Nita - I wish you lots of luck in getting rid of those 15lbs again. It is such a struggle to lose them second time around. A real pain. I can relate to your dilemma. Keep going on counting those calories. I look forward to hearing your results in a week or so.
- oooh a breeze just came in through the window I can smell roses. Must be the yellow friesia rose as it is in full bloom just now and I can see nothing else that has a strong scent and which is out.
This is not a photo of my rose. I suspect mine is more of a floribunda. But it does look similar in the bud.
I seem to have scored myself another job. When things happen, they happen quite suddenly and given that I am waiting on the results of a local one which will be clear by 12.00pm today, it seems that I will be off to Wollongong in a couple of weeks time.
That is the news for today. I will probably take the 'gong job. It is paying extremely well, I will be working with people that I know and doing a variety of documentation from finance to purchasing to material maintenance to PM, and given that I want to go on holiday in August, I may just need that money. It's just that I will have to pack up and leave home again. Sunday the cat will not appreciate my efforts I am sure.
Speaking of Sunday the cat, I have just taken her to the vet to have her teeth checked and scaled. She was quiet all the way to the vet (a minor miracle in itself) but let it be known that she was less than amused when I walked into the vets surgery and was even louder when I handed her over to Kelly the nurse (another Kiwi). I'm sure the vet and his staff will be impressed with her healthy vocal cords.
Ah well with that, I'll be off to paint the ceiling and walls. Better get that done before I go away again.
Just a quick note to let you all know, I am indeed writing down everything I eat and I am staying around 1500 to 1900 cal. per day. This is day No. 3. Yesterday I did have a Hersey bar and put down 230 cal. in my journal. Since we had chicken salad for dinner, I was still within my range. It is true, we really don't know how many calories we are consuming until we actually measure and count them.
I need to go to the chiropractor this afternoon because I hurt my back while bowling on Sunday all by myself. I must have been bowling too fast.
Well I will close for now,
Hope you are having a wonderful day!
Anita
A note from my Canadian friend. She's going to Cuba for 10 days. The weather isn't bad here at all, but my that does sound nice. Of course, we in the Land of the Free can't go to Cuba anyway. Heaven forfend.
I can't believe how fast this week went by. Seems like i was working late everyday this week and by the time I got home ate dinner, did a load of laundry it was time to get to bed. I took a vacation day today and just laid around. I did see Oprah and she talked about gaining some of her weight during the holidays. She was going to sign her contract with her trainer to get back on the program.
Nita - Good for you on your journaling. I too need to do that. Hope your back is feeling better.
Shad - what a beautiful rose. You'll have to tell about your new job location.
Gosh, it has been a long time since I've sucessfully posted here! I have tried a few times and lost the information. I guess it may be a symptom of difficult times, but things are getting better, becoming easier day by day.
Interesting enough, I lost 3.4 pounds at WW weigh in last Tuesday evening. I skipped the weigh in the previous Tuesday due to eating foods I normally 'would never' while in Indiana for my Father's funeral visitation. I did not gorge, but still ate foods that definately have their abundance of empty yet oh so tasty calories. I have a wonderful set of high school friends that never fail me - they are incredible. We are now an official red hat society. They quietly remind me my name is on the roster, altho I have assured them I will not be wearing a red hat! Too funny. So that is very nice news in the mist of much stress and sadness.
In the last 14 months I've lost both parents, and my dear niece. Actually, it will be a year on the 27th her life was taken. I'm working on a dedication for the local paper in Indiana. I bought the ad space while I was there for the funeral visitation for my Dad and gave them a picture of my niece. These words are difficult to develop. You have no idea.
I've read the previous posts from the last few weeks, but to be honest cannot remember enough to post individually. I will do my best to once again be a better member of this very worthy thread.
Hal - WTG on your 3.4 weight loss. I'm glad your friends were there to give you support during this time. What is the red hat society? We all know what you have been going through and understand why you have not been posting, but remember we are here for you.
Quick post, got lots to do and I can hear thunder rumbling in the background again.
Hal - good to see you back and well done on that weight loss.
My new challenge - for one week only - is to get everything done around the house that needs doing before I shut it up to go start my new job. New job is in Wollongong on the east coast of Aus just south of Sydney. I leave here next Sunday morning early and should get there - God willing and the rivers don't rise - by 8 or 9pm that night. It is about 1100k from here. Long drive huh.
Okay - gotta split. Next job on the list, fold the llaundry, put it away, check the e-mail for accommodation replies and sweep the floor in the lounge. That'll get me off to a good start tomorrow.
Hi chicks .... sorry I have not posted in a few days. Always seem to be busy. Trying to get some paintings finished and I have trouble getting to the happy stage where I can say it is finished.
Sinead is going to India for 3 weeks just before Easter and PAul is talking about going to Iceland for a few days at Easter.
Orla is 20 today so I have no more teenagers in the house now.
Shad ...... good luck with the new job ...... gosh what a long drive ..... rather you than me!!
Halgal ...... CONGRATS on the weightloss even thou you had some not so good foods.I hope your life gets better from now on.
Patty .... sounds like you enjoyed your vacation day just taking it easy. We all need days like that!
Nita ..... 1500 - 1900 cals sounds like a good healthy plan ..... keep it up!
Catlover ..... I hope all is well with you.
Some more McKenna tips ........
DAY 21: Eliminate the negative
‘Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.’
CHINESE PROVERB
Over the years, I have worked with any number of struggling actors and musicians who resented the rich and famous while simultaneously striving to join their ranks. The problem with that is simple: It’s difficult to become something if you hate it. Your unconscious mind craves consistency – and if you keep telling it that all naturally thin people are bad in some way, it will do whatever it can to not let you become one of them. There is something miraculously freeing about celebrating the success of others, even those people we don’t particularly like. Try it as an experiment for the next few days. Whenever you hear about someone doing well, think something congratulatory. Bless their success instead of cursing it. Shortly this will become a new habit and you will become a more positive person. And as you begin to wish the best for those who are thinner than you, your unconscious mind will begin to make you more like them!
DAY 22: Breathe more, eat less
‘The only reason I would take up jogging is so that I could hear heavy breathing again.’
ERMA BOMBECK
Given that people can go on a hunger strike for 90 days or more without dying, it’s probably a bit of an exaggeration to say ‘I’m starving’ two hours after a Chinese takeaway. But the body can’t survive even five minutes without a healthy supply of oxygen. And when you give the body the oxygen it craves, it will give you more energy and a faster metabolism.
This breathing exercise before each meal is a great way to give your body what it really needs:
1. Breathe in through your nose for a count of five.
2. Hold your breath for a count of 20. If you can’t get to 20, just hold it as long as you can. Imagine pumping the oxygen through to every cell in your body, giving it the nourishment it truly wants and needs.
3. Now, exhale completely until your body is empty. Stay ‘empty’ for as long as you can.
4. When your body really wants to breathe in again, let it. Allow your breathing to return to normal.
5. Repeat at least two more times.
DAY 23: Step by step
'A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.'
LAO TZU
Dr James Hill discovered that there was a difference of only 1,500 to 2,000 steps taken a day between people who were overweight and those who maintained a healthy weight. That may sound like a lot, but it's only the distance of approximately four city blocks. Get creative with at least ten ways you can 'step up' your physical movement today. I've given a few suggestions to get you started:
I can move more today by …
1. Taking the steps instead of the elevator.
2. Walking to work.
3. Playing outdoors with my children.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
DAY 24: Boredom
Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it onto future generations.'
GEORGE BERNARD SHAW
I have a friend whose young daughter is continually bored. When she can no longer stand to hear her daughter complain, she fixes her a snack. Allow me to let you in on a little secret:
The cure for boredom is activity, not food.
If you find yourself feeling bored today, in search of something to do, move your body. Go for a walk. Dance! Your mind will thank you and your body will be beside itself with joy!
DAY 25: Increase the 'fun factor'
'We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.'
GEORGE BERNARD SHAW
One of the unsung rules of success is this: What's fun gets done.
How can you make the process of using this journal and transforming your relationship with food even more fun?
Here are some of my favourite ideas from participants on my seminars:
Blow up 90 balloons and pop one for each day you successfully complete the programme. Do the programme with a friend - cook great meals for one another, go for walks and share your successes. Keep your eye on the prize - stick a photo of your head on your future body and enjoy the journey! Jot down your own ideas here:
To make this programme even more fun, I could …
DAY 26: The power of appreciation
The deepest principal in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.'
WILLIAM JAMES
Here are some wonderful questions for you to ask and answer throughout the day today:
1. What's right with my life?
2. What's working?
3. Who do I love and who loves me?
4. What am I most grateful for in my life?
The real value in this exercise is not just the good feelings you will experience in your body but also the changes it will make in your life. By taking the time to deliberately appreciate what you already like and love, you invoke the law of increase:
What you focus on consistently, you get more of!
DAY 27:What's next?
'Change starts when someone sees the next step.'
WILLIAM DRAYTON
The question I am asked most frequently when people have successfully completed one of my programmes is, 'What's next?'
Now that you have successfully taken yourself through this programme, there is one thing you can do which more than any other will help you to build on the momentum you've generated and keep your relationship with eating, food and your body strong:
Volunteer your support for other people who want to lose weight! Chances are that people have already begun asking you what you're doing differently. Instead of just telling them, you can show them. Take them through the four golden rules. Share the secrets of easy exercise. Encourage them to work through this programme with you as a 'support coach'. Not only will they thank you, your mastery of the system will grow in leaps and bounds, and you will find it easier and easier to maintain all the gains (and losses!) you have made!
Welcome back Halgal--Congrats also on your magnificent weight loss. I do believe WW is working for you. I am so sorry you have had so much sadness this past year. Perhaps this year will be much happier!
Mooz - Thanks for sharing all that wonderful info. I quite agree about the breathing. When I go to bed at night and have a hard time falling asleep, I do exactly what they told you to do--take a deep breath through your nose and hold it and finally let it go. For some reason it always calms me and before I know it I have fallen asleep.
I finally got rid of my backache and on Saturday morning I woke up with a stiff neck. But today it is finally almost gone. This has kept me from going to exercise and I hope I get to go back sometime this week.
I finally got the taxes ready for the accountant and that really does make me feel a lot better.
By following my new plan of losing weight, I lost 2-1/2 lbs. this first week. I really don't know why I fought writing down what I eat when I was doing WW because actually this is a little more difficult in that I need to look up the calories and then write them down. Perhaps I could eventually follow the WW plan and just keep on doing what I am doing now.
Has anyone heard of the food supplement "Seavegg". My daughter convinced me to give them a try. I will let you know if they have any effect. Supposedly they have seaweed in them and are manufactured in Ireland's pure sea water. Mooz, would you agree the water is pure?
Shad -- You sound like you have a plan and have taken action! You certainly do motivate me to do things around the house I have been putting off for some time.
1-Day and Catlover -- hope all is going well with you as well
Hope you are all well and not suffering from too much excess sweet stuff over Valentines Day. Is it really worth sacrificing what you have achieved for the over commercialised 'fun' of the moment. It's a question I often ask myself when I see the stupidity of what merchandising wizards suggest we should by our loved ones for this day.
I've changed my mind about driving down to Wollongong on Sunday and have now booked a flight for Sunday morning. It's a long drive for one day and I will fly home on Friday, leave here on Saturday about lunch time, drive down at a reasonable pace and find a motel about halfway. Then I can drive the Sydney bit in the morning when I am fresh and not stressed out about getting to and through the joint as I would be doing the whole 1100K in one day.
Yesterday I painted and the ceiling in the diner and it doesn't look too bad. It needs a bit of plaster in some of the screw holes but other than that is okay. The lounge ceiling will never be perfect but there you go. It's not my fault, between the builder and the painter they have stuffed it. It will need to be replaced at some point in time or be restripped and plastered. I haven't got the time or energy anymore. Have to go get some more paint today to finish off. This ceiling must have the record amount of paint on it.
Today I am taking some time out to go bush and have lunch with a friend who lives down in Jimboomba on acreage. Her business is breeding Rottweiler dogs. Should be fun as long as I don't get eaten for breakfast or in this case lunch. I'll fit in the last day for the week at gym today along with the lunch and the paint shop. There isn't a branch of my gym at Wollongong so I will either have to find another or do it the hard way, by myself and on the beach. Yes they have beaches in Wollongong.
We are a quiet bunch at the moment. I guess the end of winter blues is setting in over there and certainly the I'm done with the heat syndrome is setting in over here. I look forward to cooler nights and good sleeps.
Well up and at 'em Shad. Time is a movin' along and there are plenty of things to do today. Get organised NOW!
I'm glad your friends were there to give you support during this time. What is the red hat society? We all know what you have been going through and understand why you have not been posting, but remember we are here for you.
