Day 89

We went through to George over the weekend & I weighed in at 2kg's less on 2 different scales! YAY! (as my scale has been broken I'm not sure when they were shed) I only have 6kg's to go so I'm more than half way to my goal. Winter has arrived in FULL force so it is very hard not to delve into the cupboard containing the hot chocolate / Horlicks / etc to drink them with piping hot, steamed milk made with my coffee machine.

I went to gym yesterday & plan on going again tomorrow if it isn't as miserable to drive there as it would most certainly be if I attempted it in this weather. I checked my weight *(clothed) yesterday and the gym scale was not quite as kind as my mom and my gran's, but I'm sticking to their scales. Its 2 against 1.

Day 83

My scale is broken. Geoff stood on it funny when he got out the bath and it is officially at its end. Its probably better because it didn't work very well anyway!

We've been so incredibly busy busy busy so I've not had much time to blog...hence the catch-up on blog updates today (not that I really had time today, but I was missing my blog time...I even spent some time on Facebook & Twitter!!)

So its day 83 and I'm doing reasonably well. I don't know if I've lost any weight because I've been surfing instead of gyming so have been out of contact with measuring devices (+ aforementioned broken scale issue). The great thing though is that I'm fitting into clothes that were previously almost written off for lack of hope of fitting into them again.

I quite like what I'm seeing in the mirror too ;)
(plus I feel lighter on my surfboard which is always good!)

I'm still having issues with too much chocolate. I've had a tiny bit of flu & being unwell & the onset of winter mean that I have been craving comfort food. I've been quite good on the combining side of things. Its so hard not to have lovely fresh bread with a thick chunk of cheese...but I've not had any & the most difficult thing is to synchronise with Geoff & not have more than 1 carb / protein meal in a day...

I've probably been drinking a bit too much coffee. Its been decaf, but the issue is the milk (luckily I don't have sugar in tea or coffee.) My sister & mom have also introduced me to decaf Five Roses so Geoff and I have switched to that - it tastes like the caffinated stuff > Perhaps its just a marketing hoax?

I've been buying pineapples at the market shop near us (Rodgers)  -  3 for R10 !
Avos have also come down in price which is great....and I just ordered a serious amount of nuts and seeds from Ambassador foods today! You can even order online from them: https://www.ambassadorfoods.co.za/

Day 61

This past weekend was Easter weekend. So, Easter, together with the fact that we moved on Thursday (nothing is in it's right place & the fresh food I had just got squished beyond edibility)...and that there was a stuff up with my barley grass order so I have not had any for a week....

As a result, I let go for the weekend (from Thursday) and let rip...mostly on Easter egg packaging!

Sunday started with chocolate for breakfast...I went to a braai at my sister in law's on Sunday & there were chocolate eggs before & between each stage of the meal....I ate so much chocolate over this weekend that by the time yesterday (Monday) evening came around, I actually just could not eat any more chocolate...! (I'm not surprised to find a couple of pimples brewing today)

Miraculously, the scale is tipping towards another 1/2kg loss... (perhaps because I've been combining chocolate...with chocolate!!! + getting lots of moving-related excersise) ...I've also been eating lots of fruit.

I've been very excited about 'Rogers Fruiterers' which just so happens to be the closest place from our new home to buy our food. On Saturday, I bought:

2 Pineapples + 4 Avos + 3 Peppers + 3 huge Bananas + 1 huge punnet of pink grapes = for R31 !!

I collected my barley grass this morning from the post office & had the recommended nut shake from Mary-Ann's "100 days" email this morning:

Take a cup of raw unsalted cashews or almonds and blend them in your food processor or blender until it is as fine as possible. Add a pineapple to this and dilute with fresh apple or orange juice. Have this for breakfast (multiply by as many people as you are serving if there is more than one of you.)
Add some frozen berries to make it particularly delicious!
Remember that the more often you eat throughout the day the less likely you will overeat at suppertime, so make sure you eat your snacks in between meals as suggested in your weekly program

Day 49

We've been packing & going all sorts of admin that never seems to come to an end. The only thing for it is chocolate. I am afraid to say that I have been eating some & that I have also been drinking WAY too much coffee.

That's probably why my weight has stuck this week.
I still feel skinny though :)

On Sunday I went to gym. Monday we walked to Fish Hoek & back & Tuesday we walked to Muizenberg & caught the train back. I had a big gym session yesterday so the exercise is going well.

I bought a bag of pears at Pick 'n Pay the other day that are so tasteless. I just don't think that pears are naturally tasteless...they must have done something to them.

I was also so surprised & I almost cried, because, although it is quite irritating when squeezing fresh lemon juice, to end up with pips you have to dig around for: breeding pip-less lemons is totally uncalled for & quite frankly, very sad. I feel like nothing is pure as 'nature intended it' any more. I don't even mind pips in grapes: I just don't add those grapes to my fruit smoothie.


This whole thing fits in with the general societal standard that legs / beards etc should be shaved. Its just not natural...but we do it anyhow so that we're not the only one who's leg-hairs catch the sunlight making them obviously & luminously visible. Plus I quite like beards...but only on men! It's natural!!

No pips in lemons feels worse. It just doesn't feel right.

Day 35

Still no more kg's down...I went to gym yesterday for the first time in a week - I always forget how amazing I feel afterwards..until afterwards! :)

The sea is beautiful today - deep blue and really smooth. I am waiting for Geoff to get home so we can go for a surf...last week's heat wave seems to have returned to Cape Town...hopefully the wind stays down till we can get to the sea. This is the Muizenberg Webcam I follow: click here. Looks better than Fish Hoek. No rush (unless the wind comes up) as we don't have plans for this evening. Will be nice to get a surf in.

I've been drinking too much coffee. It seems to be the one indulgence I allow myself almost every day (that and the odd block of dark Lindt chocolate after dinner). Maybe that's why there are no more kg's down....I've definitly shrunk though...I got into a pair of jeans that got to the point of almost not fitting at one stage & today they are so loose...same with 2 other pairs of pants that I've not fitted into for months :)

My legs look skinnier when I look down at them. My latest thing is that I've been looking at people's arms (quite obsessively). I think that's what happens when one hits 30: you become so aware of your upper arms (I used to work at a clothing store where arm paranoia in the over 30's ran rife). I dare say my arms are looking a bit skinnier too.

Day 22

Another 1kg down. I'm feeling quite pleased but would not have been terribly surprised if my weight had not gone down as I did not gym at all last week & although I was quite good, I had a few naughty moments on the weekend:

On Saturday night, we had Thai food at a lovely little place in Hout Bay called the Thai Cafe. I had stirfry veg + beef strips + rice > There was not really anything else on the menu that was suitable (all the vegetarian options on the menu were full of coconut milk etc) & I suppose I could have asked them to leave the meat out, but we'd already shared spring rolls + I'd had a vegetarian wrap at the Design Indaba. I'd not had any protein, so I just let go & had it all. I did drink lots of water before & after & through the day..

Yesterday (Sunday) I had my usual Water > BarleyLife > water > fruit smoothie breakfast > and then a big salad with 1 mielie for lunch. I had a bite of Geoff's Bar One mid-day (why do Bar One's have to be sooooo gooooood?!). I had lots of fresh salad, some veggie pot & a piece of steak for dinner at Robyns. I know I am eating too much animal protein. I will skip a few days this week.

I think that the thing to do will be to get used to eating nuts as I'm not really used to eating loads of nuts. Especially not in place of other protein.

I've had a good start to this week & am looking forward to more excersise. My work seems to have slowed down a little bit so hopefully I can go to gym 3 or 4x at least this week & do other walking on the other days.

11.44am. I'm hungry already. Or perhaps I'm just thirsty.....?

Day 16

I can hardly believe that a week has flown by since being stuck at the gym last Tuesday!

I'm still 3xKG's down & feeling really healthy, although I did hit a depressed few days on Friday through Sunday....really low energy & I was quite irritable. Noises were louder then usual & hurt my ears.

I have been going to gym a lot: I went on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday as well as on Sunday :) I didn't go yesterday as there was too much to deal with....we went to view a house to possibly rent & I managed to resist butter shortbread at tea with Robyn :)

I had a few tiny bites out of T'Neal's 1/2 slice of DECADENT chocolate cake at the Sostanza bakery on Friday morning & 2 small dark chocolate pieces at Dwain & Danelle for dinner last night....We went to see "Avatar" in 3D on Sunday night & Geoff bought me a packet of JellyTots which I only managed to get about a 1/4 way through...

My taste buds have become so very sensitive: We ate some grapes yesterday & they were almost too flavoursome for me!

The main thing is that I have been successfully resisting the bad snacking.
I sometimes feel a little stuck & don't really know what to eat > its difficult sometimes as well with not knowing what we will have for dinner (starch or protein) so that I can plan around that....

I think I will bake a veggie pie this evening: that's what I feel like! :) ...so its salad and nuts for lunch!