Proud to be Me !

Yesterday I wrote about how I was proud to be an Australian - today I
am proud to be Me ! I stepped very gingerly onto the scales this
morning - not sure what I was going to see and, to my delight, I saw a
1.6kg loss. Of course I am going to have to make sure that my weekend
doesn't catch up with me - but I certainly feel like the effort I have
put in since the beginning of the year is being rewarded. I am glad
that I didn't toss it all in last week when I stayed the same. I am
glad that I didn't sneak off to the snack machine (which has been
empty the whole school holidays but is now full) to buy anything
yesterday afternoon when I was feeling like a chocolate was just what
I needed to hit the spot. I am really glad that at 9pm last night,
when all I wanted to do was have a shower and go to bed, I got on the
treadmill and did 2.5kms of walking.

This morning when I entered my weight into eTools - I got a message
back saying "You might be losing weight a bit quickly". I do
understand that it isn't good to lose weight too quickly but I have
never felt like I am losing it too quickly. I know that this can't go
on for much longer as I don't have that much to lose. Having said
that, I have put it on over a relatively short space of time so is it
unrealistic for me to expect it to come off in a short space of time ?
For most of us it is a case of not being able to lose it quickly
enough.

Did anyone see the programme on Extreme Skinny Celebreties last night
(not sure which channel it was on) - they showed some photos where
these celebrities photos had been aged - gee, I hope I don't look
anything like that when I get old !!! I never used to think that you
could be too thin but after seeing some of those people, I do think
that you can be too thin. Being too thin is definitely very aging
plus unhealthy in terms of what you can suffer as a result of being
too thin - blood disorders, heart problems, skeletal problems, hormone
imbalances etc.

Tonight I am off to pilates and then home to dinner and (hopefully) an
early night. I am amazed at how, there are some days when I am so
focussed on what I want to achieve and how I can go about achieving it
and then on other days it is like I am a completely different person
who can't see what it is I'm trying to achieve and everything is just
too hard. How strange the human psyche can be.

TFTD : Hold a true friend with both your hands

TIAGF : A good result on the scales

Proud to be Australian !

We are home after having had an absolutely wonderful break away in
Noosa. The resort was first class and when I have managed to download
the photos, I will load some of the pics for you to see.

When we were driving up to Noosa on Friday - we went via Redcliffe,
Glass House Mountains, a lunch stop at Maleny and then drive throughs
at Montville and Mapleton. While we have celebrated 7 Australia Days
in the country, and we have been citizens for the past 5 years, this
is the first time that I have felt really proud to be Australian. We
drove past I don't know how many houses flying the flag, cars with
flags on their aerials or sticking out of windows, hanging from poles
at picnic spots - it was just amazing. Maybe it was so noticeable
because it was the first time that we had really been out driving on
Australia Day - generally we stay at home and enjoy the day off work.
But, it was something which, each time I saw the flag, made me proud
to be Australian.

Foodwise I had the best weekend that I could and I made the best
choices that I could (most of the time). I did have a 99% Fat Free
ice-cream as well as a Heaven ice-cream but it was so hot I really
didn't mind the extra points. I also had a couple of M&M's, two
little Mars Lite bars and about 6 crisps when we were watching some of
the cricket. But, on the whole, I had a good weekend without making
everyone's lives a misery with not wanting to eat this or that or
constanting spending the time working out points (which would have
been most guestimates as I didn't have the nutritional breakdown for
most of what we ate). We had salad sandwiches or rolls for lunch each
day so that worked out well. Last night I had the most delicious
pizza from a little Italian place along the river. The good thing was
that there wasn't a lot of cheese on it. We bought some lovely grapes
and strawberries from the Eumundi Markets on Saturday so that was good
- I made sure I didn't eat too many of them as I know that they can
add up rather quickly when you are just picking out the packet and
have no portion control happening.

We didn't do any walking as such although 5 hours around Eumundi
markets on Saturday as well as up and down each nursery which we
stopped at would have clocked up quite a few steps had I been wearing
a pedometer. We did quite a bit of walking in and out of shops -
bought a couple of birthday presents, bought ourselves some presents,
bought the house some presents. K was a model child this weekend - am
not sure where we left the impatient, full of attitude, always right,
has to be heard, it's all about me child when we left but that
certainly isn't the person that spent the weekend with us - she was an
absolute delight to have around. She bought herself a dress at the
markets which looks really lovely on her - but at the same time so
strange on her as she isn't a 'dress' person - she is always in shorts
/ jeans / 3/4 pants / dungarees. She looked absolutely wonderful.
She asked me if I could give her a French manicure - how could I say
no ???? She stayed in the top unit and Al and I stayed in the bottom
unit but she was very good about keeping it tidy and going to bed when
she was supposed to - such a wonderful change from the whining
teenager that she can be when it suits her !!!!

I am all fired up to keep on doing what I have been doing since the
beginning of the year - this is the last time that I want to go away
on holiday and be embarrassed about how I look. Last night when K was
all dressed up for dinner and I stood next to her, I felt awful and I
felt that I looked awful. She kept on reassuring me that I looked
fine but I know I didn't. Al was very diplomatic and said that I
would get to a weight that I am happy with again and not to be too
hard on myself. K then proceeded to tell me about what a hard time I
had last year and that it would all come good in the end. I have had
my leave approved (in principle) for later this year (Sept/Oct) so we
are now going to look at making those plans for our overseas holiday.
Will let you know how they are progressing as we go along (will try
not to bore you all to tears with too many details). There is no way
I want to go over weighing a lot more than when we saw them last year
so that is a really good incentive for me to get these kilos off and
KEEP THEM OFF !!!!

I will be walking on the treadmill tonight - am not sure how far, for
how long or at what time but I will definitely walk. We were up at
4.30 this morning to leave to get back to the Coast in time so I
shouldn't imagine we will be having a late night tonight. I have
taken tonight as a days leave so that we can get home, unpack the car,
unpack the bags, get some washing done and be organised for the rest
of the week. I really feel revitalised after the weekend away - the
change from the normal day to day chores was just what I needed (long
may the feeling last !!)

TFTD : The question isn't who is going to let me, it's who is going to stop me.

TIAGF : A lovely break away and the re-kindling of a better
appreciation of my family

A long weekend to look forward to

The good news for me is that the scales have moved down a little since
Tuesday when they didn't move at all. I have continued to do what I
know I should and, as M very kindly pointed out to me, 12 squares of
chocolate is not the end of the world, it just means that my journey
is 12 squares of chocolate longer. What a great way to look at it and
a thought process I am going to be using in the future - do I want to
prolong my journey by that dessert or that ice-cream or that chocolate
- Thanks for the M !!!!

Last night I got home from work just before 8pm and hopped straight
onto the treadmill - I did have to ask Al if the exercise would ever
get any easier and if I would EVER look forward to exercising - he
just smiled and looked at me, knowing that it was a rather loaded
question and taking the safest option of not saying anything !! But,
I managed 3,2kms on the treadmill before I sat down to dinner so that
was good. I am looking forward to my equipment pilates session this
evening although I have heaps to do apart from that - I need to go to
the library to get some books for the weekend - have shopping to do
and of course, have to pack. My Mom asked me last week if I knew what
food we were taking etc - not bloody likely - I wasn't even thinking
about going away never mind planned what I am going to take !!!!!

My food intake has been good - thankfully the chocolate which Al had
bought is now finished. While he is good about supporting my efforts
- we have had the conversation where I have said that I don't think he
and K should have to do without because I am trying to lose weight.
When he buys chocolate he normally leaves it in the outside fridge
which I don't go into very often and so never know that it is there -
this time it was in the inside fridge which is why I could hear it
calling me so clearly !!!!!

I hope all the Australian readers have a wonderful Australia Day long
weekend - I am looking forward to 3 days away from home - at a lovely
resort. Hopefully the weather will be good to us - mind you, if I get
some decent books form the library, it won't matter what the weather
does anyway. Plus, we will always go out driving even if it is
raining.

TFTD : We are not the same persons this year as last, nor are those we
love. It is a happy chance if we changing, continue to love a changed
person.

TIAGF : Looking forward to a long weekend

I

Like that would help !!!!!

After a rather heated discussion with Al this afternoon on the way home from work - he went off to have x-rays and I came home to get ready for pilates. The only trouble was the chocolate in the fridge which called me on the way to pilates. So, 6 pieces later, I got to pilates. Then after getting home, going to collect K from her dinner meeting and eating dinner, another 6 pieces of chocolate called me from the fridge - BIG BUGGER !!!!!!!!! At 3.5 points for 6 squares - that is 7 points down the tubes - again BIG BUGGER !!!

Oh well - what is done is done and I am only posting this to save me from raiding the fridge again. Tomorrow we are off to Brisbane to the specialist - should be an interesting appointment and then I will have to work back to make up the time. We have hair appointments at 7.15 so am not sure when I am going to get some treadmill work in because I am going to have to earn lots of bonus points this week to make up for the chocolates tonight. If only my legs weren't so tired tonight I would have got on for a couple of kms now.

Think I will have a shower and try to get an early night tonight - well I can always hope to get to bed and go straight to sleep instead of tossing and turning for hours on end.

I hope you have had a better day than I have had today !!!

Very disappointed !!!

I was hugely disappointed to get on the scale this morning and find
out that I had not lost a single gram since last week - not 200g, not
even 100g - just nothing - an absolute big fat ZERO !!!!! How can
that be ?

I have tried so hard - I have said no to chocolate on at least 3
occasions, said no to Baskin and Robbins ice-cream, said no to seconds
of dinner when it was really tasty - walked on the treadmill when I
could have blobbed in front of the TV, drank water when I really
wanted a Coke Zero - and all for nought. It just doesn't seem fair.

Thank you for letting me have my rant and rave - I'm now over my zero
loss for the week and I am determined to keep at it and the results
will show - eventually. They HAVE to show somewhere, don't they ?

Al wanted to go out to dinner tonight because K has a dinner meeting
for work and only has to be collected after 7pm - after this morning I
said I would prefer not to go out and he was very understanding about
it. We are going away for the long weekend and so I would rather
maybe go out to dinner one of those nights - especially as I have
meals planned for the rest of this week anyway - rather take me out on
a night when I haven't got anything planned !!!!!!

I am still using e-Tools and very happy with them (although I will
have to track manually while we are away this weekend but it shouldn't
be too bad) - the one problem I have is that I am not too sure if I
can trust the foods that they have pre-loaded e.g. there is one item -
skinless chicken thighs - one shows points of 4.5 and another one
shows it as 8points - a big difference which also puts a question mark
on the rest of their info. Maybe I should have been using the 8
points for chicken thighs rather than the 4.5 - chicken is my staple
food for dinner. Another thing (which is small as it is really only
0.5 points but which I guess could add up over a day / week) - the Oat
Temptations - the berry and date ones are 2 points each but the
apricot and apple ones are 2.5 - on e-Tools they are all 2 points.

Does anyone know about whether we are still allowed 14 sugar / alcohol
points per week - there is no counter for that in e-Tools and I seem
to recall someone saying that you didn't need to count them anymore -
you just needed to eat them (and your alcohol points) within
moderation. What I would like to know is "What is moderate ?" - whose
moderation is it because I know that everyone has a different level /
idea of what is moderate. I personally feel that 1 big Cadbury's slab
of chocolate per day is moderate (and when I am binge eating - that is
probably the case) but to someone else that may be a little extreme
(for those of you are who don't me - the last sentence was said very
much tongue in cheek in case you were wondering !!!!!!!!!!!)

They have turned the water off at school today and it is dreadful - I
am so thirsty but daren't drink my water because then I need to piddle
and I can't get to the servo to go to the toilet because I don't have
my car here - very inconvenient !!!!!!

Better get back to work - lunch time is just about over. Have a great
day everyone and take care !

TFTD : Generosity is the essence of friendship

TIAGF : The ability to look forward and not worry about what happened last week

Another good weekend

Another good weekend under the belt. Not much in the way of exercise
but I did get nearly 5 hours of scrubbing pool tiles - that has to
count for something.

My food in-take was great this weekend. I have tried this week to eat
more of my daily points - I used to save sometimes 20-24 points per
week but this week I thought I would try to only save 1-3 per day if I
didn't eat enough during the day. This has been fine except one day
when I ate 22.5 points instead of my 19 points but I figured there is
no point in saving points if you don't use them occasionally. The
trouble is that the scales aren't moving the right way - in fact they
have moved the wrong way !!!! Al has a theory that when you first go
on a diet (or change your way of eating as I like to call it - it
isn't as easy to fall off that as it is to fall of your diet !!!) your
body lets go of some fat. Then as you continue to eat less fat, it
says "Hey, I'm not getting the fat that I used to, I had better store
the next lot that comes my way" and so you don't lose as much. Now I
have no idea if there is any scientific proof of his theory but he
sticks to it firmly and trots it out each time I start a my way of
eating. It may also be the fact that I hop on the scale each morning
and yes, there are daily fluctuations which do sometimes make me
wonder "I'm doing all this hard work for THIS " !!!! But, I have
stuck to the plan and I am sure that if I continue to stick to the
plan, the results will show in the end.

I am very organised for the week ahead with meals planned and some
even cooked !!! I put a casserol into the slow cooker last night and
it was smelling really delicious when we walked through this morning -
just need to thicken it a little and dinner is all done. K is working
this afternoon and Al is working tonight so he can eat before he goes
and I will eat later with K after I have done some walking.

I dont' think I posted about my pilates session on the equipment
(Friday was like a mad house here) - it was GREAT ! I am so pleased I
decided to do it and can't wait for Thursday to come around so that I
can go back again. It really worked my legs and arms and I could feel
it in my hamstrings on Friday. It was that nice ache when you know
you have done something - although not as bad as I was expecting it to
be. Al said that because I had stretched after I had finished, that
helped with the break-down of lactic acid (I think that was what he
said anyway). apparently it is the build of lactic acid which causes
you to feel stiff the day after exercising.

Well, I had better get going - I'm slowly working my way down my
in-tray which is great - it isn't emty (and probably never will be)
but at least I am makeing in-roads into it. Have a great week
everyone and take care !

TFTD : If you want an accounting of your worth, count your friends

TIAGF : Air-conditioning

Another good day

I am feeling a lot better today - maybe that has something to do with
the fact that my boss isn't in !!!! It is so hard to get used to
working with someone else - I worked with my previous boss at 3
different companies so I knew how she thought and how she liked things
done. This one isn't as easy !!! But, like everything else, I'll get
there eventually.

We had a really busy evening last night - left work a little early,
got K and off to the chiro while Al went to the pool shop. My back is
not doing as well as it should but I wasn't expecting her to say
anything else so that was OK. Up to the shops to get dinner -
couldn't find what I had planned so fell back on the trusted BBQ
chicken thighs. Got home - Al put the fire on and I made some mash,
zucchinis and carrots. Then a quick 1.5km/7kph on the treadmill
before dinner was ready. Sat down to eat and then had to do some
paperwork - finished getting that all scanned and sent and the hopped
back on the treadmill for another 1.6km/7kph before having a quick
shower and then into work. Thank goodness I can take my iPod to work
- I don't know how I used to manage without it !!!

This is definitely a new Me now - while I had wanted to do 7km last
night, when I realised I was going to run out of time, I just hopped
on and did what I could - 3.1km is definitely better than nothing. The
old Me would have said - I can't do the 7km as I don't have time, so I
won't bother and I would have sat in front of the TV like a couch
potato - long may it last !!!!!!!!! While I still didn't actually
enjoy the walk, the time passed quicker than I thought because I had
the TV on and watched Oprah and the news and then that Christine show
while I walked. Tonight sees me at my first equipment pilates session
(as opposed to a mat session) and I can't wait - I wish I was on my
way there already !!!

I am a little disappointed that even with this exercise, I am still
not sleeping very well. Monday night I last looked at the clock at
2.30am and then wouldn't let myself look anymore as I just start to
get anxious when I can't fall asleep. Last night I got up at about
2am and went through and watched some tennis (they were showing
replays of some the games played during the day) and finally went to
bed at about 3am - needless to say, I woke up feeling not that flash
this morning. The day hasn't been too bad - although it does normally
only hit me at about 3.30 in the afternoon.

TFTD : When friends stop being frank and useful to each other, the
whole world loses some of its radiance.

TIAGF : Getting on that treadmill and doing what I had time to do

Feeling a little flat today

It isn't anything serious - just not feeling quite as excited and
motivated as I have been the last couple of days. It is probably the
result of feeling a little over-whelmed with work at the moment -
every night I go home and my "In Box" is over flowing (not literally
as it is all work which has to be done on the computer). I was
pleased to read in "Don't Sweat The Small Stuff" last night that
nobody will ever die with an empty "In Box" and, while I don't want my
"In Box" to be empty every day (although it would be nice), I wouldn't
mind if there wasn't quite so many pressing issues which had to be
addressed in it ! The good thing is that I know that I am not the
only one in this situation and it is just a case of taking it one day
at a time and working through what I can - just like my life style
change and my new eating and drinking habits. I know that I will feel
a lot happier once I am just a little more on top of things - I just
need to be patient.

My eating is still great and my water intake has been really good. I
am very pleased with my efforts on that front. Last night at pilates
I made my appointment for my equipment pilates session (tomorrow night
at 5.30) so that will be something to look forward to. Tonight we are
off to the chiropractor and then I have to do some shopping for dinner
- maybe a stir fry ?

When I get home I will be doing some more work on the treadmill -
haven't decided how far but if I have enough time, it will be a 7km
walk. Then it will be off to work and another day done and closer to
the weekend. I am sure that there will come a time when I actually
look forward to stepping onto the treadmill - at the moment I am only
doing it because I know that it is good for me and because I need to
do it - I'm waiting for the day I get changed and get on there because
I want - THAT will be the turning point of my exercise regime. Once
again, I have to remember to be patient - this weight didn't all pile
on in one day so I really can't expect it to come off in one day (as
nice as that would be !!!)

Having just made the above comment, I have been thinking about how I
let myself put all this weight back on again. Was it because I never
really SAW myself when I was in front of the mirror ? At what point
did I stop sneaking glances into windows when I walked past them ?
How could I have not noticed that the kilos were creeping back on ?
Or, was it just that I was completely absorbed with everything else
happening in my life that I just never looked ? Whatever the reason,
I would like to think that next time I will be a little more vigilant
when I get to goal and as those numbers start to creep - get back on
the programme a lot sooner.

Today is a new day and I am going to continue to treat each day as
such - if I mess up one day, it is not going to have a snowball effect
into the next day and the day after that. The slate is wiped clean
each night when I go to bed so that I can wake up and tackle each new
day, one day at a time. With this plan to work to, I know that I will
get back to goal. I'm not putting any time limit on when this will
happen - there have been too many times in the past when I haven't
reached goals and been disappointed because of that. I know that
goals need to be measureable and my goal is 500g per week. If I
achieve that - great. If I don't, (for whatever reason) I commit to
continuing with my lifestyle change and seeing the results in later
weeks.

I hope you all have a fantastic week - take care and look after yourselves.

TFTD : Be true to your work, your word and your friends

TIAGF : The beautiful weather we are having

YAY - another loss !!

I'm very pleased to say that I had another loss this week. While I
know that two weeks in a row isn't record breaking or outstanding or
even amazing - for me it is great because it means that I am doing
what I should be doing - correctly - and seeing the results on the
scale. I am also seeing the results in my clothes and, while it is
only 3.8kgs down, that loss has definitely made a difference to how my
clothes feel.

I am so motivated and excited about what I am doing now - I wish I
could bottle it up for the times when things aren't going as well. Al
was so pleased when I got on the scale and saw the loss - he really is
such a great support to me. He asked me what I was doing differently
to a few weeks ago. I said it was just cutting out the junk, drinking
water, eating fruit, exercising and watching my portion sizes. He
said that he didn't think that my portion sizes were way out and I
said no, they probably weren't but I very seldom eat because I am
hungry - more often than not I eat because I like food - actually, I
don't like food, I like junk. I would much rather sit down to a
packet of biscuits / chocolates / ice-cream / pizza than to a meal of
any description - no wonder my weight balloons like it does.

Last night I did 7kms / 7kph on the treadmill - I did have a break
after about 3kms and I didn't think I would finish it but then I just
started watching Dr Phil on the TV and before I knew it the 7kms were
done. I find that the treadmill is definitely better for me and I
have more of a work out than if I go walking for an hour on the road.
I tend to think about thinks when I am walking on the road and then
start to wander more than walk until I realise that I have slowed
right down and speed up again. I am off to pilates tonight and I am
going to see if she has any vacancies on the studio equipment. I have
always just attended the mat classes but after seeing the specialist
last week I am going to see if I can maybe attend one studio and one
mat class per week - will see how it fits in with everything else that
the family is doing.

Everyone seems to be off to a great start this year - lots of
motivation and positive energy around which is just great and exactly
what we all need. Isn't it strange how, when things are going well
and you feel on top of the world, it seems like you could tackle
anything - and win. I have been having a few difficult times at work
but these last two weeks I have just made my normal "To Do" lists but
this time I have actually followed them and worked my way through
them. What a great feeling it is to be able to cross things off the
list once they are done. I am a great 'List" person and I think, like
stepping on the scales (most times), it is the positive vibe I get
from crossing something off the list.

Anyway, enough waffle for one day - have a great weekend everyone and take care.

TFTD : Friendship makes prosperity more brilliant, and lightens
adversity by dividing and sharing it

TIAGF : The positive energy and high motivation levels that I have

Another week gone by

Where does the time go to ? I can't beleive that another week has passed me by. The good thing is that I am 1.6kgs lighter than I was last week - YAY ME !!!!! I was very pleased with that loss for the week although would have liked more seeing as it was my first week back counting, tracking, exercising and drinking water !!! But, I'm not unhappy with that loss.

I have spent another day this week in bed with a really dreadful headache - I think this is my body's way of saying "If you won't slow down, I'll make you slow down" - the trouble is that there is still so much that needs to be done. This weekend I have to go into work to catch up on work I didn't get done because I was flat on my back in bed. Plus I HAVE to clean the house - I cannot look at it any more the way it is - this is really stressing me out so I need to address the problem and then move on.

My food and water intake this week has been fan-bloody-tastic ! I am really pleased with how motivated I am - eating fruit, drinking water, getting home and getting on the treadmill before I do anything else (except last night and tonight when my head wouldn't allow me to walk !) Tonight we had some beautiful grilled fish and I did have a couple of chips with it but have counted them into my points for the day. I even had a little bit of liquorice after dinner. Liquorice has been my downfall during the past few months - it would be nothing for me to go to Coles, buy a packet of liquorice and the following lunch time, go back and buy another packet because the packet I bought yesterday was all finished. But, not any more - I haven't made one trip to Coles from school this year - instead I have been working through my lunch 1/2 hour which I said I wasn't going to do - that is when I am supposed to be typing up my my blog to post via e-mail. Note to self : Make sure you update blog at least 3 times per week during lunch 1/2 hour - this will ensure you have a break and are fresher and able to accomplish more in the afternoon !

I have also been using a 14 day free trial of eTools - I am finding them very useful and very motivating to use. This weekend I want to sit down and find some different recipes to try out next week. I guess it could become a bit tiresome to use after a while but for now it seems to be working for me so I am going to stick with it - it is cheaper than paying to go to a weekly meeting as a life-time member and with Jodie's challenge - the motivation to keep going is still there. When that starts to wane I will have to reassess what I am going to do.

We are going away for the long weekend at the end of January and I am really looking forward to the break although I have to say that I am going to have to work hard at making sure I stay within points while we are away. I will take my walking shoes with me and try to go for a walk each day - hopefully Al will be off his crutches by then and we can go walking together. Mind you, if he is walking with me it won't be at any great pace but I can live with that. The main thing will be making sure that I do the best that I can and if I do go over on my points for the week, I don't let it get out of hand - it is only one weekend - it isn't any special occasion - so there is no reason why I shouldn't be able to do this within points and with a loss for the week - I JUST NEED TO BE PREPARED AND ORGANISED !!!!

Have a great weekend everyone and take care.

PS - as soon as I can remember how to update my side bar, I will !

One week down - 51 to go !!!

Well I haven't had quite the good start to the year that I anticipated
- food wise it has been great but I have been sick and so haven't been
able to exercise BUT I am not going to beat myself up over that. The
good thing is that I have been making good food and drink choices and
have been just under points each day since the 2nd and I really can't
complain about that.

There have been a few times when I have been tempted to reach for the
chocolate but I have managed to work my problems out some other way
instead of by stuffing my face. One night I did get very hungry at
about 10pm so I had some biscuits and a sandwich and I counted them
into my points for the day - that took my 6.5 points over for the day
but considering I had 12 points saved, I was OK. I have even been
drinking water every day - very reluctantly I have to say, but it is
going down which is the main thing. What I am trying to do now (and I
have been getting it right most of the time) is to have a glass of
water before I have a soft drink, then sometimes I haven't had the
soft drink because I feel full after having the glass of water.

I think that the big difference for me now is that my mindset is
different - I am more positive and more motivated than I have been in
the past 6 - 8 months (the fact that I am approx 13kgs heavier might
have something to do with it as well). To pinch a phrase from the TV
advert - Because enough is enough - sums up how I feel. As has
happened many times in the past, I reached the point where I knew I
couldn't go on like I was and that I had to do something about it. Oh
how I wish I had reached this point 10kgs ago - but it is so hard to
pull the reigns in when everyone is still saying "But you are looking
so good" and "Why are you still bothering with all that - you haven't
put on any weight". I guess I really was in denial thinking that I
could eat all that junk, not monitor my food intake in any way, drink
more than I would normally drink and still stay at my goal weight - it
had to start showing somewhere and my tummy, butt, hips and legs are
where it is now showing.

This is a new opportunity for me to show myself (and my family and
friends) what I can do when I put my mind to it. I will be back on
the treadmill this afternoon after work. I am also going to have to
get my bicycle out and dusted off because I spoke to the lady from
work re the swimming leg of the triathlon and she is really keen to
join us so hopefully we will be able to take part in a couple of races
and see how we go. The main thing is that I have a goal to train for
which is so much easier than just walking / cycling for the sake of
exercise.

On that note, I had better be going and get some work done otherwise I
won't be going home in time to get on the treadmill !!!

Take care everyone and have a great day !

TFTD : Real friendship is shown in times of trouble, prosperity is
full of friends.

TIAGF : A new beginning

A new year !

Well - another year is over and new one just begun. I read Michelle's post earlier tonight and I could have cut and paste it into my blog and not worried about having to type anything - just about everything she said was how I felt, what had happened to me during the year, and what I am going to do about it - thank you Michelle for showing me that I am not the only one in this situation and for reinforcing that I can make a positive change in my life and get back to where I was 15 months ago.

I am not the type of person who makes New Year's Resolutions - I always feel that by making them I am setting myself up for failure. This was one of the reasons why I never started my life style changes yesterday plus it was a holiday and we had a broken pipe at home which needed to be repaired before the foundations under the back of the house were completely washed away !!!!

So today I got up, had some oats for breakfast, made myself a sandwich and took a WW fruit bar and some rice crackers into work - and that was all I ate at work !!!!!!!! An amazing feat for me who had become a regular shopper at Coles over the road during my lunch half hour (just long enough to get there - make it down the biscuit and confectionery aisles and get back to work with my supplies stocked up to keep me going for another day !)

I am working flexi time this week (as I am the only one in the office although the headmaster did come in for a short while today) and so I started at 7am in order to get home earlier this afternoon. When I got home Al had gone to Bunnings so I got changed and got onto the treadmill and walked 5kms/7kph with the occassional burst up to 9kph. I was absolutely drenched when I was finished but I felt fantastic - it is the first time in a long time that I have made the effort to do some exercise. BUT, it is something that I am going to work on doing every day - before I sit in front of the TV, before I start to cook dinner, before I worry about the chores around the house that need to be done.

This year it is about getting back to goal and learning how to maintain that weight - I managed to maintain for about 10 months after I got to goal in Sept 2005 but then things got out of hand and the big creep started. There are lots of "I should haves" and "I could haves" and "I wish I hads" but the bottom line is that I didn't and now I have to live with the disappointment of how I have let the weight creep back on and I have to just get back on track and do what I know I can do.

I have spoken to Al and K and they have both offered to help in any way they can which is great because I know that without their support it would be so much harder for me to achieve the results I know that I am capable of achieving.

I have joined in the Weghtloss 2007 challenge which Jodie has organised as I need the discpline of the weekly weigh-in plus the carrot of maybe being able to earn some money is good !!!! We have some big plans in the pipeline for this year and I would be so happy if I could be at goal (or at least close to goal) when they happen.

To each and everyone of you who keep coming back to read about where I am at - thank you ! The support I have received through this forum and the friends have made have been unbelievable - if anyone had told me 2 years ago I would have friends around the country and overseas and the difference they would make to my life, I would have laughed at them. You all are amazing people who have so many different talents to offer me and I thank you for that.

I wish you everything you wish for yourselves in 2007 and then some more on top of that - lets show everyone what a fantastic job we can all do losing weight and improving our life styles this year.