Mondays... don't ya just love em?

Sooooooooo didn't feel like getting up this morning... alarm going off at 5:20am, raining and cold outside and a lovely snuggly husband lying peacefully next to me. It was all I could do not to roll over and turn that alarm off for an extra half an hour of sleep. But no, not me... I dragged (and I mean DRAGGED) myself out of bed and, half asleep, got my butt to the gym only to have the gym staff sleep in and not open the doors until 10 past 6! I mean, how rude! So my pump class was cut 15 mins short...

but.. you know what?

I actually thought, in the back of my head, as I was squatting with 14kg on my back....

... I'm really glad I made the effort...

I love when I think like that!

Fill time in 2 more days... can't freaking wait!

Good luck to KLM today who get's her first fill..... now the fun really begins!

Oh, I've also entered in the 8km fun run mother's day classic.... very excited... first time I've done the 8km walk. It will be my 4th year in the event, but the first at 8km. I want to be able to run some of it, but I'll see how I go because my back still gets sore if I do too much high impact exercise.

Anyhoo, hope you all have a happy Monday!

LBG xx

Need a fill... baaaaaaaad!

Yep... it's definitely fill time for this little bandit. I'm booked in for Wednesday at 3:45pm... I'm not looking forward to seeing my fill doctor, but I know I just have to go in and be honest. I'm eating too much and I need fill in to make the band work for me again...

Exercise this week has been pretty good though:

Monday: Step Class and Pump Class (1200 cals)
Tuesday: Spin Class (550 cals)
Wednesday: Boxing Class (600 cals)
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Cardio Session PM (700 cals)
Saturday: Spin Class and Pump Class (1000 cals)

I am feeling sooooooo amazingly fit at the moment... it feels so so good right now. I crave exercise, I love exercising and I'm so glad I'm in that exercise funk at the moment!

This week my plan for exercise is:
Monday: Pump Class 60 mins
Tuesday: Spin Class 45 mins
Wednesday: Boxing Class 60 mins
Thursday: Pump Class 60 mins
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Spin Class and Pump Class 1 hr 45 mins
Sunday: Afternoon Walk 60 mins

I can't wait for my fill... I'm looking forward to gaining some control back. Yesterday I went out for lunch and managed to eat hot chips... I could NEVER eat hot chips when I was properly filled. I've got some pureed fruits and cup-a-soups for my fill day and the next day when I'm supposed to stay on liquids. I also have some celebrity slim shakes and yoghurts as well.

Bring it on!

Have a good week everyone!

LBG xx

When you put your mind to it...

It's been less than a week and I'm already down nearly a kilo! Amazing what you can do with a bit of hard work and exercise.

I went to melbourne yesterday for work (a very quick day trip!). I got upgraded to Business class on the way down, which was COOL. I had brought some food with me for the day and so (very self-righteously) I ate my cut up orange and packet of vita wheat snacks while all around me were having this toasted cheese sandwich thing that smelled amazing. Then they brought out danishes... I declined and it felt goooooood. For lunch I had a vegemite sandwhich... I only had half, and had the other half during the taxi ride back to the airport. On the plane home, instead of the cheese and salami hot muffin thingy, I had half an apple. Go Me! I wanted to keep my food in check yesterday as I wasn't going to be exercising that day.. I had a small portion of butter chicken when I got home for my dinner, but even with that I didn't go over 1200 cals for the day which was great.

I've just calculated that if I want to be at 75kg, then my BMR (basal metabolic rate) is at around 1500 cals. Now (at 91.5kg) my BMR is at 1700cals. So, I've got to start eating like I'm already at my goal weight of 75kg. If I exercise then great! Extra calories to play with. I've also been reading that it's not a good idea to "save" any additional calories.. like you might think it's a good idea to only eat 1200 cals cos then you save 300 cals and lose wieght faster... but I think that your body goes into a starvation mode so eating what you have rightfully been allowed is a good thing.. I'm going to discuss this with my Fill doctor when I next see him.

I am a little tight today and concerned that I don't really need a fill. I've been drinking diet cordial and it just seems to be sitting on my band and not going through. Granted I have been sitting down most of the day today at work... I had a cup of noodle soup for lunch which took AGES to eat, and then I chewed through less than half a vegemite and cheese sandwich at my desk later on.. not sure what the go is... but at least I'm not feeling hungry!!!
I was looking forward to a Thai stir Fry tonight from the local take away shop cos I haven't had one of those in Oh So Long!! And I figured since I'm a little looser than normal I'd have it before I got filled again and couldn't eat all the delish crunchy vege.. but now I'm not so sure that I'll be able to eat it!!...

Happy Friday peoples!!

LBG xx

Fill time!

I did it! I called my Fill Doctor and am booked in for 3:45pm next Wednesday! I'm glad I did it... MYF said something very true that the doctors aren't there to judget you but to help you get back on track. So hopefully I'll get some timely advice and a kick up the backside from my fill doctor, get a half mL and be on my merry way!

Did a spin class tonight. It felt great! Got my heart rate up to 177bpm at one stage! I totally rocked it..

Food was pretty fabulous today - except for the head of a heritage rabbit I had for after dinner. Today I had:
BF: 1 tea, 1 berocca, 1 yoghurt
MT: Nothing
L: vegetable and pearl barley soup and some popcorn
AT: 1 small apple (3pm)
AT (2): mainland cheese and crackers (that snack pack with 3 crackers and 3 slices of cheese) - I needed it because I was starting to have a carb crash and was about to go into a spin class..
D: Half a veal cordon bleu and 2 tablespoons of steamed carrot, beans and corn
S: the head of a chocolate rabbit and a cup of coke zero

That's all from me for now. Thanks for your comments! Bring on next Wednesday! Let's see if I can lose at least a kilo before then!!!

LBG xx

Weight Gain Misery... time to bite the bullet!

What a fabulous long long weekend! Friday I was at the Easter Show all day and did some heavy duty walking. Saturday was a pump class in the morning and then some relaxing in the afternoon. Sunday I went for a walk with a friend in the afternoon and today saw me at the gym for 2 hours doing a step class and a pump class and burning 1184 cals and then in the afternoon hubby and I went to bunnings to pick up some paint to finish up our apartment.

Can't believe the weekend is already over!

So now to the serious stuff...

I weighed in at 92.4kg today. I am a little over it.. I must say. I exercised my butt off this week. Nearly 3000 cals burnt, 4 hours of exercise over 6 days.. I mixed it up, walking, spinning, boxing and weight lifting and I gain weight.. like WTF?!?! I am due for my period in the next couple of days so maybe that's it. I am definitely contemplating a fill.. but I'm soooooooo undecided. There have been meals where I have been really tight and haven't done well with food and other days when I can drink 15 mins after a meal and I don't feel full. I'm actually really scared of going back to my fill surgeon cos he's going to be so so mad at me for putting on weight since my last visit... *sigh*. I have to admit, I have been eating in a few norti foods... but my over all food intake is seriously soooooo much less than what I used to have.. I have been adding some condiments in like tartare sauce and mayonnaise... But compared to what I used to have, it's so so much less, so I don't understand why the weight gain.

It really confuses me, because if I want to maintain the 90 odd kg then I have to eat 2500 cals / day and NOT exercise. To maintain a weight of 75kg (goal weight) I have to eat 2000 cals and NOT exercise. I can't imagine that I am eating over 2500 calories every day... but I don't understand why I'm not losing weight. I know that my body loves this weight.. and I don't really know what it's like to be any lower than around 86kg..

I guess the worse thing is, is that last August my lowest weight was 83.4kg (after being over filled.. which wasn't fun either!!)... so tragically I've put on around 9kg in 8 months... that really really depresses me.. I didn't really think about it until today. Something needs to be done.. but what? A fill methinks!

To be honest, the reason why I haven't booked in for a fill is because I am so ashamed of my weight gain.. I'm not sure if I really need a fill, but I know one will definitely help. I should really bite the bullet and book on in.

I just want to say though (to make myself feel a tad better)... that I have kicked exercise butt these past few weeks. I am a machine and I feel myself getting stronger every day. I feel the best I have ever felt... ever.. that's got to count for something right?

Anyhoo, enough whining from me. I'm going to give it a good go this week with the food intake and exercise and see what the scales say next weekend... then I'll decide about the fill situation.

Thanks for Listening!!!

Happy Easter! :)

LBG xx

Fabulous First Week!

What a week! I had a fab time at my new job... and I managed to keep up my exercise routine for the week.. A few prob with stuck food.. and a couple too many easter eggs... but that's OK.

Exercise this week has been:

Monday: Pump 60mins 400 cals
Tuesday: Spin 45 mins 550 cals
Wednesday: Boxing 60 mins 660 cals
Thursday: Pump 60 mins 400 cals
Friday: Walking around at the Easter show and some Wii fit exercises I think
Saturday: Spin at 9:30am
Sunday: Rest day or possibly an afternoon walk with a girlfriend.

Found this fabulous bandit food called "gourmet to go". They are cans of food at around 200 cals. The one I had today was a chicken and vege mix. Had loads of vege and chicken and I was FULL but not stuffed. I've also bought some low cal chunky soups - chicken, vege and pasta, minestrone, Vegetable and pasta... 80 cals for 1 serving for half a can.

Other than that I'm feeling fighting fit, other than the muscle soreness from pump.

Have a happy easter to everyone!!!

LBG xx

Nervous = Tight Band

Food for me yesterday was a complete write off. I started my new job and maybe it was the newness of it all, but food and my band were complete enemies... I started off with a Pump class in the morning at 6am (go me!).. then bought a v-drink (sugar free) on the way to work for a little energy.. Didn't end up eating until 11am, at which time I was actually quite hungry.. so had a few bites of an apple.. Lunch was soon after that (around 12:15) and I was still full from my apple, so the few bites I had of my ham and salad wrap made it's reappearance at my new work's downstairs toilet bowl. I had a couple of walnuts and a cup of tea mid afternoon. Dinner was a slow cooked beef, mushroom, carrot and kumera mash - only managed half a cup of the kumera mash and maybe 1 piece of beef.. Not a good day food wise!!

Today I've already been to a spin class this morning (6:15am go me!!) and I am going to have a protein shake for breakky (250 cals, 30g protein).. I've got some strawberries, an apple, some yoghurt and a small packet of popcorn for lunch/snacks during the day.. Dinner tonight will be fish and vege..

Not much to report on the job front... spent the day getting used to the systems and meeting all the people... I found out I'll be part of the "senior management" team... which is kind of exciting, because I've never been high enough on the food chain to be part of any management team... funny thing is, is that my new boss has the same title as me.. but she's got a few more years experience up her sleeve.. Oh... and... I'm going to China next month (how exciting!!) and Germany in September!!! How so super exciting!!!

Ok, gotta run... gotta get to work!! Have a fabulous day!!

LBG xx

What a fabulous Wii-kend!!

As you have probably guessed from the title of my blog, this weekend my husband and I purchased a Wii! (Thank you to my redundancy payout!!). I made sure that Wii Fit was included in the package. It's a fantastic game, it really is! I can see I'm going to get a tonne of use out of it!

Daylight savings ending is pretty fabulous - I was wide awake enough this morning to go to the gym early... so I've been 5 times this week.

Food wise has been good too. I've been very conscious of my protein and complex carb intake and watching out for the sugar intake. I also bought myself a slow cooker yesterday so made this scrummy lamb stew with rosemary dumplings.. the slow cooker is absolutely fab for us bandits making yummy scrummy wholesome dishes that are packed full of protein and veg and are alot easier to eat... it also means that you can eat too much as well if it's too sloppy. Definitely glad with my purchase and going to try some new dishes this week... YAY

Tomorrow is my first day at my new job... very very excited. Just going to go and make hubby and I lunch for tomorrow. Thank you to all for my well wishes.. I'll let you know how the job is going during the week!

Exercise for this week:

Monday 6am pump and Wii Fit pm
Tuesday 6:15am Spin and Wii Fit pm
Wednesday 6am boxing and Wii Fit pm
Thursday 6am Pump and Wii Fit pm
Friday - Easter Show so will be walking around a bit I am sure and Wii Fit pm
Saturday Gym Session and Wii Fit
Sunday - Wii Fit

Have a great week everyone!!

LBG xx

Last day..

Last day at my job today. Monday I start at my new job... very very excited!

We all went out for lunch to celebrate (or commiserate) our last day. I ordered a rocket, pumpkin, beetroom, walnut and feta salad. Sounds delish right? Well it was... all 2 mouthfuls of it.. and it didn't taste that great coming up either.. so all I managed was half a glass of diet coke!!

I've had a great week with my exercise.

Monday: Step 600cals
Tuesday: Spin 500 cals
Wednesday: Boxing 600cals
Thursday: Pump and 20mins cardio 500 cals

So far so good!

Tonight is going to be a a big night as we're going out after work for drinks. I dont plan on having a big one as I couldn't be bothered with the hangover, to be honest. I also want to get to the gym tomorrow if possible. My legs and chest are pretty sore from pump yesterday so I want to give them a workout and get them moving.

OK, that's all from me today. Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

LBG xx

Hump Day!

Hi All!

Hope you're all having a good hump day! It's pretty shitty weather here in Sydney.. so not planning on doing a hell of alot today, just a body scrub and a facial this afternoon.. B-L-I-S-S!

Lunch with mum was lovely, except I didn't quite manage the Sashimi.. so it ended up in the toilet bowl. Bless my mother, she was telling me a joke (quite a long one at that!!) and I really really really needed to PB, so I'm swallowing every 2 seconds trying to pretend that I was interested in what she was saying but all I desparately wanted to do was excuse myself for the bathroom.. The Sashimi was lovely yesterday, really good quality stuff, but there was one piece that was a tad stringy.. and my band did not like it at all.. *sigh*. So I ended up getting a protein drink for the train ride home after lunch with mum.

I did end up doing the 5:45pm spin class yesterday as well, and was so glad I did, even though I really could have just sat at home with a doona and nice glass of wine as the weather was miserable yesterday as well.

Just got back from my boxing class. Went really hard core on the first couple of tracks and then felt amazingly light headed so had to bring back the intensity for the rest of the class. Needless to say, I only burnt 525 cals instead of the usual 650 cals. My neck is also really sore, so I'm might visit the chinese massuse with fingers of steel this afternoon for a good pummelling!

Oh yeah, and I've also started weighing my food. 50g of watermelon is around 30 cals, and for a bandster it's actually quite a lot! I also weighed my pumpkin serve last night... 100g of baked pumpkin is around 1/2 a cup, which is a huge amount. I was surprised!

Anyhoo, hope you all have a fabulous hump day! I know I willl...

LBG xx