About me

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Mobility Scooter to walk the dog

Yesterday I was walking along the beach where I live and I noticed a dog trotting along. Then I saw it's owner on a mobility scooter and it gave me a reality check.

  • One day I'm going to be old. 
  • One day my body won't move very well and I may have to use a scooter. 
  • One day I'm going to look back at this time of my life and regret not using my body to the best of its ability. 

Only I can control what goes into my mouth. Only I can move my body and look after it. Only I can reshape it to the best that it can be. It's my responsibility. I can't blame Mcdonalds, I can't blame someone else. I'm in charge. The buck stops with me.

Therefore I propose that we all stop making excuses and take responsibility. When we pick up food we know we shouldn't eat... it's our choice. It doesn't matter than someone else may have brought tempting food to our house or convinced us to eat it. We decide what goes into our mouth.

So let's make the choice to be happy with our bodies or make the right choices for us, until we have the body we are happy with. I'm beginning to think that 'diet' is a very dangerous word. I've dieted for years, got to a good weight then gone back to eating normal and gained weight again. I have to find a eating lifestyle that allows me to stay at my acceptable weight. Something that isn't too hard that I can't keep it up. I also have to find a fitness routine I can keep up long term.

So far the way of eating that has worked best for me is a form of Dukan/Atkins/Low carb. I find avoiding wheat and sugar in 90% of my diet does the trick. This way I can occasionally have something wheaty or sugary which solves my craving problems and I don't tend to fall off the wagon and binge so much.

My weight has stalled this month. I can't seem to get any lower. I'm not far from my goal so I'm not too stressed. This month I'm going to concentrate on building up a bit of muscle as I notice I'm still quite flabby (skinny fat) and I'd like to be more toned.

Who do you blame for your weight gains? 

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Bounce bounce bounce

I'm bouncing along... not really losing or gaining. Which in the bigger picture is pretty good. I'm not really gaining :-) Some days I slip up so I just eat better the next day. I feel like I'm on a learning curve to eat normally without gaining for the rest of my life.

Not much else to report ;-)
ZG

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Five



My son turned five in the weekend and yes I did eat some cake :-) it was good! Although I must say I really notice how food with flour and sugar doesn't sit very well in my stomach anymore. Back to bacon and eggs the next day and it feels much better :-)

Speaking of eggs. We are baby sitting four chickens. FRESH EGGS. They are quite needy little madams and eat soooo much, but it's fantastic having the eggs. As you can imagine, egg is a major part of my diet.

The photo above is the sunrise last week from our deck.
Daylight savings has ended so it gets dark early in the evening again and the mornings are semi light again. So I'm back to hitting the pavement in the mornings, although I am incredibly unfit so it's slow going.

My weight is still plateauing although I feel like my clothes are a little looser. I'm not giving up this time. This time I'm in this for life. If I have a few days of slipping up, I just pick myself up and get on with it again. So far it's working for me :-)

Let me know how you guys are going!!

Monday, April 1, 2013

No April Fools here

It's April. Where oh where has the year gone?
I've been up and down a bit since my last post, but still working hard towards my goal. My clothes feel looser even if the scales aren't always my friend. 3kg left to go.... well, I HAD 3kg left to go before easter.... enter a few sneaky easter eggs.... oops. Eggs are protein aren't they ;-)

On a side note, I'm baby sitting some chickens for my inlaw's for two weeks. Hopefully it will be fresh eggs on the menu daily :-)

Exercise = zilch, but I'd like to change that once day-light savings ends and the mornings are semi light again.

Have a great week
ZG

Photo is my baby boy, turning 5 in five days....


Sunday, March 17, 2013

Plateau City

It's been weeks since I've lost anything. I keep bouncing back to the same weight :-( It's extremely frustrating and effects my mental state.

Yesterday was the first time I've lost it in 5 weeks. I forgot to take lunch to an event and when I got home in the middle of the afternoon I was ready to eat ANYTHING, and I did... Cupcakes, shortbread, Mcdonalds.... I woke up in the middle of the night with the worst stomach ache... all that gluten did not agree with me.

Anyway lesson learned, but I still need to break through this plateau... ideas?
ZG

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

S-L-O-W

Ahhhhhh weight loss has been VERY slow this week. I'm probably eating too much cheese. BUT at least the number are going down, even if it's slower than I'd like. I've been looking up homemade protein bars again as I consider them my treat of the day. If I can't have cakes and lollies and carbs, then I need something to look forward to.

Do you have any good recipes?

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Losing weight - muscle or fat

After my 'you don't have to exercise to lose weight' post I did some more thinking. While I still agree with the post, there is an important fact you need to consider. When you lose weight, you not only lose fat, but also muscle and because I am not doing ANYTHING to keep my muscles (unless you call lifting my toddler exercise) that means the weight I'm dropping is also precious muscle.

Muscle is so important, even though it weights more than fat, the more muscle you have the more energy you burn, which is from the food you eat. Therefore, I think I need to add in a little muscle burning to my week. I plan to do this through a bit of weight training. Now anyone who hasn't done any weight training before may think I'll turn into a incredible hulk, but that couldn't be further from the truth. In fact women have a particularly hard time putting on solid muscle and have to work really hard to do it. I've weight trained before, really seriously weight trained and while my muscles got tighter, they didn't grow very much.

The fact it, you need to feed your muscles good protein on top of what you need daily for energy and I'm just not prepared to do that right now. I just don't have the time to think about anything else, so I just want to add a bit of muscle maintaining workouts into my day. A few squats/lunges here and there and a few press ups and maybe something for my shoulders and back. If you concentrate on the big muscles, the little ones will come along for the ride :-)

I lost another kg (2 pounds) this week which is pleasing. I expect the losing will slow down now my body is onto what I'm up to ;-) but I'm still feeling really determined.

So my goals for March are:
1. Drink more water
2. Add a few muscle maintaining routines into my day

What are your goals for March?
ZG

Monday, February 18, 2013

Is exercise essential for weight loss?

One week with no cheating - YAY. Lost one kilogram (approx 2 pounds) which is just okay. I would have liked more, but I'm sure my body is fighting me because it's so tired of my yo-yoing... I only have myself to blame.

The key to sticking to my diet this week was preparation. Having lots of protein in the fridge, cooked and ready to grab at a moments notice, and some atkins bars for the times I was in a fix.

My hubby was beating me on weight loss all week but at the weekly weigh-in (this morning) I beat him by .1 of a percent. Go me!!!!

My thoughts on exercising to lose weight: 
I've been thinking a lot about exercise and how much is it really needed for weight loss. Now don't get me wrong, I think it's vital for a healthy body but this is what I've found when using it with weight loss:

1. I got within one kilogram of my true weight with NO exercise (doctors orders after an operation) so therefore it is not essential for weight loss.

2. Exercise makes me hungrier, which means I'm eating the extra calories (plus some) I've lost by exercising.

3. If I don't do a planned exercise session, I get guilty and often eat something bad to make myself feel better.

So I've concluded that for me exercising on a regular basis for weight loss, is a no go. It works against me and my diet. Therefore I will reach my goal weight THEN add exercise back into my life for fun and health rather than weight loss. So Zealous Girl is not running right now. ALTHOUGH I do exercise on a non-planned basis (hike with family, bike ride for fun) but it's not for weight loss.

What are your thoughts on exercise and weight loss? 

Monday, February 11, 2013

I am worth it

I am worth it is my new mantra (thanks Vicki).

I am in charge of my body. No one else can diet for me. No one else force feed the bad foods into my mouth. It's all on me. It's my fault I've let myself slip and it will be me who gets me out of this pit.

I AM WORTH IT.

My hubby and I have started a little competition. We both want to lose about 5kg/10pounds so have set a prize for the first person to get to to that goal. I'm motivated to win the prize!!!!

What motivates you? What are you struggling with at the moment?
ZG

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Is it February already?

I'm not doing so well. I have a couple of good days then I slip up again.... Struggling big time. 
Motivate me friends... I need it. 
:-(

Monday, January 21, 2013

Holidays are hard....

Oh dear... I was going so well last week, I started the week with a bang and was losing steadily. On Wednesday we headed off for a short 4 day holiday and I had GREAT plans to eat well and stick to my goals... night one, I got about 2 hours sleep so everything just went out the window. I was so tired and so grumpy that all I was satisfied with was crappy food. I'm not proud.

You might ask why I didn't sleep during the day. One word: children. And they were super grumpy too. Fun fun fun.

Anyway I'm home now and it's time to get serious again. I've started noticing a pattern with the way I eat. I'm really good over the 6 colder months and not so good around the busy times before Christmas and summer holidays. Something to think about as I hit them again next year.

How has your week gone? Hopefully better than mine!
ZG

Monday, January 14, 2013

Short term goals for 2013



I've been reading about a lot of people making short term goals rather than New Years resolutions and I think there is some merit to that so I'm setting a few for the month:

1. Blog once a week (hopefully on a Monday)

2. Drink more water (I'll do this by drinking a glass of water before every meal which equals about 5 plus a day, that's a start anyway)

It's summer down here in New Zealand and its a HOT, STICKY one. In other words, you can't get away from the heat unless you're swimming. I feel like I'm constantly sweating. Therefore my running has taken a long holiday as even at 6am it's too hot :-( that and the fact I've fallen into the bad habit of staying up late and 6am is just too early.

I start back at work this year (after 2 years of maternity leave) but only for 2 days a week. I think I'm looking forward to it.

So where am I with Dukan? Well I've stocked up on lots of proteins today and my garden is full of beans and cucumbers and tomatoes, although with it being so dry, I'm not sure I'll be getting my usual bumper crops (photo from last year). I lost 1kg this week, which is approximately 2 pounds, which is okay as I didn't stick to the diet religiously.

And my last thought for the week: my favourite thing about the Dukan diet is... I don't have to record what I eat... weight watches, atkins, etc... they all require you to count or record and I got SOOOOO over that in the past. Hello Dukan!!!

Let's encourage each other to lose this year and to finally reach our goals and stay there! What is your favourite thing about your diet? 

Friday, January 11, 2013

2013

Hello fellow Dukan friends. I apologise for my 2 month+ absence. November/December in my life is just crazy. I can NEVER stick to diets and I ALWAYS gain weight - sigh. So the damage is pretty bad. 4kg gain from where I was last year.... That makes me 5kg from my TRUE WEIGHT again... the hardest 5kg in the world to lose. I just keep losing and gaining it over and over. I am hoping as I get older (and wiser) that I will one day work out how to live without yo-yoing so much. I will keep trying and never give up.

Last year was SOOOO super busy for me that this year I've decided to cull lots of the things from my life. Blogging is a hard one. It takes time but I do enjoy it, so I'll endeavour to at least do an update once a week.

I'm back on my dukan diet, but I'm trying to keep things real and not totally deprive myself of everything all the time. It doesn't work so well for my mental health. Exercise is the next thing to start again. I'm probably going to have to start my 'couch to 5k' all over again.

Anyway if you're still following me, let me know how you're getting on and I'll try get to all your blogs soon and check in.

Take care
Zealous Girl :-)