87.9kg that is up about 800grams i think
am in totally wrong mindframe til i get my shakes which is crap i know
i should be thinking the less i put on now is less to lose later but i am not i am more thinking 'last supper' which is stupid
and i know it

new years resolutions are all about me and how am around other people
and how i treat myself and prioities
and baby is making me have to stop posting now so i will post later before i throw her out the window for being a baby and getting into everything!

I'm on day 3 of behaving - got up and had my PT this morning, plus I did another half hour on the crosstrainer before my session to warm up. Like a beetroot...

US stuff is finally moving along - have my job offer and they are getting me the paperwork and asking how soon I can get the visa. Funny now they are in a hurry and I'm like "Erm...I've been waiting since last March!".

Also booked another 10 PT session, so will have to double up some weeks if I'm gone before 10 weeks is out. Have to start getting organised to ship stuff and get my clothes packed!!

In spite of Episode Five of The Housemate From ****, I've reached all my goals today.

Gen that's great news about the US. You've been waiting for so long, and it's time! What an adventure…

Now Kel how many last suppers are you planning on having? When do you start Optifast?

And Vonni - I searched high and low for an icon with an extended middle finger, just for YOU - but failed to find one

Gen, awesome news about the US! I bet that has taken a load off your mind? And maybe thrown another load on? But it is good to hear some excitement in your words! Now, promise us that when you get there, 'Aussie Chicks' will still be you place of choice here?

I echo Ani Kel, when are you starting optifast? And are you really ready for it? What plans and strategies have you got in place to ensure you will stay on track with it?

Me...I am still on track! Staying within my 1500cals, drinking around 2L of water a day (peeing a hundred times more!), and slowly getting up that mountain - ankle is still troubling me though!

I received a massive box stacked with various chocolates just after Christmas - most of that still remains in the fridge, but I have eaten a little bit each day. It is a battle with my thoughts to convince myself that that small amount has not blown my calorie budget for the day. My initial reaction is to think - 'that's stuffed it, may as well make the most of it now!'

Chocolate will become my friend!!

Have a good one folks!!

Please remind me Gen, where are you moving to in the US? What are you doing when you get there?

Still no exercise for me but my eating has improved greatly! I find it so much easier to stay on track when I have the structure of a working day to plan around.

I was back at the night job as of last night and what an event that turned out to be. We all got called to the front of the store at around 10pm by the woman who manages the entertainment section. She said something had happened which I didn't quite understand and she wanted everyone to empty their pockets.

It turned out that one of the younger guys in the night fill team had stolen a mobile phone so he was marched upstairs where they questioned him for a while before he was fired and then carted off by the police. Very dramatic for a Thursday night at work!!

I drew up a new budget yesterday and on paper, I should be able to save at least $3,600 by the end of March while I'm working 2 jobs. The challenge will be to stick to it! If I can then that'll be all of my flights, accommodation, insurance etc paid for for my holiday in June and also the start of my spending money.

Well, it's the weekend tomorrow and I'm working till 1pm as usual. I think I'll perhaps rent a movie or two and have a quiet night in tomorrow then on Sunday I will do a big grocery shop and do my cooking for the following week. Sunday evening I have a date with the television to watch Antiques Roadshow. Yes, I know, I'm a nana

Sounds like a good goal Lindor - I couldn't have a box of choccy in my fridge without eating it!

Julia, I'm going to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (northeast US). I'll be working at the hospital there in a role they created for me which is basically a cross between an artificial heart engineer and a nurse coordinator. They call me an "enginurse". LOL.

Very excited and can't wait to get there! I know nothing will change apart from new scenery, but it feels like a new start when you move.

mlm Is that a middle finger ya think? heheehee. Great news Gen about yr US job. Lindor fantastic that you can have a box of chocs in fridge. My mentality is like what u said, blown it now so go the whole hog. I CAN'T stop at just one or just a bit. Today I have been pretty good, though I did eat a doner kebab for lunch - small, plenty of salad, easy on the chicken and sauces. surely that can't be too bad? C'mon..... it's SALAD!?!?! I drank 600 ml water so far and a litre of coffee had grapes for morning tea and alas no brekky. (sorry going backwards, but it's easier for me to do it in my head that way. I even read magazines and the newspaper backward)

yesterday was pretty ok to. cept I had a kit kat, so i guess i didn't really have an ok day?

Vonni

PS - Julia no shows are nana shows. They're all good (but no I don't watch antique roadshow but then I'm not into antiques so hey!)

Hey Julia do you still work in travel agency? I have a couple of questions about over there in NZ. Its better coming from one who lives there than a travel agent here just telling you what they have 'read'

Vonni

A friend and I went to Rebel Sport today. I go there reasonably often, not to spend money, but just for a look. We were like a pair of kids in a toy shop - we tried out all the exercise equipment (she's a gym bunny from way back who weighs about 60kg and complains if she gets up to 62!), and it was heaps of fun.

I was also a bit naughty. I gave her a boogie board, then a BB bag, then fins and a snorkel and told her she had to walk down the back of the shop carrying them - and then I put a 4.5kg barbell in her hand and said: if you were walking through the airport at Bali would you REALLY not notice this extra weight in your luggage?

Bad. Naughty. Me!

By the way, that isn't a comment about my opinion on Schapelle Corby - merely a small experiment

I'm making chicken schnitzel and salad for dinner - yummy! So that will see me reach goal for the 5th day in a row on food/water/steps.

But I need to find more exercises for my arms because I hate how flabby they are. Any suggestions?

And Vonni - mlm is a very poor effort

Where did THAT come from?? Have I missed something extra about it on the news?

Vonni she wasn't carrying a dumbell in her boogie board bag - but there was 4.8kg of highly aromatic plant material that she said she didn't notice.

No matter how hard I try, I cannot figure out how someone would fail to notice that their luggage was a) a different shape b) twice as heavy and c) smelling decidedly different.

Just one of the many things I wonder about in my often vacant brain

Sounds like an interesting experiment Ani!

Last night i had another dream about Duff McKagen (bass player from Guns N Roses/Velvet Revolver). I've always quite fancied him and I've had a couple of dreams about him lately. In last night's one, I met him when he was in town for a concert and I went back to his hotel room and we hung out and chatted and cuddled all night. Very nice!

This morning I had a McDonalds bacon and egg bagel for breakfast (why I thought that was a good idea I do not know) and immediately felt sick afterwards. Yuck Yuck Yuck.

I can't wait for Monday when my routine will go back to normal!

julia - jemima and i LOVE antiques roadshow, sadly closely followed by 'bargain hunt'.......

ani and lindor TODAY is the day, i've been waiting for my shakes to come in the mail i saved close to $12 a box (with taking postage into account too) and it came yesterday before lunch..... so i didnt open the parcel as i was going to fancy smancy cafe with friend and then benji and i had planned special night out coz his mum gave us a gift voucher to freestyle a fancy smancy dessert place in the valley so i had an awesome last supper!
today 88.1kg this is not my official weigh in as i am sticking to thursdays but i am going to write down my day one optifast weight and do a weekly optifast weighin and my normal one just for interests sake and get benji to do my measurements.
this morning i had a vanilla shake, that brought back memories..... and i fed baby while benji cooked and ate bacon and eggs the first 2 days is the easiest it is day 3 that starts to get harder then after one week it is easier and then every so often it gets harder again...... i am going to find lack of fruit the hard bit as my mango tree has just exploded!

ani - your boogie board experiment SO funny and so true

benji just looked for me and fruit is on the allowed list!!! i am so excited
i thought it was just veges in the 'intensive' phase but he said mango, lychees, apricot and others were on the list!!!

oh and he is so so funny
he forgot it was 3 shakes no meals
when he found out he said....
"3 shakes = a wank!" which is what i say to him if i am busting to go to the toilet and he is taking forever........ it cracked me up anyway

have a GREAT weekend everyone!

Ani, I'll admit I am not all that well up on the Corby story, I was overseas at the time and if I don't see the start of something I tend not to look into it any further - so I never really put much thought into whether she was guilty or not! But your description of your little experiement up there has shed a little more light onto it for me. I had no idea she actually had contact with her luggage before she was arrested, I thought she got caught as she went to collect it. Maybe I should invest in the book, although I am more into reading the 'Joanne Lees' type stories!

But yes, very cheeky of you to perform such experiements! I love it!!

Kel, good luck with optifast! I have a mental picture of you with an Optifast shake in one hand, a Mango seed sucked free of all its pulp in the other hand, and a massive grin on your Mango juice/pulp covered face!!

I hate mangoes purely because of the mess!

I have continued to be good with most of my goals. Only did 50 step ups last night though, and that was out of laziness and not pain!

I'm plodding through a lazy weekend, is anyone up to anything exciting?

Whatever you do, I hope it is enjoyable!

Oh and Ani, I can't think of any exercises for your arms other than what I'd assume you are doing with your resistance bands. Can I suggest duct tape maybe?