I AM FABULOUS.........................

Without feeling fabulous and excited about life I could not possibly do what I do everyday. Let Annette explain to you what “I AM FABULOUS” can mean to you:

I – means IMAGINE – just imagine for one moment that you could achieve anything you set your mind to, no fear of failure, no doubt. Realise that your fears are what could be holding you back. Be careful what you wish for because you might not wish hard enough.
A – Means ARM YOURSELF with as much knowledge as possible. A common belief is that knowledge is power. I disagree. It’s only when you use your knowledge that you create fabulous things. I bet you know what you should be eating and what you should be doing to be the healthy person you want to be? SO JUST DO IT!

M – means MAINTAIN a lifestyle that nurtures a healthy and happy life now and in the future.
F – means FOOD – eat healthy low-fat foods that have moderate calories. Don’t be boring with your food choices either, eating grilled fish every night is unnecessary. Experiment and cook my recipes and be satisfied and enjoy your food guilt free.
A – means ATTITUDE is everything. Say to yourself that you are committed and going to be the best you can be, no matter what. Don’t let negative thoughts or anyone stop you.
B – means BELIEVE in yourself. Have the belief that you can achieve great things. Don’t let old negative thoughts stand in your way for another moment. Have faith in yourself and you will be a winner in life.
U – means UNBEATABLE and let nothing deter you on your journey to good health. Don’t let anything or anyone sway you from your goals and let nothing stop you now.
L – means LOVE yourself, because how can you give to others if you are not giving to yourself. Be your own best friend, take time for the number one person in your life – you.
O – means OFF AND ON dieting – give it up, yo-yo dieting only makes you fat and miserable.
U – means UNLEASH the power within and be the best you can be.
S – means SUCCESS will be yours if you do everything it takes and believe that it will happen.

This all spells I AM FABULOUS so be fabulous and enjoy life to the fullest every day.

Adding in Steps to your day..............

Here are some extra suggestions for how you can easily add more steps to your day at home and work:

• Focus on walking distance over speed, it’s better to get in more steps at a comfortable pace than to burn out quickly
• Walk on a treadmill on rainy days or when it’s too dark to walk outside
• March in place while watching your favourite TV show
• Reverse your walking routine — start in the direction where you usually end
• Catch up on the day’s events with your partner, children or friends on an after-dinner walk
• Sleep more soundly at night by taking a walk a few hours before you go to bed
• Go for a walk before you go to work, you’ll energise yourself for the day
• Accompany your children on their walk to school
• Take your dog for a walk
• Start a walking club in your community
• Walk to a nearby store, post office, or dry cleaners to accomplish errands
• Benefit a good cause by joining a charity walk
• Mow the lawn
• Pace around your house while talking on the phone
• Buy a walking video so you can get in your steps on rainy days
• Experience the splendour of a sunrise on an early morning walk
• Exit the bus 1 or 2 stops early and walk the remainder of the way
• Walk to work if you live close enough
• Refill your coffee cup at the machine farthest from your workstation
• Visit the restroom on the far side of the building
• Use work as a way to exercise, for example hold a meeting while you go for a walk
• Listen to music or books on tape while walking
• Park in the far reaches of the parking lot
• Escape the stress of a difficult day by excusing yourself for a few minutes of walking
• Designate 10 minutes of your lunch break for a quick walk
• Start a staff walking club
• Walk to co-workers desks to speak to them instead of sending an email

Excercise Verses Movement

I found this amongst my many notes from the 28 Day Challenge and thought it was another good piece from Annette that I would like to record on my blog and share with you all:

Most people over estimate their activity levels. Just because you move, that doesn’t count as exercise. What you need to do is something else apart from normal activity, such as to go walking for an allocated time each day. If you want to have loads of energy and have a toned and fit body then exercise is the answer. When you exercise endorphins are released into the body that will give you a rush of energy and help combat fatigue. If you like the sound of this and want to bounce through the day with loads of energy then I suggest you get off the couch and hit the pavement.

Here is a reminder of some of the different ways you can exercise

-  Walk briskly
-  Jog
-  Join a health club, use the workout room with gym equipment and try lots of different classes
-  Do laps in your pool or local council pool
-  Do water aerobics classes
-  Learn how to belly dance
-  Learn how to roller blade
-  Play squash
-  Do the Wii Fit program
-  Hire workout DVDS and use them at home
-  Play some funky music and dance around the house
-  Go up and down the steps in your house and around your back yard
-  Use a skipping rope
-  Join a boot camp (group training sessions)
-  Learn how to dance
-  Do line dancing
-  Set up a small gym in your house
-  Use a rebounder – mini trampoline
-  Weight resistance exercises
-  Squats and floor exercises
-  Hiking or bush walking
-  Yoga
-  Pilates
-  Bike riding
-  Gardening or yard work
-  Thai chi
-  Hire a personal trainer
-  Canoe or kayak if you live near water.

21 Suggestions for Success

Annette also gave us this list which I thought would be fun to share:

21 SUGGESTIONS FOR SUCCESS
by H. Jackson Brown Jr.
1.    Marry the right person. This one decision will determine 90% of your happiness or misery.

2.    Work at something you enjoy and that’s worthy of your time and talent.

3.    Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

4.    Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.

5.    Be forgiving of yourself and others.

6.    Be generous.

7.    Have a grateful heart.

8.    Persistence, persistence, persistence

9.    Discipline yourself to save money on even the most modest salary.

10.  Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.

11.  Commit yourself to constant improvement.

12.  Commit yourself to having a good quality of life.

13.  Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationships with people you love  and respect.

14.   Be loyal.

15.   Be honest.

16.   Be a self-starter.

17.   Be decisive even if it means you’ll sometimes be wrong.

18.   Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life.

19.   Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you’ll regret the things you didn’t do more than the ones you did.

20.   Take good care of those you love.

21.   Don’t do anything that wouldn’t make your Mum proud.

28 Day Challenge - Final Day

Well it has finally arrived!
Apologies for it taking longer than 28 days but hey these things happen

Todays posts has a few lists to it so I will spread them out - cause I can!

So Annettes 12 tips to becoming a healthy person:-
1.   Think and act like a healthy person.
2.   Take control of food – do not allow food to control you.
3.   Reduce the stress in your life.
4.   Reduce or better still omit salt (sodium).
5.   Reduce or better still omit caffeine.
6.   Reduce or better still omit alcohol.
7.   Reduce the fats, especially saturated fats, in your diet.
8.   Exercise at least five to six times a week.
9.   Stop smoking.
10. Drink at least 8 glasses of water every day.
11. Eat the quantities of food that your body needs, not what you want.
12. Be happy and enjoy the journey – think positively and live life to the fullest every day.

Changing habits is not always easy but if you make small but significant changes as you go along you will be blessed with abundant energy, good health and pride in yourself

28 Day Challenge Day 27.................

Well we are nearing the end of the challenge and I personally have learnt a lot of great things from it.
So to recap todays words of wisdom from Annette:

Two roads you can take

One of the most important messages you need to heed today is - if you fail to plan you plan to fail.

Giving up will only cause more weight gain and health concerns. Imagine just for a moment that you could see a picture of yourself at your ideal weight. How would you look? I bet you would be smiling from ear to ear and feeling very proud and happy. Let’s imagine right now that you are going to take the right road to success. As with a street map, you will need to get yourself a map of what you want to achieve so you know where you are going, how are you going to achieve this and how long will it take. A good idea when making goals is to set a time frame on the goal but be realistic. Sometimes when we take our eye off the target we get side tracked or hit a bump in the road, but it will only be a problem if you stop and don’t continue on the journey. Think about it - what must you do to make what you desire so much a reality:

1. Keep using your food diary and write everything down that you eat and how much you eat
2. Clean out your pantry and refrigerator so that when you are feeling hungry you won’t be tempted.
3. Have lots of healthy snacks and make recipes from my cookbooks so that you have tasty food you enjoy.
4. Focus on the positives. Forget about what are you missing out on i.e. pizza and a beer on Friday nights. Instead think about how good you are going to look and feel, if instead you make your own healthy pizza and a large salad and have a light beer instead. You won’t feel like you are missing out, guaranteed.
5. Don’t give up. No matter how bad your day or week has been, get back on track as soon as possible and keep going. If you never give up you will eventually get where you need to be.


Great advise!

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?

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.



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.

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!

Day 18 28 Day Challenge..........

Well what a busy little life I am leading at the moment - it is hectic and todays post is quite relevant with me at the moment and I find myself snacking away!

So if you are like me and a fellow snack queen - listen up:

Annette Tells us:


I wonder if snacking came up in the last lot of questions we just did? Because for many, if you eat in between meals you may be doing this out of habit or boredom rather than hunger. Next time you go to have a snack ask yourself first "am I hungry?" or am I eating for emotional reasons.. What I did to change this debilitating habit was to recognise the feelings that I was having and changed my habits to good habits. I am a snacker, yes I admit it. I really enjoy something in between meals. I have been a snacker all my life both when I was fat and slim, the difference now as a slim person is the choices I make are much healthier. In the days when I was heavy I would just graze all day long, which for some can be a good way to live but if its lollies, chips, chocolate and cookies then it will impact your health and weight, hence why I was so overweight..

So Let’s look at why we may snack:
Do you eat because you are hungry or for pleasure?
A true sign of hunger is hunger pangs; you know there are rumbles in the tummy, which normally happens 4 to 5 hours after you have eaten. If you are the type of person who doesn't like to eat in between meals then snacking isn't a problem.
 If you do enjoy a snack like so many of us then you need to make the right choices when it comes to your eating regime. The best way to go when it comes to weight loss or maintaining a health lifestyle is to do what works best for you, whether it be eating 3 meals a day only or having smaller meals throughout the day or maybe like the majority of us who have 3 meals and 2-3 set of snacks each day.

Making sure that we have healthy options available to snack on will help us in our weight loss journey.
and remember that the worse time to overload is late at night, when you are often reading or watching television and then go to bed. Your body will then have to process the food while you sleep and that can explain why sometimes you may wake up feeling tired. Your body has had to work all night to process all the food you ate. It is also harder to go to sleep on a full stomach.

Not eating enough during the day can cause late night snack attacks, so make sure that you are not depriving yourself too much during the day that as soon as you get home and see the cupboards a full on eat attack happens and you haven't even eaten dinner yet!

Maybe a small apple on the way home will help starve off the hunger pangs untill you have time to prepare and eat dinner.

28 Day Challenge Day 17

I have managed to review Day 17 of the STGTBT 28 Day Challenge and Annette asked us the following questions to help us become honest withourselfs about the progress we are making along this journey.
I thought they might be useful to others who are struggling a bit or just want to evaluate there progress as well.


Q1 - Do you live to eat or eat to live?

Q2 - I want you to write down everything you ate and drank yesterday. Now circle in red the food choices you made that you felt were not the best choices. See how many circles you have and take a moment to assess what would have been the better choices to make.

Q3 - What triggers do you associate with making bad food choices and overeating?

Q4 - How many hours a day do you think about food?

Q5 - What price are you paying for being overweight?

Q6 - If you could become a healthy person (if you aren’t already) how would this affect your life?

Finally make a list of the things you MUST DO to make this a reality. Write as many things as you can think of that will help you achieve this goal of becoming a healthy person.

How did you go????

My answers  have opened me up to a few things that I need to work on!

Oh and check out Prior Fat Girl over on my blog list - she has some giveaways and anyone in the world can enter - Good Luck and let me know if you win!

28 Day Challenge Day 16

Yesterday was another great day for me - good food choices and some excercise thrown in for good measure - Makes Me a happy girl!

Day 16 has us Setting the Right Goals

Setting the right goals is an important first step. And placing the focus on achieving those goals is just as important as the goal itself.

Annette gave us this valuable information:

Successful weight managers are those who select two or three goals at a time that they are willing to take on, that will meet the following criteria of useful goals:


Effective goals are 1) specific; 2) attainable; and 3) forgiving (less than perfect). Here's an example for you:


"Exercise more" is a commendable ideal, but it's not specific.


"Walk five kilometres everyday" is specific and measurable, but is it attainable if you’re just starting out?


"Walk 30 minutes every day" is more attainable, but what happens if you're held up at work one day and there's a thunderstorm during your walking time another day?


"Walk 30 minutes, five days each week" is specific, attainable, and forgiving. In short, a great goal!

And Remember to Learn from yesterday and make today the best day it can be! – There are no mistakes – just valuable lessons that pave the way to a new tomorrow

Goals are a dream with a deadline and making sure what you wish for is clear and precise - saying you want to wear smaller clothes is good but how can you reword that so it is clear and achieveable - how about
I will be trim, slim and healthy within 24months?
This is so much better as you have a clear goal to work towards and a time frame to work with.

As Annette says"Treat Goals as like a road map that ensures successful outcomes."

She continues on to advise us to:

 They get you where you want to go so start by having realistic targets – obtainable goals you can achieve, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t aim high. I say dare to dream!!! I want you to think for a moment and write down but don’t think too hard, just dare to dream, describe the perfect you, the you that is healthy, trim, fit, energised and above all happy. Okay be realistic, I Be realistic with your expectations. Think how amazing your life could be if you were in control. That you and only you were the driver in your life and were able to succeed in whatever it was you wanted to be and do. What if you knew no matter what you just couldn’t fail, would this change your life? Definitely.

So what are you waiting for, all you have to do from now on is own the new and fabulous you. Write down what it is you have to do right now – to step up and make this dream of the perfect you become a reality. And just do it!!! I want you to know that you are capable of doing this, dig deep and find whatever it is you need within you to stand tall and know that you are amazing. You are a gift from god that is perfect as you are right this minute. Yes that’s right you are perfect right now. All you need to do is love and honor yourself in all ways. Find the hero within and let the world see how incredible you are. Don’t hide behind those layers of fat for another minute. Stand strong and tall and be the best you can be and know that I believe in you.


She is a wise woman that Annette - and you know what - she is just like you and me - she struggled with her weight for so long and then decided to do something about it.
She dared to dream, to loose weight, become healthy and trim, to finally be happy within herself.

This happiness lead to amazing things happening in her life - she dreamed big, put it out to the universe and the universe answered her and she is now a very successful business woman!

Time for us to think - what are we putting out to the universe????

28 Day Challenge - Day 15

Yesterday was a great day for me!
Great Food choices
Great Exercise choices
Felt Great all day!

Love those days and I was rewarded on my morning weigh in with a nice lighter number than yesterday!

Day 15

Today's message is all about Managing Busy Lives!

We all lead them -especially us woman who wear so many different hats through out the day - we forget what we are doing sometimes (opps that might just be me!)

So in order to fit everything into our busy lives try and incorporate a few of the following:

1. DELEGATE  - Accept that you can't do it all and seek help = there are people out there more than willing to help - just ask

2. SAY NO! - Learn to say NO - you need to do this now and then as we can't do it all and we must put ourselves first, make you a number one priority

3.DOCTOR VISITS - If you are feeling run down and blah - visit a doctor or a naturopath! Don't let a small niggle become a major problem!

4.WATER - Keep hydrated through out the day - you know its good for you on so many levels!

5.CAFFEINE AND ALCOHOL - Limit both of these and you will reap the benefits very quickly!

6.YOU TIME - Have some down time during the day to just chill and relax.  Every so often take the whole day for just you - maybe a jammy day? pampering day?

Here are some great tips from Annette regarding why we should exercise:

1. Having muscle tone is so important not only for a great shaped body but also for your metabolism. The more muscle tone you have the more the body will burn fat. Lift weights or walking up stairs (instead of catching the lift or escalators), exercise bikes or walk, step or treadmill machines are all fantastic.

2. Exercise encourages our metabolism to increase and if you have a sluggish metabolism exercise will give it a kick-start. If you want to lose weight then exercise is a great way to encourage fat burning. Once you have completed your work out your metabolism will continue to work for hours afterwards.
3. Warnings signs of poor health to watch out for are a shortness of breath, no stamina, high blood pressure and pains in the chest, so don't wait for a health scare before doing something about it.

28 Day CHallenge Days 13 & 14

Wow - work has really pumped up and I have been a tad busy!

But I will keep posting my days  - I am enjoying the challenge and learning at lot from it so that is good!

So Day 13:

Today's  tip is about finding the right balance between energy in and energy out - remembering to put less in than you are excercsing out!

Being healthy is not just about eating right, it is also about excercising so the following are recommended to help keep you active and loose weight.
- Be physically active for at least 30 minutes most days of the week.
- Increasing the intensity or the amount of time that you are physically active can have even greater health benefits and may be needed to control body weight. About 60 minutes a day may be needed to prevent weight gain.


We all know that carrying excess weight can have consequences, not just being overweight but it can cause back and limb injuries, stress on the heart and other vital organs. Eating a high fat, high calorie diet can lead to many health problems.

A healthy body means a healthy mind.

Day 14

I really find these helpful and am reposting this list here - more for me as a permanent place to revisit and make sure I am following them when I feel I am struggling!

Annette's 20 Tips

Ok, so here are 20 Tips about eating, drinking, health and wellbeing - follow all of these tips and you will reap the benefits:

1. Take time in the supermarket and check the labels on food products. The things you should be looking for are low in sodium, sugar and saturated fat.
2. Have a high fibre diet and you will not only be healthier for it but you will feel less hungry. Have high fibre cereals such as bran flakes, all bran and other cereals that are similar. Have whole wheat bread or 9 grain and instead of juicing your fruit eat it whole.
3. Only buy lean meats and remove the skin off chicken. Only occasionally have high salt deli meats as they are also high in fat.
4. Give up full cream milk at nearly 10g of fat compared to skim milk. Have low fat dairy products such as yoghurt, cheese and you will see the difference. It all adds up, bit by bit.
5. Never miss breakfast, it kick starts your metabolism for the day. This will mean your metabolism is working to burn fat.
6. Drink at least 8 glasses of water every day is important all year long. Dehydration can be mistaken for hunger so by being hydrated you may find you aren't as hungry.
7. Cut down or omit caffeine and salt. You will be healthier for it.
8. Junk food can consist of high fat, high sugar and high salt with very little fibre, best eaten occasionally and not a regular part of your healthy regime.
9. Have alcohol in moderation, too much and healthy eating can go out the window. Alcohol has no nutritional value and is high in calorie so moderation, moderation, moderation.
10. Use cooking sprays instead of adding oil or fats to the pan. No particular one is better than another so look for what is on special.
11. Use low fat mayonnaise and no oil dressings on your salads, it really makes a difference. Just like the dairy it really adds up at the end of the day.
12. Eat slowly, it takes 20 minutes for the brain to tell your stomach when it is full.
13. Don't miss lunch or you'll be setting yourself up for bingeing later in the day.
14. Don't feed your sweet tooth, the more sweet food you eat the more you will crave. Try and cut out sugar from your tea and coffee as this will help you reduce the desire for sweet things.
15. Eat the quantities of food that your body needs not what you desire, the four main reasons someone is overweight is due to overeating, making bad food choices, lack of physical activity and lack of motivation. Change these four things and your life could change for the better.
16. Take control of food, do not allow food to control you, and don’t have food in the house that you can't resist.
17. Think and act like a healthy person and you will become one. Fake it till you make it
18. Exercise at least 4-5 times a week.
19. Don't be a chronic dieter, instead come into my world and enjoy low fat food the way it should be. Be satisfied, full and not deprived, be happy, think positive and live life to the fullest every day. Be your own best friend and love and nurture yourself every day.
20. And finally remember that nothing, and I mean NOTHING, tastes as good as being slim and healthy feels, so never give up!!


Great points don't you think!

28 Day Challenge Day 11 & 12

Well the weekend went well and I had a loss of .400gms which I am happy with as I have not been excercsing like I should!

Sunday came a little unstuck at lunch with my Grandmother as I ordered what I thought was going to be a small meal and it wasn't! - and guess what! - I ate it all!!!!

Argh - it sent me on a spiral downward and I consumed way to much food altho the bulk of it was watermelon and mangos so sorta good??? - no not really!

Anyway Day 11's tips are very timely and I wish I had read them on Sunday morning instead of today!!!

Great tips from Annette below:

Eating healthily doesn't mean you have to miss out on restaurant experiences. Just keep focused on the healthier options and don't use eating out as an excuse to blow out your healthy plan. Keep in mind that many restaurants serve more food than one person needs at one meal. Take control of the amount of food that ends up on your plate by sharing a main or dessert with your dining partner. Or, request that your meal is served in entree size and order a side salad or extra vegetables. Here are some more tips:

• If you are unsure, ask for nutrition information (for example, calories, saturated fat, and sodium)
• Remember that food that is baked, grilled, roasted, stir-fried, poached or steamed will be a healthier choice than meals that are deep fried or saturated in creamy sauces.
• Request your meal to be served without gravy, sauces, butter or margarine.
• Ask for salad dressing on the side, and use only small amounts of full-fat dressings.
 If you have any left overs that are suitable to take home, refrigerate and then enjoy another meal or a snack tomorrow.

She also mentions about Fast food eating and to be weary of sizing - somethimes taking the meal home and eating it on your own plate helps work out the portion size of it, check sodium levels as these can cause havoc on the weight loss journey

DAY 12

Its all about reading labels today! – Be ware of what the product is claiming to be whether to it Lite or Fat Free – there can be hiding extras for the what they have “taken out”

Remember to keep an eye on the sugar and sodium levels in products as well !