Catch up

Crikey I didn't realise it has been nearly 2 months since I updated.

HEAPS has been going on since then (photo's to follow): In no particular order:

I turned 41 years old and got a new dress labelled by the shop the "James Bond dress" (you will see why - skin tight but gorgeous).
The kids went to my Mum's for the night and Hubby and I went to a very beautiful restaurant (fine dining) for dinner which I felt very spoilt and then came home and watched the rugby final............hahaha, we are such romantics.

Our youngest boy turned 7 years old and got a new bike for him birthday. He didn't have a party this year but we went out to 'Breakers' with the grandparents for dinner and the boys and I made cupcakes during the day and I also made his number '7' birthday cake.

Both boys are playing rugby with the youngest with e more 'natural' talent (or so we thought). Oldest boy has now really gotten into it and performs outstandingly every week. Got player of the day last week (love the below picture - look at the colour of his legs) and has been asked to trial for the rep team for the 'Spooner Cup'.....we are so proud.

I went to a Novelty cake decorating course (which was on the day AFTER my son's birthday - typical) and had a really good time and am now NOT scared of a piping bag.

I had my post-op 1 year check up in Wellington and weighed in at 64kg exactly (1kg under my goal). David (surgeon) was very pleased with everything I have accomplished and was surprised I admitted to some of my 'whoops' moments (but have learnt from most of them).
Met up with the gorgeous Jo and baby Jaynie while there (unfortunately I forgot my camera). Also went out for lunch with some old work mates which was awsome and then called into my old job to say hi (since I did work there for 15 years), hence it was very good for my ego seeing as they hadn't seen me in about 3 years.

Went away for a 'girlie' weekend with my 2 BFF's and we had a fabulous time, no husbands/boyfriends or children with lots of alcohol and good food......bliss!

That's about it I think.

Just really enjoying life and being more involved in EVERYTHING.

Photo's in no particular order either........

It's been ages..............

Sorry, I didn't realise how long it had been since I updated.

Lots going on really. On Mother's Day after all the baking I did because the kids school gala was on, we went to the gala and I got some beautiful stuff (earings, bags, necklaces etc) for an excellent price and then we won a PLAYHOUSE. Yep, a playhouse! Hubby had only finished making their 'fort' not long ago and now we have a playhouse to go with it.,......hahaha. It was part of the gala, a local company (their kids go to the school) said they would build it onsite and then raffle it off at the end of the day. All kids got a book of 5 tickets to sell (which we bought 4 of) and then on the actual day I decided I would get 'just one more' and that was the one that won it. The kids love it!

I had a fabulous Mother's Day and got my present I had been hinting about - gumboots! Getting up at the crack of dawn to watch the kids play soccer and rugby on a damp/wet field is a nightmare but now I have my gumboots, all is good.

I have a niece who is going overseas on the student exchange program and her family need to raise $13,000 in 3 months so we have been doing all sorts of stuff to help. There have been hangi's, easter and mothers day raffles, trivia nights and a cabaret still to come..............busy, busy I tell ya.

I am also going away on a 'girlie' weekend with 2 of my faviourite people in the whole wide world (waves to Jax) to Auckland for a bit of shopping, a bit of nice food and lots of wine and bourbon......yeah baby! Can't wait.

I am also heading down to Wellington at the beginning of June for my 1 yearly post op check up. I am still amazed it has been 1 year (actually 1 year anniversary is on the 25th May). I still feel fantastic, I haven't had any problems and am still under my goal weight of 65kgs (currently 64.8kgs).

All's good (and very busy) in my world at the moment and I love it.

Weighed in this morning

Jumped on the scales this morning and I was 64.5kgs which is still 500grams under my goal weight which I'm very pleased about.
I have been getting on a couple of times a week just to keep myself in check and I am amazed that my weight is pretty stable now. I have been hovering between 64.5kgs and 65.5kgs which is AWESOME.

I have also made my 1 yearly post op appointment with my surgeron David Schroeder on the 16th June (Thurs), so I have taken Thurs and Fri off work and will pop down to Wellington and stay the weekend as well, which will give me over 3 days to catch up with everyone. I am planning to catch up with my old mates at work as well as my mate Jo (and latest addition Jaynie) on the Friday and then family (and a bit of shopping) on the weekend before I head back Sunday afternoon.......nice!

Kids have finished all but 1 of their sports and the next session stuff doesn't now start until after the school holidays....yay.
Mum is moving into her new house tomorrow so Andrew and I will be 'all hands on deck' to help out. I then have my 21 year old nephew and his girlfriend arriving from Australia (I haven't seen him in about 10 years) on Friday for a few days and of course school holidays start on Friday as well.

That's it from me, I'll try and get my butt on here more often as I'm getting a bit slack without having to 'update' my weight on a weekly basis.

One last thing - extra skin.
I have noticed in the last week or so how much excess skin I have and it is getting more and more noticable. My tummy and legs are really bad but I can hide that with excellent spandx/support underwear (my best friend since the operation) but my arms and neck look yucky, my arms especially. They are looking more and more wrinkly and it isn't attractive. I have been over the moon lately that I am now not embarrased to wear sleeveless tops/dresses etc but the further along I go, the more I feel like I need to cover up again..........*sigh* never happy eh???? hahahaha.

Guess what I did today?

Its called a BIKE JAM

It is a fun (Yeah right!) bike ride for kids aged 5 - 13 years.
My oldest did the medium course 4.9km on his own but my little fella (6 years old) had to do the short course (2.3km) with a parent - namely me!
I figured it was only 2.3km, how hard could it be???? Ummmm it was a mountain bike ride not a road ride..........I have ONLY ever ridden on the road. I think we did it in about 15 minutes but it felt like HOURS.
The before and after photo's of me (on a friends camera) won't be pretty I'm guessing but I did take a photo of the kids.
It has been raining and the course was very muddy with puddles and lots of stumps and bloody tree's etc on the course....I was quite proud of myself for doing it as I thought it was quite hard. My little fella finished in the top 5 and my oldest boy was in the middle of the pack. I was very proud of both of them as it was their first time and they did very well.






The kids also had Muftii day with all gold coin donations going to the Christchurch Earthquake appeal. You had to come in red and black.

Photo's

I didn't weigh in this morning which is more than likely a GOOD thing as we have had friends from Wellington staying for the past 5 days and we did a bit of OVER INDULGING in food and alcohol and I can feel it.

I have been thinking about it and think I might just weigh in 'officially' and record it on here maybe every month? I dunno, I'll see how I feel.

Had the camera out on the weekend, so my 6 year old son took my 'at goal' photo's (which aren't really any different from the 9 month photo's I took a couple of weeks ago). I also took some photo's of the kids making cup cakes out of Reece's new 'Kids Cookbook'.

I also want to say a huge CONGRATULATIONS to Jo and J who had a beautiful little girl called Jaynie.

No particular order:

Weigh in - G.O.A.L.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last week: 65.9kgs
This week: 64.9kgs (Goal was 65kgs)
Loss: -1kg (-45.2kg total)

I did it, I can't believe it, I actually did it. It took me 41 weeks or 9 months and 17 days.
Not that you need proof but here it is anyway..............


I am so excited, I'm actually numb. I have NEVER in my 25+ years of dieting - EVER hit goal. I've come pretty close in the earlier years but NEVER hit goal.

I am sooooooooooooooo going shopping....hahahaha. Winter coat (and maybe a few other things) here I come.

I have also been busy baking for the Christchurch Earthquake. This kids school got a 20 foot container organised to be sent down and all the schools in the local area filled it with stuff (ie. one school did clothes, one school did blankets etc and our school did food (fresh - baked)).
I loved doing it because I felt like I wanted to do something to help but you feel so helpless. Yes I have put all the change and notes I have into collecters boxes and texted a number or name to my vodafone account to donate but it just didn't seem enough. Everyone I know loves fresh baking, so I really enjoyed doing that and thinking about all the families that are still without basic needs having some fresh baking to eat.


I also get a new car this Wednesday (well its near new - 4 years old). I am really excited because its the 'newest' car I have ever owned and it is a automatic (never owned one of those before). It is a 2007 Nissian Maxima SI Sedan and it is navy blue (I'll take a photo when I get it) and it has been a company car of a good friend of ours and when they re-new their lease's, he gets 1st option to buy it. I currently have a Toyota Camry Station Wagon which I LOVE but it is a 1997 model and it is now starting to cost us money when warrants etc are due. It also needed another radiator 2 weeks ago (2nd one in 2 years) which was pricey, so I'm hoping with this car having been a company and had all of its services etc, it should last for many years to come.

OK that's all my news for today, talk soon.

Weigh in

Last week: 66.9kgs
This week: 65.9kgs
Loss: -1.0kg (total - 44.2kgs)

OMG, OMG, OMG...................900 grams left to go until I get to goal!! I can honestly say I have NEVER, EVER, EVER been this close to goal in my life.

Feels good!

Guess what this week goal is????????????????? Yep, you guessed it.

Hit Goal weight by this time next week.

I know I can do it, I just have to GET THE JOB DONE!

I am so excited ------- can you tell? LOL.

I have just thought of something, what will my 'reward' be for getting to goal? I haven't even thought of it before as it was always 'so far away' but I reckon I should do something special to mark the occasion.
I cleared out my wardrobe yet again this morning don't actually have any winter clothes for this winter that will fit me. Maybe getting myself a winter wardrobe might be a goal (just need to win the lotto this weekend...hahaha). I would really love a stunning winter jacket, its always something I have wanted.....hmmmm will think about it.

We are going to have 3 days off at Easter (if we can get a driver, our normal guy is also having time off) so we are thinking of heading to the Wairarapa for a night and then 2 nights in Wellington. Will go and do the 'family' thing with my sisters but this time I'm not going to spend that much time with them (sounds horrible eh?), just a coffee and a chat and then off to our mates house for the remainder. My mates actually come and visit us and ring us, where I never hear from my family unless it is for a birthday or something, so I'm going to spend time with the people who I hear from and see and NOT feel like I have to 'do the right thing' (as my mother would say).........bugger em!

Right, time for a coffee..............bye...............

More Art Deco photo's

My mate Zelda came around yesterday with some more Art Deco photo's - thought I'd share them with you. We had SO MUCH FUN.

Andrew with 'Chloe' who use to be a Wainuiomata girl who became this weird sort of icon years ago........Andrew has always loved her and she was at the Art Deco weekend as she now lives in Hastings.


The BAD BAD shooters............I'm smiling because I didn't have any and I new what they were going to be feeling the next morning.


Zelda and I at night in Napier looking at all the beautiful cars


Some ladies all dressed up walking past who loved Andrew's car and wanted a photo in front of it............our Morrie is a classic (1957) not a vintage but everyone just loved it because it is very cute.


The four of us after just arriving at Mum's flat............getting ready for the evening ahead


Me posing in front of the car (hubby inside the car arriving at Zelda and Steve's

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.