Cutting down on salt

I had a general doctor's checkup and probe around my girly bits on Thursday - always so much fun lol!

She's sending me for some general blood tests as I'm forty and have vitiligo (white patches on the skin - what Michael Jackson supposedly had).  It's has some possible links to autoimmune diseases so she wants to check things like my thyroid function, B12 levels etc.  I'm not too worried about it - apart from the fact I have to fast first!  I blame my mum for that one as she has it as well as her sister and niece.  I've had it since I was in my early 20's so it's nothing new..

I can blame my dad for the next one - I have borderline high blood pressure. It's been at the top end of normal (around 140/90 or higher) the last few times I've been to see her, so this time she's sent me home with a blood pressure machine to check it twice a day myself. 

So I've been reading up on high blood pressure, as I do.  I don't drink, don't smoke, now exercise regularly and am losing weight so the only thing it leaves is cutting down salt.  We don't eat a lot of take-away or pre-packaged meals, but more convenience food has been creeping into my freezer lately. I went on a pantry search though, reading the nutritional labels and have been stunned at the amount of salt in basic food ingredients.  The tin tomatoes I've been using, for example, were packed full of salt!  And who knew milk had salt in it?!

I'm going grocery shopping today - it'll take longer than usual as I'll be scrutinising labels of everything that goes in my trolley trying to find the lowest salt version...

Wish me luck!  And if you've btdt and have any tips for me - leave a comment..

Made it to the next goal weight!

Talk about slow (and maybe-not-so-steady) - it's taken me 7 weeks to lose the 2 kgs down to my next goal weight.  I've now broken the 55kg barrier - it's been 2 years since I saw this weight (a reminder that I'm only 5 ft!).  I have to admit to seeing it only briefly then - that was my goal weight and since I'd been doing it mainly by diet and hadn't gotten into an exercise routine, it all fell by the wayside not long after that.

So in those 7 weeks, I had a few weeks where I put a little bit on, and a few weeks where I took a little bit off.  I've really focused on the exercise this week and have dropped 1.5kg!  I seem to do that - plateau for a few weeks and then drop it all in one go when I focus. 

So since the beginning of March, I've lost 6.2 kg.  I've also lost at least 9cm from my waist since I started measuring in mid-April.

I'll drop the exercise back down a notch for a few weeks, keep up the sensible eating, and try to maintain that weight or maybe lose a little bit.

Next goal is 53kg - another 2 kg to lose.  

Celebrate with Mii!

Today my Wii Fit finally told me I was in the Ideal weight range (just!).  I met my first goal - to get out of the 'Overweight' category (calculated by BMI).  I've lost 4.4 kg since I started on 6th March and at least 5cm off my waist (I only started measuring that in April so it would be more).

My next goal is to lost 2kg more and keep toning up.  That'll take me to the weight I was almost 2 years ago.  I'll see how I feel after that if I need to lose more - possibly a further 2 kgs which should be be right in the middle of the ideal weight.

I'm so excited - I think I'll treat myself to a chai latte at my writer's meeting today.  Then off to cub camp - where who knows what we'll be eating :)

Silver FitPiggy

One of the things I've discovered about the Wii is that it has cute ways of rewarding you for getting to different levels.  The FitPiggy is like a Piggy Bank, but holds a count of the number of minutes you train each day, the calories you've burnt off that day, and the total number of minutes you've trained.  (Photo grabbed from the internet somewhere).

When you reach 10 hours, the FitPiggy turns Bronze.

When you've trained 20 hours, the FitPiggy turns Silver.  I reached my Silver FitPiggy last week.  20 hours of training since we got it at the start of March (about 7 weeks ago).

I started off aiming for 20 minutes / day and have worked up to 40 minutes / day, probably on average 6 days / week.  I've set a calorie goal to burn off a glass of coke each day.  The great thing about that is I haven't touched the stuff for weeks - when you know you have to exercise hard for 40 minutes to burn off one glass of coke, it really loses its appeal!!!

I've lost 2.2kg so far and have another 2kg to go to get down to 'at risk of overweight' rather than 'overweight'.

I lost weight quite steadily for the first few weeks, then had a bad week or two and put most of it back on again.  I've been tracking what I'm eating since then and the weight's coming off again.  yay! 

Hopefully in a few weeks I'll be able to report that I've reached my first goal.

CSIRO Total Well-being diet

Pete needs to lose weight and get his cholesterol down, and I still need to lose about 5kgs as well, so we're going back on the CSIRO diet.  It has really good principles, I just tend to get lazy when I'm cooking and load up on carbs instead of cooking vegetables.

The first time we followed it to the letter and had really great results BUT it cost an arm and a leg to buy everything.  This time we'll substitute what we've got and follow the principles more than the exact suggested menu plan in the book.  I think it will be easier this time around too, with Pete working from home - lunches can be a bit more varied than just meat & salad.

I'll add extra carbs in for Billy (and try not to eat them myself!)

Me join a gym? When pigs fly!

Guess what, did anyone else see little piggies in the air above their heads today?!

I went to a BodyBalance class at our local gym last week - it's a combination of Pilates, Tai-chi and Yoga. I loved it! My abs hurt for a couple of days afterwards, but in a good way!

So I went back tonight and I actually joined up to the gym for 6 months. It works out cheaper to go to the class that way than as a casual member plus I can use the equipment and if I'm brave enough, go to any other class I want to as well. I might turn into a gym junkie :)

Now to convince myself that nobody is looking at me and sniggering :)

Wednesday Weigh-In - Wk 32

Weight loss from last week: 250 g
Total weight loss overall: 5.25 kg
Total cms lost off waist: 11 cm

I'm going to take a break from weighing in and trying to lose weight for the moment. I've lost about 5kgs, my clothes fit a lot better, I'm back in a healthy weight range and I feel a lot better. Yes, I wouldn't mind toning up a bit more and I will still continue to exercise and monitor my weight but I'll stop reporting in weekly.

Thank you for all of your encouragement and support over the last 32 weeks! It's been much appreciated...

6 week exercise plan - wk 4

Do you want to hear my excuses this week??! lol

Monday - rest day
Tuesday - 10 min walk (it was 38 deg C!)
Wednesday - '10 years thinner' exercises
Thursday -
Friday -
Saturday -
Sunday -


I exercised twice so it's NOT a failure! Just not as good as I'd wanted.

Wednesday Weigh-In - Wk 31

Weight loss from last week: gained 250 g
Total weight loss overall: 5 kg
Total cms lost off waist: 11 cm

Arrrggghhh! Back up again this week. I'm tempted to blame the tablets, but I think that's just a cop out! I'm slowly getting back into the exercise -
* 1 x 10min walk (it was 38 deg, not an ideal time to be exercising!)
* 10 min workout.

6 week exercise plan - wk 3

Definitely not a great week. I came down with a UTI on Tuesday night - long story short, I saw the doctor on Thursday, she made an educated guess about which antibiotics to start me on, and then rang on Friday night (after the test results had come back) to change them to the right ones. So I didn't get started on the correct antibiotics until Saturday morning. I've spent the week in varying states of discomfort - from mild to "someone shoot me and put me out of my misery". Today is the first day I've started to feel normal..

I did manage to exercise twice before that, so that's better than nothing!

Monday - rest day
Tuesday - '10 years thinner' exercises + 30 min walk
Wednesday -
Thursday -
Friday - 10 min gentle walk
Saturday -
Sunday -

I should be right to get back into it early next week though.

Wednesday Weigh-In - Wk 30

Weight loss from last week: 0 g
Total weight loss overall: 5.25 kg
Total cms lost off waist: 11 cm

A bit of a plateau this week - due mainly to some poor food choices. So far this week I've exercised twice -
* 1 x 30min walk
* 10 min workout.

6 week exercise plan - wk 2

I had to push myself to get it done this week, but I did it! It's been a hot week and I was feeling a bit hormonal, so I had to really make an effort.

Monday - rest day
Tuesday - 20 min walk (in the 30+ C temps!)
Wednesday - rest day
Thursday - '10 years thinner' exercises - for the first time I did all the reps of all exercises except the pushups - I can't get more than 15 done!
- Also did the 20 min yoga workout that night (did the Gentle Hatha workout)
Friday - 30 min slow walk
Saturday - '10 years thinner' exercises
Sunday - rest day

Wednesday Weigh-In - Wk 29

Weight loss from last week: 150 g
Total weight loss overall: 5.25 kg
Total cms lost off waist: 11 cm

Exercise hasn't been as good this week for a couple of reasons, hopefully I'll pick it up by the end of the week. So far this week I've done:
* 1 x 20min walk

6 week exercise plan - wk 1

At the end of week 1, I can give myself a big tick.

Monday - 20 min yoga workout (did the Gentle Hatha workout)
Tuesday - 20 min walk (in the blustery winds!)
Wednesday - 20 min walk (again in the blustery winds!)
Thursday - '10 years thinner' exercises
Friday - rest day
Saturday - '10 years thinner' exercises
Sunday - rest day

Feeling quite proud of myself!

Wednesday Weigh-In - Wk 28

Weight loss from last week: 100 g
Total weight loss overall: 5.1 kg
Total cms lost off waist: 11 cm

(I did weigh in yesterday, have just been busy and haven't had a chance to post).

I lost a smidgen this week - I'm estimating about 100g since I have old-fashioned scales. The exercise must be having some effect though - I lost another 1cm off my waist and my jeans feel looser about the thighs and bum as well.

So far this week I've done:
* 20min yoga
* 2 x 20-25min walks
* 10min workout (push-ups, situps etc)

6 week exercise plan

One of the local gyms is offering a 6 week trial for $90 atm. I seriously considered doing it, but when I started to look at the logistics of getting there 3 days / week (which they recommend), it all seemed too hard. I'd have to fit it in between DH getting home from work at 5pm and the gym closing at 7pm, and then juggle the time between DH's squash commitments (twice a week) and Billy's "after-school" activities (3 days a week). It was stressing me out just thinking about it!

So I've decided to implement one at home - the child care is easy (and free), and I just need to walk into my bedroom, not drive for 20 mins each way!

You, my lovely readers, will be my accountability buddies.

The 6 week part of it appeals to me - it has a definite end that I can look forward to. I'm aiming for 20 mins exercise, 5 days a week. I'll mix it up - I'm planning on walking for 20 mins on 2 days, doing a 20 min yoga workout 1 day (these downloads are fantastic), and these '10 years thinner' exercises on 2 days.

That's the aim anyway - I may not reach it every week, but as long as I do some exercise, I won't be failing.

I started yesterday with a 40 min walk. Probably not a great idea when I haven't walked in weeks - ouch! Then this morning I attempted the '10 years thinner' exercises. I say attempted - I did half the recommended no of reps for each exercise, without the hand-weights - and my muscles still feel like jelly! I guess I have a way to go :)

Wish me luck!

Wednesday Weigh-In - Wk 27

Weight loss from last week: 0 kg
Total weight loss overall: 5 kg - Goal loss - 7kg
Total cms lost off waist: 10 cm

Very frustrating - I've got to break past this plateau.. I need to get the motivation to kick up the exercise and watch what I'm eating more closely.

Anyone got any motivation to spare???!

Wednesday Weigh-In - Wk 26

Yes I know it's Thursday.. I think my subconscious didn't want me to remember to weigh in yesterday - it was not a good week! No exercise other than playing in the park once with Billy - too much take-away and we made chocolate-chip cookies which begged and called to me until I ate one (or two... or maybe a few more...!)

Somehow though I have maintained my weight from last week. No loss, but very surprisingly - no gain either!!

Weight loss from last week: 0 kg
Total weight loss overall: 5 kg
Total cms lost off waist: 10 cm

Wednesday Weigh-In - Wk 25

I can't believe I almost forgot to post this - I weighed in this morning but the dust storm blew it out of my head lol.

Weight loss from last week: 0.25kg
Total weight loss overall: 5 kg
Total cms lost off waist: 9 cm

Wooohoo - I made it to my next goal weight! That's 5kg lost (in 25 weeks - now that's slow and steady lol)

My next goal is to lose another 2kg (by Xmas) and then I'll see how I feel at that weight. If I could get rid of some of the muffin top I'd be pretty happy I think.

Wednesday Weigh-In - Wk 24

Weight loss from last week: 0.25kg
Total weight loss overall: 4.75 kg
Total cms lost off waist: 9 cm

0.25kg until I reach my next goal weight!! I did get back into the exercise a bit more this week, but need to stop eating so much bread :(