Long Weekend....

We have just had a long weekend for the Queen's birthday. It has gone too quickly but I have managed to fit a lot in. Saturday, I did a 2:30 hr bike ride up some big hills - I had never been that way before and will definitely not be doing it again!! It was gruelling and apparently there is an easier route to get where I was going! It did me in for the rest of the day- but my heartrate monitor did say I burnt 1300 calories so you gotta like that!Oh did I mention it was 2 degrees when I set off..
Sunday we were back in the hills for a BBQ with some friends, a nice relaxing time, very lethargic.
Today I went on a ride with a friend to the beach-60 kms ,beautiful ride,nowhere near as taxing as Saturday but enough to feel noble for the rest of the day.
The rest of the day I have caught up on the dreaded housework- no spider sightings( seems to be prevalent in blogland at present)
I didnt post my weight on Friday - it was pretty much the same- ok I was up .5 kg What the?. I did do my measurements and I was 3 cms less on my hips and my waist - so all the biking and hiking is working :) I hope you all had a great weekend and have a great week!!

10 Things Thursday!

1. Its the end of my work week,Yeh!
2. Not doing well on the eating front, too much snacking, had a couple glasses of wine tonight!
3. Have ridden to work twice this week, is becoming easier, gives me 80 minutes of exercise on those days.
4. Teenage daughter is stressing me,how will I live through it? ( Dont worry I know I will make it)
5. Did a huge bike ride last weekend- am starting to rock those hills- although got caught in the rain and felt like I had hypothermia after.
6.Other than biking this week,not doing too much else in the way of exercise- need to work on this.
7. It has been about 6 degrees celsius in the mornings-a little crisp out!!
8. I want summer-or at least spring:)
9. I bought 2 new tops for winter today -gotta love shopping when youre smaller!!
10. Must go to bed-day off tomorrow BushWalk planned and will try and do a small ride as well,Wish i hadnt had that wine!!:(
Have a good Friday:)

1 year bandiversary:)

Yesterday was my my bandiversary. I wasn't even going to acknowledge it as for the last 6 months,I have lost nothing! But then I thought if it hadn't been for my band, I would not be 50 lbs lighter now, in fact I would probably be even heavier than my starting weight . So what has changed for me in the last year??-I now can go into most regular stores and buy clothes. I am more comfortable in myself. I can ride big hills on my bike-and have been known to wear lycra in public!! It is easier to get dressed in the morning-all my clothes in my closet fit.I am becoming more aware of my eating patterns- I can stop at one or two chocolates-only just. Today, I am going to start finishing the journey of my weightloss,I am finally realising that the band isn't going to do it all for me, and I just may have to use a little willpower as well.I have good restriction, I know all the rules, now I am going to put it all together.My schedule has been all over the place this week-had a child home with gastro for 4 days-not good for the exercise, but she 's back at school today,so game on. The weather is shit today-rainy and cold, so it's indoor exercise for me today. Now having said that ,I just looked outside and saw a window of opportunity, rain had stopped so off I went and abandoned my blog post and did a 90 minute bush walk.So go me!! Here is a photo of where I walked today.

Later today I am going to hit the exercise bike for an hour-I have lots of spare time today-My husband and son have gone interstate ,my son is sitting the SAT exam tomorrow am.All part of his endeavour to get a US college scholarship.So it's just Emma and I,and I'm sure she will be wiped after her first day back at school this week.OMG-I know I'm rambling on,now.When I was walking , I was thinking of some tips to keep myself on track.Firstly I need to know the calorie value before I consume any food, and I really have to write down my food intake for a while to geta sense of where my dangers are. So I will put a before picture and after picture here-The before was a camping photo which made me to decide to go ahead with the surgery. The after picture is from 3 weeks ago, on our anniversary trip.

Belated weigh in post..

Before you think I have gone AWOL again, I have had the busiest 3 days, and I am going back to work tomorrow after 2 weeks off!!-How will I fit work in?? Anyhow,I did weigh in on Friady and it was 98.7kg-about 2 kg from my lightest-I knew I had gained, thought it was closer to 3 kg so Yeh Me!!(said sarcastically). I have had lots of stuff on this weekend-mostly to do with running my daughter to sport and household errands etc,nothing too fun till this morning when I did a three hour hill ride with a girlfriend- OMG we killed ourselves but it was killa. She has been away for 5 weeks so my rides have been a little tame and quite a bit shorter with no one to natter with.I wore my heartrate monitor and it said I had burnt 1300 calories , so I am now trying not to eat those same calories. So back to work tomorrow, I will be working my new shortened hours-only 6 hours a day, so hoping to be able to ride most days. My son got his driving license on Friday- I have to say it was a little anxious making seeing him drive off, just relishing his new freedom-Good on him, I can still remember how good that felt! I have got a few things sorted at home here during my holidays- makes you feel the house is not as hopeless I once thought-quite liberating, In fact I feel more motivated on all counts. Have been reading on my ipad ,so not too much commenting going on-will work on that, Great to be back:)

Off the Wagon!!

I have been reading all your blogs- lurking around the blogging scene(as Lapband Gal puts it:)) I just haven't been able to make myself blog.If you're thinking she must have put on some weight-you are so right-I have put on 3 kg-and maintaining that gain for the last month or so. Interestingly enough, I have lost centimetres, but I have to say that doesn't cheer me up any. So what have I been up to?- A lot of stressing out over my daughter's behaviour(she's 14,say no more), I had my 25th wedding anniversary with a trip away to celebrate and working lots. What haven't I been up to?- Eating healthily, a little hiatus from working out(back on track now) Just spending some me-time! So what have I done-I am on a 2 week break from work, I have cut down my hours of work to be home a little more in the afternoons with my daughter, also to be able to fit in my exercise and get my house in order-I won't lie, it's not a great choice financially but you gotta do what you gotta do. Band wise -I have had a fill 2 weeks ago, which has been good, now working on the mental aspect, Winter is here in the southern hemisphere and it is not my best time!!I am disappointed with my progress this year so far but feel like its time to wake up and get the job done. So it will be back to Friday weighins with no excuses. I will leave it there today,feels great to be back, forgot how therapeutic it is to blog. I will just add some photos from my anniversary trip to Trinity Beach-Northern Queensland. :)

Yes I ate this!!

Still here....

I have once again let life get in the way of blogging. I am still here, I have been reading about you all-on my iphone,on the bus!! So not so great for commenting.

My weight is exactly the same-up and down about 200gms for the last 2 weigh ins. Feel like I am entering a better eating phase, have been making better choices and thinking about the process more.My band seemed extremely loose last week, but this week after some massive exercise on Sunday, I am tight!

So I know you're asking-what's with the massive exercise??-well of course it was a biking feat of extreme madness! Ride up our highest local point with 2000 other crazy cyclists! And done-another goal checked off the list,Photo of me at the top to follow. It was after I got to the summit,that I found I could drink(thank goodness) but doubt I could eat anything. So I was on the powerade for the next 35 kms of hill riding-total of 50 km. Just loving the biking right now.

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Other things are going on in the house as well right now-teenage daughter is having dizzy spells and not eating, so having to monitor that right now,her BMI is 18.6 and every one is commenting how much thinner she is looking, so she has just had bloods done.There are a few bugs going around at the moment,hubby is not well,so hoping that is all it is-it's a hard age 14 yrs.

My son has applied to a US soccer recruiting firm, to maybe get a College scholarship to a US college, and found out he was successful in passing the first step, so you never know ,watch out you girls-he maybe coming to a college near you,lock up your daughters, and of course I will have to visit,so bring it on!!

Work is busy-flu season is about to begin,I am jabbing everyone who walks near me, so be warned...

Must go and attend to tea-I had forgotten how therapeutic it is to blog , Hope you all had a great weekend:)

Off the wagon....

Well its now March . that means dry February is over for me!!So Thursday night, I went out with the girls, had 2 glasses of wine, made good food decisions and was pleased with how restrained I was. Then came last night- I drank a bottle of wine and ate 3 pieces of pizza-and I have a massive hangover today. My head is pounding, I'm even a little nauseated-WTF!! OK, I think the deal is, I can have a drink but right now,it can't be wine, I do find it hard to have one glass.I am able with all other alcoholic bevvies to have one, so so be it.That's the plan, and I feel good about it. This attitude is a NSV for me, If I mucked up in earlier times, I would just throw the towel in and continue to eat badly, but now I can get myself back on track without doing too much damage:)(it even hurts to smile)

Weigh in day was yesterday, even though I have been good and ridden etc I gained 200 grams-96.5kg.So not especially happy about that.I have really good restriction most of the time at present,so I just need to use it.

I am pleased with how my bike riding is going, my back is hanging in there,loving my new bike to bits. I haven't been doing much other exercise though, a few arm weights at the gym, so really need to start up my walks again-stopped over summer.

I have been catching up on my reading of all your blogs, I am trying to comment but have run out of time so know I am still here and will get there.So have a good weekend:)