Exhausterated

Hello friends.

This morning I feel rat-chewed. Incidentally I looked up "rat-chewed" on google images to source a pic for this post but didn't think people would quite understand the connection between a pic of wrecked electrical wire and what I was going for. Phsyically and emotionally I'm exhausted. It doesn't help that GB pissed me off royally last night so sleep was lacking (yes it's not always rainbows and kittens in our relationship but we work through these things). I'm also frustrated that I've been putting in quite a bit on the exercise front lately (back to the gym 3 times this week, wii active 4 times, pilates), eating minimally and today's weigh in? 77 farking kilos. I think that 75kg mark before the wedding is a pipe dream. I'm due for my period on Tuesday so I know I retain the week before but it's no excuse damnit! It has also meant the start of more heartburn, a bit of reflux and re-acquainting myself with the toilet bowl for a week. It's not just that I PB once. When I'm stuck I'm stuck for hours and hours causing severe stomach aches and backpain. It's poo.

I'm in desperate need of a holiday too. GB and I usually go down south or away together every couple of months but we haven't really since we got engaged in December 08. Don't get me wrong we've had holidays - me with the girls to bali and together with 2 other couples to phuket early in 2009. Melbourne for 3days in august (my mum & aunty too) and we were in Yallingup for a few days last december  (for the Busselton Ironman) but it was with other people, not just the two of us you know. So I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to the honeymoon. Have I said we're we're going? We've got 5 nights in Vanuatu staying in a honeymoon villa at the Eratap Beach Resort then we fly to Brisbane and drive to Kingscliff staying at Peppers Salt Resort & Spa for 2 nights then we've got a night in Brisbane before flying home on Good Friday. It will be fantastic.

In wedding news, we finally agreed to the 4 songs for our ceremony after much deliberation and the celebrant sent us the ceremony wording - not going to lie - I got a little teary! Still have seemingly so much to do but we'll get there. Have been waiting for something to go wrong given a lot of things were organised a year ago but so far nothing major - the only thing being that the Celebrant's old PA told us she only needed copies of our passports for the marriage license but the new PA yesterday told us she needs copies of our birth certificates. GB can't find his so has had to order a new one and I'll have to go on a search this weekend for mine. As problems go it's pretty minor and solvable so I hope that's it!

I'm thinking about starting protein shakes next week - what is everyone's thoughts on this? And should it be in the morning or afternoon? GB has a big tub of stuff he bought last year when he was going to start weight training (which he didn't, little skinny man he is now) so I thought I'd give the stuff a crack.

OK I'm off now, hope you all have a great weekend!

Em :)

Poopy

I was sure today I'd be regalling you with my delight about the fact that I'd done my measurements for the first time since August and even though I hadn't lost any weight, my how I'd lost sooooo many centimetres from my body proving that the work I was putting in was really showing coz I was clearly toning up. Well I didn't lose any farking cms. Oh a couple off my bust - whoopdedoo! It's so discouraging because I've had so many comments about how thin I'm looking and I honestly feel my upper arms, butt and "bum-bag" tummy have really changed shape and improved. Possibly in areas the tape measure doesn't go? I don't know.

On top of that I put on 200g this week. 76.9kg. POOP. Must get back into a better exercise plan. The lunchtime walking thing didn't happen this week - neither did my swim. Went on a few walk/runs though and bought the new wii active workouts - HIGHLY RECOMMEND - have started the 6 week challenge and so far have done 3 workouts. Make no mistake - sweat was poring down me! The only thing I can think of is maybe I haven't eaten enough this week. Haven't been hungry at all so have been having an iced coffee about 9.30am, yoghurt at 2.30pm and then dinner at 7.30pm. hmmm.

Went and saw Dr Warren Jones one of the fill dudes at Watson's surgery on Wednesday. Told him that there were times that I felt I could eat too much but then at TTOM I'm in agony and I've also been suffering from heartburn lately too. He said definately no fill. According to their scales I'd lost 4kgs since the last time I was there (3months ago). He asked me to book in for another 3 months time because I might need a slight un-fill - especially if TTOM or the heartburn gets worse. I liked him better than Bowater. He reminded me of a 1970's Jack Thompson - kinda geeky surfy dude. He didn't give me a lecture like Bowater usually does which was nice. He also gave me some Pariet to help with the heartburn.

My sisters, mum and I troddled off to take my wedding dress to have the alterations started. It was the first time my mum had seen the dress because she's spent most of the year in Melbourne and she loved it which was a relief. The girls told me I looked super skinny (nice to hear - but probably due to my miracle suit that was sucking me in underneath!!). I'm still worried about my upper arms being bulgy and my oprah wings underneath but not alot I can do about that now aside from my arm weights before bed time!!! I had to have the top taken in about 2-3 sizes but the hips fit well. Hope I don't look too pear shape!

On other wedding news, my sister found a wedding dress today - I had to rush over to the shop to see her in it this afternoon and she looked just beautiful. She's about a size 16-18 which in wedding dresses could mean anything up to a size 22 and of course bigger dressers are harder to come by to try on (I had to take a leap of faith when I ordered mine because it didn't fit over my hips when I tried on the size 12 sample!) Anyway I haven't heard the full story but apparently one of the places today, the lady made her cry coz she was so awful to her. What a farking beeyotch. I don't even know what happened but if I were there I would have given her a piece of my mind! Anyway they went to the place I bought mine from and found this beautiful dress that she's decided is THE one. She looked sooo beautiful and it was gorgeous and flattering and they knocked $150 off the price to put it in her budget. I'm really pleased for her. She's getting married exactly 6 months after us so it's a big year for our family!

Anyway, must go. It's beer o'clock and date night tonight!

Em :)

PS - It was super cool meeting up with Cara and MOTH last Friday night - check out her blog (The Dash) to see a pic of us!

I feel like dancing...

So guess what I weigh today? 76.7kgs beeyotches!!! Firstly though an admission. When I originally weighed in this morning I was the same as last week - 77kgs. Refused to take that so proceeded to spend a bit more time on the toilet and then run up and down the stairs 5 times! Next weigh in was much more acceptable... finally seeing the 76's! I'm doubly pleased about this because I often struggle the week after TTOM not to put on and I didn't do as much exercise as I'd hoped. GB and I have started walking 5kms at lunchtimes which is great but my motivation to go to the gym after work wanes so much so that I didn't do it at all this week. I still walked another 4kms most nights after work with Westie and tried out the new wii fit plus game I got for xmas (KUNG FU!) but still not the sweaty exercise I should be doing. *wrist slap*

Day 15 of the No Chocolate January challenge and still holding fast. I must admit though my icecream intake has increased exponentially in response! I refuse to acknowlege the link between breaking through my 6 month plateau and not eating chocolate. No sirree.

Think I should clarify from last week's post - I'm not a volunteer fire fighter - those guys are hardcore! Nah I work for Dept Environment & Conservation who are responsible for tackling fires in our national parks and state forest. And my role is purely office support! Still important but not like I'm driving a dozer in 50 degree temps! Both GB and I are on preformed incident management teams which go on call over the fire season (December-April). Basically there are 5 teams and 1 is on call each week. If there is a large scale fire in the state on DEC land, the team is activated and jump into their roles to manage the fire.

NSV - I noticed this a few months ago but forgot to mention it. After swimming my many laps I would normally always swim to the edge of the pool and go up the ladder to get out, always envious of those who could hoist themselves backwards over the edge... well I can do that now! yippee!!!

Has anyone else noticed that as you've lost weight you feel the cold more? I ask, because at the moment I'm in my office at work - the temp a cosy 24C and I have goosebumps and am wishing I'd brought a jacket! I noticed through the colder months too that I really needed to layer up.

My sisters and our respective others went to an 80's party last weekend. I think we looked pretty farking special. One of my sisters completely recreated Madonna's "Lucky Star" look - I won't post her picture here as I'm not sure she'd be impressed but she looked ace. My other sister rocked a fantastic white leather jacket and crimped hair with her fiance going as Macguyver. Here's a pic of me and GB (he was aiming for Magnum PI). Wish I'd pulled my top down :)

[caption id="attachment_476" align="aligncenter" width="272" caption="The 80's - the best decade!"][/caption]

Anyway, I'm looking forward to catching up with Cara and MOTH tonight for a quick drink. Cara - this WON'T be my outfit!!

I've been suffering from a bit of heartburn lately - weird, wonder what that's all about - anyone else having this prob?

Must go do some work!

Em :)

New Lowest Weight Ever... FINALLY!

Well well well... this morning I weighed in at 77kgs exactly! Saw 76.9 pop up but it wouldn't come back. Either way I'm super stoked because I've finally got away from the high 77's and posted a new lowest ever weight. I'm pretty amazed (even though it is TTOM) because although I was planning to put in a big effort exercise wise this week it didn't eventuate. Started off well - on Monday at lunchtime GB and I went on a 5km walk (with a few hills) - it was bloody hot but I'm glad we did it. Then late on Monday night we both got the call that we were needed for the Moore River fire at 5am in Wanneroo. I didn't finish till about 8.30pm that night and GB even later and then had to be back at Wanneroo early on Wednesday and again finishing late so no exercise at all (aside from walking back and forwards to the printer). I tried to be sensible with food - avoiding lollies - and as it was basically couldn't keep anything down, not even water, at all for the 2 days so spent a lot of time in the loo - not fun. Yesterday marked the first day back at pilates and oh boy was it tough. What little strength I'd built up seemed to have vanished again! After work GB and I walked Westie down to Tomato Lake and I decided to try for the elusive 5km jog.... which was more like a shuffle! The lake is about 1.6kms around and the 2nd lap was particularly tough - felt like I was barely moving, had cramps, my knees sore and I was truly going to stop after 2 laps but decided to push through and then did the bit extra to make it to just over 5kms. Ironically I only did it a few minutes faster than our hilly 5km walk on Monday! hahaha Anyhoo today I feel like a cripple!

Chocolate challenge is still a goer... although I won't lie I've had chocolate in other forms but I haven't had any chocolate bars at all which is a MASSIVE thing for me! GB is still off his chips too. Poor bugger put on a few kgs over christmas/new year but now that he's back in full training for the triathlons I'm sure that will melt back off him in no time at all.

Big weekend on - date night tonight (GB's turn), then tomorrow up at the crack of dawn to look at flowers with my friend who's doing our bouquets, then helping my sister move most of her stuff into storage and move her in with our other sister, then 80's party at a friends place. Sunday should be relatively bare - thinking about going to see either Avatar 3D or Sherlock Holmes.

Thanks for the positive feedback on my invites - I really love them too.

Anyhoo, best be getting some work done!

Em :)

Happy New Year!

Hi all,

Hope you've had a fabulous festive season. I've tried to pop around to all your blogs today and catch up. Nice to see most of you haven't been as slack as I have in the blogging department over Christmas & New Year! I had a great Chrissy. We started with dinner at GB's parents with his brother and his family on Christmas Eve. Had a good night even though the brother gave us these hideous outdoor art things which we hate. Seriously, art is such a personal thing - why would you buy it for anyone else? This is the same guy who has also given us 2 stuffed magpies for the garden which we have tried to leave behind everytime we move and he keeps "finding them"! Christmas morning we had GB's best friend and his wife over for breakfast. This is a tradition and we take turns hosting. We really like his best friend, unfortunately he's married to a massive mole (sorry for the term but it's the only thing that suits!) and the mole is heavily preggers with baby No 1 so now more than ever the world revolves around her. They also have a dumbarse labrador who is 2 now but still worse than a puppy - feet in the water bowl. They keep saying that her behaviour is just a typical labrador but that is just BS it's just they don't discipline her. These dogs are seeing eye dogs for crying out loud - they can be taught! Our Westie hates her too.

We got rid of them then drove to my Nonna's to give my half-sisters (ages 7, 10) their pressies. Then onto my Aunty & Uncle's for lunch with Dad's family (who I can't stand) where GB and I were told adnauseum how MASSIVELY HUGE we were last Christmas (except we weren't.... it would have been the Christmas before) and how much weight had we lost, how fat were we to start with... blah blah blah. I politely told them that I'd prefer not to say and tried to steer the conversation elsewhere. Grrrrrr

Then we cruised to my cousin's place to say a quick hi to some of my mum's family (Mum ended up staying in Melbourne with my Aunty who has just had a brain tumour removed), then back home to our place where we put on a bbq dinner for my sisters and GB's folks. Phew. Tiring much!

GB got 2 photo's that I'd had professionally taken with my 4 sisters about 4 years ago which had languished in a cupboard, professionally framed for Christmas. He also had my 2 degrees framed (and put them all up on the walls Christmas morning!). From Westie I got the Wii Fit Plus disc, Wolverine on Blu-ray and a new memory card for my camera. SCORE!

Over say 5 days from Christmas, I think I ate my (old) body weight in chocolate... soo many lindt balls... soo little time. I'm pretty sure I ate an entire pig too... Love ham off the bone! I didn't really watch what I was eating AT ALL! Obviously quantities were smaller but still. New Years Eve was hosted by my sister and I made 2 lots of icecream sandwiches (one with baileys, crunchies & maltesers and one with mint chocolate). So tasty!  We had a great great night, with mucho champagne! The next day we were going to mum's for lunch (she came back from Melb on NYE) and as we'd all crashed at Sister3's house, Sister 2 and I decided to walk from there to mum's - about 6.4kms. Have we mentioned how hot it's been in Perth? Sweltering! But luckily Jan 1 was a tad cooler and we did it in about 1hr 20 (including a couple of massive hills). We had a feed at mum's that did not agree with me and because I'd eaten some beetroot, all my PB's were a lovely purple colour - lovely!

I think that was the start of my TTOM restriction because I've pretty much struggled food wise since then. Funny that my last blog I was saying how I could eat mostly anything and then this time of month hits and BOOM, can't keep yoghurt down half the time and night reflux rears it's ugly head. I just don't know what to do in regards to a fill - any thoughts?

As some of my Facebook peeps will know, I started NO CHOCOLATE JANUARY on January 1! Regularly readers will know what a humungous challenge this will be for me. I've given myself a few loopholes (icecream & cake not included) but basically the work chocolate fridge is off limits. Today has been my first big challenge with it because it's the first day back at work since the challenge started and here it is - 2.30pm - traditionally chocolate o'clock - and I'm craving like a mofo! I'm going to try my hardest though. GB has decided as support to go without potato chips for the month too which is just as big a challenge for him as No Chocolate is for me.

After all this eating I had to have a sneak at the scales, thinking I'd probably be well and truly back into the 80's but was pleasantly surprised to see no more damage than a typical weekend for me (was sitting about 79.2kg), so phew!

In other exciting news, I got my shoes for the wedding for $25! yay!

Oh and our wedding invitations went out on the 30th - scary. Due to GB's inability to cut anything to the same size, all our guests will receive one of a kind invitations! I really love our invites, but if we ever get married again I'll be getting them done professionally.. what a farking ordeal! Anyhoo here's a pic of our main invites. We had smaller wishing well & rsvp cards in the same style but I forgot to take photos of those. Sorry they're a bit blurry but hopefully you can make them out.

[caption id="attachment_466" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Front of the invite"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_467" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Back of invite"][/caption]

 

Anyhoo, I must be getting back to work!

Later alligators

Em :)