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.

.