The Great June Weight Loss Challenge

A couple of the lovely women where I'm working are trying to lose some weight too. So, we're going to see who can lose the most in June.
I'm a lot bigger than them, and, it has to be said, somewhat more dedicated to the weight-loss cause! So, I have to lose 2kg for every 1kg they lose. For instance, if I lose 5kg, whichever of them loses the most over 2.5kg wins.
There's a bottle of Veuve Cliquot riding on this. Of course, we'll factor it into our daily points the day we knock the bottle off!
Be prepared to pay up girls - that bottle's got MY name on it.
Challenge start weight 116.5kg

New jeans!

I told myself I wouldn't get new jeans until I went from a size 24 to a size 20. I went to see the lovely women at my favourite shop (Zebrano) yesterday to pick up a couple more tops.
While I was there, I tried on some size 20 jeans to see how far I had to go. They fit! Okay, they were pretty tight, and I probably don't look as good in them as I think I do. But they're going to be too big for me in couple of months anyway, so tight doesn't really matter.
I refused to take them off, just got them to cut the tags off in the shop so I could wear them for the rest of the day.

Wow, that feels good!

I did it! I've reached my first big goal! With two weeks to spare!
I've lost 10% of my starting weight. And I've lost 25% of the 56kg I'm going to lose. How cool is that? I was trying to do it by the end of week 12, made it by the end of week 10.
I feel great. This really lifts my motivation. If I can make it this far, there is no doubt I can reach goal weight.
Wooooooooohooooooooo!
The timing is perfect. I'd already booked a day off today. I'll go and get my nails done, get a haircut and by some new (better fitting) bras and undies. So, I've got a celebration day already planned!
When I go to the supermarket tomorrow, I'll pick up a 10kg and a 5kg bag of spuds, to reinforce just how much I have lost.

Time to re-focus

I've almost made it to my first big goal of losing 10% of my starting weight.
Now feels like a good time to take stock.
I know that I can reach big goals if I set little goals that help me along the way. I use those little goals to introduce good habits like exercise.
So, while I'm thinking about what my next big goal will be, I'll set some mini goals to help me get there. Each week for the next four weeks I'll set a mini goal specifically dedicated to making sure I'm doing things right - like checking portion sizes or counting absolutely everything that I eat (even that marshmallow I swipe off my son after the shopping on Saturday).
If you're interested, you can find out what my goals are in the link on the right hand side of this page.

Still here to tell the tale!

Well, I managed to survive my busy Tuesday. I figure the three hours on my feet at the dance last night can't have done any harm.
Before anyone asks, no, I didn't get up and shake my groove thing! We did sell all our drinks, so it was a successful fundraiser. At no stage was I tempted to drink the (non-diet) drinks we were selling, or eat any of the chocolates.
I am pretty tired today, though. I find it is harder to resist food temptations when I'm tired. Nice and busy at work, so that helps keep my mind off it.

Oh no! Here comes Tuesday again!

What IS it with Tuesdays? I've got a doozy lined up for tomorrow.
Have to get the man to the airport at 4.30am so he can go to Melbourne for a few days. I know he could catch a taxi, but I'll wake up when he does, so may as well take him...
As I'll be up so early, I figure I can fit in the kickboxing workout before work. Can't usually do that on weekdays because it takes a full hour.
Then Tuesday night. Not another meeting. Oh no, not that easy. Selling drinks and chocolates at the school dance till 11pm, to raise money for underwater hockey. How do I get myself into these things? 500-odd kids and some very loud music!
Check in on Wednesday to see if I survived. At least I won't have time to eat too much!

I've never done this before!

I actually went over my points total yesterday, for the first time ever - by 5 points! And to make it worse, I didn't exercise at all.
It was Friday, which I know is a bad day for me. It was cold and wet. I got my period. And my beloved Hurricanes got THRASHED by the Crusaders in the semi-final.
Okay, so I had a bad day. Tana Umaga probably had a worse day than me. How am I going to make up for it?
Friday is the first day of the week for me, so I've got the whole week to get back on track. So, I'll have a 23 point week instead of 24 points.
And I need to make sure I use my 'coping with a bad day' strategy. Which is - if you're in a bad mood, don't eat something, clean something.
All sounds very simple, doesn't it?
At least it's Saturday. I'll walk down to school and back to watch Jake's rugby team - that's 25 minutes each way. So long as the rain stops...

That's two stone to us oldies!

Yep, another kilo lost this week. That's 12.8 so far, closing in fast on my first big goal of 14 kilos. Whenever I feel tempted to stray off track, I think: 'If you blow it this week, it will take a week longer to reach your goal'. So far, that's worked for me.
Apart from all the regular exercise I'm now getting (have a look at My Goals on the link to the right), I've made a conscious effort to increase the extra activity I work into my day. They all sound a bit trivial, but they must add up:

• I live in a 3 storey house. When I need to use the bathroom, I go to a different floor
• At the supermarket, I choose a carpark as far from the front door as I can get
• I usually take my lunch to work, but I still go out at lunchtime for a 10 minute walk

Who decided Tuesday night was meeting night?

Usually it's rugby committee on Tuesday night, about once a month. They're hard enough to cope with. The others (all men) decided we should have the meetings at 7.30, so there would be time to have dinner before they came to the meeting. Who has time to get home from work and have dinner before leaving the house at 7.20 to go to a meeting? Obviously not anyone who has to do the cooking! Their wives must put dinner on the table for them! I just have a snack before the meeting and eat something afterwards. No worries.
But last night was an underwater hockey meeting. The parents wanted to talk about fundraising to go to Nationals this year. AND they're all idiots! They got all caught up in what tee shirts and jackets and track pants the boys should wear. What about airfares and accommodation? And they play underwater hockey in Speedos! So who cares about all that other stuff? A nice tee shirt is enough.
So, by the time I got home I was really grumpy - which makes me hungry. And I needed a drink.
So I cleaned my stainless steel stove top. Thoroughly. It's 3 months old and trust me it wasn't that dirty. It is very clean now. And I felt better afterwards and didn't blow my points.

Coping with Fridays

Okay, I know it's Monday, I'm just a bit late getting to this!
Friday seems to be my bogey day! It could be because it's the day I weigh-in, so I feel like I can relax a bit (by the way, I weigh in at 5.30am, so that leaves a lot of time for relaxing!).
But I think it's really just because it's the end of the week, and I'm tired, and I can't be bothered cooking and being organised...Anyway, it's the hardest day to stay on track.
But last week I was ready for it! Planned breakfast, lunch and snacks to the last detail and left myself plenty of points for dinner. Walked the dog, sent the teenager out to get takeaways for him and the man. Sat down and had two - yes, two - gins. They're only singles and I have them with mineral water instead of tonic, but there were TWO of them. What a treat!
Then just made myself a lazy pizza for dinner, had banana and WW ice cream for dessert and stayed within my points.
Black Friday? Yeah right!

What can I say...

2.3kg loss this week!
Okay, I have to say more than that. I feel great.
Sticking to my points and getting plenty of exercise really works! I know that sounds obvious, but I had to experience it for more than just a couple of weeks to believe it.
I feel very motivated.
Life is just going to keep getting better.

Fear of flying

Not the usual kind of fear. One reason I don't like flying is the seats are so damn small! Flying is bad enough without worrying about how much space you're taking up.
Anyway, I flew to Auckland and back yesterday, and I can definitely feel the difference! The belt was much easier to do up and I didn't feel so crammed in to my seat.
It's things like this that make you appreciate the weight you're losing. Imagine how much room I'll have when I'm at goal weight.
By the way - I still hate flying. I don't think losing weight will change that!

Happier now

I've cheered up since I posted this morning. I'm doing really well with my weight loss and I know that.
The interesting thing is that not once in the last 7 weeks have I thought 'This is too hard'. What I'm doing feels exactly right for me at the moment.
I've always been a bit cynical about things like visualisation, but it is really helping. I just know how great I'm going to feel when I've lost lots of weight. Even though it will probably take me at least a year, that doesn't feel like a big problem.
So - my positive outlook is back!

Better than putting it on

I know this is silly, but I'm feeling a bit down on myself because I 'only' lost 900 grams this week. It's still a good loss, but it's the smallest loss I've had so far.
I'm sure as time goes on I'll have smaller losses and even a few gains. So, I'll just focus on the fact that I've lost 9.5kg so far.
On the good side, I'm starting to really enjoy my exercise - even looking forward to it some days! I tend to walk in the evenings instead of the mornings now. I can fit in a longer walk that way and it's a great way to close off the work day. The dog loves it too!

My clothes are getting looser!

I know, I know, that's a good thing. It shows I'm losing centimeters as well as kilos.
But what am I going to do about clothes?
I'm already getting clothes-shopping withdrawal symptoms, having not bought any new clothes in over two months (shoes don't count!).
It's pointless to buy a whole lot now, when they'll get too big for me before I get much wear out of them, but what's a girl to do?
I figure most of my winter skirts will last the season, but my jeans definitely won't. So, the plan is this. I currently take a size 24 in jeans. I'll buy a new pair when I can just fit into a size 20. Hopefully that'll keep me happy for a while.
As for tops - maybe I can just get a few things when my favourite store has its winter sale...