The Ups and Downs of Carlton's/Mel's Life

Triathlon blog

2012-01-23T14:37:00.000+11:00

I've set myself a goal to complete a full ironman triathlon in 23 months time and I've created a new blog to document the highs, lows, the achievements and the tears... Feel free to come and join me by supporting me through this huge journey at:-

http://journeytoironman2013.blogspot.com/

Its amazing what you can do when pushed!!!!

2011-12-12T09:13:00.004+11:00

OMG my trainer is mean but awesome at the same time..... he decided that I wasn't training hard enough and that I drank way too much red wine on Saturday night, so today's session after the usual warm up, a few squat rows, squats, lunges etc.... that I could do 500 kettlebell swings using a 16 kilo kettlebell... I guess I should be greatful that it was with the 20 or 24 kilo kettlebell... After the first 100 of them, I so didn't think I was going to make it as my forearms were burning but they settled down and I did it....

I have have triathlon swim training at lunchtime which is going to be interesting is all I'm saying...

This is Monday's (yesterday's) post that I forgot to publish.

I've got lots of christmas functions with week so I hate to think of what my other 2 PT sessions are going to be like, let alone next Monday's after I've survived this week.... I did have to pull out the jfdi card a few times this morning but I did it.... I'm so excited!!!!!

I'm feeling pretty tired right now so the rest of the day will be interesting including the 12 days to christmas challenge that I'm starting today...

12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS FITNESS CHALLENGE!

These are to be done as fast as possible, with perfect form (of course)

DAY 1 - 1 SET OF 100 JUMPING JACKS...
DAY 2 - 2 X 1 MIN PLANKS
DAY 3 - 3 SETS OF LUNGES (10 STEPS EACH LEG)
DAY 4 - 4 SETS OF 30 SECOND JUMP ROPE
DAY 5 - 5 BURPEES
DAY 6 - 6 TOE TOUCHERS (ABS)
DAY 7 - 7 PERFECT PUSHUPS
DAY 8 - 8 CALF RAISES
DAY 9 - 9 ATG SQUATS (ASS TO GRASS)
DAY 10 - 10 BICEP CURLS (EACH ARM
DAY 11 - 11 TRICEP DIPS
DAY 12 - 12 MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS

So the first day you only do the 1st day, but the second day you do day 1 AND day 2, and on the third day you do day 1, 2 and 3.... and so on...

OMG how long has it been....

2011-12-07T20:25:00.005+11:00

I so can't believe its been nearly 18 months since I've posted here....

So much has happened in my life, I've changed jobs within the Finance industry, I've lost 50 kilos and got to my goal weight, Brad and I split up for good, I have started training to be a personal trainer and I'm now competing in triathlons...

Its all pretty unreal right now and unbelieveable.... Life is just so different...

Realisations

2010-07-12T16:35:00.001+10:00

I had this realisation at work the other day whilst shopping with a work colleague, that I’m now only about 10 kilos heavier than the average female in my office…. I consider most females in my office as slim or only slightly overweight and now I’m becoming one of them (not that it’s like a disease or anything).

I still have to remind myself that I can shop in the normal section of the store, even if it is towards the bigger sizes, its still a normal size… I’ve been very over weight for a long time, and it’s a big deal for me to be able to shop in the normal size. I can also buy stuff from normal stores and not have to buy from the larger stores anymore…Mind you it will be a sad day when I don’t fit into anything in Autograph as its my favourite store… I'm now wearing size 14/16 pants or skirts and tops are either 14/16 or 18 depending on shape and design.

I’m pretty excited about where this is all going… Less than 20 kilos to lose to get to my WW goal and I’m going to get there..

GWEJ (Goal Weigh Ending June)

2010-05-30T19:14:00.003+10:00

Now this is normally something done on weight watchers forum and occassionally on our ww facebook group does and I'm going to post this hear as well.

To coincide with the challenge we have at weight watchers which ends the end of July my goal is to weigh 84.9 kilos so that is a loss of 3.4 kilos this month. June ends in the middle of the week and as I weigh in on Saturday's my weight at the end of the month will be as at 26 June 2010... So I have 4 weeks to lose 3.4 kilos or 850 grams per week... Let the challenge begin...

I did mention this at the end of my previous post but I think its time to give it a post all of its on. This goal is going to be a bit of a challenge but nothing that some focus and effort want hurt.

I'm sure the more I post this and the more accountable I am the more focused and motivated I will become in achieving this goal.

Week 119 of my weight loss journey

2010-05-29T14:13:00.006+10:00

Yes I can't believe I have been losing weight for this long.... A friend of mine on a weight loss group we have on facebook got me thinking about my overall journey and the time its taken to get this far.

I've been on this journey for over 2 years, well 119 weeks to be exact (just worked it out) and during this time I've lost just over 29 kilos and whilst I'm happy with that its by no means fast but its my journey and I have to be happy with that. WW tell you that you should try and average your weight loss at 500 grams per week, well mine is a little below that at 250 grams per week... I still have another about 21 kilos to lose to get to my goal weight and I'm hoping that I can spead things up just a little to get there in the next year.. If I can increase my average to 400 grams per week then I will lose the 21 kilos in 52 weeks...

My point is that it doesn't matter how long it takes you as long as you don't give up and that the whole process fits into your life style. I still go out, I still eat chocolate and I still drink wine and bourbon and I still go away interstate and overseas ... I really wouldn't change much as I'm living my life at the same time as losing weight. It will just take longer the way I'm doing it that's all...

The above picture was taken last Mondy at the Lindt Cafe in Melbourne... This was my breakfast... It was very yummy but also very rich.... I also weighed in on the saturday at 88.4 kilos, so I'm using it as my 88.4 kilo picture....

Today was WI and I lost 100 grams... I'm pretty happy with that. During the past week I have been to melbourne, where I ate and drank more than normal, its been TTOM, and I now have the flu... Very little exercise has been done this week and I still lost... I now weigh 88.3 kilos and am very much an 80's girl... Bring on the 70's is all I can say...

Our leader today challenged us to lose a kilo this week, so I'm going to focus on that. A few weeks ago she challenged us to a 6 week weight loss challenge and I wanted to be 84.9 kilos at the end of it.... I think we have 4 weeks left and I have 3.4 kilos to lose... Time to get focused again I think... I can do this if I really want it.... I'd love to be a 70's girl for spring this year (September)... which would then see me needing losing 5 kilos in 2 months....

WI Day

2010-05-15T18:26:00.004+10:00

I'm so happy right now, the scales rewarded me well after my effort this week... I smashed getting under 90 with a 1.4 kilos loss getting me to 88.8 kilos.... I haven't been this low for about 20 years....

I also decided to go shopping today with the aim of trying on some new jean and maybe buying some new jeans as my current ones are a bit big.... I decided to try on a pair of size 14 jeans, and whils i didn't think they would fit and still didn't as I was trying to pull them up, they did so I bought a size 14 ...jeans!!!! they are a little snug but the 16's are just too big... This will give me some focus for the coming week to make sure they fit nicely when I go to melbourne next saturday.... The jeans were only cheap ones because I still have about 22 kilos to lose and I don't want to spend the money on expensive jeans only for them not to fit me for long... I will buy decent jeans when I get to my goal weight...

I also bought a pair of boots as my reward for weighing in under 90 kilso... Last week I got a new pair of runners so it was the boots turn this week.

Now bring on my next goal of being under 85 kilos... At weight watchers today our leader gave us a challenge of what weight we wanted to be or how much we wanted to lose in the next 6 weeks. Well originally mine was to lose 3.6 kilos or 600 grams per week and I just realised that would make me 85.2 kilos so I'm going to go for 3.9 kilos which will see me at 84.9 kilos...

When I started this journey I weighted in at 115.9 kilos and today at 88.8 kilos see my total loss of 27.1 kilos loss all together...

WI Saturday 8/5/2010

2010-05-10T14:45:00.004+10:00

Sorry I've been a bit slack in updating my WI results from Saturday.

I lost 1.6 kilos which is great but just missed out on my weekly goal of going under 90 kilos.... I know the goal was a big ask and I did have a feeling on Thursday that I was just going to miss it. I weighed in at 90.3 kilos...

I'm trying to stick with the same principals this week so my cycling points are:-

Saturday - 30 points - exercise points earnt 6.5 points
Sunday - 33 points (I didn't mean to have this many but I got a bit hungry in the afternoon) - exercise points earnt 8 points
Monday - 21 points - already at 5 points and I still need to go for a walk tonight.
Tuesday - 23 points
Wednesday - 25 points
Thursday - 23 points
Friday - 21 points

The above points are based on earning exerise points of:-

2 x 6.5 points
5 x 8 points.

or the same as last week...

In terms of Operation Tiger:-

50 mins of Wii Fit jogging 5 days per week (in the mornings instead of my usual walk). on track
60 mins walk with my brother 5-6 days per week. on track
Drink at least 2 litres of water per day. on track - however, its this week focus...
Eat Healthly food and minimise junk food. - on track
Sticking to my 21 weight watchers points per day. - I've increased my points slightly as I don't eat enough when I earn 8 exercise points per day and I'm only allowed to save 4 of them anyway.
Aiming to lose 600 grams per week and be under 85 kilos at the end of Operation period. I'm back on track with my weight loss...

Rewards
Under 90 kilos - buy myself some new boots. - I'm thinking of changing this to new runner as I need another pair. Mind you I also need boots for work - winters coming... LOL...

Under 85 kilos - acrylic finger nails.

Feeling a little more in control

2010-05-03T12:58:00.004+10:00

I'm feeling a little more in control this week, which is good.

I had a slow start to my tiger challenge, recording a 100 gram gain at WI on Saturday. I'm OK with that because TTOM came on Wednesday and I didn't track all that well last week.

A couple of weeks ago my WW leader announced that she was leaving us as she needed to spend more time with her teenager daugher (she also works full time), which really shocked the whole meeting, her leaving us not why....

On saturday I went to WI not really knowing what to expect, if we'd get a new leader or just a fill in, well we got a new leader. Well you could also say we got an old leader too, one of the previous leaders came back... Helen. Helen is lovely but will take a bit of getting use to as she has a different personality to our old leader...

Its so surprising what a new leader will do for your journey. This week I'm finding my self more focused, I'm tracking better and feeling a lot better about myself. I've started my points cycling this week which has gone:-

Saturday I ate 27 (I was originally meant to only have 25)
Sunday I ate 29 (on plan)
Monday I got 21 and will stick to that.
Tuesday see me on 20
Wednesday has been changed to 23
Thursday has been changed to 21
Friday is 20

Water has been good and so has the exercise....

I'm feeling pretty focused right now... and here's to having a great week...

Operation Tiger Day 4

2010-04-27T12:52:00.004+10:00

It was nice to have a long weekend but it was also a bit of a sad one for me... ANZAC day is always day to remember the fallen but it also the anniversay of my favourite aunty's death (cancer) and an anniversay of my brother death (decided life wan't worth living - lol)...

Needless to say I emotionally ate over the weekend but the good thing was I also chucked all remaining chocolate in the bin sunday night...

Yesterday was a much better day food wise which is good.... WI on Saturday saw a gain of 700 grams which I expected... I'm ok with that...

Food today is:-
Breakfast - Oats (its cold in Sydney today) 200ml skim milk and half a cup of fruit salad.
Black Coffee
Sugar free Monster

Morning Tea Peppermint Tea (no sugar or milk)
2 mandarins
1 small green pear

Lunch
Salad, tuna, Chop Chop Chicken, multigrain breadroll
200 gram diet fruit salad yoghurt
375ml can coke zero

Snack
apple
Fruities

Dinnner - not sure we are going to the local club for dinner.

I've only had 750mls of water so far today so I better get stuck into it.

I jogged using the Wii fit this morning for 30 mins and will go for an hour walk with my brother before going out...

I'm also thinking of point cycling, like the old wendi plan. I kind of do that now expect I'm using the majority of my exercise points to do it. I tend to eat more when not at work i.e. weekend and then stick to my points during the week. I seem to be on this plateau for way too long and so want to get off and crack that 90 kilo mark.

I get 21 points per day or 147 per week and I do tend to look at things on a weekly basis. I also earn at least 6 exercise points per day and I'm only allowed to save 4 of them or 28 points per week, so that see's me eating 2 extra points per day. As a resul tof this I'm thinking of the following daily points:-

Saturday 23 (including exercise points of 2 25)
Sunday 27 (including exercise points of 2 29)
Monday 19 (including exercise points of 2 21)
Tuesday 18 (including exercise points of 2 23)
Wednesday 22 (including exercise points of 2 24)
Thursday 20 (including exercise points of 2 22)
Friday 18 (including exercise points 2 20)

I'm planning on starting this Saturday, WI day and see how I go for 1 week and then will reassess.

In Terms of Operation Tiger obejctives:-

50 mins of Wii Fit jogging 5 days per week (in the mornings instead of my usual walk) - have done 30 mins today. Will do another 20 mins before I go to bed tonight. Yesterday walked in instead.
60 mins walk with my brother 5-6 days per week - walked 60-90 mins saturday, sunday and monday so far.
Drink at least 2 litres of water per day. done so far
Eat Healthly food and minimise junk food. Working on it...
Sticking to my 21 weight watchers points per day. Haven't done well on this so far this week. Today is a new day.

Operation Tiger day 2

2010-04-25T12:14:00.002+10:00

Operation Tiger started yesterday and didn't overall really get off that well....

What went well...

1. I went for a 90 minute walk from Mortdale to Como pub and back via the footbridge.
2. tracked what I ate however I didn't eat enough in the morning so I ate a lot of chocolate in the afternoon.
3. Drank 2 litres of water.

What didn't go well.
See point 2.

WI in me gain 700 grams so now I weigh 91.8 kilos...

Today is day 2 and things are a bit better so far.

1. I went for a 120 minute walk from Mortdale to Como pub and back via the footbridge. Walked around Como whilst over there...

Breakfast
2 Oatbrits, skim milk and fruit salad
500 ml sugar free Monster.

Snack
1 small slice of Low fat date and sultana loaf

I've drunk 1.2 litres of water so far this morning.

Operation Tiger part 1

2010-04-23T13:32:00.004+10:00

Tomorrow is WI day and after the week I've had with over eatting chocolate I know that I will have a gain on the scales.. Just don't know how much of one... Its OK if I overeat then I need to be prepared for the consequences.

I'm so sick and tired of not being able to crack the 90 kilo mark and feeling like a hippo. I've been trying to crack under 90 since since October 2009... Enough is enough so I'm going to give myself a challenge and wipe the slate clean.... My challenge will be called Operation Tiger part 1. I still have about 24 kilos to go to get to goal and look like a nice sleek Tiger, so this will be done in parts.

Objectives for Operation Tiger Part 1 are:-

Term of Operation 12 weeks starting 24/04/2010.
50 mins of Wii Fit jogging 5 days per week (in the mornings instead of my usual walk).
60 mins walk with my brother 5-6 days per week.
Drink at least 2 litres of water per day.
Eat Healthly food and minimise junk food.
Sticking to my 21 weight watchers points per day.
Aiming to lose 600 grams per week and be under 85 kilos at the end of Operation period.

Rewards
Under 90 kilos - buy myself some new boots.
Under 85 kilos - acrylic finger nails.

Today's activities

2010-04-22T09:27:00.002+10:00

Its a bit hot in the office today and with it being such a nice day I'd rather be anywhere else right now.

I also didn't sleep all that well last night so I only did 30 minutes of jogging on the Wii Fit this morning.

Menu so far today is:-

Breakfast
3 weetbix
200ml of skim milk
125ml of fruit salad.
Black Coffee
500ml sugar free monster.

Snacks -
I forgot to bring some but I do have 2 green apples on my desk from previous days that I haven't eatten yet.

Lunch - I have a farewell to go today and we are going yum cha... Whilst we only eat the steam stuff I hope I don't overeat like normal.

Dinner - nothing planned yet we will how I feel and what time I get home.

I've already drunk a 750ml water, and I'm currently drinking a 500ml mineral water.

I'm also planning on going to Zumba tonight which starts at 6.15 p.m. and will earn me about 8 bonus points.

Weight loss tracker 21/04/2010

2010-04-21T13:05:00.003+10:00

I need to be a bit more accountable of what I put into my mounth, so I'm going to try and post it here everyday as well as on the WW site.

Today so far:-
Breakfast -
3 weetbix 2 1/2 points,
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 point 1/2 cup of tin (in natural juice) fruit salad 1/2 point
Black coffee
750 mls water
500 mls sugar free Monster..

Morning Snacks 2 mandarins = 1 point
200g Diet mixed berry yoghurt - 1 point
Peppermint Tea = 0 points

Lunch
Multigrain bread roll - 2 points
75g Tin of tuna - 1 point
75g Tin of 4 mixed beans 1.5 points
Salad of 1 carrot, 2 mushrooms, lettuce, 1/2 cucumber, 2 sticks of celery, 3 cherry tomatoes, shredded red cabbage and no oil dressing = 0 points.
600 ml Coke Zero

afternoon tea -
2 apples - 2 points
750 ml bottle of water

Dinner
I'm planning on having Tuna Lasagna tonight and that's about 8 points per slice.
Another salad of 1 carrot, 2 mushrooms, lettuce, 1/2 cucumber, 2 sticks of celery, 3 cherry tomatoes, shredded red cabbage and no oil dressing = 0 points.

Total points so far today is 20/21.

I will also walk for 60 mins tonight with my brother and drink another litre of water afterwards.
This morning I got up at 5.30 a.m. and jogged using the Wii game for 50 minutes...

Exercise

2010-04-13T08:35:00.003+10:00

Wow I'm about to write 2 posts in 2 days... I can't remember the last time I did that here... LOL....

Last night I decided to that I would get up early today and use the Wii Fit Plus instead of going for my usual 40 minute walk... I think I'm getting a bit bored of my morning walk and need to do a few different things.

I'm please to say that yes I did get up at 5.30 a.m. and I managed to do 52 minutes on the Wii Fit Plus. This was made up of 20 minutes boxing and 32 minutes of jogging (its on the spot for those who haven't used a Wii before). I find it funny that I can jog for 12 minutes at a time on Wii Fit without any problems or feeling too tired but I can't jog for more than a few street blocks on the road.... Interesting... I'm feeling a little bit stiff and sore right now.... Must remember to streatch later.

Yesterday was a good day... I did my exercise and stuck to my points... I even managed to save a few points to go towards covering my already eatten chocolate points...

Heres to another good day today..

Lost my way.....

2010-04-12T16:37:00.002+10:00

I seem to have lost my way a bit on my weight loss journey.... My weight has been going up and down the same few kilos over the past few months... Whilst I know that the biggest loser show is not realistic and the weight loss also isn't realistic, I sometime wonder how they can lose such big numbers consistantly and I can't seem to lose 2 weeks in a row.... mmmmm.....

This might actually have something to do with it. I thought I'd post this here and admit that I pigged out on Chocolate during the weekend. I’m not sure why I did it, as I have been so good with no eating a lot of chocolate lately. I can tell you that both occasions happened in the middle of the afternoon.

The good thing is that I have tracked it all and am making myself accountable for it… When I added it to my tracker today it worked out I ate 23 points of chocolate on Saturday and another 20 points on Sunday…I weigh in on Saturday’s so I’m fairly new into my WW week. So far this week I have earnt 18 exercise points, with another 18.5 points to make up so I’m even.

I’m hoping that my posting this here and also making myself accountable for it on my tracker that I will learn from this and move on.

I’m seeing a week full of jogging with the Wii Fit and am also looking at starting to use the Stepper machine at the gym in anticipation of the 1000 steps walk that we might do in Melbourne in May. Steps are so not my thing….

Post Christmas Poem....

2010-01-21T08:31:00.002+11:00

Twas the month after Christmas,
and all through the house,
Nothing would fit me,
not even a blouse.

The shortbread I'd nibbled,
the chocolate I'd taste
At the holiday parties had gone to my waist.

When I got on the scales
there arose such a number!
When I walked to the store
(less a walk than a lumber),

I'd remember the marvellous meals I'd prepared;
The gravies and sauces and roasts nicely rared,
The wine and the rum balls, the bread and the cheese
And the way I'd never said, "No thank you, please."

As I dressed myself in my husband's old shirt
And prepared once again to do battle with dirt...
I said to myself, as I only can,
"You can't spend a Summer, disguised as a man!"

So, away with the last of the sour cream dip.
Get rid of the fruit cake, every cracker and chip.
Every last bit of food that I like must be banished
Till all the additional ounces have vanished.

I won't have a biscuit, not even a lick.
I'll want only to chew on a long celery stick.
I won't have hot scones, or shortbread, or pie.
I'll munch on a carrot and quietly cry.

I'm hungry, I'm lonesome, and life is a bore...
But isn't that what January is for?
Unable to giggle, no longer a riot.
Happy New Year to all, and to all a good diet.

Back on the Weight Loss Wagon today!!!!

2009-12-29T08:44:00.001+11:00

I'm back on the wagon as of today in many ways.

I'm back:-

1. Walking to work and back (not sure how much longer I can walk to and from work as we are moving next weekend at it will be a 10km walk each way if I do it)... I still think that the walk is doable but my brother and bf think otherwise.... Will see what happens...
2. Tracking...
3. Drinking my water...
4. Whilst I've put on a bit over christmas, not that I have weighed myself but I can feel it, I'm feeling pretty happy about things right now and raring to go...

I'm back on the wagon as of today...

I must be crazy to walk in this weather.....

2009-10-26T08:24:00.004+11:00

Well I must be crazy this morning, it's raining in Sydney today. I got up early and went for a walk, mainly because I over ate a bit on the weekend. I was going to go for an hour walk but it ended up only lasting for 40 minutes. I made the mistake of not taking a rain jacket, just an umbrella and with the wind in my area this morning that broke about 1/3 of the way into my walk, so I threw out the umbrella, turned around and walked home... Needless to say I got rather wet and a few strange looks from drives for not having any wet weather gear on...

After having a hot shower at home, getting changed, the rain didn't stop me cause I walked to work as normal. This time a little better prepared. I wore a rain jacket and then had one of those big plastic jacket things that went over me and my backpack. I also managed to bring extra socks etc in case they got really wet, which they have...

I must either be crazy or in the grove to want to be under 85 kilos by christmas. I hate walking in the rain, because it's horrible, windy and no matter what you get a bit wet...

Its a real winters day today and I was so craving porridge but didn't think I had any. I was in luck, one satchel left in my draw at work.

Do you need Weight Loss Support

2009-10-25T17:09:00.001+11:00

Looking for Online Weight Loss Support? Then why don't you pop by and check out www.weareslimming.com.au/forum

For the first time in a long time.....

2009-08-24T09:48:00.005+10:00

For the first time in a long time I weigh less than my brother. I was having lunch with my brother Paul yesterday and we were discussing how much we weigh and he was telling me he now weighs 97 kilos (mind you he is 5 10 and I'm only 5 5). At WI on saturday I weighed in at 96.6 kilos.... I can't believe that I'm finally lighter than him. Yeah!!!!!!!!!!

Not long till my trip, in fact in 10 days time I'll be packing and heading to the airport to go... I really can't wait. Mind you I still have some work to do with my weight loss goal. I would love to lose 2 more kilos in this time. So lots of tracking, sticking to my points and exercise for me this week. I know that if I stay focused I can do this....

Ok for those who can't remember or don't know, I'm off to London, Milan and the South of England for just over 3 weeks. I leave on my birthday that being 4 September.

My promise to myself today is:-

1. Stick to my weight watchers points 21 today.
2. Drink 2 litres of water today.
3. Use the Wii Sports Active game tonight...

I will update my progress later today...

Results:-

1.
2.
3.

2 p.m. - So far so good. I did bring my lunch today, which was left overs from dinner last night, however my work colleagues talked me into going our for Thai. The good thing was that I have still stayed within my points. I had some steamed rice and vegetables with oyster sauce. I also drank water.

My promise to myself today is....

2009-08-21T08:44:00.004+10:00

My promise to myself today is....

1. I will track what ever goes into my mouth...
2. I will drink 2 litres of water today
3. I will stay within my 21 weight watchers points.
4. I will use the Wii Sports Active exercise game when I get home tonight....

I will update the results as I go today.

Results

1. Yes I have tracked everything that I have eaten today.
2. Yes I have drunk 2 litres of water.
3. I have so far within my points.
4. I am about to do the Wii Sports active game so I will say that is done.

Its amazing what a good night's sleep does....

2009-08-20T08:43:00.003+10:00

It is amazing what a good night sleep does for one's mood.

I had the best night's sleep last night and am feeling on top of the world. A big step up from what I've been feeling the past week, thanks to a head cold....

I even used the Wii fit and Wii sports active exercise game this morning. Brad asked me if I was sick or something, as I was up so early and full of energy.

Whilst I do enjoy walking to work and back, its been a bit of a chore lately due to me being sick and I think because its winter. This morning whilst it was a bit chilli, I really enjoyed my walk to work....

Even a work email which involves me doing a lot more work, didn't upset me.

My meal's have been planned for today, now I just have to stick to them.

Struggling at the moment....

2009-08-12T08:43:00.005+10:00

Just need to get this off my chest and use the blog for what I originally intended.

I'm finding that I am struggling at the moment and eating a lot of crap this week after dinner. I'm going away in 3 1/2 weeks and if I look back at previous times I've gone away I've stuggled with sticking to the WW program about this time before I go.

Well today I'm determined to be strong. I've even brought cut up veggies to nibble on today instead of WW cookies etc that I keep in my draw at work.

I've done half of my normal walk today (i.e. walking to and from work) and I will be going to the gym at lunch time... I just need a plan of attack for after dinner.

Brad's on afternoon shift this week and doesn't get home till about 11.30 p.m. and whilst it is lovely to have the house to myself, I'm finding that all I want to do is eat. Think I might make some 0 point veggie soup tonight so I can have that instead of biscuits after dinner.

Edit 2.15 p.m:- So far so good today. I've been to the gym at lunch time, did 15 mins on the bike, 15 on the cross trainer, 30 pushups on a bench (or bench presses) and 30 crunches.

I'm also eating better today. The veggies that I brought as snacks has worked a treat... Just need to make better decisions tonight and stick to them.

Seeing Results in my clothes....

2009-08-10T11:53:00.002+10:00

I walked to work again this morning and seemed to walk a bit quicker than normal. These days I find that I'm walking to the beat of the song that I listen to on my mobile. When I walk to work I tend to walk in gym gear and bring my suit etc in my back pack.

Well this morning I brough a suit I hadn't worn for about 2 weeks and now I'm finding that the pants are a size too big. They don't fit around the waist and in fact there is at least an inch of fabric that I can scrunch up. Worst part of all is that the pants don't have belt loops, so I can't wear a belt with it. The suit is only about 4 months old, so looks like I'm off to the tailors in the next few days to get them taken in. Hope it doesn't cost too much...

When I started this journey I was wearing size 26/24 tops and 22/20 pants. I'm now wearing 18/20 tops depending on the style and size 16/18 pants depending on the style...

Originally I also started this journey weighing 115.9 kilos in 2008. I restarted my journey on 30/05/2009 at 104.4 kilos and I now weigh 97.4 kilos.. All up I have lost 18.5 kilos....

WI Day again...

2009-08-08T11:38:00.002+10:00

Yep that's right WI day again today, boy they do seem to come around quickly these days.

I'm happy with my result this week, I lost another 1.2 kilos and CW of 97.4 kilos. This brings my losses to 7 kilos since I restarted at WW on 30/05/2009. Yeah me... I'm also getting closer to my trip weight of 95 kilos. Only 2.4 kilos to go and 4 weeks to get it...

I'm going out for lunch today with my brother, it was his birthday yesterday and he went out with some friends last night. He wanted a new Ipod and a pink one at that, so guess what I got him a pink one. Hope he likes it....

5% Goal Achieved today - Yeah!!!!!

2009-08-01T16:21:00.005+10:00

I can't believe the week as gone again and its Saturday weight in time again. At weight watchers today I lost another 700 grams which also saw me achieve my 5% weight loss. Very happy...... I am now well and truely into double digits with my weight being 98.6 kilos.

Its 5 weeks till I go overseas and with today's loss I have 3.1 Kilos to lose to reach my goal. My MP3 player is now official dead after charging it last week for 12 hours it only let me listen to 1 and a half songs this morning. After reaching my 5% weight loss goal and the fact that I-pods are on sale at the moment, I decided that I just had to buy one. I ended up buying a purple 1pod Nano (8g). Now I just have to download some more songs to fill it up.

My month without chocolate has also finished and looking back at the month, I did see better losses when I stopped eating chocolate. I was probably averaging about 300-400 grams per week before July and during July the averaged between 700-800 grams per week. So I'm going to see if I can do 2 months in a row.

Doing the Happy Dance.....

2009-07-25T11:15:00.005+10:00

Yes that's right I've been doing the happy dance since my WI this morning.

Today is a big day in my weight loss journey, I hit double digits and got my 5 kilo book mark today. I lost 800 grams this week to see my CW of 99.3.

(I restarted my weight loss journey on 30/05/2009 after losing 10 kilos in 2008 and then losing the plot)...

I did just miss my 5% goal and goal for July by 100 grams.....

Still doing the happy dance.... I'm so excited to finally be double digits again...

As a reward I bought myself some new shoes, its getting warmer in Sydney at the moment and I found this week I needed to start wearing sandles to work....

My MP3 player seems to have also died this morning, so I might just have to get myself a new one as my next reward.... Which will be for when I reach my holiday target weight... Might even look to see what the price difference is if I get it duty free when I go away compared to the retail price, but then again there is always sales....

Edit 6 p.m. Thanks everyone for your kind comments. Yes I am still walking to and from work and its an 8 km round trip. I walk this 5 days a week. I've also started back at the gym and so far I'm doing 3 x 30 min works outs per week. On saturday's I get up at 6.30 a.m. and go for an hour's walk and then I also walk to and from my weight watchers meeting (30 min walk each way). I also track what I eat and seeing I do so much exercise, about 50-60 points work per week, I've been eating between 15-2o exercise points per week. I've been doing this for a few weeks now and I've been having losses of 700 - 800 grams per week. Can't complain I guess.

Brad took another picture of me today at 99.3 kilos, which is below.

I've also started a weight loss journey picture album on my facebook page, that way I can see my progress photos next to each other and can see how far I have come. Since I started this journey in 2/08 I've lost 16.6 kilos. I've had plenty of ups and downs along the way and lost my way a few times, but I have never really given up. I am a lot healthier, happier and more active now than I have been in a very long time.

Mixed feelings about my weigh in yesterday

2009-07-19T10:34:00.003+10:00

I weighed in yesterday and whilst I had a good loss, I also have mixed feelings about the result because I so wanted to get to double digits. I missed double digits just and not happy about it.

I weighted in at 100.1 kilos, missed my goal by 200 grams...... I know that it will happen this week but still not happy I didn't do it yesterday....

Sorry I just need to vent and get it all out of my system... Thinking back at my week and it was a pretty good week. I didn't pig out over the weekend, like I can do. I walked to work and back, I went back to the gym and did a few workouts, I tracked, drank my water and really watched what I ate.... One thing I didn't do was walk home from work on Friday, as it was really cold, I didn't leave the office until 6 p.m. and we were meant to be going to the local club for dinner, so I accepted a lift home from one of my colleagues.... I now keep thinking if only I did walk home I would have got double digits.... I also earn't about 50 exercise points on the weight watchers program last week and only ate about 15 of them, so I'm also thinking I didn't eat enough, compared to the exercise I did.

I spoke with my weight watchers leader about things yesterday and she suggested that if I'm going to earn so many points, then I might need to eat a bit more filling foods (not snack food). I'm going to work on that this week.

This week is going to be an interesting week, my work colleague is on 4 weeks leave so I get to do her job as well as mine (well originally it was one job but they split it to employ both of us and there is enough work for both of us).... PMS/TTOM is due, double digits will be mine, I need to track, stay focused, don't stress and things will fall into place.

Exercise

2009-07-16T08:42:00.004+10:00

I've decided to up the exercise and see if it will help me lose my weight a little more consistently. I also realise that whilst I walk to work and back every day (4 kms each way) my body will get use to it and stop losing weight as efficiently.

So I've decided it time to go back to the gym. I went yesterday for the first time and was introduced to my new program, which is pretty good. Today I'm a bit sore and tired.... I'm due to go again today so that will be interesting. My trainer wants me to try spin classes, but I'm a little scared. I did try out a spin bike yesterday and whilst they seem harmless enough, the seats just hurt like... and I've also heard and seem some horror stories of people using these things. See what happens...

At this stage I'm only going to go to the gym in my lunchtime until I get use to it again and my body isn't so tired. Eventually I do want to look into the early morning classes or night classes as well.

Edited 1.50 p.m. I have been to the gym at lunch time and did:-

* Stomach crunches = 3 sets of 3 different types of crunches.
* Push ups 2 sets of 10 (on my knees and using a bench)
* 15 mins on the cross trainer at levels between 4 - 16.
* 10 mins on the bike.

Pretty happy with my effort today.

WI Day

2009-07-11T14:38:00.001+10:00

Had my weigh in at weight watchers today and lost another 900 grams, which I'm pretty happy with.

I now weigh 100.8 and my goal this week is to get into double digits.

I can see of walking and good tracking for me this week. I so want to be double digits....

I've lost 1.4 kilos towards my Italy goal so I'm heading in the right direction.

2 months to go till I go away and time to get focused....

2009-07-06T10:54:00.003+10:00

Its just under 2 months till I go away and whilst I'm not going to reach my original weight goal I do still have a goal in mind. So its time to get focused....

I weighed in on Saturday and lost another 500 grams so I'm now 101.7 kilos. I'd love to weigh 95 kilos when I go away, so yes its time to get focused...

One of the things I need to focus on is drinking more water. I'm good at drinking 0 point drinks i.e. diet soft drinks, herbal tea, sugar free V's etc but water is lacking. Also by drinking more water will save me some money, I have been buying 3-4 cans of softdrink a day and whilst they are only $1 each, over the course of a week I've been spending at least $20 on the stuff...

I'm finding that I'm chosing more filling foods and walking to work has really been helping with my weight... I was pretty good food wise this weekend which I'm pleased about. Previous weekends I'd been shocking and I really needed to walk to work so I didn't have a gain... I'm hoping for a good loss this week.

We also have a wedding coming up in November in Townsville and I really want to be under 90 kilo's for that. Its Brad daughters wedding and the last time they saw me was at my heaviest and I want to look good for any photos that are taken... Brad also wants to and needs to lose some weight and I tried to have a bet with him last night on who could lose the most weight between now and then but he wasn't interested. Not sure how I'm going to get him motivated to lose any weight at the moment... I know he needs to want to do it otherwise its not going to work, but at the moment he lacks will power.... Hopefully if he sees me losing weight that might spur him on.

Just need to stay focused and committed...

I'm still around

2009-07-01T14:01:00.002+10:00

Yep I'm still around, I've been rather busy with my new job, well its not so new any more. My 6 month probation ends next week.

Whilst I'm always pretty busy doing stuff, I also never seem to have much to say on my blog these days, which is why I haven't had many posts.

I had a break from weight watchers for a while, and am now back into it. I went back to my meetings in the last week of May 2009 and had put on a nearly 5 kilos, could have been worse I guess.

My CW at my last weigh in was 102.2 kilos which is a loss of 2.2 kilos since I've been back. This month I'm aiming to lose anther 3 kilos which will see me under 100 kilos at 99.2 kilos.

I'm walking to and from work again and whilst some days I don't feel like walking, I do. Its the only exercise I tend to get these days....

Struggling

2009-04-22T13:44:00.004+10:00

Its been a while in between posts, mainly because I have been struggling with eating well and exercise for the past month, well exercise hasn't been too much of a problem but eating has been a big one.

Basically all I want to do is eat, and eat lots of it. I haven't been following any program and no that I have put on a little bit of weight, I don't know exactly how much cause I haven't been game to get on the scales (let alone go to weight watchers). I can see it in the mirror and feel it in my clothes. I also feel it on myself and I'm feeling pretty yucky about myself right now..

If only I could get my head from out of the clouds and get motivated again to stick to the weight watchers points plan. I did think about quitting but I know that I will only spiral out of control and probably end up weighing more than I did when I started this journey. I also thought about going 1 on 1 at the lifestyle centres but that isn't covered by unlimited and funds are pretty tight right now (Brad is off work with a shoulder injury and isn't getting paid). I also realise my life is worth more than $20 per week but as I said funds are pretty tight...

I need to be accountable to someone just not sure who, well apart from myself that is. Mmmm might just need to be accountable to this blog until such time as I'm back on track... Mmmm I'm also thinking this weight loss journey is going to be a bumpy ride for a little bit longer...

I also have the flu right now so I haven't been walking to work the past week and a half cause my body is just not up for it.... I did buy the new Wii Personal trainer game last week and did a few sessions. It looks like a great game/workout just need to feel healthier before I get stuck right into it. It is going to help me tone my body...

Well I guess I better get back and do some work, after all that's what they pay me for....

P.S. I'll start my accountability with my eating tomorrow....

Why Why Why

2009-03-24T08:31:00.004+11:00

Sorry need to have a whinge at myself. Why do I do it to myself????? I know what to do to lose weight but why do I self sabotage????

I've been walking to work for the past 3 and a bit weeks and if I'm honest with myself my eating has been crap for at least the past 2/3 weeks. Why is it if I do exercise I tend to eat crap and if I don't exercise I stick to my points and eat healthy food??? Why am I incapable of doing both????

I guess the answers to this is why I have a weight problem and have bouncing around at this weight for the past 6 months.

I did manage to get under 100 kilos the other week but didn't really feel like posting a celebratory post cause I didn't get as excited as I should have....

I currently weigh 99.7 kilos and that's a total loss of 16.2 kilos over the past 13 months. Not all that great when you look at the time its taken, but at least I've lost something I guess...

I'm off to Melbourne tomorrow for the F1 Grand Prix and with money a bit tight this year, I'm planning on eating breakfast in the motel (cereal, skim milk fruit and maybe some toast). Also with the race being a mid afternoon race (not starting to 5.30 p.m.) the gates don't open until 11.30 a.m. We are planning on using the gym and pool at the motel, which is another good thing, especially given the late starting time.

This post isn't about feeling sorry for myself etc., it more to get some stuff out of my head that has been stressing me out for a little while....

Just need to do it... Fake it till I can make it......

I've been tagged........

2009-03-12T21:05:00.002+11:00

I've been tagged by Heather to post seven things about myself...

So I thought I'd give it a go...hey, why not? :)

The Rules:
1. List these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog.
3. Tell 7 unspectacular quirks about you.
4. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
5.Link the person who tagged you.
6.Leave a comment for each blogger.
It could be nice if you post a personal photo with this post but I'm not going to....

Seven Facts about me:

1. I hate the colour pink.

2. I love my new job especially seeing I'm not responsible for the clients...

3. I can't sing to save my life but have been part of a huge mass choir (in high school).

4. I love traveling especially overseas.

5. I love walking...

6. I'm actually a pretty boring person....

7. I'm even struggling to come up with 7 original things about me.

Seven Unspectacular Quirks about me:

1. I can be annoying and painful person when I want to be.

2. I have size 8 feet and they seem to be shrinking the more weight I lose.

3. My favourite TV programme watching formula one motor racing..

4. I love my wii fit but don't use it as much as I should.

5. I love exercising when I do it but getting me going is the hardest part.

6. I'm getting a new phone on saturday.

7. Will not let Brad read this blog.

I don't know how to put links to other people's blogs so I'll just have to copy their URLs...

Dana = http://rambleatblog.blogspot.com/
Jodie = http://jodiesjournal.blogspot.com/
Kim = http://peetieslittlecorneroftheworld.blogspot.com/
Sam = http://anewbeginning-samantha.blogspot.com/
Jo = http://boringsahm.blogspot.com/
Tina = http://tinasjourney.blogspot.com/
Shazz = http://shazzywomble.blogspot.com/

So Close but yet so far.....

2009-03-07T10:59:00.003+11:00

Weigh in day always seems to come around so fast.

I weighed in today and lost 1.3 kilos and normally I'd be jumping up and down and very excited but not today. I was so close but yet so far away from double digits. Yes that's right just missed double digits buy a small tub of butter - 200 grams. My weight this week is 100.1 kilos... It's so not fair, surely I could have found a way to lose another 200 grams this week but nope not this little black duck... Oh well there is always next week and next week I will do it..

The good news is that I did make my first mini goal today and I'm 2 kilos closer to achieving my overseas weight loss goal. My reward for this was a new suit for work. I bought a brown pin strip suit from Autograph. I actually got into their size 16 pants, but were a little snug around my stomach and hips (the joys of being an apple shape) and a size 20 jacket (another job of being an apple shape is that you need to get tops/jackets a size or 2 bigger than the pants you wear, otherwise they don't do up around your stomach area). The other good thing they had a 20% off sale on Thursday when I bought it. Yes I knew that I'd get my 2 kilo goal by them even if it was unofficial.

I'm now 1.3 kilos off my 2nd mini goal and I'd love to get that before I fly to Melbourne in 18 days time... I'm so inspired at the moment and am thinking of continuing walking to work. I did manage to walk to work all 5 days last week. I even managed to walk to my WI and back today....

You could say I'm a woman on a mission right now. Just need to make a few better choices with my food and all will be good.

Walking to work again

2009-03-03T13:48:00.004+11:00

Yes I did walk to work again today. I must admit that when my alarm went off this morning I didn't want to get out of bed and walk to work, but I did. I hate getting out of bed, but once I'm out all is fine.

For those who asked, my walk to work is about 4 kms and I can walk it in between 35 to 40 mins depending on how quickly I can cross the 2 major roads that I need to.

I so hope this helps with me losing the 700 grams I need to lose this week to get to my first mini goal.

Walking to Work and back

2009-03-02T20:38:00.004+11:00

I have decided to walk to work this week to see if my body can cope with so much exercise and to see if I can do without a car.

Today was day one of walking to work and back and so far so good... I did enjoy my walk today, that much I'm going to give it another go tomorrow as well. Oh course I'm also hoping it will have a positive affect on my weight loss this week...

For those who are a bit concerned on what happens if it rains, well I have a plan. I can either catch the bus at the end of my street and that goes to a few blocks from work, or I can walk in the rain with an umbrella and & raincoat...

Weigh in Day

2009-02-28T22:28:00.005+11:00

I can't believe how quickly weigh in day comes around. At weigh in I lost another 500 grams which I'm pretty happy about.

To be honest my week wasn't all that good and I did eat a bit too much chocolate for my liking but nothing as near as I would have before weight watchers. I did manage to use the wii fit on Thursday night, walk to work & back, more wii fit on Friday night and Brad and I went for some walks this week. I even managed to walk to weigh in and home today. Exercise is on the way up again for me.

I'm even thinking of walking to and from work all 5 days next week. Will see how I go. I'm in the process of trying to reduce my expenses and are looking at ways that we can do that. One of them is to sell one of our cars, cause the only time we really need two cars is on the weekend and with some careful planning we can work around that one too. I can either walk or catch the bus to work and that is so much cheaper than having a 2nd car when it comes to petrol, insurance, rego, maintenance etc. Nothing has been decided on that, will see how I go next week with walking to work or not... I'm so sick and tired of money being tight and I think some extreme measures need to be taken...Brad and I have talked about this and will continue to do so until we come to some sort of agreement or decision on things.

Back to my weigh in results, my 500 gram loss has brought we to a weight on 101.4 kilos (back to were I was in September 2008, grrrr at myself for putting it back on in the first place)... and only 700 grams till I reach my first goal. I'm so going to work my butt off this week to get that first goal....

Good and Bad Choices

2009-02-22T22:10:00.005+11:00

You would think that I would have learn't by now but no I obviously haven't.

We went to the Entertainment Quarter for lunch today and I made a relatively good choice for lunch. I had a burger and out of luck more than planning it didn't come with hot chips. Mind you I did pinch a few of Brad's chips.

We also ended up walking around for 2 1/2 hours as we were killing time before the Celebrity 20/20 Cricket Match started. We got free tickets into the game cause Brad is part of the RFS (all RFS members and their immediate family got in for free) and his station helped out in Melbourne with the Bush Fires. I drank lots of water and diet coke but I slipped a bit today and ended up going over my normal daily points.

My bad choices came as follows:-

1. Golden Gaytime is 4.5 points but it could have been worse as I was originally looking at a Magnum and they are 8 points. However, whilst I enjoyed the gaytime it is so not worth the points!!!!

2. A meat pie and it wasn't even hot. Now this set me back 11 points and so not worth it. My choices were a bucket of chips @ 7 points, a hot dog @ 4.5 points or a meat pie and yes you guest it I took the meat pie. I haven't had one for over 12 months and at the time I just had to have a commercial pie but never again am I spending so many points on such a small item..... I'm not beating myself up over it but as I'm typing this post, I can hear my weight watchers leader and her presentation about fast food at sporting events and the points values and what choices are better to make. If only I'd thought about this tonight...

My saving grace is that I had a healthy breakfast and some weight watchers snacks before I went and that we walked so much today. When my exercise points are taken into consideration I am still within my points for day but I am still disappointed at the choices I made today. I could have done so much better...

Lots of exercise and care points tracking for me over the next few weeks. I'd love to get to my 1st 2 kilo goal this week...

Just needed to get it off my chest before I went to sleep.

Weight in Day and Measurements

2009-02-21T10:41:00.006+11:00

This picture on the left is approximately how much fat I've lost since starting this journey, last year.

Today is weigh in day and I lost another 600 grams which makes it 800 grams in 2 weeks and only 1.2 kilos to go till I get to my first weight loss goal. My reward for achieving this is going to be the new Jillian Michaels Wii game (it was surpose to be out yesterday but has now been pushed back to 26/3/2009).

The past week I've been feeling that my work clothes are getting loser so I decided to measure myself again this morning. I was amazed with the results.

Thighs are 58 cm's (-8 cm's) 1/1/09 they were 66 cm's
Hips are 130 cm's (-13 cm's) 1/1/09 they were 143 cm's
Waist is 99 cm's (-4 cm's) 1/1/09 it was 103 cm's
Upper Stomach is 124 cm (-13 cm's) 1/1/09 it was 137 cm's
Chest is 116 cm's (-4cm's) 1/1/09 it was 120 cm's
Arms are 35 cm's (-9 cm's) 1/1/09 they were 44 cm's

All up I have lost I have lost 51 cm's off my body since 1/1/09. To be honest I didn't believe the results when I compared them to those I too at the beginning of the year and I had to measure myself twice before I actually believed them. No wonder I am starting to feel my clothes getting loser and I am starting to like the look of myself in pictures. My body is starting to shrink and not only on the scales.

It is such an inspiring thing for me right now...

Today is a new day

2009-02-20T08:12:00.004+11:00

8.15 a.m. I'm at work right now, mind you I should actually be working, so no pictures at the moment. Will put one on when I get home tonight.

I must admit that I did over eat yesterday. The cause was going out for a walk at lunchtime before I ate and going shopping last night on a hungry stomach. Whilst I did have my lunch at work, when I went out for a walk with a colleague I got something extra as well. Similar thing happened last night when we went shopping, went out before having dinner and then bought chocolate and a donut. Mind you my bf wanted to buy 2 donuts each and I did say no to him on that one.

Today is a new day and I've walked to work today to try and make up for yesterday. WI day for me is tomorrow. I will also walk home. Its a 40 minute walk each way.

Oh and I did do over 12000 steps yesterday as well.

The reason I am trying to reduce my intake of coke zero or diet soft drinks is that I find I have better weight loss weeks when I do reduce it. I tend to feel less bloated...

6.30 p.m. I ended up walking two and from work today and will all the running around the office I did today I've ended up walking 25,432 steps today. Yah for me.... I'm also thinking of walking to work every Friday. Friday is a good day to walk cause we can wear casual clothes and whilst I do take deodorant with me and put more on when I get there, it also means that I don't sweat in my business suits etc.

.

Week so far....

2009-02-18T23:02:00.004+11:00

Just thought I'd do a quick post about my week so far.

Well it didn't start out all that well food wise. All I wanted to do on Saturday was eat and eat and eat some more and unfortunately I did tend to do that. Yes I was way over on my points that day but I also had a little chat to myself on Sunday and decided that I wouldn't be doing that again.

Food wise since Sunday has been pretty good, I've been tracking my points and staying within them. I even went for a walk on Tuesday lunchtime for 30 mins and used my Wii fit tonight for 19 mins. I would have done more but I only decided to use it about 40 mins ago, so its a bit late to do a big workout. Whilst I would prefer to use the Wii fit in the morning, I just don't seem to be able to get up before work to do it and nights just seem so much easier. I'm just going to have to use it when ever I can and not focus on the time of day or night it is. I also have a pretty busy job and tend to walk around the office finding stuff, going to the printer, files etc so I got myself a pedometer and on average I walk around 10,000 steps per day. Today I did a little bit more and including the Wii Fit workout I've done 13,432 steps. I don't count this towards my exercise but I also realise that it is helping as I've been losing more consistently since I've gone back to an office based job. I'm also going to post my steps on this blog as well, it will serve as some sort of diary for me.

Oh and I did crack into double digits (99.9) on the Wii Fit scales tonight but I also know that there is approximately 1.5 kilos difference between the Wii Fit weight and WW weight. This weigh in was at night and with TTOM arriving. I'm pretty happy at the moment but also don't expect WW scales to show that weight on Saturday when I go for WI.

Work is going pretty well at the moment, we are really really busy, trying to learn the sytems, procedures, clients and get the work done. It does make for some long days but it also keeps me busy so I'm not focusing on food. I do tend to have my snacks for the day on my desk, but I'm that busy I don't focus on them until I decide it time to eat one. I'm pretty happy with my decision to change jobs and go back into an office environment.

I must admit that I am stuggling with only having 1 can of coke zero a day and need to do some more work on that one.

Sorry I haven't been around much lately....

2009-02-14T11:22:00.006+11:00

Sorry I haven't been around much lately, its just been really busy at work and I've been working 7.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and once I get home and check facebook and a few other sites, I'm just a bit too tired to post on my blog.

The good news is that I am still watching what I eat and am slowly losing weight. I just need to work out how I can fit some exercise into my day.

It was WI day today at WW and I lost another 200 grams, which brings me back down to 102.5 kilos. Pretty happy about that the loss considering the week I had with stress and PMS... LOL... A little bit of chocolate was eaten but no where near as much as I would have eaten even a few months ago. I'm feeling a lot more in control about things at the moment.

My brother and I have booked the air fair tickets to London and Italy, we leave on my birthday 4/9 and I'm very excited about it. I so love London and have always wanted to see Italy. Whilst we are in Italy we are going to the F1 Grand Prix in Monza, which I can't wait. Now I just need to lose lots of weight.

I was chatting to Shaz about my up and coming trip last night in the WW chat room and how I'm thinking of putting a weight goal attached to this trip. I know that I have tried this before and it hasn't worked but this time I'm going to be accountable to Shaz directly and she is going to keep me on the straight and narrow. Shaz is such an inspiration to me with her weight loss journey and to top it off she has just become a WW leader in Adelaide.

My Weight Loss goal is to lose 15 kilos between today and 1 September which gives me 31 weeks to lose this weight. During the conversation with Shaz, she got me thinking that I need to make a plan that I can stick to which will help me reach this goal. My plan is:- 1. To focus on 2 kilos at a time. 2. To walk for 30 mins 3 times a week. 3. To track my food on the online tracker and to stick to my daily points. 4. To drink 2-3 litres of water per day. 5. To limit my coke zero drinks to 1 can per day. 6. To attend my weekly weight watchers meetings and actually stay for the meeting (which I do normally do). 7. To not put too much pressure on myself or beat myself up if I have a bad week. 8. Think positive. 9. Be accountable to Shaz.

I did weight in at weight watchers today and my weight was 102.5 which is a loss of 200 grams.

I now need to lose 1.8 kilos to reach my first mini goal.

On the right is a picture Brad took of me at Darling Harbour a few weeks ago. Surprise surprise I'm actually pretty happy with how I look in this photo. Don't get me wrong I still have a lot of weight to lose, but I'm starting to like myself more and more as I losing weight.

Weigh in Day

2009-01-17T11:22:00.006+11:00

Today is weigh in day and I lost another 900 grams, which is just under 4 tubs 250 gram tubs of butter.

Last week I also lost 900 grams. I'm so happy that I have lost weight 2 weeks in a row and now all the weight I put on over christmas/new year has finally gone.

Sorry I haven't been around for a while. I started my new job a few weeks ago and whilst I've been sitting with people learning the systems etc I can't believe how tired I have been when I get home. I've only really been on the computer for about an hour each night after dinner. The new job is going rather well. The lady I replaced left yesterday and whilst she is very nice, she is hopeless at the job she just left, even after being their for 3 years. We can't wait till this coming week so we can start to change the way we do things, to the correct way or a more efficient way. At the moment we spend at least half of our day looking for things...

I'm on a 4 day training course this week and it is catered for i.e. morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea is provided. I so hope they have some healthy options as I don't want to undo all my hard work... I think I might take some fruit with me for morning and afternoon tea and see what they provide for lunch.

I'm pretty happy with how the past 2 weeks have gone, both with my weight loss and my new job...

Measurements

2009-01-01T09:43:00.007+11:00

Hope you had a great and safe New Years Eve...

I haven't done my measurements for months as I haven't really been exercising and sticking to the weight watchers program. Well today is the start of a new year and like millions of people around the world I've decided to start a fresh today.

My measurements at the beginning of 2008 were:-
Weight Watchers Start Weight is 115.9 kilos
Arms are 44 Cm's
Hips are 143 Cm's
Chest is 120 Cm's
Thighs are 66 Cm's
Upper Stomach is 137 Cm's

Weight as at 31/12/2008 is 103.4 kilos
Arms are 38 Cm's
Hips are 132 Cm's
Chest is 118 Cm's
Thighs are 59 Cm's
Upper Stomach is 126 Cm's

I did manage to lose some weight and Cm's and the results are:-

Weight loss is 12.5 kilos
Arms is 6 Cm's
Hips is 11 Cm's
Chest is 2 Cm's
Thighs 7 Cm's
Upper Stomach is 11 Cm's

So all up I lost 12.5 kilos and 37 cm's off my whole body. I can't say that I'm all that happy with the results, however at least I am smaller and healthier.

My Wii fit age today was 26. This is based on my height, weight, results of my balanced exercise. Yesterday my Wii fit age was 34....

Edit:- 11.30 p.m.... I managed to do 60 mins of the yoga exercises on the Wii fit today and I felt so good afterwards. I so needed a good stretch after yesterday's workout. Not sure why but every time I go to do a Wii Fit workout Brad has to come down stairs in the middle of it and interupt me or sit there an watch me. It really annoys me and puts me off the whole thing. I wish he would just leave me to it...

Yesterday I managed to do 40 minutes of cardio with the majority of it being jogging. I actually jogged around the island twice (11 mins each time). Half way during the 2nd jog I got a cramp in my calf muscle, needless to say I did continue and finish the jog. I ended up having a sore calf muscle all night.

Happy New Year and reflections on 2008

2008-12-31T18:04:00.003+11:00

Happy New Year everyone. Hope you have a great night.

I've been reflecting on 2008 and what my achievements have been. Its been an up and down year but I have still come out in front.. Some of my achievements are:-

1. I met and now live with a very understanding and loving man (he does annoy me a lot but he does have to put up with a lot from me).

2. I have lost weight, not as much as I wanted however I am smaller and fitter than this time last year. I started the year at 115.9 kilos and this morning I weigh 103.4 kilos.

3. I am starting a new job in 5 days time...

4. I have less stress and worry in my life.

5. I went overseas this year...

Whilst I am disappointed I didn't achieve a lot of what I wanted to this year I have done well.

I have been thinking what I want to achieve in 2009. So far this list is as follows:-

1. To get my finances under control once and for all.

2. To lose 20 kilos.

3. To travel overseas (London, Italy and Scotland) in September 2009.

4. To work on being nicer and more caring to those closest to me..

5. To go to the gym 3 times per week and to do 45 minutes on the Wii Fit 5 times per week.

I got spoilt on Christmas Day

2008-12-27T22:32:00.002+11:00

Yep I got pretty spoilt Christmas Day. I got:-

Wii console and Wii fit
Monopoly Wii game
Tickets to 2009 Formula One event in March 2009
Williams Formula One Team Shirt
Chocolates and Lollies
Myers gift card
Calender and pen

Yesterday we went out and bought the Wii Play game and an additional controller. It just makes it easier when Brad and I play games, this way we don't have to keep handing the controller to each other.

Also if we want to play the Monopoly rich game (one of the many monopoly games on the disk) we each need our own controllers..

We spend most of yesterday and last night playing Wii and Wii fit and needless to say I went to bed feeling pretty sore. I also spent a few hours playing the Wii and Wii fit again today and I think I'm going to be pretty sore tomorrow again. I tend to put my whole body into playing it, just like on the commercials, where as Brad sits on the lounge and just puts in the bare minimum...

At the moment we are both pretty happy with the Wii and can't wait to buy the next game...

I think I might go to the gym in the morning its open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the next week and then play on the Wii Fit when I get home. Brad will be at Fire Brigade training and I will have the house to myself all morning...

Not sure what my body is doing at the moment!!!!

2008-12-23T21:06:00.005+11:00

Yep that's right, I'm not sure what my body is doing right now. Its TTOM again and normally I wouldn't be all that concerned with it but its only been 2 and 1/2 weeks since I last got them (5/12/2008). They were pretty light last time only lasting about 4 days and even then I think they came earlier than I was expecting. I know Brad made a comment of "Oh not again".....

Normally I get them exactly every 28 days and they last for 5 days...

Just not sure what to make of this.... Am I worrying about nothing....

I think I might go back on the pill and see if that gets them back to being regular. Yes we do use condoms as I don't want any unexpected babies in this house...

I was hoping for another good loss this week, under the new Weight Watchers program but not sure that will happen now, due to fluid re-tension and TTOM...

Just needed to get this off my chest... Yes us woman are blessed aren't we....

Busy preparing for Christmas

2008-12-23T17:48:00.011+11:00

I've been meaning to post an update for the past few days, however I have been busy preparing for Christmas day. Mind you there is only 3 of us, Brad, my Brother Paul and myself. I decided as part of my brothers Christmas present this year I would do some baking. He is getting half of each slice, with the other half remaining at home. He may or may not eat it all, however, he can always take it to work and his work mates will eat it.

Right and above is White Christmas slice

They are not all low fat slices, however I did cut them up into smaller pieces i.e. if the recipe says it makes 12, I cut it up to 24 pieces. I have also worked out the points for each slice so if I do have some I can work them into my daily points.

Left is a Muesli Slice

Below is Bailey's Rocky Road Fudge

Right is Christmas Brownies

We have also just cooked/are cooking a stuffed chicken, leg of lamb, piece of pork. We will also have some leg ham, as I have half a ham, green salad, coleslaw (low fat) and a weight watchers potato salad. Dessert will consist of either some fruit salad or I have small individual Christmas puddings with low fat custard. I have already planned my menu for the day and whilst I will go over my 22 points by about 8, I have been saving some points already this week and will have plenty spare for the day.

Needless to say there will be plenty of left overs for dinner and the days to come. Good thing is that I can leave some of it at my brothers place for him to eat as well... Christmas day will be spent at my brothers and depending on how much we have to drink, we will be spending the night too. Yes I have planned to have either a bottle of Pink (low joule one) sparkling wine, which is 3.5 points for the whole bottle or 4 free vodka cruises which are 1 point each during the day and night...

I can't believe how organised I am this year and that Christmas is only days away.

All I have to do is go grocery shopping tomorrow to buy the fruit and vegetables for the salads and buy the cats Christmas presents..

Oh and I must mention that I managed to lose 2.5 kilos last week after the very huge gain the week before. Pretty happy about that..

Job hunting is over!!!!!!!

2008-12-17T11:05:00.003+11:00

Yes that's right, my job hunting is finally over and I'm very happy with the result.

The 2nd job has been approved and I have formally been offered a new job, which i have accepted.

I start working for St George Bank on 5 January 2009.

Its pretty funny that I will be working in the same building as when I worked for Westpac, in fact it is one floor below where I worked. What is also pretty funny is that Westpac has recently purchased the St George Bank and the first Bank I worked for Advanced Bank was purchased by St George in the 90's. Due to all the mergers/buy outs, it works out that I will have worked for the Westpac group since I was 17.

New Weight Watchers Program - Satisfaction Plan

2008-12-16T15:55:00.003+11:00

Weight Watchers Australia/New Zealand launched its new program to existing members yesterday. Its called the satisfaction program.

From what I've read on the website its a program which combines the best parts of the points program and the core program.

I can't wait to get the new books on Saturday and see what the finer details of the satisfaction program is. Now I could go to another meeting and get the information earlier than Saturday but I think I will wait. Really its not that much different to the previous points program, just making you more aware of eating foods that keep you satisfied longer.

I always find you get a bit more information about the programs at the meeting rather than what they give you on line. Bring on the satisfaction program I say. From what I've read so far, I think it will be a good program for me. I love the idea of focusing on more filling foods but being able to count points as well. I always found I ate far too much when I did the core program as my portion control seemed to go out the windows. This new program gives me the best of both worlds.

Last week I had a week of emotional eating and surprise surprise (not) I had a large gain on the scales. So large I'm too ashamed to even mention the number. This week is a completely different week, I'm back tracking again, back at the gym and my mind is in such a better place.

This week I'm also happier with myself and my weight loss journey. I'm making a lot better choices and trying to stick within my points. I am finding that I do eat up to 2 bonus points per day when I'm exercising so I'm wondering if I should redo the point quiz to reflect the increase in my activity. I've also earn't 27 bonus points so far this week.

Update and Stuff

2008-12-16T15:44:00.004+11:00

I didn't end up going to the gym yesterday thanks to my computer. To cut a long story short, I ended up having a bad file on my computer on Sunday night, mind you it didn't happen until 11.30 p.m. and I had to reload all the software, Internet, virus protectors, printers, favourites etc. I ended up going to bed at 1.30 p.m. and was up again at 3 a.m. cause Brad wasn't well and I wanted to get his Internet discs before he went to work. Well because he wasn't well he didn't go to work and we spend 3 hours trying to find his discs, loading them and then loading all the other stuff i needed on the computer. I went back to bed just after 6 a.m. In the end I ended up going Christmas present shopping instead. I now only have 1/2 a present to buy and I think I'm going to get that on Saturday.

An update on the job front is that they expect to have the 2nd job approved this week and then will decide on who gets which job. So you could say the wait continues.

I ended up going to the gym again today and whilst I feel pretty tired right now, I also feel fantastic and happy with my week so far.

Gym...

2008-12-14T11:12:00.005+11:00

If I'm honest with myself, I haven't been 100% committed to my Weight Watchers program since September, which is no surprise to any one that reads this blog or that I chat to in the weight watchers chat room. I have always struggled with exercise mainly because I hate being hot and sweaty and would rather do anything else.

I also haven't been to the gym since September and have been saying to myself that I must get back, however life just keeps getting in the way.

I decided this morning that I am going to put myself first for a change and have decided to exercise again. I was going to go for a walk but I have this gym membership which I haven't been using and feel guilty if I go for a walk and not go to the gym.. So today I went back to the gym. I only used the treadmill and the exercise bike but I feel so much better for it. Mind you I was there for 1 hour and 20 minutes so I did have a good workout.

I think I have come out from behind the clouds, as I'm excited about this weight loss journey again.. I can do this and I will do this.

Edit 10.20 p.m.:- Brad and I went to lunch at Oatley Pub with my brother and whilst I made an OK choice I could have down without eating the hot chips that I did. On the good side we did walk from Mortdale to Oatley Pub (25 minutes each way), so I got additional exercise points which covered the amount of chips that I ate... I'm feeling pretty good right now, not sore of anything considering its been 3 months since I've been to the gym so if I feel this good tomorrow morning I will go again... LOL....

Very disappointed in myself....

2008-12-13T22:52:00.007+11:00

I'm feeling pretty sorry for myself right now and I really only have myself to blame for it. I have eaten like a pig for a few weeks now, not tracked and have done no exercise and surprise surprise I had a decent size gain on the scales today.

To make matters worse I had a school reunion last night, which was an Italian Banquet and I didn't have to drive so I had a few cocktails. We ate until we couldn't move, not a good move the night before WI. I'm pretty happy with myself that I went to Weight Watchers today and actually weighed in. I did think about going and using my no weigh in pass but decided that I needed to know the damage and the move on.

Even though I look pretty big in this photo I'm actually happy with the photo and like the fact that I'm smiling in it.

This photo is of me drinking another cocktail and I think I look huge here. It doesn't help that this dress is actually a few sizes too big for me and doesn't fit me properly. I like the dress and didn't want to buy another outfit.

The result on the scales really gave me a kick up the bum that I needed. I have today tracked all of my food and was on track to stay within my points today until Brad got the chocolates out. I had a few of them and have put them in my tracker. I will just need to do some exercise tomorrow to cover these points.

I am going to use this week to get use to tracking again and introduce exercise back into my week. I can't wait for the new program to start as I'm going to use the new program as a new beginning and start my journey again...

I so want to look so much better at the next time I see these ladies...

I'm feeling pretty disappointed with myself right now and very fat. I'm not looking for any sympathy here and I am just typing this out so I can reflect back on it at a later date if I loose the plot again.

It seems that I have a long way to go to over come emotional eating but recognising that I'm been emotional eating is the first step to me overcoming it. Some of the reasons I've been emotional eating are:-

1. Boredom with my current job,
2. Stress of knowing if the proposed new job is approved and if not who will get the current vacant position. (They are hoping to know this week if the job is approved or not).
3. Being to hard on myself and trying to be super woman.
4. Stressed over money.

Job Update

2008-12-09T09:54:00.004+11:00

Sorry I didn't have a chance to update yesterday about the job..

I got a phone call from the company yesterday to advise me that the Senior Manager is having trouble deciding who to give the job to, its either myself or another person. Apparently they want both of us and they decided that they could do with both of us so they are going to see if they can get another new job approved. This approval could take another few weeks and unless they can decide in the mean time who gets the vacant job and who has to wait for the newly created job, we will both have to wait.

Its not an ideal situation and the only negative part is if the 2nd job doesn't get approved but I have confidence that it will. Its just going to take some time. Fingers crossed, positive thinking etc are all being said and done on my end.

Whilst I do really really want this job and work in this office, I am still looking to see what else is around, but sadly at this time of year there isn't much...

I have not give up on this job by any means and so hope that I get it...

Stuff update

2008-12-05T13:24:00.004+11:00

I had my final interview for the job that I want yesterday morning and I think it went well. I was a little nervous before hand which surprised me cause I wasn't nervous for any of the other interviews. I think I was nervous because I so want this job and this was the final interview and it was make it or break it time. They are making their decision by today on who they will offer the role to so hopefully I get it and find out sooner rather than later. At the moment I have mixed feelings if I did enough to be offered the role or not and not feeling all that confident that I will be offered it.

Brad had the day off work yesterday because he had a migraine but mind you it didn't stop him from wanting to go Christmas shopping with me. He has been working long hours for the past few weeks and combined with the heat, I think he just needed a break and some time to relax. So yes the Christmas shopping has been started, we still need to get a few layby's out and still need to find something for my brother Paul but that's it. Paul is the hardest person to buy for cause if you mention something that you might buy he will go out and buy it for himself....

I also put up some Christmas decorations yesterday, including our small tree and wrapped some presents to go under it. Below is a picture Brad took of our tree last night.

The tree isn't all that big but then again we don't have the room for a really big tree and I didn't want to pay a fortune for it. We like this one cause its got lights on the end of the branches that light up.

I also need to get my nails infilled today as they were starting to look tatty but instead of an infill I decided that I would treat myself to a new set. Below is a picture of my left hand after the new set has been put on,the length is a lot shorter than I would normally have them but then again they also cut my own nails underneath and now I have nothing to support the fake tips (this is why I get them fairly short when I get a new set.)

I know this update isn't all that exciting but I thought I'd blog it anyway... LOL...

Edit:- Its just before 4 p.m. in Sydney and still no word about the job and I am trying to stay positive (no news is good news) but its hard. The longer I have to wait the more I think I didn't get it. Its a shame cause I really really wanted this job, even the employment agency I went through thinks its a perfect match for me. Oh well I guess I just have to wait till they ring me and tell me either way....

Wii Console and Wii Fit....

2008-12-03T11:24:00.005+11:00

For sometime I've been debating whether or not to get a Wii console. Well I'm still not sure if I want one or if it will be used enough or not but Brad is buying me one for Christmas.

We were shopping last Thursday night and they were on special and I joked that he could get me one for Christmas and before I knew it he agreed and its not on layby (mainly cause money is tight right now).

One of the only reasons I wanted a Wii console is so I could get the Wii fit so I've also laybyed the Wii Fit and I've decided that I can only get it if I use it as my reward for getting to double digits. So now I have to get to double digits so I can have my already laybyed Wii Fit.

I do realise that the Wii Fit will not replace the exercise that I need to do, especially burning fat, however I'm sure it will help with the overall toning of my body. Boy does it need to be toned.

I'm actually getting pretty excited about the prospect of this equipment.

Why don't I blog more????

2008-12-02T23:16:00.009+11:00

I've had a few people ask me recently why don't I blog more often, after all I'm on the computer all day. Well many reasons really i.e.:-

1. My life is not that exciting really,
2. I do have to do some work.
3. I don't have a lot to say..
4. Did I mention my life is not that exciting?

I'm sure there are more reasons but I can't think of any right now.

Well apart form me not having a very exciting life, I do get lazy and can't be bothered blogging after being on the computer all day.

Hey this year I have blogged twice as much as 2007 and only about 14 more posts to beat 2006's total. I think its pretty good considering...

Update on my life

I can tell you that apart from my annual trip to Melbourne in March for the F1 Grand Prix, my brother and I are planning on going to Italy via London in September for 3 weeks and yes we are planning on attending the Italian F1 Grand Prix.

I got a phone call from my employment consultant today regarding the job that I have applied for. Apparently they were really impressed with me during the first interview and with my results from the Psychological testing, so I've been called back for a 2nd interview which is being held on Thursday at 8 a.m.

I'm glad the Psychological testing was positive as it means I haven't wasted 20+ years in the Banking industry. Mind you I did think the testing was pretty hard and came out thinking I'd blown my chances. I was also pretty brain dead when I came out as it lasted for 3 and a half hours. I so hope that I get this job, I do really really really want it and it pays well.... Fingers Crossed. I've been preparing myself with answers for questions they might ask, now I just have to think of some questions to ask them, so if you have any suggestions please feel free to leave them here. That is if anyone actually reads this stuff...

Oh and I have told Brad that I need to lose 2.5 kilos (yes I had a gain on Saturday which I didn't expect) to get to my next weight loss goal and that we are not having any take away until I do it. I want to get this goal out of the way in the month of December 2008.... He wasn't all that impressed but that's his problem... I will still have lunch with my brother on Sundays but I will make better choices. Must also do some exercise tomorrow. I might have to start recording my daily exercise on here so I'm accountable.

My Weight Loss Journey so far & mini goals ahead

2008-11-27T14:14:00.008+11:00

Today I've been thinking about lots of different things associated with my weight loss journey. Whilst I'm happy that I have lost nearly 15 kilos I'm not all that happy with the time its taken me and the ups and downs of the journey. Without putting too much pressure on me I think I could have done better and made better choices a long the way.

I've worked it out that with a 15 kilo loss, I have lost approximately 200 grams a week. Now that is a square tub of butter and I know that I am so much healthier without me carrying all of this around, but I did expect to have lost nearly double this amount in this time.

Today I decided that I need a new goal to help me focus on, one that is achievable but also a little bit of a stretch. I'm off to Melbourne at the end of March for the Formula One Grand Prix and I have a few F1 tops I need to get into. They are a smaller size than I take now and whilst they fit me around the shoulders, bust and upper stomach they are tight around my hips and lower stomach. I so want to be able to wear these and have them lose when I go to Melbourne.

I've been thinking about how much I'd love to weigh in Melbourne and that would be 90 kilos, however I'd have to lose 11.5 kilos in 17 weeks and a few days, to get there and I'm sure that is not achievable given my results so far.

So after thinking about this my news goals are:-

1. To be 98 kilos by the end of December which is about 300 grams per week. I'm yet to weigh in this week but will on Saturday.

2. To be under 93 kilos by the 25 March 2009 when we fly out to Melbourne. This is nearly 400 grams a week over 13 weeks. Surely if I stay focused I can do this....

Exercise is an vital part of any weight loss journey but it is going to have be a vital part of the success of this plan if I am to succeed. In need I will need to force myself to exercise 60 mins a day 5 days a week, like my GP wants me to.

I have been reading my low GI book the past few days and I came across an interesting article which I will summarise as follows:-

If you don't build exercise into your daily life then you will not be able to change your body shape. You can lose weight on any diet without exercise but you are then more inclined to put it back on the moment you slip up with your food or go off the tracks....

The People most likely to keep their weight off
are those who raise their activity levels and make
exercise a natural part of life...

Exercising whilst losing weight will help you to maximise fat loss and makes you leaner faster. Now that's got to be a good thing, I think...

Fit people burn more fat, even when they are not exercising.

Fit people need less insulin to do the job of maintaining healthy blood glocose levels.

Losing weight and exercise will also help to reduce your blood pressure, cholesterol, risk of heart diease and diabeties.

These have all got to be good reasons why I should continue to lose weight and increase my exercise...

Carlton

Blog Gender Analyzer

2008-11-26T18:13:00.003+11:00

Just thought I'd have some fun, its been ages since I've taken a funny off someones blog.

I thought it would be interesting to follow a link on Jo's blog to also find out if my blog shows my gender, well I'm lucky it does but only just at 57%.

Results

We guess http://carlton1968.blogspot.com/ is written by a woman (57%), however it's quite gender neutral.

If you want to give it a go there is the address - Genderanalyzer.com

The joys of job hunting

2008-11-25T16:55:00.005+11:00

I haven't been happy working where I am for a while and it doesn't help that these people have been stuffing us around, so I've decided to find another job. Working from home is great but I do miss working with other people and roaming around the shops at lunch time etc....

I've spend the past month or so thinking about this and what I want to do, do I want to go back to the Finance Industry, to I want a change and go into administration/office work. Well originally I decided I wanted a change and applied for a few jobs, however, I didn't get anywhere with these, not even a phone call, or feedback that I should stay in the finance industry. I even showed interest in a temp jobs doing, filing, photocopying, faxing or basic office work and whilst I realise I've got a lot of finance industry, you still have to do these things in this industry too, however I didn't even hear back from this agency.

So I decided to go back to the finance Industry. I had a interview last week for a Lenders position which was a very basic position but paying pretty good money, unfortunately I think I said a few things in the interview that went against me so I didn't get the position. Oh well I've learnt from that and will not make that mistake again.

I've been talking to another agency and they have a pretty good job going with a top 5 Bank and this position whilst not as senior as the one I last held, actually pays more than I was getting. Got to love that... Things are looking good for this job. I've already had the interview with the Agency and yesterday I had an interview with the Bank. I got pretty good feedback via the Agency today and tomorrow I'm going to the next stage of the Psychological test. This test can take up to 4 hours to do. It makes me laugh that I have done this kind of job before and I have had 22 years experience in the Finance Industry but I have to do these tests to see if I have the right personality to work in this industry. Well if it comes back as a negative I've wasted the past 22 years!!!!!!!

I do really want this job, its perfect for me, perfect location and good money... I'm feeling pretty happy about how this is progressing at the moment. If for some unknown reason I don't get the job, I will continue looking and have a few other options up my sleeve they are just not as good as this one or as good a fit for me. Even the Consultant at the agency said this to me....

One of the down falls about working from home and losing weight is that I can wear anything I like cause no one seems me and that none of my business clothes fit me anymore and are way too big. They so need to be replaced and money is tight right now. I have managed to fit into a suit that is a few years old, which is great and I did go and buy some new pants and a few new shirts. The good thing is that whilst the Finance industry is a business attire industry you don't have to wear suits to work everyday.... I don't want to have to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe of clothes but I also realise that I do need to look like I fit into the business attire circle. What I have in my wardrobe will have to do for now and I'm sure that once I've been paid my first pay cheque I will get a few more pants or suits... I do have plenty of tops/shirts to wear. I do like the idea of wearing suits especially in Winter cause its easier when you visit clients and you look smart. However no point buying heaps of them cause I will be a smaller size in winter and I will have just wasted money.

The pair of pants I bought to wear to work are a size 16 (they do have elastic waist) and I'm currently wearing a size 20 top/shirt. Pretty happy with that. My suit is a size 18 pants (no elastic) and a 20 Jacket.... When I started this weight loss journey I was wearing a size 22 pants and a 24/26 top, depending on the top itself.

2008-11-23T14:02:00.001+11:00

Weigh In Results....

2008-11-22T11:34:00.008+11:00

Well I've done my exercise for the day. I walked to WI today which is a 30 min walk and then I walked back the long way which is another 60 min walk, so I've done 90 mins all up.

I also lost 1.1 this week which seems me back down to 101.5 kilos, which I'm very happy about considering the stressful week I had. I'd love to be 99.9 this time next week but I think it might be a bit of a stretch, but hey I'll have it as a goal and see how close I can get too.. LOL....

I am also very happy that I didn't emotionally eat this week, actually I wasn't really tempted too. I must be getting my mojo back and making progress on this journey. Something to remember next time I'm tempted to emotionally eat.

Test Results are in................

2008-11-21T13:19:00.005+11:00

Breast screen rang this morning to tell me that my results were negative, yes that's right NEGATIVE..... Yay, I don't have breast cancer and that I didn't need to go and see them this afternoon. Breastscreen will now continue to monitor the size of the lumps via mammograms every 2 years and if they don't change in shape or size things will continue as normal. If they do change then another biopsy will be needed. I can live with that. Needless to say I can't remember the last time I was this happy.... I'm also happy cause I didn't have to drive the 45 min drive to RPA and find parking. They are going to post me a copy of the Dr's report and also send it to my GP so she has a copy of it as well.

I also wish to acknowledge Jenny my Breastscreen Nurse Counsellor who is an absolutely lovely and caring person. I was pretty upset when I walked into the Centre on Monday and she couldn't do enough for me. She also held my hand during the core biopsy. Whilst Jenny will never read this, I just want to thank her so much you made the whole journey so much easier....

Thanks everyone for your kind words and thoughts during this past week. I really do appreciate it.

Brad too the day off today to go to the appointment with me and was disappointed that he didn't get to see where RPA is. Mmmmm not sure about his thinking there. We ended up walking around a shopping centre buying stuff that we probably didn't need to... Oh well.

Its also my cat Zac's 7th birthday today and he is being spoilt.... I've had him since he was 6 months old and it doesn't seem like 6 1/2 years have gone past. Time fly's when your having fun I guess.

Blood tests results are in...

2008-11-20T12:46:00.005+11:00

A few weeks ago I went and had some blood tests done to see how things were going, well results are in and they are pretty good. I'm no longer pre-diabetic and no longer have to take B12 vitamins, pretty happy with that result.

Fasting Glucose was 5.0 (3.0 - 5.5) she's happy with this.
Cholesterol was 5.0 (3.1-5.5) mind you my GP wants to to be below 4 and we are going to work on that via a low GI diet.
Triglycerides is 1.5 (0.5 - 2.0) she also wants to get this down too.
HDL Cholesterol is 1.0 and she wants it below 1.0
LDL Cholesterol is 3.3 (0.0 - 3.5) she also wants this below 2.
Vitamin B12 is 313 (120 - 800) she's happy with this.
Full blood count is normal
My Phosphate is low at 0.77 (.80 - 1.60) and this can be increased by increasing my vitamin D so looks like supplements of vitamin D, calcium, and phosphorus are in order.

My GP is pretty happy with my results and wants me to continue with a low GI diet until my waist measurements gets below 85 cm's, wants me to continue walking 60 mins per day and to incorporate food into my diet to bring my cholesterol down. Looks like a dramatic change in my diet is required. I need to make the following changes:-

Increase plant foods,
Only eat good oils i.e. Olive Oil, Canola oil or avocado.
Limit my eggs to 3 per week (easy cause I don't really eat them),
Only have chicken without the skin (already do)
Drink skim milk
Only have 3 serves of red meat a week.
What the sugar in yogurt.
No butter, dripping. lard or cream. Of this I only have cream and then its low fat, but I can do without it.
Increase my eating of fish, seafood, beans
No offal including sausages.
Snack on nuts but only Walnuts and Almonds.
Limit take away and if I do have it ask for it to be cooked without oil.
I can not have anything deep fried.
Have oats for breakfast and introduce Psyllium Husk or Metamucil into my diet.

Look out Brad food at home is about to change dramatically.

I was also given a referral to see the Dietitian, however as all of my high risk elements have now gone I now need to pay for these appointments and can't get bulk billed. I'm not happy with the Dietitian so far, she has changed the appointment twice now and I am now meant to see her on Monday but there is still not guarantee that will happen. She is meant to ring me on Monday to confirm. If she wants to move it again, then I cancel it all together and see how the tips from the GP, weight watchers and the low GI book I have go.

I've done my exercise for the day, cause I walked the 30 mins to the GP's office and then walked home the long way which takes an hour.

Now I just need the Biopsy results, which I get tomorrow to be negative and I'll be happy.

And the waiting begins - hope this week goes quickly

2008-11-18T08:56:00.006+11:00

I didn't sleep all that well last night, and it wasn't because of thinking about Friday and my results. More because I sleep on my right side or my stomach and I couldn't last night cause it hurt too much. Think I might have a bit of a stroll later this morning before the forecast rain comes and take it easy today. Unless its urgent work can wait a day till I'm feeling a bit better.

I don't have much else to day right now cause I haven't actually been up all that long so I better go and have some breakfast etc...

Hi to everyone and hope you all have a good day.

Edit:- 11.48 a.m. I've just been for a 45 minute stroll to the post office and back to get some parcels that I wasn't home for yesterday. Its a bit overcast today and is forecast to rain later on.

I've been thinking about the past few days and am really amazed how strong I have been especially with my eating. I haven't emotionally eaten once. Whilst some of my choices yesterday were not great (I had to use some points from my weekly allocation) that was more because of the lack of healthy food around the Hospital. Mind you if I'd turned left out of the hospital instead of right, I would have been able to walk up to King St Newtown and there are lots and lots of great places to eat there, but then again my mind wasn't really with it at lunch time. I really can't believe that they have McDonald restaurants next to Hospitals cause their food is crap, even their healthy menu is not really that healthy....

I'm also amazed how comfortable I have been being half naked around complete strangers. I have pretty big breasts and not once during the process have I felt uncomfortable.

Whilst the mammograms do not hurt, they can be uncomfortable for between 10-20 seconds when they compress the breast to take the picture, I'd much prefer the biopsy process as you don't feel a thing (thanks to the local that they give you).

Breast Screen update

2008-11-17T18:21:00.004+11:00

I've just gotten home from picking Brad up and from being at the RPA (Royal Prince Alfred Hospital). I ended up being at RPA all day (from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.). I found out from the first mammogram they found 1 lump in my left breast and 3 in my right breast. Today when I had a 2nd mammogram and the lump they thought they saw in my left breast isn't there anymore, so that's good news but the 3 in my right breast were still there. So then I had to have an ultrasound to see if they were fatty cysts or if they were hard. Unfortunately they are hard. This afternoon I had a core biopsy's done on the 3 lumps in my right breast. They think the lumps are not cancerous but I have to wait until Friday to find out for sure.

Oh and yes I did let Brad all about it as I had to explain to him why I was late in picking him up. He was really good about it all and didn't even get mad that I had kept it from him until today.

Testing

2008-11-15T22:41:00.002+11:00

Just thought I'd test my new signature and see how it looks.

I'm pretty happy with it...

WI Day - they just seem to come around so fast some weeks.

2008-11-15T22:00:00.003+11:00

Yes today is WI day and I had a loss, it was a small loss but a loss is a loss. I only have myself to blame that it wasn't a bigger loss. I did do some exercise but I didn't really stick to my points that well.

I now weigh 102.5 kilos.

I decided today that I would change from the Points plan to the Core plan. I've tried Core a few times and haven't had that much success with it. This time is different as I need to follow a low GI diet and Core and they seem to fit together nicely.

So today I have planned my food and eaten mostly core food. I did have a few little treats before I decided to switch to Core and used a few points. The good thing is that we did some exercise this afternoon and I earned enough exercise points to equal out the points I used today.

Life seems to be a little bit all over the place at the moment. After a few hassles with the people I work for and lack of money, I've decided to look for another job and go back to Banking. I saw a few Employment Agency's during the week and have a couple of interviews next week. Its funny cause they are both with the same Bank, its just one is full time and the other is a 6 month contract. I think I want the full time role as it is a floor below where I use to work for the Bank and easy to get to, the other one is in Parramatta and the parking can be a bit difficult to get.

As for my test results and seeing the dietitian, I've had to move both appointments to next Thursday. Will be interesting what happens then.

I also got a letter from Breast Screen during last week advising me that I have to go for some more tests on Monday (this is the reason I had to move my GP appointment). These tests can take between 2-4 hours. Apparently 1 in 20 woman are asked to come in for some more tests and then 1 in 10 are actually diagnosed with breast cancer. Just hope after the additional tests I turn out to me in the 9 out of 10 that are clear. As you can imagine I freaked when I got the letter and immediately started crying and thinking the worst. I'm now a lot calmer about it and sure I will be fine. Mind you I haven't told Brad about it yet and don't intend to until I get the results from Monday. I don't want him to worry unnecessarily. He is already stressed about work, RFB, money etc. He doesn't need the extra stress of my health right now. He will probably also go off when I do tell him but I hope he understands why I didn't tell him right away.

I've had a pretty successful day on Core today and can't believe that I feel really satisfied and don't need to eat anything else. The past few weeks I've been really hungry after dinner and pigged out, that's where I've gone over my points. Tonight's dessert was a tub of WW fruit and jelly which is 0 points.

Carlton

A plan is beginning to form with the help of my Dr....

2008-11-10T12:05:00.004+11:00

I've started exercising again, yesterday we walked 2 and from the RSL and I even asked for no chips with my steak sandwich. I did have a few of Brad's but I did allocate points for them. If they had given me a whole serve I would have eaten them and I didn't have the points for them anyway. On the way home from my brothers Brad wanted fish and chips, which is fine. Normally I would have made bad choices at the fish and chip should however this time I made some good choices. Our fish and chip shop have a slimmers pack so I choose that. It is made up of BBQ fish, BBQ 4 prawns, BBQ 5 pieces of squid, some salad and either a bottle of water or soft drink. Its the first time I've actually tried it and it was so yummy and I was glad with my choice.

I had to go to see the Dr this morning as I needed to get some blood test done (check cholesterol, blood sugars, b12 etc). I actually like a Dr that will take the blood themselves instead of making you go to a pathology department. We also decided to test for food intolerance's and allergies.

You could say I'm getting the lot tested. Well I had a great old chat with the Dr and as I have a family history of Diabetes, heart problems, I'm overweight, high cholesterol, we are putting a whole health plan into place for me.

We spoke about:-
* the importance of exercise,
* eating a healthy diet,
* normal levels of cholesterol & then levels she wants me to be given my family history.
* diabetes (I already have pre-diabetes)
* arteries and how your cholesterol & weight affects how thin or thick your blood flows.
* seeing the Dietitian (another service of this medical centre)
* Low GI diets
* Focusing on measurements and not scales as much.
* what changes she wants me to make to my lifestyle

This is the first Dr I've ever been too that has taken an interest in me, my health and well being and wants to put a plan into place to help me get healthy and slimmer.

I also can't believe that I spend 50 mins with her. I've never spend so long in a Dr surgery before but I do love that she will spend the time with a patient and it doesn't matter how long it was. I was her first patient and she is booked solid today. She's now running late for the rest of the day lol.

I get some of the results back next week, the other the week after and I'm going to see the dietitian on Thursday Night. I want to see the dietitian to give me ideas of better food choices and options depending on the test results.

Our plan so far is:- *
For me to follow a low Gi Plan and cut out or at least down the surgery foods in my diet.
* For me to exercise 60 mins (can be broken down into small chunks) 5 times per week.
* For me to be very strict with my exercise and eating for at least 6 weeks (which will include Christmas I've just realise).
* For me to see the Dietitian for some ideas.
* For me not to weigh myself at home (put the scales away) and to focus on my waist measurements.

She wants it below 84 cm's and its 102 cm's today.

I'm actually feeling pretty good and excited about this right now. Some of the information we spoke about today I already knew but its great to be reminded about it and have a Dr interested in helping me with my battles.

Now I just have to speak with Brad about all of this when he comes home from work. We need to do this as a team and I need his support.

I bought the above t-shirt in Phuket and I love that it says "McShit" instead of McDonalds. The shirt is a little big for me now and makes me look bigger than I am in this photo.

Carlton

Pink Ribbon Day

2008-10-27T13:06:00.005+11:00

Just a timely reminder in Pink Ribbon (October) month to take advantage of this fully government funded service for women.

...if you are over the age of 40 you can book in for a free mammo every two years, no GP referral needed.

Call BreastScreen in your state on 132050 to make your appointment.

Women under 40 need a referral to a diagnostic service as their breast tissue needs more workup and views because it is so dense...and for that you do need a referral...

After age 40 through to old age is the target age for cancer BUT especially between 50-69 the statistics say. Women with implants can also be screened, as well as those with a disability.

Today I went for my first ever mammogram and I survived it.. LOL...

The actual mammogram was a little uncomfortable but only for a few seconds when the pictures were being taken. Then again I am pretty large breasted which could also have something to do with it (an the fact I'm still pretty young i.e. 40 and my breasts could be a bit tender as well).

I actually surprised myself about how calm I was during the 30 mins I was in the room. I don't like how my body looks in clothes let alone naked (you are naked from the waist up) but I found that I didn't focus on it at all during the consultation.

Now I have to wait up to 2 weeks for the results...

Carlton

Health update...

2008-10-20T23:06:00.001+11:00

I'm so over this coughing and blowing my nose.

I went to the doctors today, and she has told me that I actually have Acute bronchitis boarding on pneumonia. I have been given some medication and if this doesn't start to work in a couple of days then I have to go and have a chest x-ray and go back to see the doctor.

Once I'm better we are actually going to do some more blood tests to check my pre-diabetes and then put a care plan into place.

Its the first time I've been to this doctor and I came away feeling so much happier with here plan of attack than I ever did with my previous doctor.

Carlton.

I've got the flu

2008-10-19T21:13:00.004+11:00

Thanks to Brad my lovely and adorable boyfriend I caught his flu on Thursday last week and have basically been in bed until today. I am so sick and tired of blowing my noise as I've gone though nearly 200 tissues since yesterday morning. Not joking..... I am so sick and tired of blowing my nose.

The are the flowers he brought home on Thursday night when he realised he has given me the flu. I seriously think he felt bad and was trying to score some brownie points. LOL...

I did get out of my sick bed today to go and have coffee with some lovely ladies I have been chatting to on the Weight Watchers Community Room and Chat room.. We all had such a great time and got along as if we had known each other for years. Funny think was that this was the first time I'd met people from online that I wasn't nervous about meeting. It was also so good to get out of the house for a while.

There are a few pictures of our get together on Facebook for those who are my friends there.

I've got an appointment to see the Dr on Monday, so I guess I just have to ride it out till then. I would have gone on Friday but I didn't think I was sick enough until it was too late and no appointments were left. Always the way...

We are also having a Sydney get together tomorrow, which I have to go as I'm picking up a couple of people who couldn't get there any other way. Just hope I don't infect everyone.

On the plus side of all of this, I did lose 600 grams at WI yesterday (I weighed at home instead of going to weight watchers and my scales are exactly the same as there's). I'm pretty happy with that considering I haven't done any exercise since Tuesday and we had Oporto's for dinner on Friday night. Yes I know its the day before WI but that's all I felt like. To be fair I did only have the hot chips and a chocolate mousse, however I did eat 3/4 of a jumbo chips (18 points for a whole jumbo chips) and a chocolate mousse was 8 1/2 points. Oh and its the last time I have this chocolate mousse. It was lovely and did melt in my mouth but was so not worth the points.

This week will be a better week..

Carlton

Measurements for the Month of October

2008-10-14T10:18:00.003+11:00

Weight 26/12/07 is 114.8 kilos (Weight Watchers Start Weight is 115.9 kilos)
Arms are 44 Cm's
Hips are 143 Cm's
Chest is 120 Cm's
Thighs are 66 Cm's
Upper Stomach is 137 Cm's
Waist is 103 c.m

Weight as at 11/10/08 is 103.2 kilos
Arms are 36 Cm's (- 8 cm)
Hips are 132 Cm's (- 11 cm)
Chest is 115 Cm's (- 5 cm)
Thighs are 62 Cm's (-4 cm)
Upper Stomach is 120 Cm's (-17 cm)
Waist is 102 cm's (-1 cm)

Wow that's a loss of 46 cm's all over my body. Whilst I have put on a few cm's in a few places, I'm pretty happy with the overall loss.

Carlton

Grrrrr of all days it had to rain today......

2008-10-14T10:15:00.004+11:00

Of all the days this week it has to rain today. I realise we need the rain but I so hate it, its annoying. I also hate walking in the rain and I've planned 1 maybe 2 hour walks today (the 2nd one depends on when my car is ready - today or tomorrow).

I've already been for an hours walk today. I had to drop my car off to the mechanic's to get the brakes done. Whilst I was there he talked me into getting my car serviced as well (its been a long time since its been serviced). Hope it doesn't cost me too much... Seeing there are doing the service as well fingers crossed it is ready this afternoon. If so I will go for another hour's walk to pick it up.

My mechanic did offer to give me a lift home but I declined. After all I need the exercise and had factored it into day... Also Brad could drive me back to the mechanic's to pick the car up but I need the exercise..

Sorry I haven't posted the past few days, haven't really had anything to share. Well best go and do some more work....

Edit 6 p.m.:- My car is all fixed and sounding a lot like it should. Cost me $950 but then again I was expecting it to cost a little more than that. Oh I also got a good talking to by my mechanic on how I should get it serviced a little more often... I know he is right, my car is only 4 years old and I don't want anything serious to go wrong with it.

On the good side is that I walked to and from the mechanic's today, so I got in 2 hours of walking. I was so happy when the sun appeared this afternoon and I could walk in the sunshine. I am within my points today so feeling happy with myself..

Carlton

2008-10-10T13:28:00.003+11:00

I felt very much in control yesterday with my eating program.

We tried a new Chinese take away place last night (well I hadn't had anything from this place since the night of my mum's funeral). In the end I suck with my plan and ordered the Combination Chow Mein (and had 1/3 of the container and it had more veggies than meat in it), 1/3 of a container of Stir Fry Mixed Veggies, 3 heaped dessert spoons of Satay Chicken and 1 heaped dessert spoon of Fried Rice. Originally I wasn't going to have any rice but I thought I tbsp wasn't going to hurt.

I did manage to say within my points. Very happy with that. Brad is having left overs for lunch today and I had the mixed veggies with some tuna and 3/4 cup of rice.

The scales haven't started moving yet but I'm OK with it. I know that they will start to move again shortly, I just have to keep staying focused and eating well.

Carlton

8 Ways Not to Cheat on a Diet....

2008-10-10T13:25:00.003+11:00

I got this from the Weight Watchers Website. It was the feature article yesterday. I thought I was so great that I had to copy it and post it here.

Are you 'cheating' on your weight-loss plan? Learn some tips to help keep you on the straight and narrow.

'Stop!' screams your conscience as you swipe a handful of lollies from the office lolly jar. If no one actually sees you take them then the kilojoules don't really count, right? Some call it 'cheating'. But one of the reasons dieters 'cheat' is that they're often so strict with themselves that they end up feeling deprived.

Remember that healthy eating includes lots of wise choices with a few treats as well. Devising some strategies to help you enjoy treats rather than 'cheat' will help keep you on the straight and narrow. Here are some suggestions to try:

1. Plan for treats.
Making sure you get to enjoy your favourite treats every once in a while will help you from feeling deprived. Pick a night each week when you can indulge in something decadent like a piece of chocolate cake. Give yourself permission to truly enjoy your dessert! Taking time to savour a treat is always more satisfying than gobbling it down with feelings of guilt.

2. Put your kitchen cupboards on a diet.
If most of the foods in your house are healthy, then you're already halfway there. If you must have tempting foods around for a special occasion, store them out of sight or buy them at the last minute. On the big day, enjoy your favourite foods and send any leftovers home with your guests.

3. Choose your friends wisely.
Beware of any 'friend' who continually tries to coerce you into 'just a cappuccino' which you know really means a cappuccino and a slice of carrot cake with icing an inch thick. Put these friends on hold until you're feeling strong enough to say no. Or suggest a different kind of get-together such as a walk in the park or an afternoon at the movies.

4. Count the cost as well as the kilojoules.
Allocate so many dollars per 5 kilos you plan to lose and save the money in a separate account or piggy bank. Or 'pay' yourself so much every day you stick to your weight-loss plan. Then treat yourself to something fabulous like a new outfit or a day at a beauty spa.

5. Picture yourself.
Find some not-so-flattering photos of yourself and place them strategically at prime temptation spots - the fridge, the biscuit jar, or in your desk drawer. That way you will be reminded of the positive changes you're trying to make to your life whenever you're tempted to overindulge.

6. Surround yourself with witnesses.
Tell everyone you are changing your eating habits. Give them permission to remind you of your dedication to better health if they catch you falling off the wagon. Make sure you have chosen friends who will support and encourage you. The last thing you need is someone who will try to trip you up.

7. Check up on yourself.
Write down every single thing that passes your lips each day. If you often eat when you're upset or stressed, try to record this too. If you gobbled up a chocolate bar after arguing with your partner, you probably need to find alternative ways of coping with your moods. Next time try phoning a friend or going for a stress-relieving walk.

8. Keep a sense of proportion.
We all slip up from time to time. We all forget our best resolutions and bend the rules. The worst thing you can do is give in and say 'Well, I blew it. Let's forget it. I'm never going to succeed.' But it's not the end of the world - just get back on track and keep going for your goal.

Carlton

I'm feeling pretty good about today's choices.....

2008-10-09T12:49:00.005+11:00

Not sure what the weather is doing today in Sydney. Once moment it's sunny then next it's not.

I'm really on a role at the moment with the pre-planning of my food. As I do the majority of the cooking at home, I also tend to do the planning and don't always tell Brad what's for dinner until I serve it up.

For dinner tonight I was going to make the meat loaf out of STGTBT cookbooks and baked veggies, however Brad has decided that he wants to go shopping tonight and have dinner out. I don't really want to eat out, so as compromise I agreed to take away Chinese food. Now I have to change my food plan and really plan my food for the rest of the day, as I make sure I don't go over in points. The good news is that he will have left overs for lunch tomorrow... Looks like we will have the meat loaf tomorrow night as I have the mince defrosted in the fridge and it has to be used.

Below is a copy of my daily menu plan (from the weight watchers online tracker). I am on 22 points a day and have so far used 18.5 points, this will leave me 3.5 points, so I can have some of what ever Chinese dish Brad chooses. I had a pretty late breakfast today, so this is why I can go without snacks during the day... Advantages from working from home I guess...

I'm feeling pretty good about my choices today (hey might change my title from Today to this statement).....

Carlton

POINTS^® Tracker entries

Thursday, 09 October 2008

Breakfast
1 serving Thick & Creamy Light - Country Fruit Salad	1.5
2 slice multigrain bread	2
1 cup Baked Beans	1.5
2 glass natural mineral water	0
Subtotal	5
Lunch
2 slice multigrain bread	2
1 small apple	0.5
1 serving Thick & Creamy Light - Country Fruit Salad	1.5
1 Cauliflower, Potato and Bacon Soup	2
Subtotal	6
Dinner
1/2 cup cooked steamed rice	2
2 serve Chinese Mix Veggies	1
1/2 serve Chicken Chow mein	3.5
Subtotal	6.5
Snacks
2 glass natural mineral water	0
2 glass Diet Coke	0
1 medium orange	1
Subtotal	1
Food POINTS values used	18.5
Food POINTS values remaining	3.5

A Break Through.........

2008-10-08T22:01:00.007+11:00

This picture of the 3 pigs - pigging out over lunch, is how I have been feeling lately. Especially when I see photos of me. Most of my posts have reflected this and my poor attitude... I realise this blog is about my journey including the good and the bad, but it seems that I only come here to whinge about the bad stuff and don't really celebrate the good stuff. From now on I will try and change this.

Cheers to me, even if I do say so myself. Now after our discussions, I've made a break through with Brad regarding his weight. He has put on 10 kilos since he moved in and with him being short it is really noticeable.

He has decided to give WW another go but he doesn't want to go to meetings (fine by me, as long as he sticks to the program). So today we went out and bought him the Weight Watches @ Home Men's kit, lucky we have the Weight Watchers Myers shop 3 kms from home. He has started re-reading the kit information tonight and will officially start the program on Saturday. It is so going to make my life so much easier. We can again support each other and there will be no junk food in the house.... I'm so happy.... On a serious note, I will also be able to stop stressing over his weight and health.... Just need to get my act together now.... Its happening but need to keep taking it one day at a time....

I've been using the STGTBT (Symply Too Good to Be True - Low Fat) cookbooks this week and Brad loves the food. We have had the Butter Chicken, Chinese Beef and Sweet and Sour Pork so far. From memory none of the main meals have been higher than 5 points. I think I might use them for a little while longer....

Today has been an OK day for me. Lots and Lots of stuff has been done. Work, washing, nails, shopping and a wonder around the shopping centre.

I went over my points slightly today thanks to the Skinny Cow Sundae's. I saw them advertised in the Health and Slimming Mag (I think it was) and just had to go and find them in the supermarkets. They are a lot like the WW ones but only 2 points instead of 2 1/2 points. They were yummy but I have to call them evil at the same time. They come in packs of 4 and surprise surprise there is now only 1 left in the box and I'm the only one who ate them. So have to put them in the bottom of the freezer where I can't see them.

I haven't tried the Ice Cream Sticks yet just the Sundae Cups. I might wait until I have a little more control over ice cream before I give the Ice Cream Sticks a go....

Overall I am pretty happy with how the past few days have gone... At least I'm putting one step in front of the other and going forward again...

Carlton

What a great day in Sydney

2008-10-07T16:33:00.004+11:00

What a brilliantly sunny day in Sydney today.

I'm also feeling a little better day.

Last night I planned out all my food for today and so far I have kept on track. I have also been for a 90 minute walk. The local club reckoned it was 24 degrees when I was out at lunch time but it didn't feel that hot.

Its one day at a time for me right now.

Brad has once again decided that he needs to lose weight and wants to go back on Weight Watchers (but not go to the meetings). I don't have a problem with this but I will believe it when I see it, as he has said this numerous times but hasn't lasted one day. He has put on a lot of weight during the past few months but until this morning he wouldn't admit it. Funny what getting on the scales will do to you. Even my brother has commented to me how much weight he has put on. I can only hope that he does mean it this time and we can support each other. I was going to talk to him about this last night, after I'd made my last post but he was busy doing other stuff. Maybe we can chat about it tonight.

Carlton
One day at a time.....

2 months 2 weeks and 5 days till......

2008-10-06T21:38:00.009+11:00

Yes you guessed it... Christmas Day. Its scary how quickly this year has gone.

At the beginning of this year my goal was to lose 30 kilos this year (whilst I do have more than that to lose.) I thought 30 kilos in 52 weeks, that will be easy. Well I can honestly say that it hasn't been easy and I've only lost half my goal weight so far. Half is better than none but I am disappointed with my overall results...

I'd love to be under 90 kilos for Christmas but I'm finding things a real struggle at the moment. I've been home for just under 1 week so far and really struggling to get back into my routine. I keep eating crap and I haven't done any planned exercise since I've been home. Now I don't want to put too much pressure on myself but if I'm to get close to my Christmas goal then I have to pull my finger out and start tracking and exercising again.

Tomorrow is a new day and as I type this I am planning on going back to the gym.. I have also planned my meals out for the day. This is a good start....

Below is a recent picture of me taken in Thailand in front of James Bond Island...

I'm not happy with how I look, especially with the spare tyre around the middle...
I am also not happy with how I feel about myself. I realise that I am the only one who can change my habits and my feels towards myself and I am working on them. Just need to vent some of my frustrations at the moment.

During the past few days all I have been doing is stuffing my face with junk food/crap and not worrying about it, but its not making me feel horrible and unhappy with myself. Today was a better food day but still not a great one. The good thing is that we don't have a lot of crap in the house and I've been taking to Brad about not buying any more crap. We both really need to lose weight.

So I am going to use this photo to motivate me as I never want to look like this again. Next time I go overseas I will be a lot thinner and happier with myself...

Carlton

Weigh in Day

2008-10-04T11:06:00.004+10:00

Hi everyone and hope you all have a great day.

WI day for me today and it wasn't all that good. Well I do only have myself to blame, too many cocktails, ice cream and hot chips whilst I was away... Well it was a fun trip anyway.

I'm also not going to admit how much weight I put on, whilst its not huge in the skeem of things, it still a bit. Maybe next week I'll post my weight and weight loss....

Today is a new day and I'm starting my journey again. I will also track all of my food and go back to the gym this week.

Carlton

I'm home safely.....

2008-10-02T13:52:00.001+10:00

Just thought I'd pop in and let you all know that I'm home safely.

I had a great time, despite the humidity of both Phuket and Singapore. Whilst we walked heaps (over 70 hours according to my heart rate monitor) I did eat a bit too much and drank too much. Not looking forward to weighing in on Saturday.

I'm still on holidays until next Tuesday and today I've so far spent it washing (5 loads), cleaning and cleaning out the pantry & fridge. All the fun things in life....

Hope everyone is going well with their weight loss journey. Its time for me to start again with my journey and lose this weight.

Carlton

Holidays - time has come..........

2008-09-14T22:20:00.004+10:00

Well we fly out tomorrow and we have to be at the airport about 11 a.m. . I've still got heaps to do, I still have to pack, do some house work tomorrow and we are getting a new freezer tomorrow as well. If it doesn't come before I leave then Brad will have to wait around for it.

Well I actually came on tonight so say bye and that I'll talk to you all in about 3 weeks time. I'm not sure if I will get on the computer tomorrow morning before I go. Hope everyone has a good time and stays out of trouble while I'm away. LOL.....

I also will try and be as good as I can be and hopefully will stay a similar weight whilst I'm away..

Carlton

I feel like a big fat pig right now.....

2008-09-09T23:13:00.006+10:00

Yes that's right all I can say is since my last post on this blog I haven't been treading myself well and all I've eaten is crap. Nor have I exercised at all.

I'm not game to either go to my weekly weigh in nor get on my home scales but I know that I have put on weight instead of losing it. I am thinking of waiting till I get back from my holiday before going back to weight watchers. Mind you as an unlimited member I am still paying my monthly fees... I am skimming the weight watchers website but not really posting on many threads or tracking my food.

I only have myself to blame and I'm not very happy with myself right now. I so feel like a big fat pig right now...

I will get myself back to the gym tomorrow and stop eating junk food. I will also track my food using the weight watchers online tracker... Baby steps and I will not beat myself up if I don't do things perfectly...

I am not beating myself up over this post, just being honest and getting this off my chest.

I don't know why I do this to myself but one day I will understand it.

Tomorrow is a new day and I will do better than today.

Only 6 days to go before I go away.....

Carlton
I am the most important person in the world.

Happy Birthday to me

2008-09-04T06:45:00.005+10:00

HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY

TO ME

(MIND YOU I'M NOT HAPPY ABOUT

BEING 40 BUT NOTHING I

CAN DO ABOUT IT)

Carlton

BMI - Update

2008-09-03T21:33:00.004+10:00

It was back in June 2008 when I last checked my BMI and I've lost a few kilos since then, so I thought I'd check it again.

Now I know that the BMI is not the be end and all of measuring my weight, as it doesn't take into account muscle but its something that I still like to measure it every so often. Now if only I could be given one birthday wish and take away all my excess body fat, then I'd be happy. Oh well, better go and do it myself.

The BMI Scale is below:-

BMI	Name
<>	Underweight
18.5 - 25	Normal
25 - 30	Overweight
Above 30	Obese
Above 35	Severely obese
Above 40	Morbidly obese
Above 50	Super obese

My BMI is 37.13 so that still makes me severely obese. Whilst that's not great, it is coming down as I started this journey at 43.9 in February and was 38.7 in June.

My weight loss is going along slowly and does frustrate me from time to time however I am happy it is going down.

I will get to a normal range one day, it will happen.

The web site's obesity recommendations (it is an UK site) for me are as follows:-

The method of treatment depends on your level of obesity, overall health condition, and motivation to lose weight.

Treatment includes a combination of diet, exercise, behavior modification, and sometimes weight loss drugs. In some cases of severe obesity, gastrointestinal surgery may be recommended.

If you are overweight, losing as little as 7-10 percent of your body weight may improve many of the problems linked to being overweight, such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

Slow and steady weight loss of no more than 1-2 pounds per week is the safest way to lose weight. Too rapid weight loss can cause you to lose muscle rather than fat. It also increases your chances of developing other problems, such as gallstones and nutrient deficiencies. Making long-term changes in your eating and physical activity habits is the only way to lose weight and keep it off!

Whether you are trying to lose weight or maintain your weight, you must improve your eating habits. Eat a variety of foods, especially pasta, rice, wholemeal bread, and other whole-grain foods. Reduce your fat-intake. You should also eat lots of fruits and vegetables.

Making physical activity a part of your daily life is an important way to help control your weight. Try to do at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day on most days of the week. The activity does not have to be done all at once. It can be done in stages: 10 minutes here, 20 minutes there, providing it adds up to 30 minutes a day.

Carlton
I am the most important person in the world

What is Mojo

2008-09-01T18:25:00.007+10:00

For those international readers who do not know what Mojo is below is the explanation:-

Mojo can be defined as your magic, voodoo, charm or your energy, vitality, zest, drive, zip, zing, spirit, verve, pizzazz, punch, passion, oomph, power, get up and go, vigour and feistiness.

Mojo is the extra spark that is the difference between having a good day and a great day. Its the difference between getting good results or outstanding results.

You know when someone has their mojo as they have that extra something that helps them get that little bit extra out of a situation. You also seem centred and calm, yet at the same time they have a twinkle in their eye.

So when I say that I have my mojo back, it means that I am centred, calm, energized, my passion is back and have my get up and go regarding my weight loss journey. When I started this journey back in February I certainly had my mojo but seemed to lose it when Brad moved in towards the end of March. It was so much harder to make healthy choices when he was and does eat what ever he likes. Whilst he is still eating what ever he wants I am making better food choices and am losing weight. Mean while he is gaining weight...

Some time ago I purchased a book called "How stole my mojo? How to get it back and live, work and play better" by Gary Bertwistle. I am yet to read this book but will probably take it on the plane with me when I go overseas in a few weeks. Most of the above definitions have come out of this book.

Carlton
I am the most important person in the world.

GI Index and what is it

2008-09-01T17:51:00.008+10:00

I'd first like to thank everyone for their kind comments, especially from all the new people who have visited my blog. My main use for this blog is to have a record of my feelings, my ups and downs of life and my weight loss journey. I must admit that I do forget that others can and do come across my blog and read it, let alone that it inspires other people.

I received a really lovely post from Andrea from Germany regarding how inspiring my blog was, and how this has encouraged her to start her own blog in German. Hope this doesn't embarrass you Andrea but your comments really got me thinking about how many people can and do read this blog (and don't comment so I don't realise people read it) and how it affects peoples lives.

Andrea also inspired this post when she asked me "What is GI diet, or what is GI and can you point me to more information (or write a blog entry, *smile*) on what a low GI diet is? " Andrea I hope I can answer your questions adequately.

I got the information below from a website http://www.glycemicindex.com/

What is Glycemic Index (GI)

The glycemic index (GI) is a ranking of carbohydrates on a scale from 0 to 100 according to the extent to which they raise blood sugar levels after eating. Foods with a high GI are those which are rapidly digested and absorbed and result in marked fluctuations in blood sugar levels. Low-GI foods, by virtue of their slow digestion and absorption, produce gradual rises in blood sugar and insulin levels, and have proven benefits for health. Low GI diets have been shown to improve both glucose and lipid levels in people with diabetes (type 1 and type 2). They have benefits for weight control because they help control appetite and delay hunger. Low GI diets also reduce insulin levels and insulin resistance.

Recent studies from Harvard School of Public Health indicate that the risks of diseases such as type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease are strongly related to the GI of the overall diet. In 1999, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) recommended that people in industrialised countries base their diets on low-GI foods in order to prevent the most common diseases of affluence, such as coronary heart disease, diabetes and obesity.

There is a really good book available called "The Low GI Diet which includes a 12 week action plan". This book is published by Prof Jennie Brand-Miller, Kaye Foster-Powell and Dr Joanna McMillan Price.

What are the Benefits of the Glycemic Index?

Eating a lot of high GI foods can be detrimental to your health because it pushes your body to extremes. This is especially true if you are overweight and sedentary. Switching to eating mainly low GI carbs that slowly trickle glucose into your blood stream keeps your energy levels balanced and means you will feel fuller for longer between meals.

Low GI diets help people lose and control weight
Low GI diets increase the body's sensitivity to insulin
Low GI carbs improve diabetes control
Low GI carbs reduce the risk of heart disease
Low GI carbs reduce blood cholesterol levels
Low GI carbs can help you manage the symptoms of PCOS
Low GI carbs reduce hunger and keep you fuller for longer
Low GI carbs prolong physical endurance
High GI carbs help re-fuel carbohydrate stores after exercise

How to Switch to a Low GI Diet

The basic technique for eating the low GI way is simply a "this for that" approach - ie, swapping high GI carbs for low GI carbs. You don't need to count numbers or do any sort of mental arithmetic to make sure you are eating a healthy, low GI diet.

Use breakfast cereals based on oats, barley and bran
Use breads with whole grains, stone-ground flour, sour dough
Reduce the amount of potatoes you eat
Enjoy all other types of fruit and vegetables
Use Basmati or Doongara rice
Enjoy pasta, noodles, quinoa
Eat plenty of salad vegetables with a vinaigrette dressing

Sydney University GI Research Service (SUGiRS) was established in 1995 to provide a reliable commercial GI testing laboratory for the local and international food industry. Foods are tested in healthy volunteers according to standardised methods that have been validated against laboratories overseas. Insulin, satiety, hunger and other parameters can be assessed simultaneously. SUGiRS has an established reputation for quality, speed and flexibiltiy. We can work with your company to develop new low GI products or help lower the GI of existing ones. Foods that meet nutrition guidelines and have been GI tested can carry the GI symbol. Your results are strictly confidential and are your property. Data are released for publication only with your written approval.

How is the GI measured?

The glycemic index (GI) is a measure of the power of foods (or specifically the carbohydrate in a food) to raise blood sugar (glucose) levels after being eaten. The GI values of foods must be measured using valid scientific methods. It cannot be guessed by looking at the composition of the food. Currently, only a few nutrition research groups around the world provide a legitimate testing service. Professor Jennie Brand-Miller at the Human Nutrition Unit, Sydney University has been at the forefront of glycemic index research for over a decade, and her research group has determined the GI values of more than 400 foods.

The GI value of a food is determined by feeding 10 or more healthy people a portion of the food containing 50 grams of digestible (available) carbohydrate and then measuring the effect on their blood glucose levels over the next two hours. For each person, the area under their two-hour blood glucose response (glucose AUC) for this food is then measured. On another occasion, the same 10 people consume an equal-carbohydrate portion of glucose sugar (the reference food) and their two-hour blood glucose response is also measured. A GI value for the test food is then calculated for each person by dividing their glucose AUC for the test food by their glucose AUC for the reference food. The final GI value for the test food is the average GI value for the 10 people.

Foods with a high GI score contain rapidly digested carbohydrate, which produces a large rapid rise and fall in the level of blood glucose. In contrast, foods with a low GI score contain slowly digested carbohydrate, which produces a gradual, relatively low rise in the level of blood glucose.

The following information is from the website http://health.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=101083

How to follow a Low Gi Diet.
Make an Internet search for any fad diet and you are likely to get as many hits claiming it is nonsense as those claiming it revolutionises weight loss. But, here's the thing about low-GI; it's not a fad and there are no medical journal articles or scientific studies that say it isn't a healthy dietary concept. Eating low-GI is a key nutrition message that goes hand-in-hand with other healthy eating guidelines such as eat less saturated fats and eat more fruit and vegetables.

The Glycemic Index (GI) was devised about 20 years ago when researchers looked closer at the dietary recommendations for diabetics; which was to eat more complex carbohydrates (starch) because they took longer to process and digest than simple carbohydrates (sugar). What the researchers discovered was that the effect of a carbohydrate on blood-glucose levels was not determined by the sugar or starch. For example, we now know that the effect chocolate has on blood-glucose is actually lower than potatoes. That doesn't mean chocolate is healthy — but I'll get to that later.

"GI is a ranking (from 1 to 100) which measures the effect of a food on your blood-glucose level over the two hours after the food is eaten," explains Joanna McMillan-Price, a Sydney nutrition scientist and co-author of The Low GI Diet book.

"You get a bell-shaped curve when you eat food containing carbohydrates; the blood-glucose rises and as your body produces insulin it pushes the glucose out of the blood and into tissues, and then you see the blood-glucose level falling." McMillan-Price explains that when eating high GI foods, you get a very high bell curve response with a dramatic drop. With a low-GI food, there is a slower and steadier rise in the blood-glucose level.

How does low-GI promote better health?
"Research has shown that very high glucose levels after meals, called glucose spikes, are damaging to our arteries and various blood vessels, and they promote far too much insulin to be around," explains McMillan-Price.

Eating low-GI foods means you avoid those spikes and dramatic falls in blood-glucose so you get a much steadier stream of energy. You, therefore, reduce your risk of heart disease and other chronic diseases that are implicated by those blood-glucose fluctuations.

How low-GI contributes to weight control
High GI foods are bad for weight control for two reasons, says McMillan-Price. Firstly, the glucose spikes stimulate hunger because you are getting that dramatic drop in glucose, 90 minutes to two hours after eating. By eating low GI foods you feel fuller for longer and are, therefore, not as likely to go searching for snacks every two hours.

Secondly, insulin is a storage hormone that stockpiles nutrients for later use by the body. A high-GI diet causes a lot of insulin to be produced and when you have too much insulin in your body too much of the time, it makes it easier to store fat and harder to burn it.

Applying the low-GI concept to your diet
McMillan-Price says the recommendation is that at least two meals a day should be accompanied by a low-GI food. "It doesn't mean you should never eat high-GI foods, but preferably put most meals together with a low GI food," she says.

However, don't be worried into thinking you need to know the GI value of every food. Healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables, except potatoes, should be eaten daily regardless of their GI. Simply knowing the low, medium and high varieties of the major carbohydrate foods in your diet — breakfast cereals, breads, rice, pasta — and choosing the low-GI ones is sufficient to produce healthy benefits.

If you simply can't go without certain high GI favourites occasionally, like jasmine rice, serve just a small portion and add a low GI alternative, like a lentil dahl. It is also worth considering the content of your plate. Half your plate should be vegetables, and the other half split into two quarters containing protein and low GI carbohydrate.

Now, getting back to the low GI of chocolate, just because something has a low GI doesn't mean you should indulge, says McMillan-Price. "Low-GI has been misunderstood by some people who think it is the be all and end all," she says. "Don't use the GI as the first step in choosing what foods you should be eating. The GI should come after you've looked at whether something is a good food that has low levels of saturated fat and is nutrient-rich … and then the GI becomes a tool to choose which is the best carbohydrate from these sources."

So, it's not necessary to know the GI of a chocolate bar because it's clearly an energy-dense food without many nutrients that is not going to aid weight loss.

What is the GI symbol?
Foods carrying the GI symbol must meet specific nutritional criteria and have their GI measured using the approved method. The program, designed to help consumers choose low-GI foods, is run by the non-profit company Glycemic Index Ltd, whose members are the University of Sydney, Diabetes Australia and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Glycemic Index Ltd explains that when you see the GI Symbol on a food label, you will find the GI value near the nutrition information panel along with the words 'high', 'medium' or 'low'. You will also know that the food meets the program's nutritional criteria, which generally means it is a good nutritional choice for that food group.

The GI table

High — 70 or more, Medium — 56 to 69 inclusive, Low — 55 or less
Instead of ...	Try ...
Long-grain white Jasmine rice (109)	Ricegrowers Doongara white rice (55), Mahatma long-grain white rice (50)
Buttercup Wonder White bread (80)	Burgen Oat Bran and Honey bread (49), Tip Top 9 grain bread (43)
Ricegrowers, brown rice pasta (92)	White capellini pasta (45), egg fettuccine (40)
Dried rice noodles (61)	Fresh rice noodles (40), soba noodles (46)
Skippy cornflakes (93)	All Bran Fruit and Oats (39), Kelloggs Guardian (37)
Uncle Tobys instant porridge (82)	Regular porridge (58)
Boiled potato (Sebago 87, Desiree 101)	Baked sweet potato (46)
White bagel (72)	Salmon sushi (48)

Article by Pamela Wilson, May 2006.

I got the following information from http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/diet/gi_diet/sample_plan.htm

GI Diet Plan Sample Day

Typical Day's Diet on the GI Plan

Breakfast

Bowl of porridge made from traditional oats and skimmed milk and sweetened with a little honey. Plus a pear.

Mid morning

1 pot low-fat fruit yoghurt and a banana.

Lunch

Bowl of lentil soup plus an open tuna sandwich made with 2 slices of wholegrain bread, a thin scrape of low-fat spread and tuna in brine. Plus a handful of cherries.

Mid afternoon

Small pack of low-fat crisps

Dinner

Spaghetti bolognese (made from extra lean minced beef and lots of vegetables) served with wholewheat spaghetti and salad.

Andrea I hope this answers your questions and if you have others please feel free to leave me a comment with them. All the best with your journey and blog.

Carlton
I am the most important person in the world.

Watch out World My Mojo is back.

2008-09-01T11:36:00.009+10:00

Yes that's right my mojo is back and things are starting to fall back into place. Watch out world I'm backkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk.................

I had to laugh last night, I think I've finally got my mojo back, when it came to my eating yesterday I actually checked the points calculator (well when I was home) before I ate it. We got home from Manly rather tired and I wasn't feeling well so we had a frozen pizza for dinner. I actually worked out the points before I agreed to have some and it worked out that half of the pizza (250 grams) was worth 10.5 points but I only had 8.5 points left, so I could only have 200 grams worth. Guess what I did only eat the 200 grams worth I cut the pizza in half and then cut a 50 gram piece off and gave it to Brad to eat. The pizza was rather tasty for a frozen one. I couldn't believe that 50 grams of this pizza was 2 points and whilst I could have used my exercise points to eat that 50 grams I didn't want to. Normally I would have eaten that 50 grams and not thought or cared less over it.

Its been so long since things have clicked in my head and I haven't emotionally eaten or eaten stuff because Brad had it. It feels so good and empowering. I love feeling in control of my diet and exercise.

Whilst yesterday wasn't the best weather day in Sydney we decided to have lunch in Manly. These two shots are of Manly beach.

I seem to be making better lunch options, especially when my brother is around. His good habits seem to rub off on me. When choosing my lunch was was manually working out the points in my head. Even I was impressed with myself. I decided to order some grilled Barramundi, salad and some chips. It was rather yummy and the only dressing I had was some lemon juice.

After lunch we decided to walk down to the beach and go for a walk. Originally we walked from The Corso to Shelly Beach and back, which took 30 minutes. I decided that I wanted to continue walking so we then walked up to North Steyne Surf Club and back to The Corso, which took another 30 minutes.

Once back in Circular Quay we decided that we would try and find the Down Town Duty Free store so walked towards Town Hall, sadly we didn't find the shop, turned down one street to early but ended up walking to Town Hall station, which was another 30 minutes. Well I think we are going to give it another go next weekend to find this shop. We did do some other wandering around Manly as well and ending up coming home a bit tired..

I think the exercise and points stuff combined have finally clicked in my head.

I had a sneak on the scales this morning and I was 100.2 kilos, so provided I keep going as I am I will make double digits this week. Well I do want to make it my Thursday actually (it will only be unofficially but that's OK with me.

So Watch out World, I'm back. Yes it has taken a while but my mojo is well and truly back, I want to be double digits more than anything else in the world right now and its keeping me motivated. I so love the feeling of having my diet and exercise under control.

Just have to work out what's going to get me motivated to get under 90 by Christmas. Nothing like planning ahead. LOL....

Carlton

Weight in Week 25

2008-08-30T12:02:00.004+10:00

This picture reflects what I have to do this week. LOL

Weigh in day today and the results were pretty good, considering I was expecting to stay the same.

Start Weight on 8/2/2008 = 115.9 kilos
Last week 23/8/2008 = 102.6 kilos
This week 30/8/2008 = 101.1 kilos
Loss this week 1.1 kilos.
Loss so far 13.7 kilos in 24 weeks.

I'm pretty happy with this weeks results, whilst I would have like a few more grams and who wouldn't I'm happy. I now have 2 weeks and 2 days till I go away and I have 1.1 kilos to lose in this time. This is totally achievable. Mind you during this time I also have a birthday and TTOM but I can still do it.

At weight watchers today we were talking about being our own cheer leaders and had to come up with some goals for this week. Mind are below:-

1. To track my food and no go over my points.
2. 3 x 20 minute extra in exercise so I can have some birthday cake.
3. I will not eat my usual exercise points (I can eat my extra ones on cake)

I normally earn betwen 30-40 points for exercise for the week but as my birthday is this week I have pledged to do more. So if I want a slice of birthday cake then I have to earn the points for it.

Every Saturday I walk to weight watchers and back. When I walk there it takes me between 25-30 minutes depending on fast I walk, however when I walk home I walk home the long way which takes me between 60-70 minutes. Well today when I walked home I had some shopping in my back pack and boy was it heavy, I couldn't believe the difference it made me feel and how much harder it was to walk home. Well I weighted my back pack when I got home and it weighted 6.7 kilos, I could believe it and was in shock, just a short time ago (well it feels like for ever) I had this weight (plus more) actually on my body and was walking around with it...

It made me realise that losing weight makes me feel so much healthier and its so much easier to exercise when you are losing weight.

Carlton
I am the most important person in the world.

12 Tips to a Heathly Person

2008-08-30T11:47:00.002+10:00

This is my image of a healthy person and whilst I may never actually wear a bikini I still picture this kind of image.

I found these tips on a CD ROM of Annette Syms (Symply too Good to be True cook book author) and I thought they were great. To remind me of them I thought I'd post them here.

I also love the following sayings:-

* If it is to be then its up to me.
* I am the most important person in the world.

12 Tips to being a Healthy Person

1. Think and act like a Healthy person.
2. Take Control of food and don't allow it to control you.
3. Reduce the stress in your life.
4. Reduce Salt.
5. Reduce caffeine.
6. Reduce the fat in your food.
7. Reduce alcohol.
8. Exercise at least 3-4 times per week.
9. Stop smoking
10. Drink at least 2 litres of water per day.
11. Eat the quantities of food that your body needs.
12. Be Happy - smile - think positive and live life to the fullest every day.

Carlton
I am the most important person in the world

Sugar Cravings and 6 Ways of beating them.

2008-08-28T13:57:00.004+10:00

Sugar cravings I've been having them the past few days. I was originally stumped as to reasons why and now I hope I'm not trying to sabotage my own weight loss efforts.

I've also been searching the net and have come across a couple of interesting articles that I thought I'd share.

So what can you do about the sweet cravings? Here are 6 simple things you can do to help take control over the cravings:

1. Eat a low GI diet. This slows the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream and prevents rapid insulin surges. It keeps you feeling full for longer and prevents a rapid rise and fall in blood sugar levels. I'm thinking of incorporating low GI foods into my diet when I come home from overseas....

2. Get more chromium. Chromium is a trace mineral required for insulin to work properly, helping sugar to move into the cells efficiently. It is found in liver, brewers yeast, wheat germ, and mushrooms. A good multivitamin will also have some chromium in it, and some supplements are available that have a therapeutic dose of chromium for blood sugar imbalances. A therapeutic dose is at least 200mcg of 'elemental' chromium, but don't take large amounts for long periods of time without seeing a natural health professional.

3. Use the herb Gymnema. Gymnema can be useful for reducing sweet cravings, and reducing the sweet taste sensation on taste buds, making it less appealing to eat sugar laden foods. It can be taken internally with guidance from a naturopath or herbalist, and you can even make up a spray to use whenever you get sweet cravings. Spraying it directly on the taste buds seems to stop things from tasting so sweet and you are less likely to want to eat them.

4. Eat enough fibre. Fibre is important for slowing sugar absorption and making you feel full. Eating plenty of vegetables (preferably raw) will provide fibre, as will foods like brown rice and oats. You can also put a couple of teaspoons of psyllium husks on a low GI cereal or even in a drink to take before meals. This will combine with water and expand in your stomach, making you feel more full. You must increase your water intake when you have psyllium husks though, as they don't work on their own.

5. Clean your teeth! After dinner, clean your teeth right away. This works well for many people because you are less likely to snack on sweets when you have that minty taste in your mouth, and if you do, you know you have to clean your teeth all over again! This is not getting at the causes of sugar cravings, but it at least provides a way of helping to get you out of the habit of late night eating.

6. Snack smart. Between meals, you need to eat foods that satisfy you and nourish you, and prevent big rises in blood sugar. Try to have only nuts, seeds, and fruits, with the occasional low GI muffin. You can get roast chickpeas from the supermarket which are good. Many have added spices making them a tasty savoury treat. Also try a handful of mixed nuts like almonds, brazils, and cashews, and seeds like sunflower seeds and pepitas (pumpkin seeds). Good fruit choices are apples, pears, and strawberries. Whole fruit is best, but something you can do to have a healthy snack on hand is to make up 'fruit kebabs' every couple of days and keep them in the refrigerator. Cut up chunks of apple, strawberries, and other low GI fruits, thread them on small skewers, drizzle with lemon juice, and store in a glass jar in the fridge.

You can also reduce sweet cravings by substituting regular sugar with natural sweeteners like xylitol and stevia.

Curb your sugar cravings

Author: Philip Burt

Do you ever have a sudden overwhelming urge to eat something sweet, whether it be confectionary, ice cream or other sweet foods?

Many of us experience this sugar lust at some stage.

After satisfying this craving there is often an attack of the guilts. You know it wasn't such a good dietary move but you were almost powerless to avoid it. This phenomena is known as carbohydrate craving or sugar addiction. There are two main causes of carbohydrate cravings: low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia), and stress/depression. When you binge on high-sugar snacks, blood sugar levels increase significantly, resulting in increased insulin, which functions to lower blood sugar levels back to normal. Often insulin over-performs and lowers blood sugar to less-than-optimal levels. This vicious cycle of low blood sugar to high blood sugar back to even lower blood sugar causes an energy crash that makes you want to eat even more sugary foods to compensate for the crash. The cycle can be broken by helping insulin to normalise blood sugar levels. Chromium Picolinate Insulin's little helper is the mineral chromium picolinate, which makes your body's cells more sensitive to the effects of insulin. Numerous studies have shown that taking chromium picolinate supplements can curb excessive levels of insulin and make insulin receptors more responsive to its effects. By way of analogy, chromium picolinate helps to reset your body ís insulin and blood sugar thermostat. Without the peaks and troughs of high and low blood sugar and the subsequent craving to increase blood sugar levels, you no longer have the instinctual urge to consume high carbohydrate foods. In 2005, researchers put chromium to the test by giving 113 carbohydrate cravers either daily chromium picolinate supplements or placebo pills for eight weeks. At the end of the study, the participants receiving chromium picolinate (but not the placebo) had almost totally overcome their frequent sugar cravings. What's more, they also had lower overall daily food intake, meaning that they didn't compensate for their sugar cravings by eating more from other food groups. The dosage of chromium picolinate used in this study was 600 mcg per day (3 x 200 mcg tablets per day). Serotonin The second major underlying cause of carbohydrate cravings is depression and stress. People who are stressed or depressed often have lower levels of a neurotransmitter named serotonin in their brains. Serotonin is responsible for feelings of wellbeing and happiness. Carbohydrate consumption increases the secretion of serotonin in the brain. Hence many stressed and depressed people learn to self-medicate (increase their brain serotonin levels) by overeating carbohydrates. So if the real reason that carbohydrate cravers binge on sweet foods is because of a subconscious need to increase their brain serotonin levels to make themselves feel good, isn't there any other way to increase serotonin? Yes there is! Whey Protein Fortunately, the primary mechanism for the body's production of serotonin is via the conversion of an amino acid named tryptophan into this much needed neurotransmitter. Whey protein is a powdered supplement of all of the good elements of milk (not the carbohydrates, not the fat, only the beneficial protein components). One of the good proteins in whey protein is named alpha-lactalbumin and it contains particularly high levels of the serotonin-friendly building block, tryptophan. Well-conducted clinical studies have shown that a diet containing whey protein increases brain serotonin levels by 48% more than diets that don't include whey protein. Therefore, whey protein can circumvent the desire to indulge in carbohyrates to increase serotonin, by providing tryptophan instead of carbohydrates as a building block for serotonin. Whey protein also operates on another level to reduce overall appetite. It increases feelings of satiety (fullness) by increasing levels of a hormone named cholecystokinin (CCK). In one study, whey protein increased CCK levels by 60% more than other types of proteins. The suggested dosage of whey protein for eliminating carbohydrate cravings is 20 to 25 grams per day. Brindleberry Until you have successfully kicked your carbohydrate habit, it may be helpful to minimise the negative effects of over-indulging in sugary foods. Brindleberry contains a compound named hydroxycitric acid (HCA) that helps to prevent the sugars that you ingest from becoming body fat. HCA diverts your body's metabolism of carbohydrates away from the pathway that leads to body fat and redirects carbohydrate metabolism into the production of energy (a good thing for most people). Studies have shown that HCA also increases serotonin release in the brain by approximately 12%, which provides further support for its role in beating carbohydrate addiction.

Carlton

Do you have fat eyes?

2008-08-28T10:26:00.005+10:00

There is a post of this on the Weight Watchers Forum today and I thought I'd use it as today's entry.

"When you look in the mirror do you see any difference?

Are the clothes loose,and the scales say it but the mirror doesn't reflect it?

Could, it be that for so long this big person has been staring back at you and that you have come accustomed to seeing this person that the thinner person doesn't come through?

What are your thoughts on this and how are your eyes?"

My thoughts are:-

No I can see the weight loss and toning in the mirror and this is the first time I've done weight watchers that I have been able to. Where I still have to work at it, is to do with tops/tshirts etc., when I started I was wearing a size 26 and now I wear a 18-20 but when I hold them up I say to myself that no they will not fit, and am surprised every time they do.

I worked out last night that this is the 10th time I've tried weight watchers. Some attempts I've lost only a few kilos and given up whilst others I've lost up to 40 kilos and given up. This time is the last time that I am rejoining weight watchers as I am determined to get to goal no matter what....

I am the most important person in the world and my health depends on it.

Carlton

Help Chocolate - mmmmm

2008-08-27T17:42:00.008+10:00

Chocolate - mmmmmmmm now I thought I had this under control and that the cravings were gone. How wrong I am. The past 2 days all I have done is crave chocolate. I did cave in yesterday and had 2 pieces of Toblerone chocolate (giant size 25g per piece) which were good but I didn't even enjoy that much. I am so lucky that Brad ate all the toblerone and there is none left.

Today all I've been craving is chocolate and yes I've had some more. Again I am over my daily points for the day but the difference is that I do not feel satisfied after eating this chocolate. I do have plenty of exercise points which well and truly cover all of this chocolate. I have had chocolate under control for about a month now and I am so frightened that I will have a big binge and undo all my good work....

Lindt chocolate is my down fall and I do have some Lindt hot chocolate in the fridge (but out of sight). Basically Lindt hot chocolate is grated Lindt chocolate. I'm hoping out of sight and out of mind. At the moment I'm trying to keep my self busy so I don't go and eat it my the spoon full.

Its pretty sad at the moment all of my waking thoughts are of chocolate. Mind you did does make me feel yucky after I have more than a little bit of it.......

Oh and its not PMS time so I'm at a loss as to why I am so obsessed about chocolate these past few days.

Had to get this off my chest and vent a little over chocolate.

Carlton

EGO - we need to do a rethink.

2008-08-25T10:45:00.006+10:00

OK I go this idea from the weight watchers forum and think its a great idea. It not only helps with our weight loss journey but with our overall self esteem...

EGO - we need to do a rethink.

I love myself; I think I'm grand
I love to sit and hold my hand
When I grow up, I'll marry me
And then I'll start a family

Does anyone remember this playground rhyme? Sorry but I don't remember it, however I still think its a great one OK, I'll admit that it goes back to the 1950s BUT I think the relevance is still with us today. Love ourselves? That was not a concept that the Australia, that I grew up in accepted. THAT was the way of conceit; arrogance; "insufferableness" and needed to be FIRMLY NIPPED IN THE BUD. It was for the good of the child.

When I read the weight watchers threads or blogs, it seems to me that a sense of self worth has been a bit of a casualty over the years. So, my question for today is:

"What do you love about yourself?" NB: No false modesty allowed :)

I personally find it hard to love my body, however I do love seeing the results from all the hard work that I do.

I have done weight watchers many many times, however the one difference I've noticed this time, is that I am seeing the differences of my body and I do notice the loss of weight in the mirror as I go along.

Don't get me wrong I also get very frustrated with my journey but overall I am over the moon with how far I have come....

Carlton

How sweet.....

2008-08-23T19:48:00.002+10:00

Following our fight last night, Brad gave me the following card. Yes the man can be sweet and lovely sometimes.

Oh and yes we have apologised to each other and things are better, even though he tried to restart the fight this morning before I went to WI. Mind you he also wanted me to stay home and have 4 hours of sex with him, unfortunately I had to decline this rather tempting offer, as I was meeting a friend for breakfast & coffee after weigh in. There are always another opportunities.........

Love and Adore You...

I heard the music when true love called,
a song sent from heaven on silver wings.
The whole world was dreaming,
wisps of light streaming,
as the stars spilled their magic upon you and me.

The tune was more lovely
than the nightingale's song,
more delicate than a rose weeping,
yet as powerful as the sun leaping
to shed golden ribbons in herald of dawn.

And I bow down before you,
the one my eyes have longed to behold,
my lonely heart pining,
love Light shining,
I swear that I shall love and adore you.

Carlton

Weight in Week 24

2008-08-23T12:29:00.003+10:00

Weigh in day today and the results were pretty good, considering I was expecting to stay the same.

Start Weight on 8/2/2008 = 115.9 kilos
Last week 23/7/2008 = 102.6 kilos
This week 16/7/2008 = 102.2 kilos
Loss this week 0.4 kilos.
Loss so far 13.7 kilos in 24 weeks.

I've just noticed that its been a few weeks since I've posted a weigh in result. Naughty me LOL.... Must get better at being more accountable for my actions....

Only a couple more kilos till I'm at double digits and I'm so going it give it my all to get there before I go away (3 weeks on Monday). I've also decided to go back to points and I seem to be able to keep my portion sizes under control and that's a must if I'm to get to double digits.

I've already been for 2 walks this morning. First I walk to my weight watchers meeting which is 30 minutes away and then I also walk home, however when I walk home I walk the long way which takes about an hour. This morning my walk home was a little longer with it taking 75 minutes.

I'm on track with my points so far today, which is a great start to the week. I did not buy any junk food whilst I was at the shopping centre today.

Edit:- Its now 11.16 p.m. and I have 3 points left. I know that I should eat all my points especially seeing I've earned 7.5 points in exercise but I am not hungry. I'm going out for lunch tomorrow so I will save them for that. We are having lunch with my brother and at this stage I do not know where we are going... I'm a bit bored with the Olympics at the moment so I might go to bed...

Carlton