Exercise Bikes

Kmart Australia wide are having a fitness machine special at the moment (I think 'til tomorrow??) and my sister just bought me an exercise bike for $69. It's probably not the best but enough to get me moving on days that are raining or too cold to go for my walks. It may be worth checking out! They have trampolines, treadmills and more expensive bikes on sale. Kmart is open 'til late in many areas.

Photos do lie!

This was spurred on from a post AGR made. I find this relevant to my plight for losing weight and the pressure society puts on women to look "perfect".

Here's a link to the Nikky Webster photo which was retouched for FHM. I would like a smoother back and bigger boobs too god damn it but not really...I just said that for effect ;-) I mean no disrespect to Ms Webster in posting this.

Typical Day

I thought I'd post what a typical day of food and exercise would be for me now that I am in my 11th week of WW. I know my success comes from what I eat, definitely exercising, tracking and blogging - thanks guys! Sure I have my off days but I really want to do this! so my off days are becoming very rare. I can't keep making excuses for something I have sole responsibility for.

I am on 22 points a day. I refuse to have any junk food in the house because I work from home most days and I just won't buy it. Don't miss it either. You wouldn't believe how much money I am saving! I don't count sugar points and I tend to have double the amount of dairy servings and not enough fruit/vegies, but working on that. I am also never left hungry unless I have skipped a meal.

I'm a super busy girl. No kids but I have my own business and work 2 casual jobs (couldn't ditch the 2nd one but reworked the hours). I found the best time to exercise is at sunrise. Get it out of the way and then I've got heaps of energy/time for the rest of the day.

Fortunately my partner is awesome, wonderfully supportive and health conscious too now. "So how many points is....". This helps. He has a great Zen Buddhist perspective on life as well which is starting to rub off on my occasionally nihilistic view of the world.

So is there a secret? I am not doing anything special, just following the WWs guidelines which I find really works for me. The best $16.95 a week I've ever spent! It helps being totally honest with myself too.

I hope this gives everyone a better idea of my approach. I think once I began this journey and started feeling really good, I realised that I can't go back. Not now.

EXAMPLE

Breakfast
1 english muffin (2)
1 tbsp WW sour cream (1/2)
2 tbsp WW cottage cheese (1/2)
1 tea w/ 2 raw sugars, dash Lite White (1)

Lunch
2 sushi rolls (5)

Dinner
1 inghams breast steak (4)
2-3 cups vegies (0)
2 tbsp tomato sauce (1)

Snacks
1 apple (1)
1 banana (1)
1 Nestle Diet Yoghurt (1)
5 prunes (1)
1 mother earth fruit/muesli bar (2)
2 tea w/ 2 raw sugars, dash Lite White (2)
1 cup cadbury high lights (0)

Water
6x 250ml glasses (0)

Exercise
1 hr = 5-7km brisk walk, at sunrise (5-6 bonus points)

Week 11 - lost 1.6kg

So much for my nerves! I think Book 10 put the plateau fear in me and I kept weighing myself at home this week with no change, until today. What did I do differently this week? Well, no takeaway and I stuck to my points. I earnt 6 bonus exercise points each day and didn't eat them either. Feeling good, smell great and now I am ready for breakfast. I am having a lazy day today so I'll be able to catch up on everyone's posts finally. Thanks for your support!

Happy Birthday Cath

Cath is turning 25 today so a big cheers to you babe! I hope you have a brilliant day and everyone else too.

I'm a bit nervous about weigh in tomorrow. I've been good but it may be my time to plateau. We'll see.

Choosing a Goal Weight

How did everyone work out their WW Goal Weight? My range is between 63-79kg and I thought initally that my WW Goal should be 79kg but looking at other people's stats, it started to make me wonder how you guys decided on a figure in between your own ranges? I chose 75kg as my personal goal because it sounded reasonable. What do you think?

And Danny Hawaii is itchin' again, thanks to Little Miss Sexy, AGR and M!

Compliments

I went for my walk this morning and it was tough. Half way through, I hated the music on my mp3 player and just felt physically and emotionally exhausted. I pushed myself to do the 10,000 steps though and felt a little better about that. Also Kate's mantra is burnt to my memory so I had to "DO IT ANYWAY".

Once inside, I checked my mobile and a dear old friend (that I haven't seen since starting WW) sent me a SMS to tell me that he saw me from a bus and looked fantastic. OMG. Now do you think I am feeling depressed still!? I don't think so. Thanks matey, if you read this ever!! I think I'll keep going now. Was I starting to get bored, too many things to juggle right now?? At least I'm smiling again :-)

Week 10 - lost 1kg

Whoot! another loss. My goal for this week is to plan my meals (so to avoid take out) and to be as positive as I can be not only for myself but for the people around me.

My personal life is a little demanding right now but I feel strong enough to not let it get me too down. I could have eaten a truck load of tim tams or something equally as bad last night but quickly ignored those thoughts. I think continuing to exercise and eating healthy is helping me deal with this the best way I can.

I ended up having the Butter Chicken I was craving and it was worth it. I had the spare points :-) Thanks M for making me want it more! Yum!

I'll catch up with everyone's posts a little later in the day. Cheers.

Wicked Beats

Now for the more upbeat post...

I decided to listen to some drum'n'bass this morning on my walk. I chose Roni Size (with Reprazent) because I thought he'd be more mellow than the jungle d'n'b I like but...not! I have never walked so fast in my life! I couldn't stop laughing because I kept feeling like I was about to break out into some kind of Wiggles crazed dance movements but I resisted and my arms uncontrollably did their own thing instead, like fly in the air. Whoot! I must have looked deluded but hey, I basically live in Newtown so that's not too strange. I like my walks in the morning.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Crash Cart on Standby

I finally realised just how important a support network is this week. A friend of ours had been missing since our party on Saturday night. He turned up on our doorstep at 5.30am yesterday morning and had fallen off the wagon so to speak. He reached his goal (not weight loss) only a couple of years ago but he recently started to feel like he wanted to be just like everyone else and indulge in a past time to see if he could manage. He could not and now the "crash cart is on standby".

We contacted his support network sponsor and those were his words. He gave us some sound advice too. All you can do is wait for him to reach out but let him know you are there for him. Ultimately he has to want to help himself. I thought about his support network and the realisation that the WW meetings are almost similar in the sense that we can always go back to the meetings when we need to but we have to want to be there. We have to want the help. The support network certainly is there for us.

We'll keep tabs on him for now and be there when he needs us. We love him dearly.

Please don't give me any sympathy. I don't need it. I just wanted to share this because it made me realise just how much people need people. I can appreciate the whole WW network a lot more now and other more dire support networks.

Cheers to all the people who are responsible for and involved in keeping these networks going for people who need help!

Not Hungry

I am finding it hard to eat my points this week. I can't seem to go over 16.5 points and I think it has something to do with drinking water now. It really fills me up. Has anyone else found this!? I even went out to get an icecream last night, thinking that'll it'll be heaps of points and it was only 2.5 points. I seem to be craving only 0-2 point foods. Very weird. I hope my body doesn't go into starvation mode. This is not the way I want to lose weight and this is the first time in a long time that I can't just stuff myself. I am going to get myself a takeaway foccacia now. That should boost the points for today.

EDIT
It's now near the end of my day and I've made my points for today. Thanks for all your good suggestions! BTW I'm on 22 points a day. Cheers :-)

Dr Phil's 7 Key Points...

to weight loss. Just thought I'd post this here to remind myself and for anyone who hasn't come across it as yet.

Key 1: Right Thinking
Lay aside self-defeating, invalid mindsets that do not work. They have the power to keep you from making different choices or developing new behaviors. Too often, we let these negative notions go unchallenged, and we act as though they were true. You must monitor what you're thinking and challenge whether it is true. If it's not working, replace it with thinking that works.

Key 2: Healing Feelings
Overcome emotional overeating by managing inappropriate reactions to stress; solving problems rather than dwelling on them; changing self-defeating thoughts, since more often than not, feelings follow thoughts; gaining closure on unfinished emotional business; and learning new ways to cope without resorting to food.

Key 3: A No-Fail Environment
Design your world so that you can't help but succeed. This involves removing temptations to eat and rearranging your schedule in order to avoid or minimize triggers to overeat.

Key 4: Mastery Over Food and Impulse Eating
There's only one reason why you haven't changed the bad stuff in your life. You're getting something out of it. I'm not saying that you're getting something healthy or positive, but people do not continue in situations, attitudes or actions that do not give them a payoff. This key helps you identify those payoffs, unplug from them, and replace bad habits with healthy behavior.

Key 5: High-Response Cost, High-Yield Nutrition
To lose weight, you must choose foods that support good behavioral control over your eating, that is, high-response cost, high-yield foods, organized into a moderate, balanced, calorie-controlled plan to ensure weight loss.

Key 6: Intentional Exercise
Prioritize regular exercise into your life most days of the week — walking, jogging, aerobic dance classes, yoga, playing a sport, or lifting weights. Exercise does more than simply burn calories; it changes your self-perception so you stop labeling yourself as a couch potato.

Key 7: Your Circle of Support
Surround yourself with supportive, like-minded people who want you to lose weight and succeed at your health and fitness efforts.

http://www.drphil.com/

Sing it with me girls...

Thanks for the great emails/posts guys. After I wrote the previous entry and read some beautiful replies, I took the next step of doing something about it. I am never one to sulk for too long anyway, well not this time. I think I might be able to deal with things better because I feel fitter, healthier, more in tune with myself? I know I had a really off weekend but after all that, dropping 1 job and having more time for my relationship will be much better and of course, GO FOR A MINI HOLIDAY. Yes!

Main thing learnt, DON'T put so much pressure on myself in terms of food goals. Smaller more realistic goals are the key AND PLAN!

And as Cath said in a previous post of hers....sing it with me girls "... always look on the bright side of life...". I never liked that song...haha but then halfway through the day, I caught myself singing it. True :-)

Week 9 - lost 1.2kg

I did well this week, in that I started drinking my water and started walking different ways and hills. I think this is why I had a great loss this week. To lose .5kg per week is my mini goal but this is awesome.

On the other hand, I am feeling crappy. I had put so much pressure on myself about my Weekend Goal that whilst having my partner's BDay BBQ yesterday, I didn't really eat. I just drank beer. I swear I feel like I've lost another kilo overnight. I also didn't have breakfast because I went for my walk, then the WW meeting, then had to shop and then the BBQ started at 1pm. Not a great way to start the day or get into the party spirit. I should have planned better and thanks to M's post yesterday (which I only read today), it's got me thinking more positively for the next time.

I am not going to go into any details but my partner and I also had a blue. I just went ballistic. I really don't feel great about it and I think a lot of it has to do with the way my day started. Too many things to do and not taking better care of myself, like eating breakfast. Urggh. Also like Cath, I've got lots of freelance work on at the moment and it's very challenging right now to balance that, my relationship, my 2 casual jobs and a social life. Something has to give. I tried to end the relationship but do I really want to do that? I don't think so. I don't know. I just need a holiday. Working for yourself can be so rewarding, yet I am constantly working and thinking about it. Hence my love of beer. It helps me stop thinking.

Things will work out, they always do but I'm a little all over the place today. I think I just need a good cry.

Water Works

Thanks to Linda and M, I went out and bought a Brita Jug (w/filter). I was a bit dubious about the idea of it possibly changing the taste of my dirty tap water but it bloody well has! The water tastes so good and cold from the fridge too, yum. I am drinking my water now. I'll be interested to see how it effects my weight loss, as I've pretty much done without the recommended amount so far. Impressed.

Questions Answered

These are questions in the WW Book 8 that I wanted to answer for myself.

How do yo achieve your results?
By being consistent and honest about my journey. I make sure I am eating right and exercising (but I am not always so good). I really want to do this so I am not making excuses anymore.

What makes you choose fruit instead of chocolate?
Points and I actually crave fruit now. I just think of all the times I ate a block of chocolate, yep..family size, and how that made me feel afterwards. No thanks.

How/when/where do you plan your day's meals?
I tend to eat similar things for any one particular week so I loosely think about it at the beginning. I then stock up on what I need so I don't have to think about it for the rest of the week. This keeps me from making unhealthy choices at the last minute (apart from weekends).

Do you track after every bite/meal/day?
I work from home so yes. When I am on the road, I write down what I eat in my diary so when I get home, I track for the day.

How do you cope when you have to eat out a lot?
I haven't really had to do this yet. I avoid having to eat out but when I do, I just make sure I've saved enough points for an indulgence OR try my best at making a healthy choice.

How do you bounce back after a disappointing result on the scales?
I haven't had a bad result yet but when I do, and I will, I imagine that I'll be able to look at my tracking and see why.

What sort of exercise do you do and when?
I walk for an hour (5-6km) each morning. I also do LOTS of incidental exercise. I live in the city and don't have a car so this ensures lots of walking, everywhere. I decided to start exercising early in the morning because I don't have to think about it, I just go. It was hard at first but my body started to crave the wake up call. I will probably never go to a gym because I'm just not that type of person. I like the outdoors and activities that don't make me think I am really doing exercise.

Tell me your secret?
Tracking, being honest, making healthy choices and exercise! It's no secret because it's exactly what WW is all about. I just had to really want to do this, to make it work. Also Blogging and all the girls. There are some pretty inspirational people out there who are on similar journeys right now. I don't think I would have stuck to this if I didn't go to the WW meetings and blogged. Oh yeah, and the NO JUNK IN THE HOUSE rule. It works for me.

Replies - Apology

Sorry guys, I just realised I can reply to your comments via email when they get sent to me (if your Blog is set with your email showing). I was thinking that it was silly of me to reply to my own post in response to a comment, because how would you know I replied. D'oh! Unfortunately the comments were going to my Junk Folder so I didn't realise until today. All sorted now. Cheers!

Weekend Food Goal

It's been 7 whole weeks since I started this crazy thing called Weight Watchers. Years ago I would have scoffed at the idea and some of my friends still do in a silly way but hey, I am doing it for me. It's interesting to see people around me start to watch what they eat too. I am not rubbing it in anyone's face but it is obvious things are changing. My partner is generally a good eater but now he's even asking me how many points things are. Very funny.

So this week I've set a new challenge for myself. I am going to try and not eat the bad food (take out) on Saturday and/or Sunday. I've done it for the past 7 weeks and still lost but that luck is not going to last. We'll see.

And the water issue...I still can't seem to drink it. I am fine with bottled water (600ml) but buying 2L of that every day will get a bit pricey. I shop online so the next time we do an order, I'll have to see what kind of bulk water bottles they have. Sounds silly doesn't it. Maybe I should go back to drinking cordial but not the WWs one coz it just tastes wrong.

Week 8 - lost .6kg

Whoot! I made my first 5kg loss. It feels so damn good. I've been honest with myself and my tracking and that makes all the difference.

I am really enjoying the meetings I go to also. The people that go to my meeting are wonderfully nice and it's great to get some feedback and talk to people directly.

A big shout out to all the bloggers out there too, especially the ones who comment on my posts. It really helps me along so a huge THANK YOU. I only hope that I help you as much as you've helped me.

Okay...I better get moving for some Mother's Day shopping. I'll catch up with everyone's posts a little later.

Coffee + Garlic

Tried to go for my 5km walk this morning but only made it half way. My ankle's sore. So feeling a little dissapointed but it's okay. I probably should have at least one day off from planned exercise a week anyway right?

It was my 3rd year anniversary yesterday with Mr Danny Hawaii and we went to a beautiful organic restaurant in Newtown called The Peasant's Feast. I was able to make good choices. I had the Sirloin Steak in jus w/ pumpkin and chose a light wine, Muscato. We then went to Bacigalupa for dessert. Okay, so we had a sticky date BUT we shared it. I had the points spare so I didn't need to feel bad at all.

So to the point of this post...

At 3am I was wide awake. My mind was buzzing and I just couldn't sleep. It had to be the garlic and coffee I had last night. Garlic just doesn't seem to be in much of what I eat lately and I'm generally not a coffee drinker so the stimulation was intense. I've always heard that garlic is pretty powerful and now that I don't use it much, I am pretty amazed by it's effect.

Shhh...don't tell my sister the Reiki master. She's always on at me about the *negative* energies of garlic and telling me not to eat it so this will be more ammunition for her..haha!

Choices

I left a rhetorical question on a post to A Girl Running and thought I'd post it here to remind myself. I wonder whether we get a little lax about our food choices when we start losing weight and start feeling much better about ourselves? I caught myself thinking "I can eat that now, it won't matter" but I really think it will. I know it will. I still have a while to go yet so I should keep myself in check but I am feeling pretty awesome.

The mp3 player also does wonders for my exercise routine. Just want to hear one more song so got to keep moving! Good morning music = Four Tet Rounds.