She's officially smiling....

I know this is my weightloss blog but I just feel I HAVE to share this cuteness! She's smiling at us when we make funny smiley faces and noises... not just when she's about to do a poo! How excitment!

Lookie what we got yesterday?!

*Note- for some reason I have not been able to do paragraphs so I apologise for the big block of writing... I HATE reading blogs like that!!*

Thanks to Catie for posting this gorgeous t-shirt for Molly!!

It was so exciting pulling it out of the post pack realising what it was. Catie bought one for her daughter Joss a little while ago and I commented that I loved it... a month or so later, one arrives in the mail!! Thanks sooo much Catie! It was such an unexpected and special surprise! Molly is going to look like such a little spunky dudette when she grows into it... my Nan's going to hate it! *lol*

Catie, if you're reading this- I can't access your blog. Can you please add me to your invited readers list as I'm dying to see what you've been up to.

John went back to work today... well, for an hour and then he was home again as there was nothing for him to do today... Hoorah! Extended holidays!

We went to Eastland this afternoon and had a yummy lunch- I had a moroccan couscous and chicken salad... mmm! John had sushi hand rolls and we shared a freshly squeezed apple, carrot, celery, ginger and beetroot juice. While at eastland I bought a new long black cardigan and a v-neck grey 3/4 sleeve tee. I LOVE the cardy as I have been looking for one like this for ages. It's a thin knit and goes with just about everything I own.

We had to eat slightly off plan for dinner tonight. Our housemate cooked spaghetti bolognaise for us today. If he was just any old housemate we would have told him what we were doing with our challenge and frozen our portions to have next week. But our housemate has a disability and cooked dinner with the help of his carer today. It wouldn't have been fair to not eat what he had spent time and a lot of effort preparing. Apart from that though, food has been great. Both John and I are finding it really easy to stick to the plan. It's really strange that we can all of a sudden have no trouble resisting temptation just because we both agreed to give it our all for a week. Life isn't any different from how it was last week however it is like a switch has been flicked and all of a sudden it's easy! We both feel so fabulous for doing something really good for ourselves.

I am going to get out for a walk tomorrow. It will be the first time since Molly's birth that I have gone out to do intentional exercise. I have done a lot of incidental exercise walking around different shopping centres for hours on end but this will be a great "1st" to accomplish.

I heard an interesting piece of conversation today. Two girls, about 20 years of age, were walking and chatting in Eastland. One looks at a very obese little girl walking by and says to her friend "Look at that girl!" to which the other replies "Yeah, it's so sad- look at her dad... it must be genetic". I found this really interesting. That "genetics" is the first thing to be blamed. Hmmm... call me mean but me thinks it may not be genetic. Very rarely are weight problems genetic. Families often have a "big frame" that is passed on but that doesn't mean a healthy weight cannot be achieved. I used to think that I was "genetically fat" as all of my family are overweight. It couldn't possibly have been the fact that we all loved consuming copious amounts of rich food at every meal and greazy, crunchy, fat filled foods for snacks, or the fact that instead of playing out in the fresh air we spent our time playing Super Mario on the couch...

No way... it must be genetic!

Today's Foodies:

B. 2 slices burgen toast with ham tomato and low fat cheese (5)

S. 1 apple, 1 nectarine (1.5)

L. Moroccan chicken salad, 1/2 a regular fresh juice (7)

S. Skinny decaf latte, some red grapes and a nectarine (2.5)

D. Spaghetti bolognaise(6)

S. Natural yoghurt with 1 tbs honey and a small banana (2.5)

Total: 24.5

H20: 2.5 litres

Will have a bit more food this evening.. maybe some air popped popcorn

New stuff...

Here's a few photos I thought you might like to see... Our new bookcase and chair and one of Molly's cute little shoes...


I'll do a proper post later tonight... Molly's squawking for a feed right now.

Ash
xox

Challenges...

Day 2 "Fresh food challenge"

______________________

After a few suggestions from two loyal readers I have decided to try to make some of the things I am used to buying.

Three things I am going to make this week:

1. Bread! I don't have a breadmaker so this will be quite an experience!

2. Muesli

3. Peanut butter

After reading Kate's post on persuing further study this year (you go girl!!) I have decided to do a course by correspondence. After many years of focussing on health, fitness and weightloss a particular course has caught my eye- Health and fitness magazine writing! It teaches you how to go about getting your writing published (and many other aspects of the job) and I figure I have done so much blogging about different issues that I'd already have a huge amount of material to work with. It's also something I can persue from home around Molly. If I am sucessful and manage to get some writing published, GREAT! But if not, then at least I have spent time learning about an area I am very interested in. I know I have some instant rent a crowd readers in you people!

On that note, where is everyone?? I recieved over 100 emails asking for the address to this blog and I am only getting a few comments from a select group of faithful readers (you know who you are ;))... Now if I am going to be a spectacularly sucessful magazine writer some of you are going to have to come out of the woodwork every now and then!! *lol*

Today has been another very good day food wise. Events today have included 2 lunches out and I haven't strayed from the challenge once!

Foodies:

B. 2 slices grainy bread with leftover beef from last night's roast and slices of cold tomato (6)

L. Teriaki chicken bento box (made to order with fresh ingredients) including broccoli, tofu, rice, chicken and fresh coleslaw (YUMMM!) (7)

D. Ham and salad, 1 hardboiled egg, some low fat cheese (5) and a mango (1.5)

Snacks. Handful mixed nuts and seeds, a big piece of watermelon, a few spoonfuls low fat yoghurt, 1 sushi hand roll (5)

Total:24.5 (will probably have another peach and some more yoghurt tonight)

H20: 2.5 litres

Exercise: more shopping centre strolling

Day 1 of the fresh food challenge a success!

Yay! What a great day! Had no trouble eating to plan today! Feels GOOD!

Decided to allow grainy bread in this fresh food challenge as I need the carbs and was having trouble eating enough points! I know it's a "packaged food" but if I keep to grainy Burgen bread I think it's ok. Also having low fat cheese and low fat yoghurt.

Today looked like this...
B. (pre-supermarket, thus pre-challenge) 1 slice grainy toast with peanut butter, 1 banana (4)
L. Wholegrain sandwich with ham, cheese and tomato (4)
D. Roast beef (just used a little olive oil), 1 med potato, pumpkin, asparigus, broccoli and corn (6). And for sweets some low fat yoghurt and 1/2 a banana (2.5)
Snacks. 1 handful of raw mixed nuts and seeds and 2 peaches (3)
Total: 19.5

Ok... better go eat some more- It's gonna be hard making up 32 points with all this fresh low point stuff!!

Ash
xox

Weigh in...

I cannot believe I acutally managed to LOSE weight this week!!

Last week: 96.1
This week: 95.5!!

Yay!! I must be doing something right!!

John and I have decided to set a challenge for ourselves this week. As of this afternoon (when I can get out to the supermarket and fruit shop) we are starting the "fresh food challenge". We have set some rules for this challenge as follows:

1. No pre-packaged or processed foods
2. All meals prepared at home must be made from scratch with fresh ingredients
3. Whilst out and about the rules still apply
4. Must drink at LEAST 2 litres of water per day
5. Must have protein (meat or legume) with 2 meals per day
6. No caffeine

I am so excited about this as I know how bloody AWESOME I'll feel by next Saturday! I will have set myself a goal and achieved it and that will feel so GREAT!

Let me know if you would like to join us on this challenge!

Ash
xox

Wish me luck.... I'll need it!

Tomorrow is Saturday... do you know what that means? WEIGH IN!!

I am expecting a gain this week after the amount of choc chip cookies I consumed last night. I got myself into a very destructive mindset, telling myself "you've already gone over points- who cares if you have another hundred cookies!". I haven't been in that place mentally for a long time and I guess I just forgot how to talk myself out of that kind of behaviour. The cookies were fantastically delicious and I would have enjoyed them so much more if I had just had 2! Oh well. I guess I should be proud that this doesn't happen to me very often any more. It wont happen again any time soon as I am much more on the ball since it happened so in a way it's kind of a 2 steps forward, one step back experience. We are still moving forward albeit slowly!

John and I went to Ikea today... I LOVE Ikea despite the fact I get hopelessly lost every time I go there! I have been suffering from a sore back recently from breastfeeding in an awkward position on my bed so we decided to go find a lovely feeding chair for our room. We ended up getting one with a light coloured wood frame and a red fabric cushiony bit. It is very comfortable and bounces so will also be handy for settling Molly. We also chose a red bookcase, 3 white baskets to fit in the bookcase, some knobs and handles for a chest of drawers we have, some potted herbs and tall CD/DVD thing to sit alongside the bookcase.

What inspired us to visit this wonderful world of Sweedish design? The baby bonus just came through!! $4100.00!! The current Australian government is actually good for something! Never thought I'd write a sentence like that on my blog!!

Today's foodies:
B. 2 slices toast with jam and a cup of tea (3.5)
L. 2 california sushi hand rolls, shared a small frozen yoghurt with the boy, and a diet coke (7)
D. 1 sausage, 1 medium baked potato, pumpkin and peas (5.5), olive oil (.5) small bowl ice cream (3)
Snacks. skinny hot chocolate, 1 banana, 1 slice bread with peanut butter, 2 chocolates (7)

Total: 26.5pts
H20: 2 litres
Exercise: Walking around the shops for 3 hours slowly pushing the pram

Comment: More fruit, more fruit!! Less sugar... good choices for lunch and dinner... loving the california rolls!

Nutella, chips and transformation...

Nutella "a great source of low-gi energy for kids"..... What the hell? Who believes this crap? Obviously many misinformed parents. I have been getting angrier and angrier watching commercials for foods that claim to be healthy when they are in fact extremely detrimental to the health of children and adults alike. There are so many lies being told by large companies who market their highly processed products containing many dangerous preservatives, additives, fillers, colours etc. Not to mention the large amounts of sugar in most products and fat in many.

Foods claiming to be "high energy" are usually filled with what many nutritionists would call "empty calories"- simple carbohydrates (aka sugar), which if not burned up leads to weight gain and the current crisis that is childhood obesity. Kids do not need fun looking, sugar filled products to be happy. If kids get used to eating fresh unprocessed foods as young children and if the rest of the family reinforce this behaviour by doing it themselves, they will not learn to rely on colourful packaging or foods filled with simple sugars and "bad" fats to be satisfied.

We need to take the lead from non-western cultures who give their children the same home prepared, healthy foods that the adults eat. How many other cultures do you think have a "kids menu" in just about every restaurant?? I was in a pub bistro recently for a family dinner. On examination of the menu board I happened across the "kids menu". I had never really twigged just how obscene it is to offer children the range of choices that were on this menu- chicken and chips, chicken nuggets and chips, fish and chips, hamburger and chips, bowl of chips... fried, fat laden, salt laden RUBBISH!! Not a green veggie in sight. How are children supposed to learn how to make the right choices when there is nothing to choose from? Given, the parents could just order a smaller serve of something else healthy on main menu but that is beside the point.

Rant over... I could go on, however I will probably start boring you faithful readers! Ok... that's what has been bugging me for the last week or so- I just haven't bothered to write it down.

I thought I would include a few old "fat photos" to remember just how far I have come and also post a photo of me at goal to show where I want to be. I find this a really great motivational tool.

Me at my biggest 2003

John and me at Mezz and Byron's wedding 2003

Me at the footy 2003

April 2006

Me at Port Fairy March 2006

Run for the Kids 2006 (I was pregnant and didn't know!)

April 2006 (1st and last time we try putting the cat on a lead!)

So there they are... Quite the transformation if I do say so myself! I do not feel like I'm loving myself too much in saying that because I worked so flippin' hard to achieve it. It took 3 years to lose 35kgs- the reason it took that long is because I decided to do it properly. I was not in for a quick fix. I had a LOT of emotional issues to deal with before I could lose the kind of kgs to get me into a healthy weight range. The awesome thing is that the psychological work has already been done now so I know it is not going to take me another 3 years to lose it all again. Hopefully this time I will be able to learn how to maintain the weight loss before getting pregnant again (not on the cards for another 3 years) and then maybe I wont put on so much next time.

I am nearly feeling up to exercise again which is fantastic. I have been getting out for gentle walks and I get puffed out just walking up slight hills! I cannot wait to feel fit again! I am going to enrol Molly in a swimming class designed for 3 month olds which means I have to get into bathers in 2 months! A great incentive to get my act together!!

The last few days my eating has not been as clean as it has been recently however I have still managed to eat around the right amount of points per day (av.) so it will be interestng to see if the scales move next Saturday!

Foodies...

22nd Jan

B. 1 slc wholemeal toast with peanut butter, 1/2 croissant, 1/2 escargot

S. 1 banana, 1 peach, k-time twist

L. Cream of chicken soup with 2 slices wholegrain toast with light butter

S. 2 pastitzis (sp?) and chocolate cake

D. 2 sausages, 1/2 potato, pumpkin, peas, carrot, zucchini, 1 ww icecream

Total: 33.25

23 Jan

B. Ktime twist, 1 banana

S. 1 peach, 1 caramel crown and 10 choc sultanas

L. Egg and salad sandwich with mayo on wholegrain bread, ice tea

S. 4 snack right biscuits, lemonade

D. 3 slices pizza, small serve light and creamy frozen yoghurt

S. Ice cream cake

Total: 31.5

Today

B. Natural muesli with blueberry and vanilla vaalia

S. 1 fruit mince pie and a cup of tea

L. Yakitori chicken don and rice, mineral water

S. 2 choc chip cookies and a cup of tea

D. 1 slice home made pizza and WW chickpea curry ready meal

S. Small serve icecream

Total: 28.5

I think that's enough from me tonight...

Ash

xxx

Yummy dinner...

I just demolished the yummiest, easiest meal!

I really felt like some roast veggies as the weather finally allows for it (praise the Lord!!) so I bought a couple of washed spuds, some pumpkin, carrots, lovely fresh asparigus, zuchini and a couple of chicken breasts. All I did was pour a jar of tomato and herb pasta sauce over the chicken, threw the roastable veggies in a baking dish with a bit of olive oil and baked the lot for about 35 mins... I blanched the asparigus, chucked it all on plates and voila! An EASY and delicious meal for 2!!

Do try it!

I have had a great, restful weekend! John and I spent last night at my mum's watching funniest home videos (it's turned into a ritual for my family) and eating the scrummy prawns, oysters and whiting she cooked for dinner. We had such a nice time that we stayed till 1am! It was the latest we've been out since Molly's been in the world! I'm a bit tired today but not too phased as the next few days will be quiet and I'll be able to grab a nap here and there where I need it.

Poor little Molly woke up with conjunctivitis this morning! It got bad so quickly that we decided to take her to the doctor. She was prescribed some drops which we've been putting in every hour and it seems to be clearing up already. The poor little thing looked so cute and helpless with her bleary, puffy, sticky eyes. I nearly cried every time she looked up at me- it was as if she were saying "fix me!".

I am feeling so "in the zone" food wise at the moment. I feel really in control! I am actually making decisions around whether or not I eat food that is not good for me rather than mindlessly shovelling it in! Today I enjoyed a mince pie and a small piece of cake at my mother-in-law's and said "no thanks" when I was offered more than I could afford point wise. I was explaining to my friend today that I used to need to leave the room if there was junk food in it. I couldn't control myself and had to remove myself completely from the situation if I wanted to avoid a binge... Oh how things have changed! My relationship with food is totally different. I still LOVE my food- which is a great thing as, just as sex is designed for pleasure as well as to perform the important job of reproducing the human race, food is meant to taste good and thus be enjoyed... if not, we wouldn't have been given taste buds!! That said, I am no longer controlled by my urges and that is a turely liberating experience!

I weighed myself yesterday. Last week I was 96.7kgs... This Saturday- 96.1! So a loss of 600g! Not bad for my 1st week back. Apparently I'm not supposed to lose more than 500g per week or I could compromise my milk supply.. This means I need to really focus this week on ensuring I eat up all my points. It's really hard to do without eating junky food. So I will try to have a few more healthy but higher point food items like nuts and seeds this week.

Todays Foodies
B. Muesli with skim milk and one slice of wholemeal toast with peanut butter (6)
L. 1 frankfurt (skin off) (4) 1/2 cup rice (1.5), 1 slice wholemeal bread (1) and salad (0)
D. Medium chicken breast (4) baked in tomato and herb pasta sauce (0) with pumpkin (.5), potato (1.5), asparigus, carrot and zuchini (0) cooked in olive oil (1)
Snacks. 1 mince pie (4), 1 small piece sticky date cake (2), 2 mugs of ovaltine light break (2)

Total: 26
Still have 6 points to play with so might have something extra within those points tonight.

Just realised, after looking at my food intake for today that I have eaten NO fruit today!! I have had plenty of water, veggies and wholegrains so I'm not worried about fibre or constipation however I usually aim to have 3 pieces of fruit each day. We were out and about today and I just forgot! Will have to make sure I have some tomorrow.

Tarns, I don't have permission to come visit your blog. Can you add me so I can follow your journey too?

Hope everyone has a healthy week- body mind and spirit!

Ash
xox

Lovely day!

Today I met the lovely Kate (Thick 2 Thin) and her gorgeous son Felix for a sushi lunch at Chadstone.

It was wonderful to meet them! We realised last night in Beckie's chat what a small world it is as Kate lives right near where I went to high school! It was a last minute decision to meet up but I am so glad we did. I feel like we have a lot in common especially about pregnancy, birth and raising bubbies... both of us having strong ideas about how we want to do things but also having an understanding that sometimes you just have to do what works for you despite what the "experts" say. I forgot to take a photo of our meeting to put on here- maybe next time!!

I told Kate I'd try to organise a mini blogger meet soon so she can meet some more lovely Melbourne girls so if anyone's interested just let me know and we'll arrange a time for some fun and festivities!

Had another successful day health wise today. I spent another couple of hours before meeting Kate walking around Chaddy. It really is all I can manage as far as exercise goes. My back hurts as it is. I think I need to go see my remedial therapist for a massage as I really feel that something's not quite right. It hurts right across my bra line and around the front of my ribs. Its probably from getting into awkward positions to breastfeed. I feel like I need to have my back cracked.

Todays foodies:

B. 2 slices raisin toast with low fat butter, a small bowl vaalia yoghurt, some pieces of banana, nectarine and raspberries (6)

L. 5 california rolls (5) and a sparkling mineral water (0)

D. Chinese, flavoured mineral water (12)

Snacks. Chocolite, 1 white peach, 1 vitawheat with vegemite, small handful choc covered peanuts (7.5)

Total: 30.5

Oh how lovely it is to be able to eat sushi and softserve again! They were my 2 fallback takeaway items pre-pregnancy.... I have always loved Colombo/Chocolite/Chocolo as a sweet treat!

Here's some pics of Molly and me going to the wedding the other day! Cute??

Wednesday... creative title huh??!

What an overwhelming response to my vox post asking for people to email me if they wanted to come over here! I had 30 emails in the space of a couple of hours today! Welcome to everyone! I encourage the lurkers to pop in and say hi every now and then as I had NO idea how many people were tuning in to my adventures!!!

Well! The 1st day of the rest of my life was a successful one! I managed to eat well and exercise! Well... not really "exercise" as such... I went clothes shopping! LOL! That IS exercise for me at the moment as it involves more than sitting on my bed, the couch or in the car! John and I wandered around Box Hill Central for 2 hours while I tried on clothes and looked for a few other essentials.

I bought 2 singlet tops, 2 dresses and a pair of dark grey tailored shorts. Lovely! Will post pics soon!

I am sad to say that I am floating between a size 16 and 18 at the moment so I'm not going to buy too many more clothes before I drop a few more kgs. I WILL keep my eyes peeled for things I like though so I can use them as rewards for every 5kgs I lose. I still have a lot of size 12-14 clothes in a suitcase under my bed from when I hit goal last year so I wont have to spend a fortune at the other end... although everything will be out of fashion by then anyway!

I have heard that there is a new weight watchers program where you need to count veggies now!! They also want everyone to eat 2 tsp of runny oil each day as research has proven that WW members were deficiant in essential fatty acids. I am not keen to go back to WW any time soon but like to use points to track my food. I had a lot of success counting points in the past using the old program so I have decided not to worry about the new program and just go on the 32 points a day allowed in the old program for breastfeeding mothers. I'm not gonna start counting veggies now as I don't believe you can ever eat too much salad I eat avocados, tuna and use olive oil in cooking so think my EFAs are fine.

Todays food:
B. 2 pieces wholemeal toast with peanut butter, 1 peach and 1 small nectarine (6)
L. Wholemeal sandwich with light cheese, tomato and a smidgen of avocado (4)
D. Pita pizza with light ham, veggies and low fat mozarella cheese, 1 banana and vaalia yoghurt (10.5)
Snacks. Skinny latte, 1/2 a piece of banana bread, 1 freddo, grapes (5.5)
H20: 2 litres

Total: 26pts
I overate yesterday so am making up some points today... I may have some more grapes and a cup of tea tonight so that will add a couple of points.

Once again, welcome to everyone!!

Ash
xxx

ps. Brookie, would you help me create a fancy shmancy header??

Fresh new beginnings...

Hi there,

Welcome to my new blog. I have created this space to help me in reaching my health and fitness goals.

It is a place where I hope to be able to find support and motivation, to track my progress and make a note of my goals.

I have approximately 20kgs to lose and I am hoping to do achieve this goal by Christmas 2007. I know I can do this as I have done it before! Bring it on!!

Stay tuned as I embark on the journey to slimville once again.

Ash
xxx