12wbt day sixty four – I’m still alive

It’s true everyone, I am still alive and I am still eating healthy (mostly). Actually that’s a bit of a lie. I’ve not had the best week. I got another dose of the flu last week, and I tried to make the right decisions food wise, but I don’t think I really did. There was yoghurt – full fat and there were Subway cookies, 2 of them and god they were good.

Then we decided to go camping over the weekend, and can I say BRING ON THE CARBS. I made damper twice and loaded it up with cheese and it was delicious. The lamb stew in the camp oven was divine, and actually very healthy loaded up as it was with vegetables. The bacon and eggs for breakfast the next day was even better 🙂

On the exercise front, well it’s been a no show all week. Trying to get the energy just to breathe was hard enough without attempting exercise. But I went back to the gym last night and had a great workout in my BodyCombat class. No gym tonight unfortunately, but back again tomorrow night, skipping Thursday for the hairdressers, then back again on Friday night to get my personal program sorted out by a personal trainer – and I can’t wait for that 🙂

On other news, I have been busily working on a quilt for my impending niece or nephew. My little sister only has 6 weeks left before the bundle of joy arrives, so I really need to get a move on with it. I have the top of the quilt all pieced and sewn together, so now I just have to piece the back, baste it, quilt it and then bind it. So a fair bit to do still, while trying to incorporate work and the gym. I need a few extra hours (and the energy to go with them) in every day. Photos of the quilt shall follow.

Good luck with weigh day tomorrow everyone. I’m certainly not looking forward to it I know 🙁 such a bad stuff up week, but I own it. And it was still worth it for the fantastic weekend away camping.

12WBT days twenty five to twenty eight – Feeling like a failure

I have so many mixed emotions going on in my head right now I don’t know if I’m coming or going. I haven’t blogged for the last few days, because there wasn’t any point. I wasn’t going to be able to write how I had gotten in some great exercise, or how I had eaten fantastically. All I would have been able to say was that I was eating – crap food – but eating. Thrown in among it would be a bit of good food, and of course the thought that I should be eating this good food all the time. But even knowing that I should be eating healthier, and knowing that I can do it, that I have been doing it, the past week has just been hard and I admit that I have caved. Oh and let me not forget the no exercise bit. I didn’t do my mini milestone, and I haven’t done my fitness test. Those two things I can honestly put down to being sick, but it still doesn’t make me feel good that I’ve missed them.

I could make a lot of excuses, like how we have hardly been home, but out and about, coming and going at odd hours of the day. I could even use the excuse of how I have a raging cold, that is quickly turning into the flu, but the truth is, I was weak and I should have prepared better and not let the temptation get to me.

So that has brought back all my feelings of self doubt, feelings of failure, which is starting to affect me in my day to day life. I woke up this morning to go back to work for my first day after taking last week off, having the worst case of the flu. I have issues with my car not unlocking first thing in the morning, and of course, today was no different. I went outside to get in the car, and the doors wouldn’t open. I broke down. Just completely lost it. Sat there bawling my eyes out. So now I’m just trying to work out if my eating and lack of exercise is connected to these extreme emotions that I seem to be going through, or just because I’m sick.

I have decided though that I am going to use this last week as an example of how easy it is to get lulled into a false sense of security. That yes, there are going to be times in my life when I’m not going to be home to make dinner and get my proper food organised, but I’m going to have to make sure that I still try to make the correct choices wherever I am. It has also made me realise just how on the ball I’m going to have to be for the rest of my life. There aren’t any easy roads where I can sit down, munch on a bag of chips and not have it affect me in some way. Pity it’s taken a bad couple of weeks into such a great program for me to realise that huh?

So haven’t had dinner yet, and to be honest, not really sure that I will tonight. Not so hungry with all the mucus I have sitting in my head right now, but I shall put my daily stats up a little later.

12WBT days nineteen to twenty four – Hard times

Well how is everyone, I feel as if a part of my life has been missing over the last few days without my daily blogging and my daily intakes being written down. I’ve been off having a lovely time camping and spending time with my family during the school holidays. I would like to say that I have been eating fantastically and exercising like a mad woman, because for once I have so much time. But alas, neither of those things is true. I had everything planned out really well for camping, took my food with me, but unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to eat my own food. We went to stay with my in-laws who are living in their caravan while waiting for their house to be built, and I just assumed that they would have their microwave set up and that I would be able to reheat all my lovely “here’s one I prepared earlier food”, but nope, it wasn’t to be. So while I had fairly good choices for breakfast and lunch, my dinners were whatever anyone else had. Which, unfortunately, consisted of a lot of fried food. I was pretty upset with myself. So you would think I’d have been making some better choices now that we are back home, but I haven’t been making fantastic choices. I need to get myself organised again, before I stuff up all the good work that I have done so far. But I have to admit, that this week, I’m losing my motivation. I don’t want to stop the program, I don’t want to stop the change to my life, but this week is really testing me I have to admit 🙁

So weigh day was yesterday. I lost 1.3kg which I was extremely chuffed about. I haven’t done my measurements yet, I will be doing them tomorrow or Saturday, and as soon as I have done them, I will put them up here for the world to see. I also plan on getting back to my daily blog with my daily stats. As of tomorrow!!! It’s so great to be back, so how did you all do?

12WBT day fifteen – slack day *acknowledged*

Yes everyone, today was a slack day. Still did good eating choices, but didn’t do any exercise. Am in quite a bit of pain thanks to it being that time of the month and there really wasn’t a whole lot of motivation on my part to get out there and cause myself more pain. Gearing up to do a big super smash it Saturday and Sunday this weekend though. So that’s all from me today, here are the daily stats:

FoodCalories in
BAll bran, ½ cup milk & banana 316
S1 vanilla Forme satisfy yoghurt90
LTurkey & swiss cheese wrap with cranberry sauce225
SMandarine & 1 WW Cherry Bakewell167
DChicken stir fry (285) & banana muffin444
Total1242

ExerciseCalories out

No exercise today0
BMR1837
Total1837
Calories surplus/defecit-595

12WBT day thirteen – crap day, very unhappy with myself

Today we had a family day. When I say family day, I mean Mick, myself and Brodie go out and do something. We only get Brodie to stay with us every six months and only for a couple of weeks during school holidays, so the time that we have together is always very special. When I started the 12 Week Body Transformation challenge I didn’t take into account that Brodie would be here only a couple of weeks into the challenge and that it was going to take some serious organising (which I think we all know I’m not the best at). So today we headed out for a day at our favourite small town, and headed up to one of our favourite national park areas where we know we can have an open fire and do some good old fashioned cooking outdoors. Of course on the way there, there is always the obligatory stop at our favourite small town bakery where they do “The Best” pies and pasties.

So what did I do today? I started the day off with a bowl of Rice Bubbles. Something low in calories that would fill the hole in my stomach (I’m still asking myself why did I pick Rice Bubbles of all things?) and then followed that up with a brunch of a homemade Cornish Pasty from the bakery. Then we finally got to our camping/open fire cooking place and I had a little lamb chop (all fat removed) and a bit of steak, all grilled over the open campfire. So much crap today. Finished off nicely with a Margherita Pizza for dinner, which is the only thing I’ve eaten today low in calories.

While I know that I’ve eaten pretty badly, there is a part of me that just wants to buck the system and say “So what”? I still want to be able to enjoy life, and I want to be able to have a bit of a treat every now and then, and I want our time with Brodie to be special and to do fun things together. So if that involves having a bloody pasty, then hell, why shouldn’t I? Do I really want my whole life to be about counting calories? Please don’t get me wrong. I am still 100% committed to doing the 12WBT and following the principles I learn(ed) for the rest of my life, but in amongst that, there has to be a bit of give and take for times when we want to just let loose and live a little. Admittedly I might have to let the living happen in another ten weeks or so, but I think then, maybe one day every now and then is surely not going to kill me right?

So without further ado and more complaining, daily stats for the day (beware they’re pretty poor):

FoodCalories in
B1 cup Rice Bubbles and 1/2 cup milk170
S1 Cornish pasty500
L30g Lamb and 130g Beef – grilled296
DMargherita pizza with mushrooms350
Total1316

ExerciseCalories out

No exercise today0
BMR1837
Total1837
Calories surplus/defecit-521

12WBT day eleven – Such a busy day

Well once again my lack of organisation has come back to bite me in the bum. I was so tired last night, needing to catch up on sleep and there was a serious lack of motivation on my part, so I didn’t get my lunch organised for today. I need to start realising that if I don’t get my lunch organised it’s going to make my lunchtime more stressful than it needs to be. I didn’t get my lunch ready at home, so I knew I’d have to go out and buy my lunch. So there went my lunchtime walk at the same time. I went to the cafeteria at work, and there was a serious lack of low calorie food, but I did manage to find some vegetarian vermicelli, which I think was an okay choice, considering the lack of choices.

So did I manage to fix things up at dinner time? No. Had to go to the shops straight after work, rush home, get dinner organised and then head straight out to the airport to get Mick’s daughter. So I got a cooked chicken from Woolies, a pre-made salad mix in a bag and a bag of wedges for Mick. But, and here comes the clunker, I caved and had some wedges. Oh. My. God. They were so good and tasty and yummy. I hadn’t realised until I put the first wedge into my mouth how much I had missed potatoes. So not the healthiest choice, but I’m going to use today as my treat meal day. So long as tomorrow I make better choices and get myself organised for the rest of the week.

On a more personal note, I found the most gorgeous pair of high black boots today, that I can actually wear, that do up and fit my fat lets. Black boots from City Chic, were $300 and I snapped them up for only $100. Am very proud of myself. So now for the daily intakes;

FoodCalories in
B2 slices Soy and Linseed bread with 1T Philly Garlic & Herb spread245
S1 Strawberry Forme satisfy yoghurt & SPC pears in lime jelly174
LVegetarian vermicelli300
S125g strawberries & 1 Weight Watchers Cherry Bakewell151
DRoast chicken, salad and wedges450
Total1320

ExerciseCalories out

No exercise today0
BMR1837
Total1837
Calories surplus/defecit-517

12WBT day eight – In pain and not happy

Today was a crap day. Wisdom tooth is giving me absolute grief today and there is just no care factor. Not a great way to spend the day before weigh in. But there you have it. Went to work, came home, did dinner and now I’m going to bed. No exercise. Am so NOT looking forward to weigh in tomorrow. Stats for the (miserable) day below:

FoodCalories in
B2 Wholemeal muffins with 2t WW margarine & 2t Vegemite344
S1 small mandarine28
LNat’s Lasagna and 1 medium apple393
S1 Strawberry Forme satisfy yoghurt85
DSteamed fish with Asian vegetables plus 1/2 cup extra rice375
Total1225

ExerciseCalories out

No exercise today0
BMR1863
Total1863
Calories surplus/defecit-638

12WBT – day three

Today was a day of mixed highs and lows for me. Overall I’m very very disappointed with myself. I’m proud of my weight loss and proud of the fact that I did the walk to our meeting with a lot more ease than I did last time. But I’m really disappointed with myself for having even half the muffin – I should have stuck to my guns and eaten my mandarine. I’m also really disappointed by the fact that I only did a half hearted workout tonight. I didn’t go for my walk at lunch, I sat down and did some reading, which, while it was lovely to do, meant that I missed out on 30 minutes of exercise. Then by the time I got home tonight, I really just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep. I know this is my own fault for staying up late watching the Grey’s Anatomy finale (but OMG how good was it), but because I was so tired, I just didn’t put the same effort into exercise that I know I should have. This just disappoints me. I think though that I am learning, and I’m also being a lot more honest than I normally would have been. I would have previously, just said that I did my workout and left it at that. At least now I am being more accountable, to myself and to anyone who reads this blog, which I think is an important step for me to move forward in my weight loss. So here we are with todays (dismal) stats:

FoodCalories in
BPorridge with 2t brown sugar, 1/2 cup milk & small pear291
S1 SPC Pears in lime jelly89
LPumpkin soup227
S1/2 blueberry muffin, 1 cup green tea, 1t sugar165
DAsian chicken soup340
Total1112

 

ExerciseCalories out
27 minutes of Biggest Loser DVD225
BMR1863
Total2088
Calories surplus/defecit-976

I think I may just be getting fitter!

Okay so major revelation for me this morning. When I started my current job 8 weeks ago, we had to go to a meeting. Considering everyone here is younger and a LOT fitter than I am (they’re quite the sporty types), they all walk to the meeting, rather than cabbing it. Which is a good thing, considering that at my last place of employment, the cab charges were handed out like party favours – and believe me I made use of that. So when we did that walk 8 weeks ago – not a long walk, probably only about 10 minutes or so – by the end, I felt like I was dying. I was hot, sweaty, uncomfortable and just plain miserable, wondering why I had joined a team of healthy, sporty people that I was nothing like. Today however, different story. I am very proud to say, that I made that walk with ease. In fact walking quicker than half of the team members and arrived at the meeting fresh as a daisy and ready to do the walk back. I know it’s only a short walk, and a small step, but my god I was proud of myself. I can only imagine how I’m going to be in 12 weeks. I’m so excited.

Proud moment number two – I did my 12WBT weigh in this morning and since my last weigh in (on Saturday, my ritual weigh in day with Nicole) I have lost 1.2kg. I’m a little unconvinced about this – I do believe it’s fluid loss and possibly not all fat, but hey, I’m going to take that loss, and look forward to my next official weigh in on Wednesday 30 June. Unfortunately this means that I’m not going to be able to do my weigh in days with Nicole anymore, as I refuse to start obsessing quite that much over my weight that I weigh twice a week. So my little weight chart on the sidebar here, is now going to have a couple of close dates, but by next week it will be all right again.

Negative moment of the day – Having done so well yesterday of avoiding the temptation of fresh scones, with jam and cream, which our team members bought in, I did cave today, when another team member bought in muffins for some celebration. I do believe I have used up all my snack allowances on that half a muffin I ate. However, I have to say, it really was quite lovely and I savoured every single bite of it. I will make sure though, that next time, I stick an apple in my mouth so that I can’t be tempted to do the muffin thing again. Really quite scared to look at the calorie count of that ½ muffin too. Oh dear.

Holiday habits I need to kick

Last weekend was a long weekend for us in Adelaide, and for us that means we tend to go away. In fact over long weekends we tend to take the 6 1/2 hour drive and head over to Port Lincoln. It is the most beautiful spot in Australia, and I would move there in a second. But I digress. When we go to Port Lincoln, we stay with some friends of Micks, and often it involves a fair bit of eating, and even more drinking, of which I am always happy to partake.

So this long weekend was no different. We packed up the car early on Saturday, headed over to Nic’s place and I did weigh in (YAY me, I lost 1/2kg – could have been more, but I did no, [absolutely none] exercise over the week, so I’m taking my 500gm and running) and then we were off.

First mistake? I broke the cardinal rule – I didn’t have breakfast before we left. So when Mick suggested we get McDonalds for breakfast, did I complain? Well no, because by that time I was starving and would have eaten a horse if he’d put it in front of me. So I’m sitting there in the car, munching on my Bacon and Egg McMuffin and hash brown (and god was it good), drinking down my Iced Coffee and thinking to myself. Okay bad start – but I can come back from this. Did I? No.

Lunch time was a Whopper from Hungry Jacks. Dinner (we had reached our destination by then) was a super delicious full fat Spaghetti Bolognaise. And let me just say that topping the night off with one and a bit bottles of red wine, certainly didn’t help. In my defence, I did stop at 2 glasses and then somehow the glass kept getting refilled and certainly not by me. I put all this down to being in Lincoln, it was the first night and tomorrow and the rest of the weekend would be better.

It didn’t. What followed was a super high calorie weekend. No more alcohol, good thing, but, such bad food. And even knowing how bad all of the bacon and eggs and chips and roast pork were for me, I just couldn’t seem to stop the food going from my fingers to my mouth. I dread getting back on the scales now, because I have this horrible fear that I have undone all the good that I have done over the past few weeks.

So the lesson I have learned is:

  • Prepare some healthy snacks the night before we go on a road trip – celery sticks, carrot sticks, a few nuts etc – so that I’m not tempted to reach for the lollies.
  • Make sure that I eat breakfast before we go on our road trip next time. Don’t be conned into going down the McDonalds route.
  • Eat a healthy lunch. There are always other options other than Hungry Jacks. (Which by the way, I have made a personal pact with Mick, that I won’t touch any junk food, especially Hungry Jacks for the next 6 months).
  • When we get to our destination, do a bit of a food shop to help out with us staying, and buy healthy food and fruit and veggies. Explain to our hosts that I am eating healthy and changing my lifestyle to be healthier.
  • Limit my portions when dinner is served up. Eat more of the vegetables, and less of the meat and bad stuff.

So overall, this was not a good weekend, but on the plus side, I have learned some very valuable lessons that I can put into practice next time we go away – in July *sigh*