Thursday, December 2, 2010

Americanising my life. Or should that be, "Americanizing"?

Welcome, Pippa! A fabulous first post.

I would not call Pip a "boombah", either, or however she spelled that. She is a gorgeous, curvaceous woman, with amazing breasts (it's true, I back her up 100% on that one) and stunning good looks. I wish her the very best for weight-loss!

So I was exploring the Atkins website a little more thoroughly today and worked out that it's actually a helluva lot more interactive than I'd ever bothered to find out. I added an avatar, filled in my profile, enrolled in a course (Phase 2, as I did Phase 1 back in late May or so for a couple of months) and now I have all these interesting Americanised facts about my body. (Appropriate, yes, as The Boyfriend is American, and I have to learn these Americanisms eventually.)

Height: 5'11" / 180 cm

Start weight: 254.5 lb / 115.7 kg

Current weight: 208.3 lb / 94.7 kg

Goal weight: 176 lb / 80 kg

Current BMI: 29.70

Weight loss to date: 46.2 lb / 21.0 kg

Weight to lose: 32.3 lb / 14.7 kg

The Atkins BMI calculator thinks that 170 lb is the heaviest healthy weight for somebody of my height, but I disagree. I think that 80 kg on me will be really quite slim, with well-rounded curves in all the right places. Any lighter, and I'd... Well, I can't even imagine being able to attain a lighter weight, so... Maybe I'll reassess that when I reach 80 kg, but for now, that's my happy place.

Trying to be good again. The only thing that keeps slipping me up is CAKE. What is with my addiction to cake? And slices! Oh Lordy. I have been having Skype Bake Dates with The Boyfriend, and he seems to be looking out for my Atkins diet needs, so that's nice. (Though I did enjoy the chocolate caramel slice bake date. That was fantastic. As was the cheesecake bake date... oh yeah.)

On a low-carb front, I've discovered that Peters Entice Cookies & Cream Ice-Cream is made with fresh cream, as opposed to fresh milk, so the carb count per serving is only around 14g. That's awesome. I don't know how big a serving is. Assume 2 scoops? So it's a nice reward on the good days...

I am going to attempt an Atkins recipe called Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies. I have high hopes that they will be *delicious*. Here's hoping.

Right, well, off to keep trucking away at the Christmas present list... Spending all my hard-earned...

With holiday cheer,
Pam

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Boombah

Hello, my name is Pippa and I am a boombah.

A chubster. A fatty. A bargearse. And on one occasion, a Pippapotamus. (Although I had to admire the ingenuity of that one.)

But I have decided, in the interests of public beautification, that a boombah is not something that I have an overwhelming desire to be anymore. And truthfully it's more to do with the underlying health risks and general awkwardness of being a fatbody that make it so undesirable-- your clothes fit awkwardly- if at all; exercise/movement is more difficult and quite grotesque to watch; you stand up to stretch and all your spare change falls from between the folds of your skin. Irritating. Not to mention heart disease, diabetes, stroke, hypertension, cancer, sleep apnoea, high blood pressure... Hmm. Time to get out while the getting's good. Or while I can still walk out and don't have to be wheeled out on a gurney, white sheet or no white sheet.

Here are my statistics.


Gender: Female

Height: 1.72m

Build: Odd. Long, long legs, enormous breasts and arse and a torso that is all of 30cms in length.

Starting weight: (I'm just going to use the weight that I was last time I jumped on the scale, which was... Monday. I was 127.4kg. EGADS. I will be attempting a proper weigh tomorrow, for start of Day 1.)

Goal: 85 or so kg. I'm not too fussed on this so far, as I know I can't aim for anything too low because I will look porn-star ridiculous. I can't diet away my boobs. I will also figure out my mini-goals according to my starting weight tomorrow.



I'm going to attempt a second go at the Atkins diet, which the ever-so-wondrous Pam put me onto in the first place. It has worked wonders for her, and she has done so well (and had so much self control! I am envious. My self control is probably off somewhere stuffing itself blind with biscuits.) and I hope, with a bit of prodding, I can do the same. Hence the journal! (Also Pam's idea. What would we do without her?)

And so, to bed, and onwards to DAY ONE! Barm barm baaarrrrr.

That's ominous music, if you didn't catch that.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Changes afoot

Ladies and gentlemen of the orchestra, you may have noticed a slight name change of the title of this blog... (If you haven't, well - you have now.)

I have made this change because two of my dearest, dearest friends, Rebecca and Philippa (or Bec and Pip, whatever floats your tug), are also journeying down the long road of weight loss, and I thought that a shared blog might inspire us all to work harder toward our goals!

I am eagerly awaiting their first posts!

Pamzilla
xo

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

As predicted.

A head cold. Not the Grandmother of All Head Colds, though -- maybe a Second Cousin, or Sister-in-Law. Not a direct relation. Either way, hello, garlic + horseradish capsules.

A little fact

Just want to point out -- having a sore throat is not Atkins diet-friendly. AT ALL.

- Honey
- Soothers
- Ice-cream
- Icy-poles

Et cetera.

Sugar! So much sugar!

Oh, I hate my throat. I was supposed to perform today, too, but couldn't, because some rogue cells in my throat staged a mutiny, wielding knives and torturous fire torches, dancing about and having a marvellous time. I could hardly speak, my throat was so sore. Guaranteed it'll be gone by tomorrow and I'll have, in its place, the Grandmother of All Head Colds.

And to think that I managed to avoid being sick all winter. It's only shown up now, you know, with only two weeks to go before I finish my Master of Music degree in CLASSICAL SINGING.

*mutters* Traitorous body.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Back on track

Have managed to shrink self back down to 95.4. Which is not really shrunken, but I went a little mad with cake and chips in celebration of the 20kg mark and promptly put 2kg back on. Fooooool.

I'm sick this week. I don't really know what it is. I have a sick-feeling headache all the time, and my sinuses hurt, and my ear has been blocked and painful. Just an all-round pain in the ass (or, in this case, the ear).

Mama doesn't approve of the Atkins Diet, and says that a high-protein diet damages the kidney and liver if one is on it for too long. I'm doing some reading to see if she's right, but so far, all evidence points to the contrary.

I don't know if I updated about it before, but I had a weird food reaction in Sydney recently. A rash! All over my chest, upper arms and upper thighs. Weird! I think it may have been the Chinese-Malaysian laksa, which was DELICIOUS. The time previous that I enjoyed laksa gave me a migraine. There could be something in that, Pam. Maybe... just maybe... you are allergic to laksa.

That is very disappointing to me, however, as I think laksa is thoroughly delicious. My littlest sister (the pastry chef in training), however, does not think it sounds appealing at all. But she hasn't tried it! Surely she'd be swayed by its deliciousness...

Have blown up my pilates ball and keep it on my bed now (queen-sized bed in a tiny room, so I have little choice). I roll it between and under my legs while I'm playing The Sims. Ah, the engagement of my pelvic floor. I'd almost forgotten how good it feels to actually use my muscles!

Feel a bit dizzy and woozy today at work. Possibly, a migraine is coming on. I haven't really eaten today (left my lunch sitting on my bed!), which doesn't help. Much. Anyway. Much love! Thanks for the encouraging comments lately. You girlies are fabulousness epitomised. (Does that make sense? Maybe.)

PS. Have you seen my Mini Goals? (See sidebar, below Karl Lagerfeld. *hugs Karl Lagerfeld* You are my thinspiration. *cough*)

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Black Coffee

There's a song called Black Coffee. A girl I know from Tassie wrote it.

On the Atkins diet, they recommend that one doesn't drink coffee at all, because frankly, it's not at all beneficial to one, and furthermore, caffeine addiction is a problem. However, if one simply insists upon drinking it, one is to drink it black, or with cream. No milk.

I never liked coffee at all until I started drinking it in 2004. I had to stay up late to finish an assignment, and my friend Nick recommended coffee to me as a way of getting through the night. I didn't really like it, but I kept drinking it for that sweet caffeine to keep me awake. Nowadays, I'm not really sure that I love the taste of coffee, but it's such a habit to drink it. I do love coffee-flavoured ice-cream. Oh God. Drool. No! Be strong!

Before I started the Atkins diet, I had never drunk coffee black. Uuuuugh. Now, I am forced to order a "long black" when I'm out about about. I've discovered that long blacks are always varying degrees of disgusting. I'm yet to drink a truly superb long black. Really and truly, I think that maybe the only thing I liked about coffee was the frothy milk that came with it. Drinking a mocchacino is heaven, as well. Frothy full-cream chocolate milk with coffee. YUMMO.

I think my point is that coffee isn't really enjoyable for me anymore. I'm sitting here at work drinking black instant coffee, and it's kind of foul. Yet, I persist with it. Why? Must be an addiction. So I feel that I should replace this coffee with something.

I tried replacing coffee with caffeine-free African Rooibos tea, but I can really only drink two cups of it before my tastebuds revolt on me.

I drink a bit of Pepsi Max, but I really shouldn't increase my intake of that. Bloated. Blech.

I'm not really into Green Tea. Should I try harder?

I love all those fancy teas from T2 that I have - Green Rose, French Earl Grey, etc., but they're far too expensive to drink all the time.

I'm sure the answer is that I should just be drinking more water! You watch, my mama will tell me that.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Hurray! Two more mini-goals achieved!

Folks, I'm proud of myself.

I have now lost over 20 kg!

That's 44 lb to you Yanks. ;-)

What an incredible feeling, to have achieved so much to date. I'm slimmer, healthier, more energetic, and a hell of a lot happier than I have been in a long time (though, again, some of that must be attributed to timing this weight loss with being in love).

What a delicious feeling

Loooooove,
Pam

Saturday, July 10, 2010

The Saturday Night Blog

Sheesh. So, I've decided that Fate has directed me to blog for you here tonight, at 9:07pm on this hip and happ'nen Saturd'ee in the Andrews-Canberra household, where there is just me on my lonesome. Housemate and her boyf are away, and aaaaaaall my friends in Canberra (all six of them, or however many there are... so I'm better at staying at the School of Music and practising than I am at making new friends, go figure) are either away on holiday, or working. Lame. But that will be fixed tomorrow, as Pippa and I are going to see SHREK! Woohoo! I'm hoping I saw the third Shrek. I'm pretty sure I would've. I vaguely remember it being a bit rubbish but funny never the less. Hang on, just got a text message.

Right, that was Bec. Moving on...

So, yeah. Fate. I was watching "Precious", which my friend lent me, and the disc is freaking broken! I got fifty minutes into the sodding thing and the DVD player refused to play it any more. I tried it in my laptop, as occasionally it will read things that my elitist DVD player won't, and no cheese! So, then I thought, "Bollocks. I was really looking forward to the end of that movie. What can I watch now?" Decided to venture over to the TV Shack website, which I love. They let you watch 78 minutes (I made that up - it's some number around that figure, but I can't remember, and who cares?) of TV shows per day. Love it. Was able to catch up on seeing the first season of Miranda, seeing the second season of Beautiful People, seeing some episodes of Community --and anyway, I went today, and it's been seized by Federal Agents! What the hell? Big red sticker saying, Seized! Seized! Seized! with federal police badges and big warnings in lawyer-ish talk about various clauses and other uninteresting things. How depressing! I thought that website must've been completely legitimate, what with their time limits and such. God, who cares if one can watch TV on the internet for free? I mean, for goodness' sake.

I remember a time when I couldn't buy my favourite TV shows on VHS for love nor money, so I had to WATCH a TELEVISION SET. And I remember that people would set their VCRs to record TV shows that they were going to miss because they'd be at netball or whatever, and then they'd watch them later, sometimes over and over again, and nobody cared because at least they were watching the shows! I really think all this copyright bullshit has been taken too far, and Stephen Fry has recorded an awesome podcast for the iTunes Festival about that very topic, in which he shares my point of view. Go to iTunes and search in the podcasts for Stephen Fry. It's a free download (as it fecking well should be). Bloody mad, this world. Intellectual Property is a pain in the ass.

As a musician, I shouldn't be saying that. But I'm saying it anyway.

This is my diet blog. So, yeah. I've discovered that sugar-free lemonade is not really all that tasty, but they've added so much sweetener that you're fooled into thinking it is. (But it's not. Don't be fooled.) Pepsi Max, all the way. Mama says it isn't good for you to drink all those bubbles but frankly, when you're on the Atkins diet, you need something to keep you entertained.

I don't think Pippa is enjoying the Atkins diet too much yet. I will find out tomorrow how she's going but yeah. She wasn't a fan of the Atkins Chocolate Decadence Bar, and if you don't have that in life, what do you really have? Hahaha. NOTHING!! Well, actually, when you get to Phase 2 (Ongoing), you can have cheesecake and Atkins chocolate. Which is awesome. And I don't have any. Damn.

Going to toddle off and continue reading my awesome new book: Greatest Mysteries of the Modern World, by John Pinkney (The Five Mile Press, 2004). A birthday present to myself. Loving it. Love all that freaky weird unexplained phenomena. Means I'm not sleeping too well, though, as it's freaking me out at nighttime! What a chicken, hey?

Cheerio.

Monday, July 5, 2010

As it turns out...

When I get busy, I get busy.

Phew! So I moved to Canberra and took up a Master of Music degree. That has been keeping me well out of trouble, I can tell you. Thanks to the Australian Government not prioritising post-graduate music degrees as essential learning (and I guess I can see their point), whenever I haven't been trying to learn German vocabulary or memorising song after song after song, I've been working in general administration, and trying to figure out how I'm going to juggle everything with the opera on next month (Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, with new prologue by Geoffrey Lancaster).

As soon as I got to Canberra, I really started using the Jamie Oliver Ministry of Food cookbook. I had begged and wheedled my sister to give to me for Christmas, and then never really embraced anything new in it. Since I had whittled my possessions down to few, and had a lot of time on my hands in the evenings when I first got here (social life in Hobart: amazing; social life in Canberra: not so amazing), I got cracking and experimenting with Jamie's miraculous book. What a lifesaver! Honestly, if you've never learned to cook, or you're feeling like you could benefit from any education in cooking, this is the book to get. It's a non-patronising way to look at time-honoured ways to prepare traditional dishes that everybody should know how to serve. I, for example, had never eaten or prepared an omelette before. Now I'm an expert!

But enough raving about the book. I got hooked on three of Jamie's pasta recipes, and just started preparing those over... and over... and over... and over... and over again. They are delicious, just so you know, and I love them. However, my body didn't. I began putting on the weight I'd lost last year (remember I went from 115.7 to 107-ish - fluctuated a lot), and felt tired, bloated, irritable... and my migraines were back in full force. Holy toledo. Wow. I was ill.

Then, somebody (a few somebodys, in fact) suggested I go on the Atkins diet. I'd heard of it, obviously, but had no idea what it was other than I'd heard a few people mocking it before. As it turns out, Atkins was developed for those suffering heart disease and diabetes by Dr Robert Atkins, an American doctor who just can't figure out why more people aren't on his diet because it's so good. (Well, not anymore. He's dead. Heart attack, ironically. Or so I've heard.) My periods were becoming awful, I was feeling terrible... and decided to give it a try.

Hallelujah!

My migraines are gone. All of the food triggers that trigger migraines in me are gone. I get migraines when I'm stressed, but now, because my mind is so clear and my body feels healthy, I recognise them as soon as they start and zap them with dissolvable Aspirin. My periods don't give me any grief at all (other than period pain - and unfortunately, that's normal for everybody). I HAVE LOST WEIGHT. I don't feel bloated. I never feel full (or "Stuffed", as they call it on The Sims 3). I have so much more energy. I am literally bouncing off the walls. (Okay, not literally. I've also managed to fall in love this year, so maybe that's contributing to the energy). I just feel so much BETTER!

Weight: 99.2

Status: Overjoyed.

Thank you, Dr. Atkins. Your diet has made me feel a lot better.

xxx

Monday, January 4, 2010

What a season!

And I'm not just talking about the festive season, although that contributed to it largely as well. Never mind. Christmas is a train-wreck for everybody, right?

I lost my mojo. My motivation. My vision.

Well, kind of. But not really. I got sick of the really strict aspect of WeightWatchers and let it ... kinda ... slide ... I was still watching what I ate, and doing the exercise, but not keeping track of the points.

And I'm wondering why my weight hasn't shifted?

Get a clue, girlfriend.

My credit card details changed and WeightWatchers kept sending me reminder emails to update. I was all, "Ehhhh... I'm not even using it..."

Today, however, I read the WeightWatchers Australian Slimmer of the Year story, and realised - holy shit. That girl is a Tasmanian! And she's just lost 32kg. I'm gunning to lose 35kg. She now looks like a stick figure and could afford some bacon, in my opinion, but she probably feels fabulous and more power to her. (Maybe I'm just jealous? The concept of being so thin is so foreign to me that I can't comprehend it...)

So I'm back on board. I updated my credit card details.

My life is going through a massive change right now. I'm in the process of making some really major location and lifestyle changes, and it's all too easy to cling to food and my sloth ways for comfort, but I need to stop doing that. Suck it up and learn to face the world like an adult. So here we go, take two. Let's do it this time.