Weekend in Noosa

We had a lovely weekend in Noosa - but I'll deal with the weightier issues first then tell you more. (And forgot to take a photo of the'beach babe' before we went so this is a crop from one of the ones taken at the party)

I'm moving again - not very fast but nonetheless I'm moving - a loss this week of 500g. I had really hoped I'd make my 5kg loss goal this week but it wasn't to be. In review this wasn't one of my best weeks although there probably wasn't a real lot I could have done differently. We ate out most of the weekend - in fact make that all weekend, so I made pretty sensible choices but you can't really control or always guess accurately what the points count will be. Also spending approximately 12 hours sitting on your posterior in a car over the space of three days means your step count doesn't exactly increase at a great rate of knots! But on the up side - despite really REALLY wanting a little chardy....... I resisted. My stubborn pride comes in handy sometimes - the only reason I didn't have one was because I've told all and sundry (including you guys) that I wouldn't have any alcohol until Easter and it would kill me to have to own up that I hadn't managed that.

Reviewing the week :

Alcohol - none
Points - pretty well spot on - kept a bit under at the beginning of the week so any upswings on the weekend should be OK.
Walk - managed four days this week
Water - 2 litres plus every day
Steps - 46,000 for the week - a miserly average of about 6,600 steps a day
Tracking - had to do a bit of retrospective stuff when I got home Sunday but it still looks OK

Went to the beauticians on Thursday night - had all the usual waxing plus the oxygen facial - think it might have made a bit of a difference to the fine lines round my eyes and mouth but I'm afraid no miracles! I had my spray tan done - this was hilarious! I've been having these done fairly regularly for the last couple of years, but the last two for some reason haven't worked. So this time the owner of the salon decided she would do it personally to see what the story was. The following might be too much information ....if so skip a few lines! Anyway the tanning process is not designed for you to feel elegant. There you stand with only a G string, arms in the air, then holding up the' girls' so there's not a white bit underneath, adopting a Mr Universe pose so the insides of your legs get coated.... while the beautician coats you with tanning lotion using a spray gun. She was so determined the process was going to succeed this time that she absolutely drenched me so then there was overspray and I had black/brown rivers running down my boobs so she dabbed them with a tissue which immediately left white patches so she then resprayed - she's stressing to the max and I'm just laughing my head off. Anyway as you can see from the picture at the top - it worked this time - I definitely had the skin tones of a south sea maiden! So to answer your question Maria - this is not a procedure for the faint hearted! but if you have a good relationship with your beautician - it certainly makes you look and feel good! I guess once I made the decision to do the 'brazilian' thing - all other indignities have paled in comparison!

We had a fabulous weekend in Noosa. We managed to get away from work early and got down there around 7.30pm. We checked into our resort -which was really nice - then walked down to Gympie Terrace in search of tea and found a nice Thai restaurant. After having breakfast overlooking the river (photo taken just after breakfast) we spent Saturday driving around up and down the Sunshine coast. We're trying to decide where we'd like to retire to. It keeps changing but this week we're thinking Caloundra might be nice. We want to be near water, lots of nice restaurants, close to Brisbane for sport, theatre, entertainment etc. so Caloundra might fit the bill nicely. But next week might be different.

The party was great fun - lots of 60's music - although I did most of my going out in the 70's but I've always been into 60's music too. Met some lovely new people and caught up with someone I hadn't seen for around 35 years - absolutely magic!

The week ahead looks busy again - going out for dinner with friends tonight to celebrate Bloss's birthday which is tomorrow. The friend (sister of the birthday girl) that I met up with after 35 years and her husband are probably arriving on Wednesday night to stay overnight - they're from Melbourne, but are heading north of us to spend a couple of days with his brother then going to stop off with us on the way back to Noosa. Hopefully my new washing machine will arrive mid week - I've got piles of washing to do! - the other one was going to cost $500 to fix so just bought a new one and will get the $200 cash back which will make it the same cost.

OK possums that it's from me on this beautiful Monday morning. Hope you've all had a good week and let's all make this one a good one too.

"My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four.... unless there are three other people. " ~ Orson Welles

Some Learnings.......

I've learned...
that life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.
I've learned...
that we should be glad God doesn't give us everything we ask for.
I've learned...
that money doesn't buy class
I've learned...
that it's those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular.
I've learned...
that under everyone's hard shell is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved.
I've learned...
that the Lord didn't do it all in one day. What makes me think I can?
I've learned...
that to ignore the facts does not change the facts
I've learned...
that the less time I have to work, the more things I get done.

Pooh Face

A few years back we had a dog which sometimes had a terribly sad face. My boys used to refer to this as “Raz’s pooh face”. Well that’s me today…… no loss this week - I stayed the same – and that was only with the scales facing south and me balanced on one leg with my hands extended backwards and little finger pointing downwards!! It wasn’t quite that bad but touch and go. I definitely had a pooh face first up this morning but am over it now. I know I’ve done the right thing all week so I’ll just have to carry on regardless knowing it’ll show up in due course. I did in fact have a short month and on Saturday was looking good for a decent sort of a loss but then back up Sunday and still the same today. Oh the joys of an under active thyroid and menopause! The week in review was once again great : Alcohol – none (7weeks now – just can’t help crowing!) Points – on or below Tracking – all accounted for Walking – managed 5 days this week Steps – not quite as good as last week but almost 64,000 – average of 9,000 daily – I’m about half way round Turkey! Water – 2 – 3 litres every day I also spent two hours in the garden yesterday – mostly weeding – and don’t the backs of my legs know it today. Will need to run up and down the stairs a few times to loosen them up. Went to the doctors last week – good news is that he’s happy for me to manage my blood pressure with lifestyle and so don’t need medication at this stage. However my back is still niggling so sent me for a spinal Xray – have had that but haven’t gotten round to picking up the Xrays yet. Heart murmur is still there so he wants me to have an echo cardiograph so that’s scheduled for early March. Gosh they don’t half know how to charge for Xrays and scans - $170 for the spinal one and $375 for the echo!! Thank goodness we have really excellent medical cover through our work. Busy week ahead - the bloody washing machine decided to go on the blink on the weekend so need to arrange for that to be fixed, and then I’m trying valiantly to find a painter who actually wants work who will paint the exterior of the house. Have had two come to view and quote, but then haven’t sent the quote, and one no show so far. Have ordered mirrored sliding doors for the built ins in our bedroom and they’re scheduled to be fitted sometime this week. Thursday I have a session at the beautician – oxygen facial – haven’t had one of those but it’s supposed to be good for getting rid of the fine lines – will give you a verdict next week. Also getting the usual wax and a spray tan too. Reason for the tan is that we’re heading off to Noosa this weekend to a 60th birthday party with the theme “Surf’. So planning to wear white crop pants and strappy top with a floaty ‘flower power’ type top over. So of course if I want to be a beach babe – I need a tan to go with my blonde hair!! We’re having two nights in Noosa – booked into a nice resort – so will drive down on Friday night – hoping to get away from work a bit early, and then drive home again on Sunday afternoon. Will be a lovely little break. Here’s to a good week for us all. As I ramble through life, whatever be my goal, I will unfortunately keep my eye upon the doughnut and not upon the whole. - Wendy Wasserstein

Habits aren't always bad

Well after actually going in an upwards direction for most of the week, the scales have finally come to the party yesterday and today and I recorded a 500g loss this morning so that was a relief. Mind you I can honestly say that if they hadn’t come down, although I would have been disappointed, I know within myself that for yet another week I have done everything right so it would be only a matter of time before they came right. But nonetheless I’m glad they did! It sure as hell puts a damper on your motivation if you do the right thing and don’t lose.

I’m in a beautiful rut at the moment where through sheer habit I’m doing all the right things – don’t think I’ve ever been so focussed for so long. Can honestly say that for 6 weeks now I have done everything I should and nothing I shouldn't. As we all know it’s almost pathetically easy when your head is in ‘the right space’. With me it’s like I’ve got this focus on Easter – and I’m just trying to peel off each week getting ticks in all the boxes. The challenge will be to have a bit of fun then for a couple of days and then get the focus back again!

So reviewing last week :

Alcohol – none – only downside is that when you see someone else being a bit chirpy you think – god, am I as silly as that when I’ve had a couple – and the answer is probably yes!!
Points – on or under – finding that I store up a couple at the beginning of the week and then if we’re out and about on the weekend and I go over by a couple it’s all under control
Water – 2 sometimes 3 litres every day
Walking – managed 4 this week – a couple of them a bit longer
Steps – best week yet – 68,000 for the week – average of about 9,700 a day
Tracking – daily but actually doing most of it in my head and just updating the tracker once a day

Not sure what’s happening with ‘many pauses’ – feeling a bit like this might be a short month – guessing that’s what all the seesawing last week was – but who knows – life’s full of surprises!

Off to see the doctor tonight – have been monitoring my blood pressure as he requested so take him the results tonight – not sure what he’ll have to say. The results seem to show that it’s fine in the morning, shoots up weekdays when I’m at work in the middle of the day, but OK on weekends, then normally comes down again at night – although didn’t the three nights last week when I was working through the family issues. So it looks like stress might play a part in it – even although I’m not conscious of feeling stressed – especially at work. He also discovered when I was seeing him last November for my back problems that I had a slight heart murmur which had never been noticed before and which he’s not unduly concerned about but wanted to check again in 3 months so will get that done tonight too.


Geez it’s a bugger getting older – but I’m determined to be like the Ulysses club members – and do it disgracefully!!. For those of you who don’t know – The Ulysses Club is a motorcycle club for the over 40's whose motto is “Grow Old Disgracefully"

Thank you all for your lovely comments about my low point ideas from last week's post - I'm just happy that so many of you have found them useful. Anne gave me a good idea too - suggested mixing half natural yoghurt and half water with the jelly for a bit of variety - will be trying that one soon!


Today we have a picture of a fairly standard workday lunch - don't think you can see properly just how big this is - lettuce, capsicum, celery, tomatoes, snow peas, chives, basil, combo sprouts (lentils, peas and mung beans), and topping it off today we have red salmon. Some days it's shaved ham, or tuna, or chopped up cooked chicken, somedays we add a sprinkling of WW cheese, or about an 1/8th of an avocado. I keep some WW salad dressings in the fridge at work and just add some before eating - my favourite is the balsamic one which I'm struggling to get in my local supermarkets. Might have to get some of you to send me a couple of bottles!! Anyway this hearty serving still only costs me around a maximum of 3 points on average and takes me a fair while to chomp my way through - usually while catching up on some your blogs.

Alright possums - must away and be productive so I'll leave you with this quote ....

"You've got to say, I think that if I keep working at this and want it badly enough I can have it. It's called perseverance". Lee Iacocca

Steady, steady......

Feeling good again this week (although the scales are still at it - stay low for three days straight then on weigh in day decide to sneak 300g back on). Anyway nonetheless another 500g off this week so I'm quite happy with that.

Once again its been a good week - in fact I really think I've been extra good this week - see my story below and in addition to this I've dined out two nights on the weekend and managed to make good choices - Saturday night - no entree, grilled tuna steak (absolutley scrumptious), no dessert, and Sunday night - grilled chicken and avocado panini - but only ate half the panini. So reviewing the week .......

Alcohol - none (5 weeks now)
Points - on or below everyday
Tracking - still tracking on WW online
Walking - managed 4 days this week - and yesterday's one was a 6km
Steps - got to 60,000 this week - about 8,500 a day
Water - 2 litres at least every day - and can see the difference being well hydrated and having no alcohol makes to my skin.


I’ve included a couple of photos of two diehard standbys for me. Every couple of weeks I take four low cal jellies, and four tins of WW fruits – peaches and fruit salad, I gather up my supply of little screwtop containers (purchased from Woolworths at about $1.50 each) and I set about making my work lunchtime desserts. Each tin of fruit and each made up jelly gets divided between three containers, lid screwed on and into the fridge it goes. Each morning I just grab one and take it with me to enjoy as part of my lunch – at half a point!


The other photo shows what quells the late afternoon munchies when I get home from work around 4pm. Don’t need these every day but some days they just hit the spot. Four original flavour rice crackers,(or two salt and vinegar rice cakes) two tablespoons WW sour cream and some salsa – for 2 points.

I’m quite proud of myself this week for another reason – It’s been a fairly stressful week for me and despite feeling a VERY strong inclination for a glass of chardonnay (in fact more than one) and feeling that I was a poor darling who deserved a chocolate hit – I didn’t succumb. But it certainly crossed my mind a couple of nights last week.

It all started on Wednesday night with a Skype call from my younger sister in Scotland. I won’t bore you with lots of details – but the gist of it was there had been a major falling out between her and my younger brother and although it had happened ten days earlier neither of them seemed able to budge causing much heartache to my Mum and also other family members. Well the next three nights involved some big phonathons to Scotland and also to No 1 son – who knew nothing of this but who had actually been present when this situation had supposedly occurred. Anyway long calls to my brother, No 1 son, my poor Mum who had aged 10 years overnight and was an absolute wreck, my sister again and then Mum again. Basically on the phone for three nights from around 7 – 10 pm. I’ve got callouses on my ears! I had to be careful I didn’t come across as meddling big sister from overseas who pulls all the strings and rather that I was a little bit removed from the situation but nonetheless love them all very dearly and could hopefully just get each of them to see even a little bit of where the other one was coming from. I am pleased to say that it looks like the whole thing is now resolved – not quite back to normal but hopefully on the way there. It’s been a real shock to all of us – we’re a family who doesn’t fight – never have – and always thought that the bonds between us all were super strong. It’s been a salutary lesson to us all in realizing how easily these bonds can be cast aside – all over a coincidental remark, a bit of misunderstanding, people’s pride and reacting via email rather than face to face.

I've just joined up for the Walk around Turkey challenge on the Walking with Attitiude site - see sidebar for the link. I started the WA - North Bibbulmun Track one last May then when I went AWOL for a few months I abandoned it so I've just finished it now since I started back. I find the entering of my steps every day keeps me on the move and encourages me to take little extra walks here and there to get my step count up.

Anyway friends, that's the latest from me so just wishing you all a good focussed week, but most importantly be gentle with yourself and take one day at a time.