Sunday:
It's April 1st so time to set some new goals. I achieved a lot in March; lots of exercise, earned 3 charms, and after some struggles I got back on track with my eating. Time to look ahead.
I am reasonably happy with my diet. (By "diet" I am always referring to food intake in general, not specifically restrictive eating.) I am eating a lot of vegetables and other healthy food and little junk. A few treats and one supper a week seem to be fitting in fine. I notice, however, due to my daily weigh-ins; that take-away causes an instant set-back. So that definitely won't be an every-week event. One big gain undoes several days of loss. I will work harder at organising myself so that take-away isn't needed.
I need to set some new exercise goals. The amount I am doing is pretty good but might not be sustainable once work picks up. Nevertheless, I will up my goal to 50 activity PP a week. I won't feel bad if I don't get this, but it would earn me a charm if I manage it. I will start tackling Just Dance 3 on the difficult setting, going for 5 stars in every dance again. PowerUp Heros isn't tough enough to deserve a charm, but Fighters Unchained definitely is -- I will work on getting through the whole campaign. I'll start running around the lake again, going for 45 mins. Then reducing that by 5 min increments. To hit 30 mins would mean running at 10 kmph the whole way, I don't know if that is possible for me. I am very short, and I think the fastest I have ever run is 11 kmph on a treadmill -- that was a flat-out sprint for me and I could do it for about 20 seconds. I don't think even athletes can sprint for 30 mins! But we'll see, as my fitness improves I might be able to run faster than I think.
Our garden is a disaster, but I have hired a gardener who is coming in a couple of weeks to do a major clean-up and then regular maintenance. I am hoping that this will encourage me to get outside and do some gardening myself. It was one of the many things I used to enjoy but fell by the wayside when I had kids. And got a house with a whole garden instead of just pots on a balcony.
I can't really think of anything else. I am pretty close to my first weight-loss goal of 5 kg (home scale) or 5% (WW scale) -- the two events should happen at approx the same time. Need to lose another kg. That will definitely happen this month.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
Sweat
Saturday:
This morning I did a bit over an hour of Kinect Adventures. I finished earning a platinum medal for every single level in every game -- the highest award -- and thus yet another charm! This is a great month for my bracelet. Then I did some time trials (the same games but scored differently, against the clock instead of collecting points, and therefore not earning another charm) and finished basic and intermediate for each game.
I knew I was going to do some more exercise in the afternoon, PowerUp Heros with the family, so I didn't shower or change. Mistake. My clothes were wet with sweat and quickly became cold and clammy. I hated the feeling. After eating and digesting our lunch we started to play, but I felt all yuck. We were playing a round robin with the four of us so I spent half the time sitting on the side, freezing in my damp clothes and never really warming up until Tim & I played one-on-one. I only did 20 mins before rushing off for a lovely hot shower. I'll know next time to just shower and change as often as necessary.
I also managed to hurt my left shoulder at some point. My shoulders suck.
Anyway, I am all clean and fresh now. I've had my banana. Tim has walked up to the local shops with the kids to buy my Easter gift (I have asked for a controlled portion of chocolate this year, last year he got me a 1 kg Lindt bunny which was delicious but not great for weight loss, I think we worked out at my WW meeting yesterday that it would have been 123 ProPoints), so all is quiet.
This morning I did a bit over an hour of Kinect Adventures. I finished earning a platinum medal for every single level in every game -- the highest award -- and thus yet another charm! This is a great month for my bracelet. Then I did some time trials (the same games but scored differently, against the clock instead of collecting points, and therefore not earning another charm) and finished basic and intermediate for each game.
I knew I was going to do some more exercise in the afternoon, PowerUp Heros with the family, so I didn't shower or change. Mistake. My clothes were wet with sweat and quickly became cold and clammy. I hated the feeling. After eating and digesting our lunch we started to play, but I felt all yuck. We were playing a round robin with the four of us so I spent half the time sitting on the side, freezing in my damp clothes and never really warming up until Tim & I played one-on-one. I only did 20 mins before rushing off for a lovely hot shower. I'll know next time to just shower and change as often as necessary.
I also managed to hurt my left shoulder at some point. My shoulders suck.
Anyway, I am all clean and fresh now. I've had my banana. Tim has walked up to the local shops with the kids to buy my Easter gift (I have asked for a controlled portion of chocolate this year, last year he got me a 1 kg Lindt bunny which was delicious but not great for weight loss, I think we worked out at my WW meeting yesterday that it would have been 123 ProPoints), so all is quiet.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
WW weigh in week 8: 77.2 kg, down 1.0 kg
Friday:
I missed last weigh-in so I think this should be week 9 but the leader said they just write it in as the following week without skipping. Thus it is officially week 8, and I lost 1.0 kg over 2 weeks which is a good average. In reality I gained in the first week then lost a lot then regained a little.
Starting weight: 80.2 kg
Week 8: 77.2 kg (down 3.0 kg)
5 % goal: 76.2 kg (only 1.0 kg to go!)
Goal weight: 58 kg
The meeting was about how supportive friends and workout buddies can make a difference. We were supposed to think of a healthy person we would like to emulate, but I couldn't really think of one. I mentioned my husband Tim who exercises regularly no matter what, but I don't have anyone who's food habits I admire particularly. I suppose a couple of guys who come to supper will turn down unhealthy food when they are in training for something, but eat junk other times. That seems like a reasonable way to live.
If I constructed an imaginary perfect person (in terms of their relationship with food and exercise), they would behave something like this:
Healthy food most of the time without being fanatical, treats occasionally when they felt like it without feeling guilty, splurges for special events without stressing about it but also without going totally overboard. Aware of their body's nutritional needs and hunger signals. Eats a balance of foods without having to keep score. Not always thinking about food and what they are going to have at their next meal or what they can and cannot eat.
Exercises most days at a variety of activities and a variety of different intensity levels, enjoying exercise and finding things they like rather than having to force themself, taking time off if needed for injury or illness without stressing, always improving and meeting new targets and goals.
So I guess that is the person I would like to be.
I bought my two new Pandora charms; one with silver filigree butterflies and one with purple enamel hearts. I bought and ate a banana, shopped for some kids' clothes, did the grocery shopping. Got home unphased by the time (12.45 when I like to have lunch at 12) and cooked up a chicken stir-fry with lots of vegetables and satay sauce.
I'm learning.
I missed last weigh-in so I think this should be week 9 but the leader said they just write it in as the following week without skipping. Thus it is officially week 8, and I lost 1.0 kg over 2 weeks which is a good average. In reality I gained in the first week then lost a lot then regained a little.
Starting weight: 80.2 kg
Week 8: 77.2 kg (down 3.0 kg)
5 % goal: 76.2 kg (only 1.0 kg to go!)
Goal weight: 58 kg
The meeting was about how supportive friends and workout buddies can make a difference. We were supposed to think of a healthy person we would like to emulate, but I couldn't really think of one. I mentioned my husband Tim who exercises regularly no matter what, but I don't have anyone who's food habits I admire particularly. I suppose a couple of guys who come to supper will turn down unhealthy food when they are in training for something, but eat junk other times. That seems like a reasonable way to live.
If I constructed an imaginary perfect person (in terms of their relationship with food and exercise), they would behave something like this:
Healthy food most of the time without being fanatical, treats occasionally when they felt like it without feeling guilty, splurges for special events without stressing about it but also without going totally overboard. Aware of their body's nutritional needs and hunger signals. Eats a balance of foods without having to keep score. Not always thinking about food and what they are going to have at their next meal or what they can and cannot eat.
Exercises most days at a variety of activities and a variety of different intensity levels, enjoying exercise and finding things they like rather than having to force themself, taking time off if needed for injury or illness without stressing, always improving and meeting new targets and goals.
So I guess that is the person I would like to be.
I bought my two new Pandora charms; one with silver filigree butterflies and one with purple enamel hearts. I bought and ate a banana, shopped for some kids' clothes, did the grocery shopping. Got home unphased by the time (12.45 when I like to have lunch at 12) and cooked up a chicken stir-fry with lots of vegetables and satay sauce.
I'm learning.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Working hard
Thursday:
Yesterday afternoon was the kids' swimming lesson, which I definitely don't look forward to. The lessons are one after the other and I spend the time in the kids' pool with whichever child isn't learning. A whole hour of boredom and having heavily-clorinated water sting my eyes. To make matters worse, my swimming costume was getting so old and saggy it was nearly unwearable, the rather daring cleavage was becoming a public indecency risk. So yesterday I dragged out my old costume that I had grown out of. And it fit! It does ride up so that it is like wearing a g-string ("thong", for Americans -- here a thong is a flip-flop sandal), but I always wear board shorts over the top so that didn't really matter. This fitting into smaller clothing thing is exciting.
I did my best to both enjoy the swimming and to make it active, bouncing around the shallow pool or walking on my hands pretending to be a crocodile in the toddler bits. The chlorine really does make my eyes sting though.
I hadn't managed to get the casserole on in time due to being out chosing new chair fabrics all afternoon, so we got takeaway on the way home. I ate a moderate amount of chicken and chips and only used 6 weekly PP. But this morning my weight was up by 600 grams. I'm sure it was the takeaway, not yesterday's 2 hours of exercise. Exercise does not make you fat. I think.
As I wrote yesterday, I needed to do lots of exercise today if I wanted to earn an extra Pandora charm for the month. I did Kinect Adventures (getting 4 of the 6 platinum scores I needed!!) and a little bit of PowerUp Heros for an hour and a half. I was very tired, but when I coded it in to my tracker I was still 3 activity PP short of 40. I could earn that in 15 mins of really intense exercise. But I was tired! But only 15 mins! So I did 15 mins of the kickboxing game. Totally exhausting, and I only won one bout, but I earned my points and my charm. I did so much exercise this month!
Yesterday afternoon was the kids' swimming lesson, which I definitely don't look forward to. The lessons are one after the other and I spend the time in the kids' pool with whichever child isn't learning. A whole hour of boredom and having heavily-clorinated water sting my eyes. To make matters worse, my swimming costume was getting so old and saggy it was nearly unwearable, the rather daring cleavage was becoming a public indecency risk. So yesterday I dragged out my old costume that I had grown out of. And it fit! It does ride up so that it is like wearing a g-string ("thong", for Americans -- here a thong is a flip-flop sandal), but I always wear board shorts over the top so that didn't really matter. This fitting into smaller clothing thing is exciting.
I did my best to both enjoy the swimming and to make it active, bouncing around the shallow pool or walking on my hands pretending to be a crocodile in the toddler bits. The chlorine really does make my eyes sting though.
I hadn't managed to get the casserole on in time due to being out chosing new chair fabrics all afternoon, so we got takeaway on the way home. I ate a moderate amount of chicken and chips and only used 6 weekly PP. But this morning my weight was up by 600 grams. I'm sure it was the takeaway, not yesterday's 2 hours of exercise. Exercise does not make you fat. I think.
As I wrote yesterday, I needed to do lots of exercise today if I wanted to earn an extra Pandora charm for the month. I did Kinect Adventures (getting 4 of the 6 platinum scores I needed!!) and a little bit of PowerUp Heros for an hour and a half. I was very tired, but when I coded it in to my tracker I was still 3 activity PP short of 40. I could earn that in 15 mins of really intense exercise. But I was tired! But only 15 mins! So I did 15 mins of the kickboxing game. Totally exhausting, and I only won one bout, but I earned my points and my charm. I did so much exercise this month!
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Dancing and new jeans
Wednesday:
I stuck to my daily PP yesterday until evening, when we had people over for D&D and supper. M brought a plate of vegetable sticks and said he is trying to lose body fat. I didn't even know he had any body fat. He lifts heavy weights, I guess he is trying for more definition. J brought grapes and one block of chocolate. B brought three carrots (if he doesn't plan ahead he just brings whatever he has in the house, which can be entertaining).
Only a month ago it would have looked more like this: M -- bag of burger rings. J -- 4 blocks of chocolate. B -- bottle of wine or bag of chips or something strange and random but certainly not healthy. This sudden switch is weird.
I'm the only one who hasn't got with the program. I bought a bag of "strawberries & cream" (for Tim, who likes lollies) and a block of chocolate (for me). I also provided the tail end of a cheese platter with crackers and dried fruit, and a bowl of grapes. And at the end of the evening I cut up some apples. Not too unhealthy I guess.
I think I ate about 18 PP worth of junk, the first time I have used any weeklies this week. I still lost another 300 grams. I didn't exercise other than some housework, but Tim and I did demonstrate PowerUp Heros to our guests.
Today I decided to tackle Just Dance 3 again. I still had about nine dances to go. Some took one try, some took many; but I got 5 stars in everything in just under two hours! Awesome. Another charm. The last one was Boogie Wonderland. I had already attempted this one many times and wasn't even close to the necessary 10,000 points. It wasn't even rated as a particularly difficult one, but I just couldn't get it. I found out a while ago that you had to sing some of the chorus (and noticed since then that a few other songs are like that) but those extra points still weren't enough. Finally I realised that in the part where each of the four characters blows kisses in turn (I was dancing alone and just copying one person) you can get extra points if you strike the kiss pose with each of them! Not very intuitive. But I finally got the 5 stars.
I had my shower and put on my jeans. My smaller jeans!
You may remember the saga where I accidentally bought jeans in a size too small last October -- I'd been in the larger size for a whole year but was apparently in denial -- well today I dared try them on and they fit comfortably! So that four kilo loss has made a difference, even if the tape measure didn't show it. They are snug but not squeezy. I wouldn't wear them with a fitted top due to a little muffin-top, but they are brand new and should stretch a little. Before, they were just too tight.
We are nearly at the end of March. One of my exercise goals was to earn 21 activity PP each week (up from 14 a week in the first month on WW). So far it has been 103, 40 and 70. 23 this week with a day and a half to go, 12 of those this morning. Clearly 21 isn't a big enough target. I have worked very hard and I was sick earlier in the week, but I can clearly do a lot more than 21. Do I get a charm for this? I don't think so, especially as I am getting one for my dancing. My new target is 40 per week, which would be 10 hours of moderate level exercise or a lot less hours of intense. If I can earn another 17 points by tomorrow night I will deserve another charm!
I stuck to my daily PP yesterday until evening, when we had people over for D&D and supper. M brought a plate of vegetable sticks and said he is trying to lose body fat. I didn't even know he had any body fat. He lifts heavy weights, I guess he is trying for more definition. J brought grapes and one block of chocolate. B brought three carrots (if he doesn't plan ahead he just brings whatever he has in the house, which can be entertaining).
Only a month ago it would have looked more like this: M -- bag of burger rings. J -- 4 blocks of chocolate. B -- bottle of wine or bag of chips or something strange and random but certainly not healthy. This sudden switch is weird.
I'm the only one who hasn't got with the program. I bought a bag of "strawberries & cream" (for Tim, who likes lollies) and a block of chocolate (for me). I also provided the tail end of a cheese platter with crackers and dried fruit, and a bowl of grapes. And at the end of the evening I cut up some apples. Not too unhealthy I guess.
I think I ate about 18 PP worth of junk, the first time I have used any weeklies this week. I still lost another 300 grams. I didn't exercise other than some housework, but Tim and I did demonstrate PowerUp Heros to our guests.
Today I decided to tackle Just Dance 3 again. I still had about nine dances to go. Some took one try, some took many; but I got 5 stars in everything in just under two hours! Awesome. Another charm. The last one was Boogie Wonderland. I had already attempted this one many times and wasn't even close to the necessary 10,000 points. It wasn't even rated as a particularly difficult one, but I just couldn't get it. I found out a while ago that you had to sing some of the chorus (and noticed since then that a few other songs are like that) but those extra points still weren't enough. Finally I realised that in the part where each of the four characters blows kisses in turn (I was dancing alone and just copying one person) you can get extra points if you strike the kiss pose with each of them! Not very intuitive. But I finally got the 5 stars.
I had my shower and put on my jeans. My smaller jeans!
You may remember the saga where I accidentally bought jeans in a size too small last October -- I'd been in the larger size for a whole year but was apparently in denial -- well today I dared try them on and they fit comfortably! So that four kilo loss has made a difference, even if the tape measure didn't show it. They are snug but not squeezy. I wouldn't wear them with a fitted top due to a little muffin-top, but they are brand new and should stretch a little. Before, they were just too tight.
We are nearly at the end of March. One of my exercise goals was to earn 21 activity PP each week (up from 14 a week in the first month on WW). So far it has been 103, 40 and 70. 23 this week with a day and a half to go, 12 of those this morning. Clearly 21 isn't a big enough target. I have worked very hard and I was sick earlier in the week, but I can clearly do a lot more than 21. Do I get a charm for this? I don't think so, especially as I am getting one for my dancing. My new target is 40 per week, which would be 10 hours of moderate level exercise or a lot less hours of intense. If I can earn another 17 points by tomorrow night I will deserve another charm!
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Not quite ready to dance
Monday:
I feel much better today. The walk up to the school and then some frantic housework so that a tradesman could get to the things he was fixing didn't exhaust me. So after lunch I did some Kinect. 15 mins of PowerUp Heros was fine but I wasn't totally into it so I switched to Dance. I pushed through to the end of 15 mins so that I could have 30 mins total exercise today but I probably shouldn't have. I was dizzy and weak and panting. I did get 5 stars on Lollipop though!
I stuck to my PP again yesterday and was down another 100 g this morning. Excellent progress. When I got dressed, I realised that my belt was now way too loose! I had been on the last hole already (I think I always was) but today I punched a new hole with a combination of skewer, sharp knife, manicure scissors, and brute strength. A new belt hole! Soon I'll be in my smaller jeans that I bought last October by accident.
Then I got to school with the kids, and a friend (Jodie) commented that I looked very trim today and asked if I had been keeping up the exercise! How lovely. I mentioned WW. I am used to being quite short, but Jodie is fairly tall and was dressed for work in high heels so it felt quite odd chatting up to her. Like a school kid talking to her teacher.
I made a modified version of cream of chicken soup for lunch today and was really looking forward to it -- I was even thinking about it in bed last night. Mmm, creamy soup. But it was quite disappointing. You just can't cut out 2/3 of the butter and 1/2 the cream and expect it to be the same. It didn't have any of the creamy thickness you get with the buttery roux. It was only 6 PP but left me hungry, I made a vegetable stir-fry afterwards for only 2 more PP (for the oil and oyster sauce).
Time to get the kids.
I feel much better today. The walk up to the school and then some frantic housework so that a tradesman could get to the things he was fixing didn't exhaust me. So after lunch I did some Kinect. 15 mins of PowerUp Heros was fine but I wasn't totally into it so I switched to Dance. I pushed through to the end of 15 mins so that I could have 30 mins total exercise today but I probably shouldn't have. I was dizzy and weak and panting. I did get 5 stars on Lollipop though!
I stuck to my PP again yesterday and was down another 100 g this morning. Excellent progress. When I got dressed, I realised that my belt was now way too loose! I had been on the last hole already (I think I always was) but today I punched a new hole with a combination of skewer, sharp knife, manicure scissors, and brute strength. A new belt hole! Soon I'll be in my smaller jeans that I bought last October by accident.
Then I got to school with the kids, and a friend (Jodie) commented that I looked very trim today and asked if I had been keeping up the exercise! How lovely. I mentioned WW. I am used to being quite short, but Jodie is fairly tall and was dressed for work in high heels so it felt quite odd chatting up to her. Like a school kid talking to her teacher.
I made a modified version of cream of chicken soup for lunch today and was really looking forward to it -- I was even thinking about it in bed last night. Mmm, creamy soup. But it was quite disappointing. You just can't cut out 2/3 of the butter and 1/2 the cream and expect it to be the same. It didn't have any of the creamy thickness you get with the buttery roux. It was only 6 PP but left me hungry, I made a vegetable stir-fry afterwards for only 2 more PP (for the oil and oyster sauce).
Time to get the kids.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Finally getting somewhere
Sunday:
My body is tired and achy and I am sick of sitting around feeling yuck and watching other people have fun. Oh well, maybe I'll be better tomorrow.
The weight loss is going really well. I stuck to my 26 PP again yesterday and this morning my weight was down another 400 g -- 75.8 kg. OMG I'm under 76. That is awesome. But I measured my waist and it was 101 cm, exactly the same as when I measured 8 weeks ago. Odd. I suppose it is hard to be accurate. My stomach feels a little bit smaller. I guess 3 kg doesn't make that much difference.
3 kg down from when I started WW. 4.2 kg down from my arbitrary weight-loss starting point of 80 kg. More than 7 kg down from my all-time high of around 83 kg. Finally getting somewhere.
My body is tired and achy and I am sick of sitting around feeling yuck and watching other people have fun. Oh well, maybe I'll be better tomorrow.
The weight loss is going really well. I stuck to my 26 PP again yesterday and this morning my weight was down another 400 g -- 75.8 kg. OMG I'm under 76. That is awesome. But I measured my waist and it was 101 cm, exactly the same as when I measured 8 weeks ago. Odd. I suppose it is hard to be accurate. My stomach feels a little bit smaller. I guess 3 kg doesn't make that much difference.
3 kg down from when I started WW. 4.2 kg down from my arbitrary weight-loss starting point of 80 kg. More than 7 kg down from my all-time high of around 83 kg. Finally getting somewhere.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Diet vs Exercise
Saturday:
I've proved to myself yet again that, for me at least, exercise alone doesn't make me lose weight. Calorie restriction does. Actually I've heard "experts" (like the trainers on Biggest Loser) say this as well. Exercise is very healthy and combats a range of health problems and tones muscles, but even 2-3 hours a day -- while not sufficently controlling my diet -- was not helping me drop the weight which yesterday was higher than it was 3 weeks ago.
Yesterday, for the first time in about three weeks, I stuck to my 26 PP. I also peed out a lot of pizza salt-retention. And this morning my weight dropped by 1.2 kg, down into virgin fat. 76.2 kg on the home scales. Yay! I love carving away at virgin fat.
I'm still feeling sick today, which is frustrating. Sore throat and achy and very tired. Looks like another rest day when I want to be PowerUp Heroing.
I've proved to myself yet again that, for me at least, exercise alone doesn't make me lose weight. Calorie restriction does. Actually I've heard "experts" (like the trainers on Biggest Loser) say this as well. Exercise is very healthy and combats a range of health problems and tones muscles, but even 2-3 hours a day -- while not sufficently controlling my diet -- was not helping me drop the weight which yesterday was higher than it was 3 weeks ago.
Yesterday, for the first time in about three weeks, I stuck to my 26 PP. I also peed out a lot of pizza salt-retention. And this morning my weight dropped by 1.2 kg, down into virgin fat. 76.2 kg on the home scales. Yay! I love carving away at virgin fat.
I'm still feeling sick today, which is frustrating. Sore throat and achy and very tired. Looks like another rest day when I want to be PowerUp Heroing.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
A new week
Friday:
I missed my Weight Watchers meeting this morning after all, despite being firm last night that I was going to go. But I didn't skip it because of the weight gain (by home scales, I'm up 0.6 kg from last Friday), but because I was feeling unwell. I walked the kids to school, dragged myself home, and went back to bed. After a nice nap I do feel a bit better, I'll have to go out and shop later because I am not getting more take away!
I am recommitting to my Weight Watchers diet today. In the spirit of breaking challenges into small chunks, I am just looking at this week for now. I did it for the first month, I can do it again. I'll focus on vegetables and other healthy foods, and eat my daily PP each day and only a few weekly PP. I will not gorge in the afternoons. My snacks will be fruit and/or yoghurt, and vegetables if I want them -- I am going to make some vegetable soup today. I will combat hunger with lean protein and complex carbohydrates -- and learn to deal with a little bit of hunger in the lead up to my next meal.
When I feel better, of course I will exercise. I am really enjoying the various Kinect games and there are plenty more to buy when I get bored with these ones. I'd like to get something that incorporates weight lifting, and buy hand weights, since I no longer go to BodyPump. Autumn is a lovely time to re-start running 5k around the lake, with the initial goal of getting under 45 mins and the eventual goal of running the whole way instead of about 1/5 of it (I currently walk a lot, run a bit). I'm not worried about the exercise at the moment, I've proved I can do that -- although of course I don't want to lose my momentum -- I am really concentrating on getting food back on track. Maybe not exercising for a couple of days while I am sick will help with that.
Despite my runny eyes and headache I am feeling motivated this morning to do this. I'm going to fight the weight back down and show an overall loss for March.
I missed my Weight Watchers meeting this morning after all, despite being firm last night that I was going to go. But I didn't skip it because of the weight gain (by home scales, I'm up 0.6 kg from last Friday), but because I was feeling unwell. I walked the kids to school, dragged myself home, and went back to bed. After a nice nap I do feel a bit better, I'll have to go out and shop later because I am not getting more take away!
I am recommitting to my Weight Watchers diet today. In the spirit of breaking challenges into small chunks, I am just looking at this week for now. I did it for the first month, I can do it again. I'll focus on vegetables and other healthy foods, and eat my daily PP each day and only a few weekly PP. I will not gorge in the afternoons. My snacks will be fruit and/or yoghurt, and vegetables if I want them -- I am going to make some vegetable soup today. I will combat hunger with lean protein and complex carbohydrates -- and learn to deal with a little bit of hunger in the lead up to my next meal.
When I feel better, of course I will exercise. I am really enjoying the various Kinect games and there are plenty more to buy when I get bored with these ones. I'd like to get something that incorporates weight lifting, and buy hand weights, since I no longer go to BodyPump. Autumn is a lovely time to re-start running 5k around the lake, with the initial goal of getting under 45 mins and the eventual goal of running the whole way instead of about 1/5 of it (I currently walk a lot, run a bit). I'm not worried about the exercise at the moment, I've proved I can do that -- although of course I don't want to lose my momentum -- I am really concentrating on getting food back on track. Maybe not exercising for a couple of days while I am sick will help with that.
Despite my runny eyes and headache I am feeling motivated this morning to do this. I'm going to fight the weight back down and show an overall loss for March.
A hurdle not a wall
Thursday evening:
I have given up all hope of a weight loss this week. I've steadily felt worse throughout the day, with watery eyes and sneezing, headache and fatigue. Probably a cold. I didn't exercise.
I really didn't feel like cooking dinner but I was determined to resist the urge to get take away. Not the night before weigh-in! Then I found all my lemons were mouldy. So I couldn't make the lemon chicken I'd planned. I'm sure there are a million things I could have cooked with chicken breasts, rice, and vegetables; but I couldn't think of any of them. So I ordered pizza.
So now I am loaded up with salt (and calories). I have eaten all my weekly and lots of my 70 earned activity points. I am fighting guilt and depression which aren't going to help.
My goal for the week? To go to my meeting tomorrow even though I know I am going to gain weight.
I have given up all hope of a weight loss this week. I've steadily felt worse throughout the day, with watery eyes and sneezing, headache and fatigue. Probably a cold. I didn't exercise.
I really didn't feel like cooking dinner but I was determined to resist the urge to get take away. Not the night before weigh-in! Then I found all my lemons were mouldy. So I couldn't make the lemon chicken I'd planned. I'm sure there are a million things I could have cooked with chicken breasts, rice, and vegetables; but I couldn't think of any of them. So I ordered pizza.
So now I am loaded up with salt (and calories). I have eaten all my weekly and lots of my 70 earned activity points. I am fighting guilt and depression which aren't going to help.
My goal for the week? To go to my meeting tomorrow even though I know I am going to gain weight.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Still eating too much
Thursday:
I'm still having the same problem I've been struggling with for the past few weeks. I'm exercising a lot but I am eating more as well; enough more than my weight is going up rather than down. My official weigh-in is tomorrow, but going by my home scales I am a couple of hundred grams heavier than last week. Two hundred grams isn't much, but it should be going down not up! This has been the pattern for a few weeks now.
I didn't exercise on Tuesday; I was really sore from all the kickboxing, especially my lower back. I had planned to still do some in the evening, but I had forgotten it was D&D night. People brought all healthy stuff again, except me, so I had some chocolate cake and that was all.
Wednesday was Tim's birthday and Jasmine chose PowerUp Heros, another Kinect game, to give him. Similar to kickboxing but not as intense because you do other things as well as punching and kicking. I played that a bit, both by myself and in competition, and also did Just Dance 3 and got 5 stars on three more dances. Over two hours in total, plus the usual walking to and from school. I timed myself on that today and now that they have put this big fence up around the school and I have to walk right around to get to the kindergarten, it takes 10 mins each way (I timed it when alone, it is probably slower with the kids). So 40 mins a day of slow to brisk walking. Gets me 2 activity ProPoints.
We went out to dinner and had entree (calamari) and main (duck) but no dessert, and one glass of wine. Not really excessive in calorie intake, I had some potato but didn't eat much of my rather boring couscous that came with the duck, but we should have ordered a side salad as it was nearly all meat. A mouthful of lettuce under my calamari was all I got, and Tim had to scavenge the little salads that came with the kid's meals. Each plateful was basically a big lump of meat with some starchy carbs and sauce. Very different to what I usually have these days.
It was a late night for the kids, and although I got to bed at my usual time I was feeling very sleepy last night and this morning, and my eyes are watering profusely. I might leave exercise until this afternoon and then do some Kinect games with the kids.
On Tuesday afternoon I had a cup of tea with friends while our kids had a playdate and followed Jodie's new kitten around -- and I stopped at one Mint Slice and then moved the plate away from me! -- and talked to my dietician friend Caroline about the exercise/hunger problem. What I wanted was "You can eat whatever you want as long as you ... " She basically said to eat more vegetables. Sigh. When I am ravenous I don't feel like vegetables! But there you go.
I'm still having the same problem I've been struggling with for the past few weeks. I'm exercising a lot but I am eating more as well; enough more than my weight is going up rather than down. My official weigh-in is tomorrow, but going by my home scales I am a couple of hundred grams heavier than last week. Two hundred grams isn't much, but it should be going down not up! This has been the pattern for a few weeks now.
I didn't exercise on Tuesday; I was really sore from all the kickboxing, especially my lower back. I had planned to still do some in the evening, but I had forgotten it was D&D night. People brought all healthy stuff again, except me, so I had some chocolate cake and that was all.
Wednesday was Tim's birthday and Jasmine chose PowerUp Heros, another Kinect game, to give him. Similar to kickboxing but not as intense because you do other things as well as punching and kicking. I played that a bit, both by myself and in competition, and also did Just Dance 3 and got 5 stars on three more dances. Over two hours in total, plus the usual walking to and from school. I timed myself on that today and now that they have put this big fence up around the school and I have to walk right around to get to the kindergarten, it takes 10 mins each way (I timed it when alone, it is probably slower with the kids). So 40 mins a day of slow to brisk walking. Gets me 2 activity ProPoints.
We went out to dinner and had entree (calamari) and main (duck) but no dessert, and one glass of wine. Not really excessive in calorie intake, I had some potato but didn't eat much of my rather boring couscous that came with the duck, but we should have ordered a side salad as it was nearly all meat. A mouthful of lettuce under my calamari was all I got, and Tim had to scavenge the little salads that came with the kid's meals. Each plateful was basically a big lump of meat with some starchy carbs and sauce. Very different to what I usually have these days.
It was a late night for the kids, and although I got to bed at my usual time I was feeling very sleepy last night and this morning, and my eyes are watering profusely. I might leave exercise until this afternoon and then do some Kinect games with the kids.
On Tuesday afternoon I had a cup of tea with friends while our kids had a playdate and followed Jodie's new kitten around -- and I stopped at one Mint Slice and then moved the plate away from me! -- and talked to my dietician friend Caroline about the exercise/hunger problem. What I wanted was "You can eat whatever you want as long as you ... " She basically said to eat more vegetables. Sigh. When I am ravenous I don't feel like vegetables! But there you go.
Monday, March 19, 2012
More of This and That
Monday:
I was pretty sore this morning. I walked the kids to school then strolled over to the hardware store for a couple of things for the house, and even slow walking was moderately painful. I decided to leave the real exercise until a bit later, and it ended up being 8.30 pm before I got to it. I had planned to do something other than Fighters Uncaged, but my five-year-old son had a go this afternoon and was fantastic at it. He'd done the training on Saturday as we all did but today he went into the "real" fights and creamed his opponents, getting the best score for the house easily. He is five! His technique is what we call "whack-a-doodle", which is pretty much vigorous flailing with all limbs simultaneously. It works, anyway. By contrast, my eight-year-old daughter tried it yesterday and her half-hearted dabs at the air were completely ineffectual.
Anyway, I couldn't let my little baby beat me so this evening I dragged my slightly-less-aching muscles to the loungeroom and did an hour. After much effort, I caught up to Aiden's score and got to level 2. Then I decided it might be a good idea to warm down my abused body and did half an hour of dancing to Grease. Even easier than I remembered.
As usual, I wasn't able to control both exercise and eating: I had healthy meals but a big afternoon tea that was partly junk. But what else can I do when I get ravenously hungry?
I do believe it is my bedtime.
I was pretty sore this morning. I walked the kids to school then strolled over to the hardware store for a couple of things for the house, and even slow walking was moderately painful. I decided to leave the real exercise until a bit later, and it ended up being 8.30 pm before I got to it. I had planned to do something other than Fighters Uncaged, but my five-year-old son had a go this afternoon and was fantastic at it. He'd done the training on Saturday as we all did but today he went into the "real" fights and creamed his opponents, getting the best score for the house easily. He is five! His technique is what we call "whack-a-doodle", which is pretty much vigorous flailing with all limbs simultaneously. It works, anyway. By contrast, my eight-year-old daughter tried it yesterday and her half-hearted dabs at the air were completely ineffectual.
Anyway, I couldn't let my little baby beat me so this evening I dragged my slightly-less-aching muscles to the loungeroom and did an hour. After much effort, I caught up to Aiden's score and got to level 2. Then I decided it might be a good idea to warm down my abused body and did half an hour of dancing to Grease. Even easier than I remembered.
As usual, I wasn't able to control both exercise and eating: I had healthy meals but a big afternoon tea that was partly junk. But what else can I do when I get ravenously hungry?
I do believe it is my bedtime.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Greased Lightning
Sunday:
This morning I tried my "Grease" dance game and it only took just over an hour to go through every track on solo. It was all pretty easy: both in terms of learning the choreography and the level of exercise. I got a score of A+ for everything. I'll try the non-solo games sometime. The dancing was fun but the interface was a bit annoying. We need to get microphones for the Kinect, I have a couple of sing-along games now that I can't use.
I wasn't too sore this morning, a little stiff from the kickboxing game yesterday. This afternoon I did another 50 mins of that one, and now I can hardly move. No, that is an exaggeration. I can move, it just hurts when I do. It seemed harder than yesterday, maybe because my body was resisting me. It didn't want to do all those punches and kicks.
Total of 2 hours exercise today. Ate a little too much, but all real food.
We had roast lamb tonight, and I feel a bit greasy now. I seem to be losing my tolerance for fatty food, which is great.
This morning I tried my "Grease" dance game and it only took just over an hour to go through every track on solo. It was all pretty easy: both in terms of learning the choreography and the level of exercise. I got a score of A+ for everything. I'll try the non-solo games sometime. The dancing was fun but the interface was a bit annoying. We need to get microphones for the Kinect, I have a couple of sing-along games now that I can't use.
I wasn't too sore this morning, a little stiff from the kickboxing game yesterday. This afternoon I did another 50 mins of that one, and now I can hardly move. No, that is an exaggeration. I can move, it just hurts when I do. It seemed harder than yesterday, maybe because my body was resisting me. It didn't want to do all those punches and kicks.
Total of 2 hours exercise today. Ate a little too much, but all real food.
We had roast lamb tonight, and I feel a bit greasy now. I seem to be losing my tolerance for fatty food, which is great.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Fighters Unchained
Saturday:
Due to various people being ill, only my father-in-law has visited us this weekend. He brought some presents, all Kinect games which is awesome. For my husband (his son), whose birthday it is, he got "Fighters Unchained" which is street fighting. We've been playing it and I did an hour tonight which has left me feeling wrung out, exhausted, and even a bit nauseous. Excellent! I am going to be so sore tomorrow! My legs are trembly-tired from all the kicking and my triceps are hurting. I did pretty well too, I beat all my opponents in that hour except one -- who I got on the second try.
I also did a bit over an hour this morning; Kinect Adventures and Just Dance 3. I didn't progress on my goals to get platinum/5 stars, which was a bit frustrating, but I certainly got lots of exercise today.
Eating wasn't perfect; cheese and crackers and nuts for afternoon tea and a slightly high calorie dinner of chicken pie and diet mousse for dessert, 35 PP today when I should have 26. But I also had all my fruit and vegetables and lots of water so it's not like I was eating junk.
Des also brought a game for Jasmine, as he missed her birthday -- a cute kids' game where you adopt a pet and it looks like it is in your living room with you. As I already had the Christmas present he had bought me so he took it back and today replaced it with the Kinect game "Grease Dance" -- a dance game to the music of the musical Grease which I love. I haven't tried it yet as we spent our time on the other two, but I will tomorrow. It looks great, and another way to keep Kinect exercise fun and fresh.
Due to various people being ill, only my father-in-law has visited us this weekend. He brought some presents, all Kinect games which is awesome. For my husband (his son), whose birthday it is, he got "Fighters Unchained" which is street fighting. We've been playing it and I did an hour tonight which has left me feeling wrung out, exhausted, and even a bit nauseous. Excellent! I am going to be so sore tomorrow! My legs are trembly-tired from all the kicking and my triceps are hurting. I did pretty well too, I beat all my opponents in that hour except one -- who I got on the second try.
I also did a bit over an hour this morning; Kinect Adventures and Just Dance 3. I didn't progress on my goals to get platinum/5 stars, which was a bit frustrating, but I certainly got lots of exercise today.
Eating wasn't perfect; cheese and crackers and nuts for afternoon tea and a slightly high calorie dinner of chicken pie and diet mousse for dessert, 35 PP today when I should have 26. But I also had all my fruit and vegetables and lots of water so it's not like I was eating junk.
Des also brought a game for Jasmine, as he missed her birthday -- a cute kids' game where you adopt a pet and it looks like it is in your living room with you. As I already had the Christmas present he had bought me so he took it back and today replaced it with the Kinect game "Grease Dance" -- a dance game to the music of the musical Grease which I love. I haven't tried it yet as we spent our time on the other two, but I will tomorrow. It looks great, and another way to keep Kinect exercise fun and fresh.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
WW weigh-in no. 7: 78.2 kg, down 0.3 kg
Friday:
I basically lost what I gained last week, giving me an overall loss of exactly 2 kg. While I am happy with that considering the week I've had, I am no longer going to be happy with settling for a small loss after my own bad (and completely within my control!) eating. From this day forth (I shout to the heavens) I will get my eating under control. Events like a weekend away will not be an excuse to go back to bad habits. This weekend we will have a couple of houseguests but I have planned mainly healthy foods that I would be eating anyway. For snacks I will serve a cheese platter, fruit, and some biscuits that I don't like (but my husband does).
I really enjoyed today's WW meeting. It was about not depriving yourself as that is not sustainable over the long term. I was just thinking about that very topic yesterday, I have bought a few different little "treats" in mini serving sizes; like freddo frogs and diet mousse, all around 2 or 3 PP each which I can fit into my week. It was quite a lively meeting, we had 3 new people join today and the guy who came last week turned up again, so it is no longer all elderly ladies. The youngish man is the only guy there and also the biggest person. He didn't say a word last week, and I was sitting directly in front of him so not a good position to be welcoming, but today I was almost next to him and included him in my little cluster when we had a group discussion and he was quite willing to chat and contribute. The other new people were cowering right up the back of the room so I didn't get to talk to them. The annoying lady wasn't sitting near me and she barely said a word today, which was good; in fact I think I spoke up most! This meeting is a new group in a new timeslot this year so it is still small, I hope it continues to grow. I shall feel quite the veteran soon.
I finished shopping for my husband's birthday presents and did the grocery shopping. I always get home for a late lunch on Fridays and I'm usually starving but I don't give in to the lure of the food court. I take some fruit or other healthy snack with me for morning tea after the meeting then just wait until I get home.
I'm feeling a bit tired and headachy this afternoon but it is so nice that I finished one project last night (at 10.30 pm!) and I don't start the next until Monday. No pressures. I'd go and have a nap but I have to pick up the kids in half an hour. Maybe I will after I get them.
I basically lost what I gained last week, giving me an overall loss of exactly 2 kg. While I am happy with that considering the week I've had, I am no longer going to be happy with settling for a small loss after my own bad (and completely within my control!) eating. From this day forth (I shout to the heavens) I will get my eating under control. Events like a weekend away will not be an excuse to go back to bad habits. This weekend we will have a couple of houseguests but I have planned mainly healthy foods that I would be eating anyway. For snacks I will serve a cheese platter, fruit, and some biscuits that I don't like (but my husband does).
I really enjoyed today's WW meeting. It was about not depriving yourself as that is not sustainable over the long term. I was just thinking about that very topic yesterday, I have bought a few different little "treats" in mini serving sizes; like freddo frogs and diet mousse, all around 2 or 3 PP each which I can fit into my week. It was quite a lively meeting, we had 3 new people join today and the guy who came last week turned up again, so it is no longer all elderly ladies. The youngish man is the only guy there and also the biggest person. He didn't say a word last week, and I was sitting directly in front of him so not a good position to be welcoming, but today I was almost next to him and included him in my little cluster when we had a group discussion and he was quite willing to chat and contribute. The other new people were cowering right up the back of the room so I didn't get to talk to them. The annoying lady wasn't sitting near me and she barely said a word today, which was good; in fact I think I spoke up most! This meeting is a new group in a new timeslot this year so it is still small, I hope it continues to grow. I shall feel quite the veteran soon.
I finished shopping for my husband's birthday presents and did the grocery shopping. I always get home for a late lunch on Fridays and I'm usually starving but I don't give in to the lure of the food court. I take some fruit or other healthy snack with me for morning tea after the meeting then just wait until I get home.
I'm feeling a bit tired and headachy this afternoon but it is so nice that I finished one project last night (at 10.30 pm!) and I don't start the next until Monday. No pressures. I'd go and have a nap but I have to pick up the kids in half an hour. Maybe I will after I get them.
Jump high
Thursday:
Probably too little too late, but I had a healthy day today (with weigh-in tomorrow). I tackled Kinect Adventures this morning and got platinum on the last three intermediate games and then on advanced for a couple. As usual it left me dripping and far more exhausted than anything else I do. For the last 15 mins I was only getting silver (not even gold!) because I was too tired to move fast enough or jump high enough. Great workout. I've earned 40 activity PP this week, which I am happy with especially considering we were away all weekend.
I ate well too. I got pretty hungry in the afternoon but had some cereal, and only went over my daily PP by 2.
My weight is down a little from last week so I hope for a small loss, maybe enough to get me back to where I was two weeks ago!
More challenges this weekend as we will have houseguests. I will cook healthy meals but there are bound to be snacks. I hope they only bring stuff I don't like!
Probably too little too late, but I had a healthy day today (with weigh-in tomorrow). I tackled Kinect Adventures this morning and got platinum on the last three intermediate games and then on advanced for a couple. As usual it left me dripping and far more exhausted than anything else I do. For the last 15 mins I was only getting silver (not even gold!) because I was too tired to move fast enough or jump high enough. Great workout. I've earned 40 activity PP this week, which I am happy with especially considering we were away all weekend.
I ate well too. I got pretty hungry in the afternoon but had some cereal, and only went over my daily PP by 2.
My weight is down a little from last week so I hope for a small loss, maybe enough to get me back to where I was two weeks ago!
More challenges this weekend as we will have houseguests. I will cook healthy meals but there are bound to be snacks. I hope they only bring stuff I don't like!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Eating too much
Wednesday:
Ok, I'm having a really bad week in terms of Weight Watchers. I used all my weekly ProPoints over the weekend. I was therefore supposed to just use my daily PP each day, plus maybe a couple of extra earned with activity.
Well.
Last night we had the usual D&D supper. Weirdly, everyone brought healthy stuff. Two people brought grapes. One brought a bag of carrots! I provided donuts. And there was one small block of chocolate. There wasn't as much junk to eat as usual -- but I shouldn't have had any!
Today was the late swimming lesson, when we often get take-away. Not this week, I vowed! I made a casserole, which would be hot and ready when we got home. The last couple had been overcooked and dry, so I only gave this one two hours. Got home tired and hungry. It wasn't anywhere near ready. Underdone soup. So we went out again and got fried chicken & chips.
I've earned 28 activity PP this week, and used 24 of them.
I don't think there is a specific reason why I have been eating so much. Just an intersection of hunger and opportunity.
My weight is slightly down so I still have hopes of a loss this week. But not a big one. I'd be grateful for any loss at all.
On the other hand, my exercise has been going quite well. I've been working through Just Dance 3 and have at least 4 stars in every dance, many with 5 stars. I walked to the fruit shop today, as well as back and forth to the school three times. I'll need to get back into working next week (I've only been doing a little these past couple of weeks) so I've been thinking about how to manage that.
From Monday, I will get up at 7 am. Not too hideously early, but a bit earlier than my usual 7.30. Quick breakfast then 30-45 mins exercise until 8 am. (Or breakfast after exercise if I can't force it down before.) Get ready for work/school and walk the kids up. Actually work during my kid-free time. Pick up kids and then change and exercise again. This solves the duel problem of not having enough time to work and not being able to put on a bra by myself.
I'm going to try to move as much as possible outside my work time, even if this means shopping with the kids in tow. I do this sometimes anyway, they are very good. Coles now has kid-size shopping trolleys like Bunnings has had for a while, and they had one each on Tuesday. I didn't need to buy much, luckily, so it all fit in. They enjoyed pushing them around.
Now, I expected to finish this proofread days ago so I'd better get on with it.
Ok, I'm having a really bad week in terms of Weight Watchers. I used all my weekly ProPoints over the weekend. I was therefore supposed to just use my daily PP each day, plus maybe a couple of extra earned with activity.
Well.
Last night we had the usual D&D supper. Weirdly, everyone brought healthy stuff. Two people brought grapes. One brought a bag of carrots! I provided donuts. And there was one small block of chocolate. There wasn't as much junk to eat as usual -- but I shouldn't have had any!
Today was the late swimming lesson, when we often get take-away. Not this week, I vowed! I made a casserole, which would be hot and ready when we got home. The last couple had been overcooked and dry, so I only gave this one two hours. Got home tired and hungry. It wasn't anywhere near ready. Underdone soup. So we went out again and got fried chicken & chips.
I've earned 28 activity PP this week, and used 24 of them.
I don't think there is a specific reason why I have been eating so much. Just an intersection of hunger and opportunity.
My weight is slightly down so I still have hopes of a loss this week. But not a big one. I'd be grateful for any loss at all.
On the other hand, my exercise has been going quite well. I've been working through Just Dance 3 and have at least 4 stars in every dance, many with 5 stars. I walked to the fruit shop today, as well as back and forth to the school three times. I'll need to get back into working next week (I've only been doing a little these past couple of weeks) so I've been thinking about how to manage that.
From Monday, I will get up at 7 am. Not too hideously early, but a bit earlier than my usual 7.30. Quick breakfast then 30-45 mins exercise until 8 am. (Or breakfast after exercise if I can't force it down before.) Get ready for work/school and walk the kids up. Actually work during my kid-free time. Pick up kids and then change and exercise again. This solves the duel problem of not having enough time to work and not being able to put on a bra by myself.
I'm going to try to move as much as possible outside my work time, even if this means shopping with the kids in tow. I do this sometimes anyway, they are very good. Coles now has kid-size shopping trolleys like Bunnings has had for a while, and they had one each on Tuesday. I didn't need to buy much, luckily, so it all fit in. They enjoyed pushing them around.
Now, I expected to finish this proofread days ago so I'd better get on with it.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Family wedding weekend eat-fest
Sunday:
Have just finished a huge eating weekend. We drove to Sydney on Saturday, having McDonald's for lunch on the way (it is basically that or KFC, but it was still my choice to have nuggets and chips rather than a salad) then left the kids at my mum's and went to the wedding of Tim's cousin Aimee. I felt I was being moderate; a couple of hors d'oevres, one glass of champage and half a glass of wine, the three course meal ... bread roll with butter ... chocolates ... glass of orange juice ... yeah it all adds up. Burned a couple of calories on the dance floor but the party ended soon after 9 pm so it was back to mum's and to bed.
Next morning I had a rasher of bacon and two slices of vegemite toast, much more than I usually have. Yum Cha with my brother-in-law and his wife, some of it fried. A Magnum ice-cream during the long drive home. Reasonably healthy dinner at home, but the damage was done. I just coded it all in to the Weight Watchers ProPoints tracker, guesstimating many things of course, and I have used up every one of my weekly PP already. Still four days to go, just living on my daily points! Nothing for supper on Tuesday, definitely no take-away on Wednesday. I'll just have to earn some extra with lots of exercise to get me through. And eat a lot of "free" fruit and vegetables! Precious few of those over the past couple of days.
I really don't want another gain this week, so I am going to work very hard for the next four days.
Have just finished a huge eating weekend. We drove to Sydney on Saturday, having McDonald's for lunch on the way (it is basically that or KFC, but it was still my choice to have nuggets and chips rather than a salad) then left the kids at my mum's and went to the wedding of Tim's cousin Aimee. I felt I was being moderate; a couple of hors d'oevres, one glass of champage and half a glass of wine, the three course meal ... bread roll with butter ... chocolates ... glass of orange juice ... yeah it all adds up. Burned a couple of calories on the dance floor but the party ended soon after 9 pm so it was back to mum's and to bed.
Next morning I had a rasher of bacon and two slices of vegemite toast, much more than I usually have. Yum Cha with my brother-in-law and his wife, some of it fried. A Magnum ice-cream during the long drive home. Reasonably healthy dinner at home, but the damage was done. I just coded it all in to the Weight Watchers ProPoints tracker, guesstimating many things of course, and I have used up every one of my weekly PP already. Still four days to go, just living on my daily points! Nothing for supper on Tuesday, definitely no take-away on Wednesday. I'll just have to earn some extra with lots of exercise to get me through. And eat a lot of "free" fruit and vegetables! Precious few of those over the past couple of days.
I really don't want another gain this week, so I am going to work very hard for the next four days.
WW weigh-in week 6: 78.5 kg; up 0.4 kg
Friday:
This was my first gain, and it was not unexpected. Firstly because I had been eating a lot and it was also TOM, but secondly because I weigh myself daily at home! Of course I don't want to regain what little I have lost, but I am ok with it. Just need to refocus and get back on track.
I stayed for the meeting (about celebrating success) and enjoyed it. I celebrated having earned over 100 activity ProPoints this week! Friday is my busy running-around day, plus I had sore toes and ankle from where my sneakers have been rubbing, so I didn't exercise.
(actually written Sunday, but I wanted to separate this from the post about the weekend)
This was my first gain, and it was not unexpected. Firstly because I had been eating a lot and it was also TOM, but secondly because I weigh myself daily at home! Of course I don't want to regain what little I have lost, but I am ok with it. Just need to refocus and get back on track.
I stayed for the meeting (about celebrating success) and enjoyed it. I celebrated having earned over 100 activity ProPoints this week! Friday is my busy running-around day, plus I had sore toes and ankle from where my sneakers have been rubbing, so I didn't exercise.
(actually written Sunday, but I wanted to separate this from the post about the weekend)
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
A challenging day
Thursday:
It's the last day of week 5 in WW and I am experiencing my first real challenges. It is that TOM and I woke up feeling utter crapness. I got into my gym gear but while walking the kids to school I decided not to exercise today, or at least not this morning. No one should have to exercise feeling like this! Unfair! Why is the world so mean and demanding! I was going to slam the door in the world's face.
But on the walk back home I caught up with a neighbour pushing her pram. "Going to the gym?" she asked, noting my attire.
"Um," I stuttered. "Actually I use the Kinect to exercise at home." Feeling guilty because I wasn't actually going to.
She asked if it was a good workout (a lot of home games aren't really that intense, as I have found out myself) so I demonstrated, there on the footpath, leaping around guiding the raft over obstacles for River Rush. And decided that, since I had told her I was going to do it, that I would just have to.
So I went home and did an hour. And got platinum on the one that had been eluding me, so I had all the basics. Then went on and got a lot of the intermediates, mostly first time. It was weird, I was just flying through them even though I still felt like rubbish. Really odd.
I've been struggling with my food ever since I started this crazy level of exercise (well, seems crazy to me -- some people just live like this!). I only had 5 weeklies left and after my afternoon tea I had eaten all my daily PP and those 5 weeklies and had started in on my earned activity points. I had a total of 47 PP today! Arg! And I'm feeling a need for some ice cream.
Tomorrow is my weigh-in and the start of a new week. I'm looking forward to a clean slate.
This weekend is going to be a challenge too, we have a wedding to go to. I'll just have to be moderate, that's all. And keep up the exercise!
It's the last day of week 5 in WW and I am experiencing my first real challenges. It is that TOM and I woke up feeling utter crapness. I got into my gym gear but while walking the kids to school I decided not to exercise today, or at least not this morning. No one should have to exercise feeling like this! Unfair! Why is the world so mean and demanding! I was going to slam the door in the world's face.
But on the walk back home I caught up with a neighbour pushing her pram. "Going to the gym?" she asked, noting my attire.
"Um," I stuttered. "Actually I use the Kinect to exercise at home." Feeling guilty because I wasn't actually going to.
She asked if it was a good workout (a lot of home games aren't really that intense, as I have found out myself) so I demonstrated, there on the footpath, leaping around guiding the raft over obstacles for River Rush. And decided that, since I had told her I was going to do it, that I would just have to.
So I went home and did an hour. And got platinum on the one that had been eluding me, so I had all the basics. Then went on and got a lot of the intermediates, mostly first time. It was weird, I was just flying through them even though I still felt like rubbish. Really odd.
I've been struggling with my food ever since I started this crazy level of exercise (well, seems crazy to me -- some people just live like this!). I only had 5 weeklies left and after my afternoon tea I had eaten all my daily PP and those 5 weeklies and had started in on my earned activity points. I had a total of 47 PP today! Arg! And I'm feeling a need for some ice cream.
Tomorrow is my weigh-in and the start of a new week. I'm looking forward to a clean slate.
This weekend is going to be a challenge too, we have a wedding to go to. I'll just have to be moderate, that's all. And keep up the exercise!
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Kicking dancing's butt
Wednesday:I felt like my knees had done a lot of high impact jumping over the past three days and needed a little rest, so this morning I swapped to Just Dance 3. I printed out the song list so that I could mark them off and started on my challenge to get five stars for every song (on easy). For today I decided to get at least four stars before moving on to the next song. I only had to do one song twice to achieve this; I did 13 songs in an hour and got five stars for 8 of them, four stars for the rest.
I've done every song at least once in the past (my favourites many times) but I don't know how to find out what score I got for them so I am just going to do them all again. I think there are 48 songs altogether, not including the mash-ups you earn. I'll get at least fours stars on all of them then go back and work on the ones I need to to get five stars on everything.
The dancing was a decent workout but it just couldn't compare to what I have been doing the past few days. I was sweaty but not dripping; hot but not overheated; tired but not exhausted. Just not good enough! So I did half an hour of Kinect Adventures and after 20 mins I finally got the River Rush that has been eluding me! I spent so long getting that one, it was a real achievement.
I now have platinum in all the basic adventures except one (in Rallyball). Last one, then I move on to intermediate. I still couldn't get the Rallyball one today, I spent my last 10 mins on it but then decided I'd done enough for the morning.
My weight has gone UP slightly every day since I've been doing all this exercise, even after then first day when I didn't eat any more than usual. What's up with that? I'm now heavier than I was last Friday on official weigh-in day. I've got less than 48 hours to go before I weigh in at WW, and I'm having take-away tonight ... Oh well, regardless of fluctuating weight I know that all this exercise is good for me.
photo by Amanda Schutz
Monday, March 5, 2012
Still exercising, still eating
Tuesday:
I'm really pushing the exercise, this morning I worked out for an hour and a half -- almost all at high intensity -- then this afternoon another hour. I've earned 31 Activity ProPoints, which is huge. I was only aiming for 21 a week! But with a couple of weeks client-free I have the time to really throw myself into exercise and I am making the most of it.
I'm still eating more; 31 PP today and we are having D&D supper tonight so there will be chocolate consumed. But I have earned it. I can convert activity PP if I run out of weeklies. Of course I don't want to eat too much, but a bit more than usual is ok.
It is also nearly TOM so that might be having an effect on my appetite too.
I'm really pushing the exercise, this morning I worked out for an hour and a half -- almost all at high intensity -- then this afternoon another hour. I've earned 31 Activity ProPoints, which is huge. I was only aiming for 21 a week! But with a couple of weeks client-free I have the time to really throw myself into exercise and I am making the most of it.
I'm still eating more; 31 PP today and we are having D&D supper tonight so there will be chocolate consumed. But I have earned it. I can convert activity PP if I run out of weeklies. Of course I don't want to eat too much, but a bit more than usual is ok.
It is also nearly TOM so that might be having an effect on my appetite too.
A sunny day
Monday:
I woke up a bit sore after yesterday's exertions so after walking the kids to school I went for an extended stroll (it was also the first sunny day we've had for about a month, something like 75% of my state is flooded or under flood warning). Once I had loosened up, I came home and did another hour on the Kinect.
Trying to get platinum is so much harder than gold! This is going to take me a while, but that is ok. I certainly can't re-wear any of my gym gear after these sessions, they are utterly dripping with sweat, so I must be doing something right.
Later in the day I started to stiffen up. My shoulders are quite sore -- for a wonder NOT from RSI or torn rotator cuff -- in what I think of as my "flight muscles". The ones I would be using if I had wings. My legs are also sore, particularly the muscles around the knees. So I decided not to try for an extra exercise session tonight.
I got really hungry after the morning workout. I ate morning tea, lunch, and afternoon tea in quick succession. I had a second afternoon tea when the kids got home from school, half a packet of rice crackers, which was a bit excessive. If I need more food to fuel the exercise that is ok but I have to make sure it is healthy stuff. Most of it was. After dinner I had a diet chocolate mousse, taking me 10 PP into my weekly allowance. I could easily eat a lot more. Mmmm, cheese.
Ok, I just ate some cheese. And grapes. But I earned more than I over-consumed today.
I woke up a bit sore after yesterday's exertions so after walking the kids to school I went for an extended stroll (it was also the first sunny day we've had for about a month, something like 75% of my state is flooded or under flood warning). Once I had loosened up, I came home and did another hour on the Kinect.
Trying to get platinum is so much harder than gold! This is going to take me a while, but that is ok. I certainly can't re-wear any of my gym gear after these sessions, they are utterly dripping with sweat, so I must be doing something right.
Later in the day I started to stiffen up. My shoulders are quite sore -- for a wonder NOT from RSI or torn rotator cuff -- in what I think of as my "flight muscles". The ones I would be using if I had wings. My legs are also sore, particularly the muscles around the knees. So I decided not to try for an extra exercise session tonight.
I got really hungry after the morning workout. I ate morning tea, lunch, and afternoon tea in quick succession. I had a second afternoon tea when the kids got home from school, half a packet of rice crackers, which was a bit excessive. If I need more food to fuel the exercise that is ok but I have to make sure it is healthy stuff. Most of it was. After dinner I had a diet chocolate mousse, taking me 10 PP into my weekly allowance. I could easily eat a lot more. Mmmm, cheese.
Ok, I just ate some cheese. And grapes. But I earned more than I over-consumed today.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Gold Medal
Sunday:Yesterday I started on my project of getting gold for every level of every activity in Kinect Adventures. I only did half an hour then as I had other stuff to do -- and because I've only been doing half an hour of exercise lately.
This morning I did an hour. I managed to get gold for the three basic and three medium in each of the five games. I was really enjoying the challenge and I really only stopped because the kids were bugging me for their turn on the Kinect. More than half of that hour was really intense activity.
Several times during the day I considered having another go, but dismissed the thought. I mean; that's just not me, is it. For me, exercise is more "thank god that is over for the day". But after the kids were in bed I got back into my gym clothes -- actually different gym clothes, this morning's were dripping sweat -- and started working on getting gold on the advanced level of each game.
I got that done in less than an hour, I only had to repeat a couple of stages. So I started trying to get platinum -- the highest award. This was tougher. I already had a couple of platinum in the easier games, but I tried River Rush. Gold. Tried again. Gold. I must have done that first level six or seven times. I nearly gave up, especially when my score started getting worse each time instead of better, but I kept on. And finally got platinum! Yay! That felt pretty good.
I'd been exercising for an hour and was a bit tired. But I didn't want to stop. So I tried Reflex Ridge, which is the other really energetic game. I got a platinum. Tried level two. Gold. Tried again and again and on about the fourth try finally got it. Go me!
There was a part of me that wanted to continue but I was starting to worry about how my body would feel tomorrow -- I want to be able to exercise then too. So I stopped. After a total of 2 hours and 15 minutes today. I earned 23 activity ProPoints; and for a mark of reference, I get to eat 26 a day. Not bad.
And do you know when I was tiredest? After the first 15 minutes this morning. Once I pushed through that, I was fine.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
The rain it raineth every day
Saturday:
In this corner of the world it has been raining and raining and raining. A couple of years ago we were at the end of a ten year drought and all the dams were running dry. Now some are overflowing. It's the third day of autumn and apparently we had the whole of March's average rainful in the first day before 8 am! We hardly had a summer at all -- not that I am complaining about that, I hate the heat. But this endless rain is getting a little tiresome. The rug rats are getting bored stuck inside all the time.
On the up side I finished my big project this morning after spending three more hours on it. Well, there will be a little more to do when the client responds to my comments, but the pressure is off. Since my next client has postponed, I have a little window of a couple of free weeks. And I am going to exercise! Oh, and so much else (like calling half a dozen tradesmen before the house falls down), but lots of exercise.
I was stressing this morning about my continued inability to do up my own bra -- my husband or daughter do it up in the morning but it means I can't have a shower after exercise and then put a normal bra on, only a saggy crop top that doesn't make a flattering shape under clothes. My left arm just doesn't have the mobility, since my torn rotator cuff, to get behind my back. At least I can undo with one hand! Anyway, this morning I had a bit of a breakthrough; I could get on my sports bra by putting it on back to front then wriggling it around and pull the straps over my shoulders. I tried it later with a normal bra and couldn't do it, so I think it might have something to do with the elderly elastic on the sports bra -- but I think my healing shoulder and my slightly decreased girth also helped.
This doesn't solve the problem of dressing after exercise, but it does help going the other way. For instance, I want to look for a new dress this week and wearing a nicely shaped bra is important to the trying-on process. But I also want to exercise every day. This way I can shop first then come home and change into my sports bra without anyone to help me. Yay. Of course, after my shower I'll still then have to put on ugly bra, but it's still an improvement.
Actually, I might wear my new-ish grey dress. I don't think that side of the family have seen it. And it doesn't matter if they have. I would rather get a new dress in May for a big event -- gives me another two months to lose more weight! Someone said each new dress size is about six kilos, so I should make it.
I exercised this morning, using the Kinect again. River Rush on Kinect Adventures. Exhausting! If you haven't tried it; you are on a virtual raft zooming down a turbulent river, steering to collect tokens and jumping over obstacles. It's the jumping that kills me. After a while the sensor no longer acknowleges that I am lifting my feet. I am jumping, I am! Just not very high.
In this corner of the world it has been raining and raining and raining. A couple of years ago we were at the end of a ten year drought and all the dams were running dry. Now some are overflowing. It's the third day of autumn and apparently we had the whole of March's average rainful in the first day before 8 am! We hardly had a summer at all -- not that I am complaining about that, I hate the heat. But this endless rain is getting a little tiresome. The rug rats are getting bored stuck inside all the time.
On the up side I finished my big project this morning after spending three more hours on it. Well, there will be a little more to do when the client responds to my comments, but the pressure is off. Since my next client has postponed, I have a little window of a couple of free weeks. And I am going to exercise! Oh, and so much else (like calling half a dozen tradesmen before the house falls down), but lots of exercise.
I was stressing this morning about my continued inability to do up my own bra -- my husband or daughter do it up in the morning but it means I can't have a shower after exercise and then put a normal bra on, only a saggy crop top that doesn't make a flattering shape under clothes. My left arm just doesn't have the mobility, since my torn rotator cuff, to get behind my back. At least I can undo with one hand! Anyway, this morning I had a bit of a breakthrough; I could get on my sports bra by putting it on back to front then wriggling it around and pull the straps over my shoulders. I tried it later with a normal bra and couldn't do it, so I think it might have something to do with the elderly elastic on the sports bra -- but I think my healing shoulder and my slightly decreased girth also helped.
This doesn't solve the problem of dressing after exercise, but it does help going the other way. For instance, I want to look for a new dress this week and wearing a nicely shaped bra is important to the trying-on process. But I also want to exercise every day. This way I can shop first then come home and change into my sports bra without anyone to help me. Yay. Of course, after my shower I'll still then have to put on ugly bra, but it's still an improvement.
Actually, I might wear my new-ish grey dress. I don't think that side of the family have seen it. And it doesn't matter if they have. I would rather get a new dress in May for a big event -- gives me another two months to lose more weight! Someone said each new dress size is about six kilos, so I should make it.
I exercised this morning, using the Kinect again. River Rush on Kinect Adventures. Exhausting! If you haven't tried it; you are on a virtual raft zooming down a turbulent river, steering to collect tokens and jumping over obstacles. It's the jumping that kills me. After a while the sensor no longer acknowleges that I am lifting my feet. I am jumping, I am! Just not very high.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
WW Week 5: 78.1 kg; down 1.1 kg
Friday:
Woo hoo! 1.1 kg! A nice balance for last week's small loss of 0.1. So in my first 4 weeks of Weight Watchers I have lost 2.1 kg. Perfectly on track for 0.5 kg (about 1 pound) per week.
There is itself is a milestone. I stayed on a "diet" for a whole month! One that allowed me my little splurges, to be sure, but still a big change to my usual eating habits. And I stuck to it! Under my ProPoints every week. This has meant a lot of resisting junky foods. For example, I've had some little fun-size packets of Burger Rings left over from D&D sitting in the cupboard for about 3 weeks. I had one packet in that time, as a tracked and budgeted treat. This afternoon I thought about having the last one. I got it out and looked at it. I could have had it, that would have been ok. But I put it back, and decided to go the healthy option of a bowl of home-made tomato soup for the same number of PP. Then after school the kids had a playdate at a friend's house. I had a cup of tea and a slice of watermelon. There were several varieties of biscuits offered. I looked at the mini oreos and knew that I could have one at any time if I really wanted it. But I wasn't hungry, the watermelon was lovely, I just didn't need a biscuit -- however small. So I didn't have it. This is such a big change for me.
To celebrate a whole month of Weight Watchers I bought myself another charm. It is a very pretty one, purple enamel flowers. Now I have four! Of course I won't get a charm for every month I stick to WW, just this first one. I will have other goals to reach.
Exercise is one, of course. Illness disrupted my routine so I didn't reach my exercise goal for February, but I plan to in March. 21 activity PP per week. Or more! When this endless rain stops I also want to get back to walking/jogging around the lake and get my time down to 45 mins. Back to the gym as well. When I finish this current work project (hopefully tonight or tomorrow!) I have a couple of weeks before the next one. I have plenty to catch up on in that time, but I will also devote a lot of time to exercising.
I stayed for the WW meeting today, it was about spicing things up to not get bored. This is not really an issue for me yet, but we talked about trying new foods and new kinds of exercise. I'm doing that all the time anyway. I didn't sit next to complainy woman today, I had a great chat with a woman visiting from Qld so I had a nice time. And lost 1.1 kg! Yay!
Starting weight: 80.2 kg
Week 5: 78.1 kg (down 2.1 kg)
5% goal: 76.2 kg
Final goal: 58 kg
BTW, my home scales (pre-breakfast, pjs & no shoes) said 76.9 kg this morning. The first time I've been under 77 kg for ages.
Woo hoo! 1.1 kg! A nice balance for last week's small loss of 0.1. So in my first 4 weeks of Weight Watchers I have lost 2.1 kg. Perfectly on track for 0.5 kg (about 1 pound) per week.
There is itself is a milestone. I stayed on a "diet" for a whole month! One that allowed me my little splurges, to be sure, but still a big change to my usual eating habits. And I stuck to it! Under my ProPoints every week. This has meant a lot of resisting junky foods. For example, I've had some little fun-size packets of Burger Rings left over from D&D sitting in the cupboard for about 3 weeks. I had one packet in that time, as a tracked and budgeted treat. This afternoon I thought about having the last one. I got it out and looked at it. I could have had it, that would have been ok. But I put it back, and decided to go the healthy option of a bowl of home-made tomato soup for the same number of PP. Then after school the kids had a playdate at a friend's house. I had a cup of tea and a slice of watermelon. There were several varieties of biscuits offered. I looked at the mini oreos and knew that I could have one at any time if I really wanted it. But I wasn't hungry, the watermelon was lovely, I just didn't need a biscuit -- however small. So I didn't have it. This is such a big change for me.
To celebrate a whole month of Weight Watchers I bought myself another charm. It is a very pretty one, purple enamel flowers. Now I have four! Of course I won't get a charm for every month I stick to WW, just this first one. I will have other goals to reach.
Exercise is one, of course. Illness disrupted my routine so I didn't reach my exercise goal for February, but I plan to in March. 21 activity PP per week. Or more! When this endless rain stops I also want to get back to walking/jogging around the lake and get my time down to 45 mins. Back to the gym as well. When I finish this current work project (hopefully tonight or tomorrow!) I have a couple of weeks before the next one. I have plenty to catch up on in that time, but I will also devote a lot of time to exercising.
I stayed for the WW meeting today, it was about spicing things up to not get bored. This is not really an issue for me yet, but we talked about trying new foods and new kinds of exercise. I'm doing that all the time anyway. I didn't sit next to complainy woman today, I had a great chat with a woman visiting from Qld so I had a nice time. And lost 1.1 kg! Yay!
Starting weight: 80.2 kg
Week 5: 78.1 kg (down 2.1 kg)
5% goal: 76.2 kg
Final goal: 58 kg
BTW, my home scales (pre-breakfast, pjs & no shoes) said 76.9 kg this morning. The first time I've been under 77 kg for ages.
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