A ( Baby ) Weight-y Issue

I think one thing all new mums struggle with is " Oh.My.God - how am i going to lose all this bloody baby weight?! ". I know, with Flynn, i was really laidback about it, i wasnt overly fussed about dropping all those excess kilos ( truth be told i didnt put on much weight really )... until i saw photos of myself when he was almost 1 year old.  I know they say that breastfeeding is supposed to make you shed all that baby weight you put on but its not entirely true - Flynn breastfeed sooooo much that i was hungry all the time, and i had actually put on more weight after his birth than i did when pregnant with him!

So this time around, i was careful with what i ate. I wasnt on a diet or anything, but i tried to moderate what i ate, instead of eating whole loaves of garlic bread for dinner. ( Yes. That really happened. My craving for garlic bread when pregnant with Flynn was so strong i would eat whole loaves for dinner. Or lunch. I must have been the worlds smelliest pregnant lady ). Anyhoo, so i tried to watch what i ate whilst pregnant and i'm trying to do the same now that Miss Tully has arrived and is breastfeeding like a champ. I am muchly proud to say that i have lost all the weight i had put on with her, and then some - however, though the numbers may be back to what they were, the body shape is not!

However, i digress - my point is, like anything to do with conceiving/being pregnant/new motherhood, its nice to have a bit of help. A few pointers on where to start. Which is what i discovered over at Karimums. I found a great little community, created by the same foundation who run Karitane clinics, which offers pregnancy and parenting advice for everybody - breastfeeding mums, formula feeding mums, mums of babies or toddlers, mums who had natural vaginal births and those who had caesars. Hell, i'm pretty sure, even though its called Kari-mums, they give advice to Kari-dads too! And what i found when exploring this great little online resource was a little infographic on pre-pregnancy nutrition. And who doesnt love an infographic, right?

[Source: Karimums. Real mums. Real expertise. Real support.]

Sure, its aimed at women trying to conceive but i think the principles are pretty sound for every woman, no matter what stage of the parenting game she's up to. I know that i've tried to take heed of its advice since i've read it and it seems to be working. Its keeping my body healthy and the community feel of the Karimum forums may just be keeping me sane and mentally healthy too!
( * Disclaimer - this post was prompted by an email from a media company. I have visited the aformentioned site/trialled aforementioned products. Any views/opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own )

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Time To Get Back Up On The Wagon

With only 12 days left til my wedding, i've succumbed to my own pressure and gone on another health kick. After having lost 10 kgs earlier this year ( in a pre-wedding blitz ) i know i've lost my way a bit. I'm not eating all the vegies that i know i should be, and i definately didnt drink enough water during the last few months ( although, to be fair, winter and the lack of hot, thirsty days will do that ). For the past 8 and a bit months i've managed to stay within a kilo or two of my goal weight ( the goal i reached after losing those 10 kilos ), and i'm still within that range. Its just that i've noticed the increase in sugar and carbs ( oh how i love thee toast! ) and i need to nip it in the bud.

Pic from here

So - i'm deciding to try and get back on a better health track. Like right now - right.this.very.second - amd fighting the urge to leave my desk, go into the supermarket and buy myself a packet of Maltesers. My body is screaming " Fill me with choc-malty goodness! " but my brain is trying to beat that impulse off with a stick. For one thing, i've only just finished my lunch* , and for another i know that about half an hr after i've eaten the Maltesers i'll be absolutely fanging for more. So i'm just gulping down the water instead, and pretending that chocolate just doesnt exist.

And this time, its not just going to be vanity motivating me either. This time i'm staying on track and maintaining a healthy weight for the good of the unborn baby i hope to be pregnant with shortly. Its no secret that we'd like to expand our family ( in fact, we're hoping to fall pregnant on our honeymoon ... ) and i know that eating a balanced diet and maintaining a healthy body weight before, during AND after the pregnancy will be best for me, future bub, and the rest of my little family...

* Ok, so clearly i didnt just write this - i wrote it at work and emailed it home to myself. Just another way i like to waste time at work....

Staying On Track

For some reason, long weekends seem to the be the worst weekends for me in terms of eating. What i mean is for some reason i always find myself eating platefuls and platefuls of " crap " on a long weekend - way too many carbs and nowhere near enough vegies. And even as i'm preparing a meal, in my head i'm going " Throw some salad in that sandwich! Cook some vegies to go with that! ". But no - the relaxed vibe of a long weekend somehow permeates my eating attitude aswell and i get lazy. So, over this weekend, i've eaten way too much of this:

And drunk a little too much of this:

And frankly, with a little under 5 weeks til my wedding, i need to be eating right and trying NOT to put on weight. Thankfully, i've managed to stay pretty close to the " goal " weight i reached at the end of Operation Slimdown - i've had a few ups and downs but have managed to stay within a kilo of that 67.5kg.

So from here on out i need to constantly think: " Vegies! Water! Minimum carbs! ". Because not only do i need to look ravishing in my wedding dress but i need to tankini ready for the water parks on the Gold Coast!

Operation Slimdown - We're Getting There...

Seriously - are you people getting tired of reading about " Operation Slimdown " yet ? I know i'm only doing a diet/exercise/body post once a week but it seems like i'm forever writing about it... anyhoo, yea yea, its Tuesday again so its time for the fortnightly update on where my weight loss is at. Behold - the stats!
Bust: 91cm - down 1cm
Waist: 75.5cm - down 1.5cm
Hips: 97.5cm - down 0.5cm
Bum: 102cm - up 0.5cm
Thigh: 62cm - down 0.5cm
Weight: 68.6kg - down 1.1kg


I'm really happy with that, seeing as i've felt like i've been slacking off a bit. Maybe it only feels that way because i was sooooo strict with the my eating in the first few weeks? I'm not sure, but i'm coming to realise that its ok to have a bit of chocolate, or a small bowl of icecream, or even a yummy yummy Portuguese tart ( mmmm...Portuguese tart... ) a few times a week if i'm keeping everything else under control. Which i am - my portion sizes are much smaller than when i started my third attempt at " Operation Slimdown ", i'm eating way more vegies and i find that i'm not craving rice or pasta at all. I have a nice low-GI muesli for breakfast most mornings ( i occasionally indulge in peanut butter and toast! ) and a wholemeal sandwich or leftovers for lunch. Dinners are my favourite though - you know how i love pour over my cookbooks and magazines and i've really enjoyed some of the new, healthier, dishes i've come across. As has Mick - he hasnt exactly been on a concentrated " diet ", but through healthier eating and a very physical job he's managed to lose around 10kg in the last 3-4 months. Go us!

And now? I'm 9.2kg down in 12 weeks. Only 800g to go until i hit my 10kg goal that i set as my New Years resolution. I'm kind of amazed that i've been able to come this far in a relatively short period of time ( you know, seeing as my original goal included a November deadline.. ). Once i hit the 10kg mark, i would like to push on and reach 65kg - thats roughly how much i weighed when i met Mick, and i think i looked awesome then, so thats the next step in the dance... fingers crossed i lose the 800g by next weigh in though!

Operation Slimdown - We've Hit The 10 Week Mark

So - its Tuesday again. And its the 2nd Tuesday in my fortnightly rotation, which means its time again for an update on Operation Slimdown! ( Ok, yep, its not really exciting, not enough to warrant and exclamation point - sorry about that ) Anyhoodle, lets dispense with the jibber jabber and go straight to the stats:
Bust: 92cm - down 1cm
Waist: 77cm - no change
Hips: 97cm - down 1.5cm
Bum: 101.5cm - down 1.cm
Thigh: 62.5cm - down 0.5cm
Weight: 69.7kg - down 1kg

Now, let me explain something - this weeks weigh in was weird. I weighed myself on my SIL old-school mechanical scales ( i dont normally use them and was curious to see if they would give the same results... ) and it came up at a nice neat 69kg. I thought " ok, better result than i was expecting so lets not get our hopes up ... ". Then, less than an hr later, i weighed myself on my parents digital scales ( the ones i have been using from the start ) and they showed up at 69.9kg. Seeing as it was almost a full kilo different to the first result i thought i'd just double check... but when i hopped on the digitals the 2nd time, the reading was 75kg! There is now way in the known universe i could put on 5 kgs in 30 seconds so i decided i would weigh myself again the next day, and whatever result that came up with was THE result for the fortnight.

So - when Sunday saw a result of 69.7kg i thought " alrighty - a nice, neat, tidy kilo! ". I'm happy with that - i'm aiming for a 1kg loss per fortnight and i really didnt think i would achieve that with this fortnights lack of exercise ( thanks crappy weather and crappy germs ). I did motivate myself to get out for a walk Sunday morning though so thats a good start to this fortnight. And at a total of 8.1kg lost in 10 weeks, i'm really excited to keep motivating myself to eat well and exercise more until i hit that 10kg goal!

Operation Slimdown - IWD Edition

Welcome to the fortnightly " Operation Slimdown " update, proudly brought to you on this International Womens Day by me, an international woman. ( Almost. I mean, i AM a woman, the international bit is in question though... ). And, happily, on a day meant to celebrate the successes and achievements of women, i have a success of my own to share. To the stats!
Bust: 93cm -  up 1.5cm
Waist: 77cm - down 0.5cm
Hips: 98.5cm - down 2cm
Bum: 103cm - no change
Thighs: 63cm - down 1cm
Weight: 70.7kg - down 2kg

Oh yea baby - 2 kilos in 2 weeks! Screw you danish, i win this round! Ok, ok, enough gloating... its just that when i stepped on the scales i was completely flabbersgasted. I was so sure last week that i was going to put ON weight - i hadnt eaten particularly well over the weekend, and hadnt been doing teh amount of exercise that i promised myself i would - that when i saw it was a 2 kilo loss i had to restrain myself from yelling out to my sister " Hey, come look at this! ". Admittedly, after my woe-is-me rant about the evil danish, i did go home and go for a 30 minute walk ( part of which i ran...oh yea, ran... ) and i took Flynn out in the pram for a 30 min walk the next two days aswell. But 2 kilos in 2 weeks? That was much more than i was expecting. I have to say, i'm kind of proud of myself.

So, the journey continues. I'm 7.1kg down in 8 weeks...so with only 2.9kgs to go until i hit my goal weight, i cant afford to let up on myself. Much. Maybe i'll let myself celebrate with another one of those evil danishes....

Wasted Weekend

I have a confession to make, ahead of next weeks Operation Slimdown update - i had a BAD weekend. As in everything was bad... i got upset, i lazed around the house like a sad sack, i didnt eat much but what i did eat was junk, and rather than water i crammed myself full of Pepsi Max. The only vegetables i ate on Sunday were mushrooms ( on a pizza ) and potato ( wedges, with a steak sandwich ). By Sunday evening i was a bit disgusted in myself - although my mood had cheered up somewhat, thanks to a series of very farty-sounding raspberries blown on my arm by Flynn ( farty sounds are funny! ). I'm not trying to make excuses by pre-empting my expected low weight loss for the fortnight with this post - i think i'm just trying to let myself know its ok to slip up. Especially when all you want to do is curl up in a ball and sob.

What was wrong with me, your wondering? In retrospect, i probably could have manned-up a bit and not gotten so terribly upset but..... my mum let slip to my sister that she will be bridesmaid at my wedding. Why is that so bad? Because I HADNT ASKED HER YET. I soooo wanted the whole asking thing to be a special moment between my sister and i - i had planned to invite her around for dinner and ask, and let her have her " wow - really? " moment.... but now i cant, because my mother quite oftens suffers from Mouth Before Brain Syndrome. That is, she doesnt think before she speaks. So, without thinking, my mother blurts out to my sister " Oh, Amy made the hair appointment for us the morning of the wedding ", which got a death stare from me and a " Why would i be getting my hair done with her ? " from my sister. Now, my sister may be blonde but she's not entirely stupid, so she knows that the only people who get their hair done with the bride are the brides mother.... and the bridesmaids. Light bulb comes on for my sister, my mothers brain engages at the same moment and she realises what she's done, and my death stare turns to evil eye with angry pout. Not.Happy. Mum.

Suffice to say i eventually burst into tears and had to be comforted by my dad, who assured me that although my mother has frequent brain farts like that, she never actually means to ruin or offend. So not the point though - my special moment is gone, my sisters is gone, and now i cant unask her, can i? ( Not that i wanted to, but there may be complications with the best man which would have made it easier to have no attendants at all. Too late now... ). So i spent the entirety of the rest of the weekend in a funk, alternately pouting and weeping, and paying no attention to what i was putting in my mouth. Boo hoo me....

Operation Slimdown - Welcome to 2011!

Welcome to the first " Operation Slimdown " update for this year everybody! ( Ok, not quite exciting enough to warrant an exclamation point but i digress... ). As usual, every second Tuesday finds me giving you a rundown of whats happening on the weightloss front however, this Tuesday ( and somewhat unusually ) i actually have something worth noting... a loss! Halle-freaking-lujah, i finally lost a decent amount of weight!

I know i set myself a goal of 10kgs lost by November 5th but i've been trying to lose weight since September. So whats changed to see this miraculous turnaround? Well, first off, its a bit of an attitude change - i kept saying i really wanted to lose the weight but i still kept eating the same food ( only, less of it ) and only exercising 3 times a week. After seeing myself in my sons Santa photos and having a cry, and then subsequently having a whinge to my dad ( no good whinging to Mick, he loves me the way i am. Bah! ) my dad said " Well why dont you pull your finger out and give it a good go, and stop sooking about it ? ". Aah....he may be a man of few words, but when my Dad does say something its usually pretty good advice. So, with that kick in the bum i did some research, asked a few people some questions and....changed my eating habits.

Monday the 10th of January i started a 12 day experiment. I challenged myself to have a " Celebrity Slim " shake or meal replacement for breakfast and follow the Tony Ferguson eating plan for other meals ( yes, just like religion, i pulled my weight loss philosophies from all over the place ). What did that mean exactly? NO CARBS - AT ALL. So for the 12 days leading up to my birthday i ate no bread, no cereal, no rice, no pasta, no flour products.... just the shake, at least 3 cups of vegies and 2 pieces of fruit,2 small serves of protein and at least 2L of water a day. I thought " I'll do this for 12 days and see if it works, and on day 13 i'll reward myself with birthday cake! ". A pretty good plan, methought. How good? Lets go to the stats:
Bust: 93cm - down 4.5cm
Waist: 78.5cm - down 3.5cm
Hips 101cm - down 2cm
Bum: 104cm - down 4cm
Thigh: 65.5cm - down 1cm
Weight: 74.1kg -  down 3.7kgs

Oh yea - down 3.7kgs in 12 days! And, as you can see, shrinking measurements all over the place. I am very proud of myself for having the discipline to steer clear of carbs for 12 days ( lovely, lovely delicious carbs ), although i'm not so proud of the huge bowl of pasta i ate to celebrate my birthday ( hello stomach ache! ). So there you go, the tale of the tape... and this week its a good story! I'm going to try and cut way down on the carbs, and every so often i might do a week totally carb free, but this 3.7kg loss has totally reinvigorated my drive to lose 10 kgs by my wedding. Wish me luck!

Step 1: Find. Step 2: Lose

So i've been doing a lot of thinking over the past week or so, and i think i've come to a realisation of sorts : i've lost myself. Or at least part of myself, a big defining part, and i think its holding me back. I know a lot of women say they lose themselves after becoming a mother, but thats not what i mean - on the contrary, i believe becoming a mum has added to what i define as "me". What i'm talking about is since my best friend "dumped " me, so many things that i thought i knew about myself, definable truths, have been completely shattered, to the point where i've lost something really important.

If i can no longer say " My name is Amy, i'm an Aquarian and my best friends name is Blahdy Blah " then what can i say about myself ? For 10 years that was one confirmed, absolute truth, one thing i never had to question, and it held me stable when other shit got me down. And now? Its not a truth anymore and so much of what i invested in that relatinship seems like it was a facade ( on her side at least... ) that now i'm questioning so much more. I've lost a whole lot of self-confidence because i've been questioning myself so much, and i think that lost of self-esteem has really attributed to my slight weight gain and inability to lose any significant amount of weight. I've lost my "mojo "....for a while there i had the confidence to believe in myself and know that if i put my mind to something, i could do it.

I need to find that again - i need to find that will power and drive that saw me exercising 6 days a week, going out weekends and getting dressed knowing i looked good baby! I know that if i can find that again, i can push myself to be consistent and lose the 10kgs i've promised myself will be gone by November 5th. I'm not sure how i'm going to get it back when someone whom i thought was one of my biggest supporters no longer wants to associate with me, but somehow i'll find a way. There are enough people - good people - in my corner that i'm sure it will be no time before i'm on top of the world again soon enough! And now that i've figured out that i have to find what i've lost in order to lose something else, i can move forward with a goal in mind....

Operation Slimdown - A Day Late

Yea, yea....i know i usually do my OS post on a Tuesday but yesterday was Mick's birthday so we had cake with the family after work and then i cooked his favourite dinner ( Sesame Beef ) and we had quality time together, sans baby and blog. But nevermind that - onto the results!

I gotta say, the last fortnight i've been living in a state of anticipation. I've been trying to eat as healthily as i can, i've exercised ( when i can ) as hard as i can and i've been successfully drinking at least a 1L of water a day, most days almost 2L. So, lets go to the tale of the tape. Last time i did my measurements, that fateful week that ut me into a fitness funk and saw me chuck just a little tanty , this is where i was at:
Bust - 100.5cm
Waist - 85.5cm
Hips - 104.5cm
Bum - 109cm
Thigh - 67cm

That was October 26th. So, a month after almost packing it and giving up on shedding some excess kilos, these were my measurements on November 27th:
Bust - 96.5cm - down 4cm
Waist - 82cm - down 3.5cm
Hips - 102.5cm - down 2cm
Bum - 108.5cm - down 0.5cm ( i cant believe i actually, finally, lost a little from my bubble butt! )
Thigh - 67cm - no change

So hey, there ya go - down, down, down, down! Didnt i say my pants had been feeling loser, and i could actually see a little of the change around my waist? It has me slightly puzzled why my top half is shrinking at faster rate than my bottom half ( although i've always been pear shaped... ) but i'm happy with those results. And what about my actual weight you ask:
November 15th - 76.6kgs
November 27th - 75.8kgs
So only an 800g drop in 2 weeks, but, combined with the drop in measurements, i'm satisfied with that. I would really, really, REALLY love to be at 70kgs by New Year, which is only 4 days shy of my original goal date. I'm not sure if its going to be possible coming into the Christmas period, what with all its rich, yummy food and lazy days ( and rain, rain, rain by the looks of the weather forecast... ) but i'll see how i go. Wish me luck!

Operation Slimdown....Its Back! Week 2

" Operation Slimdown " time again!


I have to say, i'm not feeling too bad about the whole excess weight thing this week. Hell, just thsi morning i looked at my tummy in the mirror this morning and it didnt make me cringe. Its still a soft little " mummy tummy " but i can see the abs i used to have underneath the layer of pudge. And even if i couldnt see that definition i worked hard for, Mick says he likes my tummy - its all soft and womanly and whatnot. A compliment from a fella always helps a ladies self-esteem...

Plus, i think my work pants are a little less snug this week - but i'm not going to count my chickens before they hatch. I'm not doing measurements or a weigh in until this coming Saturday ( which will be in next Tuesdays post ) so i cant be sure if anything really is happening or not. What is happening is exercise. I wasnt overly diligent with the whole exercise schtick this past week but i DID exercise. I did my usual Zumba class on Wednesday night ( which i'm still enjoying - yay! ) and went for my usual morning walk with my sister on Friday. Unfortunately we had to skip Thursdays walk because i had to go into work for the morning but that was unavoidable. But never fear!There will be more exercising than that this week - 1 hr of Zumba at class, two morning walks, i'm going to try and fit in a half hr Zumba session at home, and then there's the zoo.

I live in a town which is home to the largest open range zoo in the world ( Taronga Western Plains Zoo. Google it ). Sunday it is having free entry to celebrate the opening of new picnic grounds and play area so Mick and I are taking Flynn out for the day. The best thing about it - other than the free-ness - is that we'll be parking our car and walking around, which is a 5km long walking trail....which equals exercise! But hey, the rest of the zoo thing will be a whole other post so stay tuned...

Operation Slimdown, Mach 2 - Week 5

This week sucks. I hate this weeks guts. If it were a person, i'd want to talk trash about it and maybe kick it in the throat. How bout we dispense with the small talk and just look at the stats?
Weight - 77.2 kgs. Up 600g ( so there goes the 500g i lost last week )
Bust - 100.5cm. Up a whopping 3.5cm. This may because i'm pre-menstrual ( TMI? ) and could be helped along by a better bra than other weeks...
Waist - 85.5cm. Up 3cm.
Hips - 104.5cm. Up 1.5cm.
Butt - 109cm. No change ( suprised? )
Thigh - 67cm. Up 0.5cm

How is that even possible? How can i only go up 600g - which could be water retention seeing as i drank around 1.2l of water before my weigh in - but have my measurements go up so dramatically? I'm not going to lie - its really, REALLY, freaking disheartening. I didnt do as much exercise as i would like last week because of the crappy weather ( cant take a baby for a walk in the rain ) and Sunday was a big bbq lunch for my sisters birthday ( and i've got another one this Sunday for my brothers birthday ). I'm just so disappointed.... in the past i've found it easier than this to lose weight. It never came off super quickly but it came off consistently. This non-consistent crap? This sucks.

My only consolation is i think my Zumba dvds are waiting for me at the post office, so i can definately get some more exercise in this week, regardless of the stupid weather, and i'm already drinking more water during the day at work. For now ? I'm going to go cry into a bowl of ice-cream and climb back up on the stupid, rickety, diet bandwagon tomorrow...

Operation Slimdown, Mach 2 - Week 4

Ah, weigh in day. Somehow i manage to simulataneously love and loathe you. Love - because i'm kind of excited to see how i've gone over the week. Loathe - because i'm afraid of what i'm going to find!

I cant say that this week has been particularly good, or bad for that matter. I've exercised, but havent pushed myself to my limits; i've eaten healthy food but probably too much of them; i drank more water than usual but still not enough. I've looked forward to exercising each day which i suppose is a start, but each session bar two this week has been pretty easy. I did my weekly Zumba class and loved it, and i found this was the one session where i really gave it everything and worked up a good sweat. I think its easier to go hard when your doing an activity you enjoy. With that in mind i tried a half hour Zumba session on DVD that my sister had burned for me, but it was an advanced power workout, and i gave up halfway through because i didnt know what i was doing and just felt overwhelmed. However, i have just last night purchased myself the full 4 DVD Zumba beginners set ( for $25, on http://www.oztion.com.au/ ..... take that Danoz Direct, you ripoff merchants! ) and plan on doing some Zumba 5 days a week. If i can convince Mick to let me use the one tv in our house for a little while on the weekends....

So, onto the important stuff - the numbers!
Weight - 76.6kgs. A loss of 500g. Again, not an overly awesome result, and i'm a little disappointed that it wasnt more but a loss is a loss...
Bust - 97cm. Down 0.5cm
Waist - 82.5cm. Down 1.5cm. Maybe all that twisting at Zumba is starting to pay off around the midsection!
Hips - 103cm. Up 0.5cm. Hmmm....
Bum - 109cm. Up 1cm. What the?
Thigh - 66.5cm. No change.

So, we can see that apparently i am turning into some kind of Kim Kardashian clone. What is up with that? How can i lose a little from the top and gain a little on the bottom ? Maybe all the fat from the middle just slipped down a bit, but whatever is going on it has me worried about the near development of a bubble butt. So, onto next week which will see me back at work 3 days a week. I kind of see that as a plus because it means i'll definately be drinking more water ( i keep a 1L bottle on my desk and sip during the day ) and less opportunities to make bad snack decisions. That is, i can only snack once ( on my 10 minute break ) and i can only snack on what i've brought from home, so if i pack myself a nice piece of fruit or a tub of yoghurt i cant be tempted by chocolate or a yummy piece of peanut buttery toast because they wont be there!
Tune in again next week to see how well i go during week one back from maternity leave....

Operation Slimdown, Mach 2 - Week 3

Its Tuesday again ( funny that, we have one every week... ) which means today is the day i take stock of the weeks eating and exercise and see where i've ended up. To tell you the truth, i wasnt exactly looking forward to weighing myself in and taking my measurements this week - last week down at Tresillian was a bit of a write off, what with the hospital food and the rain and no access to my exercise dvds. I did manage to get out for a few walks with Flynn, but only around one city block - though i suppose thats better than nothing right ? I got myself back up on the bandwagon yesterday - Monday is the traditional day of starting stuff! - by going back to eating smaller portions. I didnt really get any exercise in ( Mick came home sick so i was a bit consumed with looking after the poor little fella... ) but its only 10:30am and i've already been for a walk. Jog. Sort of. What i mean is that i've been out and done a hybrid walk/jog - i didnt jog too far for too long ( it felt my lungs were going to burst out of my chest ! ) but i know with time and patience i can get back to jogging again. If i push myself. Which i will.

So - now to the juicy stuff! Where is my bootylicious body at this week?
Weight - 77.1kgs. I've lost 700g in two weeks: not exactly the result i was hoping for but after last week i'll take it.
Bust - 97.5cm. Thats down by 1.5cm - why is that my boobs are always the first to go?
Waist - 84cm, down 0.5cm
Hips - 102.5cm, also down 0.5cm
Bum - 108cm, no change.
Thigh - 66.5cm, down ( would you believe it? ) 0.5cm

So i guess i've shrunk just a teeny tiny fraction in the past fortnight - all except my bum. Damn you bubble butt! Good news is, it also looks like i'm shrinking in proportion - except for my boobs. Can i get my baby boobs back and just sacrifice everything else? Ah well - on to next week!

I've Been, I've Seen, I've Zumba-ed!

And yes, this time i mean Zumba, the dance fitness craze, not Adriano Zumbo.

I know you all know what i'm talking about but just in case you dont want to admit to having watched the infomercial a hundred million times here's the rub: Zumba is a Latin-inspired dance/aerobic fitness method, created by a Colombian trainer/coreographer back in the 90's. There is an infomercial for the home DVD packages on tv somewhere in the world approximately every 15 seconds ( at least, thats what it feels like ) and trainer-lead Zumba classes are popping up at gyms and town halls all over the country. Like i said, its hard to escape the Zumba infomercials and when my mother saw an ad in our local paper for a class being run at a primary school hall she thought she'd like to give it a go. Only she didnt want to go it alone - she said she would be too embarrassed to go by herself and didnt want people to laugh at her lack of co-ordination - so i said " hell, why not ? ", i'd give it a go too.

And i'm glad i did - it was fun! Sure, i wasnt exactly awesome at it ( i mean for some routines i had me some awesome rhythm, some i looked like a grasshopper on a barbecue.... ) but it didnt matter because no-one else was nailing it either. There were girls there who looked about 8 years old right up to ladies who were possibly in their 60's, and not a single person had it downpat - but neither was there a single person not laughing. Zumba does what it said it would do - it gets you moving, it gives you a workout ( as evidenced by my lack of breath and red face by the end ) and it's fun. And, happily, i havent woken up too sore this morning, so thats always a bonus. My mum said she enjoyed it too, so we're heading back next Wednesday night. I reckon if you've been curious about Zumba and tossing up whether to try it out i say go for it - worse scenario is the you run into the person next to you, fall over and sprain your ankle, and can't go to work for a few days. But hey - at least you did it with a smile on your face ( and you get a few days off work )!

So Wednesday nights are now Zumba nights - buh-bye baby belly, hello Zumba abs!

Mummy Tummy Begone!

Let me ask you this - how in the world am i going to be able to regularly indulge my love of baking without getting fat? I weighed myself the other day ( for the first time since having a baby ) and - argh! I weigh the same now as i did when i was 8 months pregnant! It kind of shocked me to tell you the truth. I managed to lose enough of the baby weight to fit back into my pre-pregnancy jeans but just in the last few weeks i'd noticed them getting a little uncomfortable around the middle. And no wonder - i am now only 3 kgs lighter than my heaviest ever weight ( but, strangely, still 2 clothing sizes smaller ).

I know we should pay more attention to how our clothes fit than we do to a particular number but i cant help it. I worked really hard a few years back to get some weight off - i lost a total of 20 kgs in about a year - and the thought of it creeping back on, even after having a baby, is creeping me out. And so this week has seen the implementation of " Operation Slim Down ". Its nothing drastic, mind you. I'd like to lose at least 10 kgs and get back to the weight i was before falling pregnant. I havent put a time frame on it because, as a new mum, the last thing i need is the added pressue of some kind of deadline. So, over the next few months or so, i plan on losing 10 kgs by taking Flynn for at least one walk everyday - even when its cold and i have to rug him up - and by doing a yoga routine at home at least once a week. Y'all know i love me some yoga and i think its the thing i've missed the most about my pre-baby life. I know enough to devise my own routine ( bearing in mind i wanted, and still want to oneday, train as a yoga teacher ) and have motivation enough to stick with it without having someone to push me. I dont really plan on changing me eating habits too much though. I eat fairly well - though i do eat more than i used to because breastfeeding makes me hungry! - its more the sedentary lifestyle of the last 6 months that has seen my mummy tummy stay put.

God helps me if my mummy tummy actually starts to spread - even though Mick tells me i'm beautiful i think we'll have to agree to disagree....