To go down or to go up ? What will my body decide to do ?

Things have been tracking really well with my exercise and eating this week but I am not seeing any loss. Have I reached the famous ‘plateau’ that everyone talks about ? Is my body saying ‘Hey, this is too fast – where is all my insulation going ? Don’t you know that winter is coming up and I need it ?’ which doesn’t really help me accept that the weight is not moving even though I am doing everything the same.

Yesterday I did have a summer roll chocolate – and I thoroughly enjoyed every morsel of it. I figure if I can’t eat something worth about 160 cal without having heart palpitations over it, my life probably isn’t worth living anyway. And one chocolate in I don’t know how many weeks surely can’t be too bad for me. I got home last night and really didn’t feel like walking but A was up for a walk and I felt a bit guilty over the chocolate so went walking. I don’t think I walked as fast as I normally do because my thighs were quite tight and tender. The important thing for me was actually getting out there rather than staying at home and working my way through the list of things that I had to do last night. I tackled those when I got home and apart from one thing which wasn’t on the list because I had forgotten I wanted to do it, I managed to get the rest of the list done so felt really good about that.

I have one client tonight so, depending on the weather because it is peeing down with rain now and has been raining on and off most of the day, we will go for a cycle or a walk and then home to dinner and my client.

I found a training program for us to use in the lead up to the bike ride. The main problem is that it is a 12 week program and we will only have 7 1/2 weeks from when we return from holiday so I think I may just start the program off at week 6 and see how we go. It may get a bit tricky trying to fit it in with clients and two jobs but we will do the best we can.

Only another two work days and then we are on our way – I can’t wait !!!

Have a great day and take care.

TFTD : Bad times have scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

A great weekend !

I can't believe that the weekend is over - the good thing is that we have managed to accomplish so much.

Friday night I promoted my business, The Body and Feet Retreat, at a friend's kindy's Ladies Night and it was really worthwhile. I got to bookings and heaps of enquiries which was great - all for the princely sum of $10 and the donation of a free reflexology treatment.

Saturday morning K and I went to a really good yoga class. After that K went to work and A and I went to Brisbane. We visited a friend in hospital who is doing really well and may be allowed to go home tomorrow. After that we drove the route of the 50km bike ride that we are going to ride at the end of June - boy do we have a whole heap of hill work to do in order to complete this race without killing ourselves !!!! The hills are more numerous, steeper and longer than what we have around here so we have our work cut out for us. BUT, they are all do-able - it is just that more training would mean an easier ride. I know that it is all in the gears, but I was still a little startled when I saw some of the hills - we will get there I know. A says that he is more worried about all the other people cycling with us and avoiding us stacking it more than he is worried about the hills !!!

We stopped off at DFO on our way home and, I can now shop at Lorna Jane !!!!!!!! - YAY because their clothes are so comfy - am waiting until I am closer to goal before I go back again ! Got home and then took the dogs for a really long walk to get my steps for the day over the 10,000 mark and got caught in the rain on the way home so had a nice hot bath to warm up.

This morning we were going to cycle down to Broadbeach to the markets there but once we started, we realised that there was a fairly strong head wind so we decided to go along a road that has a few hill. I was so excited when I got to the top of the first hill which I have been DREADING cycling because I didn't think I would make it - BUT I DID !!!!! I was soooooooooo excited. Anyway, we didn't get quite as far as we wanted to go because half way up the last long hill, I wasn't sure I would make it home if we went all the way to the top so we turned around - I was disappointed afterwards because I felt as if I had stuck it out I probably would have made it. Next time I am not going to stop half way !

We got home and then went out and bought some slicks for our moutain bikes at a really good price and swopped the jeans we bought the other night from black to demin. After that we to Anaconda to swop the speedo that A had bought for my bike and the guy we saw was just amazing. He really knew his stuff and we spoke about getting new road bikes. The bottom line is we went back and landed up buying new bikes - unfortunately, we had taken our bikes there for him to see and then we had 6 bikes and a bike holder for 4 bikes so K and I waited there with the other two until A could get home and drop the first 4 bikes off. By the time we got home it was too late to go cycling - how disappointing !!!!!!! But, they are all ready and waiting for us to use them tomorrow.

A was busy putting the speedos on the new bikes when we decided to go walking except by then it was raining. So we waited 10 mins and it was fine to go walking ! Managed to get my 10,000 steps up by running on the spot for 80 steps before I had a bath. I have twinged the muscle in my right quad and am off to massage it a bit and put some heat on it and hopefully it will be all right for me to try out the new bike - I can't wait !!!!!!

We have had a great weekend and next weekend we are off to Melbourne - life is good right now ! Take care and have a great week.

It's back .................... sort of !

The motivation that I was missing yesterday is back today. Last night I realised that it is up to me to change my attitude if I don’t like what is happening – I don’t have to be a victim of my circumstances and so today I started the day in a different frame of mind and it is working – I don’t feel down like I did yesterday. It is all good and I am happy.

I had a hectic night last night but that was OK because I knew it was going to be hectic so had a bit of plan for tackling everything. I had a late client so it was after 9pm by the time I was finished with her and then K wanted a massage so it was closer to 10pm by the time I as ready to eat by which time I no longer wanted to eat – so I didn’t. I figured that missing one meal wasn’t going to kill me and it was probably better for me not to eat that late in the day although I do think that it gave me a false reading at my weigh in this morning. Down another 1.4kg taking total loss in 13 weeks to 15.2 ! That is just about half way so I am quite happy with that. Someone asked me the other day if I was happy with how my weight loss was progressing and I said that it was probably quicker than I think it should be (or what it has been in the past) but not as fast as I would like it to be !!!!! I think what has made it a bit easier this time is that the whole family is doing it and while K&A never tempted me and supported me in my weight loss endeavours, there is something different about them supporting me to them actually doing what I am doing. Plus we are doing heaps more exercise that I have done in more years than I care to think about !! Having said that I am really enjoying it and the feeling of accomplishment when we get home after a hard walk or cycle is fantastic ! Just knowing that I got off my butt and did something is good.

Have a great Friday tomorrow everyone !

TFTD : The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you are willing to work – Oprah Winfrey

Come back Motivation ...... all is forgiven !

I don’t know what has happened but today my motivation has gone AWOL – and I don’t like it ! “Come back motivation – all is forgiven”. I have to believe it is a short term hitch and nothing too serious but honestly, right now I could sit down and tuck into all the foods that I know aren’t good for my weight loss plan. But instead, I am sitting here, drinking my water and writing my blog in the hope that I will be distracted enough not to pick up my purse and go and raid the vending machine. Of course that may still happen seeing as there are still another 3 hrs of work for today left but, for now, I am distracted enough not to do it.

Last night we had ribs for dinner. I knew we were going for ribs and I planned accordingly. I could have had nothing to eat during the day but I knew that wouldn’t work because when the ribs came I would have savaged the whole rack and all the chips and probably the plate as well (actually, I don’t think they use plates I think they use serving platters !) but I planned my food for the day and cut down my calories, where I could, to allow for some extra calories at dinner. All in all I probably did eat too many calories at dinner but I am certain that it wouldn’t have been a gazillion more than I should have – in fact it probably wasn’t even thousands more than I should have and more like maybe a couple of hundred calories more than I should have. But, given the exercise that we got up to on the weekend, I know that I have already burnt those calories off. So the question is – Why do I feel like I want to eat every single chocolate in sight today ? Is it because I haven’t reached my 10,000 steps for the past two days and, while I know I need to make the effort for the rest of week, I am already wondering how late at night I will need to walk in order to reach my 10,000 steps for the rest of the week. Part of me has said – why not make your week the same as your weigh week (Thursday – Wednesday) ? But there is a part of me that knows that it is just trying to justify having another day of not reaching my goal without making me feel guilty !!! I understand that things happen to get in the way of our plans but this is really just bad planning on my part – actually, not even bad planning because these were planned, I just didn’t follow the plan when it came up as a reminder on my phone !!!!! So I need to pull myself towards myself, stop stuffing around and just get on with what needs to be done.

I have a new client tonight which is great – hopefully she will turn into a regular client but if she doesn’t, I hope that she enjoys the treatment that she will have had by the time I get to post this entry.

I wonder if maybe I am trying to spread my positivity too thin. I am trying to stay positive about my weight loss, my eating and my exercise and even more so than those, I am trying to stay positive about finding a new job – the job that is just right for me because I really don’t want to go from one miserable job to another. I want to find a job that is challenging without being over the top because at the end of the day, my family and my health are more important than any job will ever be but it is so hard when I have been looking for such a long time and trying to stay positive for such a long time I starting to wear me down. I feel like I must be doing it incorrectly otherwise how come the universe hasn’t responded. I know that the universe works in it’s own time but, in this context, three months isn’t exactly a short period of time.

Tomorrow will be a better day.

TFTD : When you realise that nothing is lacking, the whole world belongs to you !

Finding the balance

Before we started our weight loss journey, we went to a local tavern to have ribs for dinner but, because we got there at about 7pm, by the time we came to order, they had run out of ribs and so we had to order something else which was extremely disappointing because we had gone there hanging out for ribs but then not able to have them. We started our diet the next day and after a couple of weeks Al wanted to know when we could go for ribs. I told him he could go at any time but until I had lost at least 12-14kgs, I wasn't even going to consider going there because I needed to stay focussed on my weight loss - which is a lot more than what he has to lose. While I hit the 13.8kg mark at the weekly weigh-in, I did lose more and hit the 14kg mark so said to A that he could book a table for ribs tonight. He did and we went and had them - and they were awesome ! I really enjoyed them - I could have eaten more than I did but I didn't because I had had enough and I would have just been eating for the sake of eating which is one of the reasons I put on the weight in the first place. Is this the first step to recognising a trigger that sets me on the slippery slope downward after I have lost my weight ? I am really happy that I realised when I had eaten enough and stopped.

I know at some point we are going to have to stop doing L&E, if only because the sameness of the meals after a period of time is enough to make you wander off to the vending machine rather than eat the healthy lunch that you have at work. With this in mind I have started to 'make up' my own lunch. The main difference ? There is always some fruit and my 'treat' for the day is only 80-100 cal instead of 700-800 cal - who would have thought that there were so many calories in biscuits - such innocent looking little things ?

When I started counting steps this time I set a goal of achieving over 10,000 steps 5 days out of 7 - this week I have had my two days off already - and it is only Tuesday !!!! But, that is OK - yesterday I had yoga and I had told myself that it would be a rest day after the full on day we had on Sunday. Today we went out to dinner and when we got home, A said "Let's go for a walk" - I could have gone with him but I stayed at home to watch Gray's Anatomy and Private Practice - they are my two favourite shows on TV and tonight I would rather watch them than exercise. Is that a bad thing ? I don't think so - I think this is about finding the balance between exercising and relaxation - yes, I could have exercised but I wanted to watch the shows, so I stayed at home while he took the two dog for a walk and the best part is, I don't feel guilty about it. I feel I have achieved the balance that I needed today - it may not be like this tomorrow, but for today, I have balanced what I want to do with what I need to do.

TFTD : People with goals succeed because they know where they are going.

The weekend that was

I wish that this was a four day weekend instead of a normal two day weekend because it has certainly been a busy one ! From yoga at 8am yesterday - to treating some clients - to going to buy some road bikes only to be told that there are none in stock ............ anywhere in Australia until the 2011 stock comes in in about a month's time. So, seeing as we couldn't get our bikes we took the dogs for a walk instead before going to work for 3 hrs - what more could you ask for on a Saturday night ????? Certainly not that BUT it helps to pay the bills so, it was off to work we went.

When the alarm went off at 6am this morning I wasn't too keen to get up to head off for our second 5km race, but I did. We will find out our time tomorrow and so there be able to see the improvement from the first race which was a couple of weeks back - just not sure if we can keep improving on our times. We will miss the next race as we will be in Melbourne but then we will be back for the fourth race on 30th May and the last race on 20th June - one week before we do the 50km Brisbane to Bay bike ride.

We got home from there, loaded up and drove down to Currumbin Valley were we did a 22km cycle along Currumbin Creek Road - a long steady incline made us really work our legs today and, with an average speed to 19.2kph, we were happy with our efforts.

Got home and had lunch before going to Anaconda where they are having a huge sale on bike stuff where we bought some new knicks, two wind breakers and some more cycling gloves. Oh yes, and some more lights for our bicycles. Because we cycle quite often at night and, as it is getting closer to winter and the days getting darker sooner, the flashing lights that we have are not that flash (no pun intended) to cycle with BUT they are great for visibility. So we decided to buy another light so that we can have one flashing light and one light on all the time which helps us to see where we are going.

After we had spent a (very) quick $250 on the bike stuff, we came home and did another 5km walk with the dogs. They had a great time running down a secluded path on a 30m rope - they always seem to walk so much better once they have been for a run. We had a family birthday BBQ to go to at Paradise Point, so had a quick shower and dashed off down there. All I really wanted to do was to stay at home and relax but that was not to be. We were there about 2 hrs before everyone left and we could come home where we have been sitting and relaxing for a while. If I don't sleep well tonight there is going to be all sorts of trouble. I have been sleeping so badly lately which is quite strange before normally when I exercise it helps me to sleep better but not so lately. I can only hope.

I can't say that I am looking forward to a 5 day work week but I will be happy to get a full weeks pay so I guess that I will have to show up there in order to get the money.

I also have two bookings for new clients this week which is great - here's hoping that they turn into regulars. I have a stand at a ladies night on Friday night at a friends kindy and hopefully I will attract a few new clients from that. Once we are back from Melbourne I really have to knuckle down and get some more advertising happening to try to build the business - I really want this to work so that we can give up Coles.

OK - I am going to read a bit before going to bed - take care everyone and have a great week !

TFTD : For every minute you're angry, you lose 60 seconds of happiness.

TGIF !

I know that it has only been a short week (and if I wasn't sure my pay packet next week will remind me !!!) but I am really glad that today is Friday - not sure I would have managed to get through another day of work.

For some reason I have not been sleeping very well lately - not sure why because normally when I exercise as much as we have been, I sleep really well. It doesn't seem to be the situation at the moment - maybe because I haven't been to yoga for a while. Looking forward to going tomorrow morning. Then on Monday night and after that we will be going on Thursday night and Saturday which will be good because the class on a Thursday is the intermediate class and goes for 90 mins instead of 60 mins.

On Wednesday A said that he had a surprise for me but wouldn't tell me what it was. I guessed a few things but wasn't right and then he said that he would tell me on Thursday after we had weighed. I forgot all about it and yesterday morning he showed me the easter eggs that he had bought from the South African shop - candy coated chocolate eggs that look similar to normal eggs. We used to love these eggs as kids - the first year we had them my Mom had put them into egg cups and pretended that they were real boiled eggs for our breakfast. Of course when we tried to crack the egg and couldn't then realised that they were chocolate we couldn't wait to eat them. We used to get them every year. After we were married, Al and I would buy a couple of boxes (6 eggs in a box) and eat them over the course of a couple of weeks leading up to Easter and beyond. I was really excited when I saw them but said I wouldn't have it for breakfast which is always a rush but would rather keep mine until I could sit down and quietly savour the taste. I had mine tonight - it wasn't as good as I remember it being and so I told Al that he could he the other one in the box that was mine. No point in eating extra calories if they aren't really what I want ! That is something that I have learnt more and more about this time around - I was always brought up to eat what was dished up 'because there were thousands of starving children around the world' - was my Mom going to ship the food I didn't eat off to them ? I don't think so - but she used to tell us that everytime we didn't want to eat something. When I think back now I should have just said no and not eaten it except that we didn't do that, we did what our parents said and that was that. There was certainly never any discussion about why they told us to do something or any reasons given for anything. Maybe that is where we went wrong with K sometimes - had too many discussions and explained our decisions instead of just telling her to do something and be done with it ! Anyway, I digress.

I was talking to someone the other day about the fact that there were a few occasions when I had made a conscious decision to buy a miniture chocolate and eat it - always after I had waited at least 3 hours. The point was that I didn't just go off and buy a large chocolate as soon as I thought "I feel like a chocolate" invariably because I was bored or anxious or waiting for something to happen. She explained the behaviour as a lapse in my eating plan rather than a relapse into a bad habit. That has stood me in good stead quite a few times since then when I have made a decision to eat something - I always think about whether it is a lapse or a relapse. I don't want a relapse but I am happy to have a lapse if it means that I will have a miniture chocolate rather than a large chocolate - just enough to satisfy the sweet tooth that I have that has really missed my daily diet of chocolates and biscuits that I used to live on.

I am trying something a little different with my L&E this week. On the 1200 plan - you generally get cereal, toast and fruit for breakfast. Lunch can be a variety of things plus a fruit and a snack - a biscuit / muffin / pate and biscuits / cracker mix - again a range of things. And then dinner is dinner. The last couple of weeks I have not been too enchanted with the lunches so what I am trying this week is to order breakfast and dinner for the week plus 5 of the 'meal in a bowl' for me to use for lunches (we sometimes get them in the lunches anyway) and then I have bought some fruit cups as my fruit (again something that we would get in the lunches) and I have bought some biscuits to have as my afternoon treat based on the calories that I need for the day. The difference now is that instead of having 6 or 8 biscuits as my snack, I have one AND I always wait until at least 3pm before I eat it - that is the time that I have said is snack time otherwise it would be eaten by 9am every day and then I would have nothing to look forward to !!!!

We have a busy weekend planned - tomorrow we have yoga from 8-9am, then drop K at work on the way home, get home and walk to pick up our numbers for the 5km walk on Sunday morning and take the dogs for a walk at the same time. Have to be home by 10am as I have an appointment from 11-12. Then dash home again for a client at 12.30pm and another at 2pm. After that I think we may shoot off to see about getting some road bikes - am not keen on doing long distances on the mountain bikes without slicks on - but it will depend on what else needs to be done. Then home in time to have dinner and get to Coles by 6pm. On Sunday the race starts at 7am - at least we will have collected our numbers and timing card the day before which means that we can go straight to the start on Sunday morning. K is working at 9am so will have to get home quickly after the race so she can shower and get to work on time. The last race we did in 44mins and some secs so will be interesting to see if we are fitter and can do it quicker this time around. Al and I are going down to Currumbin Creek Road to do a cycle up a road that is apparently a long incline - to help with our fitness levels and stamina for hills. Think that might take a couple of hours (also good to have to sit on the bicycle seat for longer than the hour or so that we normally cycle for) and then it will be home time to shower before going up to Brisbane to see if we can drive the route of the 50km race that we are doing on 27th June. We want to try to have cycled it at least once before the big day so it may have to be next weekend as we don't want to do it too close to the actual day - the weekend after we are off to Melbourne and Adelaide - YAY !!!! Once we get home from Brisbane we have been invited to a BBQ at Paradise Point for one of our nephew's birthday - Al has taken out some steak for the BBQ but K and I are going to heat our meals up and then wrapped them up and take them with us. Much as I love my nephew, I don't want to have a night of eating food that is not what I want and likely to break my focus on the weight loss side of things. I do know that once I am at goal, the trick is going to be intergrating ordinary eating back into our lifestyle and still be able to maintain the weight. I think it will be so much easier this time around because we are all watching what we eat and so when one overdoes things the others are more likely to say hey, do you really need that extra helping of dessert ?????

I am officially a granny - I am sitting in the loungeroom - blogging and watching TV with my bifocal glasses on - what a pleasure to be able to work on the computer and then glance up and be able to see the game on TV !!!!! While the operation was a success, I do miss the close vision that I used to have BUT I don't miss having to wear glasses or contacts 24/7. It is great to be able to see the time on the clock next to the bed, and dry my hair without having to have my glasses on, and eat without glasses on and be able to see what I am eating ! So many positive except for the fact that I can't read and watch TV or knit a pattern and watch TV because my glasses were for distance only. Now with the bifocals, I can do both - YAY !!!!!!!

Have a great weekend everyone - take care and Jod, go safely on the bike ride.


TFTD : It is easier to drift than it is to climb.

Another weigh-in tomorrow

Thursday seems to come around quite quickly lately - more than once a week I am sure !!!! This is our weigh-in day and while I did have a small Lindt easter bunny and two hot cross buns for breakfast on Sunday, we also did heaps of cycling and walking to burn off those extra calories. I am curious to see whether or not it worked.

I have been doing really well making my 10,000 steps per day although last night I had to run on the spot for 250 steps to reach my goal but I just knew I couldn't go to bed knowing that I had got so close and didn't manage to make it.

A is looking at us doing a 50km cycle in June - Brisbane to the Bay - you cycle from Southbank to Wynnum and back. Would like to drive the course before we enter but early bird discount entrance fee happens if you register before Friday so will have to weigh up the difference between having to pay extra for each of the three of us or maybe entering a race only to find it is full of hills after we have paid. At least with it being in June we do have a bit of time to get some more hill work in - we have been doing some hill work in preparation for the Brisbane to Gold Coast cycle in October but we haven't done anything serious.

My legs were tired tonight when we cycled - I think that tomorrow night I will give them a break and go shopping with K. No matter how many times I tell her Melbourne is the shopping capital of Australia, she insists on buying clothes to take down with her !!!! Will see what she finds tomorrow night.

I am off to have some dinner, do some washing and then hopefully have a great night's sleep = I have been sleeping so badly lately and it is really annoying. Normally when I exercise I sleep so well but not lately - the more I exercise the more it seems to keep me awake.

Take care and have a great day !

TFTD : Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying "I will try again tomorrow"

A holi-holi-holiday !

The good news is that A got the all clear on the lump that was removed - so huge relief over that. Now it is a case of waiting to see if the cut heals or whether he will need a skin graft.

We have had a good few days - lots of exercise - walking and cycling and food has been pretty good except for Thursday at work when I had four little solid easter eggs - I really enjoyed them but I don't think that counts for anything ! I need to be more focused on what I am putting into my mouth. We each have one Lindt easter bunny for Sunday - can't make up my mind whether to just eat it all in one sitting and be done with it or spread it over a period of time. Will see how I feel on Sunday. While we are enjoying the exercise, it really is to help counter-act the effects of the chocolate !!!!!

I landed up working at Coles last night - not my first choice of how to spend the evening but it helps with the money seeing as I only worked 3 days this week.

Tomorrow we have hired a high pressure cleaner to clean the outside tiles - Easter is our annual clean up weekend and I love when we are finished and the tiles are all nice and clean again - it is amazing how dirty they get from one year to the next.

We don't have much else planned - K is working tomorrow. We want to do some longish cycles and lots of walks. I have managed every day, except Monday,to have over 10,000 steps so am really pleased with my efforts in that department.

Sorry this is a little dis-jointed, I am half listening to the TV, half listening to A & K talking and thinking I should go and join them rather than be on the computer.

Will come back another time this weekend and post again !

Have a great Easter break - take care and go safely.

TFTD : Whoever is happy will make others happy too.