Sunday, July 25, 2010

Surprise !

A surprise birthday party for me is what I walked into when we got home from picking up some DVD’s last night ! A and K had organised another surprise party for me without me suspecting a thing – he really is amazing at being able to do this. When I look back now I can see the signs and the reason for some of the questions and decisions that were made but at the time I had no idea.

I don’t know how he knew I was going to suggest getting some DVD’s last night and he won’t say what plan B was if I didn’t suggest getting them. K got home from work and I said “What about getting some DVD’s ?” and she said “OK” so off we went. Then she was calling A to check if he wanted to see what we had chosen (Law Abiding Citizen and Dear John) and he said they were fine (not sure if that was what he really said actually !!!). Next thing, her phone rings again and she tells me that he has called to say that they really are OK – I am sure that they were just making sure we didn’t get home before everyone got there !!!!

When we drove down our street, I saw my folks car and said to K “Wonder why Gogo and Papa are here ? They don’t normally come this late in the evening.” She replied that maybe they had come to check mail. So I left it at that. Anyway, got inside and as I walked into the kitchen she said I had to close my eyes – I thought that it was just my folks there but there were other family and friends as well. It was just lovely.

They had organised all the food – nibblies, meat, salads, rolls, dessert – everything !!!!! A and I had had an amazing day together and it was just the perfect way to end the day.

I am so lucky to have the wonderful family that I have. I couldn’t have asked for a more caring, mostly unselfish daughter who is not always just totally wrapped up in herself, or a husband who is also my best friend who I wouldn’t swop for anything in the whole wide world. I love you guys both so much – I wish that I had words to tell you just how much.

Thank you both for a blast of a birthday – now the downward slippery slope to 50 is calling !!!!! Bring it on is all I can say.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

First day down

Well all the nerves were for nothing - I think that I am going to really enjoy working at my new job ! I guess I should have known that the nerves and the churning stomach were for nothing when they were happening but you know what it is like sometimes - even though you know something in your head doesn't make it not happen in your body !!!!!

Hopefully now (well from next week probably) - some sort of normalcy will return to my life and I can get back on track with losing these last 8-10kgs. I guess the good think is that over the past couple of weeks I have learnt what I need to do to maintain my weight - always a good thing given how many times I have lost these pesky kilos, only to gain them back at a later stage !!

Financially we are going to have to pull our belts in a bit as I have taken a drop in salary to leave Council but I think that in the long run the opportunities that I have at this company far outweigh the financial loss which is hopefully only a short term issue. If The Body and Feet Retreat continues to grow, we may even be able to look at giving up working at Coles (although we may stay on as casuals so that we continue to get the 5% discount on our groceries !!!!!)

I am feeling so much happier in myself and I am sure that I will be able to translate this into continuing with my weight loss. My plan is to take the rest of this week off and to seriously get back into a healthy lifestyle from next week. I can't say that I need to be more conscious of what I am eating because I have made conscious decisions to eat and drink what I have, but they haven't always been the best choices that I could make. My exercise has sort of fallen by the wayside because I have had lots of reasons (read excuses here !!!!) for not exercising BUT I can feel it and I know that I need to get back to exercising daily and NOT finding excuses about why I can't exercise UNLESS there is a legitimate reason e.g. getting home from work at 5.30 - seeing a client from 6-7.15 and then working from 8-12 - I don't expect myself to perform miracles and try to get 60 mins of exercising in between all of that. Instances like the above are the ONLY reason I shouldn't be exercising. (I may have to have a re-read of this next week when I forget about this decision !)

Have a great week everyone - I am happy, happy , happy and I wish you all you wish for yourself !

Every choice before you represents the universe inviting you to remember who you are and what you want.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Too long !

It's been ages since I posted but I haven't felt like I have had anything worthwhile to post about so figured there was no point in posting about nothing !

The whole job issue has been on and off since about 10 June - I am just so glad that it has finally been resolved and I can start the new role on Tuesday. I was hoping to finish up at Council on Friday but they are holding me to the 7 days notice that I had to give but that is OK. It gives me one more day to go through things with the new contractor.

My weight and exercise seem to have come to a bit of a standstill at the moment but that is OK. I am maintaining my weight reasonably well - have put on 0.4 in 2 weeks but we have been out to dinner a couple of times where I have made choices that were probably not the best I could have made but were things which I really felt like eating so figure that is what maintaining is all about. I also had dessert both times we were out. I have been out to lunch a couple of times with people wanting to say goodbye - made reasonable choices but again, could maybe have made better choices. Again, I have been happy to just able to maintain at the moment because of the stress in other areas of my life. I am learning to find the balance between my weight and what I eat and how I cope with other issues in my life. I guess this is what the key is to being able to maintain - what I need to do now is get back to how I thought about 4-6 weeks ago so that I can lose these last 8-10kgs and get to the weight that I want to, and then be able to maintain at THAT weight. The I will be happy - not because all my worries will be gone, but because I will be at a weight that I am happy at. I realise that losing weight doesn't mean that all my problems are lost as well, it just means that I can deal with my problems at a lower weight that what I used to weigh.

Not only have I had the stress of the job happening but I have also had some health issues which, after some exploratory stuff, we are no closer to finding a resolution than we were before they started. I have decided to just put it all out of my mind, just wish my family could do the same.

But, it is all good from now. On Tuesday I start my new job, on Wednesday I turn 45 (which is a pleasant surprise as I thought I was already 45 turning 46 !!!!), and I feel like I am getting back into the right head space to be able to tackle these last few kilos and get rid of them. I know that as I get closer to my goal weight, the weight takes longer to lose, but I am prepared to just keep at it until it happens. I KNOW that I can do this - now I just need to make it happen. (OK - having eaten 3/4 of a packet for biscuits this afternoon isn't going to help) - that has happened and maybe I just need to do some damage control over the next couple of days to counter act what I did.

I do think that once things have settled on the job front, everything else will fall into place. It seems that I can't really concentrate on two many fronts at once - clearly I am not as skilled at multi-tasking as what I thought !!!!!! Or maybe I just use having a few things on the go as an excuse to have a lapse in my healthy eating - whatever it is, it is going to stop - now - tonight - OK, maybe tomorrow as I am at home by myself tonight and I can hear all sorts of food calling me !!!

Hopefully the weather will be good tomorrow and we will be out there exercising and enjoying ourselves. Last weekend we did a 28km ride on Sunday - Al said, "Hey, if we just do this route another 3 times, we would have just finished the Brisbane to Gold Coast" - that is our next cycling goal - the 100km Brisbane to Gold Coast cycle. Our next walking goal is the 14km Bridge to Brisbane at the end of next month - best get out there in our walking shoes or on our bicycles otherwise we aren't likely to achieve those goals.

Choose being kind over being right, and you'll be right every time - Richard Carlson