Yet another diet...

So this time it's Slimming World, even though I don't live in the UK. Slimming World works on the basis of red days (higher in protein), green days (higher in carbohydrates), healthy extras (to balance each day and ensure good nutrition) and syns (for all the little extras like chocolate, sauces, condiments...basically anything that isn't a "free" food or healthy extra). I won't explain it all here as there are so many websites that do that so much better than I could.

All I can say is that after 2 1/2 weeks I have lost 2.4 kilograms without ever feeling hungry or deprived. It simpy is the easiest program, although not the easiest if you live outside the UK I must say. As I don't have access to the syns values, healthy extras lists and free foods for Australian brands, there is no question that a little extra guesswork is required. Not to worry though as it seems to be working very well so far.

I also had a Polar F55 Heart Rate Monitor delivered today in an effort to really get myself organised with my walking and overall fitness. It's been an expensive week all round as I also needed new runners. Given the issues that I have as a result of my flat feet and tendency to roll my feet in when I walk, it was really important to get the right type of shoe. The salesgirl at Athlete's Foot helped me out with their special analysis machine and recommended a few pairs to try. I settled on the Brooks Ariel and after some extensive research on the net when I got home, I was happy to learn that I had bought the best shoe on the market for my feet issues. Happy, happy girl!

So I am all set to get fit, healthy and slim. I'm aiming for 3 hours walking per week across 4 walks. This is based on the program put together for me by the Polar HRM, which I took out for a trial today. Love it, love it, love it! It really opened my eyes to just how much I was "in the dark" with my walking program and it has given me a whole new focus. We'll walk to the school to vote tomorrow and then complete a 40 minute walk after that. At this stage, I'm also thinking a day of walking around the Melbourne Zoo on Sunday might be a great way to slip in some extra exercise for the week. Let's hope that the weather stays nice.

For all those Lite N Easy fans, I recommended Lite N Easy to my sister on the Gold Coast. She is determined to lose weight before her wedding in September so she decided to give it a try. She's been on the program for a few weeks now and is consistently losing weight without any problems, so it's definitely worth a try. I'm sure I'll give it another go soon but for the moment, this Slimming World program is working for me.

On a separate not, a very big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my baby nephew Kai. I hope you had the very bestest of birthdays today!!

On the road again...

So I'm almost one full week back into Lite N Easy. I had about three weeks off all together whilst I was in Qld and I ended up back at 72.2kg. I was really happy with that as I ate anything and everything that I wanted whilst I was away, so I can't complain.

So I started again last Friday and I have lost 1.3kg already, with two more days still to go this week. That brings me back to 70.9kg, only .9kg off the lowest weight that I had reached on the day before I left for the trip. Hopefully it won't be long until I'm under 70kg and burning through the 60's!!

For anyone who's thinking about trying Lite N Easy, it really does work!

Time passes so quickly!

It's hard to believe that today is the last day of Week 9 on Lite N Easy! That means another official weigh in tomorrow.

I was down to 71.5kg this morning, which means a total loss of 4.2kg since I started 9 weeks ago. I'm really pleased with the result so far and I look and feel so much healthier already. My clothes fit much better and I can look in the mirror without feeling really awful about what I see. Instead, I feel quite proud of what I have achieved so far, and excited about the prospect of finally being under 70kg soon.

I think I'll aim for about 65kg and then re-evaluate when I get close to that. Being at the bottom end of a size 12 would be fine with me. Whilst being a size 8 and 52 kg may have been fine when I was 24, at 34 I would look just too thin. In fact, if I was honest with myself, even at 24 I looked too thin at 52kg. Not to mention the amount of work and vigilance that would be required to maintain that weight...no thanks!!!

Another Lite N Easy Update

Today I started Week 7 on Lite N Easy. It's hard to believe that it has been six full weeks so far. I'm definitely in a routine, which to be honest can be both good and bad. The routine can definitely create boredom however it also keeps everything pretty simple. I'm still loving the dinners and the Sweet Beef Curry, Satay Chicken, Oriental Beef and Beef Stroganoff are some of my favorites.

So how much have I lost? Certainly not as much as I would have hoped, but still a very respectable 3.2kg as of this morning's weigh in. Given that I have not done any exercise at all during that time, it really is a good result. The weight loss has certainly slowed down though, with a loss of only 200grams this week. I really need to get out and exercise but it is so dark and cold by the end of the working day that walking really isn't an option. Might be time to consider using a gym.

Getting a little bored....

I'm well into Week 4 on Lite and Easy now and at my weigh in on Friday morning I had lost another .3kg, bringing me to 73.3kg.

The weight loss has definitely slowed down but I am proud to say that my resolve has not crumbled. I have not touched any junk food since starting, not even a single piece of chocolate, and chocolate was a daily indulgence before Lite N Easy. Other than the two meals out that were outside my control, I have stuck rigidly to the program in order to give myself the best opportunity of success. I am getting a little bored though...there are only so many times that you can have a "small bread roll" as a snack. Thankfully the dinners are truly delicious, so the thought of a delicious dinner each night gets me through the day!

Exercise is definitely the missing link and I really need to get motivated and get out walking. It will push the weight loss along much more quickly, not to mention the obvious health benefits. I just find it so hard to get excited about walking but I know in the long run it will be worth the effort.

Anyway, enough for now. It's after midnight and I think it might be time for some zzzzzz's.

Sticking to it...

Dinner at a friend's house last night was really delicious. Savoury lamb shanks that just melted in my mouth, creamy mashed potato, beans, carrots and a really nice red wine to top it off. Mmmm, mmmmm!!

On the way home, my boyfriend decided that he was starving hungry and had to stop off at McDonald's drive thru for something to eat. I am so proud of myself! I didn't let my resolve crumble. I didn't order anything even though it meant smelling the cheeseburgers in the car all the way home. And it was so worth it...this morning I had lost a little more weight and I was right back on Lite N Easy, as motivated and determined as ever.

I'm really determined to do it right this time. It won't be quick but the variety in the food options is really helping me to avoid temptation. I haven't had chocolate cravings in more than two weeks and I'm starting to feel a little less hungry now. I guess my body must be slowly adjusting to the lower calories. I really feel like I'm going to succeed this time...I just need to keep my mind focused and remember all the benefits of a healthier, more attractive body. This time I'm sticking to it!!!

Two weeks in and still going strong!

In fact, today is the start of Week 3 on Lite N Easy and yes, I'm still going strong. Total weight loss as of this morning was 2.1kg! Not bad for two weeks. That brings me down from 75.7kg to 73.6kg.

I find that I start to feel better physically from about 72kg. Anything under that and I start to have more energy and I'm less tired. My clothes fit better and I feel better about myself overall. It's also a bit of a danger point though for exactly the same reasons. It's easier to lose motivation when you don't feel quite so bad about the weight that you're carrying.

I guess that's partly why I'm so determined to stick with Lite N Easy. Even if I start to lose motivation, the boundaries are clear...I can eat only what I am given and nothing more. There are no grey areas. There is no room to cheat. I cannot sneak some chocolate and kid myself that it really won't matter. It's black and white because either I'm on Lite N Easy or I'm not. It's too expensive to be half hearted on a delivery program of this nature.

It's been a hectic week from a work perspective so having everything prepared for me has made things so much easier. No need to think about food or what to have next...just heat and eat at the right time.

We're off to a friend's place for dinner tomorrow night so unfortunately that meal will be outside my control, but it's only one meal so it shouldn't have too much impact. I guess the proof will be in the pudding as they say ;-)

My Virtual Model - Before (75.7kg) & Target (60kg)

Getting skinnier by the day!

I bet the suspense is just killing you...what was the final weight loss for the week? I know, I know, it's keeping you awake at night and you just can't concentrate at work...

So time for the big reveal! Bit of an anti-climax really as although it was an absolutely FANTASTIC result, the official weigh in on Friday morning hadn't changed from the day before. Which means a whopping 1.5kg loss for the week, bringing me from a start weight of 75.7 down to 74.2. Woo Hoo!!

You could have knocked me over with a feather when I weighed myself this morning...another .3kg GONE!!! I'm now at 73.9 and I'm so incredibly happy with the results :-)

Lite N Easy really is so simple as there is very little to think about. You just eat what they give you and that's about it. The biggest challenge for me is that I'm a real night owl and I'm often up reading resumes and sending emails for my recruitment business well after midnight. Of course, that means that I tend to get really hungry as dinner may have been 4 or 5 hours earlier. I've realised now that I need to keep something aside for just before bed because I just can't sleep when I have a growling, hungry stomach. That may be why I'm a bit too hungry during the day as I have to space the food out to last me until late at night.

Being a little hungry hasn't been too unbearable but it does mess with my head a bit, particularly now that I'm on the second week. Today I feel like I want to rush out and buy some KFC and scoff down some chocolate!! The thing about Lite and Easy though is that you can't trick yourself. In the past I would have had some chocolate or M&Ms and convinced myself that I was still within the calorie limit for the day. Now I know that if I eat anything other than what has been provided to me, I am definitely over the 1500 calorie limit, so there's no way I can kid myself into thinking that I can eat extra food.

My sister and Dad will be in Melbourne tomorrow so that we can go out for lunch for her 30th birthday. I'm a little nervous as it will require a meal off the Lite N Easy program and I will have to adjust the rest of the day to accommodate for the extra food. I've decided to just have the Lite N Easy scheduled lunch for dinner and keep the extra frozen dinner for some other time, which should minimise the calorie impact. And I will definitely be trying to pick the healthiest thing on the menu, even though I would rather a big plate of chips!

I'll let you know how it goes..there may well be a battle of epic proportions raging in my head tomorrow!

Lite N Easy Update

Hard to believe, but I've lost 1.5kgs in the first 6 days! I'm looking forward to weighing myself officially tomorrow to see the final total for the week.

Have I been hungry at times on 1500 calories? Absolutely! It doesn't seem like quite enough food but then eating more is obviously what caused me to gain weight in the first place. It would be nice to get through the day without feeling quite so hungry between meals, however it's certainly working and that's what matters to me at the moment. At least I can be certain that it's a healthy and nutritious diet and I'm eating plenty of fruit and vegetables which I generally tend to avoid.

Let's see what tomorrow brings!

Starting over!

Yes, back on the weight loss path again! I started Lite N Easy again on Thursday after about three years since I last ordered from them. Even though I promised myself that I would wait at least one week before my first weigh in, I just couldn't resist this morning. To my surprise, 1.2 kg lost in only two day! Of course, most of that will be fluid loss but it's still a good feeling.

For the non-Aussies, Lite N Easy is a weight loss program where your breakfasts, lunches, dinners, fruit and snacks are delivered weekly and you just add skim milk for coffee, cereals etc. The food really is quite delicious (particularly the frozen dinners) and it is calorie controlled and full of the necessary nutrients for a healthy diet.

Of course, there are drawbacks and my biggest complaint is when the delivery is missing items for a particular day. That was the main reason that I stopped ordering from them last time. There were just too many errors in the packing of the orders and one week I ended up with completely mismatched orders that made it impossible to put together a week's worth of meals. Today I was missing the bread roll to put my smoked chicken and tomato on and I've noticed that I'm also missing yoghurt for later in the week. If they could get that right, it really would be a dieter's dream, albeit a little expensive if you need to use it for more than a few weeks.

On a separate note, Big Brother starts tonight. I know, I should be embarrassed to admit that I'm a Big Brother fan, but I really do enjoy watching it for some light entertainment. Hopefully this year's series is full of surprises and the people are really crazy...it always adds to the entertainment value!

Anyway, that's enough from me. I'm off to heat up my dinner...I'm thinking either Satay Beef or Sausages with Onion Gravy. Yum!!

100 facts about me: facts 31-40

31. I love to sit outside with a hot coffee and my laptop (love wireless broadband!) or a great book and enjoy the sounds of the birds chattering away.
32. I have so many books (mainly on New Age topics, spirituality and metaphysics) that it would take 3 to 4 large bookshelves to hold them all.
33. I'm really lazy when it comes to exercise and keeping fit...and I mean REALLY lazy!
34. Being close to nature gives me a deep feeling of inner calm.
35. I love to search out and stay at beautiful country bed and breakfasts.
36. I have owned or lived with five cats in my 33 years...Diddams, Cindy, Tabby, Baby and Karma.
37. I would choose to have a cat rather than a dog, even though I love both.
38. I hate football (yes, this one has been brought on by the fact that today is the AFL Grand Final).
39. I attended Grovedale West Primary School and Belmont High School.
40. I drive a cherry red Mazda 3 SP23 and I absolutely adore my car.

100 facts about me: facts 21-30

21. Purple has been my favorite color for as long as I can remember.
22. I was brought home from the hospital in a purple baby blanket that I named "Scratchie" and I had a giant purple teddy bear.
23. I don't really like to cook but I have a great deal of admiration for people who can whip up delicious dishes with so much ease.
24. I get a buzz out of collecting the mail each day.
25. I am a Level II Certified Reiki Practitioner.
26. At high school, I decided that I wanted to be a psychiatrist...until I realised that I can't stand the sight of blood and I would have to become a fully qualified GP first.
27. I completed a combined Bachelor of Arts / Bachelor of Laws at university.
28. I am terrified of amusement park rides that are really fast or really high.
29. I travelled to New Zealand for a holiday when I was 11.
30. I travelled to China and Hong Kong for work purposes on two occassions.

100 facts about me: facts 1-20

1. I am a 33 year old Libran.
2. I have 2 sisters, aged 29 and 22.
3. I have one nephew and another one on the way.
4. I love chocolate with a passion.
5. I have a crazy, beautiful, black and white cat named Karma.
6. I love to read non fiction books on any subject that interests me.
7. I love to write and have thought about writing a book since I was a child.
8. Growing up, I enjoyed netball and calisthenics.
9. I love to curl up on the couch with a good movie and some junk food as a treat.
10. I love my job wholeheartedly (I own and manage the Melbourne Central branch of Australian Recruiting).
11. I used to be a magazine junkie but I have cut back to only two magazines a month (Weight Watchers and Slimming).
12. I'm in the process of learning everything that I can about the Law of Attraction.
13. My favorite movie is Serendipity.
14. My favorite documentary style movie is The Secret.
15. I am not allergic to anything that I am aware of.
16. My mother and one of my sisters live on the Gold Coast in Qld.
17. My Dad and my other sister live in Geelong in Victoria.
18. I have lived in Melbourne for the last 8 or so years.
19. I have bought, lived in and then sold my first house.
20. I have a somewhat unusual combination of fair skin, dark hair and blue eyes.

A rose by any other name...

For any regular visitors, you may have noticed the name change for my blog?

I have decided that I am so much more than my weight loss journey (which by the way will re-commence with rejoining Weight Watchers on Tuesday morning). Rather than define or limit myself by this journey, I will open up my blog to "a little bit of this and a whole lot of that"!

A water cooler in cyber space if you will...somewhere to catch up on the latest gossip and trade stories, hints and tips on just about any topic we can think of. Of course, there will be a whole lot about me (what can I say...I can't escape myself) but let's just leave it open and see where the Talking Point takes us!

Visit my other blog...no really...go ahead...

For summaries of some fantastic candidates registered with my office, visit www.crazykarmakitty.bigblog.com.au .

You never know...the perfect employee might just be waiting for you!

Try the quiz...you know you want to!

You scored as Cultural Creative. Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational.

Cultural Creative 75% Idealist 56% Postmodernist 56% Romanticist 56% Existentialist 50% Fundamentalist 44% Modernist 31% Materialist 31% What is Your World View? (updated) created with QuizFarm.com

One week to go (big happy face!)...

I can't believe how quickly time has passed. I have five more days at work before it's all over. After 9 years at one company, it's well and truly time to move on.

So where to from here? For two weeks after I finish, I will have my sister and gorgeous nephew to play with, then the week following I need to pack and move to my boyfriend's house (I need to remember to start saying "our" house). Then it's one week to get settled and hey presto, I start in my own business. I feel like such a grown-up!

It's all happening!

Talk about a big week...not only did I resign from my job, but my landlord gave notice that she would like to move back into her unit as soon as possible. Hmmm, nothing quite like shaking everything up at once.

Only three weeks left at my current job! I'm opening my own business in the recruitment industry. I will be opening a Branch office for a national company and I can't wait to get started. There is so much to organise but I feel like I'm just being carried along by the momentum and everything is falling into place. Even the rental situation makes sense as I couldn't have run my business from my current address. Call it fate, call it destiny, but I truly believe that eveything happens for a reason...

Aaaaaaarrrrrrrggggggghhhhhh!!!

And that's all I have to say today...well, apart from "chocolate is my best friend"....and "if in doubt, eat chocolate"...