one time i lost weight i used a piece of clothing as motivation, i never got into the little denim skirt but hanging it on the front of my wardrobe and looking at it KNOWING i used to fit into it (and remembering i felt fat when i did) did help me a little. as did the photo ON THE FRIDGE you think for that extra second before opening it AND everyone else gets to see either what a fatty you are or how skinny you used to be.....

yesterday.............. 30 mins on cross trainer!! 2 of those promotional drinkbottles (the plastic ones with the pop tops)(i dont know how much they hold) and other half bottles of water i had in the fridge so i'm thinking AT LEAST 2L water and as much as i wanted more 2 M&Ms, and stopping at 2 little burritos for dinner when i could have kept eating - oh and no bertie beetle floating in my jelly for dessert (my hubby and me are big kids)

the chip ban is a fab idea, been there done that when i lost 10kg about 5 years ago, it had to be done I LOVE CHIPPIES

ani - i want to lose 5kg this spring OR MORE I am now probably going to get Jemima christened in December so that would be a nice occasion to not feel so balloon like, i just feel like a telly tubby at the moment - anyway losing it with you or before you is a good challenge for me?!? i dont know why but i'll work with that for as long as it works.... and then there is losing weight while my neighbour TALKS about losing weight that again i know is motivation for wrong reasons but again, while it is working bring it on

jemima is awake... i am going to see if the new portacot set up outside entertains her enough for me to get at least 20mins on the cross trainer....

oh and i went for a walk around the lake with my neighbour too before we went to yoga so that cant have hurt!

of course we can do it...... we just have to put our mind to it and remember that the most important person is ourselves and if we put on weight we are only letting ourselves down.

How great to come back and see so many posts!

Well, my weekend was a disaster. It started out well but then I was invited out on the booze on Saturday night. To cut a long story short, I drank too much, ate a whole bunch of crap the next day and feel really gross now. I actually feel depressed and I've got no motivation at all.

Lesson learned: Alcohol is not my friend!! Worst of all, it was a pretty rubbish night out with so many dramas I felt like I was back at high school.

So, goal for this week is to get back on track. I've already missed Monday and today at the gym so I'll start afresh tomorrow. The most important thing for me to do is learn from this and not allow a little trip up to make me fall over completely.

I had a big talk with my mum about this, who reinforced to me that I can't ruin all my hard work now.

Will be going to the gym tonight for weights and a little bit of cardio.

ps kylie - i didnt mean to be rude or mean or anything when i asked if it was a typo either... just your ticker says a lot less.... AT LEAST IT WAS NOT 100?

pps - i have just had another read through everyone's posts and have one question for all of us:

why CANT we do it?

i've been having a think and there really is NO reason why we cant eat less and drink more water EVERYONE can do that, exercise is the hard bit but weightloss is not impossible without it!

Kel that's a great question, and I think we could all write a novel about it. You got me thinking, and instead of rambling for hours I'll throw three points out there that I think are really important.

1. Making goals/expectations that aren't realistic.

I've seen lots of people set goals for weight loss that are completely unrealistic. It's accepted by most experts that the loss of 1-2 pounds a week (0.4 - 0.9kg/week) is the most we should aim for. I know that seems really slow, but when you think about how complex weight loss is, you need time to learn new habits … and to practice them.

2. Inattention and distraction.

My experience with weight loss is that in order to make it work you have to enter into a brand new relationship with yourself. That means getting to know yourself all over again, learning to like yourself, and make a promise that you'll commit to this new relationship. And like all relationships there are good and bad times. But you have to learn about this relationship, including how much/what kind of food to feed it - and pay close attention.

3. Emotional baggage.

It's inevitable that as we shed some of our protective layers, we are confronted with all kinds of emotional things. It's important to be prepared for them, and to learn not to let them scare you.

The thing is we CAN lose this weight. It takes time, patience, determination, and lots of courage. But we CAN!

Oh good grief! I ramble…


Ani

Oi!!! Ani!!!

Get back here and report on your efforts today!!! You don't burn many calories rambling either!

But, they are very true words


My day? An exact duplicate of yesterday almost...

I walked to work and home again. I walked to the shop for lunch.

I had cereal and coffee for breakfast, *cough* *cough* a cappucino for morning tea *cough*, sausage roll, diet coke and an apple for lunch, and Chicken Mornay (ala cardboard box) and another apple for dinner. I might have managed 500mls of water!

I have had NO Tim Tams, no nuts, no Pringles and no Iced Coffee!


And Kel...I CAN DO THIS!! We all can and we all will!

Gen? How'd you go?

Lindor - don't you know it takes 22 calories to step up on a soapbox, and another 15 to step off it again. I did so burn a calorie today

Right - here's me reporting in:

Breakfast: cereal, almonds, prunes and low fat milk. Lunch: I made this stuff with kidney beans, capsicum, onion, chick peas and a bit of mince … and ate it with rice. Dinner: Fish and salad and a few oven-baked chips. Total calories = 1720 (because I ate a mini Picnic bar for dessert). A few coffees as well.

Walked: 1 hour and 35 minutes.

Drank: 2.4L of water.

I also did 35 sit ups, and nearly popped a poofle valve in the process!

Glad to see you did pretty well today matey.

I've spent half the night outside trying to find that bloody lunar eclipse, but there's too much cloud cover. The sky's a vague pinky red, but I haven't spotted the moon for a minute. Hmmpht!


Ani

Gawd, I feel like death. I have a sore throat, a headache and I'm aching all over. How can one little hangover turn into this?!?! I just want to go home and crawl into bed.

Last time I had a cold I was so motivated and I kept up my exercise regardless but at the moment I feel like I'm slipping off the wagon. Perhaps after a few days rest I'll be ready to jump back into it.

As a side note, since I've lost weight, I've been suffering from sore hips and a sore pelvis and that's adding to my aches and pains.

No point to this post really, other than to say woe is me

Hope the rest of you are doing better than me.

Hi guys. LMAO Lindor and Ani you crack me up with yr banter

Great to see you Lindor. Missed ya!

Ok, seeing how everyone is making goals etc I guess I had beeter jump in for the swim too.

This week starting tomorrow I am making a goal for a whole week to drink 1 litre of water a day.

I know most of you are probably having heart failure at the puny amount but for someone that HASN'T been drinking ANY water thats heaps. If I make my goal ok I will up it next week and also add something else.

Adding to this weeks goal... (thursday to thursday and I will weigh in on thursdays now for a while) I will try to go for 2 walks of at least half an hour. Now the sunny warm days are arriving that just might be achievable.

Littlekiwi heeheee poor you I can't remember the last time I got tipsy. I hardly drink at all.

Gotta fly, Have crying daughter on the phone. (She's preg) lol.

Vonni

Ani I went out just after 8pm here and saw it happening. Just a peep of the moon was showing, and I can't figure if it was ending or beginning. The shadow was covering all but a peep at the top. How awesome would it be to be in the middle of nowhere laying flat on yr back watching it happen.

I came across this last night while looking for info about Mars being close to earth. How awesome would this be to do.


The most inspirational thing you can do is leave the city and go somewhere you have a dark sky and a good view. You've got to get out to where there's a clearing. It can't be during a full moon because the moon will wash out the sky. Under a dark sky, you can really see a lot, even with your naked eye. Lay on your back. As you look up at the heavens, don't imagine that you're looking at a bowl in the sky with a bunch of dots on it. Instead, imagine you're floating in space with a 7,900-mile-diameter backpack on called the Earth, and you're floating. Eventually, it'll hit you that you really are floating in space; you just have a big, round ball on your back. You begin to connect to the universe http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/Content?oid=15785

Yes, i think for me it's the emotional baggage. Once I start losing, I then freak out inconsciously and sabotage myself by binging. Because I went 6 or 8 months without eating ANY crap, so i know I don't need it.

Anyhow, yesterday was not bad, I went over calories but not by much and not with "bad" food. Couldn't be bothered but I cooked up a beef and veggie stirfry last night. About to have some salad and tuna for lunch, or maybe some soup. Mum is making fish and salad for dinner, so I should be sorted there.

Vonni I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere. I spent hours and hours watching the night sky, unhampered by city nights. But the most spectacular sky I have ever seen is on the Nullarbor.

I was doing one of my solo trips across the country, and one night I stopped and watched the sky for about two hours. You cannot describe it with words - it isn't possible. But it was stunning.

How is everyone going with their motivation and weight loss this week? I'll sleep better if I know you're all avoiding Pringles and other such things

Must go and make my dinner. I'm going to stir fry something - or try to!


Ani