Weigh In

Weigh in today and I lost 1 kilo. Before you get too excited, it is a bullshit number. I SHOULD have lost more. But for some reason my head went haywire and I used Saturdays ride as an excuse to eat anything and everything.  So while I acknowledge the loss, it is a bullshit loss as I could have done so much better.


Anyway, moving on....


I have joined a 7 day challenge on CK. Basically you set some goals and resolve to stick to them for one week. It is only 7 days, so it shouldn't be too hard.  These are my goals:


1) Stick to my calories
2) Drink 2 L of water a day
3) Stick to my cycling training plan
4) Go for a couple of walks.


Speaking of my training plan, I have revised it. It seemed sill to aim for 33 kms this weekend when I have already done 40.  So I have reduced it by a week and increased my weekend rides to get me there quicker.

I am sure this is completely manageable and I am looking forward to doing it.


100 Days of Gratitude


Day 55
Yesterday I was grateful for very little if I am honest with myself. My whole body was fatigued from the ride and I are myself silly. If I had to be grateful for anything it would be that there was very little crap food in the house, as I could have done a LOT more damage than I did...


Day 56
Today I am grateful for Emma, who this morning gave me the pep talk I needed to get myself back on track.


xox

Motivation Found

I have been drifting along with my weight loss. Last year I paid it nearly no attention at all. And it shows. Two days ago I made the declaration that I was back into it, but I have been drifting. I do really well until dinnertime then I lose it. And for some reason I have not had the *whatever the hell it is* to motivate myself. Even the trip I am planning that I NEED to be thinner for (details to follow in the next couple of months) doesn’t seem to spark me.

Today I found it.

I was having a Skype chat to a friend of mine who lives out bush.  She has been the same as me as far as weight loss goes. Went really well for a year or so then let things slide. Now wants to do something but struggling to find the *whatever the hell it is* to actually do it.

We have decided to do it together. We will be each others *whatever the hell it is*. We will text each other the day before weigh in to remind each other and we have to report our weights in. The idea is to motivate and encourage. And the deal is that this is a tough love thing. No babying each other and saying “oh, that’s okay” when the other has eaten a block of chocolate and a tub of ice cream. It is NOT okay and this enabling bullshit is what got us where we are in the first place!

We both have goals and we will use them to encourage each other. We CAN do it, we have both done it before. Now is the time to become accountable. Knowing that E is going to be checking to see what I have eaten after dinner will stop me reaching for that bag of chips or that bowl of ice cream coz she is going to SLAM me for eating it!

I actually WANT to eat well so that I can tell her I have been good. I WANT to slam my ride tonight so I can message her and tell her. And I REALLY want to lose the weight with her so we can go on a shopping spree together when we are both skinny!  LOL

xox

Oh Dear...

I got on the scales today to get my yearly starting weight.  Oh my. Xmas has NOT been kind to me. Well, in actual fact, I have not been kind to myself over Xmas and it is very strongly reflected in that horrible number.

sigh...

But I have had an amazing week off and I am choosing not to regret it. I had a great time, ate some absolutely amazing food, and now I will work my butt off to shift that weight. I have a pretty big goal to work towards (not sharing what it is until it is confirmed) and I am hoping that having that in mind will help to keep me focussed.

100 Days of Gratitude - Day 50
Today I am grateful that I have the knowledge I need to get myself back into a healthy lifestyle.

xox

First Weigh In

Daily Quote

Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.

- Marilyn vos Savant

I got on the scales with extreme trepidation this morning. The weekends abundance of alcohol and junk food was playing on my mind...

Imagine my surprise when I saw a 900 gram loss!  *insert happy dance here*  I have no idea at all how that happened, but I will take it and hope the weekends activities don't come back and bite me on the bum this week. :)

Yesterday was spent cleaning up after the party, napping, and eating. Not the most productive Sunday on record, but a nice relaxing day.  Today I am eager to get back into things. My gym membership kicks in this week so I am going to try and get to either a Body Balance class or a Yoga class.  I'll have to check the timetables of the 2 nearest centres and see which class is the most convenient.

100 Days of Gratitude - Day 21
Today I am grateful for Bluebell, my bike. She is still suffering the after effects of her recent injury (where she got damaged by a random stranger while parked near work) but she is holding strong and being my reliable transport while I save up to get her fixed.

xox

I did it

I did it.  I actually followed through on what I said I was going to do and went for a run last night.  I walked to the start of my 2km stretch then shuffle-ran most of the first km.  I turned and took turns doing proper-running and walking.  I think I only ran about 400m of that km, but I tried to really stride out and do it properly.  The new shoes felt great.  I need new socks though.  My ankle socks rolled down a bit and got uncomfortable.  I have some better ones somewhere, I'll have to dig them out.

Although it still was not a great run, I have decided to stop being so angry at myself over the break and losing the fitness.  I can't change it, all I can do is work hard to fix it.

I have also sent myself back to Calorie King to start tracking food again.  Last time I lost all the weight I got super-obsessed and I am determined not to go back to that again.  But I do need to track the food.  At least for a while until I get myself back into some sort of control again.

That's it from me today - nothing too earth shattering.  Hope you're having a great hump-day!

xox

Weigh In

Well, weigh in this week was pretty good.  I recorded a loss of 2.8 kgs.  However based on the fact that I was sick all weekend and barely ate, I am not sure how true this is.  So I have decided to accept it, but if I gain next week (as I am sure I am incredibly dehydrated) then so be it.  It means this week was not a true record.

I have started adding some as-you-go results to my winter goals.  I was hoping to do yoga, a run and a ride on the weekend but obviously that wasn't going to happen.  As of tomorrow there are 10 weeks left of winter which should be more than enough time to get through all my goals. 

Today I am still feeling a little bit blech, but not too bad.  I rode to work, and it was hard, especially the tram bridge.  I think that is just because there is virtually no fuel in the tank - so to speak.  I am working through my bowl of oats now.  So far they are sitting in my tummy okay, which is a good sign.

That's all from me - hope everyone has an amazing week.

xox

Fitness Goals

It is time to focus and set some winter goals for myself. As always I have been inspired by Mel over at Tri Hard to Triathlete. She is an incredible force and I have decided to take a leaf out of her book, get off my ass, and do something.

So I have decided that by the end of winter (10 weeks and 5 days away) I want to have achieved 5 things. They are:

1) Run 2kms in under 15 minutes – still slow, but significantly faster than I am doing now.
2) Run 5kms without stopping – any speed
3) Ride 1000kms – seems like a lot but is less than 100 kms per week
4) Lose 10 kgs – I will take this Mondays weigh in as my starting point
5) Attended 5 x beginner Yoga classes

Rather than checking in in the main part of my blog, I have set up a goal checklist in the sidebar. I will update it as things happen and report when major milestones are reached. It is a massive undertaking, but to be honest I need something to focus my energy on with everything that has been happening.

I will do a 2km run in the next few days to get my baseline. I will get back on the bike as of Friday. Yoga starts this Saturday. Junk food going in the bin.

My time is NOW!

xox

Weigh In

Well, one week of my new calorie counting is done and dusted. I'll be honest here, I didn't "count" every day.  Or most days really.  But I have been a lot more conscious and have stopped buying that morning bag of wicked twisties every day, and the afternoon bun.  The result was a 1.9 kg loss, so I am extremely happy with that.  I will be more vigilant this week, and will be riding to work every day again as well.

I finally set up my Facebook Fan page for my cards.  It is called 'photo cards by kylie ann'.  Anyone who is on Facebook, do a search for it if you are interested in my cards.  So far there are only 9 variations up, but more photos will be here this week and I will have about 15 or so up soon.  I'll post the pics at the bottom of this blog for you.

Today has been fairly easy going.  MIL had several things that she needed to get out and do so I have been here with Grandad most of the day.  He has been asleep for most of it though, only getting up for an hour or so to have lunch and a cuppa.  He was really perky yesterday but it seems to have tired him out for today. 

While he was up I decided to do some baking to give me an excuse to stay in the kitchen with him without it looking like I was watching him.  I made my specialty - Honey & Oat Cookies.  I love these!  We won't even discuss the calories though...  LOL  But I figured that Ross could have them for breakfast.  He doesn't usually bother with breakie but with his new job I would like him to have something.  And I know he will eat these.

I also decided to make something for dinner.  We need something Grandad can eat with one hand, so nothing that requires cutting.  We had soup last night and pasta bake the night before so I also wanted something with protein in it.  I ended up doing a pasta bake, but added lentils and TVP.  Hopefully it tastes okay.

I was hoping to get the garden bed ready for planting as well, but domestics have taken up the day.  Not to worry though, I will do it next weekend.

Here are the cards I have up so far, in case you are interested.

xox

Oh Dear...

But before we get to that....  I had a really good day yesterday.  I got to sleep in and got up at 7.30.  Now for most, that doesn't sound like a sleep in, but for me, that is bliss.  I went for a walk to get my morning Iced Coffee then came home and realised I had a whole day ahead of me with absolutely no plans.  Oh, what to do...

I spent some time with my Tarot Cards.  I drew a 3 card spread, studied the cards that came out, then once I had them right in my head did a reading of the cards.  It was fun. 

Then I made a little pillow, watched some TV, had some lunch, surfed the Net, did some shopping, and saw this amazing double rainbow.  It was so beautiful.

Now for the Oh Dear...

Over the weekend, I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror, sitting down.  It's back.  It's nearly all back.  All that weight I worked so had to move, it looks like it's nearly all back.  Time to get on the scales.  The scales were not as high as I expected, but they were too high.  And I look terrible....  It is not my highest weight - thankfully - and it is not back to where I was at the beginning of the year..  But it is way way way too high.

The problem is, I can't count calories again.  I hate it.  It sucks.  But it works.  Plus I love cooking lots of different things, and my MIL cooks a few nights a week, it is too hard.

So I have come to a compromise for myself.  I will count calories until 5pm.  I will allow myself half of my daily allowance until then.  After that I can eat whatever I want for dinner.  There will be no chocolate afterwards, no desserts (most of the time), no junk food.  But whatever I eat for dinner is allowed and free. 

I am going to up my exercise.  Back to the running.  Riding to work.  Taking the long way home.  I'm going to start yoga next weekend.  Even thinking about going back to the - gulp - gym....

I will give this a month.  If I don't shift anything I will reassess, but I HAVE to do something.  As much as I hate it, my body is becoming uncomfortable again.  I need my body to be healthy so that I can be healthy in all aspects of myself.

xox

A New Week

Today is the start of a new week.  Weigh in this morning went well.  A lot better than expected actually considering the food I ate on the weekend.  It may catch up with me this week, but I can deal with that.  No run on the weekend.  I had my class on Saturday and Sunday was raining all day.

Speaking of the rain, it was so beautiful.  I should have gone out in it.  It has been so long since we have had a whole day of continuous rain.  We had all the windows open so we could smell it. 

I did 2 Reiki healings yesterday.  Just a quick head and shoulders on Mum then a full body on Ross.  I need a proper table though as I did Ross laying on the bed and it was uncomfortable for me to do it.  I only did half an hour rather than 45-50 minutes as my back, arms and legs were hurting.  I felt completely energised after though and am really looking forward to expanding my knowledge and understanding.

This week is devoted to packing.  We are moving over Easter.  I am a bit nervous about moving in with other people, but this is the right thing for us to do right now.

Daily Goals

1)  Drink Water

2)  Ride home

3)  Pack clothes

4)  Do some reading

5)  Laugh

xox

The Weekend....

I spent the weekend at a Training Weekend for my volunteer work.  Food was provided and there were limited options, even less for the vegetarians among us.  I made the best choices possible, but when the only option is a thick crust pizza and garlic bread, and you are starving coz there have been so few options throughout the weekend, you eat it. 

Did this affect my weekly weigh in...

Yup!

I had been doing really well throughout the week then this.  Of course it didn't help that by the time I got home last night I was so exhausted and so hungry that we ordered pizza rather than cook dinner. 

AAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This morning I feel quite ill, but it is self inflicted so no sympathy.  Time to dust off and go again.

While I was on the Training Weekend I fell over (yet again).  I bruised the front of my knee (although thankfully didn't hurt my actual knee inside) and turned my ankle a bit.  I was planning on going for a run on Sunday after I left, but decided a couple days rest due to my klutziness was in order.  Hopefully I will be right by Tuesday though.

Daily Goals
1)  Drink my water
2)  Stick to calories
3)  Don't eat too many servings of brownies at class
4)  Don't trip over or fall over or down anything
5)  Get through the day without falling asleep

xox

Update, Book Review, Game Review

Update

First things first. Thank you to everyone for your kind wishes, love and support. I had the procedure yesterday. I am home and my main feeling at the moment is relief that it is all over. I am really tired, and a bit tender. But otherwise okay.

It is weird, but I am hanging to get back on the bike and to start running again. I plan on going for a few walks on the weekend and take it from there to see when I am ready to get back into it.

This whole thing has made me more eager than ever to start living my life to the fullest. It is like a switch has been flicked inside of me. We have a lot of obstacles in our paths still, but there is nothing stopping us from getting out there more and doing all the things we talk about. It is time to live.

Book Review

Last week on my Retail Therapy expedition I bought the book “Running Hot” by Lisa Tamati.

Spending so much time waiting around in the hospital for the last couple of days has meant I have finished it already. If anyone is in need of motivation to live your life to the fullest, this is the book for you. This woman is my age. She broke her back in hear early 20’s. Since then she has cycled half way around Europe. Canoed down the Yukon River in Alaska/Canada. Hiked across the Lybian Desert through a controlled military zone, sneaking past soldiers and outposts. And ran in several Ultra Marathons including the famous Badwater Marathon in the US. Throughout all of this she also became a qualified jewellery designer and has an amazing inventory of beautiful jewellery.

This truly is an incredible read. The things that this woman has done is astounding. I highly recommend grabbing a copy of this amazing book.

Game Review

Now this is something I would not normally do. My husband and I have a DS Lite. Although I got it mainly for myself, Ross is really the one who uses it. However I recently got a copy of “The Biggest Loser” for the DS.

Can I just say, I am loving it. There is calorie counting (although American and limited), recipes, daily exercise routines, quizzes, challenges, hints and tips. It is actually really interesting. I have set up an 8 week challenge for myself. You weigh in weekly, it offers an exercise and stretching routine for each day (which I have not been able to do yet, but will start as soon as I can), gives you a calorie allowance, and has quizzes etc to do. I will still use Calorie King to count my calories, as the game is quite limited, but need to then input them, plus calories burned into the game. At the end it gives you really cool graphs and charts (which I love) plus you get Bob & Jillian cheering you on. It’s a bit of fun, and I am hoping it will give me a bit of a boost for the next 8 weeks.

That’s all from me for today. I am back to work tomorrow. I wish I could have taken a few more days off, but I need to make some money so I need to get back.

xox

Tupperware, Weight Watchers, Shopping, Eating & Running

Last night I picked up my Tupperware from my party a couple of weeks ago.  I got so much stuff.  About half of what is shown here, I actually got as hostess gifts, so it was all free.  I love it all and can't wait to start using it.

This morning I jumped on the bike and headed to my first Weight Watchers meeting.  It was pretty interesting.  I like the concept of the points.  They are based on kilojoules and saturated fat.  Plus there are some 'free' foods.  They also identify a lot of 'filler' foods which are foods that are deemed to be quite filling based on their points value.  They give you quite a lot of information in your first week.  I have sat down and read it all.  So the decision is that I am going to give this a shot for a couple of months and see how I go with it.

I got weighed in when I first got there.  Fully dressed, with shoes, after drinking water.  I weighed in at 1kg more than my starting weight for this year, so I am behind the 8-ball for the year already.  I have put my scales away and will go by the WW weigh ins.

During the meeting part of the meeting they talked about a few things, but 2 things stood out to me.  Firstly, they talked about tasting your food.  Not just eating it or shovelling it in, but actually tasting it.  Slowing down, and enjoying each mouthful.  One suggestion is to use a smaller fork so you can't pile so much on.  Also things like sucking nuts one by one instead of throwing a whole handful in your mouth.  Things I will need to work on.

The other thing was portion size.  This is, and always has been, one of the biggest problems I have.  I always fill up my plate.  A suggestion was made to use smaller plates.  My plates are massive.  So after I got home, Ross & jumped in the car and headed to the local 'House & Garden' store to see what they had in the way of funky looking side plates.  I decided I wanted a bunch of mis-matched different sized plates.  They had a sale on Maxwell & Williams, so I picked up these 2 little ones.

Ross then suggested we check out the local Salvos store.  I got a few different plates there.

A couple of small bowls.

As well as this Maxwell & Williams single serve baking dish for only a couple of dollars.

On the way home we had to stop at the supermarket, so I ducked in to the Cheap As Chips next door.  I found these gorgeous little dessert dishes.  I only got 2, but I think I will go back and get another couple as they would be great to serve up to dinner guests.

So after sitting down and working out the Weight Watchers Points values for some of my recipes, I was over the moon to discover that my Mexican Lentils were only 3.5 points per serve.  So dinner was baked potato with Mexican Lentils and light Cheese.

With a side salad - which is a completely Point-free salad so I loved that!

I have also made a decision on my running.  I am not pushing myself enough so I am going to attempt C25K again.  I downloaded the tracks and will put them on my mp3 player at work on Monday.  So 3 days a week as of Monday, I am going to run.  And hopefully in 2 months I will be able to run for 30 minutes.

Tomorrow marks the end of my 3 month trial of vegetarianism.  I have a lot of thoughts about it so I will check in sometime in the next day or so and let you know whether I have decided to stick with it.  Till then...

xox

Thinking about things...

I got posed a question in the last few days.  It was on a weight loss forum I visit.  We were talking about success - or lack thereof - with our weights in 2009.  Then this came up....

"What are you doing to make 2010 different to 2009?"

It got me thinking.  What AM I doing different this year?  The answer - Not a whole lot.  My eating is still all over the place, my exercise sporadic at best. How on earth am I doing to achieve my goals and become the person I want to become, if I repeat the same behaviors over and over?

I need to DO something.

One possible answer...

I am going to go to a meeting this weekend and see if this is for me.  I know that the point system is pretty much the same as counting calories - I get that.  The difference is going to a weekly meeting.  Being with others who have been there or are there right now.  Listening to the information presented.  And having to front up each week and get on the scales in front of someone.

Maybe this is what I need right now?  Only way to find out is to go and give it a shot.  Wish me luck!

xox