yeah its pretty cool .. at least i can see this way im making some difference .. I look like rubbish naked but oh well .. i probably always will now.. All my stomach sags.. its revolting really lol .. All i can say is thank the lord for lingerie.. lol.

Ani 65 sounds tiny.. lol omg 65 ......... that is tiny lol .. i doint think i weighed that when i was in high school ..and thin i weighed 70 - 72 kilos.. I dont think i could ever be 65 lol I just dont think i have the frames for that .. I have a rather large frame for the women .. I cant get my fingers to come close to touching around my wrists they are a good 5 cm from touching.. and i have great big hips lol.. Skinny i was a 12 bottoms and a 8-10 top and then i grew boobs lol and was a 12 all over and about 72 kilos ..

Kel and Julia ... get back op lol Kel if you think you dont have time to count go to calorie king .. there ia an australian version.. and it takes maybe 2 minutes to fill it in..

I remember being 63kg.. I was 13 in year 8!

Remind me in 3 months not to let someone called "Kelly" take my blood - thought I'd be a good samaritan (and get out of work for an hour!) and donate blood this arvo ... of course noone could find a vein, so they get the chief vampire - oops, I mean nurse - and she sticks me, pokes it around a lot, makes me keep squeezing my fist...

Anyhow fast forward to now, 5 hours later - I have a MASSIVE purple and yellow bruise (great junkie look) and a HUGE hematoma... like an alien boob! It's enormous!

So sitting here with ice pack and analgesia. Heh... that'll teach me to do a good deed!

Started the challenge Monday, they gave us a pedometer. I did 12,398 steps yesterday between work and the gym. Today about 6000 I think, but I am a bit blah from giving blood so won't go to the gym tonight. We shall see tomorrow - we have an implant, so I should be running all over the place. i have taken my lunch to work each day this week so far - it's annoying the boys, cause they like to order lunch but oh well. I'd rather annoy them and lose weight! Already feeling better after stopping eating crap for a few days.

Also the gym - each stepper/elliptical/bike/treadmill has a built in TV screen, with all the cable channels.. makes the time go by fast! They have fans too.. it rocks!

we know calorie king.... gen is queen of calorie king
it works and it works good
it has been awesome for my food education

hmmmm so really what i am saying is i know there is no miracle cure but i want one

HAD to have a choc macadamia muffin today, didnt want the hostess to feel stupid, she had gone to so so much trouble and had me and another lady with a baby over, think it was her baby's first playdate....... but i have done real good today other than that
even bought a chicken and pulled all the meat off.... trainer said ham was bad coz it was processed........... is there an easier way to get chicken breast for sandwich?? should i be buying just chicken breast and cooking it myself???

It's easy to cook chicken breasts in the microwave, that's what I used to do. Don't worry about the turkey/ham etc too much though - it may be "processed", but you have to do something that fits in with your lifestyle, and we can't all grow our own mungbeans... hehehe. Just get the low fat/low salt varieties.

Hello all

I have a confession to make. I went to a work function on Wednesday night where there was an open bar and I fell off the wagon completely. Not with my diet or exercise - I went for a 30 minute walk beforehand and stuck to my diet - but with regards to alcohol.

I've been really good and have been in control of my alcohol intake since before Christmas but on Wednesday night, I had a binge I won't go into details, but basically I'm really disappointed in myself and it's really reinforced to me that I am not a normal person when it comes to drinking. I can have a couple of glasses of wine but anything more than that gets me into dangerous territory. Clearly not a good idea for me to attend events which have an open bar!

So really gutted to be back at square one having done so well for the past 3 months. Have spoken with my counsellor and she said that it's pretty normal to go through something like this. I guess that I need to just chalk it up to a lesson learned and get right back on track like I was before.

Sorry to be so "me me me" in this post but I just thought I'd feel better getting it all out in the open. Thanks for listening

Hey Julia … . Look how much you've grown, and how wise you've become. In the past it would have taken ages for you to see a counsellor and to talk about it, but look at you now. We all stuff up and do things we feel bad about, but it takes a strong, honest woman to say: 'this stops now'. Don't beat yourself up about it.

I'm on track this week. Nothing to report - just figuring out how to manage food with shift work. It's 5am here and I'm getting ready for a 6am start - not even slightly hungry, so I expect today to be a challenge. If I don't eat something before I go to work I'm going to be starving, but I feel like I'll be sick if I do eat. Ah - dilemmas!

julia - ditto what ani said
isnt the first step when u have a problem is admitting you have a problem??
i'm sure in the past you would not have cared that you did it... but this time you did it and you are now punishing yourself
surely in the past you would have done a lot worse so in that regards you have improved too?
and lets look at the positive you stayed ON the wagon for diet and exercise! woo hoo you didnt just throw the towel in completly

its time for my morning tea.... tuna here i come
spoke to my other trainer today - the girly one - heaps better nutrition wise than beefcake.... he is all protein protein protein, she is like everything in moderation etc...... i will get rid of him after my holiday and get 2 sessions a week with girly (she is also half the price) she reckons i dont look like i have put on weight so we are pretending (could b true) that it is muscle.

turning computer off now as have no will power really when it comes to the internet - especially at the moment when i am organising highschool reunion, every mouse click gets me in contact with people i have not been in contact with in 10 years and it is kinda cool sticky beaking into all their lives on facebook.... heehehehe.....

Julia, you should be so proud! We all fall off various wagons, but you corrected yourself right away. And now you know - no more booze for you! Well done for being so fast to take steps to fix the issue.

(and you're not at ALL "me-me-me", but even if you were, that's what we're here for. I've been a bit self obsessed with all my life changes lately myself!)

Back to me (hah!) - did a reasonable amount of running around today, and managed 9348 steps so far (it's 9pm). That even includes going to the gym after work - although I spent some time on the bike, which didn't register. I burned around 300 some calories according to my HRM at the gym though. Going to wear my HRM to work tomorrow to see how many calories I burn in a regular day.

Have taken my lunch every day this week and getting less hungry every day. Eating around 1500-1750 cals. Today I might be struggling to make my cals, as I ate salad for lunch and 400 cal dinner. Enjoying so far!

I have a bunch of people in my program wearing pedometers around, every time we see each other all day we are "how many are you up to?!" - it's a huge competition lol.

Gen I think you'll do well, because you're competing with people - and that's going to bring the best out in you .

I'm going to have to buy myself new steel cap boots. Every day when I come home from work my feet ache like crazy - and they hurt while I'm at work too. The most alarming thing is that my achilles tendon has really flared up again. I tried on a few pair the other day, and of course the most comfortable were the most expensive - by far! But what price comfort when you spend all day walking around on a concrete floor?

I've got my eating/shift work routine under control. I have to admit it has taken a few days, so I may not lose anything this week - but it's looking good for the medium term.

Anyway I'm working all weekend, so may not get a chance to post before Monday. Hope you all have a great weekend.


Ani

Ani you can buy steel capped joggers now. I think Dunlop makes a pair of kT22 steel cap. Go to the menssection of a department store and find some. They are really comfy and not heavy on yr ankles.

Trouble is we're not allowed to wear them . I'd love to be able to have steel capped joggers but Bunnings won't let us!

ani, have you been to a podiatrist for insoles? My achilles is pissing me off at the moment too... lots of walking in the new job. The orthotics make a crapload of difference, though. Now that my benefits have kicked in, I'm going to make an appointment to see an orthopaedic surgeon about my achilles... after a year, it should be waaaay better than it is. Luckily, my boss has a mate who is an orthopod, so I'm going to see him soon.

Dear me, the guy at work - sigh. Still so hot and we get on better all the time. The sexual tension needs a large knife at this point. I think I need to take a step back and stop hanging out with him - I thought it was all harmless, but it's really getting... hmmm... tense. Doh! Where are the single ones I like!? I even went out looking tonight at a bar haha.

where is everybody???????

I'm here - absolutely stuffed from a busy day at work! Starting tomorrow I have afternoon shift all week, including the weekend… what fun .

Gen I might have to do something about my achilles too. I investigated orthotics, and got some a while ago - but I hated them. I use a heel lift in my runners, and that helps so I might see what I can do for my work boots.

I had a customer tell me today that I gave them the best service, and most professional advice they've ever had in ten years of going to Bunnings - and a little old lady who wanted to tell my boss that I was wonderful. Better than the bloke who told me to get f*#@ed the other day because I told him to stop climbing up the shelving, or the other bloke who told me to go back to the kitchen because this is a "man's job".

Weigh-in tomorrow. I'm not expecting much, but as long as I don't gain I'll be fine with that.

And yes - where is everyone?

I'm here.

And I do pop on intermittently to catch up and see how you are all going. And currently, I am a little concerned about Amys disappearance??? Kinda strange not seeing a post from her for a few days? Hmmm...Kel too, but she has said she is cutting back her internet time.

Ani, how are you finding Bunnings? You've told us how you are managing the job with your weight-loss program and it sounds like you have that well under control now. You have told us you are happy to be getting an income again. You have told us it is not helping your foot. You have told us of the nice customers and the not so nice customers - and don't let the @rseholes get you down!! But you haven't said whether you are enjoying the work?

Gen your crush has me laughing and I find myself looking for another installment each time I log on here!! But, as with weight loss, there is no harm in looking and drooling over the menu!

And I have to say you have settled into the American way very quickly! I mean really?? Hematoma? Surely you mean Haematoma???

I agree with Ani about your weight loss too...the competition will definately bring out the best in you!

Julia...I have always admired your ability to pick up on yourself when you know things are wrong. And you know you made a mistake and you know how to learn from that! You are doing just fine mate...don't be too hard on yourself


I am still not sure where I am at or going with my weight loss. I have not set foot on the scales since returning from holiday (well ok, once, only to find them dead). Whether that is working for me or not I don't know.

I have kept to my calorie budget every day since before my last post here. And the feeling of getting smaller is by far more satisfying than reading the numbers on the scales. Just goes to show it is all in the head doesn't it?

I don't know what I weigh just now. But in the last couple of weeks I have felt my clothes get looser. My skin feels softer, looser, and I can touch my thumb to my index finger around my wrist (Amys fault that I had to try that!).

I don't feel the anxiety of having a weigh in day. I don't feel the disappointment of a weekly weigh in being less than I had hoped. I don't feel depressed because I have gained a little. I am content with how I feel with the physical changes. I don't need to be controlled by tools anymore.

I will get on the scales again at some point...I have to admit I am a little curious. I was going to do it on the 1st of April and then make monthly weigh ins, but I was still convinced I had gained from my holiday and figured that it only depress me again to see little, or even no change, from my last weigh in of 188lb. So I've decided I'd get a more positive result mentally with my first weigh in being the 1st of May.

I do feel confident that I can stick to my calorie budget. However, I have a lot of work trips in the next few months and they will prove to be a challenge...as they always do!

Ok, enough banter from me, I have things to do before bed!

I will try to make an effort (can't promise) to post more often...I have been very slack.