pneumonia immunisation is only given to the over 70s and sometimes (rarely) people "at risk". So I dont think that would have been what leah receifved as her last immunisation. Now the FLU shot can be given to anyone but isnt foolproof. You can still get the flu but milder than usual. But a complication of the flu can be pneumonia.

Amy give Leah a huge hug and really hope she gets better soon. And you make sure you get some rest to. Its scary being a mum hey?

lindor - So one is allowed to make a statement, but nobody is allowed an opinion on that statement? Nobody is attacking you or shooting you down Kel! I'm saying nothing more because, in this case, actions speak louder!

Hope you don't leave us Kel, as Ani says I think we should be able to agree to disagree on some points.
Kel had a very valid statement...but for us fighting weight issues, some food is fuel, other foods are comfort, others bring a little pleasure, some eases pain, and others numb the hurt etc. It is not that we are looking at all food - junk or otherwise - as fuel.


That's the point Vonni...we aren't looking at ALL food as fuel! We are looking at it as (as Gen and Ani said) comfort, convenience, pleasure, sadness, joy etc.


So one is allowed to make a statement, but nobody is allowed an opinion on that statement? Nobody is attacking you or shooting you down Kel! I'm saying nothing more because, in this case, actions speak louder!


AND BINGO

I also don't agree with the food is fuel statement! I was actually I little annoyed to read it. If it was that simple would any of us really be here...struggling?

EXACTLY if anyone of you had STOPPED and thought before responding to my "opnion' than perhaps you would have seen what i have seen
a whole bunch of people who are too scared to TRY thinking a different way
who can not see that by not thinking of food as fuel are sabataging everyweight loss attempt - ever diet, every lifestyle change

not one of you said - hmmm kelly i had never thought of it that way - perhaps if is TRIED thinking about food in a different way i would have more success when it came to the choices i have to make everytime i open my mouth to shove food it

i stayed the same weight this week which tells me i am eating for my body, i am eating when i need to eat - however to lose weight i need to decrease my portion sizes and slowly but surely my body will get smaller and when listneing to smaller body i will eat less as my body wont need as much fuel

i have no idea what i am going to do when i have a downer - i know i will still reach for the choc and i will still tell myself i NEED a whole packet of chips, but hopefully with more knowledge about food and calories i will be able to keep it in check

all i know is that when i put a statement on this "support" site i did not get support i got a whole heap of fat scardy cats trying to justify their current train of thought that has OBVIOUSLY not been working
and the weightloss queen ani - PUTTING ON 10KG IN THE LAST COUPLE OF MONTHS perhaps a mind change is one thing that should be on that list of goals you do every day???

Vonni, I watched the show on TV last night! I have to admit, before watching it, I thought it would be just one of those programs that tells us what we already know. I too was surprised by the soup!! And the exercise amazed me...to lose 14g of fat while exercising but to lose 49g of fat while at rest some 12hrs after exercising! It was really interesting.

Amy, I hope Leah feels better soon.

Ani, it's good to hear you getting back on track

I've done ok today, eaten good so far, have dinner on the stove, swallowed some water and done half of my junkmail round (40min solid walk) - other half tomorrow. I am eager to start my collection of pot plants so I am feeling determined at the moment!

Where the **** is spring? It's a bit bizarre that it's warmer in Melbourne than it is in Perth at the moment . I'm hanging out for some warm days so I can spend time outside, and get some things happening in the garden.

Lindor you'll have a verandah full of plants before you know it. I've had another good day today - haven't quite drunk enough water, but that's nothing new. I never have a problem drinking water in warmer weather - but now it's a bit of a struggle. Food has been good, I've burned plenty of calories at work, and am feeling really good about things.

Gen are you around? I've been thinking of you and wondering if you are OK.

ummm gee i missed a few things didnt i .. Please dont leave Kel .. Im sure sometimes we all feel a bit on the outer , I know i have in the past .. but surly its not reason enough to up and leave.

Barb well done on the kilo...

ani as far as the 5 kg thing.. im gonna continue with my xmas goal.. since its less then 5 kilos.... lol ( i know im slack... hehehe)

Lindor i love the idea of the plants for 5 kg rewards ...

as for me im motivated by clothes... i love clothes.. and shopping.. so im easy to reward ... lol

Vonni thanks for clearing up the immunisation quetion.. in my sleep deprived... 5 minutes to spare post this morning for some reason i thought pneumonia was in the hib vaccine .. lol...what do you know about erthymycin? ( we have never had that one b4 )

Julia... i bet you are buggered after the million stairs you went up and down.... does you butt ache??

IM going along rather nicely this week in all.. my indiscreations ended up being minor.. over the space of a week ... I have been doing my diary by the week for some time now.. and it working extremely well .. i find it hard to eat x amount every day.. so i decided to put in my 1550... times it by 7 then put in an entry every day on the week .. see where i am by the end of the week.. by adding the totals this week.. i was over cals.. by only 370 cals.. dispite having a high cal day or two.. becuase i had low cal ones too .. with the 1550 as a goal.. i was trying to eat to it whether i was hungry or not.. and im sure like most poeple some days im hungier then others.. so this allows m the room in the diet without the regret.. I can adjust what i eat for the rest of the week. to reach my goals .. and its working .. so im very happy with my little excel sheet .

this week i have actually had quite a good week ..
monday i walked 2 hrs 9 kms
wednesday i walked 75 mins 6 kms
thursday 20mins 2.5 kms
friday 15 minutes ellitpical 75 minutes body jam
saturday 225 minute minute walk.. 15 kms
sunday 1 hr walk 5 kms and 1 hr wii fit.. and
today 2 hrs walking 1 hr swimming ..


so i think i made up for my extra 370 cals.. somehow.. lol..

i cant see me getting as much exercise this week since Leah is still sick ( so no kindy )John is working longer hours this week .. so i cant see me an Jet sneaking out for a few hours anywhere... lol

Amy its a broad spectrum antibiotic. So it's used for many things and often pneumonia. If i remember rightly from my studies (gawd i hated pharmocology) Its a macrolide antibiotic - basically - helps prevent the bacteria cells from reproducing proteins that the bacteria rely on to survive and multiply. Them parts are actually also manufactured using componant of another bug - strep. but i guess their processes of obtaining specific parts of the bug is technical and obviously safe. Like who would deliberately give u strep? lol. naaaa, there are dif (i guess u could call species lol) of strep and it forms antibiotic as part of its metabolism process. That last bit i looked up lol.

But seriously if u do look anythig up medically on the web make sure its a reputable site. there is so much crap out there and so many people self diagnose its dangerous.

well thats why i decided not to look it up... and just ask you... lol thanks for the info

I've been reading some really interesting articles about the effects of exercise on weight loss. According to some fairly significant studies, it's really common to over-estimate the number of calories we burn. It is also common to eat more to 'reward ourselves' for good work.

I didn't know that it has only been since the 1970s that doctors have been advising people to exercise more to lose weight. I assumed it was always part of weight loss programmes.

I have been trying, for months, to work out how many calories I need to eat every day, to balance the amount of physical activity I do at work. And it isn't easy to work out.

This is what I will do at work today:

• Walk on a concrete floor in steel-cap boots for 7.5 hours, and clock up around 10km in that time;

• Unload several pallets of stock, lifting a total of around 6400kg;

• Sweep floors for a total of about 30 minutes; and

• Climb up and down ~ 500 stairs.

I have absolutely no idea of how many calories that would burn - so I am going to experiment with calories over the next month or so and see if I can find the right balance.

For me it's about trying to lose weight, at the same time as eating enough to have the energy to perform my job properly.

I have noticed this week that I have been feeling REALLY hungry when I get home from work. So I'm going to add 100cals of protein to my lunch and see if that helps. Apart from that, all my meals are planned and I'm feeling confident I can have another good day.

ani i think are body gets used too what we do .. thats why when i try to work things out im just putting to account what im eating .. if i can keep it where i want it i loose weight.. if i exercise i loose more... I think the main reason we were told to exercise is becuase as a society we all got lazier... washing machine became automatic.. poeple started driving to the shop to get the morning paper.. .. before then every one was active in there daily lives.. even something as simple as preparing food from scrath.. be it bread a cake or even the dimmer meal meant burning more calories... things were mixed by hand .. potato had to be scrubbed ...

I reckon that is why the modern weight loss thing tells you to move more.. becuase as a whole we all move a heck of a lot less. in our everyday life.

actually thibnking about it ...
I have seen programs however and even going back to the victorian era where people were told to exercise to loose weight so though it may not be well documented its not as new an idea as you may think.. i beleive the programme was called supersizers go.... and it went through a load of different eras and there diets / life style and whether or not it was healthy... there was another called the diets time forgot that had exercise in it too.. so it might be worth looking into.


as for whats right for you ... i think you are more active then me.. and i eat around 1500 cals a day ... and loose weight .. as a basci rule they say 2000 cals is maitance cals for the average women .. for you being so active id say .. while active you maintain at 2200-2400 ... so try 1700 -1900 and see how you go ... I find after a day i have been very active im extra hungry and on those days i allow 200 cals more so id allow myself 1700 that day and back to 1500 the next..

working it out over the week makes it easier for me it allow me 10500 cals a week .. and i have room to move.. that way .

i dont take the exercise into account at all.. food and exercise are seperate.. becuase thewre is no way of knowing how many cals you actually burn. exercise for me is just foer my own happiness and wellbeing.

Thanks Amy - that's awesome, and exactly what I needed to hear.

I'm going to follow that for three weeks (cycling between 1600 & 1900 calories/day), and see how my body responds.

Better get to work but I wanted to say thankyou for such a thoughtful and insightful post

Kel I don't know what your problem is, but it's nothing to do with us. I didn't even disagree with you, or realize there was a problem. I said FOR ME food is not fuel. Of course it should be.

Ani, I am missing my mum, especially as the time goes by and the deadline ticks closer. I just need to get this school term finished and I have 8 or 9 months off school so I am more free to go home for a while when I want. I might take some more of my family leave in January and go home for a good period.

The weight thing is the old chicken and egg. I feel so digustingly fat all the time, so that makes me not want to do anything, which means I sit around and get depressed, so I eat more and get fatter.... I have a free gym membership with my uni and the gym is directly across the street from my office - I need to get there after work and at least do SOMETHING. I know I feel better when I exercise and it helps me to eat a better diet because I don't want to ruin my work.

Anyhow... we soldier on.

Gen I think we were all contributing to a discussion about our own relationship with food - and it got taken out of context. I can't control how anyone else reacts to my own journey, and in the end that isn't any of my business.

I'm sorry you are going through such an awful time. Life is so unfair sometimes, isn't it.

Maybe it would be worth going to the gym, or even going for walks or something. Even if it doesn't kick-start any weight loss for you, I know that there are huge benefits to our mental/emotional health when we exercise.

I don't know - but you're often in my thoughts - and if there is ever anything I can do, please ask .

Same goes for me too Gen. I know how you're feeling with your weight issues and your mum too.

Big hugs coming your way

Off to work this morning .... 9 hours of mandatory training. yayyyy

One more day to work and then it's my weekend. I have a house inspection next week, so I will have to clean and scrub, and I also have a bit more work to do on my book. Aside from that I hope the weather fines up long enough for me to mow the lawn.

I expect to lose some weight this week, and I know that most of it will be water weight - I don't care, because it's all going in the right direction .

My housemate has been away for three weeks. He will be back in just over a week, so I fully intend to enjoy the peace and quiet this week. Surprisingly he is working out pretty well - he keeps to himself, is responsible and respectful of my privacy AND he pays all his bills on time.

I have all my meals planned for today and am feeling quietly confident I will achieve my goals.

Last night I worked out that on my 'virtual walk across Australia' I am only a few hundred kilometres away from Broken Hill in NSW. That's a LOT of walking!