Weekly Weigh In

Starting Weight (Monday 21.2.10)     112.00kg (eek)
Saturdays Weigh In                            109.8KG!

Difference a whopping great big loss of 2.2 kgs!

I am so happy with result, it goes to show what a little bit of excercise and good healthy living can do!

Week Recap

After the weekend away and the releasing of the old me - I weighed in on Monday and had a fresh starting point for the journey!

Overall the week went well - I made great food choices  with very very minimal snacking (big thing for me!)
I walked/trained to work three days this week
I completed an 8km bike ride
I attended an Aqua Deep Class
Dance Class as normal

Normally I would train/walk four days but my ankle was a bit sore on Friday so I decided to rest it and drove to work!

Overall a very good first week back into it!

Duathalon Day!

Today is the day I will be participating in my first Duathalon.

Update to follow later in the week.

Source

Bungy Update

As I mentioned the other day, I was in Queenstown last weekend with my best friend.
She was down there for a work conference and since it was her birthday on the Friday we decided that I would fly down and spend the weekend with her!

We had a blast - altho Queenstown is very expensive.

She has the photos on her camera so I can only show you one of the bungy ones I have managed to down load for now.

This is her and I just before we jumped!

Notice I am holding on to the bar still!

I will be honest - I chickened out of my solo jump - I just couldn't bring myself to "fall" off the ledge - but I really wanted to do it!

Since Ang loved her solo she was more than happy to do a tandem with me, and if you jump again on the same day it was only another $60.00 for her to jump!

So we got strapped up and away we went!

Once I can get the other Bungy photos to upload I will post them!

When you are strapped together you are to hold onto the other persons harness at the back and put your free hand out to the side!

Well - I freaked out straight away and my free hand went straight to Angs shoulder and didn't leave! so all you see in the other photos is her face and my side or my big bum! (hilarious)

I shut my eyes and screamed the whole way down!

I HATED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

BUT I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!

I had worked myself up to jump and when I couldn't do the solo - I was so upset with myself as I had placed so my significance on this jump!

To me it was to symbolise the releasing of the old me - who put up barriers for not succeeding at weight loss, who made excuses to not exercise - I wanted to throw the old me off and emerge a new me!

A person who will succeed at her goals

A person who will put the focus where it needs to be

A person who will face her fear and overcome it anyway!

So to do the solo with my best friend was perfect - she is there for me in any way that I need her and vice versa!

And yes since Saturday  - I have been a focused girl - I am exercising a lot more, eating great and really working on me!

Watch out World here I come!

28 Day Challenge Day 26

Todays posts is all about being a winner in life and Attitute is everything!

So don't let excuses stop you...

The WINNER is always part of the answer; the loser is always part of the problem.
The WINNER always has a program; the loser always has an excuse.
The WINNER says, “let me do it for you”; the loser says, “that’s not my job”.
The WINNER sees an answer for every problem; the loser sees a problem in every answer.
The WINNER listens; the loser just waits until it is their turn to talk.
The WINNER makes a mistake and says, “I was wrong”; when a loser makes a mistake they say, “it wasn’t my fault”.
The WINNER says “I am good but not as good as I could be”; the loser says, “I am not as bad as a lot of other people”.
The WINNER feels responsible for more than their job. A loser says, “I only work here”.
The WINNER says, “it may be difficult but it is possible”, the loser says “It may be possible but it is too difficult”.

Attitude is everything

Attitude is everything especially when it comes to being a winner in life. When it comes to weight loss, too many times you can feel anything but a winner.

Re-education is the first step, scrambling the old thoughts, attitudes and habits that have held you back in the past. If you want to lose weight and have had little success in the past, then you need to look for new ideas, new ways, and a new attitude that will help create the person you want to be. Now is the perfect time to do a spring-clean of your eating and health regime. If you are fed up and ready to do what is necessary to get you into your healthy weight range, then now is the time to get ready. Take charge of yourself, and more importantly take responsibility for what you eat, how much you eat, and to change any habits that aren't working in your favour.

Firstly you have to understand that learning new habits does take time, and isn't always easy but if you don't change what you are doing then you won't get the results you want. Remember when you were at school to learn anything new you had to practice, practice, practice, well it’s no different now. The more you practice new habits the easier it becomes. To start you will need to take responsibility for your past actions and from now on make the right choices when it comes to your attitude and commitment to becoming a healthy person.

It is time to forget all those lame excuses, reasons, and no, you can't blame anyone else anymore. If you are overweight, it is no one’s fault but your own

Today is a new beginning, so get started on your new belief system that puts YOU in control.

28 Day Challenge - Day 25

Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.
~ Michael Jordan ~






When enough is enough

 

We are eating more than we have ever before in history. With upsized meals and large dinner plates being the norm. This shows we have lost the concept of what is a normal serving of food. This inturn creates a huge problem of overeating and increases the fear of feeling hungry. Imagine if we had a bell that could go off in our head when we were full, it would be fantastic.

To help understand when enough is enough we need to understand the difference of being satisfied verses being full.


Satisfaction is when you don’t feel hungry anymore but you don’t want to feel over full and uncomfortable. The ideal thing is to feel that you aren’t weighed down by how much you have eaten: you should feel energized by the food and not feel like you want to crawl into bed for a nap because you have eaten way too much.

Being satisfied helps take the focus off food. If you have to loosen your belt or undo your skirt or pants then you need to re-think how much you are eating. Start with the food you really enjoy or want first and as you fill up you won’t mind leaving the rest if you get too full. What you think is normal may be anything but this. Maybe we should eat all our salad and vegetables first and then eat the rest? This way you are filling up on the best things for your body. By taking control of how much you eat I bet you will see those kilos just fall away.

Another day with wise words from Annette!

How are you going with your fullness factor????

28 Day Challenge - Day 24...........

There is only one person who can help you be strong, determined and committed to losing weight and that person is YOU.

Day 24 gave us ideas for the best fat burning results:

If you want some simple ways to burn fat more effectively during exercise routines and really help reduce those rolls and bulges here are some tips:

1) Shorten Rest Periods
Progressively reducing seconds from your rest period can help you to raise your metabolism. You need a minimum of 30 seconds of rest or you risk burning out. The one exception is circuit training, which requires no rest between sets.

2) Train the Whole Body
If you’ve been following a split routine — upper-body exercises one day, lower body the next — condense both into one day. Your growth hormone levels will spike, and that burns fat.

3) Alternate Sets
Do a set of a lower-body exercise followed by an upper-body one, such as a squat and then a row. This way, one muscle group has time to recover while you train another one.

4) Increase Lifting Speed
You can burn more calories by doing explosive exercises like plyometric ("plyo") pushups (where you push yourself into the air) and box jumps, or by using lighter weights and lifting them more explosively on the upward phase of the movement.

5) Decrease Number of Reps
Most people’s workouts are based around the idea of 10 reps per set. But you’ll get a much bigger spike in metabolism by reducing your reps and taking on an additional set. Try sets of six to eight reps.

Lots of great ideas there - and I for one will try to incorporate some soon - I am considering adding in some weight training into my routine.

Currently my main source of excercise if walking to and from work/train four days a week. - It is approx 2.5kms each way and I am able to complete it in 20 mins - so I am slowly trying to increase my speed and doing short bursts between power poles.

I have also started bike riding as you know I have a duathalon coming up - this saturday 27th February.

I am also attending Aqua Deep Classes on a Wednesday night, so I think a weigh session in there as well should make a nice well rounded excercise routine.

What do you do for excersise?

28 Day Challenge - Day 23

I will upload some photos from Queenstown soon and tell you all about it!

But First a Quote:

Today is another day of opportunity, of hope, of making dreams come true. Look at this moment in time as the chance of a life time

Onto Todays post:

Rewarding Success

Rewards that you control can be used to encourage you to achieve your goals, especially those that have been difficult to reach. An effective reward is something that is desirable, timely, and reliant on meeting your goal.

The rewards you administer may be tangible (e. g. a movie or music CD or a payment toward buying a more costly item) or massage or facial, the latest novel or just an hour of quiet time away from family. Numerous small rewards, delivered for meeting smaller goals, are more effective than bigger rewards, which often require a long, difficult effort.

So think of an attainable milestone that you'd like to achieve (for example, dropping a dress size, or exercising 4 - 6 times a week) and then plan to reward yourself with something that will aid in your weight loss journey, rather than detract from it.

Some Rewards I have in mind are:

CD's
Craft Tutorials
Craft Supplies
New Clothes

What about you, what rewards to you have?

Guess what I am Doing Today........................

Yup - That will be me!!!

Bungy Jumping in Queenstown at the Original AJ Hackett Bungy Jump!

Hope to see ya back on Monday to fill you in on all the details

Girls Weekend Away

I am heading off for a lovely weekend away with my Bestie today..................................

She is already there and I am flying down this morning.

Can't  wait it will be lots of fun - no children, no partners - just us girls.

This is were we are staying  - The Millenium Hotel in Queenstown!

It looks Fabulous - Just the place for two lovely ladies!

We have a few things planned to do - shopping, relaxing, eating,drinking, celebrating her birthday and one more - which you will find out about tomorrow!

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

28 Day Challenge - Day 22

Well there has been lots and lots of great advise from Annette at Symply too Good to Be True and todays does not disappoint!

But first a quote:

Its up to you to recognise which food choices support your goals and which don’t!

Feed yourself in a loving way that nutures your body

Now onto todays lesson:

Positive strategies

We all know that successful weight management is a long-term challenge. Being overweight can affect us deep within our core, self-esteem and self worth. There is nothing worse than being judge for our size when we know that we are a loving and caring person. As an adult we want to be accepted for who we are, not what we look like. Annette believes that you must love yourself first before you can truly love others( and I agree!) so be proud of yourself and know that you have stepped up and are doing all you can to reach the outcome you desire.
We all know that your health can be greatly improved by losing 5-10 percent of your starting weight. That doesn't mean you have to stop there, but it does mean that an initial goal of losing 5-10 percent of your starting weight is both realistic and valuable. What you eat can affect you more than you can ever imagine so think of the food you choose today and ask yourself “is this food healthy and helping me be the healthy person I want to be?” if your answer is no then DON’T EAT IT!

If you are breaking through some bad habits then here are some strategies to help you conquer these:

1. Challenge yourself that today you will do the best you can be

2. Make your intention clear. You want to lose weight and keep it off so that is why you will do all it takes to achieve this.

3. Know the benefits such as good health, pride, happiness and a feeling of achievement.

4. Take action today. Forget tomorrow, it’s today that counts right now.

5. Eliminate excuses – don’t talk yourself into doing something that you know you will regret tomorrow.

6. Enlist help. Talk to your family and friends and explain to them how important it is that they support you.

7. Track your progress. See how well you do each week and write down the times when you stepped up and moved forward such as ordering a skinny cappuccino when out shopping instead of something you know is bad for you.

8. Do not give up – no matter what you do the moment you stop you know you will gain back your weight. Giving up is not an option!

9. Reward Yourself everyday by patting yourself on the back. Another day closer to your goal weight, well done!

10. Keep It Up. Today was great but tomorrow will be even better. Each day you are changing your lifestyle so that you are that bit closer to being in a healthy weight range.

Lots of great advise there don't you think! - I for one am definelty going to take on board these strategies.



Mid Month Goal Update

I have updated my monthly goals - overall not the best so far but will continue to improve on it!



1. Loose 3kgs this month

Not the best month but slowly getting there!

2. Swim 3 times this month (Part of the 43 List)
Have been keeping up to date with this so all good.

3. Complete at least 2 crafts this month (Part of the 43 List)
1 down - 1 to go

4. Make at least 2 cards this month (Part of the 43 List)
1 down - 1 to go

5. Have fish at least once this month (Part of the 43 List)

6. Complete at least 5 Scrapbook Pages

7. Begin one of the longer task from the list
Well while it is not a longer task - I did complete a task - Attend a concert at a local park!

8. Reduce overdraft

9. Reduce Visa debt

Since I get paid monthly and at the beginning of the month - I was able to reduce this considerably. - woo hoo

28 Day Challenge - Day 21

Getting back into these again...................

So today we learnt all about

Get the (fullness) message

Changing the way we go about eating can make it easier to eat less without feeling deprived. As we all know it takes around 20 minutes for your brain to get the message you've been fed, so trying to eat slower will help us recognise the message,putting the knife and fork down every now and then and wait a few seconds, you will find that you will enjoy the flavour much more.

Slowing the rate of eating can allow satiety (fullness) signals to begin to develop by the end of the meal. Eating lots of vegetables can also make you feel fuller. It will also help you digest your food better and have less heart burn.

Another trick to make yourself feel that you are getting more food is to use smaller plates so that moderate portions do not appear meager. Changing your eating schedule, or setting one, can be helpful, especially if you tend to skip, or delay, meals and overeat later. These are habits you need to work on so that you never have to find those extra kilos ever again.

Annette's recipe to weight loss success

When you look at a recipe, all the ingredients make up a tasty dish, well it’s the same with weight loss. Having the right ingredients will help you achieve your outcome – to be healthy, trim and happy. Here is what she believe's are the 5 ingredients that make up the recipe to weight loss success:-



1. MOTIVATION
2. COMMITMENT
3. EATING A BALANCED, LOW FAT HEALTHY DIET
4. EATING IN MODERATION
5. EXERCISING

MOTIVATION is the number one ingredient you need to achieve anything in life especially weight loss. When you are excited and keen to stay on your healthy program you will find sticking to it much easier. Ask any dieter what happens when they aren’t motivated and they will tell you that they give up. It is such an important part of weight loss. If you want to win the battle of the bulge make sure you keep your motivation alive..

COMMITMENT is being determined and focused on what you are doing. Looking at the long term journey will help you keep the positive attitude and commitment going, which will help you achieve a healthy weight range long term.

EATING RIGHT is so important so make sure that what you put into your mouth is quality food. Food that will give you energy and not drag you down. Eating a wide variety of all the food groups will help keep you healthy and happy. Having a low fat, low calorie diet is so important if you wish to lose weight.

MODERATION is probably one thing that overweight people don’t do. So be disciplined and be aware of how much food you have, how much it weighs and how often you eat this food. For example fruit is really good for you but you can over eat it, so don’t over eat any particular food group.

EXERCISE which help you become fit and help burn fat plus it will also give you great muscle definition. Being active will give you a better quality of life and help keep all of the other four ingredients in the for-front of you mind. How crazy is it to do three quarters of an hour work out and then eat a big slice of cheesecake. Thinking and acting like a healthy person will help you achieve your desired weight loss. By making a note of these 5 important ingredients to weight loss success, staying focused and prioritise these important areas of your health will make you the winner in the end.

Elvis has left the Building and was in the Park..................

Gotcha!

As a Family we headed off on Sunday for a family day out and ended up at a Free Concert called:

Elvis in the Park

huh huh.............

It was lots of fun, sitting around watching the Elvis impersonators and the old rockers walking around in there Elvis gear, or Elvis Tattoos all over there body.

My Dance Class had a stall there as well and did a performance to show off the skills

Here are a couple of photos showing my different dance teachers in action!

This is Vanroe and Alana

This is Vanroe and Naomi

Finding the Goddess Within..................

Click here - Creating Your Goddess Year -

I discovered this through Gala Darlings site and ordered my Booklet to help discover the goddess within me

It is a great booklet filled with 72 pages of worksheets, lots of great questions to get you really thinking about what you want from 2011.

Click on the link above to go and find out all about it so you can:

Dream, Plan & Create your incredible 2011

28 Day Challenge Day 20

Eek - I am a bit behind on these! - Work again!

So today Annette is helping us to avoid the chain reaction!

There are many factors that stimulate us each day. One that can be less obvious is the stimulus (cues) control which involves recognising the social or environmental cues that 'trigger' or encourage you to eat the wrong food - this is why there are lots of pizza ads on TV around dinner time. Picture this: you are hungry, tired and maybe the thought of cooking is just too hard, then an advertisement for a hot, tempting pizza comes on television and all you have to do is dial the number and - voila! - dinner is taken care of. But if you have already eaten dinner, these types of ads mean nothing to you. It's only when you are hungry that you are vulnerable. What we need to learn here is how to avoid these 'chain reaction' situations the next time they happen. How do you do this….

For example: You may learn from your recollection or your self-monitoring records that you're more likely to overeat while watching television, or whenever treats are on display by the office coffee pot, or when you are around a certain friend. You might then try to sever the association of eating with the cue (don't eat while watching television), avoid or eliminate the cue (leave coffee room immediately after pouring coffee), or change the circumstances surrounding the cue (plan to meet with friend in non-food settings).


Changing habits, changes lives, - and if you are smart and aware of your cues and reactions, then you can too.

So who has changed a habits to form a new one? How did it go? What did you do?

28 Day Challenge Day 19

Well I thought I better get back into these and get my shite sorted!

So today we talked about:

Balance your (food) checkbook


Self-monitoring of a behavior can be used at times when you're not sure how you're doing, and at times when you want the behavior to improve.

Self-monitoring such as keeping a record of your exercise can let you know quickly how you're doing, and when the record shows that your exercise is increasing, you'll be encouraged to keep it up. Some people find that specific self-monitoring forms make it easier, while others prefer to use their own recording system.

While daily weight is not encouraged, weighing weekly will help you monitor your journey and regular monitoring of your weight will be essential to help you maintain your lower weight. Today's weight is not a true measure of how well you followed your program yesterday, because your body's water weight will change much more from day to day than will your fat weight, and water changes are often the result of things that have nothing to do with your weight-management efforts, When maintaining weight you can do this once a month. Obsessing on the scales can put you on a downward roller coaster ride so don’t obsess over the scales.

Stress eating

Statistics tell us that we eat according to our moods, for example when angry you will turn to food that you bite into and need to chew, when feeling sad you will go for soft creamy types of food. This may explain why so many of us turn to chocolate when feeling upset. When life is really busy we tend to eat on the run, with little interest in what is eaten for the day, all we care about is as long as we're not hungry, who cares or even thinks about nutritional value when you are on a dead line. To avoid relying on junk food to fill you up you need to be a little organised. Here are some ideas:



1. Shop ahead so that you have food in the freezer and pantry.
2. Plan the meals ahead for the week and share the cooking amongst the family.
3. Get someone to clean the house, an ironing lady will make life easier too or better still learn to DELEGATE. Make everyone no matter what age responsible for jobs around the house e.g washing up, buying the milk, feeding the pets, shopping and let others be the free taxi service.
4. It is so important to make time for yourself, how can you give to others if you are not giving to yourself.
5. Prioritise your day by starting with the things that you HAVE to do, if you don't get all the jobs done today remember there is always tomorrow.

6. If you are a busy bee then stop for a moment and read the “10 way to reduce stress in your life”, learn to relax occasionally and remember to breathe, it will calm you down quickly and may help avoid you turning to food for a pick me up.

1. Forget being perfect or even trying to be
2. Don't try to be all things to all people
3. Leave things undone that ought to be undone
4. Don't spread yourself too thin
5. Learn to say no
6. Schedule time for yourself
7. Switch off and do nothing regularly
8. Be boring, untidy and unattractive at times
9. Never ever feel guilty
10. Don't be your own worst enemy, but instead your own best friend.

Lots and lots of great advise there I do believe and wish I had read it before my little melt down!

BAM, CRASH, KAPOW..................

The last week or so has seen life give me a side ways hit!!!!!!!!!!

I was plodding along the road of life, happy and carefree when BAM I turned into an emotional, eating machine!

I wanted to cry at the drop of a hat, I ate everything in sight and I mean everything whether I was hungry or not - I felt on edge at work and teary and to top it all of I have done nothing creative!

Why oh why did this happen!

The one thing I am wondering about was hormones - as TTOTM started on Monday night and I feel a sense of calm returning! - But hell, I don't want to go thru that rollercoaster every month so I am tracking my emotions for a month or so to see how it goes.

I noticed that since turning 40 (two years ago) that my monthly cycle began changing and over the last couple of months I have been getting a few hot flushes - I am too young to be going into menopause!

Since my mother has passed away I am going to go and have a chat to her sister/my aunt and see if she knows if mum went thru an early menopause and also ask her about hers - can't hurt to know!.

This rollercoaster has also made me look for any excuse to not excercise and even this morning the clouds looked a little gloomy so I have driven into work - but I did have a think about it all while driving in and came to the conculsion that  - so I get a little wet - is it really that big a deal!

I think not!

So my plan of attack is........................................ - I DON"T KNOW!!!!!!

I think I just have to take it one minute at a time and try and keep making the right choice with regards to food and excercise and hopefully all will return to normal.