Health at Every Size

All has been quiet on the blog front! Had a lot going on over the past few weeks. Assignments due, mini breakdowns going on!

I'm finally finished uni for the trimester. I have 2 weeks of school holidays to RELAX (ha! with 2 kids??) and then I'm straight back into it when school goes back with a 4 week prac.

I've been struggling a lot lately with who I am, and being accepting of that. I've come across the HAES concept - health at every size (google it for much more info than I can give here!). It's pretty much accepting yourself for who you are, exercising for fun rather than 'punishment', eating what you want - but listening to your body - so eating when you're hungry, stopping when you're satisfied - RESPECTING our bodies. It's a big thing. I haven't been tracking my food for the last couple of weeks. I've been listening to my body, and it's working. I realise with the HAES concept that weight shouldn't be an issue, but the scales aren't something I'm willing to give up at this point in time. I've made a lot of other big changes though.

I'm moving for fun now - finding that my fitness is gradually getting better. These school holidays are helping as the kids are always up and doing something. I'm struggling to remove the emotion and food link. I have a crappy day and the first thing I want to do is reach for a bottle of wine or the chocolate. But I have been trying to replace that with a hot shower and a lie down with a book/magazine, or a sleep if I can wing it! EVERYTHING is better after a sleep! I feel that my body is thanking me for the food that I'm putting in. I'm not getting as many stomach issues. I do feel like I have more energy, and I notice when I have not so healthy food that I hit a wall and it depletes me of energy!

This week I got a 900g loss. Bringing me to losing 5.1kg in the past 6 weeks!

Good week

I feel that I've had a good week this week. I weighed in on Tuesday and was 1.9kg down! That was even after sharing father's day chocolates with hubby, and having a few less than ideal meals. (Although I must say that my body was not impressed with either of these, and I had to suffer with stomach cramps etc - hopefully I'll remember this for next time!) My saving grace, was no matter what I ate - I tracked it online, and I made sure that I ate within my allowances. PLUS I was chugging on the water, which I need to make sure I keep doing as I have been rather slack the last few days! I will be interested to see what the scales say this week!

I've been really busy with uni this week, and I made an incredibly difficult decision to drop a unit, even though it was a unit that required group work, and I'd be letting the other members of my team down. My BIG achievement with this, was even though I felt awful, that it took me a couple of days of feeling like this while I was making the decision, I did not turn to food for comfort!

I also received an awesome planner this week - so I'm hoping to GET ORGANISED! I don't see me being able to fit in a great deal of exercise, as I'm still getting over bronchitis and physical exertion just makes the coughing worse. I have been doing some weights though - trying to do squats and arm raises where I can. And I must say - BOY have my legs been sore! So at least it's working :).

My goals for the next week are to keep drinking water, and to eat every meal, and making the best choices that I can.

Disappointment

I'm a bit disappointed today. My goal for all this year has been to get under 100kg by the end of it. That's over 30kg away. And time wise - we're only 17 weeks until the end of the year... so technically I'd have to lose almost 2kg a week, AND not have any weeks where I gained or stayed the same. Bit disappointed in myself, as it was a realistic goal when I set it at the start of the year, but I've just gone up and down since then, without any lasting weight loss.

Habits

I've been thinking, and really - I feel that I'm fat because of habits. And I think others would probably be the same!

Some BAD habits of mine that I really must break:

• getting takeout for dinner on the way home from swimming lessons
• eating while I'm studying
• eating when I'm stressed
• eating to celebrate
• eating out for lunch - lunch is a meal that I strangely struggle with!
• drinking things other than water
• being unorganised with meals and going for the easy option

I do think that once I'm in a habit of doing things, it's something that comes naturally. So I'm thinking of maybe printing out these habits, putting them on my fridge - maybe put reminders in my phone at certain times etc. 

Habits that I want to have

• drinking enough water each day (which for my current body weight is over 3L!)
• preparing healthy lunches in advance
• preparing healthy snacks in advance
• preparing healthy dinners in advance - ie maybe using the slow cooker for when we have swimming lessons
• switch snacking while studying to drinking herbal teas

I do think organisation is a huge thing, and I'm hoping the planner that I've bought as well as somee other things are going to help. I'm going to make sure that I keep menu planning, and prepping the food for each day in advance so that the guess work is done. I also feel that by making sure that we aren't eating out for the sake of it - we might be able to afford a meal out here and there as a treat that's budgeted for both in money and in points. 

Pinterest!

Must do a post about how much I LOVE Pinterest!!! I've been an addict for a while, however it is so useful!

Here I use it as a virtual cookbook for all the recipes that I find online.

Here I use it as a motivation board. 

Here I use it to save health related things such as exercise etc. 

The possibilities are endless. I have thousands and thousands of pins. 

Blog Hop Common Chaos Chronicle

After deciding to blog about my weight loss journey, I managed to stumble across this post on another blog that I read, and I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon.

A little about me - my name is Jade, I'm a wife of one, mum of two. A full time uni student. And I'm fat. We want to have another child. It's been on the cards for a while, but keeps being pushed back for one reason or another. The current reason being - I want to lose weight before falling pregnant.

I was doing Michelle Bridge's 12WBT, but decided to try something different. I'm now doing Weight Watchers. I started 2 weeks ago at 132.1kg. I'm hoping to say goodbye to the 130s at the next weigh in.

My main problem is willpower. I have none. And organisation. I find the house runs so much better when I'm organised. It's just finding the time to BE organised!!!

What's on YOUR Skinny List?

I dare say this list will get redone, and added to as time goes on!

• sit on the floor with no pins and needles
• run around with the kids without getting puffed
• walk into any clothing store and be able to buy something that fits
• go into the 'normal' clothes section of stores
• not have to worry if rejection is due to my size
• RUN
• wear high heels
• have another baby

Sabotage Frustration!

Went out today. Ate about a gazillion points.

I shared a bowl of chips with gravy. With a chocolate milkshake. THEN I had a piece chocolate cake. AND a skim cappuccino (yup cause the skim will make a HUGE difference after all that!!). Going to have to try and add up the points.

So frustrated! I want to get to 100kg before we have another baby. That has been my goal ALL year. But I'm not getting there.

Tonight for dinner is going to be rissoles (3pts) and point free stir fry veg to try and minimise the damage.

I need to work out WHY I do this to myself! I felt like crap afterwards. Things like milkshake and chocolate cake DO NOT agree with me - ie I'm on the loo, I get bad stomach cramps. I feel awful. I know this. Yet I still do it!

ALTHOUGH - I've had a think, and previously eating a huge amount was probably NORMAL. And I wouldn't have adjusted my eating habits tonight to adjust for it. So I do think that I have made a big step forward.

Fortnightly Menu Plan

Dinners

• (Quorn) Sausages with mash and onion gravy
• Sweet potato, red onion and feta frittata
• Roasted chickpea and spinach curry
• Corned beef with mustard chive sauce 
• Veggie soup
• Veggie pizza
• Caramelised pork with sweet potato mash and apple

I also do a cook up with my mum every so often and freeze dinners. So at the moment we also have meatloaf, rissoles, soup, spaghetti bolognaise, penang curry, thai peanut chicken and some more I'm sure already in the freezer ready to go. I'd LOVE to hear of WW friendly recipes that freeze well :).

Lunches

• Wraps
• Sandwhiches
• Leftovers
• Eggs and vegemite on toast

Breakfasts

• Weetbix
• Porridge
• Toast

Snacks

• Herbal tea (I bought a HEAP at the shops today - licorice; mint and lavender; honey and lemon; green and I'm sure some more!)
• Yoghurt
• Fruit
• WW meeting snacks
• Lite and creamy icecream slices (only 2 points!)
• Jelly

Back on track

SW: 132.1kg
CW: 130.9kg
GW: 99kg (personal goal)

A couple of weeks ago I decided to give Weight Watchers a go. Decided that I need the people contact. I'm liking it so far, on Week 3. Lost 1.2kg so far, and hoping lots more to come! I've set myself a personal goal of 99kg. I don't think I've weighed that since I got married. I realise that there will be more kilos to lose after that - my WW set goal is about 55-65kg - but I'll just reassess what I'm happy with as the time goes on.

Went shopping today - for lots of healthy foods. Will be a good week and I'm aiming to see a bigger loss on the scales next week!