Hard to believe its April tomorrow! Tomorrow I will have completed 12 weeks on the WW program. Thats pretty cool eh? I'm really not sure what the scales will show up, but I'm hoping to get to my 15kg, that would be so cool! I have worked really hard at it, not that its hard, but there is still a commitment from me that this is going to be my year, a year of lifestyle change that will set me up for the rest of my life. Now that I've had my motivational burst out hehe - I'm feelin a lil frazzled :( I have so many things I need to do and I dont know how and where to start - I need more hours in the day! ... How pathetic does that sound? Everyone would like more hours in their day right? So whats such a big deal about mine? Today was a bit of waste of space, I spent most of my day in meetings and even though the meetings were valuable and accomplished something, I feel like I havent done any work. But its more than just work, theres external things I havent spent any time on and I need to such as giving my friend Raewyn a call, I've been meaning to do that for weeks now. Give Gena a call and talk to her about some stuff I said I would find out for her. Give Craigs Cousin who came out from the UK a call and wish her a safe trip home. Send emails to my sister and brothers in ozzie, send a note of thanks to Monica in Nelson for the lovely birthday cake. Go out and buy my niece her birthday present, book a hair appointment, purchase my new great nephew a welcome to this world present. Ring my mum and sister. See what I mean? Right tomorrow night I'm going to get on the phone and I'm going to start ringing people. I have to I am really naughty. Today I was great with my points, I also managed an hours walk after work with Jack, we walked 3.5k and I LOVEDDDDDDDDD it. I mean it, it was great to get some fresh air and just clear my mind of all these thingsssssssss thats a whizzing through it. when ya think about it, i could have written a couple of emails in the time its taken me to update my diary - but ... I need to do this also :o This was my day today, see what you think - am I cluttering it too much?
5:45am I' get kicked out of bed
6:15 I'm showered, make up'd, dressed and grabbing stuff for my breakfast, writing up my plan
6:30 We are on the road to work
7:15 I'm at work and starting my day - doing email, starting my website updates
8:30 first meeting - get action points
9:30 - an hour spent looking at email again, responding, actioning items trying to get to website
10:30 second meeting - attending a team meeting to talk about the governance process
12:00 have lunch and catch up with a friend
1:00pm - photo shoot for the staff magazine/publication
1:30pm - third meeting - a brainstorm session to finalise a report for management
2:30pm - fourth meeting - a meeting with an audit group who need information about my GB role and processes to identify risks - they are preparing a management report
3:30pm - back at desk, trying to get some closure from feedback, dealing with new issues
4:30pm - leave work to catch the train
5:15pm - Craig picks me up at Silverstream and he drops me at home before going to the pub
5:30pm - Jack and I head out for a walk
6:30pm - Jack and I stagger in through the door, I grab water and let the dogs in to play
6:45pm - Dogs get fed and watered (again)
7:00pm - I write up my WW diary and reflect on my day
7:15pm - log onto PC to check email - get interrupted by phone
7:30pm - head down to pub to pick Craig up
8:00pm - Craig and I sit down and have dinner and a catch up on our days
8:30pm - I hit the books - I have an assignment due 12 April and I'm a little worried about it
9:30pm - I close my books and finish my email checking, update my online diary
10:15pm - time for bed - probably will read until 10:30pm
Tell me I'm overexaggerating my day! I need an action plan, tomorrow I need to get on the phone and do my personal catchups - that will make me feel a whole lot better I think :)
Tuesday, 30 March
Today I was at home on study leave. I am beginning to stress about getting my next assignment in. This is the paper that I thought would be a piece of cake, but for some reason I'm really struggling with it. Anyway, today I read four chapters and wrote notes and have since completed one of the essays which involved cutting clippings from a paper/magazine and writing some stuff about it. That was the easy part, now I'm having trouble with the other two essays - luckily I spoke to my tutor today and he put me straight on a couple of things. This morning I started my day off with a lovely long walk with Jack ... and YESSSSSSSSSS I wore my new shoes with no aches or pains! Because I've been getting fitter, my walks which used to take me 50 minutes are now only taking me 40 minutes, so that means I have to walk faster or walk further. I decided on a new route this morning and I started pounding the pavement. It took me 1 hour exactly and I was sooooooooo energised by the time I got home it was fantastic! Then this afternoon I took Calais on the blue mountains road walk, it took me 40 minutes - so exercise wise it was fantastic. Today I walked 5.8 kms - I know I will sleep well tonight ;) Its such a wonderful opportunity to be able to work from home like I do, it means that I can take my walks in the morning and it prepares me perfectly mentally for my study ahead. I was able to knuckle down for a solid 3 hours this morning and not feel mentally fatigued it was great! Not sure how the scales will react this week, we'll just have to wait and see ... oh and Craig reckons I'm getting ankles and my calves are getting skinnier :D
Monday, 29 March
I wonder what I'm going to be like when I'm slim? I'm starting to feel slimmer - understandably so I guess, I have lost nearly 15kg. I guess being so big anyway, its going to take a while for people to start noticing. The comments have started already, especially at work - people saying my face is alot slimmer. I put on a shirt today, that I could never get done up around my belly and it fits now - its still tight, but it does up :) A friend at work said to me ... have you noticed you are wearing make up more often to work now? I wasnt quite sure what to make of that - maybe I do look better with make up (I'm talking foundation here, I've always worn eye makeup). I guess it does boost my ego, it does make me feel more confidence and better in myself. Funny isnt it? how some beige creamy stuff ya rub on your face can do that to a person? Is it an excuse for a mask or does it really enhance something thats already there? Craig said to me tonight that people had been commenting about me, in regards to my weight loss. Of course, I couldnt help but try and find out who, turned out to be a friend of ours (male) so I was quite chuffed about that, its nice to have that kind of feedback. Craig also told me about a dream he had last night ... he was out with some mates and they were wakling along the street and he spied a woman walking across the street, he thought to himself ... wow shes a bit of alright! and told his mates about her and they said ... of course she does shes your wife! He said he remembered looking at this woman in a knee length black leather skirt and thinking wow! when did she lose that weight? We had a really good giggle about that. I asked him what he thought it would be like when I was slimmer, did he think anything would be different. He said that he loves me whatever I look like - which is just adorable, but I know he'll be so proud of me also. I think he really thinks more about the extra things we can do together, rather than what I look like. I think he thinks about our interactions together when we go out, or doing motor cycling and things like that - something that you can still do when your fat, but its just not the same look I suppose is what I am thinking. A fatchick on a harley in tight leathers? ... I dont think so :) Anyway, thats my pondering for today, rather interesting really, gives me some thoughts to ponder for the week. My points have been ok today, I didnt get out for a walk as I didnt get home until after 6:30 tonight and it was dark, plus I was STARVINGGGGGGGGGGGG so I made a lovely WW chicken mushroom fettucine with light evaporated milk - IT WAS DEVINE, I'm allowed to make that again ;) Anyway, my electric blanket is on and I'm going to snuggle wiff hubby and a good book :)
Sunday, 28 March
Shame on me, I didnt update yesterday! :o Craig went to Nelson this weekend, we had "brunch" at the airport. We did want to get to a nice cafe but we ran out of time and instead had to settle for disgusting hamburgers and chips - NOT A WISE CHOICE HELENA - I'm quite disappointed in us actually, I should have been able to do better than that. Anyway, what is done is done and I'm sure it will show up on the scales on Thursday. I went out for a quick walk with Jack yesterday morning but my blisters started playing up again so it was only 15 minutes. I've decided that I need to get them healed so that I can run my new shoes in and get WALKING! after all thats what I spent $259 for right? This morning I jumped on my exercycle for about 5 minutes, it was ok, its pretty crappy but it got my heart rate up and man my legs were like jelly after it ! I have been bad with my points Friday/Saturday - going over and I havent made any exercise points up to compensate for it. ho hum
Friday, 26 March
I did something really cool this morning. I had to deliver a box of stuff to our National Office site in Hawkestone Street and instead of catching a taxi back to the office, I walked! .. Yep, I walked down Molesworth St, up Lambton Quay and Willis Street and across to Manners St. It took me 30 minutes (I did stop at gawk at Pascoes, bought some bread rolls for lunch at New World and stopped at the bank too) so .... I saved the organisation $10 and made a good exercise choice for myself. The 30 minutes I deducted off my lunch break, so no I didnt swan off in company time :p Craig and I went down the Stokes Valley Cossie Club for dinner, I had fish n wedges and veges. The first time I've had battered fish in 11 weeks. It was quite nice, not too fatty, the batter wasnt dripping at all. I must say I do have a bit of a belly ache right now, probably not used to the fat like that. I had a really successful day at work today, got a heap of things done and received some brilliant feedback from one of our senior managers so I'm really buzzing. When I got home I took Calais out for a quick walk (my blisters arent healed enough to wear my swanky cool shoes too far) hopefully tomorrow I might be able to go abit further. I really miss my longer walks :(
Thursday, 25 March
I lost 1.1kg this week - total of 13.4, pretty cool eh? I really didnt know what to expect when I jumped on those scales today. Most weeks I think, yep its going to be cool but this week I really wasnt sure what to expect. Oh yeah, my first assessment came back from marking and I got an A- (75%) so I'm absolutely stoked about that! I'm starting to get a little apprehensive about the other paper, it just isnt "clicking" for me and I'm finding it really hard to put into words but I have to knuckle down and get it sorted - its due in for marking on Easter Monday, so somehow I see me going right to the wire in getting it completed. Today was a really busy day at work, I dont feel like I actually acomplished much but I know I did. Nearly the end of the week anyway. My sister popped out and had dinner with us tonight, we had home made pizza mmmmmmm pita bread bases with left over roast chicken from last night - it was yum! AND only 9 points!
Wednesday, 24 March
wow so much happened today! I got up early and went out with Jack at 6:45 this morning in my new walking shoes :) It was a lovely morning, nice and light now with daylight savings - were were out for 40 minutes. Its funny because when i first started doing this walking circuit 3 weeks ago it took me 50 minutes! something must be working! Unfortunately I have to report that my wonderful walking shoes while curing my sore arches have now given me HUMUNGOUS blisters on the back of my heels and I'm probably going to be out of action for a couple of days while they heal ... *frown* ... stoopid huh? So anyway, I worked at our Upper Hutt office this morning, I facilitated a workshop for managemnt. It went really well and they all participated well and then gave me some really poositive feedback so thats all good. I did my groceries, got home unpacked them, had some lunch and then headed down the Drs to get my stitches out (I had a mole removed a week ago). Thankfully the results came back fine, no nasties involved and the stitches were removed painfree and the cut is healing well! I got home about 3:30 and got some study in before Craig came home from work. I have weigh in tomorrow, I'm always positive, not sure how positive, but I am positive ;) ooh andddddddd I have put my name down on the waiting list at the Silverstream gym *gulp* how scarey is that??? I was looking to join a gym around June, but I thought it would be nice to workout close to home, it'll be interesting to see how long it takes before I get a phone call.
Tuesday, 23 March
Another good day today. Started off early again with getting a lift with Craig to Petone and getting into work by 7:15am. I had a heap of breakfast this morning and then when I got to work I was hungry again. I managed to get a couple of snacks in along with my lunch during the day and my darling Craig cooked dinner for us - Pork Chop and Pasta mmmmm 8 points hes a star! I had a bit of retail therapy today, more from necessity than just a general splurge. I went to Shoe Connection in town and got some proper walking shoes. The guy that served me was great, he really knew my stuff. I had to walk on a sensor pad to get an understanding of how my foot operates. Hehe, it was really funny as I had to walk at a normal pace and place first my left foot directly onto the sensor pad. That was fine but when it came to lining up my right foot ... do you think I could???????? hehe I had to have about 6 goes at it. Anyway after that he measured the length and width of my foot and then bought out a couple of pairs of shoes to try. He explained to me that my foot rolls as the heel hits the ground and then moves through to my toes. This would explain why my foot has been aching lately, as my old sneakers were supporting this rolling action. He then showed me how walking shoes work, they are flexible through the toes, but they dont twist through the arch area and therefore are much more supportive to stop that rolling action. They also feel great on! and so very light and comfortable. So ... $259 later *gulp* I wandered back to work. They should last me about 1000kms, now if I'm walking 3-5kms per day they should last me about 260 days, give or take the odd K here and there they should last me a year - less than a $1 a day. (this is my self justification talk going on here). Work has been super busy, it always is around the board meetings, plus there are a few initiatives my boss is wanting me and a colleague to progress. I was good with my points today, I walked about 1km as part of my daily routine and then I took Jack for a walk this evening we were out for about 45 minutes - its a bugger its getting dark so early.
Monday, 22 March
I had a fab day today. Got up early and went to work with Craig, he dropped me at Petone Rail. I had to finish my minutes from my board meeting on Friday and got those done in record time which is always good. A few of us then spent about an hour in a brainstorm session to get sort out the IT Business Plan. We have to present something to Management next Monday, so we knew we had to get cracking. Lunch arrived before I knew it and then I left just before 4pm. I did really well with my points today, probably should have ate a bit more during the day, but I did drink alot of water and peed a lot this afternoon hehe. Calais and I went for a walk up Blue Mountains this evening - record time of only 40 mins! When I first started walking that circuit it took me 50 mins! that was about 3 weeks ago - so I'm really rapt with that :) I need to buy myself some new walking shoes. My sneakers are wearing down but they are also giving me problems with my arches. I'm going to have to bite the bullet and invest in a good pair - it was going to be a treat for reaching one of my goals, but with the amount of walking I'm doing I shouldnt jeapordise my feet eh?
21 March 2004
I had a real treat this morning. We had bbq'd bacon and potato medallions for breakfast! So for 8 points I had bacon, potatoe cakes, toast, coffee and tomatoe sauce mmmmmmmmmm, I've worked out I can still have salad sandwiches and a hot cross bun for lunch as well as steak, wedges, corn on the cob and salad, followed by jelly and icecream! takes me right up to my 26 points. WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO This is definately not dieting, but what a way to go for a lifestyle change! hehe I had to get some pain killers from the Chemist this morning, I've done something to my foot, internally, I dont know if its the arches or what, but its really sore, feels like I'm trying to talk on a cricket ball or something. I'll have to keep an eye on it. The party last night was a bit of humour - it was frightening seeing all the old gear I used to wear as a teenager! Mesh, beads, lace, leather, pastels, neon brights .... frightening. For Cherie (whos birthday party it was) present I said I would make her a mini birthday album, so I know there were some awesome photos being taken on the digital cameras - I think if she picks out about 20 photos we should be able to make an awesome album! We got home about 1am and then remembered to put our clocks back for daylight savings ... we are on the slippery slope into winter now :(
20 March 2004
Had a bit of a sleep in this morning it was great, got up about 9 and took Jack out for a walk. I've got a bonus buddy from WW which I now wear in my waistband. On a daily basis it tells me how many steps I take, how many kilometres I've travelled and how many bonus points I've earned! This morning I walked for about 45 minutes and we covered 2.3kms. Tonight we are going to an 80's theme birthday party. I've got my outfit organised, I thought I might hot roll curl my hair and then foo foo the front and top and slick back the sides with a couple of combs I've decorated with beads and sequins. Its going to be a laugh! I'm still undecided if I'll be drinking tonight or not. I know everyone else is going to get plastered, but I really dont want to jeapordise all my good work, that and the fact that it will be bloody expensive catching a cab home. Maybe I could just sit on a couple of wines and see how I go? I think that will be the best option.
19 March 2004
Okay I've been really slack, things have sort of ticked along and next thing I know I realise I havent progressed my journal like I should be. This software for creating my journal is a little difficult to get the hang of, but hey, its free and its a good motivator so I MUST persist!
So what's been going on ? WELLLLLLLLLL, WW has been a breeze! Seriously I have to keep thinking to myself, surely losing weight cant be this easy? I've been following my food plan really well, not going over points and exercising nearly every day earning bonus points too! YEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAA You can tell something is working for me because I've now lost 12.3kg over 10 weeks... incredible huh? I've been taking my measurements on a monthly basis and my clothes are starting to feel much more comfortable on me. Today for the first time, someone at work noticed and said how healthy I was looking and my face looked slimmer. Another person asked me if I had new glasses, they thought something was different but couldnt work out what it was hehe ... how cool huh?
I saw my sister-in-law tonight, the first time in 6 weeks and she just about freaked out! It was a real buzz. The last time I saw her was when she took my first photo - the one on the front page of this website! I had my photo taken again tonight so as soon as I get it I'll post it on here and we can have a bit of a compare.
Anyway, I'm going to keep this diary going now, I think its important for me to write stuff down. Helps me clear my thoughts and give me time to reflect and concentrate on me :) - after all thats what this is all about right?