Christmas Day, and Day After

Well, this was one of the best christmas days on record ever. I had a wonderful time with the family. I was the deisgnated driver for the day, and this meant that I wasn't drinking any alcohol for most of the day. I collected my partner and my grandmother and we spent the day with my parents at the family home before I dropped my partner and grandmother off at their respective houses.

Christmas day is not christmas day without really nice food. My mother outdid herself this year, preparing a fillet of beef wrapped in bacon as the main dish. This was served with a superb greek salad, and with a bean and marinated mushroom salad as well. My grandmother had grown her own potatoes, so we had those boiled with some fresh mint to give them a bit of go. It was a superb meal. Dessert was christmas pudding, or plum duff, with cream, ice cream, and custard (I avoided the custard, the cream etc... was enough for me). It was worth waiting for, and for the first time in a very long time I had a great meal and did not feel in the least bit guilty or over weight, or as if people were watching me and thinking that I needed to pull myself in! It did feel great. I know there is more work to be done, but I still feel good about having come this far. I am looking forward to 2007 when I will start again in earnest, probably around the 6th of January (there has to be a lead in time!).

On the present front I did very well. I got some really nice soap that was named after various wines. The smells were terrific and I think that they will be something that I can use on special occaisions, as opposed to every day use. It was a great gift. I also got a fair swag of cash, although I gave a fair chunk of it to my partner so that she can get herself some nice things while she is over here. We have a bit more money now that I am working full time, and as we are on holiday at the moment, we need to make the most of it as we wont be on holiday again for quite some time. We have started a new savings scheme so that when we are next on holiday, we should have a fair bit of cash to ensure that we have a good one.

My grandmother seemed to like the candleabra that we got for her. It was in the shape of a palm tree so it should be pretty nice. My mother got a peshmina from us that was very beautiful. She had been saying that she wanted more things that she could wear that would go around her neck, and now she has another thing at least! She can add it to her jewellery collection! My father got the two books that he was after, well at least one of the ones he has been looking for. I think that he will enjoy the book that I got for him, it did very well in Australia and I know that he is interested in that sort of thing.

I got a yoga mat for my partner, and she was embarrassed as we had said that we weren't going to get presents for each other. I assumed this meant that I still had to get something for her, but apparently this is one of those times where one should not do the opposite of what one's partner says! Never mind, she will get a lot of use out of it, has been wanting one for ages, never got around to getting it, and it is only a small gift so a good result in the end.

Well, that is about it for now. Hope that you are all having equally good times. I look forward to resuming normal posting in the not too distant future.

Contact Remade

I made contact with the trainer again today. I had a bit of time on my hands at work today, as we wound down to the end of year break. I need to sort out a routine that will work for me in terms of exercise, and I have been wanting to go back to her now that I can afford to again. I think that it will work well if I can get into a training routine around work with her in the New Year.

The job is going well, I like it there and it is well situated. The people are really friendly and there is a great atmosphere there. One of the great parks in Sydney is just up the road and I am hoping that I may be able to work out in the park during the day - I have just managed to locate the showers in our office building. That is a necessary thing when working out at work!

Aside from that, I wish you all a happy holiday if you are taking them at the moment. Remember, this is a time for celebration, there is plenty of time to get back into things in the New Year. At least that is my plan. There have been plenty of functions at work for me to go, and they may have taken a toll. I am going to start with the figures etc again in the New Year and make losing 15 kilos my first long term goal I think. All the best for your holidays, be safe and have fun.

Feeling Good This Morning

I had to take an extra 10 minutes sleep this morning when the alarm peeled out at 5:00am. I toyed with the idea of getting some more sleep, but eventually dragged myself out of bed and got ready for day one of the new routine. When I took off it was about 25 past 5, and it was quite chilly outside. I went for 5 minutes of walking to warm up, and then got into my 30/30 split walk run.

It was good, my knees were a bit dodgy from time to time, however I kept at it and by the end they were going okay. I think there will be a bit of lead in time while my body gets used to road running, as opposed to running on the treadmill. I went for 35 minutes all up. I had hoped to do 45 minutes, but it felt right to finish after 35 as I was near home, the traffic was picking up, and I was starting to feel it by that stage. So, that will do me for the first day on the new routine.

Right now I am chowing down on my sanitarium weetbixs. They are bran boosted for extra goodness. I have showered, and will be fed soon. It feels good to take some time to cool down before I get into my work clobber and get ready to face the day.

I've been on my own all weekend as my partner is already away. I miss her a lot, not having her here at the weekend was very hard. Now that I am working for the rest of the time until I see her again I will be right. I have even made my lunches for the entire week - sandwhiches that I have frozen and will take each day. Be interesting to see how that goes. I have also got stuff in for morning tea so that I can get used to not going out for lunch every day. Now that I am more settled in at work I feel that this is the right thing to do.

Well, best of luck to you all in your own fight against fat, and especially good luck to you over the silly season!

Big Week

I've had a big week this week. Work wise it has been flat out, but good. I have been home alone, my partner has left for a week or so until I can join her on holiday. Today I spent my whole day running around doing chores for her! Typical I guess, but at least they are done now. The rest of the day I spent doing some work on the internet. I think that I better take some time tomorrow to slow down and maybe have a bit of a sleep in.

I haven't been doing much in the way of exercise and have started to feel it. Tomorrow I am going to get up and get out and get into it. I have decided that until I settle in at work and get used to going to the gym, I am going to exercise in the morning's before it gets hot, and before I head out to work. It gets light here at about 5 in the morning so I am going to get up then and hit the road. I will be doing an old routine that I used to do a few years ago and it worked well. I will walk for thirty seconds and then run for thirty seconds. I alternate like this for at least 45 minutes. I used to do this twice a day, but to begin with I will do this in the mornings and see how I go. It will be interesting to see how the body copes with it all.

I am also going to put in a bit more effort with the blog. I ought to be able to post more often than I have been, so I will continue to keep trying to get on line and post a few more entries - at least twice a week to let you all know how I am getting on. I will let you know how day one of the new routine goes - I wont be going at 5 in the morning though!

No Loss This Week, But No Gain Either

Well folks, it is official, no loss this week, but no gain either which is an achievement in itself given that I haven't been training at all this week. I have kept a very close eye on what I have been eating and I think that has been the different between putting on weight, and maintaining this week. Each day I have been having salads for lunch, making sure that my evening meals are good for me as well. Not the best result I have had since I started, but to be expected given the drop off in activity.

I have identified the gym and structure that my workouts will follow in my new routine now. I am really looking forward to getting into the gym in the centre of Sydney to see just how busy it is, and find out how I am going to go trying to workout there after I have finished work. My partner and I are starting to workout together after work tomorrow evening. She is going on holiday soon and I will be left on my own, so I intend to make the most of that time by keeping up with the exercise and looking my best for when I go on holidy myself in a couple of weeks time.

Given all of the upheaval that my routine has gone through recently, and the time of year I think maintaining is a good goal to have for right now. I can get back into the loss cycle in the New Year and continue to develop a routine that will work for me on a daily basis in conjunction with my lifestyle. One thing that I have learned is that what you do must suit your lifestyle and be something that you can maintain. If it is always a superhuman effort to do what you intend to do, eventually you will fail.

Well, that is about it for the weekend, my household chores are calling. Apologies for the lack of psots, this will be a regular thing as I no longer have the time to post everyday. Thanks for the comments that are coming in and for those of you that still top by to read what's been going on for me, I apologise for not stopping by your blogs as I used to. Undoubtedly I will be returning to your blogs to leave comments in due course, but for now I have to make sure that I get myself sorted and into the new working lifestyle. At least now I will be able to go back to the trainer in the new year when I can afford it again! Looking forward to that, she's tough and good.

Busy Busy Busy

Hi All, I have been flat out this week and this accounts for the lack of posts over the last few days. Really busy with work, so much so that I aint been near the gym all week, not good, but can't be helped. Once things settle down a bit, I will able to start in a new routine and build in the exercise again, but at the moment it is just too much all at once.

I have been most gratified by my appearance in the old suits and shirts that I used to wear. They fit so much better now, better than they have since I got them a couple of years ago. It feels great to be in clothes that aren't bursting at the seams or causing me difficulty when it gets hot. I have no desire to go back to the way things used to be, but I realise that to try and do the exercise right now will make the transition that much more difficult than it needs to be.

It is a dangerous time of year of course, Xmas with all the parties and goodies on every street corner. So far I have managed to aboid most temptation, but this wont last, and nor should it. There is no reason why I shouldn't enjoy christmas like everyone else is, to deny having a good time in this season is pointless in my opinion. There is plenty of time for denial during the rest of the year! So, I'm doing okay at the moment, but am looking forward to the weekend when I will be getting into the gym and doing a few decent workouts. I think that I should be ready to get into the routine of regular exercise as well as the new work next week. We'll see how things go. Should be back for an update at the weekend, or maybe tomorrow evening.

Another Loss - Only Just!

Well, it aint the biggest loss ever, in fact it might even be the smallest, but after a great holiday and a serious break in the normal routine I'll take it! 100 grams is the loss this week, nothing to be proud of but again it is still on the downward track. I think that having to eat out and not being able to go to a gym have taken toll on me, and of course there is the fact that I was unable to make time to get to the gym today which definitely affected the normal routine for me on weigh in day.

Today I had to go into town and return the car, and then do some stuff for my partner and myself while I was in the city. The drive into town in the car was a real adventure, the first time I have done this in Sydney. I got to see a lot of the city on the way in and my understanding of the geography of Sydney is much better than it used to be. By the time I had finished it was too late to get to the gym, and I will have to make do with a start there tomorrow instead. This must be my longest break from they gym since I started my fight against fat, but I don't feel like it is starting a trend or anything. I am still looking forward to getting in there, and pump class on Sunday should be good. The main thing is to get back into the routine which I will be able to do this weekend.

Overall I am pleased with my progress although of course I wish it was easier - who wouldn't? I guess, it is important to make lifestyle changes that can stick. I think I have achieved this as the fast food we had while on the road at the weekend really did nothing for me at all. That is really saying something as I used to love the stuff, just couldn't get enough of it into me all the time and after, of course, it would leave me feeling greasy and yuck. Now I felt greasy and yuck while I was eating it, and I could eat much less of it than I used to. I am glad that I have put that behind me.

Well, that is about all the news that is fit to print today. More work beckons and I must get started on preparing the dinner for tonight. It needs some marinating to get the flavours into it. My partner has been on some course at work all day and will probably be having a few champagnes after work so it will be a lateish dinner tonight. Be nice to have something decent ready to go when she gets home after a long week. Good luck to you all for the weekend.