Sometwit happened . . .

Yup, I finally joined twitter.  Mainly to keep up w/ friends who have migrated over from FB or blogging.  And it's silly b/c I don't even have a mobile phone that could update my twitter status on the go.  Oh well.  Leave a comment if you tweet, twit, twattle, or twhatever.  I'll follow you if you follow me!  ;o)

I've got the Thursday Feelibg

Right then, you there, how's this week going?!
How are you doing? Have you evercised? Have you stuck to eating what you ought to?
Got a photo you want to share to show your progress?

Confession time

So, after nearly a month of making great food choices, I had to have it....could not resist....sooooI gave in and drove through and got it- A BIRTHDAY CAKE MILKSHAKE from Zaxby's. Oh my goodness- it was fabulous!!!!! It is my absolute favorite ice cream flaver too! I do believe I will not burst into flames or suffer any long term damages from one milkshake, but I needed to confess. ;-) Haha- maybe I'm being a little dramatic, but the milkshake was really-really good. I have decided to allow myself one every few weeks as a treat. It will give me something to look forward to after working hard for a while. Thank for listening-'er- "reading" my confession.

weigh away!

Hey everybody, Debs can't come to the blog right now, but if you'd like to leave your numbers she'll get back to you.

How goes it?

How is everyone doing?
You on track with your eating?
You exercising?
Do you need prayer for anything?

To answer any or all of these questions just leave a comment!

On a serious note, in case no one has heard, please be praying for Bekki and the whole family (hubby Rob, mum & dad Elly & David, sis Debs & HB).  She went into hospital on Thursday.  She has blood clots on her lungs and is in a lot of pain.  They're giving her blood thinners, she's on bed rest, & she may be released Monday.  I got all this info from Debs' tweets, which you can find a live feed of and link to via her blog, in case you're not a tweeter.

Measure up

There's a wonderful program on tv over here called Outnumbered. It's about a family with 3 kids and one of the best things about it is that it's only semi-scripted, so the kid have a fair amount of free reign to take a topic whichever way they want. Anyway, there's an episode where the youngest one is talking to Gran about what 'size zero' means. And Gran reassures her that "A woman can be any size she wants to be" and Karen replies "What about a hexagon?".
There's a clip on youtube here and that conversation happens at around the one minute mark.

Anyway, I say all of that mostly just cos it amuses me, but also because I've been watching another program called 'Bulging Brides' where brides have a personal trainer and a nutritionist to help them lose inches and pounds to fit into their previously too small wedding dress and (I realise this is a very long run on sentence) one of the things they do is weigh them and analyse their body shape.

So I was thinking it might be a good thing to do that myself. I haven't done it yet, but I plan to measure myself (they did bust, waist and hips) and work out my body shape. Partly cos if you know your body shape you can dress better, but also cos when I measure myself again in a couple of months I can see how I've changed. You don't have to share the measurements here, but why not make a note of them?

G'day folks

It's that wonderful time of the week when we get to step on the scales and check out how we're doing on this journey. Remember, if the numbers go down then it's fantastic. If they go up it's a chance to re-evaluate how we're doing, make some adjustments, and keep on going.

So, what's your number?

hey y'all

what's up?

Mini-goals?

So how are y'all doing with your mini-goals this day/week/fortnight?

I was trying to stick to a food plan.

Christy F, are you managing to eat healty foods? Have you evercised any evenings this week?

Debbie, how's sticking to the food plan this week? Are you getting in your exercise? I'm off to check your food blog in a minute.

Missy, how's tissue tearing. No wait, I mean have you stayed away from sweets and walked every day?

Just throwing it out there . . .

I was wondering if any of you ladies would be interested in a challenge?  Nothing very intensive, just an added incentive to log our weight every week and generally keep connected to the community we have here.  Perhaps the first week you'll post a before pic (which quite a few have already done).  The next week share a new recipe you've not shared before.  The next, log how many calories you've burned through exercise or how much water you've been drinking.  Things along those lines.

So what do ya think?  I'll be happy to head it up and provide a prize (don't expect anything too fancy, tho, as I'm not making the big bucks these days!).  I'll keep track of the weekly challenges and necessary posts.  I know there were lots of challenges at the old OWOA site, but that was before my time, really, so I'll be flying blind at first.

Any thoughts?  Mini challenge suggestions??  Violent protests???

Mini goals

What's your mini goal for the day/week/fortnight?
Have a think... are you drinking enough water, exercising, sticking to a food plan, etc etc.

Once my ankle is better my goal will be exercise. For now I'm aiming to stick to my foodplan, even when Sophia is stressing me out - basically avoiding comfort eating. I didn't do too well today - she wouldn't go to sleep (and still hasn't. She's next to me, tearing up tissues and apparently trying to eat one too!) and I ate some stuff I probably shouldn't have. So here's to doing better tomorrow.

Second chance...

I know even when I was more a part of this group, I was never a consistent "regular." I really struggled with dieting results, and couldn't quite put my finger on it. I could do really well and suddenly gain 10 pounds, and do poorly, I mean really POORLY, then lose 10 - almost overnight. Turns out I was really sick with an autoimmune disease. It finally came to a head last summer when I broke out in a painful rash from head to toe, then began to experience arthritic pain. This time last year I could not walk and it could take almost 2 hours to pull myself up to a sitting position. It was determined that I have psoriatic arthritis, an inflammatory autoimmune disease that attacks connective tissue like joints, tendons and the skin. After a strong dose of prednisone, I was moving and walking again. I just weened off of the prednisone in the last couple of weeks and hope that the weight will come off easier now. In November I started taking weekly doses of a chemotherapy drug to suppress my immune system and it's been working very well. I'll likely continue these treatments for the rest of my life.

My skin is clear and I only suffer a managable amount of joint and tendon pain - unless I push myself too far. Many foods make my condition worse, so I am working hard to watch what I eat. Losing weight should also help relieve the workload on my joints and tendons. My starting weight is 197.5, as of today. My goals are to continue watching what I eat and walking daily while increasing distance. Keeping it simple. :)

Here we go....

Yep, like it or not, it's the first weigh-in for a long time. So whatever the numbers, don't panic, just be determined that they will change. And slowly but surely (and sometimes not so slowly!) they will change.

I want to remind myself that it's not just about the weight loss. It's about teaching (or re-teaching) myself to eat healthily, to respect my body and help it to help me live the life I want to be, looking the way I want to look.

We're on a journey, and it's gonna be fun.

You know what, just writing on here again is making me feel inspired and making me want to exercise. Yay! (let's just hope my ankle hurries up and heals)

Here's me (and my mum and a girl from my church)

I don't really like this photo of me, but it wast taken yesterday, so it's recent. (notice the tubigrip bandage on my ankle!) I'm wearing size 28 clothes which is truly truly horrible. So here's to changing that asap (I want to get back into my pre-pregnancy size 16 clothes and maybe even buy some smaller than that.)

Fun in the Sun

I normally avoid full-body pictures, but I actually let Rob snap this one when we went to the beach during his visit last month.  Therefore, this will be my official "Before" pic for this new start since it shows more than just my head and it's only three weeks old. 

So, here I am.  Let's get this party started!

Debbie, July 2010

Anybody out there???

Hi everyone,

Just curious if anyone still stops by from time to time and if so, are you interested in jumping back on the weight loss wagon? I realize we are all really busy and daily or weekly posts may be a lot, but maybe we could do bi-weekly posts ot something similiar? Since I have let my weight creep back up almost 20 lbs, I could really use the support. I seemed to do better when I was held accountable by you all on this site. Hope there are some of you out there! ;)

Why don't I lose weight?

Recently I haven't lost weight because I've continued to eat junk. I eat too much, and I eat the wrong things. I get such sugar cravings, and even this week I'm having trouble not giving in to them (read, I gave in to them). I don't really know how to get rid of those cravings without going on phase one (South Beach), and you're not supposed to do that when you're breastfeeding.

I also haven't lost any weight because I haven't exercised. This is partly due to having a baby who needs to be feed, changed and generally looked after, and I'm better at sitting in front of the TV feeding her than I am getting up and doing something. Like going for a walk - I'm hopeless at going for a walk without a proper purpose (like running an errand, going to the doctors, etc).

My treadmill is at my mum's house, and though that's only 20 minutes away, it's 20 minutes I can't always be bothered to drive given the choice (all the baby stuff that needs to be taken, timing it with feeds, still taking 2 hours to get out the house, the need to get out of my pyjamas before 3pm etc etc). And then the times we do make it over there, I haven't got on the treadmill until today.

I'm sure there are lots of other reasons. I'm hoping that as I begin to identify them I can begin to make changes that will result in weight loss :)

Weigh-in?

Sorry, lack of internet at my house (I'm online at my mum's right now) so no post on Monday.
On Monday I was down, but only about 0.4! I am persevering, even if I can't always get on the net for the next little while.

Well it may just be me around here,

but I'll post anyway. I've put back on ALL the weight I had lost, and I HAVE to get rid of it again.
It's been a combination of getting pregnant (and all the 'well you are pregnant/breastfeeding so eat some more' excused) and giving up on my diet, and generally just giving it to temptation all the time. Not to mention not getting any exercise at all really for I don't know how long.

Plan of action
1. Pray and read my bible - I know this may not seem the most obvious place to start, but I know I can't do this in my own strength.

2. Get exercising. I've bought a new DVD which is another dance one. I don't reckon I'll be any good at it, but if it gets me moving and makes me laugh, it's gotta be a good thing. I'm also talking with my husband and mum about the possibility of getting my treadmill over here, but it's big and heavy and won't be easy to move, so I don't know how realistic that it.

3. Get on track with eating. I think the key will be planning, so that I don't keep grabbing junk cos it's easy. This will also mean I need to not have junky stuff in the house. Christmas etc was a big excuse to eat junk, but I think we've got rid of most of it now.

Ok, I weighed myself last Tuesday and I was 297.8.
Today (Monday, 6 days later) I am at 296.8, which is down a pound without being very good at all, so hopefully now that I'm really trying that trend will continue!

Happy Almost New Year

I have a ton of weight to lose (almost literally)
So I'm back.
I'll be weighing in on Monday.
See you then

Hello

WOOHOO!! I'm so happy to see this blog getting attention again. I thought it was finished. Looks like I have some reading to do to catch up on everyone. Debs- CONGRATS! Sophia is beautiful.

Nikki- I am sorry about your loss. Prayers your way.

Everyone else...Hello! I hope this means we will soon be back full speed. I have certainly gained a few pounds that I would love to get off. It's been a while since I came to the page to check if there was any activity, so I was really excited to see some new posts today. Looking forward to getting back into the swing of things!

Have a great night!

not a weigh in post

because I know that I shouldn't be getting het up about my weight at the moment, but just need a couple of weeks focusing on on eating healthily and getting some fresh air and exercise.
Tami asked if I'd eaten better at the weekend - To be honest I haven't got a clue what I ate yesterday, let alone the weekend, but I think that yes, I am more aware (at the time I put it in my mouth) of what I'm eating.

We didn't get out yesterday as the weaher was horrible, and Sophia and I were both a bit under the weather, but the sun is shining today and we're out (I'm writing this at my mum's) so hopefully we'll have a walk a bit later.

How's everyone else going?

Any Goals?

It's good to see some friendly faces around here.

I managed to spark lots of panicked warnings when I talked about weight loss on my blog and facebook, so I'll clarify that although yes, I hate how I look at the moment, I'm not about to rush into any restrictive diet to get it all off quick. What I want to do is work on my healthy eating habits and dump the junk, whilst also beginning to get out and about with Sophia to give us both some fresh air, and me to get a bit of gentle exercise.

(Quick aside, my baby girl has hiccups, and it's so cute to hear, but a little heartwrenching to see her whole body shaking with them!)

So you all know where I stand at the moment. Anyone else got some goals they'd like to share? I see DebbieBoo needs accountability with exercise. Girl, I will bug you like crazy if you'd like me too!

Yay

People are still around. It's good to see you guys.
Anyone wanting to see pictures of my baby girl can check my blog.
Ok, night feed is over so I'm heading back to bed. But I'll be back again soon..

Oh, just weighed myself (yes at 6am, but I figured I should do it while Sophia was asleep and let me!) and I'm back up to 272.2. That is horrible, and yet I knew it. I suspected I was probably in the 260s, I can feel it in my face and my energy levels and everything. I need to get rid of this weight.

Is there anybody out there?

Ok, so my baby is here. Sophia Louise is three weeks old today. And I NEED to lose weight again. I know that I wasn't good with my eating habits while I was pregnant, and they've got worse since I gave birth, so it's time to take hold of them again. I'm not sure how much I weigh (I need to get my scales from my mum's house) but I know it's LOTS. I can tell cos I can see it on my belly and my thighs, and in my face.

I went shopping on Monday to get some trousers, since I was pregnant over the summer and the few maternity clothes I have are all too cold for the Autumn. I got a pair of black jeans, but it was quite depressing that I needed a size 24. That's only one size down from what I was wearing at the start of my weight loss journey a couple of years ago.

I know that it's still only 3 weeks since I gave birth, so I still need to be easy on myself. I need to rest and make sure I'm getting lots of sleep. For my sake, and Sophia's, but I also know that losing weight will help me feel so much more energetic and so much happier. So, this is it, I'm on the weigh again. I know that accountability helps me, so I'll be weighing in here (One weigh or Another) and I'm posting this post on my personal weight loss blog too (Can big change to beautiful?).

Is there anyone out there?! (Whether or not you're joining me in losing weight, it'd be cool to know if anyone is still reading this blog!)

Weigh in

It's getting late, so I thought I'd post the weigh in for today. Hope you are all doing well. What's you numbers?

Weigh in

Well I have no idea what I weigh at the moment, just that it's probably less than I did on Saturday morning, having been suffering with what's probably swine flu since Saturday night.
So I'll just head out of here and back to bed (after spraying some disinfectant around) and let you get on with the weigh-in without me.

Decadent Chocolate Cake

I found this recipe in a Suzanne Somers cookbook from the mid-nineties -- Eat Great, Lose Weight. I haven't made it, and I probably won't anytime soon, but I thought one of you ladies may like to give it a try. The picture of it in the book looks soooo yummy and chocolatey but it's definitely a once in awhile treat.

DECADENT CHOCOLATE CAKE
Serves 6-8

Cake:
7 1/2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped (no less than 60% cocoa)
11 T unsalted butter
4 large eggs, separated
1/3 C sugar (these days you could prob substitute Splenda)
1/3 C whole wheat pastry

Ganache:
6 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
3/4 C heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 10-inch round cake pan.
For the cake: Melt the chocolate and butter in a double broiler (or in a bowl or smaller saucepan placed over a saucepan of boiling water). Set aside to cool.
Beat the egg yolks until light and fluffy. Slowly add the sugar and continue beating until mixture is pale yellow. Fold in the melted chocolate. Sift the flour over the chocolate mixture until it just disappears.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold egg whites into the chocolate mixture in 2 parts. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and tap on the counter to remove air bubbles. Bake for 20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean (see Note).
For the ganache: Place the chopped chocolate in a mixing bowl. Place the cream in the saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the hot cream to the chocolate and stir until it reaches room temperature, then poor it over the cooled cake and spread with a spatula.

Note For a thicker cake, double the recipe and bake for 35 minutes.

Day 12

FOOD
Breakfast: a banana with a tablespoon of peanut butter
Snack: A slice of watermelon
Lunch: 3 slices of lunch meat, 1 slice of mozzarella, celery sticks with hummus, half a cucumber topped with salt and lemon juice
Dinner: 2 chicken breast tenderloins topped with avocado & mango salsa*, broccoli and two small spoonfuls of mashed potatoes (I couldn't help myself!)
Indulgence: handful of cherries & 2 spoonfuls of chocolate cool whip

EXERCISE:
20 laps in the pool -- it started raining and then thundering so I had to get out before I could get more done!
200 leg lifts





*I don't know why but for the past few days I've been craving a fresh mango & avocado salsa. I don't recall even eating those two flavors together, but I thought I'd give it a try. I cut half a mango and half an avocado into small pieces and mixed together in a bowl. I squeezed half a lime over top and added a few leaves of cilantro, roughly cut with my kitchen shears. Then I threw in some chopped tomatoes and bit of finely diced onion. Also grated a clove of garlic into it. Salt to taste. It was quite delicious, if i might say so myself! It was what I used to resist the pull of the potatoes, and it basically worked! I did have two spoonfuls of potatoes, but that's easily 1/3 of what I normally would've eaten, so I'm quite proud of myself!

Days 8 - 11

Whoa! Sorry this post is so long and that I haven't updated the past few days! The computer wasn't available when I was ready to get online and then I was too lazy to type up a post. Here's how I've done, to the best of my recollection:

DAY 8
FOOD:
Brunch: 2 eggs & sliced tomato
Snack: 2 handfuls of cherries
Very Bad Indulgence: 1 pineapple empanada with 1/2 cup of milk (BAD BAD BAD! Sugar AND white pastry! But soooo yummy!)
Dinner: 1 grilled chicken breast, baked beans, squash & zucchini
Late-Night Snack: 1/2 cup garbanzo beans (seriously. I love the texture & taste of them so I just sat and popped them in my mouth as I watched tv and checked email and Facebook! Lol)

EXERCISE:
NONE. I got back from my grandma's house late and then I had some intestinal problems and didn't feel comfortable swimming. Probably the price I had to pay for having the milk & empanada!


DAY 9
FOOD:
Brunch: 2 fried eggs & 2 slices of bacon
Snack: Carrot sticks with hummus
Snack: 2 slices mozzarella
Dinner: Eggplant Bake & side salad

EXERCISE:
80 laps in the pool (no, that's not a typo -- 80! I did 40 and it felt like I had just gotten in the pool so I kept going!)
200 kicks (in the pool)


DAY 10
FOOD:
Breakfast: 5 bean salad (that was finally the last of it!)
Lunch: 1 1/2 chicken breast tenderloins with spicy zucchini
Indulgence: White Cherry Icee (while watching a movie. I know, I know, not sugar free! But it was a small one and I didn't even finish it all and it was better than eating a tub of popcorn like I wish I could've!)
Dinner: Taco Salad (leftover salad topped with chili I cooked). I went back for seconds and had a half-cup serving of brown rice with two spoonfuls of chili on top. I could've done without seconds, but it was sooo yummy!

EXERCISE:
60 laps in pool
Free weights (2 diff exercises; 5 sets of 12 each)
200 punches (with 2 lb weights)


DAY 11
FOOD:
Brunch: 2 scrambled eggs topped with cheese and salsa, one roma tomato
Snack: 1 handful of cherries & 1 handful of blueberries
Dinner: Taco Salad
Indulgence: 2 pieces of Ferrero Rondnoir (the dark chocolate version of Ferrero Rocher; I got a box for my birthday 2 weeks ago and I still have over half of it left, so I figured I deserved a little reward for not scarfing it all down!)

EXERCISE:
50 laps in the pool
200 kicks (in the pool)
200 leg lifts (in the pool)
250 punches (with 2 lb weights)


I've found some new recipes I want to try and also post. I'll try to do that over the next few days. How is everyone else doing, btw? Nikki & Christy, are y'all still doing phase 1? How's that going for you?

Although I went off track a couple of times I didn't beat myself up over it and there was so much grace to do better at the next meal time. I've also noticed that I'm controlling my portion sizes as well, which is really good for me! I only have one serving during most meals and they're usually even smaller portions than what I was used to eating. I hope I can keep it up!