I’m feeling awesome today, I really am.  I woke up at about 8, then had a little lie (lye? lay?) in. Got up, had breakfast, went though my morning routine [breakfast, e-mail, WW boards, blog rounds] and then got dressed and went to the gym. I did C25K Week 5, Day 1, and I could have run longer. But instead I went for a swim, did 22 laps - not bad, considering that I haven’t been swimming for numerous years now. Weighed in at 86.1 — didn’t drink any water yesterday, however, and I can feel the bloat.

After the gym, I went to a coffee store and bought a small, skinny hot chocolate (no marshmellows or cream) and then tried on some clothes in a store. On impulse I grabbed some size 14 jeans and — they fit! Yay. I also tried on a dress but I just wasn’t sure about it. I didn’t end up buying anything but I sure felt good about myself. Now I’m back, and I’ve just had a banana and will have some spaghetti on toast for lunch (and for dinner I’ll probably whip up a caesar salad).

As of tomorrow, I’m going on a trip around the highlands for 5 days, and I’ve come up with a plan of attack: 1) I will take my running clothes with me, and aim to do run at least 3 days in the morning before the bus leaves for its next trip.
2) I will drink green tea every morning, since that seems to help keep me on track.
3) I will aim to drink 1L of water a day. I am on the bus all day and there’s no toilet, and stops can be few and far between. I don’t want to be running to the loo all the time.
4) I’m going to take some muesli bars with me for snacking, and maybe some oranges.
5) I am going to mentally brainwash myself into craving vegetables so that I will make good choices while I’m there. and
6) I’ll bloody well enjoy myself!

So, yes, I’m feeling awesome. And hopefully, I’ll have some update photos soon, so you can see progress.

Posted at 11:53 am | No Comments »

Hit the gym yesterday, finished C25K Week 4! So I’ll start Week 5 next time I go to the gym (probably today), which is kind of cool. Did my weight circuit — I love the feeling that I’m getting stronger each time. Today I’m sore, but certainly nothing like I used to be. Before, it was all over my arms, my torso, etc. Now, it’s my torso (but not as bad as it could be) and my  upper arms/chest (really need to learn the names of these things). The former is because of the stupid crunches, which I still can’t do. The latter is because I bumped up the weight for my Lat pulldown (so maybe my…lats.?…are sore?) by 5kg because I decided it was too easy.

So I feel great! Got some good news but will wait until Sunday — my official WI day — to share it.

Did have a very sore leg last night — felt like what I was told were ‘growing pains’ as a child. Called my Mum because the pain went from the low right pelvic region, through the top of my thigh, around the knee, the back of my calf and into my ankle, and it was this weird, dull ache. I couldn’t understand why or where it comes from — although I vaguely remember this pain as something I’ve felt before. She thinks it’s to do with the Sciatic Nerve, because apparently our entire family has issues with it. Mum used to have issues with it, and my brother’s physio mentioned something about him having issues with it…until now I was never active enough to be affected, I guess. But she told me some stretches to help with it…it’s possible I just pinched the nerve.

I think when I was younger this happened quite a bit, because I do remember the pain. I know how far I’ve grown, because until now I would have gotten incredibly angry at how my body was betraying me…actually, that’s a common feeling through my childhood. But now that I’m exercising and getting to know my body, I’m learning how strong I am…and I guess also my remaining weaknesses and how to deal with them. I’m going to turn myself into Archilles, and find out how to minimise my heels..I’m going to be unstoppable!

Posted at 10:10 am | No Comments »

Watched Breakfast at Tiffany’s last night, and ‘the mean reds’ describes this feeling at the moment: I’m scared. It’s my 21st birthday in 8 weeks or so, and I’m back in Australia in 14 weeks. And part of me is terrified that I won’t lose any significant amount before then. This happens to me everytime I go somewhere; I desperately want to feel signifcantly improved when I return. And I want to this time, too. But I’m scared that, like all the other times, I’m just not going to pull through, I’m not going to commit, and I’ll flounder.

And then, a few weeks before I leave, I’ll get angry and feel crap about myself, then I get back on and ‘lose weight’ again.

This time, I want it to go differently. I want to track everything. I want to do the exercise I need to do. I want to lose it and feel proud of what I’ve achieved — and how I’ve changed — while I’ve been away. So, today will be a good day. As will tomorrow. And the day after that. I will feel determined, I will do my exercise, I will drink my water, and I will smile and know that I’ve done what I can to bring about the changes I so desperately want.

Posted at 11:54 am | No Comments »

So, I’ve been playing around with these for a while, but I’ve never written them down, so why not do it now?

Current Weight: 86.3

1. 85.5 — A BMI of 29.9, and therefore no longer obese!
2. 85.3 — A loss of 15kg.
3. 80.8 — Halfway (start weight = 100.3)
4. 79.9 — 20.4kg and under 80.
5. 77.6 — 10% of 86.3.
6. 75.3 — 25kg
7. 74.1 — Halfway between current weight and goal weight.
8. 71.5 — Three-Quarters.
9. 71.0 — In the healthy BMI Range
10. 69.9 — Under 70!
11. 65.3 — 35kg.
12. 62.0 – GOAL.

In other news, I’ve realised that half my problem is that I find it hard to follow my meal plan if I actually have to cook lunch myself then and there — it is much, much easier for me if it’s already made and I either a) eat it, or b) heat it up and eat it. I’ll need to remember this for the future, because it does affect how I eat. Sigh.

Posted at 10:58 am | No Comments »

Now what the heck do I do with it? I’m reasonably sure it’s supposed to be able to keep me linked up with the WWers who use blogspot, but I have no idea what to do with it now. For the longest time I didn’t think I had one, now I’m all excited and surprised.

I am regretting yesterday. I am. Not in the ‘I Wish I’d Never Done It Way’, but closer to the ‘I’m Feeling Pain in Places I’ve Literally Never Hurt Before’. Like my upper arms, which when I work them out normally contains a mental daydream in which I am a hurculean woman standing on a cliff laughing about the puny forces trying to exert my muscles. (I may have an overactive imagination). The point is, they don’t get sore. Ever. The muscles on the top of my arms (biceps? Triceps? Whatever, the muscle near where the arm meets the shoulder.) have previously been completely impervious to pain.

But now they hurt. And the muscles behind my shoulders feel kind of like I’m being stabbed in the back every time I move. Oh god, why? Why did I decide to do Punch? Why didn’t I just stop when I got dizzy, instead of going, “Nah, I’m fine, I can finish, just give me a minute?” Why didn’t I stop after the class, instead of sitting down, eating an apple or two, and then going swimming for a half an hour?

There’s only one thing for it, though: I’m going to have to go back next week. Otherwise they’ll just remember me as that Australian girl who couldn’t punch and who almost fell down. What can I say? My vanity won’t let me be that girl.

Posted at 3:55 pm | No Comments »

And today was my day. Went back to the gym, had a mini weigh in (since my proper weigh is on Sunday — I just wanted to see the damage from Easter), ran for 5 minutes at a speed of 10 (since I can normally only run for 5 minutes max at a speed of 8.5 - 9.0, this was exciting.

Then came the silliness. I’d decided to go to a PUNCH! class, and holy buggery, that was intense. I may have almost fainted, whoops. I’d only eaten breakfast before I went, just because I woke up late and thought it’d be fine. It wasn’t. We were punching then I was going “Holy shit Ican’tbreathe” and then there were spots and there was nausea and I felt like an idiot. I did, however, finish the class. Or the punching bit, anyway. And, to make me feel worse, I got to this point in, ahuh, 30 minutes. Buggar.

After the punching, I went back to the change rooms and sat for a while. I had 2 apples in my bags, so I ate those. Then, I was like, “I did only a half an hour’s exercise. I’m not going home!” So I got changed and went for a swim. Not a very energetic swim, but a swim nonetheless.

I texted my sister on the way home and she was like, “You need carbs!”. So I stopped off at my butchers and grabbed a sausage roll — possibly the best sausage roll money can buy. Homemade, real sausage, etc. etc. Now, I’ve had a Berocca and I’m going to figure out what I’m eating for the next week or four, then I’m going to have a showr and get changed, and go shopping for vegies. Mmm….vegies.

Current Stats
Current Weight: 86.0
Loss/Gain This Week: +.5
Total Loss: 14.3

Posted at 2:14 pm | No Comments »

Dear Body:

Things have been difficult between us lately. In the last few days, in particular, I’ve noticed a change in your attitude towards me, and it worries me a little bit. I’ve done some hard thinking, though, and I can tell that you’re simply reacting to what I’ve done to you for the last week.

I’m sorry I’ve ignored you and not listened to your wishes, although I have to say that your reactions have been a little vexing. Yes, I understand that I haven’t been drinking enough water, but did you really need to give me more pimples than I’ve had since in highschool? And I’m aware that I ate too much bread — but wind? Really?

You know, I’d have thought that after 20 years of being together, you’d treat me a little nicer. I do concede, however, that I wasn’t thinking of you this last week. Please accept my apologies, Body. Let’s just call a truce.

Love,

Me.

Posted at 9:08 am | No Comments »

So, I made these yesterday. They work out to about 2pt each, which, if you’re having company isn’t bad at all, since they get gobbled up quickly.

The reason we made these was because when my sister came a few weeks ago, we made a cheesecake. We were going to buy a shortcrust pastry case for it, but they only had mini-ones (seen here) or a flan case. I bought both because I didn’t know which would be better. Then when we used the flan case, I had to find something to use these for. And voila! Chocolate tartlettes.

Ingredients

• Mini short-crust pastry cases (x24)
• A block of plain (dark) cooking chocolate
• A tsp of vanilla essence.
• A dash of water.
• A little leftover 2%/Light Evaporated Milk.
• Raspberries/Blueberries/Strawberries to garnish.

Put some water into a pan (really - just a dash) and then over low heat melt the chocolate. (The water helps stop it from burning). Once it’s melted, add the evaporated milk and the vanilla essence. Spoon the mixture into the pastry cases and top with the berries. Easy!

I used Evap. milk for this because I had leftover and it helped bring points down. The amount you use depends entirely on the runniness of the mixture, but for me it honestly wasn’t much. These worked out to be fantastic, very yummy — my flatmates ate them all that night. It’s a nice little treat and at 2 pts each, surprisingly satisfying.

Posted at 2:50 pm | No Comments »

Woke up at 10ish (a well needed sleep in) and then had some weetbix for breakfast, got dressed and headed for the gym. I hit the treadmill and managed to do the C25K, Week 4 Day 1. I thought I was going to die from the stich I got halfway through, but I just turned the speed down a little and kept going. Then I did my weights and power plate and now I think my arms will be screaming in pain tomorrow, argh.

I also weighed myself. This week, I lost 1.3kg, one of my biggest losses to date! It just goes to show what happens when you’re in the right frame of mind. Last year I struggled with food. Because I struggled with food, I never got the headset for exercise. And now? No problems. I get it.

I did have a bad night on Friday, but it was because I forgot that I wouldn’t be back at home for dinner. Ended up having pizza. And drinking a lot. And the next day, I had chips for dinner and just veged. But it was just a day. No big deal.

Am going to my sister’s tomorrow, and we’ll see how I go. Neither of them track or watch their weight in a real way (my sister may occasionally talk about it and do more exercise, but never food-based), but they do eat a lot of vegies, so hopefully I’ll fit in somewhere. Just up the exercise and it’ll be fine, right? Right.

Current Stats
Current Weight: 85.5
Loss/Gain This Week: -1.3
Total Loss: 14.8

Posted at 2:21 pm | No Comments »

So this is possibly the most successful update thus far: I am still on track! I am following my meal plan almost exactly — the only difference are last-minute substitutions for snacks: I have a hot chocolate and therefore skip the muesli bar. It’s great because I don’t have to try to mentally count up points — I know that I’ve eaten x, x, and x, and therefore I still have y and y as a snack, which are z and z points respectively. Then if I want a replacement, I work out its points and low-behold, everything works out!

I feel great. And, too, I’m getting my water in. I haven’t been to the gym since Sunday; could have gone today but had a shopping date with friends. Will head tomorrow, do the C25K and maybe some swimming, too.

Posted at 10:27 pm | No Comments »