My Journey

Last week I moaned about the injury I had and conveniently left off any indication of the weight gain that came with the gorging that accompanied the lounge sitting self-pity session. Which I did. But am happy to report that with all the activity I have been doing this last week I have pegged that back to arrive at a net difference of a 100gm gain. This brings me to the topic of todays post - issues.

As much as I am a lot happier and healthier today than I was a little over a year ago (and the 10 years prior to that) I still have some issues with self-esteem and fear that I have to work on. From embarrasement issues of posting a gain after 3 weeks of really good tracking and exercise, from feeling like a failure when I do overeat - even though I know that I am not, to fear of entering a pub by myself. Yep. Even though I had a fantastic night on Friday night with Cath and Mary it did not come without its hassles.

I arrived at the designated destination smack right on time. 6.00pm. It was a pub, a nice local in Newtown called the Botany View Hotel. I knew that there were some stairs I had to go up and the stairs were near the pokies. But. I walked past the pub first and had a quick sneak in the window and I couldn't see any stairs so kept walking. Then I turned back and had another look at through the windows and kept walking. Then I stayed outside. For half an hour. Half an hour of being on the phone with Mark whilst walking up and down King Street. Me saying that I was coming home and Cath won't mind. Him saying turn the heck around and walk through the bloody door. LOL. It has been like that for years. Even when I was going out with Mark when I was 18 and meeting up with him at the pub after work. I would phone ahead and make sure he would meet me outside as I would not go in by myself. So I sms'd Cath to find out if she was already there. And she was. So with a deep breath I said goodbye to Mark and barrelled inside and up the stairs. And then it was great and I had a fabulous time.

What have I learnt from this? I know that weight loss has been a great thing for me and I am a lot healthier and fitter BUT it is not the panacea for everything that is wrong or that I have issues with. These things still need to be worked through. And as long as I understand that, I know I won't use these issues as triggers for putting the weight back on again.

Oh and for the sharp eyed KT, yes I have dyed my hair. A few weeks ago I tackled it with a box of Garnier something or other in a dark chocolate brown. I really like it. And what I also did was comb my hair straight, look in the mirror, grab a pair of really sharp scissors, and cut my bra stap length hair straight across at the shoulders. *Gasp* LOL I have curly hair so the fact that it is probably about as straight as David on Big Brother doesn't really matter. And it will grow back. Eventually ;D


Fitness Challenge Wrap Up - Week 2
5.00am starts are not working for me at all. With Darcy's tonsilitis and all night waking games I am bordering on the edge of severe sleep deprivation. Getting out of bed at 6.00am is difficult enough. So I am switching to an evening workout. I know that working out after eating is not ideal but my only time will be after the boys are in bed and a workout under these conditions is still better than no workout at all. And I am sure when things settle down I will be able to reassess the workout times.

Global Corporate Challenge - Week 1
This has been great fun so far and being able to track where I have been and where I am going next. I have another team of guys we are tracking against and they took us over this morning so the pressure is on to get back on top LOL. For the 4 days to Sunday I have stepped 10,346 / 18,058 / 13,189 / 10,067 for a total of 51,660. Which is an average of 12,915 per day. Not bad but something I can improve on this week.

The destinations have been good too. We started in Australia (Perth) and so far our combined total has walked us through - and remember we don't count water distance - Nias (Teluk Dalam, Gunung Sitoli) and Sri Lanka (Pottuvil, Kalmunai, Batticaloa). Each destination has information relating to the climate, environment, trade and other intersting facts. Wish I could link directly into the site but cannot without a login and password so have linked to Wikipedia if anyone is interested. It has been an eye opener and I am looking forward to seeing where we are going next :D


What I did well last week
I got back into it after a week of not exercising or eating well
I met up with new people (Bron) and did some fun activities
I smiled a lot more and relaxed about things I could not change

What I will do better this week
I will eat more vegetables (in the form of soup or otherwise)
I will eat 3 pieces of fresh fruit a day
I will drink more water


Trackback - 29th May
Points: 14.5
SP: 1.5
Exercise: 40 min walk around Hyde Park, 30 min walk City to Broadway, UPW 47min

Posted by Margaret at 7:46:00 pm | Permalink | Comments

Any company that has a slogan "Let us make you sticky!" deserves your attention. (more later)

I have had a huge weekend so far and I can't believe there is still one day left. That is what happens when I go out on a Friday night. For some reason it tricks my body into thinking Saturday is Sunday and then Sunday is this extra day tacked on the end. It is fantastic. And also shows you that I don't get out much LOL. (photo to prove I don't always wear 3D glasses!)

Friday night was great as I went out to help Cath celebrate her 26th Birthday. Which is today. Happy Birthday Cath. ssssshh I meant to whisper that. Ooops :D It was great and involved a lot of laughing, talking (you can confirm that with Mary as I didn't really let her get a word in LOL), and topped off a great day of exercise with a grand spanking total of 18,005 steps logged at the end of the day. Some of which was when Mary and Daniel acted as bodyguards and walked me to the station. Thanks guys. I was tired but it felt so good. I had started the day with a walk around the park near the Sydney University, across the road from the Broadway Shopping Centre and as my camera is still a new toy I took a few pictures, a couple of which I shall bore you with now :D



Then it was Saturday and the morning of our Nordic Walking expedition. With poles at the ready we prepared to do battle with any malingering runner, walker or cyclist who dared get in our way. Luckily the heavens opened up and scared all but the most keen of Nordic Walkers - oh that was us! - off. We walked one round of Centennial Park and then retreated to the cafe for a body warming drink - skinny hot chocolate being my choice. Yummmm. Anja was fantastic and felt badly for the weather so has offered us a make up lesson. Which we will be taking her up on. After some discussion is had with dates I believe Mary will be posting the information and anyone who was unable to make it today and would like to come, please come along as it was a hoot. After a bit of uncoordnated action at the beginning I felt like I got the hang of it and once you break out in a bit of a stride you can start to feel it in different areas. The back of the arms, the thighs, calves, and my abs can all feel it now and I hope will not be too sore tomorrow. An hour flew by as we chatted and laughed our way through the lesson. We took photos (as you do!) and the photos show us at the beginning with our poles, the end, and then Anja with her partner Andreas. What a couple of hotties ;D

So what is this about Sticky then?

Well, Mark and the boys picked me up on Oxford Street (as Mary, Sarah, Bron & I had headed in a City-ly direction) and after changing into a dry set of clothes thoughtfully provided, we headed into Bondi Junction. There I witnessed a most fascinating site. Two guys proceeded to roll together blobs and globs of hard candy together to make one HUGE 10kg roll that was made up of greys, black, white and red. They kept convincing us that at the end there would be a Koala hidden in the middle. This amused Darcy no end and at the end they had produced these amazing candies that did indeed have a koala hidden in the middle. I have never seen anything like it and it was brilliant.

So now it is 6.35pm. I am currently on 13,088 steps for the day. The boys are sitting having their dinner in an almost well behaved manner. And I have had a wonderful discussion with a very special someone (thank you *mwah*). And it wasn't Mark LOL. It has been a great day. What could I possibly do to make it any better???

Answer - drink loads of champage whilst watching a DVD sitting in a hot bubble bath. That is my plan :D

Posted by Margaret at 6:35:00 pm | Permalink | Comments

OK so that's long enough for my mug shot to be top of the page. ;)

All along this journey I have made sure that I was doing it for the right reason. For me. That way if I didn't eat well, or if I was slack on the exercise front I had no one I could blame or justify to myself that as I wasn't doing it for myself - I may as well not do it. So along I go.

But, being part of a challenge that involves a team is something that I think will be very good for me. Today is the first day of the Global Corporate Challenge and along with 6 team mates I aim to clock as many steps a day as I can in order to walk around the globe, starting in Perth and ending up in China. I had set a personal goal of walking a minimum of 10,000 steps a day but aiming to increase this to 15,000. I pretty much calculated that during a work day this would be no problem. A 45 minute walk at lunch, a 30 minute walk after work, and general activity should cover it. But at home this is another matter.

If the challenge had not started today I would have clocked up less that 6,000 steps. Which is all I could muster in the last couple of days. But today I just felt like I couldn't let that happen. That I would be letting the team down if I didn't at least hit 10,000. So whilst it was nice and sunny this afternoon I put Darcy in the stroller and set off for a walk to North Sydney to post some DVD's to my folks and the inlaws and then wandered around and up and down hills until I had clocked up 7,000. Doing some shopping and general stuff got me to 9,000 and I have walked up and down the hallway and around the dining table to clock up the last 1,000. So I have met my first minimum target.

I am pretty happy with that and it has shown me (once again) that I can fit extra movement into my day. I just need to want to badly enough.

So off to bed now to try and get a few hours of sleep in before what I am sure will be a repeat of last night, and the night before, and the night before that and anything coming close to beauty sleep will be a mere figment of my overly active imagination :)

Posted by Margaret at 9:49:00 pm | Permalink | Comments

Seriously, how sensational do I look in this photo! All I can say is thank goodness the boys are in bed, and Mark is out for the evening so no one will be able to see what I look like. LOL. Except you lot of course. And to make matters worse I will actually have to wear my own glasses either over the top or underneath - can't work out which is more comfortable at this stage. All because Medium is in 3D tonight. Hope I don't get nightmares. Or you either ;D

Photo courtesy of my new little camera. I had talked about buying a beautiful Canon Digital SLR which is about $1400 odd and when Harvey Norman had their you-beaut interest free no repayments thing going on I figured it would be the best time to get it. Then when I got there sanity prevailed and I realised that I don't want to get into more debt right now so I flung my $270.00 of vouchers on the counter and said "what can you do me for that" (great English huh!). And for my money I received an Olympus FE-115, a 64mb memory card, a camera case, a SanDisk Card Reader, a batter recharger and 2 rechargable batteries. I was pretty happy with that and whilst I will continue to save up for the Canon, right now this will do the trick.

Expect to see more dodgy photo's regularly now :D

Posted by Margaret at 7:42:00 pm | Permalink | Comments

Another Blogging game....If you want to play, let me know in a comment and I'll give you a letter. The rules are, you take the letter given to you and you have to come up with 10 words that start with that letter and how it pertains to your life in some way. ( I got this from Sarah)

Here's mine:

Special - Most days of my life now I feel special. I feel like I have been given a gift with the opportunity to make my life better, to allow me more years to spend with my beautiful boys, so even though some days are not great, I still feel special.

Soul Mate - Even though there are times when he frustrates me beyond belief I know Mark is my soul mate. We have been through the most incredible, and the most sad things together and he is someone who I can see myself growing old with. Growing more gorgeous and fitter with too :D

Stretched - Is how I feel with my time at the moment. I know there are many things I need to be doing and I get a bit lost when I can't seem to get on top of it all. But I also know that by focussing on my health I am allowing myself to be more energetic, more able to keep on top of the rest (well this is what I keep telling myself anyway LOL)

Sisters - I have two sisters and even though we live far apart (Sydney/Adelaide/Canada) I love the fact that our relationship has never been stronger.

Simple - Is my approach to weight loss. I don't often succeed in keeping it simple but I do try. Energy in is less than Energy Out equals Weight Loss. So I eat better food (most of the time) and exercise well (most of the time). It isn't easy but it is simple.

Smiley - Is how other people often see me. I like to be positive, and I like to smile. It makes me feel good and is a heck of a lot better than being grumpy all the time.

Salivating - Because on the way home today I walked past the bakery and the smells of the fresh donuts just about drove me crazy (but I didn't stop and get one).

Sexy - Sexy to me is not about being as skinny as I can be. Sexy is being happy with the way I look. Being confident in my actions and in my poise. Sexy is accepting that I can be many things - all at once - but only when I want to be. It is about my control and my ability to be out of control.

Sunshine - is the most wonderful thing in the world on an Autumn or Winter day. That feeling of heat on your face or your back as you are walking is what keeps me going out.

Support - Every day I am grateful for the support I continue to receive on this (to steal a phrase from Shauna) lard-busting journey of mine. It has made the difference between it being a diet and being a change I am making to all areas of my life. A diet does not address the mental and social issues surrounding obesity and weight gain. Having somewhere to go, to talk about mundane day to day issues, as well as talking about the bigger picture, has allowed me to evolve as a person. Every kg of fat that has disappeared from this body has been replaced by tonnes of compassion, empathy, tolerance, understanding, and humour. And the beauty of that is it weighs nothing :D

*** Edit ***

Your letters

A B C D E F G H K L M P R T W

Posted by Margaret at 10:50:00 am | Permalink | Comments

I am home today (as well as was most of yesterday) and will be for the rest of the week as my poor little Darcy has tonsilitis. This is, of course, the only thing that excuses him from snoring like a freight train and minimising any sleep I was lucky enough to get.

So time to blog - yaaaaay :D

Posted by Margaret at 10:28:00 am | Permalink

Things were a little tough last week and I have learnt that I do not respond well to an injury and being forced to rest. After the walk and races last weekend I expected my legs to be sore. What I didn't expect was to learn that I had sprained/injured my right calf muscle. And then I didn't expect to be an idiot and do a little sprint across an intersection when the lights changed and hear the muscle go 'pop'! Bugger.

I then spent the week sulking. Instead of using my brains and finding ways to move that did not require my legs (toning, sit ups, upper body resistance exercises) I spent the week on the couch eating. I bowed out of the regular Saturday walk and took the time to catchup on things at home. I could have blogged and received that instant hit of motivation and positivity that I normally get when reading but as the exercise equipment is all set up in the study I boycotted that room. I know. DUMB.

But my leg feels better today. I went for a slow steady walk at lunch on the treadmill and as long as I kept my gait short it was OK. I also walked to Broadway and whilst the hill tested the muscle it came up alright so I am happy with my first day. I am building up to the Nordic Walking adventure on Saturday and will be fighting fit for that.

Work is really busy at the moment and evenings are spent doing a little bit of exercise, getting the boys into bed, and then crashing myself. I am not blogging at all during work (I finally get it!) so am not getting around as often as I want to :( but I will build up to that again too.

Fitness Challenge Wrap Up - Week 1
I will take progress photos tonight even though I know they will be the same or worse than last week. I refuse to let this set back make me pack it all in together. I need to spend a bit more time on my preparation and in learning the exercises instinctively so I don't have to keep looking at my notes. I know this takes time so perhaps I am being a little hard on myself. I know one thing for sure. Week 2 will be better than Week 1.

Things I did well last week
Rested my calf muscle to allow it to heal

Things I will do better this week
Track every day
Maintain a 20 point average
Smile a little more :)

Track back
Points: 20
SP: 6
Exercise: 30 minute walk on treadmill (slow), 30 minute walk to Broadway (slow)

Posted by Margaret at 6:29:00 pm | Permalink | Comments

This morning saw my first '3-in-a-row-loss' for some time with 500gms down to take me to 77.1kgs. It feels good.

Waking up at 5.00am this morning to do the first of my fitness challenge workouts didn't feel as great as it was cold, and early, and cold. But I shuffled quietly into the study to do my workout (via the bathroom of course) and happy to say that I have so far survived. I know it has only been approximately 15 minutes since I finished but all the same ;D

I had a quiet Mothers Day yesterday, on request. I've got a bit of a cold and I pulled up sore after Saturday so after swimming lessons were complete, and grocery shopping organised all I wanted to do was to have some quiet time alone. This never actually eventuated as my children don't quite get the concept of "mummy time" LOL. I did sneak in an accidental 2 hr doze so am feeling a little more alive today. Hopefully a day at work will give me the extra rest I need :)

Trackback - 15th May
Points: TBA
SP: TBA
Exercise: 47 min weights (hard)

Trackback - 14th May
Points: 18
SP: 0
Exercise: Nothing

Posted by Margaret at 6:01:00 am | Permalink | Comments

Today has been a wonderful and unexpected day. And a very long day. It started off with the now regular Saturday morning walk around Sydney with Mary and Cath. I would have thought a 7.30am start on a weekend would be hard to do but it is surprisingly easy and the absolute best time to do it - before it gets really crowded. As I was packing a little extra weight today (courtesy of Oscar in a backpack) we avoided the particularly stairy area of the Rocks and headed into the Botanical Gardens for a wander around Mrs Macquaries Chair. It was spectacular. Walking along the water is so peaceful, and beautiful with all the trees. I walked as fast as I could but felt that I was slowing the pace of the morning down. Carrying the extra 12+kgs put a lot of pressure on my knees - especially when climbing stairs - and I felt that I had more difficulty in breathing and talking during a steady climb. I was never more happy than when I could sit down and unstrap the weight and just walk away from it. Wish I could do it with the rest but I know I will have to work for that :D

I made it home with 45 minutes to spare to shower and frock up for a day at the races. Mark had been invited to Royal Randwick for what I thought was just an industry affair. It turned out to be a major event to raise money for The Shepherd Centre which works with children who are deaf or hearing impaired with an aim of helping them to learn to speak and to communicate in a hearing world. It was a great day. We were on a table with some really interesting people, had great conversation, great food, and watched some fantastic horseflesh go thundering past. A win on the ponies would have been nice, but our table did OK by winning a bottle of champagne per person. Got to be happy with that! So adding to the 14,568 steps for the walk this morning, I probably walked around for 3 of the 5 hours we were there so I am sure if I had worked out a way to wear my pedometre I would have clicked over the 20,000.

My plan for this evening (once the boys were in bed) was to post and finally catch up on last weeks news and posts from around the grounds, but after just having hung up on a 4 hour phone call I am not sure I will last another 5 minutes. I will remember to stretch, to minimise the expected soreness tomorrow, then I will fall happily onto my nice, soft, pillow and ..... z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z


Trackback
Points: 22
SP: 2
Exercise: 2hr walk around Sydney (hard), 3 hours of general walking - in 3 inch heels! (easy)

Posted by Margaret at 11:41:00 pm | Permalink | Comments

My Mum went home today and I am really sad. My heart hurts and I did a bit of 'feeling sorry for myself' eating when I came home from the airport. It wasn't too bad (2 x ww Divine Boysenberry Ice Creams, 2 x sakata mini packs, 1 x freddo frog) and then I had my dinner. I am feeling a bit ill at the moment but slowly drinking water hoping it will go away by the time I go to bed.

But I am happy too. Happy that Mum had a great time, happy that the boys reacted comfortably with her and the visit, happy that my laundry is now washed, dried, folded AND put in wardrobes!! Finding socks and undies has never been easier LOL. We have already had a webcam call tonight so that was a nice way to catch up. But now that she has gone I can focus on setting up my equipment and room for my challenge and getting all my program worked out. I think it is good that I have something to focus on.

So back to playing with Blogger to see if I can set up tables and the information for my training program. And planning to go to bed early so I can get a good nights sleep before a good walk in the morning. So I shall take today as it was, and plan to do better tomorrow :D

Oh, and yes I bought a bikini. I tried on 6 pairs of speedo's and ended up buying a very simple pair in navy. Boyleg pants with a little retro patterned belt thing, and a top that ties up at the back and at the top. The clip ones were a little too snug in a size 12 and as I am unsure whether my ribcage will lessen in size anymore I did not want to be stuck with bathers that I would never wear. So these will suit me fine and I can just keep tightening them up as I get smaller. They are a size 12 and whilst I would be very uncomfortable wearing them in public, they actually don't look that bad. I will be taking photo's on Sunday night but will not be posting them until the end of the challenge when I hope to have a succession to show visible improvements. I have found a picture of the style but in a different colour - and on a much fitter body ;D



Trackback - 12th May
Points: 25.5
SP: 10!
Exercise: None

Trackback - 11th May
Points: 19.5
SP: 6
Exercise: 1hr walk in the foothills (hard - and hilly!)

Posted by Margaret at 10:18:00 pm | Permalink | Comments

A while ago Daniel talked about the importance of backing up your work regularly if you do not want to suffer the pain and frustration of losing all your work. As I was googling for something entirely unrelated I can across a site for Blogger Tips and Tricks and a particular post on Backing up your Blog. In it they mention the Blog Collector site which allows you access to a free download you can use to completely back up your blog and save it in a pdf format. It allows you to synchronise your back up as you add more blogger entries, or to entirely re backup your blog.

I am on broadband cable and the download took a long time but I think it is pretty cool. The only thing was that the free download only let me read 63 of my posts even though the table of contents showed all 318 (sheeesh I write a lot LOL). I can upgrade, 2 levels, and at the top end - for a cost of USD 198 - it will import images and links. I am still not sure if it will import the comments, but it is a far easier (albiet a more expensive) solution to getting a backup than the Blogger way of changing your template and stripping out the text that way.

Isn't it amazing the things we learn along this road ;D

Posted by Margaret at 7:30:00 pm | Permalink | Comments

It is funny how in life you can be stuck in a rut without even knowing it, until someone comes along to tip you unceremoniously out of it. And thereby shake up your world. Take television for example. Over the course of months, even years, Wednesday night has become a favourite of mine to veg out in front of the TV. As long as it is on Channel Ten. Mindless mirth and merriment courtesy of Thank God You're Here, followed by dry wit and self congratulations mixed with a teensy bit of humility courtesy of House and finished off by a frenzy of activity and forensic fantasy delivered by NCIS (Abbey is a particular favourite of mine). BUT put a visitor in my house who has an equal love affair of Wednesday night viewing on a different channel and chaos reigns supreme.

Which way do I go. Do I forfeit my shows and keep Mum company whilst she watches hers, or do I retreat to an unheated section of the house with a teeny tv but access to the p.c. so I can blog whilst watching? Yep, I chose the latter.

Like exercising for me, like eating healthily for me, sometimes, even though it is more polite to change my plans, or easier to do so to keep the peace, it can be better to just do what I need to do.

So I did. And every commercial I go out to say hello to her even though she is snoring quietly in her chair :D

Trackback - 10th May
Points: 21.5
SP: 2
Exercise: 1 hr (hard)

Trackback - 9th May
Points: 20 (Pumpkin & Spinach curry - yummmmm)
SP: 8.5
Exercise: 1.5 hrs (hard - including over 300 stairs)

Trackback - 8th May
Points: 20.5 (including sensational Chicken & Mushroom Risotto)
SP: 1
Exercise: 3 hrs gentle walking around Sydney and Aquarium

Posted by Margaret at 8:36:00 pm | Permalink | Comments

Total pot = 42 points. Divide up as appropriate

Ingredients

400gm chicken thigh fillets, diced
200gms button mushrooms
1 red onion finely chopped
4 cloves garlic
300gms Arborio rice
40 mls olive oil
1 tbs butter
1.2 litre vegetable stock
1/4 cup basil leaves
1/2 cup dry white wine
80 gm parmesan, grated

Method

1. Heat oil in a heavy based saucepan and add garlic, add chicken to the pan and toss until cooked, try not to brown chicken too much. Remove from pan.
2. Add butter to saucepan, when melted add onion and Arborio rice and cook for two minutes until rice is translucent and each grain is coated in butter.
3. Add white wine and reduce by half, add mushrooms and then add stock one ladleful at a time until all stock has been absorbed stirring constantly, this will take about 25 minutes.
4. Return chicken back to saucepan and stir thoroughly and ensure risotto is thick and creamy - not sticky - add torn basil leaves, Parmesan cheese, add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve immediately


My comments

This was sensational. I don't cook risotto much, must be about 5 years since the last one, but this was very filling and the only warning I would offer is to serve it into appropriate sizes from the pot before you eat as you will go back for more if you put it all in the middle of the table. ;D

Credits
Recipe taken from the ABC - Peter Milosevic's Chicken and Mushroom Risotto - and modified slightly by me.

Posted by Margaret at 8:03:00 pm | Permalink | Comments

Serves 4 @ 0 point per serve

Ingredients

2 medium onions, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
1/2 tsp minced chilli
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1kg pumpkin, peeled, cut into small pieces
1/2 cauliflower, cut into florets
1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp vegetarian stock
150g baby spinach, chopped coarsley
1/3 cup fresh coriander
1 tbs flaked almonds, toasted

Method

1. Coat a pan with cooking spray, heat and add the onion. Cook, stirring until softened. Stir in the garlic, ginger, chilli, coriander, cumin, turmeric. Stir for 30 seconds.
2. Add the pumpkin, water and stock. Simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender. Stir in the spinach and coriander. Cook, stirring until spinach has just wilted.
3. Just before serving, sprinkle with the almonds.

My comments

As a meal on its own it is very light and great for those days / weekends when you have over indulged a bit. By adding cous-cous or rice (make sure you add appropriate points) it becomes a very filling meal. I always forget to add the almonds, and feel it does not suffer for it. I added cauliflower into the recipe this time and thought it was a great filler.

Credits

Recipe taken from Weight Watchers Hong Kong site and modified slightly by me.

Posted by Margaret at 7:55:00 pm | Permalink | Comments

Today has seen an 400gm change in the scales to take me to 77.6kgs. With the exercise I have been doing this week I would have liked to see a bigger number but have to admit that the clothes I am wearing at the moment are really comfortable and I can see that I am smaller across the hips and thighs so am happy that the exercise has been helping to shape those areas.

It has been a busy weekend with walks, parties, lunches, dinners and generally catching up with loads of people. But this week will see some time for a break as I have taken a weeks holiday from work to spend the week with Mum. She will be flying home on Friday so want to have as much time as possible.

Today we have kept Darcy out of kindy and will be taking him to the Sydney Aquarium shortly, and tomorrow we will keep Oscar out. It is easier on Mum with only one cyclone at a time and it gives the boys a good day to get one on one attention. Then on Wednesday I am planning to spend the day mooching about Bondi Junction shopping for some bikini's for my before shots. Makes me cringe just thinking about it but I am getting my mindset right that at the end of my fitness challenge that I will look hot in those same bikini's. Well, at least I won't look horrible ;D


Week in review
What I did well
I tracked everyday - no matter what I ate/drank
I exercised well and made each opportunity count
I made quality time for my kids, my mum, my friends, and Mark

What I will do better
I will eat three pieces of fresh fruit a day
I will up the amount of vegetables to fill me up and keep hunger at bay
I will try to keep the housework under control by doing little bits each night


Trackback - 7th May
Points - 21 (plus several big handfuls of delicious salty dutch licorice - yummmmm)
SP - 2
Exercise - None

Posted by Margaret at 8:57:00 am | Permalink | Comments

Too sore to write a sensible post.

See Mary or Cath for reasons why.

Why my fingers hurt because my feet do makes no sense to me at all.

But I am happy. Tired but very very happy.


Trackback - 6th May
Points: 20
SP: 2
Exercise: 2+ hour walk around Sydney (Aaaaah so that's why I'm tired LOL)

Trackback - 5th May
Points: 23
SP: 8
Exercise: None

Trackback - 4th May
Points: 30
SP: 7.5
Exercise: 30min hard

Posted by Margaret at 8:28:00 pm | Permalink | Comments

I hear voices.

Your voices.

All the way home I could hear this medley of voices saying "Do it Anyway" courtesy of Kate & Mary as I contemplated how sore my legs would be after I walked home, "Make it Count" courtesy of Cath as I watched my form and crunched my butt muscles as I strode up the hill, "No Excuses" courtesy of Nat as I rounded the top of the stairs and stood looking over some tree tops at the city skyline puffing and panting like someone sorely in need of a drink, a bath, and a massage.

And somehow these voices blended together to vaguely sound like Dory out of Nemo "Just keep walking, do it anyway, just keep walking, make it count, just keep walking, no excuses" LOL

So, no ipod for me.

And in spite of all the frustrations I have felt lately, in spite of some difficulties with life in general, as I walked over the bridge and breathed in the very fresh air (laden with petrol fumes but never mind that) I had to remind myself, once again, that I am indeed a very lucky girl. :D

Now where is that drink, that bath, that massage ??

Trackback
Points: 22
SP: 4.5
Exercise: 7km walk home

Posted by Margaret at 5:28:00 pm | Permalink | Comments

Mary and Suzy have both made posts lately about finding the key that allows you success in your daily exercise routines. That it needs to be something that you enjoy, and something that you can fit in to the rest of your life, in order for you to love it and keep going with it - even once at goal.

I have thought about this a lot over the last couple of days as I continue to plan for the start of my Fitness Challenge. Initially I was planning on hiring a treadmill for 12 weeks, then after speaking with the very cute Buzz (not of the Lightyear variety) from Workout World decided instead to buy one on a payment plan.

Then I thought about it some more.

Whilst I would love to own one again, it is not practical in either a dollar or a space sense. I don't need to buy anything else. (This does not include shoes or handbags LOL) I just need to use what I already have. So with that approach the weights bench, and weights that have been slowly rusting to death under the house have been attacked with the WD40 and a bucket of hot soapy water and will be brought up into the house once Mum leaves (they will be put where the spare bed currently is). Then I will be able to do my weights routine in the mornings (5.00am !!) without waking up the boys, and I will do the treadmilling for the Couch to 5 km programme at the gym at lunch time. I will use what I have. I will do what I enjoy.

I am really looking forward to this challenge, and whilst the focus will be purely on my fitness, my strength, and on my shape for those 12 weeks, I will still be very interested in what my weight does along the way. I have my workout printouts holepunched and ready to go. I have the Cto25K workout in the folder. I have the printout ready for the Global Corporate Challenge. I am just itching to start. Or maybe that is a reaction to the prunes I have eaten today LOL.

Looking forward to a good week :D


Trackback - 2nd May
Points:20
SP: 2
Exercise: 20 min treadmill (hard) 10 min spin cycle (medium) 30 min walk to Broadway (hard)

Trackback - 1st May
Points: 20
SP: 2
Exercise: 30 min treadmill (hard) 30 min walk to Broadway (hard)

Posted by Margaret at 3:54:00 pm | Permalink | Comments

Today has seen an 800gm drop to bring me back to 78kgs. I have a long way to go before I hit 'virgin weight' again but I am making inroads.

This weekend saw me very angry at lots of times. Angry at myself. Angry at Mark. Angry at my house. Anything really. And angry might not really be the best word. I suppose I am just frustrated. Frustrated that plans get changed and mucked up when I finally put into place a plan of action for me for exercise on a weekend. And I know that if I looked deeply enough I still could have done something - ANYTHING - to move myself in a manner to burn off energy, but I didn't. I did eat but I was not out of control.

So I am happy with the loss I had.

It is the end of week one of the challenge and I am racing my ladies in the tickers. Who will get to the end first? What odds shall I place? LOL. Whichever one gets to the end first I know one thing - the other one won't be far behind :D

Week in review
What I did well
I tracked everyday - no matter what I ate/drank
I journalled every day and wrote down what I was feeling
I got in control of my work

What I will do better
I will exercise everyday
I will maintain better control with the types of food I eat, especially on weekends
I will speak up when I am angry so that it does not build up

Trackback - 30th April
Points - 19.5
SP - 2
Exercise - None !

Trackback - 29th April
Points - 25
SP - 5
Exercise - None

Trackback - 28th April
Points - 26
SP - 6
Exercise - None

Posted by Margaret at 8:13:00 am | Permalink | Comments

Mushroom Cream Pasta 1 @ 6.5pts

Chicken and Mushroom Risotto 42 pts for entire pot

Creamy Pumpkin & Bacon Soup 4 @ 1.0pts

Spinach and Pumpkin Curry 4 @ 0.0pts

Mixed Berry & Apple Strudel 6 @ 1.5pts

Posted by Margaret at 12:00:00 am | Permalink | Comments