My weight loss project - the start

I’ve been reading Tina’s blog for a while and have been eagerly following her weight loss journey. I am so inspired that she is making an active effort to change her lifestyle, sticking with it and seeing some impressive results. Tina still has a way to go to reach her end goal, but she is not giving up and that’s what I find particularly inspiring.

I want to lose weight to reduce my risk of developing chronic diseases. My maternal grandmother is overweight and has cardiovascular problems and has developed type 2 diabetes that no longer responds to diet, so she is on insulin. My mother is also overweight and has been diagnosed as being pre-diabetic. Mum has also had problems with high blood pressure. If I don’t lose some weight, that will be me in another 20 – 40 years.

I also want to set a good example for Seagull and Wombat. I want them to know that exercise and eating healthy nutrient-rich, low energy foods are important to living a healthy life.

In addition to the above, I’m studying Nutrition at uni. I would like to work as a Nutritionist once I finish uni. How much credibility do you think a fat Nutritionist has?

I have decided to blog weekly to document my weight loss and to keep myself accountable. In addition to weighing myself, I will be taking waist and hip measurements. I’ve decided not to measure my bust because I am breastfeeding and my bust measurement can vary a lot depending on when Wombat last breastfed.

My goals are to get down to 60kg and to get my waist measurement down to 75cm.

My starting measurements are:

Starting weight

Weight: 69.3kg

Waist: 85cm

Hips: 101cm

Between not feeling very well lately and working 17 days out of the last 21, 14 of them being either a late or early shift, I've been making up plenty of excuses not to exercise. I've been going to Step Into Life outdoor group personal training sessions since April last year.

With this week off work, I decided that I would go to a few extra Step Into Life sessions, starting with the 6:15am Monday boxercise class. When I woke up just after 5am this morning, I started coming up with every excuse in the book not to go. I was exhausted after coming off shift, I needed the sleep, the glands in my neck were coming up, Wombat wanted a feed and I probably wouldn’t make it out the door in time.

Then I thought to myself “I’d bet that Tina wouldn’t give up so easily”. That did it, I kicked Wombat off the breast (who promptly went back to sleep) when my alarm went off at 5:20am, weighed myself, got dressed, grabbed my gear and got out the door.

In the end, I was really glad I went. There's something deeply satisfying about exercising whilst the sun is coming up. The glands in my neck still feel sore, but at least I'm getting back on the wagon.

This is me

I've been thinking a lot about my blog over the last few weeks and wondering if blogging anonomously is really what I want to be doing.

I have had my reasons for wanting to keep my identity a secret, but suddenly they don't seem so important anymore.

I love reading and commenting on other people's blogs, but I feel that it is hard for me to make a connection with other people while I am holding something of myself back. Sure, I blog and comment on other blogs honestly and from the heart, but people like to know who they are conversing with.

To that end, I have decided to reveal myself. Hi everyone, my name is Mel and this is me.

ANZAC Day 2009

This photo is a few years old now, but it's one of my favourites. I was on maternity leave at the time, hence I wasn't marching, but Thunder Maker was still in the RAAF back then and was the catafaulque party commander for the service in one of the towns we were living near at the time. Seagull is "wearing" his hat.

Jan 2012

This is a more recent photo and was taken just after we moved into the house we are living in now.

There you have it. This is me. Feel free to delurk and say hi. :)

Funny stuff Seagull says and does

Seagull says and does some really funny things. That's probably a good thing because there are times where he really pushes my buttons.

Over the last few weeks, Seagull's comments and actions have included:

"No, Daddy, 3 minutes!"
Said when Thunder Maker put Seagull on the 'time out' chair and told him to stay there for 2 minutes. He knows that 'time out' lasts for 3 minutes.

"I'm a boy and Wombat's a chub chub!"

Instigating a raspberry blowing competition with Wombat on my stomach. Wombat performed admirably, but Seagull won because his sounded the most like farts.

"Hello! I'm eating marshmallows".
To some random stranger at a cafe.

Thunder Maker had to have a conversation with me because Seagull had been exploring his body. By giving himself an anal probe with the stylus from his magnetic drawing board.

The teachers at Seagull's pre school pulled out some hot pink nail polish to do some nail painting. Seagull rushed to be the first in line.

Me: "Boys have a penis and girls have a vagina".
Seagull: "Pyjanamals!"

"Mummy, can you read 'Stinky Malinki' to me?"

Picking up Seagull from pre school one day:
Me: "What did you do today?"
Seagull: "I go see girls".
He gave me a cute smile and batted his insanely long eyelashes as he said it too.

"Oh, shit!"
Seagull's reaction to Thunder Maker nearly cleaning up a P plater who tried to cut us off.

"I'm a pirate!"
He was wearing a pair of Thunder Maker's boxers as a neckwarmer at the time and jumping up and down on my bed.

"Wombat, we do not bite! Keep your mouth to yourself!"

"Look Mummy! Spider-ants!"
Despite me telling Seagull that they are ants, not spider-ants on countless occasions, he still insists on calling them spider-ants.

Like I said before, it's a good thing he's funny...

Drowning

As usual, when I take a break from blogging, it's not because it's planned or because I wanted to. I've just been drowning in a sea of overload.

I've been stupidly busy over the last couple of months. I've finally realised that taking on three subjects at uni while settling into a new unit, a new location, a new house and having two small children to look after is too much. Unfortunately, it is way too late in the term to do anything about it now except get my assignments done, cram for the one subject that has an exam and take the hint to slow down more seriously next term.

In the meantime, I've found I've been dropping the ball in all areas of my life. Working a 7 day late shift at work in the same week as I had two assignments due, one of which I'd actually stuffed up on the submission date and was fortunately given an extra week to do it, doesn't help. To be fair, late shift consists of clicking a few buttons if/when things fail and is otherwise a buttload of boring, so I used the time to get my assignments done.

Now that I've got the assignments done and handed in, and I have recovered from last week's late shift, I'm finally feeling like I'm getting on top of it all. I still have some online multiple choice quizzes to do for one of my subjects, weekly e-Journal submissions to do for the second subject and I also have a group assignment and some more multiple choice quizzes to do for the third subject. Wow, you realise your life is messed up when what I have left to do for the term doesn't sound like much at all.

Next week I scored someone else's 7 day early shift at work. On the plus side, I get a whole week off work afterward. Actually I get two weeks because I have to go to residential school for uni. However, my first week off is what I'm really hanging out for.