The tools that have helped me follow the right path...

1. Tracking Food
Without my weight watchers tracker I would have lost my way long ago. I used to go for weeks without ever feeling even slightly guilty about what I was shovelling in my mouth. Even now when I have a bad week end where I can’t be bothered logging on I will go back & re-enter what I have eaten. Sometimes I am really surprised by things that are quite high in PP that I used to think were okay.

2. Tracking Exercise
I always make sure I enter my exercise into my tracker- even if it is only a walk around the block with my puppies. I find it very interesting to see just how much exercise you have to do to burn off a high PP treat. I never eat any of my exercise points however I have found on the weeks that I do a lot of exercise that I need to eat some of my weekly points otherwise I don’t seem to have a good loss. It is strange how I bodies work!

3. My Personal Trainer- Brock
This man is my motivator. I have been seeing him for 1 year now & I have only missed 2 sessions due to illness. I know a lot of people out there can’t afford a personal trainer but in my eyes everything to do with my health is worth it. Being on WW, being a member of a gym & having a personal trainer is expensive however by compromising what I spend money on elsewhere has meant that even when times got a little tough for us recently I was able to keep these invaluable tools.

4. Lorna Jane
Now I know this one might seem a little strange. When I first started on this weight loss journey I couldn’t fit into the Lorna Jane work out gear. Small make I used to tell myself HA! My very first mini goal to myself was to fit into a Lorna Jane top. I was SO excited when that day finally came. The second mini goal was to fit into the tights. Now that I can fit into all of her work out gear I wear it proudly. I was reading a blog the other day & the author was criticising ‘The Lorna Jane Brigade’ as she called it. I was quite offended. This was written by someone that in writing has a fairytale perfect life. She has never been overweight or suffered any of the consequences of it. I haven’t been able to read her blog in the way since.

5. Aussie Farmers Direct
No longer do I have to ‘pop’ into the supermarket on my way home from work & battle my inner demon at the checkout line. Like a toddler I would want want want what ever yummy little treat they had conveniently placed right at eye level in easy reach of little hands. Now Aussie Farmers Direct delivers all of my fresh fruit & vegetables, milk, bread, yogurt and meat all straight to my front door. The even better part is that I am supporting our Aussie Farmers rather that the greedy supermarkets!

Fruit

When I first started on this weight loss journey I HATED fruit. I rarely ate any fruit at all I could go weeks... maybe even months without a single piece of fruit touching my lips. Last week was a bit of an eye opener as to how much I have changed over the past 6 months. Last week I didn’t have enough money to buy any extra groceries. I knew I had my weekly fruit & vegetable order arriving on the Thursday so I thought to myself; there is enough fruit for the kids lunches we’ll just make do until then. So I went 4 days without fruit. I missed it- I really did. Not only did I miss having a 0pp snack, or the little sugar hit that you get… I also missed it on the toilet. I didn’t realize how good fruit actually is for your body. I felt so heavy & clogged up. When our fruit & veg order arrived on Thursday it was as if Santa had arrived! Pears oh my beautiful precious pears, crisp juicy pink lady apples, the sweetest mandarins I have even tasted & some kiwi fruit. As soon as I unpacked it I scoffed down a pear. Every day since I have had a piece of fruit, such strange behavior from a self confessed fruit hater! I used to have a bit of chocolate every day… now I have fruit!

Ready for a new week- Bring it on!

I have been so sick. All I have done for the past 6 days is work, eat and sleep. I have been fighting a stupid flu-not a cold- a proper flu. The kind where all you want to do is curl up in your bed and wait to die. The kind where you have massive temperatures. The things that got me through this week are the yummy chicken & vegetable soup that I had frozen portions of in the freezer, a lot of sleep and the knowledge that if I didn't go to work then I would be leaving the whole stress of it all to rest on one persons shoulders. During work sugar has been my best friend. Lollies, coca cola's, green tea with honey, basically anything that I could get my hands on. Portion control went out the window as my body fought for energy. I made bad choices and I have payed the price. 300g to be exact. Today is the start of a new week. I will track. I will exercise. I will not give into temptation.

I know I said no wedding updates in here but...

Who would have thought that a last minute decision to attend a bridal expo would result in winning a totally awesome prize?!

I almost didn’t go- none of my friends could come. DF point blank refused. Kirra (my almost 13 year old daughter) had gone to visit her dad. I sent an sms to my future mother in law & future sister in law asking if they wanted to go. Kimmi was working. Finally the last person responded! Carol sent me back a sms to say yes she would like to go! Hooray!

The expo was packed- I have never seen so many people at one of these things. I paid for us to get in & received an entry form to put in the wishing well entry barrel. We walk around for about an hour & then call it quits & go home.

Then today at work I get a phone call on my mobile from a number I don't recognise. The lady on the other end of the phone asks if I was at the expo yesterday. Yes I say thinking that it is going to be the first of many marketing calls from people I gave my number to. She then proceeds to ask me if my wedding is planned for next April, yes I answer. Then she says to me, well I am actually calling to let you know that you have won a prize. Ooow really I answer! Yes she says. At this point I am hoping it is not a gym membership since I have just resigned at my gym for another 12 months. She asks me if I have selected my wedding dress yet- NO! I say in an excited kind of voice. Well you have won the grand prize of the expo which is a voucher for $1000 to use towards a Henry Roth couture gown thanks to Gowns of Elegance at Bundall. I am SO excited. That is a major chunk of my budget taken care of. My dress was the one thing that I have said all along that I will not skimp on. I would rather have less of something else to be able to have my dream dress! My mother was not as excited as I would have liked her to be. I called her straight away to let her know that I had won. Oh that is great she said. But I hope the dresses are not $10000 & out of your budget even with a voucher. (that got me thinking let me tell you!) So I hang up from mumsy & get straight onto the net to check out the designs. Totally affordable! Gowns start at just $900 with the average price being $1300. The most expensive gown is $1800. Totally within my budget! So I send mum an SMS to let her know & tell her that I will organise to come down one weekend & we can go together. Her response was 'cool'. I am disappointed. I wanted the kind of reaction that I got of Leigh's mum. She was so excited for me. I don't know if it is because my mum doesn't know how to react, she didn't have her mum in her life to get excited for her. But I wanted jumping up & down excited. I want to be able to share this with her & I feel like I have to tone down my excitement so that I am not disappointed by her reaction. I hope that when she actually sees me, when we go into the store together & when she see's me on my wedding day that she can show me the emotion that I crave from her.

So it looks like wedding dress shopping came to me! Talk about having something to keep me on the right path. That wedding dress is going to keep me going I am going to have my own coture gown. I want to be a size 10 for my wedding. I am currently a size 12. I can do it. Just keep on running. Just keep on running!

Dear neglected blog

I am sorry that I have been neglecting you a little. I have excuses! I've been busy! Busy working full time, busy going to the gym trying to work this butt off, busy being a mummy, busy writing plans of a night to earn extra money, busy planning a wedding, busy cheating on you with my other blog, busy even doing house work!!! Busy Busy Busy!!!!

The wedding stuff is seriously taking over my brain, so much so that I have started another blog to try & get it all out. It is all taking shape now & is SO exciting- for me anyway, that is why I started another blog- I didn't want to bore you weight watchers with wedding crap! If by chance you are interested in all the wedding crap you are welcome to follow that blog too although if you are like me other peoples weddings bore the crap out of me... ANYWHO

What have I been doing? Training hard for one. I have started to see big results & it is propelling my motivation at the moment. I have been doing 5 classes per week & loving every single second of it. I can't believe I waited so long to try them- I really & truly love them! It has been a long time coming & it took perseverance in the all those weeks when I only lost 100g or worse nothing. I am so glad that I stuck with it. Last time when that happened I gave up & put everything I had lost back on. Not this time baby- I learnt my lesson that is for sure!

I think I have my eating under control a bit better now. Before I wasn't eating any of my exercise points & barely any of my weekly points either. The past few weekends we have had special occasions on (not just Friday's lol) so I have used around half of my weeklies each week & guess what? I have had a decent loss both weeks. I am beginning to think that I need to eat some of my weekly allowance each week. I have on average been earning 70 or more exercise points each week so I guess that maybe I need the extra fuel? I find it difficult to get past the guilt of having something I think is 'naughty' Like caramel sundaes & chips & chocolates. I try not to have too many of them even with my extra points I prefer to have a yummy pasta or toasted sandwich. Or to go to a BBQ or party & know that I don't really have to worry to much about what I can eat with in my daily PP. I still count what I know I will be having as part of my daily PP however if there is something extra I would like I know I can have it guilt free! We went to DF parents house for a BBQ on Sunday night & one of the neighbours had bought over prawn & corn chowder. It is to die for! I have no idea how many PP are in a bowl but with my weekly points up my sleeve, I didn't need to worry. I could have some completely guilt free! I have rediscovered my love for avocado. I know it looks like a high point food but when you are only having 1 tablespoon it is actually only 1pp! yummy!

I am loving life at the moment. I feel happy & positive & ready to tackle anything! Bring on summer- I will be ready!!!

Almost there!

77.1 kgs this morning thank you very much! Only 100g from my first goal which is to be in my healthy weight range. Only 2.1kgs until my second goal which is to be 75kg. It will be officially the lightest that I have been since having my children 14 years ago. That is a long time to be carrying around the extra weight! It is also when I get to go wedding dress shopping. Of course there is nothing stopping me from going right now but 75kgs has just always been the number that I have had in my head. My ultimate goal is to get down to 70kgs in time for my wedding. I am a small number dropper but I firmly believe that slow & steady will win the race. If I had of lost the weight easily I don't think that I would have appreciated the work that it takes to get your body into shape. I wouldn't have learnt to love exercise & I definitely wouldn't have changed my attitude towards food.

100g to my first goal- I'll get it next week!

Freezing Friday moved to Thursday!

DF is getting his ear operated on today my poor boy. Not wanting to miss out on my personal training session I organised to move this weeks session to today. I woke up to a chilly 6 degrees & made my way to our meeting spot. I had the heater cranking in the car trying to get warm. I have gone from a size 16 last winter down to a size 12 this winter so NONE of my winter work out gear fits at all. I am still training in short tights, a singlet & a thin cotton jacket. I arrived at Point Cartwright to the breaking dawn. It was so surreal to see the sun just starting to peak over the horizon while there was still stars in the dark blue sky. We begin by walking a nice brisk walk up the hill. When we get to the steepest part Brock gets me to jog through to the top. The cold air is burning my lungs & it is taking me a while to get my breath back even though we have only gone 500m. We walk to the bottom of the other side where Brock informs me that we are going to do some hill sprints back up to the lighthouse. I look at that hill in front of me with dread. This is going to hurt! Wanting to get it over & done with I take off. Pumping my arms & legs as fast as I can, willing them to get me to the top I start off fast. I even surprise myself. I get past one tree still at a good speed, get to the second tree, I can feel my speed drop off now, I am approaching the third tree & the steepest part of the hill & although I am pumping my arms & legs I don't seem to be making much ground! Finally we get to the top & I gasp trying to suck air back into my lungs. They are burning & I am having trouble catching my breath. We walk back down the hill as recovery time & turn around to do it all again. This time I can feel my speed start to drop off earlier. I struggle to the top, the blood pounding in my head. We walk back down for a third time. I give it all I've got. Arms & Legs pumping I make it to 10m from the top & my legs feel like jelly, I feel like I am about to fall over & my run becomes a walk. We start our walk back down the other side & Brock admits to me that even he is having trouble recovering after that. The cold air has made a massive difference to our recovery times. We get back to the cars & Brock grabs the kick boxing pads & we do a full arm & leg combos. 6 grueling runs he makes me do. Finally we work on arms alone. The relief is short lived as I realise that my arms are just as fatigued as my legs! Finally our session is finished. 7 hours later & I can still feel it. It serves as a great reminder to not give into temptation as I am working to damn hard for this body now!!!

Live the Dream

Tonight DF & I went for our nice long walk over the hill. We have been doing this walk regularly for at least 12 months now. For the first time ever I noticed that someone had scratched a little message into the concrete along one of the garden beds. It simply reads 'Live the dream'. A strange little bit of graffiti if you ask me. Usually people vandalising will do horrible eye sore offensive slogans, so I looked at the scratching as a special message meant just for me. I mean why haven't I spotted it before now? The concrete is not fresh so it's not as if it is new. I just have never spotted it before. While we walked I thought of what it really means. What my dreams for this life are. I need to stop dreaming & start living! Thin, Fit, Happy, Financially Stable. Thin- well I'm working on that, I still have a little way to go until I will be happy with my appearance but I am motivated to get there. There is no stopping me! Fit- I am the fittest that I have ever been. I can remember running in a cross country race when I was about 12, I honestly can't ever remember exercising after that in my life. Happy- I believe that being happy is a conscious decision you make. You can choose to be negative & sad & try to bring those around down or you can choose to be happy & encourage those around you to be the best that they can be. I choose to be happy. Of course I am human & I have down days however I am usually quick to get over them. The one part of my life that seems to be a problem at the moment is financial stability- With DF being a sub contractor our income can be very up & down. When it is up we have a great old time, cars, holiday's, new clothes, dinners out. We do save a little because we know that at any point the work could run out however the past 12 months we have not been as careful as we should have & now we are facing the prospect of at least 4 weeks with no income from DF. We are selling off a couple of big ticket toys to fund this break. We really have no option as DF needs to have an operation on his ear to repair the hole in his ear drum. I guess the good thing about this time is that it has forced DF & I to talk about our financial future. This is a lesson that the universe is sending us & we need to learn from it.

My new mantra is going to be 'Live the dream'

The Wedding!

As you can see DF & I are clearly impressed by the groomsmen blowing abilities lol

The beautiful bride & myself

It was magical. Everything about it had a sense of grandeur & old world class. As our car drove up the windy road we came across a magnificent set of cast iron gates open & welcoming us onto the property. We parked in the car park & made our way through a gazebo & a winding path leading us through to a terraced garden area. We were greeted with champagne & not the cheap yucky kind, one that you could actually drink! DF & I made our way down to where everyone was mingling. The view was exquisite, the weather perfect. The groom had a look of anticipation on his face & seemed to be quite thirsty! Finally the string quartet started & we were asked to take our seats. The groom was alternating between various shades of white and red waiting for his bride to make her appearance. After what seemed like an eternity the music changed pace to announce her arrival. The maid of honour came around the corner in a beautiful floor length purple gown soon followed by the bridesmaid. Then from around the corner the bride appeared on her fathers arm. I stole a glance at the groom, wiping away a tear as he witnessed the beautiful princess descending the stairs & across the red carpet to meet him. The ceremony was sweet & meaning full & had some lovely references of their relationship & the journey that they had both taken to get here. After the kiss as husband & wife the bridal party went off to have some photo's taken while the guests continued to mingle. The champagne was flowing & canapes were bought around on silver platters by the waiters. Once the bridal party returned we were asked to enter the reception area where once again we were promptly served drinks & bread with condiments. We had great company at our table & were able to talk easily with the other guests. Dinner was a buffet & unfortunately the one let down of the night was the quality of the food. Other than that it was a magnificent night. Everyone seemed to have a great time dancing, catching garters & bouquets & drinking. It was sad when it was finally time to leave. We had a 2 hour trip ahead of us so neither of us had too much to drink. After a few long goodbyes we set off down the winding hill round & round the corners over hills down gully's for what seemed like an eternity. Have I ever mentioned that I get car sick? Well I do. In fact I get so sick that I usually opt to drive no matter if we are going to the local shops or for a long drive. So after a few champagnes, a full buffet dinner & a piece of wedding cake this particular road was not the best way to end the night. I made DF pull over & I was sick like I haven't been sick in a very long time. Finally we made it onto the highway & it was at least a smooth drive home for the rest of the trip. My camera ran out of batteries at the beginning of the ceremony (not impressed! I had charged them all night & the little green light was on to tell me they were ready!) So the photo's that I have attached are actually photo's that other people have taken that are on facebook. Hopefully I will be able to add more as more get loaded on.

xox

Mothers Day

What a wonderful way to start my mothers day morning than by a steaming hot cup of green tea in one of my favorite mugs made with love from my son. I sat up in bed & was presented with a mountain of treasures all wrapped beautifully. I read my cards first one homemade & one store bought. The home made one was from my daughter. It had a picture of a cupcake on the front. Inside it read 'you're sweet as mum'. Very cute. The other one was the most expensive card ever invented! (seriously $20 for a card!!!)On the front it says 'didn't know what to get you for Mothers Day... How does a Caribbean holiday sound? Then you open the card & a little island pops up complete with deck chairs, palm trees and plays Caribbean music along with the sounds of waves crashing & seagulls singing. It is the best card I have ever received or seen for that matter. I moved onto the carefully wrapped presents. Kirra had made me some things at school. A book of vouchers for room cleaning & winge free days & other assorted 'free' items and a book of 'our favorite slices' put together by the whole class. Kirra's contribution for me was Caramel Slice (no surprises there!) In my other parcels I received a new set of pajama's with little lambs all over them in a size 12! And the biggest box of Lindt petite desserts that you have ever seen. I of course shared them around straight away. The rest I am going to savour slowly over the course of the next week or so.
After we got our selves dressed & headed off down the beach to meet up with DF's family. We shared a lovely breakfast with them. We took orange & almond cakes, oranges (already cut up to use on top of the cakes) banana's and yogurt. It was nice to have something other than bacon & eggs! I wish that I could say that I then got to go home to relax & that my little cleaning fairy's arrived to clean my house however we had a WEDDING to get ready for! We dropped the kidlinks off & went home to make our selves look pretty. Stay tuned for the wedding post to come!!!

Anticipation

I am so excited for my friends getting married tomorrow. I have my pretty new dress to wear. The weather forecast is stunning. And IT'S A WEDDING! I adore weddings. I love seeing the emotion on the grooms face as he watches his bride walk towards him, it is my absolute favorite part of weddings. When most people are stunned by the brides beauty as she walks up the aisle, I am the one stealing a glimpse of the groom with a tear in his eye. I simply cannot wait to report back all the details, the dress, the food, the venue. It is going to be spectacular!

Orange & Almond Cakes

I made these yummy little treats to take to a breakfast BBQ tomorrow morning. I really had my heart set on pancakes with banana & butterscotch sauce but since we really should spend the morning with DF's family I have had to put that yummy breakfast on the back burner (probably for the best really with that deliciously evil butterscotch sauce!) But I really can't change from that sweet treat to boring old bacon & eggs. These delicious little cakes are only 2pp each. As always I use the patty tin size cups but if you wanted to do in a muffin size it would still be low in PP. If you were feeling particularly indulgent you could serve with a warm orange syryp. Since mine are to be transported down the beach I am just dusting mine with icing sugar.

Ingredients
1/3 cup almond meal
1/3 cup self raising flour
2 eggs
2/3 cup caster sugar
juice of 1 orange (if your orange is not particularly juicy you may need an extra half)
Rind of 1 orange
100g nuttalex lite

1. Pre heat oven to 200degrees & prepare your patty tins
2. Cream nuttalex, sugar & rind together
3. Add eggs 1 at a time
4. Add dry ingredients & give a good 2 min blast with your mixer
5. fill your cases almost to the top (this mixture doesn't rise very much)
6. Bake until golden brown approx 10 mins

The cake turns out nice & light. I have attached a picture of how I like to present mine for a dessert.

Hope you enjoy

Aimee
xox

Finally!

Wow do you have any idea how long it takes to copy 99% of your blog posts off another site?! It's done now thank goodness! Now on to proper blogging!

Just had to share

My friend took this great photo while in Bahrain recently & I just had to share. I think it perfectly sums up the choices that we have to make day in & day out. I know for myself it has been a massive hurdle to overcome giving into temptation on a daily basis.

Great Weekend!

03/05/11

I have just had the best weekend that I have had in ages. I had one of my good friend’s hen’s nights on Saturday night. We went on wild boys afloat. It was so much fun giggling at the horrid male strippers. They were all prickly from shaving their chests & stank to high heaven like fake tan. I guess you’re wondering how I would know such details. Well I got pulled up on stage as part of their show!!! The brides also all got pulled up so at least I wasn’t alone but EEEEWWWWWW!!!!! I couldn’t stop screaming & laughed so hard that I was crying. Drinks were free on the 4 hour cruise but I was very good & kept it in control with only 6 wine spritzers. I danced for HOURS with the hen & the other ladies that had come along to give her a great farewell from single woman into wifey. I met back up with DF at around 3am & walked up & down hills throughout the city trying to find our way around. We finally got back to our unit at around 4am where I promptly collapsed into bed completely exhausted. Sunday morning I woke up at about 9.30am thanks to my alarm. We checked out of our room & although I was still very tired I felt great. I didn’t have a hangover at all. Sunday we spent a lazy day around the house & I even got a nap in which was nice. Monday was a public holiday for us & we woke up to a picture perfect day. I started my day with a body combat class at the gym & then came home & showered & made a yummy salad for our lunches. Then we headed off to the beach. It was so lovely sitting there feeling the sun’s rays warm me through. The girls had a great time exploring the rock pools & splashing on the shore & DF was the crazy man out in the 8 foot surf having the time of his life! It was such a change in the weather to what we have been becoming accustomed to up here. I feel like it has been constant rain since last year with only a few nice days thrown in there to keep us hopeful! I am so looking forward to next summer already & it is not even winter yet *sigh* how am I ever going to survive through the next 4 or so months? So the big wedding is this weekend. I can’t wait to see my friend walk up that aisle she is going to look amazing. She admitted to me that she is so worried that she is going to put it all back on after the wedding & I told her that the fact that she is already thinking about ‘after’ is a good sign & that she knows she doesn’t want to go back to being that big girl ever again. She commented on how skinny I was looking & I told her that she was my inspiration. I can’t wait to get a photo of the 2 of us on Sunday. Well I hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well xox

May Goals

29/04/11

Okay so I have come to know my body pretty well over the past 12 or so weeks. I know I am not a big number dropper. I am okay with that, I know that slow & steady wins the race. I know that I have to learn everything over to make this a lifestyle change rather than a ‘diet’. I am not going to set myself up for disappointment by doing ANOTHER 5kg in a month challenge... I know it is not going to happen. So I have decided to set myself some realistic goals for May
1. Have a loss every week- any loss is a loss!
2. Do at least 4 group fitness classes per week as well as my usual PT session & walk/running with DF
3. Stick to my daily PP each day
4. Only eat weekly points for genuine celebrations (note to self- Friday’s do not count as celebrations)
5. Never, ever, ever, eat my exercise points
6. No excuses
I know that my motivation ebbs & flows (thanks Jen, I did need it pointed out! xox) I need to take advantage of it when it is here by doing extra. When I am not so motivated I just need to look at that little red dress in my wardrobe and my before photo’s on here. Even if my heart is not in it that day I just need to do something! I am so lucky that my little family is so supportive and I need to show them that I appreciate it by taking advantage of what they are offering me. Time to look after myself.

The Best Feeling!

29/04/11

Last night I bit the bullet & went dress shopping. I have always hated dress shopping as dresses have never really suited me. However with a formal wedding to go to NEXT WEEKEND it really had to be done. I went into our biggest shopping centre on the coast on the hunt for the perfect dress. Every shop I went into had the same kind of styles either long & floaty, which I am sure look lovely on petite little things however on someone with boobs & hips managed to make me look like I was wearing some strange sheet draped around me. Or so short you are almost walking around with your fanny hanging out for the world to see! So I headed into one store which mostly looked like it was for the more mature market except for a couple of shorter style dresses. The shorter ones were still knee length so that suited me. I tried on a couple of dresses & although they were nice they didn’t fit quite right, they weren’t to die for & at $260 each I definitely wasn’t sold. I really didn’t want to settle for its okay- I wanted GORGEOUS! So I headed off to yet more store’s all with the same type of dresses. Starting to get a bit disheartened I headed into Myer as my last resort. The Wayne Cooper section had nothing unless you were a perfect size 6. Basque although nice was too work wearish. However around the corner there was a mix of different designers I picked out 2 dresses. One in a nice aubergine colour which was only in a size 12 & one in red, I picked up a 12 & a 14 in the red one & headed into the fitting rooms. I tried the aubergine one first it was a nice dark colour & had a wrap around style that I knew would suit most shapes. I was worried about the size but as it was a stretchy fabric I thought I might get away with it. It was okay but nothing to get excited about. Yes it fitted but I was sure that it was probably due to the stretchy fabric. Next I tried the red dress. I really didn’t think that I would like this one on. I usually stick to darker colours so this really goes against what I would normally wear. I decided to try the size 12 first as I knew that the jumper I bought the other day was in a 12 & I wanted to see how close I was to a 12 in a fitted more structured item of clothing. I did up the buttons that run down the front of the dress & thought to myself I will definitely need to 14 with all these buttons! I did up the belt that went around the waist of the dress & looked up into the mirror. Oh My Goodness. I looked so skinny! A tiny little waist! No bulging like a stuffed sausage into a size that is too small. It fitted me perfectly. I stood in awe of the person standing in front of me. I cannot believe that it is me. I feel like it is a dream. I of course have purchased the dress. I tried it on for DF when I got home to show him. I am officially the smallest that he has ever seen me. I may have been lighter but NEVER a size 12. I won’t give you the gory details but let’s just say he was impressed.

P.S. Yes there will be photo’s but you have to wait until the wedding!

Come back motivation!

28/04/11

Come back motivation! Don't leave me now!!! I've been doing so well. My exercise has been through the roof... until this week. It seems a long weekend away can have a negative effect on my motivation. Once I am out of the familuar routine I find it very hard to get back into it. Yesterday I did well, pump class in the morning & then a run/walk over our big hill. I resisted the ice cream- very good of me I think! But this morning I woke up so tired. Before I knew it, it was 6am & I had missed my body combat class. I think I am going to have a gain this week. I felt heavier yesterday. I jiggled more when I was running. I don't like it. Hopefully a good PT session with Brock tomorrow will drag me back into line!

The good the bad the ugly

27/04/11

Good Friday started off so well. I did a heavy PT session with Brock then went home & cooked myself some scrambled eggs (no toast). Mid morning DF & I went for a nice long walk with our puppies to get them out of the yard. Lunch was beautiful fresh seafood straight from the trawler. About mid afternoon is when it all started to go downhill. We decided to have a few quite drinks at home. We got an invitation to go up the road to DF’s little sisters house as they were having a party. Well that was the end of me. We were so drunk that we didn’t even have any dinner. I was sick at least once, something that I haven’t done for a very long time however I am blaming the lack of food on that one! Needless to say I didn’t wake up feeling the best on Saturday morning! Every time I moved I felt like I needed to be sick. DF made me his ‘heart starter’ breakfast which is basically a bacon sandwich with BBQ sauce. The grease was just what I wanted however I don’t know if I needed it. Somehow I pulled myself together for the 2 hour drive to my parents unit on the Gold Coast. By 6pm I was feeling much better & decided that I was feeling well enough to go out. We went to our favourite place Vapiano’s. We shared some very yummy things like pizza & ravioli, I skipped the drinks (hmm wonder why!) but Mum & I did share one of the yummy panna cotta’s. Sunday morning we packed the esky full of chicken & salad rolls, fruit, yogurt & bottles of water & headed off to Wet & Wild for the day. The kids had an absolute ball & DF & I spent the day wandering around watching them go on all the slides & lazing around by the pools. When we got back to mum’s she sent DF & I off on our own to have a romantic dinner together without the kidlets. On her recommendation we headed off for the best steak in Surfers. It was about a 10min fast pace walk to get to the restaurant. We finally got there & it was closed! Still wanting a steak we thought we would go to the Titans bar (which was a 20min walk in the opposite direction down near the river) as we had heard that the meals were quite nice there as well. When we got there they had a special party night on & were charging $15 entry each! We decided to head back into the mall, another 15min walk as there is a Hogs Breath in there. 45min wait for a table we are told. AGH!!!! We walk back into the mall & run into my parents with the kidlets & tell them of our adventure just to try & have dinner they recommend a Chinese restaurant & if we mention them we should get a table. The name dropping works & we are shown to our seats by the OWNER! It is a proper Chinese restaurant. The kind where Chinese people go to eat and you get served by the waitress at the table. The food was AMAZING! We ordered 1 rice to share & 2 mains. It seems that neither of us can eat the amount that we used to & we ended up with 2 containers of left over’s to take home for mum & dads lunch the following day. Monday we woke up to the sound of a gun blast & quickly got the kids & ourselves ready & raced down the street to the dawn service. It was the smallest ones first service & a very educational experience for her. DF’s brother is actually in the army so we found it quite emotional when they listed the soldiers that had been lost this year in Afghanistan. Monday was spent lounging around until 1pm and then shopping and taking the kids to time zone & Ripley’s believe it or not. I cooked everyone a yummy BBQ dinner before we all headed off to bed a decent hour! We had such a great time while we were away. Yes I did eat some very yummy & decadent things but I have learnt that if you share than you also share the PP! No alcohol helped me stick to my daily PP allowance on most days. I had a couple of little eggs but didn’t overdo it & the best news of the whole week end was that I bought my first ever size 12 !

Fitness Fanatic!

19/04/11

Wow talk about fitness fanatic! Saturday is the start of my WW week. I decided that this week was going to be different. I am motivated like never before. I want to get uber fit & be looking HOT! This is my exercise so far this week;
Saturday- Body Step
Sunday- 3 walks (1 of which was mostly uphill however I just counted it as level ground)
Monday- Body Pump
Tuesday- Body Step in the morning & then I backed it up tonight with Body Jam

Body Jam is seriously the most fun I have ever had in my life while exercising! This little experiment that I am doing has been the best thing I have ever thought of doing- I never would have gone to that class if I hadn’t set that challenge for myself & as it turns out I’m not quite as unco as I thought I was!

So for the rest of the week I have planned;
Wednesday- Vibrogym & cross trainer
Thursday- Body Combat
Friday- Personal training with Brock

A whole week of exercise all planned out I have already earnt a whopping 53 exercise points this week & it is only Tuesday! I am hoping that the hard work that I have put in this week equals a good loss come Saturday but we all know that the scales can be fickle ESPECIALLY when it comes to me!

Foodies Unite!

19/04/11

I was reading another blog and it made me think about what I was reading. The person was talking about having to give up food that she loved, training herself to look at food as fuel & only putting in what her body needed. Yes that is all very well for some. If you can have that attitude & it works for you then that is great- your battle is over!
However I am a foodie. I adore food! I love trying new things. I love trying out new recipes. I love entertaining & giving my guests a beautiful meal. You cannot tell me to look at food as fuel & no more. For me it will not work. I am never going to give up trying new flavours & recipes. I’m never going to give up entertaining, and I’m definitely not giving up going out for yummy dinners and desserts! But I want to lose weight and a lot of it! My way to overcome this obstacle is to still cook yummy things but now I put it into the recipe builder to work out the PP per serve. I tweak where I need to. Sometimes it may mean I have to substitute ingredients like instead of full fat coconut cream I use low fat coconut milk. Or sometimes it may mean having a smaller portion than I used to & bulking the meal out with 0PP sides like stir fried vegetables or a salad. The other thing I do religiously now is dish left over’s up into portioned containers, this way I know exactly how many PP I am consuming. I used to just put it into one big container which could be a bit of a free for all if it was something particularly good! If I know we are going out for dinner I look at the menu for the healthiest option but I still have what I really want. If I order steak I get sauce on the side & dip my meat into it instead of having a pool of delicious sauce on my plate. This way I still get to have it but I don’t have as much. I steer clear of deep fried anything however I am partial to the old piece of bread (darn you carbs!!!) If the dessert menu looks tempting I will share a dessert with someone else. Did you know that a tiny little (deliciously creamy & good) panna cotta cost 10PP! But if you share it is only 5PP! I try not to eat my weekly points except on the occasions that we are going out. This way I know I can enjoy a few drinks guilt free. When we entertain I am the one cooking so I have the upper hand of knowing exactly what I am eating. I don’t bother telling anyone else that it is a WW approved meal but I have the satisfaction of knowing that it is ;)

So my suggestion of all you women (and men) out there that love food is to embrace it! Don’t look at WW as having to give up yummy food! WW IS NOT A DIET IT IS A LIFESTYLE!!! Try a new recipe, invite some friends over for a meal, go out for a yummy dinner. Just do it smart!

Weekend Well Survived!

18/04/11

Well this was my first week end since beginning WW properly 10 weeks ago that I have actually survived the week end. Friday night is usually my undoing when it comes to sticking to my points. Being the last day of my week I have on the past used it as an excuse to be able to have extra drinks or something naughty to eat because I know I have my entire weekly and exercise points up my sleeve. Saturday I am usually feeling a little under the weather & so easily give into temptation of bakery or not bothering to exercise. Sunday I spend feeling guilty about the previous 2 days & then eat next to nothing to try & compensate. Not exactly the picture of a perfect WW am I?
This week end I thought I would try something different. Friday night we inviting DF’s little sister & her fiancé up for dinner. I made my Thai green curry prawns (6pp per serve), Crème caramels for dessert & I also had 3 drinks. I stuck well within my daily PP & went to bed late but feeling good about my choices for the night. Saturday morning I woke up feeling refreshed & ready for my day. I started with a bowl of cereal (Be Natural pink lady apple & flame raisin OMG SO GOOD!!!!) Then took myself off to the gym for my first ever step class. Not only did I survive it- I loved it! We then went over to my sister’s house for a BBQ. I took some chicken breast & bacon (fat removed) & made up a ranch salad using praise 99% fat free ranch dressing. It was delicious & definitely something that I can see us having on a regular basis even through winter. Saturday night we had a footy night finger food type dinner. I made marinated chicken wings & potato wedges and again stuck to my daily points for the whole day. I went to bed quite early as I was exhausted from my day! Sunday I didn’t wake up feeling guilty, I woke up happy knowing that I hadn’t over done it on the week end. DF went for a surf so I dragged my butt out for a quick walk while he was gone. I got all the things together for a nice hot breakfast to start our day. Bacon & egg rolls were a great way to start the day. I didn’t snack all day & I am sure it was due to having a heavier breakfast! I decided to cook up a storm as the weather wasn’t playing nice. Pumpkin soup, Apple crumble, Spinach, pumpkin & ricotta cannelloni. All low in PP & a great way to fill the fridge with healthy lunches for us all for the week. DF & I took ourselves off for our big walk over the hill after dinner & had a lovely talk about how much things have changed for our whole family over the past 10 weeks. The smallest one who came to live with us VERY overweight for her age & height has lost 2 whole dress sizes, she is so fit now & loves being active. The other 2 kiddies are more active as well & although neither of them needed to lose weight they are looking a lot healthier. DF Has lost an amazing amount of stomach fat. He is super fit & can out run me already! The definition in his arms & back is HOT! As for me, I am continuing to lose weight most weeks. I am feeling so much tighter & toned. I love my new healthy attitude as well towards both food & exercise. I am happy with my slower progress; I know that I will get there in the end & the things that I am changing I am not changing so that I can just lose weight. I am changing these things for life & for the health of not only me but my family as well. We are eating salads & vegies. Gone are the days of pizza at least once per week, we commented last night that we hadn’t been to what used to be our favourite pizza place for the whole time that I have been on WW. It’s not that we are ‘trying to be good’ or anything like that. It’s just that we really haven’t wanted it! We would rather go to the beach for a BBQ or out for a nice meal instead.

1st class done & dusted!

16/04/11


Well this morning on the back of my STS I decided to take myself off to a step class as the 1st on my way through the menu. Well what an experience! There was a mix of different types of people from the toned & perfect bodies at the front of the class, 1 awesome guy who although just as unco as me was up the front of the class giving it all he had. Through to us larger girls up the back. I didn't realise it at the time but I actually set my step up on the 2nd highest setting & until the instructor asked us to lower the step height I did the majority of the class on that! I stepped & squatted my way through the 60 minute class. A couple of the girls couldn't make it through the class & left with only 2 songs to go. I am pretty happy that as a newbie I made it all the way through. Yes I was completly unco but I managed to get most of the steps right eventually. I did the whole ab section (which by the way, my abs are KILLING me this afternoon!) All in all it was a great experience & I will definitaly go back for more of that one. Talk about high impact- 12 exercise points earnt in one session! I like that! Body Balance tomorrow. I know that it is going to hurt. My thighs are especially sore after yesterdays session with Brock & then backing it up with step this morning but I am going to give it a go anyway!

STS

So this week I have had a STS. I'm okay with it I totally deserved it. I totally lost my exercise mojo for a few days there! We had Chinese through the week. I had bread & rice yesterday. A big no no for me especially the day before WI! I know that I will show a bigger loss next week to compensate it. The other reason that I am okay with it is because I have taken my measurements. The actual fat on my body is melting away & being replaced by muscle. I love looking at the definition in my arms & legs now. In 10 short weeks I have lost;


•7kgs
•2cm off my arms
•10cm off my hips
•3.5cm off my bust
•17cm off my waist
•4cm off my thighs
•2 dress sizes
I am so proud of how far I have come already. I am so much healthier & fitter. I can run. I am not embarressed to try new things. I have not given up the things I love. And most of all I am loving my life! Imagine where I will be in the next 10 weeks!

P.S. For you guys that don't take measurement I really recommend you start. I don't think I would be feeling so fired up today to keep going if I had not been able to see the difference in my actual size.

P.P.S. For the ones that are exercising always remember that muscle weighs more than fat & fat is actually 3 times the size of muscle!!! I know that I would rather weigh more but be skinnier than weigh less & be fatter! ;)

I love Friday's!

15/04/11


I LOVE Friday’s. My morning starts at around 4.30am. I wave DF off to work & then I can get ready for my day in silence. My job can get quite stressful at times so I treasure these moments. At 5.45 I meet Brock down at Point Cartwright to start our PT session. Walking along the path with the sun just rising is such a special moment. You really don’t appreciate just how magnificent it really is. This morning there was a little bit of cloud cover right in the suns path as it rose up above the ocean. As the rays started peaking from around that cloud I could feel them warming me. It is getting quite cool out in the morning air now so I could really feel the difference when it hit me. We cut across the path to a new area this morning. There is a new set of stairs that have been constructed up through the rainforest. They start off as uniform timber stairs but then turn into compacted soil & rock stairs of varying lengths and heights. They go from the bottom of the path right up to the top of the point so they are one decent set of stairs! I had to run cross country style up those stairs & then back down 4 times. By the top my legs were like jelly. They acted as if they had forgotten how to walk by the end of that section. We walked back down to the bottom to do our boxing. We did quite a long session today with lots of arm & leg combo’s. By the end of the boxing I could hardly lift my gloves to punch one last time. Finally with great relief Brock told me that we were finished with the boxing. He took the gloves off me & placed the 2 pads on the ground. He then asked me to do a plank for as long as I could hold it. I only lasted 32 seconds today. Normally I can go for a lot longer than that! I was so fatigued from the rest of my training session that it was all I had left in me. Just to finish off my session he showed me a new exercise. It involved the picnic table & chairs but instead of climbing it with my legs he had me climb it with my arms! It involved forming a plank while leaning on the table top & then walking your hands down one by one on to the seat & then dropping down onto your forearms one by one then you reverse it & do it back up again. I had to do this 7 times before he would let me finish for the day. To be honest with you I don’t even know how I am typing right now! Lol So I pay Brock & get into my car, I crank the music up loud, I am ready for my day now! When I got home I logged straight onto WW to enter my exercise & plan my day’s food. I have planned ahead for tonight knowing that Friday nights are usually my undoing. We have invited DF’s little sister & her fiancé over for dinner tonight. This should stop us wanting to head out to the pub! I am doing my green curry prawns with a few extra prawns thrown in for the boys. My serving will only be 6pp with steamed rice! Not sure if I will drink or not yet. I am usually not a big drinker at home. I have enough pp still in the day’s kitty that I can have some if I want or maybe some of the yummy mango sorbet mmmmm. Will play tonight by ear in that respect but I know that if I want it I can definitely have it!

Happy Friday everyone!

Crazy & Good vs Lazy

14/04/11

Take one fat girl aka me, one gym & a multitude of group fitness classes & what do you get? Hopefully a skinnier, not be so bored with the gym version of me!

So here’s a crazy idea for you. Over the course of the next month I have decided that I am going to pull a little experiment Morgan Spurlock style only I am not going to gorge myself on McDonalds, I am going to try every group fitness class on the menu at my gym! Rules are similar to his rules. I can do whatever I want but I have to do every class at least once! There are plenty that I know I will do okay in like Body Jam, Body Attack & even Step. The ones that I am more scared of are Pole Mania... I’ll give you one guess what kind of class that one is! Zumba & Boxing now don’t get me wrong I LOVE boxing... when it is me & Brock in the park. Not when it is the Olympic ranked instructor that takes our class!!! I am nervous to say the least. I really wish I had a friend that could come with me to laugh with when I make a fool out of myself (ESPECIALLY in the Pole Dancing Class!!!). I have recommitted myself to the gym by signing up for another 12 months before I could weasel my way out of it. I am beginning to think that it was my mind trying to sabotage me. Trying to make it alright for me to not go to the gym the last few weeks of my 12 month contract, alright for me to quit at the beginning of June. Well guess what weak mind- you will not win- I WILL- yes I know that I seem a little crazy right now but I feel like I am at a cross road with 2 versions of myself.

Good Aimee exercises every day. Eats the correct amount of PP worth of food every day. Still enjoys her life without giving up the pleasures.
Evil Aimee on the other hand stays at home every morning watching feel good TV curled up on the couch like a fat lazy old cat. Feasts on chips & other fatty snacks and makes comments about being unable to lose weight so I might as well do nothing or it doesn’t matter what she does her body is comfortable at this size.

Well Evil Aimee has to go. Out the door with that lazy lump of lard. I am kicking her fat **** to the curb! No room for that kind of attitude here anymore!

P.S. For those that haven't seen the Morgan Spurlock film/doco 'Super Size Me' I highly recommend getting your hands on a copy to watch. It is an eye opener that is for sure!!!

P.P.S. Stay tuned for exciting & I am sure hilarous (for everyone but me) blogs of my upcoming classes. This could get interesting!!!

Lazy Bones!

13/04/11


The past few mornings on the Sunshine Coast have been coolish & dark. The sun is not rising until around 6am now. By the time it gets up this little lazy bones is already on the couch curled up watching morning programs. My favourite at the moment is Extreme Makeover- Home Edition. It is so heart warming to watch programs like that. But it warming my heart is not really going to get me fit & healthy is it!? I have not been going to the gym. I have been walking but not with my usual enthusiasm. It has been more of a chore. More of a- I HAVE to go- type walk. DF has been no help. He has been going for so many surfs that he hasn’t been interested in doing our big walk/run at all. I don’t know why I go through these little lulls of laziness. I guess I get tired. I get bored. I am so bored with the gym that it is not even funny. Maybe I need to bite the bullet & do some of the classes. I have been avoiding them because I am one of the most uncoordinated people you have ever met. You know there is always the one person going the opposite way to everyone else. Well that person is me! I don’t have any friends that I can go with that can stand up the back of the class & have a giggle with me so it becomes embarrassing instead of funny. Well I think the time has come for me to suck it up. If I want a change of scenery & pace then I am going to have to do something about it! So tomorrow I am going to go to the gym. I am going to get a new timetable. My goal for next week is going to be to try 2 new classes. Anyone have any suggestions? I am sick of RPM & pump is out due to a shoulder injury which flares up when I lift weight above my shoulder height.

What classes do you other gym junkies love?

Setting Goals

12/04/11

Well thanks to Amy'smum for giving me the idea. Here is my list of milestones & rewards;

77kgs- Going to get my hair done (I am hoping to achieve this one in the next few weeks as I have a wedding to go to in early May!)

75kgs- Going shopping for my wedding dress!!!!

73kgs- Going to book in for a 1hr massage with the very talented Paul. He has a room at the gym & is AMAZING!!!!

71kgs- Get my hair done again. I'll almost be at my personal goal so I want to make sure I'm looking my best for my after photo's!

69kgs- New wardrobe time! I won't be fitting into ANY of my old fat girl clothes so a shopping spree will be in order!

I can't wait until I can cross these of one by one. I am going to stick the magic number that I am aiming for on a sticky note on my computer screen so that I can remember every day what I am aiming for.

7kg down 8.5kg to go!

11/04/11

Saturday was the day that saw me reach a total of 7kgs lost so far on my journey. I have 8.5kgs to go to get to my personal goal of 70kgs. It has taken me 9 weeks to lose that 7kgs & I feel like I have worked so hard for each & every gram that I have lost. Some weeks I have had very small losses, one week I lost nothing, but most weeks I have lost around 500g per week. Given that equation I am giving myself 16 weeks to get to my personal goal of 70kg. The 30th Of July 2011 will be the date that I will weigh myself & be rewarded for the hard work, determination and commitment that I will have put in for the previous 16 weeks. I am going to stay focused. I am going to continue running & training with Brock. I am going to continue tracking & participating in challenges on here. I may need to step up my exercise but I think as I get better & better with my running that this will automatically happen anyway. The great thing about having a trainer is that he pushes me harder every week. I think I have my exercise under control. The one thing I need to get under control is my WEEKENDS! I really suck at weekends! I’ll give you an example of the last week end... It all starts on Friday night when we head to the tavern for a few drinks & to socialise. We had dinner there as well as it was a ‘kid free’ night, these are becoming far & few between! I ordered hot chips with gravy as I knew I could fit them into my PP. It’s not really a nutritious meal though is it? That coupled with the vodka was just a disaster! Saturday I woke up & it was cold & wet. All I wanted was something warm for breakfast. No food in the house (that I wanted to eat anyway!) so we went & got yummy things from the bakery. Lunch time I felt so guilty about the previous 2 meals so I went & bought a hot chicken & some fresh bread & salad. So although it was a high PP meal at least it was remotely healthy! Dinner was spit roasted beef mallet done over open coals with roasted vegetables & gravy. It was so delicious. Needless to say I went over my PP on Saturday! Not by many but I still used up some of my weekly points which I did NOT want to touch this week. Sunday was a much better day... mostly due to the guilts from the previous day! Except that I went the opposite way. By the time I went to the BBQ last night I still had 17pp to be used. I had prawns & salad, a piece of the roasted vegetable frittata I made (only 1pp per serve & DELICIOUS!!! Will post the recipe later) and some pumpkin that one of the neighbours had bought. Then DF’s mother bought out some yummy chicken wings which I had 2 of knowing that so far my dinner had only cost me 6pp. The desserts then came out. I was not tempted by the strudel, the ice cream, the custard or the fresh cream. However the mango sorbet caught my eye. I had a little bit of that & it was so yummy! When I got home I entered everything into my tracker. The chicken was very high in PP so that used up quite a chunk. The sorbet was actually very low in PP (luckily!) & I am going to get some for home so on those nights when I feel like a little sweet treat I can indulge practically guilt free! The problem with yesterday was that I didn’t track until I had eaten. So it was nothing but luck & a few good choices that saved me. I really need to get myself out of this pattern of eat first track later on weekends. I seem to eat SO much bread & bread products on the weekends too. I am sure if I can get this under control that I will drop some big numbers. Some numbers are better than no numbers but I have goals that I want to smash! I have rewards that I want to buy! I am obsessed- all I can think about now is the wedding & I want to buy that dress damn it!

The 1st cull

10/04/11

Yesterday I searched high & low for a pair or tights that I wanted to wear to the gym. I was seriously hoping that they were not in the bottom of my over flowing washing basket that I affectionately call Mt Wash More. I usually have 2 loads per day to wash so if you miss even 1 day it can quickly get out of control! We have had nothing but rain for the past week so you can imagine what my tiny laundry is looking like at the moment! I ended up going through every draw & had to settle on a different pair. In the process I decided that it was time to clean out my draws. I seriously have hardly anything left! On the up side I found 3 skirts that I had completely forgotten I owned due to not wearing them as they have always been too small. Purchased on one of those shopping trips when you can’t be bothered to try anything on only to get home & discover that they are too small. I have always been too embarrassed to return them & so these too small clothes end up living in my draws for ever more. One of the skirts I used to wear all the time until the spread of contentment occurred. I tried them on 1 by 1- Shock- All three fit! One I admit is a little snug but I know in the next few weeks that I will be able to get into it easily. I also went through my shirt & tops draw. Just out of these 2 draws I filled a massive bag for lifeline. My draws are looking noticeably bare but I really don’t want to go out & buy anything new just yet. 7kgs down & around 8kgs to go, I’m not quite half way yet. Luckily most of my gym gear is lycra blend so that is all still wearable even if it is starting to feel a little big.

I can eat what ever I like...

08/04/11

I can eat whatever I want... These are the words that we hear out of skinny little models & actresses mouths all the time. We see it written in interviews to magazines aimed at women & I used to think whatever love, you live on a diet of celery & baby food. (Anyone seen THAT new diet craze???!!!) After seeing a photo of Miranda Kerr a few weeks ago walking into a job with a Tupperware container filled with what looked like stir fried vegies I have to admit that at the time I was puzzled. Here is this GORGEOUS woman, with a body women around the world envy, who has just had a baby, eating a healthy meal? Of REAL food?! Where was the bottle of water and celery sticks?! Where was the jar of baby food?! You mean to tell me that she got a body like that by eating healthy & *gasp* exercise! But last night I finally got it. She does eat what she wants. It’s just that she doesn’t want to go to McDonalds & order a large quarter pounder meal, she doesn’t want the caramel sundae, she doesn’t want pizza, she doesn’t want the large packet of salt & vinegar chips, she doesn’t want the 2L bottle of coke (or coke zero!) & she doesn’t want the family size block of Cadbury’s chocolate! (Feel free to add your own poison to this list) She WANTS to eat healthy, she wants the food that she puts into her body to nourish it, not pollute it. She wants to eat fresh colourful meals. Colourful from the range of different vegies in there, not the different coloured m&m’s!
When these girls are telling us they eat what they want maybe just maybe they are actually telling the truth...

Proud & some exciting news!

06/04/11

I am so proud of DF & I tonight. After a yummy dinner of chicken breast marinated in peri peri sauce & vegetables. I made the kids some apple pie with home made custard. I served them up & left them to do the dishes while DF & I took our selves off for a walk/ run over the hill. On our way there it started pouring with rain, I don't mean kinda sprinkling rain I mean pouring cats & dogs kinda rain. So we continued to our normal parking spot & after a couple of minutes it started to subside a bit. We decided to go for it! So we started our jog up the hill & slowly but surely the rain started to come back a bit. We got to the top of the hill (well almost for me I had to walk the last 100m) & decided that it was getting just a little bit to heavy for our liking. We turned around & started our walk back down the hill. When I got to the bit that I started walking at on the way up. I decided that I was going to run all the way back to our starting point. On the way down the rain really started to come down again. I just kept in my rhythm determined that I was going to get back to our starting point. Finally with lungs burning we made it. With in seconds of starting the walk back to the car the rain started to bucket down again & with out even thinking I started running as fast as I could back to the car. My lungs were burning by the time we got back to the car & I was absolutly saturated. We laughed as we got in the car. Look at the crazy people that we have become- running in the rain!!! We had so much fun. DF offered if I wanted a caramel sundae on the way home & I said- NO WAY! I am not undoing all that good we just did in one go! In fact what we did didn't even cover it- All the exercise I did today combined didn't cover it! Yes I have my weekly points but I just didn't want to do it. It just didn't feel right.

So I guess you've read this far to find out what the exciting news is hey...


We've picked a wedding date! Hooray! Can't say to much just yet as we have PLANS! But I will say that it will be TOTALLY us which I love love love!!!

Realisation

05/04/11

I have come to the realisation that this is going to be a long slow process. I am not one of those people that loose 1kg a week & breeze my way through weight loss. I am going to be one of those people that have to work hard for every gram that I lose. I was getting a little bit disheartened with it but then I realised that it doesn’t really matter. It’s not a race. I am not doing this to be a winner. I am doing this to change my life. I am doing this to lose weight. I am doing this to get fitter & healthier. I am doing this to be happy in my own skin. If it takes me 3 weeks or 3 months or 3 years it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that I am doing it! If I look at how I am going I think overall I am doing pretty well. Okay if I stopped drinking every week end then I might manage to lose more than 200g-500g a week. But do you know what? I don’t want to! I don’t want to stop going out. I don’t want to stop having a life. I want to enjoy every single minute of it! If I change who I am to lose this weight then I will not be happy anyway. Eventually I will start doing the things I love again & the weight will all come crashing back on. I have to stay true to myself & change the things that I can without giving up the things that I love. Yes it means that this process will take me longer but I can deal with that. I am loving trying out new recipes & putting my old favourites into the tracker to see how many PP a serving is. Some things I have been SHOCKED to see how many PP they use but others I have been pleasantly surprised. The green curry that I made on Friday night was sensational. By swapping the coconut cream for the water & light coconut milk it made a massive difference to the overall PP. It also gave it more of a soupy consistency which is more authentic anyway! I will always cook it this way from now on. I would never use the coconut cream again, I prefer it the new way! I am enjoying salads & soups for my lunch. By having a higher PP breakfast & a 0 or low PP lunch it means that I can still enjoy our normal dinner or a lighter dinner & a dessert. I am still learning to balance it all & to not beat myself up when I have a slip up. Yes I would love to lose some big numbers but as long as I continue to lose SOME numbers I will be a happy girl!

Thai Green Curry Prawns

We had this for dinner tonight. It was DELICIOUS! We like spicy food so we have ours quite hot. For a milder version you could use half the curry paste & omit the chilli ;) This served 4 for only 5pp per serve. You could add more prawns for only a few extra PP if you wanted to.


4 Tbsp green curry paste
10 individual Prawn, king, raw
1 clove fresh garlic
1 fresh red chilli
1 medium brown onion
1 medium carrot
1 medium red capsicum
1 cup of brocolli
1 cup reduced-fat coconut milk
2 cup boiled basmati rice
1/4 cup fresh coriander
1/8 cup fresh basil

Put your rice on first as the sauce doesn't take long to prepare! Shell & devein the prawns then add 1 tbsp of the curry paste & mix through to marinate. Next prepare all of your vegies. Heat your pan & add the garlic, chilli & onion & cook until soft, add the remainder of the curry paste & fry off for a few minutes. Add 1 cup of water & bring to the simmer. Add your prawns, capsicum & brocolli & stir until prawns are cooked. Add the coconut milk, corriander & basil & simmer for a minute to let the flavours develop. Serve with steamed rice.

DF was most impressed & thought it tasted as good as the one the local Thai place makes.

April Challenge Day 1

01/04/11

Day 1 of the April challenge, I am feeling really good about this month. I am re-motivated for some big losses this month. Tomorrow is my first WI for the month & I can only hope that I have done enough this week to undo some of the damage that I did over last weekend. If I don’t have a loss this week I will deal with it. I deserve to not have a loss with not only the weekend to blame but also Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday without a proper work out! Yes I have tried to make up for it over the past couple of days & I feel fantastic for it but only the scales tomorrow will tell if it has been enough.
I am so excited that so many of my WW friends have decided to take on the challenge as well. We will really be able to encourage each other to keep going. There are so many different weights in there too I noticed, some that are very close to goal, some that have 10kg or so to go & some that have a bit more to lose. Some of us will find it hard to lose 5kg in a month especially those that are close to goal, some are stuck in plateau’s (grr!!!) and some will do it easily. The important thing is that we will all be there doing it together. No matter what the outcome at the end of the month at least we will be able to hold our heads high & know that we did everything in our power to give ourselves the best shot at this & at the end of the day as long as we continue to lose we will all be winners in the end.

Love to you all & good luck!!!

I wasn't joking!

31/03/11

Well when I say I’m back, I’m not joking! After a yummy dinner of homemade chicken burgers (made with chicken breast) down at the beach, DF & I decided to do our big walk. Once we got going we decided to go for a little run. We actually ran to the top of Alexandra Headland hill! My lungs & thighs were burning by the time I got to the top. It was my 2nd run for the day after all! We walked down the other side to the point where we turn around. When we got back to the hill section to go back over we decided to run again. So over the hill we ran further & further, my lungs were screaming at me to stop but I just pushed through until I got over the top of the rise. I hit the pole on the way past as a little marker and finally allowed my tired legs to rest by dropping back to a brisk walk. DF actually kept running down the hill & after a couple of minutes break I decided that I couldn’t let him beat me! So then I ran again to catch up to him. He stopped at the bottom & waited for me catch up & we walked back to the car. We were both so proud of each other. I can’t wait until we are fit enough to run the whole walk. I watched the other couples out enjoying the beautiful evening together by going for run. That is the kind of couple that I aspire for us to be, the kind that can go for a run together & still talk & laugh at the same time. At the moment it is more of a red faced, struggling for breath, pavement pounding kinda look but we’ll get there!

I'm back baby!

I went to the gym this morning. I did extra in my arms & abs sessions. One thing I noticed though is how fast you lose your fitness! I have not run since last Friday with Brock up the dreaded Point Cartwright Hill (sheer cliff face more like it!) This morning I really sucked at running! Last week I was doing 3.5min sections & today I could only manage 2.5min sections. It was very disappointing! Brock told me some time ago that you lose your fitness twice as fast as you gain it. Today really proved that to me. I must be the slowest person to ever do the C25K. Instead of the normal 9 week program I think it will take me 18 weeks lol. I don’t care how long it takes me though I am still going to do it. I have a secret goal to run in a fun run. Not sure which one I am aiming for yet but I want to run the whole thing. I can’t wait until I can do that. I can just imagine my little family waiting at the end for me to finish, cheering me on.
Tomorrow is the 1st of April. Day 1 of the 5kg in April challenge. I’ll start my day with a training session with Brock. I think I am really going to try & give myself a good kick start for April by going to the gym over the week end as well. Normally I try to just do light exercise over the week end to give myself a little break but I want to see a big difference in April so I plan on putting in some big effort!

Suck it up princess!

30/03/11

I’ve given myself a stern talking to. Snap out of it, suck it up princess. You got yourself into this only you can get yourself out!

Tomorrow morning I am back on track. April is going to be a month of big losses. I am going to exercise daily. I am going to stick to my PP each day & get back to only using my weekly points for special occasions. I am not going to drink any alcohol until April 30th, the night of one of my good friend’s hen’s night. I want to be a size 12 for that night. I want to wear a cute dress. I want to feel amazing.

April is my month... Seriously!

MoJo

30/03/11

I have been so slack this week. It seems a weekend of pure indulgence has ruined my whole week so far! I have been so unmotivated to do anything. I have been tired & lethargic. I am meant to be doing week 4 of C25K (couch to 5km running program) I have not even done 1 day! I haven’t even blogged! I LOVE blogging! If it wasn’t for DF encouraging me to do our big walk last night I would have officially done NO proper exercise all week so far! PP wise I have been very good. I have not used any of those weekly points as I wrote them off after all the drinks I had on the week end. I don’t know if that is enough to save me on the scales this week though. I have 2 full days before WI & PT on one of those days. If I can somehow find my exercise mojo for tomorrow I might just scrape through with a loss!

P.S. If anyone finds my mojo can you please return it?

Counting the Cost

Well what a FABULOUS weekend away we had. On one hand I wish that it could go longer. I loved being able to relax, swim, shop & be spontaneous all week end. On the other hand though, I am glad to be home, the warm protective walls & familiar routine all here waiting for me. I can stop spending money & start saving again! (The casino & outlet stores killed us! Lol)

So how did I go with my PP & sticking to my WW plan?

Friday I started out with a nice low PP bowl of cereal with skim milk. Lunch was 2 chilli chicken sushi rolls on the drive down to the Gold Coast. Friday night we went to the NRL match between Broncos (WOO HOO!) and Titans (BOO!) We decided to get a pizza to share between the 3 of us before we left. I had 2 pieces & counted it as 7pp per piece. I had 4 or so (I say or so because I *think* I had around 4... I’m a cheap drunk lol) vodka lime & sodas. As usual the vodka is what blew my PP out but I still managed to stay under what I had allocated for Friday.
The start of my week is actually Saturday. That means all the exercise points & weekly points are reset & it is too bad so sad for the extra points that I didn’t use for the week before! We started off our day with a nice swim & some laps in the resort pool. We actually had it to ourselves which I couldn’t believe as the weather was picture perfect! We went back upstairs & showered & got ready for our day. We headed back down to one of the cafes in the mall & I had a Breakfast Stack which consisted of avocado, bacon, poached egg all balanced on top of half a Panini. It was delicious except that it was actually ½ an avocado on there. I took it off & used around ¼ of it to spread on the Panini. Then we hit the outlet stores. We spent approx 2 hours walking around, trying things on & getting some serious bargains! Lunch time saw the boys get Hungry Jacks. I decided to have a low fat yogurt & a hand full of grapes instead as I knew we were going to my favourite restaurant for dinner & then out for drinks so I wanted to make sure that I had plenty of PP in the kitty. Dinner was spectacular as I expected. I had 1 piece of pizza & we shared a pasta dish between 3 of us. Then as a special treat Mum & I shared a Panna Cotta. It was DEVINE!!! There is actually not much choice in the tracker to record Panna Cotta so I chose the one with the highest PP (10!) to record it under. I am glad we shared it!
So up until this point I pretty much kept it all under control... over the course of Saturday night I had a few too many vodka’s ... so many that I don’t even know how many! I know I had some at the restaurant, some at the casino & some at the club we ended up at. I know that it wouldn’t have been any more than 10 because I was still managing to walk & I wasn’t sick or anything. I had a great night though so I don't regret that part of it! The other down side is that today I am feeling tired & lethargic. We did go for a walk but that was necessity over actually wanting to go for an exercise walk. (I wanted to get some ingredients for cooking that I can’t get up here!) I also succumbed to the evil McDonalds. I had a whole meal! When I came home & put it in to my tracker I just thought YUCK! It didn’t even taste good- what a waste of PP!

So I haven’t bothered tracking any of Saturday night’s drinks. How can I? I don’t really know how many I have had! Instead I am going to use my whole weekly points allowance towards them. I think that way with exercise & making sure I stick to my daily PP I should still be on track for a loss this week.

Proof!

25/03/11

Well the proof is here people. If you just continue to follow the program, continue to exercise and continue to have faith. It will all catch up! After 3 weeks of very poor results & starting to get a little disheartened I am happy to report a 500gram loss this week. I am VERY happy to see the numbers going down & will never winge about a 100g loss ever again! I will not loose faith. I will continue to follow the program even when I reach a plateau. I am sure that it will happen again & next time I will know that be just sticking with it & not giving up that my body will start to respond again (eventually!)
Well I am off on my week end away with DF this afternoon so I won't be blogging over the week end as I will far to busy swimming & shopping & having fun! I hope every one has a fantastic week end.

xox

Week 4 of my March personal commitment

4 weeks is a long time. So have I succeeded with what I had set out for myself?

Exercise- I have exercised most days I think I have only missed 3 days for the whole month so far. I am even taking my workout gear away with me this week end. I get up pretty early so I am thinking that I will be able to go for a nice morning walk along the beach front. (As long as I don’t drink too much! Lol)

Tracking- I have tracked pretty much everything. I did cheat a little back in week 2 by not tracking condiments & by using low fat milk instead of skim milk & not adjusting my recipe in my tracker with the attitude of it is only 1or 2 points no big deal. But all of those 1 & 2 points add up over a week! I only had a very small loss that week so the old saying- what you eat in private shows in public is true! I learnt my lesson & everything that I have eaten since then has gone into the tracker. When I have been somewhere else for dinner & unable to measure how much I have been having of something I have been trying to overestimate instead of under estimate.

Fruit- Hmmm wellllll....... I have been eating at least 1 piece of fruit every weekday. It is part of my routine now. I always have a piece of fruit sitting on my desk so that if I get peckish I can have that. I had the most amazing apple yesterday it was actually delicious! If you could guarantee me that they would all be like that one I would eat fruit every day! Weekends however are a different story... I struggle to eat it on the weekends as we don’t have a set routine. We just do whatever we feel like on the day. This means that we can be anywhere at any time & just eat meals when we get home. We don’t really snack over the weekends either as we are so busy out doing stuff.

Weight loss- So far this month has been practically nonexistent. A grand total of 300grams. With only 1 weigh in to go I am obviously not going to meet my 5kg loss that I was hoping for! I am okay with it though. After some supportive words from my friends I know that this is not going to happen overnight and if it did I would probably put it all back on again anyway as I would not have learnt the lessons that I need to along the way to keep it off long term. I am ready for the ride however long it takes.

I am definitely going to set myself a new commitment list in April. By doing it this month I have changed a few things & learnt a few things. It has given me something to work towards & focus on other than just weight loss alone.

Thank you

24/03/11

I feel like a massive weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I didn’t realise it at the time of writing it but yesterday’s confession had been weighing on me for a very long time. About 18 years to be exact. That is a very long time to be carrying around something so shameful. It was the dark little secret from my past that very few people knew about. I felt so ashamed and guilty. I feel like a black veil has been blocking the path up until now. A horrible monster waiting in the shadows to claw me back in just waiting for that one little slip up.

This morning when I woke up I felt good. I feel energised, I slept well & I feel... light. I think without realising it I have shared this burden with all of you. What is the saying a burden shared is a burden halved? Something like that anyway. I know that I don’t know any of you personally (except Sarah my future sister in law) but the support that I have received has been amazing. Some of you shared your own similar experiences as well which meant so much more than you will ever know. It made me realise that I am not alone. It has taken this shameful dirty secret & thrust it into the open. No longer is it something to feel guilty about. We have to accept our past in order to change our future. I know that now. I’m not stupid I know that after 1 day I have not been ‘cured’. I know that this is going to be an ongoing process. Some days will be hard & I will have to work at not falling into old habits. But I also know that MOST days will be good.

By taking this problem out of the shadows it doesn’t have the power over me anymore. I hope that others that have these kinds of issues can also be guided to let them go. Give it to the universe. Those that matter don’t mind & those who mind don’t matter! This community is so supportive. You will not be made to feel ashamed. You will be given strength, courage and friendship. Just when you feel like you are ready to throw in the towel someone will be there with some kind words to pick you up & dust you off.

Airing my dirty laundry

23/03/11

So after 3 weeks of disappointing results, I have had to force myself to stay positive. I have had to force myself to continue to eat right. I have had to force myself to get out of bed and exercise. I have had to force myself to STOP so that I don’t fall into my old bingeing habits. I have had temptation in my path. Sometimes I have given in but most times I haven’t. I have tracked even on those times that I have given in to temptation. It is so easy for me to fall back into old patterns. One little treat here & there can easily turn into one massive binge. Especially if I have had a stressful or upsetting day. I have had to rid my house of all high point foods like chips (my nemesis) and replace it with rice cakes (my saviour!) and nuts. Sometimes all I want is some chips and no amount of fruit is going to cure that craving! Being able to reach for some low PP things has meant even on the days that I do come home from work, which seems to be my worst time, and want to stuff my face I have healthy low PP things to do it with.
I have struggled with Bulimia in the past so for me to overcome these binges is something that is going to take work. It is not going to be something that is going to be cured overnight or in a few days or even weeks. This is something that is very deep seated in my past. Over the years I have been able to gain control over it somewhat to the point that I have not made myself sick in quite a few years however the other side of it, the bingeing is not so easy to control. I guess that this is what has caused me to gain so much weight over the years. Even when I was doing a lot of exercise, my eating was out of control. This meant that I never lost any weight. At my worst I could go through fast food drive through & order 2 meals (pretending that they weren’t both for me you see) eat them in secret in a quiet street or in a car park where no one could see me like some seedy drugo. I would then go home & pretend that I hadn’t had anything to eat & have to eat dinner on top of it. It was as if I didn’t have that full signal. After wards I would feel so guilty & sick to my stomach about what I had done. Of course then I would be sick & it would all be okay again. Except of course that it wasn’t.
I can honestly say that I am past that point in my life. Even the thought of it makes me look back at the old me with disgust. I know that I never want to be that person again. It was not me. It was the sick me. I am healing. I am getting stronger every day. I don’t care if I have 10 STS in a row. WW WILL WORK!!! I just need to look at people like Paula & Bel & other ladies on here that have done it for my inspiration. I don’t care how long it takes I will get there.

More Motivation

Whether you think you can or you can't, you are right

Was this mornings message. I ran for 1, 2 minute & 3, 3 minute blocks today. That is the longest that I have ever run! I just kept saying it over & over in my head. My brain was screaming at me to stop but my heart just wanted to keep going.

I WILL SUCCEED!!!

Size 14

22/03/11

I took my kids shopping on Sunday to get a few essentials that we needed for dinner. My eldest daughter Kirra, wanted to go into one of those teenager aimed stores with the music blaring & staff that looked like they got dressed in the dark with the miss match of clothing that they must have picked up off their bedroom floor or as I like to call it their floordrobe. Hair tussled in an urban hippy/ I don’t bother brushing my hair style. Bobbing away to the music & shouting at their customers over the top of the music. So we enter the store so that Kirra can have a look if there is anything in there that I will actually allow her to leave with. As she is asking the girl to get a pair of jeans off the roof (seriously she had to go & get a ladder!) I find myself browsing through a rack of long dresses. Kirra runs off to the fitting room to try on a pair of skinny jeans and a top and I follow. In my hands I have a dress off that rack. It is black- which I have been making a point of steering away from in recent times as my whole wardrobe seems to be black with the exception of my workout gear. It is long. It looks like it is going to be slim fitting. I seriously don’t know what got into me even taking that dress into the fitting room. For one I don’t wear dresses and two as if I am going to fit into anything in this store! I know that I am setting myself up for a fall. After a week of STS I am questioning if I am trying to sabotage myself so that I can console myself with food when it doesn’t fit. So I slip the dress over my head. It is pretty it has a ruffle that runs across the bust on a diagonal & then all the way down. I can see how nice it would look with some gold accessories & my hair done. Best of all- I can see that it actually fits! A size 14 in one of those teenage shops. I never thought I would ever be able to wear anything (or want to for that matter!) in one of those stores. Of course I bought the dress. How could I not!

So while I was at the gym this morning I ran a little bit further thinking of my butt in that dress. I did a few extra repetitions of my arm weights thinking of my arms in that dress. When I was doing sit ups I was thinking about my tummy in that dress. I am looking forward to wearing it this Friday to pick DF up from work in the city on our way to our weekend away without the kiddies. He hasn’t seen it yet & I am hoping that he will be impressed. As for Kirra she was allowed the jeans but the top didn’t make the cut. I won’t let her walk around with her tummy showing at 12. I don’t care what the fashion is! I am loving that I am now a true size 14. I can officially walk into a shop & pick up the size 14 off the rack & know that it is going to fit. What an exciting concept! I can’t wait until I can blog about the same experiences for size 12 & then eventually size 10. The days are coming I know it!

Blame

Blame whoever or what ever you like. The consequences are still yours. Take responsibility for yourself & your actions.

This was the message flashing up at me at the gym this morning. Just what I needed to break through this hump that I have found myself in!

Marinade

Skinny Girl stuck in a fat body
[Edit] Yummy MarinadeEdit, Remove
Written by bubba-licious on 20/03/2011 8:40 PM

I just made this yummy 0pp marinade for our chicken tonight. It was simular to the one I did for the prawns a little way back but I think this one was even better! We had it on the BBQ with a simple salad. I used some of the corriander through the salad as well & it was so tasty that you didn't even realize that there was no dressing.

1 x clove of garlic
1 tsp ginger
1 whole fresh chilli sliced
1 tbs fish sauce
1 tbs soy sauce
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 bunch of fresh corriander

Throw it all in a small container with a lid. Give it a good shake then pour over your meat. We marrinated it for about 30mins before cooking- It was sensational! This was enough for 2 chicken breasts

A Birthday Surprise

18/03/11

DF is a typical Aussie guy. A thong wearing, short wearing, V8 ute driving, surfing Aussie bloke. So who knew that he could be so romantic? Certainly not me! My day started off at 4.30am with a beautiful card that was for a wife. However DF had added a little to be beside it. So cute! The kids then got up around 6am & gave me their presents and cards. A normal day of work followed. Then last night I was taken out for dinner to our local Tavern for my birthday. I really didn’t want to go out as I have so much to organise for my step daughters 7th Birthday party on Saturday. I also had to make cupcakes for her to take to school today so I was stressing that I would not have enough time to get everything done that I need to. Plus we are going away for my Birthday next week end so I was happy to not celebrate it until then. All I wanted for dinner was a simple steak with vegies. DF finally persuaded me to go with the promise that we would have a yummy dinner & it would be quicker than going to Hogs Breath or the like. So we walked in to the sports bar area to have a little flutter. We head to the bar to order drinks & the owner of the tavern, Paul, tells us that these ones are on the house and wishes me a happy birthday. Hmmm how did he know it was my birthday? So we enjoy our drinks & then make our way down to the restaurant. Table for 2 thanks DF says. Paul miraculously appears again to show us to our seats. We are lead out to the outside deck area and I view our table. There are balloons & table scatters all over the table. I am almost crying at this point as DF has NEVER gone to this kind of effort before. I am used to him rushing out to get my present the night before. Once I even got $100 in a card because he left it so late that he missed the shops! My proposal was not romantic at all (I have requested a do over after last night!) Don’t get me wrong his words were sweet and really meaningful however they were delivered as we were going to bed on a random Wednesday night. The effort that he went to last night really blew me away. So we are sitting at the beautiful table & Paul returns with another drink each (there goes my PP!) Normally you have to go up to the bar to order & then they bring your meal out to your table. Paul comes over to the table & takes our orders acting like it is a posh restaurant instead of our little local tavern. I had steak & vegies just like I had planned with Diane sauce on the side. The old me would of had chips instead of vegies, extra Diane sauce & I would have drowned my entire meal in the sauce making sure not to waste a precious drop! Last night instead of pouring it on I actually dipped my steak into the sauce instead. I actually only used half of the sauce doing it this way. I was so full that I couldn’t finish my meal & although I did feel a little guilty as I didn’t want Paul to think that I didn’t enjoy it, I was so proud of myself for stopping myself from eating when I was full. The old me would have polished off that meal & then been looking for dessert! I did go over in my PP but I had all of my weeklies up my sleeve as well as all of my exercise points. So all in all it was a FABULOUS birthday dinner. I can’t wait until next week end to see how he can top that one!