Get behind a great cause - Walk for a Cure for Diabetes

Hi Folks. Long time, no post.For all those who checked up on me, I'm fine thanks, all is ok, I've just been really busy! Now, down to business:

I'd like to reinforce M's post about the "Walk for a Cure" / Bloggers in Joggers Day out. For the Sydneysiders, Here are the details from the JDRF website:

Walk to Cure Diabetes - Centennial Park, Sydney Sunday 16th October 2005

Come and join 15,000 walkers at the picturesque Centennial Park on Sunday 16th October for Sydney's annual Walk to Cure Diabetes.

The day will kick off from 8.30am when registered walkers can hand in their receipt books and collect their prizes. The 5 km scenic stroll will start at 10am from the Walk Village. A carnival-like atmosphere will be waiting for you when you return where there will be live entertainment, face painting, a reptile show, and much more!

You can make a difference - by registering a team in the 2005 Walk you will help JDRF raise vital funds for the best and most promising Australian diabetes research.

The Illawarra region will be holding its 2nd Walk event at Stuart Park in Wollongong with walkers gathering at 9.30am for a 10am start.

Whatever you are into you are bound to have a fabulous day knowing you are supporting world-class diabetes research.

As a BONUS of attending this day, It's a great opportunity to meet your fellow Bloggers in PERSON, an excellent way to continue the support network and concrete some friendships. M has also set up a way to donate to the cause - see her post about the day for details.

Now the best bit about this is that you don't have to register, just turn up with a smile (and maybe even an official Bloggers In Joggers Iron-On t-shirt print) and be prepared to have a great laugh and get some exercise. It's only a short walk - 5kms, which we can all do in our sleep...

So come along and join in for a great day out!

If you would like a PDF file of the Bloggers in Joggers Logo (Designed by M!) feel free to send me an email: design@phasecreative.com.au M is also kindly offering to post transfers out to people if you get in quick - see her website for details.

Hope to see a few of you there!

Getting on top things...

I have a mental to-do list about a metre long. It ranges from tax to client artwork to cleaning to buying shoes to getting focused with my eating. Knowing how long the list is, and being the queen of procrastination, I'm not likely to make it any smaller this week.

I've just dropped CB at the airport. He slept through his alarm (5-00) and missed the cab (5:45) again and luckily he has a backup of me to get him there in time for his flight 7am. Not without the grumps though, I am feeling particularly crabby this morning. TTOM has been shaking me up more than usual lately, I feel like something is out of whack, but I'm not sure what. I went for a bit of browse in GNC to see if they had any magic potions, but it was suprisingly uninteresting. I will have to do a little more research and analyse my diet to see what nutrients/vitamins/minerals I am actually missing out on before I start replacing them.

The weekend was one of indulgence. I ate yummy food, drank yummy drinks and then ate more food... I was a very bad little ww! On the upside though, my mums 50th was a fun night, a real backyard bbq with an open fire and ash in all the food :-) I took lots of photos and saw lots of people I hadn't seen since I left the mountains 5 years ago.

One of the unusual things was gong to see my opa, who is suffering from altheimers. He only sometimes remembers us kids and it was obvious this time, that he was having a good day. He was happy to see me, addressed me by name, made fun of me and then when mum and I were about to leave he said that I had 'been put through the stretcher and turned out a lady' - opa remembered me fat!!! Very weird since I've spent a enough time with him over the last 3 years.

Mum and Dad are off to Kakadoo. They arrived in Darwin at midnight last night. My mum, the amateur photographer is armed with her Digital camera and laptop and is bound to get some great photos. I hope they have a great time.

Righto, time to get ready to go. Happy Tuesday folks.

Feeling heavy, tired and unmotivated...

Before I get into the boring bits (where I bitch about stuff!) I wanted to update on the response to the Lightning Reaction game I mentioned in my last post. My brother and his mates loved it. They had a go at the table after (birthday) dinner had been cleared away and WOW - what a loud and funny game! It was hilarious to see these big tough boys cowering as they anticipated getting the electric shock. So funny. As brothers go, mine took great pleasure in making sure I got zapped regardless of the fact that the game hadn't begun. Nasty! But such a laugh...

I got up at 6 today and was on the train by 7 back from the mountains to the city. It's quite a nice train ride and goes really quickly, but I could barely keep my eyes open by the time I got to Central. I didn't have a hangover as I only had 3 drinks, but I felt lethargic when I woke up. I hate waking up feeling like I haven't slept! I went over points yesterday, as expected having afternoon tea & dinner at restaurants, but my choices weren't as bad as they could have been (date loaf for a/t and vegetarian lasagna for dinner). I figure at least there was some nutritional value to them!

Today has been long and exhausting. I started at 9 and finished at 9, caught a cab home, and have been trying to reply to my home work emails since. I know it's good to be busy, but I think I've got too much of a good thing at the moment. As a result, I feel drained of energy and I feel heavy. My clothes are tighter today too. I think the chocolate of the weekend has taken it's toll.
I haven't eaten properly today - no vegies or fruit! Here's what I ate today:

Toast (3)
Peanut Butter (2)
2 Sushi rolls (5)
ww fruit bar (1.5)
7 bbq shapes and 3 carob buds (3 ??)
Toast (2)
2 eggs (3)
1 Beer (2)

Total: 21.5

I could have not to have the beer points wise, but it felt so good. Probably the most enjoyable 10 minutes all day. Pretty sad really.

I hope I feel better tomorrow. I may try an squeeze in an extra walk to re-motivate myself. I felt better after I exercised yesterday morning.

Anyway, there is work for me to continue with so will sign off now. It's nearly Friday right??

I did ii - I Stayed on track the whole day

It's only possible to celebrate small achievements at the moment. And yesterday I only ate 20 points!:

Cereal with skim milk (3)
WW fruit bar (1.5)
Tuna & salad sandwich (3.5)

1 piece bread (1)
rice crackers & salsa (1)

2 soft boiled eggs (3)
Toast (2)
Baked beans (2.5)

Milky way (2)

Milk for 3 cups tea (.5)

Total: 20

I'm still having to easy myself off the chocolate 'binge' (for lack of a better word) I've been on the last week, but baby steps are better than eating more.

I'm going up to the mountains tonight, to visit a friend whose having a rough time at the moment, and to have a birthday dinner with my little brother who turns 23 today. It's been a long time since I caught the train up there - I would usually drive but this time I'm due back in the city at 9am and I don't want to deal with the traffic.

I've bought my brother a game called Lightning Reaction for his birthday. It gives you electric shocks on purpose! I think it's perfect toy for his sharehouse, and no doubt will give him and his mates some level of entertainment.

Righto. I've found my sneakers and am now going to hit the pavement for 30mins or so while I wait for my Clients changes to come through.

Happy Tuesday.

sad, HAPPY, sad, HAPPY, sad...

I've been a moody thing this week! Most of my moods have resulted in a chocolate binge. I've eaten a LOT of chocolate this week. I've eaten a lot of everything this week and to be honest I'm still not ready to get back to basics yet. Eating has been my comfort zone. Work has been busy and I have missed the boy and have stopped caring about my weight/health in favour of making myself feel temporarily ok with things.

I'm not sure it's going to be better next week either. after 3 nights at home (Wed, Thur, Sat), CB is off interstate again for work. I hope it ends soon. I'm sick of feeling lonely and anxious in the evenings.

On a lighter note, I've had a great weekend. Had a good chat with Mary over breakfast yesterday and then took myself to some of the warehouse shopping outlets around Alexandria. I nearly tried on 2 dresses, but when I discovered the dressing room was communal, I was out of there! I was hoping to find a black dress (ok, LBD - little black dress) for no occasion in particular. After that mission failed I took myself back home and worked until CB called from the airport to pick him up. We then went for a leisurely walk up to Newtown to find some outfits for a party we have coming up (Theme = Vintage Prom). CB found a great light blue Safari Suit! I still don't have an outfit planned, but there is plenty of time yet.

We went and saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory last night, a delightful mix of colour, music, storytelling, humour and a hint of adult evil thrown in! It was great. Highly recommend it. It doesn't steal glory from the original too much either, which I was impressed with.

Anyway, but big challenge this week is to try and regain my focus and reapply my healthy routines.

Hope you all have great weeks.

Ciao!

Monday - 20 points (so far - it's only 8pm)

So if I don't eat anything else, I should be fine. Today I've eaten:
- Cereal w Fruit & Skim Milk (3.5)
- Skim Latte w 2 Equal (1.5)

Tomato Soup & Roll (4.5)

Home made Smoothie w banana, 4 strawberries, little lite icecream and 1/4 cup Skim Milk (4)

Small serve of Spaghetti & Meatballs (5)

2 musk sticks (1.5)

Total: 20 points.

I'm going to try and track for the weekdays of this week which seems to make a difference, if only a small one!

I had a busy weekend. I worked on friday night for a few hours and till 3pm on Saturday before going to my folks. Mum was happy to have me home and we had a wonderful dinner but I discovered some sweet white wine in their fridge and mum and I ended up having way too much. My bad. Mum cooked up a wonderful roast chicken and we watched Willy Wonker (the original). I stayed overnight and mum got me up at 6 am (on a Sunday???) to go for a walk - it rained and we only got half an hour in before we were cold and wet and thinking way too much about breakfast.

I had to leave early on fathers day (10am) because I had another 5 hours of work to do before I could do my chores and then Pick CB's mum up from the airport.

Speaking of the boy, just found out they aren't leting him come home yet. So annoyed. He's been at home only 4 nights over the last 4 weeks and I really miss him around to talk to. Im glad his mum is here now so I have someone in the house with me.

RIghto, off to do more work.

Happy Healthy Weeks everyone!!

Interesting Response (Re: Something on my mind)

Hi Folks,
I've just been reading over all the comments you left on my last post - thanks for the feedback! I also read over my original post and realised I should have been more articulate, but everyone seemed to interpret it correctly.

I was particularly surprised to find that a few of you were allowed to put your Goal as simply the top of your weight range and re-evaluate it when you got there. I think that is fantastic idea and I'm glad that there are leaders who have experienced the journey and are happy to offer this kind of advice.

Another thing I forgot to raise is that the reason I thought it was important to decide your goal was so that you could go through the 6 week maintenance program and actually get some support along the way, as opposed to 'postponing' it and not getting the opportunity to go to weekly weigh-in meetings during the 'learning to maintain' process. I feel like I 'faked' maintenance because I was still trying to loose (and did) but then was like a fish out of water when I had to learn to maintain.


Anyway, I think I'll close this chapter of my blog and get back into the fun stuff, but thanks for all your interesting views - it was great to get so many responses.

Oh, and Mary, thanks for sending your people my way!

Something on my mind...

After reading through the weightwatchers forums, the bloggers journals and talking to people about weightloss in general, I have decided that the term 'Goal Weight' has become rather foggy.

As a registered weightwatcher, I set myself a goal weight of 66kg that at the time seemed rather unachievable yet it was within the healthy weight range of someone my height (167cm) and seemed reasonably far enough away that to get there would be a challenge. So 66 is my number, my GW, a number I think about a lot, probably too much.

But then came another number. 63.5. Now that one has taken up residence in my head. But I wonder why? Why couldn't I stay at 66? Well for me, 63.5 happened naturally as my motabolism was still adjusting and during my 6 week maintenance I followed the books and lost some more, then gained some and then stabilised at 63 - 65kg. So I count is as more of a re-assesment of my weight than a decision to go less, but I then realised that I can gain up to 2kg at TTOM so sitting on goal may see me constantly trying to 'lose' as opposed to learning how to maintain properly.

So here's the thing. I used to think that it's odd that people who have not experienced weightloss set 2 goals at the beginning of their weight watchers journey, but now I've worked out why and I'm a bit appalled since it seems to be a bit of a marketing ploy or something. I'm talking specifically about the ww program now. I think that by only having a 1kg 'buffer' zone between being considered 'at goal and 'not at goal' is rediculous. Weight watchers acknowledges that 'normal' stabalised weight can fluctuate up to 1-2 kg, particularly for women at TTOM. So why 1kg? Is it simply to get that extra $14.95 whenever the opportunity comes along?

I think that only having the 1kg is the reason for people setting 2 goal weights at the begining. 1 goal they think they can mantain and 1 goal that they really want to be. It's concerning me too, that people who (like me) only set a single goal and realise they probably have to lose about 1-5 kg more in order to avoid paying at the monthly weighins. It's bloody hard trying to ensure your weight does not go over your goal by 1kg when you are at your goal. Does this make sense?

I think it's really bad of ww not to see that having such a strict limitation can see people getting obsessed about their weight.

I, like most, have decided that my 63.5 "PGW" gives me enough room to move if I have a big weekend or am sick or am too busy to exercise. Basically, I would go nuts trying to 'maintain' my ww Goal weight if I was satisfied with 66.

All that said, what do you guys think? Do any fellow weightwatchers actually 'maintain' at their WWGW or do you all deliberately hover under it?

I'm also curious about the other girls who are still to reach your ww goal - to you actually want to be less but have set the number with a saftey zone?

Would love feed back on this post.

Thanks. Cath.

Lost 0.5! - A tribute to the bloggers

Ok, it has been 4 weeks since my last weigh in so I guess it really only counts as 130gs a week lost but still! A loss is a loss.

I did something odd the other night, and read through my entire blog from when I started till now. I also recapped on my first entry and realised that I've nearly achieved my goal and I'm on time too! I have lost 6.2 kg since I started this blog and I honestly don't think I would have done it with out the support and encouragement of the other bloggers. WW has let me down a bit this time round, the meeting I go to is not very supportive so I've had to rely on my blog, and following the success of others, to stay motivated.

Thanks everyone for the comments, the laughs and the constant interaction - I couldn't have got this far without you all!

So, I only have 1.1kg to go, and I have 2 weeks to do it in, which is a little difficult since my weight loss has been very slow, but I'll try and put it a bit of effort this week and the next to ensure I at least come close.

Back to work now.

P.S

M - Thinking of you - I hope you have a great reunion in adelaide and put a big smile on your mums face - your family, no doubt, will be blown away! (I read through your entire blog too this week - you have come so far!)

Mary - Kick some germy ass this weekend ;-) Catch up when you feel better

Suzy - Thanks for you comments this week. I laughed out loud at your Quick! remark! I think you are right!

Miss Jesse - Stay away from the vino!

It's late

And it's Friday. And I really should go to bed but I'm stressing about my workload, I still have about 6 hours to do before I can relax this weekend. I've just gotten off the phone to CB, he's also bloody exhausted, and has just found out that he's going to be away for part of next weekend as well. I feel bad for him and I worry that he's not eating properly, not getting enough sleep, and that he's generally unhappy and stressed non-stop. It's no fun. For me or him.

I have had a draining day. But, I think it's the first Friday since I can't remember when, that I have actually come in close to my points. Today I have eaten:

Breakfast:
- Porridge (2)
Skim Cap (1.5)
Lunch
- Fruit Scone, no topping (2.5)
- Salad (0)
Afternoon Tea
- Biscuit (1)
Dinner
- little bit of chinese (6)
- magnum ice cream (8) wish I hadn't have done the calculation on that. woah. soooo didn't taste like 8 points!!
- sml rum & dry (1)

Total 22

Note to self - No more Magnums! I can't believe that figure. It wasn't that good.

I have weigh in tomorrow - hoping for a stay the same. I know I've already mentioned this during the week, but there's nothing I can do to change the outcome now. My clothed (with shoes) weighin at home is saying 64. Hopes that's an indication. I might invest in an accurate set of scales soon.

I best get to bed. Lots to do tomorrow. Goodnight Blog.

Chocolate Quick! has changed!

I'm actually referring to Nestles Chocolate Quick. I think I have been drinking Quick since I was about 12, I think I drank enough of the stuff that it contributed fairly significantly to my weight gain when I was in highschool. Naturally, when I joined ww I immediately stopped drinking it until I felt I was in control enough to have it around me without going through a can a week. Now though, I buy it occasionally and might have it with skim milk once or twice a week. A special treat.

AND.NOW.THEY'VE.GONE.AND.CHANGED.THE.BLOODY
.RECIPE.ON.ME.AND.I'M.REALLY.UPSET!

There, Glad to get that out of my system. It tastes quite bad now. The first time I had it I thought the milk was off because the taste was so weird. But it's just the Quick. Rude.

Good thing Jarrah Chocolatte still tastes the same!!

I had a goodish day today and yesterday. Probably still having about 22 points where I should be on about 18 for weightloss, but happy enough that I can maintain and not feel deprived. I really like that fresh low fat (read: high sugar) yoghurt that you can buy at the juice bars. A small tub is about 5 1/2 points though, so best had on a special occasion. Today I had that for lunch.

Actually - Just for laughs (and 'cause I don't want to do any work right now), here's what I ate today:

Breakfast
- Raisin Toast - thick sliced, no butter or spread (4)
- Regular T/A Skim Latte with 2 equal (1.5)
Morning Tea
- Teeny weeny profitter roll (2)
Lunch
- Sml Yoghurt - Boost bar kind (5.5)
Afternoon Tea
- 1 square chocolate (1)
Dinner
- Soup (2.5)
- Vegies - Tomato, Carrot, Cucumber (0)
- Bread (2)
- Jarrah choc drink (1)
- +for milk in two cups of tea (.5)

TOTAL: 20

Anyway, better get into this client stuff.

Ciao.

Cath xx