A Huge Realisation

At the start of this year, I made a Bliss-O-Rama(similar to a vision board) with how I wanted my year to unfold. I look at it mostly every day. I was just sitting here staring at it and I have realised something amazing. Yesterday, I was in a shop trying on clothes. The shop assistant asked me what size I was. I replied that I was unsure as I had just lost 11 kilos.
Just now, I notice one of the quotes on my Bliss-O-Rama is that! It says "I've lost 11 kilos" and I have actually cut it out of a magazine! Visualisation at it's best I say!


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Out With The Old

Well the weight loss has slowed, which I know is a good thing. I lost only .3 kg this week. I was awake early this morning and so I have taken the opportunity to clear out all the clothes in my wardrobe I know don't fit me or that I used to used to hide under. I know the summer clothes will be ready to hit the racks soon (if they haven't already) and I wanted to be in a position to enjoy shopping for my new summer wardrobe. It's a great feeling!


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I Have Arrived!

As you know, thursday is weigh in day! And today is especially exciting. I knew I was close to goal and when I hopped on the scales this morning, it was to my delight that I saw I had well & truly passed my goal. This week I lost another 1.5 kg (which I would have thought at this stage would seem a lot more challenging to do). Now the challenge will probably be to stop the weight loss as now it's become a way of life. Not eating, I mean! Lol


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Week 10-So Close

Firstly, allow me to apologise for not posting last week. I had a surprise visitor early on Thursday (my weigh in day) which threw me into action other than weighing in. So I got up Friday to weigh in and after tackling morning commitments, I headed out for a glorious day & posting didn't happen. The results of that week were .2 kg. I was probably hoping for more so I used that as motivation 2 eat healthy & exercise this week. As far as motivation goes, it must have been compelling as this morning when I got on the scales, I had dropped another .9 kg. So I am .4 kg from my goal now. I am excited by that. It means that either next Thursday or the Thursday after I will be at my goal and ready for the rest of my life complete with a new outlook about food! When I set out on this journey, if u had of told me 10 or 12 weeks would go quickly, I would have laughed. But yet it has! It's flown! It seems like only yesterday I was feeling like I looked like a chicken & craving red meat!


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Week 8-Awesome Week!

Guess what? I cracked it! Hang on, let me back up 2 the start of the year. Last night I got my journal out & revisited the goals I wrote down at the start of the year. I ticked off a whole list of them that I have achieved (like eliminating refined sugar from my diet & eating 80% of the good stuff & 20% meats & carbs) and there were 5 I hadn't been able to tick off. Some I was on my way but I hadn't completed yet. One of those goals was to get under 60kg. I gotta say I felt very close last night but I knew on the scales I hadn't actually reached it. Low and behold when I got up for weigh in day today, I have cracked the 60kg mark. All up for the 8 weeks I have lost 8.2 kg so I'm staring down the barrel of my last 1.5 kg. I am so excited, I almost can't contain myself. Today, look out world! I am dangerous!

Week 7-Still Chipping Away

Good Morning! It's weigh in day for me today.  It was a little chilly this morning and I was tempted to weigh in with my pj's on.  Instead I braved the cold and got down to my smalls (love that expression!).  More weight loss this week-another .6kg bringing the overall weight loss to 6.5 kg.  I'm pretty happy with that considering I have really struggled to drink water again this week.  I just forget.  And as it's school holidays I've been out most days enjoying the beautiful sunshine-too challenging to always carry water bottles.  I find the thought of sugary desserts now also turns my stomach.  I probably never thought I would believe that food is fuel and that really is my current view of food.  I only eat now when my stomach is telling me it's really hungry, instead of sitting at my desk or wherever I am dreaming of what sugary or fatty treat I am craving.  I am finding I achieve a lot more both physically and mentally and am loving this new healthy life.

Week 6

Another successful week of weight loss-1.1kg this week bringing the total to 5.8kg. My clothes all fit me heaps better although I'm not sure for how much longer. It has been a fantastic week overall, making some wonderful new connections and picking up some old connections. Been out & about more this week and eating out more so planning ahead a little. Something I have discovered is that the smell of junk food is now turning my stomach. That's gotta be a good thing. I am just over half way of my weight loss journey although I may revise that goal as the time goes on. Have already planned a reward for when I achieve my goal.


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Big Week-Week 5

Well a very pleasing week, weight loss wise for me. I have been very busy so if I haven't had a healthy option for lunch, I've chosen to wait until I've got home to eat. Yesterday I moved from the second phase to the third phase of my diet. It allowed me the flexibility to have sushi for lunch yesterday. Total weight loss so far has been 4.7kg. Mentally, I would like to lose another 5 kilos to be at what I think is my ideal weight. Realistically, that would possibly mean a whole new wardrobe and I'm not sure the bank balance could cope after I have just restocked for winter. Maybe I'll save the new wardrobe for summer-all I'll need is a new bikini! LOL! I'm excited and motivated by my weight loss journey so far.


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Weekly Update

Usually today I post my weight loss for the previous week. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on which way you look at it) I got up in the dark and went to gym this morning. So when I got home I had already eaten a piece of fruit and consumed about 1/3 of a litre of water. No gym in the morning so I'll stay in bed til it's light enough to see the scales!


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Gone From My Thoughts

You know the other great thing for me in regards to this diet is I'm not constantly thinking about food. Ordinarily I think about food from when I get up to when I go to bed. If I'm not thinking about what I'm going to be preparing and cooking at the next meal sitting I'm thinking about what my son needs to eat for morning or afternoon tea or what groceries, fruit and veggies I have on hand or need to buy. It's all gone. Almost to the point where I forget to plan anything. It is actually very liberating! Sometimes, I forget to eat everything I should be eating (bit of a change from the first 17 days!). Now where's that yoghurt?


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Week 3: Excitement!

Well, what a great week.  I have now lost 3.1 kg.  It's been a long time (probably 12 years) since I was this weight.  That is exciting for me. 

This week has included a weekend away with the girls.  It's great to know that I can still do those things and achieve healthy eating and weight loss.  On Sunday, I started the second phase of the 17 day diet.  This phase is about alternating a Phase 1 day with the alternate day including some red meats and natural starchy carbs.  Hello red meat!  Hello carbs!  This phase has been much easier on my mind and my body and I have felt less hungry; some days I haven't even eaten everything I was supposed to.  I am still struggling to get through 2 litres of water a day.  There just simply are times in my busy life when it is too difficult to carry around a water bottle.

I wonder if getting my hair cut had any affect on my weight loss?

Week 2: Disappointment

I woke up this morning excited to get on the scales. I'm feeling like, food wise, I've done it tough this week. So I get on the scales and I couldn't believe it; I have put on 300 g. So I started to look at what challenges I faced this week. Firstly, last Friday, I could feel a cold coming on. My first instinct when I get this feeling is to have a green smoothie for breakfast. That's a break from this 17 day diet as green smoothies incorporate bananas which are not on the low sugar list for fruit. I had 1 of these a day on top of the other food I was meant to eat for 4 days. Secondly, I went to a party on Saturday night. While I was there I got extremely hungry; like you wouldn't believe. If I was at home, I would have been in bed asleep so I would have been using less energy. So at the party I had to try to find food that I could eat. At first, nothing. So I had about 10 BBQ chips, then I found some red grapes however fruit shouldn't be eaten after 2 pm. What the heck! I was famished. After a handful of red grapes, I made myself a green tea and eventually convinced hubby it was time to go. Thirdly, I didn't exercise this week until yesterday as I have been less than healthy and at least 17 minutes a day is required for 6 days.
I change over to the next 17 day period on Sunday. It will be interesting to see what happens this coming week. Gee, I'm hanging out for some red meat! I've got a roast lamb planned for Sunday night! Wish me luck.

Week 1 Results

Ok, last week I began a weight loss journey called "The 17 Day Diet, written by Dr Mike Moreno. Let me just say I am a bit of a fussy eater so because I don't eat fish (unless is crumbed and deep fried) it really left me with eggs and chicken or turkey mince as protein. Chicken of course being my least favourite meat also. Would much prefer a slab of lamb or steak but perhaps that's what got me here in the first place. So it was eggs for breakfast, chicken and salad for lunch and chicken and steamed veggies for dinner (with some variations of course). I've really enjoyed the yoghurt and fruit and I've also enjoyed feeling hungry again. So, drum roll please.............in my first week I have lost 1.5 kg! I haven't lost that much in one week since I first went to Weight Watchers about 15 years ago. I'm more than happy with this week's outcome and look forward to the challenges the weekend will bring with a grown up's party to attend without child and no doubt my family's request for takeaway. Looks like an alcohol free, hangover free, strong willed weekend for me!


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Diet is Die With a Capital "T"

I know you should always live a healthy life by eating the right foods and doing exercise.  I know what the 'right' foods are and when I am being very focused, most of the time I can eat right.  Exercise is easy for me.  I do exercise I enjoy and therefore I don't notice I'm exercising.  It's the eating right that is the most challenging for me.  Over the last 5 years I have managed to put on an extra 7-8 kilos and I find as I get older, it is more difficult for me to shift.  I am very addicted to sugar and get huge cravings for sugar.  I have tried to eat loads of healthy food and very little of the unhealthy, processed foods however it hasn't been long lasting.
I wouldn't say I am normally a 'fad diet' person either.  The only time I have really gone on a 'diet' is I usually do a detox once a year and years ago I lost weight through Weight Watchers which I wouldn't call a diet, I would call it eating healthy.  So, last night on a current affairs program on television (can't remember which one I was watching) they talked about a book/program called "The 17 Day Diet".  I went to the book shop this morning and spent a considerable amount of time reading, looking at the menu and weighing up whether or not to buy it.  I did in the end buy the book and have started reading.  My plan is that I am going to read the book and when I feel knowledgeable enough (and I have purchased the items I need to kick it off) I will start "The 17 Day Diet".  I hope you don't mind listening to my journey.  I'm planning to give you a regular update on what it's like, whether I'm being successful or not and how I feel, etc.  So stay tuned and I'll keep you posted.

Cancer Management

I know this is an unusual topic.  I was reading a magazine today I picked up at Mrs Flannery's titled "Everyday Health", the summer edition and I was reading the articles in there about staying healthy.  One particular article prompted me to write this post as I thought how similar it was to what I bang on about here.  The article is called Natural Alternatives in Cancer Management by Fiona Chin N.D.  The solutions it gives to prevent and treat people with cancer are:
1. Remove external stress, as much as possible and allow your body to focus on healing.
2. Laugh!  5 nights a week you should be watchin movies or doing something that makes you laugh out loud.
3. Get out into nature.  Gettin outside for 45 mins a day is a great way to reduce your stress levels.
4. Surround yourself with loved ones, whether this is family, friends or your pets, surround yourself with positive, loving people. 
I thought, as I was reading it, how much it sounded like a perfect way to try to live life when you are healthy! 

Trust Your Body

Today I was watching this little girl running.  She was probably aged about 3, you know that age when they are finding their feet but a trip when running is only seconds away.  And just as I was watching thinking "Don't run, you'll trip!", she started to trip forward.  She didn't actually hit the cement (thank goodness-I wouldn't be able to bear it) but as she tripped, in the blink of an eye, her hands automatically went forward in the position you would need them just before you bit the dust.  I was amazed at the involuntary action of such a young child.  And what that simple action did was right her balance and she ran on with a big smile on her face. 
We were probably all like that once.  Instinctively recovering our balance without thinking about it.  If this happened to me and I actually consciously stopped to think about what I should do, I would be flat on my face in a very undignified position and no doubt blood, sweat and tears before I could make the first thought!  Our bodies hold wisdoms that we can only imagine.  As we get older, we learn to override them with our minds.  Stress and other mental influences also prevent us listening to our body's wisdom.  So the benefits of living in the now also applies to learning to trust our bodies natural reactions as well.

Making Incorrect Assumptions

I have been 'waiting' (of sorts) to hear from someone for some weeks now.  Occasionally, I have bandied about the idea in my head that perhaps I have done something to upset that person, or when I said or did 'X' that person may have taken offense to that.  That's how our mind works, isn't it?  You think about stuff that, in reality, may or may not have happened but your mind tries to put the worst ever spin on things sometimes.  This has happened so many times to me and then I will eventually here from that person and they will say they have been extremely busy, or something happened in their life and they just weren't able to talk about it to anyone because it helped not to talk about it or for whatever reason they didn't get in touch, it was all innocent.
It's funny how with little or no 'evidence' our mind can create such an imaginative story from our underlying fears.  The truth usually isn't anywhere near as sinister as our mind makes it out to be.
Some things that I try in situations like this when I am waiting to be in contact with someone:
1. Take some deep breaths.  Yes I know, it seems like it's my answer to everything.  It really does help.
2. Try to be in the present and try to be focusing on the people, places and events I am in contact with now and enjoy them.
3. If that is the case and someone has taken offence or become upset and haven't taken the time to discuss it with me, there really isn't a lot I can do about it anyway.  Let it go.  I know I have absolutely no control over other people, I only have control over myself and what I do (and I say this to myself over and over to try to reassure myself when I start thinking about not communicating with this other person).
4. Try to stay busy instead of sitting around idle.  When I'm busy, I live more in the present.
5. Write a letter or write some notes in a journal.  Not to send it or give it to that person, more like a cleansing process for my mind and heart.

Unique Experiences

Sometimes really important or really amazing events happen in our lives only once. What can happen as we are living those experiences is that we are so focused in our mind on something else: stress, other plans, what's missing, what I should be doing, etc. that the event is over before we get to enjoy it. If we are fully present in our lives, it can make the one off experiences far more enjoyable.
So how do you switch off your mind during these experiences?
1. Take deep breaths, focusing only on your breathing for 3-5 breaths.
2. Notice everything that is happening around you, even to the point of speaking about it to yourself.
3.Observe what everyone is doing & what is happening without thinking it's good or bad.
4. Use your senses; what can you smell, what can you hear, what can you see, what can you feel, what can you taste.
5. Think about what you would see as the things you can see, hear, feel, smell, taste that you are most grateful for.
Is tomorrow an event that happens only once in your life?

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Listen to your Intuition

Can you hear your intuition?  I know when I am very stressed and not living in the present, I find it difficult to hear my intuition.  Take last year for example.  My son was ill.  I took him to the doctor on about day 2.  The doctor wasn't helpful at all and in fact made insinuations about his health that I found insulting to him and to me.  I found another doctor, etc.  Eventually, after 3 months, the medical world said they had done all they could and they had no explanations as to what was happening.  Out of sheer desperation I started going to naturopaths.  The first one I saw who apparently specialised in helping stomach disorders in children obviously had her own beliefs and was not the solution.  Then I found "Achieving Health".  I even love the name.  They were very supportive and were a solution right from our first visit. 
Now, when I went to the first doctor and she was no help, I did have a little voice in my head say 'take him to a naturopath' however I didn't listen to it.  I was very stressed about what it might be and didn't want to mess around with something that might not fix him.  I'm wondering if I was living in the present, might I have listened to that little voice.  It would have saved me a lot of time, money and heartache!
And I know hindsight is a wonderful thing, however I really do believe that when you are more present in your life, you are able to hear your intuition more clearly.  I guess that's just one of the reasons why finding 5 or 10 mins a day to be in the now is very important. 
Some things I use to help me be present are:
1. Close my eyes and focus on my breathing.
2. Create something; baking, scrapbooking, photography are my things to help me be present.
3. If I can go somewhere that is beautiful to look at; the beach, a hill to look at the skyline of Surfers, the park.  They all instantly bring me into the now as they eye candy and I can't help not be there soaking up their beauty.
4. Do something with my full attention.  Like now, writing this blog, I am totally obsorbed in writing.  I am not thinking of something else (it's impossible for me to write and think of something else anyway!).
5. I spend 5 or so minutes focused on one thing.  It could be flower in the garden, my bliss-o-rama board, a photo.  I try to absorb as much about that one thing as I can.

So what will you do today to bring yourself into the present and allow your intuition to come through?

Grantham Need Your Help

When the inland tsunami hit Grantham on 10 January 2011, they had little warning of it's arrival.  It tore a small, close knit community into tiny pieces and spat it out the other end.  The loss and devastation in Grantham has been unfathomable for most of us.  No matter how hard we try, we cannot understand what they have been through and are still continuing to live with.
To compound matters, when everyone else affected by the flooding received Australia wide assistance from volunteers, for the most part, Grantham was isolated; declared 'a crime scene' so the army and emergency personnel could perform the grim task of making the area safe and searching for victims.
Then we all went back to our lives.  Here we are over two months on and going about our daily routine.  Yet the people of Grantham are still in need of our assistance; whatever we can provide.
Do you have a few hours or a day to help out Grantham?  Or maybe you have no time to help but a few gold coins in a money box at home?
If you live on the Gold Coast, there are two ways you can help out.  Firstly, if you have a day you can spare, PCYC Monaco Street, are organising a bus to take volunteers to Grantham on Sunday, 27 March (this coming Sunday).  If you can spare a few hours, but not on Sunday, I have volunteered to supply the volunteers with morning and afternoon teas so you may be able to bake something.  If you have a few spare gold coins and no time, water and poppers would also be gladly received by the volunteers on the day.
Please, if you can help in any way, contact me by phone on 0428 391 890 or by email (go to 'view my complete profile on the right hand side of this blog then click on 'email me' link) so I can provide you with more details.
Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Habits

A lot of us have them. Some help us, some hinder us. Some are just habits and do neither. Some habits can be so firmly ingrained in us, we cannot kick it no matter how hard we try. For me, smoking was that habit. For others it can be a love interest gone bad, another vice like alcohol or drugs, etc.
For me to become a non smoker, I actually replaced the habit with something a little healthier. Whenever I felt like a cigarette, I would have a Tic Tac (never did like smoking after eating a mint). After a few months the habit was kicked to the kerb, and I had minty fresh breath! Now I need to replace an eating habit with an exercise perhaps!


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5 Love Languages

I am re-reading (by audio) a great book by Dr Gary Chapman called "The 5 Love Languages". I love it when I learn something, even better if it enhances my life. And I always love it when I walk away from a book or a learning and I'm using what I learned to enhance my life and hopefully others immediately.
This book talks about how we all "fill up our love tank" differently. Some people need their partners to give them affirmations, some need quality time from their partners, etc.(Can't tell them all, it will spoil the book for you). What I found interesting was that some people have the same language however are still not happy because they haven't communicated what their needs are. Interesting!


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Declutter

I'm not sure if anyone else feels like a good old fashioned clean up session but I certainly do at the moment.  I'm not doing things on a GRAND scale.  Just bits and pieces here and there so I can still have fun with my family while they are on holidays.  Yesterday and today I tackled recipes and warranties/instruction booklets.  Here's how it went:
1.  I have decided this year I want to downsize slightly; basically get  rid of what I haven't used in the last 12 months.  You see, I am a collector by nature.  I try really hard to have a simplistic household-it just doesn't happen.  It runs in the family as well.....
2.  One of my 'collections' is recipes.  I used to collect cookbooks and in the last couple of years I have reduced my cookbooks to one third of a shelf on my bookcase.  Even that is probably too much as I rarely use them.  So instead of collecting cookbooks (not consciously of course) I changed and took up collecting recipes from magazines and printing them off of the internet.  So now, if I buy a cooking magazine or print a recipe off the net, when I have finished with it, I then go and put all the recipes I think I might use again in binders like these: http://www.officeworks.com.au/retail/products/Office-Supplies/Document-Filing-Storage-and-Presentation/Document-Presentation/Display-Books
3.  I read a handy hint about filing warranties and instruction booklets in ring binders and was going to go straight out to buy new ring binders when I thought about recycling and re-using and thought about all the display books I had upstairs with recipes in them I had never used.  So I spent probably 4-5 hours yesterday throwing out all the recipes I have never cooked.  I also tried to keep only healthy recipes (except for in the dessert & cakes folders) that had plenty of vegetables as that is how our family now eats.
4.  I did the last of the folders this morning.  It was a ring binder and had plenty of loose leaf refills in it.  By the time I was done, it was empty along with about 8 other display books.  I then got out the bag I keep all the warranties and instruction booklets in and went through them.  I tossed out the ones for old appliances (that had gone to appliance heaven!) and refiled the keepers into the pockets; a pocket for each appliance, gadget, toy, etc.  I now have one display book for toy warranties/instructions, one for kitchen warranties/instructions and a ring binder that holds all other instruction books and warranties neatly and so if I am required to look for something it will save me a lot of time!
I'm not sure what you store your warranties and instruction books in; a drawer, a bag, all over the place.  I hope this simple and cost effective idea helps to get some of your house sorted in 2011.