9 month post op photo's

Before photo - May 25th 2010 - 110.1kgs
After photo - February 25th 2011 - 66.9kgs









Jo - Remember this top? This is one of the one's you sent me and it is a size 12 and I laughed and laughed when I got it and held it up, saying I would never fit in it and now it fits perfectly..............GOBSMACKING! Actually there were 3 business tops like that, that you sent me and those are the only things that fit me know.......time to go shopping ;)

Weigh In

Last week: 67kgs
This week: 66.9kgs
Loss: -100 grams (total - 43.2kgs)

N.I.C.E.

I had hoped for a wee bit more but a loss is a loss.

Goals this week: WATER, WATER, WATER!! I have (again) gotten quite slack on the water front so my focus is water this week.

I have spent quite a bit of time on the couch this week watching the devastation from the Earthquake in Christchurch.............just absolutely tragic.
They are now starting to interview people around Christchurch who are feeling the ongoing effects (without water, power etc) and it must be really hard. I feel guilty everytime I turn my TV off and go and do something else (ie. take a break from it) because the people down there can't just turn off and have a break, they are living it and even though I am seeing it on TV, I really just can't imagine how hard it must be.

I seen a piece on the 'Breakfast' show this morning about the Kiwi's overseas sending messages of support back home and this really warmed my heart. Kiwi's are very special people and 'have each other's back' in most cases. Being an Aussie girl, I am also really proud of my country and how they have supported Christchurch in this terrible time.

Right better go and get my water bottle.

Weigh in

Last week: 68kgs
This week: 67kgs
Loss: 1.0kg (total - 43.1kgs)

Very pleased with this result.
Only 2 kilo's away from my goal...............yipee!

It was 'Art Deco' weekend here in Napier and hubby and I along with another couple stayed in town (my Mum has a 2 bedroom apartment right on the Marine Parade in Napier and they were away - perfect!), got dressed up and did the 'art deco' thing.
We had so much fun and are definately going to make it an annual thing now.
Our outfits weren't perfect as it was only our 1st year but we all have a better idea on what to wear for coming years.

Some photo's of the Art Deco weekend:

Street Jazz Band - they had everyone dancing by the end of the night.



Hubby and I



Friends that came with us



A few of the awesome cars as well as some of the 'dressed up' people



Our outfits before we put them on




Our 1957 Morrie Minor - wrong era but we took it anyway and it go heaps of attention



Hubb and I again - I think we look really cool.....

Weigh in

Last week: 68.2kgs
This week: 68kgs
Loss: 200 grams (total -42.1kgs)

This is the exact weight I was 3 weeks ago.......grrrrrr!

I am very pleased that I managed to lose 200grams after the weekend I had (Mission concert weekend) eating and drinking but I feel I am STUCK with only 3kgs to go until my goal weight........so, this week I am back into it. FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS.

Water intake will increase and so will activity. I also went and got the B12 nugget pills that disolve under your tongue which I have also been taking with my other pills and I do feel better for it (they have now found that gastric by-pass patients get B12 defincient over time and B12 is now included in the daily pill popping).

Mission weekend was fantastic (photo's to follow). The crowd we had for the weekend was excellent and even the kids were really well behaved and all looked after themselves (getting older now which is nice).
The concert (STING) was average, Sting was average and the new 'no booze' rule, as they had bars set up inside the concert DIDN'T work............thank god we smuggled 'hot stuff' in which put me on my arse and I ended up sleeping for a hour or so after drinking VERY STRONG bourbon and falling over and cuddling everyone and telling them I love them (whether I knew them or not......hahaha).
Our friends who came up were divers, so we had the best 'snacks' at the concert. We started with smoked salmon on crackers (with a bit of cheese and salami to go with it), then had crayfish.............yum!

That's it from me today. I'll download those photo's at some time tomorrow hopefully.

Weigh in

Last week: 67.9kgs
This week: 68.2kgs
Loss/Gain: Gain +300g (not going to update my ticker...LOL)

Ummmmmmmmmm................moving on then.

Mission Weekend in the Hawkes Bay this weekend and we have our usual horde of people arriving from Wellington to stay with us and go to the concert. STING is playing this year which I'm not very fond of but its the 'atmosphere' not the artist that we go for.

I envisage LOTS of alcohol and nibbles which means 'you know what next week' but I'm not worried as this is my favourite weekend of the year where I 'let loose' and have no intention of even thinking about what is going into my mouth (whether it be food or liquid).
Great attitude eh?......ha ha ha ha

Mission weekend........here we come!

Weigh in...........a day late

Last week: 68kgs
This week: 67.9kgs
Loss: -100 grams (total -42.2kgs)

Mmmmmmmm that was a bit small but still a loss...............I'm happy.

Sorry its a day late, hectic around here.

Kids off to school today....yay!

Weigh in

Last week: 68.2kgs
This week: 68kgs
Loss: 200g (total - 42.1kgs)

Excellent, love it....another loss.

3kgs exactly until my target/goal weight.

Shrinking

Sizes and changes (inside and out).

Feet: I've gone from a size 9/9 1/2 to a comfortable size 8

Top: I've gone from a size 22/24 to a size 12/14 (small/medium)

Bottom: I've gone from a size 20/22 to a size 10

One word that still comes to my mind when I think of these sizes is INCREDIBLE.

Other things I have noticed:

I have taken links out of my watch to make it smaller.

I can now fit bracelets without looking like they are cutting off my circulation.

The only size belt that now fits me is a S = small when I haven't been able to fit into even an XL in the past.

My features now look longated rather than round (ie. face, hands etc).

I can comfortably wear sleeveless dresses or shirts without worrying about my bingo wings (that are 1000 times better than I thought they were going to be).

I finally don't constantly pull at my clothes (so they aren't sticking to my belly etc).

I feel healthy. I feel strong. I feel energised!

I play with my kids now. When they ask if I can go with them when they are going to tennis or a bike ride or just to play outside with them, I instantly say yes (rather than saying NO and then giving them a rubbish story as to why I can't).

My family are proud of me and I can see it in their eyes.

I'm not constanly embarrased or ashamed of myself any longer.

All my aches and pains have disappeared (knee, both ankles, lower back pain). I use to make excuses that it was from 'this and that' but the truth was, it was because I was overweight.

BEST THING I HAVE EVER DONE FOR MYSELF.................WITHOUT QUESTION!

I did feel guilty when I got it done because it cost a lot of money and I didn't feel I 'deserved' it but I am so glad I went through with it as it has benefited not just me but my family in so many ways. I now feel like I participate in my families life (and my own) rather than sitting back and watching life go by without me.

I am proud of myself.
I now look and feel like the person I have always wanted to be.

LIFE IS GOOD.

Weigh In

Last week: 69.5kgs
This week: 68.2kgs
Loss: 1.3kgs

Had a great week, reduced my alcohol intake dramatically, drank more water (always a major for me and it shows) and tried to be more active (didn't do very well with this). My eating has also been very good, getting back into the habit of 3 meals a day without snacking has also helped AND I've found I haven't needed the snacks after all (another bad habit I was letting creep back in).

Overall - VERY HAPPY.

I sat down this week and re-did our budget as we kind of didn't have one and our spending was getting out of hand. When we sat down and looked at what we spend it was incredible the crap we spend stuff on, for example - hubby and I went to The Warehouse to get some tennis balls, what we walked out with was, 2 packets of tennis balls, 2 x 2 litres of oil for my car and a fishing rod?????? We didn't really need those other things but they were on special....grrrr. So no more of that, everything will be accounted for and no more impluse spending.

I am going to limit myself to 2 pieces of clothing a month if needed (this includes shoes, accessories, make up etc) and no more eating out during the week (1 x takeaway but no cafe lunches 2 or 3 times a week with hubby).

Hubby and the kids play a lot of sports and I don't mind spending money on these things but they can get very expensive, so I will have to see where I can trim some money back here AND the weekly shopping bill can come down considerably. I went in yesterday with half the money I usually have and managed to get EVERYTHING on my list, EVERYTHING! I was amazed at that and it was a real wake up call, I can tell you, no more mindlessly walking up and down the aisles just thowing stuff in my trolley.

The reason for all of this is that hubby and I promised ourselves that we would put in 5 years hard yakka when we started our business and at the end of that we were going to take a family holiday.
Well we realised that 3 of those 5 years had gone and we had $1.53 in our savings account. So as of today we are putting money into our savings account for our holiday. We have decided we really want to go on a CRUISE, kids and all (mad eh?) but they have also had to sacrifice things while we built the business up. There has been no holidays (7 day a week business) and because of the odd hours we work, they haven't had friends over to play or stay over very much and alot of the sports they want to play they cant because Mum and Dad are working odd hours. I just thank god we have my Dad who lives with us and looks after the kids quite a lot or they wouldn't have much of a life at all.

Roll on the end of 2012 and roll on cruising. I can't wait.

Photo's of the beach trip last week

It was bloody hot here yesterday and we spent most of the day outside (kids in the pool) or inside, infront of the air conditioner. Today is much better and cooler but a wee bit windy....oh well, can't have everything eh?

Mum and Bing are picking the kids up at 5pm tonight for a 'sleep-over'....yay!

Hubby and I have decided to have a BBQ, just the 2 of us. Steak and salad - yummy.
I then get the honour of getting up at 5.30am with him tomorrow morning, packing bread and pies and then going to work with him for the morning....ummmm...don't know how I managed to say yes to this but its not often he get's a 'helper' and he does work hard, so its a wee treat for him (definately NOT me).

Here's a few photo's of our beach trip to Waimarama beach.

Weigh in .......... 60's GIRL!!!!!!!!

Last week: 70.1kgs
This week: 69.5kgs (-600g)
Total loss: 40.6kgs

SO proud of myself you can't even begin to imagine.
I'm a 60's girl.
I never EVER thought I would EVER utter those words again. Even when I did really well and lost over 20kgs(got down to about 83kgs)on Weight Watchers a few years ago, I still never thought I'd get into the 60's again.

I am rewarding myself by going out shopping by myself today......hahaha
I need a few more things for work and hubby is taking the boys out so I am taking the opportunity to go and have a wander around the shops and see if anything jumps out at me.

I also realised that just because my kids are still on holiday's....I'm not.
Our visitors have now left, the christmas ham has all been eaten and life is pretty much back to normal so I need to get myself back to normal.
I'm cutting the alcohol back to once (or twice) a week rather than most nights, getting back to 3 meals a day rather than 3 or more snacks added on top of that AND drinking my water.

Roll on GOAL time!!!!! 4.5kgs to get to goal.

60.9kgs will put me at the TOP of my BMI range and here I was thinking it was about 63kgs (my personal goal is 65kgs). I haven't decided weather I will go for 60.9kgs as my next goal (once I hit 65kgs) but I think I would really like to be at least at the TOP of my BMI because when I hit my currentl goal of 65kgs I will still be classed as 'overweight'.

I'll have to have a think about this. Another 9kgs more or less sounds LOTS more than 4.5kgs.

photo's

Here are a few photo's from Christmas day as well as this week and last week outside in the beautiful Hawkes Bay sun swimming and eating lunch while playing with the new tent for the boys. As you can see, my youngest (Adam - 6 years old) got a HEAP of presents but still only wanted to play in the box it came in....sigh.

Weigh in x 2

Hello there..............I finally have 5 minutes to jump on here and update.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE.

We have had people staying since Xmas and today is our first day of peace....lovely.
I have photo's to update, which I will do later today.

If you remember, last week I wanted to lose 200g so I could hit 40kgs lost but unfortunately THAT didn't happen BUT it did this week..........

Week before: 70.3kgs
Last week: 71kgs
Gain: +700grams

This week: 70.1kgs
Last week: 71kgs
Loss: -900grams (total weight loss to date 40kgs exactly)

It has been really hot in the Hawkes Bay and we finally gave in and went and got a Warehouse paddle pool for the kids........main reason being, it was too much of an effort to be going to the pools or the river in this heat. So now relief in right outside our backdoor (pictures to follow).

I have undated my ticker (above) but the 'weekly weigh in's' at the side are a real mission, so I'll do this after. Might even think about getting a new 'look' for the blog???

Weigh in and photo's

Last week: 72.1kgs
This week: 70.3kgs
Loss: 1.8kgs (total -39.8kgs)

FAB-U-LOUS!!!!

Next weeks goals: Hit 40kgs loss (another 200grams).

Doesn't sound like much of a goal BUT it is Christmas week (which will include Xmas dinner) and its 'that' time of the month..........always a challenge.
But hopefully having a challenge will keep me focussed.

Here are a few photo's from last week alone in no particular order

- Hubby making fruit kebabs for 2 of the kids 'shared lunches'

- Adam doing his triathlon (in mid slide) which he came 2nd out of the boys (girls started seperately)

- Reece at his recorder concert

- Adam at his folk dancing concert

- Me going to my work 'do'

Crikey dicks

It's Sunday night and I haven't updated all week................sorry. I did weigh in on Monday.

Last week: 72.9kgs
This week: 72.1kgs
Loss: 800g (total: 38kgs)

Again ----- what can I say? I'm very happy with this result with the time of year and everything.

Last night we had our work 'do' which I didn't enjoy............don't get me wrong, I looked fabulous (photo's to follow in next post) but it was basically a big 'piss up' and I'm over that. We were supplied taxi's there and back and the one's picking us up at 11pm (actually arrived at 11.20pm and we were last drop off so didn't get home until midnight) couldn't come quick enough.

I have also had a friends kids (13 and 10 year old girl and a 7 year old boy) for 4 days as she had to travel to Wellington with her hubby for an operation and THAT was hard work, especially because I had to work every night and hubby doesn't cope with noise and kids very well............LOL
We did survive but it was quite stressfull, especially the week before Xmas and their last week of school (fun days, shared lunches etc).

I am sitting here at the moment with a good strong bourbon and coke zero......nice.

Here are a couple of photo's from when I was in Wgtn with my sisters.
Be back tomorrow with this week's weigh in.

The first photo's are of my big sister from May 2009 to Nov 2010....a bit different eh?




My big sisters:
The one in the middle is the oldest and I'm the baby. There is another one in Australia who is between me and Kim (the next one up).

Weigh in

Last week: 73.4kgs
This week: 72.9kgs
Loss: 0.5kgs

I'm not getting sick of saying ---- YAY!------ for another loss. Exercise and water dropped a bit this week but overall, still a good week.

I have been SO busy the last couple of weeks, its ridiculous. Thank god I only work part time because I just couldn't fit a full time job in....hahaha.

I still have photo's to download from my weekend in Wellington and other bits and pieces but can't find the camera at the moment and don't have the energy to look for it.

I have 80% of my Xmas shopping done which is very organised for me. Usually I wait until the final 3 days (especially for the kids) as everyone's taste changes or they now want something different. Since I have been so busy lately, I decided to get it out of the way early and if people (as well as kids) aren't happy with their presents...too bloody bad!

I get a ham every year off my work (Xmas present) and Mum is bringing the Turkey so all I have to do is the salad and roast vege's (might also get a small leg of lamb).
I have Xmas cake (homemade) and Christmas pudding for dessert (with the customary custard and cream) and lots of Xmas lollies and chocolates. Pretty sure I haven't forgotten anything??????

Finding the 2 hardest people to buy for are my Mum and husband. They don't want for anything (that's right hubby, you don't!) which makes it incredibly hard to get them something meaningful. Oh well, I'll just have to keep looking.

I have also had my 2 packets of Christmas cards sitting on the table for nearly 2 weeks now and still haven't sent them out *sigh*. I might start them now actually.

Right, best I get moving.

Weigh in and 6 month post op check up

Last week: 74.5kgs
This week: 73.4kgs
Loss: -1.1kgs (-36.7kgs total)

Very busy weekend.............I have a few photo's and what not to chat about but I'm on my way out now, so "I'll be back".

2nd post today and its only 9am...photo's

Back again.

I got my son to take a few photo's of me before he went to school.
I am terrible at importing photo's but I will try and put the 'before, 3 month, 6 month' for each angle..........he's hoping.





I seem to be getting closer to the camera each time......LOL.





Crikey this side view even amazes me.





WOW.

Here are a couple of photo's of my hair that I was trying to explain in the earlier post. My hair is usually DEAD straight and the hairdresser just did a couple of curls which took her about 3 minutes to create a subtle wave effect which I loved. I on the other hand spent over an hour trying to do this and it looked NOTHING like it........just a straight straw like mess.......*sigh* practise, practise, practise.






And finally I will leave you with a photo of my gorgeous boys who's had 'wacky hair day' on Friday to raise money for the sibling of one of their school mates who has leukemia. The principal offered to shave his head if they raised $1000 and one of the Head teachers said he would get a Number 2 (he has quite long hair) also.
The kids managed to raise $1900 so the principal shaved his head and the Head teacher got a number 1 (shorter than a number 2) haircut.........fantastic school!.

Weigh in

Last weeek: 75.5kgs
This week: 74.5kgs
Loss: 1.0kg (total - 35.6kgs)

Now that's better. I got rid of the 900grams I put on last week plus another 100 grams...........nice!
I did a few days extra walking and made sure I drank my water. Simple things really but time and time again I let them go by the wayside.

I'm off to Wellington this coming weekend for my 6 month check up........I can't believe it has been 6 months, how different I look and FEEL.

I was going to take the kids with me so they could see my sisters and their cousins etc but then thought............Nah, they will see everyone at Xmas plus I don't want them to miss a day of school or their golf lessons on Sunday.
PLUS this will give me more time to maybe visit the 'shops' and have a nice look around without worrying about where they are and what they are up to.
I am also hoping to catch up with a few friends (Jo, I'll text you and maybe we can catch up on Sunday for a coffee at Westfields?) and stay with my mate Jo (another Jo) plus fit in a dinner with my sisters, brother-in-laws etc before my appointments on Monday.

I haven't been to Wellington before as I have always gone back to Hamilton for my follow up appointments, so it sould be interesting what the ladies are like there as I really gelled with the Hamilton girls.
I go for my blood tests tomorrow and I am hoping they are all OK. The only concern I have is that, when I get up I have been getting a few sparkles in front of my eyes and a bit woozy which doesn't sound that great but I have always had low blood pressure so this isn't that much of a biggy BUT it seems to be happening much more than usual. I have been taking my 'pills' daily (which include iron, calcium and a multivitamin) but it will be interesting to see if I'm lacking in anything or if it is just normal.

Had a very quite weekend. Was suppose to go to a 'work do' on Saturday night but hubby wasn't well and decided not to go. He wanted to still take me and drop me off but I hate going to those things alone (even if I know everyone).... dumb eh.
I was dressed and ready to go and was wearing a 'little black dress' with red shoes and long necklace. I think I look quite nice except for my blinkin hair. The hair dresser showed me how to curl it with my hair straightner but after half an hour of trying to curl it, it was straight and horrible looking with a flick here and there.
I will have to practise this technique again before the next one.

I will make sure I take 6 month post op photo's this week as well.

Weigh in

Last week: 74.6kgs
This week: 75.5kgs
Gain: +900 grams (total -34.6kgs)

Oh bugger, I knew last week was too good to be true. I've been quite good this week so, I don't know?????

Not stressing about it at all. (Weird ha?)

This stupid computer of mine is playing up so I'm going to leave it there for today. Might be back later to update.