Week 5: Feelin Groovy

Today is weigh-in day for another week, I was  a bit apprehensive I mean we had Apprentice Farmboy with us last week and although I made a concerted effort to be good, we went to the Movies (popcorn mmmmm I LOVE salty popcorn, seriously I love salty anything really) and had Subway for lunch.

Up early Friday morning to take AF to the airport and I promised him we'd have Macca's for brekkie, so of course I had Macca's too. So I promised to be good on the weekend, and I was, pretty much, apart from having friends over for dinner on Sunday night (lasagne, I mean hello, who doesn't love lasagne ;-), but I tricked em all and served a lovely tossed salad with it. Then ruined the whole effect with a custard filled pecan danish for dessert.

Mind you I had been very good on Sunday morning, I delivered around 250 pamphlets for my new life as a Herbalife Distributor while Farmboy attended a Swap Meet (for the uninitiated this is a carpark where a whole heap of Car Nerds gather to buy and sell, dirty, greasy old bits and pieces the rest of us would just throw in the bin). Farmboy is something of an expert on BMC (British Motor Company, meaning minis, hillmans etc) as he learned his real trade (Motor Mechanic) on them back in the late 60's. So he was in his element dispensing wisdom left and right and picking up a bargain or two in the process. I think he even managed to pick up a couple of parts for the old Jaguar that's now been under restoration in our garage for 20 years!

Farmboy's Pride and Joy!

So after 1 1/2 hours of wandering around Prospect Vale I eventually limped up to the Casino to wait for Farmboy to arrive. 

All in all a pretty full weekend. So as I said I wasn't sure just which way the scales would go this morning.

I held my breathe, because we all know that makes you weigh less right? Closed my eyes, stepped on the scales and slowly opened my eyes. YAAAAAAYYYYY ... WWWOOOHHHOOOO another kilo gone forever. I'm now down to 94 kilos (Yes I know I've got a LONG way to go but at least I can see it happening now, baby steps please, my first goal is to get down to 90kg). What's more impressive to me is I feel energised, never hungry and I've lost a total of 25cm of body fat, 11cm in the bust, 7 cm in the waist and 7 cm in the hips, to say I'm impressed is an understatement.

So the start of week 5 is now upon us, what will the week bring, who knows but I will endeavour to rise above temptation and stick with the plan. Multivitamins, Florafibre, 2 Shakes a day and 1 colourful meal. Farmboy has threatened garden weeding as a weekend goal, I'm not as convinced , I've always been more supervisor than supervised, we'll see!

Quote of the Day:

The expectations of life depend upon diligence; the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools. - Confucius

Tip of the Day: 

Monitor your progress – research shows that people who keep a diary of everything they eat and all the exercise they do have a much greater chance of success and are more likely to maintain their healthy new diet over the long term.

Week 4: Wii adventures

So we've now had Apprentice Farmboy (AF) staying with us for 4 days, he fly's home tomorrow, and what have we made him do? Well we've had him feeding out the cows, chopping firewood, riding the quad bike, baking muffins and generally helping out around the farm.

He's visited a real working dairy farm, been up close and personal with one of our BIG cows, had a tour of Launceston (and it's famous Cinema, we went it to see the new Rowan Atkinson, Johnny English: Reborn movie yesterday, very silly but great fun), thrashed me at many games on the Wii (he excels at the whole hand/eye coordination thing, but I've got him beat at the whole cerebral/patience stuff i.e. he beat me at bowling, basketball and dogfighting, and I shot him down in flames at archery!), all in all I'd say he's had an an enjoyable week, I know I've had fun.

AF's arch nemesis!

Farmboy, Apprentice Farmboy and I had a Wii Party tonight there was much laughter and some intense competition and no definite outright winners, at least that's the way I saw it.

Farmboy was not impressed when told if he wants breakfast in the morning he will need to be up at 7.15 as AF and I are off to the airport early in the morning. Still he is partial to McDonalds for brekkie so we'll have to wait and see what tomorrow brings.

I've upgraded my EA Sports Active to EA Sports Active 2 (not sure this was a great idea, there's lots more tummy type exercises in this one, and they are MUCH harder, mind you might be the fact that my tummy is the part of me that needs the most work ;-), I love the way it monitors your heart rate so even if you think you're dying you're not really!

Well must get off to bed early tonight (The whole farmboy thing is getting to me you know early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. Well two out of three aint bad.)

Movie Quote of the Day: (from my all time favourite the classic, original Blues Brothers

Elwood: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses. Jake: Hit it.

Tip of the Day:
100g of frozen strawberries blended into a Herbalife Formula One Dutch Chocolate Shake is DELICIOUS. And it's only 233 calories.

Week 4: I've bin a bad, bad girl.

Start of week 4 and where am I at? Damn I've gained 0.2 kg this week................ hmmm how did that happen? Oh wait, I know, I've been out 3 nights this week. Meeting for work, yummy cheese platter; Dinner out with friends, yummy roast dinner; Stayed at the Casino and went to the Seafood Buffet, oh well, we all have these sort of weeks at times. No point whinging about it just have to get on top of it this week. Mind you I may have gained a little but I still lost another 1 cm from my waist.

I love to play the pokies, and I'm so good at it (read lose so much money here) that the Country Club Casino gave me a free nights accommodation and a free meal to use in September. So Farmboy and I decided to use it on Sunday night and treat ourselves to a night out. We had a very peaceful room on the ground floor looking out to the golf course and a really lovely meal at the Links restaurant. Unfortunately it was Seafood Buffet night and  I LOVE seafood. So I think I may have overindulged just a bit, but seafood's good for you right? MMMMMM...... Cold poached Atlantic Salmon, fresh local prawns, calamari, mussels, oysters etc etc etc, and then of course there was cheese and dessert. You'd have had to have a will of iron to resist it all, and of course I didn't, but I did try to limit the damage to a certain degree. So with all that in mind I don't think a .2 kilo gain this week  is too bad.

So I picked up Cityboy at the airport yesterday morning, did the whole retail therapy thing (mind you how you can call grocery shopping retail therapy I don't know ;-), and eventually got home. Cityboy had a new plaid shirt on that he insists is a real farm shirt, so armed with shirt, borrowed gumboots, and akubra off he went to feed the cows. When Farmboy got home he took Cityboy under his wing and they went out to cut firewood and ride the quad bike. So City boy now has a new name Apprentice Farmboy, or Junior Farmboy, haven't quite figured out which one I like the best yet.

Apprentice Farmboy and his new best friends!

AF (Apprentice Farmboy) and I made 2 dozen muffins (he's a growing lad and needs the carbs), and got dinner prepared. So day one of the great AF Adventure was over. We've arranged for Farmboy to take AF to a local dairy tonight to see how real farming is done. I think he's gonna enjoy that.


Quote of the Day:

The cow is of the bovine ilk; one end is moo, the other milk. - Ogden Nash

Tip of the Day:
Check out the new Australian Government Swap It site for some great ideas on how to start creating a new healthy lifestyle.

Week 3: It's working!

Wow what a week it's been so far.

Weighed myself on Tuesday morning, the end of my second week on the Herbalife Protein Plus Starter Programme, and another 1kg is gone forever. What's even more impressive is that over the past 2 weeks I've lost 4cm from my bust,4 cm from my waist, 4 cm from my hips and 2 cm from my thighs, am I impressed? You betcha!

This is the program I'm using.

We held our AGM at work on Tuesday night, and I knew it was going to be a temptation. My contribution to the 'bring a plate' request is always a cheese platter ( I think I said before cheese is one of my major food weaknesses/cravings, mind you only the good stuff, a really strong vintage cheddar, a beautifully creamy brie or camembert and a smooth bitey blue in particular). So I had my shake for breakfast and skipped lunch (I know I'm not supposed to do that, but hey it's cheese!) So I was able to have my share of the cheese and bikkie fest and still feel like I was sticking to my calorie intake for the day. Besides cheese has milk in it right, milk is full of calcium right, therefore logically cheese is good for me, that's my excuse anyway and I'm sticking to it.

My idea of real food...mmmmmm

I have a young nephew coming over from the mainland (that's what we Tasmanians call the rest of Australia) next week. He had a choice of where to go during his holidays, New York or The Farm, and guess what he chose the Farm! To keep his identity a state secret he shall be known from now on as Cityboy.

So I've been house cleaning today (my least favourite job, seems like such a waste of time, I mean it's just gonna look exactly the same tomorrow isn't it), after my cleaning burst I took a shower and then glanced in the mirror (at my size you never really LOOK in the mirror, you just take sneaky sideways glances as you pass by ;-) ...... then took another look...... then another, hmmmmm there was something different, what was it? Oh yes I can see it now my double chin has............................gotten smaller..................a lot smaller. In fact I'm beginning to see evidence of a ......... wait for it................NECK........... for the first time in years. I think in a few more weeks I might actually take a deliberate look in the mirror.

I've also been very good with my new exercise routine and am on track with the whole Wii/Sports Active program. So this morning I've been running, sideways lunging, tennising, bicep curling, shoulder raising, volley balling etc etc etc. I'm pretty sure my stamina is picking up and I do feel a little bit of a difference in my arms. Keep this up and I may even have lean toned arms instead of wobbly flabby ones.

Nobody know what the future will bring, we'll just have to wait (or should that be weight ;-) and see!

Quote of the Day:

For the first time ever, overweight people outnumber average people in America. Doesn't that make overweight the average then? Last month you were fat, now you're average - hey, let's get a pizza!
Jay Leno

Tip of the Day:
Try not to get too focused on the whole how many kilos have I lost, it's better to take it slow and steady so that the weight you lose is more likely to stay off. After all, how many years did it take you to put it all on? The other question should always be why am I trying to lose weight, if the answer is only to look good think again, it should really be more about getting healthier.

Day 12 &13: Working on the Chain Gang!

So it's the weekend and what did I do?

Farmboy and I have been busy with more renovation work on the house. Replacing worn weatherboards, sanding, finishing, painting etc, etc, etc.......

I always thought weekends were all about kicking back and relaxing...... not at my house...... it seems there's always one more little job that needs doing. Just goes to serve me right for choosing an old house over a bright and shiny new one. Been there done that before. I don't know, I just think old homes have so much character, don't you?

So Farmboy organised the new timber, and I got into my familiar role Project Supervisor and Foreman of Works. I mean someone's got to make sure all goes according to plan, right? Still now that the new boards are up and undercoated the front entrance to the house looks a WHOLE lot better, and best news of all, all that hard work burned off a few extra calories!

Hmmm, maybe I should get a job on a building site, it sure would help with the waist reduction plans. Mind you, my distinct lack of height would be a disadvantage, it sure has in the past when asked to help push a new stud wall into place, or pass the hammer, drill, saw, nail gun, other house building type tool up a tall ladder to a waiting Farmboy, and only being able to reach up halfway.

I remember when we were building our first home, we were both working full time so most of the work was done after work or on weekends, we lived in a caravan on our block and built the house part time. (I was still thin in those days.) We bathed in a hip bath in a little tin shed (I probably wouldn't even fit into it these days, but that's gonna change!!!), which was fine when I only shared the shed with a couple of field mice, but when the rat came in and decided to call it home, Farmboy was given an ulitmatum, finish the bathroom or else!!

So in the 30 odd years we've been married we've built 2 houses and a unit and renovated 2 houses. Seems like we just get everything the way we want it and then it's on to the next project.

Farmboy hard at work on the renovations.

We did have a bit of a break on Saturday and went to visit a really good friend of ours whose recently had an accident. I did my best impersonation of Florence Nightingale (so NOT my normal behaviour ;-) I made some Blackberry and White Chocolate Muffins to take with me and guess what, I was so good I didn't even eat one!! How's that for willpower. I think it's got more to do with the great Herbalife products I've been using, I just don't feel hungry so I haven't been tempted to be bad. Will have to wait and see how much of a difference this has made this week. I'm certainly not expecting to lose another 4 kg, slow and steady wins the race, that way I should be able to keep it off.

Quote for the day:

It's true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance? - Ronald Reagan

Tip for the day:
A diet is much easier to stick to if you have a buddy to share it with. Ask a friend to help you out, that way you've always got someone to chat with when you're down and to help you get back on the diet horse again when you fall off.

Day 11 - Friday: Geek girl strikes again!

OK, I'll admit it, I'm a geek, and proud of it. I've been using computers in some way shape or form for over 30 years now, from the earliest Sinclair ZX Spectrum through Commodore 64's and 128's through to desktops and laptops galore.

So if there's a program out there that grabs my attention I can't wait to download and install it just to check it out. I'm also a bit of a control freak, so I've got programs to help me manage my Ebooks, Photos, Recipes, Finances, Ebay bidding, SatNav fine-tuning, Music, Appointments, Contacts, Games etc, etc, etc, etc, ad infinitum.

So what's the point of all this you might ask? Yesterday I found a new program..............A diet program...... I was cruising around online trying to find the calorie content of various foods and found a great website with an online database Calorie King Australia it really got me out of a jam. Then I noticed a link to (yes you guessed it) a downloadable program to help me manage my diet from my very own computer, complete with an up to date database of over 40,000 Australian foods. To me the holy grail of helpful, useful bits of software. I couldn't resist, I clicked the link, downloaded the free trial and had it installed in minutes. I checked it out and I must say it's really easy to use, you can add everything you eat for the day and get a total of how many calories and nutrition you're getting from it. You can add your own foods as well. It even let's you add the type and amount of time you exercised. Oooooh this is my type of program.

OK I'm hooked, shot off my payment and I'm now the proud owner of diet management/recording software. It's made me even more conscious of the importance of portion sizes, I mean my lovely chicken breast weighed over 220 grams (not a huge problem maybe) but it's more than our lovely government recommendations (I mean the recommended amount of meat per portion from this pamphlet is only 65-100g). No wonder we're eating more meat than ever before, we're breeding bigger chickens, with bigger breasts, yet another conspiracy!

They can't fool me any more, armed with my new computer program I can enter exactly how much my food weighs and get an accurate count of the calories I'm eating, HAH, take that all you conspiritorial companies!

Quote for the day:

“People who count their chickens before they are hatched, act very wisely, because chickens run about so absurdly that it is impossible to count them accurately afterwards” - Oscar Wilde

Tip for the day:
Concentrate on what you're eating, while you're eating it. Know exactly what it is that's going in your mouth, that way you're won't just mindlessly eat the whole block of chocolate, or large bag of chips in one sitting while absorbed in what's happening on the TV.

Day 10 - Thursday: Hang on where did Thursday go?

Not sure what happened yesterday but I think I've lost a day.

Hmm... I know I got up.....I know I had 2 delicious Herbalife Formula 1 Nutritional Shakes (my new favourite is the dutch chocolate).... I know I did about 20 min exercise on the Wii (haven't I been a good girl this week)... I know I went to work, and came home, and had dinner, and caught up on my book work on the computer, and listened with half an ear to the rubbish on television.

Nope absolutely nothing special happened yesterday, not one thing that was amusing, startling, frightening or out of the ordinary at all!

Maybe that's why I don't remember it....... or maybe....... I'm getting..... Old Timer's Disease...... Nah, that can't be right, I'm not that old, at least not yet, surely. I know my eyesight is getting worse, but there's definitely a conspiracy going on there. Manufacturers are deliberately printing things WAY smaller on packaging these days (I'm convinced they all have shares in optometrist shops). I mean really what font size are they using 2? Have had to purchase a pair of magnifying glasses from the chemist, because my arms aren't long enough any more.

I'm not gonna let them beat me!

Maybe something more interesting will happen tomorrow!

Quote for the day:

Whatever you may look like, marry a man your own age - as your beauty fades, so will his eyesight. -Phyllis Diller

Tip for the day: (Note to self)
Stop fooling yourself if you're having trouble with the small print go and get some prescription glasses and get a grip  ;-)

Day 9 - Wednesday: Go Go Gadget Girl!

Anyone who knows me well, will know my penchant (read addiction) for gadgets, no matter if it's a technological, handy homemakers tool, or kitcheny gadget I'm intrigued, and believe me I've bought a few over the years. From Paint sticks to Ebooks, IPods to apple peeler and corers, I've tried 'em all. Some have been the greatest thing since sliced bread (at least they have been to me), others have been a total waste of time and money. I don't suppose I'll ever get over this addiction, and truthfully I don't really want to, there's just too much fun to be had from learning how to use a shiny new gadget!

Which leads me on to appreciating just how useful, a gadget I picked up a few years ago, has been recently with my diet. Quite a while back I bought a Rocket Blender (you know the ones they advertised on late night television). When I bought mine it was well over $100, but it has served me well over the years. Since I'm now making a delicious new Herbalife Formula 1 Nutritional Shake twice a day, the Rocket blender has really come into it's own. I've been using the handy dandy Mug style blender cup, throwing in my frozen or canned fruit, adding the Formula 1 shake powder and Personalised Protein Powder, topping the lot off with 300 ml of skim milk, screwing the blending blade on the cup and voila 30 seconds of blending and breakfast or lunch is done. No muss no fuss and minimal washing up! I LOVE my rocket blender.

This is a fantastic and CHEAP gadget

I've lately seen these for sale in HomeArt for only $29.99, which makes me shudder when I think about how much it cost me! If I was still working in Corporate business I reckon I'd buy one of these for the staff room!

No quote for today (Had trouble finding anything remotely funny anybody has said about gadgets) so instead here is a definition of Chindōgu:

Chindogu is  the Japanese art of inventing ingenious everyday gadgets that, on the face of it, seem like an ideal solution to a particular problem. However, chindōgu has a distinctive feature: anyone actually attempting to use one of these inventions would find that it causes so many new problems, or such significant social embarrassment, that effectively it has no utility whatsoever. Thus, chindōgu are sometimes described as "unuseless" – that is, they cannot be regarded as 'useless' in an absolute sense, since they do actually solve a problem; however, in practical terms, they cannot positively be called "useful." (excerpted from another favourite site Wikipedia)

Check out this site for a terrific introduction to the wonderful world of Chindogu http://chindogu.com/chindogu/ or this great flash animation site: http://website.lineone.net/~sobriety/ my favourite here is the Silicon Finger Protector in the House & Garden section, I want one, where can I get one?

Tip for the day:
If you haven't already got one, get hold of a rocket style blender, you'll never regret it. (And no I don't have shares in HomeArt or Rocket Blenders).

Day 8 - Tuesday: With Baited Breathe

It's W day (weighing day), I've been on my diet for a week now so it's time to bite the bullet and step on the scales.... what will the result be. I approached the dreaded apparatus with baited breathe...... closed my eyes and stepped on the scales......

Woohoo 95 kg, I've lost 4 kg in the last week. Ok, now I'm excited, will my measurements have changed?

Yep waist size is down 4 cm on this time last week. Yay me, have to say I'm very relieved there has been some change. Not sure I'd have coped well if the scales hadn't moved.

So how do I feel after a full week on the Herbalife Protein Plus Programme? Well I have more energy that's for sure, I've lost weight, that's another plus. I feel motivated to keep going and lose more weight, and that's got to be great news for my overall health. And the best part of all, I haven't been hungry AT ALL! So I haven't been reaching for the packets of chips or half block of chocolate while watching the TV.

So onward and upward as the saying goes. I booted up the Wii and completed Day 2 of my EA Sports Active 30 day challenge. 20 minutes of running, tennis, lunges, knee crunches etc, etc, etc. Found the old leg muscles a bit sore this morning (well duh, that's what happens when you NEVER exercise), but I know that'll change the more I do.

On another note entirely (well it's still exercise related.... sort of) Farmboy asked for my help last night moving the calves into the front paddock, where there's more feed for them. Unfortunately they were in a paddock with a couple of the bigger cows, so maneuvering them past the big cows, up the lane and into the other paddock was a trial. It's really wet out there and I had to put my gumboots on.

First problem I don't put gumboots on without someone checking they have no spider type occupants! So that was Farmboys first job.

Second problem, the big cows did not want to cooperate so there we were, the two of us, chasing cows all over the paddock. What should have taken about 10 minutes turned into an epic 35 minute trial.

At times it felt like the running of the bulls in Pamplona with around 650 kg of steer charging straight at me. I may be short (around 150cm tall) but there's no way I'm going to put up with that sort of nonsense. It must have been a pretty funny sight, short, fat, middle aged woman standing her ground in the face of a snorting charging steer, waving her arms around and yelling her lungs out. Guess what, I won, the steer lost his nerve and ran away. What a wuss!

Try that again mate and your for the freezer!

Quote for the day:

If it weren't for the fact that the TV set and the refrigerator are so far apart, some of us wouldn't get any exercise at all. ~Joey Adams

Tip for the day: What is a portion?
I just read an interesting article that said Australian eat 12 times more meat than they need.
Check out this link to see just what the Australian Government recommends: Measure Up!
Or download this Informative booklet The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating
Here's a great video on 6 tips to control your portion sizes from Herbalife

Day 7 - Monday: The Wii and Me

A couple of years back I thought it would be a good idea to get fit. This was going to be the new me (again!!!). I’ve never really been one to go to the gym or join a health club, I mean seriously do you really want all those skinny minny’s out there to see all your wobbly bits and red puffing face when you try to keep up at an aerobics class, not me, no way, uh uh. So I decided to go forth and purchase a Wii and balance board, it sounded like the perfect way to lose a bit of weight, get fitter, have a bit of fun and all in the privacy of my own home. Yay the perfect solution.

I bought the Wii, I bought the balance board, I bought a copy of EA Sports Active Personal Trainer, I took on the 30 day challenge. But I didn’t change my lifestyle or eating habits so even though I completed at least 15 days of the challenge I wasn’t really in the right mental frame of mind to achieve my goal.

So this morning I got out my Wii, and balance board and Personal Trainer to start my 30 day challenge from scratch. I figure with taking my shakes and tablets regularly I’ll have the energy needed to actually achieve this time. So for 20 minutes this morning I ran, squatted, bicep curled, squat rowed, cardio boxed, in-line skated and side lunged along to the low impact version of the program. It tells me I burned off 128 calories (that's 128 more than I burned off yesterday, so that's gotta be good, right). Yes I was puffed when it was all over, but I still had plenty of energy, so I must be doing something right. Will definitely give it my best shot this time, we’ll just have to wait and see what results. But surely it can’t be a bad thing, I mean at least I’m getting some exercise, which is more than I can say for my mostly sedentary lifestyle otherwise.

Quote for the day:

"I have a great diet. You're allowed to eat anything you want, but you must eat it with naked fat people." - Ed Bluestone

Tip for the day:

Read the labels...... I can’t stress this one enough, when you go shopping, before automatically putting your favourite brand of ANYTHING in your trolley, read its nutritional label and compare it to other brands of the same product. You can save a lot of calories this way, and it might even scare you enough to choose something completely different (and hopefully healthier). It will definitely change your perception of what 1 serving size is that’s for sure.

Day 6: Lazy Sunday Afternoons

So I woke up this morning pretty pleased with myself, I‘ve been strong all week so far, but what perils would today bring. 

Sundays have traditionally been sleep in day for Farmboy and I, and today was no exception. Didn’t get out of bed until 10 am then off to the kitchen, for our usual Sunday morning brekkie of bacon and eggs.

I’d promised myself a treat so I put the frying pan on and sizzled some bacon and eggs, toasted an English muffin and made my very own Egg & Bacon Muffin ( I did have some small sense of self preservation left, I only had 2/3 slice of crisply fried bacon and cooked the eggs in a separate pan with a quick spray of olive oil, to limit the diet damage).

After breakfast Farmboy and I had a walk around the garden, we live in a 100 year old farmhouse on 10 acres, with an acre of garden surrounding it. Spring has just started and the gardens are starting to come to life, bursting with early spring flowers, there are daffodils, snowdrops and bluebells under the trees, and masses of camellias and rhododendrons in bloom, so it is really pretty.

Spring is sprung, the grass is ris,
I wonder where the flowers is?

Spring bulbs at home.

We made plans about all the things that would need to be done in the garden in the next few weeks (well I made plans for Farmboy to complete ;-) Who knows I may even get out there and help him, provided I can avoid the bullants (I had a nasty run in with some a few years back, I wrote about it in an issue of the Lilydale Progressive if you’re interested in reading it click here).

I spent the afternoon catching up with book work on the computer and listening to my 13 year old Cocker Spaniel, Bella, snoring from her bed in the corner.

Bella as she used to be a few years ago.

All in all a relaxing day and a time to recharge the batteries.

Quote for the day:

“No diet will remove all the fat from your body because the brain is entirely fat. Without a brain, you might look good, but all you could do is run for public office.” - George Bernard Shaw

Tip for the day:

Make healthier decisions by switching some of your food and drink choices, instead of regular Coke choose diet Coke or (my preferred choice) Coke Zero. Pretty much the same taste without all the sugar. Use skim milk instead of full cream milk in your cooking. There’s plenty of information out there on the Internet so check out some of the healthier choices you can make.

Day 5: Saturday - Retail Therapy

It’s the weekend, my first on the (for me) all new Herbalife diet, and today may be more of a trial than ever.

A few years back a good friend and I started making bead jewellery to sell. We started taking our goods into Launceston to a shopping centre once a month. It’s never been about making pots of money, let’s face it that’s not likely to happen, but it’s been a lot of fun and a way to let our creative juices flow and get paid for it.

So the question is how am I going to stick to my diet while out and about? After much thought I decided to:

1. Take my regular shake and tablet before I went into town. 
2.  Blend together some berries and my Herbalife shake powder and protein powder and pour it into my shaker bottle to take with me for lunch. 
3. Take a protein bar (in case a fit of the munchies came over me) 
4. Take some Instant Herbal Beverage to drink in place of tea. 
5. Buy a 1 litre bottle of water to use through the day. 

So armed with my plan I started the day, and it all worked well, I didn’t buy any rubbish to eat, Liz and I had a lovely day talking to our customers and catching up with each other.

Woohoo score one for Jayne, away from home all day, and still had plenty of will power and energy.

Quote of the Day:

"If I had been around when Rubens was painting, I would have been revered as a fabulous model. Kate Moss? Well, she would have been the paintbrush." Dawn French

Tip of the day:

If you know you’re going into a situation where you might be tempted to be bad, do like the boy scouts ‘Be Prepared’ and have a plan to foil the forces of evil.

Day 4 - Friday: Where our hero meets Temptation!

Ok, I know what you’re all thinking, “Blimey, temptation on only day 4, she’s never gonna make it”, and perhaps in diets gone by that would have been true.

I had to go into Launceston today to do the dreaded weekly shopping, if you’re anything like me this is temptation plus, all those aisles with glorious goodies just waiting to be popped in the trolley for a journey to Lilydale. My greatest failings have always been the 3 C’s.... Chocolate, chips and cheese!

So first thing this morning I girded my loins (metaphorically speaking of course) by having another delicious Shake (another Peach Delight, still haven’t bought any raspberries, but I have a number of very intriguing ideas for shake recipes when I get some), took my Multivitamin and headed into town.

Guess what, I wasn’t hungry so I wasn’t tempted to put a whole heap of ‘bad for me’ items in the trolley. Stocked up on some lovely fresh vegies, fruit and bought some fantastic Tasmanian Atlantic salmon for dinner tonight, mmmmm can’t wait.

Got back from town just in time to put all the groceries away (a job I absolutely hate) have another shake (Blackberry Beauty) and off to work.

Quote for the day:

The biggest seller is cookbooks and the second is diet books - how not to eat what you've just learned how to cook. ~Andy Rooney

Tip for the day:

Buy a 1 litre drink bottle and fill it with water, drink from this throughout the day and you’ll know you’ve had at least half the water you should be drinking each day.

Day 3: A Brief History of the Waist

Had a delicious Chocolate Vanilla shake for breakfast this morning (I dissolved 2 teaspoons of pure cocoa powder in some boiling water then added skim milk, 2 scoops Herbalife Formula 1 Nutritional Shake Mix and 1 scoop Herbalife Personalised Protein Powder, in the shaker, delicious and nutritious, and best of all, only took about 1 minute to make)  and a Peach Delight shake for lunch.

So by now you're asking yourself how did she get to this size. I mean I haven't always been a contender for  the part of 'The Blob - Returns'.

In fact when I was younger (WAAAY younger) I was thin, yes truly I was (and I've got pictures to prove it).

Baby Jayne with Dad (see not fat!)

 Then I got older...............

Still not fat!

And older..............

Still not overweight......

Then I got married...................

Boy those suits are dated!

So off we go Farmboy and I, to start a life together. Now I was doing all the cooking, I may have mentioned I LOVE food? Well that's when it all started.

Cooking portions enough to feed 3-4 instead of only just Farmboy and I. There was always someone visiting and as I love to cook I always made way more than anyone could reasonably consume. Of course everyone loved to come to our place. I mean who wouldn't, to Farmboy food is fuel so he doesn't care what's put in front of him so long as its edible. 

So the years went by, me cooking and Farmboy and friends consuming. Of course you've got to taste what you cook so I did...................... time.................. after time..................... after time. Gradually over the years my weight and waist increased.

Then we moved to Tassie and started a Tearoom and Bed & Breakfast, the perfect way to indulge my love of cooking with a career! So there were always yummy things to eat in the kitchen, and never enough time to exercise or eat regular meals (that's my excuse anyway and I'm sticking to it!).

So here I am now, as I said before very unfit, very fat and very over forty.

Hopefully there will be a new me in time, a fitter, thinner and younger looking (can't physically turn back the clock, but I'll give it a darn good try!)................ stay tuned.

Quote for the day: another favourite from the Python Team - the classic Parrot Sketch!

Mr. Praline:  "It's not pinin'! It's passed on! This parrot is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! It's a stiff! Bereft of life, It rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to the perch it'd be pushing up the daisies! It's metabolic processes are now history! It's off the twig! It's kicked the bucket, it's shuffled off it's mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!"