Happy New Year and reflections on 2008

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

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!!!!

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

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!!!!!!!

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

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

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...

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....

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

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

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....

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????

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.