Hi Ladies. Sounds like your all powering on in the right direction!

I've been terrible lately. I have been eating anything and everything, haven't been to the gym in almost a week (thats really bad for me) and I just can't be bothered with anything. All my motivation has flown out the window. My doable 86kg by end of Feb seems like a HUGE ask. I feel like its not important anymore even though I know how truely important it really is (if that makes any sense at all!). I don't know.........maybe once school goes back things will settle back down and I'll find my routine again. This is terrible!

Such is life I guess. Gotta take the good with the bad and all that.

Sounds like your 3 week challenge is exactly what you all needed to get back into it all. Good luck with it. I'll pop in and see how things are going.

XX
Barb

Honestly ladies, I really don't know how I managed to only gain 0.9kg while I was off the wagon. I'm half expecting the other 5 to appear on the scales next week when I weigh in!

Went to the gym last night and had my first session of the year with my trainer. All went well and I wasn't feeling too badly unfit - lucky I have the excuse of this cold to not push too hard!!

Hoping that the weather holds out today (NZ summer has been more like autumn so far!) and I'll be walking the 55 mins home from work for today's workout.

Good work ladies, keep fighting the good fight!!

Well done on making it to the gym LittleKiwi! Isn't it funny how easy it is to do something after we have done it?

So, yesterday I drank my 2lt of water, I did my 30mins of step-ups, I did my squats and I ate like a pig!!! Damn it! And I was doing so well too!

Back into it today though! The plan remains the same! I will not stray from the plan today! I will manage it without a hitch!! I can do it!!!

Keep it going all!!!!

Yesterday I didn't do any of my exercises, but I did 2 hours of domestics and then another two hours in the garden – and it felt like a big workout. I stuck to my calories and drank *some* water.

Today is Day Three and I want to:

• Walk for an hour;

• Do step ups and lunges;

• Eat 1700 calories; and

• Drink 2 litres of water.

Barb I know how it is to lose motivation and find it hard to get it back. Maybe the goal of getting to 86kg so soon is a bit tough for you - it would be tough for anyone. Would it help to choose an easier one, eg getting below 90kg by the end of February - just to take some of the pressure off yourself? Don't give up, this isn't an easy journey but it's worth sticking to.

Little Kiwi, great to hear you're back into the exercise and feeling positive.

Lindor, you can do it - one day at a time. At least you did your exercises yesterday, and that's great.

OK - off I go for my walk before I have to start work. I hope everyone has a win today!!!

:-)
Ani

Hello everyone! Finally my trip is almost over and I head home tonight. Hopefully my upgrade LON-SYD came through (looks like it online) and I'll sleep all the way in business! Either way, I'll get to sleep in my own bed tomorrow - since i've only spent one night there in the last 5 weeks, that'll be nice!!

I've hit the hotel gym almost every day, and ordered a treadmill to arrive at my place Sat for a 3 month rental, so as of then, I aim for at least one hour of walking/jogging per day. Mind you that is like 58.5 mins of walking and the whole 90 secs of jogging I can manage. I'm such a spaz at running!

Plane and hotel and restaurant food has been hard while I've been away, so I'll be glad to get back to my routine! Also haven't had a scale so will be interesting to see how I've gone out of my comfort zone! Will get back to official weigh in on Monday, although I'm sure I'll sneak a look at the scale oh, about 10 secs after I get in the door on Friday. Heh.

Leeny, congrats on getting into your course, that is awesome!! What a great new challenge for you. The amount of walking you do in nursing should help too - get good shoes!! (I like Hush Puppies Walkers, I think they are called, come in different colours and feel like putting squishy pillows on your feet!)

Hey all
WEigh in day today and yeah,,,lost 1.8kg this week. Now that's going in the right direction for once. I think it was all the anxiousness(if thats a word) about getting into Uni or not. YEAH ME!!!Now down to 84kg and aiming to get in the 70's before i head off the Uni in another 6 weeks. I have just enrolled in an Enabling Course which starts on 5th Feb for a week of intense study at Biology. Never did Bio at school so thought that might be a wise choice with the Nursing i am attempting. Been to a Welcome thingo today and felt totally lost. I 'spose everyone else is in the same boat.

Thanks Augigi for the tips. I will definitely get some good shoes. Appparently i need to buy some "scrubs" for in house hospital stuff...will look a treat i bet so i better lose some more weight so not as bad.
Pleased everyone else is still going strong. Maybe the new year will bring the best out in us....hope so.

I feel like I'm slowly getting back on track. I walked for an hour yesterday, drank 1.3 litres of water and ate pretty well. I won't bore you with saying it's TOM *again* – but it is! Grrr…

Today I want to:

• Walk;

• Do step ups and lunges;

• Drink 2 litres of water; and

• Eat 1700 calories.

Augigi I hope you have a safe flight home, and that the jet lag isn't too hideous. It's inspiring that you've kept up exercise and trying to lose weight while travelling and being thrown out of your routine.

leeny you sound excited and nervous all at once. Great news on the weight loss too :-)

Lindor, how did you go with Day Three?

:-)
Ani

I did better yesterday! Stuck to plan in every way!

Want to do the same again today!

Well done Leeny on your loss! We are both at the same weight now! Wooohoooo!! Are we quietly competing against each other now?? :P

Augigi! By the end of my trip I was soooo ready to get home and sleep in my own bed! I was over it!! To the point that I pushed myself to get home a day earlier than planned!!! It'll be behind you soon and you'll get back into your regular routine....if you can remember what that is

Good luck on another positive day ladies!

Hey all

Well i have been on the computer all day it seems and thought i might check in here whilst at it. Been applying for courses, HECS fees etc, Centrelink stuff etc etc....boring but necessary. I am trying desperately to organise things as soon as possible as with my "dramas" constantly at home i need to keep on top of things.

Went off the rails a bit yesterday. A time management thing(of which i will have to get my act together). Did eat some chockie fudge cakey thing(too devine) as i felt i needed the sugar to keep me going throughout the day(good excuse anyhow eh???).WAter as per usual good and the rest of the food for the day great. No exercise though as i had no time. Still sitting on the computer at midnight and i am not a night owl at all. I 'spose that won't be the first time that happens anymore.

Ani...i feel for you....TOM needs to find someone else to pick on. Hopefully it will be over and done with soon your poor sausage. Try to keep positive and keep to your goals as much as you can. I know how hard that must be. If you are anything like me, i crave sugary foods at that time...i hope you are not.

Lindor...yes the race is on...bring it on girl... We seem to get to the same weight a lot and then gain and lose. I remember typing this once before as you got skinnier than me and i thought...you so and so,....(not really only joking) I am always happy for you guys when you lose and get to another happier place. Soooo i am aiming to get in the 70's somethings(79.99 even by the end of Feb,. You coming????

Wheres everybody else to chat to. What happened to Britt i wonder?
Keep going girls. WE will make it this year....

I screwed up on the food intake again yesterday

Did the step-ups, did the squats and drank two litres of water!

Try again today!

Leeny, I can't help but quietly think to myself...the race is on!!! I get competitive when I have someone who appears to be achieving things better than me. And I don't mean that in a nasty way....I am proud of your efferts!! Maybe your success is going to give me that extra motivation!!!

Ani, sorry about your troubles with TOM...again! TOM has visited me this week too, and as usual, I feel extremely bloated and I think it is contributing to my poor control with my food intake too! I can't begin to imagine how difficult it is for you. Hang in there, keep up the fight, and know that you will get back on top of it!

Anyone got any exciting plans for the weekend? I am doing what I usually do...nothing!

Good luck with day 5 of the challenge!!!

Day Five already? Good grief!

I'm in the busiest part of my monthly work cycle (where deadlines roll over me like waves and I work 16-hour-days), so I need to make an extra effort for the next few days.

Yesterday was OK. I walked for an hour, ate reasonably well - but didn't find any extra time to do any of my other exercises. I'll try and make sure to improve on that today.

I don't know if it's my imagination or not, but even though the scales are in one of their stubborn phases, I feel like some of my clothes feel a little bit looser. With all the walking I do, you would think something would shrink eventually :-).

Lindor I have about as many plans as you do for the weekend. I'd like to spend a few hours doing work in my garden (as it really needs it), but apart from that I have no idea what I'll be doing.

Good luck with today.

:-)
Ani

Leeny, don't worry about the scrubs - they hide everything! I loved my recent year of working back in a hospital and not worrying about what to wear - scrubs are very forgiving and comfy!

Finally home, thank goodness. Now I can crash out for a few hours, then go shopping.

Hey all

How is everyone going with the diet today?Pleased you are home Augigi..i bet you are too. Too nice to be at home and sleep in your own bed with your owm pillow.
Ani...TOM gone to another home i hope and you still hanging in there and Lindor... you still behaving as i have been. Can't wait to see your results this week....do you think you will win...i think not Just jokes?????

Been pretty good today although no exercise again. Went for a walk on the beach yesterday but none today. I got a migraine in the middle of the night and that has thrown me today...a bit sluggish and way too much noise today at home so the headache is just not totally going away. I have lots of phone calls today...one in particular stressful. A girlfriends husband has just left her for another woman after 26 years of marriage...kids and grandies as well...she is in a state as you can imagine as she had no idea that was going on....pooor darlin. My sister back from Hamilton Is and she had to describe in detail what she ate and didn't and mum calling and winging about visitors she is getting....so no wonder the headache didn't go away. Plus to top it all off the lovely neighbours had to chainsaw a tree down starting at 6.00 am and only just finishing tonight. There is now so much mess in my yard....thats my plans for the weekend Ani...cleaning up other mess someone else made.

So no tea tonight.....going to bed soon and hope i get some sleep for once and get some much needed rest...Hope all is well in your landxxxleeny

I hope you're feeling better leeny, and I also hope you get to have a more relaxing weekend.

I did alright yesterday - I went for a walk and ate pretty well. Then last night I got the urge to get rid of all my old clothes - everything that was too big, or had holes in it… or clothes I had stretched way out of shape from putting on weight. Even I was stunned when I filled FIVE garbage bags.

I'm not a big clothes shopper, and I tend to hang on to clothes for years - until they literally start to fall off me. So I decided that, with very few exceptions, even some of my old tattered favourites had to go.

The other thing is that I now cannot afford to gain any weight, because I literally have nothing to wear if I do. It's gone!

Today I'm going to potter in my front yard. I might whipper snip, but I want to prune and tidy up. I've also been evaporating the water in the big pond, and now I have to try and find a way to get three massive plants (and their invasive root systems) out of there without wrecking the pond liner.

AND it is Day Six, so I want to walk and do my exercises. As much as it isn't my goal to think about the scales during our 21-day challenge, I'll be disappointed if I don't lose *some* weight this week.

I feel like I'm losing some of my self-belief about actually losing weight. It is around six weeks since I made it to 95kg, and I just seem to be lingering around that, and don't seem to be able to make any progress beyond it. I know that having 5 TOMs in 8 weeks doesn't help … but working consistently for all this time, and seeing no results is frustrating.

I'm not giving up. It's also possible that I have hit a plateau as well - and maybe I need to think about changing a few things. Over the next week I will have a look at varying/increasing my exercise, and altering my food intake a little.

Good luck with the weekend everyone.

:-)
Ani

Feeling miserable today! I blew it bigtime yesterday! No exercise and ate like a pig!!

I am bored with this! Bored of what I eat, bored of exercising! I can't stick to it for more than a couple of days!!

Don't know where to go from here. I want to lose the weight but the sloooowwww progress is driving me insane! 30kgs in just over six months and then up and down a few kgs the next six months!!

If I stop what I am doing now I'll gain, that is obvious after my month away. But what I am doing seems to be doing nothing!

Arrgghhh...I am frustrated! I'll go away and come back later today...in a better mood! I promise!