Weighing In

I am still slowly plodding my weigh (ha ha) through this weight lose.
I have chipped at it week by week and am still enjoying it.

I don't get too much out of the meetings each week but still enjoy going. Only once have I not felt like going to weigh in but at the last minute I decided against not going and rushed in to weigh. I find I feel guilty if I don't weigh, which means that so far I have attended and weighed in every week I have been on the programme. Very proud of myself for that.

I am actually doing really well and thought I would share some stats with you:

• I have lost 6.2kg (13.67 lbs) to date
• I have achieved my 5% goal. This is loosing 5% of your starting weight.
• I have 100g (0.2 lb) to lose to achieve my stone (6.3kg or 14 lb approx.)
• I have 1.3kg (2.86 lb) to loose to achieve my 10% goal
• I have only 2.8kg (6.17 lb) to loose to achieve WW Goal.
• Then I have to maintain for 6 weeks to achieve Life Membership
• Personally I then still have 2.5kg (5.51 lb) to loose to achieve my personal goal

So life is ticking along at present and all is good.

I am still eating the crap some days but it is not the main thing to eat.

The biggest thing I have learnt from all this:

• Drink plenty of fluids
• Watch your portion sizes, this alone can screw up an otherwise great week
• Listen to your body when eating. If it says it is full then stop eating!
• Get enough sensible sleep
• Get moving......I wear a pedometer everyday now and this is helping me to move more as I must achieve my 10,000 steps per day (ok I am not achieving them but I am getting closer)

I have 5 more weeks of this cycle before I have to start paying to attend, up until now this has been an at work programme that they have paid for. So I have to work hard to achieve goal in that time then I only have to do 6 weeks of maintaining to be a life member and not have to pay anything. Yea me.

Weight Lose

Just quietly I am in the middle of a weight lose programme.
I am not using my blog to post everyday about my current lose, although there is a table on the right hand side showing my current lose each week and the grand total.
I am taking it slow and steady and even though it is a big deal it is not the centre of my life. I am not making it a huge deal for others.
In other words, if I want chocolate cake with marshmallow sauce then I will have it and enjoy it and not regret having had it!
This does however mean that my lose is slow, no I am not loosing a kilo a week like others, sometimes I am loosing just 100g, but it is slow and steady and I am keeping it off.
I have had some really bad weeks but they are being measured with some even better great weeks.
I have had only 2 weeks where I have gained instead of loosing but those weeks have not been too bad.

So what am I doing I hear you ask, well I am attending Weight Watchers each week, I am thinking about points on items but that is not stopping me from eating anything.
I am watching my portion sizes, so I am eating exactly the same as the family just being sensible about how much I have.
Having said that I am eating slowly, listening to my body when it gives me clues as to being full and having had enough.
I have stopped eating in the evening. I found that I was very good at snacking at about 8pm and sometimes I would even grab a biscuit on the way to bed!
I am drinking more fluid, now I am not going to sit here and proclaim you must drink more water, yes water is good for you but you can also ensure you have fluid, whether that be tea, coffee or diet soft drink. If you don't feel like eating when you first get up in the morning at least have a large drink of fluid. I am not a person who can eat as soon as I wake up, my body may be awake but my stomach is not! So I always eat breakfast sat at my desk when I first arrive at work, because of this then I always ensure I have had a drink before leaving home, just seems to work for me.

So my goal is getting closer, slowly, my first goal will be to achieve a 5% weight lose. I am currently 400g off of this goal, so hopefully next week I will achieve it, but it takes work and so this next week will be a determined effort to get there.

Things I'm Loving....

As Paisley Jade says every Friday.....

I wholeheartedly believe that no matter what is happening in your life, there is always something that you can be thankful for... no matter how simple it is.


Today I am loving the weather.
It was one of those days where when you wake it is a little cool and foggy but once the sun comes up the fog disperses and suddenly you are left with this glorious day.
The sky is blue and the sun is shinning.
Now I remember why I love living in New Zealand. This is one of those beautiful left over summer days that pop up at the beginning of autumn.

I am loving surprises too.
Well surprises for the children are even more fun. This morning when we dropped the boys at school there were 2 hot air balloons launching from the school grounds. I have never seen the boys run into school that fast before, they were so eager to see the balloons.
Once I got to work I nipped back to school to find out what was happening.
Turns out one of the parent's father's owns one of the balloons and decided to go flying today. So they cleared it with the Principle to be able to launch from the school. Well we had the sun and the glorious skies but sadly no wind once the balloon was blown up.
1 of the balloons did just manage to lift off, with one of the teachers inside, and then headed out over Hamilton, unfortunately when the bell went to start school we actually had no idea as to when that teacher was going to be back as we could all see the balloon gently floating over Hamilton heading north!
The children thought this was wonderful that their teacher had floated away and was coming back anytime soon.
The balloons totally disrupted school though because when the bell went at 9, no one wanted to move, they were giving up and down rides to the kids if they had parents there at the time, so many of the classes stood around and watched the balloons and then about 9.20 the balloon finally ran out of gas so they had to fold it down, the kids loved watching how fast they grounded the balloon and folded the canvas up, it was fascinating to watch.
think there will be many stories written today at school about how the balloons came to the school.
Such fun, thanks to Rebecca's dad for giving the school such joy on a glorious Friday morning.

I am also loving my weight lose.
Yes I lost another 500g (1.1lb) this week taking my total to 2kg (4.4lb).
Slow and steady still working and that is all I wanted.

Why don't you pop over to Paisley Jade where she is hosting this weeks Things I'm Loving for us to all join in with. Always great to get a boost of good feelings from others.

Weight Lose

Although it is not been mentioned much I am making an effort to loose some weight.
I have joined Weight Watchers at work and am plodding along slow and steady.
But then in my mind it needs to be slow and steady to maintain, I find if you have a huge blow out of weight loss then you tend to put it back on again the next few weeks because you go back to eating normal again.
That is also why I am doing WW, I want to see how I am loosing weight whilst still eating normal everyday food, whether it be in the same portion as before or by making the portions slightly smaller. That way I know what is working and am not stressed out about having just had a chocolate bar or 3 lollies from the packet.

I am in awe of anyone who can loose weight via shakes and soups and then maintain that when they stop eating those set items.
I couldn't and that was a strength I recognised straight away.
This week I have still had a loss but not as great as previous weeks, but then I know there have been a few influencing factors and maybe next week will be different.
Seeing as this has only been a 3-4 week journey so far then I am not worried, I think you need that first month to encounter all the challenges that life throws your way. You see the differences in weight loss for each week and now know how to deal with it in the coming weeks/months.

So I am expecting nice things for the week a head, a nice weight loss and steady going. I know what went wrong in the last week and now what is good. So slow and steady will continue on, little steps by little steps.

Inspiration

One of the most common topics amongst girlfriends is what latest diet is anyone on? Does it work and how much have you lost?

As females it seems to be that we have a perpetual craving for diets and loosing weight.

Now I will be the first to admit that I don't follow diets, well maybe I follow that "Sea Food Diet" you know the one "See Food will eat it diet"!
I have always been happy with my weight, however if I am not happy then it never seems to bother me enough for me to want to do anything about it.
I liked my weight when I got pregnant the first time and even though there were a few more kilos involved when I got pregnant the 2nd time, I was not bothered.
I have certain clothes in my wardrobe that in fact look fabulous on me, not sure whether I have learnt to dress for my shape or whether they just suit me, I don't know, but damn I look great in them.

However if anyone does want to go on a diet then I think they need to be in the right mind set for it, I do also think that you can only diet when you are ready for it, when it hits home to you and you know you want to do something about it, not just the "I really should go on a diet but I can't be bothered" moment.
You always hear about people who saw a picture or tried to do something and then suddenly realised that something had to be done. Almost like they got inspired.
I feel that that inspiration is what puts you in the right mind set.

Well that inspiration has hit, I have seen the light or the picture or the video what ever it was that gave me inspiration.
Those 10 extra kilos I have from my 2 kids are now at war with me. They want to stay and I want them to go!
I am not going to be wild and try and get them out within 10 weeks but they will be leaving bit by bit.

Steve is all behind me on this, well he was until he realised that by default he is involved as well!!
He suddenly has to be aware of what he is eating too. Not going to do him any harm to loose some as well although we have to consider his diabetes in all of this and make sure it is all still managed sufficiently, however loosing some weight will be good for his diabetes.

He told me that he needed to get his fitness in shape this year, so I got him a pedometer (we both have one; 10,000 steps a day here we come) and I am amazed at how much it has been used so far. He has worn it from morning till night religiously and comments each night on how many steps he has completed that day. maybe this will be his inspiration to reach his goal.

Let's just hope our inspiration can stick around for a while

Weight

I seem to have lost some weight!!
Not sure where I put it or when I lost it........but having said that I am not going to be putting up a sign asking for it back!

Like most people I am sort of consious of how much I weigh and whether I need to loose any weight.
I am happy with how I am but know that I could always loose a couple of kilos to get me back to my pre baby days, all mums know where I am coming from with this.

What is so surprising about this weight lose is that I haven't actually been doing anything big to warrent it!
I am not worried that there is anything medical going on, I think it is more that I am just being aware of what I am doing and eating.
I read somewhere that when you start to eat your dinner you should aim to eat half of it.
Then stop, take a breath and then plan to eat half of what is left, but at the same time you need to listen to your body. If it is starting to tell you it is full, then stop eating.
So I have been trying this. I have been eating all the same stuff, but just making my portion a little smaller, eating a little slower and actually listening to my body.
I am not determined to finish all my meals now because when my body is telling me it is full I stop.
Same with snacking in the evenings, I stop and think about whether I actually need it and also can I fit it in?
Seems to be working cause the 2 kilos I have lost is not much, but better than having them.

So now I am making a consious effort, being a little more active, thinking about what and when I eat. Just little things that could make a small difference.

Half Ton Dad

Last night I watched a programme about a guy that weighed over 1000lb in the US, that is about 470kg.

They didn't dwell too much on how he got to this size, just more looking at what the hospital and famous Gastric Surgeon was going to help him with to reduce his size.

One area they breifly touch on was how he had got to this size when he could no longer walk? They never actually came right out and said that his partner was to blame but they may as well have, because she was the one bring him the food.

At the end of the programme it mentioned that the family, now that he was out of hospital, was now receiving nutritional support and therapy! They should have been receiving this the whole time he was in the hospital because every shot they showed you throughout the show was of them eating take aways - Burger King, Wendy's etc

His daughter had a baby whilst he was in the hospital and at one stage they showed you the mother letting her 4 month old baby try a Wendy's hamburger!

This family never sat at the table to eat their meal.

So many things were jumping out at me that was wrong, yet their worry was this guy and getting his weight down. He still wasn't totally mobile when he came home from the hospital 8 months later and I was afraid that as he was still dependant on his family to bring him his food that things may go backwards instead of forwards?

They also followed a 19 yr old who had got to the point of no return. He had one thing in his favour and that was the fact he could still walk himself to the bathroom. In fact he walked himself out to the ambulance when they came to collect him to take him to hospital.

His mother admitted that she was to blame as she mothered him too much and gave him what ever he wanted, but when ever he wanted food, she made it and brought it to him whilst he sat in his chair.

If he could move, even with difficulty, he should have still be attempting to walk to the kitchen to get the food, at least the moving around would have been doing him some good?

But no his mother spoilt him rotten, literally.

It was an interesting programme from the theatre nurse side as it is only in the last 3-5 yrs that we have started operating here on patients that are larger than the recommended 140kg weight for the operating table. To see them operating on this guy, who yes had lost a lot of weight by the time they did the first operation, he was down to 600lb / 270kg.

It was still amazing to comprehend it all, just the sheer size for the anaesthetics alone was amazing.

At the end of the programme their talked to one of the main ladies involved with this and asked her if this amazed her, the size the man had got too? Her answer was that sadly no, she expected to see larger people soon.