My End Goal - 2007 Great Victorian Bike Ride

I have decided that I want to do the Great Victorian Bike Ride next year. I did the GVBR in 1994, 1995 and 1996 (although I didn't complete it in 96 due to my knees not handling the Great Ocean Road!). I found the rides to be such great holidays and very satisfying when you realise how far you have ridden! Greg might do it with me, but regardless, I will be doing it. Will have to put my order in with Santa for a bike for Christmas, so I have at least 12 months to get my bum used to riding again, and my ankle strong enough to handle it! And I will hopefully either be at my goal weight of 65kg or very close to it by that time! How very exciting!!!!

Only 4kgs Until My Next Goal

I lost 500 grams this week. I always feel disappointed when the amount is under a kilo, but that is something I am just going to have to get over! I have to remember that any loss is a good loss and every little bit adds up. I have now lost a total of exactly 16kgs! WHOO HOOOO!!! And I have only 4kgs to go until I have lost the staggering amount of 20kgs. I am so proud of myself and what I have achieved over the last 17 weeks and still can't believe I have done it!
And to change the subject, Callum had a multicultural day at Kinder today, so my husband had the great idea (or not?!!) to dress him up as a Scottish Knight. All the kids had to take some food to share, and I decided against haggis (haha), so I made mini WW muffins iced with blue and a white cross for the Scottish flag! You can tell by the picture Paige is really happy the attention is not on her!!!

Time to Pull My Socks Up... and A Groan About My Groin!!!

Well, on the weekend I had decided that it was time to pull my socks up and get a move on with this weight loss and reaching all the goals I had set for myself. I only lost 400 grams last weigh in, and 100 grams the week before, so it's time to get strict again! The last couple of weeks I have been plodding along and letting my points blow out on the weekends, (but have been making up the points in the days following), and have been thinking about increasing my exercise.
Sooooooo, this week was going to be the start of my new exercising every day regime! On Sunday I went to the pool and did laps, and it was during a lap of breaststroke that I felt a "twang" in my groin twice. I was able to keep swimming and later in the afternoon went for a walk with my family. However, yesterday it was a different story and by last night night I was in a lot of pain and hardly able to walk.
I saw the physio this morning who manipulated my hip flexor and some nerves in my back relating to it, as well as my right buttock, which was excruciatingly painful, but helped somewhat. All I was worried about was that my exercise was going to be have to be put on hold for while, which is so disappointing considering I was going so well and my ankle was improving rapidly. Booo hoooo. BUT I am trying not to let it get me down and know with rest and icing of the groin I will be able to get out there again soon!!!!!

"The Van" - My Biggest Challenge of All!!!!

My hubby and I are fortunate to have a caravan and annexe on site at a caravan park in Ocean Grove, which we bought about 3 years ago. We spend a lot of time down there, especially over the summer months. The kids have a lot of friends in the park and they have an absolute ball there. They can safely ride their bikes, scooters, play ball games, etc etc whilst we, the parents, can all sit back and relax.
Unfortunately, this is where my biggest challenge lies!!
We haven't been to the van for a weekend since I started on WW, and we have just returned today from spending the weekend there. The weather was beautiful, and as I have been feeling so much better since being 15kg lighter and with my ankle improving, I was able to be more active with the kids. We all went for a walk to the park, and I was able to hit the tennis ball back and forth to my son, etc. However, somehow being at the van and relaxing makes hubby and I want to drink!
Soooooooo, that's exactly what we did. I drank 7 Pure Blonde (low carb) beers and 2 glasses of wine! I finally saw the light and stopped and had a hot chocolate, but by that time my points were blown out the window and I had eaten 2 Freddo Frogs. I was so disappointed in myself today, but got right back on track.
However, it has now dawned on me that this is always going to be a very hard challenge for me at the van. EVERY adult there sits around drinking during the summer months, and am I going to be able to resist the temptation? It is something I am really going to work hard on for the next four months before I spend 3 weeks down there after Christmas.

Week 15 - 100g Loss and Revised Goal Weight

Weighed in this morning and lost only 100 grams. I was happy with this, as I expected to put on or stay the same for a number of reasons.....
This week I found it difficult to find the time to exercise! I did my usual Tuesday aqua aerobics, then walked a couple of times as well. My ankle is feeling better, so I am glad I gave it a bit of a rest, but this week will get back into the walking again and I'm hoping for a really good loss next week.
I am currently on 24 points per day, and some days struggle to keep under that, so I can only imagine how hard it will be when I am down to about 20 points a day. That's when I will have to do lots of exercise for the extra points!
I have noticed this week also that Greg and I have been doing a lot of late night snacking. I have broken my rule of only snacking on celery at night and have been snacking on Snakatas almost every night (I am addicted to them - especially the salt and vinegar ones!), so that is something I am going to have correct this week. I also had my first "binge" since being on Weight Watchers. It was Monday night and I am still unsure what prompted it, but I just wanted to eat everything in sight. Fortunately we don't have any chips or chocolates or rubbish in the cupboards or fridge, so my pig out consisted of the biggest plate of celery and carrot sticks you have ever seen, with some WW cream cheese, and then a box of Snakatas, as well as three glasses of wine. Not too bad, but still made me blow my points. I am sooooo very glad we didn't have any junk food in the house because I definitely would have eaten it!
I also ate out over the weekend. Saturday we had a lunch at the footy, and I had both entree, main and shared a cheese platter for dessert, washed down with a champagne and a couple of wines. Sunday I had brunch with four of my best friends, and had a large brekkie with too many coffees, but went for a walk with the kids afterwards to work it off.
I have revised my goal weight from 70kg to 65kg, as WW only recognise the goal weights they set, so if I want to get to maintenance and become a life member, then 65kg it is! It's only 5kgs!! I can do it!!! However, 51.8 kilos to go!!!

My Poor Foot and Ankle......

My poor foot has been out of action and out of an enclosed shoe for a year now. I bought some Saucony trainers last week and have been increasing my walking. Unfortunately, my foot prefers the good old Birkenstock sandals I have been wearing since I was out of a cast and cam walker, and is protesting about the enclosed shoe. My physio wants me to persist and says it will calm down after a few more weeks. Thought I would take a photo just to show the difference in the size of my ankles and feet (and the scar, broken blood vessels, and just the yukkiness of it!).

Things That Have Helped Me Lose Weight.....

At my meeting yesterday my Leader gave me my 15kg Star (and my 7 week Achievement award as pictured above) and asked me for any tips on what I was doing that was helping in my weight loss. I have given some more thought to this and compiled a list as to what I think has helped me in my weight loss so far...

• Thinking and knowing I can do this. This time I have a totally different mindset involved. I began by thinking I WILL do this, and have never looked back
• Counting and tracking points religiously. I have found the online tracker invaluable and so easy to use. I hate writing it down manually and have found it so easy online.
• Weighing when in doubt. I often can estimate now and only weigh if the food is something I am not familiar enough with to "guesstimate".
• MOVE. It's been a year since the car accident and although I can't walk without pain, I have made a concentrated effort to increase my exercise, no matter how small. I don't look for the closest car park to the shop anymore, and I have started walking again with the kids. Aqua aerobics has become the exercise I adore and I do it at least once a week (unfortunately the other times it is on don't suit me due to work and the kids' activities on a Saturday morning).
• Cutting back on alcohol. Before WW I was drinking between 1-5 glasses of wine a day and many times it was late at night when I got home from work. And with the late night drinking always came the late night snacks (usually chips). I drank a lot after the car accident because it helped me to sleep and blocked out the pain along with the pain killers I was on. I still absolutely love my wine, but now I don't drink it on "school" nights and count it within my sugar points. I love chocolate, but offer me a glass of wine or a sweet and I would rather use the sugar points on the wine, thank you very much.
• Setting myself small goals. I felt so overwhelmed when I first weighed in at WW. How the hell did I let myself get to 131.9kg?!?!? And how the hell was I going to lose over 60kgs to get to my goal!?!? So, I set myself small goals of 5kg blocks. Fortunately WW rewards you with 5kg Stars, so it makes me more determined to get those little stars. I set myself a date that I want to lose the next 5kg by, and so far, so good. My "big" goals are to make it into the next weight bracket, ie. under 130kgs, under 120kgs, under 110kgs, etc. My ultimate goal at the moment is to make it under 100kg and into double digits by 1st January 2007.
• Tracking my Journey in a Blog. I kept a few diaries when I was a young girl, and kept diaries of both my pregnancies and my kids' lives so far, and then when I had the car accident I found a website called mybrokenleg.com which was full of helpful information for me from others with broken legs, so I started an online diary to keep track of my progress and record my emotions, especially since I encountered a period of depression that was tough to get through. I like to read back and see how far I have come and I love the fact I can post fat photos on my blog, and look forward to the day I can put up some skinny ones! It spurs me on to never look that way again!!
• Sucking Up the Support and Encouragement from Others. My friends and family have been extremely supportive of me since joining WW. Of course, they all want me to be healthy for my sake and that of my kids. I made the decision in the first week to let everyone know I was on WW so they could keep me on the straight and narrow (in the past I have never told anyone about it), and I knew that I would always be too embarrassed if I didn't succeed when they all knew about it! The WW boards on the website have introduced me to so many lovely people from all over Australia that are on the same journey, and it is easy to support them, just as they support me.
• Green Tea. My husband has been drinking this for a while now and I hated the taste of it. I am a tea drinker and always had my tea strong white with no sugar, but after joining WW I drank black tea as I wanted to save my points for other things rather than using them on milk. I then became accustomed to the taste of Green tea, and to say I love it is an understatement. I am addicted!!! And I have 3 or more cups a day of it. It is supposed to be terrific for weight loss, but I find it a great pick me up and when I feel I am getting a bit hungry, I have a cuppa first.
• My Husband Greg. Greg has been inspiring to me this year and achieved something I never thought he would or could do when he first told me about it - trekking the Kokoda Trail in 6 Days. He put his mind to it, and although sometimes he needed a kick up the bum to get motivated, he trained long and hard and pushed through physically and mentally to achieve his goal last month. He also raised over $2000 for the Starlight Foundation in the process! Greg has been my biggest supporter (although he sometimes leads me astray) and he is counting his points with me to lose weight as well, which makes it easier for me to stick to the program. His praise and encouragement are invaluable and most important to me, as are his sarcastic comments along the way!!

Week 14 - 15kgs Down, 46.9kgs to Go!!

I worked hard this week with extra exercise to make my next goal I had set for myself of achieving a 15kg loss. I needed to lose at least 900 grams this week to make it. I got to my meeting this morning and stepped on the scales and only lost 800 grams. I said to the girl weighing me that I was disappointed as I wanted to make my 15kg goal this week, and she suggested I quickly dash to the toilet and re-weigh myself. I was embarrassed to do it, but she persuaded me and after the smallest wee ever, I hopped back on the scales and couldn't believe it - I was 116.9kg. That tiny wee was 100 grams worth!! LESSON #1 - always wee immediately before being weighed! Absolutely hilarious and I am still laughing about it! I received my 15kg Star on my Bookmark, as pictured.
I have been brave the last week and have given some of my closest friends my blog address. I was previously embarrassed about them knowing my weight, but they are such a great support and offer the best encouragement that I thought it was time to show it to them. I also KNOW that I will be reaching my goal weight next year, and will never be this heavy again in my life, so why not show them where I started. Hi Jen & Bel!!! They're also on their own weight loss/healthy living journeys and are doing brilliantly. It's nice to have friends to share the experience with and who understand what you are going through.
My next goal is another 5 kilo loss, which will put me at 111.9kg. I have set myself the goal of achieving this by 14/9, which is 5 weeks from today. I achieved this goal today of 15kg two weeks ahead of schedule (I originally gave myself until 17/8 to be at 116.9kg), so I am hoping it I might be able to get ahead on the next goal as well. It's 85 sleeps until we go on holidays to the Gold Coast, and if I can lose 10 kilos before then I will be more than happy! And then it won't be far until the ultimate goal... being double digits under 100kgs!!!