Now THAT'S more like it (HJ)

I've been pretty good this week.

When I say "pretty good" I don't mean that I've been eating nothing bad, I mean that I have had bad things, but not every time I could have had bad things. I have said "no" to food, whilst having a tiny slice of chocolate Bavarian at church Sunday night, a Lime thickshake at a girls' morning tea on Tuesday, a slice of a sponge roll at Minister's Association on Tuesday (aren't I glad I didn't have a cakey thing at morning tea?), a moderate slice of carrot cake at another meeting on Wednesday, and a Gaiety chocky biscuit at a pastoral visit yesterday. That's many "yes"es, and I'm not listing all the "no"s for you, but there were times when takeaway would have been easy and I cooked instead.

I enjoyed all the naughties I ate, and that is fine, because I need to look on weightloss as a whole of lifestyle change forever, so I will have occasional naughties (and I didn't realise I'd had so many this week until I was listing them here).

I also branched out into some fruit and veg that are on the suspect list, and am paying the price with a belly full of itchy-spots (and when I say itchy, I mean it!). I'd better scale back, but I enjoyed having a little capsicum in my salad or stirfry. And the super-scrambled eggs with mushrooms was very enjoyable. They wouldn't have made me stack on weight, though.

The most important factor was probably exercise. I've done 30mins on the rowing machine 5 days this week (not Sunday and Thursday). I've been to 2 Zumba sessions, one followed up with 20mins of aerobics because our instructor needs to record some for assessment. I've also been walking the dog more.


These are all good things. And the results?
(Drumroll please)

Loss of 1.5kg this week.
Total loss of 3.1 kg

Waist loss of 1.5 cm
Total loss 4.5 cm


I think the exercise is doing what it's supposed to do. That is, letting me eat some naughties and still be on the downward track.

This gets me to a lovely number, leaving me 10 kg to go to be back in my healthy weight range, and 1.9kgs to my first reward weight.

It also only leaves me 300 gms heavier than my Beloved.

It will be a good day when I am lighter than my Beloved.

Now to keep everything under control at the lolly-making working bee tomorrow.

The hip-hop look (Emily Sue)

It was quite chilly here in Melbourne today, so I wore a long sleeved thermal top under my clothes. All day it's been bugging me - I feel like I've had to tuck in back in about 50 times. I've been cursing the cheap make and the fact that it's shrunk in the wash and become shorter and less elasticised than it was when new.

Then it occurred to me that I've also been hitching my jeans up all day, because they keep creeping down and giving me the teenage boy hip-hop look.

Could it be...? Could it be that I have actually (*gasp*) lost some millimeters? I don't know for sure because I didn't measure myself before starting Weight Watchers but the evidence is starting to point that way. And the most exciting thing about it is that these jeans are the ones I bought - reluctantly - in the next size up from where I was because I could no longer comfortably squeeze myself into the others.

Please please please let it be true...

Encouraging, but unofficial (HJ)

I only weigh myself once a week.

More frequently than that is only going to end in heartbreak with the little blips (or blimps?) that occur. I want to see the trend that is heading downwards. Monthly would probably be better, but there's no way I have the patience and motivation to sustain a healthy life for a month with no feedback.

But this morning I couldn't help myself. Partially frustration after last Friday's non-event, partially because this morning I was going to morning tea and needed to know precisely how much I could afford to eat, partially because I've been rowing each day and refusing food and that should be making a difference, surely???

900 grams. Gone. Yaaaaaaaay!

Now to hold onto it until Friday's official weigh-in.

And as if that wasn't enough (HJ)

I caught sight of the scales as my Beloved weighed himself this morning.

He is just over 6 feet tall.

He does manual work (so has lots of heavy muscle).

He eats lots.

And he weighs 1.8 kilos less than me.

Bathroom Scales: Givinya d'Huge Fright

This week has been GREAT according to me, but it's been pretty dismal for my weight.

My husband directed a secondary schools camp so we all went to the Sunshine Coast with 77 teenagers where we combined with another similar camp.  150ish teenagers, mostly skinny, eating total crap.  Humph.

I sometimes wonder about the TV show "How to look good naked."  What's that all about?  I should try to find out - a quick trip to Wikipedia or IMDb would sort it out for me, but for now I'm content to wonder.  Because due to the configuration of the bathroom in our ensuite cabin, one could catch sight of the top 75% of oneself naked and from that humiliating position, one could quite clearly see that one looks positively AWFUL naked, and one wonders whose body she is inhabiting.  One also wonders how one's husband puts up with it.

During the week, I ate like a... like a... like a woman who is having nice food cooked for her and who doesn't have to wash up.  My meals were awesome, and so were the leftovers belonging to all three of my children.  And the extra bread and butter I purloined "for the children" etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.  And the celebratory McDonalds after camp. Etcetera.

My comfy Size 12 bootleg jeans started feeling tight across the girth.  Here comes the post-baby blimp-up.

And to add insult to serious body-image injury, this morning I stepped on my scales a few times and after working out a quick average (for my scales are cantankerous at best) it appeared that I was 5 kilograms heavier than I was before the week began.


Say what?

I know I ate a lot, but I don't think I even CONSUMED 5 kilos of food during the week.

I wanted to say WTF, but I didn't as I'm reliably told that WTF stands for Wow That's Funny and I'm telling you that a 5 kg gain in a week is not funny.  More like WTHHIGOH.  (The lesser-known Internet acronym for "What The Holy Heck Is Going On Here?")

Well.  It turns out that if you step on the scales to switch them on, then step off to let them 'zero', they go to 0.0kg, then they flutter around, finally settling on a figure that's sometimes around 3.5kg, sometimes around 4kg, and sometimes around 5kg.

Phew.  Scales not zeroed.  Weight not exponentially ballooning in a medically concerning fashion.

Time for new scales.

Also time for:

• coming back to Skinny Cow
• drinking more water before meals so I don't eat so much
• doing appetite-suppressing things between meals so I don't snack, e.g., brushing my teeth, getting out of the kitchen, keeping busy, and drinking water instead.  You thought I was going to say 'take up smoking.'  I am not going to take up smoking.  Anything.
• getting back on the bread policy - two slices of that thick yummy grainy stuff a day and thinking outside the breadbox (ha!) for the rest of the day.

My weight, while not where it would be if I didn't have this flabby tummy problem, is not high on my list of priorities so following menu plans, counting points and hiring babysitters so I can walk with the dog would fly out the window at this stage of my life.  Seriously.  I WANT to do all those things, I think they're great, but I just know that at 11am on any given day I'd say to myself, "Shoot.  I've forgotten to [insert weight loss strategy] ... since last Thursday."  And then where would I be?

Just as heavy and twice as depressed.

So I'm back at OSC now, I'm drinking water today, not eating between meals tomorrow, and starting the bread thing on Monday.

Dammit, I'm not ballooning up 5 legitimate kilos before I blink, not this time!

Weigh-in (Emily Sue)

I've had a great week. I've been getting up early (6am-ish) and working out on the treadmill - today was my seventh day in a row of getting red-faced, sweaty and exhausted. Plus, I've been sticking faithfully to my Weight Watchers points. Awesome.

So imagine my surprise when today's weigh-in revealed a 300g GAIN. I mean, I do get that the last time I weighed in I was stressed and not eating, so the 1.8kg I lost was partly due to temporary fasting, but still... it's very discouraging to see a gain, albeit a tiny one, after all those early mornings and all that sweating and sore muscles. Hmph.

I am a Winner! (HJ)

Well, I'm certainly not losing, so I must be winning. Surely?

I've put on 1.1 kilos over two weeks. It seems last week's odd reading was truth, and this week I've not managed to get rid of any of it. This is despite three Zumba sessions and two rows, and sundry slow walks with a recuperating puppy. I have indulged in some desserts and the odd chocolate, though.

I'm trying not to go with the old line, "I'm gaining muscle, which weighs more than fat." Mainly because my waist measurement has also gone up. Zumba seems to be sculpting me from the view of my front elevation, but not in profile. I need to do more rowing, me thinks. And maybe fewer desserts.

Definitely fewer desserts.

But I am feeling stronger, more oxygenated, and more flexible. All of these are good things.

No weigh here either (Emily Sue)

Yesterday I had plans to attend the Melbourne Show with a friend so I decided to skip Weight Watchers in case we wanted an early start. As it turns out we didn't want an early start but I decided to sleep late anyway, and still missed my weigh-in. I did weigh myself at home and according to my scales I'm the same as last week. I'm conveniently ignoring the fact that last week I weighed myself wearing clothes and shoes and yesterday it was done without either, which indicates I've probably gained. Hm. In truth I was expecting a gain since my last weight loss was partly attributable to anxiety - on weigh in day I had barely eaten for four days. I finally started eating relatively normally yesterday (first time in 11 days) so I am back on track now with Weight Watchers... and we'll see what next week brings...

I am back on track with exercise too, now that I'm eating enough to stop me passing out when I exert myself. I just did a 20 minute walk/run on the treadmill, which is not as much as I normally do but given that I haven't exercised at all in nearly a fortnight I reckon it's not bad. Onward and upward!
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No weigh (HJ)

This week has been a bit bad from an eating perspective. There was a luncheon AND a church dinner in a week that I had already had a few food incidents.

The weekend and beginning of the week weren't good from an exercise perspective either.

So when my scales gave me two different readings, I chose not to believe either of them, and shall allow the week to disappear into the ether without recording anything.

I shall also be a little better with the exercise and eating in this coming week.

It should be easier with no assignment looming.

Then again, I could record the 1.2kg loss I made in 5mins. That was pretty impressive.

Weigh in (Emily Sue)

Last week: 74.4kg
Today: 72.6kg
Difference: 1.8kg loss
Running total: 4.4kg loss

Woo hoo! This means I've lost a bit more than 5% of my original body weight. I'm stoked.

And today I went for a walk with a friend. Just a small walk... from the suburbs into the city, and then around the city for a while. Four hours of walking; about 12km in total. Yep, just a small walk.

My legs hurt.
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A Little Further (HJ)

So the 200g has gone and taken another 100g with it. That's got to be good news, showing a total loss of 2.7kg to date. Getting back towards where I was when this whole Skinny Cow thing started. The possibility of getting rid of another 2.3kg within the month is looking doubtful, but one needs a plan.

Zumbaed Monday and have had a few rowing sessions to keep up the exercise.

Generally eating well, but a little chocolate incident yesterday probably doesn't help the weight to drop.

So really it's pretty average here in hippomanic territory. Must do better in this coming week.

Weigh In (Emily Sue)

Last week: 74.2kg
Today: 74.4kg
Difference: 200g gain
Total loss: 2.6kg

Err... oops. Oh, excuses. I haz them. I regularly take strong iron tablets and in the last few days I've been taking codeine for a sore tooth (and will continue to do so until my appt on Tuesday). These two things combined have had the effect of backing things up somewhat, if you know what I mean. And my period is due soon.

These things are true. But I also know I wasn't quite as careful about what I ate and even though I was within my points I wasn't making good food choices. And all exercise was incidental, not deliberate. And now I'm starting all my sentences with conjunctions...

Anyway, not to worry. It would have been good to see a loss but 200g isn't much and I'll be back on track this coming week.
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An Unexpected Burst of Energy (HJ)

Is it that it is Spring?

Is it that the vitamins and supplements that the doctor has put me on have had a couple of weeks to kick in?

Is it that the cold I've been fighting for months has finally died?

Is it that my brain is feeling stimulated by the reading I'm doing for my next assignment?

Is it that I've been able to do more rowing than just the 5min warm-up, 5 min warm-down that has been all I could manage while suffering with the dreadful cold?

Is it that I've been having fun at Zumba?



Whatever it is, I like it!

What if I became a gym junkie? (HJ)

Okay, it's not that likely.

But yesterday I went and did a Zumba class in the morning.

Visiting at the hospital has some advantages. One is that little ol' ladies talk about their daughters and the fact she "goes to a Zoom-something-or-other class that is sort of like aerobics, but fun and dancing and they wriggle their hips and she's really trimmed down (but she shouldn't lose anymore weight, or there'll be nothing of her)."

So I found out that there are Thursday morning sessions at the local Anglican church hall; that they cost $8.50 per session; and it's a small class so that it is more fun and less embarrassing.

My usual Thursday morning event was not on this week, so I went.

I'm quite comfortable in church halls.

Unlike gyms.

Had a ball. Can't really do it at all, but that's okay, no-one else can either.

And every 10th session is free - just like coffee!

And they have classes at night, too.

And no mirrors so that I can fool myself into thinking that I look exactly like the instructor, even if I have much more to jiggle.

And whilst I found I could not do THAT with my hips at the same time as doing THAT with my feet and it was absolutely impossible to do THAT with my arms at the same time as both of the above, it has done something to my hips.

They are released.

I can't keep them still.

They keep moving everytime I hear music...

...and sometimes when I don't - because my head sometimes runs music that only I can hear.

This could get embarrassing.

But I want to go again, embarrassment or not.



On another note, I did not weigh-in last week.

There was a reason.

I did today, though and I've put on 200 grams for the fortnight.

And while I'd be excited to lose 200g, I'm not that excited to have put on 200g - but I'm not going to slit my wrists about it.

I just need to row more.

And ZUMBA!!!

Weigh In (Emily Sue)

Last week: 75.5kg
Today: 74.2kg
Difference: 1.3kg loss
Running total: 2.8kg loss

The bods on The Biggest Loser would be devastated with such a 'tiny' weight loss. I, however, am living in the real world and I think it's pretty darn awesome. :D

And she doesn't even know she can do this...

Okay, I've got a confession to make.

It's actually Hippomanic Jen here, but I've just been setting up a profile and permissions for my Mum to exist on line and be able to comment.

And she could post too, if she can get past the technology. We'll have to see about that.

Now I just need to let her know her username, password and profile name, and show her how it all works.

Preferably before she next logs on to see what's happening in the world of Skinny Cow.

The good thing is that she's now getting over the dog bite she acquired before Easter, so that she is starting to exercise again. So we'll have to see how things go.

Weigh In (Emily Sue)

My first weigh in after my first week of Weight Watchers...

Last week: 77kg
Today: 75.5kg
Difference: 1.5kg loss

Woo hoo! Now I was going to qualify it and say that last week when I weighed in I had my period and so I was heavier anyway and it's the first week and you always lose more in the first week blah blah blah, but a friend pointed out the other day that every time I talk about an achievement or something positive I then downplay it with something negative. So I'm just going to say, "I lost 1.5kg this week" and leave it at that.

I also rediscovered exercise this week and have been on the treadmill three or four times. It's not so bad, really... okay, I don't love it yet but I do feel better for it. Perhaps one day I'll be able to exercise without having to force myself, but hey... whatever. Just so long as I do it.

Well, you see, there was this camp... (HJ)

Actually was pretty good, though. Didn't have seconds. Refused cakey-things and bickies until lunchtime Sunday when I accidentally ate two pieces of cake (I got one for my Beloved, then it disappeared - I presume I ate it).

This week's loss is 300grams. I'm not complaining, it is a step in the right direction and came with an additional centimeter off my waist - that's got to be good.

I've been reflecting on a time in my life when I lost weight without trying. I was sick and the doctor told me to avoid sugar, artificial colours and flavours, preservatives, white flour products and some fruits like citrus, pineapple and tomatoes. I probably took it further because I was not keen on grainy or wholemeal flour, therefore why would I bother eating them?

I probably ended up the skinniest I've been since I turned into an adult. I don't know, though, because I didn't possess scales and wasn't aiming at losing weight - I was aiming at gaining energy to exist. However, my interview suit skirt (that I haven't been able to wear for many, many years - not even when I got married 18 kg ago) was big on me.

And that's the marvel. I was doing approximately no exercise, because walking from the letterbox or up the stairs at work was almost too much for me at the time.

So really, if I cancel out rubbish food my weight should slide down.

So why do I eat rubbish?

THAT, my friends, holds the key to this whole thing.

Sometimes good intentions are not enough (Emily Sue)

So don't get me wrong - Operation Skinny Cow is great and I have no intention of leaving. However, I'm realising that posting every three months and never actually changing my habits is - for some bizarre reason - not really working for me. Go figure.

This morning, inspired by a friend who did the same thing last Thursday, I joined Weight Watchers. It's not that I don't know how to eat properly, nor do I want to give up on the OSC support, but given that it will be TWO YEARS in October since we started this blog and I am now heavier than when I started... well, it seems I'm not doing so well on the 'motivating oneself' thing.

Today's weigh in: 77kg
Healthy weight range: 66-53kg
Goal weight: 64kg (that may change, but it's what I got to last time and it was a good weight for my body shape and height)
Motivation: pretty high... well, it's Day 1! :D

I'm going to meetings on Saturdays so I'll update after I get home each time.
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What the? (HJ)

I have been pretty good this week eating-wise. There have been a number of times (make that lots and lots of times) that I have said an internal "no" to food I did not need.

I've also been back into the Weet Bix and fruit for brekky, rather than toast (the problem being what I put on the toast - plus the fact that Weet Bix is better fibre) and trying to make all the food I eat reasonably healthy (except the Smith's Original chips - They are the splurge I have allowed myself in small doses when I could be going for something worse).

There were a couple of factors involved in this motivation-wise:

1. I recently went over the nasty number I'd been wanting to avoid. Thereby reaching my heaviest ever (and I've been doing that consistently over the last little while - getting to my heaviest ever, that is. And there's plenty more kilograms on the scales to keep increasing that little number if I so choose.)

2. On the 9th October I'm down to be a model in the fashion parade for our church Spring Fair. I would like to avoid wearing clothes with a one and an eight in their size. It would also be good if they looked okay. (Not holding my breath on that as the lady at the shop who does the choosing doesn't always manage to find flattering colours and styles for me. Apparently everyone under the age of 40 looks good in black, whereas I possibly at a stretch could have got away with it at 20, but mid-way through my 30s my skin simply does not want to play with borderline shades, and I turn into a ghost. I need the soft, clear colours that she doesn't stock. But moving right along...)

3. I found out that next year some of the girls from my year at school are planning a reunion. So by an unspecified time next year there needs to be a lot less of Jen.

4. Hubs has recently had some health investigations that have made me wonder if I would do so well. Perhaps I could be little healthier in my exercise and eating patterns.

So my plan was to take off 1.1 kg in a week to get back under the hideous number.

Then next goal to loose 4 kg (preferably before the Fashion Parade - a little under 2 months. Possible?).

Then another 4 kg before the end of the year.

Then another 4 kg before easter next year.

That will get me back to "stalling weight" where I was before loosing my weightloss mojo. It also gets me out of the "overweight" scores for BMI. I will try to maintain this for a few months, then decide whether I should try for another 4 kg. (That's still 4 kg off my original goal of wedding weight, but I'm willing to revise that goal in light of the fact that I bounced last time, and the time before that, and the time before that...)

So imagine my surprise when I got on the scales this morning and had lost 2.3 kilograms?!! 2.3. That's a whole lot more than I was planning! That means I only have 2.8 kg to go before the week of the Spring Fair, making it more possibly possible. Possibly.

The even better thing is that I've taken off 2.5 cm off my waist. That means that clothes will fit so much better, my risk for heart disease and diabetes are heading down, and it will be less likely that people will accuse me of pregnancy.

I think this has put me in an excellent head-space to head off to our Youth and Family Camp. I will be healthy. I will refuse seconds. I will try to be good at snack-times and for dessert. Try? Now there's a recipe for success!

Over the top with Jen. (HJ)

I don't want to admit what's happened this end.

I don't want anyone to know.

I weighed.

It was nasty.

Then I went to a church morning tea.

There were pikelets and lamingtons.

And then this afternoon I found out that they are planning for my class' 20 year reunion next year.

That should be motivation, surely?

I really need to do something.

Comments on this blog

Sorry to do this but I have had to alter comment permissions so that ONLY members of this blog (ie, people who can post) are able to post comments. We had been getting a lot of spam comments so I turned on word verification and turned off anonymous commenting but it made no difference at all - we've still been getting five or six spam comments per post.

Sigh. I really hate having to crack down on comments and to block non-members but it's become simply ridiculous. If you are not currently a member of the blog and you would like to be, please drop me an email at reachingforgreen@gmail.com.
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I think I'm back (Emily Sue)

I can't remember the last time I posted and I can't remember what I weighed then, but I know for sure I've put on weight since then. In fact I think I'm at my heaviest Skinny Cow weight now and I'm only about 7kg off the weight I was when I joined Weight Watchers several years ago. Sigh. That's NOT good.

So... remember all my grand plans? Fit by 40? C25K? Ahem... yeah, not doing so well. Actually I was doing well on C25K (and by extension, on Fit by 40) but then I injured my ankle and by the time it finally healed my motivation had packed up and moved north to a little beachside cottage. Who could blame it, really?

But anyway, now I'm back. I just did Week 1, Day 1 of C25K and I didn't die so I reckon that's an excellent start. It was hard but not so hard as it was the very first time I did it so I suppose that means I haven't lost ALL the fitness I gained... just MOST of it. Still, I'm pretty pleased to have dusted off the treadmill and actually done something. Feel free to motivate me (ie, nag).

Heading in the Right Direction! (HJ)

I said to Emily Sue earlier this week that I couldn't wait to weigh-in this week because I've rowed every day for 30 minutes. Even when I had to get up before 7am in order to fit it in before work.

And as these things go I felt brilliant after rowing on Thursday and then had to push myself the whole way through Friday. Why aren't the results the same every time? I'm rowing later in the day today, because I didn't feel like getting all hot and sweaty first up this morning.

But the really good thing is that (even with all the muscle-building rowing I did) I lost 800g. That's very nearly close to a whole kilogram.

So, the results stand at 79kg and going down!

Oh, and the good news is that I wasn't being overly careful what I ate.

I weighed. I rowed. (HJ)

The title is heralding the bad news/good news that is my Saturday morning.


I weighed. 79.8kg. Not quite the 80kg that I've been hoping I don't tip over, and I think a little heavier than my last attempt. But I didn't mention numbers last time, and I didn't write it down in my trendy spreadsheet that tracks my weightloss (or lack thereof). So I'm claiming 100g off my last previous recorded weigh-in, even if I think it was actually a 300g increase from memory.

On the good side - after holidays; starting rowing; getting a bad chesty cold that stopped me rowing; going to a church meeting where I essentially ate and sat; and then a food-fest visit from one of my favourite Victorians (although we DID walk - aren't we good?) I am back on the rowing machine.

I have done my 30 mins for three days running now.

I am very proud of that.

Even if for a few days there I couldn't raise my hands above my head without pain.

And of course, that would be making me heavier. All that muscle developing as the fat starts to drop off.

And while I would like to get back into my skinny clothes (I'm stretching my fat clothes at the moment), and I would like to look skinnier, and I would like the numbers on the scales to head in a downwards direction, what I really want is to be able to walk without puffing and feel stronger in body and mind. And that is starting to begin to commence to happen.

So for this week I am content. (as long as I don't contemplate how on earth I managed to put on nearly 12kg without thinking about it - or, more to the point, without doing anything about it)

But I rowed. Peace and Serenity to you all this lovely Saturday morning...

Reality

I seem to have stabilised and hovering around the new numbers. I'd love to drop another 5 k, then another 2, but for now I will see if I can remain stable over winter.

By my scale, that gives me a 16 - 18 kilo loss.

I was gobsmacked to buy size 10 jeans (OK, granted they were a big make, but I will take what I can!) and wear a youth's medium sized T shirt on the weekend.

Reality came back when I was fitted for a new bra - 14F.

Somethings never change.

I weighed (HJ)

It wasn't as bad as I'd hoped.

Less than the horrible round number I never want to reach.

But still more than I was when we started this thing. *sigh*

I am pleading a bad cold which hit my lungs, making exercise impossible. I was needing a rest after such heavy tasks as walking up one flight of stairs and hanging out a load of washing.

I have a meeting this weekend, so there won't be any weighing. But I will be trying to be good, and I'll also be hitting the rowing machine when I return. I was getting a good 20 minutes in before this cold. I hope it won't take long to get back to that.

So I'm still not weighing in...

I told you I wouldn't, and I haven't, and I still have no desire to.

But (and this is a big but - perhaps even bigger than mine) I have been trying to eat better (although with no actual plan) and I have started rowing again.

I started with 5 mins with stretches fore and aft (and sideways too), and have been working it up slowly. After hitting the 10 minute mark with no total muscle stiffness-to-the-point-of-pain I've jumped up to 15 and then 20 minutes this morning. I'm aiming to get back to my 30 minutes, preferably 3 or 4 times a week.

On the other hand, I haven't been walking regularly. The LBD did enjoy one afternoon out, but I haven't got enthusiastic again. I must because it does wonders for my mental health; the LBD enjoys it; and it is after all physical activity.

When I'm up to doing 30 mins on the rowing machine I'm going to start pestering my Beloved to fix my bike's brake so that I might be able to do some of my everyday trips on bike rather than car. My town is only about 10 minutes in the car to anywhere - and the time wasting part is getting into the car and finding a park at the other end. I can walk to town in 30 minutes, and the bike is somewhere between. Exercise that is incidental to daily routine is much better for me - and it would be excellent to be riding a bike that has brakes on both the front and rear wheels, rather than just the front (particularly when I consider the hill I live on).

So whilst I'm still holding out on the actual weighing thing, I am doing some things that might help in the reduction of Jen prior to that deadline. Two more Saturdays to go...

Had one of those moments earlier this week. Was going to a funeral and wanted to wear my good suit pants. They are very snug. Mum suggested yesterday that I probably shouldn't be wearing them, because I might split the seams (thanks, Mum) but I had nothing else good enough to wear to a funeral. So there definitely needs to be less of Jen. I'm just hoping by weigh-in day I'm under the scary big round number that I don't want to think about.

Fingers crossed.

And the whole holiday was not about food... (HJ)

... but much of it was.

As an international traveller I can tell you lots about complimentary breakfasts.

1. Continental Breakfast - either the hotel is cheap, or I am. Dry toast and soggy cereal and maybe a croissant if you're lucky. Why bother?

2. English Breakfast - toast and eggs and bacon and baked beans and maybe a grilled tomato. Pretty darn good!

3. Asian Breakfast - all of the above, plus various noodle and stir-fry dishes, roti canai (an indian bread with yummy sauce stuff), pancakes, danishes (in one place bread and butter pudding!?!) A choice of omlette or eggs the way you like them (boiled, fried, scrambled), rice porridge etc, etc, etc. Really yummy and lots of it and you don't actually need lunch.

4. American Breakfast - the last hotel we stayed at had a buffet Amercian breakfast. I was interested to see what it included to make it different to the Asian ones we'd been having. The main difference was that the food was cold and there wasn't as much choice. I don't know if the food being cold was done on purpose, but srispy cold hash browns don't really cut it (and I LOVE hash browns).

Anyway, I'm giving myself three weeks before I think about getting on the scales, because I DON'T WANT TO KNOW. Okay with everybody?

Not weighing in until I'm home (HJ)

Things have been busy. I have been comfort eating instead of taking time to rest. I am now on holidays and let's face it, I'm not going to weigh in until I'm home. I might not even do it then if I end up doing a food tour of Malaysia. Thankfully they don't yet make the passengers get on the scales before they board the plane.

See you all later!!

Hippomanic Jen

Weigh In Wednesday (Emily Sue)

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

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

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

Hard-Core (Manda)

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

NO MORE!

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

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

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

Long time no being accounted for! (Eizelby)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Weigh-In Weds (Givinya)

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

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

1.7kgs to my goal weight!

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

64.7kg.

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

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

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

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

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

Plan:

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

Ha! Like that's ever going to happen!

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

Weigh In Wednesday (Emily Sue)

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

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

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

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

Coming to a screaming halt (HJ)

Or so I hope.

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

Really not good.

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

It isn't anymore.

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

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

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

So I had dessert at church tonight to celebrate.

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

Weight Loss is a health hazard (Rhubarb Whine)

I'm serious.

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

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

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

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

I wonder... (HJ)

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

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

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

Things to ponder.

*sigh*

Inching Downwards (Rhubarb Whine)

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

However.

It didn't happen.

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

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

I am happy with that.

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

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

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

Falling off the wagon, and progressing (Givinya)

I should not be having so many treats (and slices of white bread) but the scales are saying it's not hurting me too much.  Since my scales oscillate quite wildly, I have been watching the trends.

A few weeks ago, the numbers were above 65kg: 66-point-something to 67-point-something.

Over the last week, my numbers have consistently been 65-point-something.

And now, sometimes, I see some interesting 64-point-somethings.

Funny what a little bit of success can do to your resolve - I'm heading back onto that wagon now.

Weigh In Wednesday (Emily Sue)

Last Wednesday my scales said 74.5kg. However, every other day for the preceding week they'd said 73.4kg, and I've weighed myself every day since then and it was always around the seventy-three-point-low-number mark... so I'm taking that as accurate. Therefore...

Last week: 73.4kg
Today: 72.8kg
Difference: 600g loss

Yay. It's still impossible for me to run on my ankle but I'm able to walk without limping and with only a twinge of pain if I go too far or too fast, so I'm currently trying to find the balance where I walk enough to do me good but not so much that I re-injure the ankle.

Weigh In Wednesday.... sort of... (Emily Sue)

So yesterday morning I weighed myself. 73.4kg. Okay, that puts me back to where I was before I started C25K but still not bad considering I haven't been able to exercise. I can live with that.  However, I thought I would weigh myself this morning too, just to make it an official Weigh In Wednesday.

74.5kg

Okay then. I've managed to gain 1.1kg in a day? Well, I did have an exceptionally good hot chocolate in the morning, and a couple of choc wheaten biscuits in the afternoon, but 1.1kg??  Insane... and my scales are not crazy like others I could mention.

I think I'm calling this a No-Weigh Wednesday because I have no idea what I really weigh. I'll be back next week to see if I can lose a kilo overnight instead of gaining it.

Wit (Manda)

As Tuesday is my day off, I'm now going with a Weigh-in Tuesday. WIT.

Last week, I weighted 73.2
Today, I weighed 73.4, which is a gain of .2 and a loss of 0
Next week, I hope to weigh: 72.8


Will Manda reach her achievable (but-only-if-she-stops-eating-lots-of-chocolate) goal? Will planet earth still be turning in a week? Tune in next time to... Operation Skinny Cow.

Oh THANKS! I think. (Givinya)

I was telling a friend recently that I was going back to work soon, and wouldn't be able to afford any new clothes until a few weeks after I'd started.  She said, "But you'll need new clothes in order to start work."

Firstly - wow.  You have more money than I do sister.

Secondly - what?  You think I NEED new clothes before I start?  What are you saying about my current clothes?

Anyway.  Bygones.

She was recently doing a clear-out of her wardrobe and instead of sending her old stuff off to charity, she decided to give it to me, given my dire clothing situation.

There's some really nice stuff in there!  She's getting rid of it because she doesn't fit it anymore, and this means there are some really nice tops and lined skirts, perfect for work clothes in there.

Problem is, they are H-U-G-E on me.  Just ballooney.

Some tops I can wear without them showing too much chest.  Some skirts I can wear without them dropping straight off my hips and onto the floor.  The rest will go into storage and possibly passed on to charity if I never get large* again.

So that was a nice gesture.

Or was it?

What are you supposed to think when a friend gives you clothes because "you might fit them better than I do" and then you realise they are all quite largely large?

If she had grown too skinny for them, I'd be offended.  But I assume she has grown too big for them, so offense cannot really be taken.

Or can it?


--------------------------------------------------
* large = pregnant?  Possibly?  Maybe?  Hopefully?   Twould be nice.

Damp Spirits Add to Weight (Givinya)

Had I remembered to post this Weigh-In Wednesday I would have reported that my scales are most definitely settling on a particular number only 5kg above my goal which seems very encouraging.

However, discouraged by the last few months of good eating and exercise resulting in no actual LOSS despite feeling fitter, thinner and healthier, I have been eating too many treats. 

Whether this has resulted in the scales now saying that another 2kg has come out of nowhere or whether the scales are being their usual cantankerous selves, I do not know.

It is wise to remember that each day we are supposed to drink 2kg (L) of water, and presumably excrete the same, and therefore fluctuations within 2kg are to be expected.  I guess.  I made it up, but it sounds reasonable.

Well.  It rained through the roof of our pergola tonight and drenched not only acres of clean dry folded clothes, but it also drenched my spirits as well.  Perhaps when my spirits dry out in the sunshine tomorrow, I will weigh less.

Almost ready for market (HJ)

Does anyone remember the name of the anorexic duck from the movie "Babe"? The depths of my brain are saying "Ferdinand", but I'm not certain.

His idea was that if he didn't put on any weight, he wouldn't be eaten for Christmas dinner.

I think that if I was a duck, I'd be a sitting duck for the dinner table (or a dead duck, if you prefer).

If I were a cow, I'd be fetching a pretty darn impressive price at the weekly sales.

I have lost 0.3kg this week. I think it's probably just muscle loss, because we've been having a week of prayer at 7.15 am all week, and that cuts into my normal row-shower-eat time. There's no point rowing if I can't shower afterwards. I don't belong to a church that uses incense and scented candles, and boy, wouldn't they need to be strong if I hadn't showered after rowing!

I also couldn't say that I've been eating well, either. No siree.

I have, however, done my first lot of 11 sets of stairs today and I didn't die. Is good.

For some reason I don't feel terribly motivated by those 300g going missing, possibly because the actual number is still not worth getting excited about (or mentioning in cyberspace).

Hope that you all are getting some happy numbers, or at least feeling better about your exercise levels.

Blobby blobs of blobbiness

An astute Skinny Cow may glean from my post title that I haven't quite been on track recently. Sure, I have an injury (which may, in fact, be a stress fracture - waiting for x-ray results) but that doesn't mean I necessarily needed to eat all those chocolate coated ice creams. Or the barbecue chips. Or the chocolate biscuits. Or the sausages/bacon/mushroom fry-up from the other night.  Don't you love the logic? "I can't exercise, so I'll triple my caloric intake, and make sure most of it is fat and sugar."

And in a Burst Of The Ironic, I ate much of this whilst lying on the couch watching The Biggest Loser.

.

The dog ate my homework (HJ)

... or the computer ate my post. Take your pick of excuse.

Had a long story about how good I was with the exercise last week and how my weight had gone up, but that was okay, because I was feeling better in myself, and as if the number on the scales matters.

Then the computer ate it and then wouldn't let me make any posts on Saturday.

This week my exercise rate is not as great and my eating has been atrocious.

I promise I won't post the recipe for a killer chocolate cake that you can make in a large coffee mug in about 5 minutes with the aid of your microwave. No mixing bowls, only a mug and a couple of spoons. It is particularly nice still warm, served with ice-cream.

The only good thing is that I've been sharing with my Beloved, so it's not the WHOLE mug cake I've been eating.

You girls, keep up your exercise, I'm off to... (hesitates longingly)... go to sleep.

Weigh-In Wednesday (Givinya)

My scales don't show any change (bar the usual craziness I've come to expect from my manic scales) however I feel great, and I think I am even looking better.  I am going to deem that THAT COUNTS.

Weigh in Wednesday (SJ)

So I bravely jumped on the scales today after a week of walking the school run....

600g down. Cool. Now if I just alter my eating a bit better I should start losing more [hopefully].

Ouch. Ouch. Oh, and... ouch. (Emily Sue)

C25K is going well and deciding to redo Week 5 was a great idea. On Tuesday, Australia Day, I did W5D2 - that's the one with two 8 minute runs and a 5 minute walk in between. During the 5 minute walk I felt a tiny twinge in my left ankle, but didn't worry too much because it was only a small pain and kind of understandable since I'd just run for 8 minutes straight. I finished the walk and launched into the second run. Once I started running I couldn't feel the ankle so assumed all was fine.

You know what they say about assumptions, right? Indeed.

So, I'm nursing a stuffed ligament and unable to exercise at the moment. The doctor said I could swim or ride a bike. Swimming is out since I don't actually know how, and bike riding is out for now because it would involve a fair bit of ankle movement which, frankly, is way too painful... even today, four days after I injured it. I am, therefore, sitting on the lounge with my foot up, watching DVDs.  NOT conducive to weight loss or fitness. Sigh.

And ouch.
.

Congrats to ALL

Hip-Jen wrote this as a comment on a post but I thought it deserved its own post:

"And people, I'd love to congratulate us all for getting back into Operation Skinny Cow with enthusiasm - even if the results are a mixed bag for now.

We've had so many posts in the last week. Well done, Cowgirls!"

Indeed. Well done to everyone! This is about making an effort and giving each other support, and that's what's been happening for the last few weeks. We totally rock. :D  Let's keep going!

Manda would love to share some good news...

...It's just that there isn't any!

I've been away on camp.

I ate a lot of food.

I ate a log of sugary food.

My tummy is bigger, and my bum is bigger.

But - at least I'm still exercising. I did a run and a DVD today, a hi-lo class on Saturday, a small run and weights last week... so it could be worse.

Plus: I'm getting shoulder muscles, and did my first ever on-my-toes push-up!

I'll weigh-in on Wednesday... it's not looking good though...

C2272S (HJ)

I've been following Emily Sue's efforts in the C25K programme. I think it must help to have a goal and incremental steps that push you, but don't actually kill you.

I have now got myself a goal. Near Kuala Lumpur there are the Batu Caves, which we are visiting in April. The brochure says that they have 272 steps. That's alot of steps.

When I was being interrogated by the nurse prior to surgery she used the "Can you do 4 flights of stairs" test to check whether I was fit or not.

Obviously I am not.

And four flights is only about 64 steps.

Bother.

So, I'm in training. As well as attempting 3 x 30 minute rows a week (which I have actually been doing for two weeks now), I have to work up to 16 x our internal stairs. Precisely.

Initially I thought it was 17 times, but I was counting the 16 step treads, not the 17 risers. In a little mathematical fluke it turns out that 272 is actually 16 x 17, so it still works out an even number. However, I'm working on being able to do 20 x internal stairs so that I'll know I'm right for the day in airless cave conditions.

At the moment I can do 5. And then sit down for 5 minutes with my feet up. But hey, I've got 10 weeks 'til we go, so I should be able to make this. Each week I shall increase the number by 2 sets of stairs, thereby hitting 17 by week 7 and 20 for week 9. (And then I'm going to have to work in hotel staircases for the week we're away before we get to K.L.) This is what I call my C2272S programme.

I will also need to push up my walking, because that is also something we'll probably be doing alot of.

So, my plan for this week (which actually started on Saturday):-

1. Row three times (yep, already did Saturday and today, so that's on track)

2. Walk three times (better get into that, because the LBD hasn't seen my walking shoes for weeks)

3. Do 5 flights of stairs at some point during the day every day (already did that yesterday - when I first realised that I needed to train for stairs - and today I did 2 lots, plus an additional three individual sets incidental to doing some washing downstairs)


Did you notice my total lack of any sort of weigh-in? Sort of bounced. Back to a nasty number. I'd love to say it was because I did heaps more exercise than normal and built muscle. It wasn't. I had a few eating incidents.

You know your fat when (Swift Jan)

You burn your tummy ironing a shirt.

Oh dear.

Two steps forward, one step back (Emily Sue)

Last Tuesday I did Week 5, Day 2 of C25K. Well, I sort of did it, but wasn't totally successful. It's now Saturday and I haven't done any exercise at all since then. The 'exercise 5 times per week' thing has long since fallen by the wayside (as has the healthy eating, most of the time) and now I'm just barely managing the 3 sessions of C25K. This is the week where it gets serious - Week 5 ends with a 20 minute, non-stop run and I know I'm not ready for that yet, even though technically I'm supposed to be since that's Day 3 and I did Day 2 on Tuesday.

So, today I decided I need to start Week 5 again and actually get serious about it this time.  I've just done Day 1 (still sweaty and everything) and it wasn't easy. I certainly managed it better than I would have two weeks ago but I still had to push myself to finish, which just confirms for me that taking a step back and repeating a week was the right decision.

Anyway I just wanted to post this because I've been posting a fair bit of "I'm running and losing weight and I feel fantastic and the world is totally rosy!!" stuff... and while it's partly true, it's not the whole story.

Also, for dinner last night I had toast with honey followed by three Choc Wedge ice creams...
.

Is it Wednesday already? (Givinya)

I'm not having much luck with scales, party for the reason that I outlined in my comment to Swift Jan in the post below, and partly because it doesn't appear that the numbers are decreasing despite the fact that I'm feeling happy, healthy and fit.

So, if the scales are to be believed, I'm still above my goal weight.

If the evidence of your eyes is better, then you'd see that I'm looking pretty fit and healthy until I turn side-on and then you'd see the spare tyre that's giving me grief.  I believe that after having children, I can't expect to have a supermodel-tummy. 

In fact, supermodels who have had children say stuff like, "Yeah, that last 5kgs were really hard to lose - I had to really work at it."  Which means there's not a whole lot of hope for me, without my personal trainer, chef-prepared menus and without five child-free minutes a day in which to even walk the stupid dog.

But without the spare tyre, I could fit into my skinny jeans.  See, there's motivation.

Right - to business.  I've been having fun with my New Approach To Bread - keeping to 2 slices of Grainy Lawson's bread a day has been awesome!  The white-bread blowout of Saturday was not greatly satisfying, and I don't have cravings to go back there.

But I have a new challenge: SALT.  My blood pressure is taking a little hike upwards, and while I sort my medication out (I have essential hypertension following pre-eclampsia in my first pregnancy) I thought that decreasing my salt intake wouldn't be a bad idea.  After all, if I started limiting salty foods, I'd find that the fatty foods would also be limited.

I need to know how much is too much.  I found this out on The Vitamin Update:
"An amount of about 500 mg a day is considered adequate to maintain the body's salt concentration. Intake should be no more than 2.4 g of sodium per day which is the amount found in around one teaspoon of salt. ... In Australia, the recommended intake is 920 to 2300 mg per day."

500mg sounds like it's ideal but unattainable - otherwise why would they concede 920-2300mg?

And The Better Health Channel had this:
"The National Health and Medical Research Centre’s (NHMRC) suggested dietary target advises that Australian adults should aim to consume no more than 4g of salt a day (or 1,600mg of sodium) in order to prevent chronic disease. ... Nutritionists recognise it may be difficult for many people to reduce their salt intake to the ideal level, given our current food supply."

The average of 1600mg might be a good starting point.  I need a figure in my mind when reading nutrition information.

I thought it was kind of 'Nutritionists' to acknowledge that it can be hard to eat well, "given our current food supply."

Again from The Better Health Channel:
Heart Foundation advice is that all Australians should at least reduce their salt intake to less than 6g of salt a day (approximately 2,300mg of sodium a day) as a first step towards reaching the recommended levels. This is approximately 1½ teaspoons of salt.

Okay, so if I find 1600mkg is hard, I'll aim for 2300 to start with, and go from there.  I'll let you know if I'm anywhere near this (because I am already following many of the healthy eating tips on both those pages linked above) or if I'm not, and how hard it might be to cut down.

Dunno if I am ready (Swift Jan)

Hi all,

It's been a REALLY long time. Sorry.

I'm still not sure if I am ready to jump in yet. I think that when I am ready I want to REALLY knuckle down & lose the kilos. I dont feel like I can do that during the school holidays. But, soon school will go back & maybe then I can deal with all this.... horribly ugly flabby bits.
I have never been this big in all my life and its, well its terribly depressing.
Here's a confession. The day before Libby was born the anaethetist weighed me. He had to. I didn't want to. I really didn't want to. But he had to..... the scales said 3 numbers. yep thats right 3 numbers :( Ok so after Libby they are back down to 2 numbers again, but they are high. Its humiliating & I hate myself for getting here.
It seems so incredibly daunting to need to lose close to 40kgs. Thats so much. I think I might cry.

So you might see me around these parts again a bit more regulary in the coming weeks. I'm gonna need lots of encouragement.

Finally something happening! (Emily Sue)

Five weeks of running and it's finally starting to pay off.

Last week: 73.4kg
This week: 72.7kg
Difference: 700g loss

I did my very first run OUTSIDE yesterday, which was scary and a bit harder too. It was two 8-min runs with a 5-min walk in between, only I did a 9 min run and a 6 min 40 sec run... then my body refused to run one more step.  Next time it's a 20 minute run with no stopping, which terrifies me somewhat.

Also, I've stopped craving chocolate all the time. I've gone from a chocolate bar 5 times a week (yes, really) to one every 10 days or so... not because I'm restricting myself; just because I haven't felt like it. Bonus!
.

Too Much Good Cheer? (Rhubarb Whine)

Hmmm.

Where was I?

Oh yes, just slipped under an '0'.

Well, I am just sitting on the 5 that's under the '0'.

Which is very good but very sslllooowwwwwwww....

Do you think tim tams, wine, cheese, chocolate, cheese, chocolate, champage, pate, chocolate, cheese and wine have anything to do with that?

Blowout Weekend (Givinya)

I was doing so well.  Then I went to the birthday party of 2 small friends.  My indiscretions include:

• larger-than-necessary meals
• white bread (just my little rule, not an indiscretion if you like it, okay?)
• party food
• party food
• party food
• spinach & feta filo triangle for lunch
• minimal exercise.

Not too bad I guess, but I feel so totally Off The Wagon.

Here we go down, down, down (HJ)

Okay, so here's to some success. 300 grams of success. Which isn't bad when you consider lunch yesterday or morning tea the day before and the fact that I have good ice-cream in the house at the moment.

Or the fact that I rowed on Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday morning this week, so I must be makin' muscle.

My trendy eXcell spreadsheet is having conniptions, though. I only weighed last week and didn't enter the value, so the poor little computer is having to work out everything in negative numbers as I've set up the whole thing to report, well, you know, weight loss. And this week (because I didn't put in last week) is a significant increase on all three charts (compared with last input values; compared with my original first grade weight loss; and compared to where I started.) Ouch.

But it is a start, and as usual, if I've had a little success I can build from there.

Weigh-In Wednesday (Emily Sue)

Shortly after starting the C25K running program I weighed myself and saw 74.4kg. That's the heaviest I've been in about 10 years, and it was the week after I started exercising so you can imagine how thrilled that made me. There I was, finally committing myself to a proper training program, and then... that number. Boy.  I thought at first it might be one of those two day weight spikes - you know, where your weight just goes up for a couple of days for no obvious reason - but it stayed up around there for nearly three weeks and it's only in the last week or so that it's started to come down.  My current weight, at least for the past two days, is 73.4kg, so I'm calling that a 1kg weight loss even though it's over three weeks.

I'm now halfway through Week 4 of C25K and I'm continuing to be amazed that I can actually do it. Week 4 looks like this:

Brisk 5 minute warm up walk
Run 3 minutes
Walk 90 seconds
Run 5 minutes
Walk 2 1/2 minutes
Run 3 minutes
Walk 90 seconds
Run 5 minutes

That's pretty hard core for someone who could barely manage the "run 60 seconds/walk 90 seconds" sets of the first week. I'm running at quite a slow pace still (between 6kmh and 7kmh, depending on whether I'm at the end or the beginning of the workout) but speed isn't important. I can build up to that later if I want.  The important thing is... I'm doing it, and I am just totally STOKED about that.  Although there were walking bits in between, I have still run for 16 minutes twice this week. That's awesome.
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Femina's identity crisis

For those who don't know, I have changed my blog address and changed my blog identity at the same time. Femina is now 'Emily Sue' (not my real name... and I suspect I'm far more amused than anyone else by the hick, hoe-down name) and I'll be blogging here under the new identity too. I'll leave my old posts as is because it's way too much trouble to change them all. :)

I don't want to talk about it! (HJ)

This week I've been inspired by Femina.

She has demonstrated attention to the duty of her exercise progam, despite the fact that she's not that sold on exercise. I've been empathising with the latter part of that statement and trying to ignore the former.

However, just as if I were a flighty and untrained young horse refusing a fence she (being better motivated and more disciplined) has given me a lead over the unattractive obstacle that is 'starting to exercise again'.

So I'm entirely thanking her for her example and how it has resulted in my having rowed 4 times this week, walked once, and having done one row for next week first up this morning.

But (and there's always a butt - in my case a larger one than this time last year), having decided that I didn't want to get on the scales, curiosity got the better of me during the week and I couldn't help myself.

Ouch.

Can't work out if it is my heaviest ever, because my heaviest ever was worked out on different scales. I don't want to think about it too hard.

What's worse is that it was an additional 100g this morning.

SO, 10 kg to 'stalling weight' and that's about all the goal I've got the energy for at this point.

*Big sigh from Jen*

Run run run (Femina)

So, I'm still doing the C25K thing. Tonight I'll finish Week 3 and then on Saturday it will be on to Week 4... the week that terrifies everyone because you jump from 3 minute runs to 5 minute runs. Hm. We'll see how that goes.

Finding the motivation to exercise has been a bit harder now that I'm back at work, as is finding the motivation to eat properly and not just have cheese on toast for dinner. I'm still working out whether I would rather exercise at night or in the morning. My head says in the morning but when my alarm goes off my body gives my head a smackdown and tells it to mind its own business. Unfortunately I also don't really want to exercise when I get home from work, so... yeah, still working that one out.

Aaaaand... I'm still heavier than I was when I started. Okay, it's probably muscle gain but boy, it's very discouraging to do loads of strenuous exercise and put on weight.  Sigh. I'll just keep running...

Keep on Walkin' (Givinya)

Before Christmas, I stepped on the scales and saw my first 64 number - 64.9kg!  I ate more than I should have over Christmas, and then I spent a fair bit of time with various in-laws.  They have these waistline-killing things - one is called "Morning Tea" and the other is "Afternoon Tea."

We have our own version of MT and AT at our place, but it's not quite as waistline-killing as the MTs and ATs you have at my in-laws' places.

They are all skinny people and have NEVER needed to worry about their weight, any of them.  They eat SMALL helpings of healthy main meals, probably because MT and AT fill them all the way up.

They drink cordial, tea, coffee or juice.  And they eat cakes, sweets, slices, muffins and cupcakes, usually with icing.

Drat them.  The reason I don't have that stuff in the house is because I have no restraint.

And umm, In-Laws, just because it's all home-baked doesn't mean you're consuming LESS sugar and butter.  No siree Bob.

So the other day I got on the scales and saw another 67-ish number (sigh).  Then today I get on the scales and see 64.9 again!  Greatly encouraged, I went for a long walk with the naughty dog.  (To school and back, unencumbered!  11 minutes there, 10 minutes 48 seconds home!) 

When I got back I had a shower, and with the water I sweated out and the clothes I'd discarded, I was sure I'd weigh less but the scales said nearly 3 kilos more!!

Wha-?

Yes, Hip-Jen's psychotic free scales are determined to remove the last shreds of my God-given sanity.

Smoochy Girl came to join me, and we had another weighing-in session similar to last time.  Her weight remained steady, while mine fluctuated every time it was my turn to step on the scales.  By the way, she used to be  9.4 kilograms, and now she's 12.  Humph.  Weight gain is exciting for the little ones.

So what do I know?  That I am not gaining weight as quickly as my little girl (good.)  That I might be possibly 64.9ish kg.  Or 67ish.  Or 66ish.  Or something.  But not 74ish, like 6 months ago, but then, losing weight after a baby is hardly an achievement.  For me though, not gaining like a blimp while breastfeeding is an ahcievement, so I will feel happy about that for the time being.

A note about the bread:  I am loving my new approach to bread!  Most days I'd have zero or one slices, and on the days I have two I am SO GLAD I have my heavy grainy bread!  I love it!

Now I am back after the Christmas Food At The In-Laws' Debacles, I can get back into the things I was loving before Christmas - my grainy bread, my walking, and my healthy eating.  And not having rubbish food on the house!

Thanks, Femina and Manda (HJ)

This morning I rowed.

I only did 15 minutes...

On the easiest setting...

and I didn't really push it at all...

but I rowed.



I'm not game to get on the scales, though...

I think I'll leave it a week...

But I rowed.



The problem with not getting on the scales is that I can't see the damage...

This helps me ignore the weight gain...

Which is really not what I need...

But, hey, I rowed.

Good things happen when I row.

Weigh-In Wednesday (Manda)

Last weigh-in (pre-Christmas): 71.6
Today: 72.2
Change: Up .6

Like I said. It could be a lot worse!

This time next week, I'll be on beach mission. The aim is to not pig out on lollies the whole time (as they're likely to be more available than anything else) and to drink lots of water. Won't have much control over the food available, but will be active all day...

Exercise update (Femina)

Since starting my C25K plan I have put on half a kilo. I'm telling myself this is muscle... although in reality it could also be Christmas. There was food. Quite a lot of it. Mmmm.

Yesterday I completed Week 2, Day 2 of C25K.  I'll do Day 3 tomorrow or Thursday, and I haven't yet decided if I'll go straight to Week 3 or do another couple of days of Week 2. I've been able to do the program as written but it was a real struggle so I think another couple of days of it might be good before stepping it up to the next level.

I don't want to run more than three times a week as I have a slightly dodgy knee and I'm scared of injuring it so I've been trying to find something to do on a couple of other days each week. I have ZERO upper body strength and therefore swimming would be perfect... well, except for the fact that I don't know how to swim. Tricky. However, I remembered a dusty set of unused DVDs on my bookshelf, bought during a brief period where I thought about exercising.  The DVDs are Jillian Michaels' Beginner Workouts and (now that I've finally watched them) they're great.  Unlike many other DVDs, they really are designed for beginners so she teaches you how to do the exercises properly, notes things to avoid and gives you alternate exercises if you can't manage some of the cardio stuff. I did the 'Frontside' workout because it's mainly upper body stuff and I can feel it after only one session. Heh... actually not even one session - I could only manage 30 minutes of the 40 minute workout, but that's way better than nothing at all.

Also, Jillian Michaels (trainer from the US Biggest Loser) is awesome. Awesome, I tell you.

So here I am... running (well, jogging) and actively seeking out something to do on non-running days. Yeah... I'm starting to scare myself.
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Changes (Manda)

So... it's been Christmas. The scales might not look great on Wednesday.

However:

I have been exercising in the mornings. It has been great! Doing DVDs with my housemate (Denise Austin, who is American - and everything you imagine when I say the A-word, complete with frequent use of the word "tushie" - but who is encouraging and whose DVDs are a great workout system for us) and even went for two jog-runs.

I'm doing lots of small sessions, rather than gearing up for a big gym trip that doesn't always eventuate. For example, this morning I ran for 10 and did weights for 10. Better than nothing by a long shot.

The results so far: As I said, the scales might not be wonderful when you take into account the other half of the equation (eating): I overate all Christmas (and the two days on either side of it), including half a gingerbread roof for dinner tonight. Pay more attention, Manda!

But on the other hand, I have developed muscles in my shoulders for the first time in my life!

In which Femina discovers muscles she didn't know were there...

Those of you who read my blog know that I recently decided to start C25K, which is a running program designed to get you from being a couch potato to running 5km (or 30 minutes), all in 9 weeks. It's pretty good and I know a number of people who've done it and are now keen runners.

I'm doing it on a treadmill, which is probably a little easier than outside. I've been advised to set the treadmill at the lowest incline to better approximate the outdoors. I'm not sure how to approximate dogs chasing me, cars whizzing by, uneven cement tripping me up and various other outdoor hazards. Maybe I'll leave those for now.

Anyway, so today I have just finished W1D3 (Week 1, Day 3), which means I have completed Week 1! (You're meant to do the C25K sets three times each week.) Only 8 more weeks until I can (hopefully) manage a half hour run. On Week 1 you alternate 60 seconds of jogging with 90 seconds of walking so I can't even imagine jogging or running for a full half hour but I guess I'll get there.

So, no weigh in today, just an exercise update.  I feel GREAT that I'm managing to achieve each day's C25K exercise goal... but boy, I'm feeling it! Apparently there are muscles in my legs. Who knew? It's not like I've ever used them before.

Too Much Daily Bread (Givinya)

Remember my friend whose suggestion got me thinking about doing this walk to and from school?  She's an ideas gal.  She (although I cannot BELIEVE this) struggled with her weight in the 15 years since I saw her last (I've only re-connected with her since moving back to my childhood town this year.)  In a recent magazine article she wrote, she confessed that her doctor looked at her and said "the O word."

At first I thought the doctor was suggesting a more exciting time in bed.  It does, after all, burn calories.

But she was, in fact, referring to the word "obesity."  And I couldn't believe it.  She looked great when I saw her 15 years ago, and looks the same today!  I'm thinking this is a girl with some weight-loss suggestions!

One of the steps in her action plan was to limit herself to 2 slices of bread a day.  Ack!  I knew that people say that overindulging in bread is their main pitfall, but I've always been a bit "pooh-pooh" about that.

Then I started to realise how many slices of bread I was eating each day.  My word.  Two slices a day was worth a try.

I started trying to limit myself to 2 or 3 slices of bread.  And I sometimes did okay with that.

Now that is not my only Bread Problem.  Until I left home to go to Uni at 17, I had hardly ever tasted white bread.  I remember gagging on its soft white slipperiness once when I was about 8, because I'd only ever eaten wholemeal bread.  I was proud of that!  Boo to white bread: sometimes I call it "duck food" and sometimes I call it "colon packing."  Now that I've married a man who responded to a similar not-white-bread-eating upbringing by eating heaps of it to make up for lost time, that's all I eat!  Why?  Gurk!

What if, I thought, what if I bought myself an expensive loaf of something very grainy, very filling and very healthy, stored it in the freezer, and ate 2 slices of it a day?

Now THAT was a great idea.  Frozen bread is great in the toaster, and frozen bread is fantastic for sandwiches.  And look at this!  When my poor family is eating this for lunch:

I am eating THIS!

I truly am the lucky one!!!

I might not die (Givinya)

So in this conversation with this friend who said that anyone can lose weight, she also said something I thought was absurd.

She said that next year when Nat goes to school, I'll be able to walk him there and back. And because I will be pushing a double stroller, it would be excellent exercise up the hills there are in both directions.

I thought she was mad.

But she isn't. She is just a Mum who happens to run half-marathons, and has never experienced grinding sacro-iliac dysfunction pain upon walking down to the corner and back again.  Or occasional blacking out due to blood pressure medication.  Or Lazy Wretch Syndrome, which I seem to suffer from most of the time.

So I told my husband and he thought it was a great idea and went about proving that a man who has never given birth and who gets as much uninterrupted sleep as he pleases every night and who doesn't have to push his body through 12 hours of non-stop servanthood under the rule of some tyrannical dear sweet children can indeed do the walk.

But I started thinking.  He told me about a short-cut that eliminated the long grinding hill I was worried about.  And I did some calculations and worked out it is only about 1.2 km (unfortunately without any 'loading' for the hills) making it sound EASY.

Let me cut and paste from my blog entry today, telling you about my progress on this walk:

First Walk:  Nat was asleep one afternoon and I took Anna-Lucia and Joseph in the double stroller.  I walked down the hill, through the forest, down the next hill and across to the roundabout.  I could see the school from there, and found that immensely encouraging.  But the children were beginning to cry and I was concerned I wouldn't make it home if I bit off more than I could chew, so we turned around and came home.  Uuuuuup the hill!  I lived.  Great work, Me!

Second Walk:  We didn't go further, but it included more challenges.  Nat was with us and didn't want to ride his bike (a) down the hills, in case he went too fast and got out of control, or (b) up the hills because they were too steep.  So it was quite pointless him even having his bike, but he flatly refused to go without it.  Joseph wasn't dressed warmly enough and when the breeze turned into a wind, he got quite cold and grizzled a lot of the way home.  And Anna-Lucia saw Nat on his bike and moaned 75% of the way, "I neeed my biiike!"  Those words must have been said over a hundred times.  When I replied that it was a bad idea because she couldn't even push the pedals, she said, "You can push me with a broom!"

Then she demanded to get out and walk, tripped over the stroller wheels, scraped her knee and OH! the DRAMA!  A bleddercut on the knee!

And although she sat down and would not budge two houses from home and Nat decided he couldn't possibly push his bike up the last little bit, I did make it back, alive, with three children, one bike AND my dignity, which is an important factor in the longevity of this Mad Walking Idea.

Third Walk:  This morning I was awake early and once Joseph and Anna-Lucia were awake too, I decided to try the walk again, this time unencumbered by a 4-year-old and his bike.  I dressed the children warmly and took off.  This time we made it all the way to school and back.  Oh my!  The hills!  But I made it, I made it!  Alive!  It only took me 25 minutes (do remember that this is sans Nat).

I can do this.  We have five more weeks to practice before school starts.  By then, I hope to be pushing the double stroller up those hills a little easier, and I hope to have Nat a little more independent on his bike.

Weigh-In Wednesday (Femina)

Last week: 72.8kg
This week: 74.0kg

Uhh... right. Okay then. I'm a little baffled by this since I have spent the week eating well AND I used my treadmill three times, but there you go. Just one of those things, I guess, and I'm sure it will sort itself out next week (just in time for my Christmas blow-out). My weight tends to go up and down daily so monthly trends are more useful for me anyway... thus, I'm not concerned yet. If this happens every week then that will be a different story! :-)

Weigh-In Wednesday (Femina)

Last week: 72.8kg
This week: 72.8kg

Given the ups and downs of the past month, weight-wise (and emotionally, to be frank) I'm pretty happy with this. I'm also happy to be weighing in BEFORE today's Seniors' Christmas Lunch at work, where I get to be an honorary senior and eat lots of delicious food, and also BEFORE I go to have dinner with friends tonight. Yay, timing! Hehe.

Copy Copy Copy (Givinya)

Okay. Here goes:

Before pregnancy: I can't remember exactly, possibly 68 or 69 kg? I was getting lumpy and dumpy and I was not fitting into my jeans well.

During pregnancy: I did lose some fat from my upper body, and only went up to 74.4 kg.

After Joseph: 64.0 to 65.0 kg. Fitting into jeans better, but eating an enormous amount. Mostly healthy foods, but probably too many choc-chip biscuits.

Goal: 60.0 kg, unless I get there and decide that 58.0 or 59.0 would be healthier. (A BMI of 22 [58kg-60kg] has suited my frame better over the years and made me feel healthier than the current BMI=24. But hey wow - it's currently 24! That's supposed to be good! So why do I feel like a blancmange, and look so appallingly jubbly and rotund over the belly - and I'm not talking just baby stuff - there's too many muffins in my muffin top! I feel I shouldn't be complaining about BMI=24, but it's not suiting me one little bit!)

I was talking to a friend yesterday. The essence of my question for her was: at what point does a girl with a body shape like a barrel (thinnish arms, shoulders, neck, and from the knees down, but with an embarrassingly rotund middle) get some expert weight-loss help, e.g., from a Program?

Her reply contained the idea that anybody can lose weight - they just have to want to. She said she has known people who say they want to lose weight but they never do, and these were the people who never really wanted to.

Excuse me?

I'm sorry, but I just don't buy that.

I have never ever been able to control my weight. When I was having revolting panic attacks and unable to keep food down for weeks on end, there was nothing I could do to increase my weight. And now that I am shaped like a barrel, I have found that despite eating a healthy diet and swimming 0.5 km regularly (back when I was free to do so!) I am completely unable to decrease my weight.

My weight does its own thing. And at the heart of this not-checking-in-with-Skinny-Cow thing is my total lack of belief that trying to lose weight will be worth the time I spend on it.

Hence the choc-chip cookies.

Accountability-copying (Manda)

Good point, Fem.

Last post (months and months ago): 71.8
Last week: 71.6
This week: 71.6.

Is it a plateau...? or am I maintaining well?

Only time can judge...

Weigh-In Wednesday (Femina)

Okay, here's the thing... when I did Weight Watchers I weighed in every week. Some weeks I lost weight, some weeks I gained weight, some weeks I stayed the same. Whatever happened, the accountability of weighing in every week really helped me. I didn't even hang around for the meetings most of the time; I just paid $15 (I think) to weigh in and leave. An expensive way of doing it but it worked for me.

So, I've realised that's what I need to do. Weigh in here every week even if I've eaten nothing but chocolate for the past seven days... and even if I'm the only one doing this and the only one reading it. It's not about public humiliation; it's about being in a routine and being accountable.

Today's weight: 72.8kg
Last time: uhh... no idea. I forgot to check before starting this post.
Goal weight: 64kg

See you again in a week! :-)

wake up!

OK, so since I seem to be taking over this blog (hello, where'd everybody go?) I'd just like to report that according to my doctor, I have lost a whopping 21 cm from around my waist.

21 cm!

Yes, I did celebrate with a milestone purchase. Oh yes indeedy I did.

And, I just snuck under another '0' number.

Sweet.

I am so terribly sorry for going! (Givinya)

I am so sorry I've been MIA. Truth be told, while I am breastfeeding I am trying not to pig out but failing miserably and trying to pretend Skinny Cow doesn't exist. Or at least, trying to pretend I AM one.

About a month ago (like THAT counts) my post-baby weight was 65kg. Proving what I said - pregnancy agrees with me. That would leave only 5kg to my goal weight. Remember I started at 69ish, okay 70ish, okay once I got pregnant I was 71ish and headed on up to the high point which was 74.4.

And I swear I started feeling thinner except for the Growing Joseph Inside - losing fat from my upper body and possibly elsewhere, not that you'd notice with the Growing Joseph Inside.

Then the Growing Joseph Inside became the Growing Joseph Outside and once the metaphorical dust had settled, I found I was in fact 65ish.

Wow.

Now here's my problem. Breastfeeding makes me RAVENOUS and it doesn't take the weight off like they say. They lie.

Watch me head on up, unable to curb my desire to eat a double-sized portion of food each meal of the day.

Depressing. So depressing that I've been avoiding Skinny Cow, and so depressing I will backdate this post an hour so as not to bump Rhubarb's post from the top of the page because let's face it, she's putting in effort and getting huge results, and we all want to be encouraged by that! Go Rhubarb!

the shrinking of rhubarb

Today, I went shopping. Just a quick whip around to generic clothes shops for some T shirts and tops to wear about the place, since I am down to about 6 items of clothing suitable for public viewing.

I picked up everything in a size 'M'. It fits. Something went back for being too big. Even my DD cup bazookas went into an 'M' dress.

I am in awe.

I have a way (weigh?) to go... but it's getting there. Now my skin needs ironing.

Slightly less embarrassing (Femina)

As I think I've mentioned before, I meet with two friends to pray and chat every second Tuesday. This week we made an exercise pact for the next two weeks, each agreeing to what exercise we'd have done by the time we next meet. I agreed to use my treadmill 6 times (3 times each week), plus walk to my counselling session on Tuesday if it's not raining. It occurred to me today that if I don't start soon I'll be forced to have six sessions on the treadmill on the same day. Eeek! Not ideal. Not even possible, at my current level of blobbiness.

So, tonight I put an episode of Stargate SG-1 in the DVD player and hopped on the treadmill, determined to manage MORE than the embarrassing five minutes I managed last time.  Having the treadmill level this time made a difference... I managed 40 minutes, mostly at 5.5km/h. Oh yeah. I have jelly-legs but I'm feeling very smug too.

However... I'm not weighing myself yet. Or at least, not disclosing it yet.

Well, that was embarrassing (Femina)

You may recall that I recently cancelled my gym membership and bought a treadmill. The treadmill arrived a week ago and I've used it every single day... oh, okay then, I've used it once. This evening I came home and immediately changed into comfy gear and running shoes so I could use the treadmill. I popped a Frasier DVD in the player, thinking that one half-hour episode should be plenty.

Three minutes into walking I got off briefly to find my water bottle (yeah, I've sort of forgotten how this exercise thing works) then got back on. Five minutes later my heart rate was up and I was puffing. FIVE MINUTES. Well, I suppose that five minutes of running will do that... oh, but wait, I wasn't running. I was walking... 5.5kmh. That's a brisk walking pace but not extreme.

Five minutes. Huh.

Update:

Okay, to redeem myself slightly, I have just realised that my treadmill was set at the highest incline... so that was five minutes UPHILL.  Yeah, that makes it better...

Moooo-ving on down (rhubarb)

Today, I gave away 2 laundry baskets of jeans and another of t shirts. I threw away 4 bras.

A size down, my next goal is to get into the last of the clothes that are 'snug' that fit me 5 years ago. Almost there.

Motivate me!

So I'm obviously back to eating...

Well, it appears that the weight-loss benefits of having teeth removed are pretty short-lived once the mouth heals up enough to recommence eating.

This week I've put on 0.4 kg. It could be a temporary blip after a packet of Gaiety chocky bickkies over a couple of days and a good serve of corn chips last night. I have also continued the ice-cream because they had to take bone out to get the teeth, and I'm thinking that I need to keep my calcium intake up while it heals itself. We'll see for next week.

So I'm a good little cow-girl reminding all my friends that we all have bad weeks. And that doing some exercise is possibly a good idea.

Weigh-In Wednesday (Femina)

Whoa... last time I weighed in was THREE MONTHS AGO. Bad cowgirl!

Last time: 71.9
Today: 72.6
Difference: 700g gain

Of course that's not an entirely accurate picture since in the last three months my weight has gone up and down a fair bit. I got up to 74kg at one point, which was more than enough to make me take stock and reign in the munching a little bit!

In exercise news, I have cancelled my gym membership because I was hardly using it and I can't really afford it. Plus my reasons for going to the gym have changed - I joined initially when I was at the tail-end of several months of depression and exercise was more of a depression-management tool than anything else. And it was great for that. Now, however, my mental health is loads better and the gym just isn't doing it for me. Instead, I have just bought a treadmill (it's being delivered next Tuesday) and hopefully the fact that I don't have to go out to exercise - in fact can exercise in my PJs if I want - will help me to be more motivated.

The food is another matter. Hmmm...