Pool party

Monday:

This morning I weighed 72.8 kg. A dramatic loss of.... (drumroll please) 0.1 kg for the week. I suppose it's better than the gain I'd been showing most of the week. But very unimpressive.

I'm still feeling a bit yuck with flu, achy and sore throat, and Tim was feeling off yesterday too. He went to work today though.

Jasmine had her pool party yesterday (actual birthday tomorrow) and it was a great success. I didn't take photos because it seemed a bit intrusive considering they were all in swimming costumes the whole time. But I did get a photo of the (very expensive) gelato cake.

Jasmine is badly sunburned on her face and arms, and so is the girl who stayed for a sleepover. Not sure about the ones who left after the party. I hope they are not too bad. They all had sunscreen on, but were out in the Australian sun for several hours. I guess we should have had the party later in the day, but it was such lovely weather for a pool party! I went swimming after the girls left, and the water was almost too warm to be refreshing. There is no shade out there until quite late in the afternoon, this time of year. I feel guilty, I should have planned better somehow. At least they all seemed to have a great time, constant shouting and squealing.

Treats at Christmas

Monday:

Weight today 75.8, a loss of 400 grams. Not sure how that happened! But I'll take it. I've been eating mostly healthy meals, but with some added festive treats.

I've been in a (polite) argument in a weight loss forum about treats at Christmas. Someone posted that they would be taking the day off their strict diet and I agreed that I would be having some non-diet-friendly foods (actually I am every day at the moment, but I didn't say that) like dessert. The forum is anti-sugar and generally low-carb promoting. Another person argued that we shouldn't see unhealthy food as a 'treat' when it's so bad for us, can derail all our efforts, sugar is poison not a treat, you can enjoy Christmas without traditional junk etc. I said that some people do better if they allow some treats to avoid feeling deprived which can cause people to give up entirely. She disagreed, believing that planning to cheat on your diet is not a good plan, and you should forgive slips but not give yourself permission to slip beforehand. I can totally see her point, but I don't really respond well to someone else telling me what to do. It makes me feel very resistant! I respond better to people setting a good example, telling their story, without saying essentially "you are wrong do it my way which is the only true path." Does that approach work with anyone? We have all been very respectful and I know she is trying to help but it still gets my back up.

Jasmine went a friend's house yesterday and got sunburned despite sunscreen (as usual). Poor girl, she can't go in the sun at all without burning. It might take a few more hard lessons before she decides to wear long sleeves and big hats all summer. Not sure what else she can do other than never going outside at all.

Fathers' Day

Sunday:

Tim and I paid for all our hard work and time in the sun yesterday - aching bodies and sunburn today! We took it easier today but still got out in the garden, watering the new grass and tidying up a bit, moving some pots around. My cold seems worse today, and overall I felt quite unwell. I sat outside battling nausea and watching Tim vacuum the pool and wondered if I should cancel Fathers' Day dinner. Luckily by mid-afternoon I was feeling a lot better so it was still on. We had everyone over for a lovely family gathering. My goodness two babies and a toddler can be loud though!

I am proud of my efforts today. I was surrounded by snacks in the afternoon but I weighed out one treat and stuck to that. New-normal size dinner and no dessert. Only water to drink.

I spoke to my Aunty Pat on the phone, she is going to help me organise a headstone for my dad's grave as she lives there and I am 12 hours away. Also it's only a few years since she organised her husband's funeral so she knows what to do. But I have to think of what I want engraved. Dad was definitely in my thoughts today.

Happy Fathers' Day to all the dads out there.

Monday

Monday:

I guess some days aren't as nice as a day at the beach.

I woke up this morning feeling tired, sad, grumpy, and as if I was coming down with some minor but annoying illness. Nothing unusual there, I feel like that just about every morning! I've learned not to judge any day by the first hour or so. But today the feeling persisted a lot longer than usual, pretty much all day.

I weighed myself to find that the kilogram I'd lost during the week found its way back over the weekend. 83.5 kg. So disappointing. Yes we did have lunch out both days of the weekend and I did have some kind of unhealthy snack or dessert each day (or more than one). But I was still hoping. I'd done so well all week.

I went into a bit of rebellious mood, why keep trying?, and bought a couple of bad things while out shopping. Now my tongue hurts from too much sugar.

Oh, and I feel like going out in the sun is an intelligence test I keep failing. I've had repeated proof all my life that I can't go out into the sun for more than an hour without getting burned. Each time I say this time will be different. I have a hat, sunscreen, clothing, it's winter, I won't get burned this time! But the sun finds a way to attack some part of my body. This time the tops of my feet. When I put sunscreen on I was wearing my shoes, but once we got to the sand I took my shoes off... It's not too bad, I can still wear shoes, but the skin is quite pink and tender. This time was my fault, but even with sunscreen I always burn somewhere. So what should I do when I want to go to the beach or play outside or go for a long walk or visit an amusement park? I get burned every single time, and so does Jasmine, no matter what we do. We have English/Russian skin trying to cope with an Australian sun. Definitely need some kind of shade-cloth when we get our pool.

So anyway, got through the day more or less intact, did some of the things I had planned. Time to watch Survivor.

Beach day

Monday:

We wanted to go and stay down the coast for a few days but we left it too late to book anything. Luckily we don't live far from the beach here. The weather forecast for the coming week was a mix of stinking hot and storms, but today looked perfect beach weather so we had plans to drive over to the nearest city beach (30 mins) first thing in the morning before it got too hot. Unfortunately I woke with a sore throat, like trying to swallow a golf ball, plus sneezing and runny nose. Bleugh.

After getting up a bit later than usual and having a light breakfast, passionfruit and yoghurt, I decided I wasn't going to let some puny cold in the head stop me from having a good time. I wasn't feeling up to walks along the promenade, or swimming, I didn't even put my swimming cossie on, but I went.

Armed with hats, T-shirts and sunscreen, we braved the Australian sun. For the first hour, while Tim and the kids splashed in the gentle surf, I sat on the sand. After a while I pulled a towel over my legs because I could feel them burning.

I was getting much too hot, so I retreated to the shade on the grass under some trees, and for the second hour read a book or watched the waves.

Turns out is was a very wise move to get into the shade, but not soon enough! Apparently the shorts that cover my knees while I'm standing up applying sunscreen DONT cover my knees when I'm sitting down. Ouch. This is when we first got home, before full colour had set in. I'm disappointed that yet again, despite care, I have got myself sunburnt. I just can't go into the sun at all. Jasmine too. She is a bit pink all over after two hours in the sea. As usual, the boys with their slightly darker skin are fine.

Tim's cousin Matt lives near the beach, he walked over and met us for lunch. He suggested a favourite café first but I looked at the menu and every item was carb-heavy so we walked along the mall a bit and ended up at a tiny Indian restaurant. We like Indian, and also I wasn't up to walking much further. Still sore throat and a headache. The food wasn't ideal for a dieter, I ended up with a big plate of meat with Vindaloo sauce on rice. Delicious, but no vegetables at all. I didn't eat the rice except the bits actually stuck to the beef. It was very strong of me because that saucy rice looked so yummy! And I didn't touch the naan bread.

Then on the short walk back to the car we stopped for ice cream and I was strong again! Nothing for me. The chocolate gelato looked so good and cool and chocolatey. And it's hard when everyone else is eating. One thing that helped me was knowing I'd just told Matt I was on a low-carb diet. Another was seeing an extremely large woman who came in to order. I am fighting for my health!

Came home, discovered the burned knees, slept for an hour in front of the TV. Tim made schnitzel for dinner so I made a modified crumb-free version (ie, steak) for myself, plus salad. I had more salad than this. Really yummy dinner.

I had to guesstimate lunch calories of course, but I think I did well today.

Here are my knees again, with the colour deepening over time:

Half an hour of unprotected sunlight was enough. They are quite painful. On the bright side, as Tim pointed out, they are distracting me from my sore throat!

Lovely day

Monday:

We started our first full day here with breakfast in the room; toast, fruit and tea. Supermarket bread is nothing like real bread from my local baker! Not appealing at all.

The sky was grey and it was drizzling and cool so we went out for a long walk on the beach. We went only two kilometres in just over an hour because that included looking at shells, smooth pretty rocks and washed up jellyfish, and playing on the sand.

 (this is a 'Jelly Blubber' - doesn't sound like a real name does it? - upside-down dead jellyfish. we saw lots of live ones in the lakes and dead ones on the ocean beach)

It was all lovely except for the short period of rain driving straight into my face. Walking on sand is hard work, even if you choose the firmer section near the water. The muscles really felt it during the walk - maybe stabilising me? - but afterwards it was my calves that protested. A good start to the day. By the time we got back the sky had partly cleared, showing patches of blue, and it had warmed up, so we went for a swim in the pool.

We drove to the nearest town, Forster, which is about 15 mins away, for lunch (through more rain which stopped when we got there, such variable weather!) I had grilled fish even though I much prefer crumbed or battered. And chips. I'm trying! A great location right next to the waster. Forster/Tuncurry are towns on opposite sides of a kilometre-long bridge where Wallis lake meets the sea. The water is really shallow under the bridge, with lots of exposed sandbars populated by pelicans and seagulls, and we have seen dolphins in the crystal green water. Beautiful.

We went back to our cabin to stay out of the sun during the hottest part of the day. The clouds had all disappeared and it had turned into a lovely day. Tim napped, the kids watched TV, and I worked on writing mum's eulogy and returning some phone calls. It's so relaxing here that I was able to write as a celebration of mum rather than getting all maudlin. I'm glad we're here.

I haven't been using my meditation app. I tried a few days ago, when still at home, but I was too distracted. I'll go back to it. I think it's something you need to practice in easier circumstances rather than try to dive in when you really need it. Like trying to run a marathon without training for it.

In the afternoon we had an ice cream then tried out the second pool - which is rather boring and standard and we were the only ones there. The water was really cold, only the kids went in. Tim broke a chair! I was sitting on the same kind and it kept settling lower under me, very disconcerting when it would suddenly shift. Tim weighs less than me so I consider myself very lucky mine didn't break. Tim is not heavy at all so any adult weight was obviously too much - terrible chairs.

We went back to the good pool, which is much more interesting with a bridge and a sloping shallow area and much more interesting funky shape, and all the other guests were there. And big comfy non-breaking lounge chairs! And warmer water. Last swim of the day.

We tried really hard to not get sunburnt. Tim is fine, Aiden a little pink in the face and I am a bit pink on my shoulders and chin. Poor lily-white Jasmine got quite burnt on her face and the top of her chest and back. Even with hats and swim shirts and lots of sunscreen, she is just not a skin type that can spend hours in the sun with impunity. It is a tricky balance, we are here to spend time in the pool or on the beach. We could sit inside watching TV, much cheaper, at home. We'll just be as careful as we can.

We went back to Forster for dinner and had yummy Mexican. And I had two thirds of a chocolate mousse for dessert.

The combination of sun and fresh air and exercise and big dinners mean I can hardly keep my eyes open after dinner.

The illustrated holiday

Saturday:

Just got back from a lovely holiday to Surfer's Paradise, a small city on Queensland's Gold Coast (north-eastern coast of Australia, all golden beaches and blue skies). Beautiful mild summer weather, perfect for beach and pool-going, and ironically we left a heat-wave back home.

We started with a visit to my mum and then my niece in Sydney, then flew north. I don't like heights and I'm not a good flyer but I did ok and it went smoothly. Given my fear of heights, I was a bit worried about our holiday apartment on the 33rd floor:

But I was fine. Admittedly I only went out on the balcony a couple of times. I loved lying on the bed looking out at this view!

The first afternoon we just hung around the hotel pool, which had a pirate ship waterslide. My daughter must have gone down it a hundred times.

The next day we walked to the beach. The surf was a bit rough so we stayed well within our depth and toyed with the waves and built sand castles. I spent quite a while sitting on the sand with waves washing over my legs. Very peaceful and lovely. Unfortunately, despite being covered in sunscreen and only being out for an hour, I got quite sunburnt in a distinct line on my shoulders and chest where my cossie had covered when I was putting the sunscreen on, but then the material must have moved down a little bit as I moved around. Burnt on the first morning! Curse my lily-white skin.

We stayed out of the sun in the middle of the day by going on an Aquaduck after lunch. This is a bus that goes into water (calm water, Surfer's Paradise is a long strip a few blocks wide with an ocean beach on one side and the broadwater on the other) and chuggs along beside the enormous houses of the rich and famous. I spotted a couple of dolphins. Then in the afternoon it was back to the hotel pool for more slides and then time in the indoor heated pool and spa.

Next day we went to Movieworld ("Hollywood on the Gold Coast!") which I think is like a miniature Disneyland. Rides, shows of motorbike stunt riding and precision car driving, a short 4D Ice Age movie where the chairs shake and water gets sprayed at you at appropriate moments, people wandering around in moviestar costumes. Willy Wonka, Marilyn Monroe etc. The kids loved it, not so much me. I didn't fit on the kiddie rides and the adult ones were much too scary for me. I got to try Ben & Jerry's ice cream which I was very interested in doing because it seemed to be so popular in the US but it was horrible! Some kind of chocolate variety - chocolate temptation I think. So sickly sweet and rich. It cost a fortune and I could hardly eat any of it. What a waste. However, the kids had a great day and Tim got to go on a couple of grown-up rides so it was a good day overall.

Another morning at the pool. We unwisely stayed out for more than two hours and this time poor Jasmine got quite badly burnt on the arms and Tim on his shoulders. We spent the hot after-lunch period playing putt putt golf (mini golf) in a sort of indoor warehouse space so we were out of the sun. We had planned to go to the beach in the late afternoon but couldn't risk any more time in the sun so it was back to the pool which was shaded by the building in the afternoon.

On our last full day we went to SeaWorld which was my favourite day. Sea-lion and dolphin shows, a SpongeBob Squarepants parade, more rides for kids and grown-ups (and I fit on the kids' ones), patting manta-rays, an enormous lagoon aquarium, a SpongeBob 3D movie (not as gimmicky as the 4D movie, but better), dinosaur island (not sure how that fits with the sea theme) and my favourite was Buccaneer Bay which involves sailing around a little bay in a pirate ship shooting water cannons at people on shore while they fire back. We got soaked! Awesome.

Dinosaur island, obviously.

Buccaneer Bay!

Dolphins showing off nose strength!

 

We tried really hard every day to avoid sunburn but I guess that was impossible unless we had stayed in the room all day. Jasmine's arms were exposed to more sun as we walked around SeaWorld and even Aiden, who has more olive skin, was a bit pink.

 

On the final morning the kids had one last quick swim before we packed up and flew home again. It turned out that we only played at the beach once, on the first morning, but we were near the beach many times walking to and from restaurants for lunch and other outings so we got to enjoy the sight and the sea-breeze without the sand in our cossies. 

 

We were exhausted at the end of every day and I usually crashed at the same time as the kids each night, straight after dinner. We ate out every meal except for two breakfasts of fruit and toast in our room, and also had snacks while out and about. I haven't weighed myself yet!

 

The flight back was a bit more trying as there was a bit of turbulence at the end. I spent the final couple of minutes hyperventilating and hanging on to the arm rests, in tears. But we got down safely.

 

I'm not in any of these photos because I took them with my iPhone, Tim also took lots of photos with an actual camera so I'm in some of those. I might post some after I've seen what they look like. Or not.

 

It was a really great holiday but I also love being home again. My own house, my own bed. Can't beat home. 

WW weigh-in week 8: 77.2 kg; sts

Friday:

I went to my Weight Watchers meeting this morning and, as expected, my weight has remained the same over the past two weeks since I was last weighed. I call this a win, considering Easter happened in the middle. The meeting was about how important tracking is; I already do it but it was nice to chat about.

I didn't do a lot of exercise over the past week; Easter, sunburn, a pulled hamstring and then Rift (more on this later) intruded. But I bought two new Kinect games -- Biggest Loser and Zumba -- and have tried them both. The Biggest Loser one is a series of exercises; jumping jacks and push ups and the like. I found it quite challenging but a bit boring. There is no fun music or game to it, just following the moves on the screen. The best part is that it tracks your progess. It scanned my body and was amazingly accurate in measurements, and put me through a test to check my level of fitness before creating a custom program. I plan to do the routine sometimes, but it is not very inspiring.

Zumba, on the other hand, was great fun. I have done classes in the gym and liked them at first but the instructor went in a direction I didn't like with routines I didn't enjoy so much. The best thing about the Kinect version is that I can put together my own playlists of my favourite tracks. I just need to get familiar with them first. I did a "short" routine today -- it turned out to be about 20 mins -- and then some single tracks and got 4 or 5 stars for all of them. I recognised two from the gym, the rest were new to me. There seems to be quite a lot of choice, and each track is rated for its energy level.

My sunburn is fine now, but my shoulders are peeling. Urg.

The main reason I haven't done a lot of exercise is my newfound Rift addiction. Tim has been playing this computer game since it came out quite a while ago and has often suggested I would enjoy it but I wasn't ready to plunge into anything new. I'm rather glad I didn't while I was working on big projects. I've been playing a lot since I started on Monday, and it's been hard to drag myself away to do anything else. I need to pull back a bit.

School holidays started at 3 this afternoon, so the kids are home for the next two weeks and we also have various family members visiting over that time. I'll have to plan lots of activities. I'm going to make sure I serve healthy meals not the usual cream-laden "company" dinners.

Although I have only lost 3 kg so far on WW, I have lost 7 kg overall since my highest weight last year and I am much happier in my body. My breasts stick out more than my stomach again!

Sunburn

Thursday:

My sunburn is much worse than I thought. It took several hours to develop, but by the time I got home from from picking up the kids from school I was lobster-red and feeling quite ill. I had to lie down in a cool dark room for a while. I put on lots of cream and tried to drink plenty of water to rehydrate, and went to bed early, but I am still very sore and unwell this morning. Maybe heat stroke or something as well as the sunburn?

I feel so stupid. I get caught out by sunburn too often, I should know better by now. I have very fair skin and burn easily. I guess we have had such a cool rainy cloudy summer and autumn that I was caught unawares by a hot sunny day. I wore a hat, and sunglasses, but no sunscreen; even though I expected to be out in the sun for nearly an hour (and it ended up being more than two hours). It always takes hours for my skin to go red so I can't tell by looking at myself as it is burning.

The cap mainly protected my face, and my legs are only very lightly pink. My arms were quite red last night but they have faded already. But I have a collar of deep maroon around my shoulders and upper chest and up the sides of my neck. It hurts. I just need to rest today.

What not to do.

Wednesday:

Oh dear. My eating has been terrible the past couple of days. PMS plus available junk is a dangerous combination. I won't go into details; but it has involved cheese (not junk, but fatty), chocolate, and Doritos.

Ok, onto the good. I have exercised each day. This morning I went to the lake. It was a beautiful warm autumn day -- in fact a little too hot for running, and I even got sunburnt -- and I started off strongly, alternating walking and jogging. I was making pretty good time, but I got to about half way around the 5 km circuit and just ran out of juice. I couldn't spur myself into another jog. Not surprising really, considering the rubbish I have been fueling myself with. I walked the rest of the way and ended with a time of 56 mins. I felt like this was not a great effort, so I just kept walking. I did a second lap. My legs were already tired from the running and my feet got really sore by the end, but I did 10 km today.

I had an embarressing incident when I visited the toilets at the lake. It was a unisex cubicle that opened directly out the the public path. I locked the door and even rattled it to check it was secure, but a few moments later I had just pulled up my undies but not my shorts when the door opened! The woman quickly made an apologetic noise and pulled the door shut. I just glad it was a woman, and not 10 seconds earlier.

I burned my arm on the edge of the wok while I was making a stir fry for my lunch; so I currently have a 10 cm long sore line there, sunburnt shoulders, aching legs, and sore feet. Not feeling at my best. But at least I have done my exercise for the day.

Treadmill and crosstrainer and BodyPump, oh my

Monday:

I had time for six minutes on the treadmill before my class, and then I did BodyPump. I am going well with the 1 kg weight on each end of the bar; the only track that really hurts me is the shoulder one where you lie on the aerobic step and do bench presses. I think I will drop back to an empty bar for that one. For other tracks, my muscles could do more but my joints can't.

Stats for Pump: 46 mins, 97% zone 0, 3% zone 1, 80 cal, average HR 89, peak HR 112. I don't know if that calorie count is accurate. It is based on my heart rate, which doesn't go up much for Pump, but I would think I am still burning more calories than if I was sitting in front of the TV. Aren't I? CalorieKing.com will probably say its about 600 calories per hour. Oh well, it's all guesswork anyway.

Then I decided to do some cardio and got on the cross-trainer for 12 minutes, including 3 x 30 second sprints. Stats: 12% zone 0, 20% zone 1, 49% zone 2, 19% zone 3, 53 calories, average HR 129, peak HR 154. I was exhausted and dripping sweat after that, but didn't want to have a shower straight away because I would still be hot and sweaty when I got out. So I got back on the treadmill for another 15 mins to cool down. I went down to the Club Pink tea room and had a snack and a rest, then my shower -- and I was still pink in the face after that!

Total calories burned at the gym: 173.

I had to pick up a book I'd ordered from the Uni co-op bookshop, so I went there next. The only parking spot I could find was a 10 minute walk away. So, an extra 20 minutes exercise. Easy on the way in; but on the way back to my car I was carrying my huge 4.5 kg dictionary up three flights of stairs. More weight-lifting!

Once I have walked up to the school and back this afternoon, I will have done 2 hours exercise today. My legs are pretty tired and sore, which is great!

While at Uni I had pepperoni pizza for lunch. Not so healthy, but yummy. And I only drank water.

Even though it is still winter (for 2 more days), I got a bit burned out in the sun yesterday. So did my daughter, we are both lily-white. Except when we are red. From now on it's hats and sunscreen.

photo by pasukaru76