If Deb can do it…
Posted: August 12, 2011 Filed under: exercise, Food, Uncategorized, Weight Watchers 4 Comments »Perhaps I can too! This week at Weight Watchers was “Ambassador Week” which meant we got to hear from some inspirational Weight Watchers members who courageously agreed to share some of their story. At the meeting I attended on Friday morning we heard Deb and Stella speak. Both were wonderful and Stella is already a dear freind of mine but I found I could relate a bit more to Deb’s story as Stella is at a slightly different life stage to me.
Deb wasn’t into exercise at all when she started but that has really changed now. It was a great moment when someone asked if she had toned up by going to the gym and she flexed her very shapely biceps in reply! I could relate to that because I’m currently in the process of moving from absolutely no exercise at all to trying to do at least something each day. I’ve got many things in mind but haven’t followed through on them all yet. I have done a couple of sessions at my own gym but until now had stuck to the plan I had worked out with my wonderful physiotherapist. As of Tuesday that will change because I’m meeting with one of their trainers to work out a proper plan. I’ve also got my eye on Yoga and Pilates classes, then Body Balance further down the track. I’ve gone as far as working out the times of the classes and thinking through what might happen if I cannot make it through a class but I haven’t actually got there yet. They are both on at 7:30pm and I’m still finding that I am very tired by that time of day. I have considered the Yoga class that is on at 5:45am on a Friday but only for about 10 seconds! Deb is now being flogged by a personal trainer on a regular basis and I’m certainly not aspiring to that at the moment but it might be possible later on when I am fitter financially as well as physically.
When asked about how she managed to lose weight without exercising Deb insisted that she was “anal” about her food intake. She counted, measured and tracked fervently in order to reach her goal. So as of today I have gotten myself back on the tracking bandwagon. I’ve already got dinner in the tracker so that I don’t slip up tonight although there is still room to wiggle this week as I haven’t yet touched my 49 spontaneity points.
Deb looked sensational. She had curves and wasn’t afraid to show them off in a stunning dress. Apparently I have curves too but I wondered where they were hiding until I found this photo which had been taken quite some time ago. They are still there but just hidden temporarily. I think this photo needs to be displayed on my fridge!
I’ll see less of you next week!
Posted: June 30, 2011 Filed under: cooking, Daniel, Food, health, home making, Parenting, Vera, Weight Watchers Leave a comment »That is our little catch cry at the end of Weight Watchers meetings and I often say it with grim determination that doesn’t come to fruition. We also say as we high five the people next to us at the start of the meeting, “you are looking great”. It sounds bit corny as I type it (sorry C when you read this!) but it really does lift the mood at the start of the meeting and it also means the meeting ends on a positive note. It was positive all round for me this week because I lost 2.5 kg! Even more high fives at the scales!
I actually thought that I wasn’t doing too much different but then we I gave it some thought I really have started doing things differently. The biggest change is that my exercise has gone from zero to 30 minutes most days and lots of incidental stuff. I’m spurred on the “incidental” department by my trusty pedometer. I haven’t yet reached the desired 10000 steps in a day. My highest was 9000+ but my average each week is steadily rising.
I am also trying to be very mindful about what I eat and to a certain extent get the boys to think about what they are eating too. This morning I told them that they had to have something for breakfast that wasn’t a ham and cheese toasted sandwich. I don’t have anything against ham and cheese toasted sangers but to Daniel in particular they area food group of their own! So Daniel ended up having an orange and a mandarin which wasn’t ideal but we did discuss that fact that he probably had a Vitamin C force field around him. Eric bravely tried oats and didn’t finish them but it is all a good start and at least they are thinking.
The fact that we are very short on cash certainly has an impact on what I’m eating as well because I’m eating at home wherever possible, cooking my own food and only having very well considered takeaway.
I’ve now got a very good looking graph on the kitchen wall and I’m hoping to keep it looking good. I’d really like to have a different “tens digit” in my weight next week! The photo of Vera? She is my next secret weight-loss weapon. Once we get here a collar that fits she and I will be pounding the pavement regularly!
What do I really need right now?
Posted: May 27, 2011 Filed under: Daniel, Eric, exercise, Food, friends, gym, health, Life Lessons, sleeping, Weight Watchers 5 Comments »Thanks to a very generous friend who has negotiated her way through peak hour traffic to pick me up last Thursday and the Thursday, I’ve been able to re-join Weight Watchers and start again. I know that quite a few people who know me well will be saying to themselves, “Here she goes again. What will be different this time?”
Well, there are quite a few differences already. I’ve got a Chronic Condition Health Care plan set in place by my wonderful GP which will give me access to an exercise physiologist (a cross between a personal trainer and a physiotherapist). My GP will be keeping a closer eye on things and the nurse who is part of the practice will keep up with me too.
I am still seeing my wonderful physio as my ankles continue to heal and he and I have been discussing possible exercise options for now while my ankles are still quite wobbly and weak and later when I can do more weight bearing exercise.
I’ve been to the gym and was quietly pedalling the recumbent bike as I had been instructed by the physio when the trainer asked if I would like to join in a weights circuit with three other ladies. After a bit of encouragement from him, I did join in and much to my amazement, I was able to complete a 45 minute circuit with very few modifications. It was the most amazing feeling to do that successfully.
I’ve got a great circle of friends who are “in the loop” about my efforts and are encouraging me every step of the way. Eric is right behind me cheering me on and Daniel, who still lacks tact and diplomacy at almost 8, has asked whether my big belly (which he illustrates by holding his arms out wide) to going to shrink up to the size of his belly. Probably a bit extreme but he is being positive in his own way.
One of my friends is going to join the same Weight Watchers meeting as me so I will be meeting up with her each week. I can’t say how glad I am about this. Not only will I get a free pampering session and she a 3 month movie pass due to a membership promotion but I will look forward to seeing someone each week who is truly on my side and has much the same dry sense of humour as myself.
However the number 1 things are weighing in each week (which involves fronting up the the very formidable Carol) and staying for the meeting. I certainly won’t paraphrase the meeting content here because if you want that you should really go to Weight Watchers yourself. But when we recieve information, we all process it in different ways and take away our own responses and hopefully, action plans.
This week was all about monitoring hunger signals. We discussed the difference between being so hungry that you would eat almost anything to having eaten so much that you feel like your clothes would burst. Ideally we should aim for something in between. That is going to happen for different people in different ways but for me hunger signals are controlled when I eat small amounts often during the day, keep moving and maintain my water intake. Please excuse me for a moment while I uncap my trusty water bottle and take a big swig.
Ah, that’s better.
We have discussed many mantras and saying that we can use to keep our goals in mind and to stay on track. It was recommended that we have a saying that describes ourselves at a healthy weight in the present tense and includes some tings we can do or have achieved. Mine is:
I am slim, fit and focussed.
Then I thought more about what would help me to monitor my hunger signals and indeed, lots of other signals from my body and I came up with this:
What do I really need right now?
Some of the answers to that question in the last few days have been:
salad instead of chips
baked fish instead of crumbed fish
more water instead of more coffee
one small dessert that I really liked instead of just eating dessert whenever it was offered whether I really liked it or not
doing my physio stretches
walking a few more steps
keeping up with my pain relief so I could keep up with moving more and healing faster
not staying up for the end of the movie/tv show but going to bed when I needed to
taking a nap during the day when I needed it
doing something pleasurable during the day
talking to people who woud help me with making good choices
So far in one week I have lost one kilo. But that isn’t really important in the
big scheme of things because I have gained so many other really important things.
Sorting my Surroundings
Posted: March 18, 2011 Filed under: 52 Weeks of Organizing, cleaning, dishes, Food, organising, Vera, Weight Watchers 2 Comments »One of the Weight Watcher’s catch-cries is to “Sort Your Surroundings”. And I have been doing that in more ways than one in the last week or so. I’ve certainly sorted more than just the food surroundings but more on that later.
Last week Mum and I attacked my kitchen. Dh actually helped in the initial stages so there was a frenzy of pulling stuff from cupboards and throwing stuff out. One of the plans that has come de-railed since January was the one about the boys taking charge of dishes. Dh complained that they couldn’t reach the cupboard to put them away. So, Mum and I cleared out and cleaned the top shelf of our pantry and the dishes are now happily living there – not all our dishes but a good supply of what we need for everyday use. Our pantry is a very annoying cupboard, under the microwave shelf in our kitchen and so deep that it reaches back to the wall – so deep that things can be lost in its murky depths for like – years! I can almost swear some things had been breeding in there. If anyone has need of creamed corn or chick peas, I’m your girl!
We moved on from the pantry to the dreaded “corner cupboard”. You know those ones with folding doors that look so convenient but then you find that they stretch back further than any normal human arm can reach so stuff get lost in there almost forever? Well, we nearly climbed into the cupboard tog et everything out, only to find that there were many things we didn’t want to put back – more space. I now have a Breville Kitchen Wizz and a large Tupperware strainer that are looking for good homes. E-bay – here I come!
Another thing I was very happy about was the Tupperware situation. I bought several containers a while back and never got around to actually putting the stuff in them that was meant to go into them. They had gradually crept to all corner of the house to store things like receipts and toys! This was not ok! I am happy to report that almost every Tupperware item I own has been re-purposed to its intended purpose, labelled and stacked. The label maker almost had a nervous breakdown from all the work it did that day.
But the best thing of the day was finding two items which I thought had gone forever. I was absurdly excited which means I probably need to ”get a life” but I found the two seals that go with my Tupperware sifter (and Tupperware sifters are the BEST in the world!) and I also found the metal bits that go into my double cake plate. This is the double cake plate that has NEVER been used as I had lost the metal bits to put it together. Now I need to have a posh morning/afternoon tea to use my beautiful plate.
Photos are coming but I thought I’d publish this now as it has been a LONG time between blog entries and I’ve really enjoyed writing this one.
I is about 7:00am Saturday morning. I’ve sat quietly at the computer for long enough to let the rest of the family sleep in a bit so now I’m off to put the kettle on which will cause Vera to go into a frenzy of excitement because some is awake. Roll on Saturday!
52 Weeks of Organising – Recipes – Part 2
Posted: February 19, 2011 Filed under: 52 Weeks of Organizing, cooking, Eric, finances, Food, organising, routines, Weight Watchers 4 Comments »I began my great mealing/recipe project a few weeks ago and it is travelling along nicely. Yesterday I took the next step of organising my new Recipe Binder. It isn’t flash because there’s no spare money for flash binder and dividers around here. I bought a lever arch file, some flouro plastic dividers with an index page at the front and a box of 100 plastic sleeves. I LOVE plastic sleeves – just needed to say that!
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I simply wrote out my categories on the index page, slipped some recipes into plastic sleeves and I was done. The recipes are either from Mum which means they arrived by e-mail or I’ve typed them out. If it came by e-mail I’ve just printed the e-mail – not time to muck around! For all the others, because I’m doing Weight Watchers, I either get them from the Weight Watchers website or I type them into the Recipe Builder in E-Tools which then works out the points for the recipe and enables the recipe to be put into my Pro Points Tracker. This gives them some uniformity as they all have the same sort of formatting on the site.
They are all in individual plastic sleeves so they can go to kitchen and back again easily and I’m adding recipes as I do them and they are “successful”. Two new ones are being added tonight from this weekend – Sweet and Sour Braised Steak (Slow Cooker) and Banana and Malteaser Muffins.
I’m getting back into the good routine I used to have of planning the meals for the upcoming week on the Saturday, making a shopping list and doing the weekly shop by Sunday. I’ve also baked today to school lunches (so I’m feeling particularly accomplished!)
Now for Laura’s questions this week:
Questions to ponder:
1. Let’s talk stuff! What have you tossed out this week?
I have tossed coffee cups, lots of paper and quite a few odds and ends from back deck (when I was preparing the Valentine’s Night Dinner). This included our hermit crab gear – the last hermit crab died over 2 years ago!
2. Have you ever regretted something you’ve gotten rid of? Why?
The only things I regret getting rid of are the books I had as a child because I would have dearly loved to pass them on to my boys and my niece (she would probably appreciate the “Little House” series and possibly “Nancy Drew” more than the boys would!). I’ve got one large volume of Frances Hodgson Burnett with three of her books in it that Eric has read from cover to cover and loved. It may be time for my niece to borrow it!
3. How tempted are you to rush out and pick up pretty organizing containers first?
I’m tempted but money is an issue so I’m forcing myself to wait. I’ve saved the link to this bookcase type thing from Ikea which I would like to use in our entry way horizontally as part of a launch pad but I have to work out where to put the cupboard that is there presently as well as save up for it. Simply having more clear spaces is helping me to be more organised!
Menu Plan Monday on Tuesday
Posted: February 14, 2011 Filed under: Food, menu plan monday Leave a comment »My excuse is that Organising Junkie who runs this meme is – er a little bit behind us in the USA so her MPM post did not appear until this morning. The comment was made last week that vegetables didn’t feature but I can assure you that they are included in most meals.
Monday (Valentines Day Dinner) Spaghetti Bolognaise and Choc Mint Drumsticks for dessert
Tuesday – Caramelised Chicken with egg noodles (includes bok choy)
Wednesday – Sausages, mashed potato, broccoli, peas and carrots
Thursday – Dinner at Indooroopilly
Friday – Quiche and Salad
Saturday
– Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Braised Steak with rice, beans, carrots
The Love Fest
Posted: February 13, 2011 Filed under: cooking, craft, Family, Food, home making, Life Lessons, Parenting, Uncategorized 2 Comments »I like St Valentine’s Day but dh does not. Where once he used to go along with the whole present and going out thing he now refuses to participate at all. I knew I’d be “flogging a dead horse” if I tried to do anything about the big day with him this year so instead I decided to focus on the three men in my life. The boys will hopefully learn a bit about simple celebrations and ways in which you can show people you love them. I wouldn’t suggest it now but maybe they will store away some ideas for when they have “sweethearts” of their own. So I’ve had a bit of fun getting tready for our mini Love Fest which we held tonight.
I got the Valentine’s Wreath Idea from here. Mine is quite different in that I went with flat felt hearts in a rich red and I got the wield my new hot glue gun. The finished effect is simple but well, effective I think. The rest was easy: red plastic tablecloth (boys eating spaghetti – I shouldn’t need to say anything else on that subject), white serviettes with hand-painted hearts, some red heart sequins sprinkled up the middle of the table, red tea-lights in our special rose decorated wall sconce and the “piece de resistance” (as far as the boys were concerned) chocolate heart rose buds on long plastic stems.
We dined on spaghetti bolognaise with choc mint drumsticks for dessert anda good time was had by three of us. Vera the dog was intrigued by all the goings-on and desperate to be included. She did score some leftover spaghetti sauce in the end!
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Menu Plan Monday
Posted: February 7, 2011 Filed under: cooking, Food, menu plan monday 2 Comments »I haven’t done this in AGES and I’d fluffed around about doing it today because I wanted to plan more than dinners. However there is no time like the present so here goes:
Monday – Bacon and Eggs
Tuesday – Sausages and Mash
Wednesday – Beef Rissoles and veggies
Thursday – eat at indooroopilly
Friday – Dh and I are going to Trivia Night at school so we’ll be having pizza from here! – yummy! The boys will get whatever is going at Grandma’s house
Saturday – Lemon and Honey Chicken – new recipe that is from the Weight Watchers Australia site but was submitted by a member.
I was going to plan lunches but I haven’t done and supply teaching yet this week and I know I won’t be tomorrow because a I have a lunch date with my best friend who is down from Cairns. However, I am aiming to work out all the points and have lunches planned so that I can throw things together really quickly if a I get a call and even the night before if I know where I’m going the next day.
Change in Normal Programming
Posted: October 16, 2010 Filed under: Food, health, learning, Life Lessons, sleeping, The Workshops, working 1 Comment »
It has always been my intention to keep this blog as an upbeat, positive way of sharing things that work for me in my roles as museum educator, wife, mother, crafter and so on. However in a change to “normal programming” I’m going to share about my week because while things didn’t really work for me, I am still alive and able to tell the tale and along the way I have learned a few more things as you often do when life throws you a “curve ball”.
First some background. I’m overweight, have high blood pressure and have recently been diagnosed with Obstructive Sleep Apnoea OSA which means I can wake up to 29 times in four hours of sleep. Last Sunday night I had a follow-up sleep study which determined what sort of mask and c-pap machine (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) would work best for me and the settings at which the machine should be set. I wasn’t all that thrilled about needing the machine – after all it is a very unsexy look for someone about to turn forty but I did understand the need for it and the fact that I have been feeling drowsy when driving was making me quite anxious.
So on Monday I had a day off to recover from the sleep study which went well but only involved about 3 hours sleep because of difficulties with their monitoring equipment. Then on Tuesday I drove to work in the rain ready to start dismantling and packing away a fairly large activity area that has been used for a recent event at the Museum. While packing boxes and pushing stuff around on trolleys I started to feel very unwell with severe chest pain. Ended up having a night in Ipswich hospital and a night in the Wesley Hospital, several blood tests, several ecgs and a stress test which thankfully have all shown a healthy heart. But with episodes of chest pain still happening I do have to get things further investigated and I have an appointment with my wonderful GP tomorrow to begin that process.
Some things I learned:
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The staff at Ipswich hospital are fantastic including a wonderful cardiologist who explained all the connections between my various issues and insisted that I get the c-pap happening asap. Thanks to him I was able to get things moving at the Wesley and came home with a c-pap machine on Thursday night.
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If they are not sure what to give a new patient for dinner at Ipswich hospital you can be presented with a plate containing three types of puree. In defense of the hospital kitchen however I was probably the only one in the room with teeth.
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Some people say very helpful things and some people say very unhelpful things. Unfortunately the people you would most want to say helpful things don’t.
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Ambos are not amused by stories of people with acute chest pain being driven to hospital by one of their colleagues. Even when I told them this particular colleague was a legend they were still unimpressed.
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If you don’t have a change of undies in hospital they have very attractive paper ones – think of an adult sized huggies. (This was the highlight of the whole episode for Daniel)
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When you enter a toilet shared with three males to find wee all over the seat and floor the urge to get down on your knees and clean it up does happen until you remember that you are NOT related to these three males.
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Hospitals have Wonderful showers.
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The new cardiac wing at the Wesley is like Heaven on Earth.
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On the purely practical side it is probably a good idea to keep a change of clothes and one set of medication in the car or with you at all times especially if you work somewhere that is some distance from where you live.
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Husbands don’t think a toothbrush, toothpaste and deodorant are warranted for an overnight hospital stay. But dirty looks from emergency department nurses do wonders!
Shops With Boys
Posted: March 6, 2010 Filed under: Daniel, Eric, Food, homework 1 Comment »
With dh working full time and playing Bowls twice a week and myself working more and more often it gets harder and harder to avoid doing grocery shopping with the boys. This is a fairly stressful activity because the boys really don’t like shopping unless it involves either Lego, DS games or Wii games. But the time had to come. Both boys have Ian Lillico style homework grids and shopping is generally one of the featured activities. I always look at it and cringe before looking at something else. Today I had to bite the bullet and take them with me. This is how I made it work:
- Each of us had a list. Daniel’s list is pictured with my crude pictures to help him with the reading. Eric’s list involved him going to the deli counter and asking for stuff. Daniel was very eager to get what was on his list and get out of there and wasn’t all that interested in waiting for Eric and I.
- We ate first. No one shops well on an empty stomach.
- We weren’t getting a huge amount of groceries. I wasn’t game to test them out for too long.
- I let go of some of the control. Daniel got the bread that we wouldn’t normally get and threw apples and tomatoes into bags with more gusto than what we usually use. Eric pushed the trolley all the way from the shop to the car without hitting any pedestrians or fixtures. And it was ok.
Next time:
- Longer lists for the boys
- Have boys involved in writing lists – especially Eric
- Some “rules” about moving around the shop – running at top speed tends to endanger other shoppers!
But I will do it again now that they have proven themselves somewhat.
