Speaking of internet... I'm going to try walking for 30 mins when I get up instead of sitting here watching the news for half an hour while I wake up and have a coffee. I'll take a cup of coffee in the car instead on the way to work.

thats a great idea gen - if i went for a walk for 30mins instead of doing crap on the internet that would be super beneficial

yes the doc was a dick - i didnt think of it in the way of him saying those things to me in the state i was/am in...... it is a bulk billing medical centre and he was 'first available' i was going to go back tohim for some blood test results until my normal doc came back - as his different HARSH tack i thought might have been good for me and that perhaps i deserve it and havee been just being a big baby about everything

Kel it's important that you are in charge of your own future - use doctors as tools (like scales, tape measures and everything else we use to measure our progress) - but don't put them in charge of your choices.

Barb are you lurking? We miss you!

Lindor what are you up to? I averaged out my pedometer readings for last week, and I'm close to 70,000 steps for the week. This week is weird for me, because I am working 11.30am - 9pm most days, and that cuts across two meal times. I'm finding it hard to get a balance, and must admit I've been eating whatever I can grab in my breaks. Gonna have to figure this one out…

The woman who was coming to see the house last night didn't show up. I have someone supposedly coming around today - a French chef - but who knows what will happen there.

In spite of my weird routine I feel like I am on track to have a decent week. How is everyone else travelling?

ani - i think my exhubby used to find it hard not being home at normal meal times, he is a shift worker... i used to try and get him to have a meal before he left for work and take something with him for dinner, usually a microwave meal ccoz i was such a crap housewife even then

i am starting to realise i have to take more responsibility for everything and that i blame alot, i cant blame the weather, baby, time, money for what i put in MY mouth or the exercise i DONT do

my hubby is coming home in 2 and a half hours... yippee..

lol no im not counting the hours at all... lol

Leah is so excited she is running around with Daddys hat on.. They have agame where Leah runs off with Johns hat.. she thinks its hilarious.. anyway last time he flew with out it and all month she has been laughing and saying to John she has his hat.. He has been playing along saying mine.. gibve me that hat.... and then pulling a puppy dog face .. when she says no.. its been really getting her giggling so tonight she wants to take the hat to the airport to tease daddy some more.. lol She says she gonna give it back but i can garuntee she will just tease him with it.. lol .. anyway i wont be online much the next week .. i want to spend time with John. he has been very down this trip so i want him to be relaxed and happy at home :)

im 100% on plan so im very happy at the momesnt breakfast everyday lots of water.. lot of exercise.. over 600 minutes of exercise this week alone.. so im very happy hopefully when i come back in a week i will be showing a decent loss :) keep everything crossed for me ..
ok cyas later ..
hey i may be on at some sateg .. he goes to bed hours before i do .. so.. we'll see.. just thoyught id prepare you for the worst/best.. lol... night

heard a rumor that sex burns heaps of calories!

so go to bed with john....

Hello to you all from New York City!!

It's been freakin hot here - from Saturday when we arrived until Tuesday the city was under an extreme heat warning with temperatures way up in the 30's and for me coming from winter, that's damn hot!

I absolutely love this city and am so happy to be here. The sightseeing has been great, went to Coney Island, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Jewish History Museum, Strawberry Fields, Times Square ... the list goes on.

You guys would all be so proud of me ...... I've walked so much that the soles of my feet actually feel bruised! Diet has been pretty good all things considered. No vegetables to be seen in anything I've eaten so I've been having fruit salads in the mornings.

We fly out to Las Vegas on Saturday and the challenge will be to keep exercising while I'm there.

Sorry I haven't had time to read all about what you've been up to. Hope all is well with everyone!

HEHEHEHEHE AMy the MAROONS WON

qld kicks arse!
(i am too big for my shirt tat says that, but jem looks cute as)

Good news - the Statue handed in her notice yesterday. Two more weeks of putting up with that and it's all over. Mind you - our Manager hasn't replaced the last two people in our department yet, so we will be rather short-staffed for a little while.

I have the weekend off and have the usual round of domestics to do. I am also starting work on my new book next week, and that's exciting.

Julia it's great to hear from you. Sounds like you're having an awesome time.

All is well here in terms of my weight loss. I don't know how I will go with weigh-in on Tuesday, but at this stage I am confident of not gaining any weight - and that has to be a good thing!

Hope you all have a great weekend.

:)
Ani

I just learnt that my old primary school is celebrating 50 yr anniversay and they are having a past and present reunion. In Spetember. Think thats incentive enough to lose some weight???? lol. Hmm 3 mths how much can I lose?

Maybe that's why I'm gaining weight... I left my boy in Melbourne!

kel i think you must be right there :) lmao

becuase this morning im 269.9 .. woohoo bye bye 270.. i know only just but it works for me lol .. im really happy :)

Ani im glad the statue is leaving.. did she get a permanant postition standing in some one garden??? or on a grave?? lol

Vonni those sound like fabulous incentives to me to lose weight .. you just dont know how many hot men might be there :) lol..

John was an azz on the way home from the airport.. he flew into adelaide nighttime in winter.. in shorts and tshirt.. and yelled at me all the way home to turn the heater on.. I get travel sick if a ride in ma hot car and i had the kids bundled up in vest, long sleeve tshirts, socks ,slippers,jumpers, and dressing gowns, Leah also had a nappy on. they were dressed for cold.. no way was i turning the heat on..
He got himself drunk on the plane and called me every name under the sun on the way home , told me i was selfish and he wanted a divorce becuase he hasn't loved me in years .. lol.. on and on.. more and more .. 40 f*&ing minutes home...

John has had a problem with drinkiong forever.. lol he cant handle alchol and will try to pick fights with blokes for looking at him.. and turns from slimey to nasty in under 10 seconds and then back to slimey again.. fun huh??
So we have a rule that John doesnt drink at home he can drink to his hearts content when he is working away.. but not at home.. me and the kids dont need it..
he tells me off for always being on his back about drinking but i explained to him im like that becuase i have been hurt by his drinking many times.. and i think he understands where im coming from.. he said he wont drink on the plane next time .. so ill keep my fingers crossed .

I think everything is getting a bit much for him really .. my husband has never cryed.. even when his grand dad died.. never in the 14 years ive known him

Last night he was crying his eyes out .. and he just couldn't stop .. we watched titanic and he was balling.. and then all this stuff that was bothereing him just blurted out .. he has been grumpy since he got home.. last night he cryed and today he is happy .. so maybe we should watch titanic more often .. so he can release his feelings.. why do blokes hold in there feelings?? i dont get it.. we women do it alll the time.. men are funny .. they trying to be tough or something?? i dont know.. anyway.. i gotta go .. have a great day girls :)

woah! there are so many things wrong there amy!!! that is not fair that you look forward to him coming home and the kids do too and he is like that!

yeah i know .. dont worry he is still apologising lol.. its all the drink.. and he has always been bad on it.. we dont have it in the house at all.. Im a complete nondrinker so its very easy for me not to have it around.. I dont nedd drink to be happy i just am happy.. I dont worry about having fun i just do it.. lol
So yeah Johns drinking has to stop .. if hes coming home he has to be 100% dry.. 2 drinks for him is the limit before my azzhole appears.. Cameroj told him last night that he doent like him when he drinks.. and that hes scared of daddy when he drinks .. that was before we watched the movie so i hope he was thinking about that when he was crying.. becuase its not just me he is an azz too .. though he likes to think it is .. I told him too when he comes home for good he has to give up drinking for good or he will loose us for good .. i said we have no future is he cant give up drinking when he is finally home.

I grew up with an alcoholic step father and brother. Not a good way to grow up. Hope John can see there is a prob and gets help. But you can't hope those who won't help themselves. It's HIM that has to do it. G'luck Amy. And we're here if u need a sounding board.

i guess the crying means he knows he has a problem, and the fact that cameron also told him has got to have him thinking but WHY just when he is at home, if he can not handle his grog then he should fix it everywhere why be a scary azz anywhere?? no one can do two different things or should want to be pretending or whateva around family.... doesnt even matter if he doesnt physically hurt you as mentally he is hurting you and the kids, what is your girl going to think when she gets to marrying age?? is she going to marry the same kind of guy coz that is what she thinks is normal??
kinda funny that he cried at titantic though, kinda prooves there is a sweety in there trying to get out, needs your help....
milk his apologiseing for all it is worth!

got your dishwasher yet??

my eating is all over the place, i am not over eating i am just eating the ''wrong'' things

dont you love it ani when the idiot quits! that hardly ever happens, i usually quit first!

gen - your boy is in melb?? you have someone waiting for you?? are you coming back??

see photo <------ can you see kitchen in background? that was on saturday at my kitchen warming party - i am wearing shirt saying "tupperchick" and jemima is wearing shirt saying "tupperbub" benji declined the "tupperhubby" shirt heheheheeh
i will try and upload better kitchen photos in a second and do the facebook link thing that works good

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...7&id=672125417

old kitchen
am working on cleaning kitchen today to take pics of new one
but it is in back ground of these pics
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...d&id=672125417
notice curtains, dishwasher and glass doors - all took ages - the whole thing took ages but those took even longer for different reasons ho hum

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...6&id=672125417

FINALLY new kitchen

i just ate half a packet of pizza rice crackers and a quarter of a packet of coles brand choc cream wafers
basically it didnt matter what i was eating i just felt like snacking
it is not logical

Ooh.. pizza rice crackers, that sounds good!

Kel, no boy waiting for me exactly. Just a good friend I ended up with while I was living in Melbourne recently... not sure what will happen (if anything) in the future...we're keeping in touch.

Just saw my niece on skype.. I miss her!!

Wow Kel. New kitchen looks great. worth the wait I say.

Gen how long are you staying in USA? Do they have EENs that go over? Or only Rns??

New updated profile pic of all my kids together and smiling AT THE SAME TIME OMG

your new photos rock vonni, all your kids are gorgous, look like a handful though...

loving new kitchen finally, think that has been part of what was getting me down the so close but not yet finished feeling everytime i went in there and coz it is so small without the dishwasher it got cluttered very quickly, but now i finally made the curtains it has kinda brought it all together

you will never guess what i did last night.... two completly different things
first i went and told this moderator church guy what would make more young families go to our church - special request that i go coz we are basically the only young family that tries
then
my cleaner had a 'rainbow warehouse' party which is party plan for gaypride stuff, all so cool, the party plan lady was a bit boring so i took notes in a "what not to do" way but bought jemima a rainbow umbrella, bought a 3way dog lead for my dogs (how cool that they actually make one) some rainbow socks and some rainbow bath crayons - too cool and such a different thing to do on a tuesday night
good to get in good with my cleaner as well she seems really nice and doesnt live far away.... and is going to be buying heaps of tupperware

gotta go do stuff while jemima is asleep before swimming (my only ful mummy day this week so i better not blow it)

oh sh*t, thats right i weighed in this morning and have put on a kilo
lets not talk about it

Vonni, only RNs can immigrate to the US... even then, it's a hard and long process. I am actually here as a specialist in artificial heart with a bachelor degree (and also have my RN license) but not employed as a nurse (although I can do nursing shifts if I want). My visa is for 2 years, then I can renew it as many times as I want. My boss will probably apply for a greencard as he doesn't want me to leave when my visa ends!!

hey guys im doing great only 0.2 from my short term goal.. and im pretty pleased about that.. this is the longest i have managed to stay under 270.. and this time im still losing :) . i had my Mother in law tell me yesterday i have lost heaps of weight and look good.. .. she said "hello skinny how are you.. youve lost heaps of weight .. .. Steven has even said to her how much weight i had lost ".. lol . we went to he candy store she has just moved shops and reopened the new one.. and its bigger and better then ever .
Steven is johns brother .. we went round to his parents on sunday for lunch.. and steven and Nan were there.. .
anyway john is home so i better go cyall later

Amy that's awesome - good on you for sticking to it and for coming so far. I'm really proud of you :carrot:.

I've dropped another 0.4kg and am 76.5kg this week. I'm happy with that, but still hoping to get close to 76kg by the end of the month.

At the moment I am working on the following goals:

• Eat around 1500 calories/day;

• Drink a litre of water/day;

• Walk 12,000 steps/day;

It's currently 4ºC and I start work soon - just delightful!

Vonni your family are very cute, and I like your new pic as well.

Kel why are you gaining weight? What's going on with your food choices and the Lite n Easy stuff?

Anyway - must get ready for work. It's 4.30am and freezing…

:)
Ani

dont know

ok yesterday i finally got my dishwasher installed it looks so much better then the old one .. and im really happy with it . i can get alot more in this one :) always a good thing..
heres the old ugly one:barf:

http://i32.tinypic.com/dpjli0.jpghttp://i31.tinypic.com/2uhthjs.jpg

My kitchen cupboards are shallow so the new one sticks out too but not as far and it looks alot nicer
http://i25.tinypic.com/2py6rn4.jpghttp://i31.tinypic.com/2ywbgpj.jpg
http://i29.tinypic.com/69qsza.jpghttp://i27.tinypic.com/2w6yv88.jpg

so im very happy with it.. and hope its lasts a good long time lol ..

im doing ok.. not feeling 100% today i have tom .. and my kidneys are hurting and im bloated .. which i think is why they hurt.. and being cold is making them feel worse.. i have to keep a jumper on the minute i take it off they hurt.. .
so no good workout today just a 40 minute walk so far .

Kel im glad your getting your house sorted your kitchen looks amazing.. :) mine is a 1970's original. that i apainted myself . but its in good condition so i cant justify taking it out .. .. now kel... :hug: please start looking after yourself your are an amazing person and you deserve to be looked after too .. i know your busy with jem and the house but.. please.. take time for you too.. get good healthy food some exercise.. even a walk everyday is better then nothing .. and DONT BUY THE CRAP FOOD...

Ani woohoo. another bit closer to your goal well done...

:shocksn: brrrrrrr its so cold... lol:shocksn::snow4::coolsnow:

I have just six more weigh-ins to go until my 2nd anniversary of starting my weight loss, and I have set myself a challenge of trying to reach 75kg by then. It's abundantly clear that I am really slow at this, but at the same time I wouldn't change it for anything.

Over the last (almost) two years I have learned a lot, and changed several things about my life. Committing to a weight-loss journey has been really similar to a new relationship - and in many ways it runs parallel to that.

I've been through the honeymoon period where it all feels new and exciting, and where I felt almost obsessed with it. Then gone through a lot of "I'm not sure this is what I want", and sometimes been quite happy to coast along. At other times I have felt confident enough to plan for the future, and there have been times when I've been thoroughly bored :D.

Over the last three months I have been taking it for granted, and even "taking it out on my food" when I've been p!ssed off with the world.

But since anniversaries are a good time for reflection, I have to say that overall it has been a good relationship so far. What has worked for me, and what hasn't?

• Eating breakfast is the biggest, most important change I made to my relationship with food. Not only is it physically important, but it sets my momentum for the whole day - starts every day by reminding me that this is the "new me", and often gives me the inspiration to have a good day with food.

• I rarely eat takeaway food any more. And when I do I don't enjoy it the way I used to.

• It's really true what they say about how 'failing to plan is planning to fail'. When I plan my meals I am fine; I have kept an Excel spreadsheet of my weekly weigh-ins since Day One, and it tells an interesting story. It also helps to keep me motivated because I don't want to see that graph going in the wrong direction. I also count calories (although I haven't been so good with that over the last month), and it keeps me right on track.

• I have learned to identify my "danger times". I now understand my emotional relationship with food, and how I use it to protect myself, hide, comfort, punish… and I have come up with other ways of looking after myself.

• I now appreciate the value of exercise. I believe that it is over-rated as a way of losing weight, because it only contributes around 20% of the calories we burn. But it is so important for better health, stronger bodies, muscle tone, stamina and motivation. More important than structured exercise is being able to get to a point where I am physically active throughout the day.

• I have also learned that the biggest rewards have nothing to do with external promises. What I mean by that is when we say "when I lose 5kg I'm going to get a massage/buy clothes etc"… For me the biggest rewards are that I now fit into chairs without bruising my thighs, I wear a Size 14-16 in clothes, I am not obese anymore, people don't look at me and silently judge me, I don't feel ashamed of myself - and many other benefits.

• The hardest thing I have learned is that the smaller I get the less invisible I become. And because I'm not hiding my emotions with food, I am a lot more emotional than I used to be - and I'm also a lot more real.

• I can do things now that I never dreamed would be possible. Who would have thought, when I was 105kg, that I could work for eight hours a day in a physically demanding job, then come home and do gardening for two hours? Who would have thought I could do it and get real satisfaction from it?

More importantly who would have ever thought I would get to a point where I would demand something different for myself! When I threw in my business earlier this year, then went to work at Bunnings, who would have predicted I would be signing a contract for my SECOND book by mid-year?

When my second anniversary comes around I want to be able to tell you all that I have lost 30kg/66 pounds/28.5% of my body weight.

The other day at work I carried a 25kg bag of potting mix out to a car for a woman. It was no more than a 50 metre walk, but I was hurting by the time I got there. It occurred to me that I used to carry that amount - and more - on my body every single day, and it made me really sad. I was actually overwhelmed by thinking: "What the **** did I do to myself?". And it was such a relief to let it go…

im below my goal weight yeah......268.2 baby....
http://i30.tinypic.com/29h5w0.jpg

Ani------------WOW

Ani that is a great post what a journey you have come on in many ways.. and its great that you feel more.. now then you did.. EXCELLENT

http://www.bebo.com/Von72

Thats my BEBO that my daughter created for me lol. It's more a teenager thing, but if it wasnt for this site we wouldnt have found her dad.

Where is everyone? Have you all gone into winter hibernation or something?

I am going to need to be a little more disciplined if I am to lose any more weight. So I'm going right back to the basics, and I'll try to get myself in the right head space to drop the next few kilos.

I realised this morning that I don't have a routine anymore. Ever since I started shift work I have been really struggling to find a routine, and that needs to change. I also don't drink anywhere near enough water (it is 3.3ºC here at the moment - not very inspiring weather for water consumption). And I eat too many carbs since I have been working, and more processed food than ever… all bad habits that have crept back in to my life.

So it's back to the drawing board for me, and the first thing I need to challenge is my mindset. I need to STOP taking this stuff for granted, and get my head around the fact that I still need discipline, planning and routine in order to be successful.

Grrr! I annoy myself sometimes…

i have set a new goal weight buit decided to make it a small one lol 20 pounds took so damn long so.. 2.4 sounds alot easier lol.. yeah i know mini mini goal lol but that will bring me down to 265.8 so .. im happy with that after that i will go for 270.8 and so on.. 5 pounds at a time from here on out.. at least that way it wont feel so huge.. i have been 100% op for about 3 weeks now i think so im doing great and feeling great .. working out most days and ive also joined a 100 push up challenge on the boards lol.. what a laugh that is im on the weakest level doing pushups on my knees but.. i am working hard so i dont mind.. its good fun ..

Ok time to watch big brother cya girls later..

I'm here. Put on a few hundred grams. Too scared to look properly. Will do a better weigh in next week. And starting tomorrow I am going back to counting my calories. I am not going to do anything different, just watch whats happening for a couple of weeks. Then streamline everything.