A successful weekend

Ambrosia courtesy of the
Healthy Food Guide

Just a super short check in to note a 400gram loss after a weekend with lunch out on Saturday and a BBQ with friends last night. Didn't make stellar choices at the BBQ (still had a cheesy sausage!) but I stayed off the alcohol and we had been for a 6km walk earlier in the day. Phew. We were asked to take desert - eek! Was very thankful for the inspiration of the Healthy Food Guide - went for the retro option and took (relatively) safe Ambrosia which was a mega hit all around.

Hope everyone had a good weekend whereever you are.

Weekend wrap up – down 10%!

It was one of those weekends where D worked so I was home alone for much of it and what usually happens when I’m home alone? I snack. I graze. I open the fridge repeatedly and start thinking about what I could bake using those boring pantry items that would turn into something calorific and yummy!

But this weekend was  different. I had chores to do outside and even when I was catching up on blog posts I didn’t have the urge to munch. Maybe it’s the spring weather. I went into town and kept D company at a Christmas Carols gig last night and took an ice cream in for dinner. All within my calorie budget for the day so no guilt attached (although after reading everyone’s posts on the new Weight Watchers programme I did have a momentary thought about fibre and protein…oops). 

The scale loved me this morning and the feeling was mutual. 88kg on the button. 10kg down, 10.2% off, that's 22 pounds! Any way I say it I’m pretty happy :). Can’t remember the last time I’ve been so consistent with downward progress – I’ll take it! Going off to book the reward massage now!

Lack of H2O + sleep = no movement on the scales

I wasn't surprised when I jumped on the scales this morning and saw the same number as last week. Have been super busy every night after work so haven't managed as much planned activity as I would like, but have managed quite a lot 'incidental' activity along the way. We went to see U2 in concert on Friday night which meant a hefty walk to and from the stadium (bonus!) but I stopped drinking water at about 4pm so I didn't have to pee all night (booo!). I'm not a U2 fan but their 360 set up was amazing and they did a nice tribute to the 27 miners who were lost in the Pike River Mining disaster last week (such a sad week for New Zealand).

Courtesy of u2.com

The weather turned into a scorcher over the weekend and I worked a lot in the garden on Saturday and wandered around the zoo on Sunday (bonus!) but once again, didn't keep my fluids up and had a major headache last night. That time of the month now but I'm still aiming to get below 89kg this week! Have a good one :)

That wasn't exercise, it was fun!

Been a while since I had a moment to sit and actually type a decent post but I've been saving mental notes along the way.

Work has been hectic. I was babysitting some consultants for a week which meant I didn’t get much of my own work done and certainly didn’t have time to track, let along blog. And we all know what happens when you don’t track! I didn’t go nuts but I know I consumed too much salt and I certainly drank too much wine over the weekend that followed. Gained a pound and I’m bloody grateful it wasn’t more.

So this week has been better and as King Julian would say my mantra has been “I like to move it, move it”...

• Sunday – 6km hard bike ride along a rough trail
• Monday – 3km walk
• Tuesday – 3 km fast walk (trying to keep up with 9 y/o on a bike!)
• Wednesday – 3km easy bike ride + an hour in the garden at night The ride was especially cool because this was the same route of my first few rides that I had huffed and puffed around and yet this time it was EASY!
• Thursday – 4.5km walk
• Friday - 4.5km walk
• Today – housework, housework, housework

Tomorrow our house will be full of boys men watching Bathurst (V8 endurance race) all day with junk food spread across the coffee table. While I enjoy the racing I don't plan on sitting around stuffing my face and undoing all this hard work in a single day. Monday is my last weigh in before our holiday. Gonna make it count :).

Winning weekend

Looks like water was the thing holding me back on weekends!  I chugged down glasses of the stuff at every opportunity I had and this mornings weigh in showed a (drum roll please) 3.5 pound loss. Wohoo! We’ve had a storm here so not much exercise over the past week – only physical activity has been cleaning up fallen branches and mulching trees for the garden.

Dying to get out on the bike again - pic of my purple baby below. I need to keep desensitising my butt so I can ride along Santa Monica beach during our holiday next month.

Been thinking about the holiday a lot (I'm an anally retentive planner / researcher when it comes to vacations) - dreamt about food 2 nights in a row. Although last nights dream about a cheesecake made from plain flour and dried potato flakes was more like a nightmare...hope everyone has a great week!

mmm....lemon cake

I kicked myself in the arse last week and cut my calories a notch and it's worked! I also went nuts with the coffee and water one day and solved my *ahem* constipation issue. So the scales showed a 1.5kg (3 pound loss) this week. Although I'm mentally averaging that over a two period due to the aforementioned situation.

Fell off the wagon in terms of a formal food diary over the weekend but was adding stuff up in my head. Said a big fat NO to nibbles on Saturday night and then a resounding YES to the lemon cake that our guest bought over for desert. It was delicious. And I'm becoming really good at piling up the veges on the plate to make it look like I'm eating as much as everyone else (and enjoying it)...sneaky sneaky! Finding it much easier to cope when I pre plan meals for a couple of days in advance. Suits my anally retentive, obsessive compulsive personality quite nicely. Enjoy your respective summers....can't wait for mine!

TGIM - Thank goodness for Monday

Yep, TGIM. There's not even an undertone of sarcasm with this one. Sunday saw me on a go slow due to back pain, crummy weather and the excuse of D being home to watch TV with. The cupboards were bare and neither of us could be motivated to do grocery shopping so did a quick snack run instead. I know I verbally said (at least twice) "I don't want food to cheer me up - you know I have a problem with it!", and even sat in the car while D went inside. And then he came out with corn chips and marshmallow Santa's legs...my face lit up like a Christmas tree. Pathetic.

But it did the trick - funk gone, all calories accounted for and today is a 'make up' day. So what makes this such a good Monday? Back pain mostly gone, I'm in charge of the calories...and a quickie before work helped too...must do that more often!

Breaking into a jog

I went for a 6.4km walk yesterday and my legs are really feeling it today. Which is great - I do practically zero exercise but I do like the reminder of calories burned for the next day or so 'post exertion'. And don't tell anyone but there was even a point where I broke into a jog just to see what it would feel like. I think the answer is 'jiggly'.

I also did really well with food choices over the weekend despite attending a housewarming, going out to dinner with a friend and spending Sunday by myself with only the TV and fridge for company. Am away for work over the next couple of days - need to find the strength to not pig out at the breakfast buffet!