rainbowtatt

Tomorrow night I’m starting a five-week beginner’s yoga class with Black Lotus Studios. I’ve bought a stack of new clothes that will hopefully be appropriate to wear (no camel toes or wedgies to be found)

I’m really looking forward to going, and hoping that it gives me a real chance to wind down (and get flexible at the same time).

But I’m a bit worried that this story may turn into a reality:

I am in serious need for some inspiration, motivation or scare tactics to get me back into the healthy eating and regular exercise thang.

(Although, given Sydney’s humidity this month, how am I expected to do anything more than sit in front of the fan and complain about the humidity?)

I popped along to see Dr Joe last weekend and he’s happy with my overall weightloss (I weighed in at 85.5, meaning I’ve lost 9kg since August last year, when I was 94.5). Even though there’s a European scare over the fat pills I’m currently taking (and a fake Aussie ban, one I’ve been wanting to rant about for AGES), Joe has continued prescribing Reductil and given me another 5 nutritionist sessions for the year.

I’m too scared to go back to seeing Traci just yet!

One thing Joe mentioned – and finally explained in a way that I understood – is that the body finds it easier to burn sugars than fats. So by having sugary treats or sugar in your coffee, your body will prefer to go for the sugars, instead of the fat  you’re so desperate to get rid of. But by reducing your sugar intake, your body will be forced to burn the fat. HA! Take that, lard. The information makes sense, but it was the first time the theory was explained in a way that my poor brain understood. Lightbulb!

But I still hadn’t been motivated to exercise or do more than attempt to curb my fat-people food. Usually buying something will motivate me, like new sneakers (not needed), or a new fitness/food iPhone app (again, not needed), or a Wii game (definitely not needed, though I want a dancing one!)

Then I heard the news of the Singapore study by the University of Minnesota over the course of 14 years has found that soft drinks may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer. Fudge. Cancer is pretty common in my family, too. Suddenly Coke and V isn’t tasting as great when I drink it. Partial win?

Then last night I watched Jamie Oliver’s TED talk from earlier this month:

While it’s focused on obesity in America, it hit pretty close to home about sugary and processed foods. My family has never very good at knowing what was healthy, and it’s already carried on to the next generation of my family. But there’s something in Jamie’s delivery in this speech that really got me. I was actually feeling pretty crabby for about an hour after watching it, just to show how powerful it is. It’s also Jamie out of his element; he’s not being a git, he’s taking deep breaths and using palm cards.

Anyone got anything scary to help motivate me?

So on Saturday I went back to my nutritionist, who effectively whooped my ass for slacking off in the healthy eating/exercising more departments.

Also: I popped in to see my beloved Dr Joe and he confirmed a second set of high blood pressure results, so I’m on blood pressure tablets. Like an old lady. Fetch me me lap blanket, will you?

I needed some motivation, and I think it was just handed to me on a platter.

So on Sunday morning we popped along to Ikea and I bought some extra containers to take healthy foods to work. My new plan is to prepare as much as possible for the week ahead on the Sunday to minimise my excuses.

AND LOOK AT MY EFFORTS!! So much rabbit food!

So all I have to do is add yoghurt/salad dressing/proteins/cheeses and VOILA! I can has be healthy!

Please be to Ceiling Cat, let me get my healthy mojo back. Kthnxbai!

I’m not very good at housework (yet another thing I blame on being an ACOA). I listen to friends and colleagues talk about their housework antics and I’m always left feeling incapable of even trying to keep up with them.

I often leave the washing up for “tomorrow”. I did that last night, for instance.

Hello, cockroaches!

Anyways, I’ve been feeling motivated lately and I’ve been doing a bit of spring cleaning as well as being a bit more “regular” housework. The dust storms of this week has heightened the need for… cleanliness.

So today I’ve been frantically working to clear out junk (and donating it to the CPS Op-Shop) and sweeping, vacuuming and mopping all the floors.

It’s a bit of a big deal.

Thankfully, our new security camera captures movement at the back of our place and snapped me MID-HOUSEWORK:

Now, if you excuse me, I need a lie-down…

Have I mentioned how much I hate the word diet? DIET. Yuck. Normally I say something like “lifestyle change” or “healthy eating habits”. But—dare I say it—diet is easier for my mouth to spit out.

So “The Bride Diet” it is. The “be less fat for the wedding” diet.

Today marks the beginning of Week 3 of The Bride Diet and while I haven’t lost weight, I’ve improved my eating and exercise habits and I think any improvement is worth celebrating. YAY ME!

In terms of my eating habits, I’m trying to follow the low-gi and CSIRO’s Total Wellbeing Diet systems. Input versus output—y’know, the basics of eating well.

My exercise regime has been pretty much non-existent for the last year, so there’s definitely room for improvement there.

Baby steps. Credit where credit’s due. Patting myself on the back for progress, as small as it might be. Like the block of white chocolate that is staring at me as I type. I still haven’t touched it. YAY ME!

It’s funny how people have methods and theories on weightloss and how willingly they share this information when they hear of someone else attempting to shift the fat. I heard a doozy today that I’ve actually found is working quite well; I’ll have to see if it works again tomorrow!

I’m going to attempt to share my process with you; the food, the exercise, the whacky tips and tricks I pick up along the way.

Should be interesting!

I attempted this last year with Leigh (and she whipped my arse, hehe) and I’m willing to give it a go again as part of Blog Chicks Australia.

I have a new level of motivation now and even though I considered last week to be a complete write-off, I somehow managed to still lose a kilo (yay me! Let’s have a cupcake to celebrate).

As a general rule I try to follow the methods of the CSIRO well-being eating guide and get the fat jiggling on the cross-trainer that collects dust in the loungeroom.

It doesn’t help with all the chocolates sitting on the dining table that were gifts from very excitable work friends as well as the chocolate I won from Jen (!). Oh, and the fundraiser Freddo Frogs in the kitchen at work.

Those Freddo Frogs are evil. But also a bargain for $1.20, and the proceeds go to a good cause. NOM.

So last week I was 93.5kg and this week I’m 92.1kg and my goal is to 90kg by September. Slow and steady, yeah?

Ideally, my first real goal will be to get to 85kg in… I don’t know when. Maybe before the wedding I’m going to in November. We’ll see, right?

Don’t quite know how the hell I got here, but I’ve finally reached my first weight-loss goal!

As of this morning I’m down exactly 10kgs since I first started this lard shifting back in April. Sure, it’s taken longer than expected, but who cares now that I’m here?

I’ve gone from a BMI of 36 to a BMI of 32, so I’m 4 points less obese than I was at the beginning of the year.

My gym membership hasn’t been used since May (oops) and I haven’t used my Dan’s loungeroom cross-trainer in about 2 months. But I keep working on my eating habits and getting tips from the nutritionist I see every now and again. And after 4-and-a-half months of taking Reductil, I’m taking a breather because there wasn’t much point if I wasn’t exercising and the lard wasn’t shifting. But I’ve lost a good 3 kilos since I’ve stopped taking them, so maybe getting off them was a smart move?

My next goal is to get my BMI to 30, i.e. to no longer be classified as obese (apparently my opinion of obese is not as strict as the World Health Organization). So I plan to lose another 4.5-5 kilos to drop my BMI from 32 to a flat 30. Ideally, I’d like to hit that by Christmas, but can’t put too much pressure on it since work gets frantic and so does everything else cause the lead-up to Christmas seems to stress everyone out.

And, as ever, we’re having Maccas for dinner tonight to celebrate my success ;o)

So! Leigh and I have decided to challenge ourselves to lose some fat in the next 13 weeks. Although I’ve technically been working on this since April, it’ll be nice to have some alternate motivation other than me saying “get on with it, fatty”.

Leigh is the organised one and has got things sorted to get some others on board.

My goal? Let’s try to get rid of 7kgs. This morning I weighed in at 90.8, so pretty much the same as my official weigh-in earlier in the week. This first week is a warm up, so that’ll give me some time to eat lollies while I stress out at work (have bought Minties, Maltesers, Snakes and a 4-pack of V).

My mini goal amongst this is to get to 87.6kg, meaning the first 10kgs will be GONE since I started 3ish months ago. I will celebrate by buying a Country Road tshirt, cause it’ll actually fit by then.

If I get to 83.9kgs (7kgs from today) I will… I’m not entirely sure. Will think about that one. But it will involve clothes.

My plan is to keep eating well (CSIRO books as inspiration) use my cross-trainer at home as often as I can muster, maybe use a few gym passes (weight-training classes) and keep taking my Reductil fat tablets. I have another nutritionist appointment in 5 weeks and a check in with my GP in 4, so I think having those 2 plus Leigh on my tail should do the trick  :o)

Let’s do it, girls!

(image shamelessly nicked from leigh)

It’s been almost 3 months since i officially started my health kick and as of tonight Dr Joe says I’ve lost 8kgs.

BOOYAH!

I finished my second prescription of Reductil this morning and will keep going with it – haven’t had any side-effects and it really works a treat when you aren’t making pavlovas and cupcakes or celebrating your 30th birthday in general. My exercise regime went up the spout until this week, and I still haven’t been to the gym since April – thank God for the cross-trainer in front of the TV.

In terms of my tracking at home, I’m 90.7kgs (-6.9kgs), making my BMI 33 (-2pts). My clothes fit me better, my boobs have shrunk slightly (huzzah!) and I bought my first ever “real” bit of clothing last week – an Esprit jumper. I’ve decided that when I get to 87.6 (-10kgs) I’m going to buy a Country Road tee. Yes, they’re plain, but they’re just cool regardless. I want!

The next couple of weeks will be interesting given I’ll have no time to scratch myself (thanks, God), but things should be alright.

It’s time to go…. next 3.1kgs!

This week marked the official start of my healthy campaign. I flat-out refuse to use the d-i-e-t word.

I’ve been building up to this week for a while, trying to eat better, using the cross trainer Dan bought himself for Christmas and mentally psyching myself up for the real deal.

Because of NSW school holidays, work is much, much quieter than usual, and the lack of official meetings means I can avoid the snacking and nitpicking of leftovers. I’m very proud to say that I only had a couple of teddy bear bikkies after enduring some food challenges in the lunchroom at work. I made my lunch and snacks every morning before work- that alone deserves a bloody medal.

In this week of firsts:

• I ate my first stick of celery since I was about 7. I hated it then, and only convinced myself this week that I should try eating it again (only 23 years later). It wasn’t as bad as my 7 year old self remembers, but will still take some time to adjust. This is when I treated myself to 2 teddy bear bikkies after surviving the ordeal
• I ate veges for my morning snacks every day, and fruit if I needed it in the afternoon. Celery, cucumber, carrot, capsicum, mandarins, apples and pears. I cut the veges into sticks and just ate the fruit as-is
• I ate a whole bowl of porridge for the first time ever on Thursday morning. I seriously don’t know who I am anymore. Porridge has always reminded me of vomit and even if I could have handled the taste before, the texture would have made me gag. Admittedly, the porridge I ate was laced with honey and sugars, but hey, anything to get me started, right? I’ve had porridge 3 breakfasts in a row, and I even made it this morning with only water. Not bad for a girl who loves her milk
• My sambo’s were the talk of the lunchroom every day this week, all on Molenberg wholemeal bread: Tuna, corn, mayo, spinach, capsicum dip (so good, I had it twice this week) Salami, fetta cheese (low fat, of course), capsicum, tomato, spinach ham, cheese, spinach, capsicum dip, tomato chicken, avocado, spinach, tomato I tried to have a mashed boiled egg sandwich, but apparently I need to work on actually boiling the whole egg
• I’ve been to Newtown Gym twice, both for their Body Pump class. I was the only one not muscley and toned but managed to survive the whole hour pumping my little 1kg weights. The instructor only picked on me twice, which is pretty good considering one of those times was during lunges, and I hate lunges more than I hate the idea of John McCain being the next American President
• I actually updated my Diet Diary software from DietClub.com.au and did well considering some of the shocking dinners we’ve had this week (Oporto, Thai)

The thing I’ve done for the second time this week was start taking Reductil, one of those dreaded diet pills. I’m not proud to be on them, especially considering the flack I got from taking them for one month mid-last year. I appreciate that everyone has their concerns about these medications, but I am fully supported by my GP (who has threatened me with regular check-ins) and also Dan, which is most important to me. When I took them for a month last year, without any exercising or trying to eat healthier (really, I wasn’t psychologically ready to take them, hence stopping after one month), I managed to lose a kilo a week. I’m hoping that I can keep that up if I eat well and exercise regularly enough. I’ve decided I’m too lazy to measure myself, but I popped on the scales just before I took my first Reductil tablet and weighted 97.5kg, which apparently takes by BMI to 35.

My first goal is to lose 5kg before my birthday in June.