A new digit

I love it when I see a new digit on the scales. This week it was a '6' as in 96.9kg. I was really pleased to lose 700gm this week. But wouldn't have if we hadn't gone for a walk on Saturday...where did we go? We went on my favourite walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge with my family and our nephew and his girlfriend visiting from the UK. We then meandered through the Rocks Markets and tried as much as possible to avoid the rain while walking down to Darling Harbour.

We ate all day but not large quantities. Brent, the kids and I shared food everywhere we went. I love sharing food, then you get a taste of a lot of things and not too much of one thing. It was a very international taste experience starting with a Japanese pancake in Kirribilli, corn at the Rocks, Turkish Gozleme at the Rocks, sushi at Pitt Street, and Pearl Milk tea at Pitt Street. All very yummy and all shared except for the sushi, all mine! It was my first time drinking pearl milk tea, also known as bubble tea. A milky sweet Chinese tea with tapioca balls at the bottom of it - very filling! You should give it a go.

Winter is great for soup!

One thing I love about winter, is that I can fill up on soup. This week I made pumpkin and sweet potato soup (very yummy), and also my favourite cauliflower, potato and bacon soup. It saved me from a possible gain cos I had splurged early on in the week, and soup definitely helped me to stay fuller for longer, and with less points. I managed to save a few points every day.

My other low point filler this week was the skim milk milkshakes. I had 2 a day! It might sound like a lot of milk, but I only had 1.5 cups of skim milk in total each day. They whip up to be really thick and frothy, and lots better than full cream milk. The milkshakes really satisfied me, and kept me going through those moments when I would normally start snacking on rubbish.

This week I lost 1.9kg, so soup and skim milk saved me!

Nothing is as good as exercise feels

I've been struggling with time and inclination when it comes to exercise since starting back on WW, but at last we went on a big walk across the bridge and onto Darling Harbour yesterday. Yeah, it was great fun and even better cos it was Mother's Day and I got to choose what we did.

The weather was beautiful and had a lovely time as a family...we all shared a gozleme from the Turkish food stall at the Milson's Point Market, and then shared a Korean pancake (or was it Japanese?), and shared some nuts at the Rocks Market, and shared a strawberry with chocolate dip platter (1 strawberry each, 2 for Mum) at the Lindt Cafe...my Mother's Day treat for the family. Not so bad when everything is shared :).

But nothing is as good as exercise feels. And it felt good to walking about on such a beautiful day.

Happy Mother's day to all the Mums out there!

Reposting a favourite soup recipe: Cauliflower, Potato and Bacon Soup = yummy!

I've just made some yummy Cauliflower, Potato and Bacon Soup...and it's really good. So good I thought I'd share it with you. If you have a large bowl it's about 1.5 -2 pts. 2 pts if you add a splash of milk.

Ingredients:
1 Cauliflower
3-4 potatoes
3-4 cups chicken stock
1 large onion
125gm low-fat bacon
olive oil spray

1. Dice the onion, bacon, and potato. Cut the cauliflower into small pieces.

2. Lightly spray a medium to large pot with olive oil spray and gently cook the onions until soft, then add the bacon to finish cooking with the onions.

3. Add the diced potatoes, cauliflower and stock to the onions and bacon.

4. Cook until cauliflower is completely soft.

5. Blend the soup and add milk if desired.

If the soup is too thick, add more water or milk to thin it.

Planning ahead works

Yesterday I planned what I was going to eat for the day.

You know what? I didn't feel hungry and stayed within my points for the day. I didn't have a lot of choice as to what I was going to take for lunch. And the staff at school found it amusing when I brought out my cans of tuna and asparagus with my cruskits, and then ate the lot! But all within points!

I went shopping last night and now have food in the house again! Yippee! Yahoo! Stocked full of healthy options. Just got to get the exercise side of things sorted.

Also, I went to bed earlier last night, so no late night nibbling for me.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Breakfast: I'm eating weetbix with cold skim milk and a sprinkle of sugar. I just can't do weetbix without sugar. Our secret weapon is breakfast so I'm told, so I'm off to a good start. 2.5 points.

Morning tea: small apple...o.5 points

Lunch: Light cruskits, a can of tuna, tinned asparagus, and a WW fruit and jelly cup. 4.5 points

Afternoon tea: WW apple crumble bar, popcorn. 4.5 points

Dinner: Mixed Salad, cherry tomatoes, avocado, boiled eggs, bean sprouts, a little bit of feta, dressing. 4.5 points

Supper: jelly cup. 0 points

Total = 16.5

Takeaway 2 nights in a row = gain

Oops, I had Thai on Monday night, and then Chinese last night. I was quite careful to eat the low fat options and counted it all, but sometimes I just had to guess the points. I chose the fish for the Thai, lean pork for the Chinese, and picked out lots of vegies both nights with just a small portion of rice. This morning I jumped onto the scales for my daily peek (something you're not supposed to do but I'm addicted), and found that I had gained a kilo since my WI on Monday morning.

Now, I know that it was probably the salt causing some fluid retention, but it just goes to show what a couple of takeaway days can do! But the major downfall for me was going to bed late last night, and then snacking on some rubbish. But I've tracked it all, and have 5 days to make amends. Man, my body responds to salt and going over in points so quickly!

I think I'll plan out my day's food now so nothing unexpected creeps up on me. And tonight I go to bed much earlier!

Brrrrrrrr, it's getting cooler!

Even though it's getting cooler with winter approaching, I don't mind it too much as it makes exercising a lot easier to do. Summer is pretty difficult for me to get outside and exert myself in the heat, so autumn and winter are good for exercise. So I'm fast running out of excuses.

Im just curious what you do for exercise, I need some inspiration...the only thing like doing is walking at the moment. Not keen to get into that swimming suit right now, maybe in 5kg time. :)

Week 1: Weigh-In

Yes, it's weigh in day, and I knew I was going to lose some weight as it was the first week back. But how much was it going to be?

The first thing I did was jump on the scales this morning to reveal a loss of 2.2kg! So I was pretty thrilled with that, and am motivated for another week of tracking, blogging, posting, exercise and water. I'm sure the daily blogging and posting on the WW boards has kept me accountable.

Starting Weight: 100.5kg
This week: 98.3kg
Loss: 2.2kg

I went out for drinkies at the Park Hyatt with my friends Caroline, Beth and Mariani last night, and I was the self-imposed designated driver. I didn't have any alcohol at all, but did have a Virgin Mary (a spicy one) - like a Bloody Mary without the alcohol. I did eat a large handful of almonds but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be when I tracked it. Cashews, however, would have been a different story.

Today we're going out for brunch, and getting up very slowly...so it will be a late brunch for sure! I'm going to have eggs florentine with the sauce on the side. Yummo!

Better get dressed for the day. See ya!

Happy ANZAC Day: One day to go till Weigh-In

Happy ANZAC Day. I feel blessed to live in such a great country and to have the freedom that the brave ANZACS fought for. Just watching it on the telly is quite amazing.

Well I know I'll lose weight this week, but how much will it be?

Tomorrow I'll assess my goals for the week, but I'm happy to have made some good choices; restarting, blogging and posting on the WW community boards daily, tracking, and drinking 3 bottles of water, ooops and I nearly forgot about my exercise goals. I think I'll need to change my exercise goals to begin with or else I'll feel like an absolute failure!

We had a day out at Manly yesterday. We had fish n chips, but I ate just a few chips and bought a garden salad, and some prawns. We jumped onto the Manly ferry to Circular Quay, and instead of having a gelato like everyone else, I got a bottle of Coke Zero. Then I remembered afterwards that I was having a caffeine free day...oh well, I'll make it today. And then last night we had a BBQ at our place, and I bought fish and ate that instead of all the sausages and red meat, but did have a tiny bit of lamb. No potatoes, but heaps of salad. There was a yummy dessert, and I did have a tiny taste of that. But even though I was being so careful, it all added up over the day - little tastes DO COUNT.

Well gotta get going and get dressed - we're off to church and I don't want to be the one that holds us all up. Have a great day!

Just one piece of cake

As a naughty daily weigher, the scales say I've lost 1.5kg since restarting 5 days ago. OK, we have the weekend to get through!

I had a list of goals yesterday. Mmmmmm....

I did quite well on the domestic side - got the room ready for our visitors, did the shopping, and cleaned the house. I had several cups of tea cos I had people popping in all day but not sure if I drank enough water, probably not, so I'm starting the day with a bottle beside me...and hope to finish it before I finish blogging...hehe. I'm going to go caffeine free today!

I went to a 30th birthday party last night, and our visitors had come from NZ to surprise the birthday boy. They're his family and it was so cool, he had no idea they were coming. I ate some food before we left...unfortunately it was nibbly stuff while we were trying to get ready for the party - dress up time - and someone just opened the cheese and stuff (which I asked them to do) and I had some of that, mostly a few crackers, and some turkish bread with hummous, and a little bit of brie, not a lot. Then we went to the party, not any low point food as to be expected, but not too bad. But then there was the chocolate mud cake, and I was a bit hungry, so I had some, a small piece at least, but 6 points later...oh well, it was probably actually worth it this time, but today will have to be a low point day. Drank only water at the party.

Tracked it all. Oh, lots more points than I thought it would be - just goes to show! I need to plan ahead better, and I didn't allow for the party beforehand. Lesson learned!

Sad day for exercise as I just had one job to do, and one person arriving after another all day. All that rushing around probably burnt off some calories...I hope. So today is another day. Going to do something out-and-about in Sydney town, and burn off some of that cake.

We have a BBQ here at our house tonight. I am in control!

1. I drink water only!
2. I go on a walk somewhere -probably do something touristy with our visitors
3. I don't nibble on any cheese and crackers tonight, just carrot sticks!
4. Salad
6. Prawns
7. No dessert - fruit for me
8. Plan ahead

glug glug...1 bottle of water down the hatch...2 to go

The keys to success

First of all! Happy birthday to my darling Brent! I've known him practically most of my life and have loved him since we were young at school. 45 today...and I was actually organised enough to get him a present, lol.

Here's a thought for today:
We all know about the keys to success don't we? As a WWer for many years off and on, we know that tracking, exercise and water are the main ingredients to weightloss. I know it works, it worked for me, it still works for me. If I don't track it's amazing what I've forgotten that I've eaten that day...and then it all snowballs from there - downhill and before you know it - whaaaattt, I've gained 15kg!

One other thing that leads to my failure is when there isn't the right food in the cupboards.

Shopping (which I don't enjoy doing) is definitely another key to losing weight for me. And I need to go shopping very soon. I need to have the low point snacks, the low point treats, the vegies (and heaps of them) etc...or I get bored really quickly. I probably need to get a few new recipes under my belt that are quick and easy (and low points) to keep the recipe repertoire interesting. Maybe I need to go and make something new and yummy - after all I DO have a shelf full of cookbooks that I just look at the pictures of.

So yesterday's effort:
Tracking - yes, and went over by 1 point.
Water - nah, forgot to take my water bottles with me to work so didn't drink as much as normal.
Exercise - yes, walked around the (large) field at Ben's soccer (just once - should have done it twice, but at least it's a start)

I've got a big day today. House work, visitor's coming to stay tonight for the weekend, get visitor's room ready, did I say house work?, shopping (ewww), tradesmen coming, exercise to do, go to a 30th birthday party tonight (we're going as Darth Maul and Luke Skywalker), and get kids sorted for tonight while we're at the party.

So goals for today:
1. Go shopping!
2. Track! (I tend to 'forget' to track after Thursdays, so Friday's a critical day in the world of tracking)
3. Drink 3 bottles of water!
4. Run/walk around our street OR
5. Go onto the Wii for 15 minutes (keeping it short)!
6. Be strong at the party tonight!
7. Oops, nearly forgot the housework, lol!

Day 4: Going strong

Still going strong. No major blowouts which is so good in comparison to the Easter period. We went to the movies last night and saw 'Date Night' -hehe on our date night. It was quite funny.

Before the movie we went to a Korean BBQ restaurant to have a hotpot - which is vegies and meat cooked in soup which you cook yourself. But alas, no vegies left! So we had the BBQ, heaps of meat, but also had salad. Still it was pretty healthy even though I ate more meat than I had planned.

Going to run/walk around the soccer field tonight while Ben goes to soccer training. It's dark enough to hide, lol.

Day 3: Woohoo! Back under 100 kg!

Happy happy! I must have one of those bodies that responds very quickly to food intake. I can put on weight very quickly and lose weight very quickly! That's both good and bad, obviously depending which way the scales are going.

After just 2 days back on track, I've gone back under 100kg. According to my digital scales - which can be a tad variable depending on the day - I now weigh 99.1 kg which is a loss of 1.4 kg in 2 days. It's OK, I know it's just the initial fluid loss etc..., but all the same, it's a lovely encouragement for restarting.

Daily goals:
Yesterday I drank 3 bottles of water, ate 1 Lindor Ball (my favourite chocolate, but at least I stopped at 1 ball, and ate strawberries instead), tracked everything, blogged here and posted on the WW boards, and about to jog around the street...but might just walk/jog it to begin with. So far, so good, except for the exercise! Now that I've said that I'd better go and do it!

Looked at some photos of 'moi' taken just a couple of months ago, I can see the difference a few short weeks of NOT TRYING can make. Amazing what can happen in a few months let alone a year. Anyway, it inspired me to try again!

JOG REPORT:
Did it, survived it, waved at neighbours, got my heart rate going!

Day 2: Fresh starts are helpful!

I think it was a good move restarting my stats on my WW profile and wiping out my weight tracker from the previous 2 years. It was difficult to see those milestone stars get wiped away (the ones you get for losing the first 5kg, then 10%, etc...). But on the positive side, I can now get some more stars!

After 1 day I've managed to fufill my daily goals of drinking 3 bottles of water (=1800ml), track, blog, post on the WW boards, what else was there? Oh, I must run around the street circuit - I sent my kids off on a jog around it yesterday (and didn't go myself as I was cooking dinner), so maybe I'll do it with them after school, I'm not going jogging now, I'm so NOT awake right now. It's probably something we could all do together as a family, well me and the kids - the kids will leave me for dust.

PHASE 3!

Here goes Heather again!

I am starting PHASE 3 of my WW journey!

Phase 1 was year 1 - and I lost 35kg
Phase 2 was year 2 - and I gained 15kg
Phase 3 is year 3 - and I have restarted today!

I currently weigh 100.5kg and I have stopped trying this year, except not totally or else I could have put on 35kg and not just 15kg. Yr 2 was the bad year, and I really did eat my emotions - I am still learning about my emotions obviously as I think they sort of caught me unawares.

Easter this year was rather chocolate filled and I did seem to have a lot of the dreaded brown stuff all around me. My excuse is that we had visitors staying, and you have to have chocolate when you have visitors and it's Easter! Isn't that right? Well no, it's not a rule, and even if others are eating it, it doesn't mean I have to join in to the same degree....mmmm, must have forgotten that at the time.

Well, Easter is over, and I'm depressed about my 15kg gain, depressed about going back over 100kg, depressed about not fitting my jeans.

New goal for April - go back under 100kg!



Other goals by end of the year:

• Lose 2 kg each month
• Be back at 85kg by New Year's Day 2011
• Fit my jeans by end of winter

Shorter term goals:

• Track every day
• Drink 3 bottles of water/day (600ml)
• go on a walk 2+km/week (yes, only 2km- well it's a start)
• jog around my street 3 times a week (it's a 300m loop)
• blog every day to keep accountable to myself - nothing like denial
• post on the WW boards every day - they're great girls

Time to update all my goals everywhere else! I totally restarted my WW tracker. Looking forward to getting new stars and milestones!

See you around a lot more..... xx