Christmas

Its unbelievable that we feel the need to stuff ourselves silly during the Christmas season, no wonder its called the silly season.
I have nothing but Christmas night outs, lucky most I have been able to pre order and that was done when I had my sensible hat on and able to choose appropriate meals that would suit my diet.  For some reason we feel we can eat as much as we like as soon as we put up the Christmas decorations lol  oh well lucky it only happens once a year.
I have finished work and have been enjoying relaxing with my family the past few days.
I have found a great way to exercise, walking around the shops doing your Christmas shopping.  Just dont visit the food court lol  I think I may be nearly finished with my shopping, now I just need to wrap them all up.
We have worked out our Christmas lunch, and as my Sister, daughter and myself are all following WW we have planned a pretty good lunch with lots of WW salads to go with our prawns, ham and chicken.  Mind you I will definately have to sample Mums pudding with brandy sauce, but just a sample will be enough.
Back to more wrapping, enjoy your silly season!

Sunday 29.11

December is nearly here and no time to get sick. I woke with a horrible sore throat and headache, so hopefully it will go as quickly as it came.
I have been preparing for Christmas lunch as I am hosting it this year and want to prepare low fat salads, cold meats and yummy seafood.  Check out some of the recipes as I will post them here when I can this week.

This week 26.11.09

I had a good week with a couple of goals reached.  Finally the scales showed a loss of .7.  I am so pleased as I was on a mini see saw with a small loss, small gain, week after week, so finally I am moving in the right direction and my head is also in the right place to move forward.  The other goal was I went shopping for some summer shorts as last years size 20 just wont do it.  To my surprise I fit into a size 14 woohooo doing a little dance here, that is one of my goals and does it feel good to get there.
My plan for this week is to track, that really helped me to stay on track, and writing it down before the day begins was also a big help in sticking to the points.  I also plan to exercise, so this week I will exercise, friday afternoon, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday (thats the plan anyway)

Sat 21.11

The weekend is here and I am off scrapbooking today with a bunch of ladies who are very creative.  We are all getting in the Christmas spirit and are having a shared lunch and even santa is sending some presents for us :) 
I intend to make some christmas cards and I will post some of the results tomorrow or Mon.
The weather here in Sydney is HOT HOT HOT, so its nice to know the place we are going is air conditioned.
I have been tracking and drinking lots of water, the exercise part hasent happened yet this week, but I plan to go tomorrow with Sarah and do our workout then have a swim and spa.
Hope everyone has a good weekend

18.11

Today is my youngest son's birthday.  He turns 15 today and I cant believe its 15 years ago that he came into the world.  He is such a lovely young man and I am so proud of the way he is growing up. 
As my children grow older the relationship between mother and child changes, yes you still remain their Mother but you also become friends and I love spending time with my kids, especially as young adults they are such a joy in my life and I feel especially blessed to have 4 loving children and 1 adorable grandson.
Ok enough of the sloppy stuff lol
I weighed in tonight and stayed the same, which is ok I suppose, but I am determined to get this weight moving again, so this week I promise I will track.... yikkkes I really hate tracking but ok I will do it this week.  I promise to exercise and pray the headaches stay at bay so I can. 
I cant believe its 5 weeks until christmas, now that Kieran's birthday is over I only have one more before christmas and thats my husband Rob.  He is the 1st December and then its christmas and then holidays, omg thats incentive to stick to the plan because were going away to the beach.
TRACK, TRACK, TRACK

Thursday 12th

I weighed in last night at WW and said to the lady weighing me, I know I have gained and to my surprise I had lost .3.  The whole lecture was about motivation and not focussing on the scales but on other signs of weight loss, e.g clothes getting bigger and feeling better in yourself health wise.  It was just what I needed and I went straight to the gym after and did my workout.
I decided I am going to set a mini goal and reward for me.  My goal is to lose at least half a kilo a week until christmas and my reward is to buy a nice dress for christmas, preferably a red one lol I have dropped to a size 14 dress and it would be really nice to go down to a size 12 so what the heck lets aim for that. :)

Tuesday 10th November

I have been really struggling this week, I seem to have lost my motivation and enthusiasm to keep on trying.  I have had a very sore neck and shoulders which causes headaches etc and that alone has been hard to get to the gym.  I also am a bit fed up with not eating all the chocolate that I would like (which would put me back to the situation I was in a year ago and 15 kilos heavier.
My sister sent me an email this morning, and it was about getting fit for summer and wearing your cossie on the beach, and I remembered how good I will feel when I go for a swim this year and not be so self conscious of the extra rolls and how good I feel wearing a size 14 dress.  That was enough to get my butt moving, so I took myself off to the gym this afternoon and did I feel good about it :)
Sometimes I think we need to let ourselves take stock of what we are doing, not be too hard on ourselves when we take a few steps backwards and be proud of our determination.
A new WW week for me tomorrow and I feel I have a new positive approach that will keep me going for now. :)

Thursday

Well I weighed in with a little gain of .1 and I am not worried about that, it will catch up with me next week, but I did come home and ate too much, oh well its done now, all I can do is to start anew today and keep going.
I am going to the gym this afternoon after work, and we will be having fish for dinner.

Wednesday 4.11

Its WW day again and I think I have lost something, my clothes feel a little looser so thats always a good indication, if not I will lose next week.
Yesterday was my sons birthday and it was also the hottest day we have had in a long time.  In our house the birthday person gets to choose the dinner and he chose tacos, which is pretty good not only because it was hot but because it fits in ok with ww.  He also chose an ice cream cake, now I dont think that is too bad with ww but seeing I didnt eat a real lot yesterday it was ok and I really enjoyed it.
No exercise, mind you I did run around the school all day so maybe that will help.

Monday - exercise plan for the week

I can't believe it is November already, it will be Christmas before we know it.  I have been back on track, my daughter Sarah took me off to the gym on Sat, it nearly killed me lol after not exercising for almost 2 weeks it was a killer.  Then Sunday I had another date with Sarah and the gym, now yesterday I only managed 6 minutes on the cross trainer, Sunday I couldnt manage 3 minutes, my legs were killing me and my heart was going all funny and I felt faint, so I did 30 minutes on the bike instead.
Today after work I took myself off to the gym, did 30 treadmill, 30 bike and 5 minutes cross trainer (its still a killer)
Its so easy to get out of the habit of exercising and it takes a while to get back into it, sore muslces and aches and pains, boy I'm sounding old now.  I ache if I go to the gym and I ache if I dont go, so I may as well go and enjoy the high that you get for 24 hours after exercising.
My plan for this week is, rest day tomorrow, my son is turning 20 so we have a birthday dinner set for him, tacos yummm love em.
Wed is ww then I go off to the gym after that, hopefully gym on thur and fri.  Boy thats a big commitment but I will try and keep it because I want at least 5 kilo gone by christmas.

My weight loss this week

It was just what I expected, a gain of .8, oh well I know why, you can't cheat yourself on this journey, it always shows on the scales.
So I am back on track, making sure I track and trying to get back to the gym, boy its hard to make that first step, once I get back into a routine of going to the gym I find it easy.
So I thought I would post my daily tracker on here, have to figure out how lol

Just do it! "Believe"

"Your life is a sacred journey. And it is about change, growth, discovery, movement, transformation, continuously expanding your vision of what is possible, stretching your soul, learning to see clearly and deeply, listening to your intuition, taking courageous challenges at every step along the way. You are on the path... exactly where you are meant to be right now... And from here, you can only go forward, shaping your life story into a magnificent tale of triumph, of healing of courage, of beauty, of wisdom, of power, of dignity, and of love."
Caroline Adams

I was lucky enough to be shown how to use a Labyrinth, it was amazing the effect it had on me, walking round and round the maze, step by step, feeling the power of letting go of worries and anxieties and to finally end up in a place of inner strength.
I have taken some information from

http://www.lessons4living.com/labyrinth.htm to help explain the experience.

A labyrinth has only one path. The way in is the way out. There are no blind alleys. The path leads you on a path to the center and out again. A labyrinth is a right brain task. It involves intuition, creativity, and imagery. At its most basic level the labyrinth is a metaphor for the journey to the center of your deepest self and back out into the world with a broadened understanding of who you are.

My Labyrinth walk gave me motivation, strength and hope that I can achieve whatever I want to achieve.
One quote from the weekend which has been one that I had already adopted at the beginning of the year was "just do it" no excuses to not exercise or not to eat healthy, but just do it.

Spiritual retreat

I have been very lucky to attend a spiritual retreat which was held at Bowral. It is nice to stop and smell the roses and take time to look inwards. The experience has given me a boost of motivation and encouragement to keep me going. I have a renewed strength and feel very positive about my journey to a healthy me.
As for my diet this week, well lets just say I am expecting a gain on the scales. Its hard to stay on track when you are away and don't have control over the meals. It is also very hard when every meal and snack is cooked by fantastic old fashioned cooks lol Yeah I know, I should of had some will power, but its no use looking back and crying over spilt milk.
So from now on I am back on track, just had a little detour for a few days but that is not going to stop me.
I feel empowered from my weekend and I will go into that when I can later.

My week

I had a funny week, with being back at work and going to the gym, then on Wednesday (the really hot day) I went on an excursion with 60 year 2 kids to Mount Annan Gardens, we had a lovely day and walked for a good 2 to 3 hours, which is great for me. Unfortunately I came home with a whopping migraine and went straight to bed. It hung around for days and leaves my head and neck sore.

I have just returned from a family weekend away with Robs brothers and sisters and their families. We had a lovely time and went on a bush walk yesterday and played with the kids. Spent some quality time with my grandson and yes I did indulge a little and boy had a few too many drinks last night.
Sometimes its really hard to stick to my plan, but you have to say, its over now, I can't take it back and just move on.
To make it even harder I am going on a spiritual retreat with work this afternoon until Tuesday afternoon, with all meals provided, so all I can do to try and stay on track is to choose the healthy choices that I have available and go for walks if I can. Sometimes the weight loss journey needs to be on the back burner for a few days so the mind and soul can be nourished. But I will be back refreshed and in full swing to buckle down for the onslaught on the silly season fast approaching. I suppose weight loss must fit in with our life and learning to pick yourself up and keep on going is a lesson in itself.

Back to the gym

Today I went back to work and back into a routine that I found necessary to keep me on track. I find it so easy when I have to pack my lunch and morning tea, I just eat what I have in my lunch box and when work has morning teas (and they have them all the time) I just stick to what I have packed. Being back at work also means back to the gym, you would think being on holidays and having the time would make it easier to go, but I really needed time to relax and sleep in and just chill. Today meant I had to bite the bullet and get back to exercise and the gym wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I did 20 minutes walking, only managed 3.5 minutes on the cross trainer (oh dear I have gone from 13 to 15 minutes to 3.5 in 3 weeks, and 20 minutes on the bike, then 15 minutes of stretches.
I feel fantastic after exercising, my muscles are sore but a good kind of sore and I feel very proud of myself.
Tonight were having spag bol, basically I cook up the mince, drain the fat, add 2 tins of tomatoes, stock, garlic, italian herbs, touch of sugar and let it simmer, then add 2 large tablespoons of tomato paste. yummm

15 kilos & charm bracelet

Spring arrived and so did another loss and I was now up to 15 kilos.
I was able to buy a new charm for my bracelet, oh I dont think I have mentioned my weight loss bracelet.
A friend, Michelle, at WW mentioned she has a motivation bracelet and when she loses weight she buys a charm for her bracelet, its a constant reminder on my wrist of sticking to the diet and the little charms are all picked specifically with weightloss and health in mind. e.g. scales, fruit, joggers etc
So for Mothers day my family brought me a pandora bracelet, well an imitation one lol and so far I have 15 charms on it and love wearing my bracelet.

Birthday surprise

My birthday was in Aug and the kids took me shopping for some new clothes. 3 of my 4 kids took me into Target and had 10 dresses for me to try on, it became a little fashion parade with my Grandson screaming with delight when he saw his Nanna step out behind the curtain lol
To my surprise I fitted into a size 16 wooohooo I did a little dance in the change room and that lifted my motivation big time to keep going and see the results of exercise and healthy eating.

10% and 10 kilos

I was so proud to get to 10% and 10 kilos, wow I feel incredible and so proud of myself.

I have dropped to a size 18 in trousers and my blood pressure has come down since christmas and so far is staying down.
Its unbelievable the difference I feel even the small things have become easier e.g putting my shoes on, getting up off the floor at work when I have been working with the kids.
Motivation issant always at its best and sometimes it feels like one step forward and two back, but I am going to stick with it and if nothing else determination will get me there.

New Years resolution

My New Years resolution was to go to a WW meeting every week and stay for the meeting, also to do some kind of exercise as often as I can and to ignore that little voice in my head giving every excuse under the sun to not go to they gym... this year my New Years resolution is "just do it"

12 months on ww

12 months ago I was feeling unwell, tired and very unmotivated. I had just had a hysterectomy and with very high blood pressure, I felt I had to take some serious steps to losing some weight otherwise the Dr will put me on medication to get the blood pressure down.

I have done the weight watchers program before and lost 20 kilos then became a life time member, but for the last 10 years I have done everything in my powers to stay away from WW and when I have gone to a meeting I didnt last very many weeks. This made me think that If I am going to get really serious, I need to make a big commitment to losing weight. It meant I had to get my whole family involved in the journey. The family were right behind me and my younger daughter even came to meetings with me and would study the program so that she could help me and encourage me.
I weighed in the heaviest ever!!! 103.6 kilo, boy I am not proud of that but hey its out there now.
So with the program in hand and a new commitment I went home to read through all the information that I received from WW. My younger daughter wanted me to make a small goal of 5 kilo and think of a non food reward.
She also convinced me to go back to the gym and to commit to going at least 3 times a week. (I must add now that this daughter is studying to be a fitness trainer)

I must say the program was fairly simple to follow and with my renewed enthusiasm and encouragement from my family the weight started to fall off me. By christmas I had lost 5 kilo and I was so proud of myself.

I will continue this in the next post... so much to say