My motivation... a French Backdrop

Well, finally after hours of perserverance I worked out how to change my template without losing everything...and I added a Eiffel Tower backdrop to remind myself of my goal. 

I said to hubby, if I get to 85kg again, can we go to Paris? He tentatively said "yes" whilst rolling his eyes. So that's my motivation because I am dying to get there again...we last went to Europe in 1994-1995 and I think it must be time to go again...so bring on 85kg!

Why 85kg? Because it's where I got last time back in 2009 and I was quite happy at that weight. Of course, I don't want to stop at 85kg, but it's a good goal for now.

Here Goes Heather

Here Goes Heather

Oops I've stuffed up my blog by trying to change the template....and can't get the old one back sob

Week 1 Weigh-In

My first weigh-in was pretty good. I lost 1.8kg which was less than the day before when I jumped on the scales. I'm pretty happy with that because my weight was just constantly going up and this is an awesome turn-around for me.

I've been back on track for almost 2 weeks.  I even restarted my tracker and have religiously tracked everything I've eaten so far. So far, so good. I'm weighing in on Tuesday and it's been a good weekend...so unless I blow it tomorrow (which i won't), then all should be fine for Tuesday. Well...my sneek peeks are quite positive. I had a clothing crisis yesterday cos we had staff photos which are going to go up on a website. And could I find anything to wear??!!! Sigh! I have a few weeks to go before I HAVE to have my passport photo taken so am hoping a few weeks will make a difference hehe....don't want to be stuck with a photo for the next 5 years that I'll cringe at.


Here's a fairly recent photo to start off the photo gallery with - taken in March 2012.  Hoping to see some changes in a few months. At least by early June when I need to get my passport to fly to NZ.  We've got a skiing trip planned! I need to get fit!

Tonight I'm making leek and potato soup so that'll be nice...it's been great weather for soup but maybe the family will get sick of soup...I am varying the soup though :) I've got 11 Pro-points left for the day and 29 weeklies, so I'm doing really well this week. Feeling positive and in control for the first time in months!

A fresh start at last! Week 1 again...all good!

I haven't posted anything here for years, and I did contemplate giving up this blog and starting a new one. But I've decided to post from this blog and remind myself that I can do it, I've done it before!!! So to confess up: (Re-)Starting weight: 115.5kg Now I'm on Day 4, and have stayed within my Pro-points...using a few weekly points each day. So far so good. And I'm back on the boards at WW.

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