "You did 45 minutes yesterday and today you want to stop at 20. That's pathetic! What's wrong with you? It's less than half what you did yesterday - that's a huge step backwards!" Unhelpful, yes? Yes.

I have to say I'm still loving the early-to-bed, early-to-rise routine. I get so much done in the mornings and it kick-starts my day beautifully. Of course, this hasn't resulted in any weight loss, but I guess that will come eventually. Blobbing around for three weeks didn't help, obviously, although I am back to the weight I was a month ago. Still a way to go to get my fitness and energy levels back up there, but that will come. Right now I have a groin injury - just like a footballer - which I can really feel when I walk so I'm taking a few days off to rest it. It's just a muscle thing and will heal fine. And the lesson here, kids, is (a) warm up first and (b) don't keep up a brisk walk and/or jog when you're obviously tired out and therefore your form is rubbish. Don't be a hero - it leads to injury.

Nothing to see here, people (HJ)

2011-12-10T16:25:00.002+11:00

So a few weeks later and I'm doing 20 mins on the rowing machine, and still riding my bike about three times in the week (although the rainy days have pulled that count down this week), and I'm now at the end of my week of doing the steps 8 times.

I did actually have a second bike ride one day last week, and I did not die.

But still no change in the weight stakes. (still wobbling around the horrible round number I don't want to think about)

What do you mean I've got to make some better food choices?

Going Down (HJ)

2011-11-21T11:56:00.002+11:00

I made it to just under the horrible number I don't want to think about, much less talk about. (Like 0.1kg under, but hey...)

I've increased my rowing to 15 minutes about 4 times a week because I think it's time for a challenge.

I'm not having to put my bike down to first gear for the long slog up the hill from town anymore, and I've been doing about three trips into town each week. I'm not up to much more distance than that (2km) or for that matter riding to two things in the one day. But it's a start.

But last week my challenge was to go up and down the stairs 5 times 3-4 times a week. Different muscle set and for me going up has always been really hard work. It occurs to me that if I want to get to the monastery at Meteora or to the top of Mt Nebo to see where Moses got to watch the Israelites cross the Jordan in June/July this year I will need to improve my ability to go up. Or at least, I will enjoy the trip more if I do.

So, the plan is to be able to go up & down the internal stairs 20 times in a row. This week I've increased it to 6 times and I'm surprised I'm not dead. Or having weird heart-y things.

So I must be getting fitter, right?

Give or Take (HJ)

2011-11-11T12:57:00.003+11:00

I haven't been really keen to post.

This might be because as of the end of semester I'd almost beaten my best weight ever (if I was a cow heading for the sale yards, that is). I didn't want to talk about it.

But it does give one a certain amount of motivation when they look in the mirror in some of their clothes and realise that the pregnancy rumours are going to be up and running again (if they aren't already) if one doesn't DO SOMETHING.

So I'm trying to get more active. I like food. I like lots of it, and some of the lots I like is not necessarily healthy.

So I will begrudgingly exercise in order to be able to eat moderate amounts of whatever the heck I want. Yes, I will continue to have healthy breakfast. No, I don't need a huge amount of lunch. Yes, I will try to have fruit and/or yoghurt for dessert.

But there will be occasional cakey-things. Or hot chips. or ice-cream. Or cheesecake.

I've been doing 10 mins rowing most mornings (oh, how the mighty have fallen), and I rode my bike three times this week to things I would normally take the car for.

I have been Zumba DVDing a couple of times when I have time, too.

I was walking the LBD a few times a week, but the bike riding is leaving me pretty worn out, so I've been slack this week.

Anyway, apart from the fact that I didn't write down the number representing the zenith of my weight-gain, it appears that in the last two weeks I've lost a kilo. Give or Take. Possibly as much as 1.3.

But then, one of the nannas at mainly music asked me if I'd lost some weight. I didn't really think one kg would make that much difference.

Maybe I'm building muscle!

My body can do stuff (ES)

2011-11-11T09:09:00.001+11:00

So I've been pretty consistent with exercising every morning. I miss a few days here and there but I'd say I average at least 5 days per week (at the unholy time of about 5.45am). I don't appear to have lost any weight although I'm not 100% sure my scales are accurate. Yesterday I did the get-off-get-on-again thing and somehow gained a whole kilo. Did it again and gained another 500g. Kept doing it out of curiosity and managed to lose all that "weight" again in small increments over 5 minutes or so. Very strange, and it's the only time the scales have ever done that. I tested it again this morning and it was completely consistent, but of course now I don't know if the consistent weight it showed me is my ACTUAL weight. I think I might go with measurements instead.

A few months ago I finally got my act together and saw a podiatrist, who expressed great horror at a number of problems with my feet and ankles. She prescribed orthotics, which I have been wearing and noticing the difference. The pain in the side of my knee, which had been waking me up at night, has pretty much gone. I thought this all boded well, so a few weeks ago when on the treadmill I increased the speed to a jog. Not a good idea, as it turns out - I was limping within five steps because I had shooting pain in my knee, in a different spot from the previous pain. This is not unexpected because my knees and ankles are still getting used to behaving like normal knees and ankles instead of wobbling all over the place. Still, disappointing.

Earlier this week I decided to give jogging a go again, to see if the knee has improved. To my delight, I managed half a minute of jogging without pain. I've been testing it out each day, doing bursts of 1-2 minutes of jogging. And it's been fine, but the really great thing is that I am able to jog at a much higher speed than I've ever been able to do previously. When I was doing C25K before I usually jogged at a very shuffly and slow 6.5kmh, reducing to 6kmh when I got tired. I walked at 5-5.5kmh. Now I am walking at 6-6.5kmh and jogging at 7.5-8kmh. This is HUGE for me. I think I have jogged at 7.5kmh just once before, and I managed maybe 30 seconds. Now I'm doing 2 minutes at 8kmh and I'm still feeling okay when I finish. I cannot tell you how thrilled I am about this. I said in a previous blog entry that I'm concentrating on health and strength... and I think it's working. I am actually feeling fitter and stronger. How great is that??

Prepare to be amazed ...

2011-11-07T19:20:00.000+11:00

Today I did it! I swam 50 laps, that is 2.5km!!! The first 10 laps were killers as usual, laps 22-24 were depressing because it was still hard going and I knew I wasn't halfway yet, but sometime in the late 20s I settled into my strokes and breathing and it became easier.

I have added two more laps into the set that I repeat. They are non-flippers laps, the trickiest for me due to my tiny inadequate feet. My set of eight now looks like
1. Kickboard & flippers, tread water for a minute at the deep end
2. Kickboard & flippers
3. Freestyle, girlpower only
4. Breaststroke, girlpower only
5. Freestyle, flippers
6. Breaststroke, flippers
7. Freestyle, hand paddles & flippers
8. Breaststroke, hand paddles & flippers.

So you see, my swimming is greatly flipper-assisted. But I like it that way.

Today after four sets (32 laps) I just kept powering up and down with my flippers. I took them off for a few laps but by then the exhaustion was showing and it was a bit too much. I needed two kickboard laps to rest a bit.

I powered past 40 laps and began to marvel at how I was now swimming personal bests - every lap was the furthest I'd ever swum! I was so relieved when laps 46-49 were done. And can you imagine how I felt on Lap 50? Woo hoo! It was exhilarating!

I guess now I need to find time to go and buy my reward!

By the way... (ES)

2011-10-28T14:10:00.002+11:00

Lest you think I've become a spinach-smoothie swilling exercise freak, I thought you'd like to know I just had a packet of Zig Zag Twisties. The big packet. 376 calories.

They were good.
.

Health and Strength (Emily Sue)

2011-10-27T11:43:00.000+11:00

I have no idea what I weighed last time, but today I weigh 72.8kg, which is down a bit. And that's good, but I've had a bit of a brain-shift about how I'm handling this.

I have spent most of my life with body image issues and related disordered eating. I feel like I've been following diets and food rules my whole life, and I'm always feeling guilty about eating 'bad' foods or not exercising enough. (How much is "enough" anyway?) So I must ask myself... is that any way to live? I'm thinking NO.

It occurred to me recently that having a weight loss goal is not helping me. By that I mean, having weight loss as my ENTIRE goal. It means that every time I exercise, I see it as a means to lose weight. When I eat something 'healthy', it's to lose weight. When I deny myself something 'bad', it's to lose weight. This is probably not news to anyone, but that is not actually enjoyable. Further, once I lose weight I know I will stop exercising, stop eating healthy food and go back to the 'bad' foods. Even calling them BAD foods is so unhelpful. Food is not good or bad; it's just food.

So my goal has changed. I'm still counting calories and staying within a specified amount that will help me lose weight sensibly, but weight loss is not my ultimate goal. I am aiming to be healthy and strong. God gave me a body that works well (knees and eyesight not withstanding) and it is a JOY to be strong enough to do things like walk to the shops instead of drive, or walk up a big hill because there's a fantastic view at the top. It's a joy to be able to pick up my podgy cats (they're pretty heavy). It's a joy to know my body is capable of doing 50 minutes on the treadmill - I certainly wasn't capable of that a year ago, and now I feel strong when I finish.

Having this little mind-shift has been incredibly helpful. I've just discovered green smoothies (basically it's a mix of 60% fruit - whatever you like - and 40% green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale or chard, plus a cup or two of water, blend until smooth and drink) and I'm loving them - not because they are a 'weight loss' food, but because they taste great and I honestly feel fantastic when I start the day with one. I know they sound horrible, but they are soooo good. And you can't taste the spinach. This morning's smoothie had apple, orange, pineapple, banana, almond meal (for protein) and spinach. It was delicious.

I've had the same mind shift with exercise. So this morning when I was doing a workout from a DVD I wasn't thinking, "Keep going, you need to lose weight"; I was thinking, "Hey, I can do this one a bit more easily now. I must be getting stronger. Awesome!"

This doesn't mean I leap out of bed every morning all excited about exercise and healthy eating. I still have to employ the 'don't negotiate with terrorists' method to get me out of bed. I still eat chocolate and chips and other things, and sometimes I still have a total calorie blowout. But I am no longer punishing myself, and I'm no longer obsessed with the NEED to lose weight. I'm concentrating on health and strength and if it leads to weight loss, that's great. If it doesn't, I'm still going to rejoice in the things my body can do, and in how healthy I feel.
.

I'm back LLL

2011-10-21T14:15:00.003+11:00

Hi All,

I have been doing other things and forgetting to post. My weight dropped below the magic 60kg and that was my next target. So to celebrate I had cheesecake, would you believe 3 times in one week. That didn't have the desired effect.

I have also had 2 trips away the first in a caring role was ok, but the Sunshine Coast for 2 days wasn't and they have a gelati shop which needed visiting, twice. Then we added a church fete and the baking and eating involved there. Add to that lot a lack of motivation and guess what you have?

Fortunately, well there has to be an upside for the last 6 days I have had a tummy upset that was persistent to say the least, and that lost me 900g. Even though I haven't walked for a week.

So I have had ups and downs and today on a bounce I weigh 59.8kg. I have really settled on the target weight now and that is between 56 - 57kg so that means another 3 kg to go. I really feel like forgetting the whole thing, but if I don't keep going now I fear the starting again won't happen, so onwards.

How much can I lose before Christmas? That's me for now.

Swimming with and without terrorists

2011-10-17T20:15:00.002+11:00

I'm back into swimming, praise be given the long cold winter is over! Yeah yeah, I could have used the little indoor pool with its lanes of unspecified length, but seriously? Winter, swimming, me? Don't want to not going to do it.

Now that the 50 metre pool is open again, I've been going every Monday with a "Don't negotiate with terrorists" attitude. After my first aborted attempt at going, that is. On that first day, it was cold and drizzly, and there were no parks in front of the pool, beside the pool, over the road in the carpark designated as overflow parking for the pool, the council carpark adjacent to that, or up the street. I could have parked in the shopping centre or library carpark and walked to the pool, but the fact that all the carparks were full indicated that perhaps the pool was packed too. So I let the terrorist beat me that day.

I've been surprised to see that I've picked up where I left off before winter. 30 laps, which is 1.5km, and completing it in nearly 30 minutes. This is 30 minutes on The P'ool Clock, which I spell with an apostrophe in my mind because it is about as accurate and keeps time as well as The Playschool Clock, necessitating the apostrophe.

My Personal Trainer, okay, my good friend who is really knowledgeable about nutrition and fitness who is studying to be a Personal Trainer, said that to build up fitness and go further, going 10% further each week is a good rule of thumb. I don't see this as an infinite possibility, but today I decided to try 33 laps, just to see if I survived.

A funny thing happens as I swim. The first lap nearly kills me. It's my freestyle lap and I tend to go a bit hard first up, because I'm cold in the water and want to get warm. (I also wear flippers to give extra resistance - excessive cardio kills me and I like to mix a good amount of strength training into anything I do. The flippers work lots of muscle groups in my legs, and help me actually move forward in the pool, unlike my tiny size 6 feet - about as effective as paddling a canoe using butter knives.) The second lap is breaststroke, and it's my favourite in the set of 6 laps I repeat, but the third is where I put on my hand paddles for extra resistance and go hard at freestyle again. The third lap is usually when I start questioning whether I'll make it to 10 laps, let alone 30.

By laps 12, 13 and 14, I'm a bit depressed I'm not half-way yet, and wonder if I should stop at 20. But by 18, I know that I'll make the distance.

Today though, but the time I got to 26, I knew I had more than 4 more laps in me, and I also knew I'd make it to 33 easily.

Better make it 34, I thought. Don't want to get out at the deep end, and walk in the wind down to where my towel is.

But then after 34, I knew I would make it to 40. By that stage I'd abandoned my usual set of 6 laps and ditched the hand paddles and kickboard laps. I was just doing freestyle and breaststroke, and I noticed that as I did my freestyle laps (35, 37, 39) I started wondering if I'd do 40 laps. I was getting pretty exhausted by this time. But the breaststroke laps encouraged me - during 34, 36 and 38 I knew I could make it.

And I did! I swam 40 laps, 2km!

How about after I do 50 laps (2.5km) I treat myself to a pair of swim fins?

Exercise Terrorism (Emily Sue)

2011-10-02T20:49:00.000+11:00

I can't even remember when I last posted... I know it was after a brief burst of enthusiasm. :) I think I'm about 300g lighter than then. But that's not what I want to share today.

I read a lot of blogs, and today there was a great post on Mia Freedman's blog about exercise. The link is here but I'll quote my favourite part for you. It's longish, but worth reading. (She's quoting a conversation with Michelle Bridges, one of the Biggest Loser trainers.)

Like the rest of us, Michelle doesn’t adore exercise when she’s doing it and she doesn’t particularly look forward to it. And it’s this myth – that we should LOVE exercise and be inspired to do it – that so many of us use as an excuse not to.

Michelle says she’s asked about motivation all the time because people assume she is a motivation machine. But she’s not. “I don’t wake up, pump my fist in the air and go ‘YES! I’M GOING RUNNING! RUNNING! YESSSSSSS!’” she insists. Just like she doesn’t wake up and go “YES! I’M HAVING A SHOWER AND BRUSHING MY TEETH.” Or “YES! I HAVE A DENTIST APPOINTMENT!” It’s just what she does.

If you wait for motivation to magically appear? You’ll still be sprawled on your couch watching The Real Housewives in a decade. The clouds do not part. Inspiration does not strike. You will probably never be overcome by the urge to exercise. You. Just. Do. It.

Accidentally, I’ve taken this approach to exercise for a long time. It’s also known as the Don’t-Negotiate-With-Terrorists method if by ‘terrorists’ you mean the self-sabotaging parts of yourself that would prefer to sleep-in or go for drinks after work instead of moving vigorously until parts of your body hurt and get sweaty.

I don’t negotiate with myself about exercise. Ever. I’ve done the same thing for years. And years and years. Exercise is one of the most boring and predictable things in my life but also one of the most important. Without it, I’m Moody McBitchface. The way I sidestep the need for motivation is to remove as many variables as possible – I exercise indoors so weather doesn’t matter. I exercise alone so I’m not relying on anyone. I don’t have a trainer or do classes so it’s not budget dependent. I always exercise in the morning and always on cardio machines. The morning part is crucial. It means I don’t spend the day having those exhausting debates in my head about whether I will or won’t do it after work. Exercising in the morning is as much a part of my routine as getting dressed.

I just love the "Don't Negotiate With Terrorists" method. It's my new mantra... because those 'terrorist' thoughts get me all the time. "Oh, I can't be bothered. I have insomnia so I should sleep when I can. I will do it tonight. I'll be late for work. I'll go for a walk at lunchtime. I don't have any sports bras clean." You name the excuse, I've probably made it.

This afternoon I desperately wanted a nap. Daylight saving started this morning so I lost an hour of sleep and my body was protesting. I was on my computer and I was almost nodding off as I typed. I was soooo tempted to sleep... but I thought, "No. Don't negotiate with terrorists." I pulled on some exercise gear, put in a workout DVD and did that for 40 minutes. Then, feeling still inspired, I put on a Star Trek DVD and walked on the treadmill for an hour while it played. ONE HOUR. I walked 5.5km and I felt great at the end. Of course, I don't expect to do that amount of exercise every day but I hope to do SOME.

Don't Negotiate With Terrorists.

I love it.
.

Progressing (HJ)

2011-09-19T21:30:00.004+10:00

Mum indicated that she hasn't been progressing at all, so this is the perfect opportunity to say that I HAVE progressed!

I have put on more weight. Aren't you proud of me?

Medicinal chocolate is to blame, but I'm hoping that now I'm on holidays I have a little more time to make some better choices. So I started with 5mins rowing again and did 20 mins Zumba and avoided the last slice of cheesecake.... and finished my assignment entirely (unless I get keen enough to kill the remaining 400 words over limit. If I don't get keen, it's going in un-culled, because I have no idea what more I can take out).

PS. For the record, when I made a crack about LLL always being at the top, it was more to stimulate others to post, not to stop you-know-who.

Not Progressing LLL

2011-09-15T13:02:00.002+10:00

Hi All,

After a comment made by a certain person who blogged rubbish, I have been scared to blog. But here goes, I will take my courage and give it a go.

Yes, I have been absent for some weeks and my progress is nil. When my weight settled after holidays I was about what I am now. Today I weigh 60.5kg, I have been doing all the right things and nothing is happening, so tomorrow I go away for a week and that will give me further time to think things through.

In the last week I have heard a few times about diets that have only protein for 2 weeks, and they lose between a kg a day and 5 kg in 2 weeks, so I will continue to think about doing that drastic bit to remove the last 4kg.

At least I haven't gone up in weight. So I will see you all in a couple of weeks, and may you all be more successful than I am at present.

I am officially a LOSER. (GdeE)

2011-08-27T22:42:00.001+10:00

I bet you thought I'd died. I haven't. I just left to focus on doing what I'd been trying to do for so long - losing some damn weight.

On the Scales:

Starting Weight: 67.0kg.
Current Weight: 60.3kg
Loss: 6.7kg, or 10% of my starting weight.

NSVs (Non-Scale Victories)

BMI (not perfect, but a decent enough indicator for me): Previously: 24.9. Wear a cardigan, and I'd be "overweight." Now: 22.4 - just shy of the halfway point in the normal range.
Currently wearing my GOAL JEANS! My what? MY GOAL JEANS!!
Everyone is noticing that I'm looking trimmer, even my old Dad.
Can now sustain weight loss without logging food every day: have a bit of an instinct for what I will and won't eat in order to keep losing.
Am much fitter and can wear workout clothes without laughing at self.
Took a ridiculous picture of self in goal jeans. Laughed at self then.

What's worked for me?

(1) I always ate "fairly healthy," but it wasn't until I started counting calories on My Fitness Pal that I had any success at all. After all, what's a diet without a treat? And how big is a treat? And how many treats? I never knew the answers to these questions until I had a set number of calories to eat each day, and wrote down every single thing I actually ate. The answers to the above questions weren't what I'd previously thought.

Along with counting calories, I have spent time focussing on carbs/proteins/fats, saturated fat content, sugar content, and sodium content. All these things are quite important, and you'd go mad trying to track it all without My Fitness Pal.

Those six weeks of hard-line rules late last year were great, and I've mostly kept them up and included some more, like no rice crackers, ever! Ever, ever, ever! I'll tell you why one day. Evil things.

(2) I always stayed "fairly active," but it wasn't until I started "working out" that I had any success either. I had previously read research indicating that pure cardio was the way to go if you want to burn fat, but the reality is that strength training is pretty effective especially when it's coupled with cardio. It was all more effective when my exercise routine was mixed up so my body didn't get used to my workout routine and go into a plateau.

So I completed Jillian Michaels' 23-day Shred program ... I beg your pardon ... I nearly completed Jillian Michaels' 30-Day Shred program in the comfort of my living room with the aid of a set of dumbbells and my three small children. I saw results, oh boy did I see them! And although I should have been measuring results with a tape measure as well, I mainly saw them in my ability to go from being able to do zero pushups to 15 in a row, and to crunch my abs until Jillian said to stop, and to star-jump and jump-rope and butt-kick until I lost continence. This last is not a joke. I didn't let it stop me - I bought a pack of maternity pads and kept going.

Going to the pool lost its appeal when the big pool was shut down for winter, so I did as much walking while pushing the pram/stroller as I could. To and from school is ideal (Hills! Resistance training!) when the weather is nice, so I've been trying to do that whenever I can. It's funny when you are sad when the kids hop out and walk, or when you're pushing a nice easy pram ... simply because you know you're burning fewer calories!

What now?

The picture above doesn't show it, but I haven't lost much weight from my tummy. I have a little bit left to lose if I'm going to get rid of this fat over my internal organs (doctors don't mind all that much if your fat is on your thighs, but they don't like seeing it closer to your heart and other organs.) The weather will get warmer and I'll be back out there walking to and from school whenever I can, and the pool will re-open and I'll start carving up the water again. I will buy new clothes and lo, there will be less fabric in them. I will look nicer in my clothes too, so perhaps I should decide to care just a little bit about how I look.

I'm going to learn how to get my scales to tell me [their opinion of] my body fat percentage (again, imperfect, but decent enough as an indicator) and I'll let that be a rough guide to how much more to lose, as well as how my body feels. I can feel many inches of fat over the top of my recently-toned muscle right now, and I plan to keep some of it but lose some of it too. Not all of it is necessary.

Hey - wanna check out My Fitness Pal? I am eternally grateful to Emily Sue for sending me in that direction! I recently asked a friend's husband who has lost 25kg on MFP how awesome is My Fitness Pal?

His answer: "Really awesome. Actually ... A Hundred-Awesome."

He's right!

Blobbity blobs of blobbiness (Emily Sue)

2011-08-26T10:43:00.000+10:00

I have been absent. I have been stressed. I have been depressed. I have been eating.

And to my surprise (NOT) I have put on weight. I hoped it was just a kilo or two... well, technically it was. Plus another four. I think since my best Weight Watchers day I have put on about 6kg. CRIKEY. So now I'm up to 74kg and not loving that at all.

So... I'm back to logging my calories on My Fitness Pal. I also did 30 minutes of step the other night on my Wii Fit, and now my calves are sore. Man, could I really be that unfit?? Guess so.

Sigh. Here we go again.

And this is just so that LLL doesn't get in my reader all the time. (HJ)

2011-08-25T13:19:00.003+10:00

Nothing to report. Just sick of LLL always being in the title of the post of OSC in my reader. Thought someone else should have a turn, so I'm posting nonsense. I ought to weigh in tomorrow. I wish studying Greek would burn calories. I know for a fact that it doesn't.

Jen.

Back Again LLL

2011-08-25T10:19:00.002+10:00

Hi All,

I am still around, round being the thing. I was happy to be home and wanted to get going again, but when the point came to start, I didn't.

I have now put back a little weight and decided to start again this week, well that hasn't happened again yet. I did have family a few weeks back and that started me cooking naughty things that tasted yummy and added weight and then this last week end I was away in a hotel for a few days, great time, but ate the wrong things.

I will get going again, I have decided that another 5 kg needs to go, I am presently 61.7kg. Maybe next week will be the right time.

Is this going the wrong way called unprogress?

I eat chocolate every day so I'm going to die anyway.

So I might need to get back into Skinny Cow.

2011-08-24T20:45:00.003+10:00

I've put on a little weight again. Too much on, and not pleasant walking weather. I was up early enough today to do 5 mins rowing (I'd not start with any more than that - asking to be stiff and sore), so I was in a pretty good mood, although on dressing in my Hospital Pastoral Care shirt I realised that the bottom button was... snug.

So I was visiting through the wards when one little old lady (who may have some dementia, given later conversation), asked me an an oddly childlike tone, "Is there a little baby in your tummy?".

I narrowly avoided Givinya's best back answer ever, "No, I'm just fat", tossing it off with the phrase, "No, I might have had a bit much chocolate".

Then I got the following warning, "Too much chocolate is not good for you. My friend had diabetes... and she's no longer with us."

So there you are. I'm fat AND going to die.

Good times!

Back Again LLL

2011-07-29T16:58:00.002+10:00

Hi All,

I am back from my wonderful holiday. We saw some amazing places, some man made and some God made, guess which were the best?

We ate and ate, I had decided to forget about diet and enjoy everything including food. I ate far too much breakfast but surely yoghurt and fruit can't hurt too much. For lunch we had crackers and fruit and for dinner whatever the restaurant we chose had on offer. Often the offer was pork and potatoes, this is usual in some countries. Added to that each day we had an ice cream or usually gelati and if we missed a day we had 2 the next day to make up for it. You see what I mean when I say I forgot about the diet.

We also walked and walked and when it wasn't on the flat or hill, it was up or down steps and steps and steps. Each day we walked miles and miles. I made it up the tower I was practising for 241 steps. That afternoon we found a tower and it had 103 steps, I made that too. Another day a tower had 306 steps, I made that too. Then the Ice Cave, what I didn't know was that it had 700 steps after 40 mins uphill walking. All of those are only the up so the same down.

Coming home I put on a long sleeved blouse and the bottom button didn't do up. What I had forgotten was the pouch around my neck hanging to my waist with passport and credit cards etc in it. That had me a tad worried.

My weight when I got home was about 62 1/2 kg. Not bad about what it had been the week we left, now after everything has settled down I am 61.2kg, I think that is 100g more than the week before we went.

So I am happy that input equalled output, but that required a LOT of walking and I won't be doing that now.

All that is a good outcome from a wonderful holiday. Now I have to get the right mind set to continue here. My next goal is 60kg, after that I will consider how much more.

Strange lessons learned from being sick (Manda)

2011-07-13T07:44:00.006+10:00

So, an update: I've lost a few kilos!

Unfortunately, I lost them after being really quite sick. I had a fun intestinal bug that went on and on. So before I go into the lessons I've learned, let me say: intestinal bugs are not at all a good strategy for losing weight. In addition to the fact that no weight loss or "ideal body" is worth getting sick for, I actually gained weight over the first few weeks of being sick (not just because I was unable to exercise: pre-diagnosis, I somehow managed to think I was just hungry, so ate more than usual! What a silly brain I have.)

But I did eventually lose weight. Here is what I learned:

1) It is easy to eat small portions when your food choices are mind-numbingly monotonous.
My doctor said I'd get better faster if I avoided wheat, dairy, fruit, most meat, most vegetables, caffeine and alcahol. So for the last three weeks, I've been eating rice and friends. Rice and rice cereal, rice milk, rice crackers, unflavored chicken and fish, plain pumpkin, some soy milk, spinach, rice, lactose-free yoghurt, eggs, gluten-free bread, and rice. Oh, yeah, and rice.

Before I got sick, my dinner portions were about double what they needed to be. I just kept feeling hungry! But now I'm not eating as much, I don't feel like I need to eat as much. (And when I prepare another bowl of rice cereal, I don't feel like I need to eat at all. But I do). Hooray!

2) When the consequence of deviating from what you plan to eat is a terribly ill feeling for the entire next day, you are quite likely to stick to your plan.
I guess this is obvious. So, why can't I remember this when the consequence is only slightly delayed: the emotional pain of not being able to fit into any of my pants?

So, in summary: was sick, getting better, eating more healthily, thankful. Hopefully I will remember these things when I can eat freely again!

Steady as she goes (HJ)

2011-07-05T14:30:00.002+10:00

Knowing that no-one's around to check on my progress (or lack thereof) I thought I'd post just to let nobody at all know that I've bounced up to 76kg again, but I've held it steady for a couple of weeks now.

I think I need to do some exercise.

Or maybe eat better choices...

or less of it.

The problem being, I like food.

And I bought marinated pork spare ribs for dinner tonight.

HOW did that get past the "I'm going to start eating healthy choices" censor?

But I'm not getting heavier.

AND My Beloved, the LBD and I all went for a walk last night after work.

THEN I walked to the post box to post some letters today.

Rays of hope, maybe?

Another weigh in LLL

2011-06-16T13:35:00.002+10:00

Hi All,

Another week and I haven't been particularly careful of what I have eaten, what with helping clean a house and pack up for removal and getting around to thinking about a holiday, who cares. Well actually I do but at times I don't get sweets made in time to set for dinner, so we have ice cream. I can't make anything today as we will be away for the next 2 days, and that is how things are going just now.

My weight is up as if you didn't guess, today 62.1kg a bounce that doesn't worry me. I will see what happens in the next week.

Thanks for checking up on me.

Being wise (Emily Sue)

2011-06-11T14:32:00.000+10:00

Sigh. Here's the thing... although I haven't mentioned it on this blog before, I have struggled for years with disordered-eating thinking. That doesn't quite work grammatically but it's what it's called, so I'm going with it. It's not technically an eating disorder although there have certainly been times when I've matched the criteria for an EDNOS (Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified). This is something I'm working on and have been for a while. (Working on getting better, I mean. Not working on developing an eating disorder. Just wanted to be clear, there...)

Anyway, I've realised lately that reporting my weight and exercise on here is not helping me at the moment. Ironic, given it was partially my idea in the first place, but there you go. Sadly, logging my food intake on My Fitness Pal is also not a great idea so I'm taking a break from that too - rather ungraciously, because I really liked it, but the things we like aren't always healthy.

So I'll still be reading, and encouraging you all (I'm saying "you ALL" optimistically, assuming that someone will join LLL eventually...) but I won't be posting for a while.
.

That time of the week again. LLL

2011-06-09T11:40:00.002+10:00

Hi All,

The weeks are still flying by way too fast. After Sat post my weight bounced, which I expected after that drop. It stayed there til today when I weighed at 61.6kg so that is another 200g. Well very unexpected, but I will accept that.

What I really want to say is something quite different. As I have been walking lately, I have been thinking about where I am now as a comparison to where I was last Oct when I started here.

Now I can walk for my usual 22 mins at a brisk pace - when I started I strolled around one block and then had to stop frequently to let the pain in my leg subside. I had to push through the pain barrier to walk even 1 block and then I had to come home and rest my leg.

I can now do 16 sets of steps - then if I absolutely had to go upstairs I did, but it was often one leg doing the work.

I can now row for 5 mins - then I didn't even think about rowing. When I did start I would only use my legs for 1 min and then it was a push.

I can now see where I will probably be, after 15 months I don't expect much more improvement and I still have to rest at times. I am also using my leg warmer as the cold weather isn't helping the pain level.

On top of all this which I consider a long road there is also the weight loss and that stands at about 10kg.

So for me the last 9 months have been a good progress, and I will continue along this road and see where I end up.

Thanks for your encouragement and support.

Braggarts can really steal your thunder (HJ)

2011-06-04T11:15:00.002+10:00

I weighed this morning.

30 April was the last time I actually reported anything, and that was that I'd bumped up to 76kg again.

Today, after a whole month of avoiding the scales, I am at 74.3 kg, which is a drop of 1.7 kg from there, and a 1.3 kg drop from my last recorded weight prior to the post-Lent splurge.

I'm happy.

I haven't yet got the elimination diet off the ground, despite reducing the usual suspects in a general fashion. Really need to get to the place I can commit to it for a few weeks, but there's so much going on and I've had a couple of "stuff it, I don't feel like cooking, let's get takeaway" moments.

I also got up early Wednesday morning to Zumba before the day hit me. Haven't managed any exercise since. Really need to borrow some motivation, if anyone has any spare.

But things are happening. This is very good.

Strange things are happening LLL

2011-06-04T09:16:00.003+10:00

Hi all,

I can't resist, maybe someone out there can tell me what is happening. It started 5 days ago, remember my last post, I hadn't been walking constantly and had started again. Well today is day 5 of strange happenings.

My weight had settled around 62.6ish, then on day 1 it dropped to 62.4, day 2 = 62.2, day 3 = 62.0, and that is where I reported. Since then day 4 =61.9 (yea I broke the kg barrier.), and today being day 5 = 61.8. How?

My weight has been stable for a couple of weeks, my eating has been the same, and my exercise has been the same maybe a little less. Don't get me wrong I am stoked but would like a reason for all this happening. The slacks that I found in my drawer (I thought I had thrown out long since) that I squeezed into are now loose.

Don't expect anything great next Thursday it has all happened for this couple of weeks.

Weigh in LLL

2011-06-02T11:04:00.002+10:00

Hi all,

Don't the weeks fly by fast! It seems every time I turn around it is time to report again.

I have had success this week. The scales tell me today that my weight is 62.0kg. That is a drop of 900 g in the week. I do know that last week it was up so the drop isn't that dramatic. However I wanted to be below 62 when we left for holidays and I should do that in time. I still have 3 weeks to go.

This is surprising as I have overeaten on 4 consecutive days, and on 3 of them didn't do any exercise, so I don't deserve the drop.

I have at last made my 2 tshirts that were the 5kg loss reward. These thing take time, but I have them now and that will be good for holidays in Austria in summer. I have made 4 long sleeve shirts for now and I still have a pair of slacks to go. I am making progress.

Well that is all for now, another week full of possibilities now starts and it will be interesting to see what I can do with that.

So, does simply reporting that I haven't been near the scales count? (HJ)

2011-05-30T11:36:00.003+10:00

I want to support you all.

Really, I do.

But I had a bad week and there is NO WAY I'm going near the scales.

So I'm here.

But not reporting anything interesting.

If only God hadn't invented cakey-things...

That Time Again LLL

2011-05-26T13:34:00.002+10:00

Hi Again all,

I have nothing to report. Weight 62.9 so up again. I will only claim to be in that hard spot a few weeks before an overdue holiday. We now leave in 3 1/2 weeks. I still have sewing to do for that and winter. At the moment winter is winning with the cold. I now have 3 new shirts as of today. I would like to make 2 short sleeved shirts and 1 pair of slacks in the next couple of weeks.

Life has been busy with various activities and filling in spots for some others, which just makes it harder.

I am in a place where weight doesn't matter. Having said that I am still walking daily, my leg isn't happy if I don't, so I do. I have started rowing again to help out, so maybe some of the gain is muscle rebuilding. I also have a toothache, I went to the dentist and he exrayed and drilled and couldn't find anything wrong, so the tooth has 1 week to settle down from no problem, and then the dentist wants to see me again and maybe take it out. Giving a little healing time before we go overseas.

When you add all this together, you can see why weight doesn't matter, but having said that I am still eating correctly, when I get really frustrated I eat 6 almonds.

That is all for this week. Generally I am happy and managing well.

I didn't weigh in. (HJ)

2011-05-20T20:14:00.002+10:00

Early start today, so I didn't have time.

But last week I was .5kg lighter than the last time I reported. This was good.

But SOMEONE has piked and not reported this week.

I think she needs more comments for motivation. (or maybe it's been a bad week?)

Remember me? (Emily Sue)

2011-05-14T08:23:00.000+10:00

Yeah, it's been a while. I can't even be bothered looking for the last time I weighed in... I think I was a bit under 69kg. And then stuff happened, which caused eating to happen. This was combined with a knee injury (which I still have) that made exercising pretty nigh impossible. Soooo.... there was weight gain. I got back up to 71kg, despite having assured myself that I would never be over 70kg again. Apparently I lied. I'm getting back on track now and have started to lose some of that weight.

Weight at about three weeks ago: 71kg
Today: 69.8
Difference: 1.2kg loss
Running total (from a 77kg start weight): 7.2kg

I'm okay with that. 1.2kg in three weeks is great given that I can't exercise much. And given that I'm still kind of slackish with what I eat.

Goal this week is to fill my freezer with pre-cooked meals so I just have to heat them up at dinner time. When I get home from work is when everything falls apart because I don't feel like cooking but I'm usually very hungry, so I'll eat whatever rubbish I can find. Sometimes it's not actually rubbishy food, but I'll eat past the point where I'm full. That's not helpful. So, off I go to make some soup and casseroles. :)
.

Weigh in LLL

2011-05-12T11:27:00.000+10:00

Hi All,

Exhaustion has set in but that is ok as the house is clean. The heavy stuff for this week.

I am not worried about the extra 100g that has found me this week. It was mothers day and my husband bought chinese for sunday lunch and my daughter made a delicious dessert, so that all added on and then I was given a chocolate by my daughter. It is delicious as well and is lasting not too long. So with choc each day I don't expect a drop as yet. However one more sitting and the choc will be gone. It is a long time since I was able to sit and eat choc when I wanted.

So this week is 62.8 and now I start another week with another chance to loose some more.

That day again LLL

2011-05-05T09:10:00.003+10:00

Hi All,

Well that time of the week has arrived again, doesn't time fly. I wasn't expecting much to happen this week as the diet went out the window. I have had cheesecake twice this week for different reason. Both times I could have said no, but didn't. Then yesterday the electricity man cut the power from 5.35 - 7.40 p.m. Now everyone knows that is tea time and they were saying it would come on again at 9 p.m. So that meant take away or starve. None of the above is good for a strict diet. Does that all sound like excuses?

I have weighed today and the total is 62.7kg and that is a drop of .2. Better than I expected or deserved. So I will continue slowly, my present aim is to be at or below 62 by the end of June when we go on holidays. It is possible.

For other activities my daughter pinned in some blouses for me to sew, which I have done and now have 5 blouses that fit, and feel much better. Tomorrow we are going away for the day and I will buy some t shirting material to make me 3 new long sleeve tops. I am in the process of new slacks.

So that is me for the week. I wish you all a good and healthy week to come.

So now I'm REALLY back... (HJ)

2011-04-30T21:42:00.003+10:00

... to 76kg.

400g post-Lent splurge.

But the good news for my weight loss is that I really need to check out the allergies again because life is getting ridiculous.

And I happen to know that elimination diets are really quite good for weight loss, even if I don't make the time to exercise!

Thinking about starting Monday, because I really need to see if the hayfevery nose and eyes, itchy inner ears and sore throatiness have anything to do with what I'm eating. I'm suspicious due to a couple of 30mins after eating chocolate mucous attack incidents.

That's entirely forgetting the itchy spots which are currently within the parameters of what I'm prepared to put up with, but are definitely present.

The other option, of course, would be to vacuum and dust the house and wash the dog.

That's also down for some action on Monday. I LOVE public holidays!

On the Way Again LLL

2011-04-28T10:03:00.003+10:00

Hi All,

Last week I did get all my eating out of the way I even had some toasted Sultana Bread just to get the taste again. The Easter Bunny did bring me a Mars Bar which I ate, so by Monday a.m. I had no excuse not to start the diet again.

Tuesday we had a business trip away and we took lunch so I could control my eating. I felt on tuesday that the taste in my mouth had changed so maybe something was happening. Well was it.!!

I have redeemed April for loss. I had been around 64.2 for most of the month and last week was down a little. Well, drum roll please, today I am 62.9kg, having lost 1 kg in the last 2 days. This is what should happen with this diet but in Oct it didn't so I wasn't expecting it this time. I am doing more exercise now than I was then. So in April I lost 1.3 and that helps make up some that didn't happen in March.

I will stay on this phase of the diet for 2 weeks so I still have some time to go yet.

Yesterday I started looking at winter clothes, well my jumpers, of the 3 I regularly wore, 1 I have pulled apart and am reknitting SMALLER and the other 2 are out. But, I found in the bottom of my camphor chest a couple of jumpers that haven't been worn for years. So I can now sport a couple of new one, no one will remember them.

My blouses and slacks are still a sad story, til I get sewing.

So until next week all you Skinny Cow Girls, I am a very happy girl.

Lent. (HJ)

2011-04-23T17:08:00.003+10:00

I've never been from a tradition where you give things up for lent.

But I do believe in trying different things that might put me in a space where I'm more open to what God might be doing, so I decided to give it a go. Now, I don't believe it has to be food. It's anything that we don't think we can live without: maybe reading or TV or buying things. Anything that could get in the road of a good relationship with God.

When I thought about it, though. I realised that for me at this time it is food. So I gave up added sugar for Lent. Not cheating with all the fake sugar products, but still allowing fruit and other naturally occurring sugar.

I survived my birthday, two conference/seminary things, two family get-togethers, and my niece's dedication without succumbing to temptation. I was doing quite well, really.

Yesterday I said 'no' to hot cross buns on the same principle, not going to break my Lenten fast with only two more sleeps to go, only to be informed by our former Minister (who has Catholic family members) that Lenten fasts finish on Palm Sunday.

Like, last Sunday.

So protestants can't be trusted with Lenten fasts. We really don't know what we do.

Oh, and I forgot to weigh-in. Next week. But I haven't put on any extra weight with all the activities above, so it shouldn't be too bad.

The weather has been splendid! (GdeE)

2011-04-21T22:06:00.000+10:00

Hello all! I am back. Happy Easter to all!

Six weeks ago I had a conversation with Emily Sue about food issues, and a few days later I had a conversation with another friend, B, about fashion issues. During both conversations, I found that I was unable to conjure up any issues.

I had to admit that although I have lumpy dumpy bits and would love them gone so I could start looking good in clothes, I'm not all hung up about it. I don't care about my appearance all that much, because I have an inherent belief in my worth, Fatty-Fatty-Boombah or not. I don't have emotional issues with weight, food, clothes, makeup, hair or anything. I just KNOW that I'm just fine with God, with my loved ones and with ME, whether I lose these kilos or not. Losing the wobbly bits would be icing on the cake.

The only reason why I'm so keen on doing it is because when I want to do something, I want to do it - no mucking around and failing.

SO. Six weeks holiday from OSC. Who have I been talking to during that time? I have a friend who has 4 children, and (by her accounts) puts on weight when pregnant. Each time her babies are weaned, she says, "Right, now I will lose the weight," and she does. She just does. ("Wha-?") She has got a lot of sensible, common-sense ideas, but the difference seems to be that it's more structured than my previous "It's healthy so I will eat it" approach. AND she is low-pressure. I need that.

What have I been reading? My friend gave me some books. She picks ideas from each of them and does what feels right. So I have done the same. I've focussed on how my body feels energetic with a bit of protein in it, and how my carbs really need to be sensible. This has meant switching to wholemeal bread and pasta, and not eating anything white. Yum! (No, seriously, yum!)

Other things I have read:
This post made me think I was doing better than I'd previously thought.
This post intrigued me. "Nothing more to see here." I thought I'd give it a go, and that brings me to:

What have I been eating? I have steadfastly maintained that one shouldn't need to count kilojoules and all that palaver but that second link above? It made me decide to give it a go. I will let you know how things work out. If the scales don't show any difference after a few weeks, I'll go and read that first link again and buy another pair of super-control Magic Knickers. Whatever.

What have I been doing? Well, as per the title of this post, the weather has been splendid! This, coupled with the fact that my husband sort of -oops- slightly smashed various parts of our car up (an unblogged experience because what do you say?) leaving me with some carless school pickups has had us out and about, huffing and puffing up and down hills with a heavy double stroller. Great exercise! We also have a park at the bottom of our hill, and have gone there and back with the stroller too in the lovely Autumn weather. I've been doing some weight resistance training with dumbbells and some modified situps as well.

I've also been spending some fantastic time in the water (which I love!) working up from 20 laps of our town's 50m pool (1km) going about 1.8km/h up to today's effort of 40 laps (2km) going about 2.4km/h, and finding that I've been needing fewer and shorter rests and breaks. Which one day is CERTAIN to be horribly and unintentionally spoonerised, causing me to announce to an acquaintance or an in-law that I require fewer breasts and rakes. I just know it is going to happen.

I can't go more than a few days with some exercise right now, and am loving it. Bathroom scales be damned, I won't mind all that much if I never lose any weight and am doomed to carry this 4-month-ish belly around on my non-pregnant frame forever. I am enjoying good nutrition and regular exercise, and that's good enough for me.

Weigh in LLL

2011-04-21T11:43:00.003+10:00

Hi All,

I know I wasn't going to report today, but I changed my mind. I did weigh today and the result is 63.9kg, that is down a bit, 500g on last week.

I have been trying to get myself into the right head space to start the diet all over again. In March I lost a little and for April practically nothing. It therefore seems to me that I have put myself out of the zone for weight loss although maintaining has been good. So I need to start again, which isn't bad after 7 months. So my plan is to start again on Monday. I just know the Easter Bunny will bring me a mars bar, so I can have that eaten, and today we went for home made cheesecake, the shop was flooded in Jan and has only reopened last week. So that fix is out of the way. So for 2 weeks I will need to be strict on eating and exercising.

Last weekend I knew I would over eat although not by much and to compensate for that I did no exercise the combination wasn't good.

So a new plan for May, but I will get a head start and we will see what happens from now on.

I'm Baa-aack! (HJ)

2011-04-15T10:16:00.005+10:00

Well, you probably don't need to know all the ups and downs that have happened since the 14 January. I've just noticed that I don't have too many posts in between then and now. So, drumroll, please.....

Weight: 14 Jan 76kg - that was a goal. Then I totally lost the plot and have bounced lots. I was back to 76.2kg last week, but didn't report here
Today 75.6kg
Δ 400g LOSS (600g in a week)
Total Δ 5.4kg

Waist:
14 Jan 93cm
Today 94.5cm
Δ 1.5cm gain
Total Δ 4.5cm

And I have walked a couple of times this week, and this morning did 5 minutes rowing. I've been too tired to contemplate exercise of any kind for a couple of months. I'm starting again slowly and will see what happens. Here's to finding some time to exercise!

I'm Stuck LLL

2011-04-14T10:28:00.002+10:00

Hi,

I have been working hard and increased exercise as the loss slowed almost to a stop and nothing has improved. My weight is 64.4kg and that is .2 up on last week. I did have a drop and a bounce. So I know that something can happen.

Nothing will happen this week, we have a family party on Saturday and this will entail a lot of yummy food and that will have to be eaten. So don't expect a report next week.

On the good side yesterday I walked home from town about 4km. I used to do it in 35 mins and yesterday I did it in 38 mins so not bad and my leg is feeling ok today. So all the exercise is paying off well.

See you all sometime, if anyone is out there anymore.

Another week LLL

2011-04-07T11:06:00.004+10:00

Hi,

Another week has passed and I have had ups and downs. One really impressive down but it didn't last. Today my total is 64.2kg which is down .2 on last week. I really preferred the 1kg drop I had on Monday. Anyway I have added to my exercise this week with 5 mins rowing. This should be building muscle so I didn't expect a weight drop. My size has gone down, I have lost some fat lumps and for the first time in years I can feel my hip bones. They weren't lost after all.

My total for March was only .7kg which was disappointing, but never mind it is better than nothing.

Today is cooler and I decided that a long sleeve shirt would be good, and now I go through all the clothes drama again. No shirts fit and some are so old that they are not worth altering. So that leaves a dilemma. On the other hand I have found a pair of slacks that again fit. I will have to do something soon.

Today I went to Aldi and bought a folding walking stick, so I think this officially makes me an old lady. I want it for security while on holidays and doing a lot of walking and climbing.

Ouch (Emily Sue)

2011-03-31T15:35:00.000+11:00

It occurred to me today, as I stood up after a lengthy period of sitting and slowly limped my way across the room, that I have been limping for some time. Like... maybe six months. How is it possible that I can have been limping for so long? I've just become used to it, I think.

No, it's not the ankle I injured over a year ago (although it's the same leg); it's my knee. When I squat, or sit for too long, or stretch my leg, the back of my leg hurts behind the knee. As though I've torn a muscle, although I don't think that's it. And when I walk I get that pain as well as pain in the front of my knee. These may well be two unrelated pains. I don't know. Now that I'm thinking about it, this possibly explains why I have been reluctant to exercise. Walking makes it worse. Running makes it much worse.

Anyway, I now have an appointment to see my doctor, although of course I couldn't get an appointment for nearly two weeks. She's very popular and only works two days per week... therefore she's not the kind of doctor you can see when you're actually sick.

So what I'm saying is, don't expect an exercise update for a while. Weight updates may happen, but only if I'm feeling good about my weight. Yes, I'm really that fickle.

What a Lovely Day

2011-03-31T10:20:00.002+11:00

Hi All,

I hope you are all having a lovely day. We have had a little rain and today there are some clouds and some sunshine. Apart from that God gave us today to enjoy, so enjoy.

I have weighed today and I am 64.4kg which is up 400g. Now, in my house self inflicted wounds get no sympathy, so all this is self inflicted. We had a weekend away to the Coast and up there they have the most wonderful gelati shop. So wonderful that being there for part of 3 days we managed to fit in 3 trips to this wonderful shop. I am thankful that the shop isn't closer. To compensate for this I didn't walk any day. My weight was much higher when I got home so a natural drop is happening slowly.

This week will be back to normal so may the downwards resume.

Have a lovely week one and all, and I will check in again next week.

Celebration? LLL

2011-03-24T19:50:00.002+11:00

Hi All,

I am today celebrating 12 months since the dog bite. I have survived all the complications, and best of all, God has been with me and had granted healing. Now what is better than that. The way my leg is now is probably how it will be and in the last 6 months I have come along way. Today I have spent a lot of the day on my feet and just now my leg is quite sore. It does tell me when to rest and I do try to.

Now for the point of this blog, today I weigh 64.0kg I do like round numbers. That is down 300g on last week. Not bad even if I say so. I have been walking daily and I have been doing 8 sets of steps except the day I forgot. I got into bed and remembered, and didn't get up to do it. I don't think it will happen today.

So I am happy with progress, but with parties this weekend next week will be a challenge and probably higher. My asthma is still gone. Yay.

Still Trying LLL

2011-03-17T10:54:00.002+11:00

Hi All,

Another week has passed and I am still trying. I seemed to be stuck around the same numbers for about a month now. So today I have succeeded in changing. I today weigh 64.3kg which isn't much down but a little bit.

I have still be walking, but trying to go faster and for the last couple of days I have wondered if my faster walking is taking me over my weight loss area, so I slowed down to a swift walk and I am still doing 7 sets of stairs. So that seems to have helped, I do know that starting the stairs I probably built muscle so that if fine. Today is the first day of 8 sets, I am gradually going to build that up and see what I can get to. My leg has been sore still so I am pushing the boundaries.

The best of all news is that with my weight down from the starting point, I noticed that my lungs felt really clear. I do have asthma and had been taking a fair wack of meds. So for the last 10 days I haven't taken any preventive meds and I am fine. So that is the best thing for me to celebrate, I have been waiting to see if I could manage to stay off at this stage. So rejoice with me, I feel good and feel I can do more and of course the meds cost a wack so it will also help the hip pocket. I do pray that the improvement will continue.

At last I am on top of things again and may the improvement continue.

Exercise! Finally.... (ES)

2011-03-13T19:39:00.000+11:00

6km / 67 minutes on the treadmill. Walking at a variable speed between 4.5kmh and 6kmh (mostly at 5.5kmh).

Feeling good because this is the first bit of deliberate exercise, other than a gentle walk outside every now and then, in about two months. I sweated and everything. Speaking of which... I think I'll go have a shower now.

Weigh in (Emily Sue)

2011-03-12T10:06:00.000+11:00

Last week: 69kg
Today: 68.9kg
Difference: 100g loss
Running total: 8.1kg

I'm happy with 100g. I was... a tad hormonal... this week, and so had a couple of not-so-great eating days. Mostly I was on track though so 100g is a good loss in light of the caramel Mars Bars. :)

Exercise is still not really happening, although I'm having a housework day today and that counts as exercise, surely???

I'm back. (HJ)

2011-03-11T12:56:00.003+11:00

So I'm back. Bad case of comfort eating and other things were in the way.

I'm now in the headspace to get back into the exercise and control the eating and I've discovered that the damage is only 500gms, but that doesn't take into accout the fact that I could have lost MORE had I kept going as I was.

Nevermind.

Let's see what happens

More of the same

2011-03-10T15:03:00.003+11:00

Hi All,

As you see my weight is the same 64.6kg. I have been around this for about 3 weeks now, so l started looking at my diet and maybe too much ice cream has appeared. So I have cut that out again. I have also been doing steps so that should be building muscle and we all know those results.

We have seen a travel agent today and started getting things moving, so now I have to be fit in 3 months. So the weight isn't the immediate concern the fitness level is. So that is my new target. I could stay at this weight and be ok, but I do want to lose more. I feel better and this week I am trying to go off asthma meds and see what happens, so far so good.

So all you Skinny Cow Girls, lets hear from you and see what wonderful results you are getting. All that is except Giv. who has given us up for Lent.

Onwards and downwards.

Lent (GdeE)

2011-03-09T16:16:00.000+11:00

Hi all,

I have a huge post written detailing many frustrations with food, exercise, weight loss, being in the average weight range but with wobbly bits that just aren't right, and my underlying complete satisfaction with who I am regardless of my weight or wobbly bits anyway. It's all getting too much for me, so I have decided to take drastic action.

I am giving up Operation Skinny Cow for Lent.

See you after Easter.

Not even with a whimper (GdeE)

2011-03-07T02:24:00.019+11:00

Table of Contents
1. A Huge Disappointment
2. A realisation
3. In which I realise I don't even need my mirror
4. Adios

Chapter One: A Huge Disappointment
Previous Weight: 66.5kg
Current Weight: 68.1kg
I have achieved this result by continuing my good eating and active lifestyle, coupled with now regular swims at the pool. Congratulations me.

Chapter Two: A Realisation
I realised something the other day. Three bits of information came into complete clarity for me, and now it all doesn't make sense.

Piece of Information #1
I am eating consistently quite well - keeping meals to pretty healthy standards and trying to snack on fruit and water. Doesn't always work, but I'm doing quite well. I am keeping up with some of my hard-line rules I used late last year to rein in some areas of eating where I felt I was going a bit overboard. I eat dip on a hardly-ever basis, and I am not drinking calories - no fizzy drinks, no cordial, no sugar in my tea (well okay some in my coffee but I ceased promising I'd go that far.) I am active a lot of the day. Sure, I don't get out and huff/puff/sweat, but my life doesn't support that sort of rubbish. Again, we can't do everything perfectly. In short, I am doing okay. And my weight doesn't change and my regular pants don't get looser. My loose pants were bought when I was pregnant. My body quite likes being slightly pudgy. Damn, but not major damn.

Piece of Information #2
Two friends of mine are getting married next month. He eats a gluten-free diet, she has adopted a gluten-free diet for convenience. And she's lost kilograms she didn't set out to lose. Damn.

Piece of Information #3
My dear husband is on a milk-free diet. He substitutes soy, but otherwise his diet is much the same as it used to be, which isn't perfect. Since he has gone milk-free, he has been able to fit into pants he wasn't able to fit into before. Damn.

Conclusion:
Despite believing that you have to cut out fat and sugar to lose weight, it seems that cutting out normal parts of the food pyramid is more effective. Well, not really. Cutting out food types that are notoriously difficult to digest, like gluten and lactose. Emily Sue and I discussed this at length. I hesitate to use the phrase "chewed the fat" for obvious reasons.

Anyway, just as I judge having a 100% hard-line diet is unsustainable and doing regular huffing/puffing/sweating exercise is unsustainable, I believe that managing a restricted diet while still feeding my children a normal diet is unsustainable in my current stage of life.

Damn.

Chapter Three: In which I realise I don't even need my mirror

Talking to Emily Sue tonight clarified a few things for me. One is I really don't care much about food, weight, body shape and appearance outside of Skinny Cow. I never have. Yeah sure I would totally love to get a skinny tummy again and lose the tuckshop lady arms, but seriously, outside of Skinny Cow, I give it very little thought. I just have to visit the issue with you girls because ... well, it's all about accountability and I haven't made gains so I feel the need to justify myself at every turn. Exhausting.

I don't spend much time at all looking in a mirror, I don't really care how I look to other people and sometimes it shows, and I am simply so comfortable in my own frumpy skin that frankly my dear, I just don't give a damn.

I don't use makeup because I've always thought I look better without. I don't use many hair products - just enough not to look like a total Bush Woman. I don't buy many clothes, I don't have many updated or nice clothes, and I never look in a mirror after I put them on. I just don't care. I have always gained my worth through what God thinks of me and what I can do for God and his people, and I'm really happy with how I'm going in those areas. I was raised by hard-working people from working and farming backgrounds who would have scoffed at anyone caring the slightest about their appearance beyond having no dirt behind their ears and having combed hair. I took on that perspective and I haven't changed much as I've grown up. I feel like saying to the world, "Take me as I am, because I don't really want to spend time talking about the cutest new little cardigan/ballet flats/shade of lipgloss with you."

A friend of mine recently said to me in a coffee shop, "But you do care, don't you?" And the truth, which I didn't want to hurt her with was, "No. I really don't. I only talk about fashion, makeup, weight loss and style with you because you're really interested in it."

Tonight Emily Sue directed me to her site to watch this video. We talked about it for a bit.

And that's when it really gelled for me. Emma Thompson, bless her heart, says "Imagine a world..." And I just shook my head in dumb wonder. That. Is. My. Life. I don't have to imagine. I have always lived in a world where I just go about my day. Don't you all?

No primping in front of the mirror, no bothing about 'self-image' apart from my achievements and who I am in God. Except, Emma, if I saw a zit on my face, I'd just say, "Huh" and walk away with no makeup involved. But to be perfectly honest, I wouldn't see the zit in the first place. Remember? No mirror-time except for contact-lens-poking-in.

The only time that I really think about appearance is when I come here and get involved in OSC-type chat. And that is when I am grudgingly honest and I admit that in an ideal world, I'd love to lose some kilos, which is technically true. But that clearly isn't working within the framework of my life, so again: Damn, but I don't really mind all that much.

Chapter Four: Adios

So au revoir my cowgirls. It's been fun riding with you. I have been inspired by your weight losses and your exercise! (As a side-note, I am swimming regularly now, which is exciting. But I can't do more than that right now.) I am off to keep on with the things I've been doing, some of those hard-line rules I started before Christmas which have been SO great, and holding myself pretty accountable in what I eat and don't eat, because a high level of accountability to self is what works for me. But the big difference from now on will be I will be free to not care when I really don't.

Because frankly my dears, when it comes to weight loss that probably isn't going to happen, I just don't give a damn.

Weigh in (Emily Sue)

2011-03-04T07:48:00.000+11:00

This is my first weigh in since starting on the My Fitness Pal website, so my 'last weight' is what I registered on there a week ago, not what I was last time I weighed here.

Last time: 70kg
Today: 69kg
Difference: 1kg loss
Running total (since starting Weight Watchers... I'm not starting again!): 8kg

Yay! I still haven't really started exercising but hopefully that will come in the next week.

Some People are never satisfied LLL

2011-03-03T10:43:00.002+11:00

My frustration level reached blowing point in the last week. I seem to be giving excuses rather than losses. So in desperation I decided to check and see what my weight was before Xmas. To my sheer surprise I found that I have lost 2 kg in 2 months. Well the time I have been with you I was wishing that my steady 200g weekly could rise to 250, and that would be 1kg per month. Now I find that with all my excuses I have been achieving that goal and complaining.

Now for all of you who have had to sit and read my excuses, I offer my sincere apologies. I am really sorry for complaining and trying to excuse my eating blowouts.

Back to the point, if my weight wasn't the frustration point then what was? After some thought it occurred to me that I have spent some time pulling at the side seams of shirts that are too big. So I got to my clothes and threw out what was not alterable, there is no point keeping things that I am NOT going to wear again. Then I had a sewing bee and took in the side seams of 6 shirts, one of which I am wearing today and I feel so much better in it. In my cupboard I also found a couple of shirts that had been too small and now aren't. I also have 2 slacks suits for summer and one I could wear now, but it will be better in 2kgs time and the other will need at least 4 kg. I later saw a dress that I must try sometime.

Now I am feeling so much better, I am a new person. Also the cold I had has left and that helps.

I have weighed today and the numbers came up at 64.6kg, I think that is about the same. I did have a drop but I have now gone to my usual drop and bounce, and I have the bounce just now.

Add to all that we have decided on a holiday for the end of June and one place that I really want to visit is called the Werfen Ice Cave. Now that sounds nice, but the warnings that come with the info say that you must be fit, no heart problems no walking difficulties. They say you need to be able to walk up a multi story building. So now I have 3 months to get fit. So added to my walking and balance board I have started doing steps. The last few days I have done 5 sets per day. My leg is back to a level of soreness but it will get better. I AM visiting this cave.

So after this story, that is where I am.

Yearly check-in? OR, a fresh start (again)? (Manda)

2011-02-28T11:56:00.000+11:00

I'm doing it again. You know, checking in once a year to apologise for being absent and assert my plans to stick around this time.

New plan / incentive: I'm in a competition with my best friend K and her mom, A. We each have a goal (mine is to lose 5 kilos, K is losing 5 and A is going for 7, but weighs more and thus should find it equally challenging).

The fun twist: The winner (the closest to goal on June 25th, or the first one to reach the goal before that) is paid $80 and $60 dollars by the people who come second and third, respectively.

This is cool, because going to Weight Watchers would cost more than that, but I think the incentive of having $140 dollars to spend in whatever I want is going to spur me on a little more than WW would. And we're going to support each other by exercising together occasionally, so it's friendly and spurry.

So, goal: lose 5 kilos, going from 74.5 to 69.5, the lowest weight I'll ever have been since I started weighing myself

Plan:
- keep running (you heard me, running! I can actually do it now, albeit not as well as an actual runner friend would), playing sport, rockclimbing;
- portion control, occasional treats, love food, concentrate on enjoying what I eat

Yea!

Oh, and to make up for not being present for a year, I'll be extra-present and include a picture of what I look like now.

Here but no weigh in (Emily Sue)

2011-02-28T11:25:00.000+11:00

I've had a good few days and I'm feeling a LOT better. I think the downward spiral has been halted... phew. I haven't got back to exercising yet, apart from a walk on the weekend, but the compulsive eating is under control, as is the desire to stay in bed all day, every day.

One thing that has helped is discovering this website called My Fitness Pal. It's basically a calorie tracking site where you can input your details and the amount of weight you want to lose and it will tell you how many calories to eat per day. Then throughout the day you can input food eaten and exercise done and it calculates how many calories you have left. It's an American site so many American food brands but any member can add new foods, so there are already loads of Australian food brands on there. There's also a phone app, which I'm using.

And the best part? It's 100% free.

As you know I've been doing Weight Watchers. I haven't been to meetings for a month but haven't cancelled my membership because I didn't want to lose access to the online tracking system, which I've found extremely helpful. Now that I've found this new site, however, I think I'll ditch WW and use the free site instead.

I know this won't be for everyone, but tracking really works for me. It gives me boundaries that help me not to binge but also help me not to starve myself - if it says I can eat 1300 calories per day I will eat at least 1250 calories. Left to my own devices I tend to swing between eating too much then eating not enough. Neither is helpful.

My starting weight on the site was 71kg. I think now that probably wasn't accurate, as in I was having a bloated day when I signed up, so I'll probably have a good, but incorrect, weight loss in the first week. I'm weighing in on Saturdays so stay tuned.

It is all the same

2011-02-24T17:27:00.002+11:00

Hi All,

The title says it all, I am still coughing, I thought things were getting better, but on Tuesday my cold freshened up again. So I thought here we go again, back to headaches and coughs and runny nose etc. Well it didn't get too bad this time.

Then you add to that, my 2 sisters came last Friday, so I made a High Tea (with some help from friends) and of course ate it. That was really fun in the end it is worth trying some time. It was good to get out the good china etc. Then take away for Sunday lunch and again for Tuesday night. Of course I must add the frozen marshmallows that are just yummy.

So although my weight dropped some, I usually have a corresponding bounce and when I eat with the bounce the news is bad.

So let me just say the rise is a secret and I claim that weight was as at last week.

I feel as if I have been making excuses since Christmas when the rot set in, so this week I will try to be good and walk regularly and eat less of the naughties.

I hope you noticed the use of the word try.

Stuff this weight loss myth (GdeE)

2011-02-22T20:17:00.003+11:00

Previous Weight: Approximating 66.5 kg

Current Weight: Approximating 66.5 kg

Any loss at all? Of course not. What were you expecting?

Wardrobe: Everything I own is in the wash, except for my pair of size 14 skinny jeans. I am therefore wearing them, enjoying the way they swim on my body and fall down a bit. Surely I am losing weight? No, apparently not. I am still 66.5ish kg whether I look like my clothes are swimming on me or I look like I'm trussed up like a Christmas ham.

How I look today: Weird, as I had a drastic haircut and my hair won't go right. It was Polygamous Sect Length with mandatory frizzing, and now it's layered at shoulder-length with similar frizzing. You'd think that I'd have lost a bit of weight with the haircut, but you'd be wrong.

How I feel today: Much more worried about my hair than about my weight.

What I think about weight loss today: It doesn't exist. I've been eating less, eating healthy and continue to be really active (pushing single and double strollers around, walking to and from work, generally pushing my body to do that little bit extra.) Nothing happens. So why are we here again?

I rowed (HJ)

2011-02-22T13:06:00.002+11:00

So you'd all forgotten that I existed?

Mammoth wave of sleeplessness; cold in the head; being away at a residential school. These are my excuses.

But really it all comes down to the fact that I've been comfort eating and not exercising and there is NO WAY I'm going anywhere near the scales.

But this morning I got up and did 10 mins rowing.

That's got to be good, surely?

Still coughing LLL

2011-02-17T09:50:00.002+11:00

Hi,

I am still full of cold, I think it is getting less, but still coughing. I have been walking sort of, I know that seems strange, but a couple of days I was slow and didn't do the full 20min walk. Some days I still do nothing. Yesterday I set out and got up the street when it started raining. I turned behind me and there was quite a storm coming fast. Storms don't come from that direction, so on leaving home I had ignored it. I set out walking back and ended up running. Now does running burn any more fat cells? I don't know, but that was the end of exercise.

For some unknown reason, today my weight is down to 64.7 that is down .4 since last week. I am not complaining at all.

I have been told but haven't found anything to verify it, that when the fat is taken from cells the body fills the cells with water, to make it easier to refill them later. After a period when the fat is not returned the body removes the water. That makes sense to me as that would be when the weight drop happens. Does anyone know more of this? I did try google and spent a lot of time and no real info.

That is me for today keep plodding along all you skinny cows.

Meh. (Emily Sue)

2011-02-12T21:55:00.000+11:00

Bad couple of weeks.

I mean BAD.

Result:

Comfort eating. Lots of it.
Then guilt.
Then more comfort eating to assuage guilt.
Then more guilt. Are you seeing a pattern here?
And of course, no exercise.
In fact not a lot of getting out of bed at all unless it's absolutely vital.
I have no idea what I weigh now. Not checking.

------------------------

I'm getting back on track slowly, but I'm not being particularly fanatical about it. My mental health is a higher priority. Having said that, putting on loads of weight probably wouldn't do my mental health much good either so I'm trying to be a BIT sensible. But just a bit. :)
.

Holding Pattern (G de E)

2011-02-11T22:33:00.002+11:00

Previous Weight: Hovering around 66.5 kg

Current Weight: Hovering around 66.5 kg

Any loss at all? Probably not. But no gain.

Wardrobe: After a blog post confessing to old jeans ripping open displaying my old undies, my Mother told me to go shopping for clothes. She offered to mind my children (which I accepted) and attempted to press $100 onto me, (which I didn't.) All I bought was underwear. Because I am, as I thought, an oddly-shaped 12E, spending a frightful amount of money at a posh shop is my only option. I was delighted to find that 14DD also does the job, and in fact, does it a little more comfortably. I found a splendid bra and bought three, and I also found that I still look ghastly in those darn mirrors with the fluoro lighting glaring down from directly above. I also found that if you spend a fair bit of money on briefs that promise to be very comfy due to the absence of leg elastic, they will spend their lives annoyingly wedged, due to the lack of leg elastic. Fail, Berlei Barely There.

How I look today: Pretty alright, have dressed for my shape and am rockin the look.

How I feel today: Fine, wondering if I really need to bother about this muffin top after all, mainly because I look okay today and have forgotten how horrible I looked in that change booth.

What I think about weight loss today: Look, I confess I don't believe in it again. I'm eating fairly healthy, I am unwilling to give up treats like a little chocolate, I'm active all day every day despite not being able to get out and do heartrate-raising exercise, I am getting good sleep and loving life, and nothing much ever happens on the scales.

And why am I even bothering about getting rid of this tummy anyway?

Oh that's right. Because of how I looked in that change booth. That's why.

Still alive LLL

2011-02-11T10:49:00.003+11:00

Hi all,

This week has not been good. I had a tummy bug that was most unpleasant, and while still recovering from that started with a sore throat that developed into a really good cold. Mostly in the head but today down to my chest.

The first thing that didn't happen was walking, I went to bed instead. So the last few days have been sitting blowing my nose all day, and feeling hungry.

I did weigh yesterday, and didn't get around to posting, and my weight was the same as last week, fortunately for me.

Still feeling miserable, not at all energetic, and couldn't care less. That seems to sum things up for me.

Next week should be better.

I knew It LLL

2011-02-04T14:38:00.002+11:00

My weight was playing around up and down. Well today is the real down. Just for a check I weighed today and found 65.1kg. That means that I have reached the 5kg mark and I am due for the first reward. I have decided that as my clothes don't fit, I will now make 2 t shirts that do fit and I will then have a little more that feels good.

So any time now (probably when this row of lace is finished) I give myself permission to sew 2 shirts, 1 green and 1 mauve. I have even decided on the styles. So all systems go.

I really feel this is an achievement. Onward and downward.

Heading Down (GdeE)

2011-02-03T17:51:00.001+11:00

Previous Weight: Hovering around 67.0kg

Current Weight: Hovering around 66.5kg

Weight Loss: A reliable, consistent 500g

Wardrobe: Wouldn't mind going shopping for more pants that look okay around the muffin top and shirts that aren't too clingy but aren't too blousey at the same time. Both styles accentuate muffin top dreadfully. Have been breaking one of my cardinal wardrobe rules - Sleeveless Doesn't Flatter Me At All - and I've been looking okay (especially if I hold my arms out from my body a little.) Still a little leg-of-lamb-ish around the upper arms, but not too bad overall.

How I look today: Started off looking lumpy & dumpy in oversized 3/4 jeans with thick fabric and a blousy shirt that probably should have been in the maternity section in the shop. Changed to a more fitted 3/4 jeans in thinner fabric and a more fitted top. Transfigured my look.

How I feel today: Dumpy around the middle, okay elsewhere. Slightly shocked to catch sight of reflection in windows, because body image is slightly better than reality right now.

What I think about weight loss today: Plan to state weight in "hovering around XX.Xkg" since I am uncomfortable pinning my hopes on a 300g loss when I can wee that much, or becoming depressed at a 500g gain, because that's how much water I drink before breakfast in the morning. This way I can feel confident in a loss like the one I've seen over the last few weeks. I guess this all means that I tentatively believe in weight loss for the moment.

That Time Again LLL

2011-02-03T14:28:00.002+11:00

I forgot that today was weigh in. I did weigh, just forgot to record same. There has been something strange going on and for some unknown reason my weight went up by 1kg, but at the same time my waist measurement dropped. Go figure. The cullottes that I made for Christmas I have had to take in 4cm. Yesterday I just couldn't keep them comfortable. Yes, that was made in 2010, 5ish weeks ago.

However today I weigh 65.6 so that is a drop of .3 from 2 weeks ago. I can't explain what is going on, I just accept and see that only .5 to go to my first reward point. It will be interesting to see what will happen in the near future.

So I am happy with the drop and will keep walking. It seems to be working.

Weigh in (Emily Sue)

2011-01-29T10:31:00.000+11:00

Last week: 69.9kg
Today: 69.1kg
Difference: 800g loss
Running total: 7.9kg

That means I've lost 10% of my starting weight! Woo hoo!!! I got a key ring (and applause) at my Weight Watchers meeting this morning. I'm stoked. And having bacon and eggs to celebrate. :D

No progress, LLL

2011-01-27T10:15:00.003+11:00

Now the facts. I was doing well, collecting a lovely loss the figures were mounting and I was getting ready to post. Then .. I.. had... a.... birthday!!!! Well, my lovely family decided to celebrate with me. Yesterday wasn't the day but was the celebration. My sister from nearby came and HJ invited a friend of mine. The do was held at my place, as I have a supply of cold air available. I was told that all I could do was boil the kettle.

Family turned up with food, HJ had cooked a lovely chocolate cake for MT and of course I had to have a slice. That wasn't too bad.

Lunch was meat and some lovely salads all good food and yummy. No dessert but 9 cup cakes on a plate with a candle on the middle one. All that was good and I enjoyed all that was provided.

Then at AT time there was a packet of marshmallows. Oh dear. I wouldn't say they were an all time favourite but I do love them.

The first bite is all squishy and soft, then they melt in the mouth and you have this wonderful full flavour and then the swallow. You can make one piece into 3 bites. Then of course there are more in the packet. Taking them from the packet means that you loose count of how many have passed the lips.

There is another way to look at this, a marshmallow is pure sugar, therefore pure carbs. That is what I am trying to avoid. After the event I did try the water trick, and drank a couple of glasses so maybe it could have been worse.

So don't feel sorry, I knew what I was doing, and today with no loss I know the reason.

Maybe next week when this blowout has passed I will again succeed.

Weigh in (Emily Sue)

2011-01-22T18:01:00.000+11:00

Last time: 69.9kg
Today: 69.9kg
Difference: zero
Running total: 7.1kg
Frustration level: Pretty bloody high.

I don't know what else I can do that I'm not already doing, except perhaps live on salads (and nothing else) and exercise for two hours every day. If I don't lose weight next week it may well come to that.

Still going

2011-01-20T09:53:00.003+11:00

Hi all, I am still going slowly. I am anticipating the week that I have no extras on the eating line. I haven't arrived there yet. So I am pleased to see that today my weight is 65.9kg. That as you can see gives me another whole kilo to dispatch, so I can now watch that slowly disappear. I am one for setting small goals and 1 kilo is about a good one. One more brings me to my first goal level so this is a good one to attack.

I have still been walking 20mins ish daily, and I have been on the balance board and am now less likely to kill myself on it. It is doing its job well and my leg is feeling the benefit. I am slowly working up the time on it.

All is well and I will tackle this present kilo and see how long it takes me to dispatch it.

Still exercising (Emily Sue)

2011-01-19T19:37:00.000+11:00

I didn't weigh in on Saturday because I was bloated, hormonal and grumpy. I have, however, started to get back into regular exercise. My Wii Fit assures me it's happy to see me back. It wouldn't lie, would it??

I have been pleased to see that even after a three week break from exercising I haven't lost too much fitness. Although I'm not as fit as I was a month ago, I am noticably more fit than I was SIX months ago. And that's a very good thing indeed.

I am so close to my 10% weight loss goal (ie, losing 10% of my starting weight) that I can almost taste it. I am trying really hard to get there this week, but I won't be devastated if I don't. I'll get there eventually.
.

Let's start at the very beginning (HJ)

2011-01-14T11:05:00.004+11:00

Well I surprised myself with meeting a goal entirely unexpectedly.

Weight

Last week: 77.1kg

This week: 76.0kg This is my first goal! Yippeee!

Change: 1.1kg LOSS

Total Loss: 5.0kg

Waist

Last week: 95cm

This week: 93cm

Change: 2cm LOSS

Total Loss: 6cm

So I'm pretty darn impressed!

It brings me to reflect on the fact that I'm technically back to the weight I was when I first started all this. It is a tad depressing, but I know I'm not really where I was at the beginning.

Firstly -

In 2008 when I was 76kg I was working up to being able to row for 25 mins. I could do just under 600 strokes in that time and got excited when I got over 30 strokes per minute.

I can now row for 40mins. I'm peaking at about 1500 strokes on a good day, and I get sad if my fast five minutes aren't averaging over 40 strokes per minute.

Therefore I am more fit than I was.

Secondly -

Therefore there are many parts of Jen that are not as far around than they were.

So I'm not really back to the beginning at all!!!

Now to work out what my reward should be... I really haven't thought my rewards through for this process yet. Maybe I should give myself a gift voucher towards my proposed overseas archeological expedition for next year.

Still trying

2011-01-13T14:31:00.002+11:00

Hi all. I am still working at the exercise. As you know today is weigh in day and the figures aren't as good as I expected. Yesterday I had quite a drop so today I have a bounce. The number today is 66.4kg which is 100g up on last week. I am not in despair. It has been a hard week in some ways, I sat in a car for 3 1/2hours on Friday to attend a funeral for an aunt of mine, then another 2 hours back to Bris for the night. Then on Saturday it was 2 1/2hours in a bus to get home. That meant bought meals and no walking. Saturday was also our wedding anniversary and we always go out to dinner. Then on Sunday we had Chinese for lunch, so 3 days in a row. Bad Bad Girl. Anyway after all that my leg started playing up again and it has taken me a couple of days to walk the pain out of it again.

I have also bought a balance board to try to strengthen my leg muscles, and that is an interesting experience. I really think it is just another way to kill myself. It really pulls on my leg so must be doing something.

So onwards and up(down)wards. I hope for better next week.

Back on the treadmill (Emily Sue)

2011-01-12T19:41:00.000+11:00

Owwwwww.

Yeah. It's been a little too long, apparently. I did 30 minutes tonight - about half walking and half jogging. Definitely a lot harder than it used to be. I stretched afterwards but I'm feeling it in my legs right now.

I'm also trying to get back in the habit of getting up at 5.30am to exercise. I was doing really well for a while there and then... I wasn't. At the moment I seem to be great at setting my alarm and then getting up when it goes off to reset it for a more human hour. Well, it's a start. ;)

I'm Back (GdeE)

2011-01-08T13:03:00.000+11:00

Hello all, I am back and I have some points to note:

(1) I have new scales! Real Weight Watchers ones, with the bonus of telling the correct weight. They also have many other functions like muscle mass and some measurement of fat, but I am not all that convinced on the science behind these measures, so I am more likely to use plain old weight along with roominess of clothes to track any progress I make, if indeed I do.

Current weight: averaging about 67kg.
Weight after Joseph: 64kg on a good day.
Total loss: Negative 3 kg. Way to go.
Goal 1: Don't go over 67kg
Goal 2: 64kg
Goal 3: 60kg

(2) I still don't believe it is possible to actually lose weight. I couldn't gain it when I was skinny, and I can't lose it when I'm not. I eat okay and I tear around all day long being incredibly active, but I still have a huge barrelous tummy. I made the word 'barrelous' up. I truly, deep down, have no actual belief that I will ever decrease the fat on my tummy or the looseness and flabbiness after having children. I don't believe it. Just so you know. It will be no use if you try to convince me otherwise, I will need to see some actual evidence that it is possible before I trust in something so outlandish.

(3) I used to look damn awesome. I was a C-cup with a nice waist and skinny arms and legs. As Hippomanic Jen can attest, this was in the days of shocking, awful, ghastly panic attacks which would last for about three weeks at a time, causing me to throw up, have diarrhoea and have absolutely no appetite at all for days on end. I knew during this time that I had an awesome figure but the level of existential dread that covered my entire life precluded me from enjoying it in any form. I said in those days, and I meant it with every fibre of my being, that I would rather be fat and happy. If you'd lived through the panic attacks I'd lived through, you'd totally understand. Anyway, here I am: fat and happy. (Slightly fat and very happy.) I feel it would be selfish of me now to want to be thin and happy. I feel I can attempt it if I want to, but I have no right to be upset at my fatness.

(4) I am upset at my fatness. I look awful. Well, maybe not that bad. But I hate the way I look.

(5) I ate well (if a little much on one day) over Christmas, but I had an awful fat moment that destroyed me inside. My sister was looking particularly willowy in a long clingy skinny dress (she is still in the land of panic attacks, wouldn't you know it) and I complimented her on how good she looked. She accepted the compliment and then did something that only she could do. She pointedly snatched the Jatz & dip away from me and plonked a plate of cut apple and orange down in front of me. It was done with an air of significance. A few things:
(a)(a) to celebrate my 6 weeks without dip, I made the dip for Christmas with roasted beetroot from my own garden, roasted garlic and low-fat Greek yoghurt,
(b)(b) It was CHRISTMAS DAY dammit!
And because of my fatness I feel I have no right to complain about this, to splurge on Christmas Day, or to do anything apart from eat the darn apple.

(6) I have been worried about the tightness of a particular pair of 3/4 jeans. Surely, I reason, I fit into my Size 12s okay and my Size 14s are a little too loose so that's okay, but why are these particular jeans so desperate to cut me in half when I bend over? Were they always this tight? I checked the size. 10. Rock on. Not worried about that one anymore.

(7) I got heaps of exercise in the surf on our holiday. It felt awesome. I am always quite active, but rarely get to the puffing, raised-heart-rate stage which is what I need. Today the weather is nice enough to take the dawg for a walk. If we come across an unleashed dog in our travels, I also get the exercise benefit of lifting the entire border collie off the ground and holding her over my head so she doesn't kill the other dog. I am sure that burns a few extra calories every time I do it.

And that is all.

Weigh in (Emily Sue)

2011-01-08T10:36:00.003+11:00

The last three Saturdays have been non-WW weeks for me... I was interstate for one and the other two were public holidays. The last three WEEKS have been characterised by a complete lack of interest in exercise and watching what I eat. Hm. Back on track now, though. I even exercised this morning.

Last time: 69.7kg
Today: 69.9kg
Difference: 200g gain
Running total: 7.1kg loss

I'm actually pretty stoked with that. Given the last three weeks, it could have been a LOT worse. The woman who weighed me said, "Hey, congratulations! You only gained 200g - that's excellent!" I presume from that, and from the conversations I had with people at the meeting, that many of us put on weight over Christmas. There were also about 12 new members who joined today... I'm guessing there were some New Year's Resolutions. :)

Onward and upward....

Surprise LLL

2011-01-06T09:53:00.003+11:00

I was only going to say hi today, my weight has been suffering from too many parties. We had a family get together in a nearby town on Monday and there was pavlova and honey bubble crunch present. They are 2 things that I like and can eat, so of course I didn't go without. Since then my weight has been high. Added to that on Monday when I got home it was a bit late to walk and I decidedly didn't feel like walking, so I didn't. That meant that Tuesday I really had to push hard to walk. I had forgotten how hard it is to get going again.

However, today I decided to step on the scales and see what they had to say, surprise I am 200g less than before Christmas. I am VERY happy about that and VERY surprised. I will take it happily.

Tomorrow I am away overnight, so goodness knows what that will do, and Saturday is our wedding anniv. and that is a dinner out, and yes, ES I know that once I pay I can leave food, but that is waste and I can't do that. Also I only dine out privately once a year so I have to make the most of it.

So today a very happy girl, and may the coming days look after themselves.

Now all you other skinny girls, 5 mins of exercise daily will help, it will make you feel better and maybe just help the weight. If all else fails you can run on the spot in your lounge room. Lets get going for the new year, if you try it is possible.

Not a weigh in (Emily Sue)

2011-01-01T20:29:00.000+11:00

I have been weighing myself sporadically over the last couple of weeks. It's been up and down but I think overall I've been holding mostly steady... maybe up a couple of hundred grams. My next weigh in is a week from now so I do need to reintroduce myself to exercise between now and then if I want to see a loss. Sigh. Blobbing around has been great but sadly I can't maintain it forever without consequences.

Sucks, huh?

Not too shabby (HJ)

2010-12-31T09:17:00.003+11:00

And so this was Christmas *humming and swaying gently*

Even though I seem to have had a low spot, there were three days I didn't row and the not-so-brilliant eating has continued. I've also turned the whole house into a factory for a specific on-going project (that I will blog about elsewhere when I'm done - if it's ever done) and there isn't room in my loungeroom to Zumba right now.

It is with great relief that I announce the following results:

Weight:
This week: 77.0kg
Last week: 77.0kg
Change: Approximately nothing
Total Loss: 4.0kg

Waist:
This week: 94cm
Last week: 93.5cm
Change: 0.5cm GAIN made up of corn chips, ice cream and caramel fudge
Total Loss: 5.0cm

I'm happy not to have put on anything since my last official weigh-in, and it's not a bad place to start for the new year. I reckon at a rate of about 1kg a month, I should get back to 68kg by the end of September. 9kg = 9 months. *Big sigh*

So, I will row. I will generally eat better (and I really ought to get myself a specific eating plan - it might help). And those are not New Year's resolutions, because I've already been doing them. Hopefully this means I won't fail in the first 2 weeks!

howdy girls Le

2010-12-30T18:33:00.000+11:00

So here we are and 2011 is about to be a reality. I applaud all your efforts. Mine have been sporadic in the few 'good times' and dismal non existent majority. But today I went for a walk ... in the morning. It was nice. So with 12 months and 28 days before I turn 45 I am going to have to get jiggy and move my butt. Best to you all, Le

Not a weigh in LLL

2010-12-30T10:27:00.002+11:00

As you see this is not a weigh in. I know what damage my eating has done. OK. I am today 700g heavier and going down. You see it is going down, now that I am back to almost normal eating. I still have that much to lose but the food was good and the company was good. The extra blow out didn't happen, as the family party was washed out and none of the travellers could get here, so that was a non event.

All that over and now back to the grind of going down.

I do allow myself a little of what I shouldn't eat and it seems to be forgiving and I still lose. So that is all for today, we are still deciding if we are going away today.

Til next time.

What the? (HJ)

2010-12-27T19:17:00.002+11:00

Just had to post this.

Checked my weight to see what the damage was for the last couple of days.

76.8kg

Like a loss of 200g from Friday.

Not game to make it best out of three.

Sorry to make you all ill, but I've had so little success overall that I need to brag about SOMETHING!

Glowing like a pig (HJ)

2010-12-24T09:25:00.005+11:00

I don't know if anyone else was raised on old fashioned sayings.

Ever heard the one, "Horses sweat, men perspire, and ladies glow"?

Definitely glowing like a pig, here.

I've been doing my 40mins base exercise on the rowing machine each day.

I've been slotting in Zumba afterwards when I have time.

My exercise clothes are almost wringing wet at the end of that little session.

TMI?

I have also walked the LBD a couple of times.

And I've eaten lots of chocolate.

So with my luck of late I wasn't anticipating great things.

Weight:
Last week: 77.7kg
This week: 77.0kg
Change: 700g LOSS
Change when ignoring last week's spike: 400g LOSS
Total loss: 4.0kg LOSS

Waist:
Last week: 94.5cm
This week: 93.5cm
Change: 1.0cm LOSS
Total loss: 5.0cm LOSS

...and tomorrow is Christmas Day.

Chance for a loss next week?

Err... oops (Emily Sue)

2010-12-23T21:58:00.000+11:00

Yeah, so remember that awesome exercise routine I had going?

And remember the weeks of healthy eating?

Remember that?

Oh, you DO remember? That's great...

...because I don't.
.

Darn (GdeE)

2010-12-23T18:27:00.001+11:00

I am totally failing at this cheese thing. I might adopt Jen's policy and say that it's healthy. Only that's what got me in my current Cheese Predicament - hopelessly addicted to cheese.

The year that was. LLL

2010-12-23T15:56:00.003+11:00

I will be away next week so this is my only chance for a review. I started the year weighing about 72.5kg, you notice the about, the numbers were too bad and the measurements that went with it were equally bad, so I didn't record or plan to remember them.

As holidays were approaching I planned to get fit. So many times I had tried to lose weight and only managed to add more, so this was a change. I started getting fit to climb 282 steps, that was the challenge. Well I had lost approx 1.5kg and could climb 300 steps and was doing well, when I encountered a dog. Gone were any steps let alone 282 and I spent about 5 months sitting. I tried to watch what I ate and hoped to maintain the loss. I did.

When I started exercising my leg slowly at first I found to my surprise that again my weight was going down. I did have a couple of trips away that messed it up but by the time I joined you skinny cows I had lost another 1kg. So for the year that gave me a 2.5kg approx start.

I know you have been watching my loss since then, so today the scales played my game. They read today 66.7kg. That is a loss of .8kg in 2 weeks. That also explains why the scales had trouble last week, I have had 2 losses so that means a bounce up also.

So for this year I have lost about 5 1/2kg. I am surprised and happy with that as I spent so much time sitting.(and I still am, my leg is presently up on the chair beside me).

I would like to think that this time next year I will be where I want to be. I know I had said that I would think about 60kg, but I have now decided that I should aim for 55kg.

So that is me for the year. I am not going to allow Christmas to blow me out although a trip away for a few days may be bad, the family load on carbs and that is bad for me. So I may have to keep off the carby food and stay hungry.

I wish you all the best of the season, and may you not have heavy problems in the next week. Think skinny and see if it works.

I will see you all again in the new year.

Christmas Food (GdeE)

2010-12-19T21:53:00.001+11:00

Hey Skinny Cowgirls!

What are you planning for Christmas lunch? By the sounds of my family Christmas on the 25th and the in-laws' Christmas on the 26th, it won't be a huge blowout like I've been expecting.

Cold chicken and ham, salads, breads, fruit, BBQ chicken & veggie kebabs, warm pasta salad and a packet of licorice - that's what my two families have been promising. Sounds manageable!

What are you planning? Healthy stuff, unhealthy stuff, half-and-half, or a huge blowout and hang the consequences? All approaches are fine by me! I'd be interested to hear!