Archive for the 'Diet & Weight' Category

Comfort eater…

If these last couple of (stressful!) weeks have shown me anything it is that I am definitely a comfort eater. I always knew this- I am pretty certain I have always been a comfort eater. I had thought I would be better now seeing as I have put so much effort trying to lose weight and watch what I eat but instead I reverted back to my unhealthy ways.

I am just not one of those people that gets stressed and doesn`t eat nor am I a person who stops eating when they are sick. Quite the opposite on both counts much to my dismay!

I have lost just under 12kgs since coming home to Australia and I am not ready to stop now. I am determined to lose those last couple of pesky kilos. I got on the scales today and it seems I have put on half a kilo in the last couple of weeks due to comfort eating, lack of exercise and  lack of motivation to attend weight watchers meetings.

I know stress affects people in different ways but I am determined to not let it run my life creating havoc on my eating habits/exercise habits.

So my goals for the upcoming weeks are:

Learn to stop letting my emotions and stressful situations control my eating and get back on track with planning ahead (or at least change my comfort foods from chocolate to fruit or veggie sticks :-)

Get back into an exercise regime- this means returning to aqua aerobics, walking more often, hula hooping and doing either pilates on DVD or returning to yoga class.

Start tracking my food intake again- ie. writing down what I eat.

Return to meetings from next Thursday (this Thursday I have plans with two friends in town)

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Stay tuned for hooping adventures…

Tomorrow I am meeting up with Deanne from Sushizume. I knew D before she was a hooping dance goddess and before she started Tokyomade with her boy Masao. In fact I met D on her 30th birthday but we had been blogging friends for almost a year before that…

Last year, around this time in fact (March 2008) I met up with D and Leila for some hooping in Yoyogi park! I had read about her hooping adventures and wanted to join in and this was before she left teaching and became a hoop dance instructor. I have not hooped with D since then because I moved out to Chiba soon after and then back to Australia but tomorrow that will change because tomorrow we are meeting up for a major hooping session ( I took the day off work- was so excited to see D & go hooping that I knew I wouldn`t be able to concentrate on work if I went in even just for the morning.

I loved it , hooping I mean, (although I was terrible) when I tried last March and I bought some hoops when I got back to Australia and have gradually gotten a little better with time. I can keep the hoop up at least but I am ready to take hoop dance to a new level and get out there and bust some moves (so to speak!). I haven`t hooped with friends in awhile but soon after I got back to Australia I did meet up with Jen, Jac & Jey for some hooping at Southbank but it has been a long time!!!

I thought I would post some photos of me hooping last March and then again in June/July because since then I have lost almost 10kg (just under! Weighed in tonight and lost 1.5kg this week!) and when I take photos tomorrow I will see if  you can tell (I see pics of myself from last May & June and I can`t tell the difference between now and then but who knows…)

March- Double Chin- Yuck!

Hooping in Shinjuku gyoen

Oh wow, I think this one is worse than the first yet I was lighter.

Look at Jen- Around her neck

Just a couple of weeks earlier- I look thinner perhaps?! Could be the 80`s wedding dress though!

Dani`s 80s party

I am so excited!!! I can`t wait to see D, Catch up & hoop up a storm! More stories will follow I am sure!

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Exercise anyone…

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n100/maryjane824/pilates.jpg
Sorry to have disappeared for a few day- I took a mini break from blogging and have only just managed to catch up on all the blog posts that had piled up in my reader.
I think I had also hoped to have good news on Thursday night after weighing in at weight watchers. Despite having a reasonable week food wise (stuck to points most days, only one I think I went over) and exercising a fair bit ( since the Thursday before  til Thursday of this week I had done 2 x 3km walks, an aqua arobics class, half an hour hooping, and a half our pilates DVD as well as doing 10,000 steps 5 out of the 7 days. Plus some 10 minute hooping sessions here and there) I put on .3kg. I am really really hoping that is was just water retention since we are experiencing 30 degree heat and higher. I know I had a bit loss the week before and that is hard to maintain but I was hoping for at least a .5kg loss but instead I got a gain.
While I find it easy to stick to my points during the day for breakfast, lunch and snacks, dinner is a bit hard especially since the boys are not so much into the healthy food I would prefer to cook. Especially since I am the last home and then usually go for a walk or aqua class or a weight watchers meeting dinner time is getting a bit late so they usually want something quick. So for this week I will write up the menu plan and stick it to the fridge and explain that if they want to start preparing that is fine otherwise dinner won`t be til about 7pm. If the food is coming from a recipe book I will mark the page and leave it open on the counter!!!  Some easy meals coming up this week (I think) will include steak & salad, buritos & maybe some kind of healthy beef stew with steamed vegies. I would also like to include one vegetarian meal a week at night but the boys are not interested!!!
The biggest surprise for me so far I think is that while I am at work everyday I find myself thinking of where I will be able to get my exercise for that day. I wear a pedometer everyday (at least on weekdays) and check it occasionly to see how I am going with daily steps. I think about other exercise though like whether I will go for a walk, do an exercise DVD or some hooping. I had even planned to go to a Yoga class this morning but when my alarm went off at 8am I realized it just wasn`t going to happen because I felt too tired. Instead I did a pilates 30 minute DVD with a resitance band at about 12pm. The plan is to do some hooping a bit later as well since we are going out about 5:30pm and going outside for a walk before that time won`t be happening (Dad & I usually go, and take Abbey- it is too hot to go at 4pm though). Tomorrow though I will do a big walk late afternoon and maybe, just maybe, even go to the local pool for a swim since it is so damn hot!!!
My interest in exercise has come as a bit of a surprise. See I hate exercise but I haven`t always. In fact when I was younger I was a very competitive athletic competing mainly in short distance running events (100m, 200m, hurdles etc) as well as some other events like triple jump, high jump, long jump & shot-put. I did little Athletics for years and years and much to the surprise of people I meet now I was actually quite good at it. I stopped running & competing at bout 14 or 15 years of age but switched to soccer for a few years before giving up on sports entirely. That was probably my biggest downfall since I had always loved food but the consitent exercise had kept me slim. It wasn`t til I stopped exercising at about 16 that I ballooned out- even more so after I left highschol (and headed to Japan!)
What I am really hoping for is that if I can get into a comfortable routine here combining mainly walking and hula hooping as well as some fitness DVDs then perhaps I will succeed in keeping the weight I hope to lose off once I return to Japan. I feel good after I excercise where as I never used to (well not in recent years at least) in fact I always wondered if those people that spoke about endorphins been released when you exercised were talking shit. Because I never got that happy feeling they talked about!! Now, while exercise doesn`t make me feel all happy or anything I definitely feel better after it and I am noticing changes in my body even if I haven`t lost weight. The biggest i think is in my arms and also in my posture- I feel like I am standing straighter which in turn is (perhaps) making me appear slimmer!
Let me just say though, after doing the pilates DVD twice now, it is so hard. Much harder than I could of imagined. I still hope to get to a Yoga or Pilates class sometime soon- some of you might remember that attend at least 2 classes of pilates or yoga is on my 101 list. I really hope that next Thursday when I weight in that I will have had a loss- I do realize that weight loss takes time and that it won`t happen overnight but I don`t want to lose heart/motivation and if I don`t get a loss then I just might.
How do you keep fit? What exercise do you fit in and do you have a favourite?

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Four…

I wrote this last night- but I fell asleep while blogging as I was so exhausted from the busy day. Shun woke me up when he came to bed and I had my fingers on the computer keys and had literally stopped writing mid-sentence.

Shun and I met four years ago today. We always take our anniversary from the day we met (which may have been on the 14th just before midnight but we take it from the 15th)….

It is hard to believe sometimes that we have been together that long and other times it seems like we have been together forever. I can not imagine not having Shun in my life, nor can I imagine never having lived in Japan. It just seems like it is part of me now, part of my history.

So when we get married we will have been together for four years and almost six months.                                                                                                                                                                                               
We did have a small tiff today though regarding the wedding invitations and the fact that the RSVP will probably not be til the beginning of April, six weeks before the wedding and about the fact I have booked four rooms at the reception (has hotels!) and that is it which won`t be enough if others decide to come. He said we should find out who from Japan is coming way before April. I totally agree and have been telling him for months to remind his friends to book tickets if they are coming so that we could arrange accom if neccessary, but so far nobody has. They were to let us know so we could book places. I assume they are not coming OR that if they do come they don`t mind where they stay. I told out other friends before we left Japan (and again when we sent save the dates) that I would book accom for them if they let me know if they were coming and the sooner they let me know the more likely I would be to get them good accom near the reception etc. Anyway we had a bit of a tiff but we kissed and made up and all is good again. If worst comes to worse and more friends from Japan are coming than I anticipated then I will  book more rooms at the hotel. If there are none available I will book a group somewhere else. It is no big deal & luckily we are all good now.

Oh and by the way, it was weight watchers weigh in today and I have lost 1.6kg this week. I hope to lose another kilo by next Thurday.  Only 8kg or so to go until I reach goal! Yay!

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Bulge battle…

As you may remember one of my new year`s resolutions was to lose another 5kg this year through healthier eating and more regular exercise. Well in the last week I took my measurements, went back to weight watchers, walked 5 out of the 7 days (but did 2 walks on one day, so six altogether), did aqua arobics once and tried to do at least 10 minutes hooping a day. I also started tracking my food, making sure I had lunch prepared for work (Instead of going to buy lasanage or hot chips) and sticking to my weight watchers point balance.

I weighed in at Weight Watchers on Thursday for the first time since beginning of November and I hate to say I had put on a little bit. I am back on track now and DETERMINED to lose weight this week. I have actually lost weight since Thursday anyway according to my scales at home but at least by doing it weekly on the same (electronic) scales it will keep me pretty honest I hope.

While my new year`s resolution is to lose another 5kg, ultimately I would be happy to lose another 10kg. Preferably another 7kg by the wedding.

The thing is I do not want my weight loss to be all about getting skinnier for the wedding, I want it to be about living a healthier more active life. I know the hardest thing for me is going to be to keep up the healthy eating back in Japan and the walking since I am pretty slack. I need to make it part of my life…

My goal weight at weight watchers is 68kg which is about what I weighed when I went back to Japan at the beggining of 2006. To get there I would need to lose about 9kg (yes yes, you can all do the maths)- but the more and more I think about it I would probably prefer to get to about 64kg or 65kg. For my height(170cm or so) I would have a fairly average BMI if I reached that weight. I would still be within range if I got to 68kg but a little more would be nice.

I have my work cut out for me. I had lost 8.5 kilos since coming home but put 2kg back on so have a way to go. I have a good feeling about it though….I know I will succeed in doing it because I really am determined.

Anyway I just wanted to get my goals out there, on paper (so to speak), written down so that If I do start to lose hope I can refer back to this and see how motivated and determined I was.

** I do not really know why I have blogged everyday so far this month, it seems to have become a bit of a habit. I have also journalled everyday which is rare.

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1.6 kilos…

I went back to weight watchers last week after going a bit off track for about 8 weeks….In that time I put on 1.6 kilos.

I went back tonight and I had lost 1.6 kilos in the last week so I am back on track.

I am 1.1 kilo away from having lost 10% of my bodyweight since I started weight watchers & have lost about 8 kilos altogether since I have been back in Australia.

It feels good to be back on track- and it wasn`t as if I was super good or excersised a lot (I do think some of the weightloss may have come from stress over the last couple of weeks though) but it has motivated me to be even better this week and now that Abbey is able to go for walks again (She was desexed just over a week ago but had her stitches out on Tuesday) I plan to take her most afternoons!

The aim- to lose another 3 kilos before Christmas and if I managed that I would be about 6 kilos from my goal weight!

Yay for weightloss!

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I am…

  • ..thinking about how I have fallen off the weight-loss, eat well and exercise wagon- But I hope to hop back on this week. And apart from all the chocolate (and pizza last weekend) I haven`t actually been eating too badly. I didn`t go to weight watchers meeting on Thursday night and the week before I put on 100g- I am pretty sure I have put on more than that since then. I have stopped walking though and I need to get back into that- might have to meet up with mum after work and go walking with her. We can`t take Abbey on long walks yet otherwise I would take her with me- we do try to take her out for 15 minutes each day.
  • …going hooping in Southbank tomorrow- so yay there is some exercise.
  • …excited because our friend had her baby- a healthy little girl who so far has no name but I have seen pictures and she is adorable. We will be sending the package on Monday! When Shun found out his friend had been there for the birth he was surprised. This is a conversation I have had with him before telling him that he MUST be there when I have kids and it has freaked him out cos he doesn`t like hospitals or blood or needles or anything like that and I told him that if he wasn`t there then I would hold the baby in with my hands until he came into the room and his response was “maji de? sore ga dekiru no?” (Means “really, you can do that?”)- this has lead me to become slightly worried about what Shumpei actually think happens during the birthing process!
  • …thinking about applying for a job where I am currently working even though I know I don`t have the skills to get the job I have been encouraged to apply because it would mean they could keep my resume on file for up to 12 months. But since it is government job it would mean having to do a lot of selection criteria etc etc and I am not sure if I want to spend my Sunday doing that. The current temp assignment is until September 12th with possibility of been extended.
  • …thinking about what I should do for my Q is for in the encyclopedia of me- I had an idea and i scrapped it so am thinking of opening up the floor to all you dear readers, and let you ask me any questions you want and have a Q is for Q & A…I have done this before but hey, if you have any more questions then you can let me know either in the comments or via email.
  • …aware that I haven`t done a July update for 101 things in 1001 days even though I have a couple of things to cross off the list. I will try to get to it this week!!!
  • …also aware that I have not thanked all of you for your comments on the last post explaining the in and on to me regarding transport- Shumpei read the comments and now understands. Next time he has a question I told him to post it on my blog and let you all give him the answers so I don`t have to. He starts school on Monday though so hopefully he will be able to ask his teachers too. He is very nervous about starting school for two reasons- one he has to do a test and two he thinks he might be a lot older than everyone else. I doubt it, I am guessing the average age is about 25 and he is only 2 years older than that. I told him he should try to make friends but he is really shy so not sure how he will go- Hopefully he will be fine. I already told him I would make him a bento to take with him!
  • …a little bit worried that when I go back to Japan things won`t be the same (within my group of friends etc there)- I was speaking to Cat the other day cos she rang me and it was so good to talk to her. I miss them so much and I miss Japan too- I recently saw pictures of them at the beach and it was so sad cos usually I would be there with them! I can`t wait to see them again!
  • …thinking it may be time for bed! Goodnight!

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Going well so far…

Spent the day at home today with Shun and Abbey (and dad for some parts- and even mum came around for a walk and a coffee!), lazing about and crossing off some stuff on my weekly resolutions list! So yay for me! So lets review- my list was as follows!

- hoop at least 10 minutes everyday – I hooped outside today for about 30 minutes while Abbey watched, most of the time sitting right at my feet as I hooped! In the end Shumpei had to call her over because I was so scared I would step on her….but she likes to sit in my shadow in the shade!

- track the food I eat in my little weight watchers book and do at least 4 walks! – I did this and I counted points plus I went for a half hour walk (But we were out for an hour because half of the hour was spent playing with Abbey in the park, running around, then Shumpei minded her while I went for a fast walk with mum and dad!)

- blog another 2 times- Well this is once and the next post will probably be all about our new little addition Abbey!

- Contact wedding celebrants (at least 2) and set up meetings for sometime in the next couple of weeks!- I am going to email two people I have found now and try and set up some meetings!

-Study Japanese for 3 hours! – I did this today!!! Kanji! I don`t think I remember any of it but I did at least do it! It has reminded me though how far I have to go because honestly my retention for kanji sucks and new words sucks (I am a lot better with grammar!)!!

- Plus one bonus that I was going to add today! I have decided it will be to start a new knitting project!

So I a putting it out there- I want a cool, easy pattern for a baby hat (or boots!)…preferrably with the name of wool I can get in Australia. I don`t even know where to buy wool in Brisbane though- Maybe Lincraft? Suzy if you are reading please pretty please send me the pattern for that umbilical cord hat we talked about! I am thinking that might be the one!!! But if anyone else has any ideas let me know (I will also search on ravelry!)

Hope everyone else had lovely lovely weekends- I know it is a long weekend in Japan too (for those lucky enough to be there) so I hope everyone is having fun!

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Inspired to do more…

I am inspired to do more. I have so many things on my to do list and so many things I know I need to do yet I don`t really seem to be getting to any of them….I believe I am in what some call a “rut”! I have spent the last couple of hours surfing around on blogs I read and looking up stuff and I realized that I need to take action- I need to get motivated.

My friend Mandy wrote “Have thought that perhaps instead of making so many to-do lists and planning, I should actually just take action and practice what I preach.” and continued on to write things she was working on for her 101 things in 1001 days list and she has already marked ONE OFF in just a day and I realized I need to be more like that! Jen had a rough couple of days and had to make a couple of hard decisions but she has bounced back and written about what she is going to do with her life and her plans sound so amazing (and yes I am jealous!) and again it made me realize that I too can achieve what I want to do! Deanne at Suzhizume (who has moved to a new location-update your links and reader all!)  is one of the people that inspired Jen and she is definitely worth a mention because she is such a fun loving, awesome, down to earth person (Who I have had the pleasure of meeting quite a few times- she is the one that inspired me to get some hula hoops!) who decided what she loved and is doing it and while I haven`t quite figured out what it is I love so much that I want to do I figure crossing some stuff off my to do list etc is going to help me head in the right direction!! She is such an inspiration! Another inspirational girl is Gala Darling, oh how I heart thee! This lady got up and went to New York and now has decided she wants to live there and is making her dream into a real possibility. If you have never read gala`s site then you simply must start now because it is fantastic stuff and I am so jealous (yet again!) of all the stuff she does- and she always does it so eloquently! She is a great writer, and I totally wish I could be more like her! And she used to do weekly resolutions which is what this post is actually all about!

I journal, and sometimes, after reading about them at Gala`s site ages ago, I write my own weekly resolutions in my journal and I realize that it is time to bring this back into my life- and sure it is another list but I do love lists and they do help keep me motivated! So here goes, here is my weekly resolutions for this week!

- hoop at least 10 minutes everyday

- track the food I eat in my little weight watchers book and do at least 4 walks!

- blog another 2 times

- Contact wedding celebrants (at least 2) and set up meetings for sometime in the next couple of weeks!

-Study Japanese for 3 hours!

-  and since it is nearly midnight I am going to think about this last one and make a decision on it by Monday! Or perhaps one of you might have an idea of something you think I should try and acheive this week in my weekly resolutions!

Thank you to all my bloggy friends out there- some of you I have met in real life and others I have yet to have the pleasure but the joy I get from following your adventures and reading your comments, advice and inspirational writing makes my day! I only mentioned a couple of you who have inspired me in the post but trust me, it is not only those I mentioned! My goals for the week might not seem like much but to me they are important and I promise I will try really hard to acheive them all!

Hugs to all, xoxoxo

Ps: All is going well with Shun- he is also inspiring me of late because he is trying so hard with his English already and it makes me realize how slack I have been with my Japanese study hence the mention in my weekly resolutions! Oh and in other news we picked up Abbey today and she is just adorable- Shun and I played with her all afternoon and it was delightful!!! And while writing this blog post- it was interupted by a howling little dog….but I went down to see her and she is doing ok now- I think she just woke up and forgot where she was for a minute!

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Untitled…

  • Shumpei arrives in the morning and I am so excited. I still can`t quite believe that he will be here in Australia until next June. The next time we return to Japan we will be married?! I have just finished doing a quick clean up of the house and now I just have to wait until morning!!!
  • I lose .9 at Weight Watchers last night- This means I have lost about 5 and a half kilos since coming back to Australia!! I am actually quite proud of myself! Only another 10 or so to go!!!!
  • Wedding planning is crazy- I don`t know how people do it! I am now on a hunt for a celebrant, entertainment and transport (I didn`t realize we would need transport?!) and those three things weren`t even on my list of things to do for the wedding on 101 things in 1001 days- because I guess I didn`t really realize we would need them! There is just so much to do and I am excited, I am, but seriously there is only so many wedding dresses I can look at online before I want to gag! I am thinking I might go dress hunting in Septemer (8 months before the wedding?!). In other news I think I have found the person I want to bake our wedding cake- a cherry blossom one of course! Although I don`t need to order and organize that until after Christmas!
  • I have been sick for the last couple of days (It may have aided in the weight loss because I certainly wasn`t good on the weekend!)-just a cold but I missed work on  Wednesday and Thursday because I could barely get out of bed!!
  • I have had a craving for soup recently- I don`t even really like soup usually but I want to learn to make it and enjoy it- Anyone have any good, healthy soup recipies!
  • I am loving the hula hoop (although not much in the last 2 days)- I can now keep it up for awhile so am now onto trying to learn cool hula hoop tricks so I can get more into the hula hoop dance craze!!!! If you are interested in hooping yourself – then check out my friend Deanne`s new website about her hooping adventures in Tokyo or if you want some cool hoops and are in Australia (or overseas) check out bunny`s site and go to her shop to buy some super awesome hoops!
  • I have been reading up a storm recently (as well as watching big brother- I know it is sad but I just can not help it- It is so addictive- I am watching it now!)
  • I am just so happy that Shun is joining me in Brisbane tomorrow- did I mention that already? I love him and have missed him so much over the last two months! I can`t beleive I will be seeing him in just 12 hours!
  • Have a lovely weekend everyone!

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