Progress update - Kathy

It's been a tough few weeks. For some reason, when the going gets hard I get quiet. This is the time I should probably be out there, asking people for help. Still, going public with the overall goal has kept me on the straight and narrow. Just as well really, as I have been so tempted to eat everything in sight.

What's been up? Well, really, it's just the natural weight fluctuations that go with being female. Even though I know that, I am astounded by the impact that the scales going in the wrong direction can have on me. After a super-hormonal cycle, one of those that you are glad happens just once in a while, I'm back to normal (I hope).

Demoralising as it's been, I've had to really keep a close eye on things so that I didn't give up. Thank goodness for two things - I'm filling in Calorie King even when I'm having a "bad" day and I've got over $1100 in sponsorship that I'm determined to collect in May next year.

One thing that's been helping is that I'm running regularly. The days when I run are days when I can have the "not everyday" foods like pizza. When I'm running at my pace I generally burn about 10 calories a minute. I've been doing a few slower runs lately, but they (a) take longer so the calories x time equation makes up for the lower burn rate and (b) are fun because I'm running with friends.

Now that I'm feeling back on top of things, I've got a new challenge: Write your blog even when you're having a bad day!

Today's challenge: I've been out for my run, I've loaded up CK with my planned eating, all I have to do now is not go silly with the "I ran so now I can eat lots" mindset.

I'm starving!

I've been so hungry the last couple of days. Hardly any exercise to blame - just 30 mins of walking. I'm eating enough calories. I'm aiming for an average weight loss of 1/2 kg per week. The last couple of days I've been eating just a little more than I should to manage that weight loss. I just don't understand why I'm so hungry!

Maybe it's just that I'm eating properly so I'm getting to feel hungry instead of eating by habit. Hmmm. That's definitely possible. Maybe I'm not drinking enough water. Hmmm. Also possible. Maybe I'm thinking I'm hungry as a way of justifying having a little more to eat. Hmmm. Another possibility.

One thing though. I've noticed a shape change. I'm starting to feel those little hollows I get in my tummy region when I'm losing weight. I'm using that as a motivator, to keep me from eating too many snacks.

Yesterday's challenge: Not getting on the scales. Sorted! I avoided them today too.

Today's challenge: Starving.

Today's success: Going and buying a sustagen from the cafeteria instead of a muffin.

Tomorrow's challenge: I'm running and boxing tomorrow. I have to be sure not to eat heaps to compensate. I'll take a protein drink with me in the morning for 2nd breakfast. (I so should have been a hobbit!)

Progress update - Kathy

Kelly had a great week! Me, I managed to lose 400 grams last week. Overall, that's a loss of 1.6 kgs in two weeks, which is great, particularly as I went over the $1000 mark in sponsorship today. (Thanks guys.) I'm now losing weight for $55/kg. One of my friends threw in a real kicker - $1/kg but $10 for every kg over 20 kg. Then he sent me an email to check that I had more than 20 kgs to lose. That was sweet. :-)

Now, 400 grams is great, but I can't help feeling disappointed. I ate well all week and I was on track to lose over 1/2 kg. I know that the figure is low because I'm pre-menstrual this week, but knowing it and being happy with it are two different things. I'm telling myself not to stress. I do know better. There's just that bit of me that wants everything to be perfect.

The weekend was hard work, food wise, and fantastic on every other front. When I plugged my eating into calorie king the days ended up being a lot better than I'd expected. Particularly yesterday, which was helped along by a fantastic run with Kelly.

Today's challenge: D'oh! (Watching way too much Simpsons lately!) I'd forgotten that I was going out to lunch to celebrate a few birthdays, my own included. My chicken schnitzel lunch arrived with chips, which I duly ate! I didn't even try to put a few aside. I plugged it all into calorie king and ended up with a minor weight loss day. Good but I know I can do better.

Today's success: Not getting upset over a bad food choice. Getting back on track today instead of tomorrow.

Tomorrow's challenge: Staying off the scales. I think I have to work hard at forgetting the scales and concentrating on eating well.

I can do it!

A loss on the scales along with a few bad choices

You can never quite tell how much the scales are going to read, your constant reminder sitting in your bathroom everytime you walk past. Saturday is "weigh in" day and I often think "ok if I am good from M-F then I can have a splurge on saturday". Saturday then rolls into sunday and it is a domino effect. Everyday turns into a splurge day and there just doesn't seem to be an end. No more spurges - non related food rewards I think are on the agenda. I also need to make some very good food choices. I managed to resist the sausage rolls, biscuits, junk food at morning tea the other day and headed straight for the carrot/celery sticks then got back to my desk and ate my apple. I was very proud of myself as once upon a time I would have gobbled 2 or 3 sausage rolls.

Each week I will aim to loose 500gms. This week after a half successful week of tracking my food, eating the correct portions and perhaps throw in a little exercise for good measure I might have lost something. Did I...yes, a big 800gms. A loss is a loss and I am proud of my achievements even though I feel I didn't try very hard. You know you are still not satisfied when the sides of your skirts feel tight, the waist band on everything feels like it has just about cut you in half. (there is no blaming the washing machine for shrinking my clothes this time). This is how I am going to determine my weight loss over the next few months - not by the scales but the size of my clothes.

This week I have a program worked out for my exercise and am sticking to it! I am even about to prepare a menu for my weekly meals (from breakfast to dinner w/ snacks in between - so I can't go off track). It will show results on the scales this week and I will be feeling the results afterwards. Lets aim for 1kg for week 2.

A lesson learned

Well, I thought I was being really clever by choosing an entree sized pasta and tomato sauce dish at lunch on Thursday. The size of the dish was great, but I was starving when I got back to work. So hungry in fact, that I headed straight for the cafeteria where all the "good" food had gone. I ended up choosing a muffin. Not a great food choice, but it seemed sensible at the time.

When I plugged the data into calorie king I realised that I'd really short changed myself over lunch. Even my salads, which I have been dutifully making and taking to work, have more calories, and considerably more protein. Next time, I'll choose the seafood pasta!

Today was one of those meeting, meeting, meeting days, which meant that I didn't have my usual snacks, that I ate my lunch about two hours later than usual during a meeting, and that I ended up with more than enough calories to enjoy my weekly beer and pizza night. (There's always an upside, isn't there?)

Over the week, I'm well on target for my 1/2 kilo weightloss. I didn't get on the scales on Wed or Thu, but I caved in today and checked. The 400 g weight loss that showed up on Tuesday is still a 400 g weight loss. That was a relief.

Today's challenge: Only having half a pizza tonight, as the base I used had lots of calories in it.

Today's success: See above! That extra slice looked tempting, but I resisted!

Tomorrow's challenge: Like every weekend, staying on track. I find weekends the hardest.

Month of me: Yesterday I used my lavender body lotion. Today I bought myself some cape seed loaf and had a sandwich when I got home from work. I try not to make my month of me treats about food, but my other attempt was going to the library. Unfortunately, it was two seconds to closing time so I was thrown out.

Quick post

Had a good day yesterday. Managed the eating side of things well. Took the dog for a walk in the morning, which was fun.

Today's challenge: Farewell lunch for someone at work. Fortunately, the menu was circulated in advance. So many yummy choices that would have been much harder to resist when I was in the restaurant. Not a lot of healthy choices. I've selected pasta with a tomato sauce. All I have to do now is resist dessert!

A little bit of magic from my childhood

It's the first of Spring today. That means it's the first of September, which makes it the first of the month. When I was a little girl my mother told me that if I said "White Rabbits" three times out loud before I spoke to anybody on the first of the month that I would have a lucky month. I've been trying to do that for years. Each 1st of the month I remember the "White Rabbits" and I earnestly try to earn myself a lucky month by repeating the magic phrase.

This month, I woke up early (3 am), realised the date (I'm always excited by the first of September), and whispered the magic phrase. Next thing you know, Graham is asking me "What did you say?" I whispered the magic phrase again, he went "Uh huh" and we went back to sleep. I have my lucky month, he's amused because he's heard the story of the magic but never heard me try to capture it, and all's well with the world.

What any of this has to do with a weight loss challenge - well, I'm after all the help I can get. If the white rabbits can do it for me then I'm there.

Today I had my PT session with Krissi. We ran for 1:05, which is fantastic, because I have an extra hour of calories in the bank. We managed to run 7.92 km, which is also great. We ran 7.37 on Friday in 1:01. It looks like I'll make the 10 km in the Canberra Times Fun Run on 13th September, which I somehow managed to get myself signed up for. When Krissi mentioned that Fontessa was doing it, I was going to beg off joining her because it's my birthday. My first thought was "Do I want to run 10 km on my birthday?" I rephrased it to "Do I want to run 10 km?" The answer was yes so I figured the birthday factor didn't matter.

I planned for feeling hungry when I got to work, by taking a protein drink with me. In fact, I didn't really feel hungry all day. I worked out my calories before dinner, realised I had plenty of room to move, and stopped worrying that I was going to put the 1.2 kgs that I've already lost back on overnight.

Oh, I did something quite stupid today. I weighed myself again after my weigh in yesterday. I wanted to be SURE that I'd lost 1.2 kgs. I know all about weight fluctuations and I know that it makes sense to weigh once a week instead of every day, but I still climbed on those scales. To my relief, the 1.2 kgs were still gone, along with an additional 400 grams. Now, I know that I didn't lose 400 grams overnight, so I'm not getting my hopes up that it's a permanent weight loss. I've told myself that I'm not going to be silly enough to get back on the scales until Saturday. (I find weighing myself at the start of the weekend is a good motivator to stay strong.)

On the challenge front, I've been trying to work out some interim goals. Krissi suggested that I do this, as a way for her to support me as my trainer. I've been doing a lot of thinking, some of it a bit scary. I knew that once I mentioned one of my possible goals to Krissi it was as good as signing up for it because she'd agree that it was a goal worth pursuing.

Anyway, here's what I've come up with, with thanks to Krissi, Meredith and Graham, who have all had to listen to me work this out.

I'm going to set health and fitness goals for myself every 5 kgs. Once I've lost the weight, I'm going to aim for the goal.

5 kgs - run the Ben Donohoe Fun Run. It's in November, it's a cause I support, some of my running friends in Canberra have done it before, it's a fun run walk, and it would be a good one to gather together the support team and have some fun. This one wouldn't be a fund raiser for my cause, as the Ben Donohoe fund is a good cause in its own right.

10 kgs - go indoor rock climbing. I did this during the Biggest Loser challenge at Fernwood a few years ago, when I first met Krissi and the running girls. I was hopeless at it. I'd like to see if I was any better. The idea is to invite people along and hit them up for a gold coin donation to the cause.

15 kgs - run up Mt Ainslie. This is the one I was hesitating to say out loud. I've run part of it before and I've often thought "hey, wouldn't it be great if I could run the whole way". The first time I walked up the mountain, I climbed it with my friend Alex. Her offer of non-financial support for the challenge has been to walk it with me regularly. I wonder how she'll feel when she hears I'm planning to run up it. I'm going to invite people along to this one too, to celebrate with me at the top after I've hit them up for a gold coin donation.

20 kgs - run the 10km Mother's Day Classic. Run the Canberra half marathon a week later, without stopping this year.

While I was hunting out all these links, I realised that I've been a runner now for pver three years. How cool is that?

Today's success: I'm under my calorie target for the day, even though I've been able to eat more than usual.

Tomorrow's challenge: Not getting on the scales. I will not get on them. I promise!