Friday, May 29, 2009

A big fat sausage

My housemate just came in and told me that she has been lusting after sausages in bread with onion after seeing them advertised in a suggested recipes section of a Coles catalogue three weeks away, and is therefore in the kitchen satiating her appetite now. Haha. Love it. And she's making me one. Even better. Working 7-4 on Saturdays means that I miss out on the Salamanca Market! Bratwurst sausage fail!

There have been large gaps in my days lately where I haven't eaten and have consequently gotten a really big headache. Aaaaaaaargh. Then I eat, and the headache goes away for a little while, but comes back to punish me anyway. IT IS SUCKY. I think maybe this means that I need to eat every couple of hours, even if it's just something small. Learn the lessons, Pam.

Lucy just delivered me the sausage. OH, love.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Who knew? Dieting is great!

Current weight: 106.1 kg

Yay!

I've lost a total of 9.1 kg since starting this big diet kick. And you know what? It's no longer just numbers to me!

I've started to FEEL it!

Clothes no longer fit me quite as snugly!

My jeans do not slip down as I walk!

My muffin-top has shrunk!

My thighs feel a little more svelte and a little less tree-trunk!

This is wonderful!

A THINNER ME!

At the hairdresser's today, I was reading one of those trashly weekly women's magazines, and they had a big special on the contestants who've been on The Biggest Loser, and how they're doing now, x amount of months/years on since they first lost all that weight. What an inspiration. Wow. Those guys are doing so well! I was looking at some of the "before" photos, thinking, "Yeah, I'm that big..." and then looking at the "after" photos, going, "WOW! I would never have thought that they could be that thin!" This whole time, I've kind of been a bit disbelieving that I could ever be SLENDER, just less podgy. But it's true! Some of these girls were huge! Massive. And now they're tiny! Healthy tiny. It's really awesome. I'm impressed!

Have been trying hard to stick to my Spoonlight diet. (That's the Karl Lagerfeld diet designed by Dr Jean-Claude Houdret). SOOOOO not keen on the protein sachets. Protein drinks taste gross. So I'm not doing that part of it. But I'm doing the rest! Avoiding all the carb-heavy foods and compensating with other things.

The best thing about this diet so far has been the re-education that my body has gone through in discovering what portion sizes really are. I have learned to eat more slowly, concentrate on what I'm eating, and replace foods that make me bloated and more hungry with satisfying foods that are healthy. Isn't that boring and wonderful all at once?

I can have one square of chocolate and not want more.

I can eat a bowl of vegetable soup and feel totally stuffed.

I drink skinny milk and revel in the non-bloatedness of it all.

I have swapped pasta and rice for broccoli and carrots.

I have swapped white bread and jam for multigrain bread with Vegemite.

It feels GREAT.

I'm just so surprised! I thought dieting was boring and unfun and that I'd hate every minute of it, but I DON'T. I'm turning into one of those annoying happy dieters who tell you every aspect of their dieting successes and triumphs. (Sorry.) It's a commitment to living a healthier lifestyle, and I'm really enjoying it.

Do it! Do it today. You won't regret it. You'll feel so much better about yourself in the long run.

Have a great week!
xxx

Monday, May 18, 2009

Mid-May weigh-in

Forgive me, Blogger, for I have sinned.

I have been busy!

But I am back! I have been keeping track of my weight, etc, so now I would like to announce what the current standings are (brought to you by WeightWatchers Australia and The Karl Lagerfeld Diet Book), with total losses in parentheses:

Weight: 106.6kg (-8.7kg)

Dress size: 18 (-2)

Arms: 34cm (-1cm)
Hips: 121cm (-4cm)
Bust: 116cm (-4cm)
Waist: 102cm (-5cm)
Thighs: 71cm (-0cm)

Going well! Excited!

Flatmate just cleaned out the fridge. Apparently it was an unholy mess of crap in there. I bought an 18-can box of Diet Coke. Yummmm. Karl Lagerfeld is totally into Pepsi Max. Raves about it. It's not bad. I tried it at work. Rather sweet. All these carbonated drinks leave me a bit bloated... but that's probably good if it means that it fills you up without needing food, right? Right!

Anyway, better continue with my day.

Happy losing!

xxx

PS. You know how I was rewarding myself with The Princess Diaries books? Well! I am such a retard. I accidentally skipped book 7. AND DIDN'T NOTICE. No, didn't notice until I got the end (CLIFFHANGER) of book 8. I was reading book 8, thinking, "Hmmm... don't really remember who this J.P. character is... Must be that activist dude that Lilly was into, though I thought his name was something else... Eh." Turns out he was an entirely new character! And I just accepted him without question and kept reading! I went to a bookstore yesterday and emerged with NO Princess Diaries because I simply could not make up my mind about whether I wanted book 7 or 9! I could've bought both but then I would be faced with the dilemma about which one to read first! Satisfy my need to know what happened, or go back and read the one I missed???!!!??!!! ARRRRGH! Plus, Angus & Robertson sells them for $16.99 and I feel sure that the Hobart Bookshop sells them for $14.95. And I am stingy.

PPS. In other news, The Mediator series by Meg Cabot is totally awesome.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Weight-loss buddies

Just had coffee with my mate Marissa. She's on a weight-loss kick too! She was telling me all about the CSIRO Well-Being Diet. Sounds like the Karl Lagerfeld Diet. We're going to keep each other motivated.

I really do want to go swimming. Marissa suggested a swimming class. Thinking caps on... Maybe we could go TOGETHER. OH, what a stroke of GENIUS.

I just drank an entire pot of tea with Muz. A large one. I ran out of milk for the last two cups, and they were very strong. Have discovered that I don't like "plain" tea (it was English tea) without milk. Has made me head-spinny and a bit ill. Blech. Should've just ordered a skinny latte. Live and learn!

Something I've learnt --- Home Brand diet cola tastes just as good, if not better, than diet Coke. True story!

Uncle Karl is in the house

Yes, that's right, folks. The illustrious volume has arrived. Apparently it took so long because, judging by the postmarks, it was posted directly from France. Yes. France. How authentic.

The book comes with a poster. It's a big list of foods that are colour-coded - green for "recommended", yellow for "caution!" and red for "avoid!". It's quite amusing. I have posted it on the fridge. My housemates are a bit disgusted with it. The diet is fairly rigid. I have been trying to follow it since it arrived. Not doing TOOOOO badly with it... It fits into the WeightWatchers scheme very well indeed.

Tracking your food every day is frigging boring, by the way. I'm over it. But I shall persevere!

I would like to go swimming. I had better get myself to a pool. And I should walk more... of course. So dull, so dull. I'm dreaming of slim-fit jeans and Chanel, baby.

Friday, May 1, 2009

A surprise

One of the nicest things happened to me yesterday in quite an unconventional way. I was grilled a'la the Spanish Inquisition on WHY I'm choosing to lose weight, by a dear friend who was worried that I was choosing to lose weight purely for aesthetic purposes. He really made sure through his line of questioning that I am doing this purely for health reasons. I know it sounds bizarre but I'm actually really flattered that somebody is really looking out for me like that. Everybody else has just accepted that I need to lose weight and hasn't questioned it at all.

Let me outline my reasons for you and me.

1). I currently weigh 30 kilos more than I should. The figure was 35 kilos to begin with, but as you can see, I've had some success. I'm not going manic trying to reach my goal weight, but I am very aware that I am too heavy, even if I am built like a brick shit-house.

2). I injured my back last May. (Sneezed twice, violently, whilst bent over in the bathroom retrieving something from the floor. Managed to completely injure the second-last disc in my back. Was in bed for a week and have been doing clinical pilates to correct the injury ever since. Let's just say that I don't do things by halves.) My back still aches even though the injury is fixed. This is due to my excess weight, so my doctor tells me.

3). I have two very old knee injuries. I grew up too fast, and, out of seven possible structural problems that you can have with your knees, I have four of them. The tendon is too long, the groove is too big, the patella is too small and all of this resulted in my patella dislocating itself every time I turned around from the ages of twelve to sixteen. The patella would always go back to where it was supposed to go, but it would ride out of the groove and cause incredible pain, bleeding and swelling. It was horrendous. I ended up having two lateral-release arthroscopies, in which the surgeon tidied all the crap up in my knee and cut the other tendon in both knee, relieving the tightness that was helping to yank out the patella. As a result of this, my left knee (and the quad muscle in particular) is incredibly weak. It isn't going to get better until I can help it along by being less heavy.

4). I would like to lead a healthier lifestyle. Fresher food with less fat content. I am willing to do anything to aid my journey into a full-time singing career.

These are the reasons that I have chosen to lose weight. They've been a long time coming, and I'm happy with the decision that I have made. I don't know how long it will take me but I'm here to slug it out until it's over, and then switch into a "maintenance" mode during which I will try to keep the weight off, be healthier and more active, and ultimately, even happier than I already am!

Let me just reiterate that I am really pleased that my friend questioned me on this. I'm sure he won't mind me sharing this snippet:

The Elephant Fairy: it is kind of novel for somebody to be worried about this
The Elephant Fairy: everybody else has agreed that it is about time... hahahaha

Spanish Inquisition: well, i come from a different place
Spanish Inquisition: and i have only known u in a certain way
Spanish Inquisition: but i'm always concerned about people making such large decisions about their bodies
Spanish Inquisition: not that it's really my business
Spanish Inquisition: but many people go into "weightloss" with strictly an aesthetic intention
Spanish Inquisition: to me that is a negative approach, and unhealthy

The Elephant Fairy: oh
The Elephant Fairy: nah
The Elephant Fairy: I don't mind the way I look
The Elephant Fairy: but I do mind the way that I feel

Spanish Inquisition: ok
Spanish Inquisition: i like that set of statements
Spanish Inquisition: A LOT
The Elephant Fairy: me too :-)


God bless good friends.