Sorry I haven't been here for a few days. We have our nieces staying and they have certainly kept me busy! For the most part they have been very well behaved and everyone has gotten on wonderfully. Today though they seem to be getting a bit narky with each other and I am well and truly over it. I thought that they were going home today but it looks like it will be tomorrow at the earliest. On top of that I had a bit of an argument with DD (12 going on 21) so all in all it hasn't been the best day. I can't wait till DH gets home so I can go to the gym. I'm finally going to do that Step class I keep talking about! Then I think it will be subway for dinner as I can't really be bothered cooking.

Didn't get much exercise in over the weekend, although we did take the dog for a walk. Food wise I've been okay so hopefully the scales will still be kind to me on Wednesday.

Better run and see what these kids are up to now. Be back later.

Another Kilo Gone Forever

Yesterday was weigh-in day and I'm very happy with the scales - 1kg loss this week. Was a bit surprised about this as I hadn't exercised much over the Easter Weekend. Won't be long and I'll be an 80's girl!

Exercise-wise I've been okay - walked 7km yesterday and 5km today (storm came mid-walk). Haven't been able to get to the gym due to combination of school holidays and work. Tomorrow night I will definately be there and Saturday I'm finally, finally going to do the Step class.

Tried out some hand weights on my walk this morning and what a hilarious sight it must have been lol. Certainly made our walk very amusing. I went shopping this morning to get new joggers but didn't find any in my size. Trust me to have big feet (size 11), so I will be off to another shopping centre on the weekend. I was very happy though when I picked up a size 18 jacket and could fit into it. That elation was short lived when I realised I couldn't fit into the same size pants. They had a really narrow waist though (tight elastic) so that wouldn't have helped. Oh well not to worry I will fit into them soon.

Well I had better get going, have my nieces arriving soon to stay for a few days.

Confession Time

Well after getting to Monday and thinking Yippee I got through Easter relatively unscathed (egg wise), it all went a bit downhill that evening. We walked our dog and when we got home got chatting to our neighbours - 6hrs later we got home lol. We ended up having a couple of drinks and I probably had 2 cans of bourbon and coke. To top it off we were so busy chatting etc that I never ended up having any dinner. The kids had some hot chips, party pies etc but I steered clear of that.

I'm not going to beat myself up about it as me drinking is probably a once a year thing, if that. I've just put it behind me and move on.

Still haven't managed to get to a Step class. Not happy Jan. Looked at the timetable and no class on today. Tomorrow I'm working and then in the evening there is Pump. I will probably go to that instead for this week.

Tomorrow is also weigh-in day and it will be interesting to see how I have gone this week.

Back tomorrow with scales result.

Well Easter is over again for another year. Probably a good idea as there is so much temptation around with all this chocolate! I did have one small easter egg but as it was only 2.5 pts I figured that was okay.

I didn't get to do a Step class on Saturday as the gym cancelled classes due to not enough numbers. I'll have to check the timetable and see if there's a class on tomorrow. If so I am definately there.

Easter Sunday was our nieces 6th birthday and what an "interesting" day it turned out to be. Bil and Sil live 2 streets away so we walked around to see niece for her birthday. Bil was out in yard when we get there and said Hi, he then went in for a shower and that was the last we saw of him ALL DAY. Very weird, Sil was also not very talkative and we have since found out that there are some issues there. Everyone felt so sorry for the birthday girl. She and her brother ended up having a sleepover at our house last night. There was a birthday cake and I was very good and resisted the temptation (and all the other eggs I was offered).

It looks like camping is off and I must admit to not being too upset lol. This morning when I woke up it was freezing and all I could think of was what it would be like camping in such cold weather. Much better idea to go over the Christmas holidays. So now we are thinking of taking the kids to either Luna Park or Taronga Zoo next Saturday. I'm sure the kids vote will be for LP.

We also have 2 of our nieces coming to stay for 3nights on Thursday. They live about an hour away and came down for a week in the last school holidays and had a ball. It will be good as it will keep the kids occupied and they won't bug me to go places all the time.

Have to share an amusing conversation that I had with another of my SIL's. In the past we have attended WW's together and she knows that I have lost weight etc. So she asks me if when I lose the weight that I want am I going to get fat again for 9 months lmao. She said my nephew (who has just turned 1) would love another little cousin roflmao. Had a good laugh at that one. Mind you she is due to have a baby in June and knows that I would love to have another baby. I don't know if I will though.

Well that's about it for today be back tomorrow.

Slowly Does It....

Walking that is! After the Pump class last night I've been a bit sore today. Was a bit slack on the exercise today, although I did take the dog for a half hr walk.

I think I might finally get to try out Step tomorrow, just have to double check that its on lol. Will be very interesting as I'm not the most co-ordinated person. Maybe with it being Easter there won't be many there to witness this hilarious event.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Yippee!!

I finally made it back to the gym today. I've been itching to get back there for the last 2 wks but wasn't really well enough to go.

I went to a Pump class and it was a fairly small class. I got all set up at the back of the room and thought "Great no-one will be standing behind me" Wrong. Someone came in and was behind me. So I'm standing there thinking " Well he isn't going to be getting a great view lol". Oh well I stayed there as it would be a bit obvious if I moved.

The gym is closed tomorrow so I will be back there again on Saturday, hopefully for a Step class (have to check timetable).

Onto Wednesday's weigh-in - I lost 600g this week which is pretty good considering I hadn't done much exercise for that week. This brings my total weight loss to 11.2kgs!!

Didn't do too well on Week 1 of the LITS No Excuses 6wk challenge. My Wk 1 Challenge Goals were:

Walk minimum of 5kms each day - only did 5 out of 7 days.
Walk dog each day(seperate to above) - nope think we went 2 days
Lose 1kg - nope
Try step class - no not well enough to go.
Drink 2L water a day - Managed 1.5L daily so will have to work on that this week.
Blog everyday - another no :(

I've been thinking over the last few days that I'm going to have to investigate toning exercises so that I don't get all flabby. I know that loose skin is going to be inevitable but I'd like to do as much as I can to minimise it.

Takeaway options is going to have to be investigated too. Up until now if we are out at the shops for lunch or are having takeaway for dinner I will have a 6inch sub with under 6g fat from Subway. I would love to have some more options so that I can confidently order something other than Subway.

Camping still looks to be going ahead. We are going on 25th April and coming home on 28th. I'll have to start a checklist of what we need to take as we've never been camping before. Also have to put our tent up on the weekend to see if it is big enough. I'm also going to have to put a bit of thought into what food I will be eating while there.

Well i'm sure I've rambled on enough. I will definately be back tomorrow.

Another uneventful couple of days. I'm really starting to feel guilty/frustrated that I haven't been able to go to the gym for so long. However I know that it just wouldn't have been a good idea, both for my sake and other members.

A friend and I have decided to take our children camping in the school holidays. Just for 2 nights and to a caravan park lol. It is right on the beach and has some wonderful facilities. I'm thinking that it will be a good introduction to camping and then next time we can rough it lol. We are going to get up early and take the kids for a walk along the beach etc which should be fun. Other than that I don't have anything planned for the school holidays.

Not really sure what the scales are going to say tomorrow. Food side of things hasn't been too bad but bit unsure about the exercise side. I have done some exercise but not as much as I should. Couldn't really be helped though as I was not well enough to hit the gym. Add to that TTOM and it mightn't be too promising. Oh well we will see tomorrow.

I'll be back in the morning to report on the scales and my week 1 challenge goals.

Renae

A Big Thankyou To DH

Tonight my husband surprised me. Without me knowing he got our wedding video (done by relative) and our daughters ultrasound video transferred on to dvd as the tapes were getting a bit old. Our wedding video is extra special to me as my father passed away not long after. Now that they are on dvd I don't have to worry about losing those very special memories.

Apart from that it was a fairly boring day as I worked all day. Tonight for dinner Cameron and the kids had tacos but I wasn't too sure how healthy they are so I had a WW Ham and Pineapple Pizza.

The plan for tomorrow is to get up at 6 for my walk and then do a Pump class at 5.30.

Well I'd better head off to bed. Back tomorrow.

Oopsie I forgot to blog yesterday. Not that anything too exciting happened. Yesterday my daughter's home science class had a cafe and mum and I were invited (Hubby couldn't get the day off work). Food was lovely although not completely low-fat. I had 2 ham and pineapple scrolls (fairly small) and 1 mini quiche lorraine. Oh and 1 small choc-chip cookie. I also had a fruit salad. So I decided that was lunch and I'd better not have any more until dinner lol.

I also got up early and went for my walk yesterday. Was good but gee it is cold at 6am!

We had a quiet night at home watching the football, which is pretty much our usual Friday night activity. Cameron's (DH) dad rang which was, as per usual, a conversation all about himself and cameron's half sister and brother. Cam's parents split up when he was 2 and his father went on to remarry and had 2 more children. His step mother wouldn't "let" him have anything to do with Cameron and so they didn't have too much to do with each other for a while. When he turned 18 he got sparing visits but has basically done jack all for hubby.

A couple of months ago FIL had a gastric bypass and every so often rings to tell us how much weight he has lost. Well apparently now he has lost 30kgs. Good for him but gee it'd be nice if he could take an interest in his son's life. His other fave topic of conversation is my brother in law Simon who is 21. Apparently he is taking Simon to Melbourne to see The Rolling Stones. Last year he paid half of his daughter's trip to New Zealand.

I don't know I just feel very sorry for Cameron. Anyways that's enough of that drivel.

Today we went shopping, did a bit of gardening and then mum came over for a few hrs. Brooke and Aaron both have friends staying.

I still have an awful cough and am definately heading to the chemist tomorrow to get something for it. It's driving me, and everyone else, batty. If it would go I'd be fine.

Well I'm going to go and climb in bed. Be back tomorrow.

Renae

Chicken Potato Bake

CHICKEN POTATO BAKE
Serves 4 @ 6 points per serve

3 med potatoes, peeled & sliced thinly
500g chicken breast fillet, sliced thinly
grated vegies (carrots, zucchini)
chopped broccoli & cauliflower
handful shredded ham
grated lite cheese
herbs (oregano, season all, parsley)
535g can Creamy Condensed Chicken soup

Preheat oven to 190c. Coat an ovenproof dish with cooking spray. Arrange half the potatoes over the base of the dish. Layer the chicken and vegetables on top, then layer ham. Sprinkle with the herbs. Pour ½ soup over it. Top with the remaining potatoes. Pour over rest of the soup. Top with grated cheese, season all & herbs. Bake in the oven for 50-60 mins or until the vegetable and chicken are tender.

Some Very Scary Pics

I thought I'd share 2 photos. The top one was taken yesterday for the LITS 6wk challenge.The bottom photo of Brooke and I was taken after her Yr6 farewell December 2004. Both are very scary pics lol. I very rarely have my photo taken and if I do it is head shot only.

I was looking at them earlier to see if I could see a difference and to be honest I'm not sure.

I've been getting really frustrated today as I still can't go to the gym. I have this persistent cough that is very annoying. It's a dry, hacking cough. Don't really want to go distracting people at the gym and/or dropping a weight on my foot lol.

I did get up at 6am for my walk though. I've now done 15kms in the last 3 days. I think I will have to increase it soon as it isn't taken as long to walk.

Well not much else to add today so think I will head off to bed.

Be back tomorrow.

Renae

What A Surprise!

I got a huge surprise this morning when I weighed myself - a 1.4kg loss!! Can honestly say I have no idea how I pulled that off. My eating has been okay but due to a cold I didn't do much exercise. Only 1 RPM class and 1 walk for the week. I have updated my stats and also added my overall challenge goals for the LITS No-Excuses 6wk challenge.

Tonight I have to get hubby to take my photos and measurements for the challenge.

Forgot to mention yesterday that I also have a walking buddy now. A friend is going to walk every morning with me. She walks down to my house at 6.15 (20 min walk to my place) then I will walk back with her and walk home myself. So that will be a 40 min walk each morning and 5kms. I think that I will have to increase the walk as time goes on as it didn't take as long to do today as it did yesterday.

I thought I'd jot down my Week 1 Challenge Goals here too:

Walk everyday for at least 5kms
Walk Rebel everyday (seperate to above daily walk)
Drink 2L water daily
Blog everyday
Try a Step class this week
Lose 1kg

So far so good I've done my walk, blogged and had 600mls water so far.

I'll be back tonight with the dreaded measurements and maybe even a photo.

Yesterday was fairly uneventful. Still can't go to the gym due to this cold I've got so all I got to do was take the dog for a walk. Can't really count that as strenuous exercise as the dog isn't the speediest one going around lol.

Today though I've been very excited as I joined Walking With Attitude. WWA definately makes walking more fun. They have various challenges you can do ie I've started by doing a walk around Australia. After each walk I log in and enter the details and it plots it on the map and when I reach checkpoints I learn some things about the town etc. They also have a standings board for the challenges so you can/are competing against other walkers to climb up the standings board. You can also compete as teams and companies can also join their workplace up for a bit of friendly competition. A bit hard to explain really so I hope I've made sense.

So I joined up and was very keen to get out and do a walk so I could log it in! Did a 5km walk. I have to say it is hilarious trying to walk and remember everything you should be doing, such as clench butt, pull abs in, head up, standing tall lol.

Tomorrow will be an interesting day. Its my weigh-in day and I need to get photos taken for the No Excuse 6wk LITS Challenge and get my overall and 1wk goals in. Oh yeah and the elusive waist and hips need to be found and measured. I'll post all the info here tomorrow night.

Well that's about it for today. I'm off to get dinner organised. Back tomorrow.

I Wish This Cold Would Go Away!

This cold is driving me batty, well the cough is the main culprit. Sitting in the cold wind at birthday party yesterday didn't help.

It's frustrating because I really want to get back to the gym but don't think it would be very wise to do strenuous exercise until I'm better. Walking the dog might be the limit of my exercise for the next few days.

I've been good with my diet though so hopefully it will be okay on Wednesday when I weigh myself.

Was a bit bored today so I've changed the template for my blog and added my stats into the sidebar. I really like butterflies and as I couldn't find any blue/mauve templates this one will do just fine. I also figured out how to get a photo into the sidebar too. Not the greatest pic but at least you can put a face to the name now.

Had to have a bit of a laugh tonight. I was talking to mum about how I'm trying a few different recipes now and Aaron piped up with " Yeah mum's trying to get skinny" lol

Tomorrow night I'm trying another new recipe - chicken potato bake. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Time to take myself off to bed. Be back tomorrow.

Yesterday I learnt why it is important to eat breakfast. I woke up and my throat was way too sore to eat. Bad move, I felt peckish all day. I was fairly good though and stuck to low fat soup for lunch, grapes and some rice crackers and yummy beef stroganoff for tea. Oh and 2 pieces of raisin toast.

It just seemed to throw my day out and I was continually looking for healthy snacks to eat.

All in all it was a fairly blergh sort of day. You know how on the weight-loss journey you have days where you think " Can I see any change?" - well yesterday was one of those days for me. One minute I'd think yes I can tell and then the next minute I'd be thinking Who am I kidding there is no noticeable difference.

Just to add to this I decided I'd grab the tape measure and try and find my waist and hips lmao. I have to say I don't really have a clue exactly where they are and where I should measure next Wednesday for the 6wk challenge I am doing.

Just to conclude this dreary post I do think that I have lost weight from my inner thighs and my bum. The skin there has gone a bit jelly-like. Very weird. I'm guessing this is what happens when the fat goes from under your skin?

Ok enough of the dismal and on to today. Today was my nephew's 1st birthday. I was a bit down because I didn't think I should go because of my cold. After speaking to my brother I decided to go as my nephew already has a cold anyway (poor Cohen looked so miserable) and my brother and sister in law said they really wanted me to be there. So I said I'd go but sit away from people. Was a good day but just a bit chilly. Lunch was a sausage sizzle so I was a bit naughty and had a sausage sandwich with no butter plus a tiny piece of birthday cake. Tonight I will be very good and have something very low fat.

Well I think I've rambled on enough for now. Be back tomorrow.