Finally Getting Fit

Thirteen Reasons I’m Looking Forward to the Doctor

1. I feel better than ever. There is nothing like going in for an assessment knowing that you are doing heaps better than you were the last time around.

2. Being told I don’t have to go on metformin. Yeah, I know I don’t have to, but I’m so looking forward to hearing it; to hearing that I’ve found something that beats the bloody PCOS weight loss stall.

3. Getting blood tests. Yeah, blood tests cost and they are a pain in the arse, but I am looking forward to getting them. I want to see how much everything has improved after taking off so many pounds.

4. A trip to inner Melbourne. That’s just plain hard to beat.

5. Seeing my dietitian. She is just an awesome, totally supportive lady. She never makes me feel bad about what I haven’t done; she just encourages me to improve.

6. Seeing my doctor and dietitian having lost weight. Yay! I didn’t think meal replacement would be as successful as it has been. I’m looking forward to what they have to say.

7. Clearer directions on where to go from here. I have heaps more weight to lose - I’m not even halfway to my goal weight yet - but I’m hoping we can start working on other things like improving my fertility and getting me off The Pill. (Yes, I’m back on. I had to unless I wanted to face another round of progesterone. No thanks.)

8. Talk about concerns. As it’s a check in, it’s a prime time to talk about any concerns I have. I don’t have heaps of questions, but I do have some things I’m eager to talk to them about.

9. The official weigh-in. I go by my own scales, of course, but it will be nice to see how I am going according to their scales.

10. Free samples? Hehe. I got a few free meal replacements before, and I’m not above accepting more.

11. Seeing all the preggy ladies. Yeah, I know, but they’re so cute wandering around with their huge bellies.

12. Having the dietitian right when I need her. I’m moving on to the next ‘phase’ of the diet and the timing comes together wonderfully. I can ask her about the foods I’m thinking about incorporating back into my diet.

13. Just because. I ran out of reasons.

***While the original site has been and gone, there is a new site for Thursday Thirteen! Woohoo!

If you’d like to join in with your own Thursday Thirteen - whether or not it’s health related - please leave a link to your list in the comments. I’d love to check it out.

Check out my other Thursday Thirteen at Write Anyway

Today JM and I went for a walk. It dawned as one of those special days Melbourne can put on in the middle of winter, clear blue sky, slightly chilled breeze and a pleasant 14º - in short, a great day to be out and about.

A few years back, when JM first came to Australia, we had to renew her visa so we headed to New Zealand for a holiday. Among other places we visited during a lovely time touring around, was Tauranga a seaside town near Rotorua, a place of sulphur springs (think fart smells) and geysers.

At Tauranga there is a hill out on a point sticking out into the ocean – it’s maybe 350 metres high with a walking track that winds around one side to the top. JM struggled her way to the top, resting when things got too tough, but showing amazing determination – a number of times I assured her she had shown her willingness to strive and that we could head back down knowing she had done a very good thing in getting as far as she did. As usual she was concerned about what I would think of her but I assured her I was already impressed at what she had achieved.

We got to the top; I don’t think I’ve seen anyone ever so proud of themselves. (which brought up a childhood religious issue about being chastised for being proud of things she had done – I explained that pride in achievement is NOT what the bible was talking about)

So, today we set off on a casual walk, no plans for power walk or anything special, just out and about to enjoy the day.

I was quite astonished at how easily she was able to walk at a decent pace. Mind you, she has been improving steadily in pace and stamina over the years we’ve spent together – the gym work and exercises she has been doing have worked wonders. But the difference that’s come from carrying 36lbs less than her normal weight was pretty startling.

Soon I will have to start getting fitter to be able to maintain her pace – up till now, an exercise walk with her has been little more than a stroll for me.

JM is amazing!

I am both happy and annoyed at my latest non-scale victory.

My wedding rings are now too big for me to wear.

Haha. When I started losing weight, I never thought about my rings or about how I’d need to get them resized eventually. The thought never crossed my mind. But now my rings have gone from ‘a little lose’ on my ring finger to the point I refuse to wear them because I’m so afraid I’ll lose them.

I wear one of the rings on my middle finger of my left hand and the other one on the ring finger of my opposite hand (one is smaller than the other), but it feels a bit weird doing it that way.

I’m thinking of getting a replacement cheap ring for the time being part of my latest reward. I haven’t picked up my new pajamas yet, so I could just stick it on, right?

I would just get them resized now, but I’m still about sixty pounds away from my goal weight, so I’m sure that what will fit now will be too big then. I’d rather do it just the once, even though it will be weird to be without my true wedding bands for so long…

I might give in and get them resized sooner, but not quite yet. The funny thing is I had to get them both resized when I bought them because they weren’t big enough!

It’s so nice to have a non-scale victory to talk about. I love supporting other people with their NSVs, but I don’t think I give enough attention to my own.

Hello all!

This past week I have been feeling like I’ve been off track. I was still doing the meal replacement for most meals and eating healthy food for other meals, but I still had that sense of ‘betraying’ myself and not sticking to the course. While I made good choices, I could feel myself getting closer and closer to stepping over a line that would lead me back to unhealthy eating.

The husband and I had a heart to heart about my eating that really helped me to refocus on what I want. I recognized that I haven’t been reigning myself in as much lately as I should have.

Sometimes all you need to re-inspire yourself and get going again is to say your goals out loud.

Telling my husband all about my next goal and how I’m feeling has really gotten me going this week. I’m back on the elliptical every morning, I have my kick ass attitude back and much more.

The goal I am focusing on right now is getting to the 220 mark by my next doctor’s appointment in August. 220 just so happens to be the 100 kilo mark and I’m all about the even numbers and such.

Not to mention how much I would love to walk into that office three months after my last appointment – the appointment where she said I’d have to go on metformin if I didn’t lose at least a little weight by the next appointment – having lost thirty kilos.

It’s going to be tough, but I think I can do it. And if I don’t get there? I’ve still done an amazing job so far.

How are you going?

If there is one word that could some up this past week, it would be: indulgence. While I have stayed on task during the days, a couple days this past week were feast days. While I don’t regret it, I know that I have to dedicate this week to going ‘by the book’ if I don’t want to slip down the (not-so-slippery anymore) slope of eating things that aren’t so great for me.

But when you’re handed a forty dollar meal voucher, it’s hard to pass it up.

The weird thing about being on a very low calorie diet is the fact that these feast days – done with nutritious food and done only every once in a while – seems to benefit me over all. It wakes my body up and gets it to start using things again. Sometimes I gain a couple pounds initially after eating, but then it just comes right back off soon enough and I’m on my way again.

That’s not to say I haven’t struggled a bit with my 230s. It almost got to the point where I was thinking there was some sort of hidden sabotage point, but it ended up not being that. I just got a bit antsy (which isn’t so bad considering I’ve been doing this for nearly two months) and wanted some ‘real’ food. Which basically meant I wanted some meat in my diet.

All in all, it went well.

As for the rock and the hard place…

I know that the pill does not ‘heal’ you if you have irregular periods, but I think I might have to go back on it. It’s still too early to tell because I won’t officially be a week late until tomorrow, but I haven’t even had a sign. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Sigh.

It used to be that all it took was a five pound loss and bam, there you go. Now I’ve lost heaps and it’s looking like I can’t quite manage it by myself yet. I’m going to give it a while longer, but I don’t have much hope at the moment.

The pill and needing it to keep my lady bits healthy by shedding lining regularly is the rock. Hating being on anything synthetic but being unable to get the factory working naturally, so to say, is the hard place.

GRRR.

I do this sort of thing on Fiction Scribe when there are a lot of interesting things I’ve read lately that I want to point to. I haven’t really had a need to do so here until things piled up on me this week.

So here we go!

Hanlie at Fertile Healthy has caught the Blah Bug that I’ve been dealing with the past few days. Head over and show her some love.

Cammy at Tippy Toe Diet has a giveaway going on for folks in the US. That doesn’t include me, so I figured I would promote it instead of entering. A copy of Eric R. Braverman’s Younger (Thinner) You Diet is up for grabs.

Foodie McBody at FoodFoodBodyBody put up a post last week that I have been itching to comment on here ever since I read it. Be Mindful, and Don’t Suffer is a post about Foodie’s ‘body philosophy’ for lack of better words. She talks about being mindful, being thankful, paying attention to what you eat and more. All points that I think most - if not all - of the diet plans, systems, etc miss completely. Definitely worth a read.

Why Health Advice on Oprah Could Make You Sick - Yes, there actually is someone out there who isn’t a fan of Oprah. This is a long article on how Oprah apparently doesn’t realize just how much she influences people and how she ‘innocently’ gears her shows to ‘innocently’ support causes she sometimes later denies. All up, it’s a reminder that we’re all different, so no one can be a true, infallible expert.

And there you have it! All the bits and bobs I’ve been wanting to point out over the past week or so.

SW: 264
LW: 238
CW: 236

Total Squats: 199
Total Push Ups: 147
Total Sit-Ups: 223

Today I saw a gain of two pounds on the scale. One of the nicest things on the planet? Seeing a gain and not freaking out. I went up by about two pounds, but that is still less than I was at last week, so obviously I’m happy. Even despite all that, I think the best part isn’t being less than last week but being okay with the gain I saw this morning.

Sure, I want to do something about it, but it didn’t ruin my day. I just thought about all the things I did yesterday (including not drinking enough water), other factors that could contribute (week before TOM) and that was that. I’m going to do better today. And there you have it.

I guess I’m just stunned over the fact that I can take that sort of thing now. Granted I may have felt differently about a four pound gain, but the best thing about this diet is that my weight doesn’t instantly shoot up huge amount by just thinking about ‘naughty’ things.

Other things are going well. I started the second week (I’m a week behind Cammy *waves*) of the challenge this morning, and I must say that I’m not fond of squats. Hehe. However, I am recovering better and faster than I did in the very beginning, so that is a plus.

I’m having a hard time imagining being any thinner than I am at the moment. I’ve tightened up a bit on my stomach and definitely around my face and neck, but it has been so incredibly long since I was in my 220s (almost there!) that I’m wondering what it (and beyond) will be like.

Wonderful, I’m sure.

I hope you all are doing very well.

I have had a few people ask me lately about the Tibetan Rites, as I have mentioned that I am combining them with three challenges: 200 Squats, 100 Push Ups, 200 Sit-Ups

If you’re curious about the Five Tibetan Rites, there is an easy print version you can take a look at and print off. It’s not that many pages, so it shouldn’t be a big deal.

You can read about the background of the Rites, but most people want to know the benefits…

“Potential Benefits of the Five Rites

The authors provide many examples of the benefits of the “Five Tibetan Rites” including the following: looking much younger; sleeping soundly; waking up feeling refreshed and energetic; release from serious medical problems including difficulties with spines; relief from problems with joints; release from pain; better memory; arthritis relief; weight loss; improved vision; youthing instead of aging; greatly improved physical strength, endurance and vigor; improved emotional and mental health; enhanced sense of well being and harmony; and very high overall energy.”

Personally, the first thing I noticed when I started doing the Tibetan Rites was the fact I wasn’t cracking and popping so much. My back, my right wrist and my right knee seem to pop all the time and sometimes get sore to the point I need to ‘pop’ them. Not anymore. The Tibetan Rites took care of that within a few days.

I’m not sure about some of those claims, but I do feel more peaceful and better in a general way when I am doing the exercises. It feels like they are ‘just right’ for starting my day off well.

Whether it’s helping me with the weight loss, it probably is. I use muscles I probably wouldn’t use all that much doing them. And keep in mind that all this is happening for me, and I’m still on the alternate techniques because I don’t quite feel up to the full techniques yet.

If you start using the Tibetan Rites, please let me know. I’d love to get other people’s opinions on it.

Day two of the triple threat challenge has me moaning, groaning and even pouting a little bit. But it certainly hasn’t been even close enough to deter me from keeping on with the challenge.

Out of the three exercises – squats, push ups, sit ups – and the Tibetan Rites, I’ve found squats the thing that gives me the sorest parts. I didn’t see it coming. With the walking, elliptical, etc I do and have done, I didn’t think it would be that bad.

Think again.

Though the thought of quitting didn’t even enter my mind until about three seconds ago, I decided this morning that extra motivation is always a good thing. So what I did was set up a way to keep track of the total number of each exercise I do by day and overall.

Sure, it’ll be cool to do 200 of each when I complete the program, but there are a lot more that go into getting up to that number. Being the Excel spreadsheet addict that I am, I couldn’t resist creating another page now could I?

And my stats look like this:

Total Squats = 77
Total Push Ups = 58
Total Sit Ups = 87

Now, if you had ever told me growing up that I would do that many of those three exercises, even spread over days, I would have called you crazy. And here that’s the total in two days.

Kudos to the ultimate goal and all, but watching those numbers rise is definitely a great ‘here and now’ boost.

As I mentioned before, I’m combining the triple-threat challenge (hehe, I kind of like that) along with the Tibetan Rites (which I will post about soon, Foodie!). Along with getting out when the sunshine was available, this combination was exactly what I needed (and I knew it would be).

Take a look…

Ah, look at that beauty. And, for my friends who interpret things in pounds…

I am just one pound away from my next reward – new pajama pants! – but I’m not thinking about that very much at the moment. I’m thinking more about how I’m at my lowest weight in years, I feel great and exercise is more than proving itself to be a useful thing!

(Of course, exercise is always useful, but now it’s actually helping the scale to move.)

Things have been a bit weird for me, to be honest, and I’ve been spending a lot of time examining how I feel about things like the weight loss, my life, my work, etc. I’ve been quite stuck in my own head for a while now, but I think that’s okay for the moment. I’m figuring a lot of self-stuff out.

I sincerely hope everyone is doing well.

On Monday Mailbag I mentioned how Cammy has set up her own personal challenge combining the two hundred squats program, two hundred sit ups program and one hundred pushups program. Not quite genius enough to think of these sorts of things on my own, I decided that I would quietly tag along for a bit.

The program dictates you do the exercises three days a week, which unfortunately means I have to start on a Monday. But given it’s a matter of convenience rather that psychological urge to start on Monday, I think it’s fine.

I did the initial testing and found that I didn’t do too shabbily. The past two years of power walks, off and on gym time, and off and on exercise of other sorts has apparently had a good effect, as I am starting all three plans on the middle ‘level of difficulty’.

The programs are all six weeks long, but I have no qualms about sticking it out for longer because I’m doing them all at the same time. I’ll also be combining them with the Tibetan Rites (which I will do every day), so that should help me keep up my flexibility and help with any soreness that occurs.

I’m not putting pressure on myself with this one. I’ve only printed off the first week of directions because I just want to see if I’ll enjoy it and be able to keep it up without killing myself. Starting next Monday lands me ending the program (if I keep it to six weeks) just before my next doctor appointment, so it would be nice to be able to do this.

I’ve mentioned on this blog a few times how I have managed to lose weight before and yet, for some reason, I hit my sabotage point – 244 – and screw it all up in one way or another. For some reason, that number always trips me up. It’s like something clicks in my head and I feel like ‘it’s okay’ to just drop everything I’ve worked so hard to achieve.

But something different has happened this time.

I talked yesterday about how moving the scale from the lounge to the tiled floor of the kitchen gave me not only a steadier scale that didn’t need constant adjusting but also a six pound difference in my weight.

Well, that six pound difference just so happened to take me right past my sabotage weight and plant me firmly on the other side.

Huh.

The moment I had been dreading trying to get past was suddenly gone. Poof. No need to deal with it.

And I have even lost another two pounds since then.

I always knew that the sabotage point was well and truly just in my mind, but to pass it so easily was… weird. And strangely, a complete non-event.

Knowing that I had suddenly gotten past the sabotage point with ‘no muss no fuss’ has apparently broken whatever hold it had over me in my mind. I smirked at being past it, but I focused more on being near (and now in) my 230s.

Is that weird or what? Something that had been so big to me is just gone.

Hooray!

Sounds like one of those millions of spam ads out there, doesn’t it? I’m not peddling spam, though. I’m admitting to doing something silly.

My scale isn’t digital, and I’m okay with that because I don’t fancy spending the kind of money you need for a digital AND accurate scale (digital doesn’t mean better unless it is also accurate down to the decimal it is actually displaying). My good ol’ scale has done me well and going by two-pound marks is just find with me.

Except for one thing.

Mr. JM, smart bloke that he is, connected that I had recently said our carpet is lumpy in some places and the fact that I weigh myself daily on the carpet. Our carpet is hardly shag, so I didn’t think much of weighing myself on the carpet. Flat enough, right? Apparently not.

One morning while I weighed myself yet again, he explained his reasoning and suggested I try weighing myself on the kitchen tile. I figured it was smart thinking but I didn’t expect it to make too much of a difference. How wrong I was.

When I stepped on the scale in the kitchen, I was instantly six pounds lighter. I couldn’t believe it, so I stepped on the scale again. The first thing I noticed – besides the number – was the fact that I didn’t have to keep adjusting it (you’d have thought that would have tipped me off to move to the tile earlier).

Six pounds… Needless to say, I only ever weigh myself on the kitchen tiles now. And that’s how you lose six pounds overnight.

I decided not to adjust the numbers on my spreadsheet for two reasons.

First, just because it was a difference of six pounds one day didn’t mean that, had I placed it in another spot, it wouldn’t have been a difference of eight pounds. Or four. I can’t really be sure of the daily influence of being on the carpet.

Second… Well… Getting to 264, being at that point, that is what got me to suggest meal replacement to my dietician. It’s the weight that got me to say heck with it and go with the ‘intensive’ phase of the meal replacement stuff.

Plus, it just plain feels great.

There was an interesting topic on Food Food Body Body the other week that I thought would be of interest to my friends here as well, and it’s on the subject of whether or not you use your real weight on your website/blog or not.

I guess I kind of tread the line when it comes to using real weight and not revealing the numbers.

Sometimes I wonder about whether I should reveal my real weight at all because I know people I know in person could easily (or have already) find this blog. Do I really want them to know?

I can understand why other people wouldn’t want the people in their lives knowing, but I am okay with that – keeping in mind how much I do/don’t post my real weight these days. I can’t exactly hide the fact that I’m overweight, so it doesn’t make much difference to me if people know *how* overweight I am.

If anything, revealing that I am trying to lose weight has garnered me support from some unexpected places.

I think it is wonderful when people use their real weights because I think there is a freedom in doing so. However, I know personally what it’s like to post your weight when you have gained or there is a stall in the weight loss. It’s almost like pouring lemon juice in a wound to have to do that.

In the end, I don’t care what anyone does. I just love reading blogs about people who are getting healthy.

Wow. I feel like so many things have happened since the last time I have checked in. The weight loss continues despite a social occasion (I have discovered that ‘going with the fish’ is nearly always the favourable option and hasn’t negatively influenced my diet) and many outings.

I’m currently at my lowest weight since… since before I came to Australia, at least. My husband and I have been needing replacement pants (we’ve worn most of our pants/jeans down to threads) and we finally got to the second hand shop this weekend. I was thrilled to be able to look in the section a size down from where I usually look. I’m not quite comfortable in most size 18s (you know how sizes go – they change from brand to brand) but I found a size 20 pair of pants that are comfortable now and have a drawstring so I can keep wearing them when I get loose.

I also needed some new knickers and Target had a big sale on, so I bought some knickers and two matching bra/knicker sets. My first! Yes, ladies, I have just bought my first two matching bra/knicker sets. Haha. I feel like I’ve completed some sort of rite of womanhood. All I can say is that wearing a matching set makes me feel quite sexy.

While putting things away, I found some knickers (did I mention: women’s underwear = knickers, men’s underwear = jocks?) that I bought when I first got over here. The knickers I bought this weekend are three sizes smaller. Three sizes! I was stunned.

All in all, things are going well and I’m actually losing weight this time, which is encouraging me not to stray from the diet. I haven’t had all that much difficulty with temptation, though, for which I am immensely grateful.

How are you going?