At the Halfway Hotel

Have passed the half way mark this week with a 900g loss – downhill all the way now – provided I maintain the focus. I lost it a bit yesterday – invited my friend S over for lunch on the deck – she’s been so busy she hadn’t had time to call round and check it out. Anyway had a very healthy salmon salad but a couple of glasses of wine with it – yes I relented and had a few! Then mid afternoon got the chocolate munchies – I hardly ever have chocolate but just had this terrible need to have some so had one of Josh’s boxes of Smarties that I keep in the fridge for him. Then Bloss and I had a few wines in the evening. But today is another day and that’s my bit of badness out of the way for next few weeks. On the up side was doing a bit of a review of my wardrobe yesterday – did a bit of trying on and and I’m back to where I was in 2004 and lots of things fitting which were a bit too close fitting or created the dreaded muffin are fitting well again Should maybe give you a bit of an overview of my weight history. I come from a family who all have a tendency to gain weight at a drop of a hat. I got quite podgy in my teens so went to WW with Mum – got to where I should be then left school and went to college – oops – beer and crisps, living in lodgings etc, so back up again. Finished college came home to live again so went to Slimming Club with Mum again – got to target then got married – joined the fat and happy brigade. Lots of little half arsed ‘diets’ during this period but nothing much accomplished. Became pregnant with No 1 son – ate for at least four! Joined a slimming club when he was 6 weeks old (13st 7lbs and 5ft 3ins) and continued going there right through pregnancy for No 2 son – only put on 9lbs (still living in Scotland then) and got to target (8st 11lbs) when he was 3 months old. Maintained for the next two years then migrated to Oz – crept up a little bit so joined a slimming club in Perth – got back to target (56kg)and maintained with not too much variation for the next 12 years or so – was closer towards the top of healthy weight range for the last 6 years or so after I stopped smoking. Then my marriage broke up – and I was living on my own for a while – enjoying the freedom of pleasing myself so it started to creep up again. Then met Bloss – we’re a very social pair – so lots of eating out, entertaining, and the dreaded drinking. I started to get bigger and bigger . Around this time also discovered that I had an underactive thyroid so that was causing a lot of the problems too. There were a couple of little sorties in here with the likes of Jenny Craig but just didn’t have a handle on it. In January 2002 (when my son got engaged and set a wedding date for November that year) I joined WW at home and over the next 9 months got down to 66kgs which felt pretty good – probably still a little high for my height but could wear Size 12 comfortably so was happy with that. I was able to maintain that pretty well over the next couple of years then we went on a big holiday to Europe, UK and Japan and I came back with about an extra four or five kilos which over the next year I just didn’t get round to shifting – tried but it was two off, one on, half off – you know the story! Also joined the ranks of menopausal women. Then last Christmas had my sister and husband out from Scotland for a month – lots and lots of socialising and another couple of kilos on. That’s where you guys came in! The other thing which adds confusion to all this was that a couple of years ago I bought a new pair of super duper scales – Soehnle. They’re great but they weigh 4.5 kilos heavier than my previous ones. So right now I’m aiming for 65kgs on these scales which will actually make me quite a bit lighter than when I was at 66kg back in 2002. But I’d like to try for that and see how I feel and more importantly see if its manageable. This little black duck needs to find a level at which she feels good about herself and at the same time can manage without being miserable. Well that was a big saga – hope I didn’t bore you all silly. Have a great week everyone.

Doin' OK

I’m feeling quietly pleased with myself – I had one or two wines (a lot might be a more honest description) over the weekend. I also had a token piece of chocolate, one hot cross bun and some nibbles and dip that I shouldn’t really have had. But that all came to an end first thing Monday morning – tracking religiously again, alcohol’s off the menu and I’ve started walking round Dordogne in France! This last is an idea I got from Julie and is a virtual walk (gosh I bet that surprises you!) courtesy of Walking with Attitude. I think it might be a bit of fun and add to the motivation. Now on the scales….. another 400g – hence the quiet smug feeling – long may it continue! Enjoyed having a few drinks but only had two and a half glasses on Thursday night and had a bugger of a headache on Friday morning. That didn’t put me off and I had a few more on Friday and again on Saturday and again on Sunday. But to be quite honest I was quite happy to pull up on Monday and decide it’s off limits until we go to the wedding on 12 May. It’s on the beach at Noosa and we’ll drive down on the Thursday and stay with friends and not come home till Sunday so that’ll be a lovely little break. We’d a quiet relaxing Easter – just had a few friends round on Saturday and Sunday and gave the new BBQ a bit of a work out. It’s fantastic – and so nice to have the BBQ on the same level as the kitchen now that we’ve the deck – saves loading up trays and carting them up and down the stairs. The other big plus is that the BBQ plate fits in the dishwasher so just give it a quick scrape and plonk it in the dishwasher and a nice clean plate! We also moved our outdoor table and chairs up to the deck. We weren’t sure how this setting would look and whether we’d have to think about getting another one – but it fits in really well. I've almost finalised our plans for our next trip - we're going to Penang for 8 days at the end of July. So my goal is to lose the remaining 7.1kgs between now and then and if I'm really good I should be able to get below that which would give me a bit of leeway while on holiday. We plan to stay at the Golden Sands resort which seems to get fairly good reviews. Would appreciate comments from any of you who've stayed there. Feedback so far indicates that Penanag has good eating and drinking places, top market shopping, a bit of sightseeing and if the resort is good too then we'll have a great time. Well good people don’t seem to have anything else of note to say so will wish you all a good week and look forward to catching up on your blogs.

Two little chardonnays sitting on a bar!

Well I’m pleased to report that another 800g has gone this week which means my challenge to myself was successful – my aim was to lose at least 4kgs before Easter and I’ve actually lost 4.4kgs so feeling incredibly pleased with myself. I’ve got this really good feeling at the moment and am really motivated so although I’m going to let my hair down at bit over Easter, I think I’m feeling strong enough to get right back into it on Tuesday. Those two little chardonnays will be sitting on the ‘bar’ waiting for me when I get home from the hairdressers on Thursday night – look I’ve even included a picture! We’ll probably catch up with a few friends over the Easter break but while I’m allowing myself a few wines I’m going to try and stick to eating the right things. Have bought Bloss one of the Lindt dark chocolate eggs which comes with a few mini eggs so maybe if I ask him nicely I can have one of the mini ones as my token Easter egg. Had a kind of eventful weekend. Friday night we went out for dinner with our friends B and H and one of B’s work colleagues from UK. Not a late night or an unduly boozy one (certainly not for me cos I’m still alcohol free (30 days now), but not that bad for Bloss either) Anyway I was awakened at 1am with this huge bang and a loud cracking noise – I realised that Bloss wasn’t in the bed so shot up to see what had happened. Found him picking himself up from the first landing of the stairs – oh, the relief to see that he was conscious and could move. He’d got up and gone to the loo then was thirsty so headed for the kitchen to get a drink of water. He headed right from the toilet but was still half asleep and turned right misjudged how far he had travelled (not far enough!!!)– thought he was in the kitchen so stepped forward….. into nothing. The cracking noise was the plasterboard ….. there’s now a hole about two foot square in the wall on the landing! I think he landed with his back on the bottom step and his feet went through the wall. Poor darling was in so much pain – battered and bruised from head to foot. I’m panicking in case he had internal bleeding – he’s being non communicative – as he always is when he’s sick. Anyway not to bore you with all the details – there was no serious damage only lots of bruising and by today he’s feeling heaps better. Since he made it clear he didn’t want me fussing round him on Saturday (just wanted to be miserable all by himself) I took off with my friend S to buy a new BBQ for the new deck. Got one – it’s really schmicko – all stainless steel, 4 burners, hood, rotisserie, side burner, two door cabinet – just razzle dazzle (price to match though $900!!) So Sunday was scheduled to be the DIY day. B & H had insisted on buying us a patio heater for the new deck. So we started to assemble it downstairs in the games room. When it was half built we carried it upstairs on to the deck and there the problem became apparent. It was too bloody big – didn’t have enough clearance from the ceiling – needed at least 500mm and at it’s best only had about 300mm. Well lots of deliberations, phone call to B and H and it was decided that H would take it back. So then had to dismantle the bloody thing and repack it all again. After lunch we started on the BBQ assembly. This went quite well – one or two diversions in the wrong direction – but finally got it all together and took the plates out of the bubble wrap to insert on the BBQ and ......the solid cast iron plate has a flamin’ four inch crack in it!! However called the manuafacturers on Monday morning and they’re putting a replacement in the post for us so at least there was no hassle there. Have included a couple of photos. Latest one of grandson No 2 now 5 months and very close to crawling and one sent by No 2 son from Mexico showing him in one of his favourite situations – surrounded by beautiful women and a beer in his hand! OK everyone, hope you and yours have a safe, happy and relaxing Easter. (and remember too many eggs makes you constipated!!!)

Spontaneously combusting halo!

I've been so good that I seriously believe my halo is so bright that it might burst into flames! Still on a roll - hmmm maybe more of a trundle this week - but a loss of 500g and I'm very happy with that. Now feeling the difference in my clothes and that nasty spare tyre (where each extra kilo seems to attach itself initially) is more like a bike tyre than a car tyre! I'm still off alcohol - think that's about 23 days now - only 8 more to go - not that I'm counting - but a couple of chardies on the Thursday before Easter seems like a very nice idea. As someone said to me yesteday - you get a bugger of a hangover when you've been off the grog for a while so I better just take it real slow. Only managed to get in four walks this week but the one on Sunday was a big one so really counts for two of my ordinary ones. The poor dog was shattered. Mind you half of it was her own fault. Three quarters way through our walk she was walking nicely by my side (she's pretty well trained and obedient normally) when she spotted a group of kangaroos in the bush. Well she took off like a bat out of hell - me roaring at her to come back and imagining the damage a 'roo would do to her with it's monster claws. She's a ridgeback/boxer cross so bred to be fast and fearless (usually hunts lions in Africa) so Im thinking that if she catches one she'll have a go at it. Fortunately, I think since she'd already done a lot of running around, she had no chance of catching them and slunk sheepishly back a few minutes later - much to my relief. She was plum tuckered out for the rest of the day. Here she is - and I suppose I should now confess that this is the real Zanna - I love the name and decided to use it as a pen name when I started this blog. Been doing a bit of running around this week for No 2 son (single 26). He and a couple of friends are currently on a world tour - backpacking with no real plans of working - just holidaying. So far they have been to South America - Chile, Bolivia, Peru (Macchu Picchu - the Inca Trail), Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil - the Carnival in Rio, and the Stones concert on Copacabana Beach with 1.2 million other people! From there to Mexico and now in Dallas heading for LA. Anyway early in the piece he lost his credit card - not a problem simply cancelled it. But the new one was issued and sent to his PO Box here - which I'm checking for him and we've been trying to find an address where he would be for long enough for me to post it to him. Eventually gave up on that and discovered that he could do it through DHL the global courier - company - they pick up from me and he collects from their local agent. So now arranging for this to happen so he can collect in LA. Then comes the next favour - Mum could you arrange a couple of money orders and send them with the package which will turn up in my mail box to the Canadian consulate in Sydney so we can get a work permit for Canada? He's having the most wonderful experiences and I'm just so happy for him - just wish I was there too! Anyway rambled on long enough. Have a great week everybody.